CHAPTER 97.

Amber looked down at the dagger as his words hung in the air. There was no bloodlust or ill intent coming from him, but his weapon still remained looming over her chest. Sure it wasn’t pointing at her but it was certainly there.

“So?” the assassin prodded.

Amber closed her eyes. The man was at the very least, level 265, which made him even stronger than the king of this kingdom given she could at least see that the king was a warrior, whereas this person was nothing but question marks. Finally, a sigh left her. Considering what she could sense of him, she decided to test the waters, get a feel for what he would and wouldn’t do.

“We can talk.” She slapped his hand off and used the 3rd Rank of Quick Dash, appearing atop of a table, sitting on it as she glared at the assassin. “First time an assassin tries to talk to me before trying to kill me.”

He raised his head. “Is that so? I do it all the time.” Then he shrugged. “Granted the talk only starts after I poison them and then dangle the antidote in front of them, but still.”

Amber crossed her legs and leaned on her hand looking at him. It’s probably better to make myself look comfortable… She inwardly prepared herself to use the stored Curse of the Vanquished kill and Cursed Rage Synergy on her next attack.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” she asked casually.

“Well, I got some information about you but not all that much, so if you could tell me your classes it’d be great.” He smiled before he chuckled. “Just kidding, I don’t care, I have Rank 2 Appraisal after all, still… Cursed Inexorable Berserker, first time I see the word Inexorable in a class. And your Legacy Branch isn’t something I’ve heard of before either.”

He tilted his head at that before shaking it.

“No matter, I’m here to get a sense of who you are. Just in case.”

Amber frowned as he continued.

“People like you are often conceited after all, leveling up well over a hundred times in a year is no joke. Befriending a Primordial Spirit isn’t either. Alas, I do know that even if she is watching she will not interfere if I kill you ⁠— no Primordial has ever intervened unless they really like you ⁠— which I doubt is the case with this primordial.”

“Your point?” Amber prepared herself to fight.

The man chuckled. “My point is that you are interesting. Not only did you sense me earlier, but you also don’t fear me and that is something I find very interesting this far into conversation. Besides, I can kill you any time.”

“Is that so? Unless you are above level 300 I seriously doubt it will be easy.”

“I’m not above level 300, but…” He grinned. “We can give it a try.”

With those words, he vanished, Amber felt danger and immediately used the enhancement of Curse of the Vanquished, and Cursed Rage Synergy. Then with her hand she flicked, — Wind Cleave⁠— the wall was cleanly sliced, blood splattered and his dagger went flying.

She turned to prepare herself for a follow up attack only to hear a low laugh, one that called her attention to the center of the room.

“That is… wow… you have truly surprised me today...”

There she saw the assassin, looking at his arm stub with a smile. He didn’t look insane or anything, but his reaction was weird to say the least. Finally, he glanced back at her.

“You know, if that had hit my chest, that would’ve hurt me quite bad…” he said, waving his other arm in a flick motion, and with it his amputated limb flew across the room. “Luckily, it was only my arm.”

He raised his stump and his arm landed in its spot, reattaching in a single moment as he opened and closed his fist. Finally, he nodded and turned to Amber.

“I’ve made a decision. I’ll ignore the request to kill you.” He smiled before placing a hand on his chin. “That said, I thought you were a berserker.”

He glanced over at the wall, where there was a sharp cleaved section that gave way to the starry night sky.

“Is that your Legacy Branch? But there was nothing crimson about that.”

Amber was briefly confused, but dodged the question. “Something like that.”

“An artifact then?” he guessed before smiling. “Interesting. You don’t seem all that surprised by my arm trick either.”

He tilted his head.

“But that attack does not fit your level at all, even if you used charged skills that’s impressive. And to think you have that blue fire explosion thing too.” He tapped his chin. “Are you really sure you are not a mage?”

Amber shook her head. He is really damn talkative, huh? Maybe I can get useful information from this.

“I thought people above level 200 were rare.”

He paused before nodding. “They are, in this continent there is only a handful of us, save some monsters in the Great Desert and individuals inside the Sacred Forest⁠— elves are so long lived that it’s kind of a given for them to have a lot of high level individuals. I’m impressive, aren’t I?”

“Uh, sure?” Amber raised her brow. “So, are monsters at that level easy to find or…?”

“I’ll tell you after we finish talking, depending on the outcome.” He smiled. “While, I’m sure that information wouldn’t be too hard for you to dig up, I’d rather have as much leverage as possible.”

“Leverage?” She frowned. “Who even sent you to kill me in the first place?”

The assassin took a seat on the bed, shrugging. “I can’t say. Or not yet anyway.”

