“I am so sorry,” a woman in her mid-twenties with light caramel-colored skin and short pixie cut hair pleaded as she helped Colin into the room. She’d immediately started apologizing after she’d whacked him over the head with a chair leg and realizing what she’d done. Now twenty seconds later, he was leaning against the wall with a small dent in his head and a little blood crawling down his face.

“Ow,” Colin told her, simply because he wasn’t sure how coherent his words would be right now. That mildly concussed debuff was affecting his mind, making him feel like every thought was slogging through a lake of syrup.

He looked around the room and found the sort of things he would expect. It was a standard apartment-like space with one large room containing the kitchen and the living area. A hall led to the back of the apartment, where Colin was sure there was a bedroom and bathroom. The living room area he was in itself was a standard affair with a couch, lounge chair, coffee table, and even bookshelves containing paper books.

The people in the room are what held his attention. There were nine people in all, five men and four women. Two of the men and one of the women looked very human, and one man looked like a fantasy dwarf, One of the women had the willowy figure and pointed ears of a classic elf. The others he was unable to identify. Two of them, a couple he guessed, had deep swirling green eyes and tattoos that seemed to move a little under their skin. Next was a man sitting against one of the back walls with his hands kept tied behind his back. His most notable features were that he had no shirt on, showcasing his cement gray skin, bulging muscles, and his assortment of bruises. Oh, and he stood around nine to ten feet tall if he stood up.

Lastly, was the woman in front of him. She was thin but fit, with smooth black hair, caramel brown skin, and a unique enough facial shape that Colin would have guessed that she was Indian. Everything except for the eyes and clothes. Her eyes were a deep plum purple that almost seemed to flit back and forth between solid purple and amethyst. Her clothes were more European being in a dingy off-white blouse with a black skirt that fell to halfway down her calf.

Colin held up two fingers, “I am looking for two peeps.” He slurred. “A guy named Roy Clyde and a woman named Viv,” he started before his head pounded and cut him off.

The woman who was fussing over him took a step back, “Viv? do you meant Vivian Wattier?”

“No idea about the last name,” Colin admitted as the throb eased up. “Supposedly, her brother found out that she was dead and needed to confirm it, but I heard she was alive from some of the guards before I got up here. Is anyone of you her?”

His eyes locked onto the one in front of him as she nodded, “I am her.”

“Great, what about Roy Clyde?” Colin asked, looking at the men in the room.

“I don’t think he made it,” the dwarf growled. “Pretty sure they killed him on the first day. He wouldn’t stop yelling if I recall correctly.”

Colin let out a sigh as he checked his debuff timer, a minute and a half remaining.

“Here’s the deal,” Colin started. “I have a way to get you all out of here. I still have some work to do so I will not be coming with you. In the basement, there is an open manhole that leads into the sewers. Go in there and wait for me. I or someone using my name will be coming for you.”

Their faces went from happy to discouraged in the span of a sentence. “How will we get there? There are at least a half dozen guards between here and there.” One of the human men pointed out.

“Not anymore. As long as you move quietly and fast, you should be able to make it there without trouble. Just make sure to close the door to the basement behind you and the manhole too.

They all seemed hesitant to go. Whether it was either out of fear or caution, Colin didn’t know. But he was sure that it was for the same reason that Vivian turned around and said, “I’m going to do as he asked.”

All seemed hesitant, so Colin stood up and held the front of his face with his hand, “I suggest you make up your mind quickly. One of the guards on the floor got away and could be back soon with back up.”

“The old man?” The gray-skinned giant asked.

When Colin nodded, he continued. “We probably got a few minutes then. He’s the type to get skittish about a wolf when it’s actually a pomeranian.” He said with a serrated smile.

“Good,” Colin said, relief about this revelation easing into his mind. “Is there a reason this guy is tied up?” he asked the group, drawing his knife and walking closer to the large gray-skinned man.

The man himself remained quiet while the dwarf answered, “he won’t hurt you. While he’s not a softy, old Rothar here isn’t interested in hurting a rescuer Am I right, Rothar?”

Rothar nodded and added, “You free me from my bonds, and on my Jotun honor, I will help you finish your task here.” The man swore, and Colin believed him with the strength of his conviction alone.” I just need a weapon.”

