“Gray Ravens? Never heard of them.”

  “A gang of scum. They say they’re somehow connected to the city mayor, but there’s no proof. The only fact is that the gang has existed for more than ten years, and no one has tried to deal with them.”

  “So that’s how it is… Alright…”

  Valm went to the laboratory, leaving Grem in complete uncertainty. The guard hadn’t expected the alchemist to be so indifferent to his words. It was unsettling—and frightening. People who conceal their thoughts and emotions can be very dangerous and unpredictable.

  Meanwhile, the alchemist strapped down another monster, securing it on a frame. His actions were precise and methodical, though his mind was entirely occupied by Grem’s words. Valm had already suspected that the mayor was behind the assassination attempt, but without direct evidence, he didn’t want to start a feud. And even now…

  Valm cut off one of the horns protruding from the monster’s spine and went to the medical section to conduct a quick analysis of its composition, checking the calcium and phosphorus levels in the tissue. If he was lucky, he might even identify compounds that negatively affected the creature’s health and development.

  But even now, Valm didn’t have the strength for open war with the mayor. As for those scumbags… If he wiped them out, he could protect himself from future assassination attempts and, at the same time, sever—so to speak—one of the mayor’s arms. If they were truly connected, that is. The alchemist retrieved the horn fragments from the device and recorded the experiment’s results.

  “So, what do you say?” he asked the monster while peeling its scalp. “Endure it, or give them a slap in return?”

  A cloud of white dust burst from beneath the surgical saw as it bit into the creature’s sturdy skull. Carefully cutting around the perimeter, the alchemist lifted the skull cap and removed the protective brain membranes with a scalpel. He paused, visually assessing the brain’s size and structure, as if searching for abnormalities.

  “Ah, you won’t tell me anything, you dumb freak. At least not with your tongue. But your body… your body can reveal something.”

  The alchemist carefully separated the thin gray strands growing from the back of the skull, stretching down to the spine. Most likely, they connected the brain to the monster’s core. Valm walked around the frame, locking eyes with the restrained creature.

  “If I’m right, you won’t die quickly. And that means we’ll have a lot… a lot of time to talk.”

  Though the monster didn’t understand his words, it still trembled. Not from pain—from fear. Scholars of this world all claimed that monsters did not know fear. They were wrong. At some point, every creature that encountered Valm began to fear.

  The alchemist’s scalpel made a lightning-fast incision down the monster’s chest, barely missing the bones. He separated the soft tissues, staunching the bleeding from dozens of small vessels. Then the saw whirred again as it met the tough ribs of the creature’s chest.

  Valm worked confidently and swiftly, stopping only when he saw the glowing core of the monster. He smiled. This time, things would be different. He pulled a tray of glass vials closer to the restrained creature. It was time to test some of his alchemical results on its insides.

  The experiments lasted several hours. Injecting poisons into the bloodstream, applying toxins to internal organs—he observed their effects and the time required for the monster to regenerate. In the end, the creature’s core cracked and crumbled to dust as its mana was depleted. The monster was dead.

  Valm sighed. He had no effective poisons in his arsenal. He would either have to invent them or find another solution.

  The alchemist sat down to draw an anatomical atlas of the monster, but his thoughts kept returning to Gray Ravens. Should he try to buy them off? After building the Citadel, he had little money left—far less than the mayor, who had been plundering a city of millions. Valm didn’t believe in the loyalty of scum like Gorpo. So… kill them?

  Ladbor, now recovered from the injuries inflicted by the mayor, was once again racing north along the road to Gray Ravens’ lair. As always, the heavy gates swung open, and the adventurer was led inside to wait for the First Raven.

  But instead of a calm conversation, he immediately lashed out at the warrior who entered the room, cursing furiously.

  “You bastard! You failed the job and set me up! Are you so fucking incompetent that you can’t even get rid of a pathetic alchemist?!”

  “It’s not like that! He had help!”

  “I don’t give a damn! You were supposed to kill him!”

  “We’ll complete the job. Gray Ravens always finish their work, one way or another. So don’t worry—he’ll die!”

  “Five days! You hear me? You have five days. And don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

  Ladbor stormed out, slamming the door. If they didn’t take out the alchemist, he would personally carve them up.

  The First Raven sat motionless at the table.

  “You heard?” he asked the empty room.

  From the darkness beneath the roof, a black shadow emerged, taking on human form.

  “Yes. What should we do?”

  “Gather the men.”

  “How many?”

  “All of them. We may have to storm a small fortress.”

  The figure faded back into the shadows and disappeared. The First Raven lowered his head into his calloused hands. Because of that one failure, his gang was now going to suffer losses. The alchemist had locked himself inside his Citadel, refusing to leave. And that warrior beside him now… A cornered prey could become a hunter.

