A/N: Some *sensitive* stuff in this chapter. Also trying out a different writing style.
But anyways, hope you enjoy it and feel free to leave a comment/review/feedback.
Note: Cian is pronounced like the color 'Cyan'
--
I bolt awake, my memories returning to me in a haze. My head hurts like hell and I instinctively rub it, wondering how I managed to survive the previous night. Butterflies flutter in my stomach, making me feel queasy but I bear with the feeling nonetheless.
Then I squint in the bright light. Where am I? Rays of sunlight beams into the unfamiliar room from the slanted windows, colouring the room into a creamlike colour and white curtains ruffle in the wind. Nearby, there is a mahogany table where a book lay alongside a quill and some ink. Vases consisting of a multitude of flowers are spread around the room, their scent wafting to my nose, a nice sweet smell. I move slightly, only to realize I’m in a bed filled with blankets and pillows. I blink, once, twice, trying to shrug off the disorientation for a moment.
Did I die? This room really doesn’t really look like the fiery pits of hell though. What happened? I remember crawling through human waste, fighting Nocturne, then passing out somewhere. I looked down at my legs, bandages wrapping around my right leg covering so much of it, there was hardly any visible skin. The rags of my armor were gone, replaced by simple clean clothing. Who changed my clothes and cleaned me? I gingerly touch my leg and wince, knowing I won’t be able to move around much. My hair seems to have been scrubbed clean of any waste and excrement as I use one hand to comb through my hair.
The door suddenly creaked open, startling me and interrupting my thoughts. A girl, around 17 or so peers inside. When she sees me, her face brightens, a bundle of happiness and joy as she bustles in to the room.
“Hey, I see you’re awake, I'm Lily by the way. Mom found you unconscious and covered in…uh-“
She gives me a quizzical look.
“Yeah I know. Don’t ask, I really don’t want to talk about it. Oh, and the name's Cian.”
“Okay… Well, rest up. You’ll need it considering the state of you when we found you. Then we can talk.”
With that, Lily left me to my own thoughts. It wasn’t until a couple of days later when I had fully recovered that her curiosity finally got the better of her and she couldn’t help but question me.
“So… how did you manage to end up nearly dead?”
I looked at her impassively. “Do I need to tell you?”
“You don’t, but when you’re living under someone’s roof, its common courtesy to not keep secrets from one another.”
Given any other situation, she was right, but this was something far different than usual and I could not, would not, tell her about what I was doing that day. Instead, I gave another explanation.
“I got attacked by boars and they outnumbered me. I was helpless and couldn’t defend myself.” I said, trying my best to not sound sarcastic.
She gave me an incredulous look.
“Really? You got attacked by boars, which never leave their homes in the forest and are actually non-hostile to players and NPCs unless provoked? Either they were looking for food or you were being an idiot.”
I said nothing.
She muttered under her breath. “You were definitely being an idiot.”
Before I could respond, Lily grabbed me by my arm and led me out of the room. “Well. Whatever. Let me show you around the house.”
It seems as if though I was lucky enough to be brought into the care of a good noble family, namely Bellatrix. From what I know, nobles in this world are incredibly obnoxious and arrogant and love to flaunt their authority everywhere they go. I’m just glad that this family wasn’t one of those otherwise I’d have left without a moment’s hesitation. Not that I wanted to bond with them anyway of course, I had much more important things on mind.
Instead I followed Lily around her house or mansion more like, her showing me just how lavish it was, with all the decorations and such. When she finished giving me a tour of the place, she turned around and faced me.
“You aren’t considering leaving so soon are you? Besides, you still have to pay for all the accommodation we provided for you, so you can’t leave yet. I doubt you’d survive out there anyway, you look like you aren’t even level 10 yet.”
Really? So much for looking like an assassin when I can’t even fool a simple girl.
“Of course, I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me but I can’t promise that I’ll stay here permanently. Once I repay my debts, then I’ll take my leave.”
“Oh.” I couldn’t help but notice a twinge of sadness in her voice. “Well, I’m going to go to the market for some food to make dinner later. Mom says we’ll be making curry so um… I guess if you want to help out, just meet me by the front door at four.” Her eyes were downcast as she said this.
I hate to disappoint her even more but going around shopping for groceries wasn’t exactly the top of my list of priorities at the moment. I also did not want to get close with anyone in this world, as I’d have to leave them behind sooner or later and I’ve had my share of pain in this lifetime.
I replied nonchalantly, “Sorry, I’ve got other things to do. I’ll see you around.”
She shrugged at my response and began to walk away, leaving me alone in an unfamiliar place and without a clue on what to do and where to start. Servants who were walking by gave me weird looks, as if they were wondering what the hell I was doing here. To be fair, I didn’t know what I was actually doing either.
Ack. I suppose we have to start somewhere.
“Miss Lily!” She paused mid-step. “I am in need of some new equipment so I suppose this would be a good time for me to go along and visit the market and see what they have to offer.”
What am I doing?
“Well, I guess it’s decided then! I’ll see you at the front door at four.”
I could tell she was trying not to react to what I said but the side of her mouth twitched, and it made her look like she was smirking at me.
It was as if she had…
I mentally facepalmed myself as the realization struck me. Sometimes I really did feel like an idiot.
