"There is a lot I have to tell you, but first; have you heard of Lashers?"
Adam shook his head. Sharani looked a Ako and pulled him aside. They sat on a log under a tree.
"There are seven Lashers, The Wanderer, The Advocate, The Void, The Decimator, The Marque, The Invisible Hands and The Word. We watch over the Lashers and Lasher candidates. Your father was a candidate for the invisible hands. When he died I thought nothing of it, but later I found out his brothers are also all dead. Every candidate for the invisible hand is dead."
"I know who killed my father; it's Sirge, the head of blood portrait. So what happens now?
"It goes to Dibleck Blomen, your grand-uncle but since your are a candidates heir; you can challenge his claim."
"No, I mean, how do we avenge my father. I have been fighting in the RUT for years but I can't win the competition. Without it, It's impossible to get close to him."
"I'm telling you, if Sirge killed your father. Your grand uncle is behind it. Your grandfather will pass the Invisible Hands to his brother in less than a month."
"I don't care about some power, I care about getting justice for my father."
"You mean revenge."
"Sometimes they are the same thing."
"You don't understand, if Dibleck gets the invisible hands the blacks win."
"What?"
Adam looked at him waiting for an explanation.
"The blacks? The Black Monoliths, haven't you heard of the prophecies?"
"Of course I have, it talks about the demons ruling. It brought about the blood purge."
"That's the false prophecy, the prophecy the Black Monoliths spread. Your father should have taught you the real prophecy."
Sharani paced mumbling. Adam watched him move left and right.
"Most people don't care about the prophecy."
Ako walked towards them and Sharani turned around.
"You were listening, well it doesn't matter; we have already lost the Invisible Hands.
"Besides I'm not for or against either side."
"There is a war coming and the White Monoliths will need the collective power of the Lashers to stop it. Without it this world ends."
Adam sat quietly for a moment then asked.
"What does the invisible hand do, like does it make me strong, invisible what?"
"I heard it's about to move things around."
"Oh so like telekinesis, I'll challenge my grand uncles claim. The hand can help me get justice for my father."
"Okay, we start training tomorrow."
"For what?"
"You are about to face a Blomen, you really don't know where you come from? The Blomen are assassins, they would kill you; it doesn't matter if you are family."
"I understand but you said grand uncle, he is old."
Yes, don't do that.
what?
Underestimate him, it would get you killed.
"Fine, we start training tomorrow."
Adam got up and walked away and Sharani followed closely.
"Excuse me, would the killers return to kill me again?"
Ako asked brisk walking after Sharani.
"It's getting late, let's camp back at the house."
"Which house, you guys destroyed it in the fight."
"What were you doing in an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere?"
"Disappearing, no one was suppose to follow me."
"There may not be a roof but that place is a little safer than spending the night out here."
They all went back to Ako's hideout and spent the night there.
As Adam was sleeping he found it harder to breath. He opened his eyes and say a black gooey substance on his face. He quickly grabbed it and peeled it off his face.
Panting, he shook his hand as he tried to get it off.
"Good you are awake."
"You call this safer?"
The goo fell off and moved towards Sharani. It grew larger taking a human form.
"It turned into me."
"Adam, meet Jinx."
"A shape shifting slime, I thought they were a myth."
"They are not and this will be your sparring partner."
"So the rumor about the King being a slime is true."
"Well, yes and no. The King is not a shape shifting slime but sometimes he use shape shifting slimes as his doubles."
"Oh, that makes sense, but isn't it dangerous. I heard the sometimes kill the original and take their place."
"Yes that rumor is true, but only if they think they are you. For them to think that they should be to thing like you."
Adam got closer to find anything to tell them apart. It stood there as he revolved around it.
"I prepared something for us to ….. what going on here?"
Ako walked out of the forest to see Jinx and Adam.
"I'm me, and this is a shape shifting slime."
Adam said and Jinx did same just thirty seconds behind.
They started sparring and Adam punched it in the face and it disfigured. He stepped back and watched as it reconstruct.
"Keep going it's fine."
He looked at Sharani then threw another hook which Jinx dodged and punched him in the face.
"See, it learned and adapted."
"Great, but why am I learning to fight myself. I will be fighting my granduncle, why don't he fight like him?"
