In the very heart of the Stonebourne region, Stonebourne City, a certain agent was waiting for someone in a dark alley.
"Up here." Someone said in the language of the central region
There was a young man on a street lamp, squatting on its top whilst holding a stack of papers.
"Done already?" The agent asked in the same language
"I might be new but it was not a hard task, Delta." The young man said, tossing the papers to Agent Delta
"I underestimated your sneakiness, Immoriens. Hand over the intel and return to base." Agent Delta said
"Don't you want backup? Going into the Stonebourne underworld alone isn't a good idea." Immoriens said
"The rookie is warning me? How fast they grow up— it feels like only yesterday did you stumble in the Capital's underworld and ended up fighting a whole criminal gang and running away from it after almost being cut in two." Delta said, chuckling
"Hey— you should've seen the guys I did take down! And I lived! Would you?" Immoriens asked
"Probably. But then again I am a higher rank. If I were still an expert, I would've died. So should you by the way— but then again that's why we call you the undying. Lucky bastard—" Delta said with a hint of a jealousy
"Sounds cool until you realise you call me that because I bring mortal danger wherever I go… maybe I should seek spiritual cleansing or something. They sell it at a church here." Immoriens said with a chuckle
"Go and put it under operation expenses. If anyone asks, it's to ensure team survival." Delta said
"Ha ha. Now go." Immoriens said deadpan, shooing him away
As Delta took his leave, Immoriens vanished from the lamp post, leaving only a faint breeze in his wake.
Agent Delta, wearing a black cloak in the dead of night walked to an unassuming building in a residential zone of the city. Inside the building, tavern, there was a large man guarding an even larger black iron door.
"Good trades are founded with strong roots." Delta said to the large man in Stonebournese, the language of the Stonebourne region
He nodded and opened the door.
Following a winding spiral staircase, Delta finally entered the underworld of Stonebourne City. An area made for illegal activities. An area that was not regulated, taxed or controlled. The only rule was to avoid attracting attention.
This was the only common sign plastered all over the place. And every time Delta saw it, he could not help but think one thing.
'What does it mean by attention? The higher nobility already knows about it, so it's within their scope and therefore has attention. Does attention mean doing something which would make them act?'
He moved through the buildings, taverns and through the streets with his eyes half open. Instead what he focused on was his essence. An elite was connected to the world so he could feel the malice and intent of those around him if he focused hard enough.
Eventually he reached his destination. Before he could even knock however, the door opened and masked men and women welcomed him into a dark circular hall dimly lit by lanterns on the edges.
"Welcome Special Agent Delta. We are pleased to see how quickly your associate procured the documents." They all said in unison in Stonebournese
They had crow-like masks and black cloaks, standing together in formation like puppets in the middle of the room.
"How do you know it was not I who procured them?" Delta asked in the same language
"We have been watching. Your associate is fast, young in both age and experience. But he is sloppy. He did not sense our gaze. You must train him better." They said smugly
"Can we complete our transaction?" Delta said seriously
"He is not your subordinate. We know all the deltas. Who is he?" They asked
"That is Special Agent Immoriens. A rookie member of the special operatives." Delta said
"A rookie? Made Special Agent? He is special then! We like special. They are more fun to hunt." They said with a giggle
"You cannot hunt Immoriens. Now give me what I came for." Delta said, angered
"You are no fun." They said as one of them pulled open their cloak and took out a folder.
Delta exchanged the folder for the stack of papers.
"Why do you need the guard routes of the Coast Temples anyway? Those places are fortresses." They asked
"That is not your concern. I am taking my leave." Delta said walking toward the exit
Delta left with the folder and went back to the headquarters of the special operations in Stonebourne. A building in the underworld.
As he entered, Delta One and Delta Two were on guard.
"Captain!" They greeted him
"At ease agents. Tell the Major we have the information we need. Also request for reinforcements from the Delta reserve squad. Immoriens might be in trouble." Delta said
"The rookie?" Delta One asked
"'The rookie' outranks you so mind yourself. The crows are interested in him and if they begin to hunt him… they won't stop." Delta said sternly
"Yes captain. Right away." Delta One said, going immediately
Meanwhile Immoriens was prowling the night. He leapt across buildings as he found a beacon of light.
'A church.' He thought as he landed on its steps and walked in
The doors were always open to the people so Immoriens walked in freely.
