"No."

The man held up an amulet and it shone, instilling one thing into Hannah's mind. Fear. She slowly stepped back as he walked towards her. She tried to charm him as she was shaking.

"S-stop. We don't need to fight."

It had no effect. For the first time since she had gotten the skill, [Charm] failed. She scrambled backward as Esme slowly got up from the ground. The two girls looked at each other and instantly knew what to do.

They ran. But before they could get anywhere close to escaping Hannah was on the ground before she even knew what happened. Pain rang through her entire body, and the [Thief]'s head was bleeding. Hannah couldn't see straight.

"Ugh..."

Esme had stopped running now, and she started getting ready for a fight. Now Hannah started to realize how useless she actually was in battle. Her only spell was [Light] and the [Thief] class didn't have battle oriented skills. Esme would have to do it all. The girl only now got her first look at her assailant. He was not wearing armor, but somehow, his skin looked tough. He had dark shoulder-length brown hair.

He never spoke a word. The man just fixed his gaze on the two [Thieves]. He looked indifferent; like he didn't care. He was indifferent to them, and in his hands, he held what they had come for.

The artifact.

-------------------------------

A thousand thoughts ran through Esme's head in what seemed to be a few seconds. Running was impossible but could they fight? If so how? Hannah didn't have any offensive skills and her [Charm] had failed.

Her ribs felt wrong. Were they broken? The [Rogue] had never broken any bones before, even as a kid. Fortunately, though they had brought a few potions, all she had to do was drink the bottle and her wounds and broken bones healed. It had always fascinated her, from the first day she saw one. How did they work? Could she bring them back to Earth when she got back? So many questions, and so little time to answer.

Esme was ready to fight. She was only a level 4 [Rogue], but she had some tricks up her sleeves that she had been taught yesterday by Kayden. First, she had a new passive skill called [Dodge Sense], which, as the name implied gave her a greater chance of dodging blows. Second, [Lesser Dagger Proficiency] already had turned into [Dagger Proficiency], which was apparently rare.

She stood still, ready for anything. Posture? Check. Potions ready? Check. Her enemy had no weapons, but he was taller and had longer arms than she had, which meant he had the range advantage. Her strikes would have to be quick, either at the back of his legs, underneath his arms or... his throat.

She breathed in. Only five seconds had passed since she drank the potion.

The [Rogue] surprised the man and went on the offensive, daggers firmly in her hands. She lunged out one of her arms and reached for his leg, but he was quicker and pulled back so she ended up striking nothing. Esme couldn't stop the momentum and the man struck her in the face and she flew.

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"D-damn it..."

She needed to try harder. For Hannah. The [Rogue] got up and downed another potion and she dashed forward. Her enemy was ready for her now, and he was almost smiling. He held up the artifact and Esme felt sick with fear. She stopped dead in her tracks, her legs were shaking, she had to run!

"Snap out of it!"

She slapped herself and looked at Hannah and the new [Mage] looked terrified. She had to do something. Anything.

By pure chance, Esme looked at her potion belt and figured out a plan. The artifact had little effect now, so the assailant got impatient and ran at her. She only had a few seconds, but she waited until he got close enough and then she threw one of her daggers at his face, and he avoided it, but that was okay. Esme grabbed a potion and threw it as hard as she could, and it hit.

The small vial broke on impact, and glass shards penetrated his skin. He howled in pain, but he was being healed at the same time, which caused the shards to get stuck on his face and neck. It was now or never.

One dagger in hand, she ran towards him once more. He had underestimated her and he would pay for it. His eyes were still closed, and he was clawing at his face. Good. She had activated [Quiet Step] so he wouldn't suspect her of being right next to him. She couldn't hesitate, she had to do it. The [Rogue] stabbed him in the throat.

Potions were good, but these low tiered ones weren't good enough to heal a slit throat. Their enemy's face flashed first with pain, then with anger, and then with fear. Fear of dying. Esme just watched him while silently sobbing, while he died of blood loss.

"E-Esme."

Hannah finally called out. Esme's face was full of tears, snot, and blood. Some of it was hers, some of it wasn't. She had killed someone. She was a criminal. A murderer. The moment the steel blade touched the man's skin, she regretted her decision. The [Rogue] felt like throwing up. Her hands were painted red. She couldn't breathe, she felt like she was suffocating, like she–

"Esme!"

Hannah was closer now. She smiled sadly at her, and Esme tried to reciprocate, but she just couldn't.

"Thank you for saving me. I-I'm sorry I was useless."

"I killed someone."

"You did. You did kill him."

"I'm a monster."

"He was going to do the same to us."

"Still. I could have tried something else. Knocked him out."

"This isn't a movie, Esme. You did your best to save us and you succeeded. You stopped running for me. Without you, I'd be dead."

Esme tried to think Hannah was right, but she wasn't the one with the blood on her hands, figuratively and literally. She didn't know how it felt to stab someone. unfortunately, Esme heard something behind her.

"It's them! Send a [Message]! They killed our adventurer!"

[Guards]. Seven of them. The girls needed to run.

"Take the artifact, we need to go!"

They had come here for the artifact, and they had succeeded, and so they left while being closely followed by seven [Guards] for thirty minutes.

-------------------------------

The girls were back at headquarters now, and they were walking towards the school to meet Gregory, who had given them this job in the first place. Of course, they wouldn't tell them that their bags were stuffed with gold and jewels, but Hannah felt like he deserved not to know for giving them this shitty job. Gregory smiled as he saw them approach, artifact in hand.

"Hey! You did it. Good job."

"Hey Gregory."

Esme said nothing, and shoved the artifact in his hands then stomped away back to their home.

"Oh. Something bad happen in there?"

"Yeah. Someone tried to stop us... I overheard the [Guards] say it was an adventurer. She killed him."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Gregory didn't pry too much. Hannah was thankful, but she felt like there wasn't much else to be said, really. She started leaving but he called out.

"First time is always the hardest."

"What?"

"Tell her that."

"I don't feel like that would help. See you."

When Hannah got back to her room, Esme was already sleeping. The [Thief] smiled and laid down on her bed as well. They would get through this. Each hurdle only made them stronger.

She wished she had a spellbook though.

[Thief: Level 10]

[Skill - Sense Threat Obtained]