Chapter 10: Chapter 10
The silence in the ruined underground city was absolute. The bioluminescent vines cast long distorted shadows across the cracked marble floor.
Isla pressed her back against the stone pillar her dual mana pistols raised and ready. She trusted Glen’s instincts. If he said they were being followed she believed him.
"Association guards?" Isla whispered her eyes scanning the dark archways above.
"No" Glen replied his voice barely a breath. "Guards are not this careful. They wear heavy armor and march in formation. Whoever is up there is actively suppressing their mana. They are professionals."
A faint metallic click echoed from the darkness above. It was the sound of a crossbow mechanism locking into place.
"Move" Glen shouted.
He shoved Isla hard to the right. A split second later three black steel bolts slammed into the stone pillar exactly where her head had been. The bolts hissed as they struck the rock releasing a cloud of toxic green gas.
"Poison" Isla coughed rolling across the floor and bringing her pistols up. "Ignis."
She fired a blind shot into the upper archways. The explosive fire bullet illuminated the darkness revealing four figures clinging to the ruined ceiling. They wore skin tight black armor and featureless gray masks.
"Grimhunt" Isla said her voice tight with realization. "The assassination guild. What are they doing here?"
Glen drew his twin silver swords. A dark smile spread across his face. "I broke a certain someone’s arm yesterday. I told him not to send anyone after me. I guess that person does not listen very well."
The four assassins dropped from the ceiling landing on the marble floor without making a single sound. They moved with terrifying synchronization spreading out to surround Glen and Isla. They did not speak. They did not taunt. They were there to do a job.
"Four on two" Glen said casually spinning his swords. "Hardly seems fair. Should we give them a handicap Sinclair?"
"Just kill them" Isla snapped firing two ice bullets at the closest assassin.
The assassin blurred dodging the bullets with unnatural speed. He activated a movement skill closing the distance to Isla in the blink of an eye. He drew a pair of jagged poisoned daggers aiming for her throat.
Before the daggers could connect a flash of purple lightning illuminated the ruins.
Glen appeared directly between Isla and the assassin. He did not block the daggers. He simply grabbed the assassin’s wrists with his bare hands. The assassin’s eyes widened behind his gray mask as his forward momentum was halted instantly by Glen’s raw physical strength.
"You are fast" Glen said staring into the assassin’s masked face. "But you are also incredibly predictable."
Glen twisted his wrists snapping the assassin’s arms. The man let out a muffled grunt of pain dropping his daggers. Glen followed up with a brutal knee to the chest sending the assassin flying backward into a stone wall.
The other three assassins realized immediately that the boy was the primary threat. They abandoned Isla and converged on Glen their poisoned blades glinting in the dim light.
"Shadow Cloak" Glen whispered.
The shadows in the ruins seemed to reach out and swallow him whole. Glen completely vanished from sight.
The three assassins stopped their heads darting back and forth. They were trained killers experts in stealth and tracking but they could not sense him. Glen had stolen the perfect camouflage skill from the Shadow Panther and he was using it against the masters of the dark.
"Where did he go?" one of the assassins finally spoke his voice laced with panic.
"Right behind you" a voice whispered from the void.
A silver blade erupted from the darkness piercing straight through the assassin’s chest plate. The man collapsed coughing up blood.
Glen stepped out of the shadows his dark eyes glowing with adrenaline. He looked at the two remaining assassins. They were terrified. They had been hired to kill an F Rank Mimic. Instead they found themselves in front of high class predator.
"Run" the lead assassin ordered turning toward the exit.
"I do not think so" Glen said.
He activated Thunder Phantom Step. The purple lightning exploded from his body shattering the stone beneath his feet. He crossed the distance in a half second appearing directly in front of the fleeing leader. Glen swung his sword in a brutal upward arc disarming the man and knocking him to the ground.
Isla handled the last assassin freezing him solid with a perfectly placed shot to the chest.
The cavern fell silent once again. The ambush had lasted less than sixty seconds.
Glen walked over to the lead assassin who was bleeding heavily on the floor. The man looked up at Glen his gray mask cracked and broken.
"Carmichael sent you right?" Glen asked resting the tip of his sword against the man’s throat.
The assassin spat blood onto the floor. "Grimhunt never reveals a client. Kill me. The guild will just send more."
"I am counting on it" Glen smiled.
He pressed his bare hand against the bleeding wound on the assassin’s chest. He wanted to see what kind of skills an elite human killer possessed.
His dark core pulsed violently.
System Error.
Hidden Condition Met: Direct Contact with High Tier Human Blood.
Skill Acquired: Assassin Reflexes B Rank.
Warning. Core Capacity Exceeded.
Current Capacity: 3 of 3 Slots Filled.
You must discard a skill or initiate a Skill Merge to acquire Assassin Reflexes.
Glen paused. He could not hold four skills. He had Lightning Movement Savage Strike and Shadow Cloak. He did not want to lose any of them. But Assassin Reflexes was a B Rank passive skill that would drastically improve his reaction time.
He looked at the system prompt. He had merged an agility skill and a strength skill to create Thunder Phantom Step. What would happen if he merged a stealth skill with an assassination skill?
He mentally selected Shadow Cloak and Assassin Reflexes.
Warning. Skill Merging Initiated.
Warning. Extreme mental and physical strain detected.
The pain hit him like a freight train. It was different from the physical agony of the first merge. This pain attacked his nervous system. It felt like his brain was being rewired his senses expanding outward until he could feel every single shadow in the entire cavern. He gritted his teeth forcing a dark smile onto his face as the blood dripped from his nose.
Skill Merge Successful.
New Skill Created: Predator Domain A Rank.
The shadows in the cavern suddenly violently expanded. A dome of absolute darkness erupted from Glen’s body covering a fifty foot radius. Inside the dome all light was extinguished. But Glen could see perfectly. He could feel the heartbeat of the dying assassin. He could feel Isla standing twenty feet away. Inside this domain he felt like he was an absolute god of death.
The domain began fading, pulling back into his shadow.
Glen stood up wiping the blood from his face. He looked down at the terrified assassin.
"Tell Duncan Carmichael I said hello" Glen whispered.
He brought the sword down ending the fight.
