My Shadow Monarch's System
Chapter 33: A Rivals Shadow.

Chapter 33: A Rivals Shadow.

Beyond the streets of Oldwickers, past the alleys and the shades where beggars abode themselves, past the forests and into the kingdom of Vryanthia. A certain noble gazed across the kingdom from where he stood, from the top of his castle.

"What a delight... This world" he took a deep healthy breath, his red hair flowing with the wind.

"It’s so clean, so pure, the people here. So easy to use" he chuckled. He brimmed with excitement, the anticipation, and addiction to power he felt was astonishing.

"I could use all of them, and still get to greater heights. Unlike on earth where I was a mere tool to be used" he cursed. He hated remembering his days as an assassin, he felt liberated here, it gave him joy, ecstasy.

He took a sip of wine and twirled the cup around, the rich taste wasn’t something he could ever get used to.

A knock came from the door of his abode.

"Come in" he straightened himself with inept composure.

"Lord Kane..."the guard bowed his head to the floor in respect. Kane nodded with a grin, he couldn’t get tired of this, being worshiped by the common folk.

"A messenger from The Arcanum Order!" He reported.

"Bring him in" Kane commanded, finally he had some news, of late he had been bored to death with talks of politics and the state of the kingdom, all that nonsense never satiated him. He needed something more thrilling, with more purpose.

He had found it. The cult of Erevos...

A shady looking man with a hood above his head slowly walked into the Kane’s quarters, his arms were old and cracked, sun burned even. But Kane knew that was simply a disguise.

He knew who he was, the man that had been sent to give him news whenever something important happened. The only problem was the man changed forms every damn time he came to visit. Although it made Kane want to look forward to it, at some point it got tiring.

"Is this your new form today, Alan?" Kane jested.

Alan closed the door and raised a finger, the air currents around the room suddenly stopped, as though held in place by an unknown force, then it solidified making a space where sound could not leave the room.

"To the god. Erevos"

"To the god. Erevos"

They said after one another, Alan took off his cloak and revealed the face of a young man with silver hair falling to his shoulders, a sharp jawline with silver eyes and a gentle smile. In other words, he looked nothing of what he truly was.

"I see you’re not impressed with my disguise today..."

"I never am Alan, talk to me, what brings you here..." Kane inquired. In as much as he enjoyed the thrill from being in the cult, he didn’t associate himself with the much. He simply saw no need to.

What was the point? He would still use them to attain his goal of godhood. That was his goal, it had been his goal since he was reincarnated into this world. Ever since he met that deity in the abyss...

"Well there’s trouble, I thought I might let you know" Alan said.

"Okay... Speak already".

"Scar has been killed, his entire team wiped out completely, do you know what that means?" Alan asked.

Kane shook his head, seemingly bothered by the news. He knew Scar was strong, not strong enough to be a threat but strong enough for common folk and adventurers.

"It means someone is aware of the cult and intends to bring us down. Rumor has it that the entire battle occured at an underground cavern. Scar was targeted and wiped out, we’re unsure if he let anything out about the cult" Alan said with a matter of urgency feeling quite bothered, but Kane chuckled.

"It’s fine, Alan, don’t be flustered. Scar only knew the things that he should have known. Not more than he was supposed to" Kane replied...

Alan cocked his head to the side, "How so?".

"It’s simply, really, Scar was a tool to be used, a loose end that we had to cut off eventually. It was a simple matter of telling him I am a core member of the cult and he is too. So if anyone bothers him more than necessary, he could use my name" he answered.

Alan looked a bit thoughtful. "But that would put you at risk".

"Hehe. That’s exactly what I want. Let them come looking, it’s better to kill them that way" he grinned wickedly.

Finally, things were getting exciting.

"What’s the killer’s name? Are there any traces or witnesses?" Kane asked.

"Well. There was a description, but that’s about it. Nothing else is known about the man. His origin, whereabouts, and his skill set. Just the beggars of Oldwickers that had seen and described him".

" A tall young man with long black hair and a cloak to obscure his face. He has no name, no background and no allies".

"Hmmm. Was there anything particular about him? The way he spoke or the manner in which he walked?" Kane pushed, hoping to get some answers to work with.

Alan looked thoughtful, his face lighting up. "Aah yes, there was one distinct thing that the beggars noticed about him. He made no sounds when he walked".

"So he’s probably an assassin I’m guessing" Alan concluded.

Kane felt a shiver run down his spine. That word! He hated that word. His mood instantly got sour, the image of a certain man flashing through his mind, he left enough scars on him to last a lifetime.

"An assassin..." He gritted his teeth.

Alan looked a bit startled, "It’s just an assassin, Kane".

