“Hahahahah!” Iga laughed. Long and hard. “Well, you are interesting at least.” He looked at his two Colonel’s, and then at the rest of their compound. The spell was visible now, a tight, blinking ring of green that should have compelled anyone living over to the courtyard they were in. Iga’s face darkened. “You’re dead, your family is dead, any friends you ever had are all dead. They just don’t know it yet.” The menace in his voice was palpable, Shinra could feel it as clearly as the spell that had moved him to the courtyard. “You see, the Akasooki is my family, and if you hurt my family, I hurt yours. You don’t have too long to regret it, but I hope you can see what we are going to do to your loved ones from hell,” Iga barked out. Scanril and Elihar looked more calm, but the calm of professional killers. They were just ready to do their job.Shinra had a job to do too. He didn’t have many friends or family left, but he wasn’t going to let his actions hurt them either. If h
Iga was a mage, but, like most mages, his power and talent were not awe-inspiring. Nothing like the emperor and his family, who could level an army or defeat a murder of dragons with just their weave craft. No, Iga was powerful because he knew the value of information. He collected the dark and dirty secrets of anyone who is important in the empire, and use them to further his own agenda or his clients. He wasn't afraid to use blackmail and murder to position his clients for success. That is why he became a powerful tool for certain nobles in the empire, and his wealth and influence had grown.His guild was small, but it had been respected and feared in the parts of the empire that mattered the most. 'And this fairy tale monster has dismantled it all on its own, a Ninja. 'He watched the young man standing over Elihar's body, blood dripping down his face. He hadn't used a whiff of magic, not even a bit, and yet he had seen him teleport behind them, and just now had sliced through Elih
Naori's life had turned upside down in the space of a day.Not only was her brother alive, which she has suspected, but he was a deputy not a convict. He was friends with a rich country witch, and the man who had arrested him had become his mentor somehow. 'I knew Shinra was an amazing brother, but no one else had seen how great he was before. 'The realisation had brought tears to her eyes in Wintersbane's office, and it had flustered the older man. All of these revelations had caused a problem for her though, she had expected to come and visit her brother in jail and make sure he was okay. Then she would have to go back to the village. Now though, her brother was off having fun somewhere on his day off from work and she didn't know when he would be back."I might be speaking out of turn here, but why would you even go back to the village?" Loren asked.Loren had become Naori's unofficial guide. Not only through the city, but through Shinra's life. The University student was fierce
Shinra had not seen much magic in his life. He could maybe remember a handful of times he’d witnessed magic more impressive than cosmetic changes for the nobility, or for transportation in the city. He could recall an illusionary dragon display for some festival once… but, up until he received the System, no one had weaved spells directly at him.Which was why, even though he was about to be hit by a proper war level fireball, he was a little awed by the sight. The guild master had only made one sign, that Shinra noticed, and a pulsing blue sphere of energy coalesced out of the air. He saw wisps and strands of power coming from the man himself, but also out of the air and ground, until the sphere was the size of two fists and floating in front of him. Except for the pulsing, it could have been made of glass or some rare jewel.“Natus Sol,” Iga said, and the sphere shot towards Shinra, and transformed. It expanded to the size of a large barrel as it shot forward, in destructive sp
The system gave him a clue, the whisper of hope, and Shinra took it. His desire for more power, more reach even, in this tense situation was palpable. Maybe because he didn’t have time to think, or maybe because he was holding his short sword in one hand and his shadow blade in the other, but his need crystallised into one idea.‘Shadow Katana,’ he thought, and his shadow wakizashi unformed and slid over the dragon short sword. The shadow was so dark, it was almost bright as it covered the sharp blade. First it moulded tightly around the blade, then the short sword burst into an exceptionally long black katana in his hand.There was no time to think, as he gripped the new blade with two hands and swung down at the huge fireball upon him. The outer flames whipped around it, unaffected. When it reached the bright orange sphere within, it parted it like a wisp of silk. The blade touched an inner space that was a pale yellow, and it cut through with the light resistance of an apple.
"I won. Holy shit I did it!"Shinra fell to the ground in the courtyard, surrounded by bodies and blood but untroubled, finally.He knew that this quest was going to be tough, as Tim wouldn't have made a penalty for non-completion. Wondered how bad that penalty would have been? After all if the system could make him stronger, it could also make it weaker right? He couldn't imagine losing any of the power and advantages he had gained. Or what if the system made him go blind as a punishment? Shinra shuddered.His adrenaline had been high, but he was starting to feel his injuries now. He had been hit hard by that stone shard spell, and he was glad he didn't have a mirror to see how burnt up the rest of his body was. If it was anything like his hands, then he was going to need to spend a lot of money with a healer.Money he didn't have. Couldn't go to the staff healer the sheriff's either, because they would note it and that there would be some uncomfortable questions about what he got up
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
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
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