Without the need for actual thought, Colin completed the walk over to Rothar and started sawing through the bonds. “Sorry about checking first. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t tied up for a different reason. Like being a bounty or something.”

A single note of humor escaped Rothar’s lips. “No, I was just dangerous to them but not annoying enough to kill apparently.”

“Obviously,” Colin said, liking this guy already. He was surprised how little the fact that this NPC was non-human was bothering him. He never considered himself a racist or a bigot, unlike a lot of people he knew when he was still a part of his trade. Many refused to work with Hispanics or Caucasians or just murdered them outright when on the job. Colin had been forced to defend himself a few times but had also made friends among other races, which was considered unusual.

He only hoped that this attitude would continue to hold because he was seeing a lot of races besides humans. Not only would he hate himself for it later, but McKenna would bitchslap him for it AND refuse to put out until it was apparent he was correcting himself.

Shaking those currently meaningless thoughts away, Colin added some pressure to the blade and sliced the rope one last time before it snapped loose.

“Yes! Freedom for Rothar Hagniir!” He crowed, arms raised towards the ceiling in triumph. After a long few seconds, the arms went down, and he started stretching out his limbs. “Alright, may I know the name of my savior and my swordmate?”

Colin was silent for a few seconds before he straightened up and answered, “I go by DevilWalker.”

“A strong name,” the Jotun said appreciatively. “May it strike fear into our enemies.”

“One day,” Colin told him, a cruel smile appearing over his face at the thought of Monty and his team shivering at the mention of his name. “But for today, I got a job for you.” He said, looking over the large Jotun’s form in front of him and grinning. “We are changing my plans just a little bit.”

---

“Good luck, Rothar,” Colin said, turning to look at the female thug, Mota, who was still pinned to the floor. It looked like she’d been trying to remove the offending article only to find that she couldn’t find enough movement range to do so. She should have been able to free herself by now, so either she wasn’t smart enough to just snap the shaft then extricate herself, or he’d beat her more soundly than she’d let on.

He took a moment to look her over. strawberry blonde hair that was cut to her shoulders, pale white skin that must not have seen much sun, hate-filled blue eyes that were glaring at him, and the leathers she wore were loose enough not to hinder her but tight enough to show off her… assets.

Not that he was paying enough attention to know that for sure, he told himself. He had been too engrossed in the fighting a few short minutes ago to notice the woman’s features, and with her prone like this, it was disconcerting easy. Focusing, he crouched low and asked the woman one question. “Do you know where Harvey keeps the Clairvoyant’s Ring he stole?”

Her eyes went wide for a moment before going back into a glare. “Screw you,” she hissed.

Shaking his head, Colin stood up from her and started towards the stairs at a walk. If the rest of the building had a layout like the other floors he passed, then there would be no need to stealth. They would be able to avoid the ambushes he’d done before and counter them. No, straight forward would be his best bet here. Colin only hoped that he’d lowered their numbers enough to make a difference.

Stealthing to the top of the stairs, Colin waited to hear if anyone was waiting for him. When the low and aggressive muttering of a few men reached his ears, a prompt appeared.

Congratulations! You have unlocked the skill ‘Perception’! At 1st level, you gain a +0.5% passive bonus to clarity of vision and hearing. Actively using the skill doubles the passive bonus and cuts down on all background noise.

While not a huge change, Colin could tell that his hearing had improved and that several men were waiting for him just around the corner. Whether they were stealthing and sucked at it or not hiding at all, he couldn’t say. He only knew that he’d have to move fast.

Activating Kinetic Vigor, Colin sprinted up the last few steps and took in the hallway in a heartbeat. Four men, each holding cheap weapons, none wearing armor, and all of them surprised to see him sprinting at them. The nearest was wielding a club, and Colin went for him first. Aiming for the kidneys, Colin dove past the sloppy swing the thug made and stabbed him twice in quick succession before rolling out of the way of his downward swing. The next closest man was charging at him, a blunt and rusty sword swinging at his face that was easily parried with his daggers. Then he ducked low and scrambled between the man’s legs, Cutting through his left Achilles tendon as he passed. The swordsman immediately lost his balance and screamed in pain at the same time, giving Colin an opening to grab and open up one of the wrists with a deep slice.

