At first, the depths felt moist and warm like a welcoming home that has been withering away bit by bit every year.

The depths were soothing and my companions made the trip feel cozy and fun. We knew that it wasn’t always going to be the case and soon it’ll start to taint our hearts in an attempt to crush our souls. But we were family, so no one could hurt us. 

We set out at sunset to meet the children of darkness for the first time.

”

My breath was slightly visible in the cold of the misty morning. The clocktower, a giant construction made of stone, magic and metal, that was located right between the main barracks and the Palace, showed that I still had about ten minutes. The fact that I was, for once, on time for an appointment made me sigh with relief. With not much left to do, I decided to wander the premises.

The main barracks were not just sleeping accommodation for the guard units of the Islands, but also the place where multiple training facilities alongside several kitchens, bathing areas, libraries and various miscellaneous hobby circles formed something akin to a small town within a town.

Anyone on the Islands could become a guard, but not everyone could withstand the harsh training. The new recruits were expected to have perfect discipline when working, as well as knowledge of handling most standard weapons, like short swords, spears, bows and crossbows, and have affinity to at least one element of magic. They were put through months of grueling training after which they’d become a licensed guard. Training was training, but free time was valued as well. Newcomers were encouraged to pursue some kind of side activity because it helped them vent their frustrations and made them more focused when training. For this reason a multitude of hobby circles sprang up every time a batch of new recruits entered the barracks.

I never got the full guard training due to being deemed too weak at the time. Even after all the years that went by and the experience I’ve gained, I was unsure that it’d be enough for me to become a guard.

“I’m sure that if you put your thoughts into it, you’d be able to do it.”

I dismissed the thought as easily as it arrived. 

Looking at the massive clock, still towering above the barracks, I realized that I had only a few minutes left. I turned around and almost left the open air training area I wandered into, when a recognizable voice called out to me.

“Oi, you, Gavro, long time no see. Whatcha doing here? Came to have a match after all?”

The one calling me was none other than the drill master who was responsible for my training years ago. His name was Huco and he was, for the lack of a better explanation, an enlightened musclehead. Enlightened because he tried to raise his understanding of the world through reading. Though it usually wasn’t successful and he ended up devouring books without understanding them, he managed to give nuanced advice to people with various problems from time to time. Most of those were still related to battle and fighting techniques in one way or the other though.

“I’m actually on my way to meet someone, so maybe next time?”

“Then I simply won’t let you leave unless you battle me, prepare to defend!”

Just as that, he unsheathed his longsword and dashed towards me. If I couldn’t react on time, he’d bisect me with ease. There was no choice. Side-step, crouch, dash forward. His blade struck horizontally and missed my hair by a millimeter. If there was one weakness to this man, it’d be that the swings of his longsword were very broad and were easier to dodge if you could somehow keep up with the almost inhuman speed of his blade.

It was time to answer with a strike of my own. I quickly unsheathed my rapier while using the momentum of my dash to prepare a strong piercing attack. Only a fraction of a second passed and I was facing Huco’s back, my rapier already halfway towards his shoulder. Cling, the attack was deflected by a passing longsword slash. Why was this bastard so tough? Wait, no, he got even tougher from when I fought him during my fencing training. 

The battle resumed for about a minute with me trying to get into Huco’s back and sides while he deflected my strikes and attacked with his signature broad swings. A sizable group of spectators formed around us as several chairs, tables and a training dummy fell victim to the onslaught. But something didn’t feel right while fighting him.

“Ok, it’s time to finish this up!”

After these words were uttered, Huco changed his fighting style completely. He started using the superior length of his longsword to deliver fast and powerful pinpoint attacks. The attacks were so fast that I couldn’t read them at all, forcing me to make bigger moves to evade and exhaust my stamina faster. It took but a few moments before I understood that I got myself cornered.

“And here it comes!”

Time froze as I saw Huco’s sword make its way towards my right arm. I couldn’t block it as the attack would cleave right through my rapier. No evasion moves possible from here. The only thing that remained was…

“I’m sorry to ask you again, but take it away for two seconds.”

