"Master, what can I do for you?" The blacksmith needed only one glance to instantly stop scolding his apprentice and rush to the valuable customer.

After all, any warmaster in the city of Sumada was a walking money bag.

"Do you want to replace your armor?" the blacksmith continued while the customer slowly surveyed his shop. "I see you're an experienced fighter. Your armor is patched up with many repairs. Just for someone like you, I have..."

"Not interested," the serpentine eyes of the visitor petrified the blacksmith. His apprentice even squeaked, afraid to breathe. "I need a mask. A reinforced, decorated samurai-style mask to cover the lower part of the face. It shouldn't restrict neck movements." Each new requirement seemed to snap the blacksmith back to reality.

"I assume, master, you would like the color to match the style of your armor? Emerald green?"

"That's correct," the earthling nodded in agreement.

"Well, let's see what I have," the blacksmith moved first in one direction, then changed his mind and headed in another, before finally dashing off in a third. "It's been a long time since anyone wanted just a mask," he puffed, trying to move one of the boxes. "What are you standing there for, you fool!" This was intended for his assistant. "Help me!"

Finally, the box was pulled out, and a couple of masks, previously wrapped in cloth, were laid out before Stas.

"A design like this," Stas pointed at one of the masks. "But with a serpent theme and in green."

"Understood," the blacksmith nodded contentedly. "It's a complex job, so you will have to wait. Do you have two weeks?"

"Yes. I still have a month of rest left."

"Excellent! Any special requests?"

"I want one glance at it to be enough to instill terror in my enemies. You came highly recommended for this kind of work."

"Do not worry, esteemed warmaster. I am a distant relative of the legendary magical blacksmiths themselves, and my work will surely impress your enemies!"

*****

That day, the world itself sensed something amiss. Birds, with their mournful cries, circled overhead as harbingers of impending doom.

Beasts that could flee did so, saving their lives. Mothers grabbed their puppies and chicks with jaws and beaks, eager to leave the danger zone.

Insects burrowed into the earth, while clouds covered the whole sky.

And the reason for all this was one...

"Shiro, what were you talking about with my father?" Mei's voice, filled with suspicion, intruded on Stas's thoughts.

"Mei, you know I can't tell you," Ordyntsev replied wearily for the umpteenth time.

"But..."

"No, those marriage talks were just a joke. Your father wanted to see how you and I would react."

"Sure, sure," Mei's tone suggested she still hadn't discarded her suspicions, causing Stas to hang his head in resignation.

They were currently having this conversation in a tavern where they had stopped on their way to another mission.

This time, they needed to steal some valuable documents. The only problem was that the documents' owner had learned of his opponent's plans and had already hired his own team of warmasters tasked with protection.

In moments like these, Ordyntsev felt that everything happening was turning into a complete farce.

"When's the wedding, lovebirds?" Jun, who had clearly been eavesdropping, slumped down next to them. "And you, Shiro, I see you're quite the serpent. Decided to snatch such a beauty only after making arrangements with old man Toshiyuki? I respect that!"

"Sensei, please don't add fuel to the fire," Stas grimaced. "You see how she's been looking at me the whole way. She might just poison me."

"That won't work," Jun concluded authoritatively. "To poison you, she'd have to try very hard since you are poisonous yourself."

"Very funny," Ordyntsev rolled his eyes. "Sensei, won't you tell us about your acquaintance with Toshiyuki? He mentioned you."

"Oh, Toshi remembered me? Well, why not," Jun agreed thoughtfully. Mei momentarily forgot her worries, which was exactly what Stas needed. "I don't know what they say about him now, but back then, your father was the biggest bookworm I knew. No, wait, I lie. There was one worm that surpassed your father, and that was my little brother Io."

Jun took a sip from his mug.

"These two most boring people tried their hardest to ignore our merry company, but they did it rather poorly. After all, I was stronger," Jun smirked. "But if you want to see your father's face twist," this was directed at Mei, "just mention the eastern cat."

"Huh... What's wrong with it?" the girl asked cautiously, unable to contain her curiosity. And the sensei gladly answered.

"When we were little, a magical creature ran into our inner courtyard. In truth, it was more scared than us, as it was already being chased. But Toshiyuki screamed as if he were being pursued by a hundred demons! And then he ran for it! While the cat itself ran away almost as soon as it appeared!"

The sight of Jun laughing to tears even made Mei, who didn't know how to react to such information, smile.

"He then threw himself into training so hard that he even caught up to me. We long competed over who was the stronger. Io, by that time, had completely buried himself in his papers. But I'll never stop reminding your father of that cat!"

