NIGHT DWELLERS

The three figures in black moved through the rooftops at night, their pace making it difficult for anyone to catch a glimpse of anything but a black streak. They got to the Lord's mansion and easily disabled the guards at the gate with senbons laced with sleeping draughts to the neck.

They silently moved through the grounds of the courtyard and entered the downstairs living room. The three figures then separated to ensure there would be no disturbances with their mission. The female elf went left - towards the bed chambers of the advisor. While the male elf went right to apprehend any of the wondering guards.

The first figure hurried straight up the stairs and towards the lord's room. He faced little opposition in his way and quickly dealt with the ones he did. He got to the room and easily picked the door lock. He would've used magic to unlock it, but it would be far too easy to trace the magic signature back to him.

He saw the boy sleeping in his bed. The wolf they saw at the market this morning was laying at the foot of it. There were no lights in the room, so it was very dark. But he grateful for this. He worked best in the dark after all.

The man silently stalked towards the wolf and stuck a senbon laced with a sleeping draught in its neck. He knew it worked when the wolf's breathing deepened. He then walked towards the figure on the bed, pulled a kunai from his jacket with his left hand, and held it in a reverse grip.

He intended to stab the boy straight through the throat; it would reduce the possibility of him calling out for help and also grant him a quick death. It was the least he could do for him.

He swung down. And blood arched through the air.

It took the man a few seconds to comprehend that it was his blood flying through the air and not that of the boy. He immediately jumped backward and looked down to see there was a huge tear in his chest. It ran from one shoulder to the other and was bleeding lightly, but it didn't look to be lethal.

"That was just a warning. The next...will be lethal " Jin said

The man looked up and took another step backward when he saw a figure with glowing blue eyes sitting up in the bed. The figure had his right hand out-stretched and had a black dagger in it.

"You were able to cut me". The man said, "No one had been able to do that in the past ten years."

The boy did not respond.

"Why didn't you kill me? I'm sure you could've done it easily"

Jin came down from the bed and walked towards Fang "I find it tedious to kill people unnecessarily." He bent down and placed his finger at Fang's nose to ensure he was still breathing "So I will give you one chance to leave. If you still desire to fight, then you are free to try"

"sigh~ Truly, this is far more trouble than it is worth," The man mumbled tiredly. "But I already took this job, and to leave without completing it will be an insult to my honor"

"Then you will die with your hono-"

The man didn't wait for him to complete his sentence. He charged Jin with a slash to his throat that was blocked with the dagger. He grabbed Jin by the arm and body-tossed him over his shoulder, but Jin landed on his feet and reversed the man's hold on him. He twisted the hand backward and threw his shoulder into the man's armpit, dislocating his hand in the process. The man staggered out of Jin's hold with a grunt and tried relocating the arm, but Jin didn't allow him to...

< [Bladed Weapons Mastery] has leveled up >

< Through continuous action, a new skill had been developed >

< You have unlocked the skill [Brawling] >

< You can view this skill in the skill menu >

Jin ignored the windows and focused instead on the man. He rushed forward and began exchanging blows with him. They slashed, kicked, and head-butted each other in an attempt to gain the upper hand. But no matter how skilled that man was, the loss of an arm greatly slowed him down. This allowed Jin to match him blow for blow and even get a cut or slash in now and then.

The man though, was skilled and focused more on the use of his legs and blunt hits to throw Jin off. He placed the kunai in between his teeth and pulled out three shurikens from his jacket, throwing them at Jin.

Jin blocked two of them, but the third one cut into his shoulder, leaving a tear. He knew then that he couldn't fight the man in simple close quarter combat. He was outclassed in skills alone - even though the man had only one arm.

His brief retreat allowed the man space to relocate his shoulder with a pop and a wince. He then rolled it about to try getting feeling into it again, but still felt somewhat sore, so decided to focus on his right arm still.

Jin pulled out a second dagger from his inventory and rushed the man again, focusing even more on the dislocated arm to throw the man off...

< [Bladed Weapons Mastery] has leveled up >

< [Bladed Weapons Mastery] has leveled up >

This exchange of blows continued for a while with Jin still gaining more and more ground as time went on. Until finally, the man made a mistake. He went for a slash on Jin and accidentally missed a step. This left his damaged left arm wide open to Jin, who capitalized on this by grabbing onto the arm and delivering a wide overhead kick. The kick struck true and knocked the man to the ground. Allowing for Jin to pin him there with a knife to his throat.