  Valm didn’t enjoy killing. Unlike his mentor, he actually cared about human lives. If it hadn’t come to this, he never would have dared to take his next steps. The alchemist twirled a small glass vial between his fingers, filled with something black. It had no cork, no lid—it was completely sealed.

  Apparently having made a decision, Valm stood up and left the laboratory. He ignored Qian, who jumped to her feet excitedly, and went straight to the guard.

  “Grem, what do you know about Gray Ravens?”

  The man grinned. It seemed the uncertainty was over.

  “A gang of scum, numbering a few dozen. They have a sort of base outside the city, along the northern road, where they collect tolls from merchants. Or, to be precise, they just rob them.”

  “What’s their strength?”

  “As far as I know, a few third-circle mages, and the rest are warriors of various classes. But they also have some lower-tier Battle Masters. Why do you ask?”

  “I want to pay them a visit.”

  Grem froze. He hadn’t ordered him to go and kill them. He had just said he wanted to go there himself?

  “Uh… Sir Valm, I think it’s a bad idea to go alone. They’ll kill you. With their numbers, even I won’t be able to protect you.”

  “Grem, it’s much simpler than that. I’m not asking you to protect me. The plan is entirely different.”

  The alchemist pulled out the sealed vial he had been holding earlier.

  “How far and how accurately can you throw this bottle?”

  The Battle Master took it in his hands, tossing it a few times in his palm.

  “Two kilometers, with an error margin of plus or minus half a meter. What is it?”

  “A little gift that will make them call off their hunt for me.”

  “Oh, is this your alchemy?” Qian’s voice came from behind. “I’m coming with you—I want to watch!”

  “You’re still a kid!” Valm snapped.

  “You’re wrong,” Grem interjected. “Your apprentice is not much weaker than me, if you didn’t know. An extra strong fighter wouldn’t hurt.”

  “We’re not going there to fight.”

  “All the more reason. Nothing bad will happen to her on a walk. And if something does, her help will be useful.”

  Grem wasn’t speaking out of kindness. If Valm’s plan went sideways, two Battle Masters would always be better than one.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Valm sighed. “Fine. She can come.”

  “Great!” Qian cheered, jumping in excitement.

  And then she started undressing.

  “What the hell are you doing?!” the alchemist shouted.

  “Teacher, this is my only outfit, and if I shift into my beast form without undressing, it’ll be ruined!”

  “Oh, I see. Alright.”

  Qian’s body began to grow, covered in thick white fur. There were no signs of pain or discomfort, though the alchemist’s ears picked up something that sounded like cracking bones. Her face contorted—her lips nearly disappeared, her nose flattened, and the shape of her eyes stretched toward her temples, making them narrow and almond-shaped. Her feet and hands grew several times larger, with long, sharp white claws extending from them. Qian stretched and rolled her neck, twisting her head from side to side.

  In front of Valm stood not a girl, but a beast. And not just any beast—a dangerous predator. And they called these things rabbits?! The alchemist tried to find any resemblance to the fluffy little animals, but aside from the long ears and soft white fur, there was nothing. This creature was nearly two hundred kilograms of bone, sinew, and lean muscle—mockingly wrapped in fluffy white fur.

  “What the hell happened to you?!” he blurted out involuntarily.

  “Evolution, Teacher. Our kind could only survive against werewolves under two conditions. Either we reproduced at an extraordinary rate compared to other species, or we became strong and dangerous enough to fight back. We chose both, grrrr.”

  Even Qian’s voice had become deeper and raspier. She swung her paw, and Valm heard the air whistle as her claws sliced through it. I should probably be friendlier to her, he thought.

  “Hey, rabbit, I’ve got something for you!”

  Grem rummaged through his storage bag for a moment and pulled out a massive war hammer with a long handle. Qian instantly grabbed it, spinning it over her head until the air around her hummed.

  “I like it! I’m ready!”

  “Alright, let’s go,” the alchemist said, opening the capsule door.

  “Wait, Master Valm!” Grem stopped him. “With this thing, we’ll be limited to traveling only on roads.”

  “And what do you propose? Otherwise, I’ll slow you both down.”

  The guard pointed at Qian.

  “She’ll carry you.”

  “No way! Qian is my student, not a riding animal!”

  “Ah, Teacher, forgive this Qian, but he has a point!”

  With that, she effortlessly hoisted Valm onto her back and leaped over the Citadel’s towering wall. The alchemist barely had time to activate the Citadel’s security mode on his bracelet.

  “There was a gate!” he groaned into her fluffy ear.

  “Follow me, rabbit!” called Grem, who had already pulled ahead.

  They sped up. Through his clothes, Valm could feel the intense strain of Qian’s muscles as she surged forward, trying to keep pace with the mid-tier Battle Master ahead. Yet, at the same time, her breathing remained steady and measured. Likely, this was a speed she could maintain for a long time.

