Grukna puffs her chest out proudly and laughs at the words.
“A bitch, huh? That what you think I am? Big words for a single half-elf facing down 4 crossbows and an axe.”
Seemingly ignoring her, Rogue turns to Huntress who is poking her head out from the nearby tree.
“Stay right there and don’t come out for anything. If they try to come after you once they realize they’re losing, just run away for a minute.”
Rogue turns back to Grukna and lets out a low but deep exhale.
“Surrender, or I will personally put all of you in the dirt. If you have anything to live for besides yourself, leave. Now.”
Grukna spits on the ground in front of her. Staring down at Rogue arrogantly.
“We’re all level 7! We don’t have to listen to you!”
She turns her back on Rogue and calls out to her subordinates.
“Fire at will whenever ya got a clean shot! I’ll keep him far away from ya!”
The bandits all nod in agreement and lock their aim directly at him. Rogue shakes his head.
“Vanish.”
> Vanish
>
> [9th level Assassin Ability]
>
> Using mana from the body, you instantaneously vanish and become invisible to the naked eye. Becoming invisible to observers. For 6 seconds, you can move at full speed and leave no trace of your movement. After these 6 seconds you become regularly Stealthed as if you had performed the Stealth ability. If you perform an arte or any ability that would break Stealth, you also lose the benefit of Vanish.
>
> Cooldown: 2 minutes
>
> Stealth
>
> [Signature Rogue Ability]
>
> Using ambient mana, you gradually vanish and become invisible to the naked eye. Becoming invisible to observers. You gain various bonuses for being in Stealth. While Stealthed, you move 75% slower. You cannot perform Stealth while you are seen.
>
> Improved Stealth
>
> [7th Level Rogue Skill]
>
> The movement speed reduction of Stealth is reduced to 50% and your first arte performed while in Stealth has it’s damage increased by 100%. In addition, you leave no trace of your movement while in Stealth and you can trigger Stealth while friendly creatures can see you.
Rogue’s body becomes completely invisible to an outside viewer, but to himself it appears as if his body has become half-transparent. Able to see through his body slightly as if he were a ghost. The bandits all simultaneously gain a startled expression and start to look around. He lurches forward slightly and immediately starts a hard dash forward. His steps are completely silent, and there isn’t even dust or dirt being kicked up from each stomp of his feet. As if he isn’t even actually touching the ground.
“Sprint.”
> Sprint
>
> [4th Level Rogue Ability]
>
> Using mana, you greatly increase your running speed for a short time. For 18 seconds, your movement speed is doubled.
>
> Cooldown: 2 minutes
>
> Improved Sprint
>
> [6th Level Rogue Skill]
>
> The movement speed bonus from Sprint is now triple instead of double, and the cooldown is reduced by 1 minute (2 minutes to 1 minute).
Rogue dashes forward at inhuman speed. He gains his full speed quickly and after 3 seconds he is running at approximately 30 meters per second (about 98.4 feet per second). He glances over the bandits from left to right. They’re all panicked and confused. Looking around rapidly to try and spot him, to no avail. Grukna calls out.
“Keep your guards up! He’s just a rogue! We must have broken eye contact for a moment and he used the opportunity to Stealth! It’s not a big deal! Just look for him when he goes to attack!”
The half-elf woman on the left, with long brown hair and patchy armor shakes her head. Pointing her crossbow around in many different directions. She calls out back to Grukna.
“I was lookin’ at him the whole time! I swear! I think he’s an assassin!”
Grukna dismisses the idea and is getting audibly upset now.
“What would an assassin be doin’ way out here in dwarven boonies? Just find him! We’ll talk about it later!”
Rogue dashes towards the left side and within moments, gets behind the half-elf.
“I wish this could have been different. Your leader doomed you all.”
Rogue lines up his falchion and the blade glows a dim, dark red color.
“Assassinate.”
> Assassinate
>
> [Signature Assassin Arte]
>
> Uses mana to coat a martial weapon with additional power and force. The mana guides the weapon forward to the target without fail. This arte makes the weapon deal 200% damage and cannot be dodged. It must be blocked or parried. Can only be performed while in Stealth.
>
> Cooldown: 1 minute
The glowing blade surges forward and penetrates straight through the half-elf woman’s torso from behind. Revealing Rogue to all of the bandits as he cuts off the woman just as she was about to speak up. Her last words cut off by an empty gasp for air. Sputtering out blood, which covers her chest and stains her clothes.
The blade now pushed straight through the body, Rogue strongly grasps the handle with his right hand and uses it to puppeteer and move the body around at his own whim. The strength in the half-elf rapidly fades as her health drops to 0 borderline instantaneously. Her grip on her crossbow loosening to the point where she begins to drop it.
