《The Sacrificial Swordman》


 Prologue

    Roy Carlin, son of Jack Carlin, was busy fending off a sword when the door to his father¡¯s study creaked open. Jack¡¯s expertise and love of swordsmanship left his workplace a mix of books and paper along with an open dojo for practice. The entire area was surrounded by oak plank walls with a foam mat covering half the floor while bookcases and black tiles filled the rest.


    Standing on the mat was 9 year old Roy and his father busy going back and forth swinging at each other with two blunted rapiers. They broke apart with Roy going to sit at a nearby bench while his Father approached the visitors. Both were men and carried a box lengthwise between them. They continued through the door to drop the box on the mat and look at Jack expectantly.


    After a few moments of silence, Jack sighed and asked, ¡°You come in here on a Saturday morning with a random box and expect me to bite?¡± The shorter of the men responded, ¡°I think keeping it a surprise would be best.¡± Jack smiled while reaching down to take off the lid of the crate.


    He almost couldn¡¯t breath when he finally got a good look at the blade laying on a silk sheet. ¡°Is this as old as I think it is?¡± Jack asked to which the shorter visitor responded, ¡°If you think it¡¯s a 250 year old sword that shows no damage then you would be correct. We found it in eastern France buried deep under the ground. I don¡¯t understand how it¡¯s so well preserved considering we found it sitting in a puddle. We were hoping you could tell us more about it.¡± Jack put his hand to his chin while staring intently at the sword.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    The shorter man went to pick up the sword to provide a closer look, but his eyes went blank as his fingers hit the metal of the hilt. He stood motionless for a moment as the other two men wondered what he was doing. In one fluid movement, the sword chopped through the necks of both Jack Carlin and the other visitor before coming to a rest at the shorter man¡¯s side. With blood beginning to pool on the foam mat, the man turned and began walking over to the boy.


    Roy sat frozen trying to comprehend what the shorter man had just done. The loss of his father before his eyes was impossible to accept. The shorter man continued approaching as Roy sat motionless caught in his emotions.


    A few feet from Roy, the shorter man lifted his arm and thrust the sword into his chest allowing it to find his heart. The now dead body fell forward on top of Roy allowing the hilt to came into contact with his skin. In the boy''s jumbled thoughts, new words entered his mind as a deep voice stated, ¡°My name is Lucifer and you are my vessel. With my power, you will reach heights never before seen by humanity. You have no limits and will fall before no foe.¡±


    Roy fell off the bench and onto the mat with the sword clenched tightly in his hands. He was still laying on the floor convulsing when the authorities arrived shortly after. Lying on the floor before them was a small boy surrounded by a pool of blood gripping a shining blade.

 Ch. 1 - A Boy and His Sword

    "Well that stings", gasped Roy as he sat with his back to the brick alley wall. He looked down at his leg and the gaping hole currently providing a perfect view of the dusty cement ground underneath him. In his right hand was a bastard sword with a gold hilt and silver blade.


    A deep voice asked, "What happened to the silent swordsman that feels no pain?" "Did I say it hurt? It just tingles a bit. In fact, I like the sensation" Roy retorted. "I suggest you finish fighting and admire ''the sensation'' when there isn''t a spear trained on your head." Roy rolled to the right just as a spear entered the space his head had occupied moments prior.


    His opponent wore a black trench coat and hat that hide his identity. Roy attemped to get up, but his right leg refused to move. He managed to tilt and get up on his good leg just as the masked attacker let loose another strike. He blocked the strike, but fell on his butt with his back to the alley corner.


    From the attacker, a masculine voice stated, "You have no where to run. I wont miss again." The voice in Roy''s head mocked him saying, "He sounds serious. I would suggest fighting back instead of sitting down." "Great advice", Roy responded before sticking his left hand in front of the impending spear. It pierced halfway through his hand on course for his left eye before being redirected into the wall inches from Roy''s head.


    The attacker looked shocked for a moment before a silver blade pierced his heart. The attacker fell back and the spear clattered to the ground. Roy breathed heavily against the brick wall as he waited to catch his breath. "That was rather pitiful. I expect more from my wielder. At best that was a four out of ten."


    Roy responded, "Lucifer, I was walking home and had groceries in one hand. He impaled me from behind and threw me into an alley. It''s incredible I even had time to grab you while hurtling through the air." "You should have been paying more attention to our surroundings. If you had taken on the next level already, I would have sensed him coming. You would not even need to grab me since I would be able shift into your hand."


