Hunters: The Prequel - Chapter 265

“It’s too quiet,” a man who was hidden amongst the shrubbery just a few metres away from Dan’s home observed. He was covered entirely in black, and there was a mask concealing his facial features and revealing only his eyes. His eyes were sharp and oppressive, and his body reeked of death. There was a large sword strapped to his back, and a small dagger sheathed at his waist. He was watching the door a few metres away with utmost concentration. This man was the last member of the assassin trio sent to deal with Mane. Just as Hildegarde assumed, he was the strongest of the three and the one leading this mission. And it wasn’t just a slight difference in strength. The two assassins that were inside had their fortes. The female assassin was agility oriented whilst the male assassin was strength oriented. This was because of their specialties as New Types. But their leader was different. He was also a New Type, but he was a much rarer kind. He was a Stamina Oriented New Type.

Unlike Mystic Path Warriors who awakened special abilities that had to do with the elements and some other oddities, New Types weren’t so impressive with special abilities. Their special abilities were just augmentations of their physical attributes. Strength Type New Types were the most common New Types around. Agility Types were rarer, and Stamina Types were even more difficult to find. Unlike Strength and Agility Types, Stamina Types had more advantages. Although it seemed that they didn’t have any true advantages, one couldn’t be more wrong. Because of their higher than usual stamina, they were able to train far longer than Strength or Agility Types. As long as one was hardworking as a Stamina Type, one would eventually surpass both Strength Types and Agility Types in strength and agility respectively.

Every New Type was different. Just because two New Types were Agility Types didn’t mean they had the same speed. How much one could glean from the New Type potion depended on talent, luck and hard work. So if two Agility Types attained the same speed after taking in the New Type Potion, the one with better luck and greater work ethic would become better eventually. As for talent, it depended on how much one was able to gain after taking the potion, and how much they could improve.

If someone took the potion and gained 50% increase in speed, making them an Agility Type, that would mean that person was moderately talented. Anything less than that would be talent of the low grade. Anything above 60% was high grade talent and when one surpassed the 80% mark he/she would be regarded as a genius.

In this small village, although there were hidden dragons like Dan and a strong figure like Village Head Samoa, having one’s augmented attribute within 40% to 50% meant that one was a genius. The female assassin Mane killed experienced only a 20% increase after she became a New Type. The male assassin was even worse, experiencing an 18% increase after becoming a New Type. Because of their low grade talent, years of training had only allowed them to attain what a mediocre or averagely talented New Type would have attained right after becoming a New Type. But the leader was different. Not only was he a rare Stamina Type, he had average talent, attaining a 45% increase the right after he became a New Type. In this village that was very impressive. But the person himself wasn’t impressed with that.

As someone who was within Village Head Samoa’s inner circle, he had traveled to towns and even a few cities with the Village Head and realized his talent was insufficient. So he worked extremely hard and grew vastly stronger. In this village, with the exception of Village Head Samoa and Dan, there were few who could much up to his skill. So why was someone so important sent to kill a boy? The answer was simple: as an insurance.

Village Head Samoa wasn’t naïve enough to believe that one of his minions would be able to handle Dan were he to return unexpectedly. So that wasn’t why the last assassin was positioned here. This man was here to kill the other assassins should they get the job done! The other two didn’t even know that was why their leader was here. It was a cruel decision, but one that had to be made. The reason for that was simple: Village Head Samoa was very much afraid of Dan. It wasn’t simply at the level of being cautious, but it was full blown fear. And the reason for his fear was simple. The man had seen Dan angry before, and could still remember the results of that man who was usually smiling’s fury. Since that day he had been terrified of Dan. And although it was long ago, Village Head Samoa didn’t dare let go of his fear. This was because although he had grown stronger over the years, he still wasn’t capable enough to do half of what Dan had done that day. So even if Dan didn’t grow any stronger, or even if Dan had grown weaker instead, Village Head Samoa knew he was still far away from being his match. So when he sent the assassins, he gave the leader this order,

“Kill them after everything is over and leave their bodies in the house with the boy’s. Let him believe that the boy took them down but lost his life as well.”

