In the sewers, with his enhanced senses, it was impossible for Xian not to notice the uneven breathing sounds. A single person, for he could hear only one person, was close by and probably wounded, left behind to die in this pit of unbearably disgusting filth. Xian thought it was really cruel to abandon someone here, whichever party he belonged to in the previous fight. But, after a thought, he realized that all the other corpses also had an horrible and violent death in this awful place. He truly strove to become a cold-blooded and efficient killer, but was still, after all, a teenager. No one could blame him for being inexperienced and sometimes soft-hearted, except Soon-Yi, of course.

Suddenly, Xian felt dizzy and had to stop his progression for a moment. Thankfully, nobody was there to tease him or scold him for being a weakling. True, this weakness could have cost him his life, had there been an enemy around at this instant. Luck also intervened in life and death matters and everyone had to remain humble in those circ.u.mstances. It was a lesson Soon-Yi taught him even so she was, most of the time, arrogant and overbearing.

The stench in this stuffy and dirty place was overwhelming and Xian, for once, couldn't help but curse his overly s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e nose, Soon-Yi and her magic. Slowly, breathing as little as possible and trying to fend off the idea of what was around him, he resumed his walk and entered the murky water as he moved forward closer to the survivor of this bloodbath. Despite his unsteady gait, he was careful not to spring any trap. He still had no clue on how the soldiers died, but surely did not want to follow them down the same path.

He went even deeper in the cold and slimy water in order to reach the other side of the sewer. He was not exactly frightened but the slippery matters everywhere he walked and the noises of unseen and unknown organisms lurking above or underwater made his skin crawl all over his body, up to his scalp. It was utterly disgusting. He would probably need to bathe a number of times with a thorough scrub to get rid of this foul feeling. He just didn't want to picture his own body immersed in the nauseating brownish liquid or his hair soiled by thousand of wastes soaking with all kinds of filth for who-knows-how-long. Even though it was not his first trip in the sewers, each and every time, it deserved one of the top ranks in his "Nightmarish Experiences" ranking.

Fortunately, the level of water was not too high, even with his short stature, Xian was able to walk. However, the bottom was uneven, treacherous and slippery, so in the end, he resolved to swim, his whole body up to his chin in the revolting fluid. I was still better than slipping and swallowing water or breathing it inadvertently and then coughing it up ! Swimming was also a little faster.

As he advanced toward the man, he heard some gasps and some scraping noises. The soldier was in pain but probably trying to stand or to protect himself. He knew Xian was approaching and apparently, he couldn't flee nor hide so he had to fight.

On his way, Xian came across a good number of corpses, floating in the waters. He could take a good look at them. It was a pity, most of the dead seemed to belong to the group Xian was tailing, maybe all of them. It was hard to be sure in the dark sewer but it looked like a well-prepared ambush. Other than that, the clues were scarce on what happened and obviously, if they all died, it would be impossible for him to get any information regarding their leaders, hideout and so on.

First of all, Xian needed to deal with the survivor before going through the belonging and clothes of the fallen assassins. Well, they seemed quite formidable at first glance but they failed in their assassination attempt and fell at the hand of an unknown enemy. So Xian couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. He took so many cautious steps before catching up and in the end, he was too late.

Xian reached the other side and felt relieved to, at last, go out of the water. Then, his dagger in hand, he braced himself to face his opponent.

In the darkness, Chen Yu smiled bitterly. Except for the warm blood oozing from his injured shoulder, he was shivering all over from the cold. He really thought he would be drowning in the sewer after the first assault, when his group encountered this ambush.

He had been blown several meters away with some of his comrades and crashed against the wall on the opposite side of the sewer. It hurt like Hell, and his ribs probably cracked from the shock and from another victim that landed heavily on him, dead. But this guy saved his life as he unintentionally shielded Chen Yu from most of the damages caused by the explosion. His friends, however, were nowhere to be seen.

As the magic powers of their enemies couldn't really be contained in the confined space, the ceiling started to partly collapse. Chen Yu only had time to see the multiple rays of light of an even stronger attack, and feel the pain in his right side radiating from his shoulder before being knocked out by a big stone falling from above.

When he regained his consciousness, he was stuck underwater, under a large piece of wreckage. His right foot was trapped but he just had to slip it out of his boot to free himself and swim. His equipment was heavy, it was difficult even painful to swim but thankfully, the boots were sturdy and it probably saved his leg and his life when his boot didn't get crushed under the stone.

Now he felt cold, weakened and his wound created by magic was so painful, it seemed to burn from within. He just wished he could die. At this stage, he couldn't do anything else, anyway. Despair was his last companion, he barely had a few breaths left in him but he didn't want to die. Maybe if he could gather his courage and a bit of strength, he could crawl out of the sewers and receive some help ? That was so simple and so difficult at the same time, but the main point was that he would not allow himself to lose hope. He just had to move a little instead of awaiting death.