****
Before I met up with Lily, I remembered I still needed to accept the class I got from my fight with Nocturne. If I remembered correctly, the effect I got from that class were far superior then any other effects from other classes, as it needed to be, considering the amount of effort I went through obtaining it.
RevenantType:UniqueRequirements:Level 200+, Slayer of the ShadowsDescription:The night is darkest before the dawn...Do you accept this class [Y / N]
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
I selected yes and equipped the class.
Skill Acquired!
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:DeceiveBeginner10%Description: Not even you will know who you are...
Ah, how glad I am to have you back.
Deceive was an ability that allowed me to change my appearance to anybody in the game, whilst not as powerful as some of other classes' abilities, the utility of this skill was beyond comprehension.
After I finished preparing, I made my way to Lily and we proceeded to *walk* to the market, even though it was ridiculously far away from her home. The reason for doing so was less to do with me wanting to be inconspicuous at being seen with a noble but more so with Lily’s futile attempts at trying to befriend me which I simply ignored.
The marketplace we were going to was what some would call ‘business’ and others ‘illegal’. It was a mixture between actual vendors and people who sold... objects, in other words, young girls, so I was quite uneasy about having Lily with me. If anything did happen to her though, I wasn’t sure how I’d react to the situation.
I‘m not a hero for god’s sake, and I’m certainly not her damn bodyguard.
Even as I thought about this prospect, out of the corner of my eye I saw she was browsing the various food on sale but she had certainly attracted some unwanted attention in doing so. I couldn’t help but notice several strange looks Lily had garnered from other people in the market, especially the shady looking ones who looked at her with some feigned interest. I looked back at Lily and saw her laughing with the vendor about something but the smile that he returned in response was void of any warmth. Instead it seemed like he was smiling about something else entirely.
I groaned inwardly. Something’s about to go down pretty soon and I’m not going to be here when it does.
Suddenly, three people from a nearby stall selling potions began walking towards Lily, all of them equipping short swords as they did so. Just as they were about to reach her though, she spun around and landed a roundhouse kick which sent one of the men flying into a stall. This didn’t deter the other men however and two more came from other stalls making it a total of four people who were slowly closing in and surrounding their prey.
Right now, I was talking with a clothier from whom I had bought a hooded robe made of white shimmering satin trimmed with blue thread, the elegance and simplicity of which had peaked my interest. At the same time, I was looking on at the situation, unsure of whether to take any action or not considering it really did not involve me. I’m sure she has it covered, I reassured myself. Showing my power off this early was something I did not intend to do.
Lily was about to pull out the stiletto she always carried as a sign of precaution from her inside pocket when strong arms from behind wrestled it out of her grip; belonging to the shop vendor she was talking to not less than a minute ago.
“Don’t move little girl, wouldn’t want to hurt ya.” He grinned to the other four. “This one’s worth quite a bit.”
I sighed. I felt some sort of detachment at the current predicament after having gone through it so many times myself as well. But, my life was owed to her and a life debt is a life debt after all.
I activated [ Standstill ], causing everything around me to slow down to a mere fraction of what it previously was. The people around me became living statues, unable to move or do anything of significance. From here I used [Deceive], disguising myself as someone else who I would later use as my double in future endeavours. Donning the robe I had just bought, I brought the hood up to cover my face and I approached the men.
I drew my daggers out of their sheaths.
****
The stall vendor was sure he’d make some hefty profits from today’s capture. Her beauty was something men would drool over as soon as they lay their eyes upon her, and her body… he shivered. Instead he hoped he could keep her for himself rather than selling her to the filthy, grubby noble that he worked for.
Just as he was going to get a feel of what she was like underneath, he noticed a movement in the corner of the eye coming towards him.
“Go take care of… whoever that is.” He signalled to the four men. These were veteran bandits, he thought, they’d been doing this business for years, of course they wouldn’t fail so easily. He wouldn’t let anybody take his prize away, not this time.
The vendor watched as a man cloaked in a blue and white robe walked toward his men with no fear, weapons and no armor to protect himself.
He smirked. He wondered to himself if this guy was either a lunatic or an idiot for even trying to bother fighting him. Probably an idiot, he mused, he definitely looks like one.
He yawned, too tired to think of what he’d say to that pesky noble about what happened today when a figure clad in white popped up right behind him.
“Have you ever felt… what it’s like to be… helpless?” A deep voice emanated in his ears. “No? Then let me show you what it feels like.”
--
People who were coming to the food stall to investigate the commotion being caused nearby, only managed to find five people lying on the ground, pools of blood spilling out underneath them, one of which had his expression frozen with his mouth forming an ‘O’ shape, as if he was in the middle of a yawn.
****
“Cian!” Lily rushed towards the clothes stall. “You wouldn’t believe what just happened.”
“Why, what happened?” I replied, no emotion in my voice whatsoever.
“The person I was buying food from called in some of his friends and they attacked me and were about to take me away when some white robed guy came and killed all of them.” Her face was flushed as she continued speaking.
“Yeah, no chance.” I responded back.
“You might not believe me,” She pouted. “But I definitely knew what I saw. He was like a blur, moving so fast between all of them, it’s like he was an unstoppable force.” Her face shone, in what seemed like a moment of awe as she recalled the event in her head.
“Hmm… You’re right actually.”
“See? I knew you’d trust me eventually.”
I turned away and started walking back towards home.
“You’re right that I don’t believe you.”