Valaq was something, it was not a very big city. It’s population was only 300k and it was kinda small. The city was built with white marble stones and it made the city almost look like something from a fairytale. And in the middle of the city there was a big castle, it was built with jet black stone. It was the complete opposite from the city and almost made it look like it was the villain's hideout in a kids cartoon.

‘Well, technically it was the villain’s hideout in this case’ Thought Adrius while walking among the common folk. The market was very lively this time of the day, the white buildings were designed to take the lowest amount of space but at the same time give the person in them the best amount of space. It was a very smart design. People were joking and laughing like there was not a thing in the world that could break their mood.

There were elves, dwarfs and humans drinking and chatting. It was not a common thing to happen, considering that dwarves hate elves and the same thing with elves. So seeing them living this comfortable with each other was very intriguing. Dwarves and Elves are original inhabitants of the magus world like humans. So they were not slaves, there was some tension between those three races but it was mostly a cultural thing, well except the hate that goes both ways in case of dwarves and elves.

There was beastkin, beastkin of all kinds, the snake, wolf, cow and even lion. They were all of course slaves, but the beastkin are treated better than other slaves. That is because they are very useful. Of course there are some that are free, they can buy their freedom or they can marry someone from the magus world, in that case they would still be slaves. But their kids and grandkids will be free, because they have the magus world in them. But it was very hard to find a person for the beastkin, they were not that pretty, of course not all species but species like snakes and insects are very disturbing to look at.

Adrius was walking through the streets and watching everything he could, it was a very important process to spot anything around him. But to his surprise he didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, so he decided to ask someone why the folk were so happy and lively today.

After looking around he spotted a young lady, she looked like a waiter in an inn, she was cleaning the tables. She was nice enough, not a great beauty but good enough. He approached her, and she immediately noticed him. He smiled at her, he saw color rise in her cheeks: ‘ It was a good thing I chose this disguise.’ He asked Croft for a way for him to alter his appearance and Croft gave him a mask. When he asked what the mask was and how it worked? Croft Shrugged and said: “ It is a disgusting mask, it is not that rare, it doesn’t work on magus, that's why apprentices use it much more. It was mine, my mentor gave it to me I dunno, 130 years ago. I can’t remember it was a long time ago, the important thing is that when you wear the mask think of any look you want and then it will alter your apprentice. By appearance I mean your whole body, not just your face.”

So he wore it, and the sensation he felt from the mask was kinda familiar so he asked: “ What is the mask made of?”

Croft shrugged again and answered like it was nothing: “ Human skin.” He actually thought about it and it made the perfect sense to make it out of human skin. It was not like this was the first time he wore human skin.

So when he arrived at the city he wore the mask and chose to be a 20 year old man, with sandy golden hair that was cut short and emerald like green eyes. He made himself taller by around 10 centimeters making him hit 195 cm. He made his body very lean and muscular, and he made sure to show it by wearing a sleeveless shirt. In better terms he made sure he looked like a prince from a story, he tested the look on some ladies and counting from their blushes and the lust they radinated, he would say it worked. As for why he made himself this handsome, it was for two reasons, First: Ego boost, he knew it was a petty thing but he liked to do it anyway.

Second, and honestly the real reason: He discovered that people tell a lot more things to a handsome or pretty face than an average face. And he needs everything he can get his hands on to achieve his mission.

He flashed the waiter a smile, he knew how it looked, he saw himself in the mirror: “Hello pretty lady, I have a question, if you don’t mind me asking?”

The girl’s face was full on tomato color when she answered: “ Hello to you too Ser, of course please ask.”

‘Ser? Hmm, she thinks I’m a knight, yeah it can be a good disguise. I’m not as strong as I once was but being a magus apprentice doesn’t only mean me getting magic. In my estimate I’m equivalent to Great Knights in strength.’

He flashed her a grin: “ You see, young lady, I’m not from here. And I was wondering why is the mood this good in the city?”

The girl’s face lit up and she was opening her mouth to answer when she shut it close and had a particular glow in her eyes: “ It will cost you Ser” She said.

Adrius liked the girl for that, if you know something don’t give it without taking something in return. “ What will it cost me?” He asked expecting money or something like that.

Then the girl looked at him from his face to his feet and licked her lips: ‘ Oh, you gotta be kidding me.’

“You see, there is a window that is stuck in my house and I would like it if you follow me there to fix it” She said what she thought was a seductive thing with a seductive tone. But for Adrius’ ears it sounded like a child speaking. So he looked at her again thoughtfully, she was young. He thought she was just short, but he can see that now she was very young.

So he asked: “ How old are you?”

She didn’t even hesitate: “ 13”

‘Nope, I’m not touching this girl. I may be a monster, but I’m not that type of monster.’

Then an idea hit him, he pretended to sigh and said: “Lead the way.”

The girl was very excited, she walked in front of him and tried to walk like a woman, but he saw the child in her.

‘What is happening to children? Why is this child thinking about such stuff?’

He followed her to a nice house, it was kinda small and the inside looked like there were two people living in it, both females judging from the design and the lack of boyish or manly things in the house. It was a nice place.

“Nice place you have here.”

“Thank you, me and my mother live here. She is not here at the moment she is probably working”

After she closed the door of the house, he immediately moved. He made sure to close all the curtains and look at the door. It was very easy doing it, because of magic.

And in a matter of seconds, he was holding the girl’s head and absorbing everything she knew. He didn’t use soul search because it would make her mentaly handicap after it, and he didn’t find a reason for it. So he entered her mind and started searching. After five minutes, he carried the girl to her bed and then opened the door of the house and went out. He altered her memories and deleted himself from her memory entirely.

He also knew why they were so happy, it was because of the wedding, it seems that the magus apprentice that is teaching mortals is pretty popular in the city and it seems that he was to marry the city Lord’s only daughter daughter after the lord died and she became the Lady of the city. She doesn’t have any older siblings or younger ones at that, she is an only child. He smelled the conspiracy from this far: ‘ Well, it seems we have something in common, me and the traitor. I would bet a fortune that the Lord didn’t die of normal circumstances. Oh, it is going to be a good wedding!’