Next thing I knew, I was standing with one foot on top of a man’s throat. His weapon lay a few meters away. He was smiling.

“Gahahaha, I see now, I see now, so you didn’t forget to train either, hahahaha.”

As if recovering from a stupor, I clumsily removed my foot from the man’s body.

“So, lady Inquisitor, how did you like the lad’s fighting? Isn’t he something else?”

Huh? Lady Inquisitor? No way, did she..?

“His fighting was not bad, but that move at the end made me quite convinced of his abilities. Thank you Huco, you did well. Get yourself treated, that last one broke your sword arm and we need you ready for battle at all times.”

“Guahahaha, don’t worry lass, something like that will heal right away.”

With those words Huco stood up, picked up his longsword with his, allegedly, broken sword arm and walked away while grinning and waving at us as if nothing happened. The Head Inquisitor walked up to me. Looks like she has hid herself in the crowd during the fight and used the chance to watch us. Or rather, she orchestrated the entire situation and got a free fighting demonstration. 

“He was holding back”, I voiced my suspicions as I put my rapier back into its sheath. I understood the weird feeling I had from this fight, everyone was holding back for various reasons.

“I can’t expect you to fight him when he’s going all out. Only a very select few can keep up when he gets serious and there are even less people who can defeat him in that state. But you did fine, so you pass.”

“What would you have done if I didn’t?”

“I’d have probably just walked away after giving a signal to sir Huco, I have little use for people who can’t stand up for themselves in this line of work.”

An uneasy silence descended upon us. Once I brushed some dust off my attire, I asked what we were going to do. The answer was “patrolling”.

“Listen, Gavro, we do a lot of things and have to deal with many people. You might not like the people we work for or with, but it’s ultimately for the Islands as a whole, understand?”

“Yea, understood”, I answered lazily as we walked down one of the many streets of the Upper Layer. The weather wasn’t too bad, but the cold from the morning wasn’t going away either. “I should have brought gloves”, I murmured under my breath.

“Are you even listening? Weren’t you desperate to get my help yesterday?”

“I still am, but what we’ve been doing for over an hour now is just walking through the streets and occasionally checking out food stalls. Then you started giving me a lecture about some unrelated ethical dilemma of working for the Inquisition. Don’t you see why I’d start losing focus?”

Honestly, I didn’t expect the Head Inquisitor to be this laid back. She came off as an almost unapproachable, harsh individual who was oozing professionalism and death. Yes, she wasn’t very talkative, unless it was about work or food. Among all else, food turned out to be her favorite subject. She’d occasionally forget what she was doing to check out some dingy food stall. By the time we walked down the street, she had various fried snacks stuffed in a paper bag which started to look like it could burst at any minute. Just before I could make a comment on it, she conjured a piece of paper from the depths of her coat and handed it to me.

“Since we’re around here anyway, could you go to this address and talk to our informant? That’s your job for today.”

“Right… How do I know who they are though?”

“They’ll find you once you get there, don’t worry about it. In any case, I should take care of these.”, she said as she turned around and walked in the direction we came from while holding the snack sack as if her life depended on it. I took a look at the note. The inken letters on the yellowing piece of paper were written down in an even and accurate handwriting. We stopped very close to the informant’s location, so it’d take only about five or so minutes to get there. Considering that the Head Inquisitor decided to “take care” of the bag of snacks she has been hoarding for pretty much the entirety of our patrol, I had to go there alone.

Two people, one shorter than the other, were talking one of the many alleyways of the Upper Layer:

“What do you think about him?”

“He’s surely hiding something. A normal human would not have been able to escape from that situation.”

“I see, so we were thinking the same thing for once.”

“But we’ve been on the same page for quite a while, haven't we? Even back on the Surface we…”

“Don’t act too familiar, you still have your role to play.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The taller person bowed and started backing away.

“Oh, and one thing”, said the shorter person, “Point him towards the Middle Layer. That’s where everything is supposed to happen.”

While still bowing, the person shook their head slightly in disbelief, disappointment or just  a display of plain tiredness of following orders.

