Back in the antique store Victor rubbed his belly contently and unsteadily walked towards the black-linen couch with Pepi following his footsteps closely.

Carefully laying himself on the couch, Victor was feeling exhausted and did not even bother to walk upstairs to brush his teeth or clean the dishes.

‘’I hope you had a good birthday dinner, Pepi.’’ With his eyelids feeling like led, he felt that regardless of what happened in the past few days, today was a good day.

A small puppy jumped to the couch and made her bed next to Victor’s legs contently.

With the aftertaste of a strawberry cake still lingering in Victor’s mouth, he adjusted his posture and gave the puppy a few scratches and pats with a smile in his face.

Blaah, I am pooped. A new day tomorrow and new customers hopefully? Oh shitfuckshit what about the medical bill? The receptionist told me that I don’t need to worry about it but what if they are like the usual practices and send the bill afterwards? Am I going bankrupt?

Maybe I need to start to market and sell more aggressively, just in case?

Hmmm...Better call Mr.Cooper tomorrow to resupply some mambojambo crap for the gullible… It might not be ethical, but I have an extra mouth to feed now so fuck morality…

Useless thoughts about this and that came to his mind, but he knew that overthinking never helpt anything.

Nevermind, tomorrow's problems are for tomorrow's Victor, why do I need to stress about it now.

Closing his eyes while still giving the puppy some pats, Victor soon fell asleep accompanied by the sound of light wind and the relaxed breathing of the little puppy.

Pepi, laying next to Victor’s feet, soon heard the light snoring and recalled the voice she heard before. Standing up, she was startled by Victor’s voice.

‘’Mmhnmomn… Mana… Like dark matter? Mnomnam. Ccomplex fission in mana heart?’’

Pepi took a deep look at Victor, who now was talking in his sleep while rolling into an uncomfortable sleeping posture.

With her intelligence she understood the words individually, but strung together they seemed like an alien language.

Sleeptalking? Mana is something like dark…matter? What is Master talking about? Manaheart and fission? What is fission? Tilting her head while in thought, the puppy felt that her master was having some strange dream.

Quietly leaving Victor talking in his sleep, Pepi tiptapped towards the counter and picked up an inscribed mug in her muzzle. This should be it?

Taking the mug, Pepi stopped in front of Victor and placed the mug on the ground, licked his face a few times and picked up the mug once again. I will be back when you wake up Master.

Victor turned from the previously tense and uncomfortable posture into a relaxed posture and smiled in his sleep, before relaxed light snoring echoed in the dimly lit room.

Opening the window skillfully with her paws and jaw, Pepi disappeared into the night with an inscribed coffee mug in muzzle.

Captain Murray, covered in blood and pieces of flesh of the invaders, felt a disturbed and confused after he went on a small rampage.

Strange…The small fry are fried but I still don’t understand why they are here to throw their lives away. Distraction?

Having an uncomfortable feeling in his gut, Murray had learned to trust his instincts during his years of service.

Knowing that something was up, he picked up his phone and saw messages sent from his squad.

‘’Who gave them the guts to raid my station?? If I get my hands on the mastermind, I am going to…’’ With a furious and frustrated voice, Murray quickly shut his mouth without finishing the sentence as he ducked abruptly.

A shining ceremonial dagger with exquisite decorations pierced the space he had just been in. Shocked, Murray quickly turned to look who ambushed him.

A slim figure covered in robes calmly observed him with cold, emotionless eyes with a glint of slight interest flickering in them.

‘’What the fuck are you supposed to be in that nun outfit? Can’t you even have the courtesy of showing yourself instead of sneaking around in cosplay.’’ Murray exclaimed while touching the back of his neck, brushing off some cold sweat flowing and feeling a smooth cut in his favorite turtleneck shirt. This asshole almost had me? Howcome I didn't sense him before?

The robed figure tilted its head and then nodded soon after. Unrobing the cape with fluid motion, Murray gulped with amazement.

Wifey dear I truly hope you don’t misunderstand when I tell this story, I did ask her to show herself…But not like this.

Murrays disturbed gaze lingered on the particular detail on the assassin, tattoos.

‘’You came for your friend, huh? Sorry, but he is occupied with helping us.’’

