SYSTEM ASCENSION

This place was hidden. Untouched by the outside world.

Absurdity hidden inside an unclosed portal. The smell in the air was strange and bitter.

Blur.

Enough poison to wipe out another city before the month ended.

Two guards stood near the edge of the loading platform with swords resting lazily against their shoulders as they watched workers secure chains around the shipment. Neither of them looked particularly concerned. In fact, both looked amused.

One of them spat over the railing before grinning.

”You think they’ll finally move us into the inner hall after this shipment?”

The other scoffed.

”They’d be stupid not to. We’ve spread enough Blur to drown three empires already.”

A laugh escaped the first guard.

”Salvador took the hit beautifully. Even the nobles started suspecting each other.” He shook his head proudly. ”Can’t believe people still think this is some ordinary plague.”

The second guard smirked and folded his arms.

”That’s because people are idiots. You poison a river and they blame the weather. You poison food and they blame merchants. Honestly, the hardest part of this job is pretending not to laugh.”

The first guard raised a bottle.

”To promotion! Maybe next year we’ll be sitting beside the inner hall elders themselves.”

The second guard clinked his bottle against the other man’s.

”And maybe they’ll finally tell us who keeps funding all this.”

A cold breeze suddenly swept through the cavern.

Both men paused slightly as the nearest torch flickered.

Then another one went out farther down the dock.

The laughter between them faded.

”... something is weird...” the first muttered.

The second guard narrowed his eyes toward the darkness ahead.

At the far end of the harbor, where the torchlight barely touched the ground, someone stood silently in the middle of the walkway.

A mask concealed his face completely.

His clothes blended so perfectly with the shadows that they almost looked carved from the darkness itself. In one hand rested a dagger. The stranger didn’t move, nor make a sound.

The first guard frowned.

”Who are you?”

No response came.

The second guard stepped forward with irritation creeping into his expression.

”Are you deaf or stupid? This place is restricted.”

The figure remained still.

Something about that silence began to crawl beneath their skin.

The first guard tightened his grip around his spear.

”That mask. I have seen it somewhere before.”

”Huh?”

The first guard stepped closer, for a better look.

”It’s the faceless.”

”Faceless?” The second frowned. ”Didn’t they die in the invasion a year ago? There was a grand burial too.”

”Perhaps it’s an imitation then.”

The second guard cursed under his breath and drew his sword.

”Forget this. Kill him.”

The two men charged at once, and It became the worst decision either of them had ever made.

Elias moved the instant threat registered, and the motion was so fast that neither guard truly saw it happen. One moment he stood several feet away, and in the next, the first guard felt something cold glide across his throat.

His attack stopped midway. His sword clattered against the ground.

Blood spilled from his neck as his eyes widened with disbelief. He collapsed forward.

The second guard froze in horror.

”Wha—”

Elias appeared behind him before the word could finish leaving his mouth.

The dagger drove upward beneath his jaw.

A choking sound escaped him as the blade tore through flesh and silenced him instantly. His body twitched before crumpling beside the first guard.

For a brief moment, the harbor became completely still again. Then one of the workers below looked upward.

His face was drained of color.

”INTRUDER!”

All eyes turned.

”Where?”

”Who is...”

He got the spotlight.

The cavern erupted into chaos.

Alarm bells rang violently. Armed men poured from every direction and surrounded him. One of them stepped forward.

”That mask...”

”Who are you?! State your business!”

His hand twitched. Then, the dagger dissolved into nothing. He tilted his head slowly and then chuckled.

”Humans...are so gullible. It’s not even funny anymore.”

”Huh?” They frowned.

He took a step forward, and spread out his arms.

”Alright, I’ll state my business. I came here for a tea party.”

His response angered them greatly.

”Kill him!”

Swords were drawn toward him from every direction. The first attacker swung wildly for his neck. He stepped sideways, a dagger materialising in his left hand mid-motion, and he swung it.

The attacker’s body stumbled past him before the headless corpse collapsed against the stone floor.

Another came from the left.

The dagger vanished and a sword took its place. Their weapons collided causing a violent spark.

The guard grinned.

”I have never been defeated in a sword fight.”

He released the sword completely, causing a balance break for the guard, making him stumble.

A spear suddenly appeared instead.

It pierced straight through the man’s chest before he could react.

Blood sprayed across the dock.

”You’re not worth my time.”

Screams erupted.

”What the hell is he?!”

The masked figure ripped the spear free and hurled it backward without even looking.

A sickening crack echoed behind him, and someone collapsed.

”That ability! He’s the second member of the faceless.”

”Seems like he faked his death.”

Those with archer abilities positioned themselves above the loading platform.

”SHOOT HIM!”

Arrows rained downward.

He looked up.

A minute later, he was pushing the door open and stepping inside, leaving behind a yard of corpse and blood.

Sound greeted him.

Metal rattling somewhere deeper inside the cavern.

His head turned slightly.

There were cages. Dozens of them lined the inner walls beyond the cargo platforms. Some held children. Others held exhausted prisoners wrapped in chains.

Starved faces stared outward in terror.

One little girl shrank backward the moment his gaze landed on her.

’she’s a B rank at most.’

He turned his gaze to observe the rest.

More guards poured out.

”Protect the prisoners!”

”They’re assets!”

He tilted his head slowly. He raised his hand to his lip, making a ”hush” before fading away into the wind.

”Stealth?” They stopped.

”He has double ability?”

A guard took the lead.

”Don’t kill him! Let us capture him. His vital—”

He didn’t finish his speech before he exploded into various pieces, spraying the room red.

The rest froze. The prisoners shrunk back.

A step back. Double step back.

”Run!”

One of them had already gotten to the door, but before he could push it, a hand appeared before his eyes.

”Aah?”

Then, the word echoed.

”Forward and reverse.”

A moment of stillness followed. Then, in union a sudden party of dismembered pieces followed. Not just the man, but every guard in the room.

All the prisoners who saw him as their saviour recoiled with second thought.

He walked to the cage and created a sword.

With a casual stance, he sliced through, and cut them all out.

”Leave. All of you.”

They hesitated for a moment, too afraid to go past him. However, he turned away as quickly.

The main reason he was here. The inner gate. A familiar space.

He pushed it open.