Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Chapter 2

After cleaning himself and changing clothes, Athos left and headed towards the slums. He needed to replenish his stash of drugs and supplies, but more importantly, he needed a break to think.

‘I was an idiot yesterday. I just attacked without thinking. If the captain’s wife hadn’t been there, I would have died. If the captain hadn’t just exhausted, I would have died. If the captain had ignored the woman and focused on me, I would have died.’ Athos goes on to list everything that could have gone wrong while walking through the slums.

The situation looked tense, with armed bandits all over the place, but no one seemed to be after him. They were focused on preventing guards from entering the favelas. In less than 5 minutes that Athos entered the favela, he had already encountered more than 3 skirmishes between guards and bandits.

Unbeknownst to Athos, a war had broken out between the city guards and the slum gangs. The guards were not silent about the captain’s kidnapping and continued to investigate the sewers.

They followed the tracks and found that they led to the favelas. In fact, they had lost track of Athos after entering his own hideout and had stumbled across his tracks as he headed towards the slums.

After that, it was easy to imagine what happened. Guards raided the favelas in an attempt to find the captain and the gangs responded aggressively, impeding what they considered an invasion of their territory.

Small fights broke out throughout the favela while Athos was torturing the captain. The situation had not yet calmed down and all the forces in the city were tense, fearing a war throughout the city.

.....

Most businesses in the favelas were closed for fear of becoming involved in the conflict. The only stores that were still open were the stores that were away from the slums, therefore, away from the danger zone.

The bounty on Athos’ head was still active, but there was no one to care about him, with the city on the brink of possible war. Something really convenient for him.

Athos heard all this from the conversations of favela residents.

‘Hilarious. People are killing each other over that garbage and I didn’t even have to do anything.’ Athos had to work hard not to laugh at the townspeople as he bought a meat skewer at one of the few stalls still functioning in the slums.

“A skewer, old man.” Athos said.

“...” The elderly man didn’t answer and just handed over the skewer silently after receiving the money.

Athos ate the skewer while walking through the favela. ‘Getting drugs is going to be hard that way. Security will be tight around drugs and contraband. What should I do?’ Athos agonized over what to do.

“Could you make a donation to someone in need, young man?” A homeless man asked Athos in a hoarse voice as he passed.

“Sorry, no money, man.” Athos replied quickly, without looking back.

“You’re not kind at all, you know? I expected more from Robert’s son Athos.” The homeless man said, his voice changing to a more jovial one as he scolded Athos.

Athos froze and turned stiffly, like a poorly oiled machine. He dropped the skewer to the ground and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, preparing to strike at any moment.

He looked at the homeless man in front of him using mana vision and saw the strongest mana core he had ever seen. The core had three layers, getting brighter the closer to the center.

“Who are you?” Athos asked cautiously. He knew he didn’t stand a chance against the stranger, but he didn’t let his guard down anyway.

“No need to be so cautious. If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t talk to you like that, would I?” The unknown man said, indifferent to the murderous look Athos was giving him.

“How do you know me?” Athos changed his question, realizing that the stranger had changed the subject.

“I’d love to talk to you here, but I’m kind of a shy guy. Mind if we go somewhere else?” The stranger didn’t wait for Athos to answer and got up, walking towards the alley. He was wearing a ragged overcoat and walking bent over, leaning on a wooden cane.

“I met your father when I moved to this town, Athos. Robert was a brilliant man when it came to alchemy and we became fast friends. He always talked about you when he was drunk. He always boasted of what a genius son he had. It’s a shame what happened to him and his mother.” The stranger said, with a bit of longing and regret in his voice.

“I was out of town when it all happened, but now that I’m back, I’ve decided to help what’s left of his family. You, Athos.” The stranger spoke, showing unexpected kindness to Athos.

“Athos?” He turned around, surprised by his silence, but there was no one there.

Athos hadn’t followed him from the start, running the moment the stranger turned his back.

“You little shit...” The stranger felt a vein pop in his forehead, while an icy aura froze the puddles of water around him.

*****

Athos fled, but could not go far. Less than 5 minutes later, the stranger had caught up with him.

“You’ve gone far boy, but it’s the end of the line.” The stranger said annoyed. He has cornered Athos in a dead end.

“Man, I don’t know you. Why should I follow you?” Athos asked, trying to find a way out of this situation.

‘How did he find me so fast?’ That’s what he thought.

“You would have known if you’d listened to me! I just want to help you, but I can’t give you details in public. Can we go somewhere more private, please?” he asked, as he stepped to the side, making sure Athos was always in sight, just in case.

“Can you at least tell me your name?” Athos asked, still wary.

“Sorry for not introducing myself. I’m Khali hill. Robert’s friend.” Khali gave him a small bow.

Athos sighed in defeat and followed the man. They walked in silence for a while, Khali glancing back every now and then to make sure Athos didn’t run away. They walked to an abandoned house.

“Is that it? I expected more.” Athos was disappointed when he entered and saw that the house was completely empty.

“Don’t be impatient, Athos. You’ll like what you see.” Khali said anxiously for his reaction. He took a pendant from his neck and lifted it.

The pendant had an orange gem that began to glow the moment khali flowed mana into it. Suddenly the ground began to sink and form a ladder of earth. He descended without hesitation, but Athos felt a little cornered.

“Don’t worry, it’s safe. I created this place.” Khali said, trying to reassure him.

Athos nodded wordlessly and followed. After Athos descended, Khali flowed mana into the pendant once more and the tunnel closed behind him. He took a wand from his pocket and created a glowing sphere to light the way.

They continued in silence as the tunnel got tighter and tighter. The stairs disappeared, replaced by uneven ground, as if a monster had dug it up.

“Wait, this place is...” Athos muttered in surprise.

“It’s the tunnels you use to hide in. I’m the one who created this place and I’m the one who allowed you to find it. Or do you think you found this place by accident?” Khali smiled smugly at him.

“Why did you only reveal yourself now?” Athos asked confused.

“Because if a stranger comes into your secret hideout to say hi, you’d find it suspicious, wouldn’t you?”

“Not that you’ve done much better.” Athos said sarcastically.

“Kheum, it doesn’t matter. The important thing is to talk about the future. And as proof of my goodwill I brought you a gift.” Khali said as they exited the tunnels and entered a spacious area.

There wasn’t much in the room except for torches on the walls and two men chained to the walls. They were injured, but it didn’t look like anything serious. Their armor was broken, but Athos recognized them as the guards’ uniforms.

“Are they?” Athos didn’t need to think long to guess who they were. Suddenly, the identity of the stranger became irrelevant, while a boiling anger took over his mind.

“They’re yours, do what you want.” Khali said leaning against the wall as he crossed his arms, looking forward to what would happen. He had seen what happened to the captain and was curious if such a small child was really capable of such brutality.