There were many things going for them in this particular job. The chosen felt almost completely safe within the city limits. They didn't understand the illusionary outfit that the ring provided belonged to the assassins guild. The NPC's are scared of the assassins guild and won't casually break their cover. This meant that they could casually walk into this establishment with only minor worries. The only downside to the disguise is that it completely hides your name, observant players will be curious why there is nothing above their heads.

It didn't really matter much as their duo only needed to briefly enter this establishment. Once Wolf points out who the targets were he just needed to keep an eye on the entrance for when they exit. There was an employee backdoor, but there shouldn't be any reason for them to use it. After the targets leave the bar he just needs to confront them and kill them. Wolf won't be assisting him in this effort as he has another important task which was his idea. Locke was a bit surprised, this means nobody was keeping an eye on him at all. He understood this wasn't due to trust, but the fact that running away was an absolutely awful idea.

There was a major rule he had to keep in mind during all of this. He was only allowed to kill his targets, injuring others who defend them was allowed though. Locke decided to have his free boost set to endurance and cast the agility one. This brought his stats to 45 strength, 55 agility, and 38 endurance. Depending on the situation he will switch the free one to strength or agility.

Wolf entered first with Locke following shortly after. There were roughly forty people inside the bar seated at multiple tables throughout. Wolf walked by each person and performed the signal. He performed various actions like pretending to adjust his clothes or scratch himself but every time the left elbow pointed at the target. Locke was surprised how good the illusion was, the clothes interacted properly with those motions. Once done Wolf chatted with the bar owner for a minute, slipped him a few gold coins, and then turned to leave. Locke left as well.

These actions did turn some heads from some of the player patrons because of their attire. They didn't seem to mind much though and carried on with their business. Locke now fully understood what his targets looked like and their names with no room for error. The guild was being extremely careful with this, they didn't trust Locke enough to be able to identify the targets based on name and description alone.

I am still rather curious why they even need me at all? Couldn't Wolf handle this job?.... I guess they want to make me the symbol that the other player sees and not him....but is that enough of a reason? Fuck it, as long as my targets are from The Shifting Coin and I get Sigil scrolls as a reward there will be no complaints from me.

He made his way to the rooftop overlooking the entrance and began to wait. Wolf had already left the area to take care of his part. The waiting gave him time to collect his thoughts.

Locke paid extra attention to the plans as he didn't want to be some sort of scapegoat. So far there didn't seem to be any foul play, but he wasn't going to completely trust NPC's. Based on their actions so far they all have their own personalities and ambitions like normal humans. He understood that he was being overly cautious, but his gut told him not to take what NPC's say at face value. They act too human. The reassuring fact was the system generated a quest with a specific goal in mind.

Unknown....the system seemed to be able to gauge power before, why not now? Is it because it cannot determine the outcome because there are players on both sides? Or is it due to the fact that the developers didn't want people to abuse this kind of system to identify who is weak or not? Maybe the whole scenario is completely unpredictable, with too many variables to calculate.....wonder how long they will make me wait.

Normally when Locke had downtime he would train but not here. There was an absolute focus on his goal. More than an hour passed before the three of them left the bar.

“Look trust me, Desmond's place is the best Inn this city has.”

“Yeah yeah, we get it...can you at least shut up about it for a few minutes.”

Locke jumped down, landing on the steps behind them. There was no attempt to be silent at all. Shocked by the sudden slam behind them they flinched and turned around.

“I hear you were extorting chosen at the Cathedral today.” Locke talked loudly enough for onlookers to hear. Choosing the word “chosen” was to hide the fact that he was a player. The main reason he needed to announce himself was to make sure bystanders understood what was happening and why. If he was to be made a symbol of punishment towards The Shifting Coin these rumors need to be spread properly.

“Oh god oh god oh god. Mesmir I told you we shouldn't....ohhh man look at this guy, we're in trouble.” Destroyer was in an absolute panic.

“Fucking shut up for a minute would ya? Who are you supposed to be? We haven't broken any laws so how about you just go back to where you came from” Mesmir made a shooing motion with his hand and then had a look of epiphany on his face. “Wait a minute, you were in the bar earlier....where is your friend?”

“Why do you believe you're innocent? Your friend there doesn't seem to agree with you.....Enough talk, time to die!”

Leaping towards the man called Flash Locke simultaneously cast an ice spear with his left hand and a shocking touch with the other. He chose to kill this man first because of his name, there was going to be nobody fleeing tonight.

Flash's eyes were locked on the electrified fist going towards his face and didn't notice the ice spear being launched into his right leg. The spear pierced straight through to the other side. The man didn't even have time to react to the pain before the fist slammed into his face. The force launched him straight into the ground, light leaving his eyes. Then his body vanished.

Huh? Why did his body vanish? Thomas and Shelia's corpses stayed around.

“What the fuck! Guards, GUARDS!” Destroyer panicked while running.

Mesmir pulled out two daggers and attacked. Locke was able to dodge easily enough while he moved towards Destroyer. Another ice spear landed true as Destroyer fell to the ground with his leg disabled. Locke jumped onto him and pummeled his face with minimal mana shocking touch spells until he died.

Mesmir backed away from Locke at this point in fear and took up a defensive stance. He must have realized there was no point in running as his agility was not high enough. There were quite a few NPC's and players gathered around to see what the commotion was, so far none of them attempted to intervene directly. Some were calling out for the guards, others had smiles on their faces. Locke didn't know if the smiles were because they enjoyed watching the fight, or because the people who are dying are from The Shifting Coin.

I need to end this quickly in case someone intervenes, my mana is below half.

Locke rushed over to engage Mesmir in a brawl. A flurry of fists and kicks were sent towards Mesmir, but the man was stronger than he looked. He was able to dodge and block quite a few hits before a fist landed into his stomach making him kneel over in pain. Following up the attack was a roundhouse kick that connected onto his head sending him flying to the side. Mesmir landed face-first into the ground not moving, but also not dead.

Not wasting any time Locke went to finish Mesmir off. Just before the attack was about to land a giant sword entered Locke's field of vision forcing him to dodge by jumping back. Landing several feet away Locke took a good look at the person who intervened.

She was a player based on the name Beatrix above her head. Beatrix was wearing full plate armor and wielded an oversized weapon similar to his own. She had semi-short blond hair flowing out from the helmet that didn't hide her face. The lighting in the area was dim so Locke couldn't really tell any other features.

“Mesmir you little shit, explain what is going on here now!” Beatrix roared.

Shit.....she doesn't look like a pushover.

“I...I...I don't know.....he just attacked us out of nowhere, I didn't provoke him I swear!”

A new voice answered. “Are you sure Mesmir? NPC's don't attack people for no reason.”

An old man stepped out from the shadows, based on his attire he was a mage. A well-equipped mage at that with fancy red robes and a long staff. His name showed up as Flamecaller.

Looks like I need to be prepared for fire spells...the old man isn't exactly hiding his specialty. Damn, how do I finish the job now if those two continued to defend Mesmir.

Locke couldn't send a message to Wolf as he wouldn't give out his name. He was too immersed in his role as an assassin to share his identity. It was a pain but he was alone in this and failure was not an option for him.