The house to the left slammed its door shut followed by the locking of several deadbolts. By the fifth clunk the neighborhood had become all but silent save for the angry barking of some mutt.

"I guess it's time for dinner," Vell sighed.

With a lazy stretch, he stood up and grabbed his gear.

Knives? Check. Belts? Check. Poison vials?

He patted his jacket and found nothing. With a frown he retraced his steps back to the bedroom and stopped at the foot of the bed. Gently, he wrapped his hand around the jaw of the beautiful woman half buried under a mound of pillows.

"Hey, Diabella darling."

She groaned and nuzzled into his hand, tracing her lips along the tip of his claws. "Mmm. You're still here?"

He stroked her cheek and ran his finger against the patch of yellow skin that adorned parts her face. "Not for long. Was about to head out, but I seem to be missing a few things."

She opened her eyes and blinked seductively. Oh how he wished he could stay in bed, but duty called. As lazy as he stretched, she arched her back and exposed supple skin dotted with blue rings that almost glowed in the dark room.

Diabella's lips perked and she reached between her nightgown. She pulled out two vials of no larger than her thumb.

"You mean the tasty snack from last night? I drank them all, but you can have these instead."

Vell accepted the vials filled with clear liquid and shook his head. "Now where were you keeping these? I know for a fact you're not wearing your bindings."

"A lady needs some secrets!" Diabella said with a laugh. "Now shoo. Mordo's going to run me ragged tonight and I need my sleep. Unlike some people, I can't afford to piss off those who hire me."

Vell kissed her forehead and backed away. "Say the word and that slimy prick will mysteriously disappear. Not like you need him at this point."

"That's sweet but I have more to learn from him. Besides, he's not that bad once you get past his quirks. Now seriously, go. I need my sleep."

He blew her a kiss and pocketed the vials as he stepped into the outside, or rather the outside of the house. Positioned in one of the abandoned pseudo-neighborhoods, he could look up but there would be no bright sun to greet him. Only the ruins of stone towers and craggy earth filled the skyline in the underground.

Vell sniffed and smelled the urine from across the street.

Ah the joys of being a rat. Might have to kill the idiot later if he keeps pissing near the homes. Ugh, I'll give him until tomorrow.

Soundlessly, he made his way down the street and into the tunnel connecting to the main road. When he turned the corner around one of the tunnel's exits his instincts flared and he moved backward, behind a derelict wall.

"Calter, report!"

Vell leaned forward and peeked through a crack. Two hundred meters out, a group of people wearing golden armor stomped to a halt. Four men, three women; seven in total they each sported a weapon at their waist along with a hefty shield on their back. Their footsteps echoed like thunder in the silent cavern.

His eyes narrowed. Golden armor, blue sashes. Gear far too shiny for the underbelly of the city.

More royal guards.

A female elf with dark green hair and piercing green eyes approached the human with two sashes around his chest.

"Sir. Two groups of five in the ruins to the right—likely rival gangs. Two bodies between them. One with his throat slit, the other riddled with holes," she reported crisply.

The captain scowled and stroked his beard. "Insignias?"

"No, sir."

"New blood, then. Moving in now that the old gangs are gone. Any sign of blood mana?"

The elf shook her head. "Negative. Zero readings on the device. One pulse near the gang members, a second as I returned. Traces of mental mana from the ones guarding the body full of holes. Orders, sir?"

Vell's eyes widened. A tracker. If she was royal-guard, her range might be wide enough to detect him. Too damn high a risk. He took a careful step back—

Her gaze snapped toward him.

He froze. For a split second, her eyes flared violent green. A sharp, phantom pain bloomed in his chest, like a dagger stabbing deep.

"Leave them," the captain ordered. "We have our orders from up high. Only individuals using blood mana are to be detained and questioned. Keep scouting. The scavengers will be out in droves soon, and we still need to link up with the Fourth Spear at the Pit if we're to finish on time."

"Yes, sir!"

The elf turned away and the pain ended. Within seconds the group of guards moved out, leaving Vell alone.

He let out a shaky breath and rubbed his chest. Too damn close. Even with his passive helping to hide his presence, she managed to spot him from afar.

As expected of the damn gold plates. Damn perception builds.

He pulled up his shirt but whatever skill the woman used left no mark. Just to be sure he scanned his body for foreign mana but found nothing besides his own. With a sigh, he shook himself and ran his claws through the patches of fur along his neck.