  They dashed across fields and small forests, leaving the city on their right. Even as the low hills gave way to mountains, they did not slow down. For the first time in his life, Valm was moving at such speed, and despite the fear, he felt… exhilaration?

  Grem stopped at the top of one of the mountains.

  “We can’t go any further, or they’ll sense our auras, Master Valm.”

  Qian set the alchemist down, and he stood beside the guard, following Grem’s pointing hand. A few long wooden buildings, resembling barracks, stood enclosed by a palisade. Gray Ravens’ base was laid out before them like an open book.

  “How far?”

  “About two and a half kilometers.”

  “Can you throw it that far?”

  “Easily. Do I need to hit a specific spot?”

  “No, but preferably the center, and it needs to break on impact—not land in soft soil.”

  Valm pulled out a glass vial, gripping it with whitened fingers. Suddenly, doubt crept in.

  “Are there only Gray Ravens there? No civilians?”

  “Master Valm, you say that as if you’re about to kill them,” Grem chuckled. “But to put your mind at ease, I doubt regular people would be hiding in a den of those bastards. And after your little gift, the rabbit and I will easily sort out who’s who.”

  The Battle Master didn’t know what the alchemist was holding. Typically, alchemy could only paralyze an opponent temporarily, cause coughing, or irritate the eyes. In rare cases, it might slightly poison them. Warriors, however, were damn resistant to such things. Grem simply didn’t know who Valm’s teacher was—otherwise, he wouldn’t be treating that vial so lightly.

  The alchemist looked at Gray Ravens’ base once more. About seventy meters across. The guaranteed effective radius of the substance in this vial—at least a hundred meters. So not a single one of them outside the palisade would survive… And even as he extended the vial to Grem, his fingers refused to let go of the damned glass.

  “How many are there?”

  “I sense fifty-four auras,” the Battle Master replied, yanking the vial from the alchemist’s hands.

  Valm pressed his lips together until they turned white. Fifty-four souls that would forever be on his conscience. Surely, not all of them deserved death… He could cancel the order. He still had time before Grem threw the poison, but…

  “N–” he began, but the vial was already halfway to Gray Ravens’ base.

  Valm clenched his fists. Grem and Qian looked at him in surprise at his outburst. Neither of them saw the moment the bottle shattered into thousands of tiny shards against the wooden wall of the barracks. Nor did they see how the people inside froze in place as if instantly turned to stone before collapsing. It didn’t matter whether they were mages or warriors—their strength level made no difference. The poison affected them all the same.

  Within seconds, Grem’s pupils began to widen. He was still staring at Valm, his face betraying shock, disbelief, and fear.

  “They’re dying one by one!” the Battle Master exclaimed. “I’ll go check!”

  “Stop, Grem!” the alchemist called. “You can’t go there yet!”

  The guard halted.

  “This is impossible…” he muttered, to no one in particular.

  “It was the safest solution.”

  Valm sat down. He felt disgusted, yet at the same time, relieved.

  “I have no right—and no desire—to risk your lives. That’s why I did what I did,” the alchemist wiped his hands as if they were dirty. “We won’t go there for at least two hours. The gas needs time to break down into harmless elements before the area is safe again.”

  Unexpectedly, it was Qian who lightened the mood.

  “Ahahaha! This is my teacher!” she laughed, sitting beside the alchemist and slapping his back with a furry paw. “Now I know I made the right choice becoming your student!”

  Valm coughed.

  “You have strange standards,” he muttered.

  “What’s so strange? Half a hundred enemies wiped out in one move, just to protect me and Grem!”

  Valm remained silent, though he thought to himself that she had invited herself along in the first place.

  “I’m not sure all of them were my enemies…”

  “You don’t know who the Ravens were, Master Valm,” the Battle Master sat down on the other side. “Believe me, ever since they took the contract on you, every single one of them was your enemy.”

  “Don’t try to comfort me, Grem.”

  “Does it look like I’m trying?”

  They all fell silent, staring at the still base of Gray Ravens.

  “Teacher, what was in that bottle?”

  “A poisonous gas.”

  “And it can kill anyone?”

  “No, I don’t think so. I imagine War Gods would only cough a little.”

  “And Battle Ancestors? High-tier mages?”

  “They wouldn’t stand a chance.”

  “Are there poisons,” Grem couldn’t hold back, “that could kill a War God?”

  Valm gave a short nod. His answer shocked both Qian and Grem. War Gods… They stood at the pinnacle of strength in this world, alongside archmages. There were so few of them that no one even hoped to meet one in their lifetime.

  “Teacher, can you create such a poison?”

  Qian’s red eyes were now burning with excitement.

  “Probably.”

