Cadmi Trepidor pulled the bladed instrument out from the last mercenary’s body. Nodes glowed in tandem across various spots on his coat, which dimmed a moment later. The bladed instrument began changing shape as Johrei shards near its edges slowly retracted; the bastion metal underneath reverted back into a small shield design, which Cadmi placed under his coat.

Voices began whispering into Cadmi’s mind, only for a moment, but his vision blurred temporarily, and his head rang with pain. Cadmi didn’t exert himself that much, did he? He closed his eyes, feeling the Johrei coarse through him, running through his chest, where his Enthipid core was located. It was a feeling of vastness, his eyes locked into the stars, and then, after what felt like an eternity, he was back on the ground. Everything seemed okay, but his condition…was it getting worse? He opened his eyes again, staring at the corpse under him, angry that this rabble may have accelerated the Madness within him.

His brother Siegren seemed fixed on the man standing upright in front of him. “Tor. You know you shouldn’t have done that. You really think a few dozen men were enough to take us down? We didn’t cheat our way to becoming the new leaders of the Revenant’s B - well I guess it’s Revenant’s Forge now – by doing anything underhanded. We killed the previous leaders fair and square. We. Were. Just. Better.”

Siegren began placing his own shield behind his back. Unfortunately, he couldn’t change the size or shape of his like his brother’s. Cadmi’s weapon was especially unique amongst the hunters.

Tor’s eyes widened and attempts to speak were met only with his gurgles and gasps.

“You won’t be able to talk for another minute or two. And you won’t be able to move for a few more minutes after that. I suggest you get comfortable. My brother and I have some things to discuss with you”, Siegren stated as he pulled out a hilt from his side. He issued a non-verbal command, and a short blade appeared, refracting dimly from the lights in the room. Tor shook in terror as Siegren inched closer, blade inches away from the surface of his flesh.

Cadmi interrupted, “Quit playing around, Siegren. We’re getting the goods and leaving.”

“Alright. Alright. I’ll get to work. I still have to take care of the trap. Be right back”, Siegren responded as he casually walked away towards the entrance of the warehouse. He picked up his broken drone on the floor, an unintended casualty of the skirmish earlier. He will have to get it fixed later.

When he reached the backdoor, he noticed it was warded from sound with a thin layer of Johrei before the battle started. The fools trapped themselves thinking they could trap the brothers.

Cadmi began walking towards Tor, who convulsed in fear. Tor continued to stand upright, body unable to move. He tried to yell managed to squeeze out a hoarse whisper this time around.

“Please. Don’t hurt me.”

“Ah good,” Cadmi said. “You can speak now.” His tone had no hint of amusement, nor urgency. It was just cold, unfeeling logic.

In the next moment, a fist planted itself into Tor’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him. It had so much force behind it that Tor could only picture a sledgehammer. Tor coughed up blood, which splattered in chunks across the floor, with some of it bouncing off of a shimmering shield on top of Cadmi’s coat. The pain was unreal.

Yet, Tor’s mind raced, his merchant’s instincts kicking in. There was no use fretting over the inevitabilities in life – a mantra which kept Tor alive all these years. Instead, one should think about the opportunities of the moment, and in this moment, he kept his eyes peeled for any information, which might lead to his eventual escape from the brothers. He thought about Cadmi’s coat earlier.

Wearing Johrei shields on top of civilian clothing wasn’t unheard of, but for a marked hunter, doing so is tantamount to a death sentence. Bastion armor not only gives you an extra layer of defense and ability perks if you wear the full set, Johrei shields which haven’t been separated from the armor were more potent, and lasted longer than just the shield alone. This was part of the reason why Enthipids were naturally so difficult to deal with. Therefore, there was only one explanation behind Cadmi’s ridiculous strength, despite him not wearing a noticeable armor set.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“You’re [cough] you’re an Inner aren’t you?” Tor managed to squeeze out through fits of blood.

Cadmi spoke, “Yes, a Supplementor to be exact.”

Tor looked confused. Supplementors didn’t graft armor. Only Augmentors did.

“That’s right. I don’t get my strength boost from any armor”, Cadmi said, as if he knew what Tor was thinking. “In fact, my status as an Inner had nothing to do why I’m so strong” he continued, before delivering a weighted kick into Tor’s ribs. He could hear cracking beneath the torso as Tor began screaming in agony.

Wait, this isn’t how it was supposed to go, Tor began thinking.

