Everyone stared at Adom.
"Oh," said Cisco. "A mage."
A panting man stumbled through the broken door, clutching the doorframe for support. His face looked like someone had used it to test several varieties of hammers. One eye was swollen completely shut, the other barely a slit, and his nose pointed in at least two different directions.
"Boss!" he wheezed between broken teeth. "We need to- you have to- that crazy barbaria-"
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU CALL ME?!" Thormund roared from his frozen position, veins bulging impressively against his immobile neck.
"Oh shit- I mean- I'll get- REINFORCEMENTS!" The man spun around, wobbling. "FROM THE MAIN BASE! DON'T DIE BOSS! I'LL BE RIGHT-"
There was a solid, meaty thunk, followed by the drawn-out screech of a body sliding down something.
"Third time this month someone's run into that statue," Marco noted, adjusting his glasses. "Perhaps we should move it."
"RELEASE ME, MAGE!" Thormund's muscles bulged against invisible restraints. His fluid began pouring out like steam from a kettle, making Adom's temples throb with the effort of maintaining [Control].
Just as the pressure was becoming unbearable, a thin beam of light shot from the tiny ring on Cisco's even tinier paw. Thormund's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed like a felled tree.
"He'll need a few hours of sleep and some... proper education later," Cisco said, adjusting his miniature spectacles. He turned to Adom. "Now then. Mage. You might have mentioned that during our negotiations."
"You didn't ask," Adom replied mildly, massaging his temples. "Besides, your prices are quite steep enough without adding a mage surcharge."
A muscle in Marcus' jaw twitched, but Cisco's whiskers quivered in what might have been amusement.
"Fair enough," the tiny broker conceded. He glanced at Thormund's unconscious form. "I didn't expect you to step up and try to save my life - though I assure you, it wasn't necessary. Still..." He straightened his tiny cravat. "Let's consider this particular detail forgotten. No surcharge for being a mage."
"Basement route secured!"
"All traces removed, sir!"
Adom found himself being hustled through a passage that had definitely been a solid wall moments ago, watching in fascination as an entire operation disappeared like morning mist.
Behind them, the last traces of their presence vanished under a web of precisely executed protocols and spells. No wonder the Empire had never managed to pin anything on these organizations.
The vampire - Helios - kept smiling, his eyes fixed on the only child of the group.
Adom's muscles tensed as he assessed the situation. He'd never been a battle mage - his talents lay elsewhere. Taking down Damus or that serpent had been straightforward enough, but this... this was different. He might handle one or two of Augustus's men if things went south, but the vampire was another matter entirely.
Also...
Helios hadn't stopped staring at him since they'd been surrounded. Adom felt an urge to ask if centuries of unlife had made him forget about age-appropriate interactions, or if being creepy around minors was just a vampire thing.
The market's usual chaos had given way to a carefully orchestrated exodus. Even the rats seemed to know better than to stick around. The air felt charged, like the moment before lightning strikes, and Adom was acutely aware that they were standing in a very efficient kill box.
He really should have expected this. After all, nothing in his life had ever been simple.
Augustus's gaze drifted to Thormund's unconscious form, his expression almost pitying. "The barbarian was remarkably easy to provoke. Though I suppose I should grant him a quick death, considering he led us right to you." His smile turned philosophical. "It's quite fascinating how predictably you appear when your pets are in danger, Cisco."
"Since you have grievances with me," Cisco's voice remained perfectly steady, "there are proper channels. Protocols. Let us maintain some civility in our disagreements."
"Of course, of course." Augustus waved his hand as if shooing away an annoying thought. "Speaking of civility..." He snapped his fingers again. "Bring out our other guest."
One of his men stepped forward, carrying something bundled in dark cloth. The bundle squirmed.
Cisco's sigh seemed to echo through the entire cavern. "Really, Augustus?"
The cloth fell away, revealing a white-furred mouse beastkin - a lanky teenager with a split lip and defiant eyes that immediately found Cisco in the crowd.
"Oh hi, Uncle." His voice cracked slightly, trying for casual but landing somewhere between worried and apologetic. "Help?"
Several of Cisco's men tensed. Lars's grip on his concealed weapon tightened enough that his knuckles cracked.
"What's your price for my nephew, Augustus?" Cisco's tone remained infuriatingly businesslike.
"Well, considering you sent such a... subpar assassin my way," Augustus gestured at Viktor's head, which Helios was still holding like some macabre accessory, "I think a reasonable portion of your current operations would be fair compensation."
"No."
"Uh, Uncle Cisco?" Valiant's whiskers twitched nervously. "It's me? Your beloved nephew? Valiant? Remember?" He attempted a winning smile that looked more like a grimace. "Ha... haha?"
Another profound sigh from Cisco's direction. "You won't get a single coin from me, Augustus."
Augustus clicked his tongue, patting Valiant's little shoulder with exaggerated sympathy. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You see how cold-hearted your uncle is? Why, if this was my nephew..." He pressed a hand to his chest dramatically. "I would have melted on the spot. Simply melted."
Adom's eyes darted around, cataloging every possible escape route while trying to look like he was just admiring the local architecture. The bridge to their left had enough support beams to slow down pursuers. That merchant stall with the bottled dreams could provide decent cover. And that narrow alley between the flesh market and the dream dealer's shop...
A fire spell would buy them maybe three seconds of chaos - not much, but enough to slip away if timed right. The vampire would be the real problem, but if he wove an invisibility spell right after the fireball... No, better to prepare the invisibility first, then the fire. Less chance of the spells tangling.
He was just calculating how many people he'd need to knock over to reach that promising-looking side passage when Augustus's attention shifted to him.
