Chapter 6 The first mission [part 1]

*Ding!*

Information Acquired!

Guard detail of the Earl of Dismonia has been acquired

A more thorough plan can be devised with more information.

Intelligence +1

The rest of the ride were pretty much in silence, with Clarice playing with Adra and continually commenting on how cute he was. On their arrival, they parted ways.

"Lets meet again another time!" "Let me play with Adra some other day!" "Later" The three said in succession and headed off.

The first item on J's to-do list was to register at the adventurer's guild. There was a number of ways to gain quests in Atlantis, the most common way was registering at the adventurer's guild, they provide quests for a range of levels, but most importantly certain privileges could be gained from being an adventurer. For J, it was information. After registering he headed to the alchemist shop as he was instructed beforehand.

"Welcome." greeted the employee behind the counter as J entered with Adra by his side. He walked up to the counter.

"I'd like 4 yellow aria herbs" upon hearing J the employee's gaze traveled to meet his eyes.

"We don't have that" while never breaking eye contact.

"Then red will be fine" to which the the employee nodded and gestured J to enter the door behind the counter. Both of them knew, aria only came in green. But the conversation was scripted for it to identify associates of the guild towards one another in this particular city. J made his way behind the counter and entered.

A man dressed in simple clothing bowed towards J as he stood in front of him.

"Greetings, would you prefer red or black? Or perhaps others?" the man asked whilst continuing the pretext.

"Neither" J replied. This identified the ranking of each individual who was to enter the branch of the guild. Black was grandmaster, red was master, and recruits and below had no colours.

"Understood, please follow me." They headed further back across a couple of rooms and into a study. The man walked towards the left side wall and reached into the bookshelves, to which the bookshelf begin to slide to the side revealing a passage way. He gestured inside, and J ventured in as the man remained bowed towards J when the bookshelf slide back in to cover the passageway leaving J alone.

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Sitting in the adventurer's guild private room, 3 adventurers sat around a round table. Maps and blueprints were spanned across the table with markings all over them. One could tell that they had really prepared in making it.

"Well I guess its done. We've managed to plan a bit of it, and we'll see more from actually guarding the man tonight." The largest man out of the 3 said to his 2 comrades.

"Can't wait! Can't believe we got this special request. I wonder why he's being targeted? Maybe we'll have to fight like a group of assassins or something. This is so exciting!" The girl cheerfully beamed.

"Lets not get too excited, we've got to guard him for another..." he checks his in-game time. "11 days, its going to be long." he paused whilst looking at the parchments on the table. "Anything you want to add Andrew?"

"..."

"Andrew? You okay?" asked the man. Andrew was the team's brain, he couldn't afford to have him absent minded.

"... Ah yeah. Yeah I'm fine. Just thinking thats all." the man with the bow on his back replied nonchalantly.

"You've been sort of weird ever since we got here. What's going on in that head of yours?"

"Its just... that guy we met. J. It sounds so familiar. Like I've heard it before."

"Heard it? Yeah sure I've heard it before." the girl responded.

"Really? Where?" Andrew peeked up at the girls face.

"The alphabet." to which the two broke into laughter whilst Andrew waved their jokes aside.

"Take this seriously, I'm sure I've heard it before. Or seen it. Somewhere..." he pondered. He was certain. But he didn't know where.

"Maybe the adventurer's guild announcement board? Poster? Who cares. Lets focus on our mission, if we get this right, I think we're going to get some real decent rewards here." the man urged his friend to focus.

"Yes yes sorry." to which he returned his attention to the group. Board?... Poster?...Andrew's eyes widened as he realized where he had seen the familiar letter! A bounty poster!

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J looked around in the dark passageway, 'Man am I underground a lot these days...' he thought to himself. Though that being said, darkness was never an obstacle for an assassin. As he walked in the only direction available, he sensed a person coming down the opposite way. Although they too tried to mask their presence, their skills could not compare to that of J's. From their footsteps and technique, J concluded that it was most likely a recruit. J then leaned against the wall and waited for his guide to appear.

Strangely enough, it seemed that J's skills were more impressive then he thought. The guide, he assumed, just walked straight passed him and looked towards the entrance of the passageway, confused. He looked around, baffled as to where the person who he was supposed to guide had gone.