"First, the slimes can't shape shift into someone they have never meet; and they can think like them if they haven't copied their memory. Besides this is not to train you to fight your granduncle, he is definitely going to wipe the floor with you. There is a huge power gap, this is to help you adapt when the time comes."
Adam rolled his eyes then continued sparring. For a week Sharani training him as much as he could.
"We are out of time, now we have to start our journey to your family house."
The next morning Adam and Sharani woke up at dawn to start their journey.
"What about her?"
Adam asked looking at Ako who was still sleeping.
"Leave her, she will be fine."
They carried their packed bags and set off. They took a carriage from Starase to a foxglove a small town in Pawase. There they walked up a mountain. They were so high Adam found it difficult to breath. Up the mountain was a house that looked like it was wedged into it. It was made from the same rock as the mountain, making difficult to tell where the house started or ended.
They walked closer and stopped about 2 metres away from the house. A door opened and a girl walked out. She walked closer and stared for a while.
"The Blomens welcomes you."
She turned around and Sharani followed her making sure he stepped exactly where she did. Adam did same after rolling his eyes with a sigh.
When they got in, a man was waiting for them. He had his hands behind him with nothing but a scarf around his waist.
The girl continued skipping until she got to the man.
"Sharani but you I do not know you."
The man said but Adam was distracted by his physique. He wondered the time and dedication that went into it.
Sharani nudged him out of his trance.
"I am Adam, Adam Blomen "
Adam said looking at Sharani who nodded at him. The man stood there not uttering a word. He and the girl looked at each other.
Adam heard a resonating sound turned his head to the right to get away from it. He opened his eyes to see the girl who look three holding a short sword close to his neck. He looked further and saw Sharani had a knife at the tip of her sword. He immediately understood what nearly happened.
She jumped backwards and was about to charge again.
Sharani put out his palm and she hesitated before trying to take Adams head again. Fortunately, Sharani pushed him once again saving him from the girl.
"Sain, son of Sain."
Sharani said just before the girl was about to stab Adam on the ground.
She stopped and sheathed her sword. Unlike normal sheaths hers was part of her dress, it concealed the sword perfectly.
"My apologies Adam, son of Sain. I am Bonchaka, student of Maya, granddaughter of Debleck."
"She is his granddaughter, I'm definitely going to die."
"Sorry, please come with us."
They walked to a double door that led to a hallway. Beyond the hallway was a corridor where a group of people had gathered.
"These are master Ohms students, soon they would be master Deblecks"
"Ohm?"
"The current invisible hands wilder."
"Invisible hands, I hate that title; the nonexistent is more than just a hand."
They turned to see a muscular old man with long white hair.
"Master Ohm."
Bonchaka said and he and Maya got on their knees.
"You don't need to bow, be like them."
Ohm pointed at Adam and Sharani and they immediately got on their knees.
"See what you've done, you affect them with the bow. Do you know what I will miss about the nonexistent?"
They all shook their head.
"My hair, you see I am a natural bald. The nonexistent gives me this nice long hair. I would have liked in black but , what the hell. It's better than being bald."
"Pohm, this is Adam son of Sain. He is finally home."
"I heard about your parents, sorry for your loss. It's good to have you here. A lot haven't been coming home lately. Give them rooms and see to it that they are taken care of."
Bonchaka accompanied them to their rooms. Later that day, they requested an audience with Ohm. They met him and told them why they were there.
"I know you have a claim but I have already decided to give it to Debleck."
"He is right, by lineage his is next."
Debleck said and they turned to see him walking towards them.
"Okay, I understand."
As Sharani and Adam walked back to their rooms, he felt something was not right.
"I guess I don't have to fight Debleck."
"He has something up his sleeves. He has wanted the invisible hands for a long time, he won't just give it up."
In the middle of the night Sharani heard someone slid something under his door. He saw a black envelope and opened it.
"You have been invited to witness the handing over ceremony of the invisible hands. Which will be held in three days.."
After reading the letter he knew Debleck would made his move soon. The next morning he heard a loud knock on his door. He opened to see Adam with a similar envelope in hand.
"I will be given the invisible hand in three days, then I can get justice for my father."
Adam walked in with excitement.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure"
"Why do you say justice for your father when you mother too was killed. Don't you want justice for your mother?"
"Of course I do, I want justice for both of them."
"Then why do you only talk about your father's justice?"