Kane glanced at Alan, rage leaking through him.

"Just an Assassin?" Kane countered. "You think he’s just an assassin?" The temperature in the room suddenly rose, the fire surrounded Kane as a spirit appeared behind him.

An imposing figure made of fire, folding its hands behind Kane.

"Ifrit..." Alan staggered back, immediately undoing the spell he had cast earlier on. Alan was a mage from The Arcanum Order. The society of mages and qualified mana users. And Kane was one of them, being born with a talent for magic and compatibility with fire.

Kane had managed to bound the king of Fire spirits to himself, Ifrit.

"Calm down, Kane, you’ll burn your damn castle!" Alan shouted.

"No! You shut up. Tell the cult I’ll deal with this damn Assassin myself" he replied with simmering anger. The flames had begun to settle down, the image of Ifrit had dispersed into nothingness.

"Aahh whatever Kane" Alan sighed and created an illusion around himself, making him look much older than he truly was, he bent over slightly to impersonate the illusion.

"Contact me when you can Kane. The cult expects great things from you" Alan said.

Kane blinked and Alan wasn’t there anymore. But he was already enraged, he had thought of his Master back on Earth.

Shadow, the king of Assassins.

***

Shadow strode through the streets of the Capitol, Liora a few paces behind him, she looked distracted again, looking at the market stalls and the things they sold.

Shadow smiled gently at her then looked at the sack in his right hand, it felt a bit heavier than he had hoped for, but he couldn’t really let anyone hold on to this sack, especially after what they had gone through.

Shadow was still unstable and bothered by what Liora had told him. He was heading to the Silver Blade guild, but he couldn’t stop the thoughts from flooding his mind.

He remembered the cold permeating him through his defense, before the ice had covered him whole, he tried to make a vacuum and completely covered himself with shadow energy, he wasn’t sure if he could do it, but he didn’t have enough mana to turn himself into a Shadow.

It had been a gamble on his life. He was out of choices, but it worked out.

What he didn’t expect was for Scar to kill himself alongside everyone else in the cavern. Shadow barely managed to make it out alive from all of that, he had tried his best.

While he escaped being crushed to a pile of mush by the falling pieces of ice, Liora wasn’t so lucky, without thinking he had rushed over to her and carried her by her waist. Putting her on his shoulder and running as fast as his body would let him.

They had managed to reach the beginning of the tunnel, where they had both come in from. The ice was way less over there. Shadow had dropped her down on the ground, she seemed exhausted, barely breathing, to be honest.

But she had said a name that he never expected to hear again, a name that brought back pain and betrayal. A pain that made him regret why he had even bothered taking on a disciple.

Raphael Kane.

His student, who had given the final shot to Shadow before his death. Shadow had decided not to think much about it right now and focused on Liora.

He knew nothing about magic, instead, he ravaged through her clothing, looking for a potion or two. He found it and poured the potion into her mouth.

Soon after, her eyes fluttered open, she seemed confused and asked what had happened. Shadow explained it all to her while she took another potion to restore her magic reserves and heal both herself and Shadow simultaneously.

Thereafter, Shadow had gone back and retrieved something from the depths of the cave. After that, they climbed out of the cavern. Shadow told Liora to hide herself, not wanting others to notice her and put her in danger.

After getting into the Capitol, they had both been at ease.

"We’re close by..." Liora said from behind him.

"Hmm" Shadow nodded.

He had some serious questions to ask the man who had given them this mission, this was in no way a mission to give a novice in the slightest.

They walked through the entrance of the Silver Blade guild, into the bar and saw the same man on the counter.

It was evening by now, the sun had begun setting and Shadow was extremely exhausted.

Meeting eyes with the man, the man seemed quite surprised at the arrival of both Shadow and Liora.

I knew it.

"Shadow threw the sack to the ground, making whatever was inside roll out to the floor of the bar...

The head of Scar rolled out from the bag, frozen solid and drawing gasps from everyone in the room.

"Tell me, why exactly would you give two novices the mission of killing one of the most dangerous rogues in the forest ?" He demanded, stepping forward.

The barkeep chuckled deeply, he slammed his fists to the table and laughed out loud, he seemed unbothered by Shadow’s little farce. Instead, he poured wine into two massive cups, filling them to the brim.

"Come, we have much to talk about. I have nothing to hide from you, you have proven yourself and made it back alive" he shouted.

"Ban!" The barkeep shouted, a young boy jumped a bit surprised and ran to the barkeep.

"Get some whores and a room from this man to rest in tonight" he grinned and looked at Shadow.

Shadow had no choice but to smile, the barkeep certainly knew how to get a man to calm down.