37 A deadly duel

The two stood looking at each other for a little longer.

Finn's mind was going into overdrive trying to think of how to deal with the situation best.

Finn had a crossbow, but it wasn't loaded. He had free throwing knives, two good daggers, and one with a broken tip. Eying the person opposite him he tried to analyze their fighting capabilities.

The stranger was tall. He was also wearing a dark cloak which hid most of his features. Finn saw a short sword at his waist, as well as a pair of matching daggers. He seemed professional, so was probably wearing some form of light armor too.

The stranger slowly reached for his sword, but Finn interrupted him by asking a question.

'I'm going to assume you are also after this?' Finn held up the report. Folding it up he tucked it into his pocket carefully.

Finn decided it might be worth trying to bluff his way through this time.

'I'm assuming they hired you too? I'm a little disappointed in their lack of confidence.' Finn said in an annoyed tone. With luck, this sneaky looking stranger would be fooled.

Seeing a look of surprise on the face of the other guy, Finn smiled before continuing.

'I guess they didn't tell you that you were just a backup option? I really hope they are paying you enough for your time.' Finn sneered, he had to admit this was a little fun.

'Well, this task is in the bag, so I don't think I'll be needing your help. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to head back and claim my reward.' Finn thought it was time to finish up, this fool just needed to leave so he could run away back to the guild.

The situation had been a little bit of a stalemate. If either of them tried to jump the gap, they would be vulnerable to the other's attack. Finn had a hand on his throwing knife, and the stranger had a sword.

'You are surprisingly fluent at making up rubbish.' The stranger finally said. 'Good thing the company didn't hire out the job.'

The man gave Finn an evil grin before continuing. 'It's a bit surprising to find someone else meddling around in our affairs I must admit. What you know may have been enough to fool a regular thief, but since I'm an private agent, that nonsense won't help you.'

Finn wasn't happy about the way things were turning out. He thought it had all been going smoothly. The problem was that he was cornered. This was the only escape and it was blocked by that cloaked guy who was probably from Future Meat. He couldn't yell for the guards either. They would just shoot both of the suspects full of arrows before asking questions.

Finn threw a knife at the agent, who blocked it with his cloak. The knife lost most of its momentum piercing the cloak and was easily stopped by the armor underneath.

The agent smiled before whipping out a hand crossbow. It had been hidden by the cloak so Finn didn't see it coming.

'Thwick!' The crossbow bolt managed to pierce through Finn's leather armor.

Ouch that hurt! Finn pulled out the bolt lodged in his thigh. He stepped to the side to avoid being shot again.

Now it was back to the stalemate again. The agent had loaded his hand crossbow and aimed at the opening in the wall. Finn was out of sight, hidden around the corner but trapped in the room.

The agent hesitated, this kid was a bigger pain to deal with than expected.

'I don't know who you are working for, but it's not worth dying in an alley. Hand over that report and I'll let you walk.' The agent tried to regain his advantage through words.

As the agent listened for a response he heard a strange sound. It was a muffled clicking.

'Sh!t! He's loading his crossbow! The agent realized. That was a heavy crossbow. A shot from that would punch right through his armor as if it were paper.

While a hand crossbow was quick to reload and could be held in one hand, it lacked the penetrating power a full size crossbow had.

Knowing he couldn't wait any longer, the agent backed up a little before sprinting towards the warehouse. His hand crossbow was swapped out with the short sword as he ran. Leaping with all he had towards the hole he hoped Finn hadn't noticed his approach.

Now one of the newfound improvements to his body's capabilities was an increase in his ability to see. Another was his hearing.

'Thud!'

The agent was kicked heavily in the chest while still in mid air. Finn had heard him coming and met his jump with an extended leg.

As the agent fell down one story into the alley below, Finn jumped over onto the shed and ran for it.

A few buildings down Finn realized the agent had managed to climb up and track him down. That guy was fast! with his leg still sore he wouldn't be able to lose him.

'Ting!!' A bolt glanced off of a chimney right near Finn's head.

Turning around, Finn saw the agent reloading. Taking out his now loaded crossbow, Finn pointed it at the agent and fired.

Yes! A hit! Finn saw the man recoil from the impact and drop his hand crossbow. The bolt seemed to have hit his arm and hindered its use.

All crossbows needed two hands to reload, so the hand crossbow couldn't be used. The agent seemed unfazed and charged at Finn with sword in hand.

Finn had just enough time to put away his crossbow and pull out his daggers before the first slash came.

'Ting! Ting!' The sword and two dagger clashed. Finn wasn't the strongest and needed to use both daggers to party the agent's sword.

What followed was an intense series of slashes from the agent. Finn had to put his all into blocking in order to defend himself. It was only thanks to his highly developed senses and fast reactions he was keeping up.

Finn had never had any formal training in using a sword or dagger. The agent did, but the loss of his dominant arm was a huge handicap.

As they fought, Finn made a mistake and slipped on a roof tile. The agent used the opening to send Finn flying with a kick.

Finn slid across the roof and dropped his daggers. As he stood up, the agent pounced on him and stabbed him in the gut with his sword.

Finn felt the cold steel pierce through his body and put the other side, he regretted not being strong enough. A sense of weakness and powerlessness filled him as he stumbled fell on his back.

'You fought well for an untrained commoner. I haven't met many who have your speed and reflexes.'

Finn lay there struggling, his hands pressed on the wound to reduce the bleeding. His breathing coming in painful gasps.

The agent walked over leisurely and crouched down to take the report from Finn's chest pocket. He was still prepared for a last ditch attack, but it never came. Finn just closed his eyes and seemed to be concentrating on staying conscious.

'You really shouldn't have caused me all that trouble, this could have been a lot less painful if you just cooperated. Look what you did to my arm, I'll need to pay a priest a lot to get it healed.' The agent said annoyed.

Seeing Finn clutching the wound and still struggling, he continued 'Now although that wound might not kill you immediately, what you should know is that my sword was poisoned. Even if someone finds you, you can only die a slow painful death as they watch.'

Taking out the report, the agent opened it and confirmed it was the one before folding it up again. Suddenly he felt a stab in his side. A semitransparent blob was holding one of Finn's daggers and had stabbed the agent through a gap in his armor. Finn's concentration had been in order to use the mage hand spell.

While the agent was still in shock from the sneak attack, Finn mustered the last of his strength and used a throwing knife to stab him in the heart.

The agent looked at the knife in his chest before looking at Finn with wide eyes.

'Magic?' The agent mumbled before toppling over and breathing his last.

Finn used the rest of his mana to control the mage hand to catch the piece of paper that was dropped and bring it over to himself. Tucking it back into his chest pocket, he closed his eyes and sighed.

The rooftops are a little chilly at this time of the night, Finn thought before he lost consciousness.