Only then did Aiden realize his mistake.
Because of the bounty, he had pushed everything else to the back of his mind. The quiet inn. Lira's words from that morning. The fear in her eyes.
His jaw tightened.
"I need to find her," Aiden said under his breath. "Before they do something worse."
He turned back into the streets of Breim City, moving faster now. As he walked, Lira's explanation from earlier replayed in his head. She hadn't known the exact location of the gang's base, but she had mentioned the area they controlled, the old district near the inner drainage lines, a place most people avoided.
That was enough.
Aiden slipped into the narrower streets, away from the busy roads and open markets. The stone beneath his feet grew uneven, cracked, and slick with grime. The air changed too, heavy with rot and stagnant water.
The alleyways twisted like a maze.
Broken crates and torn cloth littered the ground. Beggars huddled against walls, their eyes dull, watching him pass without saying a word. Some didn't even look up.
Aiden slowed when he reached a narrow passage beside a drainage channel. The stench hit him first.
He looked down.
A body lay half-submerged in the filthy water, face pale, eyes open and lifeless. No one had bothered to move it. Flies hovered lazily above it, and the water flowed around the corpse as if it were just another piece of trash.
Aiden's expression didn't change, but his gaze hardened.
"The smell of this place is unbearable…"
He continued deeper into the district, every step taking him farther from the clean streets of the city and closer to the place where law no longer mattered. Wherever the thugs were hiding, Aiden was certain of one thing, he was getting close.
As Aiden moved through the narrow alley, something blurred at the edge of his vision.
A shout, hoarse and wild.
An old man burst out from between two buildings, sprinting straight toward him with a knife clenched in his hand. His clothes were torn, his hair wild, eyes burning with a desperate, unhinged light.
Aiden reacted on instinct.
He twisted his body to the side, his foot sliding across the filthy stone. The blade slashed through empty air, missing him by a hand's breadth. The movement felt natural, almost effortless.
'So my body really is stronger now,' Aiden realized.
Even without martial arts, his reflexes and strength were no longer those of an ordinary person. Every level didn't just expand his mana, it reinforced his flesh, sharpened his senses.
The old man stumbled past him, nearly losing his balance.
Aiden's hand rose automatically.
Bone Spear.
The spell formed in his mind, cold and familiar.
Then he stopped.
No.
This wasn't the place for it.
People lived here, desperate, broken people, but people nonetheless. And in a martial world like this, he had no idea how magic like his would be received. Necromancy especially. To ordinary folk, his spells would look less like martial techniques and more like something out of nightmares.
Screaming bones. Deathly energy. Demonic arts.
'That would draw attention I don't want.'
The old man turned back toward him, knife raised again, but his movements were slow, clumsy. Aiden stepped in close, seized the man's wrist, and twisted sharply.
The knife clattered to the ground.
Aiden shoved him away with a single push. The old man fell hard, coughing, scrambling backward like a cornered animal before finally turning and fleeing down another alley.
Aiden exhaled slowly.
"…Troublesome."
Aiden slowed his steps, his expression dark.
"This will get annoying, if I get attack constantly." he muttered.
He couldn't keep holding back forever. This part of the city was lawless, and walking through it alone only made him an easy target. If he wanted people to stop testing him, he needed a deterrent.
Cold mana flowed from his chest to the ground. A faint necromantic circle flared, barely visible in the dim alley. A figure surfaced from the filth, until a tall armored figure stood before him.
The bronze-grade undead had returned.
It straightened, silent and imposing, its presence alone enough to chill the air.
Aiden nodded. "Good. That should make people think twice."
With the undead walking a step behind him, Aiden left the alley and continued forward. The effect was immediate. Shadowy figures lurking in doorways pulled back. Eyes that had been watching him quickly turned away.
No one approached him now.
He moved deeper into the district, counting his steps, following his instincts. About ten minutes later, he stopped.
Ahead stood a house that didn't belong.
While everything around it was decayed, walls cracked, roofs caved in, wood rotting from neglect, this building was different. Its walls were intact, its door solid, and faint light leaked through the windows. The ground around it was clean, free of trash and refuse.