‎In a nearby building, three youths awaited their orders.

‎Warren by nature, was a natural hunter.

‎Despite his age, he had a nose for these things. The uncanny quirk to tell when things we're not going as they should.

‎"Why are they taking so long?" Edmund muttered under his breath, pacing erratically across the room.

‎Warren stared at him coldly, his dark eyes seemingly boring through him

‎" It's because something must have gone wrong..."

‎Xander threw him a furtive glance, smiling slightly.

‎He raised the cup of coffee beside him, sipping the hot beverage leisurely.

‎"Patience, my dear ' brothers', let the adults do their thing for now. We'll soon get our chance to show off."

‎"Besides, you do realize, worst-case scenario, you could die out here. Xander continued coolly.

‎"You're here to gain experience, not lose your life in the process.

‎Xander snorted derisively at the remark, walking to the window.

‎After a few moments, he whispered, the sound barely audible.

‎" I was right."

‎Xander's gaze shifted to him, his eyes widening slightly in curiosity.

‎"What do you mean?

‎Without looking away from the window, Xander crossed his arms across his chest.

‎" Come see for yourself."

‎The other two youths exchanged a glance and then joined him at the window overlooking the street below.

‎To the mundane eye, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

‎But to those with a strong mental fortitude, a billowing cloud of smoke gently rose into the air in the distance.

‎A large barrier momentarily shimmered into existence, a bright blue energy shimmering across its surface.

‎" Well, what a mess..." Edmund murmured, his eyes narrowing slightly.

‎" What a mess indeed,"

‎Xander agreed, his lips curling into a slight smile.

‎" This is certainly unexpected."

‎Swarms of men and women they could only make out to be Praesagius agents, roved all over the street.

‎" They're sealing off the area...looks like they have everything under control..."

‎Edmund frowned, his eyes darkening the more he observed the bustle of activity on the street.

‎" I think we should go check it out..."

‎Xander threw him an amused look, then rolled his eyes slightly, plopping down on the plush sofa in the centre of the room.

‎"And what do you think that we can do that the seasoned agents out there aren't doing? For all you know, we could simply be getting in the way."

‎Edmund glared at him icily, then turned away.

‎Despite the assassin's seeming nonchalance, Edmund grudgingly agreed that he had a point.

‎"If you're really that worried about them, give Jeff a call. Hw did leave us with a contact to reach them just in case anything came up..."

‎Xander smoothly said with a shrug, elegantly crossing his legs and throwing his arms behind his head like he had no care in the world.

‎Edmund really envied his ability to stay calm and level-headed in dire moments. From the time that he'd spent with the president of the academy, he realized it was something he did reflexively, it was second nature, and not simply an act.

‎And that made the youth all the more daunting; it was incredible, really.

‎"Just what did you have to go through to turn out like this? Edmund thought, walking while dialling the safe number.

‎The phone rang for a few moments before Jeff picked up the call.

‎"Jeff speaking, what's up?"

‎" We've seen the situation from the hotel room. What's going on?"

‎Jeff let out a weary sigh on his end.

‎"You see it too, huh?"

‎After a moment of silence, Jeff spoke.

‎"Alyssa and Norvax are trapped within the dome. The dome was erected by the Crows. From what we've been able to see so far, we believe it's the product of a powerful containment artifact."

‎Edmund's eyes widened slightly at the mention of an artifact.

‎Pressing the loudspeaker option, he spoke.

‎" Could you run that by me again?"

‎Jeff grunted, then repeated.

‎"Like I was saying, we believe that the Crows are using a powerful containment artifact to keep them from going anywhere. Fortunately, that also means that they're also trapped in there with them, and right now we have our best artifact breakers working on decrypting the artifact that was used."

‎" Is there anything we can do to help?"

‎There was a slight pause, then Jeff spoke.

‎"At this point, there is nothing much you kids can do, so I would suggest that you sit tight and let us handle this. You evolving yourself in this will only worsen this mess."

‎Xander grinned patting Edmund's shoulder.

‎Edmund gritted his teeth, closing his eyes to hide the frustration he was feeling.

‎A moment later, the phone beeped, indicating that Jeff had disconnected the call.

‎Just then, the doorbell rang.

