The cold darkness veiled the world while getting warmth from the dim moonlight in the sky.
In this deep night, the entire Migotanie city was asleep, tired after working in the seething heat.
"We are here." A man in a dark cloak said this to four other people like him who were in the back. They were standing on a building's roof and looking down at Benimaru's shop.
"Hehe… boss, let's go quick. We are just wasting time being cautious." The one on his right side who had a feminine voice urged the boss—the man in front of them.
"No," The boss denied her request instantly. "We got such a huge commission for this so-called simple mission of yours. This isn't as simple as it looks on the surface. So, it is better to be cautious."
"The boss is right. We shouldn't let ourselves be killed. We have yet to spend all that money." The one on his left side sided with him.
The girl didn't say much, just looked down silently.
"Okay, enough chatting. Let's go." The boss signaled them, bringing focus to their eyes.
With just a few steps, they jumped from one building to another, landing on Benimaru's shop without making a sound, like a bunch of cats.
The boss then pointed his finger down, staring at one of his men. The man nodded his head and went to execute the order. Sticking to the window, he started to find out what type of lock the window had and where it was. Meanwhile, the other guys on top, had their eyes on the perimeter for the night guards, as they would pass by this street every ten or so minutes.
All of a sudden, the boss looked at his team and said, "It is done."
They quickly jumped down and, in a stylish yet elegant way, entered the shop through the window that had just been opened by their team. After entering, they didn't do anything but wait patiently for their boss's order.
After searching for any traps and security mechanisms through his senses, the boss signaled with his hands to his team to go search for the storeroom now.
…
"Arg…what is this feeling?" Benimaru woke up from his cultivation state and frowned.
Just now, he felt another magical presence in his shop, but it disappeared in a matter of seconds. It also happened once, so he wasn't sure his intuition was correct. He checked every corner of the shop with his senses but found nothing.
'Well, let's forget it. I am close to reaching the 2nd Stage Novice Realm.' Benimaru calmed his mind down and continued breathing in the mana in the air.
However, he didn't know that what he thought was correct, as few people had come to steal his items. It wasn't his fault, as the thieves were using a magical artifact called the Blind Man's Cloak to hide their presence completely. Only a few people in this city who had superior mana senses could detect them.
Mana senses were a combination of mental energy and mana. Just as you use mental energy to use mana, the same way you could use mana to amplify your mental energy and receive a state called mana senses. Benimaru had an early form of that application when he received the skill [ Enhanced Senses ].
Other than Benimaru, no one noticed this sudden presence of an outsider except for Fiain, who had even better mana sense than Benimaru and could stack his [ Enhanced Senses ] on top of his base mana sense. The reason was because of her race—the Watcher.
"Huh? Who are these people?" Fiain's eyes revolved with golden light as she clearly saw every bit of movement by the thieves. She got up from her bed and stood silently. "They clearly have bad intentions. Should I tell the Lord first?"
Giving a non-existent pensive look, she eventually decided to clean up the mess herself. "I can't disturb the Lord now. He is most likely deep in his cultivation. Let me do it myself, as these guys are not that strong."
…
The only girl on the team opened a door slowly yet silently and peered inside. Her eyes lit up when she saw rows of cold metal shining under the dim moonlight. 'Well, let's inform others.'
She was about to pull an object out of her storage ring that would help her send a message to her team when suddenly she felt a cold sensation on her back as it quickly got drenched in sweat.
She hastily looked behind her but saw no one. 'Did I hallucinate? Shit..I shouldn't have drunk before coming here.'
She quietly wiped the sweat from her forehead and let out a sigh. But at that moment, no sigh came; only blood blurted out from her mouth. In her last moment, she watched with horror and shock as the blood coming from her mouth dropped into a wooden bucket.
Fiain silently laid the girl's corpse on the ground after severing her head. With gentle care and nimble movements, she tried as much as possible not to make any kind of noise.
Fiain then looked at a certain direction and melted into the shadows, like a hunter who found his prey.
…
'There is nothing in this room.' The boss left a room full of dust and cobwebs in disappointment.
But a frown appeared on his face quickly, as if remembering something. 'This place isn't a maze or a castle, just a small shop. It shouldn't take this much time for us to find the place where the items are. Did something happen to them? If it is, then this is bad, very bad.'
He quickly went to find some clues about them after cursing to himself a little. In a few twists and turns, he appeared in the showroom, where people come to buy. 'Hmmm…let's forget the items in the storeroom. We should take these away instead. I should inform them about it. I hope nothing bad happens to them.'
With the last bit of hope, he went to bring the item that could let him message his team, but at this time, he noticed something through the corner of his eye — blood.
Blood smeared on the ground in a way that looked like a body had just been dragged away.
The boss immediately knew something was wrong, as blood on a shop's floor was taboo and they wouldn't clean it. It was something that was hard to imagine.
Escape — that was the only thought in his mind. He didn't even care about the well being of his team. They were replaceable, but he wasn't.
Unfortunately, his worst nightmare came true as a glistening light flashed before his eyes.
Chick
However, he somehow managed to escape it by only letting his right cheek get cut. But he didn't have the time to breathe as a continuous onslaught of attacks rained on him. He used every ounce of his body to keep himself alive and not make any kind of noise.
Be that as it may, he also found out something else. 'Why isn't she using any kind of weapon? Why isn't she using a strong move? Why…isn't she making a noise?'
Then a sudden realization dawned on him. 'Don't tell me, she is also trying to keep it as quiet as possible. If it is true, then I have to use it to my advantage. I will kill her without making noise.'
With a crazed look, he disbanded his retreat and went on offense. He also didn't use any weapon, just using his hands and feet, he counteracted Fiain's attack.
Soft bursts of wind blew here and there from time to time, but they weren't strong enough to knock any object down.
Fiain contemplated as she attacked and defended. 'He is somewhat good, as expected of someone who is in the 4th Stage Fleshcrafting Realm.'
Fortunately for Fiain, she broke through to the 2nd Stage Fleshcrafting Realm; otherwise, she might not have had these many chances.
'Well, let's try this. Let me see how good this power of mine is.' Instantly, Fiain's eyes turned golden as a golden swirl occurred on both eyes as if trying to suck in anything.
The man felt goosebumps looking at them. 'What is that? I have a bad feeling about this.'
Still, the man didn't back down; instead, he became more desperate to finish this fight.
But in a matter of a few seconds, the man's eyes widened in shock as he was having a hard time believing that he, who was going toe to toe with Fiain before, was having a hard time landing a proper blow. On the other hand, his body was full of injuries.
'What is happening?' The man was able to finish his thought as his chest got pierced by Fiain's hand, and his heart was crushed by her eventually.
"Huh…huh…..huh…." Only Fiain's heavy breath could be heard in that showroom. She thought with wonder. 'That cost so much energy than I had anticipated.'
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