Minutes earlier—just after they'd finished their food at the vendor's stand and begun casually weaving through the central district—Liam had already noticed something off.
Two men, lingering just a little too close.
Not close enough to draw attention, but close enough to trigger his instincts.
At first, Liam had tried brushing it off. Probably just heading the same way… coincidence.
But that illusion snapped the moment he caught sight of two more figures blending into the crowd. They were stationed across the street when he and Ariana paused at the pathway leading to the Avanclare estate.
By the time Ariana suggested they take some shortcuts she knew on the way back to the academy, Liam had already done the math. They were being tailed. Not by two, not even four—ten. Ten sets of boots that had been shadowing them since they left the food stalls.
But as they turned and twisted through the shortcuts, that number dropped.
The others must have broken off, anticipating alternate routes. Trying to cut them off.
As they slipped through another winding turn, Liam's eyes caught a narrow alley tucked between two old stone buildings. It was tight, dim, and from his angle, looked like it might lead nowhere. He'd seen a few of those during their walk—classic design flaws in the district's old structure. Or, in his case, the perfect setup.
"Hey," Liam said, nodding toward the corner. "Let's take that curve."
Ariana glanced over, blinking. "That leads to a dead end, though."
"That's fine," he replied. "I need you to trust me."
Ariana frowned a little but nodded. "Okay…"
They slipped into the alley. The light faded slightly, the stone walls narrowing around them.
When they were deep enough, Liam stopped.
"Ariana," he said, his voice low and calm. "We've been followed since we left the vendor."
Her eyes widened instantly. "What?"
"There were ten. Now only five. The others split off, probably expecting us to take another route. These ones are trailing behind, thinking we don't know."
Ariana's gaze darted behind them, then back to him.
Liam looked up at the buildings, scanning for the easiest climb.
"You hide behind those barrels. Stay low, don't move or say anything."
Ariana nodded slowly. "O-Okay."
He started toward the wall.
"Wait," she whispered, "what about you?"
Liam glanced over his shoulder.
"I'll be above," he said, one foot already braced against the wall. "I would've liked it if we just used a different route but there's something I wanna try."
And with that, he climbed up, disappearing into the upper ledge of the alley.
And then footsteps echoed at the mouth of the alley.
From his perch above, crouched low on the ledge, Liam watched as the five thugs trudged into the alleyway.
'One deep orange… two light yellows… one deep red… and one deep yellow,' he assessed silently, eyes glowing faintly as he used Mystsense.
Their cores pulsed in his vision like lanterns behind flesh.
One high-tier 3-star… one high-tier 2-star… two low-tier 4-stars… and the strongest, high-tier 4-star.
'Deep yellow. That one's the leader.'
Below, the thugs were growling among themselves, confused and irritated. The leader clenched his cigar between his teeth as his eyes scanned the alley, grunting in annoyance.
"Where the hell did they vanish to?" one muttered.
"Check the end," the leader barked, motioning to one of the grunts.
The man began to walk toward the dead end.
Liam rose slowly to his feet silently.
"Looks like it's time for my entrance," he muttered under his breath, a cold edge lacing his tone. "Just like Lady Seraphina used to say…"
And then, he dropped.
The thug never even got the chance to scream.
Liam dropped like a guillotine from above, both feet slamming onto the man's shoulders. The thug's skull ricocheted off the wall with a sickening thud, his body folding like a marionette with its strings cut. He collapsed—out cold before gravity even finished its job.
The rest of the gang snapped around, startled. Their expressions twisted from confusion to disbelief as they saw the boy standing at the alley's mouth like some grim omen.
Liam's red eyes faintly glimmered beneath his fringe, his face carved in stone.
The leader stepped forward, taking a slow, measured drag from his cigar. Smoke curled lazily from his lips. "Well, well," he said, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. "This one's different. Got some brains behind those dead eyes. First time I've seen a brat flip the tables ."
Another thug, eyes twitching, unsheathed a curved dagger. "This kid's got a face that pisses me off. Lemme rearrange it."
