My heart thumped violently in my chest.

If the enemy party expected retaliation, they didn’t show it in their gestures.

They talked in hushed voices around their campfire but ate and polished their gear with languid ease. The fact that they possessed two Rangers did wonders for their confidence, and true enough—just like Nicola had said—one Ranger sat high up on a tree to serve as a lookout.

I headed in that direction.

The enemy party made small talk, mostly about us, but I couldn’t afford to be distracted. Every muscle in my body tensed with the effort to avoid discovery, even though I knew that the Fear affinity made me a more efficient Assassin than most.

The problem came in the fact that I somehow needed to climb a tree and kill a man before he noticed me or, worse, alerted his teammates. [Stealth] helped alleviate that to some degree, but I needed more options.

I pulled the Chains of the Combat Ape out of my inventory. It glowed pale in the light of the moons. [Dark Stalker] bled the world of most of its color, but I knew from practice that it also hid the gleam from the chains.

The chains were the only rewards I’d kept from the fight with the Primal Dread Monkey. I’d experimented with them in my free time and uncovered a useful application . . .

The power of fusion.

Not that kind of fusion.

Taking The Blackreach Dagger, I attached its weathered hilt to one end of the chain. It snapped into place.

You have fused The Blackreach Dagger [Greater] to the Chains of the Combat Ape [Greater]!

Since this combination involves a dagger or knife, You have created the weapon: Chain Nail [Greater]!

You have unlocked a weapon perk: Meld.

Chain Nail can now merge with any surface!

I pressed the Chain Nail into the tree trunk. It merged silently with the bark. I clung to the tree and mentally compelled the blade to loosen. It came free with a pop.

I stabbed the Chain Nail into an even higher spot and began a gradual ascent up the tree. [Stealth] muffled the noise, but I broke into shivers and cold sweat all the same.

In no time at all, I reached the treetop, just one branch below the oblivious Ranger. He looked burlier than I'd expected: a stoic man clad in dark leather with a hood over his face. A large bow rested on the tree trunk beside him. Ornate arrows peeked out of a quiver on his belt.

The burly man held a dagger in his hand—a possible precaution, to buy time to fend off sudden attacks before reaching for his bow. If given a chance, he could probably best me in hand-to-hand combat.

I intended to give no such chance.

I wrapped my arm around his throat and plunged the chain nail into his sleeve. It pinned his weapon arm to the bark, melding cloth and wood. The attack brought an end to the [Dark Stalker] ability, but the man countered before I even reappeared.

He twisted with amazing agility and stabbed me with his immobilized hand. I captured his arm in the crook of my elbow in return, albeit at the cost of a small cry of pain.

The Ranger bucked violently. His large head slammed into the bridge of my nose, causing the lights in the universe to go dark for one frantic second.

I fought through the pain and used the extra momentum to wrap the chains around his throat.

The man gurgled.

I’d learned from hours of fights with Paz that the instant the Ranger ran out of breath, his HP would start slipping into the red. He knew that too because he tried to work his fingers into the chokehold . . . leaving his weapon arm unattended.

For a half second, we nearly toppled out of the tree in our struggle. But, I won the knife and forced it into his eye.

Again.

And, again.

And, again.

I didn’t stop until the man's struggles ended and warm blood flowed down my hand. My heart hammered away at my ribs.

You have gained XP from the killing of Ranger LVL 15, the ill-timed [System] notification said.

You have leveled up!

You are now level 16.

Visit your status screen to allocate free stat points.

I checked the campfire. All of the grunting we had done should have alerted his teammates. But, they remained oblivious to his death, laughing instead at a joke one of them had made.

I allowed my shoulders to relax by a fraction.

Nicola could probably tell that I had killed the Ranger. Paz should arrive to support me any moment soon. I could double back to assist his charge or spearhead the assault on my lonesome.

The latter appealed to me.

The dead man slumped in my arms: A sight that triggered the tossing of my gut. There would be time enough to consider my actions. But, that time could wait. I needed to pick my next target.

Striking the Warlock in the middle of her teammates amounted to suicide, but I could get a few hits in before they reacted to my presence—

“Someone’s coming,” the second Ranger said from back at the campfire, leaping to his feet.

Someone surged through the bushes at a breakneck pace for the rankers.

Paz!

He intended to provide a distraction, and the Warlock and Ranger were all too eager to use him for target practice.

I descended to ground level as wind magic battered the night. Paz evaded the magic spell only to run into a series of similarly enhanced arrows from the Ranger.

He went down shortly after from a spear to the gut, one created from wind, but he had bought me the time needed to position myself behind the Warlock.

[Fear Aura].

Even in the dim lighting, I could see the color drain from the enemy team’s faces. None of them had the Willpower to resist my attack, and judging from the way the male members doubled over at the waist, Nicola’s [Ecstasy] was also in effect.

