Chapter-3 : Hunter

E-pespal:

Eight Fingers wearhouse :

In the middle of a moon lit night near the forest movements could be noticed in an abandoned wearhouse. At close it could be seen that a few men were unloading some carriages full of boxes and packages. Guards were patrolling the wearhouse so tightly that no one can get in or out without them knowing. From far it would have seem like a simple group of merchant carriages, the most ordinary thing in the world. But the guards weren't the ordinary city guards you would see just now and then. They were the guards of the most prominent criminal organization in the kingdom known as 'eight fingers'. And what they are unloading aren't merchandise, those are the newest batch of drugs known as 'Black Dust'.

It is a very dangerous drug that can intoxicate anyone in an instant once it's inhaled, it makes them incapable of feeling, sensing and thinking. They use this on people or most specifically on slaves to make them more subservient so they can't do anything but what they are told to do. Once this drug is farmed in a land it destroys the lands natural properties and no other crops can be harvested on that land before restoring it by a druid. Even if it's illegal all over the continent you can almost find it in every brothel and shady places in the kingdom thanks to the 'eight fingers'.

Since the new shipments came in recently, the guards were guarding the place for hours, and some of them were at their last wits from doing nothing but standing guard like lifeless statues. "Hey... let's go grab some beer and have some fun with those new slaves. They haven't been broken yet right?", one of the guard guarding the entrance said to his companion with a lustful face.

In reply the other guard just gave him a glare and said,"You know pretty well why we are all on edge! What if the shadow mage decides to attack here next ? The boss specifically said to guard this wearhouse at all cost, and if we slack off they will have our heads on the spikes". From what they know this is the only remaining batch of black dust in E-pespel. If anything happens to it, the fate they have to face made both of them shudder in fear.

For the last few months a mage in black robes is constantly attacking them and destroying all of there supplies, drugs, illegal goods etc. Every dealer and informer of eight fingers are either dead or missing. At this point the dominance they have over the drug market is almost non-existent. The only thing they know about him is that he calls himself the 'Shadow Mage'. The Shadow mage has specifically targeted all the bases of eight fingers while destroying every batch of black dust he got his hands on. After that the same was happening in other cities too. The drug department holds more significants over all other departments of eight fingers. All their profits and funds for the illegal activities comes from that department. But when the drug departments influence started to dwindle, the entire organization received a major blow. To elevate the situation the task was given to the security department of eight fingers also known as the 'Six Arms'. They are a group of highly ranked criminals with great combat capabilities. They are the reason why this criminal organization doesn't have any oppositions, which are mostly dealt by them. They wanted to resolve this problem by eliminating this Shadow Mage but having no leads they couldn't do much. Hence the precautions.

"B-but it's impossible for a single mage to infiltrate here. There are almost 60 trained man guarding this wearhouse, no one would be stupid enough to try it. Would he?", it was more like a question than a statement.

The other guard just shrugged and went back to his post. But unbeknownst to them someone was observing them from the shadows.

In top of a house a man in black robes was standing under the star filled sky. The light from the moon seems to be getting absorbed by him. His face was covered with a black cloth and the only thing visible of the man was his bright emerald eyes, which were looking at the wearhouse like a hunter looking at its pray.

After a few minutes he jumped of the roof as he casted [Fly] and flew towards the wearhouse. When he got close enough he slowly landed and emerged himself in the darkness of the surrounding shadows. After reaching near the front gates of the wearhouse he casted [Invisibility] on himself as he was getting near the guards infront of the wall, he slowly pulled out his poison dagger and slid their throat without any hesitation. As the lifeless bodies were about to fall he caught them and hid there bodies behind the wall. He continued this until all 10 guards were dead. After that he cancelled the Invisibility spell as he thought, 'Man! Invisibility takes a lot of mana and stamina to maintain'.

After which he sneaked into the lawn from behind where he found himself infront of three guards guarding the backside of the wearhouse. He mentally cursed himself for being so careless. Before they could even call for the others he jumped infront of them and quickly threw two smoke bombs, at the moment they inhaled the smoke they immediately fell unconscious. He let out a deep sigh as he thought, 'Barerear's products never seems to stop amazing me, I might have to thank Lizzie later'. After he disposed of the three guards he went to find other prays. In fifteen minutes without even making a sound he disposed the 25 guards patrolling around the wearhouse. Others where either in the wearhouse or out of his reach.