"And who might your little friend be? Another one of your protected children?"
Oh come on.
The atmosphere shifted. It wasn't anything obvious - no dramatic gestures or threatening moves - but Adom felt it in his bones. The way Cisco's men subtly adjusted their stances. The barely audible sound of Lars's teeth grinding. The slight tremor in someone's breathing behind him.
Adom kept his gaze down, suddenly very aware of his heartbeat. His palms were sweating. When had that started?
"This one's not for sale, trade, or negotiation."
There was an edge to Cisco's voice that made everyone tense - sharp, urgent, like he'd spotted something the rest of them hadn't yet. Even the mouse beastkin's whiskers twitched at his uncle's tone.
In his peripheral vision, Adom saw Helios shift his weight forward, just slightly. Just enough. The vampire's head was tilted at that particular angle predators use when they've spotted something interesting. Something worth pursuing.
The market had gone dead silent. Even the rats had stopped scurrying.
"All the more reason to have him, wouldn't you say?" Augustus's smile widened. "What exactly does the boy do that makes him so... special?"
Adom risked a glance up. Mistake. Helios was staring directly at him, lips parted just enough to show fang. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second, and Adom felt something cold and ancient trying to sink hooks into his mind.
"None of your business."
"Magic." Helios's voice sliced through the conversation like a cold knife, making everyone turn to stare at Adom. The vampire's smile grew impossibly wider, revealing even more of those unsettling fangs. "He does magic, boss. If I focus really hard, I can smell it on him. Real magic. Interesting magic."
"Oh, a mag-"
[Fireball]
BOOM!
Augustus's face disappeared in a flash of searing flame, his scream cut short as flesh melted and hair vaporized. The smell of burning meat filled the air as his body staggered backward, hands clawing at what remained of his features.
[Fireball]
The second spell hit the potion stall dead center. Glass shattered. Liquids ignited. The explosion sent shards of burning wood and alchemical compounds in every direction. Someone's arm went flying past, still clutching a sword.
[Camouflage]
[You have slain [Augustus Cain]]
"KILL THEM ALL!" Cisco's command cracked like a whip.
The place erupted into violence. Lars's crossbow bolt found a throat, spraying arterial blood across the stone floor. Marco's blade opened a man from navel to sternum, entrails spilling out in a steaming heap. The air filled with screams and the wet sounds of steel meeting flesh.
Helios's roar of fury shook dust from the ceiling as he lunged through the flames, his pristine clothes now splattered with gore. The vampire's fangs snapped shut on empty air where Adom had been standing a heartbeat before.
Dream-vials exploded, releasing nightmares made manifest. Men screamed as shadowy apparitions added to the pandemonium. The acrid stench of burning hair and meat mixed with the copper tang of blood.
Through the chaos, Adom moved exactly as planned, each step calculated. His first human kill in this life lay burning behind him, face melted into an unrecognizable mass of charred flesh. No time to think about that now. No time to process. Just move.
Adom's heart hammered against his ribs as he weaved through the carnage. A shadow-tendril whipped past his face, close enough that he felt its cold touch brush his cheek. His [Camouflage] flickered – maintaining invisibility required focus, and his mind was anything but focused right now.
Blood. There was so much blood. Someone's intestines squelched under his boot as he dodged past a falling body. The spell flickered again. Calm down. Calm down. The exit was just ahead, past the-
His [Camouflage] failed completely as a nightmare-shadow slashed across his path. He stumbled, regained his footing, recast the spell with trembling hands. The magic sputtered, barely taking hold. His training had never covered anything like this. The screaming, the burning flesh, the-
Focus. There. The passage he'd spotted earlier. Just twenty more steps. Fifteen. Ten-
"FOUND YOU!"
Helios's voice, far too close behind him.
[Water Spray] hit the ground, followed instantly by [Fire] - steam erupted in a scalding cloud. Helios blurred through it, skin blistering but healing just as fast.
[Control]
A merchant's table flipped up, sending glass vials flying at the vampire. Helios dodged most, but one shattered against his shoulder, a liquid hissing as it ate into his flesh.
"Getting annoying now-"
[Fireball] struck the airborne liquid, igniting it. Blue flames crawled up the vampire's arm. He snarled, patting them out even as Adom was already casting-
[Push]
The burning display cart rocketed toward Helios. The vampire batted it aside, but Adom had already woven-
[Stone Spike]
The jagged protrusion caught Helios's leg, tearing through muscle. Blood sprayed, but the wound was closing even as-
CRACK!
Adom saw the fist coming. Saw it shatter the [Barrier] he weaved on his stomach. It barely stopped the blow from tearing through him, but he still felt the full force of its consequences.
Reality compressed into a single point of agony.
The world became pure force. His feet left the ground, stomach somewhere in his throat, the barrier spell creaking under impossible pressure as his small body turned into a projectile.
People screamed, diving out of the way as he crashed through the wall of a shop. Wood splintered. Glass shattered. Even through the barrier, he felt ribs crack, organs compress. Adult bodies could hardly take hits like that. Children's bodies...
Suffice to say that without the spell, Adom would have been paste on the wall.
[+4 White Wyrm Body]
Adom's world narrowed to blinding pain. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. His body convulsed, stomach heaving violently as he curled into himself. Black spots danced in his vision. Every attempt to draw breath sent daggers through his chest. That body enhancement skill might have been the only thing that kept the barrier spell from being insufficient - his organs would have liquified on impact otherwise.
Through the settling dust and debris, two yellow eyes gleamed. Helios emerged from the hole in the wall, wood cracking under his feet as he approached, fangs glinting in a satisfied smile.