Chapter 2: The Fierce Mercenary

Corvaldor, 3000

                  A lone figure lay in his apartment. The place was barren except for a sleeping bag and a large backpack. Though the floor was cold, the sleeping bag was not really a necessity at the moment. It was one of the few things that the man had bought for his own comfort. To be honest, he didn’t really mind the cold, hard floor. In fact, he preferred it in the hot summer days and even the warm spring. It was during winter that he would mainly use the sleeping bag. After all, he didn’t want to freeze to death. That would be a terrible way to go.

                  The rest of his belongings were all stuffed into his backpack. He had a few spare sets of clothing, a hat, a cloak and mask for hiding his identity, a thick jacket for snowy and rainy days, several vials of poison, multiple daggers and throwing knives, a disassembled sniper rifle, a notebook, three pens, two portable power banks, two phone charger cords, a handful of nutrition bars, a large container of water, two smaller flasks of water, a flashlight, a multi-tool, a first-aid kit, water purification tablets, duct tape, paracord, and matches.

                  The items would seem rather odd to most and many people would assume that they would be for camping. However, everything he needed to survive was in his backpack. If any of his enemies found out where he lived, he needed to make a quick getaway with all his necessities. He had no home, only shelter. A home wasn’t really necessary if he had to constantly run away. What was the point of a home if there was nobody waiting for him to return?

                  Nobody knew the man’s real name. It had since been lost in time. They only knew him by his codename: Winter. Winter’s appearance was that of a young man with long silver hair that he often tied into a high ponytail and eyes the color of emeralds. A multitude of scars marred his body but he covered most of them up with his long sleeved black shirt and long black pants. He also sported black gloves and black boots. He also wore a black trench coat where he had several concealed weapons hidden. He also had some knives and handguns strapped to his person.

                  Winter was currently on his phone, surfing through the news. ‘My recent target’s death made the headlines of several news stations. I guess he was someone important after all. I thought he was some no name company president, but apparently he was well known throughout the city. Well, it doesn’t matter who he was. I got rid of any evidence of my presence there. They can’t prove that it was me. They wouldn’t even be able to connect the target’s death to me,’

                  He sighed and set his phone down beside him. ‘Winter is all I’m known as. Nobody can match it to my face since I’m always wearing my cloak and mask, which is a good thing so I don’t need to worry about altering or hiding my appearance when I go out in public. The only times that I do alter my appearance is when I need to infiltrate something public such as a party. It isn’t that much of a change though, just a wig and some colored contacts,’

                  Winter’s stomach let out a soft growl. He placed a hand in his pocket and felt around for his wallet and some coins. ‘I have enough to actually go out and eat, but I’m not in the mood to go outside and interact with other people,’ He dug into his backpack and took out a single nutrition bar. ‘I typically save these for missions that take a while, but it won’t kill me to eat one of them for dinner,’ He peeled it open and took a bite. As expected, the taste was bland as it usually was.

                  ‘Tomorrow is a free day,’ Winter thought, staring out the window into the night sky. ‘I don’t have any jobs to complete. I think I’ll use the day to train. I don’t want to get complacent and rusty,’ He laid down on cool floor, not at all bothered by the lack of cushioning. He finished his meal replacement in another two bites before crumpling the wrapper and tucking it into his pocket. He would toss it into a trash can when he went out in the morning.

                  ‘I’ve been in Corvaldor for a while now,’ He folded his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling. ‘The number of missions has dwindled down to not even one a day. I have so much time with nothing to do except train. If this keeps up, my funds will eventually disappear completely. Maybe I’ll just buy a bunch of nutrition bars and forego going out to eat at restaurants and cafes for a while,’

                  “Maybe it’s time to move once again,” Winter said out loud to himself. “After I’m done training for the day tomorrow, I’ll search for some cheap apartments in nearby cities,” He did one more thorough scan of his apartment and the area around his windows before laying back down and closing his eyes. He was about to fall asleep when his phone buzzed.

                 Winter’s eyes flew open and he picked up his phone, quickly illuminating the screen. ‘A FaceTime call from an unknown number?’

In case anyone is confused, both Sky and Winter received a FaceTime call. Neither of them are the ones who sent it.

Drawing of Sky: fav.me/ddtkgq9

Drawing of Winter: fav.me/ddu00r6