Silver denoted the rank of a regular Apostate while gold denoted a High Apostate. All apostates were considered high priority targets. The damage and destruction they could cause was immense. No normal creature would be able to handle their dark magic and their ability to call upon the Snake Ancestral Spirit to empower themselves in a myriad of ways.

“An assassin of the Covenant Church. Stupid ducks,” the figure spat out. Their very voice seemed to grate on my hearing and soul. A sword was quickly pulled free and their hood fell back to reveal a mouse. Their eyes were an unholy red. His fur was an ethereal white. He was already channeling the power of the Ancestral Snake Spirit into his body. I freed both my shotguns and held one in each paw.

“Really, such crude weapons?” the Apostate mouse asked me. I paused as we stared at each other. I could see his eyes looking over the room.

“What are you doing here Apostate and what is the Quackening?” I challenged.

“To end the Covenant Church stupid cat. Your death shall be a great offering to Jörmungandr.” I shuddered at that name. It was a taboo word, the name of the Snake Ancestral Spirit. The legendary snake that would one day circle the world then consume it. Time to end the Apostate before bewitched me with their magic.

No way, was I fighting an Apostate with my claws when I had shotguns. The first rule of any fight, was not to fight fair. Rushing forward I pulled both triggers over and over. The loud bangs echoing in the shaking ritual chamber lit by the green flames over the burning blood. A tremor rushed through the underground chamber.

The Apostate was already moving to the side as I fired. Sparks burst up from their body where the pellets hit. They kept their sword raised in front of their head and eyes, protecting them. Their robes were damaged, but there was little blood. After six shots with each shotgun, they were out, and I tossed them to the side. The mouse was breathing heavily with only minor injuries.

He was channeling the snake spirit to armor himself with scales. Only an Apostate could do something like this, taking on and adapting a single aspect of an ancestral spirit. There was no need for any more words. Only one of us could survive.

I rushed at the Apostate, claws extended. I was forced to slow down as he swiped out and then lunged. I easily dodged to the side and moved in. The Apostate dodged backwards and gestured out with a hand. An ethereal snake shot out of the sleeve of his robe. I swiped one of my paws at the apparition, shredding it with my claws.

If they hadn’t been upgraded with celestial ore, that attack would have struck me and wounded me heavily. The dark magic of Apostates was not to be underestimated in any way. One mistake would mean my death.

The room began shaking and the concrete chamber was developing crakes. Dust began to rain down. I picked up my tempo of attack to put maximum pressure on the fallen mouse. He always made sure to never leave an opening fighting on the defensive. Backing up and swiping his sword to keep me away. He was quick and careful to not allow me to get close and rip him to shreds.

He tried counter attacking a couple of times, but I easily dodged backwards. There was no room to strafe to the side. When that failed he unleashed an ethereal snake from his sleeve at me, forcing me to kill it and give himself time to retreat back some more.

He was moving to the back of the chamber, but why? That was when I spotted a chest behind a couple of barrels. The Apostate threw out a punch of powder from his sleeve which massively spiked my danger sense, and I was forced to dodge backwards, since I had a wall on one side and flames on the other.

The powder sparkled and hung in the air. The Apostate raced for the chest, while I raced for the stairs. There was only one exit, and he wasn’t going to escape. I noted he recovered a dark tome and tucked it into his robes before advancing on me.

That was when I heard quacking behind me. Ten duck cultists were rushing down the stairs. Small chunks of concrete began to rain down. The ambient level of danger quickly increasing. I raced up the stairs, dodging around the duck cultists using the wall twice, as I zig zagged back and forth to avoid their attacks.

The Apostate was right behind me. I pushed myself as I saw the previous cave in begin to collapse. Leaping up the stairs, I cleared the falling concrete and rocks. The Apostate was at the other side of the stairway, having caught up. He was breathing heavily as well. Neither of us slowed down as we raced for the surface.

Entering the building, there were a lot of ducks crowded around the stair way. “Kill the cat!” the Apostate roared out. I leapt up into the air, spinning around, my hind paws, hitting the ceiling. I then shot forward, my claws swiping out. Two ducks took heavy injuries as I went for the Apostate who was running for the door. He could not be allowed to escape with that tome.

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He spun around, his sword across his body in a defensive stance. He adjusted it and my right claws struck the blade, sparks flying everywhere. He was forced to use two paws to absorb the force of my blow and skidded back slightly. My left paw darted forward and ripped through his robe and left gashes on his right arm. His channeling the Snake Ancestral Spirit, limited the damage I had done. Instead of going to the bone with my attack, I only got about halfway.

I felt danger closing in on me from the ducks. Circling the Apostate to his right side, I then dodged back to the closed door avoiding the ducks. The big downside of channeling an Ancestral Spirit was exhaustion and the Apostate was clearly struggling after having fought for so long and the race up five floors worth of stairs.

