It didn''t take too long until Lily found the specified building in the depths of this shady section of the city. She was standing a few blocks away on the t rooftop of a dull-looking building.


    Looking at the run-down building that had an eagle crudely smeared on the side with dark red paint, she had an uneasy feeling about all of this. Something felt out of ce. The building wasn''t thatrge, and from all the carnage the thugs have caused and the fear they have put into the locals, Lily found it hard to believe that such a small shack was supposed to be the headquarters of a powerful group.


    Only a solitary musclehead, a bald tall guy wearing a simple ck sleeveless shirt and light brown linen trousers that reached only to his shin. His barren feet that were sploshing in the muddy ground. The ''guard'' or hired muscle was the only force Lily could spot even after carefully sneaking around several times.


    "Well, whatever, I am not taking any chances. His friends may be out or waiting somewhere nearby… I''m not taking any chances." she mumbled to herself as she ced an arrow to her already prepared bow.


    After a brief moment with her target in her crosshair, she steadied her breathing as her mother taught her back then. Briefly holding it in, she released the string and watched as it whooshed through the air only to submerge into the temple of the stiff guard with a soft crack, followed by a louder ssh as he copsed into the mud.


    "One down…" Lily mumbled. She didn''t move at all but was carefully monitoring her surroundings, looking for signs of activity.


    Minutes passed in quick session, but there was no reaction from anywhere, making Lily increasingly more confused about this entire situation.


    "Really? Only one guy? I may not be the brightest, but I''m sure there''s more hiding. Well, if I want to free Mr. and Mrs. Norton, it looks like I have to walk into the lion''s den." she remarked as she agilely jumped off the t rooftop.


    Silentlynding on her feet, she warily approached the deceased guard. Seeing that the arrow was no longer usable, as the arrowhead was buried deeply in his skull, Lily snapped the shaft, then cing it back to her quiver, she left towards the closed wooden door.


    There were no windows that could give her an idea of the dangers that lurked beyond this closed door. There were no sounds that she could listen to. The only information Lily had, was that somewhere inside Mr. and Mrs. Norton and the rest of the group of these thugs were waiting for her.


    Grabbing the doors rusty lever, she cautiously pushed it down, and slowly pushed on it. As the door slowly creaked open, Lily noticed a long set of stairs going down underground. At the end of the arduously long and battered stairway was another door. That one however was painted ck and was made of some sturdy material.


    The only source of light was what could reach from the outside, and with the door also painted this way, Lily couldn''t tell what material they used, not that it really mattered.


    At around eye level, there was a slide on the door, that Lily only noticed once she arrived in front of it. She left the door open so the tiny sliver of sunlight could give her a bit of vision. Although it also increased the risk she is taking, it was still better to see where she was going than going into enemy territorypletely blind.


    As soon as she arrived in front of the ck door, the slide pulled to the side and a pair of dark brown eyes looked at her. Soon, a raspy voice came from behind.


    "Took you long enough…"


    Immediately, Lily snapped at the obvious taunt.


    "YOU! LET THEM GO!"


    "Tsk, tsk… if you want to reunite with the old hag and his whimpy husband, you will have to follow the boss'' orders. First, put down your bow and quiver to the side and leave it there. If at any point we think you are hiding any weapons, you can probably guess what will happen to them." The owner of the pair of eyes snarkilymented. Then looking at how Lily growled but stillplied, he followed-up.


    "Good. If you continue being an obedient little pet, everybody will be happy, and nobody has to get hurt."


    The slid closed up, and a momentter the ck door opened up, revealing a dimly lit entrance. The walls looked as if it was carved out from the earth, and with only a single torch burning, there wasn''t much light, giving the entire entrance an eerie vibe.


    An average man with short, almost non-existent hair, the owner of the dark brown eyes, were looking at her with a smirk stered on her scruffy face. Pointing to the intersection just a few steps ahead of them, he spoke.


