"The shadow does not hesitate, it arrives swiftly, in crippling darkness. "
— Unknown Ministry Adage
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Leopold Theus, Wraith of the Western Luminant, silently adjusted the direction of the sail on his dingy, weaving past the towering ships of the Central Authority navy patrolling the Aratel Sea. Under normal circumstances, Leopold would've been blown out of the sea before he even got close to Fort Merit, but tonight, Leopold wrapped his ship in a shroud of Shadowcast. Completely obscuring it, bending light and shadow alike.
Though useful, this veil would only hold for a short amount of time before Leopold exhausted his strength, nor would it work on a larger vessel. But luckily, Leopold was an adept at sailing. He had done this hundreds of times before, sail in precisely and silently, and eliminate whoever the Ministry Prophets wanted, leaving no trace.
The night was in his favor, cloudless, still, perfect.
Leopold lowered his sail as his ship approached the Island of Fort Merit. His fingers adeptly slowing his ship so that it would gently stop just at the sand, and he wouldn't make any noise from having to slosh about in the seawater. The Khan man adjusted his long white hair to the back of his head, and wiped the sweat from his Khan sideburns.
His mission was simple,
Find and kill Authority Inquisitor Relan Corbet.
Leopold replayed the dossier in his head with near perfect memory, Adret male, age 29, Red Adretian crescent marking on his left cheek, short dark blue hair. A rising talent within the Authority, and a soul who had unfortunately attracted the attention of the Ministry.
He knew too much of the Ministry,
Too much of the Fourth Prophet,
Was too close to discovering the secret behind Etrea's Lord Regent.
Relan had just arrived from the Central Luminant, the Central Authority's homeland and birthplace, from the Adretian Empire. In his short time, he had already dug substantially too far into the true nature of the Ministry. He had uncovered a crucial part of the Choral Descent.
He had to be eliminated, lest Warden Jericho, commander of the Authority armies in the Eastern Luminant, learn about the Lord Regent's true nature.
Leopold's dingy gently brushed against the shore, with absolute silence. The Wraith stepped out, and began to glide through the outer forests, soon giving way to steep ridgelines and fortified stone walls. Fort Merit was a fortress, a bastion against the tides themselves. However, no amount of stone or iron could stop a shadow.
Leopold steadied himself and exhaled a long, cool breath. He focused his mind, and began to call forth his Shadowcasting, shadows began to pool at his feet and slowly creep their way up Leopold's body. Leopold continued, wrapping himself in a thick coat of shadow. A Shroud
It was not true invisibility, more like an extremely convincing black blanket. If Leopold moved too suddenly, the shadows would warp and stutter, like a candlelight being blown. To any observers, it would look unnatural, wrong. As if a picture off a canvas suddenly began to move.
So Leopold moved slowly, silently, and with precision. He was the Wraith, born of the shadows to do as the Ministry Prophets wished. Every step he took was measured, and every breath was quiet and deliberate.
Approaching the Fortresses walls, Leopold slowed to a halt. Here would be his first test, he would need to balance his Shroud while using his second attunement, Galebreathing. It was extremely taxing, yet not impossible to wield two attunements. It was impractical, the benefits heavily outweighed the costs. Not only that, but it was just logically more productive to master a single attunement, rather than waste time trying to use two. However, for the Wraith, things were different.
Wielding a single attunement only required you to focus on one thing, like playing a single instrument. But two?
Two was discord, chaos. It was like trying to play two different instruments at the same time with one hand.
So, Leopold split his mind into two. Two hands to play two instruments, it was simple, right?
Leopold's body trembled, one half of himself trying to focus on the cold lullaby of Shadowcast, a deafening silence — while the other tried to focus on the wild tempest of Galebreath, wild and free.
Few could manage this, even fewer survived with their minds intact.
But Leopold was the Wraith. He had trained for this exact moment.
Leopold gritted his teeth, finally subduing the raging tempest of Galebreathe within his second mind. He took a deep breath, and then flicked his fingers, summoning a raging current of wind to carry him up above the walls of Fort Merit. He pointed his arm and opened his hand, summoning a second current of wind to slow his descent.