Too damn close.

Slower this time, he made his way through the tunnels, making sure to avoid any sounds of metal hitting flattened ground. His partner would be mad at his late arrival, but better safe than dead.

***

"Avarice. There you are! Was starting to think my favorite customer wasn't going to show his pretty mug," the bartender shouted.

The pub had only a few occupants, most with their hoods up and sitting in the sparsely-lit room made their faces hard to see. A few looked up at the bartender's shouting but most kept their heads down.

Vell approached the counter and flipped a silver into the burly beastkin's paws. The grizzly wolf caught it and expertly slipped it into his apron without a word. In return, he took a glass and filled it with brown liquid and set the drink before him.

"Everyone's your favorite customer, Snaggle," Vell replied.

Snaggle smiled and exposed chipped fangs. "But of course. Only, they aren't as pretty as you make yourself to be!"

They chuckled at the jest and Vell down his cup.

"So tell me, Av. What slowed you down? Still hooking up with that girl? Er, Disabell?"

Vell wiped his mouth and smirked. The old wolf may have grey fur and missing a few teeth, but his mind was a steel trap. Passive-reinforced even. There was no way he would forget Diabella's name, but Vell didn't mind. This was simply his way of playing the game.

You give a little, and pretend that you're dumber than you really are. One had to around here, or they would find themselves a cold corpse in one of the tunnels.

"As much as I love boasting about my prowess in bed, that's not why I was late," Vell explained. He leaned forward and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Nearly ran into a squad of gold-plates on my way out. Their damn scout used a skill on me from two-hundred meters."

"Nearly shat yourself didn't yah?" Snaggle laughed.

"Of course not, but I took the long route to get here after that."

"There's been an increase of them ever since a month ago. Even worse after a few days ago. Something has them riled up fierce. Word on the street is they are hunting down anything that even smells like it has blood mana."

"One of their scouts supposedly had a device to scan for traces of it."

A meaty paw patted his shoulder. "Good thing you made better choices as a young idiot. I love you like a son I never wanted, but even I am not ballsy enough to harbor fugitives from a bunch of gold-plates."

As Snaggle removed his hand, Vell caught the dozens of copper coins along with four non-metallic discs.

"Thanks for the change, I'm out of this dump," Vell said.

"If you hate the dirt, grab a towel and clean it yourself!" Snaggled yelled.

After exiting the small pub, he turned down a few side streets and opened his hand. Four bone chips clinked together. Two had a single scratch on its surface while the others had three.

Vell slipped under a rusty gate and sent mana into his legs. With a single leap, he cleared the stairs and stopped before the only room without a door. Inside amongst the bare floor was a hole eight feet wide.

He stomped once and waited.

Three taps echoed from the hole. Vell jumped down while pulling out one of his blades. The dark tunnel would have been impossible to see through, especially with the waves of shadow mana surrounding its edges but Eyes of a Predator made the darkness nearly nonexistent. It might as well have been lined with torches for all he cared.

A masked elf stood to the right, as still as a statue but with a dagger in his hand.

Vell smirked. "Evening Myriak."

Myriak glared but held out his hand. Not wanting to start a fight with a shadow user in his favored terrain, he wordlessly handed over the chips. Myriad crushed the bones to dust and pointed down the hall.

"Room three-xel. Do not stray or I'll remove your head," he rasped.

Vell shook his head. "Always with the same threat. It's been nine years Myriak. Have I ever broken the rules?"

"Three-xel. Do not str-"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going."

The withered elf's eyes lingered until he reached a three-way split in the cramped tunnels. Taking the one on the right Vell stalked past the rows of doors until he reached the second to last.

He raised his hand and knocked in two beats with a brief pause in between.

Less than a second had passed before locks started clicking. The door creaked open and a small diminutive man skittered out of the room.

"Hurry inside!" he screeched.

Vell sauntered past him and took in the room. Sparsely furnished, only a single table with three chairs sat in the corner along with a set of dark-iron manacles studded the wall.

Before the door closed, and his partner turned around, he flicked his wrist. The thin needle pierced the stone wall beside him easily without a sound.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"You're late! Y-you know I hate you being l-late, Av."

