CHAPTER 14: SWITCH TO ASSASSIN

Ash’s fingers rested on the gun at his waist.

The mist was heavy, covering everything in a pale sheet. Sound of clashing blades echoed somewhere ahead, steel against steel, hunters shouting to regroup.

Arlan stood like a wall, his shield glowing faintly as the barrier wrapped both of them. Arrows kept flying, bouncing harmlessly off the shield, but Ash knew he needs to decide if he wanted to complete the Quest.

The system notification still glowing.

[Quest: Use the gun to kill Bandits]

[Reward: Armory Store Unlock]

He had waited long enough. This was his chance.

But Arlan was in the way. If Ash pulled out the gun here, the man would see it. He needed distance.

He had Blade in his hand to improve his strength and agility. While he use his 6 stat Points.

He wanted to know how luck stat would impact his position so he allotted 1 Stat Point to Agility, 2 Stat Points to Strength and 2 Stat Points to Endurance and at last assigning 1 Stat to Luck.

His new status looked promising.

[ AGILITY: 6 (+3) | ENDURANCE: 4 | STRENGTH: 3 (+5) | LUCK: 2 | MP: 50/60 ]

[Stat Points: 0]

Ash leaned closer, his voice calm, "I’ll circle around. Keep defending."

Arlan barely glanced at him, too focused on the shield. "Don’t be stupid, kid. Stay close."

He was waiting for the attacker to reveal but it kept firing arrows. He was sure it had some type of vision enhancement skills which helped him to see through the sense fog.

Ash didn’t reply. Instead, he crouched low and activated his talent.

[Shadow Veil Activated – MP: 50/60]

The world dulled. His body grew lighter, his presence dimmed like smoke in the fog. Ash slipped sideways into the mist, vanishing from Arlan’s line of sight.

The first arrow whistled close to his ear, but missed. He followed its trajectory, he was expert in this aspect.

Soon, he saw them—three figures on higher ground, bows drawn, half-hidden behind rocks. Bandits.

Ash smirked. Perfect.

His hands worked smoothly. Shadow Veil drained his mana fast, but the buff was worth it. His first shot would deal double damage.

He didn’t knew if he needed that or onefold damage was enough but extra damage won’t hurt.

BANG!

The silenced bullet tore through the fog. One bandit fall back, collapsing with a neat hole between the eyes.

[Critical! Double Damage Applied.]

[+40 EXP]

He wasn’t far away so there was a chance they would notice him.

Ash turned off the Shadow Veil instantly, conserving mana. MP: 40/60.

It all happened under 5 second, these Bandits weren’t far away since their See through skill should have some limit.

And with the trajectory and his heightened agility he had tracked down in five seconds.

The other two bandits froze, confused. They hadn’t even seen him. "What the hell was that?!" one shouted.

Ash ducked low, moving left through the grass, and reactivated the veil.

[Shadow Veil Activated – MP: 40/60]

He closed in, heart calm, blade in one hand, gun in the other. The next bandit turned just in time to see him appear from nowhere. Ash thrust the rune-blade straight into his chest.

[+40 EXP]

Before the last one could scream, Ash raised the gun again and fired. The bandit’s head snapped back, and silence followed.

[+40 EXP]

Ash crouched, panting slightly. Three kills in under a minute. His MP ticked down—28/60 now—but the fog still covered him. He slipped the gun back under his cloak and wiped the blade clean.

Since they noticed him just before the attack his double damage didn’t work. But it didn’t make much difference, their defence wasn’t solid enough to ignore his Bullets.

"Too easy," he muttered.

A scream rang out ahead. One of the hunters had fallen to a group of bandits armed with axes. Ash didn’t ponder anymore.

[Shadow Veil Activated – MP: 28/60]

He sprinted forward, as the fog cleared his eyes locked on the hunter about to be split in two. The axe swung down—Ash appeared out of the mist and shoved the hunter aside, taking the blow on the Arlan’s rune blade. Sparks flew. Ash could feel his wrist tearing apart. He could feel the power difference between them.

His mind was somehow putting the power difference in perspective as if he could understand how powerful he was and how much power he needed to kill him.

Is it because of luck?

He was nowhere powerful enough to defend leaving him no choice.

The bandit’s eyes widened. "What—?"

BANG!

Ash shot him point-blank in the chest. The man collapsed coughed blood. Ash was stood between hunter and Bandit so he didn’t see him using gun.

To make up for the mistake he cut the neck clean. So it don’t look suspicious.

The hunter stared at Ash in shock, breathing hard. "You—saved me?"

Ash only nodded, then vanished back into the mist. He couldn’t waste time explaining.

Two more bandits blocked his path. Ash deactivated Shadow Veil for a second.

They expected him to use normal weapon but an cold aura flashed, Ash’s smile widened.

[+80 EXP]

Ash grinned. He was burning through mana, but the results were worth it. Each time he turned the veil on and off, he got another chance to deal double damage. It wasn’t about fighting longer—it was about striking smarter.

"Seven down already," he whispered.

Somewhere deeper in the fog, Durnok roared, his heavy blade cutting a path through enemies. Arlan’s shield still glowed, holding the merchant safe, but bandits kept circling.

Ash moved like a ghost, blinking in and out of existence with Shadow Veil. One bandit raised a crossbow—BANG! A bullet took him down. Another tried to retreat—Ash shot another bullet.

He quickly grabbed their lifeless body and his them. In mid fight Durnok was not able to see anything.

His mana Hit 0. He already put the blade in sheath getting access to that extra 10 MP.

Now he could feel something important ripped apart, he chest felt heavy without the mana as if something was taken away.

By the time the time Clash stopped, Ash had killed ten.

The hunters regrouped, dragging bandit corpses that they found around into a pile. The merchant stepped down from his chariot, eyes wide as he saw 15 bodies on the ground.

Many of bodies That Ash killed at some distance were dealt by him. He already took them 50-100 meters away so they will never be found in the mist.

Arlan wiped blood off his shield, still breathing heavy. While others were also cleaning their weapons.

One of the hunter was looking sharply at Ash.

Ash only shrugged, slipping the blade back in its sheath.

Inside, he was smiling. The system notification blinked in front of him:

[Quest Complete: Kill Bandits with Gun]

[Reward: Armory Store Unlocked]