The Eternal Assassin

Asher stared at the dead merchant lying at his feet, surprised that he didn't really feel much of anything if he were being honest. He'd just killed a man in cold blood, yet he didn't feel so much as a hint of nausea. If anything, he was almost happy to have rid the world of such a deplorable man.

Just like when he'd witnessed Mr. Sonth die, a small violet orb made from thousands of tiny shards drifted out of the merchant's corpse and began hovering over the body. To Asher's surprise, even without touching the orb he could tell that the number of shards contained within would be less than the amount the alchemist had dropped. Somehow he could just see that the orb floating before him was less defined.

Seeing no reason to waste the shards, he accepted them with a brief touch, finally looking at all the notifications he'd been ignoring since beginning his hunt for the awakened panther. Running through the forest had done wonders for Distortion and Comprehend, while his battle with the awakened beast and subsequent recovery were giving his Eternal Regeneration and Complete Resilience quite the workout.

Eternal Regeneration – Lvl 6

Eternal Regeneration – Lvl 7

Complete Resilience – Lvl 4

Complete Resilience – Lvl 5

Distortion – Lvl 7

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Distortion – Lvl 10

Comprehend – Lvl 4

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Comprehend – Lvl 6

Personal Rift – Lvl 6

New Class Available!

Shards: 48,497

Yet another mysterious new class to look into. And how did the leader of a merchant caravan have so few shards compared to some random alchemist? Deciding now probably wasn't the best time to focus on such thoughts when he had just committed a murder, Asher shook his head before walking over to the remains of Trellis' once majestic desk and storing the awakened beast once more. He didn't know what to do with the animal now that their deal had fallen through, but he wasn't just going to leave it here after his hard-won battle.

Wincing at the fresh frostbite touching the corpse had inflicted on his fingertip, he took a look around the wagon, using Identify on anything and everything he could see. Just that brief trip through the bustling market that morning had brought his Identify from level six all the way up to nine, and it seemed all the high-end furniture and expensive liquors contained within Trellis' wagon were exactly what the skill needed to hit the double digits.

Identify – Lvl 10

At least that piece of trash was good for something. Asher briefly contemplated taking everything that wasn't bolted down from inside the wagon before remembering the truthseekers Trellis had mentioned. He hadn't even considered what sort of police force a world filled with magic and wonder might hold, but if they had some way of tracking missing objects, it was probably safer to leave everything as it was and not snatch up any souvenirs on his way out.

Hesitating for a brief moment, Asher pulled the awakened panther's corpse back out of his Personal Rift and dropped it on the floor of the wagon. Trellis had been all over the thing and had definitely used at least one or two skills on it from what he could tell, which meant taking it with him might very well be the same as carrying around a neon sign of an arrow pointed at his head. Not to mention it was clear even to Asher's untrained eye that the corpse was already starting to melt. Even if he wanted to risk the truthseekers tracking him somehow through the panther's body, he had no idea how to go about storing a magical corpse such as this.

If he destroyed the beast alongside any potential evidence, however, there was a good chance that whatever magical ways Trellis had bragged about setting up to fool the truthseekers would let him get away with murdering the man in his own home.

Though seeing as he hadn't exactly been subtle when he'd stumbled his way through the entire village looking like he had one foot in the grave, that ship may have already sailed.

Anyone who is asked will probably mention seeing me on my way to the caravan. Which means rather than trying to get away with this, I need to focus on making sure what I did can't be traced back to Samantha and Brian. Now then, how should I go about covering my tracks and destroying any evidence at the same time?

Peering at Trellis' impressive liquor collection, Asher grinned.

I wonder just how many shards such a collection is worth.

Grabbing the most expensive-looking bottle, Asher dumped half of the rancid smelling liquid over Trellis' body before splashing the rest of the bottle around the wagon, making sure to soak anything that looked particularly flammable like the seat cushions and splintered remains of the desk. He did the same for another couple of bottles, and it wasn't until he was practically gagging from the thick stench of alcohol that he decided it was probably enough.

