I stood leaning with my back on the cold stone entrance of the village, my new dagger in my right hand as I looked at it while waiting for the trader and his caravan to show up. It wasn’t quite noon, but it was getting there, and I was tired of waiting.

The dagger itself had a slight downwards curve to it, both sides deadly sharp. It reminded my of the type of edge you would find on an actual forged tanto instead of one of those cheap knock-offs that were mass produced. The handle itself didn’t look special, nor did the blade. There were no engravings, nor was there an unnatural glow to them. They were simple, with only one function, and I had a feeling I would be using these daggers for that function, more than once, before the day was done. I slowly started to spin and flip the dagger in my hand. Doing so often calmed me down, and plus, it was something to do. I saw this being done in the real world a few years ago, and I practiced it whenever I was logged in and doing nothing otherwise. I had a thought that it was much easier to do in the game than it would have been otherwise, and much less risky.

“Ah, there is the beauty I was looking for this morning, are you ready to leave Raven?” I heard a voice from beside me. So focused in my spinning blade I didn’t realize the caravan arrived. Oops. I looked at him, swiftly grabbing my blade as it was in the air, sheathing it, and nodded that I was ready.

“Everyone, let’s mount up and head towards our future of gold! Onwards to Kinderfell,” he shouted for some reason. As the caravan started moving, I took my place in the front, with my eyes looking over the dirt road that I’ve become so familiar with over the last few days, even though it seemed like a lifetime ago. For sure, I learned some harsh lessons here, but could only think back to some of the better times. This would be a long walk, but at least it was mostly downhill. Seems Timberdenn was at a fairly high altitude, probably in a mountain range would be my guess.

The walk itself was peaceful so far with no threats that came out to meet us. I did see some movement from wolves, but they didn’t try to attack, nor did the horses that pulled the caravan seem to mind them, but still, I kept my vigilance. I was sure it wouldn’t be long now, and I was right.

In the distance, I saw a sharp bend in the road which, in my mind, was a perfect ambush spot. The bend went around a large hill so that it was impossible to see around it. I slowed my steps and spoke to the trader.

“I think we might have some trouble down there and I want to check it out. Move one of the wagons to the side of the road, and have a few people act like they’re working on it, but don’t be too obvious.”

The trader just looked at me, a question on his face. “Are you expecting trouble,” he asked. I only grunted, and mumbled under my breath that I was always expecting trouble.

As I moved forward and to the side of the road where the path went into the forest, I heard the trader shouting to the caravan to stop as I asked. Reaching to some of the darker shadows that were cast by the trees, I activated Stealth, becoming invisible.

I stalked towards the bend silently, keeping in the shadows to minimize detection. If this was an ambush, the bandits were good, since all I heard was the sounds of the leaves moving through the slight breeze. I climbed up the hill that the bend wrapped around, and I spotted a lookout that was facing down the road at the caravan. He was pretty well hidden crouching behind a tree and some bush. I made a mental marker of where he was, and stalked past him to see if I could find any others. Reaching the top of the hill, I saw five bandits in the road, and could see two archers on the other side of the road, their bows in their hands and an arrow already knocked. Behind the bandits stood their leader, which was obvious from the black chainmail that he wore. Since he didn’t wear a helmet, his features stood out. He was human, but there was something otherworldly about him. Studying his features, it was clear why he seemed off to me. His eyes were as black as charcoal and there was an old scar that ran down the side of his face. With the amount of bandits, it was clear that I wouldn’t be able to engage them all, even with my current stats.

Instead, I stalked backwards until I could not see them, finally turning around. I could at least take care of the lookout, and get reinforcements from the mercenaries.

I silently stalked towards were I had left the lookout, and a few meters behind him, I made a hand gesture which allowed me to cast the Assassin’s Mark. I crept behind him and when I was in range, I immediately spoke the words, “Assassinate,” as I slid the edge of my dagger across his neck.

His body went slack as the blood poured from his neck onto my daggers and hands. It’s metallic smell assaulting my senses, the feel of the blood on my hands slick. Even though he was an NPC, this was different. He wasn’t a goblin, or some monster. He was human, just like me, and I ended his life like it was nothing. My hands shook as the realization hit me, but I still had a job to do. Pushing my emotions back, I reached into his pockets and pulled out a small coin purse that had 2 silver in it and added it to my inventory.

After that was done, I again activated Stealth, and stalked back towards the caravan to report what I had seen. Getting to the caravan, I saw Trader Bartley looking around nervously. The mercenaries stood on guard, while the trader’s helpers were around one of the caravan wagon’s wheels, as if it was having problems. Deactivating Stealth, one of the mercenaries that was looking in my direction jumped, visibly shaken that I literally appeared from nowhere. His reaction made me smile, which was much needed after what I had just done.

