"So, I'll ask again. How much do I owe you for my guns?" I asked, leaning into the counter. Kroul's wild eyes finally settled back onto . He bowed deeply.
"If I had known—Please accept the guns as a gift. A token of respect."
I nearly broke out in a wild laugh. It was strange seeing him so unbalanced. I couldn't give him ti to think, however.
I folded my arms. "Ti is of the essence, Mr. Kroul. No one can know I was ever here."
"Say less," the man nodded and disappeared into the backroom, reappearing with an exquisite Mahogany chest he must've commissioned. He must've planned on selling my guns to so fat cat. Too bad I ca back.
Still, it was surprising that he was willing to let the guns go so easily. I reached to open the case, but Kroul spoke up before I could, presenting a second box.
"Before you leave, I was wondering if I could trouble you with a favor." His slender fingers eased open the box, revealing the remaining five kunai belonging to the Fingers of Orochi set I'd seen earlier.
The blades were black as night, yet they glistened with unnatural light like obsidian.
Fingers of Orochi
10 of 10
Demonic Kunai laced with poison that burns the body and mind. Favored torturing tools of Iwari, a 17th-century hand general.
Restored and enhanced by Kroul Dougal, Master craftsman.
"Would you mind delivering these to your Master for ?" Kroul said. "Seeing as you're going to be reporting to him once this mission is done."
I saw the trap coming from a mile away. Kroul was calling my bluff.
"I'm leaving town, actually," I said. "Sensei has assigned an important task outside the city."
"By yourself?" he asked.
"Yeah…"I narrowed my eyes.
"I see, but surely you could call for another disciple. Master achum has been eager to get his hands on these."
"I'm afraid you'll have to deliver them yourself," I said, and Kroul fixed with an expectant look that slowly turned confident as the seconds passed.
Fuck . He knows.
Two of the five Kunai fanned out, stabbing deep into my shoulder and chest, and I scread as pain consud my spirit and body. I felt a headache coming on.
-50 HP.
You've been inflicted by the Black Dragon's breath. Reduces Clarity of the mind and makes you more susceptible to questioning.
I reached for the case containing Ebony and Ivory, despite the pain, but Kroul's hand lashed out, beating mine back. I pulled a pistol and aid it at the spindly man's head before he had the chance to fuck up even more, but it was then I tracked his second hand and noticed he was holding sothing under his desk.
My first guess was an alarm, but then I thought about the people Kroul dealt with.
"What do you got under there, a shotgun?"
"12-guage sewn-off shotgun, actually. I keep it in case sobody is actually stupid enough to try and rob ," Kroul said. "It doesn't happen very often, but every once in a while, riff-raff like you stumble into my store, thinking they're hot shit."
"Ouch," I said as I pulled the dagger stuck in my left shoulder and the other piece stuck in my chest. "What gave away."
"There is no Master achum."
That'll do it. "But what if you'd been wrong? You could've just pissed off an important mber of the hand."
"Any true mber would've not overlooked such a blatant mistake," Kroul snorted, sohow managing to look down on despite being several inches shorter.
"You're no Assassin. Although, I'm intrigued as to how you possess the knowledge that you do. No doubt the hand shares my curiosity. I'll be sure to tell them everything when they arrive."
"Try to alert the Hand, and I'll scream till my lungs turn blue. It doesn't matter if you shoot; I'll bring this place more attention than you've seen in years. Sothing tells you don't want the police looking into this quaint store of yours too closely."
"What makes you think I've not already called them?" Kroul squinty eyes narrowed.
"Pfft. There's no way you have a panic button specifically programd to alert the hand, and if you did, I'd be worried about you. The Hand has a nasty habit of using people and tossing them to the side."
Kroul frowned slightly before he slowly let go of the knife he'd been clutching.
"Take your guns and go."
I raised an eyebrow. "Just like that?"
"Isn't that what you wanted? You're not worth the trouble."
"Huh." I did not believe Kroul was really going to let go for a single second, but I couldn't very well tell him to shoot . I took a precautionary step forward, and his face gave him away. He looked like he was fighting back a smirk, and I dove to the left just as the shotgun went off, shattering the glass behind and announcing my presence to the whole neighborhood.
I fired my gun, placing one, two shots into Kroul's chest before he had the chance to recover. I ca up a second later, stunned that I'd been that easy to take him down.
You've earned 2 Red orbs.
A scream from outside yanked back into the mont, though. A woman ran for her life while another dude rapidly dialed 911.
Welp, there went by anonymity.
I got moving. First, I fetched Ebony and Ivory, which earned a new notification.
You've reclaid Ebony & Ivory. Upgrade the weapon to improve the damage per bullet. All skills associated with each Devil Arm can either be learned or bought from the store.
You've killed an enemy of significance. Claim their weapons.
Fingers of Orochi
Why the fuck not. I gave the ntal go-ahead and received a new notification.
You've unlocked a subskill of Devil arms – Weapon Vault
Huh?
With a ntal command, I made the poisoned daggers disappear, as did Ebony & Ivory.
The AK in the bloody bag, the pistol, and the last knife I still had on disappeared as well.
The new and previously lost weapons appeared under my Devil Arms skills.
Rebellion (Unlocked) Upgrade to First Stage for 500 red orbs
Arbiter(locked.) Unlock for 100 red orbs
Osiris(locked) Unlock for 350 red orbs
Aquila(locked) Unlock for 500 red orbs
Eryx (locked) Unlock for 500 red orbs
Ophion(locked) Unlock for 200 red orbs
Ebony & Ivory
Weapon Vault
The shotgun went into my Weapon Summon subskill as well.
Crossing the threshold, I dipped into the back of Kroul's store and headed for the rear exit. I walked up to an old car at the end of the street that was abandoned and bashed the window in with my jacket covering my fist. It took so ti to hotwire the oldest car I found-- -seeing as it had been quite so ti since I had done that. I made my way towards the highway and punched it.
Congratulations: You've unlocked Automobile Mastery: Basic
In the distance, I heard police sirens and chatter. My heart was in my throat the entire ti I drove. My foot finally ca off the gas when I was miles away from the city, with my fuel gauge halfway to E and my stomach rumbling.
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