CH13: DarkBlade, House of Death

***

CH13: DarkBlade, House of Death

I first noticed my stalker when I left my Client's house the night before.

I initially thought he had something to do with the man, so I threw the stalker off my trail. It wasn't easy, I had to call upon the extensive counter-surveillance tricks I learnt in my previous life.

I once again picked up the stalker after I left the Client's store in the morning. By then, I had calmed down and realised that it was impossible for this stalker to be related to the Client.

This then begged the questions.

Who was my stalker? Why were they following me?

The afternoon while I was delivering the letter to Karl Gold's residence and at night while I was planning and executing my plan to kill Karl, I never found a clear reason.

I had deduced from the times I was under surveillance that the stalker didn't know my true face. They only knew me when I wore the mask.

However, only I started wearing the mask when I went to the Client's mansion.

This brought things back to the Client. I wondered if I was perhaps wrong when I reasoned that the stalker couldn't be working for him.

I tried to come up with reasons for why my Client and stalker would be related. I couldn't think of anything that would relate to me, or would require someone like my stalker to be following me.

If it was for the gems, he should've acted when I met Karl, but he didn't, which proved it was something else.

Never did I expect that I had caught the eyes of a true Assassin of the world of Arun!

But still, House of Death?

I don't know what I was expecting. Maybe, International Contract Execution Agency (ICEA)?

But House of Death? It just didn't feel right.

I guess not everyone has my naming sense.

*

"Young man, are you interested in joining the House of Death?"

From the man's tone, it sounded like the House of Death was a big deal. However, I had no information.

There was no way I'd make a decision without knowing what I was getting into.

I weighed the possible answers I could give.

Then, I realised something.

The other side was already intent on recruiting me.

In his eyes, I was a genius Beginner Assassin who killed someone far above my rank. I had potential he wanted to harness.

He should be willing to reveal more to me than norm.

Plus, a genius Beginner had to be a kid.

And what is a kid genius if not naive, hot-blooded, arrogant or an unhealthy combination of the three?

I folded my arms.

"House of Death? I've never heard of it. I want to be the greatest assassin in the world. Can your organisation help me with that?"

"The House of Death is one of the three main Assassin Organisations on the world of Arun. So, what do you think?"

'Jackpot!' I screamed in my mind.

My body trembled.

Both with fear and excitement.

Of course, I didn't let go of my caution.

"I'm young but not stupid. I don't know anything about the world of Assassins. Who knows if you're merely hoodwinking me. Why should I trust you?"

"Because you have my word. The word of a Lord!" His Mana flared. I saw a Corona of seven rings about him. "Do you think I have a reason to lie to you?"

The Corona of rings was a nice trick without substance. It was just a technique people used to show off the number of rings they had.

It had no purpose except for flexing... and pressuring someone with the strong force of mana released.

However, too bad for him, my body devours mana. The pressure is nothing to me.

I guess even if Saint stood before me and tried to pressure me with their ten rings, I wouldn't feel anything except fresh breeze.

I didn't look at him with the pain and fascination he expected. I merely nodded with satisfaction at his answer.

I've read that the higher a person's rank was, the more they'll disdain lying to those lower than them.

I think that's bullsheet but I decided to accept it.

"No. You don't need to lie to me. You can force me to do whatever you want."

I noticed his surprise at my lacklustre reaction to his flexing.

I could see his eyes shining more. I was looking more and more like a treasure in his eyes.

"I understand your organisation is one of the biggest organisations in our world, but it doesn't tell me how it affects me."

"What do you want to know?"

"Do I have to be deathly loyal to you? Can you provide me with difficult missions? Can you get me the resources I want? What is the range of your activities? Surely, one of the three biggest organisations in the world won't be limited to Landrose, right? If not there's no reason for us talking.

"I want to see the world, target strong people and beasts, kill them and add them on my stairs to the top of power."

I shot off my mouth to better give off the impression of someone with only a strong martial ambition.

Believe it or not, worldwide organisations like this are incredibly picky about who they take in. They don't necessarily look for strong people. They look for people they can control... people they can unleash on others like weapons.

This was why I didn't try to show a cunning side.

If he noticed I was the cunning type, he wouldn't bring me into the organisation that easily.

And if by some bad luck he decides that the organisation couldn't afford to take me in, then I didn't doubt for a second this Lord would kill me.

If his organisation couldn't have me, he wouldn't let someone with my potential join the competition.

In order words, since he saw me, my only option was to join his organisation. Since I knew I didn't have a choice, I gave him something the organisation could control me with.

I was essentially saying, 'I don't care about your organisation. I only care for getting stronger and testing my strength against other people. I only need you to give me resources to get stronger and point me in the direction of strong people to kill!'

If this wasn't the makings of a perfect weapon, I don't know what was.

I could see that a man of his experience understood what I was saying.

I couldn't see his face under the hood and mask, but I could tell from the eyes I was seeing that he was smiling happily.

"The organisation doesn't need your loyalty. You're too weak to do anything even if it did."

"Does that mean it will request my loyalty when I become strong enough?"