Vell examined his partner. Small. Shifty eyes, and pale, grubby skin. Human. Well maybe, a human. He still doubted that Blask wasn't part rodent. Not that he exhibited any signs of being a hybrid. He still had a few silver down on a bet with Snaggle. Snaggle thought the shifty-slumcrawler was telling the truth; Vell thought it more likely that Blask had removed his tail and pretended to be normal.

"Had to avoid some gold-plates. Couldn't be helped," Vell said with a shrug.

Blask froze, his already pale complexion turning ghastly. He raised a shaky finger. "Y-you didn't br-bring them here, right?!"

"Of course, not Blasky. I'm cocky, not suicidal."

Blask sighed in relief. He skittered toward the nearest chair and hopped up. Vell noticed that the shaking hadn't stopped, and more than once his partner had glanced toward the door. While normally, he would have chalked it up to the coward's nature, this was more than usual.

"S-so. I have a j-job for y-you!" Blask stammered.

"Better be worth it." Vell moved to the chair and turned it so his back was to the wall and he had a full view of the door. He propped his feet on the table and tapped the dusty wood with his claws. "The last one was a total shit show. I already warned you, I'm not working for gangs. Do a small inconsequential job for one of them and the others start sending men to your door for betraying them."

Blask swallowed and started wringing his hands. "Not from a g-gang. It's a… Big one, Av."

Vell's eyes narrowed. "How big?"

There was a pause, and Blask withered under Vell's stare. He gripped the edges of his seat and audibly gulped.

"V-very big. It's… a request from the houses."

"Houses… Meaning more than one."

Blask lowered his head. "Y-yes."

A spine-tingling chill started to fill the room. The cold vapor spread across the table and coated it in a thin layer of frost. Blask looked up and froze as he stared into the burning gaze of Vell's eyes.

"Blasky. Why in the fuck are we getting requests from not just one but multiple houses. If you betrayed me, I'm going to-"

"No! I w-would n-ne-never betray you, Av!"

"Which houses?"

"They w-wouldn't sa-say."

"Blask…" Vell growled.

"Wait! Wa-wait! I said it's big. I m-mean it," Blask said in a rush. He held up his hands and hid behind them. "The reward. It's huge. Giant! He-hear me out!"

Vell sank his claws into the table. Shattering the wood into frozen chunks. "How big?"

Blask was a shifty bastard but a loyal partner. Far better than the woman he had as his agent four years ago. It'd be a shame, but if the idiot revealed him to the nobles he'd at least make his death quick. Better to start over then mess with the golden spoons.

Damnit. Here I was thinking we'd celebrate our fifth year. Gods damned shame but Myriak won't say shit. Will still need to bribe him, going to be at least a gold for him to-

"Ten thousand gold!" Blast shouted.

Vell blinked, taking a second to parse what he heard.

"I'm sorry, I think my hearing is wonky. How much did you say the job was worth?"

Blask leaned forward. "Ten thous-thousand gold. That's how much they are offering."

Vell sat back in disbelief. Ten thousand gold coins. That was… He scoffed. Insanity. He could buy a full set of enchanted gear. Hell, he'd have enough he could retire and leave the city. He could take Diabella, get her away from the slimy shithead she apprenticed under and open shop above ground!

Ten thousand… Fuck.

"No," he said.

Blask, who was eagerly nodding, froze. "N-no? What do you m-mean? Didn't you hear me?"

"I heard you loud and clear. I'm saying no."

"B-but-"

"I said no. Think for a goddamn second. Nobody offers ten thousand coins to some tier two assassin. Dragonshit. This is a trap." Vell shook his head. "Even if it isn't. The kind of job that pays that much would be too high-risk. I'm not dying for you Blask. Not you or anyone else. I'm saying no."

Blask's jaw dropped open. If it was possible, his shaking had turned into full-body vibrations.

Vell stood up but as he did, a low tsk echoed in the room.

"Low-scum fool. You really think you're allowed to say no to the houses?"

Male. Unmodulated. Hah. Confident then.

"Oh yeah? I think I just did," Vell replied.

The door slid open revealing a tall human wearing leather gear. His shoulders were wide enough to fill the doorframe. He stepped inside, the hood of his cloak coming loose, revealing a shiny bald head.

Vell eyed the spear on the intruder's back and leaned casually with his hands at his waist.

"People like you can't say no, to the houses. So shut up and take the handout being offered to you," the man commanded.

"Or what?"

