Bal'Nox roamed the wide streets of the main throughfare of Yabor. It was both familiar and alien to him. The streets hadn't changed much since he was last here decades prior. They were still relatively flat compacted stone often covered in grime. Wagons and carriages still bounced uncomfortably on the uneven stone and rattled loudly as they passed down the street. The buildings were much the same, still the weatherworn drab gray stone. Single and double story homes and shops crammed together tightly bordered the streets. People still hung their laundry out to dry on strings stretching between building roofs and windows. What had truly changed was twofold.

  First, the lighting. It wasn't yet visible but Bal'Nox could see that in his absence the city's lord must've created an initiative to sponsor lighting on the main streets. Sconces were often carved right into the walls of homes and storefronts and from the mana hovering loosely around them Bal'Nox could see they were enchanted. A closer inspection of the nearest sconce revealed that they had glyphs carved into them that would trigger once the sun had set and the runes would light roaring smokeless flames to illuminate the street below.

  Second, the people themselves had changed. The general level of widespread happiness or misery was roughly the same as before so the conditions must not've changed too much. That being said, the streets were packed to the brim and there were even people in many side streets! For whatever reason the population of this city had boomed over the last decades and, judging by the expensive clothing of the occasional carriage-goers, that prosperity had made some people very rich. Satisfied with the scholarly observations of his aimless wandering, Bal'Nox decided to do the human thing and search for a tavern to spend the night in this old city.

  He dipped his head into several along the main road through the city, but with more people comes less rooms and he was unable to secure a place to stay. His lack of any form of currency certainly did not help. Thus, he decided to make his way to the adventurer's guild a bit early and make a few quick coppers to pay for a bed for the night. If it hadn't changed since he was last there, he'd be able to just walk in, swipe up a paper with something interesting on it, then complete it and get paid no problem. Comforted with the simplicity of his own genius plan, Bal'Nox asked around and found the adventurer's guild.

  It was an imposing building. Twin griffins stood as stone statues to the sides of the large wooden double door at the end of a stone staircase. The doors, when closed together, looked surprisingly similar to the drawbridge of the city gates, which must've been a purposeful choice, yet they swung inwards like normal. The building itself was huge, easily the biggest building Bal'Nox had seen so far. It was only two stories tall, but it was incredibly long and stretched for almost a full block down the road to the right of the entrance. Furthermore, it was apparent that the guild had demolished the walls between many buildings of similar height and joined them together for this construction.

  Pushing open the door, Bal'Nox entered the adventurers guild. The entrance was surprisingly compact for such a large building. It was one simple hall with clearly demarcated lines and workers behind desks at the far end. There were a dozen or so people scattered amongst the three lines waiting. Several doors on each side of the entrance hall led to places further into the building. On the left, a sign above the door indicated the quest boards and party sign up location. On the right, a sign above the door indicated the testing hall and sparring arenas.

  Bal'Nox thus naturally made for the door on the left. Upon reaching it, he was stunned to find the door locked! He tried pulling harder on the door handle and saw as a guild worker manning one of the reception desks grew somewhat frustrated. "I'd hate to make a negative first impression." He thought to himself. Bal'Nox released the door and joined the queue for the annoyed looking worker. After a roughly ten minute wait, he reached the front of the line.

  The guild worker was a young-ish woman in her mid twenties with her blonde hair up in a ponytail and wearing a standardized service uniform of a black vest, dark green sleeved shirt, and black trousers. Her face seemed like it'd have been quite kind looking were she not so tired. She sported a badge on her lapel marking her as an employee and next to it her nametag read Fiona. "Hello and welcome to the Yabor branch of the Adventurer's Guild. On your left you'll find the quests boards and be given the opportunity to join parties in need of members. On the right is the testing zone for new adventurers and the sparring fields for experienced adventurers. How can I help you today?" She asked in a fatigued voice as she leaned slightly against the desk in front of her.

  It was apparent to Bal'Nox that this young woman had been on her feet for far too long. "I'm only looking to complete a simple quest for a few coppers. I don't mean to be trouble to you at all." He responded apologetically. "Do you have your badge on you? You'll need it to open the doors in here." Fiona inquired in return. At Bal'Nox's blank stare she patiently asked "Are you new to the adventurer's guild?" He thought to himself for a moment. Well no he wasn't new by any means, if anything he was closer to a founding member back in the day. For the purposes of his vacation though it'd be best not to get wrapped up in guild politics though. "Yes I am. How do I acquire one of those badges?" She nodded and pulled out a piece of parchment from a cabinet below the desk. Fiona placed the parchment facing Bal'Nox on the desk and put an ink quill beside it. "Please fill out this form. Once complete, I'll take you into the testing area where you will be evaluated based on the skills you claim to have." Bal'Nox analyzed the parchment.