“Yet?” She raised her brow.

“That is right, because first I have to ask a very important question.” He raised his finger. “It’s very important.”

Amber blinked. “What is it⁠—”

He appeared behind her in a blink; she wasn’t even able to react. The man tilted his head back to whisper into her ear.

“Would you like to join the Obsidian Rose?”

There was a pause as Amber was surprised by the question. It was probably one of the most surprising and unexpected requests she had received since coming to Vir. And at the same time she could tell the man was truly serious.

“Are you asking me to become an assassin?” She turned to face him.

“Not quite,” he said from behind as Amber turned once more. He walked over to the table and sat on one of the chairs. “I’m not asking you to become any assassin, but rather I’m asking you to work under me.”

She crossed her arms. “So you are asking me to become your servant? Do you think I’m dumb?”

“Nope.” He laughed, kicking his legs. “By the stars, you sure are hasty, huh? Have you ever heard of the Obsidian Rose?” the assassin tilted his head. “Surely you understand what this opportunity represents?”

“Elaborate.”

He paused, and after a second laughed. “I learned that you were clueless about the world during my research but damn… no matter. I’ll explain it to you.”

He turned to face her, his hood covering most of his face as he spoke simply.

“The Obsidian Rose is not necessarily an assassin’s guild, but rather just a simple mercenary organization. We will undertake any request for the right price, but we do specialize in information gathering and target killing.” He grinned. “We are one of the best organizations in this side of the world.”

He put his hand on the table and a large map appeared, one that covered more than just the continent they were in, but rather multiple ones. Two of them were smaller, than Sarliane ⁠— where she currently was ⁠— and the other continent was large, much larger than anything else on the map. It was so large that it didn’t really fit, but just a part of it.

“This map represents where the Obsidian Rose operates, not only are we present on Sarliane, we are also present in the continent of magic, Arveil, and the elven continent, Lathyzia, and we also have presence in the main continent, Kartil.”

“Right…”

“Anyway, you don’t understand what that means, but it essentially means that out of eight continents in the world we operate in half of them, and we have done so for over a thousand years. In short, we have knowledge. Knowledge that you may want or could use if you join us.”

“You seem awfully interested in getting me to join.” She crossed her arms. “So, you want me to murder specific targets or something? I’ll have you know I have zero stealth skills, and I also don’t have good information gathering skills.”

The assassin smiled. “You are someone with a lot of potential, and let’s just say it would be beneficial to have you on board. But we currently have a lot of bounties on the Arcane Council. And based on my information they want you dead, so let us help each other.”

Amber scowled. “That will only make them want to kill me even harder, considering they have members above level 400, I’ll pass.”

“Is that so?” He deflated. “Oh well, better luck for me recruiting the next stellar hero in a few hundred years.”

“Are you giving up that easily?” Amber raised her brow.

“Yep.”

He clapped his hands on his knees then stood up. He flicked and the dagger that had been lying on the ground came to him, and he stowed it. Then he headed for the door, all while making his exit as obvious and casual as possible. Finally, he grabbed the door handle and glanced back.

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“Are you really not interested in joining the Obsidian Rose? We have a vast and rich history with information you cannot even fathom. It rivals even the elven libraries in Lathyzia.”

“Like what?”

He smiled and whispered. “The Exiled Emperor of Arcase, Ishtar.”

Amber frowned. “Information about him won’t make me join.”

“Is that so? Not even if I told you we have information on Dargon’s whereabouts?” He tilted his head, before taking a step forward and appearing in front of her. His silver eyes peered into hers as she was forced to take a step back. “Even if I told you we can inform you when an Arcane Council member is coming for you? Tell you where you can level, or even tell you about the other organization that will want your head very soon?”

She paused. “Another organization that will want my head?”

He smiled and extended his hand once more. “You won’t have to kill anyone you don’t want to, but in the future we may ask for your help with monsters or other requests.”

“Like the Guild?”

“Yes, like the Guild, but the requests will come to you. So, will you be part of the Obsidian Rose?”

Amber hesitated for a moment looking at his hand, every single reason to say no was basic: it was an assassin organization, it was bad, she didn’t want to be bad. But at the same time, they didn’t ask her to be bad, in fact it seemed like a losing offer for them.

So, what is his motive? She looked at the smiling assassin, his hand held out. Finally, she took a breath. Guess I’ll just have to find out.

She grabbed onto his hand. “Fine.”

The assassin’s smile deepened and he took a knee still holding her hand. Then, he produced a ring between his fingers, sliding it into her ring finger and kissing her palm.

