Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Interlude 2

Illumca and the Assassin's Guild

In the darkness of night, Illumca walked with conviction, donning her hood to hide her ears.

She had learned to walk with a fast pace whilst not making a sound. It was one of the passive skills an assassin learned upon reaching level 15. Only, she did not have the chance to test it yet.

Her legs led to a quaint little place hidden in the shadows of an innocent little bakery. She glanced at the carving cheery plump woman holding a loaf of bread made of iron, hanging from a wooden protrusion.

“It’s here…”

She knew the hidden paths in the alley from Kelly’s memory, the strange feeling of familiarity made her slightly doubt herself. Those who did not know the path would never find it as they are misdirected by paths blocked by garbage, random barrels and random stuffs.

Like magic.

Here in the alleys, silence filled the air. She could hear the small movements in the shadows from the rats, filling their bellies with trashes. The stark contrast from the border of the world of light and dark felt all too familiar for her, who survived on dregs and hatred. It was enough to make her want to hurl.

She arrived at a plain looking house with a plain looking door made of plain looking wood. But the dark spots at the edges of it were anything but plain.

Illumca wrapped a black scarf around the lower half of her face, opened the door and entered.

The Assassin’s Guild’s atmosphere was very different to the Hunter’s Guild. Here, there was no cajoling, no beer tankards raised at a well-earned gold. Only hooded men going about their dark business.

It was more similar to the end of a dark alley. It was narrow, allowing no more than four men to stand side by side. And there were no pillars or statues, seemingly to avoid being used to hide. The floors too, were made of wood that creaked as she moved. The place was quite bright because it was illuminated by 5 large candles placed on 5 sconces which were nailed firmly along the walls.

An Assassin’s Guild, all right. They don’t allow things to be left to chances.

Three pairs of eyes followed her as she walked to the counter. A wooden table nailed to the floor and either walls. From the ceiling to the top of the table were guarded by thick iron grates, strong enough to handle anything thrown by Assassins below A-Rank.

The counter was manned by a skinny, pale little man with scraggly white hair who did not move until Illumca called out.

“I want to join the guild.”

“We don’t accept applications,” the man said coldly, his thin, skeleton-like finger slowly flipped a page from the book he was reading.

“I know. There are only two ways to enter the guild. The first is by recommendation of a C-Rank Assassins and above. The second…” Illumca placed one of her daggers on top of the counter with an audible clank. “…by taking the place of an Assassin.”

The man licked his finger and folded the edge of the page he was reading before looking at the knife. He opened a small door atop the counter, only enough for his arm to pass through.

He took the dagger and traced a finger across the blade. Feeling each nick and scratches that were its history. “Appraise.”

The man said the name of his skill and he read from a screen no one else could see.

“I see,” he said in a show of small regret. “You…managed to kill her?”

“Yes. And her partner too. I do not have proof of his death, though. It was not a clean work.”

The man closed his eyes, mouthing a small prayer for the dagger’s past owner and stood up slowly. “You want to join, eh? …wait here.”

He disappeared into the oaken door behind the counter for a short time. The dark elf used this time to take glances at the surrounding.

Only three other assassins were in the building. One was sitting quietly while sipping on a cup of fragrant tea and the other two were sitting face to face, occasionally throwing glances at her.

The old man returned not long after, bearing a badge. It bore the image of a skull with a knife through its head. On the back was the image of a goddess. Anukara, the Dark-Mother.

Of course, she knew about the place where the wretched woman that became her sacrifice kept her badge and secret stash. But she chose to let them be for a rainy day.

Tonight, she would start from the very beginning, without the aid of Connie.

“This thing’s simple. You give it a drop of blood, see, and it’ll recognize you as the owner. Just…in case you got slit on the job,” the man said “Our people used it only to store points and usually keep them in a safe place. It could only be used by the owners bound to it by blood.”

