Maxwell was very annoyed. He hated it when people acted without honor. Ever since he got to Dawnbell, he was dismayed by how many people acted with such disrespect. It took all his willpower not to lash out at people like that, but occasionally his concentration slipped.

It happened a few nights ago, with the man who decided to attack him from behind, and it happened today with the man yelling at that poor woman. Now that first man was back, and he had the gall to blame HIM for what happened! This “Shawn” person was a real piece of work. And now monsters were interrupting his duel.

Speaking of the duel, Simon seemed to be saying something. The smaller man was talking to him, but Maxwell didn’t pay attention. He had no reason to listen to this disrespectful man. And now he had swords! Weapons weren’t allowed in a duel! He was going to give this man a piece of his mind.

Maxwell turned to yell at Simon, but was surprised to see that he was gone. His eyes raised slightly, and he saw the smaller man running towards the door. What a coward!

Just as Simon reached the door, he grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder, and at the same time thrust his arm downwards. A bolt of lightning shot from his arm, and propelled him upwards, above the pit and onto the stands that were now full of screaming people and monsters.

Monsters? Oh right, there were monsters coming towards him. Maxwell turned back to face the hole in the side of the building. The giant frog monster was just sitting there picking its nose lazily, and the Shawn-person looked like he was relaxing on top of it, laying on his stomach and kicking his feet in the air.

A large pack of the dog things were advancing slowly towards Maxwell, snarling, and snapping their jaws at him. Maxwell was upset, but he laughed regardless.

“Ahahahahaha! You don’t even have the guts to fight me yourself, you COWARD!”

Shawn grinned, “Oh I have guts, it’s just that I’m sure yours look much better, which is why I plan on watching them get pulled out.”

“You think a couple of dogs can kill me?! My fists will break through them, and then I will take care of you, you monster!”

As he said that, Shawn’s inhuman arm snapped its fingers, and the monsters rushed at Maxwell. He smiled and ran his hand back over his hair. He brought his arm back, and shot it forwards to meet the monster at the front of the pack.

The sound of bone crunching could be distinctly heard as the mechanical fist collided with the monster’s skull. The monster whimpered as it skipped across the ground. It twitched for a moment, and then began to dissolve into black smoke.

Maxwell was about to laugh, but it quickly turned into a cry of pain as claws ripped into the back of his leg. He spun around and faced another of the monsters. It snarled at him and licked its now blood-covered claws.

Maxwell wound up for another punch, and was about to let loose, when something came whizzing towards him. He lurched backwards, and narrowly avoided a volley of razor-sharp needles. His head whipped to the right, and he saw another monster, this one with its back arched in his direction.

He went to punch the newest monster, but then he had to dodge as another monster leapt at him. He sidestepped and was able to land a blow on the jumping beast, but it was a weaker punch. All it did was push the creature off course. The monster tumbled to the ground, but then got back up and began to circle him. In fact, all the monsters that were in the pit had begun circling him.

Maxwell spun back and forth, trying to keep his eyes on as many as possible. He tried to look for an opening, an opportunity to land a blow on one of them, but it was no good. It was obvious that the moment he let his guard down to attack, another one would attack him. What could he do? Was this a problem he couldn’t solve? Was this the end of Maxwell?!

“Hey asshole! What the hell are you doing?!”

Maxwell’s eyes moved upwards. Simon was staring down at him with a disapproving look. He shook his head and launched a bolt of lightning at a monster that was about to leap at one of the people in the stands.

While Maxwell's gaze was averted, one of the monsters tried to jump on him. He was able to see it just in time, and brought his arm up to block. The monster’s jaws clanged off the sides of his metal arm, and Maxwell swung his fist to send the beast flying. Unfortunately, it got back up and joined the other circling creatures.

“Why would you distract me like that!? You want to kill me, don’t you!”

“Shut up! You didn’t hear a word I said earlier, did you?”

“I have no time to listen to the likes of you!”

“Well listen now! There are too many people here who can’t defend themselves. I told you to help me get these people out, then we can fight the Ratdogs together!”

“What are you going on about!?”

“Ratdogs are pack fighters! The best way to fight them in large groups is with a group of your own, but I don’t want to focus on that when there are people in danger damn it!”

Maxwell was very confused. What was he going on about? This immoral man wanted to… save people? And what was that about these “Ratdog” things? Did Simon think that he couldn’t handle them on his own? Were these the actions of an immoral man, or something else? Maxwell began questioning his actions, which is a bad thing to do when you are being circled by monsters.

A collection of fangs sank into his shoulder. Blood soaked into his shirt as he reached and grabbed the Ratdog. He pressed his fingers into its neck and felt a satisfying snap, and the monster dissolved.

He ran his fingers over the wound, and his shirt. The shirt wasn’t ruined, but it was a little bloody. The wound was less salvageable. It wasn’t debilitating, but it still hurt like hell. He had taken down two monsters, but it had been at the cost of a wound each. If he tried to fight the seven or so that remained, what would be the cost?

* * *

Lucy was completely oblivious to what was happening to Simon at the moment. She was sitting in a café, sipping on a cup of coffee, and trying to make sense of her father’s journal. It was as though most of the chapters were written in other languages, or written with some kind of code. And as for the parts she could read, they weren’t very helpful. She sighed and slid the book back into her bag. She had finally cleared her head.

She had been fuming after the fight with Simon, but now she was calm. This had happened a few times, with the same exact argument. They always made up afterwards, but it was still frustrating. They had come to an understanding over and over, but still fought for some reason.

She knew why they fought. They were stressed. Lucy had never traveled before, and Simon had never traveled with somebody else before. Also, spending too much time with one person could be grating on a person’s mind, no matter how good friends you are. Maybe if they had a third person to act as a buffer once and a while…

Oh well. They would figure something out. Maybe she should try and find Simon now, and they could actually buy the things they came to Dawnbell to get. She wondered if he realized that she had all the money? Probably. Knowing Simon, he probably went to buy food before walking away dejectedly.

She left a few coins on the table and began wandering down the street, whistling a small tune to herself. Dawnbell’s structure of platforms and ramps was strange, but she got used to it after a while. She got to the area where she had last seen Simon, and noticed a crowd of people pointing at a building in the distance.

She pushed through the people and gazed at the structure. It was hard to see from this far away, but there was smoke coming from it. She looked around and noticed the woman who sold Simon a runestone looking at the building as well. She grabbed the woman’s shoulder.

“Hey, you, what’s going on over there?”

“Oh, hello miss! There was a duel going on over there in the arena building, but now it seems something bad is happening.”

“A duel?”

“Yes, it’s a law. And disputes between men are solved with a duel. I thought you would know, considering the man you were with was one of them.”

“…What?”

“Yes, apparently he was…”

Lucy stopped listening at that point as she looked at the building. It looked like people were escaping from it. What the hell had Simon gotten himself into?