9:00 PM: Haneul Black Market Outskirts
"Hey what's the hold-up?! We agreed on killing the kid so why'd you just knock him out?!"
A man with a tattoo depicting a three horned demon could be seen yelling at a larger man with the same tattoo. Holding his right arm in a puddle of blood.
"AURGHHHHH- MOTHERFUCKER MY ARM IS GONE!!!"
Tears were streaming out of his bloodshot eyes. The world went silent after his initial cries. Blood was pouring out of the wound that severed his right arm in two. If you looked toward the puddle of blood, you could see a severed hand holding a weapon.
"Haa- what the fuck did you do?!"
The man with one arm seemed extremely irritated, his teeth started to grind and his blood pressure shot up. He was currently directing his angers towards a body on the floor.
It was a young boy wearing a mask and cloak.
His eyes were shut and he was knocked out cold, bleeding from his head. In his arms he was holding a briefcase that was blasted apart by an object. Hovering over the body of the young boy was a black mass with a white glow that formed geometrical shapes but moved like a liquid.
"What is that thing… hey back away from it! It might take off your arm again!"
The man glaring at the boy didn't hear the warning from his comrades. His mind was too clouded with anger and confusion so he reached out towards the boy and grabbed him by the collar.
Drip-
The small drops of blood soon turned into a huge explosion of red. The artifact consumed the left arm of the man grabbing the boy. Not long after taking his arm the artifact warped itself into a swarm and consumed the man entirely.
It left nothing but blood in its wake.
The other 5 men saw this happen, they watched as their colleague was consumed by an object no larger than a phone. They shook with fear and soon after they witnessed this horror they knew.
They were next.
*******
Beep-
Beep-
Beep-
"Ah- what the hell is that noise?'
I had a hard time opening my eyes as if they were glued shut. My body felt stiff and it was hard to make words come out of my mouth. Having that constant beeping noise wasn't helping my situation either, it sounded like a heart monitor. The beeping was constant and never skipped a beat, knocking and knocking. Guess I didn't die back there, I couldn't remember much after I got caught so the last thing I saw was the man walking in my direction.
Actually scratch that.
I saw an artifact burst out of the briefcase I snatched from them, I couldn't really tell much from what I saw but I could tell that the men were surprised. Looks like they didn't know what they were carrying around, they were probably told not to look inside and just bring it to the boss.
"Ugh...this bed is uncomfortable."
"It's a stretcher kid, you're on a stretcher."
Suddenly correcting me was the voice of a man, he sounded older with his deep and booming voice as if he had gone through a war with the status of general. I recognized this voice though, how could I forget the voice of one of the most powerful people on the planet?
"Headmaster?"
Of course I would recognize the voice of the man that gave us a long-ass history lesson only a few days prior.
"Yes it's me, and you are Student Keir Licht I presume?"
Why was the headmaster here? Why did he come to visit me in the hospital out of the 2,000 kids he had to keep an eye on?
"Yes that's right but why are you here headmaster? Out of all the students you could've visited why me? Not even the scions?"
My eyes were starting to open and I got nearly blinded by how bright the room was. Although slowly, the world started to come to fruition with a blurry haze. Soon enough I could see the headmaster, his brown skin glowed in the sun rays peeking through the window, and his scruffy black beard and hair made him look like he had gone through countless battles. He opened his mouth and voiced his thoughts.
"Well kid you see here your situation is a very strange one, very unique and clouded by missing information. Those gangsters last night were all left in the alleyway dead, all of their blood was covering the entire alleyway. Police didn't find them but our security team did, they found you nearly two blocks away from the scene covered in blood and lying on the floor with a bounty card. We had to cover up the situation as best we could, in order for you to not be tied back to the incident since people could come looking for you if that 'package' was important."
"Two blocks away?"
How could I have been found that far away? I don't remember anything besides passing out. The Headmaster then got up from his seat and walked towards the exit.
"Yeah, you got a decent distance away. I don't know what went down but you should lay low for the time being, take care of yourself kid don't forget that your assignment is due tomorrow."
Kalem left and the room went silent.
I had to think about what happened. Did I kill those people?
Or was it that 'thing'?
Whatever it was it sure as hell caused me some problems. I'm glad the Headmaster had my back though, I'm not sure what would've happened if I was accused of being the killer of Berith members. Their members would've hunted me for the rest of my life and anyone close to me would've had to suffer as well. Why did Berith even have their hands on that artifact and what kind of person would want to obtain that? Was it to use it as a weapon or to contain it?
There were too many unsolved variables.
'Ah shit, fuck, shit fuck!'
This was annoying. I wonder if my bounty still went through because I don't think I delivered the package to the recipient. Plus if I don't have my bounty completed then I couldn't complete my assignment. This entire situation is a mess, what a great first week at Aethra. First I get beat for being weak, then I get baited by a bounty which was CLEARLY not for a student of my abilities, and now I'm bedridden in a hospital bed for who knows how long.
'I should give Jonathan a call.'
Before I left to finish my bounty Jonathan gave me his cell number in case anything happened. My phone was on a counter to my left but I could barely move my arm without experiencing pain. I slowly lifted up my left arm but it shook uncontrollably which resulted in me putting it back down. I rotated my eyes towards my left and stared at my phone for a long while until I had a thought.
"Fuck it."
I rotated my entire body and reached for my phone as fast as I could hoping to be faster than the pain. As my fingers felt the edges of my phone my eyes shot directly at it in a serious manner and all I had to do was close my hand. The phone was now acquired and I shot my arm up in celebration.
"VICTORY!!! AGHHH OUCH-"
I instantly felt the aftershocks of my actions when a stinging pain rode through my body like a surfer riding a wave. It was definitely worth it though since I could contact Jonathan now. I took the phone and raised it above my face nearly dropping it but I caught myself in the action.
"Hey, Jonathan?"
He picked up the phone instantly, guess this guy had nothing else to do like running a guild.
"What can I do for ya kiddo?"
"Did my bounty go through at all?"
Jonathan paused for a moment before replying to my question.
"Hm? Oh nyoh teh bounthi dithn't go trhu."
What the fuck was he saying?
"Are you seriously eating right now? Translation please."
Jonathan stopped speaking for a moment again but I could hear the background noise, he was sipping on a soft drink right now.
"The bounty didn't go through, you'll have to find another one kid."
"Oh, that's unfortunate then, I'll stop by and pick up another one tomorrow....if I can."
"Sounds good, anything else ya need?"
From the looks of it, as of this current moment I had no chance of completing my assignment on time.
"That's all, enjoy your food."
I hung up and tossed my phone onto my legs and looked outside the window. The sun was currently setting and dusk had started to settle in making for a beautiful sunset. The clouds were pink and the sky was a swirl of colors, if it was already the next day and already sunset I guess I've been sleeping for a long time.
My eyelids started to get heavy and the world got blurry once more.
'I guess sleeping in a bit more doesn't sound that bad...'
Until it did.