Rogue grabs the crossbow just as it’s about to fall with his free hand and points it at the elf just about 8 feet away (2.4 meters). Just in time for her to call out what had happened. The blonde elf still panicked and startled.
“He’s right there! He just stabbed straight through Bria-”
Thock.
Rogue launches the crossbow bolt and hits the elf right in the center of her forehead going at an upward angle. The bolt penetrates the skin and bone, entering through the forehead and exits about 2 inches (5 cm.) out from the near-center portion of the skull. Having gone through her brain, her body spasms wildly as she drops to the ground with seizure-like motions. The motions come to a stop within seconds as the elven woman lays lifeless.
Completely in shock, the dwarven woman yells out in anger and fury as she aims her crossbow and fires it straight at Rogue’s own head. Rogue gauges the trajectory of the shot and lunges forward into a dash once again. The half-elf’s body falling forward. He ducks to just narrowly avoid the crossbow bolt as the half-elf hits the ground a mere moment later. Rogue plants his boot onto the base of her spine and stomps down while darting forward. The force of his dart makes the blade slide out of the half-elf’s torso completely. Covered in blood.
“They’re all panicked and confused… except these two.”
Rogue looks over to Grukna, who is currently charging forward. But she couldn’t hope to compare to how quickly Rogue covered the distance, she’s still dozens of yards away. He turns his attention back to the remaining bandit women. A dwarf, a kobold, a canine demi-human, and a halfling.
Rogue steps in and makes a clean and accurate downward diagonal strike. Aiming straight for the gap between the dwarf’s armor, where the chest and shoulder parts meet. He activates another arte, his weapon gaining a dim red glow again.
“Mutilate.”
> Mutilate
>
> [6th level Assassin Arte]
>
> You load your weapon with mana and you perform a powerful, mutilating blow to a target. Dealing an additional 100% damage.
>
> Cooldown: 12 seconds
Rogue catches the gap in the dwarf’s armor and his blade cuts horrifyingly deep. Cutting straight through flesh and bone before finally getting stopped by bone halfway through the dwarf’s torso. He grips the handle of his weapon and attempts to yank it free. No good, it’s fairly stuck inside the dwarven woman, who is now in the middle of collapsing.
Rogue releases his sword and starts to dart forward once more. Pulling out both of his daggers. His piercing dagger in his right hand, and the slashing dagger with the notched spine in his left. The other bandits are frozen in fear, except the kobold and halfling who have now started to run. Having dropped their crossbows where they were standing and making a run for it as fast as they possibly can.
“Good. No more killing now. Except the orc.”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Rogue looks at the gray-furred wolf-like demi-human who is finally getting her wits back. But it’s too late. He gets to her side and stabs his dagger through the wrist of the hand that is holding the crossbow itself and aiming it around. Making her cry out in pain as the dagger penetrates straight through the wrist and the blade exits the opposite side. Forcing her to drop the crossbow completely.
Rogue looks over and Grukna’s body surges with green energy and suddenly, she charges forward at extreme speed using a Charging arte. Her weapon is drawn. Rogue shoves the wolf girl away and readies himself. Grukna’s charge leaves her at point-blank range with Rogue and her axe swings down. Rogue watches the arc of the weapon and swings the notched side of his dagger towards it.
Cling!
The blade of the axe meets the spine of the dagger, and with a slight twist of the handle, it is now locked inside. The notches on each side of the blade hold it neatly in place with little wiggle-room. Rogue pivots on his right foot and darts around Grukna in a semicircle. Getting directly behind her and forcing her arm into an awkward position. Her face twisted with anger as she starts to turn around herself, right after Rogue starts launching a finishing blow.
“Backstab.”
> Backstab
>
> [Base Rogue Arte]
>
> You load your weapon with mana, and stab with extreme force into the target. Dealing 100% increased damage. Must be behind the target to perform Backstab. Must also be using a dagger.
Rogue uses his arcane eyes to look through Grukna’s flesh and spots her heart’s exact location. He lines up the blow and slams his dagger forward. Pushing straight through her armor and skin as if it were made of paper. The blade goes straight through the heart with flawless accuracy.
Grukna gasps out for air as she’s stabbed in the back and releases the grip on the handle of her axe. Causing it to drop to the ground below. The half-orc sputters out as she tries to speak, but cannot find the air in her lungs to make the words. Dying after only a few more moments. Rogue’s legs lose their added speed from the Sprint ability, and he feels the calm of a finished battle wash over him.
He shoves Grukna forward and pulls his blade away. Looking at his dagger covered in blood and his sword still buried in the dwarf. He plants his boot onto the dwarf who has now fully collapsed and retrieves his blade with more deliberate and continuous effort. A wet slicing noise singing out into the air as it’s pulled away from the flesh and blood. He uses the opposite side of the dwarf’s body to wipe off the blood from the blade of his falchion and dagger.
