START OF ARC 2

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

ARC 2 PREFACE:

HEY BOIS, WE’RE GETTING INTO ARC 2 WHICH IS A LONGER ARC! BEFORE WE GET INTO I WANNA PREFACE 2 THINGS! 1ST THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS FAR AND I HOPE YOU’RE ENJOYING THE STORY! 2ND, AND MOST IMPORTANT. [GROWTH]. THIS IS A STORY ABOUT AN EVIL MC, DON’T FORGET THAT. HOWEVER, DESPITE THAT, THIS ARC BUILDS TOWARDS THAT SO IN CASE HE’S NOT EXTRA “VILLANOUS” IN THIS ARC THAT IS WHY AS IT’S BUILDING IT UP FOR THE FALL. I WON’T SAY MORE TO PREVENT SPOILERS, BUTT YEE THANKS AGAIN FOR READING BOIS AND ENJOY! 

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[Chapter 12:]

WOOOOSH!!!

A flash of light so bright it was nearly blinding flooded Crow's vision, and a feeling of nausea overtook him.

Yet, as the light dimmed, and he regained his bearings, he found himself in an alleyway.

'I'm... really here?' He looked around, piles of trash were littered around, and the smell of something so vile that words wouldn't do justice, assaulted his senses.

"Ughh!" Crow quickly got to his feet and dusted his cloak off, before briskly walking through the alleyway, his hands beneath his cloak, secretly gripping his dagger he took from the grey Slin.

'Raz said to find N0r, which granted she owns the Chapel, shouldn't be too difficult, but...'

An uneasy shiver unconsciously tingled throughout his body, 'The way he acted... Everyone has their secrets?... Don't reveal my true identity?... Does he know I'm not from this world?'

He gazed up at the smoggy sky as he walked through the alleyway, the multicolored orbs concealed by this city's gunk. 'Then why do so much to help me?'

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[10 minutes later...]

Crow finally made it out of the alleyway. 'Damn, this place is a maze,' he muttered to himself, now taking a proper glance at his surroundings.

It was still night, so many shops were closed, with the light in homes being turned off as well.

'Seems about right,' he thought to himself, 'How am I gonna find someone to give me directions though?'

Suddenly, a voice came up behind him,

"Hey, you! You must be new here, waltzin' through the Rattler territory."

Crow's eyes widened, turning to reveal a man wearing a cloak similar to the one Crow was donning.

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[NPC 1]

[Race: Human]

[Occupation/ Class: Low Level Thug]

[Realm: 1]

[Stage: 1]

[Source: None]

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Glancing at the stats and then at this man, a malicious smile arose on the boy's face.

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[20 Minutes Later, within the alleyway...]

"A-and she has a student that goes out every few days in the evening. Pl-please, that's all I know, I swear!"

A man was on his knees, being held up by the hair, his left ear was cut clean off, and his achilles tendon was severed with more lacerations traced throughout his entire body.

Crow gazed at the pathetic man begging in front of him.

The man had pale skin and long hair, with any other distinguishing features being hard to make out in the darkness of the night, not that it mattered anyway.

Crow calmly smiled as he spoke to the man, "I always keep my word, you've told me everything, so I'll keep my end of the-"

SHUUUK!

Without warning, Crow sliced the man's neck before turning and walking away as the black boxes did their thing, ignoring the sounds of the man's choked wails.

His mind was racing as he continued forward, 'Okay, so the city is divided into 3 Sectors, with each Sector, the level of air quality, wealth, and even strength typically goes up.'

He glanced around the area, 'Explains why this place is like this and why he was so weak.'

He furrowed his eyes, 'N0r and the Chapel are located in what's called Sector 3, while I'm in Sector 1, and the only way to get into a higher Sector is by having someone from Sector 3 bring you or "qualifications."'

He rubbed his eyes with his fingers while letting out an exasperated breath, 'Qualifications that aren't publicly revealed.'

Then, as if remembering something, a smile arose on his face, 'How could I forget N0r's student?'

He nodded his head as he praised, 'Though the "Rattlers" or whatever the gang is called hires weaklings like that guy, I have to admit their reconnaissance work is top tier.'

He stroked his chin as he made his way out of an alley before starting to climb onto the roof of a 1-story shop.

