I squeezed the stick the old man handed to me and infused it with my energy.

One thing about unlocking your Fragment to its full potential: it becomes easier to infuse items with your essence. It came in handy when you had to prepare for a little act of terrorism. I hid behind a building in the corner, one block away from the secret-not-so-secret underworld building, then hurled the stick at it.

It was a powerful explosive device. Infusing it with my essence was essential for one thing, slow down the immediate reaction it would have upon impact.

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing?" a woman clad in a dress, too long and too colorful to be allowed to exist, asked.

"s.h.i.+t!" I swore under my breath. I willed time to rewind then. I couldn't allow anybody to see what I had in store. 'What the h.e.l.l was she doing in a dark corner anyway?' I thought as I waited for the extravagantly dressed woman to walk away. In retrospect, she acted conspicuously. I should have noticed that, but I had other things in my mind then.

Once I made sure the coast was clear, I went for another attempt. No one saw me this time around. Then I mingled with the crowd.

Handels Market was busier during the day that at night. People walked shoulder against shoulder as they goggled at the gla.s.s windows displaying jewelry, fancy clothes, antique furniture and the likes, nothing I was really interested in. I had to act the part though. The best way to run away from an explosion was to wait for it to happen first, unless you want to look like the culprit.

I had about a minute before the explosive sent the entire neighborhood into chaotic frenzy. I had five more minutes to get away from Handels Market before it got swarmed with Kohler's men. I should have noticed the woman walking behind me. She had kept a safe distance. She made sure to keep at least a hundred feet between us. I was focused on identifying Kohler's men. They were the ones I was wary of. They knew what I looked like.

A minute pa.s.sed. I was exactly where I wanted to be, far from the explosion's radius, and close to the first avenue, which allowed me to make a swift exit toward the port. It sounded as though thunder had struck within Handels Market. The ground shook. People shrieked and started shoving each other away.

It was complete chaos. Shards of gla.s.s exploded outwards, hitting people indiscriminately. The ones who weren't affected ran for their lives. The ones who were with their loved ones stayed behind, tried to save them or cry for them, whichever worked best. I ran with the crowd and made my way to the lowest parts of the district.

It was dark even during the day in there. The rich a.s.sholes wouldn't try to escape there, even if it would save their lives. It was an easy escape. Custodians got busy evacuating the place. Kohler's men had to secure the building first and get their master to safety. I needed to make sure I didn't run into them by accident though. So I kept a watchful eye on my surroundings.

Everything fit into place. It felt amazing. No one crossed my path. No one asked me where I was going. I internally scoffed at Elsa's doubtful remarks. My reckless plan was going to work, I was sure of it. I left the chaos behind me and got into the port.

Shadows, men clad in black leather armor, ran about the port and the main merchant street. They ordered people to evacuate the place. It was Beatrix's time to s.h.i.+ne, and she didn't disappoint. Fischer's s.h.i.+p had docked right before I triggered the explosion. Everything was timed in my "reckless" plan. My goal was to cause panic, and it worked like a charm.

More guards surrounded Fischer's s.h.i.+p as bulky workers unloaded his precious cargo. They didn't seem to get the evacuation notice, or didn't care. I smiled. This is what we call the weakest link in the chain. Fischer wouldn't abandon his s.h.i.+p and leave it for h.o.a.rders even if it meant putting himself in danger. He was confident in his men's ability to keep it safe, to keep him safe.

His office wasn't far from his private docks either. Once the commotion started in Handels Market, Beatrix had to wait for a quarter of an hour before she started her a.s.sault. Surprisingly, she was the only one who agreed with my plan, and she executed it to the letter.

I gave myself fifteen minutes to get to the port. I got there in ten. I should have seen the lady who had followed me from there. I had time to observe the place after all. I should have seen that she ditched the long clothes and replaced them with leather trousers, a brown s.h.i.+rt and an azure vest on top. I had my eye fixed on Fischer's office though.

In the midst of that chaos, Fischer's men were still unloading the cargo. I saw Beatrix sneak past them. Then the s.h.i.+p got engulfed in darkness. I heard screams and swords being drawn. It was my cue. I headed for Fischer's office. I expected heavy resistance, but nothing I couldn't handle.

