Niklo was fuming. Once his backup had arrived, he had decided to take out the lone girl. It was obviously overkill and everything, as she didn’t look like she was high level or anything else, but it was supposed to be an easy kill. He had thought it strange that he couldn’t use [Appraisal] on her, but knowing who her father was, it wasn’t that surprising in itself. He had known she might have a few protective artifacts on her.

But they had been six. Six, and they had initially gotten her by surprise. A blow so deadly it should have pierced all of her protections. Not only hadn’t it killed her, the man had told him he hadn’t even drawn blood. She had flown through a wall from the impact and walked out looking mostly unscathed. All of their abilities to know if the poison was working or if they had inflicted damage on their victims weren’t working, which made her a scary opponent as they had no clue how effective things were.

And somehow the other five had shown up at the worst time. It didn’t make any sense, from his observations, they didn’t seem close or anything. He had observed them for days before his backup had arrived, and not once had they met up after the library. So why today? It was so unlucky he felt like it wasn’t fair. They had no right to survive like that. They had burned a lot of skills trying to take one of their members out, and he had called for a retreat after it had failed.

Contrary to adventurers, they didn’t have great stamina and he knew they would only start losing more as the fight dragged on. No, better to regroup, see what they had learned and try again. That damn girl had been so strange. It was obvious she wasn’t high level in technique, but her sheer physical prowess had made up for it completely. Her speed had surprised him. She wasn’t faster than him for instance, but it was easier to avoid or parry a blow than to penetrate someone’s defenses.

Still, he was a bit miffed that they hadn’t even managed to make her bleed. It was obvious she had an absurd skill probably coupled with a spell or enchantment for her to be that sturdy. [Body Of Diamond] maybe, coupled with something like [Weight Of A Mountain] and even maybe layered with more spells like [Steel Skin] was possible. It just didn’t make sense that they hadn’t been able to even make her bleed. And he hadn’t seen her use a scroll or cast a spell. But knowing Eratz, it was possible he had made it an automatic response in a defensive artifact. Still, even for him, it seemed impressive beyond belief. Not a relic tier artifact, but it would honestly be close if that was the case.

Shaking his head, he looked at the other five. He couldn’t truly complain. He knew they just had gone in with bad intel. He didn’t see their expressions with their masks and helmets on, but if he had to guess, he felt like they were frowning. He knew he was. That damn girl had survived thanks to money, and money alone. At least it felt that way. And wasn’t that unfair? They had all gone through hell to level up and get to where they were. Who was she to just make it out simply because she had a damn high tier defensive artifact? Unfair is what it was.

“Anyone have any insight into our main problem, namely this Maya girl?” He asked them. The one who did the initial blow nodded at this.

“I’ve replayed what happened in my head several times, and I’m sure my dagger went several centimeters into her body. I’m ninety nine percent sure I actually did damage. The poison obviously didn’t work, but I think I felt something crack when I hit her.” He said and Niklo saw his truth stone flash white in his pocket. The others couldn’t see it, but as a team leader he needed to be able to trust their words, something he obviously didn’t naturally. Plus, it paid to be cautious in this business.

“So her body felt like what? Some kind of stone? Or more like metal? It could help us to try and identify the skill and find a weakness.” He asked and the other assassin nodded his head.

“Well, I wouldn’t say stone really, but close enough I guess.” He paused for a moment at that, thinking. It didn’t help that much, but it was a start.

“That could be any number of skills. But all of the skills or spells that do make the skin like stone or metal never stop them from bleeding. Unless any of you have heard of a skill like this before?” He asked them, and one of them squirmed in place a bit, clearly hesitant.

“Out with it?” He asked sharply. They didn’t have any time to lose.

“Well, it doesn’t really fit but I’ve heard of a skill called [Stone Flesh] that makes not only the skin hard a stone, but also the rest of the body. It’s not the same skill, as it drastically slows you down. But maybe this was a superior version? Like maybe [Diamond Flesh]?” He asked as he looked around.

“I’m aware of those skills, but it clearly wasn’t the one she used. All of them make their user slow and sluggish. She was fast. Almost as fast as us.” He said as he sighed. He’d thought about it too. But this seemed to be something else. She was too fast and too strong for such a skill. Changing your flesh like that had drawbacks and the higher tier skills didn’t improve that aspect at all. Yes you got harder flesh with [Diamond Flesh] but also even slower than a lower tier version. And to his knowledge, it simply wasn’t possible to remove this aspect of the spell as it was intrinsically tied to how it worked.

