Standing on a mountain cliff high above a cluster of makeshift structures made of old wooden logs and wet mud, a pair of men with dark black hair and deep black eyes gazed upon the Seedlings that called this village home.

“Don’t get noticed, child.”

“Quiet! You’re younger than me! Don’t call me a child!”

“But I have completed all my missions to be considered an adult, so I am, therefore, an adult, unlike the immature you who whines about not being one.”

“Close that mouth, Teetee! Or I will close it for you!”

“Oh, how scary of the little Alim, making such threats… That he knows that he can not keep.”

“I am not little! Or a child, Teetee!”

“Maybe after this mission, but only if you complete it. Hey, maybe you will be a two-star after this, or maybe you can ask one of the lords to give you some scraps.”

“Why did they send you to assist me!”

“Hehe, It's because…” The demeanor of Teetee instantly changed as a Seedling walked out of the large structure in the center of the makeshift village, “It seems that the chief finally left.”

A young Alim stared at the large man walking out of the building, his mind racing on what to do in case the mission went wrong and he had to face the chief of the Deep Village.

“You better hurry, Alim. There is no telling how long that chief will be away from his hut.” Teetee said

“Yes, I know…” Alim whispered as he jumped down the cliff face, hugging the side as closely as possible so he would not fall too far in one jump.

After Alim’s feet touched the muddy ground, he dashed off toward the village, his steps silent as they seemed to float above the ground, leaving no trace of a footstep.

This was going to be a challenging mission, Alim knew that, but the challenge of an unranked mission from one of the Seven Shadow Lords was a test that Alim knew he could never turn down. It was simple: in and out of the Deep Village; he only needed to take the infant living with the village chief and bring it to a set location to hand it off to another of the Quake Race tribes.

As Alim approached the village, he could hear the sound of conversations echoing from all around, but understanding what was said was difficult. He could make out broken pieces of words that were similar to Genis.

Genis is the common language spoken around Genisis. It is a derivative of the Genisis language that the Divine Race speaks, but like currency, every race has its own language, and they only actively speak in Genis if another race is nearby. Alim, being from the Shadow Race, only knew his native language and a broken form of the language of Genis, as the Shadow Race never interacts with other races. Unless they are one of the seven lords who take the missions from other races, learning another language is useless for most of the Shadow Race.

Alim clicked his tongue as he listened to the conversations, chastising himself for not taking a little time to study basic words of the Quake Race. If he had, it would have been easier to gain information on the movement of those who tend to the infant of the Quake King.

Alim waited, his eyes glancing at the shadows cast by the Seedlings and the buildings.

“It’s almost time,” he whispered as the light of Morin dimmed and the shadows around began to stretch farther and farther.

Alim silently moved from shadow to shadow, easily avoiding any eyes, but just as he made it to the central building, he saw the chief going inside.

With another click of his tongue, Alim whispered annoyedly, “I waited too long… Do I need to wait another day? No, there is no guarantee that I will have another opportunity like this.”

With a newfound determination to complete the mission, Alim jumped to the top of one of the makeshift building roofs. He kept his body low to stay hidden as he stared at the central building. He may not know the language well, but the essence arts that were used were something that he researched manically before the mission started. Most of the Seedlings here were normal; only a handful were between one and three stars, but the problem was the chief; from the information given to the Shadow Race, he was between five and seven stars. Alim did not want to take a risk, so he assumed the chief was an eight-star to be safe, but he could already tell that that was not the case as he would have been detected as soon as his feet touched the ground from the cliff.

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Alim began to make many calculations based on the information he had gotten since entering the valley. First, the chief is between five and seven stars, most likely five since the range of his tremor detection is so tiny, but this could be a trap, so Alim assumed the worst of seven-star. Second, the amount of essence art Seedlings was too small for the size of the village, so he considered that either the others were hidden, unlikely but could be, or something outside his observation was happening. Third, this village was cobbled together in a hurry, but it didn’t matter; it was a good thing for him as it opened up a lot of different strategies if he needed to fight.

