He was finally ready to go outside, but he needed to hide his wounds. He put on a long jacket to cover the injury on his abdomen and wore a top hat to conceal the wound on his hand. For the cut on his hand, he simply tucked it into his pocket.
With that, he left the apartment and saw a short hallway. On his left were apartments in a row. On his right was a long balcony. One could see the whole city from here.
The city looked, at first glance, impressively put together.
Riven's skyline was a forest of tall glass-paned chimneys, glowing faintly amber from within, humming in low, steady tones rather than belching smoke the way Shin had expected. Dozens of them, scattered across the rooftops like a second, dimmer constellation. The air didn't smell of coal. It smelled of hot metal and something faintly mineral. Industrial, but cleaner.
It took a longer look to understand that the cleanliness only went so deep. The main avenue was paved with the pale, seamless stone, water sliding off it through channels too small to see. But it was clear, almost immediately, that Riven was a poor city and had not received much attention from its governors. The stone here was cracked in places, patched unevenly, the amber glow from the Thermal Core chimneys noticeably dim. Riven was a city that had been given just enough to function and nothing more — the kind of place a government remembers exists only when something there becomes a problem.
He didn't have time to think too hard about it. He found the stairwell at the end of the hallway and made his way down, finally stepping out into the streets proper.
The crowd swallowed him almost instantly. People moved past him in both directions — labourers in plain, dark Commonwear with rolled sleeves and reinforced cuffs, a woman haggling loudly over the price of bread in Spans, a vendor further down calling out prices for something Shin couldn't see over the heads of the crowd. Their voices overlapped into a wall of noise too dense to separate into individual sentences.
The smell of hot metal lingered under everything, and strangely, it tugged at something in him. It reminded him of home, though he couldn't have said exactly why.
But it was the small golden spheres that caught his attention next. They drifted above the crowd in ones and twos, no larger than a fist, weaving between people, pausing at doorways, ducking into a window above a shopfront, darting off down a side street. Courier wisps were small contracted constructs that ran errands and carried messages faster than any runner could. Shin actually stopped walking for a second, certain his eyes were tricking him. They weren't.
Everywhere he looked, people carried small devices he didn't have a name for yet — instruments that hummed faintly against a coat pocket, things clipped to a lapel that pulsed with soft inner light, a man at a stall adjusting something on his wrist. None of it looked foreign to the people using it. All of it looked like it belonged completely to a world Shin had no place in.
He pushed the thought aside. He had an address to find, and he could already read the signs above the shopfronts without strain — the knowledge simply sat there, available, the way it had been since he'd woken up in this body. He followed the street names without needing to ask anyone, weaving past a pair of Ironfoot soldiers stationed outside a building with the Cogguard's insignia bolted above the door, their plated armour catching the amber light dully as they watched the crowd without watching anyone in particular.
A few more turns brought him to the address exactly where Justin had said it would be.
The change was immediate. The noise of the main avenue fell away almost entirely behind him, replaced by a narrower, dimmer street where the gold-amber glow from the central district didn't reach. The Lux fixtures here were older, their light unevenly spaced and starting to flicker at the edges. It was far quieter.
This was exactly the kind of place where trouble liked to wait.
Shin identified the building. A dark, wooded 4-story building. The windows were all closed, and nothing could be seen inside except pitch blackness.
It looks dangerous…I am having doubts; well, I already died once, one more time won't make a difference.
With that, Shin headed inside. As expected, the entire building was empty and awfully quiet.
There were only a few lamps hanging on the walls that generated the bare amount of light. Shin walked through the darkness and found the stairs.
Each step he took up the wooden stairs made a creaking sound that reverberated through the entire building.
Shin walked up to the 3rd floor and stood in front of room 102.
It was a worn-out wooden door that looked like it hadn't been cleaned since the age of dinosaurs,
Shin pressed the doorbell and waited, but no one came. After a few moments, he pressed again, and once again no one came out.
The third time, he pressed and said, "Hello? Anyone in there? I am here for urgent treatment"
Then, the door clicked and slightly opened. An old man with round glasses and a mask on peeked through the gap. The old man gave off this creepy vibe that Shin couldn't quite put his finger on. Especially the old man's eyes looked very hollow.
"Urgent treatment, you say? You are not a regular customer. How did you hear about this place?"
Asked the old man. He was very suspicious of Shin.
Shin gave a calm smile and gently opened his jacket and showed his serious wound. "I am not sure if I can afford to answer your silly questions. You are a doctor, and I am a patient; that's all you need to know"
Shin's voice was calm and strangely formal. Shin was giving off this mysterious aura.
After seeing the wound, the old man instantly realised Shin was in a dire state. He thought for a second before opening the door completely and saying, "Come in"
Shin respectfully walked in. The room was dimly lit and mostly dark. A patient bed stood in the middle of the room. Alongside were tables with many surgical tools on them. The room was also filled with medicine carefully placed on shelves.