After walking towards the trader, I explained to him what was awaiting the caravan. I had a plan which I explained to him and the captain of the mercenaries.

“Okay, we have five bandits standing in the road, their leader behind them. There are also two archers on the left side of the road standing in the tree-line as well. There is also something off about their leader. What I need your team to do Captain, is to march around the bend to engage the ones in the road. I will take care of the archers and then assist with the bandit’s leader. Keep the leader facing the sun, and make sure that no one is behind him.”

The mercenary captain nodded to me and walked off to his group calling them to him. The trader looked at me, nervously sweating. “What do you want us to do? We’re not fighters…” he started.

“That’s not a problem. Just stay here while we take care of the bandits, and one we’re done, we’ll come back and we can get on our way,” I said, giving him a smile which I hoped would alleviate his fear.

Once I was satisfied, I again activated Stealth and made my way to where I saw the archers.

I stood semi-crouched behind the archer that was on the left, both of them facing away from me towards the road. Both of my daggers were out as I waited for the mercenaries reach the bend, my elven senses on full alert. As I heard the footsteps from the mercenaries getting closer, I made two rapid motions, performing the Mark of Death on both of the archers. I saw them ready their bows, focused on the road.

“Assassinate,” I said, immediately killing the archer I was behind. As he started falling, I looked at the other archer who still had his bow pointed towards the road, however, he was looking at me, stunned. I dashed over to him, slashing at him as I performed a Garrote. Using that momentum, I spun around him, my Assassinate still on cool down. Performing an Eviscerate, I saw the green and red glows surrounding him. He would be dead soon since he was now both poisoned, bleeding, and silenced, unable to call out for help.

Leaving the archer to die, I dashed through the trees so that I could get behind the bandit’s leaders, activating Stealth as I ran. I could hear the leader give the command to attack the mercenaries who were now in view. Since I was not in range to cast Mark of Death on any of the bandits, I could do nothing but watch, and wait.

From my current position, I could not see the battle between the bandits and mercenaries, however, I could hear several screams and the sounds of metal meeting flesh. I was confident that the mercenaries could handle the bandits though. I counted the sounds of the bodies falling. “1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7,” and then silence. I heard the captain of the mercenaries call out, “Surrender now, or fall with the rest of this filth,” obviously speaking to the bandit’s leader.

Laughter. I heard laughter, but it was not joyful. No, this was the laughter of blood-lust and insanity. “You fools. It is no matter, I will claim your souls for myself and get the piece of the orb.”

This didn’t sound good, not at all. Only one type of enemy would say that, a demon. I could only hope that it was a low level demon such as an imp. Swallowing my own fear, I stalked towards the leader who either was unaware of my presence or didn’t care. I hoped for the first option. I could see the road now, four of the original six mercenaries in front of the leader, in almost what looked like a half circle.

The bandit leader raised his arm in the air and black tendrils started forming and wrapping around his arm. Just before I could get into range, he made a cutting motion with his raised hand dropping his arm across his chest. The black tendrils rushing from his arm to the closest mercenary who screamed in pain. The others rushed towards the leader, their swords, axes, and maces drawn.

For my part, I now stood up from my semi-crouched posture behind the demon. Luckily, it seemed not to have noticed me, so it truly was a low level demon. As it cast the black tendrils, the mercenaries blocking the attacks, I whispered in it’s human ear, “Assassinate.”

However, this didn’t kill him as I hoped. Instead, he turned to me, the black tendrils seemed to have a life of their own as they still fought with the other mercenaries. “Bitch, I will have your soul for that!” he yelled, as thick, black ooze fell from his wound.

I lunged forward, performing Eviscerate and Garrote in rapid succession, the familiar glows surrounding him. He reached to his side and a black, curved blade with jagged edges appeared in his hand. Just as he attacked, one of the mercenaries got into range and attacked him. The demon just gave a furious yell as it attacked me, trying to get rid of the worst threat. As his blade came closer, faster than any attack from a normal monster that I came across so far, I instinctively performed a Riposte, parrying his blow and further damaging him. A notification flashed from the side of my vision.

Grinning, I yelled, “Taunt him!”

“Taunting Blow!” a voice replied. It was the mercenary captain. The demon spun around towards the captain, now enraged that the mercenary had taunted him. It raised it’s demonic sword to attack the captain.

“Assassinate,” I whispered. The blade fell to the ground, turning into a disgusting, dark yellow smoke as it hit, disappearing. The demon fell to it’s knees, and fell to its side, now dead.