He was only twenty and just managed to get out of his village, deep in the boonies. It was his first trip in the imperial capital, his first time seeing the magic users he dreamt of during childhood – even if they were on the opposite side. The world was so vast and wonderful, he wanted to see so many places and meet awesome people. How could he let it end so soon ? It was just the beginning !

After a while, Chen Yu heard something. He couldn't really point out what kind of sound he noticed, but he suddenly felt wary. Despite his wound, his body became taut and his mind sharper than ever. What kind of animal was lurking in the sewers ? He didn't know and didn't want to know.

He thought for an instant that the enemies were back but it had been silent for a long time after the ceiling collapsed and everything settled down. Hired assassins wouldn't leisurely stay idle near the place of an ambush and wouldn't come back without a reason because of the higher risk of getting caught. They probably killed the survivors and left immediately. At that time, he was knocked out and underwater, that was why they didn't finish him off.

Chen Yu felt really lucky to be still alive. He realized he needed to protect this precious life of his and fight to the bitter end. No one would do it in his stead. His brief bout of despair was already almost forgotten.

War, diseases, starvation, he had his share of hardsh.i.p.s when he was living with his family. He learnt the hard way that survival is the first and stronger instinct, both for animals and humans. His resolve set, Chen Yu firmly gripped his sword and stood up, heavily relying on the wall next to him. His breathing was ragged but he didn't care.

He raised his sword and forced himself to take a step forward, then another one in the direction of the threat. If he could kill a small animal – a rat maybe ? – he might be able to eat. Just moving a bit made him painfully aware that he was starving. If it happened to be a deadly danger, facing it sword in hand increased his chance of survival. He could hopefully strike first.

Finally, he saw a small and lithe silhouette emerging from the murky waters.

It was so dark that Chen Yu could barely see the person approaching, it only seemed like a strange, otherworldly and frightening shadow and Chen Yu felt scared. Was it a human ?

In a daze, he slashed downwards. However, he felt faint and the heavy sword just seemed to go down on its own, due to its weight. It took all Chen Yu had, just to stand and walk a few moments before. He was already at his limit and couldn't muster any strength. Even though he was determined not to waver, his body and vigor had long deserted him. Just before passing out, he thought that it wasn't so bad to die at the hand of a beauty. Up close, he could see that it was not an Elf but a cute and brave girl.

Xian saw a towering red-headed youth wobbling dangerously close to the edge of the path. The sword in his hand went down without any strength and Xian just pushed it aside. It didn't pose any threat to him, he even did it with his b.a.r.e hand. Even though it looked soft, fragile and unblemished, his skin was tougher than most, thanks to Soon-Yi magical treatment, so it didn't break from such a weak slash, even though the sword was sharp and well-maintained.

Soon-Yi wanted to turn Xian's skin into a protection as efficient as a leather armor but her magical incantations fell short of her expectations. However, it was not too far off. She was indeed a very good and creative mage. Her title as Selnan's Great Mage was not for show. Moreover, she was constantly researching to improve the body hardening spells, not only the skin but also the flesh, bones, blood vessels, internal organs… Xian was her favorite guinea pig and could never complain about it – not to her face, at least. Still, he didn't feel like complaining about having a tough body in addition to his natural strength. However, he secretly hoped that these spells didn't have any side effects and especially he earnestly wished that they didn't impede his growth.

The red-haired youth was falling toward Xian, eyes closed. He seemed to be heavily injured. There was more blood than filth on his clothes, his face was as pale as a corpse but most of all, there was an unhealthy black emanation seeping from his shoulder. It felt like vile magic pulsing with deadly power inside the body and s.u.c.k.i.n.g its life force.

Anyhow, the young man was weak and unable to fight at all. Xian caught him in his arms easily, careful to avoid the wound and its repulsive magic. He really felt awkward. Was he supposed to finish him off ? If left alone, this guy would just die here, anyway. But if he died, Xian couldn't get any information as this soldier was the only survivor.

Xian felt frustrated. He lost a lot of time, just to investigate this place, from top to bottom even underground, to no avail. He had a fainted man in his arms and was already aware of people approaching, soldiers if he could trust the clinking of metal he was hearing. It was definitely armors and weapons. Aside from that, he could hear soft footsteps and the rustling of velvet clothes and didn't need to turn around in order to guess that there were mages together with the soldiers.

As his hearing was exceptional, he surmised that the other party didn't localize him yet so, without doubt, he hauled the other man on his shoulder and left as quickly as possible.