Tepo stared coldly at the guard. Inwardly he was somewhat torn. But even if he killed the guard now, there was no guarantee that his actions wouldn’t be detected.

As the warrior’s thoughts raced, an idea came to his mind. He took out a pill from his storage bag. It was something Anvil had given him before. Originally it was meant to tranquilize beasts so one could copy their spells.

Of course, this pill wasn’t particularly strong, but its effectiveness against commoners should be outstanding.

Tepo took a quiet step forward. Suddenly his hand shot out. He covered the man’s mouth, shoving the pill in directly.

The guard’s eyes shot open. They struggled weakly as they involuntarily swallowed the pill. A few moments later the guard abruptly fell limp.

Hmm. Hopefully this pill isn’t deadly for normal people, or all my efforts would’ve been in wain.

Carefully placing the guard on their chair, Tepo nodded in satisfaction before sneaking away.

Tepo glanced left and right as he followed the hallway. Loose metal plates made his silent advancement difficult, forcing the warrior to always pay attention.

As a few voices of guards reached his ears, Tepo found a stairway leading upwards. Suddenly he stopped in his place. Among the dark metal plates making up the wall, a single bar strangely stood out.

Tepo narrowed his eyes, scanning it carefully.

What is this? Seems to be some kind of sensor? Are criminals so sophisticated nowadays?

Fortunately, Tepo was used to keeping his vigilance high or he would have triggered an alarm. He pondered for a second before returning to the sleeping guard, rummaging through their pockets.

A strange token caught the warrior’s attention. Tepo was confident that this was what he was searching for.

Putting the token in his pocket, Tepo walked back and stepped on the stairs. After a moment he let out a sigh of relieve and advanced to the second floor.

Multiple paths laid before Tepo, but one was obviously correct. Not far from him was a red door. Two guards stood before it while damp voices could be heard behind it.

Tepo furrowed his brows as he activated his [Scan]. Luckily this special ability was intangible. Only with certain spells or stronger cores could it be detected. Naturally the simple gangster had none of those.

The guards are both three-circled aspirant. But with only one spell, they are no threat.

The strength of those vice-leaders is also publicly known to be at the same level. Most likely with more spells. Only ‘The Vicious’ keeps his power hidden. I expect him to be at the six-circled rank.

Four voices can be heard, which should be them. With the element of surprise on my side I’m confident to kill them all swiftly. But I should try to avoid the guards.

With a plan in mind, Tepo entered an open room close to the red door. It was a dirty kitchen, with more bottles than food. Another opened door led outsides, towards a small balcony.

The same two guards who had been reprimanded earlier still sat there.

Tepo sneaked forward, his footsteps carefully avoiding the rubbish on the floor. He peeked outside.

The two guards leaned against a railing. The were conversing in boredom, hoping that the bosses were done soon so they could get some sleep.

Behind them, Tepo stood invisibly, contemplating his options. Suddenly one of the guards moved. Tepo hastily scurried aside as the man entered the room, searching for something to drink.

Stolen novel; please report.

The young warrior’s thoughts raced. He quickly had to make a decision. Ultimately, he sighed inwardly as his arms shot forward.

The guard never expected to be attacked. A strong hand immediately gripped his mouth tightly. A steel-like arm strangled his throat.

With eyes almost popping out the man tried to struggle but it was futile. Tepo held him closely, deliberately keeping him in a mostly clean spot, so he wouldn’t make too much noise.

After a few seconds the guard’s body grew weaker. His face took on a blueish tinge as his head slumped to the side.

Tepo remained calm. He carefully put the guard down, leaning him against the wall.

I guess it’s up to your luck now…

As Tepo lamented inwardly, an uncertain voice came for outside:

“Rum? What was that noise? Rum, say something…”

Knowing that the situation could be dangerous, Tepo reacted immediately. Before the guard could alarm others, he darted outside, strangling them abruptly.

Naturally the commoner had no chance against the invisible Tepo. They obediently went to sleep, their future unknown.

