2022-12-22 23:55:59“Lord Jala, I think we need to consider the long term picture here,” Solus said. He waved his hand and he was holding a chilled glass of wine, taken from his secret cellar. He loved hand made wine, properly aged. Magic could make it faster, but all the craftsmanship was lost.
A satisfied smile crossed his face as the tart liquid glided down his long throat. He was a man of stretched proportions. His narrow face matched his long arms, and spidery hands, but he carried himself calmly and always spoke carefully.
“Solus, a man is dead! We need to involve the Sheriffs and get to the bottom of this.” Jala sat in a large comfortable chair, surrounded by attendants who were grooming his beard, filing his nails and rubbing his shoulders. One attendant was nearby to
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Assassin System in a Magical World Forest Fires
Shinra kissed Naori on the forehead, then snuck out of their home. She didn't stir a muscle.'Is that Silence at work, or is she very tired?'He wanted to test his powers badly, but needed to make sure his sister was safe even more. Naori was stunned by the riches he had brought home, and knew better than to ask where he got it. 'Naori is the best. She'll figure out how to turn the cash, weapons and potions into food and supplies for us. I might not have to steal again for years, though it will be hard to sell potions to zombies.'He wasn't worried though, she was accomplished at dealing with goods of questionable origins.'I need to be alone now and try out my skills. Silence and Knife Mastery are passive, so they should be working already. Now I need to try Critical Strike and get better with Fade.He crossed the Tardel river by swimming. It represented the Southern border of the Zombie village, and had a powerful enchantment that kept monsters from getting near. 'I need t
Assassin System in a Magical World Dark Boughs
‘Shit, shit, shit,” Shinra thought. He needed to pant in breath, he was so winded, but could not. Instead he held his breath, and every muscle perfectly still. He couldn’t stop the blood dripping down his arm, or mask its scent. He was going to be a dead man if he didn’t think of something fast.The Orc was sniffing around a tree Shinra had wiped his blood on. It would only distract the monster for a few moments though.It was at least 8 ft tall, but walked hunched over with its hands near the ground, dragging the large spiked club it had hit Shinra with. Its yellow eyes shone with bloodlust when he cried out and fell back from the blow. Shinra had come up quietly behind the beast, and attempted a critical strike at the base of its neck.‘Why did I miss? I was following the trail smoothly, like I had already done on 2 wolves, and 3 giant rats.’ He knew why though. He had gotten cocky. He hadn’t even used Fade to make his approach, h
Assassin System in a Magical World Chaotic
Shinra wasn't in a great mood when he made it back across the river, one armed, and found some people hanging around the outside of his home."I swear. Little Naori was selling some really expensive mage shit today in the market. Potions, some rings, bracelets and scrolls. How much do you want to bet that she has even more stuff stashed away inside!""Even if she does, what are we going to do? Just break in there and rob her? What about her brother?""That good for nothing thief? He deserves what he gets. All that stuff is stolen anyways, so who cares if we steal it too? He's just a skinny guy, and there are two of us. We can take him down easily.""Maybe we should spend some quality time with Naori before we leave. She is old enough now and has gotten very pretty lately…""I don't know man. Robbery is one thing, we can just say we didn't do it and who the hell will know. If we hurt them badly, then the Town Council might punish us."