“Very well, from this day forth, you are a member of the Obsidian Rose, and I, Remmel, will be your superior.”

He stood up as he finished, and Amber looked at the delicate black ring with a set piece that looked like a black rose. Examining it, he looked at the assassin.

“Did you really have to make it into a proposal? And the answer if it is, is: no.”

“What can I say?” He chuckled. “You are pretty.”

“Uh, I want to leave.”

He laughed and waved, “I’ll be leaving now, as for the information I told you about, it’s on the back of the map I left on the table.”

Amber glanced back at the table, and then turned only to see the assassin vanish.

“See you around, Amber.”

And with that he was gone. Shortly after that, a sigh left her looking at the ring.

So I am part of an assassin organization now, huh?

[Enchanted Grade ⁠— Ring of the Obsidian Rose ⁠— Rare Quality

This is a ring affiliated with the Obsidian Rose, a long standing underground organization that handles any kind of request for the right price. This ring carries the mana signature of the member: Amber. And will receive any letters pertaining to the member whose mana signature it carries. This ring can once a day send any amount of letters back to the sender.]

Sure enough, she was officially a member.

“Hopefully I didn’t get into a huge mess…”

Finally, she turned to the map and walked forward only for two people to teleport into the room, it was Val’leri and Sid’fril. Val’leri chuckled.

“I’m glad Ax’thra didn’t see that or he may have killed that assassin⁠—”

“We aren’t here to chat about that,” Sid’fril snorted.

Amber raised her brow. “Uh… what is happening?”

Val’leri smiled. “Well, we wanted to talk to you about something quite important.”

“And that is?”

“I’ve learned that this wretched woman hasn’t told you some crucial information about Ill’hine.” Sid’fril sighed. “And so we are here to fill you in.”

“Fill me in?” Amber blinked.

“That’s right.” Val’leri nodded. “We are here to inform you about the Gate of the Stars, the dangers surrounding it and the requirements to it.”

“Uh, what?”

Sid’fril scowled.

“We are here to tell you how to get to Ill’hine.”

And Amber paused, getting yet another unexpected set of news that night.

* * *

That night, Thieney was outside the city with Emma, observing the stars atop of the tower of Arthra forest. A beautiful view that people rarely got to experience.

“Thieney, why did you bring me here?” Emma asked. “You know, this was a dangerous journey.”

He glanced back, standing near the ledge. “I prepared well for it, and I wanted to make it special.”

The healer was confused as she approached. “You know I don’t really need these things…”

“No, you do.”

Finally, she arrived by his side and looked over at the forest and at the scintillating stars in the vast welkin, sparkling like beautiful otherworldly glitter. It was quite the sight to behold and yet, she remained confused.

“It’s beautiful, but I don’t see why… risk your life for this…”

“Well, you’ll see it now,” he said from her side. “I know that I may be rushing into things but…”

Emma paused and turned. “What are you talking about⁠—”

And she froze seeing the man she loved on one knee, displaying a golden ring with a small gemstone atop of it, it wasn’t anything fancy, but her heart skipped multiple beats.

“Will you⁠—”

“Yes!”

She interrupted him before he could even finish, embracing him.

* * *

That night Aveline Dawnriver cried, or rather, she had long ran out of tears. Everything she had built, her noble house, everything had been taken. Her family ⁠— thankfully ⁠— was taken care of by the king, but aside from that, everything was gone. And now, tonight, she was supposed to set off on her journey to leave the kingdom.

She looked at the full moon overhead, at the stars, and what should have been a beautiful night was the worst one of her life. She was sitting on her favorite spot, a bench on the city’s battlements that allowed her to see the forest, normally it would cheer her up but right now it did nothing for her mood.

It was… unbelievable to her.

She had lost everything because of her decisions. Decisions that she made with the information she had had at hand. She didn’t believe what she had done was wrong, not with the information she had at that time anyway. And yet, because of her judgment she was getting exiled.

All because she had tried to exile someone that shouldn’t be touched. Someone who she would have never expected to have as much influence as she did.

Amber, the hero of Cytel and friend of the primordials.

In the end, she was paying the price for her actions, something that she understood but even then she couldn’t help but feel resentment. Unlike the other nobles, she didn’t want Amber out of the kingdom for selfish reasons, or to be able to continue on her corrupt practices ⁠— not like she had any ⁠— but rather, she genuinely believed it was the right thing.

Other nobles had underhanded reasons, but she didn’t, and yet she was the one suffering from it the most.

She hated it.

Once more, she began to cry.

“What do we have here?”

She jolted and felt a hand around her shoulder, it was a man with a cloak and he had⁠— the Obsidian Rose.