It’s a sloppy and quick clean-up, and then he sheathed his weapons. Turning to the wolf girl who is in agonizing pain. Collapsed onto her knees as her wrist is pouring blood. On the verge of going into shock from both pain and blood loss. While she’s stunned like this, Rogue uses his slashing dagger to cut a large portion of cloth from the dwarf’s shirt. Wrapping it around the gaping wound several times and tightening it.
“What are you doing?! Kill me you dirty half-elf man! I don’t want to be spared by the likes of you! Filthy and disgusting!”
Rogue rolls his eyes and reaches into his bag. Pulling out a pair of steel shackles, made for human-sized creatures. He gets behind the wolf girl and kicks her face-first into the dirt. Cuffing her hands behind her back with the shackles. He then pulls out a matching steel cable and attaches it to the chain holding the shackles together behind the girl’s back.
“Let me go! I said let me fucking go! You let the others run away!”
Rogue looks around the area and sees nobody besides Huntress, who is poking her head out to watch how the scene has unfolded. He grabs the wolf by the back of the neck and picks her up off the ground and gets her to her feet in a harsh manner. Grabbing onto the cable and clipping the other end onto his belt.
“If you try to run, I’ll break both your legs and drag you like a slaughtered pig to Stormshire. You and I both know your friends aren’t coming back. Gold pieces were all that kept you together. I let them run because they were smart enough to see they were completely outmatched.”
The wolf girl bites on her lower lip in anger and starts crying as Rogue calls out to Huntress.
“It’s all clear now! We can keep moving! I got that all wrapped up pretty quick so we barely lost any time!”
Huntress meekly nods and runs forward. Closing the distance fairly quickly and then looking around at the carnage. Rogue looks around and finds a bag of silver and gold pieces. A brown sack that’s been tied at the top and is made out of thick cloth. It’s rather heavy and full-looking. Likely at least a couple dozen gold pieces inside or so. Not to mention all the silver. Pocketing it into his bag for the time being.
Rogue motions for Huntress to follow and starts walking away. The cable gets increasingly taut as the wolf girl is staring at the ground. Not realizing this is happening. Once it’s fully taut, she starts getting dragged along. Huntress looks at this with shock, and then catches up to Rogue. Walking by his side.
“That was!... That was… um… Not what I was expecting. Are you okay?”
Rogue nods with a wider smile.
“Of course I’m okay! They were only level 7. I think one of them was actually level 6, too. Maybe two. The halfling and kobold were pretty quick to run. Pretty cowardly. I bet you could’ve taken them. But that’s what I’m here for.”
Huntress nods and looks back at the angry wolf girl who is now being dragged before turning back to Rogue.
“Wh.. what is she for? Why did you shackle her up?”
Rogue looks over to Huntress confused before speaking up.
“To turn her in! I’m gonna hand her over to the Royal Guard along with this sack of cash and they’ll toss a handful of gold my way for saving them the trouble.”
Huntress looks back with a slight worry in her face.
“But it’s so far… what if she tries to attack us?”
Rogue speaks up rather confidently this time.
“She can’t! Even if she wanted to. That bitch is stuck real good.”
Huntress looks confused so Rogue explains.
“You can’t see it, but I bet right now she can feel it for sure. Those are mana flow disrupting cuffs that I had a friend of mine make for me. Just like the royal guard uses. They’re enchanted to do what you think. You can’t control mana while those are touching your skin. It messes you up really hard and ruins whatever you try to do. Abilities, spells, artes, it doesn’t matter. It even hurts a little to try. She’d give herself a wicked migraine before she completes even a basic move.”
Huntress nods in understanding as she looks back. The wolf girl stares at her in bitter anger. She is following along at a medium pace, so that she does not get yanked by the cable Rogue is now wearing. The two walk in silence and Huntress stares at Rogue once more. Thinking to herself:
“Quite a bit of his lust intent is back all of a sudden. Did the fight set him off in some way?”
Huntress can’t bring herself to ask about it, and the two progress down the road rather uneventfully. Spotting things such as random woodland critters along the way, but overall nothing special or out of the ordinary. A surprisingly quiet and scenic day with good weather.
After a day of walking, Rogue slips into the brush and trees and finds a nice cluster of trees.
“Awesome. This is a great spot. Couldn’t be better if I tried.”
He turns to the wolf girl and pulls out a tube-like object that has a strap with a buckle to secure it to something. He pops open the tube and pulls out a plant that looks like wheat, but colored a rich purple color. He has several pieces that he proceeds to pack into the tube before closing it. The wooden tube has slits all over it, slightly exposing it’s contents. Huntress looks at it confused.