As he walked in however, the doors shut behind him and all the torches were extinguished. All but one.
A man in a crow mask and cloak stood on top of the altar holding a torch.
"You must be Immoriens." The man said in Stonebournese
Immoriens gave up on using his sight and expanded his essence zone.
'Twelve. Thirteen including the altar guy. Their essence is about at a rank 4 but their intent, they don't have one. It's like someone is controlling them. If there is a puppet master… how? Can I seal this place with essence and cut the connection?' Immoriens thought as he analysed the situation.
In an instant the church was engulfed by wind essence and it was sealed from the world. The essence was so hard that even a rank 4 would need plenty of time to crack it.
Immoriens looked at his sealed opponents and realised one thing.
'They're afraid. It seems they were controlled and whoever controlled them suppressed their fear and made them obedient puppets who felt nothing. They're just a bunch of cowards— but still they are the same rank as me. How?' Immoriens thought as he looked through them
They were vulnerable and so Immoriens wasted no time.
Step after step, he flashed through them like a phantom and knocked them all out.
'A disgrace to the rank of expert.' He thought in disdain as he knocked the last one out with a chop to the neck
Immoriens turned to the door and undid the seal. As he did, the unconscious bodies of the experts rose up again.
"The hell—" Immoriens thought aloud in Centralese, the language of the central region
He looked at them once more
'They're unconscious. But they're moving— someone is controlling them using what? Essence? Say they're puppets— then there must be strings. Strings of essence. If I can't sense them… then the puppet master is literally a master!? If so, can't the master just make me a puppet? Is there a requirement… like being scared!' Immoriens thought
With his preliminary thoughts, he ran out of the church and avoided another encounter with the puppets. He was fast. Faster than any mundane human could track. Not even most awakened could easily track him— but the puppet master could.
So he ran and ran. Faster than he ever did and faster than he knew he could. But still, the puppets were always on his trail. Dawn arrived, and the puppets were still on his trail.
'Can they just leave me alone— is the puppet master going to keep hunting me forever!?' Immoriens thought
Eventually though, as the sun creeped over the horizon, the puppets seemed to lessen. And then altogether vanish.
'They gave up? What am I missing… the sun? Is the sun affecting the essence? But how— if the sun is fire then… the puppet master is a water user and the fine essence strings evaporate!' Immoriens concluded
With the chase now being over… at least temporarily, Immoriens returned to headquarters where more delta agents were gathered.
"Special Agent Immoriens!?" Delta Five asked in Stonebournese
Delta Five was a woman in her late twenties with a well built figure, in a black cloak and hood.
"Where's Delta? I've just been chased around the city all night by some crow people who I think are controlled by a water master." Immoriens said
"You survived the crow hunt!? He truly is the undying! Delta is sleeping right now but Agents Delta Seven to Delta eleven are here to support you." Delta Five said
"It's fine, those puppets won't be able to catch me. But if the master shows up… even I might not escape that. Has the Major given the new orders?" Immoriens asked
"He is still finalising details but for now Delta Seven to Eleven will form a second squad which you will command. Special Agent Delta will take the main squad consisting of Delta One to Delta Six. The two squads will hit the coastal temples at the same time and get the information from the books." Delta five explained
"Alright. I'm going to sleep then- wake me if you see crows or if the mission starts. Has The Capital sent me any messages?" Immoriens asked
"Not that we know of. But before you go… we have a question, sir." Delta five said
"Sure? What's your question?" Immoriens asked
"How old are you?" She asked
"Take a guess. I'm an expert, survived a death zone and its lesser spirit and underwent constant training and evaluations before being assigned the special agent role." Immoriens said
"Forgive us. You just seemed so young— but clearly you are a veteran and our direct superior." Delta five said with a bow
"… at ease..?" Immoriens said as he moved onto the personal quarters and found a bed to crash in
As he slept, he dreamt of cloaked figures. He was in the royal palace down the winding halls. As he turned his head, he saw a cloaked figure wearing a mask. A crow mask. As he saw another when he turned his head the other way. When he turned back, there were two crows where once there was one. Not wanting to stick around he ran. He ran down the halls and over the crows— but the halls were filled with them.
Too many of them.
'Oh hell—' Immoriens thought as he broke through the palace wall
As he did, a shadow engulfed the entire Capital. A sea of darkness descended upon him. Millions upon millions of puppets covered the sky in their dark outfits. There was no escape. There was only death. So he died.
