"No deal"

"No deal?" The assassin said with an incredulous tone

"I know who sent you so your deal is quite unappealing" Hal shrugged

"I am giving you the option to save yourself" The assassin said while thinking 'I have to distract him and end it with one strike'

"Did you really think I was begging for mercy?"

"You weren't?" Hal asked confused

"Of course I wasn't. I respect strength and you have it so I proposed a proposition so as to spare your life" the assassin said

"Well, you phrased it terribly" Hal told him

"Really?"

"Yes, really. You asked me to let you go"

"Oh, I must have been confused, however in any case..." The assassin suddenly leapt towards snarling savagely "Enough chit chat, I should compete my mission now"

"Finally, he gets it" Hal snorted as the hit almost landed on his chest and he sidestepped, grabbing the assassin's arm and pulling it out of it's socket

"Arrrgh" he yelled leaping backwards, his right arm dangling useless by his side

-puchi-

He spat out blood gritted his teeth before mumbling," I have no choice, I have to use it" and beginning to harness the abysmal amount of cosmic energy in his body, the strain his body was put through was physically killing him but he pressed on and smiled grotesquely at hal

"This will put me out of commission for the rest of my life probably, but I will accept it gladly. This is no longer just a job. It's personal"

1st grade skill; Raging blades!!

A circle of white energy was formed and out of it came five revolving blades of energy that encircled Hal. The. energy the blades were emitting were violent and unstable. Skills were not to be used at the energy sensing realm, even though the theory could be understood it should never be practiced or else, no matter if it was successful of not it would drain the body totally of energy, receding the body's strength by a couple of levels. A grade 2 skill will instantly cause death while for a grade one, the higher the stage the more likely the chances of survival.

Even as he smiled at Hal's envisioned outcome, the assassin was aware that even if he survived he might never recover his previous cultivation base, however at least he would still be alive and when there was life there was....

BAM!!

Hal punched his head and it burst.

"What was he dazing around for? He didn't even notice when I was right in front of him, are all those at the eight stage this dumb, who uses a skill they have no control over"

The instant he noticed how unstable the skill was, all he had to do was look for the weak points in the skill with astral perception and escape the encirclement but the assassin was just dazing off probably thinking that he had the battle won and With his death the blades dispersed.

Hal made sure all of the assassins were dead and stored their bodies inside his inventory, after which he cleaned up the scene and made sure to leave no evidence before leaving and as he did, the astral energy dome faded behind him.

...

Meanwhile, the mastermind of the whole attack stood with his back straight and a smile of pride on his face. He had done what his father would not dare to do. So what if 'Master' Swanson suspected him, there would be no evidence. And besides how difficult could it be to kill someone so weak.

That being said, he still wished he had managed to obtain the secret to his brother's sudden ability to cultivate before he ordered his assassination.

Although the black vine gang were one of the weakest in salmon city, they should be strong enough to take care of a 3rd stage cultivator right?

"Young master Rad, your mother wishes to speak to you"

"On my way".He couldn't wait to share the good news

...

'Fucking bastard' Hal swore angrily

'Are you sure it's him?' Grimiore asked

'Well of course it's him. Who else would hire a local gang?. I am sure Gregory has much better ways to seek my life. This has Rad written all over it'

Just as the 'assassins' had noticed his overly enthusiastic outburst of strength, he had noticed their lack of finesse. They were brash fellows who did not have the skills of precision required of an assassin and as such he had long come to the conclusion that they done this for the money, their actions were more focused towards the intimidation of the small man.

'Now enough talking, are you sure you can track the Salmon?'

'Yes, As long as we get close to it I am sure I can lock unto it's position'