'That girl apparently frequently visits Sector 2 to run errands for her teacher. That will be perfect! Sector 3's defense is way too tight, but if I can find that girl and convince her, then I'm sure I'll be fine.'

Crow sat atop the roof as he stared in the direction of the walls where Sector 2 was. 'The only question is the matter of getting into Sector 2.'

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[Early Morning the Next Day...]

10 guards stationed in silver colored armor were stationed in front of the Sector 2 Gate as the sound of horse feet clicking against the ground rang out.

"Halt!" the guard at the forefront called out to an approaching caravan.

A pudgy man who sat at the helm of the caravan let out a friendly smile, "Oh, hey Marco, wonderful day, isn't it?"

The guard gave a polite smile as he replied, "Indeed, Mr. Smith. Just a routine check-up, if you don't mind."

"Oh, not at all, please be my guest." The pudgy man smiled while staying seated.

5 guards approached, checking underneath and throughout the caravan before opening the back of the sheets.

A guard raised an eyebrow upon seeing the contents of the caravan, "Who's this?"

The pudgy man, whilst still keeping his smile on his face, looked back, "Oh, him? I found a great deal from inside Section 1 and had to get him, hehe."

The guard, hearing this, couldn't help but frown in disgust.

The boy in front of him had a blank stare devoid of any life, 'Tsk, poor kid, but it's above my pay grade.'

The guards all came back in front of the gate, as the main guard called out, "Alright, all clear, let him through."

"Thank you, have a fantastic day, Marco!" The pudgy man smiled with a wide grin.

Yet now the guard could barely look at him, "Y-yes."

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[30 minutes later...]

As the caravan moved through the city, the sound of footsteps and people's lively conversation came to the ear, making the pudgy man smile, not a wide, fake smile like he did with those guards, a genuine smile.

Yet this enthusiasm was doused by the voice behind him, 'How far?'

"U-Um, only 2 minutes away, sir," the pudgy man quickly responded, sweat dripping down his back.

The source of this voice was, of course, Crow, who simply nodded before thinking about his next steps.

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[Moments Later...]

The caravan finally arrived, stopping at a store that was rundown compared to the other well-put-together shops in the area.

Crow exited the carriage, glancing up at the run-down building, 'Figures.'

The merchant's desperation allowed Crow to get this far; he didn't even have to resort to threats, but with the chubby man's business failing mainly because of the lack of a powerful backer, other businesses were able to take away his business territory, so after coming across Crow, the pudgy man took a chance.

He was out in Section 1 trying to make an underhanded deal with a group of Rattler gang members when Crow interrupted it by killing everyone except him.

Seeing his strength, the man knew he had found his opportunity to return his business to its former glory.

The pudgy man rubbed his hands as ideas formed through his mind, 'Now if I could just show him the benefits of staying with me-' he turned to see that the boy was gone.

"WHAT?!?"

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[In Another Part of the Market...]

'Now where to go now.'

Crow was walking down the bustling market, past lines of fresh produce and merchandise, all proudly showcased behind the counters of vendors showing their wares.

Crow chuckled to himself as he thought of the chubby merchant who took him here, 'Obviously, nothing in the world is free, but who says I really need to help someone with no backing? And since he smuggled me in, I doubt he'd have the balls to snitch.'

He continued to surveye the area as he walked.

It was crowded and lively, with it now being midday.

A smile lingered on Crow's lips as he walked, enjoying the pleasant atmosphere until he stopped in his tracks, an epiphany going off in his mind, 'Wait a minute... I don't even know what this girl looks like...'

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"Fuk."

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[1 Hour Later...]

Crow sat perched atop a 2-story building surveying the area, "Christ sake, how the hell do I forget somethin' so basic?"

Even after all this time, he was still beating himself up over not finding out that information.

In the past hour, Crow had surveyed the area in search of any notable figure.

He had gotten closer to Section 3 to discover that the security was indeed much tighter, with each of the guards giving Crow a tingling sensation just by looking at them.

So he decided to do what he could.

He waited.

'Sigh, I hope I'm not here too long.'

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[Another Hour Later...]

Crow sat atop the same roof of the building from afar.

His eyes were starting to feel heavy, and his back and ass ached from the roof's sturdy exterior.

'Fuk, a few Z's won't kill me, right?' Yet as he thought that, his eyebrows raised, and clarity swiftly returned to his eyes as he saw someone exiting out of the Sector 3 gate, best of all, it was a girl dressed in a white robe adorned in green patterns!

