Chapter 668: Third Moon and Western Guardian - 668
Since he already knew plenty about Old Thief Ply, all he needed to do was wait until night. As the sun fell and the moon rose, the man left his house and moved towards a location he would never have usually entered.
He made sure to wear a mask, though his was much simpler than Skymender's. As he walked, he eventually reached a store. It didn't have a door, but a wide open entrance. Around it were plenty of thugs, including Old Thief Ply. He was playing with a ring in his hand, obviously stolen.
The man positioned himself in an ideal location. He was very far away from Old Thief Ply, but his strength and coordination had always been good. He made sure that he was in an alleyway so that he could not be easily spotted.
Finally, he waited. Eventually, Old Thief Ply seemingly got bored and wandered around. After a while, he neared the man's area. He was alone, simply walking off a few feet.
As he walked past the entrance to the alleyway, the man threw the vial directly at his head. He wasn't sure what it would do, but it was emphasized to make sure that the vial hit the target.
Something about the vial was a little weird, however. It contained liquid on two different sides.
He turned around as soon as it left his hand and ran away. The vial hit Old Thief Ply directly in the head, and he began to scream in agony.
The man barely turned his head to look, but all he saw was a melted face that seemed nothing like the human face it had resembled before. He quickly turned back around and ran even faster, his speed increased by fear.
Naturally, the thugs went to check on Old Thief Ply, but what they saw horrified and stunned them. They forgot to even look around and find the cause.
It was only after the man was long gone that they began to search around. Naturally, they were unable to find anything.
As the man returned home, he took a while to regain his breath. He made sure his blinds were closed and his doors were tightly locked before heaving a sigh of relief.
"Well done." A voice said behind him.
He turned around in shock, and saw Skymender behind him. He wore a mask, but had decided to take off his glove. It didn't matter if he wore it regardless. The man looked at Skymender for a moment before beginning to observe him.
He was quite short, but the man did not dare to underestimate him. He was, after all, the man known across the city as "Skygod". He next noticed his hand, as it stood out. Seeing it somehow reminded him of the melting face of Old Thief Ply.
It was horrifying, non-human even. It was as though it had come straight from a horror story.
He finally spoke. "Thank you."
"What is your name?"
The man hesitated. "My real name, or the name I wish to go by."
"Either." Skymender said.
"I suppose you might as well just call me… Third Moon." He said after thinking for a while.
Skymender did not ask where the name came from or why he used it, but instead continued onto business.
"Since you've created a nickname, I suppose that you are willing to work for me."
"Yes sir, it's just that, it's a pretty dangerous job, and I have a mother… As for pay…"
The man seemed to hesitate to speak.
Skymender spoke instead. "If something happens to you on duty, your mother will be taken care of. As for payment, there are two types. Mission based and monthly. For mission based, everytime you complete a mission, you get a portion of what it is worth. As for monthly, you get it regardless. It is enough to allow you to live stably."
It should be noted that although Skymender was still a child, and his height somewhat gave that away, his voice did not. Although his throat was healed, his voice still had a dry and aged sound to it.
It had nothing to do with the chest, but his vocal chords which had been permanently damaged.
Third Moon sighed. "Good. Do you need anything from me right now, Sir Skygod?"
Skymender shook his head. "I just came to confirm your joining and to pay you your mission and monthly payment."
He put an envelope on the table and walked out the front door.
The next day, another person received a letter.
He was given a similar poison vial and told to complete a similar task, in which he would throw it at a well known criminal's head. This criminal had a hurt leg and could not move very fast, which made the assassination even easier.
This man was the one with the daughter. He too saw what the poison had done to the man and was horrified.
When he returned home, he shakily consoled his daughter to sleep before sitting in the living room.
Somehow, he heard a voice behind him.
"Well done."
He hastily turned around and saw Skymender.
"Thank you." He said, observing Skymender.
"What is your name?"
"Like a nickname?"
"Yes."
The man thought for a moment. "Western Guardian."
Skymender nodded.
He explained a bit about pay and how his daughter would be taken care of in case of his death.
"Not to be rude, Sir Skygod, but are you sure that you can adequately have my daughter taken care of and raised well?" He asked.
"You don't know who I am under the mask. I can assure you that she will be safe."
The man nodded.
Before Skymender left, he asked another question.
"Last night, I heard of Old Thief Ply dying after having his face melted. I'm not the only one you're paying attention to, am I?"
"No." Skymender said.
Western Guardian nodded and didn't say anything more.
Skymender left and a new day arrived. There was only one person left.
The man with the large family.