‎The youths' heads snapped towards the door simultaneously.

‎The doorbell rang again.

‎" Did any of you order anything?" Xander asked.

‎Warren shook his head, cocking his head slightly.

‎A suspicious smile slowly crept into Xander's face, his lips curling up in amusement.

‎" Well, looks like things are about to get interesting," he thought.

‎" I'll answer it," he said, standing up from the sofa.

‎"Be on your guard," he muttered under his breath.

‎Xander remained still, his eyes boring into the door.

‎A slight chill spread through the room, the air turning static.

‎"Who is it?" Xander asked, standing a distance away from the door.

‎" Room service..." the voice spoke.

‎Xander's smile grew wider, his teeth glinting in the light.

‎" Predictable..."

‎" I'm sorry, we didn't order anything," he replied, stepping further away from the door.

‎He channeled the umbralis in body to his feet and vital spots.

‎Instantly, it felt like the world had come into focus.

‎Energy coursed through his muscles and the entirety of his body.

‎Noticing the slight change in his presence, Edmund took a step back, instinctively activating his ability.

‎"Careful," Xander whispered.

‎"Is this room 703?" the voice asked once more.

‎Xander smirked, unsheathing the blade he carried around with him.

‎"He's baiting us, trying to make us let our guard down and catch us off guard."

‎He grinned slightly.

‎" Fortunately, two can play that game."

‎" No, it's 702, you've got the wrong room."

‎A shaky, awkward laugh emanated from outside the room.

‎"Sorry for bothering you, my mistake, haha."

‎Xander smiled, adjusting his blade and getting into a stance.

‎" No problem."

‎A split second later, the door burst open, in a shower of wood and splinters.

‎Without missing a beat, Xander darted forward, blurring through the air.

‎A blonde-haired man grinned, raising his hand.

‎His eyes instantly glowed with ethereal blue light, which drowned out the rest of his face.

‎"On second thought, I wasn't mistaken. This is actually the right..."

‎Before he could finish his sentence, his outstretched hand suddenly detached from his upper limb, falling to the floor with a sickening thud.

A spray of blood erupted from his outstretched arm, painting the sleek floorboards a vivid crimson.

‎The man stared at his outstretched stump in disbelief, his mouth comically falling open.

‎He opened his mouth to scream, but a heartbeat later, a thin crimson line ran across his throat.

‎The man staggered back, his scream muffled with the gurgles of his own blood.

‎The man limply fell to the floor, the light in his blue eyes dimming, then disappearing completely with the deactivation of his ability.

‎A dark skinned youth with cold brown eyes appeared in his vision, a cruel smile playing on his lips.

‎The youth casually flicked the dark crimson liquid off his blade with a practiced motion, then squatted down.

‎" Like I said before, you got the wrong room."

‎The man's gaze shifted to the two youths behind the strange teen.

‎The brown haired kid looked understandably appalled while the dark-haired kid stood, watching nonchalantly.

‎"Ah, shit," the man thought before his vision faded completely.

‎Edmund stared at Xander in shock. Having spent so much time with the nonchalant assassin, it was easy to forget who he was and what he did, and now a dead body lay on the floor.

The pool of blood was slowly spreading, soaking into the cheap floorboards.

‎And all it'd taken was the blink of an eye.

‎One moment, the man had been prattling on about how he had the right room and the next, Xander gutted him like a fish.

‎It was almost surreal seeing the corpse on the floor.

‎And the culprit?

‎Xander was unbothered, his easy-going smile already back in place.

" Well, we need to clean this up before the others get back."

Xander grinned, throwing Edmund a thumbs up."

"Unless we want room service to cause a fuss"

Edmund flinched subconsciously taking a step back.

Xander raised an eyebrow at his reaction.

" You've never killed anyone before have you? My bad, these things..."

Xander paused, looking for the right words.

Eventually he shrugged slightly.

" Well, they happen, and what can you do... it's kill or be killed."

He turned to Warren and his smile grew slightly.

"You on the other hand, you've the eyes of a killer. That's why the look in your eyes was so familiar. You're not moved by this..."

Warren shrugged nonchalantly.

" I don't know what you're talking about."

Just then a voice spoke from the door way.

" My, my, what do we have here?"

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