The last two were the trickier ones. They were more prepared for Colin’s attack since they’d seen Colin practically rip through the first two. The third man in line charged at Colin with a crooked wooden stave, trying to interrupt his attack. But the attack was so awkward and wide that Colin barely stopped to take the blow on his forearm.

You have been hit by Manny with a wooden stave for 7 points of damage. You now have 84 out of 130 remaining.

The blow hurt but significantly less than if it had connected almost anywhere else. This defense also put him in an advantageous position. The man didn’t move to start his attack next attack fast enough, so Colin proceeded with his. His first attack cut into the inside of the man’s man’s elbow, causing the man to grunt in pain as his arm dropped and started bleeding. Colin hustled forward into his next attack, in which he plunged the dagger in his right hand into his kneecap. The man howled, and Colin left the blade in there, leaving the man alive and hobbled until he was ready to finish him.

The last man stood still and only watched as Colin, with a single bloodied dagger in his hand, approached him. The man quaked as he looked between the man who’d just torn through three full-grown men, and the three men who he’d come to know passably well. The one in the front, whatshisface, had stopped writhing on the ground mere seconds ago, and he just knew that he wasn’t far behind them.

His body started to shake uncontrollably as terror took over him.

Colin raised his remaining dagger, ready to kill the man who’d been standing in the back. Then a whiff of ammonia reached his nose, and Colin paused to look down at the front of the man’s pants. Wrinkling his nose at the sight and smell, the man had pissed himself in absolute fear. As much as he wanted to, Colin could not make himself kill a man who would not or could not fight back. It went against one of his few moral codes, like not poisoning an entire city or killing children.

So instead, the man would have to live with his shame of being found with urine covered trousers, and he went nonlethal. With a quick uppercut into his jaw, the man’s eyes rolled up into his head, and he slumped to the floor.

With the threat cleared, Colin moved over to the men he downed and finished them off. One was already dead, the one he’d stabbed in the kidneys, but the other two were still moving. So he walked over and slit each of them across the throat, quick and quiet. It only took a moment to finish the job and wait for them to bleed out. The thought struck him as a bit sideways that he was willing to kill these men after he’d disabled them; it did go against his morals after all. But he reasoned that they willingly attacked him, and this was their punishment for losing.

Congratulations! You have killed Harvey’s Grunts (X3) and rendered Harvey’s Grunt, Jor, unconscious! You have gained 180 Experience points. You have gained 180 EXP and now have 992/ 1200 EXP towards level 5

With that confirmation, Colin stepped into the apartments on this floor and took a quick walkthrough of each. Each of them was similar in form to the ones he’d been through coming up here, and none of them held anything immediately useful. It took a little time to walk through the apartments on this floor, and by the end, his MP had fully replenished. Disappointed and annoyed that he hadn’t found the body he was looking for on the fourth floor, Colin looked up towards the ceiling in the final apartment living room and sighed.

Two more floors to go minimum. Oh Goody, Colin thought as shook his head. In his body on Earth, which was better than his current one, Colin’s reflexes and strength were better than the one he was currently using. Meaning that on Earth, he wouldn’t have had too much of a problem with this since he could change any situation with the right application of equipment, skills, and guile. Now he was only using his skills since his gear and stats were only standard.

Taking a moment, Colin pulled the hand crossbow free and reloaded it. The weapon was better than no ranged weapon, but Colin took a moment to look at its status sheet and winced at its lowered durability. It had lost another point since he’d last looked and was almost at a third of its total durability. With how he could feel it practically creak in his hand, he wondered if it actually could survive until it reached even five out of thirty durability.

Refocusing, Colin hoped that Dante had done his part of the plan and that things were moving as smoothly as he expected. He needed to find ways to up his capital in-game. Usually, he could come up with plans that didn’t involve more than maybe one trusted person for a reason. He commonly used some money to buy what he needed to make a typically five-person job to a two-person job.

Damn, he was procrastinating by overthinking. Colin reprimanded himself as he forced himself to start towards the closed door of the apartment and froze at the voice.

“Where are you?!” ordered a gritty male voice. “Show yourself, you sneaking murderous asshole!” the man yelled as he strode down the last of the steps from the floor above and stopped at the bottom.

