NoGift

DURING the silence of the night, in one of the Dead Areas near the South gate of Kievan, four shadows were traipsing on the dark and dirty streets. All were wearing cloaks and if one could see their faces, everyone would say that it was plain and unremarkable. They were careful in their movements. Obviously not wanting any attention to fall on them.

These four were none other than Argent, Lei Feng, Jaxon, and Janea. After successfully entering Kievan, they were now walking towards the direction of the hotel the Conde de la Salvacion and his entourage were staying for the night. Before morning arrived, the four of them needed to replace the Conde, his fiancée, his nephew, and the head of the guard. So that the people who would be leaving tomorrow for the imperial palace would be their group instead.

It would be much safer to replace them as soon as they could. There would be less suspicion that way. And since the Conde and his entourage already passed the security check on the Southern gate, there would be no more checks after that. Partly because no royalty would submit themselves to that kind of rigorous check twice. It was already a testament to Kievan's power that they managed to make those royalties comply to that.

So, after Argent and the others replaced the Conde and the other three, it would be a smooth travel towards the imperial palace. Or at least that was Argent hoped for. 

As they made their way out of the Dead Area, Janea couldn't help but glanced at the silver-haired duke. He still couldn't believe what he did earlier. Making a hole out of a strong barrier like that just by touching it, he had never seen something so remarkable and… scary. 

As someone who had lived in this country for most of his life, he knew just how strong that barrier was. Even with the amount of Mana he had, he couldn't make a dent on it. The only reason he managed to leave here was because of that person. Who only betrayed him at the end. He shook his head. It's not the time to think about that. If he continued to, he'd just be filled with anger. And he needed to be calm right now.

Anyway, what Argent did earlier was shocking to say the least. He had never seen anything like it. Because of his elf blood, he was very sensitive to Mana. So, he could feel the moment the Mana on the barrier started to disintegrate the moment the duke's hand came into contact with a part of the barrier. It's like they melted at his touch. Even after they entered through the hole the duke made on the barrier and Jaxon covered it up with a boulder using his Gift, Jannea's shock still didn't dissipate. Even now, the shock was still there.

He wondered how the duke did it. Was it a device that could destroy Mana? Or was it simply his ability? But Janea heard that Argent was a NoGift. So, how could he have that ability? Either way, it was amazing. But if people knew about this, many would definitely want that for themselves. And it would definitely put the duke in danger.

Argent was probably forced to show this 'whatever it was' to them because it was the safest way for them to enter Kievan. And based on the reaction of the Xing general who was with them, he also had no idea about this. Based on the interactions he saw between the two, one could see that they were close friends. But even if that was the case, the general still know about this 'ability'. Which meant that if the situation didn't ask for it, the duke wouldn't have had showed it to them. 

And he only did so to help rescue Janea's mother. Whether it was for their deal or for the friendship the duke's family had with Jaxon, Janea still wouldn't forget this favor. If they successfully rescued his mother, he would do his best to repay him.

If Janea was finally able to get over what Argent did, then Zhang Lei Feng's mind was completely muddled. 

He was near Argent herself when she broke a part of the barrier. So, he knew that she didn't use any device to do that. She just simply touched it and it crumbled away. He knew that she was supposed to be a NoGift, that's why it was a big shock to him. But what if whatever ability she used was the result of her soul being transferred to her current body? That reasoning was not impossible considering how the same situation happened to him. 

This body originally only had a wind Gift but after his soul replaced the original, a lightning Gift was added. Maybe in Argent's case, her current body indeed didn't have any Gift but with her soul inside, something changed and her body obtained some kind of Gift. Which was what she showed earlier. But for some reason, Lei Feng had a feeling that that was a completely different case.

And that truly worried him. Anything unknown was worrisome. All the more so because that 'unknown' involved Argent.

