Victor Crane had seen his enforcers fall and was already heading for a back exit, abandoning his sale and his guards. The hired guards looked at each other, then at the dead enforcers, and wisely chose to run rather than fight unknown assassins.
Phantom sprinted after Crane, with Lucian following. The merchant burst through the back door into an alley, enhanced with Bronze Peak Stage speed.
But Phantom was also Bronze Peak Stage, and he had months of assassination experience. He closed the distance rapidly, his poisoned daggers ready.
Crane turned, pulling out a wand that crackled with offensive magic. "Phantom! I know your reputation! Fifty thousand gold if you let me live!"
"Not interested."
Crane fired a lightning bolt. Phantom dodged, the magic scorching stone where he'd been standing. Crane fired again, then pulled out a sword when Phantom got too close for spells.
They exchanged blows—Crane was skilled, military-trained, desperate. His Bronze Peak Stage power was on par with Phantom's, and his combat experience was significant.
Phantom's blade caught Crane's arm, drawing blood and injecting poison. But Crane had anticipated poison—he immediately swallowed an antidote potion.
"Universal antidote," Crane gasped. "Cost me ten thousand gold. Worth every—"
Lucian's sword took him through the back.
Crane's eyes widened, blood spilling from his mouth. He turned to see Lucian standing behind him, mask-covered face showing no expression, sword driven deep between his ribs.
"You... student..." Crane collapsed forward, dead.
Phantom stared at Lucian, who was staring at his sword, at the blood, at the man he'd just killed.
"I... he was going to kill you. The antidote worked, you couldn't poison him fast enough, so I..." Lucian's voice shook. "I killed him. I actually killed someone."
"You did," Phantom said calmly. "And you saved my life doing it. Good work."
"Good work? I just ended a person's life! I stabbed him in the back while he was distracted!" Lucian's hands were shaking now, the reality setting in. "I'm a murderer. I'm actually a murderer."
"You're an assassin who eliminated a slave trader. There's a difference." Phantom placed his hand on Crane's corpse. "Now watch closely. This is another secret."
He activated his Midas Touch. Crane's body transformed into a massive mana crystal—Bronze Peak Stage energy crystallized into physical form.
Lucian staggered back. "That's... that's impossible. You transmuted a human body. That should require Gold Rank power at minimum. How—"
"Another question you can never ask anyone else." Phantom sat down and began absorbing the crystal immediately. He couldn't waste time—guards might return with reinforcements.
BRONZE PEAK STAGE: 28%... 51%... 67%
Lucian watched in silence as Phantom absorbed a human's worth of cultivation in minutes. When the crystal was depleted, Phantom stood, his power noticeably increased.
"We need to leave. City Guard will investigate soon." Phantom grabbed Crane's ledger from inside the warehouse—evidence of his slave operations. "Follow me."
They escaped through the dock district's maze of alleys and side streets, finally stopping in an abandoned building three blocks away.
Phantom removed his mask, becoming Marcus again. Lucian removed his face covering, his amber eyes still wide with shock.
"Are you going to be sick?" Marcus asked pragmatically.
"I... maybe? I don't know. I killed someone, Marcus. I stabbed a man in the back." Lucian sat down heavily. "I thought I was ready. I thought understanding the necessity would make it easier. But his eyes... when he realized what happened... I'll never forget that look."
"Good. You shouldn't forget. The day killing becomes easy is the day you become a monster." Marcus sat down across from him. "But you did what was necessary. Crane was a slave trader who'd caused dozens of deaths. You stopped him. That matters."
"Does it? Or am I just rationalizing murder because it's convenient?"
"Both, probably. Welcome to moral ambiguity." Marcus pulled out some food from his storage—stress eating was his coping mechanism. "You wanted real combat experience. You got it. Now you know what it actually costs."
Lucian was quiet for a long time, processing. Finally, he spoke. "Can I ask you something? When did it become easier for you?"
"It hasn't. I just got better at compartmentalizing. The killing happens, I feel whatever I feel about it, then I move forward because dwelling on it serves no purpose." Marcus took a bite of his pastry. "But I choose targets carefully. Criminals, murderers, slavers. People who deserve death. That helps."
"How many have you killed?"
"Twenty-seven as Phantom. Three in self-defense before that." Marcus met Lucian's eyes. "And now you're an accomplice to tonight's assassination. We're bound together by that secret. You can't reveal me without revealing yourself."
"Mutually assured destruction," Lucian said quietly. "Smart. You planned this."
"Of course I did. I don't trust easily. Now we both have leverage over each other—neither can expose the other without consequences. That's stable."
Lucian laughed bitterly. "You really are paranoid. But... I understand why." He stood slowly, testing his legs. "The training continues tomorrow?"
"If you want. After tonight, I'll understand if you want to end our arrangement."
"No. I want to continue. Because tonight proved I'm not ready. I froze against that first enforcer. You had to save me. I want to be better than that." Lucian's amber eyes hardened with determination. "Train me properly. Make me into someone who doesn't freeze, doesn't hesitate, doesn't need saving."
Marcus nodded slowly. "Alright. But the training gets harder from here. Now that you know what we're actually preparing for, I won't hold back."
"Good. I don't want you to."
After Lucian left, Marcus sat alone in the abandoned building, processing the night's events. He'd successfully brought Lucian into his world, bound him through shared secrets and mutual leverage. The genius student was now complicit in assassination.
It was pragmatic. Useful. Created a powerful ally.
It also meant one more person knew his secret. One more vulnerability in his carefully constructed dual life.
But Lucian was smart, motivated, and now proven in actual combat. If Marcus could mold him properly, he'd be an invaluable asset.
Risk versus reward. Always the same calculation.
Marcus checked his status:
Cultivation: Bronze Peak Stage (67%) Starfall Guild Payment: 35,000 gold deposited Current Wealth: 485,000 gold Allies: Lucian Ashford (compromised and complicit)
He was getting closer to Silver Rank. Another two or three contracts and he'd have enough cultivation progress to break through.