Lowly Ascent

Months passed since the day Cain founded his organization.

Austin watched as a group of people brimmed with life. The people who had hidden in the dark now appeared prideful and happy, truly happy.

Cain founded the Obsidian Trading Group. Many in Carc had heard its name as it bought up an entire block of the city.

Within this space, massive living quarters and warehouses were built. It was the talk of the city to speculate about the owner and proprietor of this seemingly mysterious group.

With the completion of the headquarters, caravans were made and the Obsidian Trading Group quickly sent out three different caravans with goods to different parts of Netherane.

They were heavily defended by mercenaries and guards, creating a parade-like atmosphere as they exited the city.

With the headquarters built, all the members and their families moved into the living quarters to take up high-level positions. Cain then hired many workers to fill different divisions he created and assigned members to lead these divisions.

Cain was strict with his underlings; they had to study and train day and night. They learned how to perform their jobs to a tee and gained knowledge at a rapid pace. Almost everyone was being trained to be a plague bearer until Cain could make or acquire serums.

Freddie became Cain's advisor for the trading group, while Austin shadowed him to learn. This meant that when Freddie died, Austin would become the Advisor of the trading group.

Many envied his position, but Austin made sure to work harder than all of them.

Cain personally trained him on many topics and even imparted some assassination techniques he himself was learning. Austin became his pupil while under the guise of training to be his advisor.

Austin learned many truths from Cain, which elevated his reverence for him to new heights. Austin was in awe of Cain's achievements and astonished when hearing of his setbacks. Hearing how he had lost everything and still went on, how his mind was broken down through inhumane torture.

He became a zealot after learning more about Cain. He felt that nothing could stop him from paving the way for a better future.

Freddie taught everything he knew to Austin. Freddie had already been working as an advisor for another trading group before Cain came to Carc, so he knew his way around the job.

However, things were not as nice as they seemed. A trading company could in no way supply a secret organization trying to create top-grade warriors.

So, Cain secretly gathered some of the more determined members who were willing to do anything for the cause.

He gave them orders for different projects that would be said to be unsightly and immoral. With this meeting was the creation of the Obsidian Syndicate.

A lesser-known fact of Carc was the crime in Carc.

It was massive yet hidden, underneath this massive city was an even bigger sewer system.

The builders of this city were similar to those who made Free City—plague doctors of unsurmountable strength, or perhaps the very same plague doctors.

Hygiene was extremely important, so a massive sewer was built that was at least the same size as the city above it. This is where crime brewed and became a prominent part of its depths. Many citizens even believed another city was under the earth.

Cain did some recon when he first heard these rumors. Eventually finding them to be true, it wasn't hard to go under a manhole.

A city the size of one-tenth of the city above it was hiding in the sewers, in a huge open underground chamber. It was in a poor state but a city nonetheless.

Confirming this rumor, Cain realized that his plans could be advanced by at least a decade!

The city underneath was different from the one above; anything went down there. The authorities did nothing because the leaders of the organizations in the city underneath had made a deal.

From what Cain gathered, the mayor didn't fight with them but the organization had to clean up the sewers, acting as the janitors.

It may not seem logical, but the sewers could not stay clean without these organizations' help. The sewers were huge, and these organizations had the maps. It was as if they held the heart of the city in their grasp.

The mayor could do nothing if they decided to let waste build up—the city would have to be abandoned! It was a lose-lose situation for both parties in this scenario, so a pact was made.

Upon learning this, Cain made plans and assigned missions for the members of the Obsidian Syndicate to complete, after their training, of course.

Cain prioritized the syndicate members, they didn't even have a role in the trading company; their focus was solely on training and learning about their secretive roles.

He was pleased to see progress in his members. Over the weeks, he created profiles on each member, noting their talents, work ethic, suitability for their role, likes, and dislikes. He gradually became familiar with everyone's strengths and weaknesses and used this knowledge to reassign appropriate roles and jobs.

Cain was praised as a good leader, and admiration and reverence for him continued to grow under his guidance.

The individuals he sent with the caravans of the merchant group were weak-willed and more suited for working in the trading company, while those who remained either possessed skills and talents or had the opposite disposition and were instead strong-willed or tough as nails.

It wasn't hard for the smarter members to realize this, and a hierarchy was swiftly established. Those in more important positions were treated better, while others were not.

Non-contaminants were currently only workers and would occupy the lowest position in this hierarchy. 

Unlike those working above, the members of the syndicate were much more cohesive, working together with their shared reverence for Cain. In their eyes, Cain knew what needed to be done, and he was an icon to follow.

Much like Austin, they became zealots. If this was because of Cain manipulating them, it was unknown.

For Cain himself, after laying down the foundation, he spent time training in combat and meditating, trying to control the microorganisms around him.

Since he couldn't research his viruses with his current equipment, he waited for his organization to grow until he could. In the meantime, he trained Austin and focused on improving other aspects of himself.

He slowly began to understand why he couldn't control microorganisms.

It was because, unlike bacteria and viruses, which were much more robotic in their actions, microorganisms were like tiny animals.

They didn't have consciousness, but they were alive. It was like they had their own will to live, unlike bacteria and viruses, which sought to spread and create more of themselves through cold programming, these animals felt so much more alive.

Inherently, these creatures didn't need to infect others. This created a fundamental barrier Cain couldn't break. It was the key to the problem.

The Grade 3 Plague Bearer hypothesized that he either had to become strong enough to break this barrier somehow or do something to his fundamental self that aligned with these animals.

It was similar to how Cain could control viruses and bacteria so skillfully; he treated himself like a virus himself. He wanted to spread his pain and destruction everywhere. 

An outlet, that was what disease was for him. That is why he could control them so well.

With this line of thought, it led Cain to question why others couldn't control microorganisms. Could they only sense bacteria and similar organisms, or were there fundamental laws preventing their control?

Questions remained unanswered, and Cain planned to eventually uncover such secrets.

For now, he had an appointment with the mayor. He had been planning this meeting for months and was prepared to get what he wanted.