The first few rays of dim morning light illuminated the gloom of this desolate room. Her scent lingered on the sheets while her warmth still permeated his skin. Felix laid on his back, staring at the ceiling, reminiscing about the prior night's entanglements.

Lost in thoughts, he saw visions of an aged beauty with hair as black as midnight replacing the emerald-haired belle. Pain gripped his heart, halting his reverie. It had been so long since he last thought of her.

Why would she remind me of her, he thought. They are nothing alike.

Hurried footsteps echoed down the hall, growing fainter with each passing moment. Felix stared at the closed door, hoping in vain that it would open again. Conflicting emotions arose in him; he had never felt like this before.

Love and longing were easily exploitable weaknesses for someone like him. This morning's events only proved it further. Even though he knew the cause, he couldn't help but be interested.

How should I deal with this..., he thought.

He lay in bed, undecided, until a bright ray of light blinded him, forcing him to choose. He sighed, got up, and dressed himself. His clothes were still damp from last night, which helped to cool the heat rising from his core. He felt refreshed and focused; his mind was sharp again.

He looked out of the window unto the streets below. Puddles of water littered the paved roads as the first few citizens busied themselves with their own lives.

How I wish the world was that simple, Felix thought. Waking in the morning and going to work, oblivious to the world's woes, coming back home in the evening with a family waiting for you. A simple life for simple people. Unfortunately, such a life was never meant for me.

Felix frowned. Since his return from the north, he had become much too soft. Such weaknesses would have likely gotten him killed. Only by being cruel and ruthless can one survive a sea of blood. He steeled himself just in time for the clinking of metal to reach his ear. He held his breath and listened closely. Multiple heavy stomps grew closer.

Quite a few men... armed, he thought. What more do they want from me?

He didn't stay long enough to find out. He hurriedly dressed and strapped the remainder of his gear to his waist before rushing to the window. Fortunately, the window was large enough to allow him passage despite being on the third floor. Felix kicked the frame, breaking the small metal latch that kept the window shut. The pane of glass swung on its hinges, recoiling from the impact, before crashing into the outside wall of the inn, shattering. Shards of glass and wood fell to the streets below.

The loud noise alerted the men outside, but once they rushed in the room, its inhabitant was already long gone. One of the men rushed to the broken window and looked toward the street below, but his prey was nowhere to be seen. In their frustration, the men trashed the room.

"Find him!" the same man, probably their leader, said. " It doesn't matter what you do to him, but the boss wants him alive."

Felix stood on the inn's roof, listening to the group below while searching the streets for his mark. Although he was interested in who this "boss" was and the reason for sending his men after him, he had something to do first.

A white hood and cloak covered her body, but the green strands on each side of her chest were unmistakable. She walked briskly on a nearly deserted street, headed for a dark side alley. Felix followed her from above by leaping from roof to roof.

The town started as an outpost to guard against the beasts from the forest but soon transitioned from a small village to a bustling trading town. The walls surrounding the city impeded its expansion. With space at a premium, most lodgings were packed tight together, making navigating the roofs relatively easy. Most people wouldn't even notice Felix from this height, so he didn't bother to hide himself and simply followed her.

Looking down the dark alley, he saw the girl and three men meet. The men's clothes were rough and dirty, and small knives dangled from their leather belts. Countless scars were spread on their arms and hands, while the one in the middle had even more on his face, making him look menacing.

"How did it go?" the one in the middle asked the girl.

She carefully unfurled the blanket in her hand, revealing Felix's black sword. The man grinned before snatching it from her. He tugged on the handle, trying to dislodge it from its scabbard, but the blade wouldn't budge. He tried harder. His massive arms contracted. Deep blue veins bulged on his neck from gritting his teeth, yet the blade was stuck as if in a boulder.

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The man soon gave up, panting, his anger evident. He turned to face the woman who felt cold sweat on her back. The man looked terrifying. Before he could say anything, she tried to calm him down.

"I don't know why, but I was able to unsheath it," she said sheepishly.

The man eyed her for a moment. She held her breath. The moment felt like hours for her. He soon broke eye contact before throwing the blade toward her.

"Prove it!" he said.

She held the blade in her shaking hands. She had to take long, deep breaths to keep herself calm. When the man started losing his patience, she finally resolved herself. She tugged gently on both sides of the blade, and to her relief, the blade slid gently apart, revealing a deep black blade with a white edge. She had seen the sword once before but was still awed by its beauty. She stared at the blade, mesmerized until the man snatched it from her.

"Ha! A relic!" he said before resheathing the sword. "Good stuff."

The woman's expression brightened, and her fear vanished. She had searched for a relic for so long, and now she finally found one. The man held the blade securely and left quickly with a big grin.

