November 15th, 1654,
Ethan Jackson looked at the piece of parchment in his hands for 20 seconds as he examined it thoroughly.
The parchment was a forged certificate of baptism which was mainly used to identify people.
On top of the parchment wrote "Certificate of Baptism" as the title. There was the church's name "St. Matthias Church" which was apparently in the district named Nordeburg according to the document.
You really are proffesionals huh, no wonder you ask for so much money he thought as his eyes slid over to his new name which was Aldric Blackthorne.
Rest in peace, Ethan...
He then found out that his new birthday was only 2 weeks after his normal one, 15th February 1629.
There was also various information about his baptism date, his new parents who probably weren't even real people and things that didn't really garner his interest.
At the bottom of the document there was a stamp which was identical with the real thing which pronounced its quality.
"2 pounds." the guy opposite him who gave him the documents said.
He stopped examining the documents to glance at him and sighed as he took 2 coins from his pocket.
He inspected both sides of one of the golden coins.
On one side, there was King Luke's portrait. On the other side there was the number "1" written in a simple yet elegant font with "1652" written underneath it in the same font but so much smaller that it was hard to notice it without looking closer.
There goes my former monthly salary he thought to himself, annoyed.
Ah, forget it. I must follow that d*mn old geezer's instructions for now. He handed over the coins to the man opposite him.
The man took the money and put it in his coat's right inner pocket.
After he was done with the transaction, he didn't say anything else as he started to intensely stare at -with his new name- Aldric.
What's wrong with you, donkey? Why are you staring at me like you aren't the one who just robbed me off my 2 pounds for a piece of paper...
Aldric, who didn't enjoy being in this cramped, dimly lit basement put the parchment in his pocket and turned around to leave.
When he got out of the basement, he heaved a sigh of relief, clearly pleased.
Even though Aldric wasn't someone who was claustrophobic, that basement made him really uncomfortable.
He looked around and then exited the place called Harrold's pub because he had no business left there.
He walked for 5 minutes until arriving at his new destination which was Fleet Street.
He took a piece of paper from his pocket which had Edmund, the old man's instructions noted on it and confirmed that he arrived at the right destination.
He started walking through the street until he saw the building numbered 23.
It was a 5 stories high building with an exterior that was neither too luxurious nor bad looking.
He entered the building, went up the stairs until he got to 4th floor and found the flat numbered 15.
He knocked on the door 2 times with a short pause between them and 3 times with long pauses between them.
After waiting for around 15 seconds, a man who looked to be in his late thirties opened the door.
Even though he was not extremely handsome, the contrast of his bright blue eyes and raven black hair had an appeal to them.
"What can I do for you, my dear friend?" the man asked in a soft voice with a playful smile exuding warmness.
"Are you Thomas?" Aldric said with a neutral expression after realizing the man before him fit Edmund's descriptions although Thomas' beard which was at least 4 inches long wasn't mentioned by him.
"Yes, I am Thomas and I assume you didn't end up here on coincidence since you know our organization's special knocking pattern which makes me assume you will have a lengthy talk with me, my dear friend which would be better made inside." Thomas said instead of waiting for Aldric to tell him the reason for his visit as he made way and gestured for him to come in.
So talkative... He fits that old geezer's descriptions really well.
Aldric accepted his invitation with an indifferent nod as he made his way in.
"You can hang your coat here if you want. Go to that parlor to have a seat over there while I bring some tea for the both of us, my dear friend." Thomas said as he pointed to the coat rack right next to the entrance and then to the parlor on the other side of the hall.
The hallway was simple with nothing else other than the coat rack. There was a corridor which connected to rest of the apartment. The apartment was neither cramped nor spacious. There was a parlor right at the start of the corridor near the entrance.
Aldric didn't hang his coat as he touched the glass tube filled with a thick liquid in his coat's left breast pocket and immediately made his way over to the parlor.
It's better if I hold on to this for now...
When he entered the parlor, he discovered that there was a fireplace which was lit and the room was really warm, even hot.
There was a central table which had 2 upholstered armchairs and a sofa around it. It looked aesthetically pleasing to Aldric.
Aldric sat on one of the armchairs and made himself comfortable as he crossed his legs.
After 2 or 3 minutes of waiting, Thomas arrived with tea.
He put the china tea set on the central table near Aldric and sat on the sofa.
Oh, delicious... Aldric thought after he took a sip of his tea.
After settling in the sofa and also taking a sip of his tea, Thomas took the initiative to start the conversation by giving Aldric a warm smile and saying in his soft voice
"My dear friend, may I know your name?"
"Aldric." he took another sip of his tea.
"What business do you have with me, Aldric?"
"I have a message from Edmund."
Thomas gave a subtle surprised look after hearing Edmund's name which disappeared after a second. He paused for a second as his expression softened again and asked in a seemingly casual tone
"Don't you have anything else to say before giving me the message?"
