It had been two years since Alex's party. Since then, he has gotten even stronger in both his magic and combat skills. Under the training of his mother, his aunt Lyanna, and Kaede, he had gotten stronger in each of his categories. Alex had reached level three intermediate magic, which was way too advanced for children his age. Usually, people who reach level three are around ages 23–26, not his young age of 12. He had even better control of his lightning, to the point where he could make it just about what he wanted, and his swordsmanship was improving by the week. He was now able to match up with Kaede fairly well and even surprise her at points, even if she won in the end.
Raven was similar, as her magic had improved but not to the level of Alex's, while her spearmanship was also becoming refined under her mother's tutelage. The two siblings would train a lot and spar with each other, with Raven never being able to win. Alex currently held a 54-0 record over her in their spars, which both frustrated and motivated Raven to improve.
While Kaede helped them train, Mary would help them with their schooling as she taught Alex, Raven, and sometimes Amelie when she and her mother were over their schooling. Lyanna and Amelie had been stopping by more and more as of late, and due to this, Amelie had become closer to Alex and Raven and even started to become friends with Eve, who would sit in on their schooling.
However, as they were getting stronger, things were becoming more and more dramatic in the Blackwood Mansion. Edward, after that furious night at the party, started planning things for the years to come, especially establishing his connections to the Blackwood and Tarren families. The Tarren's were still infuriated about that night; however, the promises of riches and deals by Edward managed to calm them down and keep the marriage on track, for when Raven would turn 16, she would leave the Blackwood house and move to the Tarren's, who had taken up residence in Lapis City, one of the biggest merchant cities in the west part of the empire.
Goldburn was heavily pushing for his daughter Sophia to marry Alex. His pushing and dealing had pretty much made any other marriage offer for Alex useless. Like Raven, once Alex turned 16, he would leave and live in the Goldburn residence, which would also leave Anna without her children. Edward would smile when thinking about that last part. Anna exists for her kids, and without them, how could she stop him from doing what he wanted?
Ava, who was still living as Edward's mistress, would often stare at the house that Anna and her children lived in with contempt. She hated each and every one of them with fury. She hated Anna for being the true holder of Edward's affections, while Anna would refuse to speak to him unless absolutely necessary. Ava wanted to be the only one in Edward's eyes, which often made her wish Anna would just disappear. Then there was Raven, the beautiful young daughter who was about to get an empire just handed to her when she married Oliver Tarren. Meanwhile, Ava had to work hard just to become the mistress of a rich man. It also didn't help that she looked just like her mother. Then there was Alex, the young prodigy who acted like he could do whatever he wanted and it would be fine since he was talented. He also resembled his mother, which didn't help matters, but he would also be gifted an empire when he married into the Goldburn family. Ava had grown up in Lapis City, so she knows exactly how influential they are, which infuriated her further.
Edmund, who was now a few years older than Alex, despised him. Edmund always thought that he was the gifted one; even without magic, he thought he would have a fairly easy life, but he was wrong. Due to Alex showing off his power at the party, some of Edmund's marriage candidates pulled out of negotiations with him due to him being the weaker son in comparison. Even a big-name family like the Dawmour's had completely ghosted any attempt at communication between the Blackwoods and them unless it was a possible marriage arrangement between them and Alex Blackwood. Edmunds' only options were now between two decently powerful families, one located in the capital and having power over the senate, and the other located on the eastern side of the empire, being one of the strongest military families of the empire.
One night, Ava had enough, as she told Edward she was heading out for business, and she boarded a carriage headed to town.
Ava had rarely visited the town and had the maids do the shopping, so this was one of the rare times she had even been around town, but she wasn't staying in the upper towns. As the carriage kept going, she arrived in the lower part of the town as they stopped in front of a dirty building located on the corner of the street. As she looked at the building, she noticed one window of it being cracked and even a dried blood stain on the porch of the place.
"Lovely..." she thought to herself with disgust. She didn't want to walk inside, but she knew that for her ambitions to be realized, it was something that must be done.
She mustered up the courage and walked inside with a hood hanging over her head to block her face. As she walked in, she looked around to see multiple drunk people with swords and body armor singing and laughing. She walked up to the receptionist of the place, who was an older woman standing behind a desk.
"May I help you?" the older woman asked.
"Hi, I'm in need of your...services." Ava asked the older woman.
The woman sighed and pointed at the room nearby. "Sit and wait there; the guild master will be down with you shortly."
Ava nodded her head and walked into the room. You see, the building they were in wasn't an illegal guild, like an assassin guild, for example. This building was home to mercenaries who weren't afraid of taking a job where they had to get their hands dirty. These were called Gray Guilds. These guilds didn't do anything illegal, but they definitely muddled the waters when it came to morality. They would handle things on the down low for nobles, at a high price, of course.
As Ava waited, soon a man in his mid-40s came inside. He was fairly handsome, with short black hair and a beard that was slowly graying. He is what some would call a silver fox—even Ava, who, while feeling no attraction to him, had to admit he was handsome.
"Hello, my name is Gabriel. I heard you wish to use our mercenaries for a job?" The older man introduced himself.
Gabriel was shocked to see a woman dressed so fancy down in the underworld. Typically, nobles would send others to do the dirty work, but she came herself.
"Yes, I do. And I need it handled with extreme care." Ava said.
Gabriel smirked. "That's our specialty. Tell me what's the job."
Ava sighed "I need you to kill three people."
"Three? That will cost you a high price. Are you sure you can afford it?" Gabriel said.
Ava reached into her bag, pulled out a pouch of coins, and placed it on the table. "Tell your mercenaries I'm offering 700 gold coins. They get half now and half after the deed is done. And to sweeten the deal, give 50 bonus gold coins to the ones who get the kills."
Gabriel smiled upon hearing this; this was one hell of an offer. "Okay, who do you need dead?" he asked her.
Once Ava told Gabriel their names, his brow furrowed. "High-profile targets...including two children. That's going to be an insane job to take."
Ava smirked. "Then, as a second bonus, your men can take the maids of the house, and they can do whatever they want; I couldn't care less."
Gabriel smiled. "Coin, blood, and women. You just worked your way into the hearts of every man here. We'll take the job."
Ava smiled and said, "Good."
Gabriel said "Give us a week, and I will have three of my best teams put together for the job."
Ava nodded as she left, leaving 350 gold coins on the table. Gabriel sat down and counted the coins just to be sure, and when the count was exactly 350, he smiled devilishly. He walked over to the receptionist and told her "Myra, gather the Golden Serpents, the Four Hands of Scarlet, and the Hollow Devils. I have the job of a lifetime for them."
Myra nodded her head. "Yes sir."
Gabriel then asked her "Also gather information on the Blackwood family. I want to know everything about them in order to find out who that woman was. If we know, then we can blackmail her with the information about this job."
Gabriel walked away and smiled. "This is going to be interesting."
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