Ripples of conflict

In the middle of a grey and quiet room in an unknown location, an enormous mansion sits hidden in a forest. A man was sitting in front of a desk working tirelessly. His hair was black with a few tinges of grey begging to form. He wasn't young anymore; he was in his late forties, but his strength had barely diminished.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of people have died at the hands of this man. Such a skill for murder and carnage deserved an award, the highest achievement was residing right in his middle finger, a ring made of adamantite: The symbol of The Hand. This man had been granted the title of one of the Five fingers. One of the most skilled assassins on the continent.

Some fear it, while others revere it. The Hand kills everyone equally. Such a great organization requires tremendous leadership. Each finger had a function to make sure The Hand kept his operations running smoothly. In the case of Krister Olof, the Middle Finger, he had to maintain communication.

All of the contacts and messages from The Hand must be encrypted and sent through proper channels. He supervises and channels the message content and coordination of jobs between the assassins, making sure they get orders quickly and efficiently.

His fingers were moving fast. As he wrote notes and informs of each letter he received, each report was then classified in the correspondent area and he moved to the next. It was a mundane job, but someone had to do it, and it had to be done by someone smart and capable. If an order was delivered too late, a target may have escaped into another country. If a report of an ambush was delivered to the wrong place, an assassin could die in the trap.

There was also the matter of supplies, sending the right assassin for the job, and even training some of the young apprentices in his spare time. All these reasons made Krister worried about choosing a future successor. If he were to die right now, there would be no one that could assume the position of the Middle.

"Master, I'm back!" A voice echoed in the building. It came from some floors below. Quickly, the people climbed the stairs and reached Krister's office. "The job was a success and the payment was already sent to the Thumb" The person reporting it was a man with long black hair and very tall. On his side, seven knives of different colors were hanging in his pockets.

"How much was the payment again?" He asked without taking his eyes off of the report he was reading.

"2000 gold pieces" Krister sighed. He was doing mental calculations about costs and wasn't happy with the result. By the way, Master, I checked on what you asked me, Sebastian, the young one. Why was he having a delay in the mission? Turns out he was dead. "

For the first time, Krister's eyes and hands stopped. "And the body?"

"The guards were already at the scene, so they took him. I went inside the soldier's morgue later in the night to check. One singular cut on the carotid artery, about half the length of the neck. No other wounds."

"What about magic?"

"Nothing, just a pure physical wound. I checked the thugs just in case. They were killed in various ways, mostly by decapitation with claws or crushed organs and bones, some of them by their own weapons. Someone did a number in that place"

Krister stood silent for a moment. It made the man uncomfortable. "Wait, you aren't mad because I left the body, right? He was still just an apprentice. He didn't have anything of value"

"Of course not. I'm just thinking. Didn't a new syndicate appear recently in the area where Sebastian died?"

"Yes, I believe it's called Underworld. Do you think they did it?

"Maybe. Go back to Raind and start investigating this syndicate. If you determine they killed Sebastian, wipe them out and bring their leader's head to the client as an apology."

"Go back there? I just got here, is at least a whole month making the journey back. Master, have a bit of mercy"

"Stop wasting time and go prepare yourself" He didn't care about his complaints.

"Fine, fine I get it" He was about to leave when…

"Wait Jakov" He paused to listing to his master orders. "Take Agatha with you."

"Oh man, the master is really upset. Did you like him that much? Don't worry you star pupil is going teach them to not mess with The Hand" With that, Jakov ran down the stairs excited.

He passed through several rooms in the building, some filled with documents and cabinets, training rooms, potions and poison stockpiled in desks with alchemist's equipment, until he reached a black door.

The mansion was empty except for his master. Only one other person was present. He opened the door without hesitation while calling to his resident.

"Agatha, we have a mission! Come on, now it's time to kill some lowlifes!"

Crunch... Crunch... Crunch... The sound of a body being stepped on gave sight to a woman with deep purple hair and eyes.

"Who is the target?" She asked with a murderous shine in her eyes.

Back in the Capital, at the base of the Red Dragon, was Kain, kneeling in front of the bosses. Four of them in total. He had finished explaining the situation. How Adel had attacked him with his men, unprovoked. He had to run away to not break the promise made by the boss Yu Bo, and he was the only survivor. The bosses heard him, and the first one to speak was Zendul.

