Volume 5

These white halls i wake up to every night haunt me for the various days to come. Every night I lay in bed, I awake to these white halls and hear the call from the Deep. The void is yearning for me, I'm in the centre of its heart.

Chapter 10: Voidwalker

Once again, in these pale halls. Nothing excites me anymore. I took this job earlier in my life at the age of 13, thinking I could have a chance at starting my shitty life over again and getting revenge on 'Them'. However, no 13-year-old could survive this catastrophe. Now two years later, I'm 15 and it's still no place where I can survive. They say I'm the youngest one to ever accept the contract, and they're probably not wrong. Most other kids my age would be learning all about the different places, what and what not to do. Finding their careers as knights, scholars, and sailors, not training to actively hunt people. While I'm here in these halls, I might as well look at the latest news, and take a moment to breathe. There's only one notable thing and it's that the infamous pirate ship, Beloved Zofia, had been sunken by the Central Authority. Happened just yesterday. Nothing else than that.

Voidwalkers don't usually get much respect from others. I don't blame them, we're mercenaries that are just knives to hire. But the thing with me is that I'm still too young to hunt for bounties. Most of these guys start at 18 but I'm still only 15. Ever since I got here, I've just been training under one of the captains as an apprentice. However, he did say that if I manage to beat him In a duel, they might just let me start taking bounties. Speaking of which, training starts in a few minutes.

Chapter 11: The Captain

The Captain training is called Quatermine. I look up to him. He's skilled with knives and other light weapons like handguns, rapiers, and even hand-to-hand combat. The other Captains say he's a monster with knives. It's said he took down a whole Etrean ship by himself. So it might be a while till i start taking bounties. "I'm ready when you are, Aloysius" He says. Compressing all my fibres and muscles in my leg, I release it all and explode. Leaping at him with speed, however not fast enough. Quatermine takes no time to move in a way that can redirect the momentum in my entire body with minimal effort. I tumble to the ground followed by a thud. Determination fills my soul and I start to draw strength from it. "Not good enough, Kanreshi. You're too predictable"

"Oh look! A bird!" I exclaim in an attempt to distract him. It doesn't work. This time he lunges at me. My parry game is on point with adrenaline surging throughout my body. As I parry, I try to land a cheeky counter with a low kick against his leg, attempting to sweep him off the floor. I manage to connect the kick and catch him off-guard knocking him over, but he's quick to think and agilely tilts over into a handstand and kicks me right in the face, ending the match. "Mr Aloysius Kanreshi, you're getting better. If I could, I'd let you take a job now, seeing as you managed to land a low kick on me. But rules are rules, so only until I give you victory, then you'll get your first job."

"Thanks, Quatermine. When do you think I'll be able to finally beat you in a duel?"

"If you keep up the pace, the closest you'll get to beating me is possibly one or two weeks from now. That's only if you do manage to keep your personal training together"

"Also, does the Knives of Eylis have any records of the guild, Goldency?"

"I believe so, why is that?"

"It's something personal i want to settle"

Chapter 12: Before The Contract

3-4 years ago, when i was 11-12. The village that i had lived in happily with my family was pillaged by raiders coming from the North. They hadn't slaughtered anyone and left food for the people. Everyone was confused as to why but nobody complained. Soon after they had got what they wanted, they left. Nobody knew why they had left a couple of scraps and hadn't thought much up it. However, i was the first to realise. After one guy was assaulted over the food, i understood why the raiders left scraps. They, not only want to pillage us but to turn us into inhumane animals. Their plan was to have everyone in the village fight over food and begin to wage wars for it.

As i turned 13, i was severely malnourished. Nothing but skin and bones was to show of me. The raiders come back each month to give us the scraps so they can watch a show between us. Even my own parents, once who I looked up to had already lost their sanity. I refused to let those pricks get what they want. That day i struck a vow against my own name. I'll wipe these fuckwits. For the sake my own self and the village.

i may be malnourished and lacking nutrients, however, my brain stays sturdy. The native plants become poisonous if you were to soak them in water overnight due to the outer membrane dissolving and releasing toxins from the inside. It's evolved to kill herbivores and vegetarians that eat it so that it dissolves in bodily fluids and poisons them from the inside. Boiling the poisoned overnight water and capturing the steam in a glass vial creates a poisonous gas grenade. This plant forms chemical bonds with the water making it harder for it to separate the poison and water apart. It also retains it's heat for a long time and stays as a gas just for enough time. It's easier for me to capture the gas and not die from the poisoning since Etreans have built up resistance to various poisons and acids. Now that i have my own gas grenade, I'll be able to stop the raiders from harming us.

They've moved into the village, allowing quick access to demoralise villagers and enslave them. Each night, they gather inside a room for a dinner party. With this information at hand, I was able to gas the entire gang with ease. After i checked everybody in the room has died, i began looking around. Suddenly, one of the raiders that were playing dead grabs me by the leg. How could he survive? Is he an Etrean as well? Turns out he was. He drew his sword out and was about to strike me down but then someone else had done it first before he did it to me. I thanked him but it turns out it was a Voidwalker just killing someone who had a bounty. I asked him how to be one of them, but he just said i shouldn't. I kept begging until he was fed up and told me. "A contract must be accepted by Eylis for you to begin. Tonight, you will dream. You will dream of a white hall and the call from the void will be ever so louder. Be careful, and make sure your motives are clear and your goal set. Then you may encounter The Punished Dreamer" He left as fast as he came.

i checked the bodies to see if I can grab whatever they stole back. One of the officer's notes said that this wasn't even the full raider gang. It was just a small platoon and if they weren't going to report back, more reinforcements will come to this place. The officer's note also said that they were hired by a guild called "Goldency" which didn't have enough manpower to they had to hire other people. As soon as I realised the fate of this village, I knew it was already gone. Not that there was anything left. But it was gone, lost forever.

That night, I did what the man told me to. To dream of a white hall, have clear motives and have my goal set. Then it happened, I woke up in a white hall in front of a lady. It could be her, Eylis the Punished Dreamer! It definitely was. Everything was a blur after that. The next day I woke at dawn in a new drippy uniform. The raiders hadn't reached here yet but it was definitely time to leave.

I take one last look back at my village. Before making my leave.