Three nights later, Elias returned to Greyhaven.
This time, he wasn't Aren Vale.
He was nobody.
A hood covered his face as he entered the city's underground black market.
The place existed beneath the oldest district of Greyhaven.
Criminals sold information there.
Smugglers traded forbidden artifacts.
Assassins accepted contracts.
And corrupt officials occasionally came to purchase things that couldn't be bought legally.
Elias walked through the crowded tunnels.
He wasn't searching for medicine.
He was searching for a name.
Lord Meredin had disappeared after the warehouse incident.
But Elias knew people like him never disappeared without leaving something behind.
He stopped outside a gambling hall.
A guard blocked his path.
"Password."
Elias looked at him.
"Move."
The guard laughed.
"You think you can—"
The man's words stopped.
Elias's eyes briefly glowed with dark energy.
The guard stepped aside.
"Enjoy your evening."
Elias entered.
Inside, he found his target.
A thin man wearing expensive clothes sat alone at a table.
Varrick Dain.
Information broker.
The man looked up.
"You're late."
Elias sat.
"You expected me?"
"I expected someone."
Varrick smiled.
"People have been asking questions about the new medicine."
"Who?"
"Everyone."
Elias placed a coin on the table.
Varrick's eyes widened.
The coin was made of refined black metal.
Worth more than a month's income.
"That's for the first question."
Varrick picked it up.
"Who is Lord Meredin working for?"
"Not the king directly."
Elias's eyes narrowed.
"Then who?"
"An old faction within the royal court."
"What do they want?"
Varrick leaned closer.
"Your medicine."
Elias almost laughed.
"My medicine?"
"Not because of what it can heal."
Varrick looked around.
"Because whoever created it has knowledge the royal physicians don't possess."
Elias understood.
They weren't afraid of the medicine.
They were afraid of its creator.
Varrick continued.
"There's more."
"Speak."
"Someone has been purchasing old records from the royal archives."
"What records?"
"Magic."
Silence.
Elias's expression didn't change.
But inside, every thought accelerated.
Magic.
Again.
The First King.
The book.
The Veil.
The pieces were beginning to touch.
Then the doors exploded open.
A group of armed men rushed inside.
Varrick immediately ducked beneath the table.
Elias remained seated.
One attacker pointed at him.
"There!"
Elias sighed.
"You people really need better timing."
The first attacker charged.
Elias stood.
The man's weapon swung.
Elias caught it.
With one hand.
The attacker stared.
Elias twisted.
The weapon flew across the room.
Another attacker attacked from behind.
Elias stepped aside.
The man crashed into a table.
Three more came simultaneously.
Elias moved through them like they were children.
A punch.
A kick.
A sweep.
A disarmed weapon.
No wasted movement.
No hesitation.
Within seconds, the attackers were scattered across the floor.
Then the strongest one entered.
He carried a massive enchanted axe.
The room became silent.
"You're stronger than the others," Elias said.
The man grinned.
"Finally."
He charged.
The axe struck the floor.
The impact cracked the stone.
Elias stood beside the weapon.
"Too slow."
The man's eyes widened.
Elias struck him once.
The man flew backward and crashed through a wooden wall.
The entire black market went silent.
Elias walked toward him.
The man struggled to stand.
"Who are you?"
Elias looked down at him.
"A merchant."
The man stared.
"A merchant doesn't fight like that."
Elias smiled.
"This one does."
He turned away.
Varrick slowly emerged from beneath the table.
"Are you really a merchant?"
Elias looked back.
"No."
Varrick froze.
Elias walked toward the exit.
"I'm something much worse."
He disappeared into the tunnels.
Far away, inside the Veiled Sanctum, Elias entered the main strategy chamber.
Seydric, Kael, Lyra, and Lucian were waiting.
Elias placed the stolen documents on the table.
"We have a problem."
Seydric examined them.
"The royal court?"
"Partially."
Kael picked up the strange symbol.
"This isn't royal."
"No."
Lyra looked at Elias.
"Then what is it?"
Elias stared at the symbol.
For the first time that night, his expression became completely serious.
"I don't know."
The black book whispered beneath his coat.
"...not yet..."
Elias slowly smiled.
"Which means we finally found something interesting."
He looked toward the massive map of Dregmoore.
"Prepare everyone."
The business operation had only been the beginning.
Now Elias had discovered something buried beneath the kingdom.
And whatever was hiding there...
had started looking back.