Lowly Ascent

It was a few days later, and Cain had gone off to campus. Today, however, he didn't have any classes. Which was normal.

Students had days to relax or go to the mission hall.

He was walking with Luna back to the bazaar he had seen the previous day. Boards covered with paper were spread across every wall.

Stepping up to the front desk, Cain then received authorization to accept missions.

The requirements were to be a Grade 1 Plague Doctor and a third-year. Students could also have taken certain classes based on survival or combat.

He was done signing up, and the pair went to look at the boards to find a mission.

All missions were of a low standard meant for low-ranked Grade 1 plague doctors.

Of course, there were higher missions, but these couldn't be accessed without a higher plague doctor Grade or some notable achievements; requiring groups of students to accept them.

Applicants who complete a mission from a mission board were to be allocated the appropriate contribution points, which can be used at school for food, books, materials, etc., or even after one graduate, as they can be used at any union location.

Cain was still new to the whole mission board thing, so he and Luna decided on a lower-ranking mission.

The mission was to find and deal with a rogue plague apprentice in the outer ring of the city.

It offered 15 contribution points, which was the equivalent of some common materials or about 2 meals at the school's higher-value restaurants around the mess hall. After all, the school caters to students with wealth and big backing.

The mission details stated that there was a plague doctor apprentice kidnapping people in the slums. They were low-rank augmenters as well, most some low-ranking plague doctors' thrown-out experiment gone awol.

Nonetheless, it was a dangerous mission for those not of Grade 1 and would be difficult for anyone not skilled in detective work or connections to the underworld.

Luna took some classes in tracking in her second year. Although most of what she learned was used for animal tracking, it could be used for tracking humans as well.

After accepting the mission from the lady at the front desk, they changed into some common clothes and made their way to the outer ring.

...

After around an hour of using specialized tunnels and alleys exclusive to plague doctors, Luna and Cain made it to the area where the rogue augmenter was last seen.

Getting right to work, they asked around and inquired about the incident. They came across the mother of one of the lost children. She was bawling her eyes out.

After gathering some information from the mother, they found the alley where the attack occurred. The alley had been swept by the local militia, and not much was left.

However, unlike the militia who had no plague doctors, there were two at the scene and one with some know-how of tracking and even some knowledge of alchemic spells.

Luna had prepared the materials, taking them out and starting her incantations.

Alchemic spells were similar to how Augmenters were a path of Plagues. A way of power in which Plague Doctors use materials to fuel said spells, acting as a catalyst. They worked off the property of alchemy, creating a compound and using the special control plague doctors have over diseases to manipulate the alchemic solution to act like a magical spell. 

After saying her inaction, the spell formed as the materials in Luna's hands went up in smoke. Butterflies of ash swept the alley as the smell of charcoal entered Cain's nose.

Luna had the scent of the girl taken. Using another spell, the scent was made visible.

It was hard to see, so Luna then did another incantation once more. A pile of rocks and geodes in her hands turned into a blue liquid that she tossed on the ground like a farmer laying seeds.

In reaction, glowing footprints made themselves known, lighting up the ground in tones of blue.

Following the visible scent and footprints, they followed the trail, making sure not to alert the local gangs and criminals hidden in these alleys.

The stench of waste and unwashed bodies assaulted their nostrils as they navigated the narrow slum alleys. Shady figures eyed them from dark doorways, their murmurs and the scurry of rats echoing off the close buildings. Up ahead, the crumbling building hid the tragic scene they were doomed to find.

They found a dead end with a door where both trails led.

"This must be it. How do you want to go about this?"

"Well, we should be quiet. Remember, there's a little girl and perhaps more victims. We can't alert the criminal at the cost of him killing them"

Cain nodded and walked up to the door where he poured a liquid that melted the handle, he then pushed the door open.

Inside was a semi-normal habitation for the slums, it appeared to be an abandoned home. But with some alchemic magic and searching for a bit, they found a trap door under an old torn rug.

…

Descending a set of stairs, the pair found themselves in a dungeon-like area in the sewers, the stench being apparent.