While doing this he was extremely careful not to walk into any traps. Now he was advancing towards the Slave rooms and cages. The eight fingers also had a great monopoly in the slave market. Which was usually accompanied by many criminal activities.

When he reached near them he felt disgusted by the ruthless abuse to the slaves. All of them were malnourished and sick may it be humans, elf's or other demi-humans. The only thing they wore was dirty rags and the tattered pieces of their once worn clothes. The thought of that these were once free living beings contradicted the scene. The only thing they all had in common was the lifeless and pleading eyes for mercy. To them these cages are a prison of endless torture.

The concept of slavery disgusted him to no end. To take ones freedom the only thing that every living being is born with, is the cruelest thing in the world. He didn't know how could someone accept the culture of slavery like it's the most mundane of things. But the world still continues to walk on its cruel path.

After he reached them, he went near the guard and snapped his neck from behind killing him instantly. Then one by one he opened all the cages as he said,"Everyone listen to me. You all are free now, you are no longer slaves. Go as far as you can from here to achieve your Freedom, NOW GO!".

After hearing this there was a spark of life in many of their eyes. Some were doubtful if it's a trick or not. Some didn't believe him figuring he wanted to pull some cruel joke on them. At first no one tried to get out. But curiosity got the better of some of them and they slowly came outside the cage with timid steps. Once they got out they couldn't believe that they would be free once again. After showing their gratitude to their savior they ran, they ran like they never had before. They ran and ran and ran until they left the area. After seeing this the others started running as well, a few couldn't run but still they walked as fast as they could. But some of them didn't even try to get up. These were the one's who had the worsts of treatment. The torture and the effects of the drugs broke them physically and mentally so much that they don't even want to live anymore. There's a saying that, 'Once you get addicted by Black Dust you either die trying to get it or you'll die not having it'.

As he watched them he only gave a look of pity and remorse.'For what it's worth I must stop this from happening to someone else', he thought.

A commotion soon started after the slaves ran away. A few guard in the wearhouse heard the commotion and sent one of them to check what happened. When the guard came to look for the reason of the commotion, his eyes almost bulged out as he saw the slave cages were empty. The only thing he could think that somehow all the slaves has fled, a cold sweat started running down his spine. He quickly came back to the wearhouse and reported to his captain as he said, "SIR! Almost all the slaves has somehow gotten out of their cages and ran away".

After hearing this the captain felt like his soul was leaving his body. He knew what would happen to him if the leaders found out about it. Soon anger came over his scared heart. "Idiots! what are you looking at? Go and find those slaves. If even one of them escapes I'll replace them with you", he said in a clear voice of frustration.

At the order of their captain all of them got out and started looking for the slaves. Unfortunately what they found wasn't slaves. Screams started coming from everywhere around the warehouse. The captain was visibly shaken by the screams. He didn't want to know what happened to his men that they started screaming. But as a captain it was his duty and if anything bad happens all the blame would fall upon him. So he calmed himself and slowly came out of the wearhouse as he asked a guard in an angry tone,"What the hell happened NOW!".

The guard was shivering in his boots and was getting paler every second as he replied,"S-si-sir a-all t-the g-g-guards o-outsi-outside ha-has been k-ki-killed".

As the captain heard it he became white as snow. He could only think of one thing, that someone has attacked one of the most guarded warehouses of the eight fingers. But who would do such a thing? He knew who did it, he just didn't want to acknowledge it. As he was deep in thinking he saw the guards dragging out bodies of their comrades from all directions. 'I should have just stayed in the wearhouse', he thought.

*Boom*

When they were counting the bodies they all heard a loud noise coming from the wearhouse. Which helped the captain to comeback to his senses and said,"Everyone get inside the wearhouse and kill any intruder you see".