While the man left, another took the pouch the woman had brought. He was surprised to find that it contained quite a bit of money—gold coins were nothing to sneeze at. He took five silver coins and threw them at her, hiding the remainder within his clothes. The woman frowned but didn't even try to catch the money.

"I just risked my life," she said. "That's not nearly enough."

Both remaining men looked at her expressionlessly. She felt frightened but held her ground.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," one of the men said. "The boss may favour you, but others are ready to take your place. You should be grateful we even give anything to an orphan like you."

She threw herself at the man, her face a mix of anger and tears. Her long, slender fingers held the man's collar in a steel grip while pleading.

"At least, my brother... you promised to tell me where he is!"

The man's hand cut through the air and landed on her cheek in a backhanded slap. She recoiled from the impact and collapsed on the ground. She held her cheek as pain radiated to her brain while blood flowed from her cut lips.

The man sneered as he watched her struggle to rise to her feet. His rugged hand buried itself into her long hair before tightening its hold. He held her by the scalp before bringing her face closer to his ugly mug.

"Listen," he whispered next to her ear. "A whore like you doesn't get to decide anything. You will do as you are told and be grateful for it. You can only curse that you are weak, and the weak exist only to be trampled by the strong."

"He... promised," she choked through her tears.

Fed up, the man threw her to the ground while strands of hair stuck to his hand. She lay on the ground, clutching her head. Despite the pain she felt, the woman looked at her assailant with indignation and fury in her eyes. Her earlier fear was completely gone. Amused by her rebellious nature, the last man laughed while he kicked her in the stomach. Pain radiated throughout her body, and she struggled to breathe. The impact made her throw up.

Felix was still on his perch, watching the scene impassively. Such a situation was all too common. Without power, the weak are to be trampled on.

She has chosen her path, he thought. Now, she must reap the consequences.

And yet, something in the depth of his heart bothered him. Beads of blood slid across his palm before free-falling and splattering on the roof in flowers of red. Felix opened his tightly closed fist to find several gashes where his nails dug into his skin. He looked towards the clear blue sky for a moment before closing his eyes in reflection.

How foolish, he thought.

The girl was still writhing on the ground, clutching her stomach, trying to draw breath, when the man went in for a second blow. He looked on from above and sneered at the weak, relishing in her suffering, when a heavy thud made him turn around. He saw his companions sprawled on the ground with a stranger kneeling over him.

Felix had leapt fearlessly from the roof of a two-story house and landed squarely on one of the thugs below. The man collapsed like a puppet with broken strings when his feet landed. The man's chest cavity caved in from the impact, crushing his organs. Dark blood oozed out of his mouth. The sound of the man's bone breaking echoed off the wall of the narrow alley.

With only a second of hesitation, the remaining man launched himself at Felix in a futile effort to take him down. Confused, the man unsheathed one of his countless knives and swung it about randomly. Felix was cold and calm, as if the man's death mattered not and effortlessly parried the knives with a quick blow to the man's elbow.

The seemingly gentle blow was much too fierce for the thug to bear. The limb hyperextended, and the joint broke due to inertia. The bone tore through the tendons and then breached the skin. The man clutched his limp limb in pain. Felix caught hold of his throat and squeezed before he could scream.

Felix easily lifted the man off the ground using only his right arm. The man reached for his throat with his remaining arm, trying to pry the fingers off, to no avail. The man trashed around, trying to break free from the vice-like grip. As a last act of desperation, he tried to dig his fingers into Felix's eyes, but Felix was faster. He caught the man's wrist with his left hand before breaking it with one swift motion. The man tried to scream again, but no sound was heard. Drool mixed with blood spilled from the man's mouth as his face turned blue.

Just before the man lost consciousness, Felix raised his left hand towards the man's chest. His fingernails turned black and morphed into claws reminiscent of a reptile. The claw plunged into the man's chest, breaking the rib cage in the process. His hand gently grasped the man's still-beating heart. A lump of blood threatened to escape from the man's throat, but Felix's tight hold offered no relief.

The man's eye held many emotions: fear, consternation, anger, but most of all, it seemed to be asking why. Felix brought the man closer and whispered in his ear in a cold and detached voice, akin to death itself, "You deluded yourself into thinking you were strong," as he crushed his heart mercilessly.

Felix tossed the lifeless body to the side. The limp body tumbled, spraying blood everywhere from its open cavity. The government would probably investigate, but Felix couldn't be bothered to deal with it. He would be long gone before they could pin this on him.

The woman was still on the ground, barely conscious. Her lovely visage was now just a mask of pain. She desperately wished to breathe, but her body still refused to offer her relief. Her gaze landed on her would-be saviour not far away. Amidst all the pain he saw, Felix also noticed surprise, guilt, and fear, all of which were natural concerning her situation. Yet Felix also noticed something in the depths of her eyes: the hint of a smile.