Chapter 128: Joe Joe
An older looking man sat ontop of a boulder in the middle of nowhere, the dust that covered his clothes were the only indication that he had been there for a few days.
He had short black hair and bandages on his wrists, his body looked twenty years younger than his face did, suggesting he had trained for years.
He sat in a lotus position and meditated for days, this man was known as Joe Joe. He was a nomad that was looked down on by the nobles until he eventually accepted what he was.
He also had a separate occupation that nobody knew about except the top elites of the world.
He carried a swim rapier with him everywhere he went. He was known to have unshakable focus, being able to meditate or cultivate for days on end without needing food or water.
He had sat on this boulder for about twelve days now, in the middle of a vast space with no trees or rivers, he had neither food nor water with him, but he wasn’t bothered.
He heard the flapping sound of wings in the distance and opened his left eye momentarily as the sound usually meant there was an important message for him.
’A message? I haven’t received one of those in a while, I wonder who it could be from.’ He mused as he unwinded his legs slowly and cracked his neck.
A beautiful black raven perched on his shoulder, attacked to its leg was a small piece of paper with a ribbon tied around it. On the end of the ribbon was the Ironfell seal, so the man already knew who the letter was from.
’Haha, what does that old bastard require now, I hope it’s something worthwhile.’ The man chuckled as a memory flashed in his head.
He and Alaric were long time friends and business partners, at least that was how he saw it, they had been on a couple of missions together until Alaric decided to retire to the duties and responsibilities that came with being high born.
Since Joe Joe wasn’t high born, he decided to wander the world for a little more time, a little more time quickly became a lot more time.
It got to the point where he no longer had any perception of time, he just simply wandered aimlessly, finding work wherever he could.
Now it seemed that his old friend needed his help again.
The letter read:
_ _ _
Hello there, my old friend.
How are you? I trust you’re doing well.
I am sending you this letter to request for your service(s), for old time’s sake.
I am currently in the .....
I will wait four days, if I have received no word from you, then I will know that you have declined this plea. As such I won’t disturb you any longer.
P.S: Just know you’ll be paid handsomely.
_ _ _
The location was encrypted, which was understandable as putting the location so freely might compromise their location and put them in danger.
Joe Joe quickly deciphered the location and found out Alaric and the rest of the Elder Covenant were currently in a place called Mount Apa.
It would take him exactly three days to reach the place from where he was so he decided not to send a letter of acknowledgment and just go to the place directly.
Of course he was going, he hadn’t seen his friend a score, plus he was in real need of money, and now that he had broken his medication, his stomach had started growling furiously. He had to eat something, and fast.
The Elder Covenant was a secret organization, but they allowed people in their private space only for serious situations, and whatever could make Alaric send him a message after so many years of not seeing or talking to each other, was definitely serious.
He pulled out his rapier and drew a cross on the sand, then sniffed it. This was his way of knowing what direction to go in, he had become so much of a nomad in his later years that he no longer required a traditional compass to move around.
He pointed towards the right. "We go east!" He exclaimed before he stared moving against the current of the wind.
Joe Joe was something of an investigator/hitman. Even though he hadn’t killed in ages, he still honed his skills to their maximum capacity, he was very hard to surprise and was insanely durable.
In his later years, he would only take surveillance job as he was in a possession of an artifact that made it easy for him to slip past practically anything.
In a few days he would find out exactly which of his skills Alaric required, he was also excited because he hadn’t even fought in a while, real opponents.
Not drunk knights or arrogant farmers, he made easy work of those.
He wasn’t a conquest seeker, but he was in desperate need of a duel as he felt as though his skills were waning.
In the distance he couldn’t really see much, just a haze of mist and particles of dust floating around in the air.
He quickly threw his rapier in the air and leaped on top of it. This was his mode of transportation and the only one that was even acceptable to him, horses weren’t nearly as fast. Carriages were too fancy, and for as long as he had been alive, he never longed for a fancy life, he only wanted to be free.
No matter how broke or hungry he was, he found joy in knowing that he wasn’t confined to the rules of the world, he preferred living without rules, he despised rules, especially the ones that were imposed forcefully, he had been arrested quite a number of times for breaking rules wherever he went.
But they could not hold him for long as he always found a way to escape captivity. Due to the speed of his flight, he cut through the mist and dust easily as he moved towards Mount Apa.