Holding his breath, Asher plucked another match from his dwindling supply and struck it, staring at the dancing flame that roared to life in his fingers.

"Here's to a better death than you deserved."

Dropping the match, Asher slipped into the astral realm, and not a moment too soon.

Before the match had even touched the alcohol-soaked floor the entire wagon seemed to ignite all at once, causing a massive fireball to surge upwards and straight through Asher as the flames spread across the wagon floor. He didn't know what Trellis kept in his liquor cabinet, but when the dancing flames reached the ancient cabinet, an explosion blasted outward that was powerful enough to blow a hole in the wall of the wagon.

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That's my cue to leave I suppose.

Phasing through the other side of the wagon, Asher barely made it out of the fire before having to return to the real world. Before anyone could rush over and see what was going on, he threw up a few tunnels of distorted space, making up for his lack of mobility to allow himself to flee the scene of the crime.

By the time he made it out of the village proper and back to Samantha's cabin it seemed like half the village was awake and headed toward the source of the flames. Not bothering to knock, Asher flickered between realms to phase through the front door, realizing with a start that Samantha was sitting at the dining table with a troubled look on her face.

"I hope you're not waiting up on my account," he joked, wincing at how rough his voice still sounded. While his regeneration had done a remarkable job of patching him up, he was far from healed.

Far, far from healed if the look of horror on Samantha's face when she saw him was anything to go by.

"Oh my god, Asher? What in the realms happened to you?!" She cried, knocking her chair over in her haste to get up and rush over to him. She went to throw her arms around him before hesitating at the last second, managing to restrain herself as she gingerly laid a hand against his cheek. "How are you even standing in your condition? You look like you slept outside during a blizzard!"

"Yeah, but you should see the other guy," he joked, earning a frown from the concerned hunter.

"Don't talk unless you have to, you sound like you spent the last three hours gargling glass," Samantha ordered, putting her arm around him and carefully leading him over to the sofa. Throwing every blanket they had on top of him, she quickly began making some tea, tossing worried looks over at him every few seconds. She managed to hold out just long enough for the tea to stew, but as soon as she'd placed a steaming cup in his hands the questions started.

Asher did his best to recount everything that happened after she'd shown him where to go, even including his new skill and his dangerous fight with the awakened panther. He may have toned down just how close to death he'd come, but if Samantha's growing frown was any indication, she probably saw through his feeble attempts. It wasn't until he got to the part about bringing the awakened beast's body back to Trellis that he finally hesitated.

"I'm not sure I should tell you what happened next…" he admitted, staring into his refilled cup as he avoided Samantha's eyes. While he didn't feel bad about murdering Trellis in the slightest, he was startled to realize he didn't want Samantha to think he was a bad person.

He flinched as Samantha's hand landed softly on top of his own, her calloused fingers gently squeezing his own frostbitten ones as if silently telling him he could tell her anything. Realizing she would find out soon enough anyway, Asher sighed, deciding it was best she heard it from him.

"He wouldn't take the panther's corpse," Asher admitted, staring at the tiny specks of tea leaves floating around in his cup as he suddenly found himself very engrossed in the drifting herbs. "Said I'd made it back too late, but I'm not stupid. He'd never intended to honor our deal in the first place. While he was examining the beast's body, I saw your contract just sitting out on top of his desk and used Incorporate on it, reading through the entire thing in seconds. The bastard was so selfish and uncaring of anyone else, I discovered that he'd never even bothered to add a beneficiary to inherit ownership of your debt upon his passing."

Asher paused, sensing the increase in pressure from Samantha's hand as her fingers tightened.

"You keep talking about Trellis as if he's no longer around," she said quietly, and Asher didn't miss the distinct note of hope in her voice, regardless of how small it was.

