Preparation is key

Zomatsu left the castle disgruntled. He had emphasized his fears to Aur, yet all Aur said was to go back and confirm the situation. Every high-ranking member of the Zorak Family knew about his ability, so it didn't make sense for him to return for confirmation without any help. Although Aur had mentioned backup, who knew when—or if—that would come? If he were to encounter something similar to what he had felt before, he would be dead before any sort of backup could reach him.

Zomatsu was too tired to think clearly right now. There were still some side effects from that blast of negative energy lingering in his body. He was lucky to have just passed out. He suspected that both Hach and Evans had already died. They must have taken the full brunt of that attack. Someone of their level would die instantly.

He boarded a private carriage and headed for a hotel near the outer district of Royal Borough: Blackwing Hotel. It was a large building, almost 30 levels high—the tallest building in the city. The hotel had about 250 rooms and several quality restaurants. It was the most famous hotel in the city, but because of its high charges, it was only popular with the highest-class merchants and nobles, so it was pretty quiet most of the time.

Zomatsu entered the large lobby, which was superbly decorated and had a refined feel to it. He saw a female dark elf at the receptionist's desk. She smiled and greeted him.

"Hello, sir. Welcome to Blackwing Hotel. How may I be of service?"

Zomatsu didn't say a word and just brought out a black card. The receptionist looked at it and immediately bowed. "Welcome back, Lord Zomatsu. I'll send someone to prepare your room immediately." He nodded and then took a seat in the lobby.

The lady then came over and offered him the choice of a beverage. "Would you like some tea while you wait? We have every tea available on the continent and even exotic ones from various continents."

"No, it's fine. Just have them hurry up."

"Of course."

He was still feeling different spikes in his emotions and could only blame the residual negative energy within him. He waited for a few more minutes before the lady came to inform him that his room was ready. Without waiting a second longer, he hurriedly walked past her and headed straight for the elevation platform at the end of the hall. He grabbed his card from her hand and left.

Once he got to the platform, he pushed the button for the 30th floor on the list of doors on the wall. He was immediately transported to the platform on the 30th floor. He walked out of the platform and headed for the room at the end of the hall. There were only five rooms on this floor, and one of them was designated for him by the family. The Zorak Family owned less than 10 percent of the businesses in Winged City, but they were receiving taxes from the remaining 90 percent, so it really didn't matter.

The Blackwing Hotel was one of the businesses they owned. It was a place for the elites of the elite and was often used by their own family members for business. A black card represented a high-ranking member of the family, and one of the five rooms on the top floor of any Blackwing Hotel would be prepared for the holder of the card.

Zomatsu entered the massive room. The room was filled with exotic and tasteful furniture, every single piece being of excellent design and decoration. The grey carpet upon the floor was thick and soft, swallowing the footsteps of those who trod on it.

It had a large bed, an exotic desk, a black leather chair, a well-stocked bookshelf, and even a fully-equipped mini-bar. He just walked straight to the bed and collapsed. Having been under such an intense situation for such a long period of time, he was mentally exhausted. He had fallen asleep even without taking off his cloak.

••••••

The light in the room flickered for a second before returning to normal. A little girl around the age of 13 appeared out of the void. She wore a black mask that covered the lower part of her face and a similarly colored dress with white linings. She had amber-colored eyes and green hair styled in a French twist. She wore greenish-black greaves and gloves with metal knuckles.

She walked soundlessly toward the sleeping Zomatsu and placed her right hand a few inches over his back. A green two-fold magic circle appeared on his back, and the two circles turned counter to each other as they shrank inside his body. Simultaneously, her left eye started to glow, slowly changing color until it turned green.

She then returned her hand to her side, walking back in reverse, almost as if she were going backward in time, all the way back to the spot she had appeared on. The lights flickered again, and she disappeared from the room. The wind blew in through the open windows, and Zomatsu turned comfortably in his sleep.

••••••

Zomatsu slowly opened his eyes with great difficulty. It was already late in the afternoon, and he had told Bam and Bor to wait by the gates. He also had something to do before he met up with them. He got off the bed and walked to the washroom. Taking off his cloak, he splashed some cold water on his face to wake himself up. He looked at the reflection in the mirror in front of him and saw his face.

The features of an almost absurdly handsome man appeared there—the type of guy that women would flock around. He also looked quite young. In human age, he would be about 23 or 24. He had short blonde hair, bright golden eyes, and angel-like skin. He was also well-built and quite tall, about 6 feet. Most people would kill for his appearance, but he was pissed.

Every time he saw his face, he would always be reminded of the past, and the rage and frustration from that time would come storming back.

Bang!