Chapter 669: First Jobs - 669
Skymender silently made his way over to the third one's house. Without being spotted at all, he left an envelope on the kitchen table.
However, with so many people living in this house, he was not the one who found it. Instead, it was his sister. She looked at it, saw it was addressing him, and gave it to him. He looked at it for a moment and opened it in front of everyone. He read it aloud to his entire family, even showing off the poison vial.
Skymender shook his head. This was not going to work out. These people were a group of close knit family members that would not hide anything from each other. It was unacceptable.
Therefore, since this was the situation, there was only one thing to do. Skymender threw a vial in their house through the window.
It was the same poison that had damaged his breathing years ago. There were no survivors.
This left him with only two people who had joined. The so-called Third Moon and Western Guardian.
Skymender had no understanding of where their nicknames came from, and he didn't plan to find out.
With this, Skymender was almost ready to go into business. He had a leader, himself, the assassins, Third Moon and Western Guardian, and only needed someone out on the streets. This would be the person, or people, who would find assassination jobs, as there was no point in creating such an organization if there was no business.
Ideally, it would be someone smart and fast, with vast connections.
Although it would be ideal to be able to make such a person loyally enter his organization, it would also be nearly impossible simply due to how their status would be.
Instead, it seemed that he would have to find a person to make deals with.
Someone trustworthy and involved in the underground.
He spent a few days and nights doing some digging before finally finding someone. He dealt with information gathering and trading. It was not impossible for him to go around and find people who would pay for an assassination. He was also someone considered to be incredibly smart.
Despite his high reputation in the underground, he was surprisingly easy to find. During the night, he sat in his living room reading a book under the candlelight. Suddenly, a shadow appeared behind him.
He spoke without looking back. "Who are you and what business do you have?"
He didn't seem to have the slightest bit of fear, as though such a thing was regular.
"Skygod."
Hearing that word, the once confident man turned around in shock. He saw Skymender standing there with his mask on.
"So you are the legendary Skygod. I've heard theories that you were a group, or merely a cover up of a police massacre, but it seems that you really are the real deal." His words were laced with deeply hidden caution.
"I have a job for you." Skymender said.
"How can I help you, sir Skygod?" He asked.
"I need you to find people willing to pay for assassination." Skymender said.
The man thought for a moment. "That is not impossible, but in such a small city, there won't be many willing to pay."
Skymender had already thought it through. "It won't be such a small city for too much longer, it seems. During the addition of newcomers, assassination will be a valuable service. Also, as far as I am aware, the assassination market is completely open for takeover."
The man nodded. "Indeed."
"You will get 5% of the price paid by the person requesting assassination."
The man nodded. "Reasonable. Are there any that you don't wish to accept as targets?"
Skymender thought for a moment. "Nobles."
The man nodded. "Smart."
What Skymender didn't say was hat Sky city was just the beginning, where he could get an easier foothold. When the time came, he would move on to greater places, such as the Royal capital, and maybe one day, the Imperial capital.
"I'll see what I can do, sir Skygod. How can I find you?"
"I'll find you." Skymender said as he left.
The man waited a while after he left before heaving a sigh of relief. Meeting newcomers was always stressful.
Skymender waited a week before once again appearing in the man's house.
"Welcome again, sir Skygod. I never introduced myself before. You can just call me the informant."
Skymender nodded. "What do you have for me?"
"Three tasks. All three are from wealthy individuals and are targeting enemies or those who have offended them. I made sure that the prices were sufficient."
He handed three papers to Skymender. The money was high, as expected of the price of taking a life.
Skymender nodded. "All three can be completed."
"As a middle man, I can give you the money after the task is confirmed completed. Don't take it personally, it is just what I do."
Skymender nodded and left. The next day, an envelope appeared on the counter of Third Moon's and Western Guardian's houses.
They had been waiting for this day. As they read the envelope, they got an understanding of the situation.
For each task, they would be given 35% of the price paid, which could be increased with repeated good work. They would get one vial of poison for free, and more by giving up a percentage of their earnings, that percentage depending on the price itself.
The free poison would be the one most suited to the task.
They read information about their targets, provided by the customers in exchange for a slightly lower price and a higher success rate.
As the night came, the two set out. Skymender did so as well with the third task. He kept the most difficult and expensive one.
Although he personally made more money by doing the missions himself, he needed to create a system of assassins for the future.
His target was a higher up of some middle sized gang, a little bit smaller than the Dark Sky Gang, and not nearly as infamous.
It was a rather simple in and out job. He simply snuck into the man's room and slit his neck while sleeping. He didn't even need to use any poison.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
121 Power
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