"Despite how much of a terrible person he was, I wasn't prepared to kill him. Not even after discovering that would free you of your debts," Asher admitted, shaking his head. "But he really wanted the panther's body. After trying to get me to drink poison and offering to trade me drugs and people of all things for it, I finally decided the world would be better off without him."

"You killed him?" Samantha asked, slowly pulling her hand away. Asher kept his eyes glued to his tea, but he could make out the distinct trembling in her voice. He was terrified of what came next, but he plunged ahead anyway, desperate to get it all out.

"I'm not going to admit anything that might get you in trouble with the truthseekers, but I can tell you with certainty that when the villagers manage to put out the flames currently engulfing Trellis' wagon, they'll find his charred corpse lying inside. I'm sorry to drag you and Brian into this, Samantha. I did a terrible thing, and I just hope that you don't have to suffer any consequences for my actions."

Silence stretched throughout the tiny cabin, only interrupted by the faint snoring of Brian off in the other room. Asher couldn't bring himself to look at the hunter sitting across from him, scared of the horror or disgust he would see on her face.

Which made it all the more surprising when he was suddenly tackled, his eyes going wide as Samantha crashed into him, knocking him out of his cocoon of blankets as the two of them went sprawling onto the couch. Wincing at the pain of her surprise attack on his still healing flesh, Asher tried to figure out what was going on.

"Samantha? What-"

"Shut up, you idiot," she mumbled into his chest as she squeezed him, no longer seeming to care about his injuries. Asher could feel her body shaking as she struggled to keep from crying. "Realms, I swear I'm not as much of a crybaby as you're probably starting to think I am."

"You're not mad?"

"Mad?" She chuckled, freeing her face from his chest and giving him a big grin, tears welling up in her eyes. "I can't tell if you're being purposefully slow, or you're just that dumb," she giggled, her giggle quickly turning into a deep, bellowing laugh that threatened to wake up Brian in the other room. Taking a few deep breaths, she managed to get herself under control, giving him a pointed look.

"Asher, Trellis was a monster. You think I'm not aware of how horrible that man was? He had me sign a predatory contract while I was barely sixteen, right after my parents died. I was at my absolute lowest, trying to figure out how to pay the debts suddenly thrust upon me and take care of my baby brother all at the same time, and that sorry excuse for a human being took full advantage of that to earn a few extra shards. Did you know that whenever I barely managed to scrounge up enough pelts to make his ridiculous monthly payments, he not so subtly tried to get me to pay with my body instead?"

"Well, when you mention that, I'm beginning to feel less bad about what happened to him," Asher admitted, earning another giggle from the hunter.

"I know you won't say outright what happened, but I want to make this very clear," she said, holding him at arms length as she stared into his eyes. "I don't care if you killed Trellis, Asher. Not only did you save Brian and me again, think about all the other random people that he'd managed to ensnare during their moments of weakness over the years. Even if it is technically illegal, the world is better for what you did, and if you have any lingering doubts whatsoever about your actions, you should get rid of them right now, because the next words I'm going to speak are for every man, woman, and child you just saved by getting rid of that bastard.

"Thank you."

Asher stared at the determined hunter currently smiling at him, finding himself at a complete loss for words as he realized just how strong she really was. He'd thought he'd been prepared for just about any reaction, but being thanked for committing murder definitely wasn't how he'd expected this night to go. While he struggled to come up with what to say, he found himself suddenly tackled a second time, nearly getting the wind knocked out of him as Samantha seemed to channel her inner hunter, pouncing on him and landing on his chest as he was knocked down fully onto the couch.

Asher stared up into Samantha's eyes, her long, brown hair lightly tickling his face as it draped down over him. He hadn't noticed just how dark the hunter's brown eyes were, but now he realized they were much richer than he'd thought. Almost like the bark of an old oak tree found deep within the forest.

While he was distracted admiring her eyes, Samantha leaned in close to his ear and whispered, her words sending shivers down his spine that had nothing to do with the frostbite covering his body.

"Those words may have been spoken for everyone… But make no mistake, Asher. What's about to happen next is all me."