1.23: Murder I

Chapter 23

 

Time seemed to slow. Where before I might have called it a persistent trickling stream, at that moment it was a glacial crawl.

 

Jonathan’s estoc was poised, aimed at Barry’s now exposed head, the tip somehow gleaming a dark blue which extended down along its full length. The feeling my [Aura Master] skill provided me about the man’s full power now showing itself.

 

He was going for the kill.

 

I could have just done nothing. It would be simple enough to allow the largest threat to my reign as the most powerful Rift Hunter in the world be taken out right then, and be done with the matter entirely. Taking him out of the equation now, when he was feasibly at his weakest, his level, skills and stats at their lowest, was the best possible time to achieve such a goal.

 

It would be another step on the staircase towards dominance, taken for me, without my effort needed at all.

 

The switch in my mind flipped over, and the world changed, stripping away the worries and the fears that kept me uncertain.

 

Things were clear to me. Barry was an obstacle, but he was also, for the moment at least, an ally. His establishment of Paragon, and the public support at his back were assets that I could leverage and use without having to cultivate it on my own. And having a Legendary Tier Hunter trusting in me, it was worth a massive amount all on its own.

My plan, as it was at the time, necessitated Barry being alive.

 

And at that point I couldn’t deny that I viewed Barry, at least in part, as a friend.

 

[Jonathan Staix – Lvl 9 – Marked to Die]

 

Unleashing the full capability of my massive stats, I stopped holding back. [Blood Manipulation] activated, empowering my muscles to their maximum. My feet pushed down through the white tiles, cracking the concrete beneath it as I rocketed forward, my runeblade appearing in my hand.

 

Time unfroze.

 

Blood sprayed across the white floor as a head fell to the ground, eyes wide in shock as though it couldn’t understand how it had been separated from its home. Shouts and gasps filled the area as everyone watching was uncertain of what they saw.

 

[You have slain Jonathan Staix – Estoc Reaper – Lvl 9

You Have Reached Level 13

Skill Progress; Marked to Die -> Lvl 4 Beginner, Blood Manipulation -> Lvl 4 Beginner

Ability Activated: Soul Usher (F)
Harvesting Soul Essence…
Soul Essence absorbed: 89
Essence to next ability rank: 352/1000
Options available…]

Francis, Huwett and Vasquez all rushed to Jonathan’s headless body, each with weapons drawn or a spell prepared. They arrived too late, only staring at the result of my own handiwork.

“Oh my god, did you see that?”

“Did that guy try to assassinate the Guild Head?”

“That other guy moved so fast, I didn’t even see what happened.”

Murmurs and shouts rang about as I wiped my sword clean and stored in my inventory. I turned around, seeing Barry still bent over, his hand grasping his helmet, and shock written on his face.

Norton arrived seconds later, checking over the Paladin, and of course finding no wounds in need of healing. The large healer glanced at the corpse that still leaked blood onto the floor and only shook his head.

“Assestments are now over for the day. Please leave the facility, we will call you back as needed.” Clara said as she walked towards us from the platform’s staircase, Natalyas and two assistants following in her shadow.

“We need to call the cops!” Someone yelled.

“The proper authorities will be called. We have all your information, if statements need to be made from you, you will be contacted.” She said.

Quickly, everyone was ushered outside in a group. One of the assistants were already on the phone, presumably calling the needed authorities.

“Are you alright?” I asked, looking at Barry.

“Uh, yeah. Thank you, Adam,” he replied after a moment. “I tried activating my bubble, but it was on cooldown. And I was caught off guard completely.”

“I think that was the plan,” I said, looking at the headless body with a frown. “He timed his attack right when he knew your defenses were weakest. He lied about his class, and held back his abilities to make sure we wouldn’t suspect him.”

“If you weren’t here… “ Clara said, trailing off into silence.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

My phone beeped at that moment, and I looked down to see I had just received a text from Richard. The timing was perfect, almost suspiciously so. “Excuse me for a moment please.”

‘It went just as you said. After the interview they took some of us to a Tutorial Rift. We just completed it and I managed to earn an Epic Class, Shade Knight, just like you said. We can talk about it more later. Gerard is gathering everyone for a briefing.’ The text read.

Hmm, things went how I expected then. Gerard is recruiting for something. His own guild, maybe? I’ll have to look into that more later. I thought. For now…