The special operations headquarters shook violently, cracking the area around it as massive amounts of essence surged and floated around in despair.
The door to Immoriens' personal quarters flew open as several Delta Agents flooded in.
"IMMORIENS WAKE UP!" Delta one shouted as he tried to resist the overwhelming amount of bewildered essence
Immoriens who was laying in a shattered bed snapped his eyes open and with a gasp sat up like he just rose from the dead.
Immoriens breathed heavily as he felt the world around him. His own wind essence was going wild. Several Agents surrounded him, cloaked agents.
"CROWS—" Immoriens shouted confused as another shockwave of essence sent all Delta agents crashing into the walls.
The building was cracking under the force of the Special Agent.
"S-nap out of i-it Immoriens…" Delta Two said between shallow breaths
All Agents could barely breathe now, their lungs were under so much pressure they could barely breathe.
"They are not your enemies." A voice resounded in Immoriens' head
Immoriens was blind to all cues. Deaf to all guidance. All he knew was that he was in danger and that his essence was trying to protect him. So he looked among the cloaked people and willed his essence to become wind blades aimed at their hearts.
"Give your master my regards." Immoriens said as he extended his arm forward, sending the swords forth.
The swords flew forward, piercing a wall of stone.
"What is the meaning of this, Immoriens!"
Immoriens looked at the stone wall with confusion.
"What… am I doing? No… I need to kill the crows…" Immoriens thought aloud
"We are not the crows." Special Agent Delta said
"Liar. LIARS ALL. I will not be killed. I will slaughter every last one of you if I need to live!" Immoriens shouted as he exerted influence on whirlwind
The plunged swords were now enchanted by whirlwind and began to drill through the stone
Delta shot forward a spear of enduring stone that would tear through Immoriens like a javelin shot from a cannon.
Immoriens however was a phantom. Stepping from one place to another, he vanished across different spots before appearing behind Delta. Whirlwind and enduring stone clashed against each other in the form of sword and shield but the clash was not long lived. Delta was an elite, after all.
Delta's stone shield destroyed the careful balance of Immoriens' sword.
With his sword gone, Immoriens was shield-bashed and sent flying backward.
Before he could even land on the ground however, he had vanished once more.
"Look around you, Immoriens. You are not surrounded by crows. The only danger here… is you." Delta said calmly
Immoriens who had moved to the ceiling, looked down.
No crow masks. No strings. Only people. People who were apparently… not the crows.
Immoriens snapped his fingers and the swords vanished. Then he dropped from the ceiling and controlled his breathing, finally controlling his essence.
The building finally stopped shaking and the cracks at last stopped expanding. The Delta Agents could finally breathe but they were on the ground, exhausted from resisting the force of Immoriens' essence.
"What the hell happened, Immoriens?" Delta asked
"… I dreamt— no. I had a nightmare that I was being hunted. Only that there were millions of Crows— and they killed me…" Immoriens said
"And your essence tried to protect you from a threat that didn't really exist. I mean the crows do exist but they are not here." Delta said
"Yeah… sorry everyone. I kinda… lost it there." Immoriens said awkwardly
"Ugh— how long does he need to stay here? I want him to leave already…" Delta Three said with a groan
Immoriens looked at the ground, his cheeks and ears turning red.
"Go call for a medical team Immoriens. And then find the Major and do not leave his side until we get final approval from him." Delta said with a sigh
"Right…" Immoriens said as he left
It was not until three days later however, when he returned with orders from the Major.
Immoriens walked into Delta's office whilst avoiding looks from the Delta Agents.
"Do you want the short version or the long one?" Immoriens asked
"What's the short version?" Delta asked
"We go at dusk." Immoriens replied
"And the long version?" Delta asked out of curiosity
"If we don't go at Dusk a leak will arrive before us, tell them we are coming and completely screw our operation." Immoriens replied
"Oh." Delta said
"The orders… are to kill the leak if we can. But the priority remains to infiltrate with the knowledge we have of their patrol routes and gaps." Immoriens said
"Alright. I patched things up with Deltas Seven through Eleven so things shouldn't be too bad… I think. They will follow orders— and that's what matters. But one thing, Immoriens. If you lose your sh*t again and end up killing one of my agents, I don't care who supports you. I will kill you." Delta said with absolute conviction
Immoriens nodded as he looked him in the eye and then left to prepare. There was little time to spare.