The Bounty Hunter.

If only he hadn't of met the girl. Everything would be different then. He wouldn't be a bounty hunter, he wouldn't be killing for penya or making sacrifices to unknown gods. He might have been a weapons dealer like Boboku, or worked at the public office as Juria did. But instead he killed for the highest bidder. The life he led was hard, filled with blood and pain, but he gritted his teeth and always went in for the kill no matter what the odds. Nobody expects any less of a man seemingly without emotion, a killer for hire.

Part One: The Secret Of Valin

It started out as such a simple favour, something so insignificant and innocent and the pay was fair. Mikyel was looking for adventurers and Alek was intrigued by her propisition. "All I ask is that you bring me five chupims from those nasty little puke-pukes and for your service I will pay you three thousand-five hundred penya."

Alek was startled, "Why can't you go?"

Mikyel smiled sadly, "The ones of whom we don't speak have only given me permission to assign this task to another." She adjusted the glasses on her face, giving Alek a closer look at her misty, purple eyes. "From doing as I ask you will be rewarded not only by penya, but also by the grace of the gods. They will see your good deeds and grant you the knowledge of battle that will inevitably make you stronger, faster, more agile. Who knows dear little vagrant, one day you could become the strongest fighter in the kingdom of Roika Mainland!"

Alek sniffed feeling insulted at being addressed as a vagrant. Sure he had no penya and only a wooden sword and his clothes offered very little in the way of comfort, defence or fashion, but who in these hard pressed times of war did have any valuables to his name? However he was very hungry and some penya would definately buy him a few of the biscuits Losha was selling in her store. Just the thought of the lollypops and hot dogs she sold made his stomach rumble. "I accept your task," he begrudgingly told Mikyel. And so it began.

The life of a bounty hunter was hard and lonely work. Eventually Alek became so skilled and strong that he felt like the only way he could keep progressing was to study in one of the available jobs in Flaris. Alek went to see the Merecenary drillmaster Mustang and the instructor Hyuit. "So," Hyuit said, looking at him from head to toe, "You vagrant wish to be a mercenary?" She laughed insultingly. "Oh tell me you're joking."

Mustang's threw a sharp look at Hyuit and appraised Alek through battle hardened eyes. "Tis a hard calling me lad. Those who change to the way of the sword or axe are changed me boy. They become cold and hard. Many battles make the heart bleed and the soul grow heavy and blackness can cloud the mind. Just look at Valin.."

Hyuit raised a hand warningly towards Mustang, cutting the old man off. "Do not speak of such filth to me," she snarled. "You are not to speak his name, he betrayed our order and in doing so he has made an eternal enemy of my blade."

Alek took a step away from her, taken aback by her sudden animosity. Mustang simply laughed and put his arm around his shoulder. "Listen lad, worry naught about her. She is prone to irrational outbursts. It be the curse of all women and the agony of men." Hyuit glared at them both but said no more. "Now Valin was the finest trainer in Madrigal, vagrants would come from all across Roika to seek out his knowledge and his blessing in becoming a mercernary. But he was weary lad, all the slaughter, all the killing, it began to fester and rot in his mind. One day he just snapped, he began to kill all the vagrants that came to him for training. Was a dark day me boy. People refused to believe it. Those who can't be named wouldn't let it happen, they said, so they still went by the droves for his instruction. Hundreds died by his hand," Mustang sighed sadly. "T'was a dark day for the kingdom."

Alek's blood ran cold. "He killed them all?"

Hyuit's eyes were icy. "He didn't just kill them Vagrant," she looked at the ground and kicked at the stone under her feet.

Mustang nodded. "We mercenaries are men of honour lad. That's why it shocked us so much. He didn't just kill the little vagrants, he guilotined them."

"Guilotine is an attack only the most skilled of merecnaries can use. Valin had trained so that his knowledge of it was at its maximum potential. No vagrant could withstand an attack such as that. Not many in the kingdom could." Hyuit let out a long sigh, "He still lives North West of Flaris, near the stream so I suggest you avoid that area. That damn mayor is too scared to send out someone to arrest him, so he spends his days in the encampment fishing for his meals like a common hermit. All that potential wasted." Suddenly she was crying.

Mustang winked at Alek, "Don't take it wrong me boy, Hyuit just hates to see good killers go to waste and Valin was one of the best."

Alek thought long and hard. "Let me prove to you I have what it takes to be a mercenary."

Mustang smiled, his old eyes twinkling. "I will test you Vagrant, but you must give it your heart and soul for it be a long and hard process to go from vagrant to mercenary."

Conviction filled Alek's heart and courage made him feel strong. He bowed before them.   "I'm ready,"