    "I told you I''m not ready yet. The main thing this encounter has taught me is that I either need to dye my hair and get a fake mustache or start leaving only at night again. Two weeks of nothing and I get attacked out of no where." "I suppose being the defender of a city comes with some risk after all", Lucifer responded. Roy staggered to his feet and picked up the spear laying on the ground.


    He then limped over to where the bass case he used to hide Lucifer sat in the alley. He slipped the sword and spear into the hole in the bottom of the case and lifted the case over his shoulder. The groceries were mostly intact with some of the fruit bruised, but the majority still in the bag. The pain in his leg and hand had already subsided as he exited the alley and began walking back to his apartment.


    No one seemed to notice the holes in his clothing or his body. "I guess I should move soon if we''ve already been found," Roy mused. "I doubt it. The attacker would have been more effective surprising you at home. I imagine he saw you and attacked immediately. You''re likely safe for the time being. I would wait the standard three weeks before moving again."Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Within ten minutes, Roy stood before two sliding doors and traveled up the stairs to his one bedroom apartment. The room was sparse with a few training dummies, foam mats, a bed in the corner and a small kitchen. Roy placed the groceries on the kitchen counter and slipped the bass case onto the ground. His hand and leg were fully healed with the only remnant of the fight being the whole in his shorts.


    He turned to the mats and began stretching. Next, he started doing push ups on the ground. After a minute he shifted to the plank and switching to a new exercise every following minute. In half an hour, he was covered in sweat. Roy walked over to the bass case and grabbed his sword to begin the real exercises.


    He immediately heard Lucifer''s voice saying, "I think it''s obvious we need to work on your reflexes. First, grab a blindfold. I''m going to name a part of the body and I want you to hit it as quickly as possible. I''ll tell you if the strike is sloppy or if you are too slow. Let''s begin." Commands began coming rapidly and Roy struggled at first to maximize his speed and aim on a nearby preactice dummy.


    As he tried to go faster, he only made more mistakes. Time flowed by as his aim and reaction speed were honed. Three hours later, Roy was still standing and producing on target hits, but every strike was light. "Enough," Lucifer stated," Go eat and rest." Roy left the sword and hobbled over to the groceries to grab an apple. He munched on it as he jumped into bed and reached for his phone under the pillow.


    "At least James and the guys had an easy day. He says no one skipped school and they even got a few tips," Roy stated out loud knowing Lucifer would hear him. The blade was capable of any of the five senses except sight when stuck in the bass case. The only limitation to their conversation being skin contact providing Lucifer with a way to respond.


    Roy laid his phone back down on the bed and went back to the counter to grab a bag of beef jerky. He finished the bag and grabbed Lucifer before siting on the bed. "It''s 9:00 P.M. now. What time do you think we should go out tonight?" Roy asked.


    "Wait until 11:00 P.M. You need more darkness and I imagine there might be a few more visitors in town trying to greet you like our friend from earlier. Eventually they are going to send someone actually dangerous and we don''t need bystanders or new stations on scene until the fight is over. With your luck, tonight could be the night we finally get a challenging fight."


    "I already told you, I don''t plan on taking on another vice any time soon. If someone I can''t beat shows up, we''re going to run. I barely handled accepting pride and you know I can''t take on any of the other six right now." "You did not get this far by running from your problems. More powerful vices keep appearing. We might even have to deal with a virtue if you keep gaining notoriety. You will have to accept another if you want this journey to continue."


    "I understand my situation but I won''t make a decision I will regret in the future. I still need to decide and I won''t be deciding today. For now, can you tell me a story?" "What do you want to learn about?" Lucifer asked. "Do you have any stories from Persia?" "I never experienced battle in Persia, but I do have direct accounts of Alexander the Great."


    "That sounds perfect," Alex responded as he grabbed a dumb bell in one hand and kept his other on the hilt of the blade recounting tales of old.

 Ch. 2 - Survival

    At 11:00 P.M, Roy rose from his bed and changed into a new pair of shorts along with a fresh T-shirt before exiting his apartment with a bass case on his shoulder. At the entrance to the building, street traffic was minimal and moon light compensated for any areas left unlit by street lights.


    Roy had his hand firmly grasped around his blade still hidden in the case. "I suggest we treat this like a normal night and check the alleys. Anyone here to kill you will be well aware of our hunting habits." Roy turned right and began walking down the sidewalk toward what the locals called the bad end of town.