Stas just shook his head.

He had just become the owner of dubious compromising material on the head of one of the most powerful families on this continent.

By the way, there was only one continent in this world, surrounded by an ocean. The locals had long ago circumnavigated it in several directions, so there was confidence in the absence of undocumented continents.

*****

"Alright, my students," Jun was a bit annoyed, and everyone around could feel the waves of bloodlust. Since the conversation was happening in one of the smaller towns, the streets quickly became deserted. Stas was even sure that some particularly smart or just impressionable individuals were escaping the walls, hoping to survive if the town was destroyed.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

"Our target turned out to be smarter than we expected, and he hid the papers in one of three places. According to our intelligence, only some ordinary renegade warmasters were sent for defense, so I'm confident you have enough skills to handle three weaklings on your own. Therefore, each of you takes one direction. At worst, hold out until your comrades arrive. Everyone clear? Forward!"

Ordyntsev silently chose the right direction.

Getting to the designated target was no problem. Nevertheless, as Stanislav approached the courtyard he needed, he slowed down, trying to dampen his prana core.

He had traded for the last technique with Mari. The method for hiding prana emission was meant to disappear from the sensors' "radars." It was one of the few of her techniques that did not depend on the shadow lineage.

It was doubtful that the opponents had sensors, but it was better not to take risks.

Leviathan secretly glided underground directly to the enemy's position and immediately found the foes, who... were just sitting in one of the houses, desperately arguing with each other.

Stas checked three times, suspecting a trap, but everything turned out to be incredibly stupid.

In theory, a single Bloody Strike launched through the window should have been enough to turn everyone sitting there into a well-tenderized steak with blood.

Nevertheless, Stas became interested in what the renegades were so fervently arguing about.

"It's all your fault!" one of the girls, pressing against a sullen-looking lad around eighteen, shouted hysterically. There were four people in the room altogether. The remaining young guy and girl just shifted their gazes from one arguing party to the other.

"Let's take this job, let's take it! Well, what now?! The enemy of our employer has hired warmasters, and not just anyone, but the damned Sumada! What will you do when this accursed great clan comes here and shoves a stone spear into your stupid head?!"

"What else could we do?! Come on, share your plans!" the apparent leader of the group couldn't take it anymore and glared fiercely. "Our clan was practically destroyed by the damn Kiatto. They didn't even notice as they razed our entire village. We barely have any supplies and no money. Go rob? They'll put bounties on our heads right away and send hunters! Is that what you want?!"

'So they're not renegades, just surviving vagabonds. Interesting.'

"It would be better to rob, as we could have fled to other lands," the girl made a fairly good argument. "But now we'll all have something in common soon. We'll all die here if we don't scram as quickly as possible."

"Jina, stop panicking. We're not going to stoop to despicable bandits. Think about what the elders would say if we fell so low..."

"You're dead, and you're dead, and I am, we're all dead if we don't start acting! The elders have long been rotting in the ground to say anything. So if you're not going to do anything, then sit here, but I'm leaving..."

'Hm, they aren't bad. Or rather, some of them.'

The door exploded into pieces with a crack, and a swift shadow burst into the room. The warmasters sitting inside were utterly unprepared for the attack.

The well-practiced Earthworms technique, which Stas had activated from the outside and fueled with prana, struck two people at once, then proceeded to wrap them into cocoons.

The other two first received fists to the face and chest, and then they were also entangled in the technique.

It was important to remember that a warmaster without a weapon was not much weaker. The infusion of prana into muscles allowed them to bend and tear steel easily. If an enemy warmaster had not sufficiently charged their body with prana for defense, they risked being smeared on the hands of their foe.

"Khe-Khe!" The room was enveloped in a cloud of ether, and Stas habitually began to monitor the amount of deadly energy in his body.

The leader of this pseudo-gang was the last to come to his senses. Stas had given him a substantial punch in the solar plexus, planning to incapacitate him for a long time.

The bonds tightened, presenting Stas with four wrapped-up, bewildered "dolls." Due to their collective weight, Ordyntsev had to anchor himself to the floor with prana to avoid falling.

But as soon as the captives fully came to their senses, they froze in horror, staring at the demon standing before them.

And it could only be a demon.

The terrifying, unblinking vertical pupils, unnaturally white skin, and bared maw as if it were about to either laugh at their pitiful condition or tear them apart in the blink of an eye.

It took a couple of seconds for them to realize it was just a skillfully made mask that fit very snugly to the face.