‘’One.’’ A melodious voice called out.

‘’Huh?’’

‘’You can call me…One.’’ With a seductive wink, ‘One’ blew a kiss at Murray.

‘’Well well well, what do you know! You can at least talk prope…’’ Again, Murray’s dialogue was cut short as ‘One’ disappeared and stabbed towards his heart from behind.

Turning and blocking the hand holding the dagger with incredible speed, Murray could not help but curse. ‘’STOP INTERRUPTING ME! YOUR BEAUTY MAY BE USEFUL AGAINST SIMPS, BUT I AM HAPPILY MARRIED.’’

One smiled with grace and took a step back. ‘’You are strong, even above my expectations. Let’s have some fun.’’ Licking her lips, the tattoos on her flawless body lit up in a ghastly blue hue.

Murray grimaced. Godfuckingdamnit, that bitch is strong. My wrist still aches from just blocking the strike.

Feeling that he might have some trouble dealing with her, Murray resolved to avoid full-on confrontation until he had his weapon with him.

If only I can get to the first floor, it shouldn't be a problem dealing with her with my Soulbreaker in hand…

Glancing at ‘One’, Murray felt a cold wind blowing even when they were indoors. Fuck me in the arse… She is proficient in both body reinforcement and metaphysical powers…

The temperature inside the hallways dropped rapidly, and Murray felt things becoming disadvantageous. Yup, tactical retreat after some probes and I can truly fight back after I have my hammer in hand.

Not waiting any longer, Murray shot forward towards One with monstrous momentum and threw a violent barrage of punches and kicks.

Moving around the floor with the momentum and exchanging blow for blow, One curved her mouth into a beautiful smile. Enjoying the violent exchange, she seemed to learn as she fought.

Among martial artists it was a saying that exchanging fists tells more about the person than talking, and Murray was sure of it at this moment.

At the start of the fight, she was fighting like an assassin, but quickly adapted to the rhythm set by Murray and started to match his pace. She is way too quick to adapt! Feeling stifled, Murray concluded that One had not had a proper grandmaster as a foe before, bue she was maybe too quick to learn.

The deserted hallways seemed ghastly as the light bulbs had already been broken, and the only source of visible light came from One's tattooes and mixed flashes of blue, red and purple, accompanied by a shockwave. All the furniture, paintings and the rest were laying on the empty hallways where Murray and One occasionally stepped on a previously fallen invaders.

When I throw a weak punch or kick, she seems to enjoy the fight. Only when I truly throw my grandmaster power behind the strikes, she erupts with power and those strange tattoos light up brighter. Mhmm, her trick of hiding her body in the wind is troublesome but the cold is her true danger. I can feel my joints and muscles stiffen with every passing moment.

Coming to this conclusion about her strength, Murray put 90% of his strength into a roundhouse kick. One seemed to expect this and struck the vicious kick with her dagger, piercing Murray’s feet.

With adrenaline and mana pumping through his veins, Murray was not even the slightest disturbed by this and continued on with his kick to its target.

One knew that she had made a miscalculation, and felt the threat behind Murray’s roundhouse kick. Instinctively knowing that the kick was aimed at her neck, she let go of her dagger and raised both her hands to guard her head.

With a resounding boom, Murray’s kick struck One and sent her flying through the walls.

With his leg still fixed in the kicking position, he muttered curses through his clenched teeth and pulled the dagger out forcefully, splattering some blood on the rubble filled hallways.

‘’Tis’ just a scratch. Ur still too green, rookie.’’ Glancing at the hole in the wall, Murray saw blueish black light from One.

Feeling that this was a perfect opportunity to get his weapon, he still had to taunt his opponent to chase him.

‘’Yo princess Tattootits, I am waiting for you upstairs when you are done with the makeup. Don’t have too much drywall powder on your face or it will look unnatural.’’

Taking the dagger with him, Murray broke out in a sprint to get his weapon just as he finished yelling.

A dark wind was blowing from behind him, leaving the other corpses from the deceased invaders completely frozen solid before shattering into a million pieces.

‘’She did not like that one bit huh? Good to know…’’ While escaping the basement floors, Murray looked over his shoulder every once in a while, just to be sure she was not gaining on him.