In sector five, Elmort.
'I feel like an assassin.' The man sat down at the edge of the skyscraper, crouched, and stared down at his target.
He was completely dressed in black, with only his eyes visible. They glowed crimson red, and ellipse-shaped red mana concentrated in front of his eyes, allowing him to see what was going on beneath the skyscraper as if he were standing right in front of skyscraper.
He turned around and stared at five other assassins who were doing the same thing; they were all visible in almost the size of a pea, but they could see each other thanks to their enhanced mana senses, and when their gazes met, they all nodded in acknowledgment.
[Move as soon as they come into view; if you succeed, you'll be rewarded; if not, you'll be discarded.] A sweet woman's voice rang out through the earpiece he was wearing.
"Why discard us?" The man asked with a frown.
[Why? Ha.] The woman scoffed.
'This bit*h still dares!!' He thought and noticed that the other assassins had almost identical expressions.
[Because if you don't catch 'them' by surprise, you'll be discarded by 'him', and they have already failed the ambush 'him' once before. You won't be around to tell the tale of what and how horrifying your encounter with 'him' was.] She clarified.
".... If the target is so strong, why not send the 'Puppeteers'?" He asked while knowing that he shouldn't be asking many questions, and the consequence would have been that he would be disposed of before he could even do anything.
WHOOSH
pαпdα Йᴏνê|,сòМ A strong gust of wind hit his face, sending shivers down his spine, and a small cut appeared on his neck, which he only noticed when it stung from the cloth rubbing against it.
[Know your place 'Puppet.' They sent you because, as I previously stated, 'You. Are. Disposable.' Now shut it and concentrate on the mission; that was just a warning because you were new.] She clarified and warned.
"... Yes." He said and gulped down a lump of saliva.
'F**k! Even though I was the strongest of the trainees, I didn't feel anything until it was over. I'll die before I know it if I don't su*k it up.' He pondered.
He leaned forward and focused his attention on his eyes, which appeared to be ablaze with crimson red mana. He looked down from a skyscraper and noticed that he could clearly read the licence plate of a vehicle passing below.
'..... I was thinking about messing with the people who invented this technique?' He cursed himself and looked at a average looking man with dark brown hair and eyes who stood cross-armed and appeared to be waiting for someone.
"Target in sight." He said.
[Affirmative, that is priority number three.] She confirmed as if she, too, could see through the man's eyes.
'If I survive, I'll never talk back again.' When he realised that 'they' were watching his every move, he cursed his own stupidity.
"Puppets, take your positions and prepare to attack at my mark." He said it through his earpiece, which was linked to everyone else on the mission.
'Let's debut, shall we?' he asked himself and jumped off of skyscraper.
"Commencing confrontation!" He said as he began to run down the skyscraper, waved his hand, formed an orange 'Gate' in front of him, and vanished in it.
[If you succeed in the mission, reward will be the 'Royal blood.'] she said and giggled.
***
Eshwar, Isha, and Katline arrived and stared at Vinny and Jiwoo, who were standing next to each other outside the casino, waiting for them.
The casino they were standing in front of was called 'The Trillium.' It was one of most famous and the only casino which included the use of magic. It was difficult to get a reservation in it, and it was stocked with all of the famous booze that could get a Hero or an awakened drunk.
"..... Why're we here?" Eshwar asked.
'Why do you think?' Isha thought looking at Eshwar who took a step back.
"Why? What's wrong?" Jiwoo asked with a smug grin.
"Haa... Nothing lets go in." Eshwar sighed and walked in to the Casino.
"Don't worry, we'll be going to the connected hotel." Vinny reassured Eshwar, who looked at Vinny with a face that said, 'that's exactly the problem!'
'Why would that be a problem? He won't lose money by gambling.... He'll simply drink, eat and talk... I think?' Isha tried to reason.
*
The room was fancy, 20 feet long, filled with couches and a single refectory table in the middle, and many old and strong alcohols were shelved in the right corner.
Katharine and Violet were already drinking and appeared to be making themselves comfortable. Violet was drinking wine, whereas Katharine appeared to have already chugged a bottle of alcohol.
"Hmm..." Eshwar furrowed his brows and stared at the table where many strong drinks were placed, as if he were staring at a long-lost foe.
"....Hm?" Vinny stared at Eshwar with a curious look.
'.... Why is he making that expression?' Isha thought.
".... Pfft." Jiwoo laughed and broke the silence.
"Ahem, mm." Eshwar cleared his throat and sat in one of the corner.
*
Eshwar had only asked for munching, but he had now drunk one of the strongest drinks, 'Peacon Blizzard,' twice, which helped everyone present understand why he seemed to be on the edge.
"I mean, why you get me drunk, unless you want a beating?" Eshwar asked.
He was standing on the couch, holding Vinny's collar with his left hand and raising his right hand in the air to slap Vinny, who was desperately asking for help from everyone while laughing their a*s off at the scene.
"That's what I mean! I request a duel!" Katharine point her index finger at Jiwoo and exclaimed.
"Jiwoo! Help me! Aaa, you crazy basta*d stop." Vinny pleaded and ran around the room while being chased by Eshwar.
"Eshwar! I have a theory about what is causing all of the system changes!" Jiwoo said, desperately trying to change the subject because he knew he would be next, as Vinny pointed at Jiwoo several times and blamed him for getting Eshwar drunk.
"Ho! Is this true? I was expecting you to come up with a theory with the new variables in mind." Eshwar came to a halt and turned to face Jiwoo, nodding his head.
