As he stepped out of the stone building, fresh red blood dripping from his mithril sword and leaving behind bloodied footprint, Kiefer looked around and observed his surroundings. The building was located at the far end of a street which seemed to lead to a large town not far away. Between where he was standing and what looked to be the densest part of the town, there were a few other stone and wooden houses littered on the side of the street.

It was midday as the sun hung high up in the sky, torching the ground mercilessly with its harsh summer rays. Kiefer shield his eyes from the sun with his small hand as silvery ropes snaked their way back into the building from beneath his feet. Very quickly, the sound of bending metal and clinking pouches could be heard as Kiefer released the slaves being held while at the same time looting the corpses of the 50 odd men and women who ran the place.

Taking a look inside one of the pouches, Kiefer poured out its contents onto his small palm, some of the coins threatening to fall off the edge of his creamy white hands. The currency used here was vastly different from Aioa. While they shared the similar copper, silver and gold coinage system, this world seemed to have varying values of each type of coin, depicted by the different embossed logos on each coin, which could only mean that they originated from different countries.

There seemed to be 2 main logos and 1 other type that was found in small quantities. Kiefer just assumed that this meant there were 2 large countries and a smaller but still significant third country that ran this world. Fahlnir had failed to inform him of any details about this world, its geography and even its political system.

As the slaves slowly began to clamber out of their cages and crawl up the stairs, they could not see any signs of their saviour, except for the horrid bloodshed of their captors left behind by the mysterious boy. Unknown to them, Kiefer was already walking along the edge of the town, having teleported there from the slave house he had just destroyed.

Kiefer noticed the dark and depressing atmosphere the moment he set foot. Despite being in the middle of the day, and the people hustling around in a hurry, Kiefer still felt this sinister aura that permeated the air. On closer inspection, he final understood why.

He had heard of such towns existing on Aioa but had never had the chance to stumble upon one. Everyone minded their own business, not interacting with others. Any form of interactions that existed within this town was only conflicts or trades. Even then, trading was done swiftly with large sums of currency being exchanged in an instant and people not even bargaining or advertising their wares. This only meant that the negotiations had already been decided before hand and this was merely the final step in completing a contract.

A Thieves town. That’s what this was. If you were not a craftsmen or an inn keeper, you were a thief, a smuggler, a pirate or a murderer. Everyone actively avoided such places since it was the heart of all underground activities. Merchants only had the option of being robbed within a large radius of this town. The occasional corrupt noble or two would come here to hire an assassin but that was rarely seen since they would rather send a middleman rather than risk getting killed and plundered themselves.

Kiefer walked around the town barefooted, garnering the stares of all the mewling crim that laid their eyes on him. A young child with barely anything on his body walking through this town was like a piece of meat being hung above a pack of hungry wolves. A dark shadow flashed past Kiefer, but with his enhanced senses, the shadow’s movements were slow as a snail.

He was a hooded figure, a full head taller than Kiefer’s new child form, and a small dagger coated with a film of grey liquid was held in his hand. Kiefer made an intelligent guess, assuming that the liquid was some sort of anaesthesia meant to disable him long enough for them to sell him to a slave house. The dagger was swung in a small arc, aiming to barely nick his shoulder that was protected by the thin mithril skin.

*clink!*

The shadow was surprised as Kiefer pretended not to know what had happened. The dagger had failed to penetrate Kiefer’s mithril skin that covered his whole body except his head, feet and hands. The shadow quickly turned and flashed once more, this time aiming for Kiefer’s unprotected cheeks.

“Perfect.” Kiefer thought as he smiled. Had the shadow walked off after the first failed attempt, he would have let the person go. However, with this 2nd attempt incoming, Kiefer decided that since he was so eager to meet his demise, his wish would be granted. Grabbing the extended hand that held the dagger, Kiefer quickly slammed the person into the ground with a flick of his wrist.

The force with which he did so was so great that the person left an impact crater in the ground. However, this time, it was Kiefer’s turn to be surprised as the man got up quickly and bolted off as if he had not been hurt the least. Quickly coming to his senses, Kiefer gave chase, his small childlike body leaving behind a blurred afterimage.

Being in broad daylight, the shadow was naturally very easy to spot, with the sun’s rays becoming his boon. Not just Kiefer, but almost everyone present could follow his movement with their eyes as he quickly darted for a dark alley where the building’s shadows would help him blend in better. Kiefer however, seemed to have just vanished from his spot, which surprised a few of the veterans who witnessed the small tussle.

Instantly catching up to the shadow just as he turned into the alley, Kiefer’s vice like grip caught his black hooded cloak and yanked on it, revealing a slender girl no older than 20. She had dark tanned skin with blood red eyes, and ears not unlike his. Her facial features could be considered average, though they were nothing compared to his wife.

