*Happy holidays, everyone. Hope everyone's okay. I'm thinking this might be the last chapter that I publish this year. Don't quote me on that though. I appreciate everyone stopping by.*
"Prepare yourselves, lads. These contracts will blow your minds."
Ryo slammed his hand on the table as he whipped out three envelopes with papers inside of them. He excitedly grabbed an envelope labelled 'Kane' and pulled out the contents from within it.
"Kane, my good lad. You have an interesting task."
Kane took a drag of smoke from his pipe, crossed his arms as he remained seated in his chair and gestured for Ryo to commence reading the contract.
"Your target's a suspicious-looking fellow, we've been keeping an eye on him for a while. He's had a few conversations with some high-ranked individuals and information has spewed around that he has something important about him. We have been tasked with shutting him down. I can give you his name, which I don't think is even his real name and his general location. You're looking for John Smith who hangs around the Bosut area."
Kane pushed his chair backwards, quickly stood up and grabbed the contract.
"John Smith? Are you kidding me?" Kane raised an eyebrow as he skimmed through the contract.
"Hey, I said it was an alias, didn't I? Listen, the Creed tasked me with giving this one to someone who can figure it out from the little information that was given. You're the perfect man for the job."
Kane smirked and nodded with appreciation as he walked back to his seat. Ryo looked through the other two envelopes and picked out Hugh's contract.
"Some good news before I open Hugh's contract, we've finally located the two prestige Templar influencers. Louis Carbato and Camila Fernando."
Luka, Kane and Hugh lifted their faces with determined expressions.
"That's excellent news, Ryo!" Kane exclaimed as he turned towards Ashley who looked rather confused. "Right. Ashley, Carbato and Fernando have been on our to-do contracts for a while now. We've been aware of their presence for quite a while, but they've finally arrived here, it seems."
Kane crossed his arms once more as he took another drag from his pipe.
"They're perfect business partners. Originally from Italy, Carbato is regarded as one of the most influential bankers in all of Europe. He has been making business strategies and moves since he was 12. His knowledge in the field of business and money is beyond anyone's comprehension. Well, everyone except for one." Luka turned towards Ashley as he calmly explained the origins of the Italian. It seemed like the Croatian Creed knew a lot about the two of them.
Hugh entered the conversation in a very serious tone.
"The Spanish queen of art galleries, conventions and artistry in general, Camila Fernando. Similarly to Carbato, she's widely known as the queen of European artistry. She's ruthless, makes incredibly precise decisions and makes them without a second thought. You could come to her with a business proposal that would be amazing, but if she doesn't like you, she could have your life ruined, possibly ended altogether. She's a woman of insane power and influence, which is the main difference between her and Carbato." Hugh kept impatiently tapping his shoulder as he sat down, cross-legged.
"However..." Kane spoke up again as he stood up. "You combine those two and you get an unstoppable business duo. They've been systematically visiting every country in Europe and marking every business they can think of as their own. Naturally, Croatia would be on their list somewhere, so we patiently waited for this opportunity."
"We knew they'd stop by here. Osijek has a very prestigious art gallery located near Tvrđa, once known as Croatia's most advanced, biggest and strongest Habsburg fortress. We had hoped to kill two birds with one stone, and now the chance has finally presented itself."
"That's where your and Ashley's contract comes in, Luka. You're going to be infiltrating a prestigious event at the art gallery and eliminating Camila Fernando silently." Ryo respectfully cut Luka off as he announced the contract.
The whole room turned silent for a few moments.
"Well, that's the preferable way of dealing with it. The basis of the contract is just to kill her and escape. You can figure out the rest yourselves." Ryo turned towards Hugh and snapped his fingers. "I think you know where this is going, Hugh, my man."
Hugh darted his vision towards Ryo immediately.
"You'll be personally eliminating Louis Carbato inside of his office that he has set up near the art gallery."
Hugh loudly exhaled through his nose as his eyes lit up with resolve. "Grab your contracts, all the necessary information will be in there. Good hunting, everyone. I'll stay back to look after the sanctuary just for a day longer to ensure everything is in order. Dismissed!" Ryo shouted with excitement as he got up and started heading towards his private quarters.
Ashley and Luka skimmed through their contract as they realised what time it was.
"We need to head to Rae for our gear, don't we, Luka?" Ashley reminded Luka as he slowly nodded and put down the contract for later. They hurried in the direction of the smithery as Kane and Hugh shared a satisfied expression between themselves.
"I'll head to bed, brother, this is a great way to end the day!" Kane exclaimed as he gestured a goodbye with a smile on his face.