"I am proud of you my boy!" he said and sat next to Isha who was drinking her wine elegantly.
'... Don't laugh! Don't laugh! Don't laugh!...' she repeated in her mind, trying her best to not laugh at Eshwar.
"Ok, let's here it!" he said and took Isha's wine glass.
"Ah!" Isha exclaimed.
"Hm? Were you licking it, like a cat you are, or what?" Eshwar asked.
He looked at the half-empty wine glass, turned to face Isha, and leaned forward towards her face, which was one of the most unexpected and embarrassing moments for Isha.
"Wh-what're y-yu-you d-doing?" she asked, stuttering and leaned back a bit by the unexpected turn of events.
'What is trying to do? Why is he not stopping? Is he trying to kiss? Now? In front of everyone? Why? What? What do I do? Should I stop? Huh? Why am I even asking that question? Do I not want him to stop? Uuwaaa!!!' Isha screamed inwardly, embarrassed. Isha gave up and tightened her eyes shut.
'OH MY GOD! I can feel his breath near mine!!!!' Isha was on the verge of exploding from embarrassment.
SNIFF, SNIFF
"Hm? As expected you haven't drunk, have you?" Eshwar asked.
"Huh?" Isha opened her left eye and saw that Eshwar was still in front of her face, his eyes glowing bright orange with vertical black pupils.
"..." Eshwar looked back at her obsidian black eyes.
"..." Isha noticed that his eyes were off focus but his demeanour told otherwise.
'Where have I seen those eyes before? 'Why do I feel nostalgic every time I look at his eyes, which have turned this way?' she wondered in her daze.
"Ahem." Katline cleared her throat loudly.
"Huh? What's wrong Katline? Did you drink too much?" Eshwar turned to face Katline, leaning against the couch to keep himself from falling on Isha.
"Eh?" Isha snapped out of her daze, looked around, and noticed that everyone was staring at them with their eyes wide open and their faces flushed.
"Ah!" She pushed him back, forced him to sit back down on the couch, snatched her wine glass from his grasp, and sat up straight, her face flushed into a tomato.
"Eh? What about me? Can't I have that? I mean, you're not even drinking the wine, Miss Cat." Eshwar said this while looking at Isha with big puppy eyes brimming with mana, while everyone else flinched at Eshwar's eyes.
'Hm? Why does it look like they're scared of him? He looks so innocent that I almost want to give him my wine glass....' Isha thought while glancing at everyone from the corner of her eyes.
"No! First listen to the theory, I'll give this to you afterwards." She said.
"Ok.." he said with a dejected tone while his shoulders slouched forward.
'Huhuhu, my experience in handling troublesome kids is finally coming to use!' she thought while the others looked at Isha with amazed expressions and suddenly gave her a round of applause.
*
After an hour, everyone had grown accustomed to Eshwar's predatory eyes as they talked and proposed different approaches to Jiwoo's theory about the oddity of the system, leaving Eshwar to Isha because he listened to her words while occasionally glaring at others as if they were his prey.
"I mean, What if this individual X knows about the future we don't? Let's say that this individual X somehow managed to damage the system and it is increasing its influence here, on earth, to heal or repair back itself?" Jiwoo asked after explaining his theory to the others.
"But that doesn't explain why the system wants to lower the number of living, though it may sound normal, its just asking us to kill each other. The first thought that occurs to you humans after hearing that is that, now killing will be rewarded." Eshwar answered while staring at the drink in Isha's hands.
".... Right." Jiwoo muttered while the others nodded their heads in unison and pondered to make a sense out of the situation at hand and they didn't miss how Eshwar said 'you humans' as if he wasn't one.
"But we can still consider the theory that somebody has something to do with the system acting oddly." Eshwar said and glanced back at everyone, one at a time.
"Ok, I want you guys to hunt monsters and became stronger! System's new function allows you to grow a bit faster, so use it while it's still available! Don't waste your time on something you have no control over and get stronger for what's to come!" Eshwar said pointing at everyone.
"Violet! You too, you have no choice if you want to survive! I know you are strong so get more stronger, if you can't I'll be the one calling you 'incompetent' like you call the others." He said.
"...." Violet furrowed her brows at Eshwar.
'She has been silent the whole time like all of it doesn't matter to her....' Isha's thoughts were cut short by Eshwar who abruptly stood up and punched at Violet's face.
"Eshwar!" Isha exclaimed in shock.
"Stop!" Vinny tried to stop Eshwar but he seemed too slow.
"...." Katline bound Eshwar with magic while drawing her bow and arrow and aiming it at Eshwar's head. Eshwar's legs were tightly gripped by bone hands that protruded from the ground.
Katherine and Vinny followed her, drew their weapons, and pointed at Eshwar, but Isha used magic to bind the others, not to stop them, but to keep them safe.
"...." Violet's eyes were wide open as she stared at Eshwar's fist in front of her face.
'I can, kind of sympathise with her because it appeared to me as a giant's fist the first time as well.' Isha pondered.
Violet's eyes welled up with tears as she dropped her wine glass, while everyone else kept their weapons aimed at Eshwar.
Katline's bow was aimed at his eye, Vinny's giant sword at his neck, and Katharine's sword at his stomach, while Jiwoo looked around in a daze because everything happened too quickly for him to keep up, his mouth wide open as the alcohol he drank flowed out.
Eshwar ignored everyone pointing their weapons at him and leaned in closer to Violet, who was having hiccups.
"You are the incompetent one..." Eshwar said while staring at Violet in her eyes.
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