With these and more calculations, Alim jumped down. He needed to be fast and move before Morin was fully set, as he would be just as blind as the others if he waited too long. He jumped around, ensuring his feet spent more time off the ground than on it. It was his only safety measure since he was still only a one-star. He didn’t have access to higher techniques or more essence to use any arts. No, he only had cast and blend as a one-star Seedling, and they used too much of his essence, so he needed to be sparing.

Alim hugged the wall of the central building and used his blend essence art. Unfortunately, it was not stronger as it only slightly altered the perspective of someone looking at the shadow he was hiding in. At the level the art was at now, hiding from any of the Quake Race would be difficult if they just glanced at the shadow; he could be discovered.

Alim stood silently outside the building, his ears picking up the distant sound of conversation from the other side of the thin wall. He could tell from the sound that they were not in the room on the other side, but was it wise to go into a room he had no idea about. Could it be a trap? Did they know he was there? Is that why they were so far away from him to lure him inside and snare him when he least expected it? Alim stood rooted in his thoughts. His breathing was shallow as he decided that he could only risk his life on the chance that they were unaware of him.

Only now did Alim realize that none of the buildings had access beside the doors, “No windows or even holes that I can sneak through! How do they live like this!” he mumbled angrily.

Alim glanced at Morin, “Less than an hour left.” he sighed.

He could not go back and tell Teetee that he had failed now. He had spent too much time in the village to return. It would be too embarrassing, and he could already imagine what Teetee would say. ‘Oh, could the little child not complete this simple mission? Well, Let the adults handle it.’ Just thinking about it made Alim grind his teeth.

“Do I wait for nightfall when everyone is asleep… No, how will I see anything.” Alim was doing everything he could to not pull his hair out.

Suddenly, Alim sensed a presence coming out of the front door. When he looked to see, he saw the chief and another Seedling walking out, talking with laughter.

“This is absolutely a trap… but I can use this,” Alim said with a smile.

Alim hid in the shadows by the door the chief just left. It was a good thing that this was not like the central building in most villages that faced Morin; it gave Alim shadows that he could blend into, and with Morin still setting, he had even more.

Alim was so close to the door but terrified of what lay behind it. He could not feel anything, no presence, nothing; it was like the entire building had been sealed. Then what were the conversations he had heard only moments ago? This revelation gave Alim an eerie feeling.

“Absolutely a trap…” Alim said as he started to open the door.

When Alim opened the door, his eyes grew wide; it was barren, nothing in the large hut, only more doorways to other rooms.

“What is this?” Alim asked.

Alim shook his head. He had no time to waste. He needed to find the infant and fast.

“Which room is it inside of,” Alim said, dashing to the closest room.

When Alim opened the door, “First time lucky,” He said with a smile, seeing the infant lying quietly in a blanket.

“Is it really this easy?” Alim said in shock, “Is the Quake Race really this lacking?”

Alim finally reached the infant. He had already planned what to do from this point on. He needed to ensure safe travel for the infant and ensure that it stayed quiet until he left the village, and poison was out of the question. Since it was an infant, there was no telling how it would react to even the smallest doses. So, the only option was to tie it with the small rope he had brought.

A short time later, the infant had been tied. He was lucky enough that a blanket was here, so he would use it like a bag and have the infant on his back so that if someone chased him, they would have to think twice about hitting him. As he was getting ready to put the infant on his back, he saw its eyes open. With a smirk, he watched as the infant tried to cry, but it could only let out a muffled sound from its closed mouth.

“Perfect! Now to leave.” Alim said, but just as he was about to leave the room, he heard someone opening the door to the building.

“I need to do something,” Alim screeched in his mind, “The horrible construction!”

Alim knew that the only option was to break the walls, and since they were made so poorly, they should be easy to break. He ran to the wall and began to push each of the logs until he found the loosest one and used his foot to kick the log. Alim had prepared to kick many times, but unbelievably, the first kick had sent the log falling outward.

Alim stared in shock, “It cannot be that easy…” After thinking that, he quickly jumped out, running as far away as possible before hearing a roar from the building he just escaped from.

“Lucky…” Alim said, looking at the distant village with the infant in tow, “Now to the meeting point.”