Book 1 - Behind the Undeads/Prologue

It was a boring morning in Varrock.

People hurried through the streets, eating bread and cabbage as breakfast. They could not stop, or else they would be late for work, so they hurried through the streets without stopping for a second.

A young, really young beggar sat besides the road with a bowl in front of him. He kept his face down, for he did not want his dirty face to be seen by the people out there. Actually, his head was so low that he could not even see the bowl. However, he knew that a coin is dropped in the bowl when there is a sound.

But there was no sound in the past three hours.

People just walked by, ignoring this child totally. As the sun rose higher, people walked faster to their working place. Even if the child raised his head, he would only see a jungle of legs rushing their owners to work.

There was no hope in the morning.

Then there was no more rushing workers. Women started to come out and buy food and other daily commodities. This young beggar started to gain hope.

However, if an empty bowl in the morning is expected, then this is rather unexpected -- the bowl was still empty. The women just took their shares of meat and vegetables without noticing this poor child.

For one moment, he began to blame his parents, 'why did they leave me to the Phoenix Gang? Didn't they love me? Shouldn't they love me? But why? Why did they leave me to a gang, instead of a wealthy family? Even a poor old farmer is way better than a gang!'

Then for another moment, he blamed himself, 'maybe that is my fault. The Gang taught me to steal others' gold pieces, but I failed. The Gang taught me to pick locks, but I failed. They even have taught me con tricks, but I failed so hard. Assassin? Fail. Highwayman? Fail. Counterfeiter? Fail. Even as a forger I failed. Now I am a beggar but I still fail.'

Then, anger built up, and he thought, 'it is the fault of the city guards. Why did they fail to destroy the Gang? Or even why did they fail to arrest me and throw me into a jail? I would rather be in jail than to be a beggar! Damn, I want to go home, but I don't even have a home. I hate my parents, I hate the Gang, I hate...'

'Hey, child.'

'Who?' The child raised his head, and he saw a tall figure, completely shaded in a black robe.

'You don't need to know who I am; you just need to know that I can give you power,' the figure said in a creaky voice.

'Power?'

'Yes. Power. Power to combat everything you hate. Power to revenge.'

'You are just a trickster. I know all of your tricks.'

'I am not a tricker, and you just need to answer me whether you want this power or not,' he said. Then, the tall figure raised his arm and snapped his fingers. A blue flame appeared on his fingers; the flame nearly outshined the sun.

'I want.'

'Good boy. You are my apprentice now.'

The tall man put his hands onto the beggar's shoulders, and then he muttered a difficult spell. After a bright flash of light, the tall man and the beggar were teleported to a remote place, where the Phoenix Gang dare not to enter.

Nobody has ever saw this boy ever after.

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