Within a second, the alleyway was devoid of any human presence.

“Hello~, someone in here~?”

I entered what seemed to be an old guesthouse. On the outside, the building didn’t look any different from the other houses in the neighborhood: a two-story stone front with sturdy windows and heavy wooden shutters. On the inside, however, the house turned out to be made entirely out of wood. It was clearly an old building with the stone shell built around it when the land was pulled from its original place to form the Islands. That was probably done out of the concern for fire safety, or at least the safety of the nearby building in case this one burns down. 

The creaking floorboards were made from heavy dark wood, here and there marks of extensive use and moving furniture could be seen. The furniture in question, several simple oak tables, chairs, a bar counter and several cupboards, were riddled with signs of use and were organized in a disorderly fashion across the medium-large main area. Several doors could be seen from the entrance: one probably led into a kitchen, another to the upper floors into the guestrooms. A third door, smaller than the other two, could be seen at the backside of the main area, probably leading to a washroom. 

Despite how used the building looked, it was entirely empty right now, except for one man at the counter. 

“Ah, it’s you. Come here, we’ve been awaiting your arrival.”

The man spoke in a familiar voice, yet I did not recognize him. That is until a smell of fried seafood struck my nose when I came closer to the counter.

“You’re that guy from yesterday’s stall!”

“I guess you remembered me, good, we need people who can remember details. Now, get over here and stop fumbling around.”

His straight posture, elegant gestures and a completely monotone voice didn’t match with the fidgety fish scammer Zogro from yesterday, yet his sharp and attentive gaze was the same. The entire fish encounter, just like the fight this morning, was orchestrated by these people. At this point, I could only wonder how much they planned this through.

As requested, I followed the man through the smallest door, which, to my surprise, led us into a sizable room with a big table and several chairs around it. The table was littered with various papers, paper holders and paperweights. The wooden walls were decorated with intricate designs of forests, beasts and hunters while a huge monster head hung above the chair right across the table. The man sat and gestured to me to do the same.

“The main person isn’t in the office, so we shouldn’t be taking up that space. Anyway, let’s get to the details of why you were sent here.”

Without any introduction, the man started to talk about a situation they’ve been dealing with for weeks. The Islands are riddled with the influence from various underground criminal syndicates, some of which decided, not without being threatened by total extermination, to help the Inquisition keep the relative peace and stability while still being able to do criminal activities targeting the enemies of the Inquisition. One of these syndicates, the Black Hand, has been said to plot some kind of an outrageous assault against the forces of the Islands, so the Inquisition has sent people to investigate. 

The first group of investigators came back without any intel. The second team came back with only half its personnel but no concrete proof that would make the Palace consider Black Hand’s extermination. The third team never made it back.

“We probably made a mistake sending only simple goons at them, but that’s where you two come in. You’ll investigate this matter by infiltrating the premises of one of the Black Hand’s facilities. You’ll work there, gain their trust and uncover what’s going on. Clear?”

“It is clear, but I’m, let us say, unadept in subterfuge. Won’t it be too risky to send me there since it’s my first mission?”

“What you’ll lack in subterfuge, you’ll make up for with your fighting skills. I was informed that you didn’t seem to have a lack of these. As for why we’re sending you there, we have our reasons. It’s not up to you to know that, got it?”

He made it quite clear that I’m not in the position to either probe into it or decline the offer. A piece of information from the Inquisition was revealed to me, which bound me with a chain that was stronger than any metal or magic to its shackles. If I were to refuse here or talk about it, I’ll be removed from the memory of the Islands forever. I had no other choice than to accept the task and receive the place of rendezvous for the next day. 

As I was leaving the old guesthouse behind, I wondered if anything I do right now will bring me closer to the truth Master Hoo spoke of. If so, then how much did the Inquisition know about what I am doing? Thoughts cruised through my mind at high speeds and didn’t leave me even when I made it to the doorstep of my humble abode.

“I’m back”, I said into the dark void of an unlit room.

“Welcome back”, answered the void with a caring voice.