She blinked her red eyes twice, not believing that the small child had caught up to her, then quickly turned and tried to run again, only to find her feet firmly locked in place by a sea of silvery snakes. Not willing to give up, she reflexively unhooked a few knives from her belt and swung her arms, flinging the knives at Kiefer, hoping to distract him momentarily to break his spell.

“pting pting pting!*

The knives rang out as they bounced off Kiefer’s golden unblinking eyes as his mana armour deflected the insignificant attack. By now, the mana threads had engulfed the young lady up till her neck, restricting all her movements with the exception of her head.

“I have a few questions and then I will let you go. First. Do you understand what I’m saying?” Kiefer started with his interrogation, wondering if there will be a language barrier.

The captive dark elf was terrified. They say that thieves value their lives over anything else but assassins value their honour over their lives. She was but a trainee assassin, having used to be a thief, she was terrified out of her wits. Not wanting to provoke the monstrous child in front of her, she simply nodded furiously to his question.

“Good. I only need to know who runs this decrepit town of slimeballs and where I can find this king of slimeballs.” Kiefer asked solemnly.

“Vi-viscount Cloude… He controls this town from the city of Harentes north of here. He passes the instructions to his right hand man Julios. I – I don’t know where to find Julios… b- but my master might…” She stammered as she tried her hardest to keep her breath, suffocating from the restrictions that were threatening to crush her lungs.

“Just one last thing before I let you go.” Kiefer continued, loosening the binding a little so she could breathe. “How did you escape from my attack completely unharmed earlier?”

“A- an impact talisman that my master gave me. It will protect me from any strong impact once. She gave me to protect my life. It shatters after one use.” She replied.

“Good. Now go.” Kiefer said, releasing her and watching her stagger off into the alleyway. Quickly turning around, he already detected 4 more presences closing in on the alley from the main road. They were thugs who were hoping to profit off the conflict of the 2 people, taking the prime opportunity of other people’s conflicts to swoop in for the kill on both of them.

As they turned the corner into the alley, all they were greeted with was an empty street. Not even a wisp of presence was left as they felt the cooling summer wind blow through the empty street. Puzzled by the disappearance, they turned back around and returned to their meal, not knowing that Kiefer was watching them from the skies.

“I guess I couldn’t have asked for a better starting point than this crime town. What better place to requisition information about treasures than a town filled with thieves and bandits.” Kiefer muttered as he scanned the town for a shop. He would first need to look the part to blend in before getting more information. The target for now would be to take control of this town and hence any information it holds.

As he scanned the town from the skies with his enhanced eyesight, Kiefer came to realise something. This world seemed to have a much higher concentration of mana than Aioa. His spells propagated faster and seemed more powerful compared to on Aioa, with a simple mana pulse travelling much faster than normal.

Very quickly, Kiefer identified what looked to be a merchant wagon pulling up into the town. Finding it weird that a merchant would even come anywhere close to this region, he focused on the suspicious trailer and discovered that it was actually being led into the town by a group of misfit bandits. Grinning at this godsend, Kiefer was soon outfitted in a set of stylish clothes just barely small enough to fit his childish frame.

Jingling more coin pouches in his hand as he stashed the wagon away in his PD and burnt the corpses of the 8 unfortunate bandits, Kiefer headed straight towards the busiest and loudest inns in the town. The ruffians arguing and fighting could even be heard from 5 blocks down. The inn was the largest of its services, towering over its neighbouring buildings at 6 storeys, built out of stone for the bottom 3 levels and wood for the top 3. There were very few windows, and they were all shut even in the middle of the day.

As Kiefer walked in through the front door, some of the quieter patrons started whispering amongst themselves while the others who were laughing gaudily or loudly yelling at each other failed to notice his presence. Kiefer quickly walked up to the bar and climbed up onto one of the chairs, his eyes barely looking over the tall bench top.

“Oi kid. I don’t know how you even made it here in one piece but I suggest you run as far as you can. Saying its dangerous for you would be an understatement. I can already estimate at least 4 rowdy groups aiming to kidnap you while that group of ladies there have already practically turned into wolves.” The bartender spoke calmly as he wiped the table top, looking at the kid who sat down at his bar.

“It matters not what their plans are. I need to know who I can approach to help me get some information.” Kiefer replied nonchalantly as he set a single gold coin down on the table.

“Haah! You sure got guts, and money for that matter.” The bartender scoffed as he quickly swiped the coin that had barely touched the table for more than a second. “I don’t know which rich noble elf family you came from, but if you need information, you’re best heading to that building across the street. Ask for Hunter. He’s got ears all over this entire region. If you need something, he’ll be able to find it. Only problem might be the price.”

“Thank you.” Kiefer said gratefully. At least there was one semi-decent soul in this god-forsaken place. He jumped off the stool and quickly made his way back towards the door. Almost like clockwork, a group of 3 sinister looking men dressed in the most uncivilized way possible blocked his path to at the door. As their faces grew uglier with each passing moment, contorting into crooked smiles, the one in the middle parted his lips to begin speaking.