“You look lost, and yet your class isn’t something I’ve seen before.”

Aveline cursed her rotten luck. Assassins had been sent for her too? A sigh left her as he saw the man’s dagger dangling before her chest.

“Just kill me, that’s why you are here right?”

“Nope, I was here to kill someone else, but I’ve already dealt with that.” He disappeared and reappeared kneeling in front of her, a hand on his chin as he examined her with his silver eyes. “You have caught my eye.”

She didn’t know what to say to him, but thankfully, he smiled a moment later.

“Aveline Dawnriver, the noble that pushed for Amber’s exile, as of today you are no longer a noble.”

Her heart nearly stopped before she closed her eyes, gritting her teeth. “What do you want?”

“You have nowhere to go, right? Cast away your family name and become my student.”

She paused looking at a hand looming before her.

“Join the Obsidian Rose and start anew, Aveline.”

* * *

That night deep within the nebulous sky of Ill’hine a figure shifted within a nebulae of stars, shuffling inside a gaseous formation that sparkled as if it were made out of fine jewels. And the figure in question was laughing.

Ax’thra smiled seeing a replay of Val’leri’s visions. In the end, he had managed to observe it all thanks to his friend, and while he wasn’t the greatest fan of Sid’fril becoming attached to Amber, in the end, everything had turned out well.

“For a moment I thought you’d die to the briroar…” He smiled to himself. “Glad that isn’t the case. Still, for Val’leri to intervene with the meeting, that was great.”

Finally, he dismissed what he had been seeing.

“While I’d love to be there, things aren’t as simple as I wish they were.”

He closed his eyes for a moment, he was injured⁠— rather he had been injured, long before even Dargon came after him. That was the only reason he couldn’t fully protect Amber in the first place, though at least, he hoped that the bastard was still limping after what he did to him. That said, that battle didn’t go without injuries either.

After all, somehow and in some way, the Arcane Council had discovered a way to greatly weaken primordials even if temporarily. A troublesome thing that surely would make them more bold in the coming months, but he had informed Val’leri, so precautions would be taken.

Finally, he decided to stop thinking about his worries, and also not think about the source of his initial long lasting injury, and instead turned to the curious device he had gotten from Amber. The metal slab that was called a phone. Soon he would unlock its secrets, and perhaps see the rest of things that Amber had stored on it.

But for now, he decided to wish her the best of luck.

“I’ll be waiting for your arrival here.” He smiled. “It’s the least I can do after you made me enjoy life again.”

He laughed and then smiled to himself. While he had met many humans across the years, she was the only one like that. Like any other Primordial Spirit, she herself was truly unique, and the nature of her Essence fully confirmed what his intuition had been telling him. In the end, he had been right about her.

Born ordinary only to be extraordinary, chosen to become more than that, and destined to become the greatest, huh…

Amber can do it…

He raised his hand towards the stars before closing it.

Take my mantle, and kill the First…

* * *

Beyond the Sacred Forest in the Republic of Mercenaries, in its capital Nasdel, an event that would shake the world was taking place.

Within a hall that was full of corpses, there were about ten people with robes around a gigantic purple circle infusing it with mana, and the largest contributor was a man with a bushy white beard and a crooked posture. He had once been part of the Arcane Research Institution, he had once been called Elcaro, but now he was Oracle, and he was going to usher a new era.

There had been setbacks along the way, but now it was time to fix everything; to write all their wrongdoings; to usher a new era. He smiled looking at the glowing patterns around him, at all the corpses, and finally used the last of his mana as the glow became blinding. He grinned, his pearly whites showing as he called out to the beyond.

“I summon the Demon of the Depths, the Demon of Genesis, the one below the Demon Gods!”

And with a gigantic white clawed hand burst out of the circle, breaking through the ceiling as Oracle laughed.

“And I command you to lay waste to this city!”

* * *

That night, in the City of Laria, a new life was conceived.

That night in the battlements of the capital of Cytel, an exiled noble found salvation.

That night numerous nobles begged for forgiveness for their transgressions before a very tired and irritated king.

That night in a mantle of stars, a god laughed in glee about his friend’s potential and also managed to power up her strange device.

That night two Primordial Spirits had a life-changing conversation with their friend.

That night in the Republic of Mercenaries, over a million people died and its capital was wiped off the map.

That night the world changed for everyone, whether it was big or small, it was marked as turning point in history, it was a night where the world became something more.

And it became known as the Night of Dawn.

* * *

The next morning, a human, an inhuman human, and an elf left to go to the Sacred Forest.

End of Book 2