– Regis shadeborn –
[Physique : 35 (+25)]
[Mana : 32]
[Mind : 35]
[Defense : 26]
[Arts of the shadeborn : 50]
[Martial proficiency : 40 (+20)]
Regis dashed through the streets at full speed.
The night was still young for the festive goers.
He stepped from side to side, finding gaps in the crowd.
"Hey what gives!?" he brushed past a worker carrying a crate of apples, causing him to drop his package.
Undistracted, his eyes fixed on his target floating in the air just up ahead.
He approached a two storey building.
He leapt. The thrust was barely enough for him to grip the ledges of the roof top with his fingers, allowing him to pull himself up.
"Sh*t, the effects of the potion are wearing off."
He pulled out another vial and popped off the cork.
"I'm gonna crash really hard after this one wears off, but looks like I have no choice."
With a tilt of his head, the scalding, viscous mix flowed down his throat.
Cough! Cough! He could feel the liquid glow down his gullet. It felt like his insides were being melted.
But unlike the previous one, the potion takes effect almost immediately, though with significantly more blow back.
He wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
"My employer better be paying me double."
He scanned the air for his target. His brief pause had set him back.
There. The wind direction had shifted it from its linear course. The architecture of the city bends the wind every which way, compressing it through its narrow crevices, creating random bursts of wind.
"I better hurry, this potion packs more of a punch. But it won't last nearly as long as the last one."
Shadow dash. His speed had increased one and half fold as his legs were infused with the potions energies.
His senses were elevated. He could hear the presence of groups of assassins to either side of him hopping along the roof tops.
He picked up the pace. The superior albeit temporary boost allowed him to dart ahead.
He was able to close the distance. The keepsake was floating just above him but the height was too much to jump and the wind was too strong to use his grapple hook accurately.
The wind blew from another direction, blowing it at a right angle. As he waited for his opportunity, he could sense his competition catching up to him.
"Sh*t, i gotta hide…"
He dropped down into an alleyway and stayed still, waiting until he was in the middle of the opposing side's formation.
The built up energy in his limbs burned, but he endured. Blowing his cover prematurely could mean the difference between earning the coin pouch and doing time in the dungeons.
He listened out as the formation of opposing assassins moved past him.
"Amatures. They have no idea how much sound they are making."
He tailed them. They clearly had not taken as potent of a boost potion as him, but they were able to keep good pace with the target.
A sudden gust of wind blew directly against it. The keepsake was momentarily halted mid flight.
It hovered in midair and began spiraling down towards the ground.
The assassins got into position, spreading themselves out around the area.
One of them wielded his harpoon, spinning the rope in one hand.
Just before he was about to toss it, a sharp strike to the side of his neck knocked him out.
"Hey! don't damage it you moron. Damaged goods don't fetch as much."
For a split second, he made eye contact with an assassin standing on the roof top across.
He immediately began signalling to his mates.
"Shit"
Shadow dash.
A barrage of darts flew his way, piercing through his shadow clone, making faint wooden noises on the stone ground.
Several assassins converged onto the area. They met in the middle with no signs of their assailant anywhere.
Clank! The sound of metal clanking against each other as the tip of a harpoon was knocked out of the air.
The keepsake floated only four stories above the ground.
Wham. A silent strike from behind. The cloaked assassin fell limp onto the ground as his attack faded back into the shadows.
A blind swing of a staff that was blocked.
"He's here-" a punch to the face knocked him out before he could finish his sentence.
"Don't shout either."
But he was able to alert his squad to Regis's position.
Shadow dash.
Into a narrow alley way he went.
With quick reflexes, he kicked the walls, elevating himself to the rooftop just as a dust bomb exploded in the narrow space.
A startled assassin met him just as he emerged but could not match his speed.
With a feint and a kick to the gut, he knocked him to the ground.
His mates surrounded the ace assassin.
On the streets below, a parade was marching past. A cheering crowd gathered on either side.
Floating mascots turned down to carts. Dancers in their flower bracelets, tossing petals up into the air.
The petals spiraled upwards from the wind, spreading their colors and scent to the cheering crowd. The beating of the drums.
Regis keeps his scabbard. The group of assassins laid on the rooftop, holding their sides and groaning.
"Argh… It hurts. These guys are not as bad as I thought."
He staggered towards the ledge of the rooftop overlooking the parade. The wall of petals obscuring his view.
"Sh*t. I lost track of my target."
Shadow dash. He went straight for the highest point in his immediate vicinity, spending the mana to gain a precious second.
His eyes were peeled. His senses honed, cutting out the noise from the parade.
Like a hawk on its perch, he scanned the entire area.
There. An assassin in his black cloak wearing a conspicuous white cloth band around his neck. The thin red stain on the cloth hanging on the left side of his neck was visible.
He jumped over the parade landing two floors below. He could feel his knees hurt but his adrenaline carried him forward at full speed.
As he reached the ledge, he jumped straight off without a hint of slowing down.
His glider on his back unfolded, the wind pushing him upwards.
"Gliding makes me more vulnerable, but it looks like I have no choice."
From the air, he could track his target carrier.
The keepsake emitted a strange glow that made it visible even in the dark alleyways.
Regis folded his glider tighter, allowing him to dive through the air barreling down on his target.
"You know the saying, once you carry the treasure, you're marked as a target for good."
Throwing knives were hurled at him as he approached.
He detached himself from the glider, tossing it to one side to lunge himself to the other, dodging the barrage.
As he reached the ground, several assassins attempted to block him from three directions.
He had to back off, attempting to funnel them towards him.
But his well trained adversaries did not pursue but instead spread out in a screening formation.
"Sh*t, this tactic. Guess they aren't complete amateurs"
It's too risky to dash through with just his speed. Their loose formation meant he would only be able to overpower one of them at the time while the rest attacked him from all angles.
Cough! The blowback from the potion was starting to take its toll.
"Maybe it's time to retreat, this is too much for me."
He began stepping back.
All of a sudden, the air changed.
He looked up.
Silver hair, fair skin glowing in the moonlight. A two storey tall pillar of muscle landed before him.
Her feet gracefully touched the ground. Despite her sheer mass, there wasn't a hint of tremor.
"What the-?"
A sudden telekinetic blast knocked him back, causing him to crash into the wall.
He got up. His vision was blurry but he could make a giant silvered hair woman picking up one of the cloaked assassins in her hand and dropping it into a tall column of white cloth.
Her voice ringed in his head.
"Sh*t! I have to run."