Leopold took a second to catch his breath, and dismissed his second mind. Reuniting both parts of his mind back into one.
Leopold threaded through the crowded buildings of Fort Merit, his Shroud firmly in place, he slowly and methodically made his way past patrols of Authority guards, entering the officer's chambers. He had been told that Relan would be here, awaiting the arrival of Warden Jericho to give his report.
Leopold would ensure he failed.
Leopold carefully navigated the tight hallways of the Officer's Buildings, eventually encountering the door. His boots were silent, his Shroud clinging to him like a fine cloak, invisible to the naked eye. Corbet's quarters were precisely where they said it would be, one right turn, two left, and straight down the hall, last door.
Leopold approached it, Inquisitor Corbet, was engraved on a bronze nameplate on the door.
Let's make this quick.
Leopold drew in a breath, and erected a barrier of shadow to block access to the door, it wouldn't last forever, but it would buy him some time. He set his hand on the door handle, before quickly throwing the door open and swiftly stepping side, dagger ready.
Leopold scrambled to dodge as steel hissed through the air. A messer, wide bladed and deftly fast, came in low, aiming at his chest. Not a defensive strike, a soldier's strike, meant to kill. Relan Corbet was ready, Leopold was only saved by his quick reflexes, he had gotten cocky. He should've come through the window.
Another swing of Corbet's weapon came, slashing through the air with startling speed, this time aimed at Leopold's throat.
Leopold raised his dagger, a bland but sturdy weapon forged from Ironsing. Narrowly blocking the strike, iron clashed and clanged against iron as Leopold raised his leg, kicking Corbet back.
"It's you!" Corbet exclaimed, steadying himself after Leopold's kick, "The Wraith! The Ministry sent you to silence me! I knew it, it's all true, isn't it?"
"Relan Corbet," Leopold said coldly, rising from his stance. His shadowed cloak shifting, "Age 29, Rank Inquisitor, born in West Adretia, Delvis District, Armae street. Orphaned at eight. Raised by your Uncle Felkam, who died in the Third Godstorm before Sovereign Ehr dispelled it, joined up in the Central Authority Army, Twelfth Banner under Warden Helvas. Promoted after saving Warden Helvas in the Battle of the Shastine Sea against the Hundred Legions. Transferred to the Inquisitor Corps, currently courting Alvia Ashet, who currently resides-"
"Wha-How.." Corbet said, tightening his grip around his messer, nostrils flaring. "You.. you wretched ape!"
Corbet charged, messer raised and poised to strike.
How predictable.
Leopold moved with the cold efficiency of a born and raised killer, his arm snapped, throwing his dagger at Corbet with blistering speed. The dagger spun in the air, twisting, before landing precisely in Corbet's chest. Slightly above the heart. Not fatal, yet.
Relan Corbet yelled in pain, stumbling backwards, tripping on himself and landing on the ground. He coughed twice, the second cough sending blood onto the floor. A pained expression dotted his face. He reached toward his chest, feeling Leopold's dagger lodged within him. Blood soaked the blue and red garments of his Authority's Officer uniform.
"H-how… can you…" Corbet sputtered weakly, "You must know what you're doing, what you'll cause…"
"You've lived quite a life, Relan Corbet," Leopold said, pointedly ignoring Relan. "You were unlucky, you should've stayed a soldier and never come here. In a way, this is all your own doing, not mine."
Leopold stepped to the man, pulling out his dagger from his chest. Corbet twitched for a few moments before finally falling still. Leopold closed the man's eyes, wiping the blood from his face. He at least deserves to die in peace.
Leopold stepped over Corbet's body, rummaging through his desk and files. He sorted through and discarded many random files and documents, he hasn't here for espionage, he was here for an assassination.
Finally, Leopold found it. A single worn out journal, Leopold recognized it by the crest on the front, the Crest of the Moonseye. The emblem of the Ministry.
Leopold opened the book, he would ensure that no pages had been ripped out or otherwise tampered with. Curiously, the book opened immediately to a page, it had clearly been saved.
Reading the page, Leopold gasped, dropping it immediately. The book fell into the pool of blood below, splattering more crimson blood everywhere.
Leopold ran his hand through his long, unkempt hair.
Something was very, very, wrong.