After defeating the thug, Kaien and Cindra were summoned to Aigris's main hideout — an old underground subway tunnel, where light was nothing more than a distant memory. Aigris, sitting on a rotting wooden chair, exhaled cigarette smoke as he eyed Kaien like a predator discovering a new kind of prey.
"I like ones who know how to fight… and survive. You've got both," he said with a cold smile. "From now on, you work for me."
And just like that, their journey began.
Kaien was sent on debt collection runs, resolving gang disputes, even raiding government convoys. At first, he was clumsy. But with each punch thrown, each drop of blood spilled, Kaien grew sharper. Stronger. No one taught him how to be ruthless — he learned that all on his own.
Meanwhile, Cindra… was a street magician in disguise. With hands quicker than a viper's strike and a brain to match, she pickpocketed officials, scammed merchants, swapped goods, and brought in piles of cash for Aigris. The underlings called her "Little Spider" — once you were caught in her web, you weren't getting out.
After Kaien returned from a brawl, hands bloodied and eyes cold, he'd often find Cindra already at the water barrel, washing freshly stolen bills.
"What are we turning into?" Kaien once asked quietly.
"Something that survives," Cindra replied, her smile sharp as glass.
Aigris approached them one night with a serious tone. He handed Kaien a new assignment — dealing with a traitor who'd been skimming money from him. But this time, it wasn't about fists. Aigris wanted it done quietly — a test to see if Kaien could become a true tool.
The early days in Aigris's organization were anything but easy.
Kaien sat silently on the rooftop of a decaying tenement in the slums. Neon lights blurred in the distance like blood smears across the night. Below him, in an abandoned warehouse, screams echoed — the traitor's punishment had begun.
"You think Aigris is just some street boss? Skim money from his operations and walk away?"
Kaien slowly pulled on his gloves, wiped the blood off his cheek with his sleeve. The man lay broken, limbs bent at impossible angles.
Aigris had been standing in the shadows all along. He took a drag from a half-finished cigarette, the red ember reflecting in his calm, cruel eyes.
"That's enough. But don't let emotions get in the way. Kill or spare, it's all the same to me — as long as it's the right person."
Kaien said nothing. He had learned his first real lesson: in this world, there's no mercy for traitors.
---
Three weeks later.
Kaien had become Aigris's enforcer — sharp, efficient, merciless. The same boy who once fought just to survive was now cleaning up problems with surgical precision.
"That kid's got the eyes of someone who's died and come back," one underling whispered.
Cindra, on the other hand, was different. The girl with a glint in her eye and hands faster than fate itself. She posed as orphans, delivery staff, even a temporary nurse — all just to steal, switch, and vanish.
In one mission, she infiltrated a corporate building tied to the government. Disguised as a janitor, she retrieved a hard drive and cut the security lines in under six minutes, escaping in a nurse's uniform like she'd never been there.
Kaien waited outside in the getaway car. They moved without words — like twin eyes of the same wolf.
---
One night, Aigris summoned them both privately.
"You two are good. Especially you, Kaien... you remind me of someone." "Cindra, don't let your cleverness be the thing that kills you. I've seen girls like you die from overconfidence."
Silence fell. Aigris tossed a thick file at their feet.
"This job won't be easy. A few of my gambling dens... the dogs are sniffing around."
Kaien frowned, flipping through maps and surveillance shots. All the locations were disguised as pharmacies, bars, or inns — but underneath were the real money-makers: illegal casinos where Aigris squeezed every last coin from the desperate.
> "What do you want us to do?" Cindra asked coolly.
Aigris grinned, finally looking them straight in the eyes:
> "Wipe everything. Burn records, destroy gear, kill if you have to. I won't let those hounds sniff out a single damn coin."
Kaien clenched his fists, understanding perfectly. Aigris wasn't worried about politics. He didn't care about factions or ideals. To him, it was all just a playground — and power was the only game worth playing.
As they stepped out into the night, Cindra turned to Kaien, a mischievous smile on her lips, but her eyes held a flicker of concern.
"Kaien... you're not going to change, are you?"
Kaien didn't answer.
In a world built on blood, money, and betrayal... staying true to yourself is the hardest thing of all.