Chapter 2: The Birth of Shadows
The city slept under a blanket of mist and lamplight, unaware that its fate was slowly being rewritten by a boy everyone thought was weak and unremarkable.
Lave sat in a quiet corner of an abandoned warehouse, the first member of his "team" at his side the red-haired girl he had recruited in the marketplace. She eyed him warily.
"So… what is this club, exactly?" she asked.
Lave grinned faintly. "Not a club. A network. A shadow organization. Think of it as… a group that fixes problems no one else even notices. And I'm the one pulling the strings."
Her eyebrows shot up. "Problems… like what? Bandits? Or something bigger?"
"Much bigger," Lave said, spreading his hands over a glowing holographic map of the city. Streets, rooftops, sewers, and alleys were marked with tiny lights. "I want to know everything happening here. Every crime, every corrupt official, every minor villain. And then…" He let the sentence hang, letting the suspense do the work.
The girl swallowed. She had never seen anyone command attention this way without even raising their voice.
Recruiting the Seven Shadows
Over the next week, Lave discreetly recruited six more talented individuals, each with unique skills:
1. Ashen, a stealth expert who could vanish in plain sight.
2. Vire, a master of poison and chemical manipulation.
3. Nia, a young sorceress with control over elemental magic.
4. Rook, a hacker and information broker who could penetrate any system.
5. Fynn, an agile fighter with unmatched reflexes and acrobatics.
6. Lyra, an illusionist who could bend perception to her will.
Together with the red-haired girl, they became the foundation of Lave's shadow network the Phantom Assembly, an organization whose name itself was whispered only among those who served it.
Lave assigned codenames to each of them, hiding their identities in public life. They were to train, gather intelligence, and report exclusively to him. And because they believed he was just a mediocre student, none suspected that the person giving orders was already a tactical genius with abilities far beyond theirs.
The First Operation
Their first target was a small cult that had begun spreading dark magic in the outskirts of the city. The cult's leader was charismatic and cruel, but completely unaware that someone was orchestrating his downfall from the shadows.
Lave planned every detail. He fed false rumors, staged "accidental" encounters, and subtly influenced the local guards all without anyone suspecting a hand behind it.
The night of the raid, the cultists were utterly confused. Traps were disarmed before they could trigger, members disappeared mysteriously, and messages spread among the cultists of a phantom force dismantling their operations.
And all the while, Lave sat safely on a rooftop, watching his plan unfold, a faint glow of magic in his eyes.
"This is just the beginning," he murmured. "By the time they realize what's happening… the Phantom Sovereign will already control the shadows."
Comedic Cover
Back at the academy, Lave maintained his image perfectly. He tripped over his own feet in the hallways, failed at simple tasks, and even lost to weaker students in duels carefully staged to keep suspicions low.
Meanwhile, the city's underground whispered of the Phantom Assembly, a shadow network nobody had ever seen. Criminals, rogue sorcerers, and even minor nobility feared a force they didn't understand.
Lave smirked as he returned to his dorm, pretending to yawn. It was all perfectly ordinary… at least, that's what everyone