I looked up and saw that there were now only three mercenaries, one of which was the captain. “Well played Captain, though I’m sorry about your team,” I said as I looked at him.

He winced, turned around, and started walking. As he walked away, almost under his breath, he said, “It’s a part of the job.”

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me, as I watched them return to the caravan. Looking down, I examined the demon. Now that it was dead, the illusion that it was maintaining to look human dissipated, revealing that it was an imp, one of the lowest classes of demons there was. Narrowing my eyes, I got down on a knee and rummaged through it’s pockets. I pulled out a letter which read:

Sayth, the piece of the orb that you’re looking for is held by the one who calls himself Trader Bartley of House Karline. No matter the cost, I want you to get it and return it to me. The Orb of Destruction must be completed before we are able to enter this realm enmasse. Failure is not an option.

The letter did not say who it was from which worried me. From the wording, it seemed that a greater demon was behind this attack, and what exactly was the Orb of Destruction? Supposedly, Bartley had a piece of it though. I also removed a small, ebony bracelet that the demon was wearing after viewing it’s stats:

Bracelet of Demonic Power

Rarity: Uncommon

Level: 10

Weight: 0.1

Durability: 250/250

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Stats

Agility: +5

Vitality: +10

Wisdom: +5

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Bonus Effect: This item enhances all fire based attacks by 5%.

While not a bad item, it was more designed for mages, however, I could always use the stats for now. I slid the bracelet on my right arm, immediately feeling the effects that it gave. Other than the letter and the bracelet, the imp also had 1 gold and 55 silver on him, which I was in dire need of. Standing up, I went to salvage what I could from the rest of the bandits, finding an additional 35 silver, but nothing else.

Reaching the caravan, I spoke briefly with the trader letting him know we could continue with our journey, and we continued our journey to Kinderfell while I was lost in my thoughts.

***

“Blood, so much blood. The air thick with a metallic smell. Not only was I a murderer, I was also a defiler of corpses, stealing them of their belongings. It was never like this before, it was always… less real, less… primal.”

I almost gagged as I remembered the battle against the bandits and the demonic imp. I had to steel myself against these emotions, against these thoughts, however hard. I made my decision to walk this path, to become an assassin. It was what I knew, it was what I was good at, however disturbing it might be.

“But did they need to die? Wasn’t there any other way? But they were just NPCs, right? They had to die for the quest, sure, but couldn’t I have just disabled them instead? It was just so easy…” I continued my thoughts.

“It doesn’t matter, this is my path, however hard it may be. I cannot afford to be weak, this is my new life.” I finally came to the conclusion, my resolve hardening the pits of my stomach.

“What is this orb that they were after? Is it an artifact? The name doesn’t give me any fluffy thoughts at all, I mean, the Orb of Destruction? Whoever, or whatever, controlled the imp said that they need the orb before they can come across the gates enmasse, so is it an artifact capable of opening a large gate instead of them needing to come across the plane one by one?”

“This is obviously apart of a campaign quest, the only question is what type of campaign quest. Obviously not the quest for the assassin class since I would have gotten it on Shadowblood, so that means it is either the Deity campaign quest or the Dark Elf campaign quest. If it is the former, then Noctis should have something to say about it soon. If it’s the latter, then I should get some information about it when we reach Kinderfell.”

“Whichever it is though, I’ll need to convince Bartley to hand over his piece. If it’s something he is trading, that will be easy. I’ll just need to negotiate with him so that I can purchase it. If it’s something else though…”

Getting my thoughts in order, I pondered the different ways I could get the piece from him.

“I really don’t want to assassinate him for the piece, which I’m sure I could do. If I did that, I would have more blood on my hands, innocent or not. Not too mention that if I did that, I would also have to engage the entire caravan, including the mercenaries. No, I don’t want to go that route.”

“Perhaps I could steal it? If I had any points in Pick Pocket, that would be an alternative. I suppose I could always just tell him what’s going on, perhaps he would just give it to me, since his life is on the line and all.” Smiling, I knew the what I needed to do.

The sun was starting to disappear behind the horizon, and soon, night would fall. It seemed that due to the ambush by the bandits, we lost quite a bit of time. I walked over to the wagon that Bartley was currently riding in and informed him that we should stop for the night, since it would be dangerous to keep going when it got darker out. He frowned, but he knew just as I did that I was right.

“You heard the little lady everyone,” he shouted. “Let’s pull this caravan over to the side of the road and let’s set up a camp for the evening. Captain, if you could, have your men set up shifts for the evening to keep watch. Pearson! Get your scrawny little ass up here and get a fire going.”

I was slightly in shock at the trader’s display of authority. Before, he seemed like he was just a meek little rabbit. Perhaps though, this was his element, since he must be making these types of runs often.

