In Loki's Honor

I put some distance between the road and I and hoped Gloria didn't follow me unseen. Nenandil told me she wasn't anywhere nearby so I stopped next to a depression next to a big rock. I stripped out of my clothes and armor with great difficulty because I had a freaking broken arm. It was swollen and somewhat bent.

After I was butt-naked, I shifted for the first time in years. A fire raged in my arm as the bone popped back in place. I couldn't wait. The arm would have to go back to its place as I went.

Which meant I could run on all fours. I was still faster than a band of bandits running in a forest and soon I was stalking them as they ran to their hideout. The trek to their camp took three hours. It meant they stayed overnight by the road to ambush travelers. They were sagging and it would be easy to kill them but I wanted to let my HP regenerate and get some intelligence. I could bite more than I could chew if I was careless.

I watched as they crossed a line of stakes designed to keep wildlife out of a clearing. A few straw and mud huts dotted the area. Rugged men patrolled the inside and some came to meet the returnees. They had an argument I couldn't hear - note to self, purchase lip-reading next level - and assembled a group to sortie and probably return to the road. They wouldn't let us go away free.

A dozen bandits came out led by a man that towered over the bandits and had too much fur. His level was forty-five and as he came closer I saw horn stubs poking from his hair. He was three meters tall as well. A hybrid breed or some unknown race. All others were humans. Imagining them all as rapists and focusing on the disgust I felt with that sick dick back there, I managed to put contracts on all of them and felt faint for a moment. I spent a lot of this so-called spiritual energy. Mostly to put the contract on the tall guy. I felt like I'd overwritten another contract.

After they passed, I went to the treetops and stalked them jumping from tree to tree, being careful to not cast my shadow over them. After they were a third of the way from the camp, I pounced on the hairy horned guy. I bit straight through his neck.

Assassination Successful. Contract Fulfilled.

You killed level 45 Royal Insurgent. You gained 4,675,421 Exp (20,250 base x 10,000 perk x 0,0001 curse x 3.05 perk x 7,57 contract x 5 Class Rank x2 Size).

Fucking shit.

I was so dumbstruck by the message that I missed my opportunity. The other bandits split into two halves. Half of them attacked me, the other half ran the fuck away. The first sting of metal on my flesh awoke me from my Royal-murdering reverie and I jumped into the fray.

The feeling of using my claws and fangs after restraining myself all these years was amazing. I felt an urge to toy with these bandits but I knew I had to be fast. I had to catch the ones running back to their camp before they alerted the others. I struck them with dozens of bleeding debuffs and let them bleed out.

With four functioning limbs, it was easy to overrun the five that got away. One pounce was equal to three or four bleeding stacks and I was onto the next guy. Once they were all neutralized, I finished all of the eleven.

Assassin reached level 18.

Human reached level 17.

Chemist reached level 15.

Surgeon reached level 2 [15].

I needed "Only" nine million to reach the next level. I doubted they had another prince hidden there. Of the points I gained, I spent the Perk and human Skills only. Even if I didn't bother with my Skill points, I had fresh Skills to level up. I had no time to spend with menus.

You gained the Stunning Ambush (rare) perk. Unaware enemies struck by your melee attacks suffer an extra stun debuff.

You purchased the Ektanish Elven (rare) language. You can speak the language of Ektan elves.

You purchased the Elteran Language (uncommon). You can speak the language of Elteran humans.

For learning twenty spoken languages, you gained the Polyglot (rare) trait. Increase the comprehension and learning rate for language Skills by 20%.

Hell, yes.

Now, hello Mr. Elephant. How rude of me to ignore you sitting in the living room of my life. The big guy was some sort of royalty. One, he had a [Royal Insurgent] Class. Two, his Class rank compared to mine gave me an x5 Exp multiplier. Why the fuck there was a prince in the middle of the woods plotting an insurrection? I didn't know. Apricot honestly didn't care. I wanted to get inside that camp and murder everyone except the slaves or prisoners.

And that's what I did. I searched the bodies and removed anything of value into a pile. Then I went back to the camp.

Two guys in Greek-like plate armor were watching the entrance. Their levels were forty-two and forty-three. Their HPs in the six thousands. More than four times mine. Worse, they had neck guards. A band of the meal came up from the backplate of their armor and surrounded the neck with enough room for them to move the heads around freely. They didn't have armor in the upper arm and thigs though. Only a skirt of metal plates.

