NOVEL WEB B2, Chapter 6: Out in the Woods
Min was dressed in a dark leather armor, composed of a chest piece that covered nothing but her breasts, and a panty shaped piece of leather on lower body. Around her waist, she had a wide belt, with two daggers strapped on either side, and around her thighs, she had two more leather straps, with an assortment of throwing knives attached to them. All in all, it was a skimpy outfit, one that didn’t afford much protection, but it did grant excellent mobility.
Furthermore, she had almost all the money she had saved up on this set of armor. In fact, she had even taken a loan from Altraz, to pay the rest. Her monthly allowance would be lowered until she had fully repaid him. However, she would probably be able to pay him back soon, since this job was going to pay well.
Back when she’d killed Lord Timer, she had only gotten a single gold coin. But that was because she had been the lowest rank a member of the organization could be, and she wasn’t even supposed to take assassination missions yet. Therefore, she had only been paid what she would be for a scouting mission.
But this time it was different, since she officially an apprentice now, and this was an official mission. While she wouldn’t be paid as much as a full-fledged assassin, she’d still receive a handy sum, even if she had to share it with the three companions that walked alongside her.
The reason the armor was so expensive, was because it was enchanted with a protective enchantment. It would protect her entire body, but she would have to recharge it every now and then, using some special mana crystals.
Her partners for this assassination were composed of one male Wood Elf, one male Half-Orc, with an elven mother, and a female cat woman. Min found the cat girl adorable with her little cat ears and tails, and had immediately taken a liking to her. Although, the cat girl, named Kemah, didn’t really like the attention.
The four knew next to nothing about each other. Min was the most famous of the four, but even then, all they knew was that she was the personal apprentice of a high ranked member of the organization. The other three had all been found by the organization, and then been contacted by a handler, who specialized in training. But these handlers still couldn’t match up against the top brass of the organization, like Altraz.
All four of the companion assassins were dressed in leather armor, or some other sort of light armor. This was usually how it went for assassins, as they priced stealth. As for Kemah, she was in a very similar outfit to Min, since she prized mobility over everything. She was quite an acrobat, and hitting her would be a challenging task, as she would never remain in the same spot for long, when in combat.
For most, the battlefield was composed solely of the ground, but for Kemah, everything, up to several meters above the ground, was her battlefield.
The other two were also rogues, but they had their own specialties. The Half-Orc, named Kor, was an expert in everything stealthy. If he wanted to stay hidden, you wouldn’t see him. If there was a door you needed to get through, he could unlock it. If there was an item, hidden in someone’s pocket, he could get it.
As for the Wood Elf, Haemir, he was a master of poison, and he was proficient in short blades and archery. While he wasn’t as efficient a fighter as Kemah, his attacks were far deadlier, as if his poisons entered your system, you life was over, literally. He was a great alchemist, and he knew all the most poisonous herbs. He even knew which harmless plants to combine, to create deadly toxins.
He could waltz straight into an alchemy shop, buy all the plants he needed for his deadly poisons, and the clerk in the alchemy shop would be none the wiser.
Out of all four, only Min was proficient in magic. Some of them could use some minor spells, but none were able to utilize magic for combat, which is what made Min such a deadly, and valuable teammate. Where Kor could easily sneak around a guard, Min could cast an invisibility spell. While Haemir had his deadly poisons, Min knew magic that would straight melt your face off.
And even though Kemah could bolt all over the place, as she fought, Min could cover the entire room or area in toxic gasses, or make the ground itself un-walkable.
Due to magic, Min was the most balanced of the lot, and the most useful, as she could even aid the others with her spells. Kemah, Kor, and Haemir were all glad that she was with them, even if Min treated Kemah as if she was a cat, petting her head all the time.
“It seems like we’ll be there soon,” Haemir said, as he jumped down from a tree, landing right next to the campfire, amidst the woods.
“I can see the fort in the distance,” he continued. Out of all elves, Wood Elves had the greatest sight and hearing. His sight was even better than Min’s, which was an impressive feat, since she was a Dhampir. Like Vampires, Dhampires had just about every feature improved, including the senses.
As for the fort, it was where their target had been reported to make his hideout. It had once been a frontier outpost for the Elven Kind, countless years ago, but now, it had long been abandoned.
“Great! I’m so tired of traveling,” Min said, as she stretched out on the ground, Kemah’s revealing body lying next to her. It was early morning, and the group had just woken up, which was why Haemir had climbed the tree, to find their bearings.
