"Well, I guess Luke and I will be taking our leave." Alex declared, While looking at the royal mages.
It was evident that they weren't interested in fighting or as pompous as the other women since they never joined the fight.
"Don't let them leave," both Laurel and Amelia screamed simultaneously. Both mages looked at the women like they were fools.
"We will only stop them from killing you; as for anything else, it does not concern us!" Theodore stated in a grumpy tone, "and it best that you don't provoke them; I might not be able to save you in time."
Before blinking away with Luke, Alex flashed them his most innocent smile.
"Ladies, there's no need to worry; I will see each of you shortly."
Soon after Alex left, reinforcement arrived, composed of fifty men dressed in heavy armor. The entire party stopped in front of the royal Mages and dismounted. In front of the assemble was a man dressed just like a ragged prince commander in an all-black trench coat and attire. A vertical scar from his right cheek to his right eye further defined his rugged appearance. Before the man could approach the royal mages, Amelia flung herself in the man's arms, bursting into tears as she told her version of what took place. The man was none other than duke Liam Reid, Amelia's husband.
While Amelia was blabbering on, Alex and Luke were having their own intense confrontation.
----------
Alex and Luke appeared on the rooftop of a butcher shop in the western (wealthy) district of saint Rothen.
Once on the roof, Luke immediately spun away from Alex's grip before jumping three to the left; his instincts were screaming danger. Alex jumped after him with an ax in hand, ready to maim Luke.
Using his innate skill: shadow wisps, the makeup of Luke's entire body turned into clouds of black smoke.
Right on Luke's trail, Alex coat the ax with black lightning swinging it to sever Luke's shoulder as he landed behind Luke. The ax passed through the black smog, dispersing it.
Unharmed, The remnants of the smog (Luke) blended with the night, hiding within the shadows cast on the roof by the moon. Alex couldn't find a trace of him, forcing him to pause and use his skill perception.
As if reading Alex's mind, Luke immediately used his skill, creating seven shadows to act as decoys. As the shadows spawned, they ran to various areas under Luke's instructions, using the night as cover.
Seeing how Alex showed off that he was an Elementalist of shadow, space, and lightning, Luke was very cautious. He couldn't say for certain whether a freak like Alex couldn't also use the light element.
With Alex's skill to allow things to pass through him, Luke knew there was no point in fighting him. If they fought, it would be a battle of attrition since in his current form, Alex wouldn't be able to land a single blow on him either. Who would win would be a coin toss! But Alex better not push him too far............
Alex looked around; using his skill perception, he pinpointed seven shadows in various areas of the roof.
But he didn't move.
He didn't have any offensive element in his arsenal that could combat the shadow element. Attacking it was one problem; the other was which shadow was Luke.
This was why Luke's plan was brilliant!
If, by a strange chance that Alex could tell where the shadows were, he would be limited to attacking only one or two shadows. This would give Luke enough time to escape, with the aid of seven shadows running from various points.
Which one would Alex follow?
If Alex opted to wait until Luke's mana ran out, Luke would simply make all the shadow escape forcing Alex to follow one or two of them.
Alex was contemplating his situation while thinking of the fight in the barn:
'When Luke was facing a five-on-one, he only created two shadows to assist him. This proves that Luke was perfectly confident, defeating all five of those bodyguards, with just two shadows. He didn't even use the black smog-like body.'
'This simply proves he was wary of me from the start, hiding his skills, in case i attacked him, or Luke too was planning to ambush me with a surprise of his own,' Alex concluded.
'This fucker! he's a goddamn snake in hiding.'
The image of Luke spread out on the floor, panting after facing the last two of laurel's bodyguards, replayed in Alex's mind.
'I thought I was a good actor,' Alex shook his head as he recalled the entire fight.
'If Luke is revealing this now, it only means he has more skills'
Alex thought.
And he was right.
Luke was just like him, hiding. No matter the situation, neither of them would reveal their snare cards freely. They were almost cut from the same cloth, killers, and profiteers. One an assassin, the other a mercenary.
"Luke, I thought we were friends?" Alex echoed, his tone impersonating someone who was betrayed.
'what a bastard!' Luke thought, 'Do you always attack your friends?'
'"Promise to take me with you." Luke voiced trailed as he laughed, "hahaha, you dirty dog."
Hearing Luke's voice, Alex turned his head to the east then west. He couldn't pinpoint the direction.
"I did promise to bring you with me, and I did. However, I did not promise that you would be left alive afterward." Alex said while shrugging his shoulders.
How could he forget that Luke had the audacity to attack him twice? TWICE!
No, no, no,no!
Alex was planning to attack Luke as soon as they left, but Luke was just faster, escaping into the shadows.
'If I didn't need Luke's information, I would have killed him at the barn,' Alex thought inwardly.
This was why he didn't use his venom-laced blades but an ax to try to meme Luke.
Luke was worth at least 1000exp dead to Alex, but If Luke agreed to hand him all his comrades' locations, he would let Luke go. 1000exp for 10000+exp was an easy decision, and Alex was not a revengeful person, at least that is what he thought.
"Lu, Lu, what is this?" Alex asked in banter-like nature, trying to remove the tension out of the atmosphere.
"who fuck are you calling Lu, Lu?" Luke replied.
Ignoring Luke's response, Alex continued, "Lu, let us make a deal! I promise I won't attack you or kill you if you help me kill all the mercenaries that are after the women and Christopher. In exchange, I will pay you 100 gold coins for each mercenary we kill and whatever they have on them is yours." Alex stated while waiting for a reply.
Hearing Alex's offer, the profiteer in Luke was instantly swayed.
The rag-tag adventure trio that Alex killed mentioned that they wanted all Alex's belongings when he was dead, piquing Luke's interest. Once Alex was dead, Luke planned to take care of them too at another location. There was no rest for the wary!
And now Alex's offer..........
Loyalty to the mercenary organization didn't even cross Luke's mind.
'Mercenary organization? what mercenary organization?'
Luke didn't care how strong the mercenary organization he worked for was. All that matter to him was his needs!
Luke didn't have any qualms about betraying the guild! He was currently being paid five gold coins per day. To such an immense mercenary organization, he and the other low-ranking member were expandable. Paul proved that by sacrificing the other mercenaries without rhyme or reason just to try to kill Alex.
Furthermore, what Luke needed was gold. Gold to get off this low-stinking planet. He had been stuck on echo for the past two months trying to make enough to access the warp portal. But for a cursed beast-man, saving was difficult, especially if when he visits the brothel twice or thrice a week.
"Ok, say that again while holding the fig and pass mana through it," Luke called out as a shadow from the left corner threw a wooden-greenish stick towards Alex.
'At least I know that one isn't the real Luke, ' Alex noted.