"Are you ok Zombie? That blast was mostly caught by my shield, but it isn't designed for 2, sorry" Sardi said, standing now with sword raised.
'I need a freaking sword,' Shinra thought, pulling out his trusty folder. It was matte black, and amazing as a hidden weapon. It was also a little underwhelming in a head on fight with armed mages. Not that he was great with swords. 'At least I could defend against another sword that way….,' as soon as he thought this, he shook his head. It didn't sound right. He was a hunter, a killer. He didn't defend, he attacked. He gripped his knife in the forward position, ready to stab an organ or slice an artery.
"I count 11, can you see anymore?" Shinra said.
"I barely see the 11, some are hanging back in the dust and shadows."
"Ok, have any ultimate spells that will take them all out? Like the Breath of Bahamut?".
Sardi's laugh came from dee
'That should give Shinra more cover,' Sardi thought. He still needed to find out how that damn Zombie could disappear like that. Sardi was a skilled mage, and he could tell a zombie from a mage without much trouble. Some mages needed to examine them a little first, but it quickly became clear to anyone that a zombie had no magical energy. Shinra had none either, but Sardi had watched him turn invisible, and blend into the shadows like a demon.'Is he some kind of monster, or mutant, like a werewolf? No, no, werewolves had magical power… a lot, it was just transformed into physical power.'Whatever the case, Shinra's ability to disappear without magic was devilishly effective for sneaking up on mages, so Sardi tried to increase the covering smoke and dust.'My sword hasn't been recharged, so it is only good for stabbing. I'm not sure how good these guys' shields are though&hellip
Shinra noticed something. He was strong. He knew intellectually that the stats the System showed meant something, but it was only after nearly tearing a mage's head off that it felt real to him.'Was it the upgrade this morning that made this difference, did I break through a level? Maybe I've just been holding back unconsciously.' Whatever the case, it gave him confidence as he deepened his Fade into translucency and circled away from the dead attacker. He positioned himself to come in behind the 3 mages running towards the corpse.He knew going invisible wouldn't last long, but he couldn't afford his prey to suspect he was still there. 'I need to hit hard and fast. Will my blade work with their shields, or do I need to break all of their necks?' Breaking three men's necks standing beside each other wasn't possible, so he needed to observe them."Newmam! Why are you on the groun
The thing about magic, real magic, is that it isn't that useful in battle. Unless you're a monster like the Emperor and his Generals. They are able to use magic in ways that scholars have gone insane trying to understand. They are so far above the next level of mage experts, that they might as well be considered Gods.These Assassins were no gods. However, several of them had hung back in the centre while the rest attacked. Plenty of time to weave an effective attack.Sardi knew he was in trouble when the mages running towards him stopped, flicked their wands towards him, and ran away.'Tracer,' he thought. Sardi couldn't see the weave, but that was the point. A fighting group often had tracer and signal spells so they could coordinate attacks while keeping the casters away from the fighting. 'I wonder how big the attack will…', and then the world went red, black and
Selena was impressed. She knew the boy named Shinra would be worth watching. He seemed shy and sweet, but the thick stench of death clung to him like an after-shave. 'How does a Zombie build such an aura of death? Was he a soldier, or perhaps some depraved murderer? Either way, it is interesting to watch him.' She did watch him, and saw him scythe through the more powerful assassins like a farmer. What really impressed her though was the branch family mage. He kept downplaying his connection to the Emperor, but he casually used spells that were at least two orders of magnitude greater than anything these so-called assassins could muster. "Who is this Sardi Heartsigh? That knockback spell is exceptional. It turned the tide of battle all on its own." "Both these little snacks are interesting. Especially since they shouldn't be part of the diplomatic ass kissing party in the
Easy to say, but Sardi was feeling exhausted. If that blast hadn't been so huge, he would have tried to use his regular shield. He panicked though, and now he was feeling the effects.He could see the wind currents now, and the centre of the effect was only 10 or 12 metres away. The outlines of the 5 assassins were clear in the sparse smoke. So was the magic they were weaving.'Damn,' Sardi thought. He needed to bring them close to him, instead of blasting him from far away. It would give Shinra a chance to get closer too."There you cowards are. Finally coming out of the smoke to fight? Then come on. Are you afraid to fight one on one? Then I'll take you all at once!" Sardi yelled. He took a ready stance and raised his light rapier. He hoped they were confident and angry enough to just charge over.The five assassins looked wary. 'Shit, the
