I stumbled back into the reeking, pink-misted lab behind Dorin and his men, my shoulders shaking with a calculated tremor. I pointed a trembling finger toward the cooling bodies of Gary and the others.
"The clan... they just stormed in, Gary was talking about his son, and then... Anastasia... they're all dead. I tried to stop them, I tried…"
I sobbed, the sound of Zenni's voice cracking perfectly with simulated grief, I mimicked it in perfection.
I let out a ragged, fake cry, burying my face in my hands. Dorin stopped in his tracks. The hardened captain softened for a fleeting moment, placing a heavy, calloused hand on my head.
"Easy, kid, you did more than anyone expected. You stood your ground when veterans would have bolted. Gary and Anastasia... they died for the Guild, but you ensured their last batch didn't fall into the hands of those Eastern scavengers. Their families will be taken care of. You have my word."
The guilt on his face was real. He felt responsible for the late arrival of the reinforcements. It was a perfect layer of protection for me, he wouldn't dream of questioning the traumatized survivor who had just lost his mentors.
But the moment of sentimentality was short-lived. Dorin snapped back into commander mode, glancing at the grate above where the first faint, grey light of dawn was beginning to bleed into the sewer.
"Keep moving, people! The sun is about to rise. If the Knights or the City Guard catch us hauling crates of Dust through the streets in broad daylight, Oksana will flay us alive before the Council even gets a chance to hang us. Move!"
The guards grunted as they hoisted the three crates with the cost of 27 gold coins of Lotus Dust onto their shoulders. They moved with frantic efficiency, desperate to disappear before the city woke up. I followed closely behind Dorin, my head bowed, hiding the cold, predatory gleam in my eye.
As we climbed the iron rungs of a hidden exit leading into a private warehouse district, I watched the crates go. Those vials were my ticket into the Emerald Spire. Oksana wouldn't just be frayed by the sunrise, she was about to find out that the most dangerous thing in Sisiphon wasn't the City Guard or a rival clan. It was the newbie walking right behind her favorite captain.
After we hauled the crates back, we returned to the meth lab were the massacre occured, I saw Anastasia severed head, largely reminded me of Miera's head, then they burned the place down, leaving no trace of evidence, that is the dangerous sight of a life in a drug trafficking area.
The orange glow of the fire licked at the sewer walls as we retreated, the remaining chemicals in the lab igniting into a thick, toxic smoke that would mask our exit. As we emerged into the cool, pre-dawn air of a secluded warehouse, Dorin finally slowed his pace. He turned to me, his brow furrowed in genuine confusion.
"Anyway, Zenni, how did you defeat an entire squad of the Eastern Clan inside that lab? You're just a kid, a first-year student in the Sisiphon Magic Academy."
I knew I couldn't hide my combat effectiveness forever. To be a prodigy, I had to show him a glimpse of the power that had saved the shipment. I reached down and made a small, precise prick on my thumb. A single droplet of crimson rose, but instead of falling, it hovered. Under my mental command, it expanded and solidified, forming a perfect, razor-edged cube of hardened blood that floated above my palm like a dark ruby.
Dorin froze. His eyes went wide, and he actually stumbled back a step, nearly tripping over a crate.
"Blood manipulation… And you... you've mastered it? Normally, someone who tries to wield blood magic is dead within a year. They can't even maintain a steady flow, let alone create a geometric construct with that much density. Most would die of blood loss just trying to make a needle!"
He looked at the cube, then back at my face, searching for the "Zenni" he thought he knew.
"You're a prodigy, kid, I'm a former mentor from the Sisiphon Magic Academy, and never in my life have I encountered someone with your affinity. I bet you're a top student at your school, aren't you? A hidden genius playing the part of a dealer?"
I gave a slow, humble nod, maintaining the facade of a gifted student forced into the underworld by circumstance. It was the perfect cover, a prodigy gave me an excuse for my reflexes and strange magic without me having to reveal I was a Rynd.
"Incredible, a Blood-Prodigy in our ranks. If Oksana hears about this, she won't just give you a reward, she'll make you her personal apprentice. We need a Grand Alchemist with your kind of control."
He signaled for the guards to move the crates toward a hidden lift that led into the heights of the Emerald Spire.
"Forget the barracks, a talent like yours doesn't sleep in the gutter. You're coming with me to the High Tier. We're going to present this shipment and you, to the Lady of the Lotus herself."
As we exited the sewers, a wagon full of lotus dust was present, it was broad daylight, and they are needed to be delivered to their headquarters right away, that carriage was 27 gold worth, it can even repay my trench coat and my mask.
Not only that I realized that i was sensitive to sunlight, the first rays of the desert sun hit the stone like a physical blow. To a human, it was a warm morning, to an bounty hunter with my specific biology, it felt like liquid fire pouring onto my skin. I flinched back into the cool, damp shadows of the sewer exit, my breath hitching. The rags I had taken from Zenni were shredded from the skirmish, offering zero protection against the ultraviolet sting.
If I stepped out now, I would literally go up in smoke.
Dorin paused, looking back at me as the other guards marched toward the waiting carriages.
"Kid, why did you stop? The sun's up. It's time to move."
My mind raced. I couldn't tell him the sun was my executioner. I had to pivot back to the student persona immediately.
"Dorin, Can you give me a cloak? I... I need to get to class, and I can't walk through the Academy gates looking like I just crawled out of a slaughterhouse."
Dorin let out a short, bark-like laugh, his eyes softening with pride.
"Study first, eh? That's the spirit that'll get you out of the gutters, Zenni."
He reached into his belt and tossed a small, heavy pouch that jingled with silver. Then, he unbuckled his own heavy, high-collared captain's cloak, a thick, sand-colored garment made of heavy weave designed to block the desert heat. He threw it through the air toward me.
"Here. Dress up and get to class, I sense a bright future for you, kid. A blood-prodigy and a scholar? You're going to be a titan in this city."
I caught the cloak and wrapped it tightly around me, pulling the deep hood over my head until I was shrouded in cool, protective darkness. The stinging on my skin faded instantly.
"Meet us at the Emerald Spire tonight, It's the HQ in the Southern District. Don't be late, Oksana doesn't like to be kept waiting. And keep up with those studies!"
The carriages rattled away, leaving me alone in the shadows of the warehouse district.
I looked at the silver in my hand and the heavy cloak on my shoulders. I was supposed to be a student at the Sisiphon Academy. If I wanted to maintain this cover, I actually had to go there. If the Guild checked Zenni's records and found he hadn't shown up for class after such a heroic night, they might get suspicious.
Besides, the Academy was the best place to find information on the Lotus Flower, and perhaps find out exactly where my sister, the Offspring Goddess, was being kept.
"I instantly knew where my big brother whereabouts, now I need to know about Elicia, I didn't heard her since last month."