    He wasn''t a fan of the stereotype considering one''s life could be in danger in any part of the city. Especially considering he''d been attacked more in the ''better'' parts of town than in the ''bad'' parts. He rounded a corner and noticed the absence of traffic, pedestrian and motor, on the new stretch of road.


    "Looks promising," Roy joked. Lucifer remained silent while focused on their surroundings. Roy started walking down the street and contemplated whistling when he heard a scream. He picked up his pace and rounded another corner entering into an alley.


    "I hear two voices outside the person who screamed earlier," Lucifer reported. Roy entered into the darkness and began searching for the source of the scream. On the block, each of the alleys connected into one central area with branches spreading between different parts of the city.


    Roy continued walking and noticed movement ahead. He ducked behind a pile of trash to the side of the alley and tried to gleam what he was looking at. He saw two grown men off to the side of the alley and a young boy crying inbetween them.


    One of the men spoke to his companion saying, "I''m not sure this will be worth it. What if the parents don''t pay up." The other man responded, "Are you kidding? Look at how he''s dressed. They even agreed to the amount immediately when we called them on his phone. The parents have got to be loaded. Besides, all we lose is a little bit of time if they don''t pay up. We can just go find another one and try again if this doesn''t work." "I guess you''re right," the first man said, "and we can always ditch the kid if they call the cops."


    The two men continued talking while Roy sat motionless watching. "Any thoughts Lucifer? If not, I really want to make them pay for what they are doing." "We don''t have all the details yet. Wait until the authorities show up and only involve yourself if the boy is in direct danger. Something isn''t right here. If the child''s parents are wealthy as they believe, he would normally be well protected from common criminals like these."


    "I don''t know. Maybe he ran off on his own. That''s not the point. They have him now. Let''s just hope the parents or somebody shows up soon," Roy responded. Roy continued watching as the boy sobbed on the ground. The child slowly began crying more intensely and becoming noisier. One of the kidnappers yelled at him saying, "Shut up kid. You''ll be fine soon." The boy only began screaming louder upon hearing this.


    "We can''t keep having him scream like this. Someone is going to hear it and get curious," one man said. "What do you suggest?" the other asked. In response the man turned and asked the boy, "Do you want your parents to get hurt? If you don''t stay quiet from now on we might just have to kill them." Hearing this, the boy tried to regain his composure, but only began screaming louder.


    "That''s it. Let''s just shut him up ourselves." Both men turned to the boy and began approaching him. "I think it''s time to interfere," Roy told Lucifer. "Be careful. They could be more than they seem." Roy completely pulled Lucifer out of the case and kicked a nearby rock over to the men.


    Catching their attention, he dashed toward them and smashed the flat end of his sword against the leg of one of the kidnappers before placing himself between them and the boy. Seeing his friend writhing on the ground, the standing kidnapper lunged at Roy only to be met with the pommel of his sword.


    The man crashed to the ground and did not stir. Roy waited to see if either man would try and attack again, but neither seemed interested in him due to more pressing bodily concerns. He turned to the boy who was still crying trying to process what had just happened.


    "Are you okay?" Roy asked. The boy nodded his head, but remained quiet. "What is your name?" "James," the boy responded. "Okay James. My name is Roy. Your parents should be on the way. I''ll wait here with you until they arrive."


    The boy still looked frightened even with Roy''s reassurances. He realized a holding a five foot blade wasn''t helping him look any friendlier. He turned to grab the bass case where he''d dropped it on the ground. As soon as his back was completely turned, Roy felt metal bite into the skin of his right hand and dread immediately filled him.


    He scrambled forward and turned to see a grinning James holding a shining red knife in his hand. Lucifer and his hand were on the ground between them. In his childlike voice James said, "I never thought catching new toys would draw in someone so valuable." Roy remained silent and calculated his options. The boy may have surprised him, but normally he would have reacted or at least heard something before the attack.


    Looking at the knife, Roy knew he was facing off against another vice. Apparently one with more sins than him as well considering the boy''s superior speed. From the sound of blood splattering on the ground Roy knew he needed to grab Lucifer as quickly as possible to stop the bleeding and have a chance of winning the fight. He couldn''t use his full strength or be healed unless he had skin contact with Lucifer.


    Roy sighed contemplating why he hadn''t just taken on another sin so he wouldn''t be so reliant on Lucifer being in hand. James began inching forward and Roy figured his chances of regaining Lucifer weren''t getting any better. With ten feet between them, Roy dashed at James and planted his left foot in order to spin kick James with his right food.


