Liam stared at the paper before him with disbelief. He wouldn’t have believed what he was reading, but the fact there was a picture provided with the paper showed that the person being requested to be both killed or protected was in fact the same person he had been travelling with. Coupling that with Sebastean letting it slip the other night that she was royalty just further proved it.

  Liam looked back at Lady and asked, “Why? Why is a teenaged girl a target for assassination?”

  Lady Velvet stared at Liam for a long moment. At first she looked like she believed Liam was asking a rhetorical question, but as she stared at him she realized something. The next few words she muttered revealed what she just realized. “That’s right, you’re a new arrival so of course you don’t understand.” She then said a bit louder, “Things like this happens all the time when it comes to royals of each kingdom. Some kill requests are from competing royals who are aiming for the throne, those who are considered a nuisance due to conflicting ideals, or even just because they don’t like someone. Ago, race, sex none of that matters when someone wants someone dead.”

  Liam held his gaze on the woman before him. What she was saying did make sense. He knew and understood that. Hell, the same thing happened on Earth before and after it went to hell. This was nothing new no matter where you went. The difference here was there were more races than just humans and there was both power and magic in this world.

  He looked back down at the paper. As he stared at it again, a faint whisper tickled the edge of his ears. It whispered something he knew to be true. He could choose to kill her. It would be easy. He and the others were somewhat close to her, and she would have her guard down. Since she was out with them at a concert he could get them to bring her to an area where no one was and with his Shadow Magic he could…

  His train of thought stopped as images flashed before his eyes. Ariyana and the others smiling, laughing, and talking with the girl flashed by one by one. The look of loneliness he saw in her eyes when Sebastean tried to isolate her from the others and him. The smile she had when she laughed at one of their jokes or Ariyana’s and Roman’s ribbing each other. And finally…a figure wearing a mask standing on top a mountain of corpses.

  Liam shuddered suddenly as he shook his head. No…Not again… Liam thought as he looked back at the paper. He wasn’t going to take this specific request. If he chose to do that then the accusations both she and Sebastean made the other night would become true. He also really didn’t have a reason to do it, plus it put a nasty taste in his mouth.

  Since killing her was taken off the table, he had two other options to choose from. He could choose to defend her. From what Lady Velvet had just said, he wouldn’t have to do it forever. It would be until allies from another Underground Association arrived. However, that meant he would be on his own until they came. He didn’t know how long it would take so the factors weren’t clear, and his odds of survival didn’t sound good. Lady Velvet also looked like she wasn’t advising to take this request.

  The last option he had was to ignore it. Pretend like he never saw these, wait it out till it was over, and pray for the best. While this option was his best when it came to survival there was a major issue to it. His teammates. There was a decent chance his teammates would get involved with or without any warning of what was going on. And if they were starting to see the teenager as a friend then they wouldn’t hesitate to protect her.

  His fingers on the paper unconsciously dug deep into it as something faint started to stir within him. The mere thought of someone killing his teammates, his friends just because some dumbass wanted someone dead. He was also pissed that he had even believed the third option was even available.

  He knew what he needed to do. Did he believe he would be able to do this and come out unscathed? No. This was going to be a tough fight before him. One he has never tried doing before. Fighting off others while making sure a target is safe or as safe as possible was something he had never done before…

  Liam let out a sigh as he looked back at Lady Velvet. “These allies you mentioned. How long until they arrive?”

  Lady Velvet stared at him for a moment. Liam didn’t think she would respond as she remained quiet, but then she responded, “I have a report that they will be arriving within the next hour or so. So if you do chose to, and I will highly advised you don’t, pick the protect request you will have to go now. These requests came in shortly after you left to craft, and I would put my coin on people already getting ready to assassinate her and any who are close by her.”

  Liam’s body tensed at that response. He hadn’t considered that. While he was too busy contemplating which of the two he would pick, his teammates could have already been attacked. Luckily for him, he could ask someone who had eyes on them. Eri. Do you know if the others are safe?

  [They are currently safe. The concert they went to has wrapped up and they are currently leaving – Eri.]

  Liam began to feel his body relax a bit after reading that. However, the next message that popped up made him tense up once again.

  [However…There are several people who are currently watching them and following from a decent distance so the others can’t detect them. – Eri.]

  Shit! Liam thought as he finished reading the message.

  [What do you wish to do? Want me to warn them? – Eri.]

  Liam thought about it. He knew he didn’t have the luxury to think long and hard, but he also knew he shouldn’t rush head long. He needed a plan of attack, and he needed to do it right. I’ve got an idea. However, do not inform all of them of what’s going on. I’ll tell you who to inform and what to tell them. However, I need to get some things done here before I head out.

  [Alright. I look forward to seeing how you plan on doing this. – Eri.]

