It wasn’t too difficult at all for Ver to spot out the smaller residences of the House of Vaughan towards the bottom of the mountain. It looked so ordinary that any unknowing citizens might have thought it a residence of the servants of higher-ranked houses if not for the purple flag flying above its garden.

Stark, the Vaughan family seniors, and the rest of the guards had already settled into the busy pre-conference routines as the groups of heads of houses planned their negotiations and meetings way before the official commencement conference itself.

Ver lingered for only a brief moment before she submerged into her whirlpool purple and slipped away just as quickly as she approached. The House of Grega, ranked 35th house in Ethereal Realm, resides on the sun-facing side of the mountain as their mansion contained high walls that leaned to the side to catch the full brunt of the early morning sun.

Even as she's still streets away, Ver could already smell the sweet aroma of the poisonous plants cultivated by the Gregas. Through careful selective breeding and timely infusion of Wave to emphasize specific plant qualities, Gregas were able to make up for their shortcomings in the Wave abilities with their unique concoction of various effects.

“Don’t underestimate them, little one.” The Kraken warned, “Their poisons were used to hunt down legendary beasts in ages past.”

“And I am willing to bet that they don’t have that specific thing here in the garden.” Ver said while she kept half of her body within a purple whirlpool embedded into the wall, “Because how many Wave users around had a legendary beast as their Manifest?”

“That may be true.” The Kraken admitted, when Ver squinted her eyes slightly and locked onto a chariot slowly descending back within the gardens as the head of the Grega family stepped out from within and walked into the garden.

“That’s our cue,” Ver said, slipping into the other side of the wall before covering her face. Now dressed in nothing but black, she slipped from one Whirlpool purple to the next until she encountered the first guard.

With a quick hit to the back of his neck, she knocked him out cleanly before tossing his body into a whirlpool that connected to the back alley that she was just hiding in. She continued, skipping past the gardens filled with rows of green flowers with crooked-looking fruits.

Then, she saw a trio of guards were stationed around a bench as an elderly women was concentrating on creating some new concoction under a pavilion as vases and jars floated around her.

Reaching out with her finger, Ver created an Ink clone of herself before sending her through a Whirlpool that emerged in the middle of the garden. The guards immediately sprung into action before the real Ver snuck behind them and wrapped them up with her Kraken’s tendril, clashing their heads together and their bodies collapsed.

Before they made any sound, Ver tossed them through the Whirlpool purple as well. Hearing the russtling sounds behind her, the elderly woman spun around only to see nobody there.

Thanks to the enhanced speed granted by the Kraken’s Dance, Ver had already latched herself to the ceiling of the pavilion before she slowly dropped down beside the elderly women. She reached forward, tapping the elderly woman on the shoulder and freaking her out completely before she threw the poisons in her hands at her.

A jet of water shot out from Ver’s finger, blowing back the poison instantly before she sent the women stumbling back against the pavilion pillars as her body bounced off the surface and rolled to the ground.

“You don’t have to toy with them like this.” The Kraken signed.

“I want them to feel scared.” Ver said, knocking onto the door twice before hiding her body again, “I want them to see ghosts. I want them to feel the same level of helpless that my house did when they came for us.”

"And I thought you weren't doing this for vengeance's sake." The Kraken reminded, and Ver lowered her head before shaking it lightly.

"I...thought so too..."

“In that case, there’s something better you can do.” The Kraken did before a tiny tendril grew from Ver’s chest and pointed at the fields of plants in front.

As smoke rose from one of the back gardens, the rest of the guards residing within the residence of House of Grega immediately became aware of the eerie silence that filled the entirety of the mansion. However, as Ver continued to pick the guards off one by one, the piles of bodies at the back were also discovered by a small squad patrolling the perimeter.

With the alarm Casts blasting red warning lights in all directions, more and more of the guards poured out from within the buildings as the entire mansion was completely locked down.

Counting every individual guard that ran past Ver’s hiding place, she used the openings between each individual to slip from one wall to the next. Eventually, she was in the line of sight to the mansion's main tower before creating a set of Whirlpool Purple that lead her to the ledge of the top floor just underneath a set of closed-off windows.

Above her, a luxury office overlooked the gardens down below and the markets on the other side of the river as the head of Grega sat quietly in the middle and undisturbed from the chaos below. His presence in the Wave was active, though undisturbed. Ver poked a finger over the edge, spying within with the Kraken's tendril.

He’s a short old man with a bald head that emphasized his dark brown skin. His eyebrows were thin and mixed with grey as his eyes tracked from one line to the next on the piece of paper in front of him. Ver couldn’t help but notice the black bracelet he was wearing as there appeared to be some strange Wave signature coming from within it.

However, most importantly, he was alone.

When Ver emerged from a whirlpool purple on the floor in front of him, he sensed her Wave immediately before tilting his head with interest without taking his eyes off the piece of paper.

“I presume you are the one responsible for the ruckus down there?” He asked, his finger finally moving down to the bottom of the page, “Have you come here to seek revenge? To send a message? Which house might you be from?”

“Where I came from does not matter.” Ver shrugged, “There are plenty of people that want to see Grega crumble along with your schemes.”

“Ah.” The man nodded before folding the piece of paper and standing up slowly, “The fact that you haven’t attacked me outright…was it because you have questions for me? What message do those who hired you have for me?”

“Well...something along the lines of your favorite plants are burned up, your guards all humiliated, your house is shit in general, and that you should stop maknig enemies...” Ver said, raising her hand up slowly before a swirling red whirlpool formed over her palm. Then, she lashed forward, preparing to blast the old man back as he grinned and snapped off a black bead from his bracelet before tossing it into his mouth.

