69 Identity (5) - Suspicious Individuals

"Apologies, he was but a nuisance, shall we continue...."

....

Right at the moment he finished his words, the beheaded body started to release a large amount of blood, forming into a small fountain as both of them side stepped to dodge the incoming droplets, not allowing even a drop to land on them and ruin their attire.

"A pleasure to meet young man, how do you do, would you mind if we have a chat for a bit...."

...

The one who gave Stigma a pleasant greeting was a tall individual with a voice of a man, he had a medium built with a bald head, a golden mask was worn with the design of wide smile similar to the smiling theater mask. His attire was mainly a white robe with one sleeve longer than the other and his right arm was the only one visible which held the sword.

Contrary to his voice of sincerity, the act of beheading without hesitation was far too merciless to be ignored, even to the others watching they can only declare the Golden mask was dangerous as he appeared without warning while they were all focused on Stigma's ability.

The one who stood behind him was opposite to his appearance, being a head shorter with two daggers in each hand, the individual also wore the weeping theater mask painted in silver. The silver mask's attire was also wearing a white robes with a gray scarf covering his neck, but others could tell he was as dangerous as the Golden one.

The one who almost chopped Stigma in with an ax stayed in the same position before had completely disappeared as if he was an illusion. But Stigma new that wasn't a spirit as he did not feel anything but Zen energy disappearing, and it would not explain the ground being cleaved it it was an illusion.

While the golden mask casually swung his sword to remove the blood, he ignored the glare Stigma was sending to him as his associates came closer the corpse as he used the knives to chop off not the finger or but the entire hand.

What was weird was that not only silver mask grabbed the fox mask's space ring, the head was also recovered and was put inside a sac after letting the blood empty then disappeared inside his space ring, leading to the assumption of hiding their identities was vital.

What also happened was the figure that Stigma fought fell to the ground, like a puppet with its strings cut off not even caring for his partners death. What confused Stigma more was that even after it fell down the clattering noises didn't end until he lay still in the ground, but his main focus was not the two dead men but the one who held the sword.

'....Both are suspicious individuals, though assassins may be ruthless, they should have killed me instead of him...But what the hell is this smell their giving off...dead bodies.....dried blood?'

The identities of the two before him was making Stigma feel uneasy, but he didn't let his guard down for even a moment. Stigma had confidence in his high-tend senses from his multiple Beast souls absorbed, yet the figures just appeared out of thin air without releasing a sound much less leaving a scent behind.

Which made him believe the theater mask pair were skilled Cultivators or even veteran assassin's like the three he was with, but Stigma had a feeling these two were more than they led on.

Stigma secretly used his skill 'Essence Reader' and found out their profile, stats, along with checking their skills. If Stigma remembers correctly, the Demon had explained that the stages were based on how much Zen energy the Cultivators have reserved.

Cultivators can freely use their reserves to replenish the amounts to use or save it for a life saving moment. Someone who has about thirty percent and below were still in the early stage, Mid stages are within the forty to seventy five range, Late stage are eighty percent above.

Therefore, those in the Late stage have a greater chance of a breakthrough as they have less risk. While those still in the Mid stage have fifty fifty chance of getting weaker if they force a breakthrough. Early stage Cultivators are basically draining their life force and committing a eighty to ninety percent chance of suicide.

Stigma survival was because of the Imp aiding him with the force breakthrough, but that was another matter.

Though facts about the reserves were useless as his skills would show their stages directly, yet Stigma didn't complain and remembered it and made it into a rating measure for how strong a cultivator will be.

As it turned out, the one in the golden mask was the strongest Cultivators he had met until now.

*Bing!*

[Name: Jose Moskvin

Age: 50

Rank: Rare(IV)(Mid stage)

3600 / 6000

Strength: 400

Agility: 220

Vitality: 300

Zen Reserves: 4000 / 5000

Affinity: Dark, Metal

Skills: Swords Mastery, Ax Mastery, Puppet Mastery Art]

[Name: Ivan (Moskvin)

Age: 16

Rank: Uncommon(I)(Early stage)

1000 / 4000

Strength: 150

Agility: 190

Vitality: 200

Zen Reserves: 1000 / 1500

Affinity: Wind

Skills: Knife Mastery, Puppet Mastery Art]

'So their related, but why is the younger one's name gray?...Must not have been accepted to the family. The soul represents the truth, if the bearer accepts the fact even by a third party like rumors, then it won't change until he/she accepts the new reality....Looks like what the Imp said was true.'

