An Assassin's Anthem

The peaceful village stood there, and a note of pain played through Riley’s mind. It’s not real. She shoved the pain aside. “Get your bows or slings.” Triggering Assume Disguise, she returned her disguise to normal and pulled out an arrow.

“Don’t worry, we’ve got this,” Timothy said, stepping out from the trees. His hair flickered like living flame, and a wave of heat radiated off him. Bringing his hands forward, he gestured and formed a ball of flame in his hand. Turning, he tossed it at the gate.

The ball streaked across the field, hit the gate, and exploded, engulfing the area in flame and blowing the wooden gate open. Guards stumbled forward through the smoke. A barrage of earth and flame slammed into them.

Riley frowned and watched as another ball of fire zipped into the town. It exploded, setting a row of cottages ablaze. Flames and smoke filled the air. That’s it? We just slaughtered them for crystals. She sighed.

“That’s it?” Timothy asked. “I used all my mana for that?”

“Maybe it’s because we had mana for it,” Dwight volunteered.

Riley looked over and saw the chest form. Timothy reached down and flipped it open, revealing a pile of crystals. He carefully counted and handed them out.

Taking her small pile of crystals, Riley looked at the four imperfect D-tier and one perfect. She gently placed them in her purse. Was this a mistake? I know it isn’t real.

Timothy looked at her. “What’s the plan now, Riley? Do we just leave?”

“We should kill anyone who flees the town,” Kamal said, peering out across the field. “Do we go search for them?”

“Let me scout.” Riley turned toward the tree and tossed a rope around the lower branch. Scrambling up it, she ascended the tree and looked out into the distance.

The forest canopy stretched before. Patches of barren trees were scattered among the pine. A large group of D-tier soldiers tramped through the woods, heading toward the smoke. Moving to the other side of the tree, Riley searched and saw a similar sight. She scrambled down the tree, dropping down and landing lightly near the group.

“Do not talk! Follow!” she signed at the group.

Timothy nodded and followed. Riley led them back to their makeshift hovel next to the exit. She gestured. “Two armies inbound. They will fight. Snipe. Run when discovered or when you have no mana.” She nodded to them and stepped toward the trees.

“You?” Timothy signed.

“I’ll be back.” Riley darted to the forest’s edge, used Ambush, and perched in a large pine. Let’s see what damage we can do. She paused. Can I ally with one? That’d be better. A crooked smile spread across her face.

Leaning against the tree, she turned inward and swapped out Manipulate Storm, slotting in Empowering Presence.

Opening her eyes, she descended from the tree.

Landing, she jogged off through the trees. Just talk them into it. Play the damsel in distress if needed.

Bounding around the trees, she made her way toward the approaching troops and saw a scout.

He grabbed his arrow, and Riley held up her hands. She gestured, holding her finger to her lips.

The scout paused. His hand flickered. “What?”

“Help,” Riley signed back. “Village. Enemy forces.”

“How many?”

“Hundreds.” Riley frowned and moved closer.

The scout scowled. “Password.”

Riley moved quicker. “We don’t have time for that. They are minutes away. They set the town ablaze, and there are a lot of them.”

He frowned. “I’m going to need your weapons.”

Riley handed him her bow and quiver. “Hurry up. Bind my hands if you need to.” She held them out. “We need to ambush them.”

He looked at her in surprise. “How do you not know the code?”

“I’m from a group of defectors,” Riley lied. “They killed most of us, but a few of us escaped.”

The scout nodded, still holding her bow and her quiver. He took her knife. “If you’re lying, we’ll kill you.”

“I know. Come on.” Riley headed for the main force, and the man followed.

Walking through the trees, the army came into sight. Marching next to each other, waves of soldiers stretched before her.

A woman on horseback raised her hand. “Halt.”

Riley stopped and smiled. They’re allies. We’re friends. She chanted it and hoped her presence would work.

“Who is this?” the woman demanded.

The scout stepped forward. “Claims to be a deserter. She seems friendly. I can sense some presence that’s boosting me. It’s coming from her.”

