[Vorn's Apartment - Late Night]
The city outside hummed with its usual nighttime soundtrack - distant traffic on the highway, occasional shouts from late-night revelers, the whir of air conditioning units working overtime. Vorn sat at his small kitchen table with a cup of green tea growing cold beside a stack of medical textbooks.
The books were legitimate purchases from a used bookstore, but they'd been filled with notes that no medical student would write. Margin comments about nerve pathway modifications. Diagrams showing how monster muscle fiber could be integrated with human tissue. Sketches of surgical procedures that didn't exist in any official curriculum.
He turned a page on circulatory system anatomy and made another note about blood flow optimization through enhanced vessel structures. The tea had gone completely cold, but he hadn't noticed.
"Report," he said quietly to his shadow.
---
[Intelligence Gathering]
Dusk's voice emerged from the darkness beneath his chair, calm and professional. "Two guild scouts observed the building earlier. Third and fifth floors, using enhanced scopes from the construction site across the street. They left after two hours without making contact."
Vorn continued reading, but his attention sharpened. "Duration of observation?"
"Four-thirty to six-thirty PM. Standard surveillance pattern, but they were specifically watching for someone matching your description."
"Equipment level?"
"Professional grade. Military scopes, communication gear, probably recording everything. Not casual recruiters."
Mire's voice joined the conversation from somewhere near the kitchen. "Information from the underground networks confirms guild competition. Multiple organizations are tracking 'the rookie' - description matches yours. Bounty isn't official, but there's significant interest."
Vorn set down his pen and looked out the window. The construction site Dusk had mentioned was visible from his angle, dark scaffolding against the night sky. Good vantage point for surveillance.
"Financial incentives?"
"Not money," Mire continued. "Recruitment rights. First guild to secure a binding contract gets exclusive access to your development potential."
The slime stirred uneasily in his consciousness. "They're treating you like a resource to be claimed."
"Because that's what I am, from their perspective." Vorn closed the medical textbook and pulled out his planning notebook. "Time to update our operational parameters."
---
[Strategic Planning]
He opened to a fresh page and began writing in neat columns. Training schedules, surveillance rotations, financial targets. Everything organized with the precision of someone managing a small military unit rather than supernatural shadow creatures.
"Dusk - extend surveillance range to three-block radius. I want advance warning of any organized approach." He wrote the assignment in block letters. "Mire - expand information gathering to include guild recruitment patterns. How they approach targets, what they offer, what they threaten."
"What about monetary objectives?" Ash asked from near the window.
"Medical school isn't cheap," Vorn replied, calculating numbers in his head. "Legitimate credentials, equipment access, research opportunities. We need sustainable income streams that don't attract attention."
He wrote a figure at the bottom of the page that would represent several years of normal salary for most people. But with his soldiers' capabilities and the city's underground economy, it was achievable within months.
"Grain - accelerate training programs for all units. If we're being hunted, everyone needs to be combat-ready." He looked up from his writing. "Scarlet and Saber - we'll discuss your special assignments separately."
The apartment felt smaller with all their voices active, even though only shadows were visible to normal perception. But Vorn had grown comfortable with the constant presence of beings that existed somewhere between summoned creatures and extensions of his own consciousness.
---
[Monster Biology Research]
From under his bed, he retrieved a cooler that shouldn't have existed in a normal apartment. Inside were tissue samples, preserved organs, and bone fragments from various creatures - materials acquired through Ash's procurement network from sources that didn't ask questions about intended use.
He laid out a section of what looked like enhanced muscle fiber on his kitchen counter, alongside surgical tools that he'd modified for precision dissection. The tissue was still responsive to electrical stimulation, contracting when he applied current from a small device.
"Contractile efficiency is thirty percent higher than human baseline," he noted, recording measurements in his notebook. "Integration potential looks promising, but rejection risks need to be calculated."