  Valm didn’t tell the truth. He knew at least ten poisons from his master that could easily take the life of the God of War—if they made it into his system, of course.

  “Cool! Can I learn to do that?” The girl was overflowing with enthusiasm.

  “Qian,” the alchemist looked at his student with sadness, “you can’t even handle a duck yet. Forget about such complex compounds as poison. At least for now.”

  The silent bodyguard let out a short laugh at those words. Today, he had seen with his own eyes something he had personally considered impossible—an alchemist, playing around, killing warriors and Battle Masters. And he even openly said that this was far from his limit. Grem had respected Valm ever since he took a fifth-class pill as his assistant’s fee. And since then, that respect had only grown. But today… Today, it soared to the heavens. This physically weak man was the strongest of anyone he knew.

  “Two hours have passed,” said Grem, who had been keeping track of time without pause.

  “Drink this.” Valm pulled three vials of yellow liquid from his storage. “Just in case the poison residue hasn’t fully broken down yet.”

  The alchemist’s companions gulped down the potion without hesitation, even faster than Valm himself. He merely shook his head. One shouldn’t be so trusting in this world.

  Qian picked up her teacher and leaped forward. Within seconds, they were already standing before the heavy wooden gates of Gray Ravens’ base.

  “Will you open it?” Grem asked her.

  “Grrrr,” came the response.

  Qian carefully set Valm on his feet and, swinging her heavy hammer, shattered the sturdy wooden logs of the gate into splinters with a single blow. As the dust settled, silence reigned.

  “Let’s go. We’re looking for any leads on their clients and getting out of here—no delays.” Valm entered first.

  And he saw what his poison had done. Bodies lay everywhere—on the courtyard, in the barracks, even along the high fence. Horribly twisted, with bloody tears streaming from their eyes onto blue, contorted faces. Every muscle in their bodies had been torn apart by convulsions. That was why the grimaces of pain distorted the faces of the dead so much.

  Valm crouched beside one of the corpses and removed a storage pouch from its belt. To his surprise, he felt absolutely nothing. Even the pity that had lingered in his soul two hours ago had vanished. Not hidden—completely gone. And the alchemist moved on to the next body, and then another… As if he had looted corpses his whole life.

  “Master Valm, we’re done. We can leave,” Grem called out.

  “Alright.”

  He trusted the Battle Master’s words. If Grem said they had finished searching, then that was that. Valm was confident in Grem’s experience. And he obediently climbed onto Qian’s back. On the way back, the alchemist felt mentally exhausted, while the girl and the Battle Master, on the contrary, joked cheerfully with each other. Valm closed his eyes and rested his head against the warm, white fur. I’ll have to watch the mayor’s reaction closely, he thought before dozing off for a moment.

  “Master Valm! Master Valm!” Grem gently shook the alchemist’s shoulder. “We can’t go inside…”

  “Oh, right…”

  The drowsy Valm deactivated the Citadel’s protective barrier.

  “You know what I’m curious about?” he asked his student. “How long can you stay in this form?”

  “Forever, if I want,” the girl shrugged. “Why, do you like me better this way?”

  “You have very nice fur,” was all he could say. “Let’s go see if there’s anything interesting.”

  A few minutes later, Valm, Grem, and Qian—now in her human form—gathered in the living room. The Battle Master methodically activated the storage pouches and rings with his blood, pouring their contents onto the floor. He handed the last ring to Qian.

  “Take it. I noticed you don’t have a storage item. Now you do.”

  The girl activated the ring and emptied all its contents.

  “It pays to be a scumbag,” Valm remarked.

  Yes, the pile contained outright junk, but there were also plenty of valuables—monster cores, money, and even some rare items.

  “Account books!” Grem exclaimed.

  He pulled out a stack of thick ledgers and handed them to the alchemist.

  “Usually, these record who paid how much for each job. Though the names of the clients are altered and only known to the book’s owner… who, let’s say, died rather unexpectedly.”

  “Thanks. I think I’ll figure it out.”

  Valm took the stack, sat at the table, and began flipping through the pages. This was more than just a record book—it was a complete financial log of Gray Ravens for the past ten years. As Grem had said, the names were encrypted in some wild jumble of letters and numbers.

  Valm picked up the ledger marked for this year and opened the last filled pages. The mention of his assassination was one of the final entries.

  “Five thousand?! They agreed to kill me for only five thousand?!”

  Valm was outraged by such a price. He would have valued himself much higher.

  Grem approached and held out a small glass orb.

  “I found something, Master Valm.”

  He channeled a drop of his aura into it, and an image of the alchemist appeared in the air.

  “I remember this day! That’s when I flogged Sari in the square!” Valm, excited, got up from the table. “But the angle of the recording… It definitely wasn’t taken from the square where it happened!”