Chapter 11: The First Kill [2]

I have never killed a person before.

Not many people have, ( ...If you do apply to the people who have killed a person, please seek professional help... ) and I was about to commit my first murder.

However, I wasn't scared or nervous. Instead, I began to feel an intense feeling of excitement and anticipation.

This was bloodthirst.

Fueled by years of seclusion, Ray's mind had become numb to anything that didn't evoke a new feeling in him, and murder was something he had never done before.

He had fought to death time and time before with Aunt Mary, but he had never ambushed and ended someone's life. This was a new experience.

He had already been taught all of the vital points of the body, and with his photographic memory, he was able to become a merciless executioner if done right.

His blood, mana and adrenaline were being pumped around his body, as he elegantly leapt off of the tree.

The leaves didn't even rustle.

The guard, who was currently yawning from a long and tiring day was unable to see his death coming at him like a speeding train.

Ray's body swiftly rotated into a dive like a spinning blade from at least 13 feet (4 metres) high, as he timed his landing a few metres in front of the guard, before using the momentum to push straight towards him again like a cannonball.

Hurtling towards the unalarmed guard, Ray concentrated his mana flow in his circuit to his arm and accurately pushed out his hand with enough force into the man's mouth, firmly grabbing onto his tonsils at the back of his throat.

Ray's arm was big enough to dislocate the jaw of the man and ripped a few teeth out of the gums as he reached inwards.

Combined with the kinetic energy of Ray's moving body, and the force generated by the thrust of his hand, the guard's tonsils were ripped out of his mouth and pushed down his trachea, forcing him to violently choke on his own flesh.

The blood spilling from his gums was splattered everywhere inside his mouth, drenching Ray's waterproof black coat. However, Ray could not care less as he prepared his stance for the final blow.

The guard was suddenly feeling unimaginable pain after the appearance of what seemed like a blurred black shadow choking him. He could only see the afterimages of two glowing blue orbs of light jutting out from the silhouette in front of him and did not have time to think of any counter.

The pain the man was feeling was excruciating and clouded his thoughts further. He couldn't even scream for help, as his jaw was dislocated and his mouth was stuffed with something black he couldn't see.

The top of the guard's head turned a dark purple, with veins bulging out of his temples.

Before giving any time for a break, Ray swiftly sidestepped behind the man, with his arm at a 90-degree angle from his shoulder like an uppercut, and forcefully tugged at the man's head.

With unimaginable speed, the man's neck was twisted 180 degrees and ripped off his lower body before it could turn as well, and within seconds, his body turned limp onto the floor.

This all occurred within 30 seconds.

Ray slowly brought out his hand from the man's mouth and flicked off the wet blood, slightly flexing his arm muscles as if this was just a mere warm-up.

His cold blue eyes glowed violently above his full black attire.

"This... is... disgusting,"

Only after I had killed the man, did I realise how gruesome the sight was.

The man's neck was turned to face the other way, with his skin forming multiple creases as it stretched. His blood was spilling out of his mouth face flat onto the ground. And you could see his eyes rolled upwards as if he had been choked to death.

Slowly, the bloodthirsty feeling I had died down, and I took in the situation.

It felt like I was in a trance, following the steps I needed to do.

Ambush. Neutralise. And assassinate.

This was the order of steps Aunt Mary had taught me and I had followed, working flawlessly.

I crouched down and began to pick up the man's weapons, snacks, communications, and gun, arming myself for when I needed it for combat.

I couldn't stop here as it just wasn't safe, since I was at risk of being run into by patrolling and not stationary guards.

I quickly dashed inside the main building of the Manor and hid behind one of the pillars inside the main lobby room. I was constantly using Mana Maze, so I could know when someone was near the premise.

I stealthily darted through the hall and considered causing a commotion to distract everyone by tipping over one of the vases.

This would lure most of the staff to the lobby, so it would increase the vulnerability of the chairman. However, it was also very risky, as it alerted the staff that there was something clearly wrong happening.

"Fuck it."

With an emotionless face, I stared at the painting on the wall, which I presumed to be the portrait of the chairman. And after memorising it's facial features, I immediately punched the painting after concentrating some more mana near my fist.

My mana core was dwindling. Fast.

The constant use of Mana Maze was a bit hard on my mana circuit, meaning that it drained out more energy than the maximum efficiency of it would.

