Quill rummaged inside his room, going back and forth over the floor to pack Fenith’s belongings as his own. Raindrops pitter-pattered on the roof tiles, a loud thunder shaking the walls. Through the windowsill, the world had drowned to a wet darkness.

  Both he and Yereth had a bounty on their heads now. Even if burning that man’s leg was an act of self-defense, the authorities from the City Watch would take serious offense at the murder of five of their guards. After all, the guards were here in the name of law, and Quill was the offender for resisting.

  Quill sighed. He didn't know which thoughts to entertain first, so he started with the things he needed to bring with him. Looking around, there was nothing here aside from the closet in the corner of the room, and when he started and bent over the furniture, another sharp pain stabbed his back.

  Black Reversal wasn't enough of a healing spell, deep as the wound was on his shoulderblade.

  An idea then flashed to his mind.

  Quill fished one of the older shirts inside the closet before he tore it and produced a makeshift bandage. It was clean enough, and with no disinfectant around, it would make do. He wrapped the strip around his chest, stopping the blood from flowing on his back before towing the rest of the clothes to the bed.

  There was an old bag by the corner. It was convenient then that he found it, but when he opened it and peeked inside, he wasn't expecting a dagger wrapped in a leather scabbard. It was Fenith’s, though why was he carrying around a weapon? As far as Quill knew, he had no business carrying it.

  Quill pulled it from the bag before unsheathing it. It was dusty and old, but it was more or less in good condition. He closed it back before strapping it to his waist.

  Once the room had been emptied, he immediately started back to the living room.

  Yereth was there, sitting at the table. Her shadow whipped with the candlelight, the bag beside her small and half-empty as if she was just going out for a day or two on vacation. It was the complete opposite.

  They had to run away. The bodies outside were soon to be found. The only question running through Quill's mind was . Outside the city was a dense deciduous forest, a hundred acres of woodland that they could use to evade the City Watch. Quill had good knowledge of surviving for years in the wild, evading the Circle back when he was human.

  He could do it.

  But looking at Yereth now, she was far too fragile for the sort of environment that came with surviving in the woods. To underestimate the forest was to put a death mark on your back, especially when Manabeasts were taken into account.

  The thought of running away by himself passed his mind a couple of times, but he shook his head to bury it. He wasn't willing to abandon a puppy to die before, and Yereth needed him now more than ever.

  There was only one way to make it out alive with Yereth.

  He had to go to Haref.

  “Let's go.” Quill slung Yereth's bag over one shoulder and Yereth's arm over the other. He was essentially going to carry three bags with him, and he didn't know if this poor elf’s body could do it.

  “I can carry myself.” Yereth unwrapped her arm around his shoulder before standing on her own two feet. She coughed before turning to Quill, a hard look apparent on her face. “Do you have a plan?”

  Quill managed a nod before opening the door. “I have.”

  They rushed through the doors and into the open path, the rain immediately crashing down on their heads as the cold seeped into Quill's clothes. He then dragged Yereth away from the path, down the underbrush of the trees and shrubs before he made his way to the closest ruin.

  A rumble of shouts and murmurs then reverberated in his ears. He almost scoffed it off to the sound of rain, but he wasn't willing to bet on that premonition. He swallowed before he peered over the bushes, and what he found was a group of passersby coming across the corpses of the guards.

  Quill cursed under his breath. He wasn't expecting the bodies to be found so soon. He had hidden them under a pile of overgrowth, but it was a poor attempt when speed was a crucial factor.

  The strangers rallied on their horses before heading for the inner district. The City Watch would be at full alert now.

  Quill and Yereth continued through the bushes before jumping inside the ruins of the abandoned building. He traced the walls to the second and third floors, and soon enough, he started climbing the stairs.

  The buildings from here on out were close enough to jump from one to the other over the roofdecks. That was how he planned to evade the patrols, with no chance of escape if he was to go on foot along the road. After all, he couldn't just force his way through. He could only hope Yereth could keep up.

  Quill minded the broken steps before reaching the highest floor. There was a rotted ladder that led to the roofdeck. It was old and worse for wear, but it was good enough to hold his weight. He scaled up the frame before opening the wooden latch above, pulling himself up before giving Yereth a hand.

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  With a pull, the wound behind him suddenly pulsed with fire, almost as if hot metal was branded onto his back. Painful as it was, he bit through the pain before Yereth was able to follow.

  A thunder of horses then passed below.

  “Where?” A voice shouted through the rain, through the fog, down onto the ground. Quill brought a hand over his mouth, hushing Yereth before he peered over the edge, relying on the mist of rain to cover his figure as he looked down.

  City Watch guards were running down the path, shouting over each other with torches in their hands. They sped to the now-empty house down the road. They were fast to act, almost too fast for Quill’s comfort. Sadly for them, he was a step ahead of them.

