In a dark room, in the core area of the Cresworth manor, in the middle of a moonless night, when the dew was starting to form, Hellan slept soundly in a lose sleeping gown. Hellan might behave like a noble lady, might be beautiful than most ladies, but she didn't sleep like a lady at all. As a matter of fact, he didn't even sleep like a noble. The windows were all open and a cold breeze made her hug herself like a new born baby. Her blankets were all on the floor and drool was forming a thick line on her cheek. She would occasionally say something weird and turn furiously on her bed. Her thick black hair was getting stuck all over the bed and on her face. One could tell tomorrow she would have a bad hair day. She was staring in the bed and slightly shivering when somebody pulled the blanket for her. She settled down, but continued lightly snoring. The man went ahead and closed the windows for her.
Shin was currently in Hellan's room watching the girl sleep. There was no emotion in his eyes, they were plain and normal. He turned to the window and walked to it. There was a thick mist that was now coating the windows. He sighed, then walked out. A few minutes after he had walked out, Linda walked into the room, looked at the blanket wrapped bundle that was Hellan and quietly left. The manor was peaceful, there were guards patrolling here and there but other than them, even the guard dog had called it a night. In this misty, cold night, there was a man wearing a red shirt and black suit pants walking out of the manor grounds. Nobody stopped him as there was nobody who saw him leave even though he just walked out the font fate.
The man easily left the posh areas of the city. Every once in a while he'd meet a soldier on patrol but they didn't bother with him. Lightning cracked in the sky, for a split second illuminating the city. Even though it was the empires capital, it was mostly kept dark at night curtesy of Keel's children who were currently in the city. Shin didn't bother with any of the men even though they threw weird gazes his direction. The temperature was a few degrees to freezing, yet here was a man walking the streets in a shirt. It was weird but not weird enough to stop and question him. Besides, no one wanted the extra work when they were about an hour away from changing shifts.
Unlike the inner sections of the city built on hills, the outer ring was filled with activities even at this hour. Here, there were torches lighting up the streets and the shops that were still open. One could see hired guards patrolling with a sword at the ready. Here, protection was provided according to the depth of your pockets. There was no government help, if you opened up shop, you had to pay rent, pay taxes, pay for your goods and also sort out your security for your shop. It had gotten to a point where no one questioned anything. It had become normal, so here, to recuperate the lost money, they would sell their goods expensively and work at ungodly hours. Shin ignored all these shops and the people. Some of them would stop and stare at his otherworldly handsome face as if in a trance they would then snap out of it and continue whatever they were doing.
Shin got to a dirty street that was the closest to the city's outer wall. The street was sparkling clean compared to the other streets in the outer ring of the city but compared to the streets in the inner ring of the city, this one was very dirty. Shins leather laced shoes and socks that didn't bother going anywhere above the ankle didn't trek any mud even though the road was filled with it. His destination was a vile structure that should have been destroyed, but since it was beneficial was kept standing, the tavern with no name. Shin looked at the doors of the unkept pub. As he stepped on the short stairs that led to the pub, he run his hand on the guard railings. He rubbed the dirt he collected between his thumb and forefinger. He tugged on his shirt and buttoned it up. He never cared about his appearance, but that didn't mean he didn't have a reputation to protect. His shirt was still folded close to his elbows.
The pub was running like it usually did every day. People would flock the shanty building, most of them had coin for drinks, the richer amongst them had enough coin to get a whore and the wealthy of the wealthy came here for business. Behind the barman, there was a black noticeboard filled with papers of two different colours. One was white and the other red. The white coloured was finished mission which rewards were yet to be collected and the red were yet to be completed missions. The place worked like an adventurous guild for criminals. The barman was frowning his face as he watched some soldiers molest the waiters that went around serving drinks, he was cleaning a glass mug when the door was opened.
Now, to get into the pub, one has to open the door. So this wasn't the first time the door had been opened, but this was the first time the door was opened by someone who demanded his fair share of respect. The man wasn't the tallest one around yet there was a feeling of getting looked down on whomever he laid his eyes on. Red shirt, normal, black trouser, normal, leather laced shoes normal, height, normal, silver hair, might be a problem. No its definitely a problem. The barman quickly assessed the man. He was still going over his check list in his brain trying to match the man. All of a sudden, the temperature, and his look dropped.
'Everybody out!' the barman barked. Ever since…well no one could remember when the tavern was built. As a matter of fact, this tavern should have been the reason anyone settled here in the first place. It should be known that the city was built in a hilly range that was surrounded by multiple bogs. The land was highly unfertile, clearing the road of rocks was almost impossible, and there were occasional landslides yet there was a city here. Too bad mortals don't live long otherwise one might have told the people which exactly came first. In the multiple years, decades, centuries probably millenniums that the tavern had operated, this was the first time any barman had ever ordered a total evacuation. No one had the strength or the ability to argue otherwise. Everybody whether they had just paid for a glass, whether they had finally gotten a free pass to a waiter's skirts, it didn't matter anymore. They could sense the intent behind the bar man's words and they could tell the man was going to kill them all if he had to. The pub was cleared out in minutes. In these minutes, Shin and the barman maintained eye contact. None daring to look away from the other, or no one piqued their interests.
'What are you doing in my tower?' Shin finally started when the last man, a soldier walked out while pulling his pants up.
'No offence but as you are right now you cannot take me on' the barman had gone fully defensive. Unlike the ignorant people in this realm, the bar man was not a mortal, he knew what Shin was, he knew who Shin was, and he also knew where Shin was supposed to be, and that is dead. Even for higher immortal beings like the barman, he too was afraid of things, and people who can't stay dead. He wearily looked at the man who was wearing a red shirt. He was weak, like a mortal but that didn't not fool the barman, there was a reason his poster said never engage.
'The summoning ritual…but how?' the man muttered to himself while watching Shin. Shin laughed a bit and looked at the man.
'I know I can't take you on. And I am not here for that' the barman was not expecting a reply like that. He blanked out for a second trying to get whether there was an ulterior meaning to the man's words but that was just it. The man had no motive at all.
'Aren't you afraid I'll tell everyone about you?' the barman tried for something again. He wanted nothing more than to see this man leave the pub. Shin laughed loudly.
'I am counting on that. Be a good lad and make sure they all know' Shin said it casually as if he was sending the man home with greetings for the kids. The barman swallowed loudly.
'Is that all?' he tried again.
'No I need a drink actually' The barman nodded and turned around and started picking up drinks.
'I miss the old bartender' Shin sighed. 'You see that third shelf' The bar man pointed at the shelf and Shin continued. 'Yes that shelf. Now gently push it in and draw it to the left' the barman had worked in this bar for more than a century and he had never known there was a secret stash in the bar. When he opened the shelf, he found Five to seven bottles filled with a thick crimson fluid. The stench emanating from the bottles was too strong to ignore. The barman pulled the cork and took out a glass. He was a bout to pour when Shin stopped him.
'A sip of that is strong enough to kill a master' The barman's face twisted and he quickly put back the cork. 'drink of legend we used to call it' Shin reached for the bottle and mused. 'It could knock us out in one sip' The barman watched in horror as shin walked out with a bottle that must contain one of the strongest poisons in all the realms, a massive smile playing at his lips. As he was about to walk out of the tavern, he turned to the barman.
'Don't share my stash' Shin walked out with a massive smile and the barman took to the stairs. He had news that would break the upper realms. Meanwhile, Shin hitched a ride with the first wagon he could find. He had no clue where it was going, neither did he really care. He hopped into the back, uncorked the bottle and carefully drank a single drop. He instantly passed out with a grin on his face. His journey had just begun.