The inn’s side exit led to a narrow alley between buildings, the kind of space that existed in every town for practical access but that most people avoided after dark.
Perfect for what I needed.
I pulled my hood lower, activated my debug vision, and started moving through the streets with deliberate casualness.
Just another traveler taking an evening walk. Nothing suspicious.
But my scan was working overti, tracking those three signatures I’d spotted earlier.
[SURVEILLANCE_TARGETS: TRACKED]
entity_01: "rooftop / 35m_north"
entity_02: "alley_mouth / 50m_west"
entity_03: "marketplace / 60m_east"
all_targets: STATIONARY
behavior: CONTINUED_OBSERVATION
Should I confront them head-on? Or try to figure out what they want first?
I took a turn down a side street, deliberately moving in a pattern that would reveal whether they were actually following or just watching the inn.
The first signature moved. Tracking .
Then the second adjusted position.
The third stayed stationary but oriented toward my new location.
Yeah. They’re definitely on .
Not just watching the inn. Watching specifically.
Which ant they either recognized despite the hood, or they were tracking anyone who left from that building.
Either way, I needed to know who they were and what they wanted.
I pulled up my status window while walking, checking my resources.
[STATUS]
Na: Jin Raith
Age: 17
Class: Debugger
Level: 22
EXP: 2,340/5,400
Rank: C
MC (Mana Capacity): 270/450
HP: 1,025/1,025
MP: 525/625 ( 375)
Stats:
STR: 33
VIT: 32
AGI: 37
INT: 77
WIS: 45
LUK: 19
Allocation Points: 40
Forty unspent stat points.
I’d been saving them, not sure where they’d be most useful.
But if I was about to confront three unknowns, I needed to be prepared.
More mana for edits. More speed if things go south and I need to run.
I made the allocation while walking, the familiar sensation of stat increases rippling through .
Stats:
STR: 33
VIT: 32
AGI: 54 ( 17)
INT: 100 ( 23)
WIS: 45
LUK: 19
Allocation Points: 0
MP: 750/750 (300 450)
The changes took effect imdiately, my mind sharpening, processing faster, my body feeling lighter, more responsive.
That’ll do.
I closed the status window and activated a quick self-modification.
[SELF_EDIT]
target: "personal_presence"
effect: "detection_difficulty 90%"
target: "movent_speed"
effect: "AGI_boost 30%"
duration: 15_minutes
MP_cost: 85
My form blurred slightly in the shadows. My footsteps went silent.
Then I moved.
Fast.
One mont I was walking casually down the street. The next I’d closed the distance to the nearest signature—the one on the rooftop—in three seconds flat.
I appeared behind him without warning, Oathstorm already half-drawn.
The figure spun, startled—
I activated my debug vision, focusing on him directly.
[ENTITY_SCAN]
na: UNKNOWN
level: 16
class: "ASSASSIN"
threat_level: MODERATE
status: SURPRISED
affiliation: UNKNOWN
Assassin watching specifically?
My eyes widened.
This isn’t Duke Glimor’s style... he’d send hunters or guards, not hired killers.
Soone else wants dead?
The assassin’s hand was already moving toward his weapons, trained reflexes overriding surprise.
But I didn’t give him ti to complete the draw.
target: "enemy_movent_speed"
effect: "AGI_reduction -60%"
duration: 2_minutes
MP_cost: 45
His movents slowed enough that his lightning-quick draw beca rely fast.
I ducked under his reaching hand.
Three needles appeared from his other hand, thrown with professional accuracy despite the speed reduction.
I twisted, modified trajectory mid-flight.
[PROJECTILE_EDIT]
targets: "throwing_needles x3"
effect: "trajectory_deviation"
MP_cost: 15
The needles curved away from , embedding themselves in the rooftop tiles instead of my chest.
Good thing I lowered his speed first.
The assassin’s eyes widened behind his dark mask, clearly not expecting his target to be capable of this.
He drew the short blade from his back in a reverse grip and ca at .