Sardi made an incredible target and distraction. Shinra couldn't believe how easy it was to take out the 4 assassins. It was like plucking flowers from the roadside, one moment they were vibrant and alive, and the next they were scattered on the ground.He looked down at the man bleeding out beside his friend. They were both in the middle of casting spells, and the first one died without knowing what happened. This one got off a fireball type attack as Shinra struck. Shinra did more damage with the sword than this guy did with magic, but he was definitely hurt. He was a little worried to look too closely at the wound in his side, but it didn't seem to be bleeding too much.Unfortunately, Sardi was going to die if Shinra didn't hurry. 'Come on Sardi, where is that secret Imperial magic of yours?' Shinra thought. He couldn't think about his injury, and started towards Sardi.A quick flash
Shinra put on the shirt as he ran. His wound itched like crazy, but it wasn't pulling and hurting like before.What was happening to his life? Lycan's, imperial court intrigue, vampires; how was he supposed to be a simple assassin with all these distractions? Shinra knew one thing for sure, the circle of people who knew about his abilities was dangerously high.'I guess an assassin would kill them all… except I don't think any of my tricks would help against the vampires. They are pure power pretending to be people,' he thought. 'I could kill Sardi, but that might bring some scrutiny from the imperial palace, and I don't want that.' If he was being honest, he kind of liked Sardi. And, he knew some of his secrets, which was even better than trust, as far as Shinra was concerned.'They said Sardi will be fine. I guess it is good that someone is watching him. I wonder where they were during the fi
The room was tense, very tense. Selena's smile slipped as she looked at Lord Cardual. Even Eltast and Mimi went still, sensing the tensionShe dropped to one knee and lowered her head, a knight before a king. He looked down at her waiting, and the room was absolutely silent. Vampires didn't need to breathe, and their hearts didn't beat often, so nothing broke the silence.Cardual stood before her, a stony expression on his face, but he didn't move, or prompt her to speak. He was not the type of ruler who loudly asked for respect and obedience, he just expected it."My lord…" Selena started, her voice a little shaky. "I won't make excuses. The boy, Shinra, is dead. I attempted to turn him, and his Zombie body couldn't handle the process." Her voice was calm and deferential, but even she was worried. They all had enormous autonomy in their own lands, but Cardual made it very clear that they would be nothing but perfect guests in the Tardel Empire. The Emperor even let her eat
In the middle of a fight is when Shinra felt most certain. He wasn’t thinking so much as assessing and deciding in real time. It was happening faster than thought, and it was addictive.He looked at the wand, death in a slim package, bearing down on him.‘I just need to be somewhere else,’ he decided. His vision highlighted vectors for diving, rolling, and jumping to avoid an attack originating at the sword tip and covering an area of 2 metres around it. He couldn’t just avoid the attack though, he had to finish this one off before the other 4 combatants got their shit together.He jumped, hard, into a forward twisting flip, easily clearing the guard. Even in Daemon time, he could see the surprise on the man’s face as a powerful green blast made a crater in the f
Shinra’s vision filled with the measurements, vectors, grids and critical strike paths that he basically associated with life, but now knew was his combat vision.[Ready?][Status: Shinra][Health 3000][Shinra: Death Stalker - Assassin: Tier 2, LvL 5 ][Shinra: Night Squire - — : Tier 0 ][Experience Points: 77,500 | Skill Points: 0][Stats][ Tier 2: Strength | Speed | Dexterity ][ Tier 0: Intelligence | Wisdom | Charisma | Magic ][Skills Status:][Tier 1][ Active: Fade | Sprint ][ Passive: Silence | Knife Mastery | Assassin Kata | Archery | Wall Climbing][Tier 2][Passive: Deadly Aim | Deception | Visual Reflexes][Hidden Path][Passive Skills: Critical Strike | Daemon Prediction ][Shadow Path][Active: Shadow Strike* | Shadow Meld* | Shadow Heal* ][Passive: Vampire Vision ]“Who the hell are you?” Loren was saying, even as her wand came up. Shinra knew she might be able to handle this all on her own, she was exceptional.The chains hit her face and torso, knocking the wa
Shinra was leary of all magic, so he almost bolted from his place as soon as he saw the glowing sphere hanging in the air. Well, he did bolt, but luckily he heard Loren’s message from the hall. He was still trying to wrap his head around what she said, even as he stood in front of her door. ‘Naori was here?’Shinra loved his sister, he never had any doubts about his feelings towards her. She was the kindest, most capable, and brilliant person he had ever known. And, though he spent every moment since his parents died trying to take care of her, he knew she had taken care of him even more. Being in the city without her had been difficult, but, if he was honest, he worried about her less after sending her his wages. ‘My life has been pretty complicated this last little while,’ he thought. He knew he was making excuses. He did believe her life would actually be better without him. She was more resourceful than he ever was, and the other villagers liked her much more than him.‘So why
