The room was small, dimly lit by a single hanging lantern, casting dancing shadows against cracked stone walls. The scent of sweat and old blood clung to the air.
Two men sat bound to chairs.
The human—a wiry, jittery man—kept shifting, his breath uneven, his eyes darting to the door as if he could will himself out of this.
The beastkin—a wolfkin, thickly built with ragged fur bristling along his arms and neck—sat still, watching Cain with a slow, wolfish grin. He flashed his yellowed fangs, his scarred muzzle curled in amusement.
A predator who didn’t understand what it meant to be prey.
Cain twirled the coin between his fingers, feeling the grooves worn smooth from age.
‘A choice.’
There were too many choices he could make in this situation, and dwelling on the possibilities was one such choice.
But he didn’t need to dwell.
Cain had already made his choice.
With a flick, he sent the coin into the air. By the time it landed, his blade was already moving.
The wolfkin saw it coming—his ears twitched, his grin widening as if in amusement. It was the smirk of a man who thought he was untouchable.
He was wrong.
Cain’s dagger slid into his throat, sharp steel parting fur and flesh. The smirk faltered. The beastkin gave a choking rasp as blood poured in thick rivulets down his chest, dark and almost black in the dim light. He slumped forward, dead before his body even registered what had happened.
=You have defeated (1) Wolfkin Outcast=
=You gain 0.1 skill points=
=Current skill points: 0.14=
The human sucked in a breath—panic, realization, an unspoken plea…
Cain silenced it.
One smooth motion, a simple stab to the heart without hesitation.
=You have defeated (1) Thief=
The only sound left was the soft drip, drip, drip of blood pooling on the floor.
Cain wiped the dagger clean on the wolfkin’s tattered tunic and turned.
Lila watched him with a slow, knowing smirk, emerald-green eyes gleaming in the dim light.
“Interesting,” she murmured.
Lexi stood behind him, silent, but he could feel her attention on the two corpses. To his surprise, she didn’t seem disgusted or disturbed. The corners of her lips tilted up into a soft smile.
She almost seemed… satisfied.
Lila took a step forward, her boots tapping softly against the stone floor as she approached the bodies. With a practiced motion, she crouched beside the wolfkin, tilting his head back slightly with two fingers.
A low amused chuckle left her lips. “Most people hesitate.”
Cain spun the cleaned dagger between his fingers before smoothly resheathing it.
“I don’t waste time.”
“Clearly.”
She turned to the human’s body next, her fingers ghosting over the bloodied fabric at his chest. A breath later, she pulled something free—a small, coin-shaped token, worn at the edges. She turned it between her fingers, studying it in the dim lantern light before slipping it into her pocket.
Then she tapped a finger against the human’s chest before standing again. “You’re thorough, I’ll give you that.” She lifted her gaze to meet his. “Tell me, Cain—why both?”
He held her stare. “Even if one’s actions ‘aren’t that bad’, that doesn’t mean they’re ‘good’.”
She tilted her head, considering him. “You sound like a priest.”
He smirked. “If priests did their job, people like me wouldn’t be necessary.”
She laughed at that, a soft, knowing giggle.
Lexi shifted beside him. “Why ask?” Her voice was quiet but firm. “If you already made up your mind about what answer you wanted, then what does it matter?”
Lila took note of the way she stood slightly behind Cain—not quite hiding, but not stepping forward either.
“It’s not about the answer,” she replied. “It’s about the person giving it.”
She stepped past the bodies, walking toward the door. Then she walked out of the room.
Cain glanced at Lexi, who was still watching the bodies.
She felt his gaze and finally looked up. “You were right,” she said, voice low. “That wolfkin was trash. Irredeemable scum.”
“It’s not about being right or wrong.”
Lexi huffed but followed him as he stepped into the hallway, leaving the corpses behind.
The hallway beyond the room was narrow, its stone walls damp with condensation from the underground tunnels beneath Cairel. Lila moved ahead of them, her footsteps nearly silent. The lanterns along the walls warped her silhouette as she led them deeper into the secretive domain of the darker side of society.
The corridor opened into a broader chamber, where wooden stalls and heavy iron-gated booths lined the walls. Candles burned in clusters, their flickering glow illuminating shelves stacked with old tomes, parchment scrolls, and neatly arranged weapons. Men and women haggled in low voices over obscure trinkets, enchanted tools, and skillbooks bound in cracked leather.
“Welcome to the Thieves’ Guild,” Lila said.
The Thieves’ Guild, like the Fighter’s Guild for martial fighters and the Acolyte’s Guild for magic users, was a place that existed for the fostering of more dextrous and secretive skill sets.