“As you know, here in the Assassin’s Guild, we be built on trust. And it is mandatory for all assassins to take a tailing mission as their first mission. No killing necessary. Simply a test of skill. You’ll nab an item that belongs to a target without him knowing. Deadline’s in three days.”

“…” Illumca narrowed her eyes. “Do I really need to take this quest? The Hunter’s Guild don’t have this kind of thing.”

The man scoffed. “The Hunter’s Guild, bah. Even a ninny can join the damn guild. Look, there is a reason for the rules.”

“A reason, you say?”

“Yes. There be a case a few decades ago where a newly minted assassin died from slipping on a pig shit and hit the back of his head on a fence. They found him later being eaten by the pigs.”

Illumca did not know how to react to that funny but grotesque imagery and could only half-heartedly say. “Oh.”

“A disgrace to our occupation, that’s what it is! We never managed to live it down, so we make some adjustments to the rules. You need to pass the test before actually getting the real mission. Shouldn’t be hard if you actually did defeat the owner of those daggers.”

“Alright. Give me the mission.”

“Drop the blood first,” he said in return.

She slit her finger and dropped the blood on the badge. Instantly the somber looking badge absorbed the red liquid and turned dark red.

“Alright. Now as a bit of introduction, we like to keep things one on one here, so you can only take one target at a time. You can’t take a new one if you don’t finish the job. So, do this mission first, and then you can take another. Good luck.”

“That’s…all?” Illumca knew the rules, but still, she was surprised by how easily she was approved to join, despite having to do a mandatory mission. “You don’t need to ask me my name or anything?”

“Sharp edge’s a sharp edge, my dear. Don’t matter who do the stabbing. Only difference is you got paid and you got protection from the guild. Ain’t no customer will bilk on the bill. Races? We don’t care. Peg leg or one eye? We ain't give a hoot. And names? The guild will only want to learn your name after you survive two or three missions.”

The man then leaned forward. “Now, if you be wanting a good weapon, you can go to my lil’ sister’s shop down by the market’s district. I’ll give you the address. I’ll write it here on the mission missive. Ooh, rolls off the tongue, innit?”

“Wait, are you really advertising a blacksmith in an assassin’s guild?” Illumca was surprised by the audacity of this man.

“All’s fair in this business. She might be a girl, but she does a damn good job. The name’s Kaylie. Tell her, Barney sent you.”

The man wrote an address on the piece of paper with her mission on it. Clearly the Assassin’s Guild was better equipped than the Hunter’s.

As she accepted the paper, she leaned over while whispering. “What is the guild’s view about assassins killing other assassins?”

The thin man named Barney inside the caged counter narrowed his eyes. “It ain’t encouraged, but allowed. The guild ground is neutral ground though. ‘If any violation happens here, the attacker will be hunted down by all members of the guild and afforded terminal judgment’. That’s our number one rule. Don’t mess with the guild.”

“Good to know.”

"Well, I'll see you then," the man returned to his books. "If I see you."

After confirming the mission, Illumca exited the building and walked along the alleys.

She maintained a steady pace before suddenly bursting into a sprint right as she neared a corner.

After a while, she stopped. An elongated shadow appeared from above and a hooded man wearing black leather armor and a sword on his right hand appeared, blocking the way.

“A beauty. Yess…it has been oh so very long since I’ve had a good…strong woman,” the man’s voice was like the scraping of a knife across a stone wall. Isn’t that right, Karl?”

Illumca turned around to gain distance, but another man was already standing there. He was a bit taller than the other man and armed with a sword.

“That’s right, Barry. You know, a newbie assassin always tries to look better than they are. That’s why they are so good. That moment when I make them bleed is…wonderful.”

She recognized the two. They were the assassins she saw in the guild. She knew that someone was stalking her. She did not know that there were two.

“Fireball!” she shot a ball of fire at the taller man.

The man ducked in time, but he smelled burnt leather. “She’s a mage?!”

“Get close! She must just be bluffing! A mage is no good in close quarters!”

The assassin named Karl swung his sword while running at her. She dodged the large swipe by rolling forward.

