Underneath the ruins of an abandoned town on the outskirts of Setus, a secret meeting was taking place once again.

Three men huddled around a small round wooden table deep underground. A single lantern was keeping the room dimly lit.

Thin layers of dust had settled into the walls and tables, and there was a noticeable hole leading into concrete on one side of the wall.

One man, with bandages all over, pressed his hands beside his head. His voice was muffled by the cloth, but his frustration in it was unmistakable.  “Our first kidnapping attempt… and we failed…”

Another man, lanky in appearance, leaned forward to offer his opinion. “Well, it’s a shame. But it’s not like she was our only shot at bagging a Unique Talent.”

The bandaged man’s eye twitched, his left one, that is, since the other was hidden beneath layers of cloth. “A shame? A shame?! We can’t even kidnap a single girl and you just call it a shame?!”

The third man, the shorter of the three, leaned back in surprise with his chair creaking. “Dude, calm down. Look, there’s always next time. There’s plenty of other targets for us to—”

“No!” The bandaged man slammed his fist on the table, making the rickety old thing creak ominously. “I want that girl! She made us look like idiots!”

The lanky man sighed, shaking his head in disagreement. “Listen, it was just bad luck. Who would know the entire bandit squad would get wiped out by the ‘Bandit Hunter’? We only heard of that rumor recently!”

The shorter man nodded. “Yeah, besides, we don’t even know if that girl has any worthwhile Talents, let alone a Unique one. She’s not worth the double effort, we should just focus on—”

“No!” The bandaged man interrupted once again, his voice nearly a shout now. His eye gleamed with a manic intensity as he leaned forward, the table groaning under the pressure of his weight. “There has to be something with that girl… yes! That’s it! She must be super important! That’s why the Bandit Hunter was protecting her!”

The other two men exchanged glances, their expressions a mix of skepticism and concern.

“Dude, that’s a far fetch if I’ve ever seen one.”

“Yeah, you should calm it down a little bit. I know you’re trying to climb the ladder and all, but this is just–”

“No! I’m sure of it!!” The bandaged man’s voice cracked as he spoke, a note of desperation creeping in. He slammed his other hand on the table, causing the lantern to wobble dangerously. “You don’t understand! Listen to me for a second! She has to have a Unique Talent, I’m sure of it! If we nab her, we might even get to be in the Right Hand of the organization!”

The lanky man rubbed the back of his neck, letting out a long sigh. “Look man, I get that you’re upset, but look at the bigger picture here. You’re telling us to chase someone randomly with extra effort. This is a really bad idea, do you know how pissed Sir Sauro would be if he hears about this?”

The shorter man leaned back in his chair. “Yeah, thankfully he’s still taking care of things over at HQ. We should at least focus on something productive while he’s gone.”

The bandaged man’s eye twitched again, and his hands balled into fists. “You idiots,” he spat, his voice dripping with contempt. “You’re just too scared to take risks. But mark my words, I’m not giving up. I’ll prove you both wrong!”

He shoved his chair back with a loud scrape and stood up abruptly, sending a wave of dust swirling through the air. Without another word, he stormed out of the room, his footsteps echoing up the stairs leading to the surface.

“Well, there he goes,” The lanky man said, more to himself than to the other man.

“You think we should stop him?” The other joined, his tone wasn’t exactly concerned, more like someone considering an annoying task.

The lanky man considered it for a moment, then shook his head. “Nah. We won’t be able to convince him of anything without Sir Sauro. Let’s just hope he won’t cause a big problem with this solo act.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. It’d be a hassle to clean up his mess, but it’ll be even more of a hassle trying to stop him. Who knows, he might actually bring home something useful, but I won’t hold my breath for it.”

—

It was a cold morning, a small rain had passed last night and the cool breeze proved that. The chilly air stung the bandaged man’s skin through the gaps of his wrappings.

Last night’s rain made the ground a frustrating muck to walk on, clinging to the man’s boots whenever he took a step. Despite that, he trudged forward, his eyes glaring at nothing.

“I’ll show them! I’ll show them, alright!” The bandaged man muttered under his breath. The thought of his so-called comrades dismissing his plans made his blood boil. They didn’t understand the potential he had seen, the window of opportunity that was just opened for them, but all they did was doubt it.

That’s fine, they just don’t want to move up in life, he thought. Besides, he would make them regret doubting him soon enough.

With a rough tug, he pulled a crumpled parchment from within the folds of his cloak. The paper had some symbols written on it, but it was nearly washed out from wear. The paper itself was worn and strained from many uses, but it should have one more charge.

Raising it to the side of his head, he grumbled, “Connect to HQ.”

For a moment, nothing happened. The bandaged man’s impatience flared. He tightened the grip of his fingers on the parchment, as if forcing it to work faster. Then, just as he was about to drop and stomp the thing, it flickered to life with a blue light.

A voice crackled through the parchment, devoid of any emotion. “What is it?” it asked curtly.

“This is me, Kiren, from the Setus Scouting Group,” he said with a firm tone. “I’m requesting several spies to my site, as well as a few communication supplies. I believe I have found a potential recruit.”

The bandaged man, Kiren, held a voice of confidence, as if he believed in the inevitably of his success. He knew the request was sudden and unusual, but he hoped that his assertiveness would be enough to convince the headquarters to grant him what he needed.

The voice on the other end of the parchment was silent for what felt like an eternity, though it was just a couple of minutes. Kiren stood impatiently, tapping his foot on the muddy ground with his chest pounding.

Was it possible they would deny his request? If they did, it would mean he’d have to go at this entirely alone, without support or resources. As the silence went on, he pondered if the parchment was broken or something, but no, it was still bathed in blue light.

Then, finally, the voice responded.

“Very well, we have acknowledged your request. They would arrive in three hours’ time. Please wait patiently for their report.”

Kiren widened his eyes in surprise. That was surprisingly fast. Which meant the HQ was placing a great trust in his intel.

Suddenly, he felt a huge weight of responsibility was just hoisted upon him. But, there was no need to worry, Carine had to have an Unique Talent, his instincts was sure of it.

Relief washed over Kiren, but he didn’t allow himself to dwell on it. This was only the first step of his way to becoming a Right Hand member, there was still much to do.

As the blue light died down, Kiren let go of the parchment and watched as it fell to the muddy ground at his feet. Instantly, blue flames sprang up, engulfing the parchment in a sudden, intense burst of fire. It burned quickly, leaving nothing behind but its black ashes, 

“Now,” he muttered to himself, glancing around the desolate landscape stretched out before him. “Where to set up base?”

The outskirts of Setus were scattered with these old ruins, a result of the kingdom’s shift in focus and resources to build more towns near the capital. Many villages and towns in the outskirts were abandoned as the people moved to these new establishments for a better life.

These ruins provided the perfect base for operations like his, and he was thankful for it. After considering it for a moment, he decided to head in a random direction. The key was to find the first set of abandoned ruins he could locate, shouldn’t be a hard thing to do.

Kiren set off, wading through thick mud as he moved. 

“I’ll get that girl, I’ll prove myself to be worthy, just you wait!”

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