A grey street with trash and framed by grey brick homes with broken windows. The silence here was always unnerving to anyone who did not live here.

  Benoit had grown up here, fighting for food scraps and taking on jobs as a thief. His slim stature as a kid had always made it easy to enter places where one was not allowed to enter. Not that he wasn't slim now that he was 26, but it had been long since he squeezed through the sewer grates of a noble's mansion.

  The capital, Vis Gravis, was only shiny and clean closer to the center of the city. The palace towered over all, with its white marble and gold decor. On the outskirts, the slums were extensive. The emperor's cronies came through every now and then to purge the slums' residents.

  But they refused to get dirty, so the slum residents learned to hide in locations where the soldiers and guards would not enter.

  Benoit was different. He had learned how to hide early and could move in the shadows while feeling no fear. His father, who lived in a quite normal house in the city, had taught him how to. What his father had not taught him, the slums had.

  Benoit was walking along the street, on his way to visit his father's home. No one was on the street, but even if they were, they would not be able to spot Benoit.

  Stealth came as naturally as breathing to him. Tricking fools who did not even know of the art of shadow was simple, and the guards were almost even more so. He had no empathy for the guards and soldiers of the city; in fact, he had killed multiple of them during the years.

  For one to live, another must die. In the slums no laws and no order were present. The only thing every human being wanted was to survive and for their own to survive. So, the guards who took pleasure in hurting and killing others would soon be found in their beds, with their throats cut and a look of true fear on their faces.

  Benoit was secretly proud of killing them. He did not particularly like murdering, but those sadistic guards had entered his "game" as soon as they hurt the slums residents. And the game would only end once either Benoit or the sadistic guards died.

  He used a special knock on his father's door. His father, Louis, was a careful man. If they were ever to fight seriously, Benoit knew he'd be dead the moment the fight started. His father always reminded him of a snake, coiled back and ready to strike at a moment's notice.

  The door opened, and a man with a disheveled look took a glance at him. Louis was old, with grey hair and a beard, and looked as if he could crumble at any point. The only thing that broke this disguise was the eyes. His light blue eyes shone through the disguise, revealing a clever and dangerous man if one were to look carefully.

  He motioned for Benoit to enter, and Benoit followed silently. He had always followed his father's orders and his ways faithfully. Even when he threw Benoit out of the house at the age of seven, he had not doubted his father's orders.

  "Sit down, kid." Louis quietly said, motioning to the dinner table. There were no windows in his father's house; only candlelight illuminated the area around the dinner table.

  "Why have you summoned me?" Benoit asked as he sat down in his chair.

  Louis took out a pipe and ignited it. The smoke made an already subdued atmosphere in the house even more so. Louis seemed to be in his thoughts. When he exhaled another puff of smoke, he cleared his throat and started to speak more than he had ever spoken before.

  "My grandfather, he was a challenger. The god of the unseen summoned him. The emperor and this world's god had destroyed him a long time ago." Louis tapped the pipe on the dinner table and yet again put it to his mouth.

  And then he continued: "But my grandfather was a fool. He fell in love with my grandmother and did not dare risk his life to murder the emperor. He found a way to talk to the God of the Unseen. He performed a ritual."

  Now Louis leaned forward and made eye contact with Benoit for the first time.

  "He and his God bound my grandfather's powers in our blood. He ceased to be a challenger and instead passed it down in line to his child, my father. I, in turn, passed it down to you. All of us failed in the mission to kill the emperor for one simple reason." Louis's face, which rarely showed emotion, was filled with hatred.

  Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

  "My father, your grandfather, tried to assassinate the Emperor. He failed and was bound in his service instead. When I was born, I was bound as well."

  Benoit's thoughts were flashing by at the speed of light. Finally he understood his father's actions. He had lived up to the age of seven without ever leaving the house. His father had trained him, brutally, and made sure he could survive on the streets.

  Finally, he had thrown him out on the streets without any emotion on his face. He thought his father cruel; in fact, he still did, but at least now he understood it was not all because his father hated him.

  Louis chuckled a bit, although no emotion passed on his face or lips.