    James countered easily and Roy''s shoe with foot inside went flying past him hitting the wall with a meaty smack. The tactic had worked however as Roy was able to bend down and grab his sword with his left hand as he kicked at James. Roy was immediately bombarded by Lucifer''s thoughts, but ignored them and kept his eyes on the opponent in front of him.


    The boy smiled even wider saying, "I like you. I hope you don''t bleed out before we finish playing," before approaching once again. Roy quickly relayed his observations of James and asked Lucifer, "Any ideas?" "How about you buy a metal arm brace so someone can''t cut your arm off." "I meant ideas about winning the fight we''re in right now."You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    "I already stopped most of the bleeding, but with the fight earlier today and this additional damage, I won''t be of much use if you get hit again. You''re currently missing a foot and a hand in addition to having to fight with your off hand. At least we''ve done left handed training before. I suggest you end this quickly by any means possible. Good luck"


    "I already figured a knock out was the way to go, but thanks for the support." Staring James in the eyes, Roy stood stock-still waiting to see if he would make the first move. His opponent however seemed content to wait for Roy to try something whether it be running or fighting.


    Roy knew running was pointless since he would be cut down from behind by his faster opponent. With no better options, Roy crouched down with his sword behind his back over his shoulder. He knew his sword would scrape the walls of the alley if he fully extended his arm, but a diagonal slash should be fast enough to pressure James while also limiting his options to retreat.


    Roy used both legs, careful to counter balance to offset the effect of using his cut right leg, to launch himself strait at James. James looked shocked by a move so obviously telegraphed, but considered it would be difficult to block such a sword slash with a dagger. He ducked under the slash, unable to counter due to Roy using the sword almost like a shield.


    Roy went flying past him and James began giggling wondering if Roy would end up stuck on the ground unable to get back up with only two limbs. Behind him Roy''s blade hit the ground where Roy pushed back propelling himself backward. James turned expecting a grounded opponent only to see the legs of Roy approaching his neck.


    James was dumbfounded as he and Roy both fell to the ground in a dusty heap. James was pinned underneath Roy whose legs were wrapped around his throat. Roy grabbed James'' dagger and stabbed it into the boy''s leg before rolling to the side. Roy staggered to the wall where his severed foot had landed, grabbed it and proceeded to grab his hand as well.


    He shoved all the items and Lucifer into the bass case before shuffling down the alley back toward the main roads. His hand was in the case making contact with Lucifer as they talked about the battle. "Why did you not kill him?" Lucifer asked as Roy rounded the corner. "I''m not going to kill a little kid." "You don''t know that was a child. It''s likely he stopped his aging years ago and has been acting in the role of child assassin ever since."


    "Wait. You can stop aging?" Roy asked as he paused between street lights to check out other people on the street. The roads were barren which struck him as foreboding but convenient. "We''re unable to do so at your current level, but it would be possible if you had two sins like he did. There are many benefits to continued advancement, however, the boy will begin aging again now without contact to the dagger."


    "Well I''m still not taking on another sin. Besides, I doubt the boy started out that way. You know what the bond does to the mind. Especially if the dagger forced him to advance or broke him during the binding," Roy responded as he finally passed another person on the street. It was an old woman with a cane who didn''t notice his missing limbs. Although she looked harmless, he still gave her a wide berth on the sidewalk in case she was an ally of James arriving as reinforcements. One surprise was enough for the night as it had cost him two limbs.


    "The wielder seemed cognizant of his actions, but I suppose you could be right," Lucifer responded. "All we can do now is make sure he never gets the dagger again. If we see him and he hasn''t recovered, then i''ll end his suffering, but i''m going to give him the chance to improve."


    Roy had finally reached a main road with a more active night life. Few were out so late at night, but cars still flew past in regular intervals with a smattering of foot traffic. "I hope you don''t live to regret your decision. How are we going to get back to the apartment? I doubt you''ll be able to just walk through the front door without receiving strange looks."


    "You say that like a one handed guy with a bass case stumbling around late at night stands out," Roy joked. "At the very least, we need to reach some sort of shelter soon. Reattaching your limbs will take time which is currently limited considering the boy might have friends searching for you."


    "I''ll figure something out. As long as I find something to cover my face and they don''t try to stop me from entering we shouldn''t have anything to worry about." The apartment complex was still a few minutes away, but Roy was making good time even with the absence of one foot. Anyone looking closely would notice his lopsided gait and a bloody pant leg, but shifting his weight with each step helped mask the missing limb and speed up his trip.