“I hear you. I’m sick of sleeping in the grass. When I get home, I’m going to sleep for an entire day, nothing but me and my pillows,” Kemah’s high pitched voice rung out. Slender bodies and high voices were a common trait amongst cat people, and Kemah didn’t fall out of those categories. She was even shorter than Min, and was very slender, while still retaining some feminine curves.
As the carnal being that she was, Min had often fantasized about having sex with Kemah. Although, she kept it to herself, as she had learned that not everyone was as slutty as she was, and she didn’t want to risk souring their relationship in the middle of a mission.
Perhaps, she’d work on her later, eventually managing to get into that kind of relationship with her.
“I can handle sleeping in the grass. For me, the difficult part is not having sex. I have needs, you know? Intense needs,” Mind said, as she almost hungrily grasped at the girl next to her. But she managed to refrain from acting improper.
“Ah, so that’s why you disappear all the time? To masturbate?” Kor asked, jokingly.
“Yeah, it is. Normally, I’d just do it on the spot, but my Master has taught me that it is improper to do such things in front of others,” Min revealed.
“For real? I was just joking, I didn’t think that’s what you were actually doing?” Kor replied, clearly surprised at his accuracy, even if he was joking.
“Don’t worry, I’m not shy about my sexuality. That’s something most my friends quickly find out. It’s even how I got to assassinate someone before I even became an apprentice. Because of my willingness to have sex with anyone, my Master let me go into cover as a prostitute, to kill some noble. It was pretty fun, he came inside me, just as I stabbed him in the neck,” Min said, reminiscing about her first ever assassination.
“Really? You used sex to kill your target? I could never do that. Well, I could, if it was required of me, but it’s not something I would readily do,” Kerah said, her voice filled with admiration, instead of spite. For an assassin, the more tools you had to kill your target with, the better, so you wouldn’t be shamed for using sex to assassinate someone.
“I grew up in a different society. People were much more open to sex there, so I have a different thought process, when it comes to that stuff,” Min revealed, as she finally stood up from the cold grass.
“You said you stabbed your target? How did you even manage to bring a knife? I assume you were naked,” asked Kor. Haemir was pretty quiet for this conversation, but Kor was pretty much shameless, so he didn’t mind asking questions.
“Oh, that’s simple. I just put it in my butt. I used a stiletto dagger, and when the time came, I just popped it out,” Min said garnering quite the shocked looks from her companions, especially Kerah. She probably wasn’t all that experienced, when it came to sex. In fact, it was entirely possible that she was still a virgin. She was only a few years older than Min, and she’d spent many years training to become an assassin.
“Enough chatting, let’s get going. We need to arrive before nightfall, so we can properly plan our attack,” Haemir said. They would only have to walk for a few more hours, but planning would probably take some time. They’d need to properly scout the location, see if there were any secret or alternate entrances, figure out the rough schedule of the outdoors guards, sketch the rough layout of the fort, based on what they could see from the outside, and so on.
Thus, they continued their journey, spending a few hours walking, mostly uneventfully. Eventually, and old, destitute, seemingly abandoned fort loomed over the horizon, the half collapsed walls visible through the woods.But as they got closer, they started spotting bandits, patrolling about.
When they got to the border of the trees, into the clearing, they finally stopped, and started circling around the fort. There were numerous places they could infiltrate the fortress, without even having to climb the perimeter walls, as time had left several openings in them.
“We still have several hours, before the sun sets. Plenty of time for planning. So how should we do this? We’ll get a bonus if we kill everyone here, but that might be dangerous. Should be take the risk, or just focus on our main target, ending him swiftly?” Kor asked.
“I’m always up for getting some extra cash,” Kemah said, her tail swaying excitedly behind her butt.
“Can there even be a question about it? They’re just bandits, we’ll make short work out of them,” Haemir responded.
“I agree. I owe some money, so I’d like to pay it back as soon as possible,” Min, too, agreed.
“Then it’s decided. When night falls, we’ll make sure to kill every living soul in that fort. Now, if there’s nothing else, I’ll go scout the place out,” Kor said, a cruel smile on his lips.
“Don’t get discovered,” Min said, smirking mischievously.
“Just who do you think you’re talking to?” Kor said, before rushing off. Before anyone knew it, Kor had completely disappeared.
“Alright then. I’ll just stand here, and watch the bandits. Maybe I can figure out their routes, or how many of them there are,” Haemir said.
“Okay. I guess we’ll just go have a look around the place. Maybe we’ll get lucky, and find a secret entrance, or something,” Min said, as she grasped Kemah by hand, and dragged her away.