Somehow, despite being a child inside, Shin could understand the purpose of each tool and medicine. And just by looking at them, he became suspicious.
The old doctor gestured for him to lie on the bed. Shin, despite his suspicions, decided to play along.
Without wasting any time, the doctor immediately began to tend to his wounds. He carefully bandaged all the wounds and stopped the bleeding.
Around 30 minutes later,
Knock! Knock!
Someone knocked on the door. The doctor became cautious.
He approached the door and said loudly, "I am busy right now. I won't be taking any more patients today. Leave!"
Silence
The person on the other side didn't say anything. But suddenly
Smash!
The door broke and came flying and hit the doctor, and smashed him against the wall behind with all the books and the doctor's utensils.
Shin, on the other hand, remained lying down on the bed with his eyes closed. The thing is, he had lost a lot of blood. His body was in extremely weak shape. He barely managed to keep himself conscious out of fear that the old doctor might try anything suspicious. But he never expected this outcome.
He considered different possible actions he could take, but his best option was to try to run away. But his instincts told him that whoever was about to walk in was very strong. Trying to run would be futile.
But strangely, he didn't sense any danger. He couldn't sense any harmful intent. So he just decided to play dead.
Step! Step!
Footsteps echoed as a man walked in. he looked to be in his forties, with deep dark hair and eye colour. He wore a near-black coat, falling to the ankle in a clean, unbroken line. Beneath it, a charcoal frock coat over a matching waistcoat, white shirt, iron-grey cravat tied without a single concession to comfort. No ornamentation anywhere except a small disc of dark metal on his left lapel, engraved with concentric rings. His shoes were the most polished thing about him. He carried nothing.
The old man came out beneath the rubble of books and surgical tools. He was unscathed.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU, BASTARD!?"
He screamed angrily.
The man with the grey coat took out a badge from his coat. He said in a deep voice, "Gerd from the 2nd Ashen cell. You are under arrest for the crime of illegal human trafficking and assisting terrorists in forbidden rituals"
The old man looked utterly shocked upon hearing the name 'Gerd'. He clicked his tongue.
"Gerd…" he said the cop's name in frustration. "Why the hell are you in this town, you F#ck!"
"It seems you know of me; that makes it easier. You should know resistance is futile."
The old man muttered under his breath, "Rosel, you scumbag, how dare he set me up like this…"
He turned his attention to the man named Gerd, and he had a look of serious caution.
Then suddenly, the doctor laughed a bitter laugh. He said, "Hah, I never thought I would have to fight a Lorebound. That damn Rosel outdid himself this time. I didn't know the higher-ups had the luxury to spend an entire Ashen cell on a pathetic place like this"
He raised his hand and pointed it at Gerd like a gun.
"Gale", he whispered like a spell.
Immediately, the air in the room began to act weirdly. The air was flowing around like a tornado, making everything in the room shake. Then the air surrounded the doctor's pointed hand and gushed towards Gerd like a beam of air. It was fast and dangerous. Even if it was just air, the speed of it was like that of a pressurised water gun.
But Gerd was completely unfazed.
Before the pressurised beam of air could hit him, a girl walked past him and stood in front of the beam. She too looked unfazed. She came so fast that it was like in the blink of an eye.
Her deep void-black eyes and long black hair gave her a rather pretty but serious appearance. She looked slightly older than Shin, maybe two or 3 years. She wore a high-collared blouse in dried-blood burgundy, buttoned to the throat, beneath a dark oxblood leather corset-bodice laced with metal eyelets. Her forearms were wrapped in fitted leather bracers. A fine dark chain ran from her right wrist to the handle of a small, worn suitcase in her left hand. Below, what read at a distance as a dark floor-length dress was, on closer inspection, a split skirt over close-fitted trousers tucked into flat-buckled ankle boots. No heel.
She raised her right arm and swung it to her right and boom. The beam of air was banished. As if she had slapped it out of existence. The air gently moved her hair as it disappeared into nothing.
Then another person walked past Gerd. It was a young boy. He too looked to be around the same age as the girl. His facial features were a bit cute for his age. He wore a teal-grey collarless linen shirt beneath a dark leather waistcoat buckled down the centre, its front panels visibly occupied — the faint outlines of vials and instrument cases pressing against the fabric from inside. Over it, a long charcoal wool coat, knee-length. Dark trousers tucked into brown laced boots. A belt at the hip carried a flat instrument case on one side, two vial holders on the other. Thin round wire-framed spectacles sat slightly low on his nose.
He, too, raised his hand and closed his eyes, focusing with intense concentration. In that moment, the world shifted for him. He could see the nervous systems of everyone in the room, their electric signals glowing and pulsing beneath the skin. Each pathway was laid bare before his mind's eye, every impulse as vivid as lightning. Fixing his attention on the doctor, he unleashed a barrage of neural signals so dense and swift that, if visible, they would have resembled a torrent of blue sparks surging through the doctor's body.
