Ch23. A shadow over everything

I found that a bit annoying, to not be able to stop even for dinner, but I approached Roderick, and Evellyn came right behind me.

"What is it?" We asked, almost at the same time.

Roderick raised a brow, but acted like ignoring his own thought, and spoke right away.

"You two need to come with me, now. We found something that only Eve might be able to figure out, and you might want to see it, too, Kurt. After that, we can call it a day, and solve everything that we need for you to join the Shadow Guild. Also, you can sleep here from tonight on."

I didn't know what to say for a moment, the memories of my past life resurfacing and making me feel as if I just received an act of kindness from a stranger.

Which Roderick seemed to notice, because he quickly retorted.

"You didn't think I would let a fellow wielder, and a strong one, at that, without a roof over their head, did you?"

I smiled, but kept quiet and just followed him.

I didn't want him to notice any more of my emotions.

We took the same elevator to go up, but this ride was much more silent than the previous, and I wondered what was so important, that required both me, and Evellyn.

But Rodrick seemed a bit on the edge, so I asked about another topic that, undoubtedly, concerned me.

"And what about Quintus's death?"

"Chief Leblanc refused to believe what his eyes saw, so, after I told him about Quintus's strange demeanor in the last few days, and how he tried to kill you and came here to contend with me, wrecking havoc all over my guild, and if it weren't for you, we would be in a pretty worse shape than we already are... Well, let's say that we agreed to tell the monitoring division that I killed Quintus after he didn't accept to solve whatever business he had unfinished reasonably. And it'll stay at that. Is that good enough, young man?"

I looked at him and smiled, quietly.

It was more than good enough.

He told me he got my back, and delivered what he promised with interest.

So I was determined to pay it back, also, with interest, one day.

And with that thought in mind, we arrived at the lobby again.

Quintus' corpse was still there, and the man from before, whom Rodrick had called chief Leblanc, seemed to be expecting us.

"Welcome back, and I'm sorry by my rudeness from earlier. I didn't know I was in the presence of such illustrious consultant."

He said all that while looking at Evellyn, which made me think.

But I kept my thoughts to myself, and just looked at Leblanc, solemnly ignoring me while speaking.

"I went through Quintus's body, and found something that has been quite the topic around the association, lately, and might... Explain why he was acting so... Off."

He, then, took something out of his pocket, and gave it to Evellyn.

But chief Leblanc looked like he wanted to stay between me and Evellyn.

As though he didn't want me to see it.

So I cloaked myself and got behind Evellyn in one step, uncloaking my [SHADOW WALK] after I was close enough to see her hands, elevating my presence just enough for him to notice where I was, before reappearing.

He staggered a few steps back, muttering "What the hell!", as I smiled.

I looked at Evellyn, and she was deadly quiet.

Even her breath seemed to have stopped.

Then I looked at her hands, and noticed a guild badge within them.

A badge that I never saw in any book before.

It was a black sun crowned with thorns, and two hands holding it in their palms.

I wanted to ask what guild it was from, but I felt just from Rodrick's gaze, that I had to remain silent for a bit longer.

And after a few more minutes, Evellyn suddenly came back to her senses.

She staggered backwards, almost falling to her knees, but I held her firmly.

She gasped when she felt my touch.

"What? Weren't you...?"

"What happened? What's that badge?"

"That's not the right question. The first question you should be doing is why did Quintus have not just one, nor two, but three guild badges on him?"

"I don't mean to disrespect you, chief, but for the chief of the association's monitoring division, you surely seem to not know shit..."

Rodrick's tone felt like a joke, but I did feel the same.

I'm sure the people in the monitoring division were meant to know more.

After all, they were the ones who kept the wielders at bay.

Weren't they?

Leblanc snorted at Roderick's question, and Evellyn spoke in his stead.

"It's the New Dawn guild's badge... They're..."

"They call themselves the harbingers of the Pure ones." Leblanc followed. "It's just a hoax, no one has ever seen them in action, even though rumor has it that, from time to time, some regulars die by their hands."

"And let me guess, you never found a single body, nor a clue that could lead to that guild, yes?"

My question was greeted by another one of chief leblanc's snorts, but it was easy to see through him now, after what he just said about the rumor, and what the guild represented.

"I think it wraps things up, right? How about we call it a night, have dinner, and go to sleep? We have business to attend to tomorrow, right, old man?"

"I guess you're right. I think we have enough on our plates and none on our bellies, and I'm starving!" And with a polite smile that showed incredibly white teeth, Rodrick turned to chief Leblanc and said. "How about it? We call it a night and wrap it up from here?"

"Yeah, whatever. Just keep one thing in mind..." He looked accusingly at me. "Keep your new freak on a leash, or else we will."

He asked for it.

When he finished his sentence, I released a very threatening portion of my power towards him, just so he could feel it, and after that, I just tried to make it sound as cute as possible.

"Woof, woof!"

Leblanc jumped backwards and almost armed himself for combat, immediately recomposing himself.

"Freak!"

Then he just dragged Quintus' body out with his telekinesis, and we were left alone, for once.

"So, let's get downstairs and grab some dinner?" Rodrick had a large smile on his face. "Your act just now was priceless!"

Evellyn was laughing, too, but just for a moment.

"Do you mind going ahead? I need to stay with my thoughts for a little bit."

"Sure, but if you take more than five minutes, I'll come find you." Roderick's expression was serious at that answer.

"It won't take that long." Her tone was, somewhat, reassuring.

Then we walked towards the elevator.

"Good thing we're finally going to eat something, old man. I'm starving."