"Hold it," the leader raised a hand lazily, keeping his cigar perched between two fingers. "He ain't normal. You don't just drop Karim like that without some kind of training. Academy student, right?"
Liam gave a subtle tilt of his head. 'Smart enough to notice. Not smart enough to shut up. Guess I must follow academy rules on the use of magic on civilians.'
The leader smirked wider. "You've got that dead stare they always carry. Real scary... for a student." His voice dropped, tone curling with venom. "But here's how this goes. My boys beat the hell outta you. And then, we take turns with that sweet little thing you were walking with."
He took another drag and added, "But hey… you can walk if you want. Just toss everything you got—money, clothes, pride. And most importantly, leave the girl behind. Fair deal, yeah?"
Liam's face didn't twitch. His eyes scanned them like statues waiting to be broken. 'Perfect. Now I don't even have to pretend to feel bad about killing them.'
But then his thoughts flicked to Ariana. 'But I can't do that in front of her… she might get some mental scars at the sight. Guess today won't be the day I get my first real kills'
He sighed through his nose. 'I guess we play nice. Relatively.'
The leader took his silence for defiance and waved his hand. "Guess that's a no. Get him."
Two of the thugs surged forward with a battle cry, swinging wild and heavy like bulls.
But Liam moved first.
He slid past the first like water around a rock, catching the thug's wrist mid-swing and driving his elbow into his nose—crunch. Blood sprayed. The second came in with a blade, but Liam ducked beneath it, pivoted, and swept the thug's legs clean from under him. The man flipped mid-air and landed flat on his back with a groan.
Liam stood over their crumpled forms, turning his head toward the last two—leader, and his right-hand man with the light yellow core.
"I'll say this once," Liam said, voice low, unbothered. "Come at me, and you join them."
The leader snorted, cigar ember flaring as ash dropped to the ground. "You're skilled, I'll give you that. But this is real life, kid. Not a sparring match at your academy. Out here, it's experience that matters—and me and my boy here?"
He tossed the cigar aside.
"Hah… The sun is setting. So let's make this quick." Liam said.
He took a step forward. Just walking.
The leader scowled. "Still got a mouth, huh? Let's turn this kid into ash."
With a snap of his fingers, arcs of lightning crackled from his hands. His partner flared water magic, his palms swirling with fluid pressure.
But Liam didn't stop walking.
The water thug lashed out first, sending a slicing wave down the narrow passage. Liam shifted his weight slightly and sidestepped—the water crashed uselessly against the wall behind him, drenching a stack of old crates. The thug tried again, sending a stream to bind Liam's legs, but Liam leapt over it and closed the distance in a blink.
A spinning kick caught the mage in the ribs. He folded like paper, flying back and smashing into the wall as he slumped unconscious.
"Useless!" the leader barked, electricity now fully dancing across his arms. He roared and launched a bolt.
Liam ducked and ran straight into the attack, letting the lightning whip across his side, searing his shirt. The pain crackled through him, but his face didn't so much as twitch.
"W-What…?" the leader stuttered.
Liam was already in front of him.
A punch like a war drum echoed in the alley. It landed square in the man's gut, lifting him an inch off the ground. Before the man could even scream, Liam kneed him in the face, then elbowed him down as he dropped.
The thug coughed blood, trembling, trying to crawl away.
Liam grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. Again. And again. The man's cigar breath mixed with blood and ozone.
"Start talking," Liam growled ever slightly. "Why were you following us?"
The leader spat blood, then grinned with a chipped tooth. "Business," he said smugly. "Child trafficking. Kidnapping. Slavery. Same old, same old. You think you're the first brat to punch back?" He laughed, hoarse and wheezing. "That girl with you? She would've made a damn fine waitress down in the slut pubs. Clean face. Pure. The underground loves that kinda—"
Liam's fist drove into his jaw with brutal force, cutting the rest of that sentence off mid-filth. The man slumped, finally unconscious, mouth wide open with a cracked tooth hanging loose.
Liam stood there for a moment, breathing slowly, staring at the crumpled body in front of him.
Then he turned his head slightly toward the alley's end and called out calmly, "Ariana. It's clear. We can go now."