Lowly Ascent

"Right on time, good. You're wearing the uniform too, perfect first impression." Laimir commented on Isaac while he got in the car.

Isaac was wearing a dark trench coat layered over an enhanced polymer fabric disguised as civilian clothing, the fabric was able to stop most types of piercing attacks from entering the body while also giving some blunt force resistance. In his breast pocket was a badge given to all Bureau agents, allowing them authority over most government organizations.

Hidden behind his trench coat, Isaac had a standard-issue pistol and his mechanical arm was covered by his coat and a glove, making him look relatively normal.

Getting into the car, the pair rode off into the city, heading to the edge of the slums before getting out to continue on foot. As they walked the streets lined with burning barrels, Isaac asked Laimir some questions.

"So...I've read your file, you've been with the Bureau for over a decade but you're still a field agent. Not only that, your status has been the same even though you reached a high level of power! You could be a senior captain of a task force by now, I didn't know my partner was such a badass!" Isaac tried to be as quiet as possible but his excitement was evident.

Reading about the Path of Magi wasn't the only thing he did, he also read about different events and people in the Bureau's databanks, learning about Laimir and some of the major events in the last century. But Laimir didn't take too kindly to Isaac's prying.

"I don't like being studied. Yes, I should be at a higher level, but, I want to be an agent. I don't appreciate stalking, and certainly not from my partner. We all have our pasts, I haven't looked into yours, so why are you doing the same to me?"

Isaac tried to argue, "Didn't the Bureau give you my file-"

"Enough." Laimir ended the conversation.

Sulky, Isaac's mood turned sour, but he continued the mission with seriousness, he wasn't one to let his emotions get the better of him. At least, Isaac wasn't like that before Cain took over, and Cain was now Isaac.

...

"We're here," Laimir said as he and Isaac stood outside a worn-down townhouse.

"This doesn't look like a place where drugs should be made. Wouldn't they do it in a bigger building?"

Isaac knew how to make medicine and drugs, he was once a Plague Doctor after all. Even if the memories of his time in Netherane were mostly from the Green Wisp who only had fragments, the knowledge remained even when the memories did not.

To Isaac, the process of creating drugs needed a wide space. He had his laboratory and everything inside it for his research. Even with the information he gained from the Bureau, he didn't know how this world worked, he needed experience, and even Isaac didn't know many things.

At a young age, Isaac was taken in by the government and was admitted to a government academy.

One was from another place, another kept from the world; they were both in an unknown environment.

Opening the door, which was unlocked, Laimir lowered his hand to reach for his gun as he carefully went inside. Isaac followed behind less tense and took everything in.

Sprawled on the floor, on blankets and sleeping bags, or even just on the cold floor, malnourished civilians twitched and shook in their sleep. Sometimes their eyes would roll back as their eyes momentarily opened.

In a corner, a man with a rolled-up sleeve took a needle with a gray substance inside and plunged it into his arm. The man gained instant relief as the drug entered his veins and discolored his skin.

Very quickly, the man's eyes became slightly cloudy and he shook in delight as he ended up like the others on the floor.

"W-What is this place? Weren't we supposed to find a drug manufacturer?!" Isaac asked. 

"Most times, the buyers can't wait and tend to stay with their suppliers. This is a drug den, my ignorant partner. The dealers must be making their product in the basement, I can smell it from here." Laimir explained, disdain for the environment hidden in his tone.

As his partner looked for the basement entrance, Isaac spotted a child sitting on the stairs.

"There's kids here too!?"

Laimir chimed in again, "Don't worry, they don't give it to the kids. Children typically can't pay everything back and run away. If this child's smart, he hasn't touched this stuff, if he isn't and snuck a few, he'll end up like everyone you see in a few years even if we help."

Isaac was bewildered. But he still noticed when Laimir busted a door down and began to yell.

"Police! We know you're growing Heptanilia down here! Surrender now!"

Heptanilia was a plant popularized by the drug, X.

X is a gray liquid that can be consumed in a multitude of ways and is highly addictive. The main feature of X was that it made the mind hallucinate and create "mind worlds", lucid dreams in a sense where only good things happened. Those under X would enter a trace for a time before waking up with an intense desire to go back.

The reason the Bureau sent Laimir and Isaac was that Heptanilia did not only have a connection to drugs but also the occult. The plant alone could be made into many concoctions and potions, being the main ingredients for minor paths related to alchemy.

It also had a connection to the soul path, some people used it to create an incense that made a "nightmare world", the opposite of X, which was to be used to refine and harden the soul.

But it was ultimately sought after by the Bureau because the dealers who made X gained most of their income from cults who used the drug to pull in members and even sacrifice them.

Due to the presence of X, Heptanilia became a banned plant. Not many occultists even used it anymore just due to the fact they didn't want the Bureau knocking on their door.

Alternatives have already been found for Heptanilia, lessening the pushback the Bureau first got from the many alchemists and potion makers. With no resistance from the occult community, the Bureau became harsher in their Heptanilia raids.

Isaac was still in a daze as gunshots went off. When he came to, he saw Laimir coming out from the basement covered in blood. In his hand was a sack with plant ferns poking out.

"Since I didn't need you and this was a first, I won't yell at you. But if this happens again I'll have the Bureau rethink its decision to hire you." Laimir didn't look at Isaac again, walking out of the building and leaving all the junkies inside to their fate.

At that moment, Isaac's mind cleared rapidly and he took one last look around before joining Laimir and leaving the drug addicts to their fate.

Such a fast adaptation to the situation was bewildering, Isaac had talent indeed, talent in all things.

...

In a cage, a blackbird stared at a young girl as she read an advanced book on history.

Darla changed during the period Cain had marked her. She was now learning every day voluntarily and became increasingly attached to the bird in the cage.

"Raven; Father, and the Counselor say you're smart and can have conversations. When will you talk to me?"

Caw!

"You always say that. Do I need a machine like the scientists?"

"Indeed you do." From the shadows, the Counselor entered the light, his eyes never leaving Cain, there was lingering fear in his eyes.

Through the "talks," the scientists almost resorted to torture to learn things from Cain, however, they were horrified to find Cain didn't mind it. At first, he may have cawed and screeched in pain like crazy, but he got used to the torture too fast. In addition, he would speak to them during these sessions, trying to recruit them to worship the false god Cain came up with, the Raven of Limitlessness.

"Only four days left Raven of a false god. I can't wait to see how your god will save you, and don't think your misfortune can hurt us, we have already prepared beforehand." The Counselor attempted to scare Cain. 

The cult first captured Cain using a known powder that blocks negative energies like misfortune, but it was expensive and required the entire body to be covered, over the last month the cult almost went bankrupt buying such powder. They had hoped to find a different way to block misfortune by learning how the ravens' abilities worked, but they did not progress in that department.

Until this point, the cult could survive under the onslaught of a raven's misfortune because they were a hidden organization. The entire time Cain's life wasn't in life-threatening danger either which spared them from a major backlash. In the past, those who hunted ravens did not meet good ends.

Yet even with the threat, Cain could only scoff in his head.

'You may think that, but I don't need misfortune to escape my fate. When the time comes, I will break free from here with my prowess, even if luck helps a bit, it will not be the main factor.'

He was certain in himself more than anything.