  Name:

  Home City:

  Affiliations:

  Magical Ability:

  Martial Ability:

  Notable Skills:

  He clicked his tongue in consternation. The language had changed grammatically over the years, but it was nothing his omnipresent language translation spell couldn't decipher. "Will I still be able to register if I have no home city or affiliations?" He questioned her. Fiona's brow knit together slightly in thought. "It's fairly normal for a new adventurer to have no notable affiliations, but no home city may be a problem. We use that information to establish one of the branches of the guild as your main branch and the main branch handles most of your files and any requests, invitations, or messages you may personally receive. You're a bit of a wanderer I take it?" She questioned. "Yes, exactly." Bal'Nox replied. He stroked his chin with his hand as he thought. Finally, he filled out the form.

  Name: Bal

  Home City: Yabor

  Affiliations: None

  Magical Ability: Intermediate Life Magic, Basic Elemental Magics

  Martial Ability: None

  Notable Skills: None

  He returned the parchment to Fiona and thanked her for her assistance. She skimmed it quickly and raised an eyebrow as she read his magical ability. "Life magic hm? That's a rare one these days." She claimed as she studied him. Then, she shrugged slightly and dismissed the thought. She walked over to the door on the right side of the room and signalled for Bal'Nox to follow. He walked around the sparse people in the other lines and joined Fiona next to the door. She opened it with her employee badge and waved him in. "Take a seat and wait in here, one of our testers will come retrieve you and bring you to the arenas."

  As she made to walk off after this last instruction, Bal'Nox gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for your help." He said as he sent a low pulse of life mana through her. Fiona pulled away immediately upon feeling the touch on her shoulder and made distance between the two of them, but the warmth of the mana knitting the micro-tears in her muscles and ligaments back together felt as though it revitalized her body and she was uncertain whether to be grateful for the healing or upset at the stranger for touching her without warning. As she stood confused, Bal'Nox smiled to her then walked into the adjoining room. He closed the door behind him and took a seat.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  After a few minutes wait it became apparent Fiona had gone back to her station and Bal'Nox did not see any other employees in the immediate room. It was fairly small, but well decorated and comfortable. Torches lit by mana on the wall let off smokeless flame that illuminated and warmed the half dozen cushioned chairs.

  The chairs faced a lovely tapestry on the far wall depicting a scene of four adventurers in combat with an impressively realistic looking dragon. A paladin with Konep's symbol on his left pauldron and light shining down on him from above braced his legs and shoved back the dragon's enormous forefront talons which threatened to crush him. An archer of some sort shot an arrow that crackled with electricity towards the creature's left eye. A mage and a priest worked in tandem behind the archer to cast a spell Bal'Nox recognized as a simple, though impressively large, fireball. Bal'Nox summoned his staff to his hand and compared the skull on it to the shape of the dragon's head in the tapestry. "A little too angular and the jaw is done wrong. It should be able to unhinge not unlike a serpent when the dragon spits flame. Additionally a fireball against a fire drake is a comical choice. In terms of appearance though, it is a beautiful work. Very impressively done."

  He noted a door on the opposite side of the room from where he'd entered and assumed the tester would come in there once they were ready for him. In the meantime, he turned his eyes toward a nondescript corner of the room and projected his thoughts to his summoned spirit. It had been faithfully following him in stealth for quite some time now. "I've no need for any more assistance at the moment. You're welcome to take your pick of any of the murderers of the city before you go. You are dismissed." Bal'Nox received a faint affirmative and watched as the corner of the room lightened ever so slightly. Then, he went back to waiting for the tester.

  5 minutes later

  At the ports of Yabor

  The sun was setting as a large cloaked figure crouched in wait. Colborn watched as a large wooden ship with twin triangular sails pulled up to the docks of Yabor and anchored for the night. Passengers offloaded by the dozen, talking excitedly among themselves, while sailors ensured a smooth transition of their cargo from the boat to land. From where he was stalking them in the shadows of a nearby alley, Colborn only had eyes for three people.

  A man and a woman accompanied by a little girl trailing along behind them. They were dressed in the expensive fabrics of an upper echelon merchant or noble family and their relaxed lifestyle showed in the thin width of the man's shoulders and fancy click of the woman's shoes along the cobbles. The man carried a sizable bag, presumably with the family's personal effects for an overnight stay in a fancy tavern. The family was all smiles as they consulted a generic parchment map of the city and planned their stay in a tavern for the night. As they began walking away from the larger group, two almost obscenely large coin purses clinked along the hips of the mother and father.

  Colborn was unlike these travellers. He knew the streets of Yabor like the back of his hand, better than almost anyone else. He knew the roof tops, the side streets, the sewers, and every little hidey hole the guards would never think to check. Most importantly, Colborn knew that the family was walking the wrong way. They passed into a side street that would eventually take them to the main road, but would leave them isolated for a good half hour before they reached it.

