Adam had been journeying through the thick woods for the last two days and had been completely uneventful for him.
Now, he found himself in the western region of the starborne empire, renowned for its deep canyons. He held a peculiar black compass-like device in his hand.
Upon reaching a canyon with average depth compared to others, he looked down from one of its steep edges and confirmed his location using the enchanted compass.
He leaped down, free-falling into the chasm until he stopped a certain distance above the ground. Pulling out a two-sided key from his ring, he placed it on the back of the compass and infused it with his mana.
The compass began to emit a specific frequency before a small fissure opened right in front of him. Adam ceased supplying energy to the enchanted object and utilized his own mana to enlarge the crack before stepping through it.
As he entered the rift, a new realm unfolded before him, revealing a sky filled with swirling red and black shapes.
The area within was somewhat limited, roughly the size of a small town, dominated by a single colossal black tower standing amidst the space. Adam glanced around briefly before soaring toward the entrance of the black tower.
'I still can't believe that old bastard managed to acquire this sub-dimensional pocket space, and even a sufficiently powerful spatial anchor artifact to keep it stable?'
Sub-dimensional pocket spaces, often referred to as Fractured spaces due to their disconnection from the original world, are known to be unstable; most such spaces are plagued by chaotic energies and occasional space storms from the inner domain.
Spatial anchors are artifacts that stabilize these small regions, allowing all those permitted by the artifact's master to traverse the fractured space and offering protection from the chaotic energies that pervade that dimension.
A transcended Eonix resonator can maybe open artificial fractured spaces, but they are usually much smaller.
The ground in this fractured space was a dark red hue and noticeably warmer, suggesting that this fragment of the world originated from a volcanic environment.
Arriving at the entrance, Adam retrieved the compass and pressed the single button located at the top; the upper part of the compass lifted, revealing another compartment beneath it imprinted with a rune. He placed the compass on the scanner at the entrance, prompting the gate to open.
Adam stepped into the tower, first reporting to the reception and submitting a detailed report he had composed during his journey back.
He attracted some glances from other members of this small organization, with a few laughing and snickering at him.
Once he completed his report, he scoffed at the group and returned to his room. Taking a seat, Adam simply stared at the wall, lost in thought.
After a while, he recalled why he had joined this group of elite assassins who were merely disposable pawns for the one who funded them.
He was the sole heir of a viscount family located in the central city of the starborne empire; his father had many dealings with the black market and was entangled in political struggles amid various factional princes.
Despite his dirty hands, he made an effort to be a devoted father to his only family, showcasing his talent in his lineage as he resonated with enoix and advanced in ranks much quicker than the average person.
By his late twenties, he had attained A-rank, and life was treating him well until his father disappeared without a trace.
The abruptness of it shattered him and his mother, leaving them in disbelief for days as there were no clues or indications.
Their last memory of him was in his office, and that very night, he was gone. It took only a day for them to grasp the situation, prompting Adam to take on the responsibility of investigating his father's disappearance.
Years later, he received a lead from an information broker, suggesting that his father might have been involved with an assassin group that had been operating under the radar for years.
Adam learned about the group and even met a high-ranking member who permitted him to join. He made it a point to remain discreet and diligently complete his missions.
Eventually, he climbed to a significant position within this organization and had the chance to meet the individual who orchestrated and supported them, though that person communicated with him and others in an anonymous manner.
The time he dedicated to his investigation while being part of this group seemed to yield little reward as he uncovered scant information.
Two years ago, the individual behind the assassin group reached out personally and assigned him a mission that offered a reward of information regarding his father.
Initially, he was skeptical about this — how they had discovered his quest for information and why they approached him now. On the same day, he was informed that his father had once been part of this organization but would need to earn any further details himself.
With about two thousand members, it was rather ironic that the group was called Thousand Shades, despite surpassing that number.
A strange observation he made was that many members appeared somewhat brainwashed—he had even killed another member once while on a mission. He detected a faint mana presence of an umbra resonator, which he was relieved he hadn't tried to engage with, as it was connected to the brain of that member.
Umbra resonators possess control over shadows, illusions, and dark elements, the illusion aspect allowing for a high-level influence over someone's mind.
He was eager to investigate further but realized that continuing to eliminate any more brainwashed members would inevitably lead to his exposure.
The mission assigned by the anonymous figure was to go undercover in Stellar City for the next two years and to follow orders as they were given.
After nearly a year of living undercover in Stellar, he received only a handful of directives, including planting spies in the Nightryn family and corrupting the eldest daughter of that family. He was provided with an enchanted item and several other tools to assist him in corrupting a person's core.
He accomplished what was needed, leading to a successful mission as his target was corrupted and disappeared, likely killed by the Ethereon people, he deduced.
After nearly a year on his previous assignment, he received another order to do the same for the family's only remaining son.
There were many times he felt the urge to question why, but he was interrupted and instructed to continue with his tasks, or else he wouldn't obtain what he desired.
The constant guilt gnawed at him always even after taking many lives on many of his previous missions, but it was either his family or other's family and he would always prioritize his own.
Through the use of the spies he had placed, he was able to gradually corrupt the young boy's mana core or he thought so by the information he got from the spies, as months went by there was no indication of any corruption in him.
For the next six months, he consistently encountered failures, just a few days ago he had come close to succeeding, but that too ended in failure.
Now, after two years undercover, he had achieved nothing.
*knock* *knock*
He was jolted back to reality by a knock on his door, but when he answered, he recognized the caller, he was one of those brainwashed members.
Due to their lifeless, eyes lacking the spark and uniform mana flow, he was able to tell them apart from other ordinary members.
He merely gave me a few documents, exited from his door and the entire time he didn't utter a single word, glancing at what he had given me.
"They are really fast in stuff like this", His punishment was listed on them, and he was demoted to a lower level in addition to the assignments he had to carry out in order to pay back the loss from his previous mission by himself.
All of the missions he was assigned were related to exploring fractured spaces or similar to them, finding one was already a very difficult and they want him to explore them.
'Might as well ask me to kill myself right now, fucking assholes'
Entering the room again, Adam felt an overwhelming urge to smash his desk and everything on it.
He hurled whatever he could find in an effort to express his pent-up emotions- the years he had wasted made him realize that joining the disposable pawn of group was a grave mistake of his.
It took him a significant amount of time to regain his composure before he reached out to his mother to ensure her safety, and he assured her that he was okay.
Once the call ended, Adam gazed at the cracked mirror, his reflection splintered like his resolve.
A manic grin twisted his lips, eyes narrowing with feral glee as he erupted into wild laughter.
"If you want me to die, then so be it!".