However, what attracted their attention the most was the Sumada clan symbol, drawn in black ink.

"They've found us!" Jina cried out in despair, instinctively trying to break free. And she was capable of it. Earthworms were not meant for long-term restraint.

"Stop struggling, or you'll regret it," the other warmasters froze like rabbits before a boa, but Jina was too panicked to listen.

Her bonds snapped, crumbling away.

"I warned you..."

The wooden floor swelled into a hump, then burst open, releasing thick white rings.

Bones quietly crunched as the snake's body constricted the girl in her deadly embrace.

Jina only managed to scream when the snake's jaws clamped down on her neck, completely biting off her head. The body twitched a few times and froze forever, while streams of blood flowed down from the corners of Leviathan's mouth.

Levi leisurely began to sink back down, swallowing her prey along the way.

In a dozen seconds, the only reminders of the tragedy were random drops of blood and the broken floor.

"Anyone else wishes to disobey my orders?" Stas asked indifferently. "Answer."

"Not at all, Sumada-sama!" the prisoners hurried to assure.

"Good," Stas tilted his head slightly, as if in thought. Everyone held their breath, casting nervous glances down, expecting new earth tremors.

"Initially, I wanted to kill you all," the Sumada warmaster spoke softly, but each of the present strained their ears to catch every word. "But after thinking it over, I decided to give you a chance to be useful. Are you interested?"

"What do you mean, master...?" Ryuo, the leader of the remnants of a small clan, took the courage to ask.

"Call me Serpent. And the chance is very simple. Right now, you are living corpses. Without money, strength, connections, without a home. You have nowhere to go and nothing to do. Your only chance of survival is to join some major clan, but you'll be no more than dirt under their feet."

Stas allowed everyone to contemplate their prospects.

"And what do you offer, master Serpent?" Ryuo asked cautiously.

"I offer gifts," Sumada's eyes narrowed. "Strength, techniques, money, support, and finally, a purpose. But my gifts are not free. They will only be received by the strongest among you; the rest will fall. And believe me, there will be many who want them. On this path, you will have no allies, only competitors."

Silence hung in the air.

"But for now, you need not fear," the warmaster's tone became calmer, causing the captives to exhale in relief. "I will give you a chance to become stronger and recover after the destruction of your home. In the end, I am interested in you fulfilling the tasks I set for you. So, your choice?"

The remnants of the destroyed small clan quickly exchanged glances before their eyes settled on Ryuo.

"We agree, Serpent-sama."

Immediately, the bonds fell off them, but no one even twitched, knowing the possible consequences.

"Your destination is the small transit town of Taroyaki near the city of Sumada. Your places will be the fourth and fifth houses on Red Street. You will be met by your future instructors. Listen to them without question. Training time is limited, so make the most of it; after that, you will carry out the missions set before you."

Ordyntsev paused.

"If you prove yourselves compared to your comrades, as I promised, you will be transferred to a more elite unit. Now run through the north gate and don't stop for a second anywhere. By the way, where are the documents?"

Having received them in his hands, he announced:

"You're dismissed!"

Involuntarily, watching the escaping ordinary warmasters, Stas recalled one of the topics they had discussed with the prince.

"Tell me, Jishin, do you have unregistered money and fighters you can trust implicitly?"

"I might, but why such questions, Shiro-kun? Do you need money?"

"Not exactly," Stas's smile turned serpentine. "As I said, I've already gathered a few fighters into my personal squad. But I thought, why should we limit ourselves? With your money and people, I plan to create a second division of secret fighters. They will be worse than the first, but there will be more of them, and they can be entrusted with less important matters. What do you think?"

"And who will they obey?" the key question was asked almost immediately.

"They will obey us," Stas replied promptly, expecting the second question.

"And why should they obey 'us' if the money and instructors will be mine?" Jishin smirked. "What's your role here?"

"It's simple. Because you won't be able to watch over the new squad. Everyone's eyes will be glued to you, while someone needs to work in your shadow. And that person must be someone whom you must trust completely. I believe I fit perfectly."

"Ha-ha-ha! I've been dealing with you for a while, but I'm still not used to your hubris. It's worthy of a daimyo. Your serpent tongue is not wasted, Shiro. You've convinced me," Jishin replied, becoming more serious and squinting.

"However, I want to receive detailed reports on how things are going and what the money is spent on. In addition, when necessary, they must carry out any of my orders. Without objections, Shiro, or arguments."

"Of course, Jishin, they are your people," Stas laughed. "How could it be otherwise?"