Jumping to his feet, he held his injured side and turned, pointing a dagger at the intruder.

"Who are you? What do you want?" He asked, looking around to make sure there was no one else nearby.

"I've heard some of the other guild members say they get these sorts of repetitive questions a lot, but for me, this is a novelty." The man said casually, slightly gesturing with his hands as if this was a friendly conversation between acquaintances.

It took him a moment to register the spoken words before his mind started forming a conclusion of who this person was, and it wasn't a good one.

"So why are we talking then? Are you not going to avenge your friends?" He asked, nodding at the three dead, leaking blood all over the ground nearby.

"Those three weren't worthy of becoming my friends. I was merely sent here to observe, and observe I did." The stranger replied, turning a slightly predatory look his way as the man fell from the tree and onto the ground.

The sudden movement caused him to back up, dagger held at the ready, and glanced to the side, wondering if he could make the dark ravine before this person attacked.

"You can try and run, but you won't make it. Besides, if I wanted you dead, you would be." The stranger matter of factly said at seeing his glance.

He was about to ask what the man wanted but, ultimately, decided to hold his tongue and position and just narrowed his eyes at the well-spoken man, causing him to grin.

"A fan of silence, eh? Well, I can respect that. Back to your earlier questions, then. Who am I? What do I want?"

"I want to extend an offer of membership for you to join our organisation. You see, I was sent here to observe a potential recruit, but since you just opened up his neck, I'm unable to fulfil my task, leaving me in a bit of a bind." The man stated, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Hearing the offer made his mind spin, but he didn't drop his guard. For all he knew, this person could just be messing with him. What he needed to do now was buy time, as people from the village would be out looking for him.

"What organisation? You don't care that I just killed three members?" He asked curiously.

"They weren't members, just affiliates who took on some busy work hoping to join. Well, Jasson might have made it if you hadn't killed him, but the other two were useless." The man replied, glancing at the nearby corpses with a bored look.

"Normally, I wouldn't bother to recruit anyone and would have just left at seeing their failure, but I find you intriguing. Escaping these three, one who was nearly a whole realm above you, was passable by itself. The application of your strange illusion skill, practically coming back from the dead. Well, you piqued my interest."

"Then you crown it by showing a calculated cold-blooded patience, methodically stalking your prey without undue haste and getting the drop on them when you could have run, not to mention those strange Talismans." He added, sending a scrutinising look his way like he had just uncovered a strange object.

"You weren't going to finish the job?" He asked, hoping to change the subject, but the fact that this man had witnessed all that caused the subtle fear he was feeling to rise sharply.

"The price paid wasn't enough to hire me, and I don't work for nothing. The guild sent out those three who should have been sufficient to complete the contract based on the information we were provided—the fact they failed means we weren't given enough information."

"The contract from our end was honoured and fulfilled by their death. If whoever still wants your life, a new contract will be arranged at a greater price. I was only here to observe a potential candidate. But who knows, maybe next time they will send me." The man replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"The guild doesn't take out hits on our members, though, so if you join, you won't have that worry," The man said, locking eyes with him.

Refusing to look away, he held the man's stare. He figured if this was some kind of recruitment pitch, then showing weakness wasn't the best approach.

The gears turned in his mind as he tried to get a read on the man before him but failed. If this offer was genuine, he wondered if he wanted to join an organisation that killed for money.

It wasn't that he was against it, but he didn't like the idea of killing those who didn't deserve it for currency. He also wasn't sure if this was some way to learn his secrets, so he was extra guarded, which must have shown.

"Don't worry, I'm not after you for your secrets. I know several people capable of healing with a wave of their hands. Whilst those Talismans were interesting, even if you did make them, which I doubt, I'm not one of those old codgers from the crafting guild. In our guild, we only care about killing, and I think you might have a decent talent for it."

"Anyway, the choice is yours. Here." The man finished, producing a small metal coin and flicking it towards him.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Thanos moved to the side and let it land on the ground nearby, quickly glancing at it but not moving to pick it up as he kept the dagger between him and the stranger. The man gave a subtle approving nod at his wariness.

"Bring this coin to the Final Rest Tavern in Kalipolis if you're interested, but I wouldn't wait too long, or whoever took out a contract on your life might do so again."

"The Final Rest? Isn't that a little on the nose for an organisation of assassins? You also didn't mention the name of your guild." He replied, changing the wording at the end as he nodded in the direction of the dead men.

"What better way than to hide in plain sight? Besides, how will we do business if people can't find us? As for the name, the fact we have 'guild' in it should be all you need to figure it out."

