Chapter 7: Red reaper

Lu began to walk through the unexpectedly clean, and dark corridor that twisted and turned many times before he reached light, and when he did, it was only from a dim, yellow street lantern.

Stone bricks lined the floor and walls that enclosed a long street with a roof, making it completely untouched by sunlight. Dim yellow lamps dotted the sides of the road, the radius of their lights almost, but not touching each other, leaving small patches of shadows in between them.

On the sides of the brick road were stalls alternating left and right. The booths housed people wearing masks, black cloth, and anything that would cover their faces, though their clothes still resemble those of Elle's residents.

In front of them were items laid out on tables, but no two stalls had the same type of article in store.

"A black market" Lu thought. It seems Esther's gut feel wasn't too off the mark. Lu just might find himself a livelihood in here, though if the opportunity does arise, he would try to get one that will not affect anyone negatively.

He took a mask that was lined with other masks on a table beside the entrance and wore it. He then browsed the items for sale, keeping an eye for anything that might steal his attention. Not that he'd be able to buy it, but window shopping was legal and free even in the black market.

Lu dared only to go a few meters into the tunnel. Even though he has not yet even caught a glimpse of a hiring notice, he wasn't willing to put too much time and effort in such a sketchy place.

He headed back to where he came from but was blocked by two muscular men, the one on his wearing a horse mask and the one on his right wore a bull's.

"What did you buy?" asked the one with the bull mask.

"I... Was looking for an employment" he confessed.

"And. Did. You. Find. One?" the horned man crossed his arms and looked down on him, his every word emphasized.

"Sadly, no" Lu simply said.

"Then you don't want to leave yet, don't you?" the bull replied.

Lu felt a chill creep up his spine. "I'm sorry. I have other things to do--" he attempted to squeeze himself between them and get out of the place immediately.

The bull masked man pulled him back with one arm. "Didn't you hear me? You don't want to leave yet. Don't you?" he repeated, and this time it felt more of the threat than a question, as he intended.

Lu swallowed his saliva as he obediently walks back inside.

Lu whispered to himself. "Of course they want me to buy something first! Entering this place was the first sign of danger! how can I be so stupid!".

Regardless of what it comes off as, it was surely not about the money. Making a trade with a black merchant makes you as guilty as they are, being in possession of an illegal item.

The owner of the district likely required their visitors to buy something once or something of the same value like signing a contract so that their customers would think twice about reporting them to the authorities, as they will all equally go to a life sentence in prison, or worse, a death sentence. These two are probably the owner's lackeys who made sure things go smoothly on his part.

While the bull man was busy with Lu, the horse mask shuffled and pointed to their left.

"The Cybelian!" He shouted, and the two muscular men ran after a figure of a person about Lu's size.

It was a hooded person in the direction they moved to. The cloaked person stepped back slowly then hastened to a sprint to the other way when it saw the men rushing.

The exit was left open for his Lu, yet the guilt of leaving a stranger who had just saved him, even if it was accidental, made him hesitate.

"Run now, be free, that's all. Easy, right? No harm done" He mused.

He stood for a moment, pondering. But unable to fool his own conscience, Lu rolled his eyes and ran to the cloaked person's aid.

"Even if they don't know me, they did help me. I'd at least see to it they won't get hurt", he told himself. After all, when it comes down to it, the two men are no match for one of Monitum's sixteen aces. It was only Lu's obedience to Leila that kept him in check. Even if his sister was no longer with him, he'd still obey her orders to be a good person anywhere.

The suspect leaped over multiple barriers and everyone who followed did the same just as easily.

It then hopped down a lower level and unfortunately ran into a dead end, and the two men slowly paced forward once they see their prey trapped.

One of the men pulled out a remote control and tapped on it once, then an iron bar gate started lowering between he and the others. Lu attempted to slide through the small gap that was left for him, but unfortunately his wrist got caught sandwhiched between the iron bars and the floor.

Thankfully the gates weren't strong enough to continue tear through his skin and bones, but he was nonetheless stuck. He tried to break the steel around it with force and with quills, but it was only dented. He was afraid that if he cuts the metal wrong, he'd lose his hand ironically while trying to save it.

Not being able to follow them further inside, he instead settled to watch them and act with his feathers but only if he must. If he reveals their color he fears that it could only mean more bad than good. He wanted to use his animus, but he doesn't even have any idea how it works.

The bull face raised his fist and green feathers emerged from behind it.

The horse faced his palm forward and blue ones formed with yellow tails around him.

Revealing only its arms, the cloaked person materialized a blood-red scythe from the surrounding energy and brandished it, assuming a battle stance.

"A manablade" Lu's eyes widened, recognizing it almost immediately.

Manablade, is a melee weapon crafted from the same type of hex that quills are made of called mana, hence its name.

It is an efficient way of using mana, as it can be manually manipulated to lessen the toll on one's mana supply. Albeit the cost reduction isn't that much, one would be wise to go for any advantage they can.

Creating this weapon requires a deep understanding for the flow of the energy, which only comes from real battles and intensive training. Just summoning one of them speaks volumes of one's capability to fight.

None of them moved yet but the battle had already begun.

Lu has seen, and even have lived it a thousand times and over. A battle starts with using animus hex, not the clashing of feathers.

After all, the capabilities of feathers are the same for everyone. It would be a 50-50 between skilled fighters if they only had feathers, but who would take a fair fight when they could get an advantage?

In a world where a battle can be decided in an instant, nobody wants to be on the losing end. Whether it'd be a game or real life, information is king.

The bull man clasped his hands and a sound wave emitted, then the scythe weilder responded by slicing the air with one hand.

It was not clear what animus was at work, but somehow the sound wave was dispelled before the hooded person, and only the wall behind it was smashed.