The man's face split in a wide grin. "Or I'll break you silly and we'll force a contract. Don't worry, we'll heal you up afterwards. We're not monsters after all. So what do you say, half-breed?"

Blask cowered under the table while he and the man stared at each other. His hands rested at his waist but his blades were within reach the moment he needed them. Already mana flared from the man's arms and his fingers twitched.

"I think, you can take your offer and shove it up your master's ass."

The man shook his head. "Wrong answer."

Fire erupted around the man's fist and he pulled out his spear in one swift move. Light flared beneath his feet and he slammed his foot forward. But before he could use his movement skill, a sharp pain struck his neck.

"Wha-"

The light faded and the fire wisped away as the man slumped forward. His jaw slipped open and his tongue lolled uselessly in his mouth as he attempted to speak.

Vell walked forward and flexed his fingers. The needle embedded into the man's neck slipped out and retracted along with the faint silver wire attached to its base. He grabbed the man's chin and leaned him upward, forcing him to stare directly into Vell's amber eyes.

"That works faster than I imagined. Looks like I owe, Diabella some flowers. So how does it feel? Is it a high? Maybe a rapid burn. No, don't speak, you're drooling. I'd love to prolong this but the neurotoxin is working faster than I expected. If I keep stalling there won't be much of a brain for me to pick through."

"Auggaaa…"

"There, there. Close your eyes and remember how you sneered at calling me a half-breed. It'll make this… Sweeter."

He throttled mana into his skill and activated Mind Scavenger. His mana invaded the human's body and formed mental claws that grabbed ahold of his brain. The world faded and memory and thought drifted into the greedy hands of his skill.

Time passed, and three minutes later he felt his skill tear. Vell disengaged and pulled his conscious away before the backlash incurred from a forceful stop. When he came to his senses, the human slumped forward and dropped lifelessly to the floor.

He closed his eyes and tasted the information, tossing aside the useless bits into the voidspace while shunting the ones he wanted into a neat mental prism. Several years of practice had taught him how dangerous it was to keep another's memories and feelings in the open.

When he opened his eyes, Blask finally crawled out from under the table and hesitantly approached.

"Av-Avarice. I ha-had no ch-choice. You have to b-believe me," Blask begged.

Vell sighed. "I believe you. I picked through his brain, I know how he threatened you."

Blask smiled and his shoulders relaxed. "Tha-thank you. About the jo-job. We c-can-"

"Forget what I said. I'm taking it."

"You are?" Blask asked in shock.

Vell stared down at the lifeless corpse. His skill wasn't clean. Already, grey veins had started to show throughout the man's skin.

"These bastards knew I would kill him. They planted information in his head and he was too stupid to realize it. Idiot."

"Of course. The ho-houses would." Blask nodded. "Yes, tha-that makes s-sense. So does that mean the job is r-real? Ten thousand g-gold?"

Vell sighed and stood up. He shook his head and gave a faint smile toward his partner. "Yeah. Ten thousand gold."

"And my finder's fe-fe-fee?"

"Don't worry, Blasky. I never forget my debts."

Blask briefly paused his shivering and broke out into a wild smile. He kept that expression, even as a needle entered his ear. The lights in the small man's eyes dimmed and he dropped soundlessly to the floor, joining the human corpse.

"For our years of friendship, I'll give you a painless death. It's the least I can do," Vell sighed.

He ran his hands down his face and calmed his breath. A faint pounding in his head settled in–typical after using his mental skill. In practiced movements he withdrew a glass vial from his belt, different from the poison given to him by Diabella.

After pouring it over both corpses he placed his hand on the ground and sent mana into the air. Within seconds, Blask and Ivek–or what used to be Ivek only moments before–turned into solid statues of ice. The frost penetrated beyond their clothes and past the flesh, deep down infiltrating through the bone marrow.

Vell activated his first skill, and a light blue bubble appeared above his palm. He set it between the ice statues and headed for the door. With one last look at his former partner he snapped his fingers and left the room.

The sound of ice shattering ensued, and he knew that all that would remain would be small flecks that'd eventually melt and be absorbed into the dirt.

He stroked his beard and ran his claws through the fur that connected from his neck. No doubt, Myrial was aware of him standing in the tunnel but he didn't care. His thoughts were preoccupied with what he had learned.

Who he was supposed to kill.

Mordred, huh. This'll be one hell of a job.

He chuckled.

At least it'll be fun.

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