The Eternal Assassin

"What?" Asher exclaimed, forgetting all about his fake voice. "What do you mean? What happened?"

"Exactly what I said," the tavernkeep shrugged, finally pulling back a bit. "You want more information, you gotta pay for it."

Gritting his teeth, Asher slapped another handful of shards down, ignoring the side eyes he was beginning to get from some of the more sober patrons sitting at the bar. Chuckling, the tavernkeep absorbed the new batch of shards, giving him another nasty grin that showed off his missing and crooked teeth.

"Despite working for Latch, Rosh was never really one of us. He made a point of avoiding fine establishments like my own whenever possible, so it was a bit odd when he suddenly started showing up out of the blue a few days back, asking questions about a few of Loratta's top dogs. Even stranger when those same people started dying one after another," the man said, squinting at Asher's hooded face. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"He was asking questions. Then what?"

Shrugging, the tavernkeep grabbed an empty tankard, not even bothering to wipe it down before refilling it and giving it to someone else. "The same thing that happens to anyone that asks too many questions. Loratta must have had some questions of her own for him because she put out a bounty on his head, and Rulfar the Hound did what Rulfar the Hound does best."

The tavernkeep leaned forward once more, grinning barely a few inches from Asher's face.

"He plays fetch. And none too gently, I might add."

It took everything in Asher's power not to reach across the counter and grab the man by his collar. He wanted nothing more than to shake what he needed to know out of the seemingly unconcerned man, but he had a good feeling that was the fastest way to get the entire tavern turned against him. It already felt like half the tavern was watching the tavernkeep's discussion with the mysterious cloaked figure, just waiting for an excuse to intervene.

"Where can I find Rulfar then? Or Loratta, for that matter?" I'm missing too much information… How long ago was Rosh taken? What does Loratta suspect?

"You don't find Rulfar," the tavernkeep snorted, shaking his head. "Rulfar finds you. Though Loratta is another matter. In fact, I believe that lovely gentlemen right behind you can help you with that."

Asher heard the tavern go silent, only the sound of heavy footsteps audible over the eerie quiet that had somehow overtaken the rowdy tavern in mere moments. Turning around, he took in the man standing before him.

Nearly seven feet tall and wearing an open-faced shirt stood a man that looked like he was doing his best to cosplay a Viking. He had a massive battle axe strapped across his back and various symbols tattooed across his chest and face, and Asher didn't have a doubt in his mind that he'd personally killed and skinned the wolf currently wrapped around his waist like a belt.

Looking down at him, the man frowned, crossing his muscular arms and spitting on the tavern floor.

"You, in the cloak," the stranger said, his eyes not leaving Asher for a moment despite all the people whispering around them. "You're coming with me."

"Rulfar, I presume?" Asher asked, getting up and eyeing the big man. Unlike other brutes he'd met like Rock, this man had a sharp look in his eye, as though he was carefully considering every potential variable for the inevitable fight that he'd be participating in.

[Bloodhound] – 3/3 Elements

Bloodhound… That's a new one.

"Yes," the man nodded. "Loratta wishes to speak with you. Unless you want your friend to experience a truly horrific demise, I suggest you come with me."

"Perfect, I was just hoping to speak with her," Asher said, doing his best to hide his anger behind a smile. He was already planning on killing Loratta, but if she'd so much as scratched Rosh he was going to make her pay.

Make her pay? Since when do I find enjoyment in causing other people pain? Frowning, Asher fell into step behind the large man, struggling with the conflicting feelings battling around inside him. He'd gone from killing intelligent monsters in self defense, to killing other people in self defense, and finally to killing people who were unquestionably monsters, but at no point did he think about forcing people to suffer.

Though isn't that what I'm doing when I challenge them to a fight instead of just killing them outright? With my skills, I could easily kill most people before they even knew what hit them. Yet with Latch, and then Inferno, and even Slicer, I tried to speak with them first rather than just take them out from the shadows. Sure, Latch is excusable, but Inferno and Slicer?

"So, what caused a librarian to turn to a life of assassination?"

"Huh?" Asher asked, realizing Rulfar was talking to him. It took him a second to understand the question before Asher realized he'd never swapped his class back from librarian to unclassed. The bloodhound must have had an ability similar to his Identify, and at least in the second tier if it was able to partially get through Asher's Concealing Shroud. "Why are you asking?"

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"Just curious," Rulfar shrugged, his large form easily clearing them a path as they walked down the street. It seemed the only level of drunk dumb enough to risk getting in the bloodhound's path was blackout, as even the most wasted of people stumbling around quickly moved out of the bloodhound's way after spotting him. "I've encountered many types of people in my line of work, but you are the first librarian I've seen."

"Oh you know… Just tired of overdue books I guess," Asher muttered, caught off guard by the question and saying the first thing that popped into his mind. To his surprise, Rulfar actually missed a step, stumbling before catching himself and letting out a deep, booming laugh that caused more than one person nearby to flinch. When the bloodhound shot a glance back at him, Asher realized Rulfar was grinning.