    "I hope you realize how close that was to being disastrous," Lucifer mused. "Weren''t you the one who told me close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades? I''ve been in more dangerous situations than that one. While being down a hand and losing you could have ended a lot worse, I survived. Isn''t that what you want? Tests of my strength that drive me to new heights?"


    Roy had finally reached the block of his apartment complex and turned down an alley to loot a dumpster for a quick disguise. "Your improvement is exactly what I desire, but I refuse to be separated in battle again. If we die together at the hands of a superior foe then so be it. However, I can''t accept our defeat as individuals. As heartless as you think me, I value our connection. Besides, training another wielder would take ages."


    Roy snickered and responded, "You''re just scared of being stuck forgotten in a cave again. I don''t think I''ll every forgive you completely, but I do think this adventure is the one I''m meant to live. Anyway, lets see what I can scrounge up." At first, he only found a raccoon rooting through that night''s dinner, but a few minutes searching provided him with a stained ball cap and a fraying scarf.


    With a sigh, Roy gently placed the cap on his head and wound the scarf around his neck and chin. While it wasn''t winter, the wardrobe change still made sense in the night time fall chill. He shuddered at the idea of wearing some strangers clothes and hoped he wouldn''t get lice or something worse from the decision.


    "Time to run the barricade. Any advice Lucifer?" "Don''t get caught," responded the deep voice. "Helpful as always. Here goes something." Roy exited the alley and approached the doors to the building. Doing his best to steady his gait, he opened the doors and strode forward as confidently as possible. He could almost feel the gaze of the man behind the desk watching him as Roy kept his eyes glued to the door to the stairs.


    The man said nothing as Roy finally reached safety and opened the door with his functioning hand. "You know. As stupid as the idea to put me in a bass case was. It does a great job drawing attention away from the fact you''re missing a foot and hand. I imagine the hat and scarf didn''t hurt either." Roy ripped off the scarf and hat which he quickly stuffed into the case before rushing up the stairs.


    "I still can''t believe he didn''t stop us. How am I supposed to feel safe living here if they let in such suspicious individuals?" The stairs had seemed like his best bet since the elevators would have more traffic. Plus he didn''t like the idea of awkwardly having another person look him over on the ride up with the off chance they looked down at his leg.


    So far, Roy hadn''t seen anyone else on the stairs, but he wasn''t home free until he hit his fourth floor apartment. Just shy of nothing going wrong, the fourth floor door opened just as he cleared the last step. Jumping off his remaining foot, Roy grabbed the handle and swung the door open for cover.


    The couple entering the stairway looked confused by the young man with a bass case smiling at them from behind the door, but payed him no attention as they continued on their way. "Smooth. I thought you were a goner." "Not my best pose but at least they bought it," Roy responded and hurried down the hall way toward his room.


    Within steps, he opened the door to his room, entered, and quickly closed it behind him. "Home sweet home," Roy mumbled as he slid to the ground with the door at his back.

 Ch. 3 - Planning

    Roy picked himself up and struggled over to his bed, chucking the bass case onto it as he went. Roy sighed as he checked the time on his phone and realized it was after 1:00 A.M. Lucifer spoke up saying, "Set the limbs before we review everything we learned.¡±


    Roy grumbled and walked over to the kitchen where he opened a drawer and grabbed some duct tape. He headed back to the bed where he sat down and grabbed his hand and foot out of the bass case. Using his teeth he stretched out the tape before wrapping his cut right hand onto the stump at the wrist.


    He then repeated the same procedure on his foot and covered it with a sock for good measure. "How long do you think it will take to heal?"


    "I estimate forty eight hours. I spent almost all of my energy during the fights and on stopping the bleeding. You already know reconnecting limbs is difficult since I need to open vessels, reconnect tissues and everything else along with fixing the cells damaged due to lack of blood flow and necrosis. With all that in addition to the normal wounds, this is not going to be a quick recovery."


    "You know, I''d give just about anything to see the look on a doctor''s face seeing me duct tape my severed foot and hand back on." "I imagine most have seen much worse than that in their time as physicians. In my brief time around those performing medicine during battles, I''ve witnessed severed limbs, blood and gore on scales you couldn''t imagine."


