Enancia narrowed her eyes at the image of Marilee, quietly waiting outside the store. She was pacing back and forth making it clear she was worried about something. Instead of just standing there staring, Ryzen decided to go up to her and see what she needed. He knew that she hadn’t greeted them in the kindest of ways but it seemed she was just trying to protect the peace they had here. Ryzen didn’t think she was a bad person.

“Marilee, right?” Ryzen asked as she looked in his direction.

“Y..Yeah.” She said with a pause. “Hey, I know you just got here but I have a favor I need to ask you.”

Ryzen looked at her curiously and frowned, “What kind of favor?”

“Listen, I know I said a lot of stupid shit when you got her yesterday but I’m just trying to keep everyone safe alright? So I’m sorry about how you were treated ok?” Marilee said with a grimace.

“What do you need?” Ryzen asked, ignoring her side tangent.

“My brother, Samuel, he hasn’t returned from his mission yet. He’s usually always back by now… I’m worried something has happened to him.” Marilee was clearly distraught by this but Ryzen still didn’t know what she wanted him to do about this.

“So what do you want me to do?” he once again asked, hoping she would just tell him.

Marilee took a deep breath and said, “You’re strong. Very strong. I want you to save Samuel. I have to stay here and protect the base but you can go for me. Your assassin abilities should be perfect for this job, too. Please, I know it’s a huge risk for you but I don’t have any other choice. Nobody else will be able to enter sector one without being caught!”

At the mention of sector one, Enancia rapidly started shaking her head. “Absolutely Not! If sector one is where the exit is then it is certain that it is also where all the high-level vampires are. Going there is a death sentence!”

“I know and trust me I wouldn’t ask someone as new as you anyway but I have no other choice. Samuel was the only one who could go there undetected. There’s a chance you may be able to as well. So please!” Marilee seemed to already be convinced that Ryzen would say no but he had made his mind the moment she had mentioned going into sector one.

“I will do it,” he said calmly.

Marilee’s eyes lit up with hope while Enanca turned to look at him in shock. “What are you thinking? Do you have any idea how dangerous what it is she wants you to do is?” she asked angrily.

“Yes, but going to sector one happens to align with my own goals as well. I am going.” Ryzen bluntly stated.

“What goals? Why do you need to go there?” Enancia asked desperately.

“The exit to this damned city. I need to find a way back.” Ryzen didn’t specifically mention back where but he was sure Enancia could figure out.

“I understand that but the outside is dangerous Alex! There are beings so powerful they could evaporate you in an instant! It isn’t worth it!” Enancia yelled.

“Maybe not to you but it is to me,” Ryzen said with a glare.

“Thank you so much, I am in your debt. Unfortunately, if we want to have any chance of saving Samuel we need to hurry.” Marilee said shakily, interrupting their argument.

Ryzen nodded and Marilee motioned for him to follow her. Before he could do so, Enancia grabbed his arm and looked him in the eyes.

“I’ll go with you,” she said sincerely.

Ryzen shook his head. There was no way he would put Enancia in needless danger. Besides, there was nothing she could do to help him. It would be an awful decision.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Absolutely not. There’s nothing you can do to help. You would just be a liability.” Ryzen said his feelings out loud.

“I… I don’t care!” Enancia shouted, having nothing else to say.

“Yes, well I do. Besides, you would be… safe this way.” Ryzen said with a bit of a struggle. He wasn’t used to saying such nice things to anyone besides his close family.

“Alex… Fine, I’ll stay but do well to remember that we’re partners, okay?”

Ryzen nodded, accepting Enancia’s designation of their relationship. With that done, he hurried up to Marilee.

“Jarek will be going with you and he can show you the way, at least to the entrance of sector one. Unfortunately, you guys will have to go through sector two to get there as our tunnels don’t reach sector one.” Marilee said as they walked.

She didn’t stop till they reached an armory and she pulled out various armors and weapons.

“I’m not sure what you have on you but feel free to take whatever you need. This is a dangerous place you’re going to and the least I can do is make sure you are well prepared,” Marilee said while holding her hand out to the gear.

Ryzen did a quick scan over everything and came across a few pieces he liked. He was mainly looking for daggers and light armor as that perfectly fit his fighting style. Luckily, a piece of black leather armor caught his eye so he was prompted to check the stat boost it gave. Upon seeing it, he was shocked.

Quick Leather Armor (Uncommon)

Leather armor that was specifically designed to improve the user's speed.

+15 Agility

+10 Endurance

+5 Vitality

The stat increase was drastically different from his blood knife which was just a common rarity. Not to mention that the armor just looked cool too. He quickly put that on and found an upgrade to his dagger.

Dexterous Blood Knife (Uncommon)

A knife forged by the blood of speed-based creatures.

+20 Dexterity

+10 Agility

Ryzen happily took the great dexterity boost and gave Marilee a thumbs up when he was done. She nodded and took him to the entrance of their tunnel system where Jarek was already waiting. He too looked worried.

“Glad you’re coming Alex. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to go by myself,” Jarek said with a small smile.

Ryzen gave him a small nod and Marilee gave them a small talk about what to do. With that being done, Ryzen and Jarek were sent through the tunnels. Thankfully, Jarek had a good idea of where they were going. After a few hours of walking, they arrived at a small set of doors which Jarek walked into.

The following path took them to even more tunnels except these looked like they were part of a sewer system.

“Right now we are underneath sector two’s main business district similar to where I found you. I have a few abilities to cover my scent and keep us undercover but they take up Mp so we’ll travel as far as we can through here.” Jarek clearly had the route down in his head so Ryzen didn’t argue.

He did figure they could go much faster by using his shadow step skill but he didn’t want to use it if he didn’t need to yet. He was sure they would need it for much of sector one so he didn’t want to waste his Mp yet.

After traveling through the sewers for an hour, they stopped at a ladder that led up to the surface. Jarek motioned for Ryzen to climb up and they slowly exited the area.

As soon as Ryzen stepped out, he could tell this was a much nicer area than sector ten. Fancy buildings were everywhere in sight and there was no shortage of vampires dressed in regal clothing. Many of the passersby were giving them strange looks for obvious reasons but they ignored it and quickly moved out of the area.

They hid in a nearby alleyway and Jarek quickly mapped out the rest of the journey to Ryzen. They would leave the business district and enter the outskirts of the sector. They would then have to traverse through some of the heavy traffic tunnels to get to sector one which was heavily guarded at all times.

Ryzen was still getting used to how the cities were designed but as far as he could tell, there were ten sectors with each sector having a few massive business and residential districts where everyone lived. There were guard barracks and guard stations all over to keep the peace as well. Being able to see this made the entire layout of sector ten and Ryzen’s exploring make sense.

Ryzen and Jarek once again went on the move but soon encountered their first obstacle. There were multiple guards stationed at the entrance and exit of the sector. Unfortunately, unlike sector ten’s business districts, sector two’s needed IDs to get in and out. This was because they were technically more affluent and privileged.

Jarek gave Ryzen a questioning look and he sighed. It was time to show Jarek a little bit of what he could do.