'As for the skills, it only show that they have the talent, like being a genius in Sword or Spear Arts. It technically only shows they have the ability to further develop it by learning a type of style, though the actual technique they used can't be shown much less their levels of mastery....Unless I absorb it my self.'

After seeing the pair's stats, Stigma turned his head towards the corpse, the fox mask had no other relation to the pair other than having the same Puppet Mastery Arts technique, as it turned out he but a twenty year old man with physical weak standards and only had the Puppet Mastery Art.

When Stigma looked at the one he fought, his mind immediately froze the moment he saw the notification.

[Name: Wooden Puppet - Pawn

Rank: Common

Effect: Strengthens material's durability and defense by the amount Zen energy stored within, time of usage depends on the users stored amount. Functions will cease when the user breaks connection or concentration.

Amount: 200

Defense: 100 + 200]

'....So it was made of wood huh, no wonder the impact felt familiar....'

Each time Stigma struck the figure, the sensation or sound of breaking can be heard and felt, but Stigma had no idea whether he was breaking bones or armor plating.

Nevertheless, the notification answered Stigma's suspicion as to why the figure kept on standing up and continued attacking even when he delivering so many blows to the head and chest. He only assumed it was wearing a full body armor that absorbed impacts, but that didn't matter as Stigma had another problem to deal with right now.

'Essence Reader!'

*Bing!*

[Name: Stigma Falsus

Age: 10

Rank: Unique (I)(Early stage)

0 / 10000

Strength: 150

Agility: 170

Vitality: 250

Zen Reserves: 1200 / 1700

Skills:

Essence Reader(V) 15%, Poltergeist (III) (1) 75%, Soul Eater (V) 0%, Taboo(III) 45%, Demon's Soul 5%

.....

'Looks like my method of minimizing my reserves was the right call, but as expected my techniques is still incomplete as my reserves are being drained due to sloppy control on my part.'

After looking at his reserves, Stigma could at least deal with the Silver if he played it safe, but had no chance in dealing with the Golden one. But Stigma took the opportunity to recover his reserves and delay them from getting near him.

With a poker face of anger, Stigma had continued to glare at the fallen puppet believing it was a comrade weeping silently for his fallen companion. If Stigma broke his facade to soon, the Gold and Silver pair will notice his reaction then grow suspicious of him.

Veil, Hans and the leader were about to move when they noticed Stigma's movement. Before they would notice a change, Stigma slowly glared at the Golden one and pointed at him with his finger.

"Hey! Why did you kill him, was he not your comrade?"

...Hearing such a question, the pair looked at each other and they nodded but they were about to speak but Stigma did not allow them, while raising his voice he was planning to draw attention under the market with many witnesses to prevent them from doing anything else under the gazes of too many witnesses.

"Well answer!! Are you just a heartless bastard that only uses his subordinates like puppets then throws then away like trash, you goddamn monster!"

All Stigma could do was gather as much information and figure out his next move, though he was confident he could handle the fox mask, but that was under the assumption he was like him at first when he relied on Dusk for combat.

With the recent murders, Stigma assumed he might have been involved or took the opportunity to do random murders and steal valuables under the disorder of the market. But he lost when Stigma found out he was easy to kill and broke a few of his bones.

However, the fox mask started calling him Senior which verified their connection, but before he had a chance to speak he was silenced, preventing anymore information leaks such as his name, the organization or clan they belong too, so Stigma had to figure out as much as he can.

Right now, Stigma was facing two Cultivators and one was stronger than Wade, he would be dead if the Golden one took the opportunity to strike first like using that trick he used, but had the confidence in beating the Silver one despite his diminished reserves.

Nevertheless, Stigma noticed that the Golden one wanted to converse with him rather than kill him, so he took the opportunity under the guise of an argument to tell between lies.

He was about to insult throw another insult to gain more information from any slip ups, yet the Silver one replied with a voice of anger.

"You little bastard show your respect to -!!" The silver mask was about to speak when a sword was facing him, they both looked and found the golden one was gesturing him to be silent and let him speak which he reluctantly agreed.

"Hmm. Quite the heart of gold we have here, admirable, well to answer your question it is a yes and a no. To explain we have to tell you about this boy." the golden masked one was pointing at the corpse with his sword and continued.