"Know that us having this conversation is proof enough of how highly I value your potential, but the guild's patience, whilst great, isn't infinite. Don't keep us waiting."

"What if I don't like the idea of killing those who don't deserve it?" He bluntly asked, causing the man to chuckle.

"I'm yet to meet a true saint with clean hands, and I've been doing this job a long time. But the guild only posts contracts for our true members, and you can pick whatever you want as long as you take a set number per year. If you want to spend it hunting the really vile and avoiding the ones you deem to be good people, then that's fine." He answered with an amused smile as if he was looking at a naive person.

"What about children? What sin could they have possibly committed?" He asked, thinking of his little sister. He wasn't old by this world's standards, but people had been sent after him also.

"Who doesn't grow up to do some dirty deeds here and there? Snuffing such a person out while still in their infancy is just peak efficiency if you look at it from the point of view of dispatching the immoral. Personally, I prefer my targets to have more teeth, so I usually don't target the young."

"But that's because I prefer a challenge and not because I see myself as a righteous do-gooder. Anyway, your fellow villagers are close. I hope when we next meet, we get to talk." The man ended the conversation and practically vanished from where he stood as if he had never been there in the first place.

He caught the veiled threat at the end but ignored it. Looking around, he finally lowered the dagger, deciding that the cultivation of that man was so far above him that it was pointless worrying.

He walked to the coin and picked it up, seeing that it depicted a plain-looking man's head with a smiling face; under it, facing each other, were two mugs that people usually drank ale from, and that was it. The image was also mirrored on the other side.

Tucking it away in his pouch, he heard hurried footsteps approaching, so he turned towards them as people he recognised appeared from the underbrush.

"Thank the ancestors, you're okay," Marcus said as he walked over, surveying the area and spotting the dead men lying nearby.

"What happened?" Marcus asked, stopping before him and running his eyes over his body.

They narrowed when they caught sight of him holding a bloodied bandage to his side.

"I was out hunting, and these three strangers attacked me. I ran and managed to catch them off guard and kill them using my Talismans, but I was hurt in the process." He answered, giving a very loose telling of the situation.

"Do you know them?" Texon asked, appearing beside the corpse of the archer and using her foot to roll the body face up.

"No, I think they were hunters and just wanted to bully someone when they found me. I didn't really stop to ask questions." He replied to the woman who was part mentor over the years.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay. I should have never let you roam outside alone at this age." Marcus said, sounding a little angry, but it sounded more like it was directed back at himself.

"I'm okay, look. I even managed to project myself just like you all taught me." He said, trying to stop them from over-analysing the situation.

It was far more dangerous than his family knew, but he wouldn't share the real story. He would be lucky if he got to go out again on his own any time in the next decade if he did.

As for the men he had killed, he wasn't as bothered by the thought as he would have been many years ago. They were sent to kill him, and he killed them back. It was as simple as that.

"Why don't we head home? The others can bring the bodies back, and we can discuss it back at the village. It isn't safe here." Marcus stated, turning to look from the village huntress back to himself.

"Okay." He dutifully replied, turning to walk towards the treeline.

"Do you need me to carry you back to the healer?" Marcus asked, looking concerned at the bloody wounds to his upper body.

"No, I can walk. These will heal soon anyway, so it won't be a problem. We don't need to see Anton," He replied, looking up at his father as they walked.

"What do you mean? We still need to have it looked at. Infections in the first Realm are rare but still occur, and you shouldn't take chances when we have someone who can help you deal with it back home." Marcus responded as he furrowed his brows.

"It's not that. I mean, it will heal totally within the next few hours. I won't even have a scar," He stated, letting the meaning of his words sink in.

He had finally decided to come clean about his core and what it could do. Seeing that the man in black who didn't want to give his name wasn't bothered by the ability to heal instantaneously, it felt a little pointless hiding it now.

Part of it was also because he had still been holding back when it came to his parents, expecting the worst to happen, so he struggled to open up fully. He realised this during the escape when he wondered if he would die and leave them wondering what had happened to him.

They didn't deserve a son who held a part of him back when they had given him their all. He would tell his parents about his core but not his time on Earth nor who had sent the hitmen after him.

If they learned that Tantalus had sent the men, they might not do anything but send him away due to his backing, and if he left, then getting his revenge would be even more challenging. Whilst he remained in the village, all he needed to do was find the right moment.

"What are you on about?" Marcus asked, looking puzzled.

"Well, you see..."