Tavern Alone

As per the rules of the adventurers guild, the members were not permitted to use the guild as a place for lodging. Hence, Hunter and Kolvar had no other option but to make their way back to the Bored Hamster tavern for the night. Hunter and Kolvar arrived at the Bored Hamster tavern, their footsteps echoing through the empty and dismal establishment. The dim light from the lanterns only added to the dreary atmosphere, and the distant rumble of thunder seemed to match the gloomy ambiance perfectly. As they entered the tavern, Hunter placed the sack of astral coins on the ground beside him, and Kolvar couldn't help but feel a sense of unease.

"It's not safe for us to spend the night here with that much astral coin, Hunter," Kolvar said, pointing at the sack.

Hunter nodded in agreement. "I know. It's already attracted some street dogs," he replied with a smirk, thinking of the potential thieves that might be lurking in the shadows.

Kolvar's anxiety increased as Hunter continued to speak. "You probably didn't notice, but we were followed from the adventurer's guild to here. They're waiting for the cover of darkness and the storm to rob us blind."

Kolvar felt a shiver run down his spine at the thought of being robbed in the middle of the night. Unlike Hunter, who remained calm and collected, Kolvar was not accustomed to such danger. However, he trusted Hunter's abilities and knew that he wouldn't let anything happen to them.

Despite having access to the best security as a dictator, Hunter never relied solely on his bodyguards. He understood that in a dangerous world, he could not always count on their loyalty or presence. So, he took it upon himself to become an expert in combat and trained with some of the most skilled hitmen and assassins in the underworld. Hunter's level of proficiency was beyond what most people knew, making him an even more formidable opponent.

Kolvar sighed heavily, breaking the tense silence. "So let me guess, you're planning to kill them," he said, knowing all too well the answer. Having witnessed Hunter's brutal massacres before, including the slaughter of Xander and his family and the disciples of Arcanum Academy, Kolvar knew that Hunter was a ruthless villain and a murdering maniac. He was not one to be crossed without consequence.

Hunter had the power to easily lose the trail of the thieves following him from the thieves guild, but he deliberately chose not to do so. Upon using his powerful skill, God's Eye, Hunter discovered that all of the thieves were either weaker or equal in strength to him, marked by green or yellow aura. With his confidence soaring high, Hunter decided to entertain the thieves by allowing them to make their move on him, eagerly awaiting the thrill of using his trusty devil's cry to take them down. The thought of the thieves experiencing the cold steel of his blade piercing their throats was a twisted pleasure that Hunter could not resist.

"I'm glad you're coming up to speed," Hunter said with a chuckle. "I can't have a whiny little bitch as my second in command."

"I am sorry that I am not a murdering psychopath like you but I will try my best to become one,'" Kolvar rolled his eyes and responded. While he did not share Hunter's bloodlust and thirst for violence, he knew that in this cutthroat world, survival often depended on strength and brutality. He was willing to do what it took to survive, even if it meant embracing his darker side.

Hunter knew that he couldn't stay in the tavern without proper protection. He began by examining his surroundings and taking inventory of the resources he had on hand. As he looked around the tavern, he spotted a few empty bottles, chairs, ropes, and nails. He quickly hatched a plan to turn these seemingly innocuous items into deadly traps.

First, he took the empty bottles and placed them strategically on the floor near the entrance of the tavern. He knew that the thieves would likely try to sneak in through the front door, and he wanted to make sure they were caught off guard. Hunter carefully placed the bottles in a way that made them difficult to see in the dim light of the tavern. He also made sure to scatter the bottles across the floor, making it impossible for the thieves to avoid them.

Next, he moved on to the chairs. Hunter took the chairs and stacked them haphazardly against one another, forming a makeshift barricade in front of the stairs that led up to the rooms on the second floor. The thieves would have to navigate around the chairs, slowing them down and making them more vulnerable to attack.

With the bottles and chairs in place, Hunter turned his attention to the ropes and nails. He carefully tied the ropes to the nails, creating tripwires that ran along the length of the room. The tripwires were placed at ankle height, making them difficult to spot. If the thieves tried to make a run for it, they would inevitably trip and fall, giving Hunter the perfect opportunity to strike.

As he finished setting up the traps, Hunter couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. He knew that the thieves wouldn't stand a chance against him now. He settled into a chair near the back of the tavern, ready to wait out the storm and see what the night would bring.

As Hunter set up traps around the tavern using empty bottles, chairs, ropes, and nails, Kolvar watched in awe and fear. He couldn't believe how Hunter could take ordinary objects and turn them into deadly weapons. Every trap was set with precision and expertise, as if Hunter had done this a thousand times before.

Kolvar couldn't help but feel a sense of unease as he watched Hunter work. Although he had seen Hunter's ruthlessness before, he had never seen him set traps like this. It made Kolvar realize just how dangerous and unpredictable Hunter could be.

Kolvar looked at the makeshift traps with a mix of fear and awe. "Do you think these traps will work, Hunter?"

Hunter chuckled darkly. "Oh, they'll work, my dear Kolvar. They'll work just fine."

Kolvar swallowed hard, knowing that Hunter's ruthless side was in full swing. "I guess I'm just not used to seeing you...well, like this."

Hunter grinned wickedly. "You should get used to it, Kolvar. This is who I am, a killer who always stays one step ahead of his enemies. And trust me, those thieves won't know what hit them."