“What’s that?”
Rogue looks back at her.
“Ah, yeah. This doesn’t really come from this side of the world so you probably wouldn’t know. It’s called Tranquil Wisp in common tongue. If you let it slow burn, the smoke keeps you asleep until it goes out. And I put enough in here to last 10 hours. I typically only sleep 7 or so. On the job I only sleep about 6 though.”
Rogue walks up to the wolf girl who protests it, as Rogue openly spoke about it right in front of her.
“Get that away from me! I’m gonna claw your throat out while you sleep, half-elf!”
Rogue scoffs as he gets behind the wolf girl. Forcefully gagging her, and warning her that “if she resists it won’t matter”.
Pulling out a small flint and steel, he pulls out a single, much tinier piece of Tranquil Wisp and ignites it. Loading it into the tube as the wolf girl struggles through her newly added gag. It ignites the surrounding pieces quickly and Rogue blows it out, leaving it to let off smoke. The wolf girl’s breathing is heavy as she’s angered, but it starts to slow down. Her eyes start to get heavy.
Rogue turns to Huntress as he unclips the cable from his belt and loops it around the thickest of the three trees in the cluster. Clipping it onto itself and leaving the wolf leashed to the tree helplessly. The smoking gag in her mouth made her movements slower and slower as well.
Rogue laughs a bit before speaking up.
“That’s better. She’ll be sleeping and totally knocked out in 2 minutes flat at this rate.”
Rogue pulls out a thin, folded up greenish brown tarp from his bag. Stretching it out to each tree and securing it with some wire. The remaining tarp drapes down as the stretched out portion is taut, slanted to one side slightly. He then pulls out another, smaller tarp that is black in color and quickly spreads it out over where the tarp is covering. Using some metal hooks to put everything together into a makeshift tent.
By this point, the wolf girl is asleep. Sitting on the ground and breathing calmly. The smoking Tranquil Wisp burns extra slow, just as it should be. The wooden tube is made for his purpose and is insulated, so the one it’s attached to will not be burned. The tube only becomes somewhat warm to the touch.
Rogue climbs inside and drags the wolf girl inside. Laying her on her side up against the wall of the tent. Guiding the loose cable through a slit to be less obstructive. Then he motions for Huntress to get inside, who has been staring at the process the whole time. Tail wagging slowly. While staring at Rogue, she notices the pink aura surrounding his body growing slightly, but it eventually stays the same. At a rather medium level of lust.
She climbs into the tent with a smile and quietly speaks up.
“So are we gonna… do… y’know… again?”
Rogue looks over to her with his crimson eyes and smiles.
“Normally I’d say ‘Yes’ in a heartbeat… but I’m on a job right now. Business before pleasure, y’know? Ask me again once we’re in Stormshire and we’ll see about it.”
Rogue pulls his weapons off of his body and lays down quietly.
“I’ll sort you out in the morning and hopefully we have another quiet day of walking.”
Huntress blushes as her sexual desire is put down. Her own build-up of lust is only starting to get to her. Reasonably speaking, she can easily make it until morning without any issues. She nods in understanding and sets her own weapons aside. Laying down while facing away from Rogue.
“Make sure you get good sleep. We’ll eat in the morning, feed the wolf a handful of bites to keep her going, and then get walking.”
Huntress nods and turns around to face him.
“Um… what was all that? How could you fight all those bandits by yourself? Is the difference between you being level 9 and them being level 7 really that great?”
Rogue looks over and thinks for a moment.
“It’s a combination of things, but yes. Level is also a big part of it. Each time you level up, as I’m sure you know, it’s a pretty big deal. Your body’s control over mana goes way up, and you get overall stronger. You can do more advanced artes and abilities, as well. Or spells if you’re some kind of caster. Add that in with the fact that I was so heavily underestimated, and that’s the result. If I were level 7, or even level 8, things would have been much harder.”
Huntress nods and thinks about how she’s level 5. The same level gap as those bandits were. She would have been completely helpless to the half-orc bandit leader. No wonder Rogue told her to just hide… and that he scolded her for coming all the way out here while she was just level 5. She gets a little upset at herself for her naivety. She’s like a child out here.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re just not from around here is all.”
Huntress blinks and looks back at Rogue.
“Tell you what, once we’re back in Stormshire, I’ll teach you some stuff. We’ll get you to level 6 in no time. But anyway…”
He stretches out a bit.
“I’m done for the day. Goodnight Huntress. Try to sleep until morning. The smoke of the Tranquil Wisp will keep the bugs away.”
Rogue closes his eyes and pats Huntress on the head gently. It’s surprisingly calming to her, and she closes her eyes as well. The two drift off to sleep for the night.