Shadow

"This should be the place," Rick said as they stood outside a run-down house. "The boss mentioned this place to me a while ago, but I never came here before."

They went further and further away from the middle of the capital until they were getting near the walls. At this point it started to look more like a ghetto, with homeless people appearing on the streets and old/broken-looking houses.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Ray asked.

"Yes - yes, I assure you this is the right place!" Rick quickly responded.

"If I see something is wrong, I will kill you before you can even react. I am a mage after all." Ray said in a threatening tone.

Rick's eyes widened after hearing Ray was a mage, but he wasn't too surprised. After all, he had very high fighting power, and mages weren't as uncommon in a place like the royal capital. Although mages were rarely seen in poorer areas, everyone knew of their existence and the fact that they lived near the inner part of the city.

"Don't worry sir, I would never try to do anything to someone as powerful as you!"

Ray walked up to the door and knocked a few times. A few seconds later, a person dressed in a dark hoodie opened the door. "What do you want?" He muttered in a raspy tone.

"I heard this was an information organization, or somewhere I can get information," Ray said.

The hooded man stared at Ray as if he was inspecting him. After a moment, he opened the door and said, "Come in and take a seat."

Ray nodded and stepped into the house. The house was dark and smelled musty, it gave off the vibe of being abandoned. He could hear every sound going on in the quiet house, from the rats squeaking, to the cockroaches running on the ground. He started to realize how much his senses improved since becoming a level 3 mage as he walked through the house.

The hooded man sat down on a couch and beckoned Ray and Rick to sit down. They sat on the couch opposite the hooded man, and Ray made sure to sit close to Rick.

Once they were situated, the hooded man asked, "First of all, who are you two?"

Rick replied first saying, "I'm Rick from Grover's Gang. The boss told me about this place which is how I found it. This is my friend who wanted some info that I thought you guys would have."

The hooded man smiled, "Grover? He comes here every once in a while for assassinations, I know him." He turned to Ray and asked, "And who are you?"

"I'm Rick's friend," Ray said. He purposefully didn't say much to test whether the hooded man would think anything of it.

The hooded man didn't seem to care though, as he moved on to the next question. "And what do you want?"

This time, Rick stayed silent. "First, I would like to get general information on the kingdom. Specifically on the Mages and powerful people of the kingdom." Ray said.

"That's very basic, I can give that information to you for some gold. What else?"

"I need to know this first," Ray replied.

"First show me you have 10 gold coins." The hooded man demanded.

Ray laughed. "10 gold coins? Sure, I have 10 gold coins." He said while taking them out. Jealousy appeared on Rick's face as he saw Ray casually take out 10 gold coins, that was his monthly earnings after all! Of course, he couldn't say anything about it.

The man snatched the coins and put them in his pocket. "I assume you're new to this city, so I'll start very basic. Everyone knows the king is the most powerful mage in the kingdom, and he supposedly controls everything. Very few people have seen him, but that's what we were taught in school. Beneath the King are the 6 major houses, House of Electricity, Etero, House of Light, Loyer, House of Dark, Darst, House of Earth, Esfer, House of Water, Worl, and House of fire, Farth. They each control a portion of the mages, and also a portion of Valier's knight army. Being a mage is something only nobles can become since nobody except nobles knows how to become one. But commoners can become knights by saving money for a training technique and joining the army."

Ray immediately started thinking about the part he said about knights after listening to his rundown about the kingdom. When he went outside, it was pretty rare to find knights. But it seemed that this capital was a hotspot to find knights based on what the hooded man said.

For most mages, this wouldn't mean much. But for Ray, this was like finding a treasure trove! Ray immediately asked the hooded man, "Is there any way to get these knights for personal use?"

The hooded man looked confused. "Personal use? do you mean a slave?"

"Yes, that's what I meant." Ray quickly added. He didn't know the social structure of knights and mages in this capital, so he didn't immediately start with the term slave. But it seemed the knights had a much lower status than he thought.

"Before I answer, the price will be 5 soul points."

Ray took out his soul point box and gave it to the hooded man. He looked a little surprised when Ray gave it to him as he didn't expect him to have any, but he quickly took out the 5 soul points with an excited look on his face.

After returning the box to Ray, he said, "There are a few ways to get them. The first way is through underground markets, although it can get a bit expensive. The second option is to raise them yourself, however it will take some time. And the last option is to capture rogue knights; any knight who hasn't registered for the army is considered a rogue knight in the capital, and anything can be done to them. The rogue knights won't have a badge showing they're in the army, so it's easy to identify them."

"Where are the markets you are talking about?" Ray asked.

The hooded man grinned and replied, "2 soul points".

Ray sighed and gave the hooded man another 2 soul points.

After confirming the payment, he wrote down a few locations on a piece of paper and handed it to Ray. "But remember, these are underground markets, don't be stupid." He warned. After Ray pocketed the paper, he asked, "Do you need anything else?"

Ray shook his head, while Rick sat in the corner, silent the whole exchange.

"I guess that means no. Before you go, my name is Jordan, nice to meet you." He said while putting his hand up.

Ray shook his hand and said, "My name is Chris, same goes for you."

"Do you have any interest in joining our Shadow Organization? I can tell you're an apprentice mage, and you must not have anything behind you yet seeing as how you came to me for these simple questions." Jordan said.

Ray thought for a moment before saying, "Is it legal?"

"Is it legal?" Jordan repeated in a humorous tone. "As long as you're not stupid, it is very legal."

"Give me a week and I'll decide by then. How does that sound?" Ray asked.

"That's fine. I'll be here until then."

Ray was about to leave, but he turned around and asked Jordan, "By the way, do you do body disposals?"

"I can, why?"

Ray didn't respond, instead waking over to Rick. Rick could feel something was wrong, but before he could react, Ray punched him in the face, caving his head in until his fist exited through the back of his head. It felt like he was punching through jello, not a human skull!

Jordan calmly watched as Ray killed Rick. "I assume this is the body you want me to dispose of?" He asked.

Ray nodded his head.

"That will be 15 gold. Although I don't think that's a problem for you." He said with a grin.

Ray took out 15 gold coins and threw them onto Jordan's couch. "I'll be off then, I'll see you within a week."

"I hope I will see you soon too," Jordan replied as he watched Ray walk out of the house.

After Jordan saw Ray leave, he muttered to himself, "If I can rope him in, they will definitely give me some reward."