"Have a good rest. I can't possibly sleep now, this got me pumped." Hugh and Kane laughed simultaneously as Hugh was left alone in the main hall.
...
"My lovelies! You've made it down to the wire, haven't you?" Rae laughed as she walked over to her main crafting table. It contained the schematics for the main and secondary weapons Ashley and Luka requested. "You have something else to tell me, though, don't you?"
"We've come to request our armour, yeah." Luka knew what Rae meant after their exchange earlier in the day. Rae perked up one of her ears, indicating she was listening to Luka. "If you'd be so kind, I was considering a Helmschmied set of armour."
"I'll get right on it, baby. Ashley, yourself?" Rae wrote down Luka's request in her little notebook.
"Grace me with your lightest and most quality of leather, please." Ashley smiled graciously.
"I'll come up with something. Off you go now, babies, it's getting late." Rae closed her notebook as she prepared to shut the smithery down for the night.
Our two young assassins sprinted out the smithery as they bid their farewells to Rae for the night.
Hugh was just about to finish reading through his contract in the main hall as Luka and Ashley walked in. He turned his head towards them as he gripped his chin in deep thought.
"What's up, kids? How's Rae tonight?"
"She seems in good spirits. You doing alright, big man?" Luka questioned as he was heading towards his room.
"I'm in way better spirits after tonight's meeting. Have a good rest, Luka." Hugh saluted goodbye as Luka waved back.
Ashley walked up to Hugh, brought her hands together and looked up towards him.
The height difference showed, indicating just how large Hugh is.
"Hey, Hugh, Rae told me you knew someone who knows a lot about archery. I was hoping to get in contact with them."
"Well, you don't have to worry about that, Ash. You already know him."
Ashley looked at Hugh with confusion and tilted her head until something clicked in her head and she suddenly looked very surprised.
"Ryo?!"
"He's insanely good at what he does. He's the infiltrator of our little Croatian Creed here and is probably the best well-rounded assassin I can think of, but he does prioritize his archery and stealth more than anything else." Hugh bumped her shoulder with his elbow. "Talk to him about it, he's super chill. I might head to the gym to get a workout in, I'm too pumped to stand still. Later, Ashley!" He quickly turned around and started skipping towards the gym.
Ashley lightly smiled as she turned around to look at the contract Luka left on the table. She picked it up and slowly walked back to her room, reading it the entire way back.
...
It was a cold, but brisk morning. It felt like a day that you could get a few things done within. Our assassins woke up one after another with a short time interval between them. Kane made it to the main hall, followed by Hugh shortly after.
"Morning, brother. Hope you've slept well, we have a big day ahead of us!" Kane happily exclaimed as he gestured a hello towards his big brother.
"I've rested well, even with an evening workout. I feel great! Is anyone else around?" Hugh proudly posed in front of his brother, put his hands on his hips and looked around.
"I saw Luka on my way here, he was just exiting the gym and went for a morning run. Ashley walked into the gym shortly after he left, as well. It seems everyone is up and ready!" Kane said proudly as he crossed his arms.
"Great to hear, great to hear. We should gather everyone, though," Hugh looked at the big clock in the main hall. "Once Luka and Ashley finish their workouts, we can arrange a small meeting. Oh, that reminds me! Have you seen Ryo?"
"He's probably knackered from travelling around. He was stationed in Hungary shortly before he made it here a few days ago. Letting him rest until we have to leave is something that would do him some good." Kane explained quickly with fulfilment in his voice.
"Let's grab a bite to eat before everyone prepares, shall we?" Hugh suggested a few moments later after rubbing the back of his head and stretching.
"Right behind you, brother. Let me just grab my contract from my office so we can discuss it more." Kane put a pep in his step and hurried towards his office.
...
It was a special day for running that day. After his usual run, Luka ended up on the riverbank which was a lengthy course for running. He garnered a few deep breathes, struck a running pose and started sprinting alongside the almost frozen river. The only thing left behind him were the dirt tracks he made and the splashing of said dirt behind him as he was sprinting. He managed to beat his record on the course, which greatly satisfied him. He proudly looked back on the path he just sprinted across and started running back towards the sanctuary.
...
Even if she wasn't as physically imposing as the others in the Creed, Ashley wanted to work on her endurance regardless. She felt like she needed lots of focus, stamina and core muscle training to be able to perform all the necessary parkour and stealth-related jobs. She began with pushups and situps and finished with the punching bag, just to let off some steam. She spent a good amount of time on all of them and could see visible results by the end of the session which made her proud. She took a quick shower and got dressed just in time to get some breakfast and discuss the plans with Hugh and Kane. As she walked into the main hall, she saw Luka entering and performing near-perfect landings.
