"Wh-what do you mean?" Kree stammered, the light in his eyes quickly fading as he realized he wasn't just going to be let go like he'd hoped.

"I just marked you with one of my skills," Asher explained, stepping back and staring down at the man still on his knees. "No matter where you hide, or how far you run, I will find you. Think of it as insurance that you'll actually listen to what I tell you to do after I drop the barrier keeping you trapped here. Can't have you running off to tell Cinder about me after all. And I promise you, if you think she can protect you, you are very much mistaken. Carston asked who I was?"

Asher threw up his hands to either side, flinging back his cloak and summoning a gleaming dagger into each hand from his Personal Rift as he aimed his best deadly grin down at the trembling thief. "I'm the one that killed Loratta. I'm, The Reaper."

Actually saying it out loud almost caused him physical pain, but he figured scaring the hell out of Kree was probably the quickest way to go about this. And based on the thief's reaction, he was right.

Kree stared up at him in shock, his mouth seeming to try and move, but his brain not quite keeping up. After a moment, he swallowed hard and tried again, his eyes darting back and forth between the daggers that had appeared out of thin air. "What do you want from me?"

"For now? I just want you to follow along behind me," Asher explained, letting his daggers vanish once more and catching Kree's wide eyes as they did so. "Someone tried to assassinate me the other day, and I'm here to return the favor. Until I get a better sense of who it might have been, I'm keeping a low profile."

Kree's eyes glanced past him to the corpses of the two dead thugs on the ground, and he seemed to want to say something before he thought better of it. Sighing, Asher rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I realize this isn't exactly a great start to that plan. In hindsight, I probably should have just slipped away and left you three standing here scratching your heads. But I couldn't help myself after feeling how thick with death their auras were."

"Our auras?" Kree asked, before panicking and all but clamping a hand over his mouth. Glancing up at him, the thief seemed surprised that Asher didn't seem even mildly annoyed at the question.

My god, what kind of life has this guy lived up until now?

"Maybe I'll tell you about it later," Asher said, waving off the question. "For now, I want to get moving. I know you don't exactly have a say in all this, but know that I'd rather not see you as a prisoner. This isn't exactly the first time I've done this, so I guess I'd be happy to offer you the same deal I did him. I'll pay you a hundred shards a day if you stick with me and don't try and run away."

"A hundred shards a day?!" Kree gasped, before immediately clamping a hand over his mouth once more, as if afraid Asher would rescind his offer.

"That's the offer," Asher nodded, realizing that was probably an obscene amount of money to a street rat like Kree. He'd learned previously that a hundred shards a day was a fair wage for a regular member of the city, if a little bit on the lower side. But for someone who grew up without even a real name, stealing to get by, it must have sounded like a fortune to the young thief. "Interested? Once I finish what I came here to do and don't have to keep a low profile anymore, you're free to run off and do your own thing if you want."

Kree nodded vigorously, the hunger clear in his eyes as he realized he may have actually stumbled upon an opportunity rather than his own death. But after a moment, he hesitated, looking equal parts terrified and determined. Letting his hand fall from his mouth, he took a deep breath, before staring at Asher right in the face.

"I'll do just about anything for that kind of shard… But I won't kill anyone," he said, his normally wavering voice strong with resolve for once. "I told Cinder the same thing, and while she laughed and said I'd be singing a different tune in time, my mind hasn't changed. I don't want to kill."

"Good for you," Asher grinned, enjoying the look of surprise Kree gave him as he took the man's one demand in stride. "That won't be a problem. If I think someone deserves to die, I've got no problem handling it myself. Anything else?"

"No… No, that's it," Kree said, still looking shocked that he hadn't been struck down after making his demand.

"Great! In that case, this is for today before I forget." Asher summoned a hundred shards into his hand, tossing the tiny orb over to Kree and nodding as the thief eagerly absorbed it into his own body. "Now follow me. Before the three of you stopped me, I was on my way to find someone."

At this point, Kree had already seen Asher's Personal Rift in action, so Asher didn't bother hiding anything as he touched the two dead thugs and placed their corpses into his Personal Rift. He wasn't exactly a huge fan of storing dead bodies in his own little pocket dimension, but it was better than letting someone stumble upon them. Hopefully, by the time Cinder realized they were missing, he'd have finished dealing with whoever tried to kill him.

Kree didn't say a word as Asher made the bodies vanish, and the man quickly followed behind him as Asher dismissed his Spatial Lock and continued down the alleyway. Now that he had a moment to breathe, he glanced down at the notifications he'd received during the brief fight.

Spatial Lock - Lvl 8

Judgement - Lvl 5

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Personal Rift - Lvl 17

Not bad for like five seconds of actual fighting, Asher decided, dismissing the notifications. He had a feeling leveling up his already evolved skills was going to be particularly time consuming at this point, so he was happy to see some of his lower skills ranking up. Spatial Lock in particular was going to be a pain, so he'd have to remember to start using that one at the beginning of fights more frequently.

The two of them walked in silence for a while, Asher leading the way through the maze-like backstreets of the second ring as he followed his Incorporated map toward Draken's manor. In fact, it seemed he wasn't the only one who knew where they were heading, as after quietly following behind him for a few minutes, Kree finally spoke up.

"Uh, Reaper… Sir… Not to question you or anything, but we're about to head into Draken's territory."

"Yep," Asher nodded, happy to hear he was going the right direction. "We're going to his main base, specifically. I have a few questions for him."

