As the goblin nears the official lab of the master alchemist Pial with just another turn from a corner, the goblin's shadow suddenly stirs. Appearing from it is the silhouette of a man coldly flashing his daggers. With swift dagger skills, the unexpected assailant silently assassinates the goblin.
The silhouette is none other than a middle-aged man barely over his 30s, codename Spider, an elite spy working for the Imperial Agency. He silently tiptoes to the lab. Just by the smell of herbs in the moist underground, Spider can tell that his target is just on the next corner.
Spider's mission objective is to assassinate the treacherous master alchemist, however, his directive suddenly changes as the Agency learns of the Life Potion weeks ago.
The Life Potion is a very miraculous drug that is able to heal any flesh wounds. It is a panacea for people like him whose job intimately involves combat. He is able to see this Life Potion in action all thanks to the sudden ruckus outside the county. He didn't really see the attackers, but he manage to witness Drogba, the county's chief knight, glugging a Life Potion as he combats a stalker bear.
Spider is not sure of the nature of the ruckus exactly. It is a total coincidence his plan to abduct the defector overlaps with the 'bandits' raising unnecessary but welcome distraction for him. As an imperial spy, he greatly values his missions.
As Spider has no time to investigate the nature of the unrest, he doesn't know the identity of the attackers. Though he is a spy and one of his 'uses' are for gathering information, he is someone who prioritizes the accomplishment of his main objectives first and foremost.
In other words, Spider is a pragmatic spy.
To be blunt though, the idea of using a magical beast to besiege a territory impresses him greatly. Speaking of 'Stalkers', Spider is also kind of one… The Empire's research on magic creatures is quite extensive, and their most recent breakthrough is how to implant Stalker parasites in their soldiers.
Spider is one of the first-generation spies using the 'Stalker' implants. Its benefits involve keener olfactory senses, night vision, and enhanced agility, and on top of this is the magical shadow pocket that allows the Stalker host to hide in the darkness.
Proceeding on his mission with tact, Spider decides to try convincing the master alchemist Pial to defect once more and return to the empire. As Spider is about to turn a corner and ought to greet the busy master alchemist, he suddenly picks up something in the air.
It is so subtle it is unnoticeable. The only thing cluing Spider to the peculiarity is his hunch that he has been honing since working as an imperial spy. The imperial spy, the Spider, hides in his shadow pocket and scurries to a corner.
The underground is dark and has barely any light if not for the torches illuminating the place.
Spider hides under the shadow of a torch. While inside his shadow pocket, he is most vulnerable to pain and damage, which is only true if his enemies detect him.
With a gripping sensation in his heart, Spider calmly waits. When he starts thinking that maybe it is just his senses failing him, two elves suddenly walk past him. Spider feels a shudder on his spine.
'Elves?' Realization dawns on Spider as he recalls the many elf captives.
The two sudden arrivals make sense to Spider, and so is the nature of the ruckus. It baffles him though… The empire is very thorough in its research of demi-humans, and lately, the empire is even taking the initiative to protect the demi-humans in all of the Ezelea Continent.
It is common knowledge that elves are a very peaceful race and rarely initiate a conflict of their own. So where did these elves come from? Spider scrutinizes the half-elf woman suspecting that another force is already integrating the demi-humans into their armies.
Fuelling himself with his own curiosity, Spider sneaks to the two elves that are too careful on their steps. No wonder Spider cannot detect them as the two's manner of sneaking is almost at the level of paranoia.
The two elves talk in whispers. The half-elf seems to have a dissatisfaction with the overly too cautious approach of the elf leading the way.
"Varen, why are we sneaking like this? We are in a snail's crawl. Trudviar is holding the fort by the manor gate and human soldiers are already surrounding him. We should just hurry to get what we need! Moreover, we need to hurry to save his majesty."
Though they are whispering to each other in almost inaudible sound, Spider still is able to hear them thanks to his trained hearing that wouldn't be any inferior to an elf. At the mention of 'his majesty,' Spider starts thinking of the Beyronald King.
The elf that goes by the name of 'Varen' frowns and explains to the half-elf of his intention.
"I am aware, but his majesty, Zorun, told me I should trust my instincts more. If I want to take it slow, we should take it slow. Moreover, should we really hurry? His majesty specifically told me to take it slow… Our priority after all is terrorism."
Spider frowns at the mention of 'Zorun' as he cannot remember any royal family with this surname. The mention of 'terrorism' is as equally disturbing. The half-elf clicks her tongue and scolds the elf. Spider keenly observes them.
"Tsk… You are such a loyal subject. We elves cannot survive if we don't have our King. His majesty is reckless, and you are guilty of condoning to his recklessness!"
Suddenly, Varen draws out his short bow and shoots an arrow at Spider who is idly staying in his shadow pocket. Spider hears alarm bells in his head. 'I have been discovered!' Quickly, Spider reacts and bolts into a sprint from his shadow pocket.
However, Varen's arrow is too fast. A steel bolt embeds itself in Spider's shoulder.
'So strong!' Spider keeps his thoughts to his own as he resists the pain. He runs off in a hurry afraid that the elf might catch him. To Spider's surprise the elf just 'looks' at him. Only now did Spider realize that the elf's eyes are closed.
Varen whispers to the air, "Run…" And with Spider's hearing, he is able to hear this. Spider zigzags as arrow after arrows fly at him. Spider's instincts run at full throttle. He hides in his shadow pocket reducing his size thus minimizing the surface area the arrows can get to him.
Spider barely survives under the rain of arrows. He is thankful for his luck. However, it is not really luck that is able to save him.
No longer is Spider in the dark corridor, leaving Zeraya and Varen on their own.
"Did you spare him? Why? Is there a benefit to it?" Zeraya asks the obvious.
For the blind Varen who doesn't need 'eyesight' to shoot, it is very ridiculous that he missed so many times. Varen weakly reasons. "Intuition," Varen says with a smug smile. "His majesty did tell me that I should trust my instincts more…"
Zeraya didn't bother anymore. With cold logic, she is also agreeing with Varen's decision. "That guy looked like an imperial spy… I only heard of them through hearsay though… But that ability resembling a Stalker? Such a weird guy…" As an adventurer, Zeraya has a wealth of information only unique to her.
Still, for her to see a magical species' ability to a human being is a great surprise in its own right.
Ignoring the fact that Varen is also now becoming a scheming guy like his majesty, the two proceeds on their main objective of acquiring lots of Life Potions.
Meanwhile, Spider who is nervously sweating and escaping for his dear life didn't realize how he suddenly becomes the 'mule' for 'misinformation' of the elves through a manipulated hyperbole. The kind of 'misinformation' that will also serve either as a political deterrent or political motivation in the future.
Just outside the manor, Trudviar is creating a racket by manning the gate. He violently brandishes his sword at every soldier that tries to get a piece of his meat. Using the gate as a chokehold, Trudviar under the effects of Berserker Potion is able to contest an army of human soldiers.
Spider who is thinking of leaving by the gate for a quick escape looks at the ridiculous sight of the elf manhandling a group of soldiers clearly superior in numbers and gear. 'Maaan… You are just wearing leather with barely any protection… Since when did elves get so fierce?'
With no choice, Spider leaves via the tall walls using his shadow pocket to climb the walls with ease. Just outside the manor, more chaos ensues. He recalls before getting underground, it is not this chaotic.
Spider's gaze land on the conspicuous watch tower responsible for scouting large armies from a distance and overseeing the county's view from above. The Urden flag is no longer there, instead, there is another flag that Spider assumes to be the elves' flag…
"Hey… This isn't just an attack, right? This is a fucking invasion!"