Blackhaus City

Two months later.

"I've finally managed to reach Blackhaus city..." While speaking Jen was gasping for breath. The past two months he had been traveling non-stop in order to get out of reach from the Reina clan's monitoring. The sun was shining intensely and its light reflected on the beads of sweat that covered Jen's body.

His appearance was a far cry from the one two months ago. Previously, Jen had pale skin and green eyes that shined like glittering jade, he had short silver hair and his figure was slender but full of musculature. If there was one word to describe it, it would have been handsome and elegant despite his seemingly youthful face.

On the other hand, now his clothes were all worn and tattered, his skin was tanned from the exposure to the elements and he had a face with a short white beard. His once silky hair was now disheveled. It was also worth noticing the fact that there could be seen traces of maturity in his face, his innocent looking traits had been removed and were now full of intent which made him even more aesthetic.

It could be said that this period of tempering had been highly beneficial to Jen. His combat prowess spiked due to being exposed to a continuous amount of stress on which depended his survival.

Jen was now almost sixteen years old, he was now nearing the age of adulthood. He couldn't stop thinking to himself, that if he continued to live in the clan at this time his grandfather would be starting to prepare his adulthood ceremony. However, this thought didn't continue for too long as he soon stepped out from his daze. It could be said that this was the first time that he was truly relaxing after leaving the clan, he could feel a wave of fatigue wash over him.

In the distance, there could be seen a grand city, surrounded by 30 meters tall walls. The walls looked to be made of stone but they had been inscribed with some types of dark grey runes, probably to strengthen them and being able to resist attacks from Dahl warriors. Jen eyes couldn't stop but shine seeing this, he gripped his fists and said: "Wait for me, I will definitely become an Indomitus. I will explore every corner of this world and recruit the most powerful warriors to create the strongest empire in the world. I will not disappoint you, grandfather..." and then he murmured:

"Mother, father wherever you are I will find what happened..."

The city in the distance was Blackhaus city, the capital of one of the 12 grand states on the Eros Dynasty. It was reigned by the current Duke and head of the Blackhaus clan Xavier Blackhaus. They were not in conflict with the Harridge state where the Reina clan belonged but at the same time, his clan didn't have the power to act on this region without the consent of the Duke. Fortunately, the Reina clan resided to a certain extent within the west border of the Harridge state. This allowed Jen to reach the capital of the Blackhaus state in only a few months.

...

"So this is the Blackhaus family capital..." Jen had covered his saber with his cotton shirt. His muscular shirtless figure attracted the attention in the streets which added to his handsome features and the aura he naturally released allowed him to pass easily the city guards. It could be said that the guards of the city were extraordinary if it was an ordinary city most likely they would have looked down on him and perhaps even try to extort him because of his rugged looks.

"The first thing I should do is to find a new set of clothes and then find a place to stay." The streets were bustling with people but Jen didn't mind it too much, he went in the direction of the commercial district and soon found what he was searching.

It was a somewhat conspicuous shop decorated with golden carvings of trees. When Jen entered his figure attracted a lot of attention, he coughed and said in a somewhat awkward tone to the tailor: "Hello, I was searching for a fresh new combat suit".

The moment he said this the tailor's eyes lit up. Because despite the sorry state of his clothes, he emitted a certain dominating aura. It was also worth noticing, that not your average person will come searching for combat suits.

"Good morning, sir. I think I might have just what you are looking for."

He then continued: "Follow me."

"Okay," Jen replied.

The attendant then led Jen to another section of the shop. The magnitude of this shop was clearly enormous as it was divided into several sections.

The attendant stopped abruptly and then said: "Here we are Sir. If there is any of your liking make sure to notify me." He then moved a step to the side.

In front of Jen, there was a variety of sets of clothes. After checking them for a while he decided for one that consisted of black pants with a button top without sleeves. Over the top, there was a white one-sleeved cloak. It also had a pair of flexible steel boots that boosted movement and a strap to attach his saber. This set was very expensive due to the top-notch materials used as it was intended for Dahl warriors. However, considering the money he had brought with him he still had plenty to squander if he wanted to. After all, his Grandfather wanted him to live comfortably without the need to work.

...

After having a bath and changing into his new set of clothes Jen felt refreshed and started to plan his next step.

"Right now I should be able to fight against an awakened of the second refinement with my saber arts but this is only in theory. If I want to increase my combat progress, even more, it would be difficult. My best shot would be to exploit my potential and refine my saber technique. I refuse to believe that with the pinnacle of saber arts I can't at least match a full refined awakened." Jen said.

He then stopped for a moment and continued: "In order to improve faster I need to gain real combat experience. Despite battling in the wild for two months, there was not any beast even comparable to an awakened so it's difficult to know the extent of my combat prowess."

Jen stood up and then said: "The most viable option at the moment is to join the Assasin guild. Even though it is somewhat risky if I want to improve there is no other way than to put my life on the line."

...

In the darkness of the night, a shadow could be seen walking through an alley. His steps seemed to follow a certain rhythm resembling that of a beating heart. This was evidently Jen, after having dinner at the inn. He registered in the Assassin guild and received a bronze badge with a dagger in it. Jen then proceeded to accept a mission with the target being an awakened that had both his arms refined.

Jen wanted to select a mission to eliminate an awakener with only one refinement, but there was only one acceptable in the bronze range. This didn't seem bad at all but the problem was that the target had refined his right leg and if Jen chose this one, even though he may be capable of defeating him, he will certainly not be a match in terms of speed and therefore be unable to prevent his target of escaping.

In the end, he had no other option than to choose this second refinement awakened. Of course, Jen was also confident in at least keeping his life, otherwise, he would never risk his life just based on luck.

At the end of the alley, there was a drunken burly man, he gave the impression of being a simple war veteran but the aura surrounding him was quite frightening. The most eye-catching was that both his arms were tattoed with what seemed to be grey bear claws interlinked between them. His Dahl covered both his arms and it was a testament to the strength this person possessed.

However, Jen didn't even change his expression under the white hood. His gaze was icy cold as if a Siberian tiger was preparing to attack its prey, this was an inherited trait of the Reina clan bloodline. Regardless, if he had awakened or not he still possessed the bloodline traits of his clan.

The man noticed Jen's gaze and the corner of his lips curved upwards while he said: "Looks like I will have company tonight."