Kroft arrived to the south side of Praven quickly enough, but just because the notice said that it was the South side did not mean that he would find the place instantly. This was a city after all and not a small one at that. Asking a shopkeeper on the side of the road where the butchers would be he headed over and finally found a building named, Butchers House.
"Oh, it's a shop, I thought the assignment literally referred to a butcher's house." Kroft affirmed out loud.
He opened the door of the shop and headed inside, a brilliant DING sounded with the opening of the door and a woman wandered to the front desk.
"Hey laddie what can I get ya?" the woman asked. The woman looked out of place, she was a young maiden most likely in her mid 20's with beautiful pale skin and blonde hair. She had wonderful proportions and you would not expect for her to be found in the interior of a butchers shop on the south side of town.
"I've traveled from the Fighters Guild and accepted your contract to exterminate the rats in your basement." Kroft informed the lady swiftly, determined to get this job done quickly.
I'm not trying to hang around a place that is infested with rats all day, rats bring diseases and a place meant to be dealing with raw meats bonded with infectional vermin never brings good outcomes. Kroft thought to himself.
"Oh you're here to get rid of these pesky mice, oh finally, I hate the sight of them!" The lady changed her tone, differing greatly from the tired introduction when Kroft entered, she now talked to Kroft with a style of almost endearment. "Please, follow me right this way!" She led Kroft to the back of the store and unlocked a heavy metal door that led underground to the basement. Kroft followed her down into the basement and she quickly told him that they are in this place and that she will be eternally grateful when he rids her shop of them. Kroft told her will do and she returned back upstairs to tend to her shop. Kroft started his search and looked around the basement thoroughly, but he thought that something wasn't right.
"There's no traces of rats here..." Kroft muttered.
He thought to himself, rats leave dropping along with that they chew up everything they come across. I don't see a single bite mark on any of the items down here.
Kroft continued his search and eventually he found something hidden behind a few boxes.
"A passage..." Why wouldn't there be a passage he thought to himself. Without checking if the door back up to the door was locked Kroft exited the basement through the basement already beginning to speculate what was going to happen. He walked through the passageway and he started to hide his presence.
I'm not stupid. I know what they're trying to do. I don't have very strong combat capabilities right now so I must use the suprisability of stealth. Everything dies with a stab to the neck anyways... usually. Kroft ws planning in his head.
(Meanwhile)
"Jamie how much longer until that buffon gets here?" a lanky man stood side by side speaking to a large man who was staring at his sword.
"Mary gave the signal, he'll be here any minute, there's no way he'll take much longer, even the retard we killed last week only took half an hour to find the passage. Now get ready Rey!" The large man referred to as Jamie said to the lanky man now known as Jamie.
"You're kidding me, Mary said she could take him down by herself, he's a new bronze member that means he's just some kid wanting to play hero. There's nothing to worry about." Rey responded to the annoyed Jamie.
"Shut up. You talk too much" Jamie sputtered to Rey.
"Are you sure that Mary locked the door?" Rey asked, but Jamie didn't respond. Rey turned around and started to say, "Hey did you-" but he stopped. In front of his eye was a dagger and behind that was a young boy with an emotionless expression. Behind the boy laying on the ground was Jamie warm red blood still oozing out of the wound on his neck, his corpse unmoving. Needless to say, the young boy was Kroft.
"How many of you guys are there?" Kroft questioned.
"What in the-" Rey was cut short as Kroft stabbed the dagger deep into his eye.
"I'm gonna take a guess and say it's just three of you."
"AHHHHH, MY EYE YOU SON OF A BIT-" Kroft didn't give him any time to breathe and stepped forward intending to finish the job. He slashed horizontally aiming for Rey's neck. Even with only one working eye Rey wasn't going to let his life end so easily though as adrenaline was pumping through his veins. He ducked downwards and unsheathed the dagger he had at his side. Kroft pushed forward and started swinging recklessly.
