Rivers of the Night

GONG. GONG.

The mountain continued to shake as Theron watched the Mandate Core like a hawk. When it seemed saturated enough, he stopped.

Honestly, it looked as though he could keep going almost indefinitely. But if he did so, the power the Mandate Core could display would be far too much.

What Theron wanted was something somewhat on the weaker side of average. If he filled the Mandate Core up too much, it would have the opposite effect of what he was looking for.

Being too powerful would make him stand out. He had hopes that the Sect was too large for every disciple to be easily recognized by another disciple. But if he was both young and extremely powerful, they would find it odd that they didn't recognize him.

For this, Theron chose about the mid-range level of Silver Mancy.

Back on the continent he was used to, it would be smarter to choose Bronze Mancy. But here, the standards were clearly much higher.

Once he was done, he placed the Mandate Core in his father's necklace once more and there was a pulse. A gentle stream of Dark Mana wrapped around him.

Theron shifted uncomfortably, frowning.

He didn't like the feeling, not even remotely. It was like he was a child with his night light being snatched away. Not only was it uncomfortable, but it was sticky, humid, and it left his heart shifting in odd ways he didn't like.

His bloodline, especially, didn't seem to like it.

Unfortunately, he had no choice but to press these feelings down, his mind flickering between all of the Dark Mana Spells he had gone through in the Nightingale Pavilion. He shuffled a few away just in case before he slowly pressed a fist out to his side.

…

Theron's head peeked out from a patch of soil. A somewhat dense forest was splayed out ahead of him, looking as though he had stepped into the depths of hell.

At least, that was the immediate feeling he got before his vision seemed to shift.

The trees were oddly black, the skies were painted in crimson and violet, and the greenery was shaded darker than usual. These seemed to paint the picture of a place of evil and carnage. But the more Theron looked, the more he felt that this wasn't actually the case.

Sure, the colors were different than what he was used to. But there was nothing sinister about it all. In fact, the balance of Life Mana here was just as he was used to.

It was nature. Through a different lens, sure. But it was nature nonetheless.

Theron pulled himself out of the ground and quickly sealed up the hole beneath him.

The elevation of the ground was still quite tilted, so he knew that he was on the mountain still. There was a long distance to go and his clothes were ragged and bloodied. So his first priority wasn't to escape, it was to get some proper disciple robes.

…

"Hurry up! We're already behind!"

A young man hurried to hop a leg into one of his pant legs as he called out behind him. The irritated voice of a young woman came soon after.

"I told you that we shouldn't be doing things like this out here! Whose fault is it?! Because it certainly isn't mine! I can't go out there looking like I just got bent over a tree."

The young man grinned. "But that's exactly what happened."

"Fuck you, Zhou. You want everyone to think your woman is some sort of skank?!"

The young man choked on his own grin, finally getting his second leg into his pants. But just as he was about to buckle up, there was a blur right before him.

His eyes sharpened instantly and he tilted his head back. The sequence of slamming a palm into the ground and countering with a kick had already played out in his mind, but just as he was about to, he felt a jolt of pain nick across his chin.

'—Imp… ossi… ble…'

It was his last strung out thought before his consciousness fell into darkness.

…

Theron pulled a naked young woman to the side, placing her in a little spoon position with her man and wrapping the latter's arm around her body. He thought for a moment and then shifted Zhou's palm up to cover her breast before moving back and adjusting her elbow to the perfect position, and then scattering their clothing around.

Once he was done staging the scene, he dressed himself in a secondary disciple robe Zhou carried around. If he took the clothing Zhou had, he would just be exposing the fact someone had stolen those robes, and that was no good.

This was going to have to be good enough.

Theron didn't kill either of them. He didn't know the Soul Lamp situation of the Sect, and there was no need to go so far just yet.

Killing was only one of the tools in an assassin's toolbox. Sometimes, not killing at all was the far smarter decision.

With that, Theron shot off into the distance.

He had gained two things from Zhou. The first were the robes he wore now, and the second was the map of the Sect. He hadn't taken the latter, instead just memorizing it with a glance.

Now he knew exactly how to make his way out of here. However, deep inside, his expression was as serious as could be.

Sure, he hadn't been using Water Mana, but Zhou seemed to just be a normal disciple, and he had actually reacted to his sneak attack in such a compromised position.

These people… they were strong.

**

"You've all received your orders! I want everyone in groups of five! Report first, engage second! I want the entire mountain on lockdown. No one breathes without me knowing!"

As the words were coming down, another disciple ran into the communal square.

"Uh, Director, I've found Zhou and Huwen."

Not long after the disciple spoke, a flustered couple ran in with clothing mismatched and disheveled, one of them sporting a gnarly bruise on his chin.