Cadmi’s tone darkened, “Who sent you after me, and why?” A seething aura emanated from Cadmi. He was not playing games.

“I won’t disclose my client’s name. You should know that, as a hunter. It is law. You should have known better than to flaunt what the Auditors set i- ”. Another kick into Tor’s ribs. Something snapped. The pain hit a breaking point, and the room began to grow dimmer.

“I’ll let you know. Regardless of whether or not you tell me, I’m not letting you live today. I can however, kill you quickly to ease some of that pain, or we can make this very, very painful.” Before Tor lost full consciousness, a shock ran through his body, and adrenaline shot him wide awake. Pain streamed through his mind, and tears began streaking down his face. Through watery eyes, Tor noticed one of the nodes glowing on Cadmi’s coat. When it dimmed, Tor noticed a bluish hue to the metal around it.

“The…the juveniles. That’s how…” Am I going to die?

No. Pain was a non-factor to Tor. He escaped all the hunters during the Twindust incident years ago, and he could escape this too. He could not allow himself to doubt. That was when it was truly over. It was getting harder and harder to push those thoughts away, however. He had to believe that there was more to living in this society, than just the hunt, the violence, and the lack of meaningful choice.

“Bingo”, Cadmi said squatting down to look at the paralyzed Tor writhing prone on the floor. “Juvenile carapaces are surprisingly adaptable. Even the metal itself is able to change shape with the Johrei, given the right amount of tinkering. And its Johrei capabilities…well, let’s just say one could explore a whole avenue of abilities with the right combination. Something Standard-grade armor, or even Elite-grade armor couldn’t replicate.”

“You can’t mean…” Tor pushed out, spasming in pain. He made great effort at maintaining composed words between the throbbing torment pricking at his body.

“That’s right. Supreme-grade capabilities. And all I need is a stock of “useless” juvenile carapaces.” Cadmi’s tone finally adopted somewhat close to a mocking edge to it. He placed his foot on Tor’s face, pressing down. The weight began to cause Tor’s face to contort. “Now tell me, who sent you? I won’t ask again,” Cadmi demanded. This was when a part of Tor finally realized, this might be it. The last opportunity he had…

For the first time in his life, Tor began to reflect. He was supposed to be a simple merchant, following in the footsteps of his father, and yet here he was, crushed underfoot by newly-minted assailants whom his client guaranteed they would win against. When did he fall so far? Where did he go wrong? Nothing’s been going right for him since the Twindust incident years back. And now, even with one Augmentor on his side, and some of the most experienced mercenaries from the Lost Clans, they couldn’t win against two measly individuals. Were all the Division leaders this strong? Perhaps they were, and he just never noticed, believing himself strong for escaping them once in the past.

“C-n o-t-butes” Tor tried to say.

Cadmi lifted his foot just a smidgen. “Hmm? What was that?”

“One of the higher-ups, f-from the Clan of Tributes. I don’t know his name, and he only contacted me through the hunter boards. I think, I think he’s acting on his own, but if word gets out, you’re dead. I’m the only one he contacts. I can put in a good word. Just let m-” Cadmi crushed his skull underfoot. Tor died instantly.

”Pathetic,” Cadmi said, admonishing how easily broken he was, and how quick he was to betray his own. He hated the ugliness of the weak-willed like him.

The Clan of Tributes…Cadmi pondered.

What does the leading corporation, and one of the three great Clans of Neo-Kamakura want with him? He’s never put his name out there before his ascension into leadership with the Revenant’s Forge, but he and his brother did create quite the spectacle, so maybe it’s that. But they couldn’t have known much more than that. The Clan of Tributes wasn’t the type to step in just because of internal conflict between hunters. Even a Shogun’s death was jurisdiction of the district councils and the Auditors. Could it have something to do with his ties to the underground?

No…nobody knows. Even in the underground, the secret was kept tightly guarded for decades. If there’s anything I can trust those science junkies to do is to keep their mouths shut.

But if it was that…then this was going to be a monumental problem.

“Brother, I’ve set the trap”, Siegren said, motioning back towards Cadmi. “We’ll probably need to move some of the bodies here later, in case anyone comes through –”

“No time. Bring the crates. We’re heading out. Now.”

Siegren could sense something off about Cadmi, and his expression grew serious. He took one look at the headless corpse next to Cadmi’s foot, and back at him, and nodded.