CLK* CLK*
Iron met iron and daggers created a song they danced to. Things weren't going to end well for Rey though, as inexperienced as Kroft was in combat he at least had both of his eyes and with that came balance, something Rey was lacking at the moment. With a sweep of the leg Kroft tripped Rey and as soon as Rey's back hit the ground and the wind was knocked out of him a dagger met its way into his neck.
"That went better than I thought," Kroft said to himself. He looked down to his left arm and observed a light dash of red there. He didn't come out unscaved but it was nothing compared to the other guys. Kroft took the sword off of the large man and the dagger from the lanky man and looted the rest of their corpses. He found a good chunk of money and a key which he automatically assumed belonged to the metal door leading to the butcher's shop. He started to explore the rest of the cave, he found the corpses of many people thrown off into a corner.
"Those unlucky fellows, how many victims came to not be into this trap before me."
He discovered what he found quite strange, a seemingly chiseled staircase. He didn't believe that random bandits would take their time to make such stairs and so his curiosity peaked when he started to follow them down. At some point while walking down his torch that he picked up from the cavern with the rotting corpses of Rey and Jamie died out and he continued to traverse the stairs in silence and in darkness. Kroft lost track of time, he couldn't tell how long he had been descending for, what might have been minutes seemed like days and what seemed like weeks could have been seconds. Finally right as Kroft was about to collapse from exhaustion he noticed something.
"No more steps!" he shouted. There wasn't another step he was on even grounds. "Thank god!"
He walked a few steps forward. "I can't see jack shit." he said and with good timing a light sprouted from everywhere and nowhere.
Where's this like coming from, he thought to himself, i see no origin for where this light is being created it just is. What is this? Is this perhaps magic?
To just forget about me.
"Hello?" Kroft was stunned. He didn't know what just happened. He heard a voice that came from nowhere but seemed to be right behind his ear.
They knew something great happened here but they just arbitrarily built a city instead of remembering me.
"Who are you?"
I'm no one in this universe anymore, no more than a conscience of a being who doesn't care about this realm any longer.
"Ah ok cool dude, wassup?"
Why are you here? You don't know me.
"I found a cave and found some fancifully chiseled stairs and decided to follow them down for god knows how long."
You're saying you just wandered to this place?
"Not intentionally. Honestly I was kinda hoping for there to be like a long lost library down here or something."
HA
A boom radiated throughout the area
You want knowledge. That is something I can not give, but to be able to wander to such a place you have a chance to achieve your want.
"Oh really, how so?" Kroft responded very nonchalantly.
Absorb me, I am no longer my former self, become me and I you and you will be able to understand all.
"Ok sure."
YES
The being which Kroft had no idea about surged into him.
"You retard." Kroft said softly. "I don't need your borrowed power, but I will happily steal yours."
Korft was floating in an abyss of nothing, light surged from everywhere trying to condense with him. A line of light shot out and tried to connect with him but Kroft stopped it with his hand. The light melted, turning grey, then brown, then black. The black eroded the rest of the light changing the abyss back into its former still blackness.
"I would have thought a being of magic wouldn't be so foolish" Kroft stated. "You thought to test my mental fortitude with the stairs and to use the fatigue built up after to easily take me. Do you know how long I sat by myself, alone without anything but darkness before. How I slowly died, nothing around. You think a few stairs will be able to compare to the darkness that shrouded me as I felt my life slip away, having no power to contend against it. You're pathetic. You were less than a part of your former self, everything left of your spark is now mine. You think I would be able to recognize my own mind!"
Kroft sat up. He was laying on the floor of the cave, the place where the stairs used to be was nowhere to be found. All that remained was a stone wall.
"Ah my head." he rubbed his head, a throbbing pain withdrawing slowly away. He stood up and looked around. The cave didn't seem to change at all. Something was different though, the bodies were gone. The victims from the former trap along with the corpses of Rey and Jamie.
"How long was I out for?" Kroft questioned. "If someone came and took the bodies, why didn't they kill me, at least it wasn't Mary or I wouldn't be standing here right now."
Kroft walked over to the place where he had dealt with Rey and Jamie and he couldn't believe his eyes.