The woman’s eyes widened. “You’re a commander.”

“Yes. We’re friendly and can help.” She smiled and hoped it work. Please let this work.

The woman studied Riley and nodded. “If you try anything funny, I’ll kill you myself.”

“Done.” Riley leapt up onto her horse and grinned. “Let’s win a war!”

The woman shook her head and turned to her men. “If she harms anyone, kill her.”

A man nocked an arrow and nodded.

Riley rode along and debated how best to help. Fire magic would have been great. Shame it never seems to work for me. She looked at the commander. “I can heal.”

“Do so. Keep my people alive,” the woman said without looking back. “Give her back her gear.”

The scout jogged forward and handed them to her. Riley smiled. We have allies. Maybe we can get level three and part of four.

The horse trotted forward. The smell of smoke filled the air. Breaks began to show in the trees, and the smoking village got closer and closer.

Not wanting to risk being exploded, Riley contemplated jumping off the horse. A stream of blazing fire streaked across the field.

Reacting off instinct more than anything else, Riley threw mana into Control Water, conjuring a ball of water in front of it. The fire slammed into it and exploded. A wave of heat and steam billowed through the air, and Riley slid off the horse, her face and brow singed. Nope. Nope. Nope.

“Charge!” the woman bellowed, kicking her horse.

Riley burned her inspiration, feeding a quarter into Dominating Song and the rest into Empowering Presence. Her auras washed through the air, and soldiers rushed past her, charging forward. The sound of metal on metal filled the air.

Grabbing and flipping open her book, Riley hummed and ignited the runes of Healing Song. With the spell ready, she turned and saw chaos. Soldiers were stabbing and slashing. The smell of blood filled the air. Arrows sunk into people, and Riley dove behind a tree, avoiding one that went flying by. Good gods.

Poking her head out, she sent a wave of healing through the area and looked toward the dungeon entrance, spotting some familiar faces.

“Cool. We get allies!” Dwight shouted happily.

Riley turned back to the fighting soldiers and saw a ball of fire streaking toward her allies. Burning another chunk of mana, she slammed an orb of water into it. It hit and exploded, sending a group of men flying and slamming onto the ground.

Gods. War sucks. Grimacing, Riley ducked behind her tree and fed more mana into Healing Song, sending a burst of healing toward the wounded archers.

Turning back, she saw the rest of her group send fire streaming out at the enemy. It exploded, engulfing people in flames and sending some flying.

Turning back to the melee, Riley burned more of her mana, sending healing waves toward the wounded.

Soldiers began dragging the wounded toward her. Riley felt her mana draining away. She grimaced. We’re going to need to run soon.

Poking her head out from behind the tree, her morale didn’t improve. The woman leading the mess was dead; an arrow had gone straight through her head. Dead soldiers were all around her, and the sound of thunder filled the air.

A massive group of cavalry charged across the field. Turning back, Riley looked at the soldiers still streaming toward the front. “Brace!” she shouted.

A fireball sailed toward the charging cavalry. It exploded, sending people flying. Timothy charged forward. “Formation!” he shouted, chopping the arm off an attacker and raising his shield.

The soldiers surged toward him. Spears were raised, and horses slammed into them. The sound of metal on metal resumed in earnest. Horses screamed, and spells exploded, lighting up the incoming troops.

“To me!” Timothy bellowed.

Riley sent another wave of healing through the group. Gods, I’m going to be out soon. She looked over. “I only have six more heals.”

Dwight disemboweled an enemy. A sword clipped his arm, leaving a long cut. Blood dripped. “Shit. We need to leave,” he said.

“I love this aura,” Kamal shouted, knocking a man aside and slamming his blade into another. Like some berserker, he whirled through the troops, slashing and hacking everything along his way.

The slow-to-move allies suddenly surged forward with an eager glint. They screamed and crashed into the foes.

Riley sent out another wave of healing.

“Kill the healer!” someone shouted. An arrow sunk into his eye.

“Kill the leader!” an enemy commander boomed.

