Jade woke with a dull, persistent ache pressing against the back of his skull. It wasn't severe, but it lingered just enough to be annoying. For a few seconds, he stayed still, staring at the ceiling, letting his breathing even out before sitting up.
Cain was already awake.
He was hanging from the wooden beam fixed into the wall near his bed, arms flexed as he pulled himself up with controlled movements. The faint creak of leather and wood accompanied each repetition.
Jade let out a quiet breath."Morning," he said.
Cain glanced at him briefly, nodding and smiling once before continuing his pull-ups. Jade rubbed his temples, stood, and went through his morning routine in silence. Washing his face helped dull the headache a little, though it didn't vanish completely. By the time he finished, Cain had dropped to the floor and was stretching his arms.
Jade reached for the door.
Before he could open it, a knock sounded-sharp and firm. Then two more followed in quick succession.
He paused, then pulled the door open.
Luke stood on the other side, posture straight as always. His eyes flicked past Jade for less than a second, landing on Cain-who had already started doing push-ups instead-before returning to Jade's face.
"You're to follow the captain of Team One," Luke said without preamble. "Her name's Alice. Northeast of the city."
He spoke evenly, as if reading off a routine instruction."It's only to get you used to work," he continued. "But if you can help, do it."
Luke waited. Just long enough to see if either of them would ask a question.
Neither did.
Jade nodded once. Cain followed suit, rising to his feet. Seeing that was enough. Luke turned and walked away without another word.
Northeast.
Jade already knew what that meant. The city's wealth thinned the farther one went from the center, and the northeast was where the financially struggling families lived. Narrower streets, older buildings, less oversight. They weren't poor enough to die. Trouble found its way there more often than anywhere else.
After gathering what little they needed, both of them left the room.
They passed into the public section of the library, where the usual quiet hum of activity lingered. A few readers sat scattered across tables, heads bent low. At the front desk, Luke was already there, pen moving steadily across parchment.
He glanced up as Jade and Cain approached.
Without a word, Luke dropped the pen into the mirror embedded beside the desk.
The sound that followed wasn't glass shattering-but cracking. Fine lines spread across the mirror's surface, spiderwebbing outward as the reflective plane began to ripple unnaturally.
Cain froze.
Jade, slightly taken aback, expected something like this.
The mirror bulged outward, its surface stretching until it was no longer flat. Slowly, deliberately, it expanded-growing taller, wider-until it resembled a doorway rather than a mirror.
Then someone stepped out.
A woman with sharp eyes and an unhurried posture emerged from the reflective surface as if it were nothing more than a curtain. Her gaze immediately locked onto Luke.
It was the lady Jade and Cain had met before getting evaluated.
"Do you usually use mirrors as trash cans?" she asked flatly.
Luke shrugged. "Just to notify you. How else am I supposed to?"
She exhaled through her nose. "If you know I'm always watching, then it's not even necessary."
Taking a slow breath, she turned her attention to Jade and Cain."Walk in."
Both of them hesitated.
Neither asked a question.
Following her, they stepped forward and passed through the mirror.
The library vanished.
They stood between rows of houses, the air heavier, carrying a sharp metallic scent that made Jade instinctively raise his hand to his nose. Two bodies lay nearby.
Both were decapitated.
Jade covered his nose fully now. Cain did the same, pulling a napkin from his pocket instead.
"Any killer you've heard of that doesn't do clean cuts?" Alice asked as she approached the bodies.
Both of them shook their heads.
Jade crouched slightly, examining the corpses without getting too close.A man in his thirties. A girl who was young, he thought.Strange way of killing. Did he try to rip their heads off after failing to cut them?
The wounds were uneven. Brutal.
Cain moved away from the bodies, scanning the ground. He searched for signs of struggle-drag marks, smeared blood, anything that suggested a chase or resistance.
Nothing.
Only scattered drops of blood, leading somewhere till it lead nowhere.
They waited.
Minutes passed. They inspected the area again and again, but nothing changed. Then, from around a bend in the street, armored footsteps echoed.
An armored soldier stepped into view. Two more followed behind him.
The first wore a red badge. The others wore white.
Jade recognized the ranking-at least partially. He didn't know what came above red, and he pushed the thought aside.
As the guards approached, Alice spoke first.
"There's no sign of blood or disturbance anywhere," she said. "Only these two. Headless. Minimal blood."
As she finished, faint noises echoed nearby.
Not loud. Barely noticeable.
Mirrors shattered somewhere out of sight.
Both Jade and Cain tensed, glancing around before forcing their focus back.
The guard with the red badge spoke."Any mutated soil or objects?"
Alice shook her head. She turned to Jade and Cain, both of whom did the same.
Mutated soil was subtle. It only happened in small amounts-usually when a diver's abilities touched the ground. The soil would vibrate faintly when stepped on by divers, but the effect never lasted. Mutate always seeped back into the earth, and within an hour, the soil returned to normal.
The guards examined the bodies briefly, exchanging quiet words among themselves before stepping back.
They didn't bother sealing the area, as Alice, who could monitor really fast, didn't find any oddities.
The guard with red badge looked at 1 of the white badged ones, and asked them to go back and bring a carriage.
the guard nodded, and jogged off.
Alice spoke with them for a while longer. Eventually, the carriage arrived, the bodies were loaded and the guards retreated, returning to their posts.
Alice turned back toward the mirror doorway she had created and stepped through.
Jade and Cain followed.
...
As the two bodies fell, the black liquid began to move.
It pooled unnaturally, gathering itself, gaining structure. Bone emerged first-a mesh of two skeletons twisting together, all bones wrapping around their equivalents as helixes, merging into one.
Then skin flooded over it.