But these guys were obviously the bodyguards of the prince I killed. Nevermind the premonition I was having that this would have far-reaching implications. But it was their fault to side with rapists and bandits. For that, they would die today.

I circled the camp looking for a good spot to infiltrate. They had a stream that crossed the camp on one side. I moved and after a quick swim, I was inside the camp. They couldn't block the river bed or it would clog with debris and cause a flood.

Sticking to the shadows and with Nenandil helping me detect the blood bags walking around, I found that the camp held twenty people and five horses. With everyone that already died, the day started with more than forty souls. I peeked through a hole in a hut and found the four bandits that fled the ambush sleeping. I went inside and finished them. Just a bite on each neck and the deed was done.

On the second hut, I found there were ten women. Bound by heavy and oxidated bronze shackles. I left them alone. With the two knights watching the camp's entrance, there were only four other combatants in the camp. I prowled around the camp and found them walking the perimeter. A quick ambush and they were no more.

I moved to a spot where I could listen to the two knights talk.

"... not delay our plans much longer. His Highness should return by nightfall. We must talk to him. These bandits aren't pulling their weight."

"I know. You said before, Hector. But we need their help to find the ruins. His Highness needs the treasure."

"He shouldn't lower himself to that. We could've hired an [Explorer]."

"No. It would leave a trail. We don't want to leave any witnesses behind. The bandits will die once they outlive their usefulness."

"I feel sorry for the women."

"Me too. But we mustn't leave any witnesses behind. The prince's rebellion depends on it."

"We should be there with him."

"He's in good hands. All of the ones with him are with us."

I'd listened enough. I climbed a hut and prepared myself. Only one of them had a wooden round shield that wouldn't be amiss in a Viking movie, the other apparently favored dual shortswords. After putting a contract on them because they wanted to murder innocent women, I aimed and jumped.

Contested Dexterity check failed. Enemy {VIgilance} perk triggered.

The guy with the shield moved with unnatural speed, turning around and raising his shield to block me.

"Therianthrope!" Dual Wield shouted.

I clung to the shield and pounced Dual Wield. My rear claws scraped his exposed thighs near the knees and one of my paws found purchase on his biceps, the other scratching his breastplate making a hideous screech. I latched with the claws and lunged at his neck. He jumped backward but I went along. I was about to bite his neck when he headbutted me.

Knight used headbutt. You lost 45 HP. Endurance check passed. You are not stunned.

My head spun but I kept my focus. With his chin down, I scratched his limbs as my claws dug their way out of his flesh and bit his arm. A critical bite severed the limb and left him with a massive bleed debuff. One that he would soak with his more massive HP pool.

I repositioned myself and found Shield moving to cover his coworker. He had a silver dagger in his hand. Smart fellow.

He spun again with preternatural speed. That {Vigilance} perk really helped with surprise attacks. His shield moved around and perfectly blocked Nenandil's ice spike volley, the spikes of ice stuck to the wood. I lunged and bit his leg. Not a critical but he was stunned by the pain of the bleed. I bucked up and scratched his thighs to add more stacks.

The day I was forced to fight something that didn't bleed would be the day I died.

With Shield forced to stand on one knee, I climbed his back and bit his weapon arm off while I scratched every inch of exposed skin to add more stacks of bleed. I saw a flash of metal and jumped. A silver dagger flew below my belly. Dual Wield was still in the game. His HP was still three thousand. I fell beside Shield and bit his leg, severing it just above the knee. He fell down as Dual Wield got on his feet.

"Fucking monster. I'll kill you!" He taunted. I roared.

He dashed forward, the sword ready for a stab. It was made of bronze and not silver so I let it come. Instead of dodging, I sacrificed my right arm to lock the weapon and bite his wrist. I crunched bone and {Vorpal Bite} disarmed him. Literally. I jumped on him, pushing the knight to the ground. He tried to protect his face with the stub of his forearm but I just bit his legs until one came off.

I looked at a wobbling Shield. The knight had his left arm and right leg intact and was still bleeding.

"Curse you. His Highness will avenge us."

