"Hello, Mr Alden. It's been a while." Said the young man after he stood up to meet his guest, he then gestured for the latter to sit and he followed suit.

Facing one another, Alden got straight to the point, he wasn't here to make small talk. "I need you to get rid of a group of people."

Unfortunately for him, things were rather hectic lately, and some dangerous undercurrents were on the move. Otherwise, he would have gone himself and finished the job. Still, The Black Rose Assassin Guild was terribly efficient and he knew that they would easily deal with a group of Classless individuals.

The young man's eyebrows quirked up after registering what was said. He liked to gauge how badly someone wanted something done because knowing the other party’s limits was an important factor in negotiating. Thus, he probed, "Oh? I wonder who these unlucky fellows are?"

Alden's upbringing wasn't what someone might describe as smooth sailing, it was the exact opposite. Hence, the moment he noticed that expression on the man's face, he knew what he was thinking about.

He gradually turned cold and emotionless, and he chided himself for showing too much. His issue wasn't the money, but more so the other party having some other ulterior motive upon noticing his urgency.

"Listen," He muttered, looking directly into the other man's eyes, "Have you heard about that slaughter in the news this morning?"

Seeing the other party seriously nodding, he continued, "I want all of those involved in that matter dead. Regardless of age, do you understand me?" Saying that, he grabbed a small thick pouch filled with coins, and tossed it to the other.

Quickly catching it with his right hand, the tie loosened as if on its own as he threw a glance inside. His eyes lit up in both joy and surprise upon witnessing the scene of a pouch filled with gold coins. With a wide smile, he said, "Don't worry. Although the rest are caught by the guards, we will find a way to get rid of them. As for the one who ran away, I think I know where I will find him."

...

Melvin's journey back to consciousness was accompanied by a barrage of pain unlike any he had felt before. He attempted to open his eyes only to find that they seemed to be glued shut by some unknown substance. He finally managed to pry them open, adding another minor pain in that area to his growing list of woes.

He cautiously tested his various body parts to determine the extent of his injuries and although he hurt like hell, there was a surprising lack of acute damage.

His body lay sprawled across a pile of wooden planks, sticks, and logs. Apparently, the floor he crashed through had already been weakened through age and had joined him in falling to the floor below, somehow cushioning his landing.

Next he noted his body’s position: Hands thrown to the side, legs slightly upraised from an upward curve, and his head hanging low. Blood was streaming from his broken nose to pool around his eyes.

All he could see when he opened his eyes was darkness, and slowly recollections of what happened flashed through his mind. His hand moved in an attempt to elevate himself, and what followed was a groan of pain that escaped his dry lips.

Whenever his hands passed, all he could feel was wood. Aware of the instability of the pile he was lying on, he didn't know how to proceed. Or rather, he knew exactly how but was dreading to.

He understood that his back was in fact broken because even slight movements from his torso brought him immense pain. If he attempted to use his hands to stand upright, and the pile crumbled under his weight, he would be in for a world of pain. Something that didn't sound too appealing to him, especially now in this injured state.

Most importantly, the darkness was also starting to take its toll on his mind. It was such an eerie atmosphere with barely anything visible that made Melvin feel his skin crawl. The fact that he was so vulnerable in this unsettling atmosphere made things all the more difficult for him.

He closed his eyes in resignation as both of his hands gently reached to the sides of his head massaging it in an attempt to soothe himself. Fortunately, it seemed to work as his previously fiercely thumping heart gradually began to adjust to a more normal pace.

His hand then retreated back and latched into the sides of some wood in order to steady himself. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself forward, using his legs as well, and he finally sat down. The journey his back took from its resting to a standing position was accompanied by a torrent of pain and a guttural growl that leaked through his lips.

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Face covered in blood contorted into a grimace, and lips strongly clenched, he began to breathe slowly. After he got used to this new position, his eyes opened once again, and he started surveying his surroundings.

He was in the center a wide hall where everything seemed to be made of stone and the grey color of cement. There was nothing behind him other than the grey walls of the house he fell in, but in other directions, doorways littered the hall where nothing could be seen.

Melvin unconsciously gulped at that, he had always hated darkness, and so encountering such a situation where he was vulnerable in a gloomy dilapidated home mortified him. His heartbeat couldn't help but increase once again, reflecting his own emotional state.

