Timeless Prominence

Rein had always thought himself an incredibly well-controlled, calm and analytical person, especially because his father trained him to be so in the face of business dealings.

Now, he was barely restraining himself, his wrath a fiery storm brewing in his chest. After all, he did have his life turned upside down, and the mercenaries’ indiscriminate methods were a major reason for that. With the new teleportation power that was blessed to him by the supposedly fallen true gods, he believed himself fully capable of getting some form of revenge on the mercenaries in front of his eyes, with his very own hands. 

Yes! He was no longer just a desperate and powerless mortal in front of advancers! Things have changed! 

The heat of fury in the pit of his stomach gradually expanded, traveling up to his brain. Rein contemplated his options amidst the rising heat.

With this teleportation ability, he should be able to slither around as a shadow and give all these damn bandits and mercenaries a few good slices to their vulnerable necks. All it would take is one strike and they would not even know their deaths until the sky was upside down. Unfortunately, he had a hammer, so he would not be able to silently dispatch his targets.

There was also the possibility that these mercenaries in front of him might have unnaturally hardy bodies. But, Rein was not overly concerned about this. He knew that mercenaries in the area were likely to be mostly in the mid inner realm in terms of strength, perhaps a rare one might be a tad stronger. A surprised strike should do the trick-- he himself had the strength of a mid-inner advancer!

Inner advancers have yet to truly advance to the point of being impervious to mortal weapons!

As Rein grew increasingly restless, wanting to act out his desire immediately, his eyes grew increasingly bloodshot. However, his memory of Blacksmith Tiehr’s steady voice reverberated in his mind-- he had to be careful with his origin skill. He could not attract any form of attention.

Thus, he controlled his anger and silently observed.

The mercenaries seemed to be whispering to each other, likely as a result of habit when communicating in dark forests. However, they seemed relaxed and unworried in this Black Wolf Forest. One of the mercenaries who had an ugly scar on his right cheek even wantonly laughed aloud.

Rein teleported closer once again, in hopes of catching the mercenary group’s whisperings and mutterings. He knew it would be important to pick up information regarding the group before he acted. 

Then, he would be able to strike when least expected. Although he had little experience, he understood the right approach. In many ways, it was quite similar to approaching business strategy. 

“... the highest paying job I’ve ever had. With the coin earned, I’d be able to live a good five years of my life without trouble with my son, even if the job was distasteful. But as our recruiter told us, many were fallen devils, or possessed by those beings, so perhaps we did some good in our role!” The scarred right cheek man told his companion.

The companion frowned at the scarred right cheek man before berating him in a slightly dissatisfied tone, “I actually had to kill a small child that had no devilish air. Not to mention, we lost quite a few brothers in the mess. That recruiter should rot in the twelve hells! He tricked us into Golden Desert Town!”

“Luckily, we demanded a raise upon the revelation of devils in the town,” a beady-eyed man behind the two chimed in. “As mercenaries, it’s normal for us to lose a few brothers occasionally…”

The mercenaries farther back continued to express their thoughts, unaware that Rein had already begun his plans to ensure that many of them would not see the rising sun.

Rein heard many of the mercenaries’ words, and could barely resist his raging urge with what he heard. He followed the group toward Wolf Syrup Town, consistently maintaining a good distance while staying in the shadows with his origin teleportation skill.

He felt rather enraged-- in his eyes, these damn mercenaries were mocking him with their excuses for their misdeeds! ‘Tricked’ into the Golden Desert Town?! That scarred man had traded his loved ones’ lives for a good five years with his son!

Rein constantly monitored the mercenary group, attempting to find out through the group dynamics if there was an upper inner advancer hidden within them. He knew he had no way to identify the strength of every single individual, but if there was someone much stronger, the others should be bowing their heads to that someone.

As he followed and strategized, he soon came up with a rather foolproof approach. He knew his origin skill could not directly kill, but it would allow him to pop up anywhere his sight rested upon. He also could not attack the current mercenary group-- the members would quickly realize something was wrong. 

Thus, the best method in his mind was to track these mercenaries to their dwellings in Wolf Syrup Town and teleport beside their heads when they were in a state of being unaware of their surroundings...

Rein clenched his fists as he stood on a tree branch, waiting for the slow mercenary group to move a good distance ahead before he teleported once again.There was also a hint of excitement mixed in within his bloodshot eyes as he slowly finalized his methods.

Yes. Mercenaries are known to get drunk when they get paid. In his eyes, these mercenaries would soon become sitting ducks.

Rein and the group of mercenaries soon arrived at the Wolf Syrup Town, situated at the southern edge of Black Wolf Forest. Although close to the edge, the town itself is still within the boundaries of the forest, so the shadow of tall trees could be seen stretching into the dimly-lit town.

Rein did his best to track the dwelling locations of all the mercenaries. A large group simply went into an inn, but a few were actually residents of the Wolf Syrup Town, and went their separate ways to their home, having little interest in celebrating their haul with their companions.

He could not help but panic. There was no way he could track all these few individuals to multiple locations in the Wolf Syrup Town, unless he could split his body and follow multiple targets.