When the captain got out of the wearhouse the mage slowly entered inside by the window on the shed. He started looking over the place and was shuffling through documents he found on the table as he said to himself,"Let's get started". He put all the important papers and documents in his bag. After which he emptied all the oil barrels on the walls and floor of the wearhouse. He pulled out the last bomb as he thought, 'Now for the bait'. He threw the bomb at the center and unlike the others it created a loud *boom* sound and black smoke. He quickly casted [Fly] and flew out the way he came from.

After the guards heard the noise they quickly entered the warehouse and locked the main door trying to trap the mouse. But little did they know that the trap was set before they even entered. There vision was blocked ahead by the black smoke. As the captain came infront of his men he said in a booming voice,"We know that you are here shadow mage, there is no point in hiding anymore. There are 25 of us, you don't have a chance to escape". He continued with a cocky voice, "If you surrender now and lick my boots I might let you live". His men behind him started laughing loudly. When there was no answer he took a step infront to get a view of the mage but what he found was nothing. Then he noticed the smell of gunpowder in the smoke and something slippery under his boots. As he crawled down and touched it, he figured it was the oil which was stored in the barrels. Then it all clicked. He looked back at his men and shouted, "IT'S A TRAP! EVERYONE GET OU-". But before he could even finish his sentence a lone figure spoke in a cold and emotionless voice.

[Fire Lance]

The fourth tier spell exploded like a raging volcano erupting everything into flames. Adding the the oil and gunpowder the flames reached upto 15 ft high which could be seen from miles away. Everything around the warehouse burned into crisp by the intense heat. After the fire nothing remained but burned and charad rocks.

The mage just stood there watching the flames as they calmed down and left nothing behind. 'First objective completed, now for the second', as he blend into the shadows and disappeared from there like he was never there at the first place.

Outskirts between E-rental and E-pespal:

In the outskirts of a village near E-rental Fred Hemsworth was waiting for someone. Someone who he can't meet in public. For the last few months he has been working with the Shadow Mage to destroy the plague known as eight fingers. He used his informant to gather information about their business, supplies and critical information that could be detrimental to them. Until now they have gathered up all the proof they need to present at the royal court and thinned uped their numbers immensely. After waiting for a full hour he heard the footsteps of a men slowly approaching him. He quickly shot back with his wand in hand in worry, but calmed immediately after he saw the dark visage of the mage as he spoke in a relaxed voice,"Ahh, Jake your here".

Jake Brinewood in the persona of the shadow mage came forward as removed the cloth which hid his face. Looking at Fred he gave a playful smirk as he said, "Ha for a second I thought I just saw a scared cat just about to pounce on me".

Fred didn't give Jake the satisfaction of making him annoyed as he said, "You know you might as well be a monster hunting the bigger monsters". He gave a smirk of his own as he continued, "So there's nothing wrong in trying to protect myself. By the way did you get what we need? and what about the slaves you freed".

Jake just raised an eyebrow at the statement of defining him as a 'monster' but he didn't dwell in it for much long as he replied, "Like I said the Shadow Mage persona was created so I don't have to worry about the safety of myself or the people who are close to me". His eyes became hard as he continued, "It was also to give the Eight Fingers a threat they couldn't discern. I gave a offer to both Ainzach guild master of the adventures guild and Marquis Raven one of the six great nobles, as the Shadow mage that they couldn't refuse. By the end Ainzach would send some adventurers to take the slaves to safety or back me up if anything goes wrong". He took a pause before continuing again. "For the Marquis, he would take the credit for presenting all the evidence we have against the eight fingers and giving them the final blow on behalf of us. Which also takes the risks that comes with that. We also agreed that he could take all the properties and resources of eight fingers after we're done".

Fred looks visually calm after hearing this, "Ohh well I could care less about what he does or what he takes. But if he's taking all the risk I don't mind".

They both had a similar point of view on it.

"Yes neither do I, and the drug department of the Eight Fingers is almost demolished. I personally took it upon myself to ensure it.", he said with clear distain in his voice.

