Hiding in the Shadows, Uncovering the Mastermind

After several hours of walking I finally got to the end of the tunnel, there I found a stone door blocking the way, I stuck my ear to it to try and listen to what's on the other side.

After a couple of minutes, i can't hear anything, i'm not sure if because no one is there or because the door is too thick.

So I start opening the door. What greets me is a coffin inside a mausoleum, it appears that I'm in the city's cemetery. Through the door I can see its night time, as only moonlight seeps through the cracks of the door.

Slowly and silently I sneak out of there and find out this mausoleum is for the rich people of the city.

I avoid the patrols of the guards and leave the place.

Reaching the city, I hide in an alley, I can't go back to the orphanage, not like there's anything there that I need.

I've never been one to have many things, only a couple of old clothes is all I own there. And it's not worth the risk of alerting whoever is after me that I'm still alive.

I sit down in the alley waiting for sunrise to come, waiting for the city's doors to open, so that i can go look for Little Rat, I need his help to hide, and also so that i can give him the Elemental Crystals that i have, that way he can sell them and get himself a better crystal.

As the sun rises I start heading for the doors, covering myself in a rag I stole from a house from the slums.

"I look like a beggar, the guards probably won't waste time stopping me" I encourage myself.

As i reach head for the doors, the city strats to gain life, The people start heading for their works, the merchants yell, hawking their wares, to sell to the passersby, and the crooks and beggars start a new day of pickpocketing and begging.

AS i reach the main street the amount of people that surround me is great, but no one pays attention to a little beggar.

As I reach the doors, the traffic starts to slow down, merchants with their carriages leave the city to trade in distant lands, accompanied by guards and mercenaries.

While i'm passing through i heard a guard scream

"Hey, you, stop right there"

I freeze up. thinking that i'm gonna get in trouble, but i soon realized that they are not talking to me, it seems like a little crook pickpocketed one of the merchants. and is about to get caught.

I keep going, without paying attention to the commotion, the poor guy is probably a dead man already and the people on the gates are waiting to watch the show, rejoicing in someone else's misfortune, with a sick sense of enjoyment.

I manage to pass the gates without troubles, and start heading to the settlement where Little Rat lives, as i reach there, i realize that he's probably in school or heading there already.

In the end I sneak into the barn, lay down in a pile of hay hidden from view, and slip off into sleep.

By the time I wake up, it's lunch time,my stomach growls in protest after not eating for a few days, but there's nothing I can do as I don't have any food.

Some time later I hear people coming back, they are students from different schools coming back home after a long day.

Among them I spot Little Rat, i ewistle in a certain ritm, as he hears it, he starts looking around for me. As he spots me I signal him to come in secret to the barn I'm hiding in. a little later he enters.

"Hey, Leon, where have you been, you've missed two days of class, and Lena told me that you haven't gone home either" he says while sizing me up, at that moment, he notices how i look, all scratched up.

"What happened to you? You're all beat up, who did that to you? He asks with anger in his voice

I'm happy to see him so worked up for my sake, I'm happy that we became friends.

"Hahaha, it's good to see you brother, for a moment there i tough i was a goner" i say with a half smile in my face

I start telling him all that happened to me, except about the corpse and the wird crystal.

"Here take these Crystals and go tomorrow to sell them and buy yourself a good crystal to use, ask your family for help so that you can buy the best one posible" i say handing him the Earth Crystals in my possession

"But what about you? What are you gonna use?" he aks confusedly

"Don't worry, I have one for my use already," I said with a grin.

"Okay, we will go together tomorrow, but before that, I think I know who it is that tried to kill you" he said with a pensive face.

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Just yesterday he saw Lana with an old man from the Flames of the Covenant, one of the most powerful organizations in the continent.

She had accepted to join them as a member after they sent a Peak Ice Crystal, for her to use in the ceremony.

And together with this old man, came the students he recruited in different cities. One of them was an arrogant guy from some big family in the capital city, with a couple servants accompanying him.

According to the rumors flying in the school, the day he met Lana last week, he declared that she would be his woman, and that anyone who dared to try and take her from him would feel his wrath.

"Well that explains a lot, but why did he think that she and I have something?" i asked while containing my anger

After all although me and her are close friends, we've never done something that would make us look as a couple

"i don't know bro" answered Little Rat with confused face

"Do you know where those guy from the Flames of the Covenant are staying" i asked

"in the Plier Hotel..." he said, realization coloring his face.

"Why is it that i'm not surprised"

It seems like that Fatty had a hand to play in all this, but that guy from the Covenant isn't a good apple either.

"I will get my payback on both of them, mark my words" I whispered through gritted teeth.