"Maybe. But if you don't want that to happen, you just have to make sure the organisation doesn't have something on you. For example, don't let them know your identity. You're wearing a mask. Good. Make sure you never show anyone your face. If they can't control you, they wouldn't dare demand your complete total loyalty. You'll only have to keep your mouth shut about the running of the organisation and you'll be fine."

I was surprised.

Shocked even.

Surprised that someone in this world I considered socially backward could pull off a perfect ingratiation tactic.

If any other youth were in my place, they'd be grateful for the advice and open themselves to this man.

Well played.

Unfortunately, he was facing an old soul with extensive experience on Psy-Ops.

"Thank you." I said. "I guess that means I can never give my true name."

The man nodded.

"Then how do we identify ourselves in the organisation?"

Since he tried to play the ingratiation tactic, I decided to play the same game.

I said 'we' indicating my acceptance to join the organisation.

As expected, the guy's shoulders dropped a little. This was a sign he was less guarded against me.

"The organisation has outer and true members. You start as an outer member. You choose a codename you want to be called by. When you succeeded in enough mission, you'll become a true member. True members have a Call name or Nickname which becomes their designation within the organisation. It is possible for outer members to have the same codename, the organisation knows how to manage such a situation, however, a true member's Call name or Nickname must be unique. At least, no living member will bear the same Call name."

I nodded in understanding.

He raised his left fist to himself. He pressed the crystal of his ring on his index finger.

His right hand moved above his left fist as if pressing something in the air.

Then, he removed the ring and threw it to me.

I recognised it. It was a comms ring.

The world of Arun didn't have mobile phones or any personal real-time communication device like that.

What it had were communication crystals.

It functioned like a text message board.

You can leave a message in your communication crystal and the message would be visible to anyone with a connected crystal.

There were different types of crystals.

Two-way crystals, three-way crystals, four-way crystals and so on. The higher the connection, the more expensive it was.

The most expensive type of crystal was an unlimited connection crystal.

It wasn't really unlimited. It just had so many connections that it seemed unlimited. This kind of crystal was used by large organisations.

The large central crystal was placed at the organisation's main headquarters while smaller crystals were issued to members.

The members could see the message on the large crystal and interact with it. Unfortunately, they couldn't communicate with themselves without going through the central crystal.

Comms rings weren't exactly affordable. Even the cheapest two-way ring cost more than what a mid-income family would make in a year.

Usually, only members of large organisations, like Hunters of the Hunter Union, had one.

This was something I read in the library

I figure it was a measure by the organisation to keep tabs on its members.

"That's an organisation communication ring. I've unlocked it." The man said. "You asked what the organisation has to offer you. Look through it."

I did what the man did.

I pressed the crystal on the ring and a hologram appeared before me.

It was a window with tabs with different labels. Profile, Missions, Weapons, Drugs, Auctions, Herbs, Quests and many more.

I didn't dare look through the man's profile. Instead, I looked through the missions.

There were a lot of contracts to choose from.

From the lowest G-rank targets to S-rank targets, both humans and beast.

I even saw that there were SS-ranked targets on the list.

Two were beast (Apocalypse-class) and one was human (Saint-rank).

I couldn't believe my eyes.

I scrolled through the weapons, drugs and herbs tabs. The listings were also as extensive.

If I didn't know better, I'd say this House of Death belonged to the Hunter Union, or could rival it.

That should be impossible, right?

"Like what you see?"

I admittedly nodded.

"The organisation is pretty loose. You're free to accept any available mission. You earn points and money. You can exchange points for money and vice versa. However, if you're going to exchange money for points, it can't be more than the amount you've earned from your missions. You can use the points to acquire anything you want from the organisation."

Classic control system used by large but loose organisations. It also fed into the meritocratic nature of this world.

The more missions you succeed in, the more points you get, the more you can acquire from the organisation.

"How do I join?" I asked as I returned his ring to him.

"Keep it. It's yours now." He smiled. "Requesting ownership change." He said to the ring.

A tab opened before the two of us.

[Are you sure you want to transfer ownership? All access levels would be reset to default.]

He was about to click 'yes' but I held his hand.

"You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

"No." I shook my head. "How am I sure you can't track the ring? You're the one who told me to be careful."

"You're quite suspicious, aren't you? Good. Keep that attitude. It will keep you alive." He smiled.

He wasn't the least bit angry that I questioned him.

He acted as I expected.

"Unfortunately, this is the only ring I have on me at the moment. You need it if you're going to join us. However, you have my word. The ring can't be tracked to you. That's a line the organisation won't cross."

I nodded.

He clicked yes.

The Comms ring reset itself.

[Please register.]

I looked at the tab but didn't answer. Instead, I kept the ring in my pocket.

"I don't intend to register just yet. I need to train for a few more years before I'm ready to join your organisation."

The man was silent for a while.

Eventually, he nodded.

"My call name is DarkBlade. I do hope we meet again."

Surprisingly, he turned around and began walking away.

"Zero!" I shouted to him.

"What?" He turned around.

"My codename will be Agent Zero."

It took him a moment to process what I said. Then, he began to walk away while laughing.

*

Later, when I met DarkBlade again, he claimed this turned out to be the biggest decision he ever made.

Whether it was good or bad, you will find out in the future.

*

This was the day that led to the birth of the House of Death's Agent Zero.

(To be continued...)