J stood behind the man, yet he still had not noticed. He coughed slightly and the man was so surprised he jumped and turned around with his weapons drawn. It took a few seconds to realize that J was not an enemy, to which he sheathed his weapons and bowed.

"Apologies for my rudeness. You must be Raizel. The master has been expecting you." to which he hurriedly walked past J, trying to contain his embarrassment.

As J followed, he remembered that Gus had said that around Atlantis, only 8 Grandmasters existed. 4 of which were at the headquarters, and the other 4 usually traveled around taking on requests and training disciples. There were branches in every city, town or village. The size depended on the city too. Each had their own unique pass codes, but each answered to the summons of the headquarters. Most branches were governed by a master class assassin, but of course, should a higher rank appear, it would no doubt change. Before long, J had arrived in the central chambers.

The chamber was very unlike the central chamber in the headquarters, where it was like a throne room. This chamber was more like an restaurant J thought. Several round tables were situated around the place, some tables were filled by people. No doubt they too were assassins. As J was guided inbetween the tables, some looked up at him then continued on their business whilst some just paid no heed to him at all. As he walked by, he could approximately judge their abilities through their posture and presence. Most were Junior assassins, there were a few senior but not many, and the rest were recruit or even below. Finally they arrived at the opposite side of the chamber, where an important looking man was seated on a arched table piled with paperwork.

J bowed towards the man as it was customarily to do so. The man stood and greeted J.

"You must be Raizel. I am Sithus, the master of this branch. We have been expecting you, first disciple of the Head." his voice carried out across the silent chamber. If it was possible for the room to be of anymore silent, it did. All attention was now drawn onto J.

"Lets talk in a more private area about your assignment." said the master having noticed the commotion. J followed him into his study. There he showed J a map of the city, the manor of the Earl was circled on the map. He was briefed about his task and the estimated number of guards surrounding the building.

"Additionally, word has gotten around that adventurers were hired to be guards. This will add to the difficulty." The master concluded. J nodded his head.

"Yes, I've come across the guards." to which the master widened his eyes.

"As expected of the first disciple." he replied as he lowered his head a little. J didn't know whether it was in honesty but he disregarded it. From the information given to him, there was approximately 23 guards situated across the manor, 13 around the house and 10 inside. Also the 3 adventurers J had met on his way to the city. However, J could not trust the information without double checking it himself. Gus had said so before he left, "Even though we are of the same profession, we are assassins afterall. Beware who you trust. Also, never go into a situation blindly believing information from another." J heeded Gus' teachings.

"Thank you kindly for your help. I'll take my leave." J said after gathering the map.

"You're welcome. We are always open our brothers." They bowed to each other, and J turned towards the door to leave. "Wait a second." the master called to J. J turned around and faced him.

"I had forgotten, but you should not diverge your name as easily. Your name may already be known by some, especially bounty hunters." Bounty hunters?... J thought. 'Oh... right... he did have a bounty on his head.' the master handed him a parchment.

"May Nemesis guide you and protect you. I pray for your success Raizel."

"Thank you." They bowed once again and J exited the room and made his way back to the surface.

After exiting the alchemy shop, J thought of heading to the Earl's manor and scouting the perimeter of the manor. But since it was mid afternoon, he felt like exploring the city more, better know the layout of the town better first. He visited various different shops, markets, churches and inns. He was better familiarizing himself with the city. He now stood and looked up at the sky.

'Its about time' J thought, the sun was setting. With that he turned and headed his way to the manor, but immediately as he turned he bumped into someone, staggered and dropped the parchment by his side. Normally this would've never happened, but J was too busy thinking that he didn't sense their presence. He cursed himself inwardly for his mistake.

"Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." J hurriedly replied. Before he could pick up the things he dropped, the other party involved had picked it up.

"No no it was our..." Their eyes met before he finished. 2 more companions walked up behind the man talking and the 3 all had a pleasant expression on their face as they realize who they were looking at. J too recognize their faces.

"Hey! J right?" Dan asked from behind Andrew. "Fancy meeting here eh?"