Rein quickly calmed his mind again-- whatever calm was possible within his resentful mind. He would have to accept losing track of a few individuals.  A large group had already traveled to the inn, and they were likely going to get drunk like a skunk. Culling their heads should not be too difficult.

Aside from those mercenaries, he would be able to follow one individual of the Wolf Syrup Town. In Rein’s eyes, this was a good enough ‘debut’ of his goals on entering the world of advancers.

Rein chose to follow the beady-eyed man, teleporting from roof-top to roof-top in a similar fashion to his escape out of the Golden Desert Town. The beady-eyed man actually seemed to sense he was being followed, because he turned to look around quite a few times. It was also entirely possible that he feared someone wanted to rob him of his five years worth of living expenses rewarded from the mission.

Regardless, the beady-eyed man did not think to look up at the roofs. He eventually reached a small thatched hut. Upon entering the hut, the beady-eyed man saw his wife, an average-looking woman in a beige rough peasant garb.

The beady-eyed man looked lovingly at his wife. Perhaps she might be average-looking in town, but her smile was lovely, and this smile was what welcomed him home every time he went out on a mercenary task, from which he was not always certain he could return from. After all, many of his colleagues from the same line of work were now just bones beneath the ground.

Tonight’s task was the most horrific one he had ever been a part of, and this only made his wife’s smile all the more lovely. This was why he had chosen not to celebrate his reward with the other mercenaries. The beady-eyed man gave his wife a tight hug and a kiss, before moving to a bathing area, which already had a tub of water prepared.

His wife had long developed a habit of preparing two tubs of water late at night for her beady-eyed husband to wash off the blood, grit and grime that he often brought back from his missions.

The beady-eyed man stripped, before opening the lid and jumping into the tub of cool water. He let out a comfortable sigh. Taking a cool water bath may not be what the well-off in Minhr Nation would call luxurious, but for the beady-eyed man and his wife, this was the only affordable option.

It would be a waste to use firewood to warm up the water-- that firewood could be used to increase the family wealth further in case they had a child in the future, especially with the uncertainty of a mercenary’s life.

The beady-eyed man allowed his head to rest on the edge of the tub, and closed his eyes in relaxation. He always found that this action helped clear his mind, especially because his mercenary tasks were sometimes unsavory, such as the one tonight.

He decided that he should start cleaning his body, especially because his wife had been waiting throughout the day for him to return. As he opened his eyes, all he saw was a shadow of a huge hammer before his vision went dark.

Rein looked downwards at the smashed skull and splattered blood, and stated resentfully, “My previous life disappeared because of you. What makes you think you could just live a happy married life? Your wife can only blame herself for loving a man like you.”

The beady-eyed man’s forehead had completely caved in, and his brain matter leaked out along with the blood. Some slid out of a gap in the shattered skull and fell to the ground with a plop. The man’s wife would only assume that he had lost his footing and splashed some water around…

Rein rested his hammer against his shoulder, then with a flick of his sleeves, Rein turned to face a window, and as his hands formed a circle, he disappeared into a single black point. He did not wish to stay any longer, in case the wife noticed something amiss.

That was incredibly easy-- almost too easy. The beady-eyed man had his eyes closed relaxing in a tub. It would be far more difficult If Rein could not teleport in and out in a few breaths, and had to enter through the door and walk up into the bathing area. That would have taken much longer, and any noise might have alerted that man. That wider range of time would also make it entirely possible for unexpected situations to occur as well… such as the man suddenly calling his wife to help out with something...

Rein breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was in a state of bloodlust, underneath, he was certainly nervous as well.  He further understood why Blacksmith Tiehr called origin skills heaven-defying. To his knowledge, there weren’t many magics that an inner advancer could use. An inner advancer’s magic was still very much locked within the body. That was why inner advancers were still considered ‘of mortal’. His origin skill seemed to not follow these sorts of rules…

He now set his sights to the large group of mercenaries. With just a single teleport, Rein traveled onto the roof of the inn. Without smoke obscuring his vision, the case in Golden Desert Town, Rein could now easily teleport as far as he could see, and the inn in the quiet town was bright beyond comparison. If he wanted to leave Wolf Syrup Town, he could also easily teleport to one of the trees outside the town, clearly visible above the town walls.

Rein took a deep breath to calm his nerves. One down, but there were so many more… just so many more! 

He originally thought that after he smashed that beady-eyed man’s skull, he would feel a bit of satisfaction, but right now, he only felt a bottomless rage. Rein convinced himself this was normal as his hands itched to move onto his next target. He had lost everything, so how could one man’s death be satisfactory?

He quickly teleported again to a building to the side of the inn in order to observe the current situation of the mercenaries. Looking in through the window, he noticed the mercenaries drinking white wine from large pots, no doubt, something they could afford with their pay for tonight’s job. A few had already blacked out from drinking too much, the few still standing appeared to be on their last legs as well.

Rein sat down with a crooked smile. He felt slightly impatient, worried that the beady-eyed man’s wife would soon find out what had happened to her husband and alert the whole town. Yet at the same time, his enemies were delivering themselves to his doorstep. Drunk men would not wake even if the earth cracked open and the sky fell. This was the perfect situation for him.