Kolvar nodded, feeling a sense of unease settle in the pit of his stomach. He knew that working with Hunter meant being in the presence of true evil, but seeing it in action was a different story altogether. He watched as Hunter finished laying the last trap, a simple rope and nail contraption attached to the door.

As they settled into their seats to wait for the thieves, Kolvar couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. He knew that if they were caught, there would be no mercy from Hunter. But at the same time, he also knew that they couldn't back down now.

The distant sound of thunder grew louder, and Kolvar felt a chill run down his spine. He knew that the storm would make it easier for the thieves to sneak up on them. But with Hunter's traps set, he also knew that they would have the upper hand.

Hunter and Kolvar waited patiently in the shadows, their eyes fixed on the door as the sound of the heavy rain outside intensified. The tavern was eerily quiet except for the occasional sound of the creaking floorboards and the drip-dropping of rainwater from the leaky roof.

Just to be sure, Hunter checked and rechecked the traps he had set up. He made sure the bottles were in the right places, the chairs were securely tied down with ropes, and the nails were positioned to inflict maximum damage.

As the minutes ticked by, the tension in the room grew thicker. The storm outside raged on, making it hard to hear anything beyond the walls of the tavern. Hunter and Kolvar remained silent, waiting for the thieves to make their move.

Finally, they heard the sound of the door creaking open. Hunter's eyes widened with excitement as he saw the silhouette of several figures entering the tavern. The thieves had arrived.

Hunter signaled to Kolvar, and they both quietly retreated into the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

The thieves, clad in dark robes, crept silently towards the Bored Hamster tavern. The rain had turned into a raging storm, the sound of the pounding rain drowning out their footsteps. They moved with the skill and agility of seasoned thieves, their eyes darting around for any signs of danger.

As they approached the tavern, the only light source they had were the occasional flashes of lightning that illuminated the area in a brief moment of clarity. The thieves used these brief glimpses of light to navigate their way towards the entrance of the tavern, careful not to make any noise.

One of the thieves slowly pushed the door open, revealing the darkness inside. They peered into the gloom, their eyes adjusting to the lack of light. As they stepped inside, they realized that something was amiss. The tavern was completely empty, and there was a sense of unease in the air.

As the first thief stepped inside the tavern, he knocked over an empty bottle that Hunter had placed strategically in his path. The sound echoed through the empty tavern, alerting Hunter and Kolvar to the presence of the thieves.

Suddenly, one of the chairs flew towards the thief, propelled by a rope that Hunter had tied to the ceiling. The chair hit the thief's head with a sickening thud, knocking him to the ground. Blood poured from the wound as the thief writhed in pain.

The other thieves, startled by the sudden attack, tried to flee, but they were quickly met with more traps. One thief stepped on a nail that Hunter had placed on the ground, and it went straight through his foot. Another thief triggered a trap that sent a hail of nails flying towards him, piercing his skin and causing him to scream in agony.

As the thieves continued their attempt to sneak into the tavern, more of Hunter's traps began to activate, causing chaos and panic among the would-be robbers.

One thief stepped on a hidden nail board, screaming in pain as the sharp metal punctured through the sole of his foot. Another thief reached out to grab a chair to steady himself, but it was rigged to topple over and send him crashing to the ground, his head slamming against the hard floor.

"Ah, what the hell?!" one of the thieves shouted as he fell into a pitfall trap filled with sharpened wooden stakes.

More traps continued to activate, each one causing more damage and injuries to the thieves. One of them stumbled into a rope trap, which tightened around his neck and lifted him off the ground, choking him. Another was struck in the head by a swinging bottle, shattering on impact and leaving him dazed and bleeding.

The thieves were now in a state of complete panic, their screams and curses filling the air as they fell victim to Hunter's deadly traps. Some tried to run back towards the door, only to trigger even more traps and meet a bloody end.

Kolvar watched in shock and horror as the scene unfolded before him. He had never seen such brutal and efficient trap-making, and it was clear that Hunter was not to be underestimated.

"You see, Kolvar," Hunter said with a smirk, "this is what happens when you try to rob me. You end up paying the ultimate price."

When the last thief fell to the ground, writhing in agony and gasping for air, Hunter emerged from the shadows, his devil's cry dagger gleaming in the dim light. His eyes were filled with a primal rage as he stalked toward the thieves, who were now cowering in terror.

"You thought you could rob me?" Hunter snarled, his voice low and menacing. "You thought you could take what's mine? You're nothing but vermin, and I'll squash you like the bugs you are."

With that, he lunged forward, his dagger slicing through the air with deadly precision. The first thief barely had time to scream before his throat was slit open, blood gushing out in a torrent. The second thief tried to run, but Hunter was too quick, his blade striking with a sickening thud as it buried itself deep in the thief's back. He collapsed to the ground, twitching and convulsing as his life ebbed away.

Kolvar was not far behind, his own blade flashing as he joined the fray. The remaining thieves were no match for the two of them, and they fell one by one, each one meeting a brutal and bloody end.

The air was thick with the stench of blood and death as Hunter and Kolvar surveyed the carnage. The once-empty tavern was now littered with the corpses of the thieves, their lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling.

Hunter wiped the blood from his blade, a satisfied smirk on his lips. "No one takes what's mine," he said, his voice cold and devoid of emotion. "No one."

Kolvar just nodded silently, his own expression grim. He knew that this was just another day in the life of Hunter, the ruthless murdering maniac. But even he couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear at the sight of Hunter's bloodlust.