The grey sky spread out as deep as it was vast, and the breeze was cold. Eclipse took a deep breath and deeply appreciated the atmosphere for a while before leaving towards the village.

  When he got there, he had braced his mind for the sceptical glares and vicious remarks; however, to his surprise, it was sparse. There were barely any people walking about. It was midday, so it was quite unnatural for there to be so few people up and about. Something big must have happened.

  He walked a bit further down, and soon he heard a large commotion.

  Turning to one of the streets, Eclipse saw that there were a lot of people here. They made way for two figures, bowing out of respect and throwing lines of flattery.

  As the crowd parted ways, Eclipse saw two figures.

  In the midst of the bustling village bazaar, there was a man who had commanded everyone's attention. He had strolled confidently beside the Village Chief, drawing the gaze of villagers from all around. Beefy was escorting both of them to the Voss Treasures.

  That man was a captivating sight, dressed in a magenta pink robe that had seemed to flow with each step, its vibrant colour standing out vividly. A black fur collar had adorned the robe's top, adding an air of grandeur to his presence.

  The most striking feature had been his face, concealed behind a black mask that had covered his entire visage. Eclipse hadn’t seen anything like this mask before. Two menacing horns had jutted forth from its top, casting a shadowy silhouette against the bright robe. Yet, where his eyes should have been, there was a faint, eerie red glow, resembling distant stars shining in the dark. There were two more eye slots under the ones where his eyes should have been, and they, too, were glowing an eerie red. It sent shivers down the spines of those who had caught a glimpse.

  Eclipse scrunched his brows as seeing people of power in this small village was quite a rare sight.

  Soon, more and more people started gathering. With that man's appearance, they didn't bother themselves with Eclipse.

  "That man must be The Faceless… a high-level Phacer from the Avyssos! He’s Lucian Voss’s right-hand man!"

  Eclipses raised his eyebrows, "...Phacer? Avyssos?"

  “What’s the Avyssos?” Another villager voiced out exactly what Eclipse was thinking.

  "It’s a dangerous community located deep in the undergrounds of the Bloodmoon Region. Only the most powerful and elite people are given access to the Avyssos."

  "Dangerous? Why is it dangerous?” The curious villager asked once again.

  “I wouldn’t know. These are just what the rumours are saying, but rumours are rumours. However, there’s never smoke without fire…”

  Although this situation had piqued his interest, as the crowd slowly moved towards him while following The Faceless, Eclipse turned around to leave before he somehow found himself in the limelight. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed that Beefy had brought him to the Voss Treasures, a neutral smile on his face.

  “Anything interesting?” The Faceless asked as he looked through the antique books, swords, armours, gambling rock and various other things that the Voss Treasures had collected over the past few months.

  “Yup,” Beefy nodded, then went over to the counter and pulled a cloth off of it, revealing a variety of artworks spread across.

  The Faceless looked through the artworks. After spending a few moments scanning his eyes through the display.

  He shifted his gaze to a specific canvas. It was a painting of the Nether Pinnacles. It was drawn in a way that made the jagged spires look like the ribcage of some colossal, long-dead beast. The sky above them was bruised with fading crimson, and a thin mist coiled around the base of the Pinnacles. The details were sharp, and the muted colours seemed deliberately chosen to evoke dread. There wasn't a single flaw or a single area where improvement was needed. A good artwork, in its own unsettling way.

  This was Eclipse’s final artwork at the Nature Garden before he and Duozian had called it a day. Following that artwork, there were a few more in the same style, which were slightly inferior in comparison but nonetheless still very good pieces.

  The Faceless stood staring at these canvases. The people surrounding him also noticed his interest, and when they noticed the canvas, they couldn't help but raise their brows too.

  The Faceless pointed at one of these canvases, "Give me that."

  At The Faceless' order, Beefy picked up the canvas and presented it to The Faceless. The Faceless picked it off his hands, and his eyes roamed over the painting while he caressed it carefully.

  The Faceless stared at the painting, "This one’s different from the paintings that you usually bring. Who bought you this?"

  Beefy straightened up, "Usually, the only one who supplies paintings to Lucian is Duozian. But the artist for this piece was…”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Beefy noticed Eclipse standing quite far away, looking more dumbfounded and stupefied than anyone here.

  "Here, Eclipse, my boy!" Beefy shouted.

  Everyone dragged their eyes to him. The moment he realised he was in the limelight, Eclipse scowled and then turned his back on them before walking away.

  Looking at his dismissive behaviour, everyone's gazes suddenly became gloomy as they quietly started muttering to themselves.

  "That troublemaker!? Did he paint these pieces? What kind of joke is this?"

  "That rascal is about to get The Faceless’ attention. That's already enough for him to die with no regrets..."

  Even the Village Chief looked at Eclipse sceptically. He had wanted to publicly punish Eclipse for what he did to his sons, but never quite had the chance, as Eclipse would be hard to find. Now that Eclipse was here, had The Faceless not been here, it would be the perfect opportunity to punish Eclipse with all these people around.

  Beefy was stupefied for an instant before he ran up to Eclipse. "Eclipse, my boy, just come with me for a moment."

  Eclipse glared at him, but looking at his desperate and pleading face, he had no choice but to comply, given the current situation.

  As he got a closer look at Eclipse, The Faceless tilted his head lightly. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. "Young man, did you make this canvas?"

  Eclipse didn't respond and simply nodded lazily, unfazed by The Faceless’ eerily haunting mask.