I drew Oathstorm fully.
Our blades t with a sharp clang that echoed across the rooftop.
The assassin’s eyes went even wider when his blade developed a hairline crack from the impact.
Legendary weapon versus standard equipnt. No contest.
But he was good.
He disengaged imdiately, creating space, throwing more needles to cover his retreat while his free hand made signals—
Damn it.
The other assassins were coming.
I pressed the attack on the first one, not wanting to fight all three at once if I could avoid it.
The assassin defended desperately, his slowed speed making it impossible to properly counter.
But he was buying ti, not trying to win.
The second assassin landed on the rooftop behind , a woman, I noted from the build, similarly dressed in dark leathers.
I spun, modified the rooftop tiles beneath her feet.
[ENVIRONNTAL_EDIT]
target: "roof_tiles"
effect: "friction_elimination"
MP_cost: 20
She slipped, lost her balance, had to catch herself before she could attack.
The third arrived from the opposite side, older, more experienced based on his movents.
Now I was surrounded.
This is bad.
The first assassin, no longer under imdiate pressure from , pulled a different weapon, a blowgun.
Poison darts?
I activated combat analysis.
Northeast corner. High ground. Force them to co at you single file.
Then moved before they could coordinate.
They ca at together.
I couldn’t fight them fairly. Not three trained assassins.
So I didn’t fight fair.
I modified everything.
The air between us beca resistant, thick enough to slow projectiles.
The rooftop beca treacherous, unstable footing, tiles that broke under weight.
Their weapons beca heavier, subtle, but enough to throw off decades of muscle mory.
It was expensive, burning through mana fast, but it was working.
They couldn’t coordinate. Couldn’t find stable footing. Couldn’t land hits when their weapons suddenly weighed three tis normal.
I pressed the advantage, Oathstorm moving in strikes that forced them to defend, to react, to stay off-balance.
The woman assassin took a cut across her arm, she hissed and fall back.
The older one tried to close in for a grapple, I modified his grip strength at the last second, his hands couldn’t maintain purchase, then I slipped free and opened a shallow cut across his ribs.
The first one, still slowed from my initial edit, couldn’t keep up with my enhanced speed, took a poml strike to the temple that sent him stumbling.
They regrouped, breathing hard, clearly reassessing.
I stood there, Oathstorm ready, breathing controlled despite the exertion.
Then the older assassin gave a signal to them and looked at and spoke.
"You got lucky boy."
Then he threw a smoke bomb and they ran.
Moving fast across the rooftops, disappearing into the night.
I didn’t chase.
Partly because I was smart enough not to pursue trained killers into unknown territory where they might have backup.
Mostly because I was trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.
Assassins. Three of them.
Soone hired them to kill .
But who?
I sheathed Oathstorm and moved quickly off the rooftop, dropping into the alley below with a modified landing that absorbed the impact.
The street was empty, but I could hear footsteps of guards coming closer.
I pulled my hood lower and started moving back toward the inn, my mind racing.
Who would want dead badly enough to hire professionals?
House Raith? Unlikely. I’m not important enough to warrant assassination.
Did I pissed soone off without realizing?
I reached the inn’s side entrance, checked that I wasn’t being followed, and slipped inside.
The hallway was quiet.
I reached room seven and knocked softly.
The lock clicked and the door opened.
Tessa stood there, her expression sowhere between worried and irritated.
"You were gone forty minutes."
"I got delayed."
"By what—" She stopped, her eyes going to the small cut on my cheek that I’d apparently gotten from flying roof debris. "Jin, what happened?"
I stepped inside, closed the door, locked it.
"Just tripped."
Tessa sighed and moved to her pack, pulling out a small cloth.
She dampened it with water from the washbasin and ca back.
"Hold still."
She cleaned the cut on my cheek with gentle efficiency, her face very close to mine, expression focused.
Then she finished cleaning the cut and pulled back, studying my face then smiled slightly.
I closed my eyes and sighed.
No point thinking much, I just need to be more alert now.
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