Hidden city

The hero fell to his knees, as his head started to hurt. Darkness was all he could see, all he could think of. He dropped his sword and started crying and twitching with pain.

After a few seconds of squirming, the hero got kicked in the stomach and he came back to his senses. "Aye! Little knoif? You there? Mate, Khas, did you have to do em' all like this." The one who said that, was a tall, muscular man. He was clad in crimson armor, with a greatsword that was more magic than metal in his hands. Khas looked at the man before him amused.

"Ygvi! You are still alive? I see the runes on the armor need some polish, come by me if you want some help with that! Anyway, imma take my student and DIP. See ya!" Khas was somewhat happy that at least one of his friends of this turn is alive.

Khas waved at his friend and left for the city walls. As he was approaching, some of the guards were looking scared at him. Khas continued walking as he raised his hand and caught a knife. On the blade there was written in blood: Where do I find you? My arsenal needs repairs.

Khas let a laugh out and wiped the knife clean of the blood. He pulled out a piece of paper from one of his pockets and wrote something on it. Then he cut his finger on the blade and runes appeared on the knife. He then wrapped the paper on the handle, turned towards the direction from where the knife came and shouted: "YEET!"

Khas meanwhile arrived at the bottom of the fifty-meter walls of the city. He squatted, looked up, and jumped.

...

Ash was looking at Khas the entire time. She saw him reach the walls and... He was suddenly floating in front of her with a mask on. "Your training starts now. First, we go get you a weapon and a source of income. We are heading to Djuria. I've got a friend there. We are leaving in one hour."

Ash then saw Khas finally climb on the wall and dash down the other side. "What the... Hey, soldier can you..." Ash said with a puzzled look on her face.

"Sure, the way down is right there, let me accompany you." Said the old soldier, that brought her here, shaking. They then went down and headed to the inn where Ash left her luggage. After ten minutes of walking they arrive, only to see Khas with all the luggage on in a backpack and ready to leave. Ash looked at him. He was in his usual cloak, with the armor under it, but he appeared taller and the mask gave her the feeling she was looking at nothing. As if before her was a mirage, an illusion, a mere construct of her mind. Then Khas grabbed her shoulder and said " I am real. You will have to get used to doubting my existence. It's a side effect of exerting too much power. Let us go."

The two of them started walking towards the east gate of the town. After that, many days of walking led them into a deep forest. "Welcome to Djuria. All we have to do is... Where is she? It's only been 2 millennia how can she already make such a barrier." Khas sighed. He then raised his hand and a seal appeared above his head. The next moment, an assassin leaped from the shadows and bowed before him. "Call Jade, and also think about a better master. Your current one failed you miserably." The girl before him was about to object but then she heard a voice from behind "Hey Khas, there is no need for such a fuss to get me out. You could've broken the barrier. Also, how did I fail her? I trained her just like you trained me." The woman before them was just a bit shorter than Khas. She had pink hair with blue tips and if it hadn't been Khas, a man would usually have a nosebleed when seeing her. She was dressed in tight clothes and had a cloak made of something resembling chitin wings, but lacking transparency and not being attached to her. Khas laughed and summoned a black knife in his hand. He then threw it straight up, only for the real Jade to catch it. The real one looked the same as the fake... except her cloak was made of cloth, not chitin. "Tsk! I still can't fool you. Hey master what're you doing here?"

Khas looked Jade dead in the eyes and sighed "For the last 3 millennia you haven't changed at all. Still childish, still bad at lying. Jade, this is Ash, my new student." He said, pointing towards Ash. Ash was embarrassed and was blushing while looking down. Jade did not help as she said "So she is that girl you've been dragging around! Let's go down in the city. We will continue there. Also, Khas, take off your mask, I've been missing those dead eyes of yours." She then dashed toward Khas and grabbed his hand. "Please take the mask off..."

Khas listened to the girl's request and took it off. He then hugged her and said: "What a troublesome daughter. But you did come a long way since back when I found you... I am proud of ya' kid." As he said that, Jade started crying and hugged Khas tighter "Welcome back, dad..."

Meanwhile, Ash was flabbergasted. "She is your daughter? And what do you mean 3 millennia? What the fu..." As she was about to finish her sentence Jade dashed toward her and said "No swearing! It doesn't match a princess. The two of us will have a talk, aye?" Ash nodded. Then they all headed down, while Jade introduced Ash and Khas to her pupil: Amber. As the girls continued chatting, Khas looked upon his city...

It was beautiful. It was situated under a mountain in the forest. The cavern was spacious, the ceiling was covered in crystals, shining blue. The ground was covered in grass and flowers rare on the surface, but common as dirt down here. The houses were built out of stone and wood. The entrance to the mines could be seen from the elevator that was taking them down. Here elves, including drows, dwarfs, goblins, basically every race you could think of was living in this town. The law enforcement was simple. Nobody did it. As long as nobody started a fight, nobody would fight. It was a beautiful city. After reaching the bottom, two drows greeted Jade, then Amber, then Ash, and ignored Khas. Khas noticed their killing intent and proceeded forward. The two drows drew their weapons and jumped at Khas. In a flash, the two were being impaled from behind by tentacle-like appendages coming out off Khas' back. The tentacles were slim, sharp, and black in color. The two attackers were spitting out blood, desperately trying to free themselves, but to no avail.

"You were part of the hero's army. Tell me, did those Plagues, those Reapers... did they send you? There is no saving you now. So spit out the information. I can devour your souls or release you in the realm of death. A hint, having your soul devoured by me will send you in the void. There you will see why everyone says I am insane."

The two were contemplating for a few seconds but eventually confessed that Khas' words were true.