The organizations themselves were state-sponsored and existed within every major city in the human domain.
Lila stopped at a small counter where an older man sat behind a reinforced desk, lazily flipping through a thick ledger. His expression barely shifted when he noticed them, but Cain caught the way his fingers subtly drummed against the wood—a silent acknowledgment of Lila’s presence.
She leaned against the counter, tossing a few silver coins onto the desk. “We’ll be taking a job.”
The man scooped up the coins and slid a slip of paper forward.
Lila took it and handed it to Cain.
Mission: Infiltrate and Extract
Target: Cairel Mercenary Guild
Objective: Retrieve a package.
Payment: Negotiable.
Cain scanned the note, rubbing his thumb over the edge. “I have a few questions.”
Lila smiled. “Go ahead.”
“How public is the contents of these missions? Does the Mercenary Guild know that this mission was requested?”
She shook her head. “Of course not. We’re the Thieves’ Guild; strict information management is a matter of professionalism.”
He nodded. “Alright. What am I extracting? ‘A package’ is a little vague.”
“A ledger. A specific one. It’ll be marked. You’ll know it when you see it.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And where, exactly, am I extracting it from?”
“The personal estate of the Cairel Mercenary Guild’s Branch Manager.”
Cain clicked his tongue. “You’re throwing me into the deep end.”
Lila chuckled. “You swam just fine in the last test.”
He weighed his options. This wasn’t just a test—it was a real job. A real risk. But that also meant he had leverage.
“If I’m taking this contract,” he said, “I want a down payment. I haven’t learned the starting set of thief skills yet, and skills cost money.”
She looked amused. “I thought you might say that.” She turned toward the man behind the counter. “Starter set.”
The man grunted, stood, and retrieved a small bundle of books wrapped in cloth. He slid it toward Cain without ceremony.
He unwrapped the bundle, flipping through the covers of each book.
=Skill: Stealth=
=Skill: Nimble Hands=
=Skill: Trap Perception=
Solid fundamentals for a thief.
He opened the books and learned the contents. As his fingers brushed the pages, the ink seemed to ripple, the words fading into essence that seeped into his skin.
=New Skill Unlocked: Stealth=
=Stealth=
-Active Skill-
->Mana: 10/minute.
->Rank: 1/100
->Description: Become harder to detect. Muffles footsteps, minimizes movement noise, and blends the user into the background in dimly lit areas.
A shadow in motion is still a shadow.
=New Skill Unlocked: Nimble Hands=
=Nimble Hands=
-Passive Skill-
->Mana: N/A
->Rank: 1/100
->Description: Enhances dexterity and precision for all tasks involving the hands.
Fast hands, soft touch, and no complaints.
=New Skill Unlocked: Trap Perception=
=Trap Perception=
-Passive Skill-
->Mana: N/A
->Rank: 1/100
->Description: Enhances awareness of mechanical and magical traps, increasing the likelihood of detecting hidden dangers before triggering them. The effectiveness of detection increases with rank and experience.
Those who rush ahead meet their ends first.
They were good skills and he saw himself using all of them extensively with this persona. The passive skills would even be useful for his other Avatar.
But this wasn’t enough preparation.
His gaze landed on a gated stall on the other side of the market.
A man in dark robes stood behind the counter, arms folded, watching his clients in silence. Unlike the others, he wasn’t selling skillbooks, weapons, or trinkets.
Above the stall, the sign read: Skill Point | 5 gold.
“You can buy skill points?” he asked.
Lila followed his gaze and grimaced. “Well, in a manner of speaking…”
He took a slow breath, mentally taking a moment to rearrange his plans before striding toward the counter.
The robed man tilted his head, the movement slow and deliberate. “Buying?”
Cain pulled five gold coins from his pocket and placed them on the counter. “One skill point.”
The man retrieved the coins and turned toward the back of the stall.
After a moment, two masked figures emerged from the shadows and motioned for Cain to follow them.
Cain, Lexi, and Lila were led deeper into the underbelly of the slums, past windowing tunnels and corridors that smelled of damp stone, mold, and something distinctly alchemical. The scene of preservatives clung to the air, mixing with the faint but unmistakable musk of something reptilian.
They arrived at a reinforced underground chamber, its walls lined with thick iron braces, the ceiling reinforced with darkwood beams. Torches burned low, casting an amber glow over the colossal form chained in the center of the room.
Its scales, cracked and dulled, were the color of storm clouds, and its massive bulk stretched across half the chamber. The beast was pinned to the floor, its four thick limbs wrapped in heavy chains, iron spikes driven deep into the stone to keep it from thrashing.
