The Eternal Assassin

Oh man, I am screwed.

Asher stared at the warrior's unblemished leg, the limb not showing so much as a single scratch for all his efforts. Despite all his skills, after going a few rounds with Moxy, he didn't think he had what it took to strike her a lethal blow. And if whittling her down wasn't an option, then this had officially just turned into a fight he stood no chance of winning. He was already all but dead on his feet after being forced to slip into the astral realm so many times in quick succession. If she decided to start throwing more air blasts his way, he wasn't going to last very long.

Two sides of Asher waged war with one another in that brief moment of shock. One side, the recently awakened one obsessed with combat, was more excited than ever. He wanted to test himself against the seemingly unkillable warrior, to continue throwing himself against the wall until it shattered from his sheer determination. The other side however, was his voice of reason. There was more at stake here than just his own entertainment. After rescuing him from Latch and living with the man for the last week, Rosh had become his first real friend in this world, other than Samantha and Brian of course. If he continued fighting against Moxy in his current state, it was only a matter of time before he took a truly lethal blow, and who knew what would happen to Rosh if he died here.

As if proving his point, he felt the burning in the back of his left arm as Eternal Regeneration slowly got to work rebuilding the skin that had been ripped off him from catching the edge of one of Moxy's attacks. Shoving down his desire to keep fighting through sheer will, Asher's eyes flicked back toward the entrance to the arena, prepared to compress a tunnel of space and flee. But just before he could activate Distortion, Moxy began clapping, startling him out of his plotting.

"Congrats, runt, you've managed to pull off what hundreds of hardened killers and criminals couldn't," she said, walking over to him with a big grin. Asher stared at the deadly warrior in confusion, trying to understand what he was sensing. It was as if some switch had been flipped, and Moxy no longer felt dangerous to whatever strange sixth sense he was starting to develop.

He was so confused he didn't even move as she stepped up to him, clapping him on the back and hovering her hand over his injured arm. He started as she activated her healing skill once more, and he felt his skin rapidly regrow until it was good as new.

"Those two skills of yours, the vanishing one and the one that lets you attack from a distance… Talk about the perfect combo for an assassin," Moxy chuckled, shaking her head. "Not to mention the ability to trap someone in a bubble with you. You're gonna be a real monster one day. Assuming you live that long of course."

"So… that's it?" Asher asked, still confused by Moxy's sudden change in mood. "It really felt like we were fighting to the death there."

"Oh, I make sure to treat every fight I get into as if it were a fight to the death," Moxy grinned. "But sadly, not this time. Loratta wants to talk to you, and she can't very well do that if I pulp your brains out. I don't have a Death element after all!"

Laughing as if she'd just told a hilarious joke, Moxy turned and began walking out of the arena, clearly expecting him to follow. Hesitating, Asher fell into step behind the odd warrior. Taking advantage of the sudden break, he brought up his notifications from the fight.

Astral Dip – Lvl 13

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Astral Dip – Lvl 15

Spatial Lock – Lvl 3

Secret Seeker – Lvl 2

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Secret Seeker – Lvl 5

Well, I guess that answers that question. It was Secret Seeker that helped me see her air blasts and saved my life back there. And dear god, three levels in Astral Dip from one fight? Though I guess it makes sense, I was basically toggling the skill on and off the entire time like a toddler playing with a light switch. And if I'd missed even a single timing of the skill, I probably would have died.

Once they'd put the arena behind them and began walking deeper into the underground fortress, Asher dismissed his notifications, deciding to risk a question.

"That healing skill you have… How did you get it?"

"Oh, my Life element? It was one of the things Loratta offered me to get me to join her," Moxy shrugged, as if having the power to heal wounds in seconds was no big deal. "No clue where she ended up getting it from, you'd have to ask her. I was pretty content with my current fighting style by that point and was hoping to find a solid utility element to round myself out, so it ended up being a good fit."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Gotcha," Asher said, ignoring the looks the two of them were getting from the scattering of people they crossed paths with. The longer they walked, the more people he began to see, as if they were finally approaching the heart of Loratta's compound. He had no idea how they'd managed to carve out such a vast underground space, but he supposed when things like Earth and Stone elements existed, there were skills for that.

"If I can ask… Why are you working for Loratta anyway? Unlike all those elites I killed, you actually seem like a decent person."

"No real reason," Moxy admitted. "I like to fight. I started out as a member of Whikoga's guard, but turns out the guards don't actually see nearly as much combat as you'd think. After a while, I started moonlighting as a combatant in the underground fighting rings. It was there I ended up catching Loratta's attention back when she was just starting to build herself up, and when she offered me the Life element and a chance to fight dangerous people on a near daily basis, I jumped at the job."