"This boy was overbearing and arrogant, caring only about himself and believed he was the strongest, but only experienced easy wins on individuals who could not fight back like woman and children, never daring to venture through danger so he targeted those who appear weak in the gist of not wasting his strength on huge targets."

The Golden one was about to speak but the Silver masked one was the one who continued with a voice of disdain, it was obvious he never had a good impression on the fox mask.

"Humph, his ego blinded him and got in the way of his better judgment, believing he was some sort of genius from heaven along with being gifted despite his age. He gained success in his frequent battles without gaining an injury and got over his head until now, you could say he followed us to try to make a name for himself on the journey, but ignored every warning we gave him. He was obviously weak as you confronted him, also his.....'partner' was doing most of the work, it was a given he was going to die for being trash. By the way, we're much stronger than that piece of garbage, so don't compare us to him..."

....

".....Then you wouldn't mind telling me who you people are?" The silver one was about to deny answering such question but was cut of from the Golden one's response.

"We are assassins..."

"No, tell me what your names are, as in you identities..."

"...Can't answer, not yet"

.....

Stigma stared at the fox mask for a moment and looked back at the two, who was recognized as weak, immediately recognizing his method of fighting. The fox mask didn't need to be serious in any confrontation as he used his 'partner' in exhausting his opponent as he stayed in the sideline, finishing them off when he saw the opportunity to gain the glory and calling it his win.

But Stigma didn't believe he didn't come here without a reason, but he had to keep as much of the information he found a secret and figure out who these people are. Since his skill was active, he could tell the Golden and Silver pair had not told one lie until know, the irony is that Stigma could not interpret the whole truth if what they said is but a twisted version of the truth.

'....Assassins or not, they are here for a reason and killing random people is but a cover-up...'

"Humph, are your professions common enough to get jobs in killing small fry, your statement is full of bull. Why the hell would the merchants here want to hire assassins to kill their paying customer? My guess is you were dispatched from a third party believing your expendable, so dispatching people like him are among your group, and I suppose your no different since you seem to think I'm easy to kill, don't you...."

"But I told you we are...."

"I never said anything about believing your story though, let's go to the Top to verify your statement then."

Again the Silver mask was about to answer for being insulted, but was withheld from the sword in front of him.

"That won't be necessary, we are here to eliminate threats."

"So? I'm a threat then?"

"Why no, of course not. You, young master, are not a threat, but you see he came after you without our knowledge, so we had to clean up the mess ourselves and dirtying yourself in killing nuisances like him. We are merely here under employment to the market. In fact, the reason I killed him was because he was unfit in the profession. By the way, would you like to work under me, your more talented than you appear and it would be a waste to let your talents go dull over the years without proper guidance."

The response shocked not only Stigma, but the Silver Mask and the rest of the hidden Cultivators, but all of them agreed on the subject.

Stigma is indeed gifted enough that many would want to recruit him as a disciple or an underling, being capable to roughly manipulate a high level technique coupled with his behemoth like strength, he would be recognized as a diamond in a rough that would grow valuable as he aged.

Not only that, he was still young enough so he still had a long road ahead of him to reach the pinnacle of his strength. So when they heard the golden mask request some can only clench their in anger or shy away from fear, as the one before them was stronger than they could ever imagine.

On the other hand, Veil, Han and the leader new very well how Stigma would react, but were shocked by his next words, but soon sighed in relief when he finished his response.

"Really, then I suppose I should ...eat my foot! Like hell I'll follow you, I already promised a group of people I can trust, but you people scream of being suspicious individuals, dangerous nonetheless. Oh, by the way, even if that fox bastard was a hindrance or an annoyance, killing him would have been done by my hands!"

After cracking his fingers, Stigma made his declaration and glared at his opponents. Yet instead of being offended, the Golden one gave a heartfelt laugh as if he heard something amusing.

"My, my, it's seems that I was mistaken, you are not the type who draws ire from killing but the type who anger who had his prey taken from someone else, its rare to find these type in your age group. If you allow me to ask...how were you going to kill him if I hadn't stepped in?"

"Bullsh*t! I wasn't going to kill that bastard yet, I planned to break his limbs and demand an explanation. If his excuse was for fun, then I'll beat him to death and cut him to pieces, afterwards I'll feed him to dogs for all I care!"