The work was methodical, clinical, conducted with the detachment of someone who viewed biology as engineering problems to be solved. No squeamishness about cutting into alien tissue, no hesitation about the implications of what he was learning.
His soldiers watched from the shadows without comment. They understood their master was preparing for something larger than simple survival or guild avoidance.
---
[Soldier Recognition Ceremony]
Vorn cleaned his dissection tools and stored the tissue samples before turning his full attention to the shadows around his apartment.
"You've been operating without formal designation," he said. "That changes now."
One by one, he called them forward to manifest in physical form. Not just the humanoid shapes they wore for combat, but refined appearances that reflected their individual capabilities and roles.
"Ash." The pale figure with burn scars stepped forward, bowing slightly. "Procurement and material acquisition. Your specialty is finding rare materials that shouldn't exist and making it available."
"Dusk." The shadow-touched soldier emerged from darkness with fluid movement. "Surveillance and intelligence. You see what others miss and report what others ignore."
He continued down the line, formally acknowledging each soldier's role and capabilities. "Grain, Training and combat readiness. You ensure all units remain sharp and capable."
"Mire, Information networks and underground connections. You hear whispers and follow threads that lead to useful knowledge."
The last two stepped forward together. "Scarlet, Saber, special operations. Your assignments require capabilities beyond standard parameters."
The ceremony was brief but significant. By naming them formally and acknowledging their individual worth, Vorn had transformed them from tools into subordinates. Beings with recognized identity and purpose.
"We serve until dissolution," they said in unison, voices carrying the weight of genuine loyalty rather than magical compulsion.
---
[Hajime's Departure]
Three hundred kilometers away, Hajime finished packing his personal belongings into boxes that would fit in a single car. Twenty years of career progression reduced to documents, photos, and a few pieces of equipment he'd purchased with his own money.
The letter had arrived that morning, delivered by someone who'd disappeared before he could ask questions. Plain paper, no letterhead, message brief and direct:
"Your questions about recent procedural irregularities have been noted. For your continued well-being, consider relocating to a different jurisdiction. The choice is yours."
No signature, no return address. But the paper stock was expensive, the printing professional, and the delivery method suggested resources and organization.
Hajime had burned the letter in his kitchen sink, watching the ash disappear down the drain. But the message was clear - he'd become inconvenient to people who preferred not to be questioned about dead candidates and missing safety protocols.
His car was loaded by evening. No forwarding address, no contact information for former colleagues. Clean break from a system that had revealed itself to be more corrupt than he'd imagined.
As he drove toward the highway, he passed the cemetery where they'd buried an empty coffin earlier that week. Rain was still falling intermittently, turning the memorial flowers into soggy remnants.
"At least the boy might have actually survived," he muttered to himself. "Better to disappear than to die for someone else's convenience."
---
[Escalation]
Back in his apartment, Vorn was reviewing the day's intelligence reports when Dusk's voice carried a new tension.
"Movement across the street. Not surveillance this time - active approach."
Vorn looked up from his notebook. Through his window, he could see a figure standing on the construction site scaffolding. Not hiding, not observing. Just waiting, clearly visible to anyone who looked in that direction.
The figure was tall, dressed in dark clothing that looked more tactical than casual. Even from a distance, their posture suggested professional training and confidence that came from significant combat experience.
As Vorn watched, the figure drew what looked like a sword, the blade catching light from street lamps below. Then they leaped from the top, descending four stories to land in the street with the controlled grace of someone whose body had been enhanced beyond human limitations.
The landing was silent despite the distance, boots touching pavement without sound that carried to Vorn's enhanced hearing. Professional, controlled, showing off capabilities rather than attempting stealth.
The figure looked directly at Vorn's apartment window and raised their blade in what might have been a salute or challenge.
"Here we go," the hunter said, voice carrying clearly across the distance between them.
Vorn closed his notebook and stood slowly. His soldiers stirred in the shadows, ready to manifest at his command.
"Time to see who wants me this badly," he said quietly, summoning his artifact card.