Timothy leapt and slammed his sword into him, decapitating him in a single swift motion.

“Fucking aura,” an enemy soldier yelled, turning away and sprinting.

Kamal cackled.

Riley sent a wave of healing into him. “Kamal, back!” she bellowed.

Her request went ignored, he surged forward, causing the entire line of enemies to turn and flee. With eager gleams, the nearby allies surged forward. They screamed and cut down the retreating soldiers.

Riley grabbed her bow. “I’m out of mana!” she shouted.

Kamal turned and ran back, blood dripping off him.

Timothy walked over and grinned. “That was amazing.”

“Did you see that aura?” Dwight asked. “I had a thirty-point boost.”

Riley looked out at the bloody mess. Bodies were everywhere. They vanished, streaming into a massive golden ribbon that coalesced into a chest in front of them.

Timothy reached down and flipped it open. Riley stared at the massive pile of crystals. She reached down and started taking hers, placing them in her bag while trying to hide how imbalanced it was.

“I need a healing spell!” Dwight said instantly. “Look at them!” He fished out his crystals.

Riley’s cheeks turned red. Her face heated, and she continued taking them. Okay. Auras are really good for getting credit.

“Riley, would you consider donating some of those?” Timothy asked.

Riley scowled and didn’t look up. She rapidly palmed and pocketed crystals. “No. I’m not playing that game. Our barony needs them, and I have skills to upgrade.”

“We need to stay within the same tier,” Dwight said, picking out his own.

She scooped out the last of hers. “Yes, we do. And you all got a lot. Don’t even pretend you didn’t get at least two more than me at the start. I only have a few more than you now.”

Timothy sighed. “I suppose that’s true.” He picked out the last of his. “I need a command skill.”

“Maybe I’ll get one from this,” Dwight said with a growing grin. Then he paused. “Are we staying? I don’t have anything left.”

“We are not staying,” Riley and Timothy said in unison.

“Aw, but with that aura?” Kamal asked.

“I doubt the NPC can do it again,” Riley said, shaking her head and standing up. “I’m not risking my progress by fighting level four. Sorry.” She headed for the exit.

Timothy matched her gait, doing the same. The rest of the group followed, and she searched the battlefield for anything interesting. I could have sworn Mischief hid something somewhere.

[Where or where did your little loot go?

Oh, where, oh, where could it be?

Maybe it’s out there still hidden,

waiting for mischief from me. ~Mischief]

That didn’t help at all. Riley sighed and tried to see it.

[He moved it again. It’s not here. ~Beauty]

“Thanks!”

[Mean! ~Mischief]

Riley chuckled and turned to the prince. “How’d you know to come over?”

“We saw the friendly names.” Timothy smiled. “I feel like the dungeon went a little easy on us. The village wasn’t bad, and we had that aura and allies.”

Riley jogged and nodded in feigned agreement. “The princess isn’t going to be happy.”

“We’re not slowing our leveling,” Timothy stated emphatically.

“Agreed, but she’ll escalate. We need to be ready, and some deception about progress may not be bad.” Riley looked up at the sky. This was a fast run. We might be able to sell it.

“If we don’t show crystals, she’ll get suspicious,” Timothy countered while they walked.

Riley nodded and didn’t push. That was too risky. She walked up to the exit and stepped through. Text flashed into view.

[Reward: Infiltrator Class (F). -1 Insight and Perception penalty applied to others per level. Grants one skill slot while active.]

[Your base level has advanced: 175 → 181!]

[Hidden Quest Completed: Protect the Innocent.]

[Noble has advanced: E-tier → D-tier! +2 Charisma per level. +1 Intelligence per level. Grants two skill slots while active.]

[Noble (D) has advanced: 162 → 200!]

Riley studied the upgrade. Two skill slots? Does that increase? That’d be handy.

[Level 3 Cleared: Pick base experience, class experience, the new skill “Healing Song (D),” or an E-tier skill to upgrade.]

Riley smiled and picked Healing Song. Adjusting her disguise to look like she’d taken the experience, she stepped forward, appearing in the temple.

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