"Yield," He said coldly, the only evidence he had been in a fight was the small stain of blood on his shoulder from when he was hit. The man had been totally outmatched

The man tried getting his kunai up again, but Jin kicked it away from his hands.

"There is no honor in yielding," The man said when he couldn't reach the kunai anymore, "I would rather die in battle than yield"

"You would rather die in battle than yield? You will give up your life, everything you are, simply for the sake of your honor?" Jin frowned, "What a stupid way to die..."

"What," The man said, wide-eyed. He scowled behind his mask. "Do not think to understand the way of Shinobi. Our entire lives we are taught how to kill, we are brought up as machines, not people. All we have is our honor, our pride. If I do not have that then what do I live for!? "

There was pause before Jin spoke again "Live for me then." Jin said as he stood up from the man "If you have nothing to live for, then live for me. Become my sword and strike down my enemies. Help me strike down evil wherever it may be" He stretched out his hand to the man

"I defeated you in battle. Let me help you regain your honor"

The man stared at the hand for some time, wondering whether he should accept this offer. He had been tasked to kill this boy, but now was being offered a way out from the path of the mercenaries?

'This is not the same boy I poisoned. What happened to him?' He thought

He didn't have to think on the offer for long at all; and it was with a resigned expression on his face, that he accepted the hand, and bent the knee in front of Jin.

"Very well then. I will become your sword in battle and your eyes in the darkness. Where you go, I go, and where you die, I die"

Jin smiled and then pulled the man up from his knees. "There is no need for all that. Just fight for me and I'll be more than happy." He said "So, what do they call you? "

The man nodded reluctantly and after some thought, pulled off his mask. He was a human male that looked to be in his late 20's. He possessed a fair face, red eyes, and long red hair that gave him a somewhat feminine look. He also had a piercing in his right ear.

"I am called Renji Sasaki. A member of the Sasaki tribe."

Jin was surprised by this. The Sasaki tribe were a tribe of assassins thought to have been extinct at the start of the war. They were the former guards of the Royal family but were overwhelmed by the elite warriors of Roa during an ambush and most of them were killed.

"The Sasaki tribe? Are there more of you?"

Renji shook his head. "Not anymore. My mother was one of the last and she died while giving birth to me"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Jin said

Renji was about to reply when his two companions burst through the door. They saw Renji with his mask off and were shocked. He had never taken it off outside of their hideout.

"Ah, you are both here." Renji said to them "Come, meet our new master, Jin. Jin, these are my disciples, Mai and Hiro"

Both Mai and Hiro didn't respond. They simply looked from Renji to Jin and then back to Renji again. It was Hiro that spoke what was on both their minds.

"What's going on Master. Were we not sent here to kill him?" he asked

"Yes, you were sent here to kill me" Jin replied instead "But now you are under my employment for the foreseeable future. It'll be a pleasure working with you"

From the looks on their faces, it was obvious that they were both still skeptical about the whole thing

"Don't be so rude to our new employer. Did I not teach you better?" Renji said to them

This pulled them out of their trance and they both bowed to Jin. "We apologize for our rudeness," Mai said

"It's no problem at all." Jin said directly to Mai "Now, tell me what you did to my advisor, it wouldn't be good for you if you did more than putting her to sleep"

"Uhm, no sir. T-That was all I did"

"Good, then, you should have the antidote for the sleeping draught, right?"

Renji nodded at this and produced a small bottle from his jacket. Every ninja knew to carry around antidotes for any poisons they used.

"Then let's go to her." He said "She'll probably throw a fit if you simply showed up tomorrow without an explanation"

Jin started walking out of the room with Renji directly behind him. And after a nervous glance at each other, the two other occupants of the room left to join them as well.

....

< Bonus Quest >

< Survive till the end of the day>

< There are mercenaries sent to kill the body you currently inhabit, evade them, and survive till the end of the day>

< Quest complete >

< Reward: 50 Exp, New class title unlocked>

< You have unlocked the class title [ Night Dweller ] >

< [ Night Dweller ]: Grants a boost to all night based actions and increases proficiency when [ Dark Weapons ] are used by Player.

+20% HP at night

+20% MP at night

+10% increase in all stats at night >

....

< Name: Jin Xiao >

< Race : Half Human, ??? >

< Class: [ Night Dweller ] >

< Exp : 70/100 >

< Level : 1 >

< HP : 20 (+4) /15 (+4) >

< Strength : 13 (+2) >

< Agility : 12 (+2) >

< Stamina : 15 (+2) >