    Roy leaned back into his pillow on top of the bed and stared at the ceiling. "Well, I guess I won''t be stopping by to check on the guys anytime soon." "It wouldn''t be the first time you''ve ignored them for more than a few days." "Put it on my schedule then. First thing we do after recovering is make sure they''re not slacking off. In the mean time, any stories about deception or betrayal?" Roy asked.


    "I wasn''t present for this event but it ranks as one of the most blood thirsty tales I know. The Massacre of Glencoe occurred in 1692 near Fort William, Scotland. The Jacobite rising of 1689 started what led to the massacre, but the massacre itself began when..."


    Roy listened as Lucifer recounted the tale and wondered if he had made the right decision to leave his opponent alive. He looked over to the bass case where he knew the dagger and other weapons were stowed away. Roy turned back to the ceiling and slowly drifted off to sleep with thoughts of past battles and Lucifer''s tale.


    "Get up. It''s been six hours," Lucifer stated. Roy groaned and sat up flinging his legs over the side of the bed. "I repaired most of the damage in your foot over night. Being able to walk instead of limp will make blending in easier for when you take care of laundry. We''ve been lucky so far but if you keep it up the enemy will smell you coming before the battle even begins."


    "Alright. I get the picture. We''ll do laundry. I doubt there''s something more exciting than laundry, but do we need to do anything else today?" "Now that you mention it... I think a certain someone needs to take some online classes and finish their GED already."This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    "Ugh. Fine I get the picture. Study and chore day it is. Might as well text the guys then." Roy sent a quick text message on his phone, before tossing it back onto his mattress. He traveled over to the pile of dirty clothes sitting in the corner and stuffed them into a bag. Slapping his pant pocket to check that he had his wallet, Roy walked out his apartment door and headed for the first floor laundry room with Lucifer in tow.


    "My foot feels as good as new but my hand is still pretty much useless." "The limb is not completely fixed yet. If you put too much strain on the tendons, they''ll snap like twigs." "You''re so uplifting," Roy responded as he walked into the laundry room.


    "By tomorrow morning, the foot will be back to normal and you should have some movement in your hand, but lingering weakness." "I''ll be careful. The last thing I want is even more wasted days." Half the machines were running with many of the rest containing already cleaned clothes yet to be picked up.


    Roy pulled a dollar out of his wallet and used a coin machine to get the quarters for the machine. He spied an empty machine off in the corner and toted his clothes to it. "I need to get my own soap. The stuff at this place always messes up my nose. At least it''s free even if it does smell like pineapples."


    Roy loaded the machine, inserted his quarters and poured the soap in to top it off before shutting the lid and walking over to a nearby chair to wait. "We still haven''t decided what to do with the weapons we''ve been collecting," Roy mentioned as he lounged in the chair.


    "We both know that''s a nice way of saying you don''t want me to absorb them until absolutely necessary. Saving them for a rainy day just leaves you hoping we get something useful when we could be absorbing them immediately and using that knowledge to move forward." "Touchy Aren''t we?", Roy responded.


    "I firmly believe you should use them now. For all you know we could get something easy to handle like gluttony." "Or we could get sloth which would be almost worse than where we are now. For all you know we could just get a smattering of everything that gets us nowhere," Roy retorted.


    "At least that would be progress from where we are. I admit taking on sloth or lust would be a set back, but you will need to deal with them eventually." "I know that, but it doesn''t make this any easier." "Do not fear. You will be strong enough. As my host it is all but guaranteed. You''ve already survived taking on pride which is much more difficult than most. It will only get easier from here on out at least in the short run."


    "Okay. We''ll do it this week sometime. Let''s just finish the stuff we already agreed to do and then we can absorb the weapons." Different residents were coming and going from the room as Roy sat in the chair with his bass case behind him attempting to look inconspicuous. It took a full thirty minutes for the laundry to finish, but Roy and Lucifer were content to discuss plans for the future while they waited.


    When the machine stopped rumbling, Roy refilled his bag with the now clean clothes and flung it over his shoulder before picking up his bass case. With only one functioning hand, he was forced to balance the shoulder straps of the bass while holding onto the bag of clothes. The process of getting back to the room was made difficult due to Roy having to stop every time he reached a door.


    On the trip down, he had been able to lean into the bar on the door to open it without using his hands, but this was not the case on the trip back up. First, he had to set down the clothes sack. then open the door before finally contorting through the door so the case would fit and grabbing the clothes sack as the door closed.


    The entire ordeal left Roy feeling annoyed and more tired than he would have thought as he finally made it back to his apartment.