Accompanying the explosion, the horse mask seemed to have teleported behind the cloaked meister, with feathers ready at his side.

The feathers streamed down but was evaporated by same hand and motion that nulled the shockwave, and what followed was a slice to his stomach and the horse mask's massive body crashing to the side.

The enraged bull got close enough to get a clear shot into the chest, but Lu sent a small group of feathers to deflect the attack.

His aim was a little off due to the lack of available limbs on top of a serious pain, so instead the bull-masked man's attack drove the the leg, nonetheless getting a clean hit off.

Wasting no time, the two then exchanged slashes, one using feathers and the other with the manablade, both producing metallic sounds with each hit.

Blow by blow they dodged and deflected appropriately, and the scythe meister, as if not hindered by pain, prevailed the clash with a clean cut to the bull man's right arm, tearing it off.

Seeing the enemy take their time to writhe in agony, the hooded person took the opportunity to finish the fight by cutting hthe bull man's head with one swift motion. It then walked to the other hostile and did the same, likely making sure that they won't be coming back anytime soon.

Lu wanted to puke at the sight, but only had one hand to cover his mouth. Lying on the floor wasn't also an ideal postion to throw up, so he was forced to hold it in.

A scythe flew to Lu's direction, and in the nick of time he dodged it by backing up a little, even if it hurt his wrist more. Had he not done so, his thigh would have been pierced with a scythe blade.

Lu panicked and did not understand the reason of the sudden attack, but he immediately caught on. He figured that it was the burden of having gold feathers that he had to learn the hard way. It was apparently a sin with a calibur that outweighs saving a life.

The mysterious person ran toward him, red neon light trailing from the crimson feathers prepared at its side.

Lu tried to free his hand using feathers once more, this time in a forceful and rash manner. If he had to choose, he'd trade his hand for his life any day.

The red plumes zoomed to him, and he had to pull his final trump card. His own manablade.

As he expected it, it was the same manablade he had back from Monitum. Just as life hex originates from body, and animus hex originates from soul, mana hex originates from mind. And Lu's mind is the same as they were from the game.

Just in time, a golden shield, only a little less smaller than him, protected him from the initial burst of feathers. He could move the shield to his will without touching it but only for a very short distance, so he can block feathers virtually from all sides. However, soon enough the hooded person will reach him, and come through the side.

Lu finally used his animus to create a gold mist, then attacked when his feathers aren't visible. He sent his plumes to all directions except the middle, expecting the opponent to dodge.

The scythe weilder stopped from dashing for a moment and unfortunately saw through his plan. By that time the cloaked individual was already a meter from him, it extended its arm again to summon the dreaded scythe.

Lu sent another barrage of quills this time in a random pattern, but it was all too easy for an experienced fighter to dodge.

The path of feathers can only be curved due to the speed they are released, so it was impossible for him to recall them into his opponent's back. It would require a football field's worth of a curve to successfully reverse the direction of a feather.

With the weapon in hand, the hooded person walked to him, and was about to end his life in cold blood. He thought that if it would end this way, at least it would be painless.

That is, if it would end this way.

Lu used another animus charge as a smoke bomb, and the cloaked scythe meistdr hurriedly swung at him, but soon it found that the scythe only hit the metal ground when the smoke subsided.

The gate was also no longer lowered, and most especially, Lu was nowhere to be found.

He quickly slammed his mask at the table where he found them near the exit, and made a run for it.

The first time he threw his own plumes, his backup plan was that he wanted to find the remote control among the cadavers of the two masked henchmen by cutting off all their pockets. The second also wasn't a last ditch effort of an attack. It was to press the correct button on the remote to release the retractable gate, and the smoke bomb was a getaway farcaster trick.

He looked back the way he came, and realized he had just looked death in the eyes. If it were him in the flesh back there, he wouldn't be so surprised. Not to mention the scythe.

Getting out, Lu felt like he was given another chance to live, and he stared into the blue sky. It was only then that he realized how crucial his game sense turned out to be.

Lu wondered why he was even in this world where every corner had something that would threaten his life. He sighed, thinking that at the very least, not everything was going downhill. While he was weaker than average physically, he could compensate it with his skill with the quills. He took a mental note that he also has to find out what his own animus does soon, unless he wants an event that requires him of it and he fails to deliver.

Esther appeared in front of him, spreading the span of her arms in front of him and looking around as if trying to protect him.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

Lu averted his eyes and sat on the stone floor. "I thought you were going to sleep?" he said, avoiding not only eye contact but also the question.

After seeing no danger, she relaxed her stance. "I can somehow feel how you feel whether I'm awake or asleep. It lets me know if you're in danger and I need to help out. That being said, I can't really see anything unusual nearby. Mind telling me what's bothering you?" Esther flew to his side and laid on it comfortably.

"Well aren't you late" he thought but refused to say. "I'm fine" Lu announced instead in a sad, quiet tone.

Esther groaned and put her fists on her waist. "Ironically, only those who aren't fine say that they're fine. If they really are okay, they'd probably say something like "Why, is there something on my face" or something..."

Lu couldn't help but let out out a restrained laugh at the comment. He almost forgot that there was one more thing that didn't threaten his life so far.

"You've already helped me, thank you" he said.

Her ears pointed up. "Weird. I can tell you feel lighter. What'd I do? Well, whatever. At least you're happy now"

"I wouldn't say happy, but still, thanks" Lu stood up and pat on his pants.

"Anytime, friend" Esther said before fading away again.

Lu indeed felt lighter and let him clear his mind. However, he has to keep in mind that he now has an enemy among someone in Elle, he also has to give more importance to hiding his true color, and most importantly, find out what his animus does.

Although of course, a stable source of income for survival comes first.