"Nice landings, Luka!" She happily shouted as she clapped for a bit.
"You can probably do better ones, Ashley," Luka got up off the ground and straightened himself. "Did you have a good workout?"
Ashley quickly nodded several times. "Yourself?"
"I beat my sprinting record, so that made my morning. Let's grab some food, Kane and Hugh are surely waiting for us there." Luka patted Ashley's shoulder as he hurried towards the dining area with Ashley skipping next to him happily.
And sure enough, Kane and Hugh shared some banter as Luka and Ashley walked into the dining area.
"Hey, kids. Make yourselves something and sit down, we got stuff to discuss." Hugh welcomed them and got up to make a cup of coffee. "Does anyone want a cup?"
"Make me on, please!" Ashley said as she grabbed herself some toast.
"I'm good, I'll grab something to eat later." Luka walked over to the sink and filled up a cup of water for himself.
The radio played some chill morning tunes. There was a great atmosphere in the room. Kane was reading a book and he seemed to be quite into it. His contract was sitting in front of him on the dining table. Luka sat down, followed by Ashley and finally Hugh who put down two cups of coffee on the table. Ashley quickly thanked him and started drinking as Kane spoke up.
"Right, are we all ready to discuss the contracts?"
Everyone nodded or made gestures indicating they were ready.
"I guess we can begin with clearing up my contract. Has anyone ever heard of John Smith, my target?"
"No descriptions, eh?" Hugh crossed his arms and laid back.
"None, unfortunately."
Luka looked deep in thought. "You said he was operating in Bosut?"
Kane quickly skimmed through his contract to double-check. He nodded firmly.
"That area's full of people. We're talking about every major thief, thug, police officer, politician or any generic people. If you know anyone in this town, they know someone who lives near Bosut. It's gonna be tough to find him." Luka placed both of his elbows on the table and put his chin on the top of his hands.
"It doesn't necessarily mean he lives there, but you got a point. You know these parts better than we do, but I think Kane can easily handle this. The contract just requires a bit of detective work." Hugh confidently believed in his little brother.
"It won't be that much of an issue, I've dealt with this kind of work before. It doesn't hurt to double-check with you guys, though."
Hugh and Luka nodded firmly, completely agreeing with Kane.
"I can't tell you the amount of relief I felt last night after Ryo announced our targets were Carbato and Fernando," Hugh sat forward and drank a bit of coffee. "I'm sure you were glad to hear it too, brother."
Kane nodded as he began talking.
"Obviously. I bet Ryo was the happiest when he received and read through the contracts himself. He must feel bad, though, he can't personally assassinate either of them."
"He does have the most hatred for them, and rightfully so. He has a ton of family in Hungary and all of their businesses were claimed by Carbato earlier in the year. You can guess what Carbato did with those jobs he stole." Luka crossed his arms and grasped his cup of water.
"He gave them to the Templars he hired," Ashley concluded herself. "I can understand why he'd be upset now."
Luka nodded as he drank and put down his cup after a few moments.
A few minutes went by and everyone finished with their breakfast.
"Right, everyone, I'm expecting some good work out there today! Once Ryo wakes up and properly settles in for the day, we shall start preparing to head out! Ashley and Luka need to be ready by the time the art exhibition starts and Hugh and I shall prepare to head out alongside you. Make sure to give it your all!"
Kane stood up and lifted his fist in the air as he gave a courageous speech.
"RIGHT!" Everyone stood up, raised their fists towards the roof and shouted back to Kane.
Suddenly, the doors to the dining area opened.
"The fuck is all the fuss about?"
Ryo walked in, clearly still waking up.
The assassins quickly caught him up with the conversation and entrusted the sanctuary to him.
"You can count on me!" Ryo triumphantly shouted with his fist clenched and a big smile on his face.
...
Luka and Ashley gathered in the main hall first and awaited their senior's arrival. All they had to do was prepare their hidden blades and their assassin robes, but Hugh and Kane were ready to whip out their main weapons.
"Have you ever seen their weapons, Luka?" Ashley asked curiously.
"I've never joined them on their contracts, and I've only recently started with smaller contracts. To put it bluntly, I haven't." Luka put his hands on his hips and straightened his back.
"I guess we'll both be amazed then, I can sense it." Ashley's eyes lit up with excitement.
After a good few minutes of small talk, Hugh and Kane walked outside of the dark hallway of their private quarters, fully robed.
The robes were slowly but surely revealed due to the light of the main hall. Kane walked down the staircase first with his big brother behind him.
