As the veil of night slips over the world, the sun fades with a pink halo, entrusting the sky to the moon. She shines gently, embracing weary travelers in search for their calling.
Among all living things, it was mankind who clung most fiercely to the comfort of light—harvesting it with their inventions, defiant against the encroaching darkness.
It was not heights, or monsters, that scared brave men, but the chilling unknown in the blackness that embraced them.
As Lucian paced through the dim alleys of Aria City, which were only slightly touched by the midnight glow, he silently thanked light for its existence. When light meets substance, it casts a shadow that allows specters like him to drift unseen—eerily mirroring the darkness his ancestors strived to cast away.
He shelved his thoughts and continued on his journey. Not long after, the sickening stench of the slums tickled his nose. Black, disgusting sludge filled the roads, a byproduct of broken sewer pipes depositing their waste onto the streets. It's inhabitants also contributed their fair share to the olfactory nightmare. Unwashed beggars littered the streets, children played in the filth on the dirty roads, and desperate whores reeking of cheap perfume catcalled passers-by.
"Even the grandest cities reek of rot," he muttered quietly, weaving through the festering 'tumor'. "The people call this place the cancer, but they're blind to the real sickness. The nobles perched in their gold-lit towers prey on the poor, hording every coin meant to develop society."
But the gripes of the kingdom were irrelevant to him, as he had a mission to accomplish. Venturing into the outskirts of the city, he continued his search for his target.
'Found it.'
He came to face an outwardly abandoned warehouse that used to store furniture many years ago.
Approaching the compound, he noticed the situation wasn't as it seemed. Despite the darkness, he could see signs of activity. The trails to the building still had faint marks of footsteps, as if erased in a hurry, and one of the doors was left ajar.
'Rookies,' he mused. He donned his hood, concealing his already well-hidden figure further. Only his gleaming silver eyes were visible. Not that it mattered. Anyone who saw them would die.
He deftly climbed a fence encircling the warehouse and perched onto it. He needed to reach the roof and enter the building through a trap door he spotted during his reconnaissance a few days prior.
No guards were securing the perimeter, likely to maintain a facade that it was truly empty.
'This will be their last mistake.'
Lucian knew the truth behind the warehouse. It housed the ringleader of an underground child trafficking group, Grimes, who based his operations here. Grimes was a filthy man. Under the guise of a small-time merchant, he smuggled compromised orphans to equally grimy customers. He sold to nobles, mages, perverts, and anyone who knew of him. But with no muscle, Grimes would have been stomped out long ago. His security came from his ability as a Third Circle mage. Such power was ample to run a small-time racket in the nooks of society.
It didn't matter, though. His objective was to end them all. Mage or not.
Nearing the roof of the building, Lucian scaled the walls. The gaps and cracks in the wall made it easy to climb.
He finally reached the ledge of the roof and swung himself over.
'Alright'
With an unwavering heart, he continued forward. He seemed calm, almost too calm, as if he wasn't going to take on an entire gang with a mage far stronger than him.
He unlatched the trapdoor quietly and flipped it over, looking inside. He could see the entirety of the warehouse from here.
The scene inside the warehouse was completely different from the outside. Two guards trailed a railed pathway that formed a cross shape above the main floor of the warehouse, chatting casually with each other, not minding the commotion underneath them. They were armed with swords and bows, standard equipment for low-level thugs.
*SMACK*
A loud sound captured his attention.
The noise came from below, and Lucian saw a small boy hurtle towards the ground.
*THUD*
The child sobbed as he struggled to get up, helplessness permeating his small, feeble frame. He clutched his cheek in anguish, hoping for respite.
Lucian's eyes didn't linger for too long and observed the rest of the scene.
More gangsters, he counted three, surrounded a group of roughed-up children in rags huddled on the floor. The man who hit the child was part of this group.
"Man, it feels good to let out some stress," he smiled as he spoke to the men next to him.
"You sick bastard, I don't even know why I'm friends with you!" The second crook laughed and let out a response, not seriously repulsed by his friend's behavior—he was much worse.