    "Turn to the right and follow along until you reach the end of the hallway. There will be another unmarked wooden door. You can enter without knocking, everyone is already waiting for you. If you wander around, know that we will know.???


    Gritting her teeth, she silently walked by the man and ignored him. She knew that she had toply, at least until she learned the situation and coulde up with a n.


    Arriving at the intersection she looked as the corridor split into two routes, one going to the left and one to the right. Both looked exactly the same, the same carved walls, with sparsely ced torches on the wall. Thanks to her eyesight granted by her elven heritage, even with only every third torch being lit, her vision wasn''tcking in the slightest.


    Continuing to the right, Lily cautiously took one step after another, while she perked her ears. The faint sound of unfamiliar cries reached her ears, from the left hallway. Stopping, she turned around, looking at the source.


    Gritting her teeth and clenching her fist, she turned around and continued to follow to the right.


    ''No. I can''t, I need to learn more first. Be patient Lily…''


    Eventually, Lily reached the end of the hallway and arrived at the simple-looking unmarked wooden-door. Grabbing the lever, she ced her ear on the wooden panel, trying to listen to any sound.


    Once again, she heard nothing, but as she was already expecting this, she sighed preparing for the inevitable, then pushed on the lever and slowly opened the door, ready to evade any iing threat.


    The door slowly opened up, revealing a dark, unlit room. As if it was enhanced by some kind of magic, the faint light that the nearby torch provided couldn''t reach into the dark at all.


    ''Yeah, you couldn''t make it any more obvious…'' With her thoughts racing, she decided to take that first step, and sprung the trap she already knew was awaiting her.


    Taking the first step, she was still clenching her fists embracing herself for theing impact, and maybe even try to dodge it. Unlike Aiden, she wasn''t good at close-quartersbat, she could still be considered an adept in the style of martial arts that her master has taught them.


    Evading the hit of a mere city thug, shouldn''t be that difficult, she was almost certain, she could even have a decent chance at winning if they don''t all just jump her at the same time.


    However, the hit that she was expecting never arrived. She couldn''t feel imaginary thugs breathing down on her neck or their presence from behind. Confused, she took another step,pletely vanishing in the darkness that ruled over the room.


    After a few steps, she heard a thuding from behind. Looking back, she frowned as the door closed seemingly by itself. As she expected, this was a trap, designed especially for her.


    Suddenly a pir of light lit in the middle of the room, and a disembodied voice resounded in the room.


    "Honestly, I am genuinely surprised you came. You are either exceptionally brave or exceptionally stupid… Well, no matter I guess. Before we talk and discuss the details, you probably want to see your friends. Here, you can''t say I''m heartless! Hahahaha!" His shrillughter filled the room.


    An image formed in the pir of light, showing the elderly couple tied down in chairs. Both of them were badly beaten, bruised, with blood, tears, and mud staining their looks. The elderlydy, Mrs. Norton, who was missing her right hand, had her right arm crudely wrapped in a bloodied linen cloth. By the looks of it, both of them were unconscious.


    "You… you monster! Why did you beat them? They are just a kind elderly couple trying to make a living!" Lilly snapped and rushed at the light.


    As she reached the pir, the expected oue didn''t happen, she simply ran through the light.


    "Ahahahaha, oh my… You really thought that they were sitting there? It was just an image, they are safe… for now. As for the future… we will see how you behave!"


    Looking at the pir of light Lily was clenching her fists so hard that it started bleeding. After a brief moment of silence, while gritting her teeth she asked the question that she already dreaded hearing the answer to.


    "So, what do you want?"


    The same shrillughter filled the room once again, as the voice sniggered on her misery.


    "Ahahahhaha, it''s so good, it''s so good, I can barely stand it!"


    It took almost a full minute for the voice to finally calm down and with a sinister tone answer the question.


    "You will be my new warrior, you''re going topete as tonight''s main attraction!"