I arrived at the Golden Griffin, expecting the usual smell of meat and the steady rhythm of Elena’s work. Instead, I stopped in the doorway as a thick silence hit my ears. The interior was a total mess, drowned in the shadows of the dying fire. Two heavy tables were overturned. Broken chairs and shattered mugs lay scattered across the floor. The air stank of spilled beer and cheap, gutter sweat.
My sapphire eyes immediately found the central point of the room. A rusted, chipped knife was driven deep into the oak counter. It held a dirty, crumpled piece of parchment in place. I approached the counter with a slow, Brazen chill, showing no sign of panic. I pulled the knife out and threw it into the gloom with a quiet clink. I unrolled the note and read the hurried scrawl of an illiterate.
"We know how much silver you took from Silas, pretty boy," the text began. "The barmaid is with us. Come to the Silver Lotus with the full payment and no tricks, or Elena will be hurt. Maybe we will assault her as a group first, to pass the time while we wait for you?".
My gaze froze on that last sentence. Instead of fear or stress, I felt a familiar, murderous spark in my chest. My internal reactor let out a low, predatory growl. A thick wave of Blood Lust flooded my veins, warming my body for the coming slaughter. The corners of my mouth curled up into a wide, psychopathic smile. Someone had just handed me a free invitation to a massacre and a perfect moral excuse for a total utilization of their bodies.
I closed my eyes. I turned off my physical sight and focused my expanded imagination on the surrounding city . I activated my analytical grid, letting my mind render a map of Oakhaven based on sound reflections and vibrations. I filtered out the noise of the wind and the scratching of rats in the alleys. I searched for one specific, biological rhythm. I looked for the frantic, panicked heartbeat of Elena.
I found her in four seconds. She was deep underground, held in the cellars of the Lower City. I opened my eyes, and my smile became even wider. I compressed energy in my thighs and calves, preparing my fibers for a massive load .I did not use magic or teleportation. I relied on pure, brutal kinetic force and pure logic.
I launched from the tavern with a deafening crack of breaking wood under my boots. I raced through the muddy streets with a speed that blurred the buildings into gray streaks. Ordinary pedestrians felt only a sudden, violent gust of wind that tore hats from their heads. Crossing the distance to the Silver Lotus took me less than fifteen seconds.
I stopped with a screech of my boots before the heavy, iron-clad doors leading to their cellars. I did not slow down to knock. I simply raised my leg and struck the center of the reinforced wood with full momentum. The doors exploded inward. The flying timber and the torn hinges killed the first dwaj guards instantly, breaking their necks before they could blink.
I stepped inside with a slow, rhythmic step. The cellar was huge and stank of wine and rot. Inside were exactly thirty thugs – trash in worn armor. In the far corner, Elena was huddled on a dirty mattress, bruised and crying. When I entered, the men froze with their mugs in their hands.
I laughed aloud, a chilling sound that paralyzed their thoughts. "Time to die, motherfuckers!" I announced cheerfully, as my laughter grew louder.
Before any thug could draw a rusted sword, my pores opened. Sapphire Slime spit out, coating my hands in liquid mercury. In a fractional second, I forced it to diamond density, forming curved blades known as Abyss Claw.
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I charged into the crowd like a hungry beast. This was not a heroic duel. It was a fifteen-second industrial utilization based on pure logic. I caught a spear shaft with a slime glove and crushed it into dust. I drove my claws under a jaw, piercing the brain directly. I spun heads one hundred eighty degrees using pure momentum and the mass of their own bodies. A massive thug in chainmail tried to block me, but I ignored the metal. I delivered a kinetic hook to his helmet, crushing the skull inside like a dry eggshell.
Fifteen seconds. Silence fell on the cellar. Thirty bodies lay in puddles of cooling blood in unnatural positions. The slime on my hands dissolved back into my skin, leaving my fingers clean. I extinguished my Blood Lust. My psychopathic smile vanished as I approached the corner.
Elena was trembling with terror, unable to connect the customer who ate eggs yesterday with the butcher who just deleted thirty men. "It is over, Elena," I said in a soft tone, kneeling before her with a friendly smile.
I took her bruised body into my arms with gentlemanly precision. To avoid curious eyes and city patrols, I formed a stable layer of pressure around us, bending the light. This kinetic camouflage allowed us to return to the Griffin completely invisible.
I laid her on my bed. Instead of playing with clichéd light magic, I took her hand and opened a valve in my weaves. I poured a thin, warm stream of Sapphire Aura into her body. My raw energy acted like liquid gold, stimulating her cells to repair the damage. Bruises vanished and skin regained its color within a minute. Elena fell into a deep, regenerative sleep.
At dawn, she opened her eyes, shocked by the lack of pain. "Dave... thank you," she whispered, leaning against the bed. "It was a necessary utilization of pathology, Elena. Rest," I replied with a relaxed smile.
However, the girl shook her head, showing a business pragmatism. "The thugs were bragging before you arrived," she said firmly. "They had immunity because their employer is a noble. Specifically, Marquis de Valois. He paid them for the dirty work".
I stopped in my tracks. My analytical mind added new data to the equation. Marquis de Valois. The head at the top of the pyramid. "Since I cut the tentacle, it is time to burn the root," I murmured with Brazen chill. "How do I find him?"
Elena explained that the Marquis is unreachable in his estate during the day. I needed someone who dealt in noble gossip. She pointed me to the lower city fish market to find Nessa, an efficient informant. I smiled with appreciation. This was the perfect logical support
I headed straight to the Lower City fish market. The smell of rotting fish hit my nose from several blocks away. I used my senses to locate a nimble silhouette leaning against a damp wall. It was Nessa. She observed me with deep mistrust until I shortened the distance. I did not waste time with games or haggling. I simply placed one bright silver coin in her palm. In this deflationary economy, such a price for a single rumor was absurd.
Nessa's eyes widened, and the coin vanished into her pocket with lightning speed. She whispered that Marquis de Valois was organizing a secret auction tonight at a hidden estate outside Oakhaven. The main prize was a escaped elfka with snow-diamond eyes. My pulse barely changed, but my mind assembled the pieces in perfect order. Shnee. My First Pillar was finally located and waiting on that stage.
I returned to the tavern and took Elena with me. She needed a safe cover and a proper outfit to blend in with the lords. As we walked through the Lower City, a heavy carriage tried to run us over. I did not even take my hands out of my pockets. Using pure physics, I kicked the side axle with a kinetic impulse. The ton-heavy vehicle flipped into the gutter, and I walked past the wreck without a look.
We reached the most snobbish boutique in Oakhaven. The seamstress looked at Elena with pure contempt until I placed three silver coins on the counter. I released a fraction of my pressure, making the air leaden. The woman turned pale and rushed to serve us. Half an hour later, Elena emerged in a sapphire silk dress that made her look like a duchess.
"What about you, Dave?" she asked, looking at my worn coat. I smiled with Brazen chill. I focused my will, and Sapphire Slime began to leak from my pores. It required great concentration as I was not yet a master of weaving matter. I forced the mana to take form, covering my body in an elastic material. When I opened my eyes, I wore a black suit made entirely of slime. The material pulsed with a sapphire reflex, proving I still needed practice, but the effect was impressive.
"We look perfect," I stated coldly, offering Elena my arm. It was time to enter the Noble Hill and brutally demolish their system. We were going to the auction to take what belonged to us.