Virtuosum

Sitting on top of some dusty crates inside an old warehouse is a young man looking down at other individuals, of which are standing around in the center of the warehouse. He listens as they talk about their hunts. Although he finds these talks boring and wouldn't normally be at these gatherings, since he is low on funds the young man has no choice but to wait here patiently until a contract for assassination is available.

A lanky individual is currently talking.

"I recently hunted a middle class merchant. Why do you think my employer, who is also a merchant by the way, wanted him dead?"

A chubby man asks, "Why?"

With a smirk on his face, the lanky man answers.

"Him and my employer had a falling out over a woman of all things."

"Hahaha, and here I thought he ordered the hit because the other stole his business or something."

After some more talking, one of the assassins brings up some interesting information.

"Anyway, I swear Polka has a screw loose. He actually went after the second prince."

Almost falling off the crates from shock, the young man jumps down soon after to go see if he heard right.

After seeing the man jump down the assassins go quiet out of fear.

"Repeat what you said" speaks the young man as he walks up to the assassin that brought up the second princes assassination attempt.

"I..I said that Polka is crazy for accepting a contract on the prince's head."

Going wide eyed, the man messily runs his hand through his hair and yells."You fucking imbecile why didn't you stop him!?"

"I.."

His sentence gets cut short by a dagger that goes through his throat and out the other end.

"Are you crazy?"

"Why did you go and kill him?"

Without saying anything, the man quickly kills two more assassins in quick succession.

Taking out their daggers the rest of the assassins rush the young man. "You crazy bastard!" Insults are thrown as they surround him.

Walking with rhythmic steps, the young man's body seems to multiply. Three assassins attack the clones which in turn dissipate into thin air. Three bodies hit the floor. Standing behind them is the young man.

He looks at the last assassin standing.

"One left"

"Calix, please don't kill me, my daughter is waiting for me at home."

Lowering his dagger, the man says "Well...You'll probably die by the prince's blade later anyway."

"Thank...guugh"

Piercing the assassin through the neck he says "But I'd rather kill you now. I don't want to risk you spilling anything unnecessary were you to get tortured by the princes knights."

After the man makes it look like the assassins had a falling out, he piles up all the documents, except those that the prince might be looking for, and lights them on fire. With a sigh the man proceeds to leave the warehouse through the small backdoor.

***

"It's this one"

Lux looks at the dilapidated warehouse for a moment before moving his sight towards Leo.

"Take the lead"

Nodding his head, Leo proceeds to slide the warehouse doors open. 'Rust? No, this is the smell of blood.'

Lux, having smelled the same thing as Leo, asks.

"Blood?"

After seeing Leo nod, Lux, having left his great sword behind as it's too conspicuous, unsheaths the bastard sword strapped on his side.

Walking further into the warehouse, Lux sees bodies piled all around the floor. At first glance it looks like they died while fighting each other.

"Tenebris take a look."

After walking over to the bodies Tenebris crouches down to inspect them. Upon a closer examination, he says "Judging from these clean and precise cuts I'm certain they were killed while fighting a skilled individual."

Looking at the bodies covered in wounds on the warehouse floor, Lux says "These cuts don't look clean to me."

Tenebris, pointing at the badly made cuts, says "That's because the individual added them after the battle... Or should I say massacre? They were trying to make it look like they had a falling out." Now pointing at the more precise cuts and slashes, he adds "But with my trained eyes I can tell they died from these deadly attacks almost instantly."

Listening in on the conversation, Leo chimes in "Yeah, getting stabbed in the throat will do that to a man."

Ezekiel who was searching for documents or any type of information, upon hearing Leos remark, starts laughing.

Shaking his head as he walks over, Lux smacks Ezekiel on the back of the head.

"Ouch!"

With a smirk on his face, Lux adds "Keep searching"

Ezekiel, with an aggrieved look on his face, walks to the end of the warehouse. Upon arrival he sees a pile of ashes on the ground. Quickly turning around he says "My liege I think they burnt the documents!"

'Shit! We were so close.'

Before Lux can walk over another shadow appears from the entrance.

"Sir, we apprehended a suspect that was seen leaving this warehouse."

Tenebris who was close to the entrance asks "How many casualties?"

"Umm... The thing is, he surrendered without a fight. He said he had some information the prince might be interested in."

Leo, who was still angry at the fact that assassins had tried to take the prince's life, asks "Where is he?"

Lux, who had walked over with Ezekiel, gives an order to the knight. "Leo you're not allowed to kill him without my permission."

"..."

"We need answers first. You can kill him after... If I allow it of course."

"..." Without saying a word, Leo nods.

Lux looks toward the shadow at the entrance.

"Where is the suspect?"

Turning towards the entrance, the shadow says

"Bring him in."

Four shadows walk into the warehouse with a young man standing in-between them. His hands and feet are bound by shackles.

