After the man's eerie silence, heavy and rhythmic footsteps echoing on the wooden floor began to be heard. When he spoke, his voice carried a smooth and dangerous calmness that cut through the tension in the room almost like a knife.
"Yes... I see you are still causing my time to be wasted."
Helik, failing miserably to hide the panic on his face, quickly turned to the servant. "Go! Quickly, go upstairs, wake Ulg and call him here. He will have a very important meeting with this gentleman!"
When Kaelith followed Helik's gaze and turned his head to the man, he felt the blood freeze in his veins. The one before him was no ordinary mortal; with his curved, pitch-black horns and the suffocating aura radiating around him, he was a Tiefling. The warning bells in Kaelith's mind had already started ringing. He would recognize that aura anywhere; the smell of shadows and blood... This man was from the Black Lotus. Moreover, judging by the dark pressure pouring from his shoulders, he was an elite enforcer with at least the rank of Lower Lotus.
I took the Black Lotus's last mission in this region, Kaelith thought to himself, trying to keep his breath under control. What is a high-ranking monster like this doing in this dump?
The sound of heavy boots from the upper floor and Ulg's boisterous laughter interrupted his thoughts. "Come here, my old friend, welcome!" roared Ulg, shaking the stairs as he descended, while also yelling at the servants scurrying around. "Why didn't you wake me earlier, you incompetent fools?!"
As the two old friends shook hands firmly and sat at the table without wasting time, Kaelith's mind was torn in two. His inner espionage instinct whispered for him to blend into the shadows and listen to this conversation. However, his survival instinct was screaming at the top of its lungs, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up: Run. Every single drop of blood in his body told him that the moment he gave off the impression of spying here, he would be torn to pieces in a single strike.
To escape the suffocating pressure of the room, he mumbled that he was going out on patrol, trying to make sure his voice didn't tremble, and headed for the door. Just as he was about to cross the threshold and attain his freedom, a hand clamped around his wrist like a steel vise. The Tiefling's grip was so superhuman and ruthless that a cracking sound came from Kaelith's bones. The creature leaned slightly toward him and etched that freezing whisper, which chilled his very soul, directly into his mind:
"Your failure... will be your death."
Kaelith was locked in shock; the air in his lungs had emptied, and he couldn't utter a single word. As if his wrist were burning in hellfire, he quickly wrenched his hand free and threw himself outside, into the coolness of the street.
It had been a long time since he felt death so clearly breathing down his neck. He had just experienced to his very marrow the desperate fear a rabbit feels under the claws of a hunting leopard. That arrogant self-confidence, brought on by bossing around low-level targets for a while, had been shattered to pieces by a single whisper from the Tiefling.
The dark traumas of the past began to scratch at the walls of his mind, and that familiar, suffocating tightness in his chest returned. Desperately, he leaned against the cold stone wall at the corner of the street. He closed his eyes, taking deep, trembling breaths that pierced his lungs, trying to stop his shivering. Only when his heartbeat returned to normal minutes later did his mind emerge from the fog and begin to re-evaluate the situation.
An assassin of at least Lower Lotus rank comes to a random patrol base and targets me directly. But how did he know me? Putting that aside, why would someone so important from the Lotus society come to this rat hole? The game being played here is way out of my league...
Kaelith wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and took another deep breath. So the burden of the mission has been placed on my shoulders. They expect me to make up for my mistakes; I can't mess this up any further. But... ever since my team was wiped out in that massacre three years ago, I've always worked alone. I can't carry this burden by myself. I need to find smart people I can trust by my side again. Like Morwan from yesterday, for instance... He definitely has great potential; his sharp mind could be very useful to me. But how can I convince a man with money and respectable status to come with me on these suicide missions? It's too difficult... I'll have to think about this later.
For now, his most urgent need was someone who would swing their sword without hesitation, but first, he needed to push his own blood magic to its limits and grow stronger. Returning to the Silent Forest, as he did eight years ago, and consuming the souls of the wild creatures there to multiply his power might be a good idea.
However, the map that appeared in his mind quickly killed this idea. Leaving the port and reaching the Silent Forest would take me at least two months. As if getting past the swamps of Tepeköy and the bandits of Yeşilvadi wasn't enough, I'll also have to cross the Cursed Mountains. Moreover, if I find a team, how will I convince them to take this hellish journey? Damn it! Why does getting stronger always have to seem so impossible?
The other possibility was to travel the ports and participate in dangerous mercenary missions or bloody arenas. He could upgrade his equipment with the gold and rare loot he earned there. Perhaps, through this, he would find the strength to reach the Free City of Marituma, where one of the six major bases of the Black Lotus was located. Thanks to the power vacuum there, the guild had grown incredibly; it was the only place where he could find answers to his questions.
But I don't have a penny to my name. I need a ship to go to Marituma, and gold for the ship... It looks like the first order of business is signing up for a well-paying mission.
Kaelith directed his steps toward the busiest and most active area of the port. As he walked, the sharp smell of iodine filling his nose and the salty wind hitting his face dispersed the gloom inside him, even if just for a moment. The cries of the seagulls hovering above and the rhythmic sound of the waves crashing against the shore were like heralds of the chaos he was about to dive into.
As he approached the heart of the port, the silence of the sea gave way to the noise of humanity. He plunged into that lively, sweat-scented chaos created by merchants praising their wares at the top of their lungs, blacksmiths bringing their hammers down rhythmically on their anvils, and masters sharpening damaged swords. His eyes roamed through this crowd like a hunter, and he finally found the silhouette he was looking for in a shaded corner behind the stalls: the Black Lotus's local quest provider.
When the man saw Kaelith, not a single muscle in his face twitched; it was as if he were carved from stone.
"A repetition of your last failure is absolutely out of the question," the man said, practically emphasizing every single word. "We are using this delivery mission to test whether you will continue to live within the organization. Etch this into your mind and do not disappoint our expectations."
Then, he handed Kaelith a heavy, pitch-black wooden box he pulled from under the counter. The moment Kaelith took the box between his palms, he felt the dark energy of an intense protection spell coursing through the surface of the wood like veins at his fingertips. The tingling sensation spread up to his arms; this was definitely no ordinary cargo.
"Alright," Kaelith said, staring intently at the man. He had managed to completely hide the trembling in his voice. "Where should I take this?"
After the man scanned the surroundings and made sure no one was listening, he replied in almost a whisper:
"You will infiltrate the ship of Kuluzswka of Norsvald. A pennant embroidered with a star and spear flutters on the ship's mainmast. The rest... is entirely up to you and your skills."
Kaelith was well aware that this wooden box was the collateral for his own life. He didn't ask questions; he didn't object. Hiding the box within the folds of his cloak, he turned his face back toward the sea. He quickened his pace, scanning the masts on the docks, hoping to find the pennant embroidered with the star and spear waving on the horizon...