But based on her calm reaction, it was probably not so unknown to her. Maybe she had long known what this 'ability' of hers entailed. Knowing her, she had probably experimented the pros and cons of it long ago. But he still wanted to learn more details about it. To know what this 'ability' truly was. But he knew this was hardly the time to ask Argent about that. They needed to focus on their task at hand. Because one wrong move would just make all Argent's efforts to waste. Something that he didn't want to happen. Especially if he was the one who would cause it.

So, he took a deep breath and calmed himself.

After almost half an hour, they managed to leave the Dead Area. 

Argent took out a map that she drew earlier. It was a simple map that would lead them to the location of the place the Conde and his entourage were staying. She could use her light brain to directly detect the signal coming from the transmitter that Lei Feng attached to the coat of Conde. But doing that might attract unwanted attention. So, it's better to be safe than sorry. 

"Follow me," he said to the other three.

They carefully made their way towards their destination. They removed the hood from their cloak so as not to attract more attention. It might be the middle of the night but there were still some people walking around. Not to mention, those guards that were patrolling. 

It took another 45 minutes of walking before they arrived at the front of a hotel. 

"Uncle Jax, are your people on standby?" Argent asked Jaxon.

"Yes. Don't worry, they will handle the Conde and the other three," answered Jaxon.

Argent asked Jaxon to let his people who's been undercover in Kievan to come to this small town two days in advanced. Because this was the closest town to the Southern gate where the Conde and his entourage would enter. So, she was sure that they would stay in this place for the night. 

After they put the four into a deep sleep, Jaxon's people would smuggle them out of the hotel and bring them to a safe place. They would stay there for the duration of the mission – in short, until Argent and the others rescues Ylannea. Jaxon assured them that his people would do everything to prevent the four from appearing before the Emperor of Kievan. Of course, that didn't include killing them. 

The four looked at each other and nodded. Then they proceeded on doing the next step. Which was going to the rooms of the four they were planning to replace. They already knew the rooms in which they needed to get into. It was told to them by one of Jaxon's people who was responsible in monitoring the Conde and his entourage once they arrived here. So, all they needed to do was to enter those rooms unnoticed. 

And they already had a rather crude plan for that. 

So, the four entered the hotel. Argent walked up to the receptionist and asked for four rooms. Because there weren't many visitors arriving in this country during this time of the year, there were still a lot of available rooms. Once they received the keys, they walked towards the stairs. 

As they climbed the stairs, Lei Feng and Jaxon released their Gifts. Destroying every night pearl in the hotel. Thus, putting the whole place in darkness. Not only that, as early as when they were a few feet away from the hotel, Lei Feng used his Gift to make a temporary thunderstorm. Argent could already hear the whizzing of the wind and the loud pitter-patter of the rain. With this, even with the sudden absence of light in the hotel, outsiders wouldn't pay too much attention to it.

The moment all of those were done, the four quickly made their way to the room of the person they would impersonate. 

With a small light coming from a small night pearl she was holding, Argent ran to the room of the Conde's fiancée. She moved stealthily and entered the woman's room with no problem. She could already hear the chaos outside. But paid it no mind. If she didn't move quickly, the woman's maids might arrive here before she could even manage to replace her.

She walked towards the bed and saw that the woman was already sleeping soundly. But to be sure, she took out a syringe and injected the liquid inside it on the woman's arm. She gave the same thing to Lei Feng and the other two. It's a harmless liquid. It would only make the recipient fall into a coma for about three days. Depending on their health.

Done with that, she wrapped the woman in a blanket and carried her out of the room. Outside, one of Jaxon's people was already waiting. They had been waiting at the hotel since earlier. They were told that once four cloaked people – three tall and one short – entered the hotel and all the night pearls were suddenly destroyed, that would be their signal to quickly wait outside the rooms of their targets. 

The man outside bowed at Argent before taking the unconscious woman and disappearing into the shadows. Argent quickly went back inside the room and changed her clothes into one of the woman's nightgowns. Then she took a long black wig from her space ring, the same color as the woman's hair, and put it on. Then she pushed the right button of the choker she's wearing. And the woman's face appeared. 

After she was done, she laid on the bed. Even though she knew she wouldn't get any sleep this night.