Standing in rumble, Gray find himself in front of a spiral staircase, look up it seems to go on endlessly. Scratching his head, wondering where he was, but the moment he life his hand it was in case in a gauntlet. It seems he was a full suit of armor, moving his arms around, it slim and felt light with minimal resistance.
Walking up the endless stairs a whispering could be heard coming from the walls, getting louder and louder further up he when.
"Are you even human?"
"You're a coward who let them die."
"You're nothing more than a weapon."
Gray cover his ears, not because it was a lies, but it was the truth. Each step he takes felt heavy and the whispers turn into shouting as the face of ghoul came out the walls. The stairs began to crack and collapse, sending Gray plundering down into the depths of a void.
Staring at the void, the silence was deafening; he couldn't tell which direction he was falling. Before Gray knew, he crashed into a lake.
Struggling to swim, Gray was being dragged down and tried to activate his barrier as a foot hold, but it failed. His armor might be light but it was still heavy, quickly removing his armor except for the gauntlets. He tried to swimming to the surface, but something grabbed his foot.
Looking down it was at ghoul, "Why did she choose you?" the ghoul said as it slowly climbed up Gray legs. Repeatedly striking the ghoul using his hands, Gray managed to knock it off of him.
Emerging out of water, Gray found himself in a ruined courtyard, the flowers wilted, the grass lifeless, and the clouds cover the sky, matching the lifeless environment. This place is familiar to Gray, but he has no recollection of such a place.
"Please…help…me… anyone." a voice weakly called out.
Looking around he sees someone slump up against the wall. Walking towards them, a woman clad with the same armor that Gray was in. She was heavily wounded, her right arm was missing and parts of her armor were melted through.
"Comander… is that you?" she said with a weakened tone, barely clinging to life. Lifting her head, the dead veins had reached her face, and her left eye was bloodshot. "I'm sorry. I wasn't strong enough." Tears rolled out her eyes, her words cutting him like knives.
"It's already Mary, you can rest now knowing I'm here." Gray rested her head against his chest and embraced her.
Laying her down, the ground began to shake and the wall opposite of Gray melted, and a slime-like serpent emerged. Turning to it with a look of fury, Gray extended his arm and tried to activate reputa, but it was a dud.
"Find then if I have to use my hands, and I'll rip out your eyes." Cracking his knuckles, taking a step forward the serpent opens its mouth spraying green fluid at him.
Just before the spray hit him, Gray woke up. Sitting up, he felt a strain in his right eye. Placing his hand over it he thought to himself "Adahlia, are these your memories again. If these are then why can I see them?"
A pebble fell on his head, looking up the roof was seemingly slashed by the ruptura he tried using earlier. Checking his right arm, the dead veins regressed back into his hand rather than his forearm.
Hearing a knock at the door, Gray got up and opened the door. Page was waiting with a pair of clothes and a letter. "Good afternoon." she said try not to be disgusted with his appearance, messy hair, wear the same tattered pants, and shirtless.
The feeling of disgust turned into concern, seeing a large scar in his chest and a second scar on his abdomen. "What kind of hell did this boy go through, to be in that kind of shape?" she thought to herself.
Grabbing the letter, Gray opened it.
"Gray
Mensford annual fundraiser is an event that auctions off artifacts (items that were infused with Aether by a craftsman or were found in the Ruins). Antiques [relics of the past dated back from the Old (500 years), Distant (2,000 years), Ancient (2,000+years)].
This event not only attracts the people within the city but the whole country, which makes it crucial for the Mensford economy. There will be over a thousand guests and the person you want is Luke Aaron.
Aaron is helping with the auction, and he requested more guards. He also tried to dig around, and because of that someone put a contract on him."
Gray understood the term; the Asesino used three types of bounty. Open bounty which is free gain. Contracts are hiring someone to be discreet. And finally Full Order, or to simply put it, war.
The Asesino are well organized, setting rules and regulations. It doesn't matter if the bounty was open, violation of the rules will result in death.
First: no matter what the job is, they have to wear any facial coverings. If anybody sees your face, it is either you or them.
Second: no reinforcements, if you bring somebody to the jobs and that is fine, but asking in the middle of a job is disgraceful.
Third: complete the job no matter what because failure is a result of weakness.
These are the basic principles of the Asesino, it doesn't matter the rank of the members, it all the same. There are no exceptions to these rules.
"And to get in the auction at this time is through security. I know asking you to work for me is the last thing on your mind, but getting information on Monarch is not easy but the potential on Aaron might have information on Monarch.
It depends on you to go off on this lead or not, feel free to take the clothes that were left with Page to replace your damaged ones and speak to her once you made up your mind."
Page was expecting Gray to rip up the paper in anger, but he is calmer, rather more docile than aggressive. He simply sighs, grabbing the clothes, and thanks her.
A few minutes has passed, Gray steps out of his room wearing a wool vest with a button down shirt with his sleeve rolled up. Page was surprised, he didn't look like a ruffian, but a professional. She noticed his right eye was closed. Confused, she asked about it.
"It's nothing much, you can consider it as a drawback."
Ability with drawbacks is nothing new, aside from dead veins, there are cases of people losing their vision. Page thought about it and it seemed to make sense, "He must have mainly used his eyes to construct his barrier and simply used his hand to guide them. If that is the case then what process does both his eyes go through?"
"May I have some gloves, please?" Gray asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.
Seeing the dead veins on his right hand, he hasn't fully recovered. She reached into her pocket taking out a pair of leather gloves. Page understood why, some people see dead veins as scars, something to hide rather than flaunting around, or a badge honor.
"Alright then." Gray said as he put on the gloves, and made up his mind. "When does the event start."