Colin had three ideas. Either it was another one of his lieutenants, the mage he had to kill, or Harvey himself. He immediately removed the last option since it was absurdly unlikely that the boss would show himself so brazenly. The first was more likely, but he should be running low on men, so he hoped that this was the mage.

“Where are you?!” he called again as if trying to coax out a dog or small child. “Come out now, and I won’t kill you immediately to give you a chance.”

Without seeing the man’s face, there was no way for his ‘Detect Falsehood’ skill to tell him if the man was lying or not. He had no way of knowing if the man out there was trying to get out Colin of where he could ambush him or getting him out so that he could ambush him instead.

It took a moment, but Colin decided to trust the other plan he’d put into motion and stepped out into the hall.

The door creaked open loudly, and Colin exited slowly, looking above and around him for the surprise he was sure awaited him.

None came, however.

Instead, Colin looked towards where he’d heard the voice and found who he was looking for. Waiting for him stood a being that was easily six and a half feet tall looked like the kind of gaunt you’d expect to see from holocaust survivors with his leather armor lung from his gangly frame. His face was unsettling. It was thin, hairless, wrinkled like one hundred and five-year-old man’s, and bore predatory looking yellow eyes that seemed to taste him without ever getting close.

“So you’re the one whose been killing our men,” the man said, smiling and revealing his sharpened and slightly elongated canines. “How unfortunate for us. Grunts are not hard to find, but replacing them in our situation will be tricky.”

Smiling himself, Colin shrugged and said, “I am sorry to hear that.”

“No, you’re not.”

“You’re right. I’m not just like I won’t be sorry when I get Harvey,” Colin told the thing nonchalantly.

“How are you going to do that? I don’t think you can even get past me,” the thing said menacingly. “The grunts and one lieutenant are something, but I am something so much worse than human.”

“I can see that. That’s why I have him,” Colin said, pointing a thumb behind him. “This one’s yours, big guy!”

A roar not unlike what Colin imagined a berserker’s warcry resounded through the building and seemed to make the whole thing tremble. Heavy footsteps thundered up, each in rapid succession from each other, from behind Colin as smiled wickedly. “I believe you’ve probably heard of the Jotun you all had trapped here. He goes by Rothar, and let’s just say he was pretty adamant about wanting to help me. So I’m letting him.”

Suddenly, Rothar’s large grey skinned form rounded the landing and lumbered forward. In his hand, he held a longsword on a human but, in its massive hand, looked more like a rapier.

Rothar said no words. His eyes simply locked onto the humanoid monster in front of Colin, and he went ballistic. Another roar sprouted from his throat as he charged past Colin, yelling out, “Frost Touch!” once he did so.

The blade in Rothar’s hand started to glow a cold, pale blue, and a thin layer of frost appeared and started to coat the weapon as the ability he announced took effect. He swung the blade once, and Colin knew already that he did not want to make an enemy of the Jotun.

The frosted longsword cleaved the air and swung towards the man Colin had pointed out only for the man to step out of its reach and avoid the attack. At the end of the swing, the sword made contact with the wall, and ice began to form where the metal made contact with the wood and drywall.

“Chill Aura,” the Jotun announced, and its grey skin started to turn a pale blue-white as the room suddenly began to drop in temperature. In a pull that looked a little ginger, Rothar pulled the blade free from the wall and gave the vampire a chilling smile. “You’re mine.”

“We really should have just killed you,” the vampire mage told him. “I told Harvey it could be trouble if we don’t and now look. A Jotun is loose with a weapon, and now I have to deal with it. I swear, if you freeze my teeth, I will find a way to kill you twice.”

Then with a full swing, Rothar tried to attack the mage again, only to have him raise his hand and deflect the blow with a spray of blood escaping from the impact. A tinkling sound permeated the room as Rothar tried again only for the same result to happen.

Colin looked down at the source of the sound only to find little frozen red marbles littering the floor.

The Jotun growled, “A vampire Magus.”

“Indeed,” it said amused. “And my blood reserves are nearly full, so I doubt you-”

A crossbow bolt impacted him in the head, interrupting him and causing the now known vampire to shut up. The body crumpled to the floor in a heap, and Colin gave the Rothar a thumbs up. “Nicely done.”

“This is not over,” Rothar told Colin.

Colin thought about it and shook his head, “fucking vampires.”