I sat. "I doubt it," I told him. "Big hairy guy, two stubby horns? Murdered him a few hours ago. Do you know why? Because the bandits you associated with tried to rape me and my companion. We were just traveling down the road."

He had a face of disbelief. But yes, the prince was dead.

"I see. My life is worthless now. The rebellion failed."

"The rebellion failed when their leaders condoned with rape and murder," I said as I jumped to attack him. He bashed me with the shield, tossing me ten meters away. I tumbled on the ground and stopped only when I hit the back of the stakes. Fortunately for me, we were fighting inside the camp and the stakes were leaning outside.

"Nenandil."

The fairy rained ice on Shield until he died. Then I finished Dual Wield and dashed back to pick up my clothes.

Contract Fulfilled.

You killed level 42 High Knight Bodyguard. You gained 814,562 Exp (17,640 base x 10,000 perk x 0,0001 curse x 3.05 perk x 7,57 contract x 2 Class Rank).

You killed level 43 High Royal Knight. You gained 853,812 Exp (17,640 base x 10,000 perk x 0,0001 curse x 3.05 perk x 7,57 contract x 2 Class Rank).

I would get dressed and come back as a human. A three-hour jog for humans was a dozen minutes for me in the jaguar form. Thinking better, I picked my clothes and ran back still transformed. No reason to walk this distance on foot if I could do so on four sleek and deadly paws.

I put my clothes on next to the prince's body. I gathered his jewelry including a signet ring and put everything in my backpack. Which unfortunately wasn't a dual-sided one to fit on my hybrid form's back. Then I returned to the camp and looted everything. There was a heavy trunk next to a rack with the prince's clothes I left alone. I would ask Gloria to search for traps later.

My last stop was the hut with the women. I approached from outside.

"Hello? Is anyone in there?" I asked making the most innocent voice possible.

"We're in here!" A woman shouted.

I opened the door. "How terrible! Are you well? Let me release you!"

"Beware the bandits, girl. They will get you and put you in here with us."

I looked out. "There's nobody out there, though. Only a dozen dead guys."

They looked confused. "I have not much time. Let me set you free first."

I had a set of pliers I found in a hut and quickly twisted the bolts holding the shackles together. Locks weren't invented yet. Once all the women were safe, I offered to examine them. They were weak, malnourished, and had some bruises but they would survive. I let them rummage through the camp while I packed everything I'd looted for transportation.

They were quick to arm themselves with the bandits' weapons. The only ones I collected were the silver daggers the two knights had. They went to the hut they used as a pantry and brought food outside to share with the others.

"Who killed them? It looks like a monster attack," The lead woman asked. "But a monster would've eaten the bodies."

I didn't have a spot of blood in either my clothes or me. Courtesy of my pseudopods and Nenandil.

"I don't know. I came here not an hour ago. I must go. Take care."

I picked up the heavy trunk and the bag with the valuables and put the load on one of the horses. I would ride another and leave three for the women. They saw me getting ready to leave and approached with worried faces.

"Wait, wouldn't you escort us to the next town?"

"I'm sorry, I can't," I replied.

"You rescued us," Another one said. "We'll die if the thing that killed the bandits comes back."

An appeal to my soft heart. Yeah. It would've worked if I were a knight in shining armor. I wasn't I was an [Assassin]. And I needed to go back to Gloria. I head hooves clopping, a rider approached. Pulling the horses by the reins, I went to the exit of the camp. Gloria was coming, riding her horse with mine following behind. She looked at me, then at the women. With a swift motion, she threw daggers at two of them, hitting in the middle of their foreheads. They died instantly.

"Gloria!" I shouted. "What are you doing?"

The blonde [Assassin]'s voice was cold as winter midnight. "They saw our faces. They can't live. Kill all of them. Now. It is an order."

I looked at the women. "I'm sorry."

"No. You can't! You--" A throwing dagger hit her right on the stomach. She fell back, clutching her belly. Her HP was plummeting fast.

"Kill them yourself so you can be as humane as you want," Gloria hissed. "They saw your face. You are an [Assassin] on a mission. Do not jeopardize it. If I have to kill them, they will suffer."

I drew my dagger and pierced the eye of the woman bleeding from the stomach, killing her brain instantly.

Grinding my teeth, I retrieved my dagger and went after the others.