This clogged the doctor's nervous system, and he collapsed on the ground. Everyone else in the room didn't see the rapid fire of signals; this all happened inside the boy's mind.
The doctor's now-fallen body began to shiver uncontrollably as if he had a fever. He couldn't speak, couldn't move. It was hard to tell if he could even hear anything.
What's going on? I can't move. My body feels numb. Damn it, damn it, damn it. What did I do wrong? I can't get captured like this. I still need to finish my masterpiece…
He was panicking in his mind. But it led to nothing.
The girl stepped forward, lifting the suitcase that was chained securely to her left wrist. It resembled a demon-sealing box more than any ordinary case, its gaping mouth sealed with thick, black resin that oozed at the seams, giving it a sinister, unnatural appearance.
The suitcase swung open. The moment it did, it revealed a horrifying scene. The suitcase had a monstrous mouth with sharp teeth the size of a human arm. It was moving like it wanted to devour everyone in sight. Constantly squirming and lunging forward. Its saliva slowly dripped on the floor.
The girl whispered "Slaire" like a spell, and green vine-like tentacles came out of the monster's mouth and bound the doctor.
"Ek! Get away! Get away from me!t" The doctor finally managed to scream, but it was to no use. The tentacles dragged him towards the mouth painfully slowly. The monster suitcase gave a wide, creepy grin at the doctor. It kept on licking its teeth.
"AHHHH!" the doctor screamed, but nothing could stop this monster. The suitcase enlarged itself and ate the doctor in one bite and swallowed him.
The girl whispered, "Seal," and the suitcase quickly returned to its original state.
"Good job as always, Riana", said Gerd. Riana smiled and patted the suitcase as if it was a pet.
What the hell was that?! These people are strong and Crazy!. I can't do anything against them, even if my body were in good condition. I have seen vampires using powers, but seeing humans using supernatural powers is a first!
Shin was strangely excited at what had just happened. He didn't break his act of playing unconscious at all. But he was beginning to fall asleep from the blood loss.
Gerd's eyes fell on Shin. He said to the boy, "Kane, go take a look at him"
"Yes, sir." Kane approached Shin and examined his body. "his pulse is weak, but he is still breathing. Looks like that old quack did some surgery on him. I think he is one of the victims"
When Riana laid her eyes on Shin, she immediately recognised him. She said a little shyly, "Isn't he the boy from that missing report from a week ago? I think his name is 'Arthur Leonor. Riana was rather fearless in battle, but once the fight was over, she was much more like a young maiden.
Kane gave Shin another look. "Yeah, he does look like him, but he looks much more pale and skinny than the photos."
"Quit gossiping; you can identify him after you have cured him. Right now he is a civilian in need of our help. We must ensure his safety. Riana, take him back to our office and put him under medical care as soon as possible." Gerd turned to Kane. "Kane, I can sense a lot of people nearby,". He closed his eyes as if he was concentrating.
Then, in Gerd's mind, an invisible wave travelled in all directions from his body. He could sense the gravitational pull of every single atom in the room and beyond.
Within seconds, a fine-resolution 3D map of the entire building formed in his mind.
He pointed towards a table lamp. Kane moved towards it and began to examine it. He then rotated it and…
CLICK!
It made a sound almost like a key unlocking a lock. Then the wall near Kane began to slide into itself and reveal a secret room.
The entrance was completely dark. Kane didn't hesitate. He entered the room carefully and clapped his hands. The room instantly lit up and revealed a very cosy room with polished furniture, accessories, and a big yellow bed.
But none of it was cosy to Kane. Because the furniture was covered in blood. The accessories were all broken into pieces, and the bed…
There were two people on top of it. One man and one woman. Both of them had their mouths and eyes tied, and they were bleeding from their entire body. Not entirely, but from a specific line that traced along their body. A line traced, made from sewing. These people were stitched into the bed alive.
Besides them was a chair. And on that chair sat a woman wearing a simple gown. Her body was unnaturally straight. Her face was facing upwards so extremely that her neck was on the verge of breaking. She wasn't looking at God. But rather, the devil forced her into what she had become. From directly beneath the chair, a thick round pipe stood straight. It had gone beyond the base of the chair and pierced the woman's anus, and after going through her entire body, the pipe was out of her mouth.
The woman was alive. She was squirming. Crying silently and suffering. Who knows for how long. Her hands were tied. She was basically helpless. From around the bed to the walls, there were many people who were nailed to the wall. The whole scene looked like it was from a horror movie. But alas, it was reality. A terrifying reality. kane's expression flinched in disgust, anger, and sorrow. But he quickly masked it with a poker face.
"Sick ba*tard"
Meanwhile…
Riana went out and brought a few more police officers with clothing different from theirs and began to move Shin. Gerds eyes were inspecting Shin like a hawk. He whispered, "Arthur Leonor"