“Maybe she did bleed, but the blood simply didn’t leave her body. Something absorbing the blood to heal her?” Another one suggested.

“No, I, maybe. But I’m pretty sure there simply was no blood. The feeling of plunging my blade into flesh is… baked into my brain by now. No, there wasn’t any blood.” The other one responded. They were getting nowhere with this.

“Alright, let’s drop that for now. Let’s simply assume she has a skill that lets her body be like stony flesh. Do any of you have countermeasures against stuff like that?” He asked the group.

“I have some skills against golems that might work.” One of the smaller of their members said. A Skraa or a Dwarf? It was hard to tell with her head completely hidden. The others seemed rather surprised and turned to her. It wasn’t often that you killed golems. Usually most people snuck past them if they could, and they were rather rare.

“I had a client that hated golems and made me kill a lot of them. Didn’t even kill the owners. Just the golems, so I got a few skills.” She shrugged as she explained. It might even work.

“Alright, good. We need to move out. They are on the move. I’ll take on Maya while you four distract the others. I’ll create an opening for you.” He said as he looked at the smaller assassin who nodded back.

“We need to hurry. They seem to be heading to the spaceport. Likely trying to leave.” Someone else chimed in. It annoyed him to no end when someone tried to direct their group. Might just kill that guy after the mission.

“It’s under control. The backup team is locking down the spaceport anyways. On me.” He said as he got the same info just now. Why was his intel behind that guy’s? Fuck. Well, too late now. They needed to relieve the backup team ASAP. He was not confident in their ability to hold them for long, if at all.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

They hurried to the spaceport and arrived before them. He was relieved as they actually had some time to set up. Even if barely. He saw the smaller assassin plant some explosives in the ground here and there. The backup team was ordered to lock down the entrances to anyone after their targets had gone through.

Niklo didn’t like this much. Engaging their targets again after such short notice. They hadn’t had time to really prepare anything. But it was the same for them in a sense. They might not think they would get attacked so soon, and in such a public place. It was strangely empty now. Which was not a coincidence but by design, otherwise the place would be swamped by the local law enforcement shortly after they engaged their targets. And he did not want them to be able to run away again.

He soon spotted the six of them coming into the huge hangar. Different ships were parked in their designated spot, with a scant few security guards that were on their way out. Usually they would make sure no one stole ships or other things, but they had been told to leave, and they were.

The group of six walked forwards and hadn’t seemed to notice anything amiss in the strangely empty hangar when one of the bombs blew up right next to them. Instantly Niklo charged from his hiding spot. He wasn’t close enough though, but it was fine. He saw the smaller assassin at work and was impressed. The trap had worked out well, it seemed, as he saw that balls of metal as big as his head had been shot out at almost the same time and were heading straight for Maya.

To both of their amazement, she not only dodged the first ball, but twisted impossibly to avoid the second and third. He felt like that shouldn’t have been possible to avoid. They had been almost perfectly synchronized. But a fourth ball even he had missed collided with her left leg. It seemed that like him, she hadn’t seen it coming. Her reaction at being hit however was not what he expected after their earlier fight with the prodigious girl.

Her cry of pain was loud enough for all to hear, and despite there being no blood, she clearly couldn’t stand on that leg any longer. Her movements were a lot slower as he approached from a blind spot, yet to make his first move. He was waiting for the right moment. The other four had barely gotten up now and were fighting some of his colleagues. The kid already had a nasty wound on his shoulder, but he focused on Maya. He knew that if they managed to take her out, the others would soon follow.

Despite her leg, she managed to defend herself somewhat from his colleague. But he could feel an opening was about to present itself. The other assassin feinted high, threw some powder at the girl before using a skill to redirect her strike, and the girl barely managed to react in time. She blocked the blow and ignored the powder, but her footing was all tangled up, especially with only one working leg. Another blow was coming, this time aiming at her leg, and her position got from bad to worse. A lightning fast blow came towards her head that he wasn’t sure she would manage to avoid, and he sprung forth like a snake, ready to strike at her exposed back. The opening was too good to miss up on.