BOOOM.

The sound of the painting shattering echoed throughout the building.

Immediately, I dashed up the stairs and used whatever mana I had remaining from my mana core for my feet.

My speed increased threefold.

I could literally feel myself going against physics, travelling at superhuman speeds. Within seconds I had reached the top floor, and I could hear staff gathering all the way at the bottom.

And it just so happened, that at that moment, my mana core, had fully burned out.

The light blue glow in my eyes returned to the ash grey it used to be, and I felt my body become drowsy.

My vision started to blur in and out, trying to adjust to the abrupt change in sight.

Right now, if Ray had not been the son of a Steelheart, he would have died right then and there. This was the real reason why children could not practice magic.

The mana burnout rate was too fast and inefficient, so they had to wait for it to accumulate, before risking their life by using lots of magic.

Drunkenly, Ray pushed open the door and could see a startled old man about to stand up at a desk.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE" he shouted.

"Just let me... take your life."

At that, Ray used the last of his strength the lunge towards the old man that bared a resemblance to the painting on the 1st floor, swiping his hand towards the man's neck with a matte black army knife that he had stolen from the guards.

Even during this, the chairman didn't move nor flinch but muttered something under his breath.

Within the split second of contact between Ray and his victim, Ray could feel a dense, powerful wall of air pushing him away, effortlessly bending the tip of the knife at a 90-degree angle.

"Tch..."

Smacking his tongue, Ray could only use the rebounded momentum of his own force to back away, stopping around 12 feet from the chairman.

'As expected, killing a chairman of a powerful company could never have been easy, especially since he could use magic as well.'

'Not only that, but he is able to use it proficiently, casting a spell within a millisecond of reaction time.'

Ray's futile attempt at assassination had failed, and now, the chances of an ambush towards a magic user were slim to none.

"How annoying. If only I had some mana left and not sped up those stairs, I would have been able to cleanly slice him in two, without him even having noticed the door had opened."

Ray's mind started to work harder, calculating possibilities and attempts that he would be able to do now.

He could just wait for some mana to accumulate in his body, but this plan was shut down when he could hear the sound of staff gathering behind the door.

It was then he noticed that the man had been standing just in front of the balcony, with the still night sky behind him.

At that moment in time, something in Ray's mind clicked.

Ray stared at the chairman with an apathetic face, but his eyes showed hints of craziness.

Inside his inner realm, a drop of mana, less than the size of a pinhead had formed.

Ray rushed towards the old man, jumping over the desk and using his momentum to push him towards the edge of the balcony.

Just before the chairman hit the glass edge, Ray applied force to his own legs, allowing them to leap over the railings like some Olympic obstacle course runner.

They were falling down at an alarming rate, and without magic, they would die.

The chairman tried to remain calm, and activate the same spell he used to block Ray, but this was already planned beforehand.

During the time Ray lunged at his victim, he took special note of how the spell was activated and noticed that the chairman hadn't moved his body.

He also noticed how the man had not moved from his position even after being attacked, just waiting for reinforcements to come.

Ray took all of this into account, and rushed towards the man, jumping off the ledge with him.

Every time a magic spell tried to activate, Ray would slightly nudge their bodies, breaking the wall of air.

"Checkmate fucker."

The only problem with this was that he was going to die too. The most he could do was stay on top of the falling chairman, hoping his body could cushion the fall.

However, he was 3 stories high, and Ray quickly realised the flaws with his plan.

"Shit..."

'I can't die here, not now. I am only 11. I must live!'

Will and desperation erupted from within his heart, and Ray could feel the little mana inside his body naturally burn away like cotton.

'Hey, isn't this, magi-'

A small whisp of blue aura emanated from his skin, and his body disappeared into thin air like dust.

Ray then found himself leaning over the edge of the balcony, in the position from which he was about to jump, except the chairman was not in his grasp, and the world was at a stand-still.

The blue aura that was escaping his body wore out and Ray could feel time begin to speed up again.

To Ray, it only felt like a second had passed.

Confused and intrigued, Ray peered downwards and saw the chairman sprawled across the ground, with blood spurting out of his skull.

His body was twisted in the wrong direction, and his legs were folded over, clearly exposing the bones outside his legs.

"Ummm, mission... accomplished...?"