Suddenly, the piece of wood in his right hand was gripping slipped, and with it, Melvin followed as the whole wooden pile crumbled in that direction as well. His body that was already injured chaotically tumbled to the side, he fell on planks of wood, and they in turn fell on him.

"Ughh" Echoed in the eerily silent and dark hall as another groan of pain escaped his lips after the momentum of the fall was finally over. By the end of it, his face was glued to the stone ground as various pieces of wood lay on top of his body.

Taking advantage of the fact that he was already feeling an enormous amount of pain, he pushed up his body using his hands, making all of the wood fall to the sides. Without even standing up, he just crawled on all fours like an animal as he made his way to the corner that was devoid of wood.

Reaching there, he quickly turned his body around and laid on his back. He didn't have the muscle nor the energy to hold his own back anymore. As his eyes were open, gazing at a corner of the starry sky that he could see from his position, he caught a swift shadowy movement in his periphery vision.

His head instantly tilted to the left, but he couldn't see anything. Although he reasoned that it was just his mind playing tricks on him, it didn't comfort him one bit. In his fear, his head remained in that position, afraid that something might arise.

To his shock, this time he could definitely make up a shadowy figure briskly moving in one of the rooms. His eyes widened in shock and his heart started furiously beating like a drum inside of his chest. Melvin's breathing quickened as he held a deep breath, afraid to make the slightest noise. He was sure he saw something in there.

Melvin froze when he caught sight of the shadow moving through the limited light of the stars coming through the other room’s ceiling, the glint of a dagger in the figure’s hand. Although terrified and under an onslaught of pain, he immediately pushed himself to a standing position. Slowly and cautiously, he stepped toward the doorway, his eyes unwavering from the room that was now in front of him.

A sudden sound of something falling echoed, halting his steps in their tracks. Melvin's right hand nervously clutched on his pants as his left hand clenched into a fist of anxiety.

Then, out of nowhere, a big black cat lunged at him with a high-piercing hiss. His body reflexively fell backward due to the sheer shock, and because of the intense pain, his consciousness blinked shut once again.

With a muffled sound that could barely be heard in the wide hall, a large cat landed from its jump. Its size was easily three times bigger than a regular cat, and its fur bristled with intensity. Its deep, obsidian black coat was offset by a single brilliant white mark above its forehead. Its eyes were a mesmerizing shade of gold that pierced the darkness with a radiant glow.

The cat's pointy ears were directed at its unsuspecting victim, an eerily human expression of self-satisfaction on its smiling face. Its majestic legs moved in graceful steps as it approached the blacked-out Melvin step by step.

After it passed by the bloody dagger with a brown handle, its steps halted, as it appeared to be pondering over something. Swiftly moving its right paw, it swiped the dagger to the corner of the room. However, the moment the two made contact, it felt a rush of strength coursing through its body before it immediately disappeared.

In a similarly human fashion, both of its eyes and mouth widened in surprise, before they quickly morphed into joyful expressions as it ran toward the dagger with a thick fluffy tail swaying from one side to the next.

Arriving above it, a curious glint flashed through its eyes before its head began descending toward the dagger, suddenly, its nose twitched, and its legs retreated several steps as an apparent disgusting expression appeared on its face.

"Smells horrible." A voice echoed. Deep, and resonant carrying a slight timbre of masculinity, which proved to be a glaring contrast to the gracious and beautiful appearance of the cat.

Unwilling to let go of such a weapon just because of the smell, the cat readied himself before he approached once again and began studying the dagger, or rather how he could use it.

Understanding that he would never put such filth in his clean mouth, he knew that the only way to make use of it was through his paws. He turned to make sure that the person behind him was still unconscious, afraid someone might witness such a humiliation display and then began.

The cat eyed the dagger with determination, and began batting at it with his paw. Each attempt to grasp the weapon proved unsuccessful, as the dagger slipped away just out of reach after it found nothing to latch into.

Undeterred, the cat persisted, employing both paws in a determined effort to capture the elusive object. Yet, with each swipe, the dagger evaded its grasp, tumbling to the ground with a soft clang. Despite the repeated failures, the cat remained undaunted, its tail twitching with determination as it prepared for yet another attempt to claim the dagger.

The same process repeated itself, and after a while, the cat seemed to get lost in that play and began enjoying himself tremendously. Suddenly, remembering its original purpose, his mood did a complete turn and swatted the dagger away with annoyance.