The dungeon was dark, in the illuminated chamber, Cain and Luna came across multiple cells with skeletons inside.

With the scent still strong, they followed it. The makeshift prison had cells that were filled with malnourished people, all unresponsive.

They made it to the room where the scent was leading. Pressing his hand against the door, Cain opened it as the rusted metal creaked and it swung open.

What was on the other side of the door caused Luna to throw up and Cain's face to go pale.

On a wooden table with cuffs on the corners, was a corpse of a delicate girl. Her eyes were bleeding with veins popping, her jaw missing with her tongue pulled out.

Her skin had black veins. Her stomach was gutted, opened with her gray intestines spilling out, flies and maggots fighting over her flesh.

Behind the body was a man in a dark cloak with a pen and paper next to a set of tools. He at first became surprised but then fear washed over his face.

Cain acted, he pounced on the man, who was taken aback.

He got a grip on the man's throat and held him up while slamming him against a wall. "Why would you do this? You sick freak! Disgusting vermin!"

Cain cursed while he repeated his action of slamming the man into the cold stone. Such a scene would bring out hatred in any human being, Cain had yet to see this side of the world, he was a child, one who forgot this sick truth in an alley long ago. 

But Cain soon wanted answers more than beating the man and so he stopped. He waited, waited for the sick freak to speak.

"Why? Because she deserved it! They all deserve it! All of you deserve to be tortured and murdered for what you did to me!"

The man's mouth seeped out blood. Soon trying to claw at Cain. He was becoming rabid, his mind was broken.

"You abuse me because I'm some so-called contaminant? Use me as a slave and torment me! Experiment after experiment! Hehehe, I'll kill all of you! You are the core of my grief and suffering, all of you!"

Cain stood there, dazed. His eyes glazed and he entered a moment of pause.

'He's...a contaminant… just like me?'

Cain stared at the man. Seeing his scarred face beyond the man's dark hood. Reacting, he pulled off the cloak to see a disfigured body that didn't look human.

It had patches of skin with different shades of skin. Some parts looked young, others old and decrepit.

The rogue plague apprentice was the leftovers of some horrific experiment. The realization caused Cain to stop his actions.

His gaze froze on the rogue's disfigured body. This could have been his fate. How thin was the line separating them? The rogue's madness might dwell in his heart too, if he was subjected to such cruelty...

In that moment, pity overcame his rage. He saw himself in the poor wretch's eyes.

"Cain? What are you doing? Are you okay?"

The man saw Cain's confusion and saw his opportunity. Pushing away, Cain, who was still in a daze.

But Cain still reacted. He grabbed the contaminant's arm and twisted, then perhaps because of his boiling emotions, ripped one of their forearms off with brute force. It wasn't hard, the criminal was like patchwork.

Eyes widening, Cain watched a black liquid spray out from the wound; it was thick and smelled so bad it burned his sinuses.

The man was dropped to the floor, motionless.

However, he then rolled into a ball and grabbed his head, screaming and yelling incomprehensible words.

Cain got his act together and knocked the insane contaminant out.

From there he asked Luna to watch the door outside and continued to explore the large room.

Looking through some papers, Cain heard a noise in a corner of the room and investigated. As he closed into the corner he could hear a muffled voice.

"Help me! Help!"

Before him was a wall but he could somehow hear something. Looking around, he found a switch. Flicking it, the hidden door in the wall revealed a prisoner behind it. There was a hidden cage holding the contaminants' most recent victim.

A tan-skinned man with blonde hair had his mouth gagged with a bundle of fabric. He was kicking and making a ruckus.

Freeing the man, he could talk without the gag, "Phew, man you saved my ass. I gotta thank you with some drinks!"

Cain, still in a bad mood, refused. "No thanks, but I would like to know your information for my report if that's okay."

"Oh, I'm Cyprus! Hey, you must have got that guy who captured me. He attacked me out of nowhere! Throwing a vial at me! Some smoke came from it and made me feel wonky, and I fell asleep! Crazy right?"

