I fell to my hands and knees. My body trembling uncontrollably, and I couldn't hold back the nausea that overwhelmed my body.

"Fuck," I said under my breath as I tried to control my gagging. My vomit-stained saliva tasting like the coffee I had this morning coating the insides of my mouth.

Footsteps came up behind me and slowly came to a stop.

"Ahh shit," Fleur sighed. "We were too late it seems."

A strew of bloody hostages, bound and gagged, all laying lifeless on the floor. Their naked corpses grotesquely flattened to pancakes and ripped half to shreds.

After a moment's pause to take it in, Fleur shouted, calling the others over to us. "Darius! I think we won’t be going to the port after all.”

Looking down at the ground, the image of my fracture before seared into my mind bringing back the scene of my bloody hands I had seen earlier. It didn't help that I couldn’t handle gore the greatest.

It was pathetic. To be seen in this state of agony took a hit to my pride. I couldn’t stand it. How could I be respected while looking like this among my co-workers?

Darius and Jo came rushing into the room. "Oh my goodness, this is far worse than I expected," Darius exclaimed, covering his mouth.

"Are we calling it in?" Jo asked Darius.

Fleur whipped around and looked back at Darius massaging his forehead. "Surely not! We've got such a good lead now. How can we just leave it like this?"

I finally came to my senses after all the gagging and started to stand back up.

“Come on,” Fleur said as she went to help me up to my feet.

I pushed her hand away and staggered to my feet. "No no, I'm perfectly fine."

Darius fixed his gaze on Fleur, his expression resolute. "Fleur, I understand your determination, but what's been done is done. The Church has the expertise and resources to handle this kind of cleanup work. Let's call it in and trust them with the rest."

Fleur looked torn, her eyes darting between Darius and me. "But we're so close," she argued, her voice pleading. "What about the lives of the homeless and the orphans."

"You mean those ones?" Darius interjected, turning his gaze to the pile of rotting bodies.

Fleur's shoulders slumped. I could tell she knew Darius was right. We were looking for all the missing people and we did, just not in the state we would have hoped. We were late. But just leaving some mass murderer still out there was illogical. Yet we were back to square one and had no clues as to where they could be, for all we know they could’ve fled the country.

Darius turned and headed out of the basement, and Jo followed him, casting one last look back at Fleur and me. "Come on, let's get out of here," she said before disappearing up the stairs.

Fleur turned away and headed to the stairs, stopping right at the first step. Her hands clenched.

"I promised… I promised…" I heard her mumble under her breath, her fists shaking and her head partially lowered.

I then took one more glance at the bodies in the corner of the room and followed the others. Heading up and out of the Theatre basement.

As we regrouped outside the Theatre, my mind was in turmoil. What I had seen haunted me more than the future I had seen. What kind of sick bastard could do such a thing to not only the homeless but orphans too?

"We've done what we can for now," Darius said while adjusting his uniform. "The Church will take over from here, and we'll focus on gathering more information from our end. Just as a precaution, I’ll also get Mar to scout the port and the surrounding area just in case we’ve missed anything."

Jo nodded in agreement. "We've done our part. Let the Church handle the rest. If more assistance is needed from us, they should inform us."

Fleur seemed slightly unsettled by the ease with which they had discovered everything. It felt too convenient as if they were being guided to this place. "Are you sure we shouldn't investigate further?" she asked, her voice tinged with anguish. "It just felt… too easy."

Darius fixed his eyes on Fleur, "I understand your concern, but we have to trust in the Church." Darius stepped forward, placing a reassuring hand on Fleur's shoulder. "I know it's hard, but we have to trust the process. Let's all head back to the Den and you two can write up the reports. Maybe it will help us make sense of everything we've seen today."

As we took the carriage back to the Den, a heavy silence filled the air. Each of us were lost in our thoughts and grappling with the horrors we had witnessed. Fleur's concern was palpable, and I could tell that she was struggling with the decision to leave everything to the Church. But we had done what we could, and the rest was beyond our control.

Once we arrived back at the Den, Lucas, Jean and Mar were still there as if waiting for our return.

Darius swiftly gave us our orders before the others could ask about what happened. "Elias, Fleur, I want you both to write up a detailed report on everything we've discovered today," he instructed, his voice firm but compassionate. "Include everything, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. We need to be thorough in our documentation."

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I nodded in acknowledgment, thankful for the distraction that writing the report would provide. It would help me organize my thoughts and emotions.

Darius then turned to Jo. "Come with me, Jo. We'll go see the Church and inform them of the situation."

As Darius and Jo departed, he paused for a moment, glancing back at me. "Elias," he said with a reassuring smile, "you can go home and get some rest after you finish the report. Take care of yourself."

They finally left us and Jean stood up, “What happened? Did you find them? Any clues at least?”

“Not now,” Fleur interjected and glanced over at me. “Just wait for us to write our reports first.”

I made my way over to the report room while the sounds of the others talking drifted away behind the curtain my own thoughts.

As I sat down to write the report on the typewriter, I felt a mixture of relief and anxiety. Writing it all down would be a way to process the events of the day, but it would also mean reliving it too. I forced myself to focus, allowing the words to flow onto the parchment.

