“He fucking exploded,” Kyle said.
“I didn’t say you should say fucking!” Theodor shouted in Kyle’s ear.
Kyle didn’t answer.
“Exploded?” Samson asked.
“Yeah, he exploded while he was on my shoulder. Was crazy hot. Not in the sexual kind, of course. I’m talking more about the my-bones-were-black kind.”
Samson looked at Kyle with some skepticism.
That was quite an unbelievable story.
As Samson looked at Kyle, he recognized some mannerisms.
This really seemed to be Kyle.
“How did you get so good at Sandspeak?” he asked.
“Dunno. Just came to me after the trial. I overheard some people talking in the city, and it just made sense,” Kyle explained.
Samson scratched his chin with a frown. “If your mind was enhanced, that would make sense.”
“What about the hammer?” Samson asked.
“I stole that from their armory. It’s great. I love this hammer!” Kyle answered.
“Can I take a look?” Samson asked.
“Sure, go ahead,” Kyle said, handing the hammer to Samson.
As soon as the hammer entered Samson’s hands, his entire body almost fell forward.
He grabbed it with both hands and lifted it with some difficulty.
“That’s quite heavy,” he said, throwing a glance at Kyle.
How did Kyle lift this hammer with one hand?
As he inspected the hammer, his eyebrows rose.
“This is not cheap,” he said.
“Of course not!” Theodor shouted in Kyle’s mind. “Only I can make them! Mining weapons are a marvelous invention by the greatest Peak Master Artificer who has ever lived!”
Kyle decided not to repeat these words out loud.
“This hammer is a good start to repaying your debt,” Samson said.
Kyle’s eyes widened. “Eh, I kind of need that.”
“Yeah, well, you’ve been gone for over two weeks, and everyone’s been worried sick. Nervon is still out there searching for you. He’s certain that you are not dead,” Samson said.
“Nervon is searching for me?” Kyle asked.
Samson nodded heavily. “He said that he refuses to believe that you died. He said you have the potential of a warrior. You managed to kill Old Betty. He is sure that you are still alive somewhere.”
Kyle looked down at the table.
“I’m… sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know.”
“Be honest with me,” Samson said. “Is there something you didn’t tell me?”
Kyle took a deep breath.
“Yes, I was out and about for a couple of days after escaping,” Kyle admitted. “I saw a huge fish in a big lake to the south of here. Fucker ate me, but I just ate it back.”
“Took me a couple of days to eat it.”
Samson narrowed his eyes at Kyle. “I thought that something like this happened.”
Kyle didn’t answer.
“You advanced another level, and something like that doesn’t happen when you undergo a ritual.”
Kyle looked to the side. “Sorry. I was hungry.”
Samson slowly stood up and walked around the table.
Then, he roughly shoved Kyle’s hammer to his chest.
“Vacation’s over. I expect you to work overtime,” Samson said.
Kyle carried his hammer. “Thank you! I’m sorry!”
Samson just sighed.
Then, he put his hand on Kyle’s shoulder.
“You worried us. We thought you died,” he said with a worried tone.
“I’m sorry,” Kyle answered.
The next moment, Samson pulled out a small blue orb.
Kyle remembered this orb.
This orb would activate Kyle’s bracelet and give him tremendous pain.
For a while, Samson just looked at it.
“You know, during the two weeks you were missing, I could have used this orb. I don’t think you were outside its influence.”
“But I didn’t.”
“When a prisoner escapes, their responsible person is supposed to activate that orb to contain them.”
Samson sighed again.
“Why didn’t you?” Kyle asked.
“Because I was convinced that you wouldn’t escape,” Samson said. “I was sure that you wouldn’t renege on your debt.”
Kyle felt guilty.
Yes, he didn’t do anything wrong, but it still felt bad to worry his friends and colleagues.
The next moment, Samson put the orb into Kyle’s hand.
“You are a full member of my Hunter Hall now,” he said. “You could have run away, but you didn’t. You came back of your own free will.”
“You knew that I could have alerted the guards and that you would go back to prison.”
“And yet, you came back,” Samson said. “I don’t need some device to leash you.”
Kyle looked at the orb in his hands.
This was a sign of trust.
Samson trusted him.
Kyle grabbed the orb tightly and took a deep breath.
Then, he nodded at Samson with a look filled with conviction.
“I will repay my debt! You saved me from prison! You saved my life! You gave me a second chance!”
“I will not disappoint you again!” Kyle shouted.
Samson put his hand on Kyle’s shoulder again.
“I know,” he said in an encouraging tone.
“Come! Let’s tell the others,” Samson said with a smile.
Kyle smiled back and nodded.
The two of them walked back to the hall, and the hunters looked at Kyle expectantly.
Did this client have a job for them?
When Kyle didn’t say anything, Samson roughly shoved him forward.
The others were taken aback when they saw that.
“Eh, yeah,” Kyle said. “You might not recognize me. I kind of look different, but…”
“I’m Kyle,” he said.
The next moment, one question after the other was thrown at him.
Fennek was mostly interested in Kyle’s new body.
He could tell that Kyle had undergone a ritual, and he wanted to know what happened.
Tarren was skeptical, but Samson just nodded, confirming that Kyle was Kyle.
Later, Tarren threw some strict words at Kyle.
He was angry and relieved that Kyle was back.
Fennek just kept asking about Kyle’s new powers.
After about an hour of talking, the door opened.
Nervon walked in with his shield and mace.
When he saw that everyone except Lancel was still there, he raised a brow.
“We got a customer?” he asked, looking at Kyle.
Tarren just sighed loudly.
“I owe you five beers,” he said.
Nervon’s eyes brightened.
He knew what that meant.
Tarren just gestured to Kyle.
“He looks different, but, yep, sure is him.”
“You wouldn’t believe what happened to him.”
Nervon looked at Kyle with surprise.
Then, his eyes narrowed, and he approached Kyle.
BANG!
Nervon hit Kyle in the gut.
Nervon’s eyes widened when Kyle didn’t fall over.
Kyle’s body was surprisingly hard.
“Oh, ouch,” Kyle said, noticing that he should act injured.
Nervon narrowed his eyes again.
“That one doesn’t count,” he said.
In a fluid motion, Nervon pulled out his shield and rammed it into Kyle’s torso.
BANG!
Kyle was flung backward and landed on his ass.
Nervon was slower than him, but the movements had been so fluid and practiced that Kyle hadn’t seen them coming.
Kyle had to cough a bit as he recovered.
Meanwhile, Nervon just put his shield back.
“Training starts tomorrow!”
Then, he wordlessly left the Hunter Hall.
“Would you look at that,” Tarren said with a rare smile. “Our big rock has a soft side.”
“That was his soft side?” Kyle asked.
“Yep,” Tarren answered.