Stigma yelled to the top of his lungs and stomped the ground so hard that it carved in underneath his foot, propelling him towards the Golden one, he then circulated his Zen to his right arm and grabbed the shield on his back with his left and readying a shield tackle with his full body weight.

'I can't use Hilda within a short range, with my height and her length, I might slip up from fighting in close range. My only choice is to cause a commotion to draw attention, hopefully Felix and three might find out somethings wrong then come here and separate the fight, so we could capture both the Gold and Silver pair.'

Just as Stigma got close, the Golden on stepped in and barred the full force of his shield tackle with just a sword and did not seem fazed from the force behind it. Yet Stigma didn't stop on his assault and stomped the ground again, forcing the Golden one to lose some of his footing.

Stigma's tackle drove the Golden one to be pushed back a few meters away from his original position, causing not only the Silver one but every individual in the vicinity to be shocked from Stigma's physical strength.

"Ho ho, to think we have a 'New-born Calves who's not afraid of an old Tigers'[1]. Don't interfere, I want to test his abilities if he's worthy."

"I understand!" His companion agreed and made way, while the Golden one continued to push back with his swords stance despite his awkward footing.

With the shield being pushed with all his might, Stigma did not allow his opponent to steady the Golden one's footing. If Stigma allowed him to gain distance, then he was sure that he won't survive his barrage of attacks.

Stigma stepped in to pressure the Golden one, but it was clear his opponent had experience, despite his bad footing the Golden one managed to lower his stance causing Stigma to be lifted upwards for even a second.

With Stigma in the air, the Golden one did a casual lift and threw Stigma in the air. Not letting his chance slip away, a barrage of sword slashes came after Stigma, but he was calm as he formed a layer on his shield and blocked thankfully he survive any injuries.

'Sloppy but acceptable, if he had no master then he is indeed a genius....I must have him and cultivate him....so he can be of use to me when he grows up....'

Under his Golden mask, Stigma felt from the back of his neck he had a look of dark intentions, so he had to keep on the pressure.

After landing on his feet, Stigma faced the shield towards the Golden one and continued to swing the shield in as he moves, making sure not a vital parts such as the head or heart get stabbed.

The way he moved was similar to veteran in the eyes of others, but Stigma was using the memories of Wade who was the original owner of the shield, acting like a full body battering ram and parrying each strike as he got closer, pressuring the Golden one to make awkward strikes from a short distance with his long short.

Even with his body size, Stigma made full use of his body weight and made sure his shield arm was protected from each strike using Zen aura, while using his free arm to support the weight of the shield from each swing.

'Gotta keep on the pressure!'

After seeing his chance, Stigma stepped within the sword's range and continued his assault, as the shield was swung the sword was then forced to parry to the direction Stigma wanted then grabbed the wrist under his free hand. With the sword arm restrained under his vice like grip, Stigma focused his aura on his shield and attempted to deliver a blow on the joints to limit his mobility greatly.

'Not bad boy, you truly are gifted not only in talent, but in insight and combat, however you obviously lack the proper opponents to help you develop further so you choose this tactic. Unfortunately, that would only work under a third rate Cultivators who haven't been draw into an actual life and death fights, so let me show you, how a 'true Cultivator' fights!'

The leg that Stigma was about to hit stepped back, and the arm he was holding was lifted him up in the air like he was nothing. Stigma was about to let go, but the Golden one would not allow him and threw him in the air.

A familiar scene was about to happen and Stigma braced himself from an incoming kick that had sent him flying across the ground. With distance between them, the Golden one became serious and molded his aura on his sword similar to what Stigma had done but was more abundant and in control, he then charged and slashed at Stigma's shield, performing multiple swords strikes that felt like waves.

"Take this! Fierce Wave Style: Torrent!" With the incoming slashed, Stigma braced himself for incoming strikes and hid his body behind the shield. Sadly those strikes were aimed not at his body but the shield, the strikes were aimed to destroy the shield and force Stigma to come up with another tactic.

'What the hell! How are the hell are swords strike this heavy, it feels more like an ax than a sword!'

Even after seventeen strikes the shield withheld the attacks which greatly impressed him, sadly the last strike was a lunge which managed to pierce through Stigma's aura layer on the shield. If not his animal like reflexes, Stigma would have gained a fatal wound on his torso.

With the new danger of him getting hit, Stigma molded his aura on his right hand and tried to break it with his fist but missed when the sword pulled back. Right after the sword retracted, another kick was delivered through the shield forcing Stigma to fly back again and crashing onto the ground.