“Not just because of it being a vampire. When your Constitution gets above a certain point, you can survive those kinds of critical hits. All you did was stun it, and it will be on its feet as soon as its power removes the small arrow.” Rothar explained.

Colin looked down at the body, and his skin crawled at the display. Seconds ago, the bolt was lodged halfway into the creature’s skull, and now it was only a third. He took a closer look and could see tendrils of viscous blood acting on the bolt and inching it out of its head.

“Can you kill it?” Colin asked.

“Thanks to you. Yes, I believe I can. This kind of healing should deplete a good bit of its blood reserves, so even if it moves before I finish it, my chill aura should slow it down.” he told Colin, a toothy grin playing across its face. Then his gaze moved away from Colin and looked straight at the floor, “are you sure it’s okay for me to kill it? you won’t get much experience if you don’t.”

Colin shrugged, “It’s unfortunate, but I need to keep moving up. As long as I finish that quest that I got, it’s fine,” he assured the big guy. “Just finish up here and go into the sewer with the others.” It’s better to get out of here soon.”

Rothar nodded and, with one full swing down, almost cut utterly through the downed vampire’s right arm. It might have gone entirely through if not for whatever defensive blood ability it had active didn’t lessen the damage.

The vampire let out a hiss, its entire body suddenly jerking as it rolled on the ground, trying to get away from Rothar.

Colin ignored the two now. Rothar said he could do it, so Colin would trust that he could and get onto the real task at hand now. Harvey, the ring, and Roy Clyde’s body.

One of the people that had been taken prisoner knew where Roy’s room was and had told Colin where to look. It should be the first room on the next floor up, and he was itching to be done with that quest.

With caution being prudent, he started stealthing about halfway up the stairs and listened for anything on the floor he was approaching. Other than the scuffling of the two on the floor he’d just left; it was quiet. It sounded as if the next story was wholly deserted, and it felt both suspicious and wrong.

Peeking around the corner, he found no one immediately around the stairs, and he let out a relieved breath. With no one around, he could look into the first apartment and hopefully find the body and the proof he needed to finish the quest for Haversham.

Since this still felt too easy, Colin tread lightly as he made his way to the first apartment and turned the knob. It opened, and immediately Colin was met with a smell of dry decay, like a mummy that was left out in the open. Pulling his shirt over his mouth to try filtering some of the air, Colin moved inside and found his quarry.

In the middle of the living room, lay a dried and shriveled body that was the source of the smell. It was hard to tell, but Colin could see this person being about as big Haversham, and even the clothes looked kind of similar, except for the parts covered in decayed gore. Kneeling next to the body, he looked over the remains and tried to avoid touching the body. In the real world, diseases could be caught from bodies that aren’t properly disposed of, and he wasn’t keen on discovering if that held here.

After careful perusal, Colin found the crafting hammer that Haversham had told him about tucked under the body. At least he hoped it was the hammer he was told to find. It just looked like a ball-peen hammer with a heavy head and the initials’ GC’ carved into the side.

Pocketing the hammer, Colin took a quick look around the apartment and found a few pieces of jewelry sitting on a desk against the wall in the back. A small layer of dust covered the entire space, so Colin assumed that this was Roy Clyde’s work area, and these were his last creations. He grabbed the completed pieces and slid them into his pocket while putting the uncompleted ones into his backpack.

The apartment, now mildly looted, Colin started towards the front door and stopped when a prompt appeared.

The Vampire, Rhoshi, has been slain. For participating in its death, you have received 75 experience points. You have gained 75 EXP and now have 1067/ 1200 EXP towards level 5.

At least Rothar finished the vampire. It meant that he only had one quest left to go, and he was confident he could do it. He was reasonably sure he could do it.

Okay, it was a fifty-fifty or lower chance, but Colin’s luck had held out so far, and he only hoped it would hold out a little longer this close to the end. With this positive attitude in mind, Colin walked to the front door and opened it.

Standing just outside the door with a stunned expression, stood a man in mottled grey clothes and a short sword hanging in his left hand. Colin blinked once, twice, then closed the door.

“Three guesses who you are?” Colin called through the door. “Only the second and third ones don’t count, Harvey,” Colin called as he stepped away from the door. Both daggers now in his hands and ready for the man himself.