"Braised Lamb Shank with Mint Sauce, 7" replied Aldric with a serious expression as he took a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over to Thomas. This was the organization's identification which looked like an advertisement for a restaurant called Jack's Diner but actually contained encrypted knowledge.
Edmund's organization used various random information about their members such as their favorite food and the level of access next to them for passcodes. Edmund had told Aldric that his favorite food, Braised Lamb Shank with Mint Sauce was his passcode for the maximum level of access, 7 when he gave him the instructions Aldric had to follow in order to join the organization.
Knowing that this was Edmund's passcode with the maximum level of access meant that Edmund trusted Aldric unconditionally. Thereby, the organization would trust Aldric as much as they trusted Edmund since he knew this passcode.
Even though he could trick me by giving me a fake passcode which meant that I would get caught by the organization, doing so would result in them not trusting me and the message would be invaluable. Therefore, this passcode is definitely real.
Edmund had told Aldric to deliver a message to Thomas and that his award would be this passcode which could get him into the organization easily since they would take everything he said to be on Edmund's behalf. This way, he could become part of an organization which had access to supernatural powers and take his revenge...
The passcode alone wasn't enough since it wasn't extremely hard to find, it was used to only verify the level of access. The actual thing that verified that Aldric was indeed entrusted this mission by Edmund was the fact that he had his identification. An enemy couldn't take it from his corpse and understand it was an identification since it looked like a simple advertisement, verifying that it was indeed given to Aldric by Edmund.
Wouldn't they torture him and force him to give the identification to them, I don't understand why he was so confident that the organization wouldn't suspect me...
After he checked the identification's authencity, Thomas visibly got serious and gestured for Aldric to continue with his hand.
Aha! You finally stopped talking so much when you got serious huh...
He took the piece of paper with the instructions on it from his pocket in order to not forget saying anything even though he knew what the message was about.
"The headquarters in Kalminberg was raided by the Blue Roses with a force consisting of more than 10 Astravins, including one with 4 CL. They managed to barely kill everyone except me due to the element of surprise after a big fight.
"They took everything in there including the Astravine Essence of the dead members. I managed to escape. I entrusted Aldric with my Astravine Essence.
"He is one of my informants in Kalminberg and he is extremely trustworthy. I give him authorization to join us and immediately be injected.
This was the message." said Aldric indifferently.
Even though I wasn't an informant of his, he added this part in order to make sure they took me in.
Thomas was stunned by this news even though he didn't let it show on his face using his years of experience. Did they really all die so easily... All that people... he thought with grief. Since he knows the level 7 passcode and has Edmund's identification, this is a message that has to be taken as true. This also means that the man in front of me is the new potential member of our organization... thought Thomas and said seriously, looking Aldric in the eyes
"You have seen the contents, my dear friend. Would you like to join our organization?"
"Yes." Aldric said seriously.
"Then, my dear friend, Aldric, it is my honor to welcome you to our organization, Knights of Drayal.
If you want, you will become an Astravin. Astravins are people with various supernatural powers. I will explain it to you more in detail later. What I must explain now to you, my dear friend, Aldric is that there are risks to becoming an Astravin.
You will be injected with Astravine Essence. Astravine Essence is a magical fluid coming from monsters' bodies. It contains a monster's supernatural powers but also a part of its mind.
Injecting this liquid to yourself will give you that monster's supernatural powers but if you do not do this using a special procedure, the part of their mind in the Astravine Essence will take over your body instantly and you will basically die, my dear friend, Aldric.
You will also leave behind your body which has supernatural powers and is controlled by a malicious monster. The rest isn't unpredictable...
Our special procedure suppresses this monster's mind to a certain extent but it doesn't entirely remove it from the liquid. After you are injected with Astravine Essence, you will constantly have the mind of a monster in your body, ready to come to surface to take over your body. You will constantly face this threat my dear friend.
Your comrades' bodies will become monsters. You will have to fight against them. If your state of mind becomes weak, you will be the victim of this curse. This isn't something simple, this will continue for your whole life. You will never be able to put your guard down again.
My dear friend, Aldric, do you want to become an Astravin?"
Since the start of the conversation, Aldric imagined many things as he was prepared for this conversation, but he didn't imagine himself blankly staring at Thomas, his mouth agape.
Oh, that old geezer was so confident that they wouldn't suspect that I tortured him into giving me his identification because he would get controlled by a monster if I tried to do so due to his weak state of mind during the torture...
This side effect of becoming an Astravin is really messed up and risky... I want to become an Astravin in order to avenge her but this risk is too great... Should I really become an Astravin just to avenge her? To avenge her... Aldric, what are you thinking, donkey! Of course you must become an Astravin at this cost if it is for her. Aldrick thought. Thomas unexpectedly didn't talk while he was thinking, giving him space.
"Yes." said Aldric.