  "Lie... lies!" Someone from the crowd shouted. It was Nite, the village Chief’s son, who had received a tremendous beating from Eclipse just a few days ago. Since then, he had tried to recruit all the rough-looking boys in this village to take on Eclipse, but every single one had refused in fear.

  In the end, Nite had no choice but to let that grievance go and tolerate Eclipse, but he absolutely could not stand seeing him thrive!

  "Eclipse, you bastard. Don’t you dare lie like this in front of The Faceless?! Haven't you got the slightest-" Suddenly, he shuddered and immediately stopped talking, because the menacing red glint in The Faceless’ eyes pierced directly at him, causing him to break into cold sweat and begin rambling while laughing nervously, "Haha, on second thought, Eclipse is quite a talented guy, hahaha…"

  The Faceless took his gaze back to the painting, his tone bland but powerful, "I’ll take these pieces back. Lucian Voss will like these, I’m sure of it. Even if they’re quite unlike the ones that the old man does."

  These words resounded into the ears of the onlookers like a thunderclap. Lucian Voss was suspected to be one of the richest men in the entire Bloodmoon Region, and for him to take a liking to an art piece scribbled by some backwater village brat was beyond shocking to them.

  "A brat from my village… captures the Voss Syndicate’s attention?” The Village Chief, who was plotting on the number of times he wanted to spank Eclipse with a wooden blank in front of the village, now smiled queasily, “Ahahaha, of course, of course! That’s my boy, Eclipse. Ahaha, the Grapefruit Village is very talented hahaha.”

  Nite looked at his father buttering up the boy he swore to punish, and he almost looked like he was about to cry.

  The Village Chief patted Eclipse on the back with a deeply friendly smile, “Eclipse, my boy. My daughters actually-”

  The Faceless’s sharp voice cut in, instantly making the Village Chief freeze, “How long did it take you to make these pieces?”

  Eclipse kissed his teeth and looked away before muttering lazily, "An evening."

  The Faceless didn’t show any reaction, but his fingers twitched. The boy had said "evening" in a manner that indicated he took longer than he should've.

  “Hmm. Your artistic potential is limitless.” The Faceless muttered, “I guess it makes sense if you’re that man’s grandson.”

  “Can I leave already…?” Eclipse said inaudibly.

  “Worry not. I won’t keep you for long.” The Faceless then turned to Beefy, “Beefy, pack them up. My next stop is the Avyssos, so I’ll be taking them straight to Lucian. And Eclipse. Is 500 krecos enough for you?"

  When these words came out of The Faceless' mouth, the world immediately fell silent. A wave of wind flew past, still not invoking the slightest reaction from the crowd. Then, a brief moment later, all of their jaws simultaneously hit the ground.

  500 krecos?! An average house’s annual income in this village was barely 200 krecos. And a few canvases Eclipse had finished in an evening were worth 500??

  Eclipse raised a brow. He could tell this man understood his standing in the village and purposefully said this aloud so people wouldn’t treat him the way they did anymore. Eclipse scowled, simply turning away and walking off, not bothering to bargain.

  Seeing dismissive behaviour, The Faceless showed no reaction and handed Beefy a few bags, "Here’s 750. Give the money to the child's old man."

  He then took hold of the five canvases, packed them and set to leave. All while the rest of the villagers stared at him in astonishment. Before he left, he took one last hard look at Eclipse, who had already walked off into the distance.

  After The Faceless finally left on his horse, everyone took their gaze to him as his silhouette shrank in the distance.

  "E-Eclipse!" Someone from the crowd called out and ran up to him. Eclipse didn't stop on his behalf and simply ignored him. He ran in front of him, "You know… can you please forgive me for all the things I used to say about you? I really didn't think you were such a great person."

  He spoke quickly, nervously, glancing over his shoulder as though expecting something to crawl out of the shadows at any moment. The truth was simple: The Faceless seemed to hold Eclipse in unsettlingly high regard. In his mind, that meant Eclipse had power. Power enough that, if slighted, he could make someone disappear without leaving so much as a single trace. And that thought alone made the man’s voice tremble as he waited for a response.

  Eclipse stopped briefly and looked at the man who was getting on his knees. He sneered coldly and walked past without saying a word.

  The person immediately went red with anger and humiliation, but he didn't dare do anything.

  Everyone had complex expressions on their faces. Some kept their head down in shame, whilst others wallowed in regret.

  Eclipse returned home after a long day, expecting the annoying presence of Duozian to greet him at the door. However, to his surprise, there was no sign of him. The empty house seemed unusually quiet, and a sense of unease crept over Eclipse. As he wandered through the dimly lit rooms, Eclipse's ears perked up at the sound of soft rustling coming from one of the back rooms. He cautiously approached the source of the noise, his heart racing.

  Pushing the door open gently, he was met with a sight that instantly melted his apprehension. It wasn't an intruder or a cause for concern; it was his beloved pet wolf, Shadow. The majestic creature was rummaging through a pile of blankets in the corner. Shadow's bright, ruby eyes sparkled with recognition as he caught sight of Eclipse.

  With an exuberant yip, Shadow dashed toward Eclipse, his tail wagging wildly. Eclipse sighed with relief and knelt to stroke the cub, a hazy expression across his eyes. The worries of the day faded away as Eclipse lost himself in the simple pleasure of being with his faithful wolf.

  Time passed quickly as Eclipse and Shadow played together. Eventually, as the moon began to cast its crimson glow through the window, Eclipse realised it was time to call it a night. He patted Shadow's head and made his way to his bedroom.