  Quill started to another edge. There was another building right next to theirs, a three-meter jump over the alley below. It was a long jump, but even with the wound behind his back, he could make it. He nodded to Yereth, making sure she was able before he then flung the bags over to the next building. He then ran to a jump, landing with a tumble and roll on the other side.

  Pain immediately lanced behind him, the wound tearing a new slit over his back. He could only endure and bite through it with his teeth. Yereth followed right behind him, rolling over to his side before grunting over her bruises. She was stronger than she looked.

  Quill grabbed the bags before running to the next building over. He jumped, tumbled and rolled, and Yereth was doing well to keep up. They continued for a few minutes before light then flashed through the distance.

  It was a series of lanterns. They were now at the edge of Gren.

  Quill and Yereth continued over the rooftops, using the cover of rain and thunder to hide their figures and mute their footsteps. They soon arrived at a dilapidated building at the edge of the market, close enough to the main road that led to the gates of the inner city.

  So far, there were no signs that the guards had caught onto their tracks. Quill produced the knife from earlier before forcing the hatch below open, leading them into the darkness of the inside. Only the lampposts from the main road provided them with the light they needed to descend the dilapidated stairs.

  Quill then stopped. He failed to see them in the darkness, but two guards were sitting right at the base of the first floor. They stared at him in bewilderment. They were drinking right in the middle of a manhunt.

  “Who–” Quill didn't hesitate. He pulled the knife from his waist before pouncing right at the first guard, stabbing the blade directly into his neck. The guard gargled blood before his strength eventually gave out, dropping the bottle of wine in his hand over the stone floor.

  “Over here!” The second guard shouted and raised his sword, blade dipped right to Quill's face. Quill pulled the knife from the body before he then flipped and threw it to the man. He was able to block the knife, but Quill had already used the brief window to write the Scripts for White Ball. He sent it flying, finding the target on the man's chest. He was too drunk to even react.

  “Over there you fools! Hurry!” A voice rang in the distance.

  Quill immediately pulled Yereth through the rear doors before slipping into an alley, evading the eyes of the coming patrol through the tight, narrow maze. They turned right and left, footsteps stomping over mud and puddles before he stopped and raised his hand.

  He peeked around the corner and into the open road. It was hard to make out anything in the distance, but he had to make sure no one was there to see them. Once he was sure, he then gestured to Yereth before they dashed out, speeding through the light of the lanterns before they finally arrived at the stone walls barring entry to the inner city.

  “Get your asses goin’!” A voice shouted over the nearby bridge as a squadron of guards poured through from the other side. Their swords and armors with their gait, and behind them, the metal gates closed with a

  That was a problem Quill had planned to enter the city through those gates. It was going to be impossible now to get through without chains wrapped around their arms and necks. He cursed at the misfortune, but he was already churning another plan inside his head.

  And it dawned on him. If he couldn't pass through those gates, then he just had to himself one.

  Quill started in the opposite direction from the gates, following the outline of the walls while staying close to the shadows of the trees. After a few more seconds, he then stopped, turning left and right with cautious eyes before he then stepped over the water canal and closed in on the walls.

  It was smooth as marble, standing five meters high and a meter thick with no nook or cranny to wedge themselves into. There was no way for anyone to climb over the slick surface, especially in the rain, but the plan was never to go over it in the first place.

  Quill dug into his mind before writing Black Scripts in the air. He then pressed his hand over the surface, applying Black Application directly onto the wall.

  The plan was so simple even a mortal child would call to question Quill’s logic. He was going to drill a hole large enough to allow them to pass through. The plan alone was crazy for everyone else, but for a mage with the Black Aspect, it might just work.

  After all, it wasn't just living things that decayed over time.

  At once, the surface of the affected area started crumbling, drying into cracks before breaking off into crumbs of dust. Quill had pierced through the outer layer within a few seconds, but it was harder to melt through the foundations making up the inner body of the wall.

  Quill needed time, time without worry of getting caught. He turned to Yereth, and she only returned him a nod before she then retraced their footsteps in the alleys. She was maintaining a firm lookout over the area, making sure no one could grow close while Quill was working his magic.

  That was good enough, but it only took a minute before the world started to turn. The wall in front of Quill started to sway like water, almost like a cloth hung in strong winds. Exhaustion was starting to creep in, and it was a major symptom of Mana Fatigue. He was already scraping the bottom of his Black Mana, but it was going to take longer to breach this wall.

  Quill cursed under his breath. He was a lich, and his pride wouldn't allow him to be bested by a of all things. He pushed through the weakness and nausea rising from his throat, and even with that, he also started chipping away at the wall with the knife.

  He only had this one shot, and his efforts would all go to waste if he couldn't break this wall . His vision started to dim, and his legs started to break, but before everything turned to black, the static ring in his ears reverberated a

  The foundation had finally crumbled.