"You don't care that you're working for a criminal underlord?"

"Honestly, not really," Moxy said, shaking her head. "In my opinion, there's no grand purpose to life. I think people should do what makes them happy. Fighting makes me happy, so I fight, simple as that. I don't go around torturing people or extorting civilians, I have no interest in that sort of stuff after all. But when someone tough challenges Loratta, that's where I step in," she said, punching her knuckles together with a large grin. "Not that she needs me of course, she just can't be bothered most of the time. Loratta's the only person I've lost a fight to in the last decade after all."

Rosh never mentioned Loratta being a powerful fighter, Asher thought, his heart sinking as the hallway they were walking through began growing wider to accommodate all the people scurrying around. He was shocked by the sheer number of people Loratta seemed to have working for her, but they had to have passed close to a hundred people by this point.

The hallway finally transformed into what was basically a throne room, and without warning, Asher realized he was suddenly standing only a few dozen feet from who he could only assume was Loratta.

Sitting in a large chair and watching them with a critical eye was a woman who appeared to be in her mid-forties. With short, black hair clipped close to her skull on one side and a flowing, dark green dress, the woman lounged back in her chair as if she didn't have a care in the world.

[Unclassed] - ???

Where are the guards? The security? Hell, there wasn't even a door for this room! There were a couple of dozen people running around carrying out different tasks, but none of them seemed to be in charge of protecting Loratta.

Moxy led him directly in front of the woman, seemingly unconcerned by the lack of protection as well as she stepped aside, allowing Loratta to peer at him more carefully.

"You certainly took your sweet time, Moxy," Loratta drawled, her voice strangely smooth and buttery, as if she were a professional singer. "I thought I told you to test him, not treat him to lunch."

"Oh, I tested him. Not only did he manage to dodge just about everything I threw at him, the runt even sunk a dagger into my knee," Moxy grinned, as though having a knife shoved into her kneecap was the highlight of her week.

"Really now?" Loratta's eyes widened, and she seemed to look at Asher a bit more carefully, pursing her lips. "High praise coming from my strongest warrior."

After examining him for a moment, Loratta sighed, leaning back in her chair and waving a hand at him.

"Well, let's get the awkwardness out of the way before we begin talking business. I'll give you one free shot. Go ahead."

Asher stared at the seemingly unconcerned woman inviting him to strike at her. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't been considering the best way to try killing her, but he certainly hadn't expected this.

After a few seconds, while he was trying to figure out if this was some sort of trap, Loratta sat back up, glaring at him. "I don't have all day! Come on!"

Before he could change his mind, Asher created a small opening into his Personal Rift behind his back, letting his mithral dagger fall into his hand. He had absolutely no idea what Loratta's defenses were like, and if he was only going to get one shot, he wanted it to be with his strongest weapon. Lunging forward, he compressed the space between the two of them, crossing the last dozen feet in an instant and ramming his dagger directly into the woman's unprotected eye.

For a single heartbeat, Asher stared at the unmoving woman, his dagger planted up to the hilt inside her brain. He'd been expecting some sort of resistance, but instead, it was as if he'd plunged his blade into a bowl of Jello. His blood froze as Loratta's other eye blinked in surprise before narrowing, and she shot him a wicked grin.

"Barely any hesitation at all… Yes, I think you will do just fine."

Yanking the dagger free, Asher took a few steps back, staring in horror as the part of Loratta's face he'd impaled seemed to turn to gel for a moment, flowing together and reforming near instantly to her regular human form. He'd sunk six inches of mithral straight through the woman's eye into her brain, but there hadn't been so much as a speck of blood.

"Got that out of your system? Good, we can start talking." Seeing the look on his face, Loratta rolled her eyes, letting out another weary sigh. "I've been doing this long enough that I realized most people spend the first few minutes of our conversation waiting for the right moment to strike, and I hate having to repeat myself once they make their move and realize it's futile. Far easier to just let them attack first than waste both our time."

"What are you?" Asher whispered, still shocked by how the woman's flesh had warped and flowed as if it were some form of living liquid. He'd seen a lot of weird things in his brief time on this world, but nothing like that.

"Oh, I'm human, no doubt about that," she laughed, shooting him a lazy grin. "I was just lucky enough to stumble upon a rather useful element early on in my career. Enough about me however, I want to talk about you. You and your friend here."

Snapping her fingers, two thugs stepped up to the side of her chair, supporting an unconscious, heavily injured man between them. The man was so battered and bruised, his face swollen and covered in so much blood, that it took Asher a moment to even recognize him.

"Rosh!"