The office was a large building with only one floor. Fischer's private office was at the back, near the emergency exit he had made in case he needed to make a swift exit. I knew he wouldn't bring himself to leave that day though. The greedy b.a.s.t.a.r.d was expecting a s.h.i.+pment of rare paintings he expected to sell to the royal family.

I snuck past the shadows that ran toward the s.h.i.+p. I didn't worry about Beatrix. As long as she kept the place veiled in darkness, she would get out of there undetected. The hard part was to avoid being caught later. I trusted her to do the right thing in case things went south.

I got into the building then. It was a warehouse filled with crates on one side, sacks and barrels on the other. In the middle, rows of rare books, paintings, sculptures and the likes displayed themselves to me in their naked, raw glory. It was nothing compared to the old man's private museum, but I estimated Fischer's collection to be worth millions.

Heavily armored guards roamed the place in two. One held a sword, while the other held a crossbow. They were ready for trouble, and they should have. For the past three days, Beatrix and I have been targeting the three families' businesses.

We've pushed them against a corner. It was a hit and run tactic. Ambush some convoy. Kill a captain or a key representative in one of the other branches. We hit them where it hurt then disappeared. We cost them time and a huge amount of money, which made us an even bigger target.

They've been frantically looking for us, especially Fischer, who suffered most of the damage. He even put a price on my head, despite his a.s.sociate's warnings. He was angry, ready to make a fatal mistake.

"Hey!" I called out to two guards who strayed too far from the others. "Looking for me?"

The one holding the crossbow immediately aimed it at me. The other one drew his sword and ran in my direction. I heard the crossbow string hum as a bolt traveled toward me at tremendous speed. I only needed to create an area of effect around me to slow the projectile down then I easily dodged it.

The swordsman reached me next. He swung at my feet, which I easily dodged then punched him in the throat. He toppled backwards, wheezing. The archer had loaded another bolt then. I pulled the swordsman toward me and used him as a human s.h.i.+eld just in time.

The bad thing about crossbows, they take time to reload. I pushed the now dead swordsman away and ran at the archer. He didn't have time to draw the dagger in his belt. My sword cut through his armor and opened his throat. He fell down gurgling.

I heard more footsteps coming my way. Ten men blocked all the possible exits I could use. The archers stayed behind while the others slowly moved toward me.

"Don't let him escape," one of the guards yelled. "If he moves, shoot. If he tries to speak, shoot. Boss wants him alive, but he didn't say anything about his legs or arms."

I smiled at them. "You're overestimating yourselves gentlemen," I said.

One of the archers let a bolt loose then. They were nervous, the bolt wasn't aimed at me, it was going to miss me by a long shot. I couldn't let that happen. I relied on it to reduce the number of my potential killers. I jumped at its direction then, while I made sure to keep the area of effect active around me.

I slightly nudged it as it went past me then released the spell that slowed it down. The bolt buried itself deep within a swordsman who was creeping up behind me. I ran for the one who ordered his men to shoot me then. I must have taken him by surprise since he took a step back when I approached him.

I punched him in the jaw then pulled him toward me just in time to take a bolt for me. The other archers loosened their projectiles at the same time then.

Too easy…

I had three bolts heading my way, and three heavily armored men ready to hack me to pieces. All I needed to do was redirect the bolts and watch as friendly fire did the job for me.

Disposing of the remaining archers was easy. I only needed to dodge then hit them while they were reloading. The look on their faces as they watched me dodge the impossible as priceless. When I took care of the last standing archer, I heard a door open in the distance. An old bald man peeked from it then his eyes widened.

"It's him!" he screamed then slammed the door shut.

I smiled. Fischer was cornered. The only way out for him was to leave his private office then head for the emergency door. He wouldn't be able to do so without me getting in his way first. I ran for the door.

'Fischer will talk after I tickle his senses with a sharp knife,' I thought as I kept my eye fixated on the door. He was an old man too scared to die. He will give me the name I needed.

I felt something sc.r.a.pe the back of my head. Then my knees. .h.i.t the floor. A woman, the same freaking woman I met back in Handels Market, got me by surprise. She smiled as my eye involuntarily closed.

"Got you now, a.s.shole!" she said as I lost consciousness.