It was no secret that most of their influence, power and wealth was mostly because of their drug department which was spread all over the kingdom even going outside the boders of the kingdom. By producing and selling the drug they both grew in numbers and power. But after destroying their stocks or supplies, killing their dealers and destroying the drug farm the drug market has become almost like a dwindling ember of spark which could die out anytime. By addition their influence and power has drop immensely. It would have been easier if they didn't have the backing of some corrupted nobles. That's why just culling their numbers will do nothing more than annoy them till they finally retaliate back. Fred can only hope that the mission they took upon themselves can be fulfilled for a better future for the kingdom. So he took a sigh and looked at Jake as he said, "Go home Jake, your wife and son should be waiting for you to come home, and make sure not to let any evidence of your involvement get out of tonight's events."

Jake nodded his head before both of them said their goodbye's and started for home. Jake was contemplating about todays events and the ramifications that would occur because of this as he thought, 'I can only hope for the best'.

E-rental:

It took him another one and a half hour to reach E-rental. When he got to his house which could be called a small villa he noticed his wife waiting for him in front of the door. He was about to call out to her when he noticed her furrowed brows, twitching eyes and forceful smile which looked outright terrifying. Her whole demeanor is saying 'We both know you fucked up and now its time to pay the price'. He gulped audibly as he took rigid steps towards his wife. He would have preferred to battle an entire army rather than his angry wife. The pain he received from their last battle still runs deep in his memory's. As he was standing in front of her, she asked in a sickly sweet tone, "Honey what kind of meeting were you in which took way past midnight to finish". He saw how the night got darker and the moon could not be seen through the clouds. It was definitely past midnight.

He thought even if he got home late it would not matter for Linda normally goes to sleep early. But it seem not to be the case today. He laughed awkwardly as he replied, "Haha, you know these types of meeting go. How the nobles try too cut short every profit we earn. They started bickering about how influential they are and how because of them we of the magicians guild earn what we earn, and this and that..."

As I said that she gave me the most deadpan look and replied with a simple 'uh huh'.

Seeing her unamused face he sweated as he tried to get out of this situation alive. So he played his last card, "You know lord Silos fought every tooth and penny for us to get more funds and made sure the nobles couldn't make their outrageous demands. He almost snapped a stupid nobles neck when he said that the funds for this month won't be given and the profit we make should be entirely taken by the nobles". Jake played his last card. Silos Gregor is a Noble who is very well respected among the common people. Coincidentally he is also one of the political backers of the magicians guild. He is a close friend of Jake's and sometimes the 'scapegoat' for his excuses.

Hearing this Linda had a thoughtful expression on her face as she pondered his words. Seeing this Jake was mentally cheering as he thought he was in the clear, until. "You know, now that you say. I saw lord silos and her wife in the afternoon heading towards E-ronan. He told me that he was going to visit his father-in-law who is bedridden for the last week", she said aloud as she played 'dumb' by putting a finger on her chin.

Jake froze as he became whiter than a sheet by the minute. Because at that moment he knew. He fucked up. To put it simply he has just written his death certificate by trying to fool his wife. Jake felt his wife vicious glare on him and felt like a helpless pray and his wife was his hunter who was going to hunt him till the last drop of blood. Even then he tried to salvage the situation by saying,"H-h-ho-honey I ca-can explain m-my s-self, b-be-believe m..."

"Shut up", Linda said coldly. If glares could kill he would have died ten times over. Before a single word escaped his mouth he promptly shut up. She kept her piercing glare as she said, "Let me guess, you lied to me about the meeting and went to have fun with your friends like the last time. Even though you promised you would never do that again".

Jake quickly tried to save some face, "H-honey i-it's not l-like that.."

"SHUT UP!", she bellowed. "I'm too tired to deal with your shit now. But I say this that this isn't over yet", she said with a angry/sleepy glare and added, "No dinner for you tonight and for the next week you will do all the chores in the house, am I clear?".

Jake could just choke out a 'Yes mam' before following her to the bedroom. Today was a long and tiring day, and he couldn't say that it all went good.

Way past midnight when Ryne heard the door opening forcefully, he expected a lot of things to happen. But when he saw his father cowering behind his angry/sleepy mother he could only think one thought, 'Che che father you never learn'. As he saw his father trying to hide in his blanket which was forcefully snatched from his hand by Linda after which the only sound that could be heard was a faint whimper from Jake. With that the newly reincarnated Suzuki went to blissful sleep.