He slammed his fist into the mirror and shattered it. Although it instantly started to fix itself, he left the sink and went to take a shower. He also put his clothes in the cleaner, which used magic to instantly clean any soft or hard fabric. It didn't work on armor.

Zomatsu soon finished freshening up and got dressed. He donned his cloak and left his room. He returned to the lobby and told the receptionist he was leaving and wouldn't return anytime soon. The dark elf greeted him politely and waved him goodbye. He left the hotel and hired a private carriage back to the city's gate. As soon as he alighted from the carriage, he saw Bam and Bor chatting away with the guard on duty, seemingly having fun.

They soon spotted him and ran over to greet him. Zomatsu just nodded and asked, "Have they brought our supplies?"

Bor nodded in return. "Yes, they even provided us with three Tier 1 horses." He was a little excited when he said that. Tier 1 horses were different from ordinary horses. These were horses that had been trained by beast tamers with their special abilities. They were once ordinary horses but were now closer to Tier 2 demonic horses.

Zomatsu nodded his head and stretched his arm, holding a black card. He handed it over to Bam. "Take this. Go to the Runic's Weapon Shop in South Borough and get yourself some upgrades on your equipment. Try to be as practical as possible. Don't just pick the most expensive weapons." The brothers' eyes sparkled when they saw the card, and they widened even more when they heard their boss's words. Taking the card without hesitation, they both headed to the Runic's Weapon Shop.

Zomatsu, seeing them leave, walked back to the private carriage that had brought him and headed north. The trip was about an hour long. He alighted at the corner of a street in the middle district of North Borough. This was Raven Street. The area was a little overpopulated, and everyone here looked shabby and exhausted. Most people staying in North Borough were of the lowest class. Most of them either worked at the mine outside the city or one of the many ore refineries.

The houses here were old and not well-built. Although Raven Street wasn't as bad as some of the places in the outer district, it still reeked of urine and waste. Although a working sewage system had been introduced several hundred years ago, for places like these, the city wouldn't bother maintaining them.

Zomatsu walked through the streets. People were vending their wares on the streets, and stalls sold street food. The road was busy, and not many carriages came this way. Places like this had points where large public carriages would wait and pick up passengers. They ran a fixed route and avoided the more dangerous locations.

He moved through the crowd with ease. Even standing in front of someone, they would hardly notice him. Taking an alley to a small apartment complex, he entered a room at the back of the building. The place only had a single metal bed and a bench. It looked like no one had been here in years.

Entering the room, he locked the door behind him. He walked to the bed and bent down. He moved out the floorboards under the bed, and a small compartment opened up. There was a small metal box there. He reached in and brought out the box. The box was dark brown and had several advanced magic runes carved on it, mostly for protection. Looking at the box, it was easy to tell it had special properties. It wasn't clear what the box was made of, but it was definitely something special.

Zomatsu placed the box on the bed and crouched to look at it. He placed both hands on specific parts of the box and recited an incantation too fast to follow. The runes on the box glowed, and a clicking sound was heard. The box slowly opened up, revealing the contents within. "Perhaps over the years, they might have gotten a clue to your existence and maybe even figured it out. But I would've loved to keep them guessing a while longer. Unfortunately, I may not have that luxury." He snapped the box closed and proceeded to exit the room after placing it in his storage box.

He no longer trusted Aur. To be honest, it wasn't that he had fully trusted the family to begin with. Having not been born a pure-blooded noble, the family had cast him out. They had only brought him back when they found out how useful his ability was as a spy.

For noble demons, their innate abilities were hereditary, and only the purebloods would inherit them. Other mixed-bloods would be lucky to develop their unique innate ability, while most wouldn't have any. Zomatsu hated the family and the fact that he looked like the man who had abandoned his mother. He had no choice but to return to the family as a scout. Although he once had a reason for doing this, that reason was now long gone.

He knew that even though they had given him special privileges, the fact of the matter was that they still hadn't restored his nobility. Whenever a problem too big for them to handle arose, the family wouldn't think twice before abandoning him yet again. So he spent most of his free time abusing the privileges given to him to find anything that could be of help to him at a time like this.

As he turned the corner, he snapped his fingers. Boom! The sound of an explosion was heard, and the room he had just left had blown up, erasing any traces of him being there. He was now ready to leave Winged City with the two brothers, who had now gotten a massive upgrade to their equipment and might actually be of some use to him.

He would head for the Darknar Forest to investigate what was going on around the king's castle, and he was now prepared for anything unexpected. As he left the city's gate and mounted the horse, riding into the distance, a green magic circle was blinking on his back, too dim for anyone to notice.