Chapter 19: Hunted

Adam walked down the cobblestoned street as evening fell, keeping an unhurried pace, his posture loose and relaxed even with the sword hanging at his hip. To passersby, he looked like an adventurer out for a leisurely stroll, with his adventurer’s license swinging from the necklace that Katryn had made for him. Inwardly, however, he was anything but calm. His eyes constantly darted from face to face in the crowd, anticipating an attack, and his hand never strayed far from the sword, valuing the sense of security it provided.

It had been two days since Elsa departed for her mission outside the kingdom, and there had only been silence. No sign of Julius, no sign of the Hand, just two days in which nothing had happened. Still, Adam knew that didn’t mean he was safe, far from it. He took the silence to mean they were taking their time to plan, to set up whatever trap they intended for him, and there was nothing more dangerous than a prepared enemy. He couldn’t afford to lower his guard—not even for a second—or it could be the end. Perhaps only temporary, but he didn’t know that for sure. His resurrection was still a complete mystery; he couldn’t be reckless or casual simply because there was a possibility he might return to life.

Trusting something so uncertain would be the height of foolishness.

So, while he waited for the inevitable strike, Adam had also made some plans of his own. It was nothing concrete—he couldn’t predict how an attack might come—but he had devised contingencies to give himself at least a chance to escape if he couldn’t prevail, and part of that plan was to avoid lingering in a single place for too long.

He’d spent most of the last forty-eight hours in and out of the inn. Katryn noticed, of course. At one point, when he’d returned for a quick lunch, she had asked him about his disappearance, and he’d just told her that it was training, nothing more. She hadn’t pressed him after that, but he doubted she believed him. Adam told himself it was caution—if an attack happened, he didn’t want it to be at the inn, he didn’t want her or her mother getting caught in it. And while that was true, he had a larger reason; staying in one place made him easier to capture or kill. He hated the idea of sitting still, of waiting quietly for the hammer to fall. It was why he hadn’t considered hiding out somewhere. This was their kingdom, he was an outsider. There was no chance he knew it better than they did. A hiding place would just become a trap and a place to die if they found it. Hiding and waiting felt like surrender; movement was unpredictable, and unpredictability would be his weapon.

He also hadn’t been wandering around aimlessly. He’d scouted a few potential advantages while he moved through the city, places he could turn to his favor in a fight, locations where he might lead his attackers if pursued. He didn’t for a second think that he was invisible in the crowd—nor did he want to be—he wanted them to find him. He might not know how he was going to be attacked, but when it happened, he wanted to control as much of it as possible ... he wanted to end everything in one fell swoop.

Amid his wandering, Adam also took care of a few matters that had been weighing on his mind. He visited the Adventurers’ Guild. The clerk he’d met his first day there had seemed pleasantly surprised to see him again, then promptly asked why he hadn’t yet taken a quest and reminded him, again, that if he didn’t take one within three months, his license would be revoked. But that wasn’t the reason he’d gone. He wasn’t interested in wandering into the wilderness for goblin ears or escort duty, he had gone to confirm whether he could advance his adventurer tier with a recommendation from a Gold-Rank knight.

The clerk had told him before that recommendations could fast-track an adventurer to higher tiers, and since he needed to be at least on the sixth tier before he could climb the Tower of Heaven, he had hoped Elsa’s recommendation would be enough to carry him that far. But apparently, it wasn’t. A Gold-Rank’s recommendation had some weight, but only to get him “specially” considered. To advance, he still had to prove himself, and that meant completing quests. It was a disappointing visit, but at least he’d gotten answers.

Adam had also made it a point to visit Lorelei’s home. He didn’t need to be an expert at relationships to know that going silent for days after they’d been intimate could be easily misinterpreted, and when they met, he’d been glad for his intuition as he had seen the relief in her eyes; it was clear she had been worried. He hadn’t stayed long with her, just enough for small talk and updates about Julius—there were none—and the presence of the children had kept any adult activity from happening, but she still sent him off with a kiss.