Shortly after we set up camp, a pot of stew cooking over the fire, one of the helpers in the caravan handed everyone a metal cup with a warm liquid that steamed, reminding me of those cups that people used in the old days. We were also all given a small pan, obviously for the stew that was currently being made.

While we waited, I sat down on a log next to the trader, who was sitting in a chair that could be broken down and stored. He looked over to me, the shadows of the fire flickering across his features. His regal clothing now wrinkled and dirty, he looked somewhat vulnerable out here in the wilderness. He didn’t look like he did at all when we were back in town.

“Raven, I just want to thank you for your help with those bandits. I heard the captain saying how tough of a battle it actually was, and that we all would have died if you weren’t here with us,” he said, his face fallen with grief, as he remembered the other mercenaries that he shared a table with. It was odd to see and my emotions threatened to rise up.

Suppressing my emotions before I spoke by closing my eyes and opening them again. “It was nothing Bartley, though, we do need to talk about the attack. I found this letter on the demon that we killed,” I said, handing him the letter. He looked down at it and started reading. After a few seconds, he handed the letter back to me, his hands shaking.

“There is something. It’s an artifact that has been in my family for generations. Supposedly, it’s why everyone in the House of Karline is such able traders. I’m sorry, but I cannot get rid of it.”

I looked at him and frowned. “That is just a fairy tale and you know it Bartley. Even if it wasn’t, is it truly worth your life? Let me ask you, what good of a trader would you be if you were dead? Do you have any children? You’re not wearing a ring, so I know you’re not married.”

He looked at me, his face solemn. “No, I’m not married yet, and no, I don’t have children. I was hoping to settle down after this run, once I get back to Rockfall. It’s in the human lands you know, need to take a ship to get there.”

His face grew haunted as he looked back into the fire. “But you’re right, you know. What good would it be having a lucky artifact if I was dead? Stay here, I’ll get it for you.”

I only nodded and faced the fire, patiently waiting for him. I heard him walk back to the wagons and dig through his belongings, fetching out the piece of the artifact that he had. Once he had what he wanted, he returned and sat back down.

“Like I said Raven, this has been in my family for generations. Take good care of it, okay” he said, as he handed me what looked like a curved, wooden carving. I turned it over and looked at it. It had a hole on one of the ends, clearly something else was supposed to be attached on it. However, what was most striking, was the engravings.

It was an alphabet of sorts, ancient. Even though I couldn’t read what they said, the carving hummed with power in my hands. The engravings themselves had a slight, infernal glow to them. Yes, this was definitely of demonic origin. Carefully, I opened my inventory and stashed it before closing the inventory window.

“It’s in good hands Bartley, thank you.” I said before going to my tent so that I could train before I went to sleep for the night, hoping that my dreams would not be of blood and death.

As I laid down in my tent, I brought up my stats, solemnly added the two points into agility and strength. The final point was added into dexterity. I also pulled up my ability list increasing Apply Poison to level 3 and Assassin’s Mark to level 5. I now had the following build:

Character Name: Raven

Occupation: Assassin

Level: 11 (973/978)

Health: 2575

Stamina: 1625

Mana: 2350

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Stats

Strength: 90

Dexterity: 30

Agility: 79

Vitality: 50

Wisdom: 45

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Damage: 495-765

Critical Hit Damage: 535-805

Critical Hit Chance: 40%

Armor: 9

Evade Chance: 3%

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Resists

Slashing Damage: 20%

Blunt Damage: 15%

Piercing Damage: 15%

Fire Damage: 15%

Cold Damage: 15%

Lightning Damage: 15%

Poison Damage: 20%

Disease Damage: 15%

Soul Damage: 10%

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Skills

Stealth (Level 5)

Backstab (Level 1)

Eviscerate (Level 5)

Throw Magical Dagger (Level 1)

Riposte (Level 5)

Garrote (Level 1)

Advanced Assassinate (Level 5)

Assassin’s Mark (Level 5)

Apply Poison (Level 3)

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Equipment

Chest: Rawhide Leather Vest

Pants: Rawhide Leather Pants

Gloves: Rawhide Leather Gloves

Bracer (Right): Rawhide Leather Bracer

Bracer (Left): Rawhide Leather Bracer

Feet: Rawhide Leather Boots

Cloak: Cloak of the Hobgoblin

Necklace: Amulet of Noctis

Ring (Right): Ring of the Hobgoblin

Bracelet (Right): Bracelet of Demonic Power

Weapon (main): Iron Dagger

Weapon (offhand): Iron Dagger

Looking over everything, I closed both windows and fell into a deep sleep, anxious to finally get to Kinderfell in the morning.