"I see Adel trying to attack you to steal information before he left the capital. I'm surprised that you didn't retaliate Kaiiiiiiiin. I thought you would defend yourself in that situation."

"I was caught by surprise, and I knew that Boss Yu Bo had given him a day of grace before a conflict could start." Kain lied as naturally as he breath. "I should have fought. I'm sorry, Boss Zendul"

"Oh no, it is better that you got away." Zendul got close behind Kain and grabbed his hand. "After all, if you got hurt then you will have end up feeling even more pointless pain" Kain try to think what boss was saying, but the sudden pain as his fingers and hand were crushed told him the answer immediately.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH" Kain grabbed his broken hand with the other while he writhed in agony. Zendul's face was still the same smile as before.

"You see, Kain, lying is bad. Especially lying about who initiated a conflict. You went against Yu's orders and attacked Adel with your subordinates. Isn't that right?"

Still reeling from the pain, Kain's answered. "Yes, I'm sorry, boss." He hit his forehead, touching the ground and both of his hands to his side to apologize.

"You're a loyal man, Kain. That is why you are getting away with only a few broken bones. We have high hopes for you, so take this as a lesson, okay"

"Yes... Thank you, Boss."

"You can go back now, of course. It is obvious, but I'll say it just in case. You can't heal that hand with magic. Your punishment is waiting for it to heal naturally"

"Yes, boss, I know." With a bow, Kain retired himself from the room.

"Are you sure he's still making stupid mistakes like those? He's still an immature brat." A woman with long black hair wearing a crimson dress spoke while smoking from a long pipe. "I would have killed him already"

"You cruel Xia, I like that about you, but he's like a little dog. You need him to point him in the right direction and he will die defending you. Don't you think he should at least use that strength for something before he dies." Zendul answered with little regard to Kain's future.

"Mmm, I guess. If he doesn't have the brains, then the strength is just wasted."

"WHO CARES FOR THE STUPID BRAT!" A man in the corner spoke. He was more giant than man. Over 2 meters in height and built like a bear. He was old, bald, and covered in tattoos. He was drinking beer not from a mug but from a full barrel.

"GLUP GLUP GLUP... AAAHHHH. You bastards let that other rat leave this place without taking a limb from him. Do you bastards care about the leader's reputation? If that is so, then I will kill both of you right here."

"But I only did it because Yu asked me to." Zendul tried to slip past the blame.

"Don't invent excuses, you bastard."

"Calm down, Armel. The leader said that we are free to choose the sacrifice that we believe is sufficient. I'm following the orders of the Leader" Yu Bo responded.

"Don't be a smart-ass kid; I can take your ass down all the way to the first floor to teach you how to treat your superiors"

"Really, then please be my guest, but don't cry when you are the one who ends up on the floor."

"Pffff... Don't fight inside, idiots. You're going to ruin the building." Xia ordered them to move outside.

"Armel is scary when he's mad, but I also like that wild side of him."

Before things escalated, a young woman slid the door open.

"Bosses, the food is ready." A few more girls bring enormous dishes. Meats and fish, vegetables and fresh fruits. Even more beer and wine to drink.

Yu Bo and Armel decided that the fight could wait until after the meal.

"Men are so simple minded" Xia sighed.

Kain was on the streets outside of the base after having his hand put under wraps. He was thinking about last night.

The battle with Adel wasn't hard; he almost killed him. It didn't matter to him if a few grunts died, but that strange guy stopped his strongest attack with his bare hands. He tried to escape, but his struggle was useless.

Those eyes were filled with murderous intent. He could still see them when he closed his eyes. Green and silent eyes, looking at him, making it harder and harder to breathe. His cold sweat dropped from his forehead. The goosebumps on his back, everything was awful.

Death was the only thing that awaited him, closing in on him moment after moment. Closer and closer and closer until.......

"Boss, are you okay?" He woke up. He was trembling again, just by remembering the sensation. It took him a moment to talk.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Come on, we need to gather the others and get to work."

"But your hand is-"

"Doesn't matter, tell the rest of the guys that I want to know everything about this new syndicate. They're hiding somewhere in the Capital and I'm going to find them. I'll crush those rats myself" That way, the bosses will know I'm a valuable member. They will forgive my mistake and finally recognize me. This time, for sure...

Like a dog blinded by his own desires and with short-sighted foresight, Kain was going to try to impress his masters once again, but he failed to understand that a dog will never be more than that to his masters no matter what he does.