Its eyes were stitched shut, crude black thread crisscrossing over the lids. Its jaw had been forced open once and never closed, held apart by thick iron clamps. Rows of teeth had been removed, leaving only jagged gaps in its gums.
The monster should have been terrifying.
Instead, it was pathetic.
A husk of what it had once been, reduced to something that could be bought and sold.
Standing beside it was a tall, thin man in black robes, his face hidden beneath an iron half-mask. His gloved fingers rested on the hilt of a slim, rune-etched dagger.
He turned at their approach, his voice monotone, entirely devoid of emotion.
“The Underworld provides,” he said. “One clean execution. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Without preamble, he held the dagger out to Cain.
Cain stepped forward, taking the blade from the handler’s outstretched hand.
It was light, the bone handle smooth from years of use, the runes along the steel faintly pulsing in the dim torchlight. It was a weapon designed for efficiency, not spectacle.
He turned his attention back to the monster.
It didn’t struggle.
It didn’t move.
Only the slow, labored rise and fall of its chest betrayed that it was still alive. The creature’s entire body trembled, whether from exhaustion or fear, he couldn’t tell.
There was no resistance.
No fight left.
He pressed his free hand against the monster’s hide, feeling the faintest tremor beneath his palm.
The creature had once been powerful.
Now, it was an empty, broken thing, waiting to die.
One last, shuddering breath—long, slow, exhausted.
Cain pressed the dagger into its throat, the blade slipping through ruined scales with ease.
One final tremor.
Then, it was over.
=You have defeated (1) Basilisk Wyrm=
=You gain 1 skill points=
=Current skill points: 1.14=
He wiped the blade clean on the wyrm’s scarred hide and handed it back to the handler.
The man accepted it without a word, inspecting the edge briefly before sheathing it.
“A pleasure doing business,” the handler said flatly.
The handler’s gaze was as empty as the wyrm’s ruined sockets.
This was just another transaction. Another sale.
Without any fanfare or further farewells, the handler walked away, leaving them behind with the corpse.
Cain briefly wondered how many times he had stood here, offering up the last breaths of powerful monsters in exchange for gold.
Lila sighed, arms crossed, her emerald eyes tinged with sadness as she examined the corpse.
Lexi took a hesitant step forward, then another. Her fingers twitched at her sides as if she wasn’t sure whether to touch the creature or keep her distance. Finally, she reached out, brushing her hand over the scarred, ruined scales.
Her ears flicked beneath her hood, her lips pressing together in a thin line as she traced a crack in the wyrm’s armor-like hide. She stopped when her fingertips brushed one of the iron spikes pinning it to the floor.
The metal was cold and unyielding.
She exhaled slowly. “Is this…” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “…what it means to be a monster?”
Cain shrugged. “More accurately, this is the fate of monsters that lose to humans.”
He turned to Lila.
“I’ll take a stab at that mission tonight. Lexi will need a place to hide while I’m gone.”
She hummed thoughtfully. “We can get her a room at the The Broken Horn. If she stays inside, nobody will dare touch her. It’s about as safe as you can get in the city, short of being in the cathedral or something.”
Lexi finally tore her eyes away from the corpse.
“I don’t like the idea of hiding.”
He shook his head. “It’s not hiding; it’s waiting. You get some sleep while I handle the mission. We’ll figure out our next step when I’m back.”
Her hands balled into fists at her sides. “Fine,” she muttered. “But don’t take too long. If you die, I’m not waiting for you.”
Lila smirked, clearly entertained by the exchange. “Smart choice. It’s never a good idea for a beastkin to go anywhere near the mercs.”
Cain turned, adjusting his cloak as he strode toward the exit. “Let’s get her settled, then.”
Lila fell into step beside him. “You’re an interesting one, Cain. Most men like you—” she gestured vaguely at the lingering bloodstains on his gloves, “—don’t plan ahead for anyone but themselves.”
He didn’t look at her. “I’m not most men.”
She grinned. “No, I shouldn’t think so.”
Lexi trailed behind as they left the chamber, her hood casting a shadow over her expression. She didn’t look back at the wyrm’s corpse.
Lila led them toward the surface, her voice light but edged with something sharper. “Better get your head straight before you start that mission. As you might expect, the mercs don’t take kindly to thieves in their homes. The last guy who tried to infiltrate this place got his head mailed back in a crate.” She tapped her temple. “Well, most of it, anyway.”
Cain laughed. “Good. I can’t prove myself if the mission is too easy.”
Lila shook her head, her grin growing wider. “Cocky bastard.”
The three of them vanished into the winding tunnels, leaving the corpse of the basilisk wyrm alone in the dark.
Project Knightfall 