The Summoner did not flinch. Despite the absolute terror of what he had just witnessed, a sick, fanatic grin spread across his bruised face. He spat a wad of blood onto the concrete near Rina's boots and looked her dead in the eye.
"Go to hell, Fang," he rasped, his voice dripping with venom. "The Root is already everywhere. You cannot stop what is coming. So go ahead. Blend me. I don't give a damn about you or your stupid magic names. Just kill me already."
Rina stared at him for a long, quiet second. Her glowing glove illuminated his face as she searched for a crack in his bravado. There was not one. He was completely brainwashed, fully prepared to die for his syndicate.
But that was not what agitated her.
Her left eye twitched. The only person allowed to insult her spell names was Elena.
Rina let out a long, exhausted sigh. "I don't take requests. And my magic names are cool."
"HAHAHAHA!" The Summoner suddenly threw his head back and laughed, violently coughing up blood in the process. "The Human Blender?" he wheezed, his chest heaving with manic amusement. "You have got to be kidding me. Just do it!"
Rina's expression completely flatlined.
In a sudden, desperate burst of movement, the Summoner lunged forward. He wrapped both of his bloodied hands around her leg and gripped her with all his remaining might to pin her in place.
"Do it!" he roared.
A heavy scrape of boots against concrete echoed behind her. The tattooed Conjurer had forced himself off the ground. He charged at her back with a feral shout and pulled his fist back for a devastating blindside strike.
Rina did not panic. She simply glanced over her shoulder and dropped into a deep squat. The Conjurer's wild punch sailed harmlessly over her head. Before he could recover his balance, she drove her fist upward in a brutal, bone-shattering uppercut right under his jaw.
The strike lifted him slightly off his feet. In that fleeting moment, Rina channeled her mana into her lower body. She did not try to shake the Summoner off her trapped leg. Instead, she used him.
Twisting her entire body with terrifying superhuman torque, she launched a spinning roundhouse kick. She swung her leg with so much force that the clinging Summoner was lifted completely off the ground. He became a human wrecking ball. His body smashed directly into the staggering Conjurer. A sickening sound of impact echoed through the tunnel. Both men were launched through the air and crashed heavily against the brick wall. They crumpled to the damp floor in a tangled, unconscious heap. Rina slowly stood up and brushed the dust from her coat. She looked down at the two motionless bodies in the dark alley
"I guess I am back to zero," Rina muttered, letting out a deep, frustrated sigh.
She turned away from the unconscious men and started to walk toward the neon glow of the bazaar.
But before she could take a second step, a sharp sensation prickled at the back of her neck. Someone else was hiding in the underground shadows. They were watching her, and she noticed the foreign presence immediately.
Rina did not hesitate. She stopped in her tracks and raised her left hand sideways, instantly channeling her mana. A brilliant blue light gathered in her palm, illuminating the dark tunnel and highlighting her cold, predatory glare.
"Who are you?" Rina asked. Her voice was quiet but laced with absolute danger.
"Alright, you caught me," a voice echoed from the gloom.
With both hands raised high in the air, a man slowly revealed himself. He faded back into reality as the cloaking magic around his body dissolved.
Rina did not lower her glowing hand. She scanned him thoroughly from head to toe. Her eyes locked onto his left arm, which was fitted with a bulky, intricate artifact glove.
So he uses an invisibility artifact, eh, Rina thought. Her blue mana continued to pulse in the dark as she waited for his next move.
"Get on with the business already," she demanded. She raised her left hand slightly, making the blue glow flare brighter.
"Alright, alright," the man obliged, taking a slow step back. "You want some information about the Root? I can give you that."
"How much?" she asked. Her voice was as sharp as ever.
"Getting straight to the negotiation already?" He offered a sly, casual smile. "How about you put down your hand first?"
She lowered her hand. The blinding blue glow of her mana faded, plunging the tunnel back into heavy shadows. She really needed that information. Even if there was a chance he was bluffing, a weak lead was far better than having nothing at all.
"Good," the man said. He finally dropped his hands and adopted a much more relaxed posture. "There is a certain item I want to buy, but it is a ridiculous price."
He leaned forward slightly, his sly smile widening in the gloom. "But since you are a Black Fang, and a high-ranking one at that, money should not be a problem for you. Right?"
"Sure. I will play along," Rina responded.
She stepped a bit further down the tunnel, then paused and looked back at him. "Well? After you, ugly face," she continued.
The man just smiled, completely unfazed by the insult, and walked ahead to lead the way.
They merged back into the main cavern of the Ashen Bazaar. The underground was booming with people. It was no surprise that this sprawling market existed entirely beyond the reach of law enforcement, since everyone down here operated in direct opposition to the rules of the world above.
"Why do you want to know about them anyway?" the informant asked as they navigated through the dense crowd.
"It is none of your business," she replied coldly, instantly shutting him down.
"You are the only person asking about them," he noted, glancing back at her over his shoulder. "Which surprises me. You would be dead already if you were not strong."
Rina kept her gaze fixed straight ahead as they wove through a group of haggling mercenaries, paying no attention to his last comment.
"Besides, a little conversation never hurt anyone," he continued. "What could a high-ranking Black Fang possibly want with a ghost story like the Root?"
"I said it is none of your business," Rina repeated, her tone dropping a fraction lower. "Keep walking and keep your mouth shut before I change my mind about buying your information."
The informant let out a low chuckle, raising his hands in a placating gesture as he walked. "Alright, alright. I know when a topic is off limits." He pointed toward a narrow, poorly lit side tunnel branching off from the main cavern. "We are almost there. The seller operates out of a quiet stall just up ahead."
As they continued walking, they finally arrived at their destination.
An eerie, lingering sensation oozed from the shadows of the dead-end tunnel. Rina could feel the heavy, stagnant atmosphere pressing against her skin, thick with the smell of mold and decay. The entrance to the stall was nothing more than a dark, rotting doorway. The heavily barricaded windows and the suffocating physical pressure in the damp air were enough to make a fully grown man turn back and run.
Rina did not run, but her nose wrinkled in absolute disgust.
"What a disgusting place," she muttered.
The informant let out a low, amused chuckle. He stepped past her and rested his hand on the rusted iron handle of the door.
"The best secrets are always buried in the worst dirt," he whispered.
He pushed the heavy door open. A foul, freezing wind spilled out into the tunnel, carrying a sharp, metallic chill that made the hairs on Rina's arms stand up. Her blue eyes narrowed into a cold glare as she stepped out of the tunnel and into the dark.