The female Warlock was first to recover, twirling her arms in preparation for a spell. I countered with a move that would have disgusted me two weeks ago . . .

I threw the severed head of the man I had killed onto her chest.

She paused for a moment to register what I had thrown, and then her mouth opened in the most horrible of screams.

Talk about a good opening.

My first strike landed solidly on her jaw, terminating her screech. The second bit into her neck.

The Warlock recovered from her shock with remarkable resilience and loosed a bolt of wind into my face. [Dark Stalker] activated at that moment, aiding my dodge.

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The next time I reappeared, I did so from behind her and plunged The Blackreach Dagger into her foot. Since it was still attached to the chains, the dagger forced her shoes into the ground.

The Guardian charged at that moment. “Bastard!”

A tentacle slammed into his shield, striking with such force that he tumbled into the campfire.

Two arrows whizzed past my ears in rapid succession, managing to nick me despite my spot from behind the Warlock.

I gritted my teeth and slapped the Warlock’s arm aside, diverting her next spell into the ground.

She raised her second arm to melt my face and earned another strike to the jaw for her insolence.

Her eyes widened at the thought of death. Warm, brown irises dilated behind a vision that none but her Fear-induced mind could see.

“Help me!” she said.

The Ranger fired again. The Guardian surged out of the fire, sporting a skill around his form.

I scored another blow across the Warlock's throat, bringing her HP to naught. But, I couldn’t finish her off. Not with the others bearing down on me—

“Any moment now!” I said, dashing into a retreat.

The Warlock summoned mana into her palms. I crossed my arms in defense, resigning myself to the hurt that was sure to follow.

A sigil flashed somewhere in the forest . . .

Paz returned at that moment.

He sailed into the campfire, propelled by a purple tentacle. The hole in his stomach revealed a peek of his entrails, still in the process of healing, but righteous [Overpower] burned on his fists.

The Guardian and Ranger could only watch with wide eyes as Paz brought his fist up into the Warlock’s chest, tearing through the last of her health and into her heart.

“Phoebe!” the Ranger said.

Paz flexed his arms and flared power out into the clearing.

You are within range of an allied [Draconic Aura]!

Your attacks now deal 50% more damage.

Your speed and defenses have also risen by 50%.

A rustle of wind was all the warning I got before an arrow slammed into my shoulder. It threw me onto the path of the Guardian, whose fervent swing came close to cleaving my face.

I wasn’t about to go toe to toe with anyone specced for defense. I vaulted off the Guardian’s shield and screamed a command at the feral redhead.

“Paz, switch with me!”

Paz didn’t hesitate and rammed into the Guardian with a clang that resounded across the clearing.

I darted in turn for the Ranger who tried to create distance for snipes. My shoulder smarted from his last attack which had thankfully not been enhanced with an affinity. I couldn’t allow him to keep shooting. I was already down to fifty percent health.

Regardless of my impressive speed, the Ranger moved just as fast. Tears streamed down his face as he fired his bow and used a skill to duplicate the missile.

Both projectiles lit up the next second with Compassion, and oh shit—

A tentacle surged out of the ground, tanking the impact in my stead. I stepped back into the shadows at that moment, mouthing a ‘thank you’ to the hidden Nicola.

“Stinking elf,” the Ranger said, looking around in search of me. “You killed them. Why?!”

Why indeed? Was he trying to get me to talk or was that the dumbest question he could ask, given his circumstances? His party had tried to ambush us and failed. What had they expected in terms of retaliation? Baby diapers?

A short distance away, Paz cackled as he rained punch after punch on the Guardian. The latter huddled behind his shield, waiting for the right moment to counterattack.

But, he’d never get it, not with Nicola watching from the sidelines.

A nearly imperceptible energy filled the air—a sure sign that she would unleash her mega spell any moment soon. It left the job of killing the Ranger up to me . . .

Not the hardest of tasks. But, I was already a little drained.

I leaned fully into my [Stealth]-[Dark Stalker] combo and summoned a [Decoy] into the Ranger’s path.

The decoy died in an explosion of white.

The Ranger fired blindly at me soon after, coming much too close for comfort. He probably had the [Hunting] skill, which leveled the playing field between us.

I didn’t have the VP or MP to engage in a protracted battle. The next three moves would determine the outcome of the fight.

I followed the Ranger as he flitted between the trees and lobbed a stone near to his right.

One.

He shot it out of midair with amazing reflexes.

My next shot sailed straight for his face. But, it wasn’t a mere stone like earlier. This time, I’d thrown a monster core.

A mini explosion went off as his fired arrow collided with the core. Not enough to harm him, but enough to evoke a gasp of surprise all the same.

Two.

I swung the Chain Nail at his head. The ranger ducked beneath the move, but that and the preceding setup allowed me to close the gap.

Three.