"Not a lot of jesters in our line of work either," he said, chuckling as he continued forward. "For what it's worth, I hope your friend is okay. He came willingly when I came for him, so he was unharmed when I gave him over to Loratta."

"Really? You didn't 'rough him up' or anything?" Asher asked, looking at the seven-foot-tall man's muscular form. Rulfar looked like he saved himself a step and just ate straight from the cow when he was feeling hungry.

"I'm a professional," Rulfar said, shaking his head. "I don't, 'rough people up.' I'm a bloodhound, I hunt down people with bounties on their heads. I work for the city guard just as frequently as I do for people like Loratta. So long as the shards are good, I'll take any job."

"But you have to know what Loratta is doing to these people," Asher argued. "Don't you think helping her is doing more harm than good?"

"I see things differently. Whenever Loratta is forced to send her own people out to find and retrieve someone, half the time they don't even make it back to her alive," Rulfar spat, as if the unprofessionalism left a bad taste in his mouth. "At least when I retrieve them I do it without killing them. To be honest, I do prefer working for the city guard over people like Loratta, but they don't often have a need for my services. Most things are either too small to call for someone like me, or so large that they need a truthseeker."

"Just because you're not killing people doesn't make you innocent," Asher argued.

"And just because you're killing bad people doesn't make you a good person," Rulfar shot back, causing Asher to recoil like he'd been slapped. "Don't go trying to take the high ground when the driving force behind you ridding the world of these monsters is your desire for a good fight. I saw the way your eyes lit up when you turned around and saw me. I half expected you to pull out your daggers and jump me right then and there. Don't get me wrong, I actually applaud what you're doing. But don't think you won't get called out for it if you try and pretend like you care about what's right and wrong."

The two of them walked in silence for a few minutes, Rulfar's heavy footfalls and the quiet gasps from people as they hurried to get out their way the only sounds to be heard. Eventually, the two of them came to a small building that was more shack than house, and Rulfar gestured for Asher to go before him.

"Really? You don't need to take my weapons or anything like that?"

"Your weapons won't matter," he said, shaking his head. "You'll see for yourself soon enough."

Frowning, Asher stepped inside. Rulfar followed immediately behind him, closing and latching the door. As soon as it was shut, he stepped over to a nearby crate nearly as tall as Asher was and lifted it like it was a block of Styrofoam, placing it a few feet to the side and revealing a ladder descending down into the earth.

Taking the hint, Asher climbed down the ladder, letting the gemstones imbued within the tunnel walls guide him. After climbing down what felt like two or three stories, he dropped the last few feet, finding himself in a small room.

The room was entirely empty besides the ladder, a door on the far wall, and a pair of guards sitting beside the door. Jumping to their feet, the two guards pointed their short swords at him, clearly ready for a fight.

"Halt! State your name!" shouted the larger of the two guards. With a few deep scars across his face and a chunk missing from his ear, it was obvious the man had seen plenty of battle.

"He's with me, Francis," Rulfar's voice echoed down the shaft as he also dropped the last few feet, landing with a much more threatening boom than Asher had, the ground quaking under his massive frame. "Loratta still has you on door duty after all these years? Marge has got to be furious with you."

"Hey, I get enough crap from the missus when I'm home, I don't need you tracking it in as well," Francis said, a grin on his face despite his tone. "Who's this one?"

"Related to the guy I brought in earlier today," Rulfar answered, crossing his arms. "How's he doing anyway?"

"How's he doing? He's got something to do with all of Loratta's dead elites. How do you think he's doing?" Francis snorted, shaking his head. "Give us a sec to grab someone for the hand off and get your shards."

Nodding at Rulfar, Francis and his fellow guard unlocked the only door in the room and vanished, locking it behind them once more. Suddenly, Asher found himself alone with Rulfar for a second time, only this time they were sitting on the doorstep of the murderous woman running what sounded like the majority of this city's entire criminal organization.

"You said you'd do any job if the shards were good… I don't suppose I could hire you to help me fight Loratta?"

"I appreciate that you think so highly of me, but I told you, I don't kill people if I can help it," Rulfar said, not even bothering to uncross his arms. "And I never turn on an employer until the job is done. My reputation is everything to me, and while I find you entertaining, I'm not about to soil it for you."

"Fair enough… Then would you mind at least not mentioning what you're about to see?"

Raising an eyebrow, Rulfar's eyes widened a hair as Asher removed most of the daggers from his bandolier and made them vanish into thin air one after another. Despite what Rulfar said, he had no doubt that they would strip him of his weapons before allowing him to enter into Loratta's base, and he needed to make sure he still had a means of killing her. He left a few of his normal steel daggers in the bandolier, but hid all of his more unique weapons.

"That's quite the interesting skill," Rulfar said, looking at Asher more carefully. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me what elements you have?"

"Sure. Give me that big shiny axe of yours and you got a deal."

Letting out another booming laugh, Rulfar shook his head, sighing as he looked down at him with a sad grin on his face.

"Oh, I hope she doesn't kill you."