"I don't know, It doesn't matter, killing him will be justice for both of them."
"It matters, I think subconsciously you know your mother will not want that. She will not want you to be a killer….."
"Stop!, Stop!!, you don't know what my mother would want."
"Yes I don't, but you do."
Adam walked out of the room and roamed the compound to clear his head. He sat down on a rock, then heard foot steps approaching. He lifted his head and saw it was Debleck .
"Can I ask why you want the hands?"
"To get justice for my fa.. my parents."
"I want to change the world. Everyone think of Assassins as criminals but we do what is needed. Some people need to die for good things to progress. When you farm and there a weeds among your plants you uproot them; otherwise the take the nutrients from your crops. With the invisible hands think of the number of weeds we we can uproot."
"I'm not going to use the hand to kill people for money."
"You would rather kill for selfish reasons, your parents are dead. They don't care about justice, you do."
The day came for the ceremony and everyone gathered in the corridor. Torches were lit all around and Ohms and Deblecks students surrounded the place. They stood in a circle leaving the middle empty. Ohm walked to the centre and called Adam to join him.
"I hand over the nonexistent to Adam son of Sain."
Ohm said and a hand print appeared and started to glow. After awhile it stopped glowing.
"Now we fight to the death."
"What?"
The crowed cheered loudly, chanting "Iver".
Ohm charged at him but before Adam could do anything, he was hit. What happened with Maya he didn't see Ohm coming. Ohm threw a right hood and Adam put up his left hand to block it. This made no difference, his arms weren't firm enough to block the punch. He kept hitting himself with every punch he blocked.
Ohms stopped and looked at him. His arms were still up but they were shaking. He spat out blood and looked at Ohm with his slightly swollen eye. A tooth had pierced his inner lower lip and created a scar of the outside.
Ohm screamed and charged at Adam, as he ran towards him he started a seal. He made a seal with his right keeping his left hand up. When Ohm was close enough he threw an uppercut; which hit Ohm who fell on his back.
The crowd stopped cheering and one of his students checked his pulse and shook his head. The whole crowd started mumbling. Adam stood there trying to maintain balance. Debleck walked to the body and opened Ohms mouth.
"It seems Adams punch burst his cyanide pill. Adam wins."
Sharani hurried to help Adam, he took his arm and put them around his shoulders. As Sharani carried him away Ohms turned black and bald. Debleck watched Adam waiting for his hair to turn gray. When they got to the room, Sharani started to treat his wounds.
"I seriously don't understand why Ohm had a cyanide pill."
"Das wot assasis do, to avoid being caught."
"Yes but he was the head, he didn't need it others did all he wanted. Besides why bring a cyanide pill to a death match."
"Wot are you thinking?"
"I think he committed suicid so you could get the Hands. He didn't want to kill you so he killed himself."
"Does this look like not trying to kill?"
Sharani made small incisions on his wound and blood oozed out.
"Never mind that, I think Debleck will try to use you."
"He already did, he indirectly aske me to kill with the hands.
"And what did you tell him?"
"I told him no, obviously."
" You will have to ran, he is going to kill you. So he can get the hand. I think this was all part of his plan.He couldn't defeat Ohm so he had you do it."
That night Sharani and Adam sneaked out but Debleck was on the same schedule. Minutes after they were out of their room, Deblecks guys showed up looking for them.
"Your hair turned gray."
Debleck said and Adam and Sharani.
"It's time for mine to turn gray too."
Debleck said and swung his arm at Adam. Sharani stepped in front of him. A whip slashed his neck, Adam knelt and applied pressure to the neck wound. Sharani kept bleeding and passed. Adam held on to Sharani and Debleck kept hitting him with his nearly transparent whip.Every hit made a little cut, but Adam didn't flich. Adam cried for awhile before remembering what he said.
He got up and opened the gate. He ran and Debleck men followed him. As he ran he turned and saw some of the people following him had turn into stones. He immediately stopped and watched his step but didn't remember where exactly he passed. When Deblecks students were close enough he swung his hand and cut them in half. He then continued to ran throwing caution to the wind.
Fortunately or unfortunately, he step on one of the land mines. Which exploded and threw him to the edge of the mountain. He turned but no was behind him.
He walked down the mountain and saw a village. He remembered it wasn't there when they came a few days ago.