"Guh!!!Ah!!!Haa! Haa! Haa! Haa! Haa! Haa!"

Stigma's swings, strike and parries were starting to take it toll. Stigma had the upper-hand by using the shield to also act as a weapon, but the weight and exhaustion got the best of him, if he hadn't cultivated then he would have a better chance in the fight.

'Tch,Too late to complain now...'

"Well? Do you understand now, why don't you just give up and come with us. I promise you, there will be a bright future for you, when you serve under me...."

Again, Stigma did not know why, but his words were not meant for comfort or encouragement. Stigma could tell those words had a hidden darkness within them, so he struggled to get up and gave his answer.

"Like hell!"

"Hmm, haven't changed your mind? Oh well, change of plans. Looks like we can only use force and make you understand, I don't plan to have him be taken by someone else. Restrain him."

"I understand!" The golden on casually hid the sword under his left arm and merely looked at him, with the mask on and the dark aura they would only watch as a madman was pulling Stigma into the darkness.

'Shit, my reserves are running low. Looks like I have limited options...' While Stigma was struggling to stand up, Veil, Han and the leader were going through a torrent of thoughts and emotions running through their mind, but if they don't act know Stigma would be in danger.

Stigma was about to be desperate and order Dusk to go rampage, but he had no choice. With the Silver mask making his way towards him, he could only order Dusk and make sure at least one of them get killed or subdued.

Veil, Han and the leader didn't care anymore and prepared for combat, compared to being discovered, losing Stigma was like losing face to them when they recruited him. Especially when Stigma announced that he trusted them, which made them feel responsible for what was happening now.

Suddenly something was thrown from a distance like a spear, catching not only Stigma's attention but the Golden one, forcing him to pull back the silver; who was still in a daze, by force. After all, the object thrown was filled with Zen energy, so the only conclusion the Golden one made was to forcefully pull his companion out of the danger.

As it turned out his suspicion was correct, when it landed on the ground a small tremor and a small dust cloud was made, shocking everyone.

When the dust cleared out, an object appeared and was classified as a black rod with multiple golden engravings, between Stigma and everyone else were confused as to who belonged that weapon. Yet, a familiar voice entered Stigma's ear which made him sigh in relief.

"Now then,...what did you say you were going to do with my little brother?"

With a familiar voice entering his ear, Stigma turned his head and smiled at the man behind him.

"What took you so long? I would have thought you were lost."

"....Apologies, got held back at the gate so I had to make a long detour and left my men to handle it. Thanks to your familiar loud voice, I was able to navigate an unfamiliar route. Rest easy, you can let me handle this pair."

Out of curiosity, Stigma used his skill and viewed his stats if he was fit for fitting both of them.

'Essenes Reader!'

*Bing!*

[Name: Felix (Paralyze - Minor)

Age: 26

Rank: Uncommon(III)(Mid stage)

1900 / 3000

Strength: 420

Agility: 220

Vitality: 380

Zen Reserves: 4500 / 5500

Affinity: Earth

Skills: Parallel Thinking, Boost Endurance, Reckless Charge]

Stigma could only smile inside, it was that Felix was getting better and the paralysis on his arm was subsiding, but he can't be sure the pair would fight him one on one and not give him the luxury to rest.

"Like hell! I'll deal with the Silver, while you deal with the arrogant Gold, careful though the Gold one is weird."

"Got it..." Felix didn't complain as he felt the way the aura used on the sword was indeed 'odd'. Stepping forward Felix grabbed his thrown rod, then made a stance using his left rod as the shield and the right rid as his form of attack.

Though unfamiliar with the stance, Stigma could tell Felix had a stable foundation, so he will have complete focused on his new opponent. But suddenly the sound of a march was drawing near, so Veil remotely undid the formation from where so she was and immediately a group of soldiers entered the vicinity led by a second Tier Cultivators.

Confused by the sudden group of Four people, but immediately saw the damage on the surroundings, assuming them to be suspects. The leader made a quick decision and ordered his men into formation, then shouted his demands for all to hear him.

"Stand down! You people are charged as suspicious individuals, you are hereby under arrest until all suspicion are cleared, throw down you weapons to the ground, kneel and give up!!!"

[1] New-born Calves are not Afraid of Tigers - someone who is young does not fear a challenge or danger