The room was Pitch Black, so Raisd wasn't sure if his eyes were open or not at first, so he blinked a few times. ‘Definitely open.’ The fact that he was lying in a bed instead of bleeding in a gutter was a good sign, but he wasn't sure of anything else. He slowly moved his hands down his chest and body, feeling for any bandages or gaping wounds.‘Huh, not only am I naked, I seem to be in one piece.’ Which was amazing in and of itself, because the seven finger Gremlin counter attack is enough to kill most mages. Clearly he was both lucky and, maybe, tougher than he thought.He tried to stand, but that is when he noticed the weight across his legs. Not able to see, he reached down and realized the weight was a pair of legs draped across him. His fingers traced their way up those legs until he found their intersection. It was warm there, and his fingers were tickled by the fine hairs they brushed up against. ‘God I hope this is Mimi,’ was all he thought before the
“I promise, it is usually cleaner here,” Loren said as she rushed around trying to stuff books and scrolls back onto the shelves while gathering up a precarious pile of dishes. She definitely didn’t care what the place looked like when Naori’s brother broke in. Funny how something so random could lead to Loren trying to clean her place. She looked over her shoulder to see Naori just standing still, eyes widened by the mess, no doubt. ‘I need to distract her maybe? Where am I going to put all of this stuff!’ Loren was not used to caring what anyone thought about her, her space, or anything she did, really. “Wow. Just…. Wow,” was all Naori said, eyes still wide.‘Oh god, she thinks it is worse than living on the streets, she’s never seen anyone live like this… dammit!’, but what Loren said out loud was, “I just need a few more minutes. Why don’t you sit down over … “ except she hadn’t cleared any of the seating surfaces yet.“This is the most amazing home I’ve ever seen! It is
The office was surprisingly orderly for an assassin, Shinra thought. Tastefully arranged sofas, end tables with a high polish, and a full bookcase. He went straight to the desk though, to see if he could find what the assassin guild leader was talking about.‘Would it just be on top? Is that too easy?’ Shinra looked, but the few pieces of parchment on top of the desk were innocuous bills and tally of equipment. He opened the top drawer and only saw quills and inkstones. The larger drawer underneath was locked.“Why don’t I have lockpicking skills? I can do everything else…” He flexed his newly healed hand, still amazed at how whole and pain free they were, after the devastating burns he’d suffered. “Well, I’m strong enough to just rip it open,” he said, then gripped it tightly and pulled with all his strength.He felt the small release of power, ‘shit,’ he thought and then flung the drawer behind him as hard as he could. It was the right move, as the entire desk exploded in a sho
“Filthy blood slut," was all the lesser Earl of Clodven had said. It wasn't a nice thing to say about anyone, and Raisd had heard much worse. This time though, it was directed at his betrothed.To his credit, Raisd showed enormous restraint by only breaking the man's nose. The young lesser Earl and his friends didn't agree, and so now Raisd was in an honour bout.“The first to ten wins the bout,” one of the hangers-on was intoning, "and may request an honour payment." “I think I'll ask for one of Its fangs," the arrogant noble said.Raisd paid him no mind. ‘Foppish, useless nobles think life is a silly game. This bout is probably the highlight of his week’. He knew the type well. The lesser Earl’s father, or grandfather, had been useful to the Empire once upon a time, but then they produced entitled, talentless wastes of flesh like this. The patriarch of the family has probably all but disowned him.‘If I'd punched Shinra, he probably would have punched back and we'd be having a
Raisd was having a weird night. Actually, everyday had been weird since his betrothal. He couldn't get over the fact that suddenly people knew he was an active part of the imperial family. Well, maybe vampires didn't count as people, but they knew. If that was all that had changed, he could deal. After all he had been in military intelligence, and had infiltrated many places as part of his work, including the deputies office. Unfortunately he was quickly apprised of how different human and vampire customs were. Which was why he was lying in bed with General Mimi right now. Uncomfortably. Wrapped up in his own blanket and wearing a full set of clothes. He wasn't 100% certain, but he was pretty sure that she was naked under the thin sheet she had draped over herself. He made sure all the lights were off though and just laid there staring up at the ceiling in the dark. It had been like this for a few days now, ever since the rest of the vampire delegation went back to their capital
Shinra was surprised. ‘Shadow Heal isn’t one of the skills in the list. Does this mean they are all low level skills? Or are there a tonne of skills that the System just doesn’t show me?’Either way, this wasn’t what he was expecting. ‘Healing is high level magic… what does Shadow Healing mean? Am I a mage now?...’ He knew he wasn’t though. He looked around and did not see the primal flow of mana in the world. He was a zombie. One with interesting skills, but a zombie all the same.“Unless a Ninja is a different class of being?” The head Assassin said Ninja enough that it did make Shinra wonder. Not that he had time for that mystery right now. [Skills Status:][Skill Points: 20][Tier 1][ Active: Fade | Sprint ][ Passive: Silence | Knife Mastery | Assassin Kata | Archery | Wall Climbing][Tier 2][Passive: Deadly Aim][Hidden Path][Passive Skills: Critical Strike | Daemon Prediction ][Shadow Path][Active: Shadow Strike* | Shadow Meld* | Shadow Heal* ][Passive: Vampire