Both of their weapons could be seen, as well as their hidden blades on both of their wrists.
It matched their personalities and preferences, they suited them perfectly.
Kane gripped his weapon with pride and drew it out of its sheathe in front of him.
A sword fully suited for a tactical and smart warrior.
The Swiss sabre!
Hugh grabbed the end of his monstrous weapon and released it from its holder. He grasped the other handle of it and smashed it into the ground right next to Kane. It was almost as huge as Hugh was himself.
A double-handed and double-headed war hammer!
Every single detail and preference they had were made just for them, and they were beautifully perfect.
Kane and Hugh looked at each other with pride and shouted before sheathing their weapons back.
Kane crouched down, still holding his sheathe.
Hugh put his hammer away and cracked his knuckles.
Our two young assassins just gazed in awe as the seniors displayed the brilliance of their weapons and their styles.
All Luka and Ashley could do after snapping back to reality was clap loudly.
"Alright, kids. This is what expects you after your full initiation!" Kane shouted as he stood up.
"Although, you can do this contract without your weapons and custom-made armour. Don't let this get you down! Do a good job out there tonight!" Hugh exclaimed as he finished cracking his knuckles.
"Yes, sir!" Ashley and Luka shouted back together.
...
Kane's POVBosut.
I've been here long enough to know the place quite well, and I appreciate Luka's guidance. This is a very populated part of town, so I wanna take things slow and easy. My casual wear should allow me to travel around freely, at least until my name's on the notorious wanted list.
I'll start going along the streets, on the ground. There are many bars, and many outskirts and alleyways. This is the worst part of town to look for someone. Not to mention that I have almost no information on my target.
Well, might as well start somewhere. Although, I'm not sure if I should start asking around quite yet. I might not wanna make my intentions public to anyone.
Although, I do have a bar I can freely ask around in. It's on the outskirts of Bosut, located at the end of the longest street that I'm currently walking in.
I quickly turned to look around and didn't notice anyone about it, so I took the opportunity to elevate myself on the rooftops. It was a beautiful night, and I have already gotten used to the cold. A perfect night for a contract. After admiring the rising moon, I quickly ran across the rooftops to get to the end of the long street. Surprisingly, there weren't many people around. I guess it's not that unexpected, people would most likely be indoors at this point which became more apparent as I heard the loud sounds coming from inside of the bars, clubs and pool halls as people would open the front doors. That's what would make this contract a difficult one. I'd have to find the target publicly, amongst many people. I made it to the end of the street rather quickly, as I landed carefully, but beautifully.
I entered the bar which was almost empty and looked towards the man behind the bar. He lifted his eyebrows at me as I took a few steps towards him.
"It's been a while, Malcolm."
"What can I do for you, Kane?" Malcolm's rough and raspy voice sounded just the same as ever. He straightened himself and truly showed off his muscles. His physique sometimes reminded me of brother's, even if Malcolm's shorter than I am.
...
Hugh's POV -Hm.
Maybe I should have hitched a ride with the kids. Both Carbato and Fernando are in the same direction.
...
Huh.
Why didn't I hitch a ride with them?!
Ah, whatever. I guess I should stretch my legs. It's been a minute since I've travelled this far on my own. Let's see if I still got it.
I grasped a very thin edge of concrete off of a building as I propelled myself upwards, grabbing the edge of the building and jumping into a full sprint across several other rooftops.
Guess I still got it.
There's not much to think about with performing this type of contract. I know everything there is to know about Carbato and the office he's staying at. I guess the toughest portion will be to sneak around the place.
But who cares anyway, I know I'm gonna blast his guards and him out of the way with ease, so I'm not worried.
Just gotta make sure to do this right. For Ryo and anyone else who was wronged by him in the past.
This is for you, my brothers and sisters!
...
Ashley's POVWell, we've already made it to Tvrđa and we're about to change into our disguises. Looks like I'll be the one handling the stealth portions.
"We got the plan down, right?" I turned around towards Luka and asked him.
"Yeah, you and I enter the event together and you enter the main building whilst I hang outside in the massive courtyard, then when you need me to distract the guards, I simply cause a fight in the courtyard, and you can do your thing. Sounds simple enough."
"Hopefully it works out, though. Right, are you ready?" I readjusted my formal dress and straightened it out.
"Yeah, I'm ready. We can go whenever," Luka paused for a moment. "That dress does suit you though."
I blushed slightly, but the darkness of the night covered it.
"Stop it, silly. We have a contract to do." I chuckled lightly as Luka directed his focus towards the building.
"Yes, ma'am."