"If you call me old man once more, I'm gonna smack you in the head." And he laughed wholeheartedly.

"You could try." I laughed to, and he wrapped my shoulders with one of his big arms.

Evellyn was left alone with her thoughts.

And I felt like having a family, for the first time in my lives.

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Ch24. Understanding

Evellyn didn't take too long to show up, but she seemed a bit off, after the couple minutes she spent alone above ground.

Rodrick told me to live her a bit on her own, because she always acted like that when she had visions outside her dreams. That she just needed some time to adjust to reality again, so I let her be.

We ate, talked, and Evellyn even laughed a little bit, looking a bit better than before.

Then we went to sleep, and I was even accommodated in one of the full-fledged guild members' rooms.

After I showered, I threw my clothes away, and wore the new ones that Rodrick told me I could use from the wardrobe.

A black shirt that matched my black shorts.

And I knew that tomorrow my look would match my class, because wherever I looked through the wardrobe, all I could see was black.

So I went to bed, and reviewed everything that happened the last few days.

"Am I dreaming...?"

I couldn't believe how strong I felt.

It all felt so surreal, that if I woke up tomorrow in the abandoned building where the black market operated, I wouldn't be surprised.

So I opened the system window to check everything.

NAME: KURT BLAKE

LVL: 15

AGE: 16

CLASS: Rogue

STAMINA: 500/500

HP: 600/600

MP: 500/500

BASIC STATS

Undistributed stat points: 5

Strength: 130 (+10)

Dexterity: 200 (+20)

Agility: 200 (+20)

Perception: 300

Intelligence: 250

Vigor: 200

SKILLS

Steal LVL 10

Invisible hand LVL 10

Prying eyes LVL 10

Shadow walk LVL 10

INVENTORY

***

CONSUMABLES

Full recovery x2

Hidden Nest Key A-rank – Blake's library

EQUIPMENT

Midnight Ballad

Midnight Sisters

Midnight's embrace

***

"Damn... I really am stronger than I was before..."

*knock knock

"Come in, I'm not naked!"

The door opened, and my jaw dropped a little when I saw Evellyn's face inside.

"Still awake?"

"I thought it was Roderick, what're you doing here?"

I didn't mean to sound rude or anything, so I cleared my throat and was ready to correct myself, when she entered, sat down beside me, and smiled awkwardly.

"It's okay, I know you're not that kind of person."

I raised my brow.

"So you know some things about me, yes? Care to share?"

She smiled, but her cheeks reddened.

"I'd have to tell you a few secrets about me first, but today's not the day I do so. However, I'm not here to talk about it tonight."

"What did you come here to talk to me about, then?" I felt like a jerk, but I wanted to sleep.

And something in her felt... Off.

"I want to talk to you about the New Dawn."

"The purist guild that chief Leblanc told us that was nothing but an urban legend?"

"They're real." Evellyn's tone was ominous.

"I know, and I'm pretty sure that the chief is a part of it, too. If not the whole Wielders Association." She widened her eyes at me. "Come on, it's not that hard to catch. Quintus always hated regulars, the chief was trying to arrest, and he 'clearly' tried to use Quintus' death as an excuse."

Evellyn looked at me like I was some interesting piece of an amusement park.

I leaned closer to her, and looked deep in her eyes.

"Are you sure you're okay? You seem a bit... Off."

Evellyn's cheeks got burning red for some reason, and then she backed away from me like I was a bomb or something like that.

"No! I mean... Yes, I'm fine. It's just that... You seem to know many things, but still, you know too little about things..."

"Should I feel offended?" I raised my brow.

It surely wasn't a compliment.

She sighed and got closer again.

"You grasped the basic shape of a bigger conflict, even though I'm not the one who will show you its full picture, yet." She whispered, looking lie a completely different person. "However, even if you became stronger than before, now, you still haven't understood the most basic fundament of real life with this... Ability of yours."

"And what is it?"

I was getting a bit annoyed by her. She appeared to know everything better than me, and even knowing that she would become the Red Oracle, someday, I felt odd when I was... That close to her.

But when I thought she was going to answer me, right when I blinked, she got even closer.

And she kissed me.

Not a french kiss, but her lips touched mine.

And I felt her voice in my head.

More than that.

I felt as if she was reading my memories, like a book.

And she was inviting me to read it with her.

It felt like turning pages, and every page I turned with the help of her hand, I would recall something of my last few days.

But it felt like I was seeing it through her eyes.

"Look at it, and understand what you're lacking." I heard her voice in my mind, as I watched the scenes of me fighting Tarhuk and his Lizard Men, then the fight with Kotur'Ah, the vulture beast.

As I recalled every situation in the past few days, I felt my body getting heavier, and my eyelids wanting to close.

And everything I could remember, before dreaming with all that happened, was Evellyn's strangely sweet embrace around me, as I fell asleep.

***

"Good morning, sleeping beauty!" I heard Rodrick's voice at the door.

My head felt heavy, but I, myself, felt a bit lighter.

But since I didn't know what it meant, yet, I decided to throw it in the back of my mind, and get up.

"Morning, old man. Are we going to finally talk business today?"

Rodrick laughed heartily.

"Yeah, today's the big day for you, rookie. Let's go grab some breakfast and take a walk, shall we?"

So that was it.

I was finally going to join a guild.

"Oh, Eve told me some things about you last night."

I raised my brow in suspicion.

"Oh, did she?"

"She did. And despite you being powerful enough to... Unalive Quintus, it doesn't change the fact that you lack some real combat experience, so, I'm going to train you."

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