Cain agreed. "I checked him; I know the vial you're talking about. It's made of a bacteria that causes the brain to have different reactions depending on dosage"

"What's bacteria?" Cyprus asked. 

"What? You've got to be kidding?" Cain raised a brow, not knowing if this Cyprus character was joking.

"Well yeah, I've been hearing about them a lot. I'm from a remote village, so I don't know much, heh." The freed prisoner scratched his head, embarrassed.

Cain looked at him, he had a thought, but it was discarded.

…

Cain continued to interrogate Cyprus, learning that he was attacked in an alley and woke up here.

Since Cain couldn't do anything more, he got the contaminant and helped Luna free everyone trapped and then took them all to the local militia.

The militia took in those captured and took the contaminant in for questioning.

"Thank you for your help, lords! Contaminants have become more prominent. The damn shits!

Cain took a paper with an official stamp. Exiting the station, Cyprus was waiting outside shuffling his feet.

"Hey! Thanks again, I owe you one. If you need anything, I'm gonna stay at the inn down the road. I owe you so come by if you have a request, and I'll do it no matter what!"

Cyprus then left, and Cain and Luna were left standing by the road.

Luna had been shaken up by the whole ordeal. She had to tell that mother what happened to her daughter seemed to crush her spirit.

"When we get back to hand in the assignment and change into new clothes. You want to get some food using the reward?"

Luna stared at him and just gave a slight nod.

…

When they handed in the assignment and got their pay, the pair went to the mess hall where restaurants lay around the building.

The particular restaurant they went to accepted contribution points and was worth such a price, it was known for the best food in the school. They got seated on the patio and ordered.

While they were waiting, Luna spoke.

"You know I was named after the moon… The white one, Lunaria. Like how the red one is called Lilith, and the blue one is Arrosa…"

"I didn't know that." 

Luna gave an odd smile. "My parents named me after the highest moon since they wanted me to become higher in the world than them. They put all their hopes on me to succeed. But how can I succeed when I am no different from anyone else in the world? Like that mother, her daughter, even...that terrible murderer..."

Cain was perplexed. In all honesty, he never had to deal with a situation like this.

He tried his best to sympathize, "Well, we are all the same...but also different. We're all human, which makes us no different from anyone else, but what sets us apart is our talent, where we are born, and who we are born to. All these factors make us into what we are, so we are all the same but different as well."

Cain took a long sigh before he continued.

"Following this line of thought… you can say we're no different from the contaminants. But because of how they came into the world, they are met with prejudice and have to go through terrible experiences because we have social status, we treat others differently depending on their status"

"Isn't that unfair and wrong though?" Luna questioned.

Cain looked at her, she was confused and lost, but he was too. Sucking in some air he answered her.

"Isn't it because it's unfair that the world is fair? Is it unfair that someone is born into the world with talent but because he isn't born with status he can never shine? What if he didn't achieve something? Would it even matter?"

Cain picked up his fork, studying it.

"Would he ever get the chance to shine if he was born rich? No, unfairness is fairness, they are the same but used by humans. We live by dictating and understanding situations to manipulate the odds. It's easy to make someone appear righteous or evil. After all, we created the words unfair and fair, but in the end, both these words have no true meaning."

Luna paused for a long time in thought. Enough time for the food to arrive.

Cain sat in awkward silence, waiting for her response. She did, dispelling the silence. 

"Thanks, Cain, I needed that. Even though a bad thing or a good thing happens, in the big picture, it's just as it should be, right? And if fairness and unfairness are the same it's just a paradox in itself. Did I get it?"

"Maybe…"

Cain turned away, letting out a sigh.

'I guess that went well…'

The dinner continued as the two talked about something other than what happened earlier that day.

Finishing up, they decided to go their separate ways going home today.

…

Cain walked back into his room, he found his ordered test subjects in cages. He seemed irked and decided not to research anything tonight.

'Is it unfair that these animals will die because of me? Or is it fair because I used my status to acquire them, that they will be used to expand my knowledge and die for something more? Alas, everything comes down to the viewpoint.'