The man in Black

"I do know of the other kingdom, and I have a plan to take control of it, as well as the one I am currently in. that plan is-" My voice died off as I heard the sound of footsteps creaking on the wooden boards, stopping right at my door. "Azura, I am going to need you to hide"

"What?" She said, lifting her body off of mine, tilting her head in confusion.

"No time to explain. I think I know who is outside my door, but just in case it isn't, I am going to need you to disappear." I said sternly, hoping that the man is true to his word. I mean, who else besides Ashley, who is quieter than this person behind the door, would come up to a complete stranger? Let's not mention what I do every day, though.

"Hello? The man from the Market sent me to hear. You are Devon, right?" A gruff voice sounded from behind the door, knocking lightly. Straightening my posture, I confirmed his question and allowed him into my room. With a slight groan, the door opened, and a man dressed in black entered the room.

***POV***

'What a disgusting place. I can't believe the Boss got scared by a simple commoner. Someone of that caliber surely would be one of high nobility, not some lowlife living in the streets. No, something seems off about this whole thing. This might not even be the person I was sent to find! Well, there is one quick way to find out!' I thought, taking a quick glance over the room. Seeing the man lazily looking over at me, I sent a large portion of killing intent his way, one of the many unique techniques I trained hard to master.

Only, there was no effect? 'What the hell, this guy should have been nocked out by the amount of killing intent I unleashed on him. M-maybe as a commoner, he has some sort of resistance to threats. Yeah, that must be it!'. Grimacing at how lightly this guy was taking my pressure, I started walking toward him, starting up a conversation to throw him off my intentions and distract him.

"So, I heard that you killed a few guys. Nothing big in the underground, I will tell you that much. I mean, you must have had to do something pretty terrifying to frighten my Boss the way you did. So, before we get on with what I came here for, id like to test if you really are the man he says you are-" I paused, feeling a major sense of killing intent, lightning-fast and over as quickly as it came.

It was so great that it made me shut my own eyes! A cold sweat trickled down my neck, hoping that I did not say something that could cost me my life. "That is a pretty decent amount of killing intent you got there, huh? Well, something like that could be compared to a pea against me, so let's not try to upset me, 'K?" The man whispered in my ear, icy breath chilling my soul. Relexivly spinning out of his grasp, I turned to see the man who somehow snuck behind me, an elite assassin and informant, but only saw a swirl of dust on the ground.

"So, you couldn't see that, could you? Such a shame, I had such high hope you would be someone of use, but I guess I can always fall back on plan B. What did you say your name was again?" the man said, a hint of mirth in his voice. It was blatantly obvious that this man was not taking me seriously, but what option did I have?! I could see no way of getting out of here alive without having to fight him, and I would be the one dead.

"My name is Kane. Kane Woodsen." I said, regaining my composure. Likewise, the lingering killing intent produced by the man was gone. Letting out an internal sigh, I backed up towards the door, as I would have a better chance of escaping this overpowered monster.

"So, Mr. Woodsen, I assume you know the reason why you are here. Well, obviously, as you where assigned it. What a stupid question. Sorry for my blabbering, but I am pretty excited to have someone to talk to. You see, I have been pretty lonely by myself, hunting a dungeon no one know about. So, I thought to myself, 'hey, stupid! Why don't you make a profit off of this, instead of living the life of a loner?' thus, I began to wrack my brain for a plan to get money out of my secret dungeon.

"That is when I saw this lovely fellow catering to people who know of the black market or are at least interested in it. This was perfect for me, as I, too, had a thing for underground connections, leading you to me." The man explained, a smile plastered on his face as he explained his request. Obviously, I knew the assignment.

And, by the demonstration of power I witnessed not a moment before, I can only assume his 'fumbling' of a simple question had a deeper meaning to it, like how reliable my sources were, and if I was good enough to be able to complete this task. The only thing that concerned me is to why he did not let me answer. Did he really think that I was this incompetent? Hmph, he obviously does not know who he is dealing with if he thinks we are some kind of ragtag gang.

"So, what you are requesting is an 'advertisement' on promoting your hunting grounds for cash? I do not see a reason you could not just set up a stall in the market and rack up some uptight nobles to accept. Unless that is not your true intention?" I asked, hoping to get a deeper look into what this guy has planned.

"Oh, no, I am truly trying to promote my dungeon. I just thought that, if the black market is as extensive in connections as it is with trails of bodies, then I would be able to get the word around faster and attract more customers." The man said, a twinkle sparkling in his eyes. This was offputting, as I do not think someone of his status could know so much about us.

"You are not wrong about the connections, but what about the people you are catering to? I am not so sure that people would just bite at the chance for a new opportunity to slay monsters when their are so many other, more popular opportunities to do so."

"Oh, you can leave the advertising to me. I just, as I said before, want you to spread the word that a new source of power has risen up from out of the depths, and with it comes great prosperity.

"I am sure, by the way, you acted when we met, that you have some sort of influence in that field of work, as does your Boss. now, I am not one to repeat myself, so I will say it one last time, just to be clear. I want you to tell as many sources as you can that an important opportunity has risen, and everybody should check it out as soon as possible before it is too late." The man said, leaving some mystery behind his words.

"Too late for what, exactly?" I questioned again, worried I was pushing it too far. But it seems this beast of a human is more reasonable that I originally though. Little did I know that this was going to be a big mistake in the future.