The Way of the Future: Age of Machines(Completed)

The Highest Price

Theodore was walking through the busy commercial district of the capital. Many people flocked the cobblestone streets buying from stalls and shops which sold basic necessities to luxurious magical items. He was wearing his casual wear of a blue-laced leather shirt and pants. He also wore a brown leather coat which hid his short sword from outside view.

The day was cool. The storm that came last night had just left, leaving puddles and a drenched capital in its wake. Theodore's golden hair danced with every step he takes. His handsomeness attracted gazes from many who came across him. It was a widespread knowledge in Atira that he was the best student under the Great Warrior, a handsome and talented young man who may even become the next Great Warrior of the kingdom.

But behind his shining public character was a scheming trickster, an informant of the highest efficiency in gaining information from anywhere he wants and outmost loyalty to Izrael. He was on a mission. To form a suicide squad who'll try and infiltrate the Eastern Fortress City. As he walked through the district, he began to notice peculiar eyes fixed on him and his movements. These gazes followed him unlike those of simple folk.

He then turned towards a tight alleyway between a restaurant and a bar. He walked through the smelly passage and kept his attention at max. Using his Inner Magic to increase his senses, he noticed a group of men following him from behind. The men just behind him but his enhanced senses could not make out their appearance. They appeared like shadowy figures against the dark walls.

"What an annoyance." Theodore was rather annoyed than threatened, he was used to being followed by people who want his head and thus he just do what he does the best.

Without turning his back and facing his stalkers, Theodore activated a spell after a few complicated flicks from his fingers. The walls around him began to glow bright yellow and shook. The group of stalkers was caught off-guard as the walls around them crumbled and fell on the alleyway. Half of the group was crushed under the heavy bricks while the other half managed to evade but their path was blocked and Theodore was nowhere to be found and so they had to retreat. Each man ran away with their tails between their legs, leaving behind the greatly injured and those who had perished underneath the rubble.

Theodore came across a lone wooden door at the end of one of the alleys. The door was fairly new and had a mark on its center. The mark was a golden lion wrapped around by a snake. This was the hidden headquarters of the adventurer's guild of Atira. Theodore's plan was simple, meet up with a few adventurers and promise them good pay to infiltrate the Eastern Fortress City.

He twisted the wooden doorknob and was followed by a scraping noise. He pushed the door forward and opened it wide. As he went in, a small and cramped storage room was inside. The cramped space was littered with boxes full of fake items to mask the obvious trigger to open the doors of a secret passageway which would lead down to the headquarters. Using his magic, he summoned a magic circle on the wall of the room which illuminated and gave him a better vision. From there he restacked the heavy boxes by hand.

He then came across a small rod protruding from the ground. He pulled it towards him and out from him in specific intervals. The wall in front of him then began to shift. A magic circle appeared and covered the entirety of the wall. The wall's materials then seemingly disappeared, revealing the secret passageway which was lit up by torches one meter from each other.

Theodore made his way down the tunnel, his face was ever the more indifferent and his dubious smile gave him an aura of lies and trickery. As he went deeper and deeper, the echoes of men and women whispering, laughter, armor scraping and music playing began to become more and more apparent.