Barry roared and launched a powerful strike which she managed to parry, but the impact made her stumble backward.

“Strong!”

The two was a good combination, their moves coordinated well and never letting up.

Illumca was no slouch either. After the fighting in the dungeon, she knew the danger of being pincered, thus she always tried her best to avoid being trapped between the two.

“Shadow Step!” Karl declared.

As soon as she heard that, Illumca turned around and kicked. She did not dare to easily use skills when she had not yet found the right timing. She felt her foot hitting something. But she was too slow and the man managed to catch her by the ankle.

“Raging Slash!” Barry came rushing in, sword ready to cut her in two.

“Hah!!” Illumca bellowed while spinning, using her caught leg as a pivot and kicked Karl away. But she did not manage to evade Barry’s skill. The sword came from above with a red glow which sent out a gust of wind.

The knife and sword met for a brief second, creating sparks and lighting the dark alley.

The man pushed the sword, making use of his weight. Normally, in this predicament, Illumca would have tried to push back. However, this time she faked being overpowered, causing him to push even further, only to feel something hot and wet running down his legs. Only moments later did he feel the pain.

The dark elf had used the momentum of his push to leverage her knees, crushing his balls.

“Haah! Haah!” Illumca’s breathing was ragged. She knew that the only reason she was still standing after facing the Treant-Golem was because Connie protected her. She did not want to be protected. She wanted to protect her. If she had to dirty her hand to do so. So be it.

“AAAH!! SHIT! DAMN YOU BITCH!!!”

The man fell onto his knees, clutching his bleeding crotch. At this moment Illumca drove her knife three times into his spleen and then his chest.

Arrogance could only be afforded by the strong. Arrogance without the strength and knowledge to back it up was like a man painting a target on his back. As such, she did not think of sparing them. Death was the only acceptable outcome.

“Karl!” his partner shouted, surprised by the sudden death of his friend and leapt forward, sword swinging down. “Raging Slash!”

Illumca spun around to the dead man’s back which was still erect and kicked him toward the second attacker while declaring. “Shadow Step.”

“NO!”

The man could not stop the attack from sinking into his partner’s body and getting stuck halfway into his chest. By then, it was already too late. Two knives had plunged into his body from behind. One into his chest, the other into his stomach.

Illumca did not pull the knives back, instead she chose to step on the body, pressing him to the ground.

She had finally taken the lives of humans. With her own will. With her own hands. Not with magic, but up close and personal. When using magic one would only see the result. To feel the daggers pushing into the flesh of a living human, turning him into corpse and feeling the process from start to end was a different thing entirely.

The dark elf looked at her daggers, still wet from her victims’ blood. It ran onto her fingers, then her wrist, before finally dropping to the cold ground. The sensation was disgusting.

“Uuurp! BLERGH!!”

Illumca spewed out the dinner she had until all that came out was water and stomach fluid.

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and spat the remaining acidic fluid from her mouth.

“Haah! Haah…! This isn’t…good enough.”

Her movements were better, and she used her body more effectively. However, comparing her dagger skills with Connie’s sword techniques were an affront to the latter’s beauty.

“One with the Sword.”

A sword mastery that had reached the level of being unquantifiable. She did not understand what that one slash she used to sever the Treant-Golem was, but she understood the complexity of it. Its power.

Its majesty.

A slash capable of cutting through anything. A slash containing her Dao.

“It was beautiful…domineering…and ravenous…just like her.”

When she used Analyze on her, she did not ask what that means. She thought it was simply another abnormality. But after seeing that move, she knew that if she stayed content with her protection, she would never be able to stand by her.

And that was what she feared the most.

To not be able to stand by her. To be inadequate.

To once again be…disposable.

She caressed the eye hidden behind her eyepatch and shouted.

“No. I will…improve! I will be better! That will be proof of my feeling!!”

Illumca made her resolution and stepped out of the shadows.

First thing first.

Her first mission.