“Very well.” He said, “Unfortunately, your wit won't be enough to save your life.”

A dark glow pulsed from his body before black lines rapidly spread through his entire body. As strange fluidic movements casted bubbly formations from underneath his skin, the frame of the old man slowly started to inflate larger and larger until he grew way taller than Ver with his hair scraping along the already tall ceiling.

Then, he moved with a level of speed that she didn’t expect. With his arms covered in a rapidly secreting black goo, the Head of Grega slammed his fist into Ver’s stomach as the black goo exploded upon impact and started corroding away Ver’s Kraken armor.

An acidic stink immediately filled the entire office as Ver’s body was sent flying back by the immpact. However, a purple whirlpool opened right behind Ver's back, catching her momentum and teleporting her to the other whirlpool right over the old man’s head as she kicked down onto his shoulders and stomped down.

“You are already dead from the moment you touched me!” He said whie being dunked onto the ground before Ver’s feet were also drenched in the disgusting fluid. She crunched her eyebrows together and tried to kick it away when that thickened viscous liquid started to crawl up her legs and melt through the intial layer of her armor. However, the Kraken quickly created yet another layer of armor along Ver’s skin and shielded her body from the actual poison.

“You are right, Ver!” The Kraken exclaimed excitedly, “this poison…it’s useless against me! It does smell like shit though.”

“I told you so.” Ver said, bringing her hand up to the side as sets of soft oily tendrils covered her fingers, and she picked up the old man by the neck before turning him around. As their eyes met, the old man spit his black blood onto Ver’s face, but those droplets were immediately caught by Ver’s helmet that the Kraken formed instantaneously.

With those droplets slipped smoothly down Ver’s projected chin, her voice penetrated through the shells and projected straight into the quickly despairing mind of the Grega house head, “You aren’t used to being so helpless, are you? Making assassination calls while sitting in the comfort of your own office. And now, those very same feelings you imposed on the rest of the families are sent back to you.”

“You…Ver Fulgen Vaughan…” The old man grunted as he slammed his fist against Ver’s choking tendrils when his attacks all slipped to the side and carried negligible force, “The Vaughan family…they will pay for this! Their entire family will pay for this!”

“Not if you submit first.” Ver leaned forward, “The conference is only days away. And if you are killed in your own office, there will only be chaos within your house, wouldn’t it? Who’s going to be next in line to take your position? Can you really afford to die here?!”

The microexpressions on the old man’s face told Ver all she needed to know. And she increased the pressure around his neck as the old man’s legs started kicking helplessly.

“I…I…” He said, tapping Ver’s wrists lightly now, “I…submit…please! Please! Just let me go!"

“Just remember this the next time you give out another assassination mission.” Ver said, “Your powers are useless against me, and I can come for you any time I want.”

Then, she threw the old man back onto his chair as the blackness all over his body started being drained back into his bracelet as a replacement bead formed around his wrist.

That was when the door was kicked down, and a teenager that looked about sixteen stepped through the door with a black blade in hand. He had tears welling in his eyes, and he raised the blade towards Ver.

“You! You murdered my mother!” He declared, leaping forward while drawing his blade and preparing to pierce Ver through the skull.

“What?” Ver tilted her body back as the Kraken’s armor formed around her torso once again. She swiped her armored arms to the side, shattering the sword into countless pieces before teleporting through a Whirlpool purple under her feet.

The teenager landed in a roll before spinning around. His powers were fully channeled, but the attacker was no longer within the office.

“Young Blume…” The old man said with great difficulty as he wiped away the Kraken's slimy fluids from around his neck.

“Where is she?!” Blume Grega spun around as his black hair swept back and forth over his teary eyes, “Where is she?! Mother was…she was just doing some experiments…and she barged in and killed her!”

“Listen to me…” The head of Grega house approached the boy as he dropped the handle of his shattered sword onto the ground and stood still like a statue, “Her name is Ver Fulgen Vaughan…and she’s a very dangerous woman…”

“And we are supposed to let my mother’s death be in vain?!” Blume said stubbornly when the Head of House hugged him close and let his tears dry up in his clothes.

“You know why your name is Blume?” He said, massaging the back of his head, “It means Flower. You will become a flower of vengeance that will bloom in the next Ethereal tournament, and we will make sure that you are ready to make everybody in the House of Vaughan pay. Even someone as strong as Ver Fulgen Vaughan, or the Kraken.”

“How…she shattered my sword with ease…”

“Gregas are strong together, and we are strongest when we put our minds to the same thing.” He said, creating some distance between himself and the young man before looking at him in the eyes, “That’s how we created all of the poisons we now have. That’s how we created the poisons strong enough to counter even the legendary beasts themselves. Give us one year, and you shall have a weapon strong enough to slay someone like her.”

“Did I actually kill someone there…” Ver stumbled through a whirlpool before she continued dashing forward, disappearing into the crowds while trying to suppress the waves of dizziness and guilt from within, “I made sure to hold back everything…”

“None of the attacks should have been strong enough to defeat any guards.” The Kraken agreed, “The weaker individuals…that may be another matter.”

Could it have been the old woman that tried to splash a glass bottle worth of poison down Ver’s face? She wondered, trying to clear her head before stepping through another Whirlpool that directly takes her back to the small hidden safehouse.

As the Whirlpool purple closed up after her, she couldn’t help but notice the silence all around.