Once the ink dried on the last sentence of the report, I felt a sense of accomplishment weariness. I placed the parchment on Darius's desk—knowing he would review it later after he got back—and grabbed the books Alexei had given me to take back to Caius’.

As I turned to leave, Jean's voice called out behind me, "Elias, wait! What happened down there?" he asked, his voice barely containing his emotions. "Why won't you tell me anything?"

"Elias?" said the soft-spoken Mar.

I turned to look at them all, seeing the worry in both Mars eyes and Jeans. Lucas who was still sitting took a glance at me, our eyes meeting for a brief moment before he looked back at the table.

Without saying a word, I left the Den, the heavy door closing behind me with a soft thud. As I stepped out into the cool evening air, I felt relief. Relief that I could finally escape that suffocating atmosphere of the Den.

Instead of catching a carriage back to Caius’, I opted to walk to let the hustle and bustle of the town clear and ease my mind. Once at the house, I made my way through the back door and up to my room.

I carefully placed the books Alexei had given me on my bedside table and laid down on my bed to rest for a few hours, hoping it would bring some kind of solace.

After a few hours of rest, I woke up to the smell of hot tea wafting through the room. My eyes fluttered open, and I saw a steaming cup of tea placed neatly on my dresser. Caius must have prepared it for me. I figured he had already left though, which explained why the tea was starting to go cold.

As I sat up and sipped the tea, I glanced outside my window. It was later in the afternoon, probably around five pm and the sun was setting already. The events of the day still weighed heavily on my mind. Although I had great abilities now, I still felt weak and powerless. I desperately needed to do something to change that.

Deciding that staying cooped up indoors wouldn't do me any good, I resolved to return to the underground market to see if there was anything I could use as a means to grow. I had a few things on my mind after reading Alexei’s material book. I hailed a carriage, and as it made its way through the town, I felt the anticipation building up within me.

The carriage dropped me off slightly outside the entertainment district, and I made my way on foot to the discrete entrance of the underground market. As I approached, I made sure no enforcers were near and two entrance guards stopped me.

In trench coats and recognisable white masks, they eyed me with suspicion. They were vigilant and cautious, as expected from those guarding such a secretive place. After a few moments of looking me up and down, they finally let me enter.

I nodded in acknowledgement and entered the underground market, the dim lighting and hushed whispers of the arcanists enveloping me. The atmosphere felt much different than earlier. It was darker and a lot busier. Dim lanterns hung from the low ceiling, casting an eerie glow over the market's narrow labyrinth-like pathways. The air was thicker with the scent of incense and spices, and the sound of hushed conversations filled the air.

As I made my way through the market, I carefully examined the goods on display. My eyes were drawn to the various materials and powders, some of which I recognized from Alexei's material book. The prices were higher than I had anticipated, but I knew that these materials were essential for my growth.

After careful consideration, I made a few purchases—Dreamroot Extract, fangs of a Frostwyrm, Spiritwood Root, and other various stones and powders that would aid in my development.

As I walked past a section of the market, I caught sight of King's office door. The memory of our encounter earlier in the day sent a chill down my spine, and I decided it was best not to linger near his domain for too long.

With my purchases secured in a bag, I turned away from the office and headed back towards the entrance of the underground market. I didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention or risk running into King again.

The guards at the entrance shot me a glance as I exited, but they didn't stop me this time. I felt a sense of relief as I stepped back into the cool evening air.

As I walked back through the streets, the sky had turned dark, and the lights of the still-open shops along the way illuminated my path. I could’ve caught a carriage but the nighttime atmosphere was inviting.

As I continued, my eyes caught a familiar sign hanging above a shop; The Wanderlust. It was a place I will always remember, the place that first brought me to this world. The memory of that moment was vivid in my mind—the sense of confusion and wonder at the strange new place I found myself in.

With a smile tugging at the corners of my lips, I decided to go inside. The curiosity and nostalgia were too strong to resist. Pushing open the door, the familiar chime of bells greeted me, and I was immediately hit with a wave of memories.

The interior was just as enchanting as I remembered it. Still rustic and worn, with its maroon curtains, chipped wood and stained walls.

As I perused the glass cabinet, my eyes landed on a pocket watch—exactly like the one I had picked out that day when I first arrived. I couldn’t help but chuckle. The fact I had no money to buy such a trinket, but now with my new job I could.

I called out to the shopkeeper and asked him to take out the pocket watch for me. With gentle hands, he retrieved the timepiece from its display and placed it before me on the counter. I picked it up by its delicate chain, holding it up to the light as memories flooded my mind.

This pocket watch had been my first glimpse into the world of Leode, and it held a strangely special place in my heart. The intricate design and its broken hands that ticked back and forth were mesmerising.

"I'll take it," I said with a smile, feeling a surge of sentimentality. The shopkeeper nodded and began to ring up the purchase. Just as he was about to finalize the transaction, a soft ringing sound echoed in the shop, indicating that someone else had entered.

Curiosity piqued, I turned to see who had arrived. My eyes widened in surprise when I saw someone I recognised but didn’t expect. The familiar crescent moon-shaped pendant was hardly something I would forget.