As the surprised guard went to scream he was cut off as Jace''s hand raced forward and wrapped his mouth after dropping his silenced Pyre. His other hand went forward a second later and there was a quiet crack as the knife penetrated the base of the man''s skull cutting the brainstem and causing the light to leave the panicking man''s eyes. His body slumped and Jace pulled him up over the ledge and laid him down before picking up silenced Pyre again, making sure it was undamaged.

    Then he looked over at Patrick to see him blinking in surprise. Jace just shrugged and quietly hopped down into the gap that led to the door that led to the basement. He quietly opened the door and moved inside. Patrick followed him a second later.

    Jace moved down the steps into the damp basement. He could smell the heavy scent of blood. He could hear the quiet dripping of water as well as the heartbeats of a few guards that were walking around in this underground area. The quiet creaking of rusted metal gave an ominous sense to the basement.

    The basement was made up of a bunch of machines and offices. So there was plenty of cover as he moved to behind one of these machines. He approached a corner and saw a pair of guards standing in an office with their back to him. They were staring at a screen that had a sport playing on it.

    Jace waited a moment and sheathed his combat knife grabbing a pair of throwing knives from their sheathes. Then after another guard passed them and began walking away, Jace then moved into position so he would have a clear line of sight on the guards. He waited another moment for the walking guard to be out of earshot before he threw the knives.

    They quickly cut through the air at the same time as Jace threw them both at the same time. They sank into the back of their necks and caused them to collapse on the ground.

    The noise of them falling caused the walking guard to turn around and then approach for a moment looking around before turning back around and walking away when he did not notice anything suspicious. He probably thought it was just a noise this old factory made. Jace took the moment while he was hiding to check on Patrick.

    Patrick was on the other side of the room dragging the corpse of another guard into an alcove. He had two more to deal with while Jace had three more.

    Jace quietly moved up behind the walking guard as he approached a pair of guards that were talking while warming their hands by a boiler that was burning wood. The guard came near them and they looked over at him.

    "Hey guys, did you see where the new kid went?" The walking guard asked as he began rubbing his own hands, warming them up by the fire.

    "No I did not, but I think he was going to get a breath of fresh air. You know how off putting this place can be for the first night." One of the guards chuckled.

    "Yeah, it''s not like-" THUNK!

    A throwing knife sunk into the second guard''s eyes, killing him instantly but his body still stood as it took a second for the rest of his body to realize he had been killed. The walking guard blinked in surprise and then looked at the first guard. They exchanged a look of surprise.

    "What the-" THUNK!

    Another knife, this time a combat knife sunk into the first guard''s face. This time the body dropped quickly. But before the walking guard had a chance to react a hand grabbed the back of his head and he was speeding right towards the heated boiler.

    CLANG! SPLAT! Sear?h the n??el Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    There was an explosion of blood and brains as the walking guard''s head impacted with the boiler denting it in the process. Jace stood over the mess for a moment and glanced back at Patrick''s area to see another of the guards fall down while the last one was looking in Jace''s direction in suspicion.

    Jace ignored him as he pulled his throwing knife and combat knife out of the guard''s heads. Then he walked back toward where the other guards were watching a sport. He stepped inside the small office and pulled out his last two throwing knives. Then he began moving over to where Patrick was pulling his knife out of the last guard.

    As Patrick looked over at Jace and then he did a double take and stared in surprise. "You have a little something… on your glasses."

    Jace raised an eyebrow and took his aviators off for a moment and nodded, "you are right." He pulled a cloth out of one of his pockets and cleaned them off before putting them back on. "Thanks." Jace smiled and nodded.

    He was well aware that his front chest was covered in blood after accidently making one of the guard''s heads explode in a bloody mess. But he was going to worry about that later.

    Jace walked toward the stairs that led to the first floor. He quietly made his way up them, stopping momentarily and listening to what was going on the other side of the door each time one of the steps creaked.

    There were six people up there. It was a pseudo breakroom that these guards had made. It sounded like they were cheering as they watched a sport that he could hear on a television screen in the room.

    Jace quietly opened the door. It revealed exactly what he thought he could hear. All six of the guards in this room were crowded around a single screen. This might be why they did not see any patrolling guards. They were too busy watching this game.

    "Yeah!" "Woohoo!" "Get in there!" They all cheered in cohesion as another point was scored by their team. Jace stepped forward with his throwing knives in one hand and a combat knife in the other. His Pyre pistol was holstered for the moment.

    He moved behind the one that was farthest in the back. He would be the only one that would not be noticed by the others. Jace''s knife slid into the back of the skull through the neck. Jace quickly pulled out his knife and tossed the throwing knives at the three to his left who were closest to the door.

    The choking noises and the spurts of blood alerted the last two. But Jace was already moving quickly to them. His knife cut the throat of the first one while he kicked the legs out from under the last one. He fell forward and slammed into a table.

    Before he had a chance to get up, Jace''s knife slammed into his back. Penetrating the guard''s heart, instantly killing him. Jace then turned to look at his work.

    The one with his throat cut was pawing at his bleeding neck trying to stop the stream of blood that was pouring from his neck. Blood gurgled as he made various noises like he was trying to breathe. His eyes wide in terror.

    Of the three he threw knives at, only one was still alive. The first one had a throwing knife going in through his ear and he had collapsed back onto a seat while his head hung to the side. The second one had a throwing knife lodged in through his eye, the knife went up to the hilt with how deeply it went. He collapsed on the ground on his side.

    The last one, Jace had slightly missed his mark as the knife cut his throat but not too deeply. The throwing knife was embedded in the wall by the door. The guard was still alive as he covered his wound at his throat with both hands successfully stopping the bleeding.

    He stared at Jace with wide eyes full of terror as he approached. Jace smiled and the man brought one hand away from his throat causing it to bleed as he stopped completely staunching his wound. His hand went to his jacket pocket trying to pull out a weapon.

    Jace raised his boot and slammed it down on the man''s head. Causing another explosion of blood and brains this time covering his leg and boot in blood. Jace moved away to retrieve his throwing knives.

    "Dude, what the hell?" Jace looked over at Patrick who was looking at the carnage. He was shaking his head in exasperation. "Could you make any more of a mess?" Patrick stated sarcastically. "Here I was hiding the bodies but you are making heads explode causing a mess."

    Jace shrugged and then looked at the television screen when he heard the announcer celebrate. "Is soccer really that popular in Woltar?"

    "Uh, no actually it is a big betting sport since it is so heavily regulated that it is next to impossible to cheat." Patrick explained with a shrug.

    "Huh." Jace nodded absent mindedly before moving to the door and quietly opening it up.