Now Tepo had to act quickly. Who knew if someone might come into the kitchen soon. The warrior’s eyes found a dirty window he had spotted before.

Four figures could vaguely be discerned in the dimly light room. They sat around a table, discussing something lazily.

Although Tepo would’ve liked listening in, he saw no viable option. It was safer to eliminate them directly as long as they were gathered together.

Tepo took a deep breath as he took out his weapons and stepped on the railing. His eyes narrowed dangerously, focusing on the broad window.

Ok. Let’s go!

Suddenly Tepo’s muscles tensed. Putting power in his legs, he pushed off the railing. The wood cracked beneath his feet. A few guards looked at the balcony in confusion.

Bang!

A moment later the window shattered. Glass shot in all directions. Tepo wasn’t affected at all with his newly gained passive defense.

One of the massive advantages of passive skills was that they could be used together with active skills.

Tepo used this advantage as he bashed through the window. Inside the room, four pairs of eyes stared at the window in surprise.

Suddenly loud banging noises sounded out. Still in flight Tepo quickly fired five bullets at two of the vice leaders.

Blood sprayed through the air.

“AHH!”

Painful shouts rang through the dark night, alarming the entire hideout. On of the vice leaders died on the spot, a bullet penetrating their heart.

Tepo had no time to care for the result of his shots. He stored his pistol immediately. His mind was highly active, worthy of a six-circled aspirant. ´

Only a moment later the warrior dampened his jump with a flying roll. In one fluid motion Tepo pushed his body upwards. His eyes were focused on the red-haired vice-leader before him.

In an upwards movement, Tepo immediately slashed out with his knife. [Rapid Pierce] activated, cancelling his stealth. A knife shot through the air, threatening to take the vice-leaders life.

But unexpectedly the man had great instincts. Feeling the danger behind his back the vice-leader didn’t foolishly turn around and take a look. He jumped up from his chair and threw his body forward, hoping to save his life.

But Tepo was after all an entire rank above him. His speed was considerable, even aided by [Rapid Pierce]. Although his knife missed the vice-leader neck like originally planned, a long cut still ran down the man’s back.

A miserable scream shook the room. Finally, ‘The Vicious’ reacted. The gang leader’s eyes turned red, his toned face showing his rage. His lean body jumped up as he shouted hysterically:

“Stop right there!”

Of course, the gang leader didn’t just speak hollow words. Abruptly a dark saber appeared in his hand as he slashed out. A strangely green flame shot from the saber, threatening to devour Tepo.

But the young man wasn’t slow to react. With a quick [Chaotic Evasion] he suddenly dodged the fire and appeared before the vice-leader.

His knife slashed out. A terrified scream left the vice-leader’s wide opened mouth. He tried to muster some defense but couldn’t contend with Tepo. His scream turned into a gurgling as the knife slit his throat.

Suddenly the red door was pushed open. The two guards finally reacted to the chaotic noises. As soon as they dashed into the room, a green flame crashed into the wall next to them.

A few sparks scattered through the air. One of the guards suddenly cried in pain, as his arm began to burn.

The Vicious didn’t care.

“You b*stard! Who sent you?! Sneak attacking coward!”

Of course he received no answer. Tepo went to great lengths to hide his identity, why would he reveal it now?

The warrior scanned the room for a moment. One vice-leader and one leader were left. Together with the two newly appearing guards this wouldn’t be an easy fight. Fortunately, the vice-leader was already injured, with one arm rendered unusable by his bullets.

A faint, thrilling feeling of excitement came up within Tepo’s body, but he hid it behind a calm and ruthless expression. Ignoring the sword a guard was swinging at him, Tepo jumped forward.

The guard’s eyes opened wide in excitement. He put even more power in his sword. With a vicious glint it cut at Tepo’s leg.

But the expected effect wasn’t achieved. Tepo’s passive defense couldn’t be overcome so easily. The warrior only felt a small spike in his force consumption as he activated his new [Heated Defense] spell, counterattacked suddenly.

“Ahh!”

The guard could only exclaim in shock as a small jet of flames shot towards them, engulfing them in fire.