He couldn't make out much more of her features from this distance of about 25meters (82ft), but a girl leaving Section 3 pretty heavily narrowed down his targets.

Crow leapt up onto his feet, his ass quivering in relief of it no longer having to rest upon this uneven jagged surface, 'Yeh, me too, buddy.' he groaned as he patted his glutes.

He then swiftly descended while doing his best to keep track of this girl.

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[Meanwhile... in another part of Sector 2]

"Hmph", a confident harrumph sounded from a girl's mouth as she strolled down the street, each person who saw her making way as they knew best to.

She had bronze skin and long silver hair tied in a ponytail that glistened in the skylight as it draped down her upper back, matching her bright silver eyes.

She recalled the supplies her Master requested, making various stops, where people all respectfully lowered their heads and gave the goods for a steep discount if not outright free, while lobbing out compliments.

This put a smile on the her face as she continued with tasks.

Finally, after only around 30minutes, the task for today was done and the girl began making her way back to the gate with her brown satchel in hand.

Yet, at that time, a voice called out, "Yo, wait up!"

Question marks went off in the girl's mind, yet she closed her eyes and calmed her anger before turning around to confront this person calling upon her.

She turned to see a young boy who looked to be around her age with caramel skin and black twisted hair.

He gave a smile that looked like it was meant to be innocent, yet looked anything but.

"Yo!" The boy said as he waved his hand and made his way over.

The girl looked at him with slight confusion and disgust; his face and clothes were still caked in dust, and his rather familiar attitude didn't sit right with her when she was almost certain she had never met this person before.

Yet, the boy spoke once more, "I'm Crow. My Sensei, Raz, told me to find N0r, and I'm guessing you're her student? I'll follow you back."

The girl's eyes widened, 'Teacher did mention something like this and did say that he would be about my age...'

She gave the boy, this "Crow" a suspicious glance as he just looked her at with the same slight smirk.

Finally, she sighed, 'Not like he'd be able to just know all the details without actually being who he said, unless...'

A look of fear struck her across her face, 'He was kidnapped and replaced...'

Yet, suddenly a realization dawned upon her, 'Wait a minute, Teacher is the strongest ever, if he's lying she'll just make him go POOF!"

"Hahahahahahahaha!" The girl started walking back to the gate as she laughed out loud while holding her stomach, causing onlookers to gawk at her with confused looks.

Meanwhile, Crow followed behind with even steps and his slight smirk never leaving his face.

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[Meanwhile, In Section 1...]

Trash littered the alleyways, with rats scurrying about.

The alleyways were like a maze with strange twists and turns that didn't even come close to resembling any habitable land.

Along the alleyways were houses made of scraps, sticks, and any junk that could be salvaged for the cover from nature.

Yet, within this entire Sector, few buildings actually resembled anything remotely close to an establishment or home.

However, 1 building did, and was located not too far from where Crow had teleported into.

It was a 4 story building that looked like a castle of gray wood. 

With gates all around, it stood out from this wasteland, keeping the pests and people out.

Within the top floor of this building sat a group of men around a circular table.

The table had the logo of a side profile of a rat with its front legs of a rodent and the back end of a snake wrapping around to eat itself.

Discussions and talks were going on, and the room was cloudy with cigars being puffed up by the numerous users seated around.

Finally, the discussion came around to a topic of note: "Boss, one of our low-level members has gone missing."

The "boss" they were referring to was concealed by the thick layers of smoke and shadows, his upper half wearing a red fur coat over his all white suit.

"Oh?" the boss responded, "Any signs of struggle or hints where the body is?"

"None at all.", the gang member responded as he shifted through some papers in his hand. "And to make things stranger, some of our boys who were supposed to meet with a merchant for a deal today went missing in a similar way."

The room was quiet, all but the sound of the exhales of smoke, before the boss spoke up once more, "Hmm, where is this merchant?"

The underling replied, "We've got word he's already back in Section 2."

The boss's eyes glinted with a red light, "Hmm... have some of our boys reach out to 'im, let 'em rough 'im up if they 'ave to."

The underling gave a coy smile with a bow, "No problems, boss. That fatty merchant has always known his place."

The boss only nodded to this as he looked to his side and stared out the window, the gates to Section 2 alit with torches, "Hmm."

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