> Narrator PoV <

In the dark street in the city of Runetap-

*Snap*

"GYAAAA!"

-a certain band of thieves were being taught-

*Snap*

"AAAARRGGHH!"

-the virtues of honest work-

*Crack*

"MY LEG! AAAAAAAAAA!"

-and the pitfalls of conceit.

*Snap*

"MY OTHER LEG! WHYYYYY?!"

* * *

The night guard arrived at the source of the screams. What was awaiting them was a somewhat familiar scene.

About 10 burly men in dark leather were on the ground. Most them were weeping, writhing or both. A few of the lucky ones had passed out.

"Liven up boys, we got a code G-4!"

One of the soldiers informed the rest.

"Oh come on! It's the third time this week!"

A G-4 was short for 'Victims of non-lethal vigilantism.'

However, in this case there was something out-of-the ordinary. All of the victims had four things in common.

And all four of those things were bent at sangles.

* * *

One man was waiting in his safehouse. He was leaning back in a creaky chair with his feet on a table. A lone candle illuminated the musty room.

Since his part was done all that was left for him was to wait.

His accomplices didn't know this safehouse. It was a safety measure - even if one of them got nabbed, this place would be safe. In truth, only two people knew this place existed - himself and his boss.

He was waiting for his boss to deliver a message from higher up. Usually it took a few days, so this part was a bit boring.

His mind drifted to the unconscious beauty in the next room.

He would love to taste her, but there were rules. If he dared to damage the merchandise, his head would roll.

The victim this time was a famous- or rather, infamous mage. Without her staff though, she was just another helpless girl.

As he mused his prisoner's helplessness, a shadow dropped down from above.

It completely crushed his kneecaps in an instant.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

* * *

Inside the Runetap City sewers, Gix was getting worried. It was past midnight now. His men had missed the appointed time.

However, what worried him wasn't the state of his men.

They were just tools - useful ones were used, others were discarded. He didn't care whether they were alive or dead.

What he was concerned with was the lack of results from those men. If all of them died, but they still secured profit, he would be happy.

His chamber door was opened with a slam.

"Gix, we got an intruder."

"Who?"

In Gix's head, there were only three possible answers.

First, his men leaked information and the guards finally came knocking.

Second, his rivals from the capital had sent assassins again.

Third, a vagrant stumbled into his domain by accident.

"We don't know!"

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"We found a bunch of our boys really beaten up. They looked to be alive, but all of them had a broken arm or leg."

So it was an assassin after all. It sounded like one of those honorable kills-only-the-target types. A bunch of fools in his opinion.

"He's picking us off one by one. Gather everyone in the main hall and prepare an ambush."

"Right Boss!"

The underling left to relay the orders while Gix armed himself.

A few minutes later all of them were gathered in the main hall. It was a huge underground cavern carved with magic. 200 of his best fighters were gathered here.

Gix spoke to his men.

"Listen up, we got an assassin, the chivalrous type! This one seems a bit skilled so don't drop your guard!"

Gix nodded at his right-hand man. Seeing the signal, the man reached for some levers on the wall.

Those levers would release a trap, filling the tunnels with smoke. This chamber was the only safe place.

The assassin could either retreat, fall into the ambush, or suffocate to death. Only one of those options would let him survive.

Gix found it odd that no assassin has ever picked the right one. But reality presented a new answer.

The assassin had ambushed them.