We both started parkouring silently down the fortress and eventually made it to the ground level. The shadows of the streets were able to conceal us until we squeezed ourselves at the end of the crowd that was waiting to enter the event. After the guard looked through the crowd he identified all the high profile people that he could let in immediately. Everyone else would be checked and promptly let in if they didn't pose any kind of threat. You'd think we wouldn't be let in, considering our hidden blades, but we were able to conceal them in time before the guard swept us through and through. We were eventually permitted to enter and Luka stayed behind as I entered the main event by myself.
The gallery was huge and insanely well lit. It was something you would expect from this kind of prestigious event. I took a quick look around and noticed most people had a partner to dance or chat with, or just to walk around with them for safety reasons. Maybe I should have entered with Luka, but this will still work as well. I engaged in some casual conversation with the rich portion of the guests at the gallery while carefully searching for Fernando. As soon as I locate her, I will contact Luka with our hidden earpieces to cause that distraction we talked about outside. And sure enough, just as I was prepared to check if the earpiece was connected, there she was!
Right in the middle of the massive staircase having a conversation with a rich Asian family. She was dressed like she was going to someone's funeral, covered head to toe in black clothing, including gloves, a Victorian hat and a full black gown which did look good on her but was still far too morbid, in my opinion. Shit, that's coming from someone like me, so that must mean something. I quickly moved out of sight from her and contacted Luka in a manner of moments. I couldn't lose her in the crowd, I had to have her in my sights until I was prepared. Suddenly I heard the sounds of a bunch of guards yelling outside, so I tried to look as intimidated and surprised as possible. Several male guests started guiding us ladies away from the main doorway, which caught me off guard, but it gave me an opportunity to at least get closer to my target. It was even more surprising that the male guests who were guarding the front door shouted for more guards to come outside. I can only imagine what sort of beating Luka was handing outside.
...
Luka's POV"HE'S THERE, GET HIM!"
Every guard within the vicinity of the courtyard was shouting at me. Or they were shouting at each other. I don't know at this point. All I knew was that I was ready to hand out a lengthy beatdown.
Two guards tried to attack me from behind, I quickly turned towards them and dodged their wide swings as I jabbed them in return. I dashed in immediately and punched each guard in their stomach, but I restrained myself from using my hidden blades. Not just yet. Another guard tried to sweep kick me, but I quickly jumped towards him, landed next to him and shoved him onto the ground before kicking him into his face, knocking him out cold. This still wasn't enough to satisfy me, so I began to sway my upper and lower body, preparing to strike the rest of the guards. Things got serious very quickly. I noticed the rest of the guards had batons or swords, so I became extra cautious and started focusing more. When my focus would increase, so would my reaction times and my instincts. I stepped in towards a guard with a sword and he attempted to thrust at me right down the middle. I ducked under his thrust and hit him with a very strong hook. The sound was the same as hitting a punching bag with gloves. He fell immediately and I kicked his weapon away. Two guards attempts to attack me from the front, and one snuck around behind me, but I quickly kicked the guard's chest behind me and turned around for the follow-up kick. I spun around fully due to the power I put into the kick and I got around one of the guards, tripped the one behind him and smashed the back of his head against the concrete floor. Before the other guard could properly turn around, I stepped in and hit him with a short right straight, which dazed the guard for a second and gave me enough time to get into a position to pound away at his body before I finished it with a liver blow.
I stood still for a moment and took a deep breath. Every guard I faced in the courtyard was down on the ground. However, resting wasn't an option. Several guards ran out of the art gallery carrying batons as I wiped the sweat off of my forehead.
All I could do was smile happily. It was time for round 2, and I was more than prepared.
The last thing I saw before I focused on the combat once again was a tall, slender woman exiting the third-floor window. She quickly looked over to me, waved and pointed back towards Tvrđa. I nodded as strongly as I could, indicating that I would meet her back there.
But first, I have a job to finish.
...
Hugh's POVI finally made it to Tvrđa.
Took me a fucking while, but at least I'm here now. The kids must be nearing the end of their contract soon, I don't think they'd take too long...what the?
Why are there a bunch of guards knocked out in the courtyard of the gallery? Why are there several guards still on their feet fighting some hooded person...? Why is there a lady sneakily exiting the third-floor window?
...
Oh.
Well, at least the kids are making great progress.
I should focus on my contract. Carbato's office is not too far away from here, it's basically inside the heart of the Tvrđa district.
I directed my attention to a nearby chapel that would get me into a position to see his office. At least I knew what I had to do now, so I started sprinting towards the rooftops leading up to the tall chapel.