  He didn’t respond to that but instead looked straight at Lady Velvet and said with a crisp certainty, “I’ll take the Protect Request. However, I need some information on a couple of things both for this request and about certain stock you have in your Dark Nest.”

  “That was so much fun!” Omira shouted as she grinned widely while walking away from the building that held the event. Scores of people walked out all around them as they made their way down the street. “I had heard her music before but never seen her live in person.”

  “I must admit. That was a lot better than I had anticipated,” Blair stated. “The way she moved about, the use of her abilities both vocal and magical. Not to mention she was really beautiful.”

  “Of course she is. She is The Mystifying Fire Rose after all,” Val said with a joyous expression on her face. She looked from Omira then at Ariyana and Mercer. “As fun as that concert was. I have to congratulate you both for gaining something more than a fun time at a concert.”

  The others looked at the two who were looking both bashful and happy at the same time. Val’s words suddenly clicked as they remembered what had happened during the middle of the first song. It was Artem who was the first to react as he said, “That’s right! You both evolved your classes right?!”

  “What did you get?” Avery questioned as she looked at them while turning a corner.

  “My new class is called an Aromatic Entrancer,” Ariyana explained. “Much like my Charm magic, I can place my targets in a specific trance depending on the aroma I use and the medium I use it through.”

  “Medium?” Roman asked. “What do you mean by that?”

  “The mediums I can use can vary from plants I grow personally or summon. I can also create a powder and use that,” Ariyana stated. “However, they have to inhale it nasally in order for them to be susceptible to the effects of the trance they fall into. As a bonus, if they make eye contact with me or if they hear my voice and fall under further to one of my charm spells, they the effects of the aroma trance they are under can strengthen.”

  “Damn, that sounds both scary and hard to do,” Roman commented. “What kind of trances can you place people in?”

  “My current new abilities are Berserker Aroma, Burnout Aroma, Captivation Perfume and…oh…,” Ariyana said before looking both confused and a bit worried as something suddenly appeared before her eyes only.

  “What’s wrong?” Artem asked as he stopped walking and looked at her.

  Ariyana hadn’t noticed, but she had stopped moving. Her eyes looked at the others and saw they had stopped and were staring at her as well. Giving them as convincing of a smile as she could make she said, “Sorry. I thought I had another one, but I was mistaken.”

  Omira and Val stared at her for a long moment. They looked like they knew something was up, but thankfully they didn’t press. Not wanting to give them any chance she continued, “Anyways, something I find very useful about my class is if I use a plant as a medium I can create a flower, fill it with one of my aroma and leave it alone like a trap.”

  “That’s pretty cool,” Avery commented. “Can you show us how it looks if you use a plant as a medium?”

  Ariyana nodded with an excited look upon her face. She looked around the street and saw it was empty. No one was around meaning no one would accidentally walk into the plant. She looked around and tried to think of where she should try it out. Avery saw what she was doing and offered, “Why not there on the wall of that building? On the edge so if the spell takes too long to disappear then no one would trigger it.”

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  Ariyana eyed Avery for a split second before saying, “Good idea.” She then readied herself. She began channeling some mana before chanting out a spell. As she chanted the spell, a seed started to take shape above her open palm. After it took form, she then chanted another spell before throwing the seed at the corner of the building where the opening to an alleyway was.

  As soon as the seed touched the wall of the building it suddenly sprouted into a flower that was still in its budding form. As the others watched the flower grow to that point, Ariyana stared at her palm with a curious look.

  “That was…a lot more underwhelming than I thought it would be,” Roman commented as he shook his head.

  “I am going to have to agree with him,” Gimmel stated as he too looked disappointed before catching the glare from Blair. His gaze quickly looked anywhere but there.

  “Hm,” Ariyana suddenly said. “I think I might be able to do more than that.”

  Before anyone could ask what she meant, she quickly started chanting again and again the same spell. She chanted the spell enough for six more seeds. She looked excited to see that. Without any hesitation, she chanted the same spell as she had for the first seed. She then threw five of the seeds in random areas before quietly chanting a new chant. This one was quiet enough that only Roman and Blair caught the words. Both looked surprised as they stared at her. They didn’t ask any questions as they listened to her finish the hastily chanted spell before she threw it off somewhere in front of her.

  “Ariyana!” Omira and Val both scolded at the same time.

  Ariyana gave them both an embarrassed expression as she said with a smile, “Sorry about that. I got a little excited and thought I’d test something out. I guess all that training I’ve been put under is affecting me harder than I thought.”

  Omira sighed, understanding what she meant as Val looked confused. “Yeah, I can see that. Just be careful. If a random person were to…” A sudden pop and the sound of something lightly being sprayed filled the air causing Omira to stop and look at where the noise came from.