He’d also gone to the Knight Order and the Church of the Divine, two vast structures whose scale had reminded him that—aside from the castle—they were the foundation of this kingdom. At the Knight Order, he hadn’t learned much; it was like a command center, crowded with knights moving in and out of offices, carrying reports rather than swords. He surmised this was where Elsa had attended that Gold-Rank meeting the other day. He took mental notes on the military presence and the general atmosphere. He didn’t intend to start a fight, but with how rotten some of the knights were, he could never be too prepared. The Church was a different matter, he had wandered around outside the cathedral, taking note of weak points and potential routes, planning for the day he would slip inside.

In that sense, the past forty-eight hours of simply walking the city had been fruitful; every step, every detour, had served a purpose. The time had also helped him replenish his reservoir of dark energy. It was nowhere near full, but it hovered near the halfway baseline once more, and after Elsa’s warning he’d resisted the urge to run further tests on his new ability—what he’d decided to call shadow-warp—choosing instead to conserve it.

Slipping into the shadows of dark alleys, sliding along walls, sensing every presence and motion; the ability was intoxicating, almost godlike, but it drank from him like a leech, and the recovery time left much to be desired. So, until he learned to draw more dark energy on his own, shadow-warp would have to be used with care and restraint. Still, he had no doubt it would decide the outcome when the inevitable attack came.

Adam continued walking, emerging onto a bustling street where merchants shouted over carts piled with trinkets, children darted between legs, and a pair of city guards leaned lazily against a wall. He moved with the crowd, never staying at the edges, never alone for more than a few strides. He didn’t think it would deter a ruthless and cold-blooded attacker, but the more bodies between him and a fire-bolt or lightning strike, the better.

Just then, Adam’s gaze swept across the crowd and snagged on a figure that towered head and shoulders above the rest. A giant of a man, with something that resembled a black spider tattooed on his clean-shaven head. He recognized the man instantly, it was the same brute he had seen at the warehouse, the one Julius had been lashing at before he had been kidnapped. There was no mistaking him; the man’s sheer size and that distinctive spider tattoo were too memorable. They locked eyes at the exact same time, and for a moment, the street noises seemed to fade. The man’s thick brows rose in recognition, then he smiled.

No, it could hardly even be called a smile, it was more the satisfied twitch of a hunter spotting prey that had wandered back into range. The man didn’t chase after him, however, he just advanced slowly. That was good. Adam didn’t run, he turned smoothly down a side street, quickening his pace just enough to appear panicked to the giant. He kept his hand near the sword hilt and his jaw tightened hard, but he steeled his nerves, focusing on his plan, on simply putting one foot in front of the other for now. It was alright. He had always known they would find him eventually, he’d planned for exactly this.

He noticed the shift behind him, the subtle parting of bodies, the weight of multiple stares. He risked a glance over his shoulder and the man was moving quicker, parting the crowd like a ship through water. And he wasn’t alone, two hooded figures suddenly peeled away from a fruit stall and Adam caught a glimpse of their faces, quickly recognizing them as the two Silver-Rank knights that had briefly been guarding the door when he was being tortured. Great, fucking great. None of them involved in the event that night would escape him. Another tattooed man emerged from a doorway across the street, then two more from the opposite direction. Six in total now visible, plus the giant making seven. That was a lot less than he’d expected, but they were Silver-Ranks among them, and the others he didn’t know were likely higher-tier former adventurers so he couldn’t afford to get overconfident.

Still, he should be able to handle this ... he should, probably.

In his last training session with Elsa, she believed he was nearing Silver Rank status, especially with his magic, and that would place him around a third-tier adventurer—though she’d also made it perfectly clear that there were many things he was still lacking. But she didn’t know all of his capabilities, and these men didn’t know either. However, they would find out soon enough, and they wouldn’t live to speak a word of it to anyone.