"Must be fate haha" chimed the girl. To which J replied with a half laugh whilst scratching his head.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Must be must be" What are the chances J thought to himself. Then saw the look on Andrew's face, although subtle, there was a hint of uneasiness. J took note of his expression and kept it in mind. His attention then skipped onto the parchment held in Andrew's hand, his wanted poster. It didn't include a picture, but from the time he got it, he remembered there was his name! J couldn't keep his shock expression as he looked at the parchment, this didn't escape Andrew as he looked intently at J. 'Shit!' J thought knowing that he noticed his expression.

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Andrew picked the parchment up from the pavement after having accidentally bumped into a stranger. A voice immediately came from the stranger apologizing.

"No no it was our..." Then their eyes met, and Andrew immediately thought 'What are the chances...'

His mind raced as he looked at J suspiciously, his companions greetings flew past his head without him taking a notice. He looked at the face of the man before him, indeed he wasn't weak looking, but he wasn't strong looking either. And if he wasn't lying, his level was mid 20s. Andrew was sure, anyone of his companions could easily beat J, no sweat. So how could he be a wanted man? Maybe I'm wrong Andrew thought.

Then he caught a glimpse of the expression before him, a look of surprise, shock and dumbfounded was mixed on his face. Andrew slowly moved his line of sight to the parchment. He slowly unrolled the parchment and as he did so, line of words could be read.

WANTED POSTER

'No way...' Andrew thought as he read the first line available. 'Is he really...?'

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J stood rock still as he saw Andrew slowly unroll the parchment. His body, though simple standing, was already in battle mode, he was both ready to disappear from their sight in a matter of seconds and initiate their attack. Although he wasn't sure what would happen as he hadn't fought adventurers before, he was certain he could take out the archer and cleric as they both should have low life. But the paladin was the problem, his role was a tank, without any information as to how adventurers are, J couldn't formulate what would happen.

"Hey! Don't read other people's stuff!" the girl snatched the half opened parchment away from her companion's hands and handed it back to J.

"Wai...Wait!" Andrew desperately trying to snatch it back but was one step slower than J.

"Whats with you? Respect his privacy!" the girl light slapped him on the shoulder. He ignored it and stared menacingly at J, he was 90% sure now.

He pointed his left hand at the parchment held by J,

"Let me see that" he demanded.

His right hand slowly moved down to the dagger by his side. This action didn't escape his companions, they too were in full alert. Although not understanding the situation, they would still be on their companions side.

J watched the reaction from the 3 and looked down at the half unrolled parchment, something caught his eye as he glanced at it. His iris expanded, his brain tried to unscramble what he just saw. 'So thats how it is...' he thought after figuring it out. 'I could use this...' he smiled to himself unknowingly leaking out the smile to the 3 before him.

"What's going on?" Dan asked as he was taking a battle position. "What's so important about that parchment?" he gestured with his head toward J.

"This man, is an assassin." Andrew replied with a stern face. The two beside him turned pale. They slowly drew their weapons.

"Wow wow, what evidence do you have for that claim?" J said in an innocent fashion.

"That parchment. In your hand." he indicated with his head. "Hand it over."

"Let me get this straight... you want me to hand over my parchment so you could verify that I am an assassin? And then what?"

"Then either you come with us willingly as we turn you over, or we kill you." He replied with no hesitation. J smiled on the inside, 'perfect' he thought.

"What?! You're going to kill me?!" J deliberately yelled out his response in a dramatic fashion allowing others around them to hear. The commotion had already intrigued some curiosity from bystanders, but now it had their attention. The 3 surrounding the young man shifted uncomfortably, from everyone else's view, it was the 3 of them picking on 1. Andrew realized this and cursed himself.

J smiled a smile so sinister as the 3 in front of him looked around to the crowd gathered, luckily, none caught his brief expression. Like how the unexplained changes he had experienced to his body in real life, he too had the mind of a lawyer in the making. Arguments were something he was especially good at. No reason why he couldn't use it here he thought.

"J... could we please see it? If you're innocent, everything will be fine." the girl pleaded.

"This" he indicated the parchment, "is a valuable piece of information that I got. Just because he said its to verify whether or not I'm an 'Assassin'" J spoke the words in a very overly done way making the prospect seem ridiculous. "maybe he's just trying to steal my information."

Though hearing the word assassin would normally cause much unrest from the citizens, the fashion in which J had put it in, seemed too ludicrous an idea and so the crowd merely brushed aside the accusation and agreed with the man. The 3 had no way out than to back off. J of course wouldn't let that happen, he would use this to his advantage.