Two ducks leapt up and glided towards me, while another three rushed at me. I weaved in and out of their attacks. My Claw Combat skill had already improved, gaining an understanding of how ducks attacked and moved. They quickly died one after the other, while I made sure to keep an eye on the Apostate.

He was the most dangerous creature. The cultist ducks were nothing to be worried about. The shaking had slowed down. That was good. Whatever the Quackening was meant to do, it was clear it had gone off half baked.

Soon, fourteen duck cultists lay dead at my paws. The Apostate was staring at me and I could smell a bit of fear. I grinned ferally at them. “Let’s end thissssss,” he hissed out. His eyes glowed bright red and the room seemed to shift slightly.

Hypnosis! I quickly averted my eyes towards the bloody floor, but he was already moving. I retreated as he slashed out at me over and over. “HISSS!” He spat a glob of poison which I easily dodged. It emitted a putrid smell and began to melt the concrete. The lights flickered and then went out.

With the dust coming up from the collapsed staircase. It was now impossible for me to see anything except some light leaking through the closed doorway. I listened closely and kept my distance from the Apostate as he wore himself quickly, trying to chase me down. His right arm was bleeding, which further weakened him.

He finally slipped in some duck blood. I rushed forward, my danger sense spiked. I dodged out of the way as he quickly brought up his sword. Far faster than he had been moving before. A trap to lure me in and he had almost gotten me.

I moved back in and pressure him relentlessly. The Apostate put up a valiant fight, but he was too tired and I knocked his blade away. My paw darted out and savaged his snout. I dodged another attack of venom and moved in again. I ripped him to shreds, making sure his neck was severed.

Breathing heavily, I carefully, removed the tome from within his robes, placed his sword in its sheathe, and took the snake pendant he was wearing off his bloody neck. I took a moment to catch my breath. As I slowly pushed open the door. There were no ducks, they had all fled apparently.

The ground trembled occasionally, but it was nowhere as bad as when I had been racing up the stairs. I saw some of the walls had collapsed. I exited the building fully, and looked around. No signs of any creature.

I then noticed my father leaping down from the wall. “Mittens. Are you okay?” he asked me.

“Yes…no wounds. Just tired. There was a duck cult. But an Apostate showed up,” I replied.

“Where!” my father quickly went on guard and looked around.

“Don’t worry, they are dead. In the building back there. I killed them. But I did learn, that this was called the First Quackening and it was implied there were six more to come,” I said. My father’s tension decreased a bit.

“Good job. An Apostate is no easy fight. One wrong move means death. Make sure to drink plenty of water in case you inhaled any of the poison,” he said. I knew this, but I wasn’t going to say anything. He was clearly worried. My first mission had gone completely off the rails. This wasn’t just some crazy ducks, but a true cult with an actual ritual. With an Apostate showing up, things had become seriously concerning.

“Any ducks left?” I asked my father.

“At the start of the shaking, they all flew up and left. You had me worried Mittens,” my father said with a smile. “Let me check that Apostate,” he said while glancing at the sword I had at my side before entering the building.

I took the time to stretch and cool down, from the intense fighting. My father came out with an impressed look on his face. He closed the doors, and pulled out a large sticker, before slapping it on the door. It had the warning of the Covenant Church, with the threat of being declared a heretic upon entry.

That should keep most creatures away until the clean up crew arrived. Normally they weren’t needed, but the body of an Apostate needed to be disposed of carefully. My father slapped another sticker indicating poison inside. Once I was a full-fledged assassin, I would get my own stickers to slap on things.

“You didn’t mention the duck cultists,” he said.

“They were simple enough once I got used to their beak attacks. The Apostate was the real challenge,” I replied.

“Yes, they are. At least it wasn’t a High Apostate. And you weren’t cut?” my father asked.

“No, I made sure. Their swords are poison,” I replied, and he nodded.

“Good. Never take risks with snake venom. Even a little bit can mean death. Good job. I am impressed. You made me proud,” he said. I felt my face warm up a bit.

“Thanks Master Tom Cat,” I replied.

“Well, at least the aftershocks seemed to have stopped. We need to get back to the boat and regroup. But it looks like this mission is all wrapped up.”

“What?! But there is the criminal who was supplying the ducks with blood. Then the ducks that escaped. The other six Quackenings. What about all of that?” I asked.

“We can get the criminal before we leave and squeeze him. The ducks that escaped, escaped. It is for the clean up crew to handle, but we won’t be tracking them down. As for the remaining Quackenings, we stop things as they come up.”

I pulled a tome out of my pouch. “I managed to recover this,” I said. My father’s eyes went wide.