With a loud boom and a crash, the entire bar’s attention turned to the commotion where the door was now broken and the man that was standing in the middle was now unconscious and bleeding inside the building across the road. No one had seen what happened, but Kiefer had simply punched the guy so hard that he flew through the door and into the opposite building.

The 2 lackeys had no idea where their leader or the young child went, their eyes tracing the carnage that led them to the opposite building. Kiefer was now stepping over his latest victim, sauntering into the dimly lit place. It was a store of sorts, selling suspicious looking items at over the top prices.

“Boy… You are going to have to pay for the door you know.” A raspy voice rang out from the back room of the store behind the counter.

“I’m looking for Hunter.” Kiefer called out looking straight at the counter where his mana pulse detected a presence hiding.

“Yes. That. Would be me.” The raspy voice replied as a balding old man who looked like he was made of twigs stepped out from behind the counter. He was no taller than a metre, holding onto a short cane for support and had a pair of large thick glasses hanging on the bridge of his nose. “What do you need boy?”

“I need information regarding an item called Soul flower. Where to find them and who’s holding onto any of them.” Kiefer quickly replied, not wasting any time as he kicked the unconscious man below his feet back out the door.

“ahaha… I’ve lived for 300 years and this is truly the first time I’ve experienced what they call ‘looks can be deceiving’. I thought I’d seen it all but this is really a first, a boy with so much strength with so little knowledge on this world’s most common of information.” Hunter commented as he adjusted his glasses with his skinny fingers.

“Well? What can you tell me? I’m kind of in a rush.” Kiefer urged him, starting to get annoyed at the frail old thing’s nonsensical bantering.

“The information’s gonna cost you. Depending on how much you pay, I will divulge the appropriate amount of information, which is of course, after I deduct a generous sum for my door.” Hunter replied as he stared straight into Kiefer’s eyes, not the least bit intimidated by Kiefer’s display of strength earlier.

Kiefer immediately took out the consolidated sack of coins that he had added together from all his previous victims, tossing it high into the air. Then, the old man suddenly leapt into the air, bereft of his previous slow demeanour and caught the sack of coins, landing on a wall mounted shelf on the other side of the shop.

With great agility and dexterity, Hunter poured the coins out of the sack, letting them all flow in a stream downwards and collecting them back into the sack before they fell out of his reach. Kiefer noticed his eyes darting from coin to coin as they fell, sharp as a hawks vision, locked onto their prey.

“Hmm… Considering the currency exchange rates, this totals about 300 Harentes gold coin. Quite the sum for someone so young to be carrying, but still barely enough for my services.” He replied, having counted the coins as they fell earlier.

“So? What can you tell me with what I gave you?” Kiefer asked impatiently.

“Only the bare minimum. You can find a soul flower in each of the major kingdoms’ treasury.” Hunter replied, pausing to inspect Kiefer’s reaction.

Kiefer’s brows twitched uncontrollably, his anger roiling inside. This old man was clearly cheating him but he knew he could do nothing. Threatening to kill the man would yield him no results even if he managed to get his money back.

Seeing the young elf seething with anger, Hunter smiled before opening his old crooked mouth to speak once more. “I can tell you more, but in exchange, you will provide me with the required services in the future should I require someone of… your expertise.” He said, pausing to watch Kiefer nod slowly.

“The soul flower withers within minutes of being plucked, so it’s life-saving effect is only useful for a few minutes. Anyone who eats it while on the brink of death will without a doubt be saved. Therefore, any powerful person who discovers a soul flower will defend it without plucking it, keeping it safe within a close distance. Naturally, kingdoms bloom around it as powerful men build fortresses to protect their treasure. Similarly, when found by demon or magical beasts, they create a lair around the flower, protecting it with their lives as they grow stronger from the aura of the flower. If you want one, you will have to steal it from the world’s most powerful kingdoms or the world’s most fearsome creatures. Unless you are lucky enough to find one randomly blooming, there is no other way.” Hunter explained in great detail.

Kiefer finally understood why such a treasure wouldn’t be easily located even on the black market. Once plucked, it’s shelf life is mere minutes before it loses its worth, not enough time to transport or even conduct a proper sales transaction. The problem though is that from what Hunter had said, he would need more information on which countries had been built around the flower and which has not, unless he simply rampaged through the entire world, turning over cities in his wake.

“Thank you.” Kiefer bowed curtly as he turned to leave.

“I’ll be hearing from you again shortly, young elf.” Hunter called out from behind as his figure blurred and disappeared into the darkness of the shop.

“Looks like my first stop will be Harentes then.” Kiefer muttered to himself as he teleported into the skies, wondering how he should go about to determine if there was a flower in that city.