  Everyone looked at the plant that was placed on the wall. It was the first plant Ariyana had cast. A dust of powder had rained down and almost completely disappeared by the time they had found it. A confused and curious look grew on Omira’s and Val’s face as coughing suddenly echoed shortly after the powder had disappeared.

  A figure suddenly waved to life as if an illusion was placed on them had suddenly dispersed. The figure was wearing dark clothing and had a mask covering only the top part of their face. Their mouth and nose weren’t covered and from the way their mouth snarled, it looked like they were in some sort of pain. They took two steps away from where they had appeared before dropping to a knee and started breathing heavily.

  Before anyone could say anything five more pops and sprays filled the air around the areas where Ariyana’s plants were placed. Like the first person, five more people suddenly appeared. From the looks of their bodies, it was a mixture of men and women as well as different races.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Omira questioned as she stared at the scene before them play out. Blair and Avery swiftly moved in front of her as Artem and Gimmel moved behind her. Ariyana and Roman took to the right of Omira while Mercer stood on the left with Val outside of the group looking very confused.

  Without any orders being made, Gimmel pulled out one of his Spy Bird Puppets and chanted his illusion spell which created multiple versions before sending out into the air. As the illusionary bird puppets started gaining height, several small weapons flew through the air and sliced a wing off of each, sending them into the ground a few feet away from the group.

  Gimmel clicked his tongue as he softly reported, “We’re surrounded. Some on the roof tops. Not entirely sure about the numbers, but I spotted at least seven that attacked my puppets.”

  “Are they cloaked or in some manner of stealth?” Mercer questioned as quietly as he could.

  “No. they are using the lip of the roofs for cover,” Gimmel replied.

  “Okay,” Mercer said as calmly as he could. “Ariyana, can you get some lights on them?”

  “I need locations to know where to send them,” Ariyana replied swiftly.

  “What is going on?” Omira asked as she looked at each of them.

  Ignoring her question, Gimmel provided the information Ariyana requested as she started chanting a spell as quietly as she could. “Oh, dancing wisps of light. I call upon you to help me. Have fun and be merry. Dance around without being wary. Dancing Lights!”

  Dancing Lights was one of the spells Ariyana had worked on to get to level twenty. When it reached that level the benefits had changed from shooting three dancing colored lights to only two targets to being able to summon seven lights and dividing them up to enough targets that equaled the amounts of lights.

  Thanks to Gimmel’s information she was able to latch each light onto a target. Seeing that the targets couldn’t get rid of them, they forgo their hiding spots and made themselves known. They fell down to the ground and landed around the others who were on their knees coughing and looking like they were in pain.

  As they did this Gimmel’s eyes caught movements around certain areas. He relayed that information to Mercer who nodded his head. He then channeled some Ice Mana before using it to take shape. The shape of the Ice Mana took the form of a flute that started to play an icy cold tune. A wave of pressure washed out as the song being played reached out to cover the area.

  A light sheen of frost started to coat the group of masked people’s feet and hands causing them to stall and look confused. However, after a few seconds had passed, an object suddenly crashed through the Ice made flute causing it to shatter.

  “Now, now…we can’t have you playing that Song of Cold Stillness,” a voice called out. From the sound of it, it was a rough manly voice. Mercer and the others watched as another group of people suddenly emerged around the group of masked individuals. “To be honest, I’m surprised that there was an entourage this capable to protect the target. It seems that the information provided for this job wasn’t accurate at all.”

  Omira’s eyes widened as she stared at the man who spoke. His words gave her clarity on what was going on. That realization then turned to confusion as she looked at Mercer and the others. She understood that they were trying to protect her, but the confusion was made due to the fact that they were protecting her and how quickly they had acted. It felt like they had known this was going to happen.

  Mercer bowed slightly while placing his hand across his chest in a professional manner. “I thank you for the praise. We live to exceed expectations.”

  The man who had spoken earlier laughed. “A professional I see. I like that, even though Bards or rather Minstrels, judging by the spell you had casted, are a class I hate dealing with most. Those songs you produce are tricky if not dealt with. I am just glad that, judging by the strength of the effects of the song, you must have just recently evolved.” He let out a sigh as he continued, “A shame that you will have to die after just evolving your class.”

  Artem, who was standing behind everyone, moved his eyes back and forth as he quietly and slowly chanted a spell. After he finished he held back on not sending forth the spell as he waited for something. He didn’t have to wait long as Gimmel suddenly stated, “To our left.”

  Three fast flying objects suddenly crashed against a see through shield that appeared in front of Val, protecting her, Mercer, and Omira. The shield exploded as the object fell towards the ground. They were small throwing daggers that looked like the quality was better than what Liam was currently able to make.

