He wasn't here to bathe. He was here to remember who he had become before he hunted the men who thought they knew what "danger" looked like.
...
Inside the bathhouse, the air was a tomb. Lucian had sealed every crack with a microscopic layer of rime, ensuring that the lethal, sub-zero temperatures stayed contained. To the outside world, it was just a quiet room; inside, it was a void of absolute cold.
Lucian undressed slowly, his movements methodical. His body, though lean and possessing the height of a young man, was hauntingly pale—the color of moonlight on snow. He had no bulging muscles of a weightlifter, yet there was a corded, tensile strength in his limbs, like a bowstring pulled taut.
He stepped toward the frozen pool. With a flick of his fingers and a whispered command, the ice groaned and liquefied, turning back into water. But it wasn't warm. It was "liquid ice," a temperature that would stop a normal human heart in seconds.
Lucian submerged himself. He didn't flinch. He sat in the dark, the water pressing against his skin, and began to draw the cold into his marrow. It was a delicate balance; too much at once would shatter his cells, but he had lived through the "torture" of the mountains. He was a creature of winter now.
After a long silence, he rose, his skin even paler than before, his lips a faint, icy rose. He looked into the mirror. The scar across his left eye stood out like a white lightning bolt against his silver hair. He poured a final bucket of freezing water over his head, dressed in fresh linen, and whispered a command. The frost vanished. The room became a normal, steamy bathhouse once again.
He walked past Cseasey and the young girl cleaning the tables, offering a small, tired nod before retreating to his room on the third floor. He fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Creak... creak... creak...
Above Room 30, heavy boots muffled by cloth moved with murderous intent. Then, the world exploded.
KRRRRASH!
The ceiling of Lucian's room buckled and gave way under a massive, enchanted blow. Debris, dust, and splinters rained down onto the bed. Through the hole, a shadow plummeted, a longsword gripped in two hands, glowing with a faint, lethal light.
"Scck!"
The blade buried itself deep into the center of the bed, piercing the thick white duvet.
The assassin, a man with a voice like grinding stones, let out a rough laugh as he wrenched the sword free. The white fabric began to bloom with a dark, spreading crimson.
"That's it? That's all it takes?" the man spat, looking at the blood-stained steel. "I thought you were some kind of monster after the way you talked at the gate. Turns out you're just another weakling with a fat purse. Hey! Get down here! It's done!"
More shadows dropped through the hole—six more, landing softly in the wreckage.
"Lower your voice, you idiot!" a woman hissed. Viera stepped forward, her priestess robes dusty but her eyes gleaming with greed. "Someone might hear us!"
"Who? The rats?" the man grunted. "Everyone's dead to the world."
"She's right," another man said calmly, stepping toward the bed. "Let's see the face of the arrogant brat."
He yanked back the bloody blanket. There lay Lucian, his eyes closed, his silver hair fanned out across the pillow.
"Is this the one?" a third woman asked, her voice dripping with annoyance.
"Yes," Viera snapped. "The brat who thought he could talk down to me. Look at those clothes... that silk. And I saw the Ruby Eyes in his pouch at the guild. He's carrying a fortune."
"Seriously, Viera?" a man mocked. "You couldn't win an argument with a kid, so we had to kill him? Pathetic."
"Shut up and find the gold!" Viera commanded.
"Found it!" one of them yelled, pointing to a small suitcase near the circular table.
They gathered around it like hungry wolves, but a strange hesitation took hold.
"Who's opening it?" "Not me. Might be trapped." "Cowards. Hey, you—prostitute—open it."
"How dare you!" Viera shrieked. "I am a woman of the cloth!"
"You're a thief in a dress! Just open the damn thing!"
"Quiet!" the leader barked. "I'll do it. It's a suitcase, for gods' sake. Does he look like the type who can afford a high-level protection enchantment?"
The 7th man reached out, gripping the latches with both hands.
The moment his skin touched the metal, a sound like a thousand needles snapping filled the room. A flash of brilliant, cerulean white erupted.
"A-ARGH!" the man screamed. His hands didn't just stick—they fused. A thick, jagged layer of ice raced up his arms, turning his flesh to white marble in seconds.
"What... what is this?" someone whispered, backed away.
"Pfft. Haha!" A soft, dry giggle echoed through the room.
The thugs spun around, their weapons raised. "Who's there?"
"Help me!" the 7th man cried, his arms now encased up to the elbows. "Break the ice!"
They scrambled to help him, but as they touched the ice, they realized the air in the room had changed. It wasn't just cold anymore. It was wrong. The temperature was dropping so fast the moisture in their breath was falling as snow.
"It's getting colder..." one of the women whimpered, her teeth beginning to chatter.
"It's just the night air," Viera said, though she was hugging her arms. "Don't be a coward."
"No," the man next to her whispered, his eyes wide. "The cold... it's coming from the walls."
The man who had first approached the gate earlier that day turned pale. "Guys... I forgot to tell you. When I touched his arm earlier... it wasn't just cold. It felt like touching a corpse that had been buried in a glacier. I think... I think we—"
"Nonsense!" the leader roared. "He's a boy! He's dead on the bed!"
A piercing scream cut through his shout. The woman standing nearest to the bed was pointing a shaking finger at the blood-stained duvet.
"THE BODY! THE CORPSE IS GONE!"
Every eye snapped to the bed. The red blood was still there, steaming in the unnatural cold. The blanket was tossed aside. But the space where Lucian had been lying was empty.
From the dark corner of the ceiling, above the very hole they had jumped through, a voice drifted down—calm, dry, and terrifyingly cold.
"Are you looking for me?"