Asher heard what sounded like Kree tripping over his own feet, and the thief quickly began stammering again.

"His h-house? You can't just walk into Draken's house uninvited! He'll k-kill us!"

"Draken's not nearly as terrifying as he tries to make everyone think he is," Asher said, shaking his head as he stepped over an unconscious drunkard, careful to avoid the pool of vomit beside him. "It's a clever façade he's established to limit how often he has to get his hands dirty. Tell me, have you ever spoken with the man?"

"No! Of course not!" Kree gasped, as if even the thought might get him killed.

"Well, I have," Asher shrugged. "Trust me, he's not going to kill you unless you do something to deserve it. Do you go around stabbing children for fun?"

"What? No!" Kree all but shouted, the question seeming to snap him out of his own internal fears of Draken.

"Then you'll be fine," Asher grinned, pleased to see Kree at least had a little bit of a backbone when it came to his personal code.

It was kinda funny that a thief of all people held himself to such an unwavering standard, but Asher was glad to see it nonetheless.

It certainly made him feel more comfortable turning his back on the young man.

It wasn't long before they finally entered Draken's territory, and only a few minutes later, they stumbled upon some of his men. Asher prepared himself for a repeat of the situation with Cinder's goons, but the members of Draken's gang quickly proved that they understood how the game was played.

The tall, heavyset man missing an eye and looking like he ate nails for breakfast took one look at Asher hidden under his cloak and raised his hands in a nonthreatening manner, motioning for the three people behind him to stay calm. Asher didn't recognize him, and a quick use of Identify showed that he only had his origin element and thus wasn't an elite, but he certainly looked the part.

"Who are you running with, and what business do you have in Draken's turf?" the man asked carefully, his eyes flicking to the far more uncomfortable looking Kree doing his best to hide behind Asher's frame.

"I'm not with any of the gangs, but I've worked with Draken in the past," Asher decided to say. It was always better to stick to the truth when he didn't know who had the ability to tell he was lying. "I'm looking for someone, and I'm pretty certain Draken knows where he is. I don't want any trouble."

That seemed to satisfy the thug, as he motioned for the three people behind him to continue on their patrol route. Unlike most of the other gangs, Draken's men actually worked to keep the peace in his portion of the city. They still stole and got their hands dirty of course, but their illicit activities were conducted solely in the upper rings, where people were far more affluent.

It was a hell of a lot more dangerous, but Asher bet the payoff was far more impressive as well.

"In that case, follow me," the thug grunted, keeping them in his peripherals as he led them back to Draken's base. Asher was content to walk silently behind him, but he could practically feel the sheer terror flowing from Kree as the thief stuck so close to him he might very well have been trying to hide within his shadow.

"Kree, calm down," Asher whispered, causing the man to jump. "I told you, everything's going to be fine."

"That's easy for you to say!" Kree hissed back, seeming to forget his fear of Asher for a moment as they neared Draken's manor. "You can vanish and kill people without even getting close to them! I'm only good at hiding, and from what I've heard, that won't do me any good against Draken's Death element!"

"No, it won't," Asher nodded, ignoring the squeak that came from Kree. "Which is why I'd recommend not using your skill, even if you get scared. I promise you, Draken's not the kind of man to kill for no reason. You'll be fine so long as you stay calm, alright?"

Kree gave him a shaky nod, and Asher decided that was good enough as he turned his focus back toward where they were heading. As promised, the thug led them right up to the door of the manor, before handing them over to a deadly-looking woman with a giant mace balanced on one shoulder. She was clearly one of Draken's elites, and Asher actually recognized her from the coalition, but he couldn't remember her name or anything about her. The elite listened to the thug explain the situation for a moment before nodding and leading them inside.

"Draken is a bit busy at the moment, but I'll let him know you want to talk to him," she said, giving Asher a curious look. Clearly, she had some suspicions as to who he was, but his cloak hid most of his features from sight. "You can sit here for now," she told them, gesturing to a soft looking bench.

Despite looking like any other rundown building on the outside, the interior of Draken's base was that of a noble's manor. Beautiful pieces of art covered the walls, and comfortable, cushioned furniture that looked like it had no place in the second ring lined the hallways. Asher knew from first-hand experience that Draken himself walked around in an exquisite suit as well, as though he were a rich businessman. Kree seemed more than happy to plop down on one of the benches, even forgetting about his fear of death for a moment as he investigated the lush cushions.

But Asher didn't really feel like waiting.

"Sorry, but I'm in something of a rush," he admitted, preparing himself for what came next. "Don't worry, I'll let Draken know I'm here myself."

Taking a deep breath, Asher imagined Draken had been the one to send him that blue powder. That Draken had been the one that might have ended up killing Samantha and Brian by accident. He pictured the two of them curiously finding and opening the parcel on their own, dying almost instantly in the attack that had been meant for him.

He imagined plunging his daggers into Draken's eyes, killing the man for what he had done.

Immediately, one of the hall doors flung open, and the normally eloquent Draken all but leapt out, his eyes hunting for the source of killing intent. Despite his best efforts to look calm and collected, there was clear confusion on his face as to why someone wanted to kill him so badly all of a sudden. The moment Draken's eyes landed on him, Asher pulled his hood back a fraction, revealing his face to the startled noble as he smiled and stopped imagining killing the man.

"Hey there, Draken," he grinned, motioning for Kree to follow him as he strode up to the most dangerous man in the entire city, who was capable of killing just about anyone with a single thought. "How have you been?"

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