Lowly Ascent

Anders was loading his bags into a carriage as members of the Garsh family looked at him with melancholy.

Anders had been training diligently with the Garsh family for a while now, but his training began to slow down, so he decided to head to the capital of the Empire.

The Elders of the family were quite happy with this. Anders planned to go to the Royal Academy, a school for talented youths ranging from 16 to 25 years old.

The academy taught a plethora of academic subjects but was also the largest school for training plague doctors in the East.

With the Union gone, plague doctors were on their way to becoming an extinct profession, at least for normal people.

They would fade into obscurity, and only the powerful would have access to them. However, this would mean that diseases would ravage Netherane and its people.

To combat this, both countries began enrolling people with talent regardless of their social rank. The Kingdom and Empire dedicated many resources to fill in the gap left by the Union.

Attending the Royal Academy meant that the student was a talent. They would quickly gain recognition after graduation. This was the reason why the Elders were thrilled to send Anders, who wished to enroll.

Anders had long been in contact with an agent of the Royal family. Ever since the Defiant Slave came to light, both countries had been investigating the criminal's origins. Anders was quickly found, and an agent met with him. Anders held nothing back told the agent everything and expressed great hatred for Cain.

Knowing that they had someone willing to do anything to solve this problem, the Royal family gave Anders the choice to enroll in their Royal Academy, to which he agreed.

He was not only going to learn there but also to be trained ruthlessly to become a hunter who would hunt and kill the Royal family's enemies. 

Anders was going to become a living weapon. 

"Please visit when you're able. I will miss you," Rebecca held Anders's hand and kissed him on the cheek. He simply smiled, got on the carriage, and left while waving goodbye to everyone.

Anders long lost feelings for everything, he only held hatred for Cain in his heart.

...

It took a few days to reach Salazar, the capital of the Empire.

Anders could see a vast city with walls absent of a single imperfection. They almost reminded him of the great walls of Free City. There was a long line to enter the city. With the wide roads, there were two lines going in, making entry quick and easy.

Anders peered out his window. Boredom was prevalent across his face.

In the line next to him, a long caravan was entering Salazar. It had a banner of pitch black.

"Hey, what is your Merchant Group's name? I've never seen that banner," Anders spoke to the first person he saw. They were writing on a clipboard next to one of the wagons.

"Huh? Oh, hello, liege. We are a new merchant group based in Carc. Our leader named us the Obsidian Merchant Group."

"Your group seems to be quite wealthy with such a big caravan. What do you trade in?"

The caravan member smiled, the smile held within it.....reverence?

"We trade in all things. Our founder personally created three caravans with different jobs. He gave us strict orders, using his immaculate and insurmountable knowledge, he gave each caravan a set schedule and plan to follow."

Anders was curious, "Your own founder gave you your schedules? That's the first. It seems they did some research if they sent three caravans with strict orders. May I ask what you are buying and selling?"

"No, I cannot. Our caravan leader strictly said not to tell a soul. Business is business."

Anders spoke to the caravan member a little longer before they both arrived at the gate.

"One silver to enter, and you also need to be scanned if you do not have a token."

Confused, Anders asked, "Scanned?"

Next to him, the leader of the caravan walked forward and spoke while showing a token to the guard, "They are scanning to make sure you aren't a contaminant, after which they will give you a token."

After Cain entered Carc, the distribution of scanners was sent to every city after Puffrid acquired enough from purchasing it from the Empire.

The Empire had also instated this rule since they were the developers of the device. They sent multiple scanners out to all their cities. Unlike Puffrid, it took less than a few weeks.

For those who passed and to save time, a token was given to show that they were not a contaminant.

Of course, rechecks would happen every few months.

The scanners were also used more frequently for security in matters unrelated to commoners, things the Obsidian Group didn't have to worry about.

With this device, it was surprising how many contaminants were found. There was a large influx of slaves in the market to the point of oversaturation. Such a result was one of the things Cain hoped for. With the influence of slaves, he could acquire more members effortlessly. This was one of the caravan's jobs: buying contaminants in bulk to bring them into his organization.

After a quick scan, Anders was given a token, and he entered the city.

Salazar was unique in it being the only city that had a design close to Roman, much different from the Victorian and Medieval theme seen throughout Netherane's cities.

Even the guards had Roman-like armor, they acted emotionlessly while performing their duties.

However, Salazar's sheer size was close to that of Free City, it was at minimum two-thirds its size.

Anders made his way to a restaurant where he was supposed to meet the Royal Family's agent. He was a few hours late, but it seemed not to matter, as the man he had met previously was still waiting at a table.

Anders headed to the table and bowed before he spoke, "Hello, Lord Augustus."

"It seems you're finally here. Let's go over the details of you staying in the Royal Academy."

Anders sat across from Augustus.

Augustus was a well-built man with blue eyes and blonde hair, like many nobles in the Empire.

"There isn't much to worry about. You will wholeheartedly study and train while here. However, the lessons won't cover true combat. Because of this, Mr. Nevan, a teacher at the academy, will be the one teaching you those skills."

"How do I contact him?"

"He'll be one of your teachers. Just talk to him privately after class and tell him that you are the student the Emperor has sent. From there, he will teach you secretly while you study at the academy."

Augustus told Anders a few other things related to his studies before leaving.

Before he left, Augustus said one last thing.

"Another thing, the dog as mentioned before is hiding in the Kingdom though we do not know where. The time frame between the new laws for those scanners was quite wide in the west so he is most likely in a city."

With Augustus gone, Anders was sitting alone in his seat, thinking.

He had to enroll in the Royal Academy by the end of the week, so he had a week of nothing to do.

Even so, he felt excited and invigorated. He would be trained and acquire the power to kill his most hated enemy—the one who betrayed him, the one who killed and destroyed everything he knew and loved.

Cain, his old master.