He had switched from his poisoned dagger to an enchanted shortsword. He didn’t like it as much, but the dagger was useless on her it seemed, so he used the other weapon instead. It was enchanted to inflict freezing wounds that would slow his victims down even if they blocked. Perfect to take her down. His skill [Blind Spots] was in full effect, making sure she couldn’t spot his approach. To his surprise, a powerful light blinded him for barely an instant, but it had been enough to throw him off. He had barely missed a beat, but somehow the girl had once more moved in such a strange way, her whole body curved in the air like a gymnast, somehow avoiding the deadly blow and making him miss too, but only because he had been distracted by Matt.

He spared a glance towards the annoying kid that tried to play [Mage] but knew he shouldn’t get distracted even more. It was obvious she had used a dodging skill. No one moved like that. [Perfect Dodge]? Maybe. It didn’t matter, it only meant she wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long. He threw himself forward and saw the other assassin circle around the girl, making sure one of them was always in a blind spot. It would be harder now that she knew there were two of them, and they were already in the open.

He charged first with [Flash Step] and cut the distance to instantly appear before her. She reacted slowly but still managed to block, magic sparked lightly on contact and he frowned as he felt the frost had been warded off, but he continued to attack to create an opening for his colleague. [Redirect Strike], [Feint], [Mirage Blow]. He threw skill after skill, getting in several strikes while she fended off the worst ones, but they mostly seemed to bounce off her hard skin either way. He needed blunt weapons, but they hadn’t had time to prepare for this ambush properly. He hated rushed work, but knew they couldn’t just let them leave either.

He had her on the back foot the entire time, pressing her again and again. The other assassin finally decided to pounce. About time. She was wielding a hammer and coming up behind her. It was clear that Maya wouldn’t be able to avoid it in time, with her shitty posture due to his onslaught and her leg being in shambles. She avoided his blow, but clearly she had missed the powerful blow about to hit her from behind.

The blow connected, and he saw her look of surprise as magic pulsed out. He was as surprised as her as he felt the magic push both him and the other assassin back violently. He instantly got up and saw her holding an amulet to her neck, clearly spent now. Ah, saved by her dad. It was probably her last resort item. He charged once more, knowing this time would be the last. It was clear that the blow would have killed her if not for that amulet. Considering it hadn't been triggered to save her leg, he was pretty sure it was a last resort kind of item and that it was her last trick.

Which only meant one thing. She had no more tricks up her sleeves. He charged with a wild grin on his face. He could almost taste their victory. Glancing to the right he spotted a more subdued skirmish, as his colleagues weren’t taking any risks and only buying them time to finish off their main target. He turned back to Maya, looking to see the moment of defeat on her face, only to realize something. He turned his head to the right again and counted four of them.

Weren’t they six? Shouldn’t the others be holding down five of them? He turned to really look at them. The other girl, the kid, and the two adventurers were struggling. He almost sighed in relief. The weak guy, Philip, was missing, but luckily he wasn’t a threat and had probably run away right after the confusion with the first explosion. He turned his attention back to Maya as he quickly closed the distance, only to feel the hair on his neck suddenly stand up in clear warning. Not questioning it, he jumped back several meters in a second. A crater was now in front of him, right where he had stood, and he saw that there had been other explosions making dents in the damn floor.

What in the system’s name… ?

He turned and saw everyone had stopped fighting for a second as they turned to look. A hulking beast made of metal and magic was hovering in the air, weapons glowing, and clearly ready to shoot some more. He looked around and saw that only four of the assassins still stood on their own two feet. A smudge of blood could be seen here and there around the newly formed crater, as well as what he now understood was charred pieces of meat littering the ground.

In an instant, the situation wildly changed as his colleagues instantly turned tail and ran while the ship shot weapons clearly not supposed to be used indoors. The pilot obviously wasn’t very accurate and most of his shots went wide, but the pure chaos and danger it created made it impossible to continue any kind of coordinated assault.

He wasn’t going to die for money, no sir. He had way too many credits on his account and he was determined to spend it all before he died. Luckily, the adventurers didn’t pursue him much. It was mostly the ship that kept firing after him as he ran in zigzag with the occasional [Flash Step] to stay unpredictable. He managed to look behind him and saw the adventurers retreating towards the ship, with the teenager helping Maya out.

He used a final [Flash Step] to safety and ran towards their hideout. A few minutes later he arrived and saw that only three of the others had made it. He looked at them and it seemed they were thinking the same thing he was.

The boss would not be happy.