The stars peeked and the surroundings turned velvet as half the Sun hid under the horizon—
Clang Clang Clang
The repetitive rhythm signaled Cael reaching his destination. There was no light coming from the shack, but behind it glowed a harsh orange, and that was where the noise came from. Cael walked past the door, entered the alleyway, and jumped over the fence separating the workshop from the street.
Gorran, witnessing this, couldn't believe his eyes and stared at the Hero with his jaw wide open, his rhythm interrupted.
"What the hell? Who invited you here?" Gorran put his hammer down and stood to face the intruder.
"I'm a paying customer. You told me to come back later." The helmeted man closed the remaining distance between them and answered in a calm tone. "What? You're not done yet?"
"What ar—Argh, forget it. You nobles are shitty as always." Almost about to explode in curses, he remembered who he was talking to and let it go, clearly unsatisfied and annoyed. "I just finished them."
"I'll take them from you then." Stretching an open hand, the Hero seemed reproachful and in a hurry.
"I made the white mask as simple as possible and made sure it would fit under that helmet of yours. I don't know about the comfort though."
"I'll live." He went through worse.
Gorran opened a small chest, took out the white mask, and gave it to Cael.
"Try it on."
Cael held the mask in his hand and stared at it for a moment. It was as simple as a mask could be. None of the Heroes depicted by the Church hid their faces, some even choosing to never wear a helmet. Ridiculous. What Gorran said about nobles loving their faces was too true, at least Arlen was never that foolish.
Cael took off his helmet, revealing his face to Gorran.
"You look like hell." His face twisted in disgust as he stepped away.
"I slept too well." His answer was met with an eyebrow raise, "…And I encountered Av—Blight."
"…You were unlucky. But at least you're alive." A dark expression washed over Gorran's face as he understood what happened. "She isn't a bad kid. She's just… grieving."
"I know." Cael flipped the mask in his hand and stuck it on his face. "How's the concealment?"
"I made it weaker like you asked, so I can see your clothes and hair. Your skin is the only thing concealed." Gorran inspected Cael as if inspecting one of his creations to ensure its quality.
"Good. Show me the other one." Satisfied he put the helmet into his bag and waited for the rest of his items.
"Well… it broke while I was shaping it, so I melted one of your golden coins and fixed it with that. You paid me too much." Gorran took out the second mask from the same chest and handed it to the masked man.
"You're giving me a broken item?" Cael stared at the pitch-black mask with the golden streaks running all through it. It was more complex than the white one, sensing more magic coming from it.
"I figured you wouldn't care about that one's look. I forged it with my strongest concealment, and it even has gold on it. I thought you would like that if anything, noble man." Gorran narrowed his eyes as he sensed doubt from the Hero.
Cael met his gaze and held it. "Can I take the chest?"
Gorran closed his eyes and turned to get the chest. "You won't test it or the gloves?"
"If he trusts your work, I trust it too." Talking about himself in the third person felt odd to Cael, but it's something he could use to his advantage.
Gorran paused, eyes widening at the mention of trust.
"He trusted my work? I would've been fooled if he wasn't always wrecking my work and complaining about me being a useless blacksmith." Contradicting his words, a small smile appeared on his face as he handed the chest to Cael. "You can store both masks and gloves here."
Cael took it and shoved it inside the already full bag. "Thank you. I'll be on my way."
"Yeah, yeah, just don't come here again if you value your life." That wasn't a threat from him but a warning.
"You know who I am. And you could guess what the black mask is for." Cael didn't wait for an answer and turned to leave the same way he came.
"She isn't your usual kind of enemy." He warned again.
Cael paused, back still turned to Gorran, his golden hair flapping with the wind as the moonlight hit and its radiant glow got even more pronounced.
"And I'm not my usual self."
He jumped over the fence without making a sound and disappeared from Gorran's sight.
"For a bunch of hardasses, nobles don't like entering through doors…" Remembering something unpleasant, he poured water on the raging fire to quell it and got inside his shack.
***
The moon was bright tonight, the darkness not as deep as it was in the Slums. A man walked through the capital, his face covered with a white mask and his skin not fully clear.
Yet it was undeniably the Hero. His hair shone as bright as the moonlight, his clothes were classy even with mud on his shoes, his posture and walking cadence those of a knight that had fought a thousand winning battles.
However, he just left the Slums. A place unfit for the Hero in all his glory, it is an insult to even mention it in front of him. And he was in that place for an entire day according to a myriad of witnesses.
Two knights who were patrolling around the Cathedral took notice of the passing legend and approached him to ask about his reason for visiting that disgusting place.
"Sir Lightbearer. Greetings!" As soon as the Hero acknowledged their existence, they stood firm and saluted him.
"Is there an issue?" His hoarse voice made a chill run down their spines. They heard that the Hero had changed and that his face and voice were affected by a curse of the Worldwound, but they never expected it to be this dire.
"W-we heard that you went to the Slums, sir Hero."
"A-and as you know, it isn't allowed for the Hero to visit those rats." They scrambled to explain themselves.
"I went there to fulfill a will. If that's all, I'm taking my leave." His patience was being tested, so he turned to continue on his way.
"B-but it isn–"
"You would want the Hero to break his word?" Before the knight could finish his sentence, the Hero's red eyes glared at him.
"T-that's not wha–"
"A Hero's promise is his life. I promised to kill the Worldwound, and I promised my dying companion's last wish." Unable to retort, the two knights looked at each other in panic.
"We did not mean to offend you, sir Hero."
"What did he wish for you to do?" Choosing to back down, they changed the topic.
"It does not concern you." The masked man turned and continued on his way.
In the same manner as before, he walked to his abode.
"That was scary… It's my first time meeting him in person," said the rookie knight to the other.
"Yeah… He is usually cold towards us, but this time he seemed angry."
"He said his companion died. Is he talking about the Slum rat?" Trying to understand who the Hero cared about this much.
"Cael Denvyr… He was a platinum adventurer, so he isn't as useless as the other rats, but yeah, a rat nonetheless." Having served more time, he knew some of the Hero's past.
"He can even care about the rats… I guess that's what makes him the Hero."