Leo, stepping in front of the prince, says

"He's strong."

Tenebris punches the young man in the stomach making him fall onto his knees.

"Where are your manners? You should kneel in the presence of his Royal Highness."

"..."

The prince raises his hand signaling Tenebris to stop. Looking at the young man he introduces himself. "My name is Lux, the second prince of the empire."

"Calix."

Taking a closer look at the young man's face, the prince says

"Calix huh? The name suits you."

"..." The young man stares at the prince with a judgmental look.

"Don't look at me like that, I don't swing that way."

"..."

"Anyway, I heard you have some information for me Calix?"

"Yes Your Highness. I have the documents regarding the person who ordered your assassination."

"Where are they?"

Looking the prince in the eye, Calix asks "Can I ask for something in return?"

Leo unsheaths his sword ready to strike the young man down. "You dare ask his Royal Highness for a favor!"

"..."

"Leo! Not one more word out of your mouth."

Lux looks back at the young man. "Please do tell, what is it you want?"

"All I ask for is my life. I had nothing to do with the attempt on your life Your Highness. I'll even kill the person who ordered a hit on you, if you command me to."

'Leo said he's strong, so he could be useful. He also held onto the documents pertaining to the information about the person who wants me dead, which means he's resourceful.'

"Why did you kill the other assassins?"

"After realizing one of them went for your head I killed every last one of them."

"Hmm... Nice answer. Why did you burn the documents?"

"I knew knights would be coming and there was information about my crimes in the other documents. Although I didn't think you would come here yourself, Your Highness."

"Final question."

"..."

"Will you serve under me?"

"Your Hi-"

"Leo shut it."

Looking at Calix in the eye, Lux says "Your answer?"

Without looking away Calix asks "Can we discuss the terms first?"

With a smile on his face, the prince responds "Of course, I always look after my people. Without looking away, he asks his aide. "Ezekiel give me a mana contract."

***

After agreeing on the terms and signing a mana contract with Calix, the prince gave him a communicator so he could call upon him when needed. With the documents recovered, and not wanting to sour his mood, Lux decided to read them after he was done with his task at the orphanage.

Stepping out of the carriage Lux looks up at the orphanage.

'It still looks as imposing as when they first opened it'

A lot of knights died during the twenty year war leaving behind a lot of orphans. The Virtuosum Orphanage was built seven years ago, exactly three years after the war. It's been a decade since the war ended, Lux being only five years old at the time.

The orphanage, spanning a length a little over fifteen thousand square feet, is a massive building made of stone. Three stories high, it gives off an imposing aura. The windows are made of stained glass and when you walk inside you're greeted by a massive staircase in the middle of the marble floor leading to the second floor. A majestic chandelier hangs down the middle of the ceiling, with magic crystals embedded into it, alighting the first floor in an ethereal glow.

Shortly after walking inside Lux is greeted by the Director who came out of a room on the left side of the first floor, presumably his office. He has an attendant standing at his side.

Bowing down, as is the etiquette, the director introduces himself.

"Welcome to Virtuosum Orphanage Your Royal Highness. I am Director Caritas and I will be guiding you today, if you will allow my humble self."

"I will happily accept your guidance Sir Caritas."

Extending out his hand, Lux adds, "I also want to thank you for your service to our country."

Touched by the words of the prince the director drops down to one knee. "Your Highness, those words have touched this old man's heart!"

'Hmm this old man is really loyal, he could be useful later on. Although I'm a little annoyed that he ignored my handshake.'

After mentally adding Caritas to his list of useful people, Lux gestures for the old man to rise.

"Can you have your attendant guide Sir Leo and my aide to the training area? They need to set up some things."

"Yes Your Highness."

The director gives his orders to the attendant, he then asks the prince to follow him as he walks up the staircase.

As they walk up the steps the director does his duty as a guide.

"The first floor is where the teachers, the guards, and I reside. It also has a canteen, a lounge area, and a few washrooms. The second floor is where the kids sleep. The left wing is where the boys sleep and the right wing is for the girls. They each have their respective washrooms."

Making a left turn and walking past the boys dorms, they walk up another staircase. Making a leftward spiral up the steps they arrive at the third floor.

"There is a staircase just like this one on the girls side as well."

The third floor of the orphanage has a long hallway that stretches to the other end of the floor. Leading to what Lux presumes is the staircase to the girls dormitory down on the second floor. Walking across the hallway he looks to his left, seeing evenly spaced stained glass windows. Looking through one of them at the ground below, he sees a large courtyard with a beautiful garden surrounding it. A little further away he sees the training grounds where Ezekiel and Leo are getting things set up. He also sees two buildings farther back that are close to the training grounds. The buildings are separated from each other and are surrounded by walls made of stone.

Arriving at a pair of large wooden doors on the right side of the floor, the director looks at the prince.

"Your Highness, we have arrived"