He Who Fights with Monsters, #1
He Who Fights with Monsters
by Shirtaloon
Contents
96. You Don’t Get a Third
Overview
Jason escorts Dean and the collared Jerrick back toward Greenstone, healing villagers and diagnosing Dean’s battlefield panic. In Old City, Thadwick’s thugs confront them; Jason uses shadows to decisively kill the ringleaders, including Dink, while sparing two cowed survivors. The incident, recorded for evidence, signals a direct challenge to Old City’s criminal control and advances Jason’s move against Thadwick.
Summary
Jason treks from the lumber region toward Greenstone with Dean and a suppression-collared, manacled Jerrick, choosing to walk rather than deal with Clementson’s resources. Jerrick twice attempts to escape or attack and is thwarted, discovering Jason’s hidden familiars guarding exits. Along the route, Jason continues healing villagers and pulling notices to neutralize threats.
To build Dean’s competence, Jason takes a contract on pixelax. When the swarm bypasses Dean’s solitary fergax to attack Dean directly, Dean panics. Jason cuts down the frail creatures, identifies fear management as Dean’s core weakness, and promises to arrange suitable Adventure Society assignments if Dean commits to improving.
Near the city, Jason notes widespread Healer church aid, enabling faster travel. Entering Old City, he plans to leave Dean and Jerrick at Dean’s secure family compound while he confronts Thadwick. Passing through a crowded arcade, a dozen iron-rank thugs arrive. Jason gives Dean a recording crystal, offers the thugs a final warning, and singles out prior offenders—including Dink—as beyond second chances.
The thug leader attacks clumsily, but Jason vanishes into shadows and swiftly kills several, targeting Dink and the previously warned men. When one thug tries to flee, the leader reveals a rat-like tail to drag him back and executes him, trying to hold the group together. Jason then descends from above and kills the leader with a dagger through the eye, breaking the rest.
Jason orders the remaining thugs to heal an injured man with his potion and leave, sparing two who comply. Dean approaches with the recording crystal, shaken by how narrowly he avoided sharing the victims’ fate. Jason warns Jerrick that he has had his two chances. Confirming the dead carried Adventure Society badges, Jason notes the Adventure Society will investigate and learns this area is controlled by crime lord Dorgan. He resolves to proceed with the plan: secure Dean with his family and continue settling matters with Thadwick.
Who Appears
- Jason AsanoProtagonist; escorts Dean and Jerrick, helps towns, evaluates Dean, and lethally dismantles Thadwick’s thugs using shadow tactics, sparing two.
- DeanReluctant summoner; panics under swarm pressure, accepts Jason’s guidance, and leads them toward his family compound in Old City.
- JerrickSuppression-collared enforcer; attempts attack and escape early, then observes Jason’s killings and is warned he won’t get another chance.
- Thug leaderIron-rank ringleader with a rat-like tail; rallies the ambush but is killed by Jason’s descending strike.
- DinkThadwick’s thug previously beaten by Jason; among those explicitly denied a third chance and killed early in the fight.
- Thadwick’s thugsDozen iron-rank toughs; ambush Jason, lose several members, two spared after healing an injured ally.