"But of course... I too don't want my name tarnished as an 'Assassin' " J directed his speech half to the group in front of him, half to the crowd standing by. "I'm very willing to sell this information to you." This action could clear any suspicion around him and cut any rumour that may fall in place. Having no way out, the 3 could only nod in assent.

"Then lets move to a more secured location shall we?" J asked and walked off whilst the 3 reluctantly followed. The place J chose was a private room in the adventurer's guild. In a private room, no combat was allowed and no eavesdropping could be done, this was the safest place to go through with a trade. Or so they thought, J knew otherwise.

They all sat down, Dan and Clarice were obviously worried about what would happen, whilst Andrew's expression was clear. He was damn right angry. J couldn't help but laugh aloud and mock him.

"You're such a silly goose." He said jokingly, Andrew turned bright red from anger and stormed across the table only to be stopped by Dan.

"Please don't provoke him." Dan asked in earnest to J.

"My bad, I can't help it, I was accused of being something really bad after all." The 3 kept silent since they did not know whether they were in the wrong or not. J continued in a more serious manner, the 3 noticed the change in tone.

"All matters aside, I hold no grudges. Now then, this piece of information, I am willing to diverge to you, for a fee of 150g each." J placed the parchment in front of him on the table.

"60g each?! That's asking for alot!" the girl complained. Not that they didn't have the money, anyone could easily acquire 150g if they naturally leveled up to around 70 whilst selling all their loot. But 150g each was 450g in total. And that much for information meant that the information had to be pretty good.

"Well he's the one whos so desperate" J made a wave of motion at Andrew who had calmed down a little, but was still evidently annoyed.

"...I'll pay it all." Andrew whispered just loud enough for all to hear and tapped at his user interface then placed a bag of coins on the table. He was desperate to know. J looked at the money, the in-game feature identified it to be 450g. He took it and threw Andrew the parchment. Andrew hurried untied the ribbon J put on and opened it. The 3 looked intently hoping to satisfy their curiosity.

Why was J so calm? That was because from the half opened scroll that he had been handed, he caught a glance of the wanted poster. Since the first window that had popped up immediately about his bounty, he had never had another look at the poster. Since he left the guild to complete the mission, there was one aspect that was fundamentally different about J. This aspect was also carried out by the game it seemed. Yes, the aspect that changed was...

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Andrew opened the parchment, his companions leaned in beside him, their gaze could burn a hole in the parchment. Andrew's jaws job as his mind couldn't comprehend what he was seeing.

WANTED POSTER

Assassin Raizel

A notorious and deadly Assassin, the first disciple of the Leader of the Assassin's Guild

Dead or Alive

1000G

Andrew couldn't believe what he saw. He was wrong.

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The 3 stood and bowed towards J in apology.

"Sorry for doubting you and accusing you." they each said in sequence.

"Well its fine. You now know the truth." J nonchalantly brushed the topic aside. The 3 took their seats looking ashamed, especially Andrew, his face was priceless to J.

"I suppose we're square considering you charged so much for just a bounty poster." the girl chimed in.

"Well he was the one who insisted on mine" J shrugged at the comment. "But I didn't sell you overpriced information if thats what you're asking."

"What do you mean?" Andrew who had been silent until now was hoping to know that the 450g he spent wasn't misplaced.

"Hm... How about this? If I tell you the importance of the poster, you let me accompany you for 3 nights in protecting the Earl" J suggested.

The 3 looked at each other, they didn't mind, but they didn't particularly want to share the loot obtained from the mission. Knowing that, J added.

"I don't need the loot or anything, I just want the experience granted each night. And the chance to get to see the Earl."

"See the Earl?" Dan inquired.

"Well, more like see how the noble lives." The three discussed amongst themselves and finally reached a conclusion.

"You're in, 3 nights, no more no less." Dan said finally.

"Its a pleasure working with you!" Clarice beamed at J and shook his hands. The other 2 did the same.

"Now tell us, what's with this poster?" The 3 sat looking at J with the eyes like that of children about to hear a story.

"Its very simple, this man" he pointed at the poster "Raizel, hes the one assigned to assassinate your Earl"