  Val stared wide eyed as she recognized the liquid that dripped from the tip of them. She looked back at the others as they kept their gazes not just on the ones in front of them, but around them as well. She understood that she was a stranger, someone they had only met earlier and allowed her to join them for the show. They didn’t need to protect her. They had no reason to. However, they still made sure she was safe as well.

  Mercer slightly shifted his gaze to look at her while keeping the enemies in sight. He gave her an apologetic smile as he said, “Sorry you got wrapped up in this. Don’t worry. We’ll do our best to make sure you are safe as well.”

  Val felt her heart beat as she listened to his words. She was in awe but soon snapped out of it. She couldn’t hold them back while they tried to protect her. With a determined expression she thought about the new abilities she had gained earlier. Unlike Ariyana and Mercer who were able to gain insights on what they needed to evolve their classes. She needed more time. She was lucky enough that the last song of the night was able to trigger what she needed. Settling on a spell she believed was perfect, she started channeling mana.

  Mercer’s brows furrowed as he felt mana start to channel close to him. Omira, Artem, Ariyana, and Gimmel noticed it as well as the others. Avery, Blair, and Roman felt it, but didn’t move their eyes to see what was going on. They were putting trust that someone who relay any information that was needed.

  After Val finished channeling the amount of mana she believed would be perfect, she pushed it out and started molding and shaping it at about knee height. The color of the mana was a venomous dark green. Mercer was surprised as the mana took the form of a violin. Before he could ask what she was doing, the venomous dark green violin started playing a fast paced sharp song.

  A cloud of dark green suddenly fell from the bottom of the violin in a waterfall like fashion before it wafted swiftly towards the people like a thick fog. The masked group of people were surprised as the intimidating fog raced towards them. they were about to move to get away from it but were stopped as roots suddenly emerged from the ground and snagged a leg.

  They went to try and cut the roots to free themselves, but failed as the fog finally reached them and covered their entire bodies before moving on to the next target. Each person washed with the dark green fog looked like they were in excruciating pain. Their arms and legs spasmed as they tried to move them. Grunts and heavy breathing escaped their lips as they tried gasping for air. Those who wore masks that only covered their nose and mouths had blood shot eyes as they stared angerly at Mercer and the others.

  Blair, Avery, Ariyana, and the others, confused on what was going slowly turned to look at Val. Val, for her part gave them a sheepish smile as she said, “What? You guys protected me. Its only right that I help out too…right?”

  “I mean…yeah, but I didn’t know you were a Bard let alone a poison focused one,” Mercer commented.

  Val’s cheeks blushed as she averted her gaze for a moment away from Mercer’s. She then said trying to keep her voice stable, “I’m not a Bard. At least, not anymore. I was able to evolve my class into a Venom Minstrel.”

  “Remind me not to piss you off,” Roman softly commented.

  Before anyone else could say anything, a loud thud filled the air making everyone turn to look at the group that still had the cloud of dark green fog washing over them. They weren’t sure what had happen or where that noise came from, but as they turned to look four new people were now a couple of feet away from them, ready to strike at Blair.

  As Blair got ready to defend a message suddenly appeared in front of her, causing her to give up on the attack and shouted as she turned around, “Close your eyes!”

  “What?!” Omira and Val shouted in confusion.

  However, they didn’t get an answer as a vial suddenly crashed down in between Blair and the others and the incoming attackers. Artem had swiftly moved in front of Omira and turned away as Mercer grabbed Val by the head and pulled her face to his chest, covering both of their eyes right in time as a flash of bright pale light lit up.

  Shouts of anger filled the air as Mercer and the others waited for the sudden light to dissipate. When it finally did, Mercer and Artem moved away from the two girls and the others opened their eyes to see the incoming attackers digging the bottom of their palms into their eyes screaming about how they were blinded.

  Before Omira or Val could ask what was going on, they heard a voice finish chanting, “Remind them why they should fear their own Shadow. Grasp of the Shadows!” Both of their eyes widened as black tendrils grew from beneath each masked person and snake their way around their bodies before tightening and pulling downwards.

  A figure suddenly appeared in puff of black smoke right in front of Blair. He wore a pitch black cloak with two cat-like ears that looked to be protruding from the top, one all black with a spot of white while the other all white with patches of black. A black tail swayed left to right from the cloak as well.

  The rest of his attire was dark with some bone pieces here and there. Two daggers were gripped in the figure’s hand. One dagger was a smooth pitch-black with spots of pure white speckled around it. The other was a pure white one with speckles of pitch black. The blades curved a bit at the top and were smooth all the way till the bottom section close to the hilt. On the back end of the blades, it curved in, giving a sharp spiked look to it.

  “Good job everyone. I’ll take it from here,” the figure said in a calm yet measured tone of voice. “Get her out of here.”

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