Assassin System in a Magical World Rom Com
Young Matthew was living in a dream. A few days ago his father was trying to murder his zombie lover, and now he had let her move into his wing of their estate. ‘I know dad has probably a hundred ulterior motives. For now, she is worth more alive than dead to him, but that will change once her usefulness has ended.’ Matthew wasn’t stupid. Timid, a little, but not stupid. He knew that this was an opportunity though, and he meant to use it.“How do we make you valuable to my father after your testimony is finished? For whatever reason, seeing that Shadow monster is important.”"I can think of two ways, my love," Sophie said. The zombie was truly a lovely thing to behold, with her long red hair, milk white skin, and delicate features. And since moving into Lord Jala's estate, she had been dressed like a young noblewoman, enhancing her beauty tenfold and drawing the attention of every man who laid eyes on her.She was 18, so already a year older than the young Lord Matthew, but tha
Assassin System in a Magical World Village Life
Shinra had never been all that popular, even when his parents were alive, his family always seemed to be black sheep. He never really noticed until Naori was older, and everyone loved her. They could walk together and a dozen people would say hello and talk with her, and they would all pretend Shinra wasn’t there.It was like being a spirit or a shadow. The irony had not escaped him as he walked around the village today.Despite people mostly ignoring him, they weren’t outright rude, and he had merchants and people that he would talk to on occasion. He thought his constant thievery in the city was why people started to avoid him, as if talking to him would make them complicit when the Sheriffs finally caught him. ‘Screw them,’ he always thought. Today though, he needed to le
Assassin System in a Magical World Confidence
The flour and rice stopped swirling and Mr. Dalton stepped into the room. “Shinra? Is there a wind current making its way in here?” He didn’t notice anything strange though, he turned back in time to see Shinra walking towards him, some flour on his clothes.“Mr. Dalton, sorry, I went outside to wipe off some of the flour. I accidentally dropped the bag.” Shinra did have flour all over himself.“Oh, no problem. I thought I heard a commotion, but didn’t notice you leave. My eyes are getting old.” Mr Dalton smiled, evidently relieved that there wasn’t a real problem.“I’ll clean that up and take the opened bag as payment, if you don’t mind? I should be finished movin
Assassin System in a Magical World Fade 2
Naori was really happy when Shinra came back with the flower and rice. He thought she might have been happier than with all of the money and items he brought back from that knight the other day.She promised to make some bread and a good meal once she returned, and then she was off to do the rounds of chores and work she did around the village.This was best for Shinra because he wanted to try and test out his upgraded ability in a controlled environment.Is Fade 2 really much more powerful than Fade 1? Mr Dalton didn't notice me at all when I passed by right in front of him.Shinra sat in front of the small bookcase, a centrepiece of their small home. He'd extinguished all the lights, so the space was dark and shadowed, ex
Assassin System in a Magical World Investigation
Despite the fact that zombies had to live near mage cities to stay safe from all of the magical creatures and monsters that prowled the countryside, they managed to carve out a happy existence. At least it was happy when they were left alone. Naori exemplified this. The girl always had a smile on her face and she shared it with everyone. It was like she was the exact opposite of her older brother. She was so well liked that people overlooked the fact that was related to the dour and shady Shinra. She was walking through the village Square with a few town children she was taking care of, when a man stopped her. He was a tall strong looking stranger, dressed in simple clothes that looked brand new. "Excuse me, miss. I am looking for a friend who may have passed through the villag
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Politics and strange bedfellows
Brightbough steepled his fingers as he stared ahead at the impressive bulk of Lord Jala. The man was enormous, but, with magic, always appeared at ease. ‘How did I wind up here with a minor player like Jala?’ Considering how wealthy they were, it was almost surprising how little influence the Jala family had. Brightbough had always thought it was just a family in decline, and the latest head was a decadent lush. ‘He is a crafty one though, or we wouldn’t be meeting now.’“As I was saying, Advisor Brightbough, my network has uncovered several incidents that, on their own, appear random, but, together, hint at sinister tidings,” Jala said. He took a moment to look at his aide, Solus, and then back to Brightbough and Wintersbane. ‘All the players are here,’ he thought.“My family has a long history of steadfast loyalty to the Empire, but in the last few generations we have focused on trade and commerce. This has let our house grow in wealth at the expense of influence…” he paused b
Worlds Collide
Shinra entered the Sheriff’s office like usual, but everything was different now. ‘My sister is here now, I’m a guild master, and I stopped the assassins targeting Sardi. Now I just need to find a moment to tell him.’ Shinra liked Sardi. He was a bit of a jerk, but he seemed ok for a mage. ‘He definitely has some secrets, otherwise we never would have had that experience at the Imperial Gladiator fights. His family is probably a bigger deal than he wants to admit. Why else would assassins be after a deputy?’He nodded to the watch captain and some of the deputies he was on ok terms with as he took a seat in the bullpen. Honestly, except for Anna, he didn’t care for any of them. Only Sardi and Wintersbane treated him like a person.‘Where is Sardi? He should be here by now.’ Shinra knew that they were on the same schedule for the next few weeks. They did have a crazy last shift to be fair… he’d have to try harder to keep under the radar now. ‘Sardi has some secrets too, wi
Mess in Aisle 3
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
Vigilantes
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
Red Reunion
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
Red Awakening
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
Soul Sisters
“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
Conspiracy Uncovered
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
Honour Bound
“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