I should grab everyone a drink after all this is over at Malcolm's.
Wonder how he's doing.
...
Kane's POVMalcolm gave me just the information I've been looking for. He informed me that John Smith was just an alias, which confirmed our suspicions. He also told me the bar he would be hanging around right now.
The Blue Roof Inn.
At least that's what the name is in English.
Due to my disguise, I decided to enter through the front door and gather some information. I did know a few guys at the inn.
It was packed, which wasn't exactly a bad thing. I made my way through the crowd and past a few groups of drunk men. I sat at the counter which was pretty open, apart from a blond, average height man sitting three seats away from me.
I quickly got the bartender's attention, who was pretty calm. He seemed unbothered by all the ruckus happening behind me. I've seen him around these parts and we even exchanged a few conversations in the past. It seemed like I could trust him. I quickly ordered a drink and mentioned Malcolm's name and my mission in the span of a sentence. He quickly nodded as he was cleaning a big glass and directed his head towards the only other man who sat at the counter.
"To je lik kojeg tražiš." (That's the man you're looking for).
He spoke to me in Croatian. I could understand what he meant, even if I wasn't fluent. Thankfully, I took some time to understand short and basic sentences. We did know that John Smith wasn't Croatian, so that was the safest language to use at the moment. I nodded in appreciation and finished my drink. I decided to wait until he moved to not raise any suspicion. Patience is a virtue of an assassin, after all. I knew some of the locals at the inn, so I walked over to a pool game full of mutuals to play a match whilst I wait. It didn't seem like he would move for some time. I joined a game and kept an eye on him after every move I made. My moves were quick with very little deep thought inserted into them, so I could keep an eye on the target at the same time. After a few finished games, he still did not move.
I guess I'm in for a long wait.
...
After some time one of the mutuals I knew started feeling very sick, so his mates took him outside and made sure he made it home safe. I escorted them out, just in case. When I walked back into the inn, the man wasn't at the counter anymore, but I could see him heading out the back exit. I quickly darted my vision at the bartender who pointed at the exit and saluted me. I saluted back and sprinted through the inn. The exit led into an alleyway that led back to the streets of Bosut. He was already at the end of the alleyway by the time I sprinted out of the inn, but I knew I was faster than him.
The chase led us through most of the major streets in Bosut.
Surprisingly, he was able to keep up his pace for a while. After I kicked it up a notch, he realised he would get caught soon, so he started climbing up a nearby apartment building, but I managed to launch myself off of a fence and caught his leg. I shook him down to the ground, grabbed him and dragged him to a nearby alleyway.
"Tell me everything you know about the Templars."
"The what?!" He started getting frantic and nervous until he managed to squeeze a few words out. "Look man, I don't know anything about those guys, they just gave me a goddamn object to safe-keep for them for some cash. That's all I know, I swear!"
"Where's the object now?" I asked him firmly and gave him a few moments to gather himself. It didn't seem like it was working.
"Where's the goddamn object?!" I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the brick wall.
"It's in my pocket, calm down for a second!"
"That's all I needed to hear."
I slammed him into the brick wall once more and stabbed him through the chest with my hidden blade. He gripped my hand, but his grip was loosening with every passing moment until he fell to the ground lifelessly.
I searched through his jacket until I found a ring in one of the pockets of the jacket. And here I was thinking I would pull out some kind of crazy-ass puzzle piece. I double-checked the rest of his pockets and found nothing of value, so that must have been it.
My thoughts were cut short by the sounds of a chain being dragged across the floor. I looked back towards the entrance to the alleyway and all I could see were three men of average height, although they looked more built than a normal person.
One of them was dragging two chains along the floor, one in each hand.
One of them had two baseball bats equipped with nails and other metallic fragments inserted into the top of them.
One of them had a katana.
Now that's not something you see every day. I've never seen them before, but they resembled each other, almost like they were related.
"To what do I owe this pleasure, fellas?" I spoke up in hopes of cleansing the silence.
None of them spoke back, and they all seemed to grasp their weapons. Talking wasn't going to get me anywhere, I presumed.
I carefully drew my weapon out and stuck it out in front of me with one hand, while keeping the other one close to my body. In a split second, the man with the katana drew it out slightly from its sheathe and they all charged in, one after the other.
The man with the chains threw one of them towards me from the top and the other one towards me from the bottom. I parried the bottom one with my sword and carefully deflected the top one with my hidden blade. I kicked him in the guts and shoved him aside, which made him collide against the alleyway wall. The second man with two baseball bats was more careful, it seemed. He cautiously stood his ground. He cared for counters and parries and removed any hope of countering a wide swing.
