The small petite eyes of Ren began to open slowly.
His eyelids were outrageously heavy,he was barely able to open them up.
He fought against the pain for a while,before claiming victory and opening them successfully.
His eyes were met with an intense ray of light,forcing him to shut them close,once more.
"What happened" thought Ren with his eyes still shut.
Ren began attempting to recall his last conscious moments but to no avail.
He was having a very disturbing headache ,it basically was just like his head was being continuously banged on a wall.
It was as if ,he had infuriated an African mom and was receiving his punishment.
He felt a huge force descending on him and leaving nothing but pains all over his body.
He attempted opening his eyes once more, but was still hurt by the rays of light.
"Damn!, that is really painful" he thought to himself.
He decided to fight through the pain,and forced his eyes to adapt to the brightness.
Though it was a very hurtful experience and was not pleasing in anyway,it was worth it.
As now,he had gained the ability to see again,he was now able to understand just where he was exactly.
To his shock,he was just in his room and nothing more.
"I'm still in my room"
It was at that instant that Earn walked in.
"You're awake already,only took you a day this time,that's a new record"
"What happened?"
"You fainted,…. as usual"
"Did I get into another fight or something?"
"Nope"
"So what caused my collapse then?"
"I think it might have something to do with this."
Earn was pointing the dagger towards Ren before saying;
"Where did you find this?"
Earn asked this question with a very serious look on his countenance,his blue eyes staring right into the eyes of Ren.
With Ren understanding that Earn was not playing around,he attempted to remember what happened.
That's when it all started to click again,he remembered everything from the equipment of the blade to the beating of the guys,he remembered it all.
Most especially,he remembered the visions he had.
Though he no longer had precise images in his head,he still was able to make out particular attributes in the physical appearance of people ,he had seen in his vision.
He began to spill out the beams to Earn.
Every piece of information,that he deemed important was told to Earn.
He informed Earn of the conman and his two goons,he explained how he had beaten them all,in order to gain his dagger ,and he also revealed details of his vision.
"I saw a dude with white hair but it was not you ,rather the guy looked awfully young and I was even able to make out a girl who carried guns."
"Anymore details?"
"Yes,a creature fueled from the might of shadows and darkness ,and the end of the world as we know it"
"That's insane"
"I know,but why did I see all this when I touched the dagger"
"Because of the imprints of malice within it"
"Why does it have imprints of malice?"
"Because this is not an ordinary dagger,but a tempestarii blade"
"What!"
Earn had informed Ren about the tempestarii,a while back.
An evil guild that praises storms and destruction,and worst of all,they were the lads responsible for his village's destruction.
"What do you mean I just touched an item crafted by my family's murderers"
"I'm afraid so Ren"
"To think ,I felt like that thing could be special towards me,I am such a fool"
"Well Ren the news does not end there"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you sure ,that you saw visions?"
"Yeah I am quite sure"
"Interesting"
"What?"
"You had insight into the future"
"So?"
"That's a primordial technique"
*********
Queen kaida has not been able to achieve her purpose of coming to the capital of the western federation.
She and her scouts have come no closer to locating Hiroki,she was contemplating on giving up.
She was feeling like a terrible queen ,she felt like as if she had failed her people.
Apart from the frequent orders she sent to her people,the royal priests were also involved in ruling the North while Kaida was unavailable.
Kaida had publicly vowed to her people,that she was not returning without bringing in Hiroki,to face justice by the hands of people of the North.
Her feelings of guilt were not eased by her constant nightmares.
She kept on dreaming about her father being disappointed in her.
Her dreams came in numerous forms ;sometimes she would dream that her father snuck in to kill her and other times ,he just straight up disowned her.
Kaida had always looked up to her father,she always thought of him as the greatest king there ever was.
Though her name is associated with power and greatness,she no matter how more successful she grew,always saw herself in her father's shadow.
"My dad was not just a great king,He was a powerful warrior and was always at the forefront of things,I on the other deceive people to get what I want,manipulate them while using the cover of negotiation, and I can't even use a sword,I am hopeless"
The next day,Darius and his advisors were on the move to a council meeting.
Every one of the main four nations had a council of some sort.
The council ;usually located in the capital was organised of important members of the nation.
The members could be respected elders,Powerful businessmen and any other highly placed individual in the nation.
The location for the council meeting within the western federation was a room in the castle;of which special access were required to enter.
The guards were merciless and would not allow people in without confirming with the King.
Darius' wife was not even allowed to step foot inside,likewise were other powerful individuals, who the guards had not been informed of their visit.
Darius had assumed his men would follow his orders fearlessly and with immense pride,but he was wrong.
As Darius stepped into the meeting room,he was shocked to find Queen Kaida awaiting for him.
In the middle of the room was the only real piece of furniture;a large circular wooden table.
The table had a large circumference,so large that over thirty five chairs,were able to be placed around the table.
On one of these chairs was the beautiful Queen herself.
She was not the only awaiting the arrival of Daris.
Darius was awaited by the other council members ,excluding his advisors as they were with him.
"I'm sorry Kaida what are you doing in my council,this is trespassing,as this is a private national sector." Questioned Darius in the most respectful tone he could muster out.
"Do not worry Darius ,I'll make it quick,I just wanna place some rules".
**************
Valtor like he always did was exercising,his full name was Valtor Blackwood.
He was the adopted son of Spade Blackwood and Natasha Blackwood.
Spade was the headmaster and founder of the reaper's venom; one of the five most powerful guilds.
Spade had been personally training Valtor until he gave birth to his first and only biological child; it was a girl.
It did not take long for Spade to train his daughter and forget all about Valtor,and for good reason.
Valtor had anger issues,he hears voice and can be very immature.
To Spade,Valtor was not showing the values of an assassin.
Although Malice can only be tapped into through depression,it could also be passed on through child birth.
Though it was not a certainty,it was a high probability.
Valtor was walking in the hallway ,when he heard his Dad reading out a message.
The message was written out on a scroll like paper,and was delivered to him by a messenger hawk.
Valtor noticed that Spade was visibly annoyed by the contents of the message.
He could hear his dad murmuring
"So I have to get this on my own ,Damn!,I cannot do that"
It was here that Valtor realized the opportunity in front of him.
He decided to go towards his Dad and offer his help.
Spade then said
"How dare you eavesdrop on me?!"
"I was not,you were just screaming loudly"
"We'll you cannot go"
"Why not ?"
"It is too dangerous for an assassin in training"
"Come on ,I can handle the danger"
"The danger is not something,you can handle"
"How deadly can one mission be"
"The mission is not deadly,the real test is ensuring no one finds out what you are doing"
"That seems easy enough"
"If you are found out ,you will be killed"
"I know ,just tell me about the mission already"
"It is a package retrieval,I'll write down more details on a piece of paper,are you ready"
"I was born ready but may I ask what I am to retrieve "
"It is a ..."