  Colborn slipped out of his hiding spot into the light of the docks as he walked purposefully to the alley the family had just entered and peered inside. There they were, still walking deeper without a care in the world. He smiled cruelly and caressed the hilt of a shortsword by his side. These were Colborn's favourite marks. Rich, stupid, and careless. He followed them silently. His soft-soled boots muffling the sounds of his footsteps as he weaved in and out of shadow remaining out of sight behind the family.

  Minutes later, the family had walked far enough into the labyrinthine side streets that no one would be able to reach them quick enough to help and Colborn knew his opportunity was at hand. He was excited, not only at the fat payday coming which would allow him a week or two at least of living like a king, but for the blood he knew would paint this alley red in the dim light of the setting sun. The sun finally disappeared fully behind the buildings and the family found themselves drenched in shadow. On the main roads the sconces would've lit up by now, but this far into the side streets the light did not reach them.

  "Honey I told you we should've just stuck with the group!" The mother chided her husband. "Yes, yes you're right, but this route will save us half an hour at least. Let me just get my light." He dropped his bag to the ground and crouched down to rummage through it. Colborn stalked closer and peered around the corner of the side street he was in to look directly at the family. He was a monster of the night and he knew it. He'd haunted the streets of Yabor for months now and the cute family in front of him were to be just a few more corpses to add to the growing pile he'd created. He would wait for the man to light up the side street and ruin their night vision before striking.

  Colborn waited patiently barely fifteen paces behind the family and as the father lit up an unassuming stick covered in runes, causing the alley around them to fill with a bright white light, it happened. The temperature around Colborn dropped drastically and he found a thick mist swirling around his feet. Thrown off guard by the strangeness of it all, Colborn looked behind him but he could see no one else in the alley.

  The mist swirled faster around him and spread out until an oppressive fog had covered Colborn's sight and he lost track of the family. Puzzled, somewhat fearful, and scowling, but determined not to lose his prey he turned the corner and padded carefully into the alley ahead. He walked forward ten paces, then twenty, then thirty. There was no sign of the family. More disconcertingly for Colborn, there was no sign of the alley ending. He knew for a fact the alley he was walking down should've ended ten paces ago. Yet it hadn't.

  "This damned mist is messing with my head." He grouched and shook his head slightly. He kept stalking forward. Ten paces, twenty, then thirty. It kept going. "This isn't possible. What in the hells is happening." Colborn asked with growing horror. As if summoned by his fear, a strong wind began blowing from behind him with a shrieking howl. Startled, Colborn whipped around, unsheathed his shortsword and thrust forward in one smooth motion. It hit nothing but mist which swirled gently around his outstretched blade as the wind died down once more. He kept his eyes focused on the direction the howl sounded from and backed up slowly.

  The narrow walls of the alleys Colborn had learned to call home suddenly felt claustrophobic around him and he felt an increasing pressure in his chest as his heart beat rapidly. Throwing his plans of catching the family to the wind, Colborn gave into desperation. "Hello? Is anyone there?" He called out. It echoed around him, his own words growing louder and louder until he could hear little but "Hello?" thundering through his ears. Colborn's back finally, mercifully, collided with the far end of the alley. It was cold against the back of his tunic. "Fucking mist..." He muttered to himself.

  Then a flicker of movement above him made Colborn's head lift up. He beheld what looked like the head of a tall pitch black humanoid shape looming over him from behind, its neck was impossibly thin, yet the head seemed to balloon out and cover the sky itself as Colborn stared into it. It had no eyes, no nose, nothing but a gaping toothless maw that seemed to stretch endlessly inwards.

  Colborn screamed as the ghastly visage grew closer. The wind returned, howling in his ears as he felt the spectre above him let out an inhuman shriek. Colborn felt his body growing limp yet he remained upright as a faint shimmering trail was drawn out of his open mouth and sucked into the maw of the horror looming over him. He tried desperately to close his mouth and run, but his body would not respond. His hand slackened around the hilt of his shortsword and it dropped to the floor with a muted clang. He could feel his body wither in real time. It was excruciating, but he could not fight it. His powerful shoulders grew narrow, his bones pressed visibly against skin, and his frame grew thinner and thinner until it nearly matched that of the spectre. Colborn's vision flickered black and each time it returned the demon was closer to his head. Until finally, his vision flickered for the final time, his consciousness fled, and he collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

  The spectre retreated into the swirling mist. The mist faded slowly and all that was left was the alley Colborn had once stood in. It remained unchanged, as if nothing had ever occurred, save for the ghastly skeletal corpse that lay on the ground by the corner. The hushed conversation of the cheerful family echoed, fading into the distance as they continued on their way none the wiser.