Village Head Samoa would rather lose two good pawns than earn the ire of Dan and face his subsequent fury. After all, there was no way he would survive if Dan came after him. The Village Head didn’t even doubt that his men would kill Mane. To him, no matter how talented Mane was, he was still a young boy with very little experience. Even if he was stronger than the assassins, he wouldn’t be able to defend against an attack from the dark. Unfortunately, he was wrong. Mane hadn’t only defended against the assassins, but he had killed them effortlessly as well.

“There is something wrong,” the man noticed after seeing that his subordinates were taking a bit too long to come out.

“Could it be that the boy took them down,” the man wondered? However, no sooner had the thought come to mind when he shook it off.

“There is no way. Maybe Dan was in the house all along,” the man shuddered at the terrifying thought.

He didn’t know why his master feared Dan so much, but he wasn’t foolish enough to disregard someone his master feared. This was someone who so terrified his master that his master was willing to kill off his men to conceal any traces!

Suddenly, he heard rapid footsteps approaching the gate. His men wouldn’t make so much noise, so he knew it wasn’t them. He quickly grew tense at the thought of Dan exiting the house, yet he didn’t run away. If it was indeed Dan, running away would be the wrong choice since he would be quickly found out and killed. Even worse would be the implications of his death. As someone loyal to his master, his face was known by many. Once Dan sees his face, he would go after his master too and kill the Village Head. So he chose to hide instead, hoping that Dan wouldn’t see him.

*Bam*

The door was kicked open domineeringly, but the figure the assassin was expecting to see didn’t appear. Instead of a tall dark skinned man with a domineering glare, it was a handsome teenager with long blonde hair and a pleasant grin on his face who appeared. The boy looked straight at the shrubbery. His piercing blue eyes stared straight at the man’s position, and the man grew tense subconsciously. He felt that he was standing n.a.k.e.d before the boy, and that all his secrets were exposed before him. It felt like he was the prey, not the predator, and the boy was checking if he was good enough.

“How could I be afraid of a boy,” the man gritted his teeth angrily as he thought? “He hasn’t seen me yet. I should wait for him to turn his back to me so that I can strike.”

Although Mane was looking towards his direction, the man was comforted by the tall grass that hid his frame. He didn’t see how it was possible for Mane to see him. But he was wrong. Mane knew he was there. And that was because of his secret weapon: a fairy who could sense others presence and could fly – a fairy called Hildegarde.

“I know you are there. Come out” Mane was still holding on to his new sword. Yet even after several seconds had passed, the assassin still didn’t come out. Mane smirked seeing this. He sheathed his sword and walked back into the house.

“What is he up to,” the hiding assassin wondered as he tried to move deeper into the shrubbery? It had barely been a few seconds when he saw Mane return, but the boy was holding something.

“Is that…” the man watched wide-eyed as he identified the objects Mane was holding. They were two heads, and he recognized them. They belonged to his men – well his man and woman. The heads were flung precisely towards him and landed right at his feet. He shuddered in rage at the lack of disrespect. And now he was certain that the boy wasn’t bluffing. He did know he was here. He stood up and approached Mane.

“You should have just hidden inside,” he stated through his gritted teeth. “Now you will have to die” he wasn’t doubtful that he would win. Although Mane had bested the other two, he was more than capable of handling them both with relative ease. But his threat didn’t scare Mane.

Mane smiled broadly and unsheathed his sword. He was holding another sword in his hand. He picked it up when he went back inside.

“You should be honored,” Mane announced. “You are the first person to experience my dual wielding here,” he grinned as he expertly twirled the swords in his hands. He stamped the ground and dashed towards his opponent, his grin still plastered on his face.

“As for who his going to die, it’s obviously you!”