Huh.
I wonder if this is why Luka, Hugh and Ryo focus so much on boxing.
Well, it didn't matter anyway. I eventually found an opening as I thrust my weapon at his face, which he managed to avoid, but that was just a set-up. I quickly stepped in and slashed at one of his arms and legs with my hidden blade. He hopped to the side and yelped in pain. The last man stood his ground and placed himself into a very convincing stance as he held his katana with both hands. I cautiously approached him with my sword stuck out in front of me. I decided to wait for his move, as I could parry and retaliate against most attacks. He eventually moved after both of his companions groaned in pain. When it comes down to a one-on-one sword fight, it's mostly determined with a single exchange.
And that was the case here, as well.
He quickly smashed his sword down the middle which I dodged, but he immediately changed the path of his sword to a diagonal slash, which made me change the direction of my dodging to the opposite direction. I could practically see my reflection on the blade of his sword.
Thankfully, it brought us to the end of the fight. Due to his diagonal position, he couldn't retract his sword in time before I stabbed him through the shoulder and immediately retracted my sword. He was brought down instantly and collapsed to the floor, yelling in pain whilst holding his shoulder. I swung my sword to my side to rid the blade of the blood on it.
I turned around towards the other two men I put down.
"You should tend to your friend's wound. And never try that again. You get a chance to live today, but if we cross again, I will not have any mercy."
I returned the sword to my sheathe and sprinted out of the alleyway.
That exchange left my head with nothing but questions.
Who were those men?
Who did they work for?
Why is a ring so important to be worthy of protecting?
I decided to hold off on overwhelming my thoughts and focused on making it back to the sanctuary through the shadows because I was not in the mood to get jumped again.
It was a long night, but it was a successful one.
...
Hugh's POVSack of shit guards.
There's about twenty of them just circling the goddamn office.
Well, I've never been a stealthy type.
Let's do this shit!
(a few guards later)
Alright, beating the shit out of several guards brightened the mood.
I'm right outside his main office, and there are two decently built men guarding it.
After cracking my knuckles, I tossed one of them across the hallway and smashed the door down with the other one.
"Hola, Carbato."
That was the only thing I could say to him before breaking his back against the floor and smashing his skull in half with my hammer.
It felt really good to finally let it out against this man.
Carbato! The goddamn reason we've been slowly going bankrupt!
I felt pure satisfaction as I walked out of the office building and started climbing the building before reinforcements arrived.
It certainly was a good night. Hopefully, the rest of the family feels the same.
...
Ashley's POVAfter making my way back up to Tvrđa I looked back towards the courtyard of the art gallery.
It had at least twice as many bodies knocked out cold on it than the last time I looked at it. A few short moments passed and Luka made it up the fortress next to me.
"Well, that was certainly enjoyable." Luka quickly stretched.
"You seemed to be having a lot of fun, sorry we had to cut it short." I playfully apologized.
"As long as you had fun, I'm fine with it."
"I had loads of fun. I got to sneak around, blend in with the crowd and I even murdered the target without being detected at all!"
Luka signalled at me to continue my story as he sat down. I crouched down as well.
"While you were busy causing chaos in the courtyard, that caused all the male guests at the party to gather the females and protect them inside of a little protection circle. But, Fernando quickly split off from the group as she attempted to run towards a locked room. I managed to sneak away from the group and followed her as she unlocked the door. I carefully opened the door whilst she was rummaging through some papers on her desk, I carefully snuck behind her and waited for her to turn around. As soon as she did, I greeted her with a wave as I slashed her throat as quickly as possible before she could yell for help! That's when you saw me exiting the room's window and climbing on the gallery's rooftop."
Luka simply clapped for a few seconds and I took a small bow. "You're a legend, Ashley. I think the seniors will be happy. Let's hurry back now, we've caused quite a ruckus."
He quickly stood up and started running across the fortress' walls.
"Right!"
I shouted as I followed him.
All in all, it was a really good night.
...
It was a revolutionary night, to say the least.
Two major figures in the Templar order were eliminated, as well as Kane gathering a very interesting object.
All that was left was to make it back to the sanctuary.
Ashley and Luka were the first ones back, and they entered the sanctuary simultaneously. The first to greet them was Ryo, who was hanging around the main hall.
"Yo! Everything went well?" Ryo shouted at them from below. "Great landings, by the way!"
They landed near perfectly, so they appreciated the compliment.
"It pretty much went flawlessly. We both had a good time and managed to clear the contract without any suspicion." Luka spoke up as he walked towards Ryo to greet him.
