Chapter 74: Assassinate
Jumping over rooftops Vayne move without so much as a noise. Below him, he could see the various night life the citizens have and even the few cases of mugging, drunk fights, or couples getting it on.
It all have little meaning to him however as all he's after are within the manor a few blocks ahead of him.
The market he stop by this morning actually have a good view of the manor hence why he chose the spot to observe the manor, that is until Barney came along (that's Meel's father if you're asking).
But him coming actually gave a less suspicious cover, as he could watch the his target enter the manor as he was repairing the wall with him.
What surprised him however was the convenient fact that all his target are gathered and still within the manor till now.
He was curious as to what they are planning but decided killing them is more important, besides he have some skills he would like to try on them.
It took him several minutes before he reaches a building across the manor due to moving slower so the roofs doesn't collapse and detours from killing thugs along the way.
Staying low on the edge of the roof he carefully spy on the four guards by the entrance and the other four patrolling the courtyard.
After confirming their route the same as in the evening, he activate [Fade], jump to left outer corner from the front and jump over the fences.
Using the low bushes as cover he easily slips by the guards and climb up to the roof, from there he enter through one of the attic windows.
He carefully and slowly open the window when he enters for the attic is basically the servants corner and he doesn't want to kill the innocent to keep his presence unnoticed.
The rest of the way are easy once he exit the servants corner, he already have the full map of the manor thanks to the blueprint Leo showed him and his own mini map help him avoid the guards inside and quickly locate the targets he tagged in the evening.
Reaching the location of his targets, he could hear snippets of their conversation with his higher stats. His curiosity kicks in so push his ears by the door and listen in.
"We have been talking I'm circles the whole evening, I'm telling you we need to stop acting like rats and take care of him!" Said man A.
"And I'm telling you we need to wait, surely he must have gotten wind of our meeting and sent someone. We can negotiate with them then." Said man B.
"I disagree, we're not strong enough to face him and with how his people left no survivor and looted everything I don't think he wants to negotiate." Said man C
There was a loud noise if wood breaking before someone now dubbed Man Boss shout "enough, you all have wasted too much of my time. Leave and bring me your decision tomorrow morning!" Before the sound of rushed scrambling came towards the door.
He only had enough time to distance himself from the door and pull my dagger when the door swing open rush out of the room.
They didn't see him as the skill [Fade] is still active so they run towards the sides, but the man behind the broken desk seem to notice him as he stood up and reach for his broadsword.
Vayne didn't hesitate and throw three knifes at the running idiots before rushing in to face the man inside. Groans of pain are all the confirmation he needed as he mark the three as dead, the poison on each knife are potent enough to take down an elephant with so much as a graze so what can those hairless monkeys do about it.
His speed came as a surprise at the man boss as his widen his eyes for a split second when his sword was parried mid swing but he quickly use the leftover momentum to turn it into a horizontal slash. Vayne duck below the slash and prepare to thrust his dagger but he quickly flip back to avoid the man boss knee kick.
Landing softly, Vayne watch his opponent silently as he push the broken desk out of his way. He was sure he used enough power and speed to overwhelm a C rank human, does that mean the man in front of him is higher? But that means the information Leo gave him was incorrect.
Pushing the thought aside, he charges at the man once again. it doesn't matter if the information are wrong he just have to kill the man.
This time the man barely had time to raise his sword and block the dagger as in his vision the short assassin a distance from him suddenly blink to his side. The moment the dagger about to hit the sword the assassin use his left leg as a pivot point and twist his attack into a backstab.
He rolled away from death's maw and chop off his right arm the moment he got to his feet. The man are drench in cold sweat as he use mana control to stop the bleeding. If it was any other poison he could keep it at bay with his mana but the one his opponent use seem to at any mana directed at it and only quicken it's spread, he had to use desperate measure to stop it.
Glancing down he could see the chopped off arm turn purple and full of blisters before it quickly decayed, leaving only damaged dried up skin and bones. The poison is necromantic in nature.
Vayne on the other hand are grinning under his face cover, the fear in the man's eyes are worth the few seconds break he is giving. The poison he use are called withering touch, even a graze of it would eat away every mana inside you before drying every liquid it could find within. This poison is actually an essential material to prepare a body to raise it as an undead called husk.
This isn't his favorite but it's the best to pin the crime to some necromantic cult.
As the man are distracted, he quickly cast [shadow binds] and charge at the man. The man quickly spotted the gathering shadows at his feet and jump to the side and raise his sword to block the incoming dagger. What he did not expect however are the hand that grab his collar and slam him down into the ground.
Almost by pure instinct he roll to the side just in time to avoid the assassin plunging its dagger to the ground.
Getting to his feet he could see the assassin short figure pulling it's dagger from the ground, although covered he could tell that his opponent are frowning in annoyance.
With his experience he assessed his opponent to be at the same rank of power as him, an A rank. But it seem he is one of the low talent people as he only use the skill [blink] once at the beginning and fighting with petty tricks and poison.
Unlike him who is an Str focused fighter, his opponent seem to be Agi focused shadow warrior.
The only reason he is able to avoid and survive till now is his passive skills called [detect danger] and [bull's strength] and the active skill called [potential rush] that he use after the first clash. This skill is his Trump card because it doubles all his statuses but the penalty for using it is the lost of 2 Lv after 5 minutes are over and the cool down are 30 days.
Right now his strength should be over strength should be over 5000 and his speed over 3000, close to his opponent. He only worries he can't defeat him in 2 minutes because even without seeing his status he can tell he have the debuff "minor blood lost" which reduce his Str and Vit by 30%.
He could hear the guards rushing up the stairs, probably from the commotion, so if he could stall for time he might just survive this.
Vayne could also hear the commotion outside so he lunges at the man, decided to stop playing around. The man swing his sword down at him but rather than deflecting it he use his left hand caught the blade.
Gritting his teeth, he ignore the pain from the metal digging into his flesh, jump and pull the blade to give him extra momentum. The man let go of his sword and step to the side but with his full Int processing power the world are moving slowly and even though in this slowed down world the man seem to move as fast as him his reaction are faster.
When the man step to the side and tried to jump back, he had already thrown his dagger at where the man will land. The man managed to react in the end but not fast enough to avoid the dagger as it still grazes the side of his stomach.
Vayne put the sword in his inventory as he roll on the ground before rushing out of the window, not forgetting to pick up his dagger, as the guards start to rush into the room.
He could see some of the guards at the courtyard spotted him as he burst through the glass but he easily avoid them on the ground and escape into the darkness outside the fences.
Although he managed to complete his mission, he is left unsatisfied. He thought he was already the strongest among the human race but that man clearly shown otherwise.
If we wanted to be stronger then he could quickly fix his soul or upgrade his statuses, but in order to do so he needs more points.
As he rush back to the inn, he decides that after his stay here are over he will ask Leo about any other nearest dungeon.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone