4: Assassination
A Magical Tale: A Broken Shield: Complete!!
Rewards: Transformation Clue: Aegis
System Unlocked: Magical Girl Transformations
Despite wanting to check out these new notifications in an instant, Liam decided to set them aside for now. The heavy revelation that he just found out from Nekowa took precedence and he could not help but feel compassion for her.
"I'm sorry for your loss." Liam said in an attempt to comfort the cat.
"Thanks." Nekowa responded with sad gratitude, "My mistake and naivety have cost Aegis' life, and broke the whole team. Arcana fell into depression for a month, but at the very least, she resolved herself to train even harder so she would never experience the loss of a comrade ever again."
"I see." Liam nodded, "And the other Magical Girl, Luminosa?"
"She left our organization and gone rogue." Nekowa answered dejectedly, "She joined the Nightingales and basically turned into a ruthless vigilante with no regard for mercy to anyone who stood in her way. As a result, she turned corrupt, abandoning her oath and the Light deemed her as an Oathbreaker, shifting her magic to Dark and transforming her to Magical Girl: Umbrina.
"And how about you?" Liam asked, curious about Nekowa's circumstance on the aftermath, "How did you fare after the incident?"
"Naturally, it was I who turned out to be the worst." Nekowa responded, "Unlike Arcana who recovered fairly quickly, I isolated myself for half a year, turning into a broken shell of my former happy self."
"Half a year? That's quite long." Liam said with a sad look, "I'm sure it was not easy for you."
"Yes. I wallowed myself in pathetic self-pity, blaming myself for dear Aegis' death." Nekowa hunched her back in depression, "And to make things worse, the other two girls resented me for it. Arcana treated me as if I'm a stranger and merely wanted nothing to do with me. At the very least, indifference was all I got from her."
"And Luminosa?" Liam asked.
"Hatred, pure, unadulterated hatred." Nekowa responded with an aura of grief, "She wanted revenge and would attempt to kill me with no hesitation during the times when we crossed paths again in the future. Although her efforts were proven to be unsuccessful every time since I'm quite proficient in evading conflict."
"Revenge, huh." Liam contemplated on the word, "I have to admit, you were definitely not on the right, Nekowa. Sugarcoating is not my forte, so you really screwed up with that one, if I'm being completely honest."
"I'm well aware." Instead of feeling offended, the cat acknowledged her mistake, "During my self-exile, I have thought of a lot of things, things that warp the very perception of which I perceive on my whole outlook in life."
With determination clear in her eyes, Nekowa declared, "Which is why I have decided to abandon my worthless self and never allow another of my precious person's life to be taken away just because of my naivety. With that said, if killing the ones responsible for this atrocity is what it takes to bring justice, then so be it. You shall have my support, Liam."
Liam smiled in agreement and told her, "Heh, looks like you're finally on board the train then."
"Yup." Nekowa beamed and was back on her cheerful self, "Onwards to the battlefield, my dear Magical Girl. We shall deliver justice to those bandits at its purest form."
The pair then left the newly built graveyard of the recently fallen and proceeded to the bandit camp's direction, with nothing but vengeful justice in mind.
***
After around half an hour of trekking through the woods, the duo finally arrived at their intended destination.
"This is the camp, huh." Liam said, who was now Defolta who transformed in advance during the middle of their walk as to not attract any attention from her eye-catching transformation phase.
The bandit camp was surrounded by wooden walls, with a gate manned by two guards who were on the lookout. According to Nekowa, inside the camp were tents that served as the bandits' living quarters and provided ease of movement and escape should the law authorities caught wind of their location.
At the north end of the camp lied its largest tent, no doubt occupied by whoever was commanding these bunch of lawless rabbles.
There were other bandits, three of them, patrolling around the outside vicinity, no doubt in search of intruders to warn the camp ahead.
Nekowa estimated that there were around twenty bandits accommodating the camp.
"Are there any magic users among their ranks?" Defolta asked for extra precautions. While she was confident that she could go against a normal bandit, a mage may prove to be a troublesome matchup, especially without any knowledge as to how magic worked in this new world that they were in.
"Highly unlikely." Nekowa answered, "They don't look like the type to cast spells with their ragged equipment and blades in their arsenal. Still, looks can be deceiving and we should be cautious as to how to handle this situation."
"Hmm, perhaps a sneaky approach is in order?" Defolta suggested, "I always wanted to try my Assassination skill."
"Alright then. I suppose that's the best option for now. Fighting twenty bandits head on is not exactly an intriguing prospect, especially since you are just a Defolta born recently." Nekowa agreed with Defolta's proposal.
In stealth, patience was the key. Thus, Defolta waited from a nearby bush and bid her time until one of the patrolling guards isolated himself a significant distance away from his comrades.
Assassinate.
When the opportunity presented itself, Defolta swiftly grab the bandit from behind and twisted his neck, ending his life before the fool even realized.
While the skill usually costs 40 Stamina, Defolta felt her Stamina not depleting from the action. She then realized it was because of her Sadist skill which replenished 40 Stamina and thus, negating Assassinate's overall Stamina cost.
And not only that, because the bandits are considered to be a target of her vengeance, then her passive skill of Avenger was now empowering her, doubling all her attributes and in turn, improving her skills as a result.
Thus, Sadist now drains 50 Stamina with each kill since each improvement of the skill's designated Attribute point added one point of Stamina to the mix. Thus, Defolta basically earned 10 Stamina each time she assassinated her foes.
On a side note, Defolta also felt a wave of pleasure whenever she dealt the killing blow, a side-effect coming from her Sadist skill.
"Hmm, does this count as an Assassination as well?" Defolta had an idea while she eyed the dead bandit's dagger strapped on his waist.
She then grabbed the dagger and threw it at another isolated bandit's head from a distance, causing him to collapse to death with no hope of retaliation.
"I see. Perhaps Assassinate counts as long as the target is unaware no matter what the nature of my attack." Defolta thought of the endless possibilities of such powerful skill. The potential to one-shot any unaware enemies, no matter the method, is definitely a game changing boon that she's going to exploit.
"Maybe I can shoot a Magic bolt from stealth, and it counts as one, then?" Defolta pondered but ultimately decided against it, "Maybe on the initial opponent, yes, but the bolt once landed, is noisy as hell, and may attract nearby enemies. I'll save that for the last enemy standing then."
In the end, she's going to stick to her new dagger and murder her foes silently with it. With quick movement, she seized two daggers, one from the fallen bandit's head and the other at his waist and threw one again at the last patrolling bandit's head.
"Note to self: Keep daggers or knives at all times. This shit is kinda OP, not gonna lie." Defolta lighted a grin on her face while retrieving her third dagger.
After disposing of her victims, she hid their bodies inside the bushes and now had eyes on the two guards who were at the gate.
"Double Assassination it is then." As Defolta then threw both daggers at the bandits, but to her surprise, the daggers never reached their targets and fell flat to the ground. To make matters worse, this action also startled the bandits as they sheathed their blades and were now alarmed as a result.
System Notification: Feat Attempted: Double Weapon Throw: Dexterity Check (20): Failed. Requires 25 Dexterity.