"Luka, let's head over to Rae. She should have our armour and weapons ready!" Ashley skipped along towards the smithery and pointed in its direction.
"Alright, coming!" Luka quickly changed directions and ran alongside Ashley. "Don't worry, Ryo, everything went well."
Ryo smiled and saluted the two young prodigies.
Rae seemed more excited tonight, as she should be.
"Kids! You're back! The contract went well, I presume?" Rae exclaimed as she prepared to present her work to them.
"It went beautifully. Now, what do you have for us, Rae?" Luka crossed his arms and awaited the presentation.
"First, for Luka, I crafted you the finest set of Helmschmied armour!" She pointed out every piece individually. "The chest plate, the boots, the greaves and the pauldrons! All right here! And on top of it all..."
She barely contained her excitement.
"I crafted you a hood and clothing out of the finest silk I could, and of course, laced with a thin steel weave, just for that extra bit of protection!"
"Rae! You've outdone yourself!" Luka's expression changed to an ecstatic one.
"Not yet, I haven't! Your weapon's up next!"
She grabbed a curtain that was hiding the weapon on her desk and threw it to the side. She revealed a billhook blade on a small pole. However, it was equipped with a tiny button mechanism near the middle of the pole.
"Go ahead, grab it and press the button," Rae instructed Luka seriously.
Luka carefully grabbed it and spun it around for a little while until he lifted it into the air and swung it behind him, pressing the button.
Suddenly, the pole extended and it turned into the average size of a billhook, which was taller than he was. The pole was crafted from the finest light steel and looked incredibly smooth and the blade was as sharp as a guillotine. The press of the button once more retracted the weapon back to its smaller size.
"GODDAMN, RAE! You've far exceeded my expectations! Thank you!" Luka bowed his head towards Rae.
"It's my job, love. And you deserve it."
Rae turned her attention towards Ashley.
"Don't think I forgot about you. First, your armour. Crafted with the finest leather I could find, a whole outfit made out of leather, all in black too! That includes your hood and cape, which I think you'll appreciate. The cape is not too long, so it won't get in the way. And, as you requested, you have your carbon fibre chest armour! Just for that extra little bit of protection around your chest area!"
Ashley's eyes lit up with every single positive emotion you can think of.
"Now, love, time for your weapon. Once again, a request that was incredibly fun to do...your very own folding compound bow! It's small enough once it's folded to fit onto your belt and it can be whipped out with just a swing of the arm. Go ahead and try it!"
Ashley grasped the bow and put it onto her belt. She took it out and was ready to fire off an arrow in the span of half a second. She almost cried tears of happiness as she folded the bow in an instant and put it back on her belt.
"I also prepared several quivers for you, with hundreds of arrows inside of them. If you want separate upgrades for them, I can whip them up for you. Don't hesitate to ask." Rae happily smirked as she walked up to Ashley.
Ashley impulsively hugged her and it seemed like Rae was prepared for that as she hugged her back.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"That's fine, baby, that's fine."
They held the hug for a few moments before Rae told them she was closing the smithery for the night.
"Off you go, kids. Have fun."
Ashley and Luka sprinted back towards the main hall.
Kane was having a casual conversation with Ryo as Hugh landed into the sanctuary.
"Everyone's landings were good tonight!" Ryo jokingly commented.
"Must be a good day once you're complimenting our landings." Hugh walked up to Ryo and Kane and they all shared that satisfied look. Suddenly, Luka and Ashley sprinted into the main hall with their gear neatly wrapped in a few bags.
"You got your weapons and armour, kids?" Hugh questioned immediately as he smiled towards them.
All Ashley and Luka could do was nod quickly before Kane started talking.
"You can save the presentation for later. We're about to discuss our great success tonight!" Kane lifted his fist in the air, along with everyone in the room.
"But, I did manage to find something."
Everyone's interest suddenly increased as Kane revealed a ring from the pocket of his jacket.
Hugh, Luka and Ashley had similarly confused expressions, but Ryo's eyes widened as he put on a serious face.
"Kane! Let me see that!" Ryo immediately opened his hand towards Kane.
Kane didn't hesitate at all and gave Ryo the ring.
After a few moments, Ryo started sweating and his hands started shaking.
"Do you realise what you've found?!" Ryo shouted towards Kane.
"Not exactly, brother." Kane crossed his arms and relaxed his pose.
"You really don't know?!"
"I'm all ears!"
"IT'S A GODDAMN PIECE OF EDEN!"
Everyone's mouth widened as they stared at Ryo, shocked.
...
*End of the chapter! It's my longest chapter by a good 600 words. Have a great day and thank you for reading!*