[Dark Stalker] bled away as I won the first strike on the Ranger’s gut, absorbed by health armor. And then, just like with the Warlock from earlier, I stabbed the Chain Nail into his foot.

His longbow slammed into my face with surprising force, interrupting further attacks. I tumbled backward in a daze and tugged the combat chain after me. It threw the Ranger onto his back.

He managed to hold on to his bow despite his topple and fired an arrow from his spot on the ground.

I rolled aside.

His arrow hand dipped into his quiver, but victory belonged to the swift. I crashed down on him before he could fire and drove both blades into his chest.

“You,” the ranger gurgled. “What did you do to my attributes?”

Oh. No wonder I had the edge.

I had failed in my bid to end the fight in three moves, but if the Ranger was anything like me, he would have his [DEX] sitting at 20 and a few other attributes at 10.

[Fear Aura] inflicted [Dismay], which resulted in a loss of two from every stat—a debuff I had learned the hard way from the Primal Dread Monkey.

Any stat on the threshold would weaken the instant the enemy was dismayed . . . changing Greater attributes to Common, and Common to Lesser. A Ranger who could deal 4x damage with his bow would find himself moving slower and hitting for only 2x.

I didn’t give [Fear Aura] the respect it deserved.

Nevertheless, I wasn’t the type to gloat. So, I twisted the blades in the Ranger’s chest and grimaced as he breathed his last.

It wasn’t a good feeling taking a human life. But, after one beheading, I was already over the deep end. I would save the self-loathing for another day. My part for now was concluded.

Paz and Nicola made short work of the Guardian as I’d expected.

All three of us gathered over the beaten man, who lay bleeding on the ground. My heart swelled with heady emotion as I descended from the rush. Not enough to leave me grinning like Paz. But, enough to enjoy the elation that followed the taste of well-earned revenge.

We had hatched a plan and enacted it to perfection. The feeling of accomplishment that followed beat the euphoria of sex.

Not that I knew what that was like, anyway . . . but, I could imagine it well enough.

Paz crouched beside the Guardian.

“Mercy,” the man moaned through broken teeth. “I concede.”

“I’m attuned to Retribution, you witless git,” Paz said, sticking a finger in his ear. He cleaned it on the man’s armor. “There’s only one way your defeat is going to end. And, I’m going to take my time savoring it.”

“Just kill him and be done with it,” Nicola said with rolled eyes. “There’s grace even in victory.”

“Grace?” Paz laughed. “These fuckers pissed on our sheets!”

“I’m with Nicola,” I said. “I don’t feel right drawing this out. There’s justice, and then there’s this: cruelty.”

“Spare me . . .” the Guardian pleaded again.

Paz rose to face me. “You can’t let your enemies take the easy way out. You’d never win their fear that way or their respect.”

“We don’t need any of those—”

“An eye for a family’s worth of eyes,” Paz said, and an ugly expression wormed across his face. “Nothing is more important than your reputation. If your enemies know that death is the only punishment they have to fear from you, they’d never stop coming.” He cast his glare askance. “I learned that the hard way.”

“So, what are you suggesting we do here?” I asked in a calm tone. “Torture this man? Of what use would that be to us?”

“It’s the principle of it. A dismembered enemy leaves a more lasting impression than a dead one.”

Why the hell was that important?

“Please,” the Guardian said. “I didn’t want any of this . . .”

“I won’t torture a soul,” I said quietly. “And, the more we prolong his suffering, the more uncomfortable I feel.”

“Then, let me do it,” Paz said. “You both may look away if you need to. I won’t stop until his debt is paid.”

“Paz . . .”

“His life is ours! His secrets are ours. What do you think they would have done to us if they had won here? Think for a second!” He placed a heavy boot on the whimpering man's back. “This is the way to deal with attempts on your life. Why is this so difficult to understand?”

I reached for my dagger. "Let him go."

Nicola moved first. Her magic staff came down on the Guardian’s head, cracking it open.

“Enough,” she said.

Paz gaped at her with wide eyes. And then, his expression contorted. “You fucking—”

“Paz,” I snapped. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

The redhead stopped mid-lunge and blinked. Nicola looked just as shaken, having raised her staff in her defense.

Paz glanced at the two of us in turn. And, then he stalked away, growling beneath his breath.

“Did he . . .” Nicola sputtered. “Did he just try to attack me?!”

“He’s dealing with something,” I said. “Let’s give him some space.”

“I told you he's a nutjob! A fucking loose quiver!”

I pressed my lips into a line and allowed her to rant.

A locket slipped loose from the Guardian’s neck, courtesy of Nicola’s final attack. Given its shape, I could already imagine what it signified. Someone dear . . . Like a lover or a wife, maybe even kids.

A tear rolled down the dead Guardian’s cheek.

Suppressing the urge to hurl, I turned away.