"Shut ya mouth. Actin' all proper as if ya ain't the biggest scum outta the lot. If it wasn't for the boss's orders, you'd have left some of 'em dead!"
"It's too bad, hehe, if only he let me have my way with a few of them..."
"Hahahaha!"
Tuning their conversation out, Lucian focused on the children. They were in various conditions; the exotic 'merchandise' like beast children in perfect condition while some of the human children were not lucky, clearly injured. The sick crooks were most definitely the culprits—Lucian could see the gleaming satisfaction radiating from their cruel eyes.
He scanned over the warehouse once more, confirming the absence of a certain figure.
'Good. He's not here'
As planned, Grimes was nowhere in sight. He would arrive later, only to find himself ambushed and dead amongst his cronies.
'It's time.'
He activated his mana, feeling the ethereal power churning through his body. His figure seemed to meld into the darkness, as if he were one with it. If he was hidden before, it was as if he didn't exist now.
The guards on the railed pathway were all but clueless as Lucian dropped down the hatch with the silent grace of a cat.
He quickly concealed his figure in the shadows. An efficient assassin waited for the right moment to strike, and he would follow what he was taught.
The wait was not long.
"Hey! Igor, I need to answer nature's call, unless you wanna get drenched." A vulgar remark left the mouth of one of the guards, suited for the kind of lowlife who worked for a man like Grimes.
Igor, the one he alerted, seemed to be more serious than the rest. His face twisted in disgust as he thought, 'Tch...this nasty bastard.' He raised his voice and shouted, "Go ahead, don't take too long. I swear if you do anything other than take a piss, I'll put you on the chopping block myself Johnny!"
"Whatever, you stiff board." Johnny chuckled as he walked off to the stairs that led downstairs to a backdoor exit. He figured he would just piss in the bushes next to it.
'Now.' Lucian moved silently, following Johnny to his destination. It was a bushy outcrop. The perfect place to take a piss. Or to dispose of a body.
"Ahh..." Aware of nothing, Johnny relieved himself, not knowing this would be his last time answering nature.
Lucian wouldn't let this chance go. He purposely waited for this moment; he would strike while his victim's guard was down. He grabbed a spike from his waistbelt in a reverse grip. It was time to secure his first kill.
He lunged forward, grabbed Johnny's mouth from behind, and pulled the latter's head back onto his chest while turning it sideways. Johnny had no chance to alert his comrades, Lucian had shut his mouth so hard it was bruised.
*SHRKK*
Wasting no time, he pulled the spike back toward him, driving it straight into the man's exposed temple, piercing his brain. Blood spurted out everywhere, sullying Lucian's hands and clothes.
"..."
One second, one kill. A life thirty years long was extinguished in an instant.
Johnny didn't have much as a child. No aptitude for magic, no discipline to become a scholar. He took the easy way out and began pickpocketing the unsuspecting. As he grew, the crimes he committed escalated in nature. A few years ago, he caught Grimes' eye because of his craftiness and lack of morals, a perfect fit for this kind of job. He thought that he finally had the chance to make it big in life. He would never have to starve, never lack women, never lack a home.
Unfortunately, karma was a bitch. He had become just another number under Lucian's name.
None of this mattered to our assassin, though. He didn't believe in karma, just in himself. He had slipped diuretics into Johnny's drink at the bar Grimes and his goons were at earlier in the day. Grimes' delay to the warehouse was also orchestrated by Lucian. Luck had no business in his life: he would calculate every variable.
These missions were insignificant compared to his goals. They just happened to be the first steps. If he couldn't finish them, he had no hopes of accomplishing the monumental tasks he set for himself.
Lucian dragged the body to the edge of the outcrop, making sure to leave a trail of blood from the door.
Letting the corpse drop off the edge, he waited expectantly for the next mouse to wander into his trap.
'One down.'
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Please read the author notes below. I want to engage with everyone, but I don't want to buff the word count in the future. It will be my method of communication with all the dear readers. Maybe a discord server down the line. Who knows!