  "I don't hate you, kid. In fact, I see a lot of myself in you. I simply hate being bound by the Emperor's vile will more than I can explain. In my mission of hate, love simply has no place. You haven't been bound; your existence has not been revealed to the empire yet. And now it is time."

  Louis leaned back and looked as if a weight had been taken off his shoulders.

  "Another challenger arrived in this world. Out west, on the frontier of the forbidden forest. They seemed to have escaped this world and entered the world of savages. So your final mission from me is simple. Follow them, and make sure that they bring a force to kill the Empire. The Emperor can not be killed by assassins; he is too strong when too many people have faith in him."

  Benoit was speechless. He thought his father was insane.

  "Isn't the world of savages dangerous? How can a recently summoned challenger survive there?"

  Benoit did not want to go there. With the information his father revealed, it made more sense to hone his skills and start building a resistance here.

  "Stop thinking, kid. You do not have the charisma to stay here and build a rebellion." Louis said, seemingly reading Benoit's thoughts. "That was my first thought too, but after years of planning, it remains a plan that will only lead to death."

  He tapped the pipe on the table again, emptying the ashes of the pipe into a mug. He then put the pipe away and continued.

  "The challenger this time is... strange. It is not a human or a creature. It seems to be a plant of sorts. Maybe a world tree, maybe something else. No matter what it is, it maintains a territory, much like the Emperor does. Which means he can take over the emperor's territory if he gains a high enough level."

  Benoit recalled the teachings his father had told him over the years, and one reason why the Empire stood the test of time is that Arkhan, the emperor, controlled the ground they lived on. Any faithful among the humans added to his power, and he could use his territorial powers to brutal effect in wars and rebellions.

  Benoit could not find any fault in his father's thinking, but he was still reluctant to leave.

  "I have a few questions I need answers to before I leave." Benoit said quietly.

  "Go ahead, kid; this might be your last chance to ask them, so I don't mind answering." Louis leaned forward again, hearing Benoit's serious tone of voice.

  "Who was my mother? Did you ever love me as your son? And why did you not tell me all these things before today?"

  Louis chuckled, fixing his gaze on the flickering flame of a candle on the wall.

  "Your mother was a whore. I did not love her, but I respected her intellect and matter-of-fact nature. I bought her free from the brothel and had her live with me. She left after giving birth to you, with my blessings, as she was still thought of as a whore and could not move freely around this city. I do not know of where she went, other than it was out west. Her name was Maria, though it may have changed by now."

  Louis tapped his index finger on the table a few times and then sighed as he continued his explanation.

  "You are my son; if I had to choose between a thousand children and you, I'd choose you. Even if you hadn't taken to my teachings as well as you did, the equation would remain the same. However, love is a hurdle in training as an assassin. I also had to hide you and cast you out to make sure you weren't bound the same as me and your grandfather. It would be easier if you hated me."

  Louis finally looked weak; for the first time ever in Benoits eyes, he saw his father's disguise slip. Louis looked disgusted at himself, and in his eyes was an endless sorrow.

  "Just know that you are better than me, both in talent as an assassin and as a man. I... made a lot of wrong choices and do not feel good about them. But the choice to protect you from the Emperor's will was not one of them. You had to be hidden, and you had to be cast out."

  Louis looked down at the table, and Benoit sat back and looked at the candlelight scattering shadows on the wall. They sat in silence for a few minutes, and then Louis continued.

  "Knowing all of this information would only have made you do more drastic things. You are more ambitious than me, and you would've attempted many dangerous missions had you known before now. Sometimes the best course of action is to wait, and that is one thing I am far better at than you."

  Finally Benoit had his answers and understood why his life was the way it was. It took him a few more minutes to organize his thoughts, and then he stood up.

  "Thank you, Father. I will take your mission and go according to your plan. I will come back with an army in time before your death." Louis was 70, but with his level, his lifespan still had decades left on it.

  Louis smiled and managed to raise his head and make eye contact with Benoit. He had never been a man of many words, so he simply said:

  "Thank you, son. I will eagerly await your return, be it with or without an army."