Chapter 2 - Tavern (2)

The valley where the Tavern lied was clear for the most part, it was a steep surface with only a couple of roads, there weren't any buildings within view. Even the land was rather barren, grass didn't grow near the tavern, only a bleached field of dirt.

Tae looked around, no one was in sight, only a few minutes had passed by since Raegon had left. Tae wondered if perhaps Raegon had backed down but instantly dismissed the thought as he couldn't have possibly left the area so fast.

As he reached the outside and turned around the corner, Raegon kicked Maboon Tae's legs to sweep him off his feet. However, Tae was prepared. A simple jump was all it took, to diminish Raegon's efforts. He looked over at Raegon and pivoted his leg to perfectly kick him in his head before got up. He stared at him in the eyes, Tae's eyes were soulless, it was as if they were looking through Raegon. For good measure, Tae stamped his foot on Raegon's face. Blood stained his shoe.

However, it wasn't over, a few of the crowd members lunged at him with their fists, whilst the rest waited with their clubs and axes.

Maboon Tae was being pummeled by a flurry of attacks from all directions, but it seemed useless against him. He looked in every direction, it was as if time had slowed down, he noticed and analysed each individual muscle movement, the small movements in the opponents' arms that told him an attack was coming, he expertly weaved each individual strike.

The next time a punch was thrown, Tae grabbed the man's arm and twisted it, immobilising them completely. He breathed in. Each and every breath was timed and controlled. He struck at another man's collarbone; it was followed by the sound of a bone crunching. In the moment, nothing could stop him. He swung at the closest person, giving them a lethal blow to the gut.

He breathed out.

Tae was in his element, he made his movement seem so effortless and easy, although the other men seemed out of breath, whereas he had barely broken a sweat.

He looked over at his fist, at this point his fist started to become numb. He was no longer trying to fight to survive, he was now only seeking the next person he needed to punch. Surely enough, a man with a bat approached him. The same man laid unconscious on the ground.

The person was different, but the pattern stayed the same. It was monotonous, and quite frankly, Maboon Tae was beginning to feel bored, there was no adrenaline, just beating people up endlessly until they quit.

Tae tussled with all of them for a few minutes, he had started to get the hang of it, he perfectly timed and reacted to each attack, but on the most part he acted skilfully, with perfect poise, and devoured them all with his pure strength. He multiplied the bruises on all of them.

It was at the same moment that it all fell apart…

He had gotten too confident, he hadn't realised that Raegon had not completely given up, he looked over at Raegon, fire was emitting from his hands, the fire had grown rather fierce and was headed straight at Tae. He had no time to react.

Maboon Tae smirked.

[Passive Talent has been activated: Time Skip]

Time stood still, Tae jumped out of the way of the fire, landing on the floor. By the time, Tae had landed, the fire had already 'passed' through him.

"What was that? He t-t-teleported?!?!?" One of them yelled.

"So?" He replied, wiping his opponent's blood from his face.

Tae yawned. He stretched his arms almost mockingly.

"If you want to escalate this fist fight, I'll be glad to do so, it's time to end this,"

Tae extended his arm to the sky. A large wave towered above all the men, when it passed through them the wave froze, capturing the men in the moment in a huge block of ice.

The cold slammed pain into them all, suffocating them. Maboon Tae paused, he smirked at them in glee. Although he could have done this from the start, he enjoyed violence. Although, it may seem odd to others, fights felt like the only entertainment he received. Toying with your opponents to the end, it was the one thing Tae thrived at.

"Next time learn your place," He glanced at them, and then turned his back and walked towards the tavern once again. He stopped mid-stride. He looked over at the block of ice and snapped his fingers. It shattered like glass, an arm, or a leg in one direction to the rest of the host. However, he felt no guilt. Even after his first kill, he had realised guilt was a useless emotion that only held him back.

He stepped in the tavern once again, but the atmosphere was very different to the first, everyone's jaw was clenched. It was completely silent. A few murmurs rose, but didn't amount to much, everyone just stared at Tae as he walked towards the bartender once again.

"Give me my first quest," he coldly said. His eyes fixated to the bartender's.

"Very well, but you must be accompanied by the fellow gentleman, he'll… monitor your work."

Tae changed his gaze towards the man who had been sitting at the counter. It was the same man from earlier, unlike the rest of the tavern, he was much more loose and less built, he seemed as more of a conserved individual as he had been silently drinking instead of socialising with the rest of the crowd.

"What?!? I don't need someone else to accompany me?" he refuted as he rose from his seat.

"Must I remind you, how you failed your last 3 assassination attempts, and brought humility to our name? Perhaps, he'll be a good influence on you since he did just defeat one of our top assassins."

He silently sat back down.

Maboon Tae was tempted to mock the fact that the top assassin had been so weak, but it was quite the opposite, Tae was frankly too strong. He had known so from an early age, that he was different. That he was stronger than most and he had gotten used to it.

A letter was given to Tae by the bartender, it had some details about his victim, but Tae didn't bother reading it much. He looked over to the man at the counter.

"Come on, let's go,"

They both walked out of the tavern, at the centre of everyone's attention, they stared either admirably or enviously. It made no difference to Tae; he walked off without a single glance to anyone or without talking to anyone. Tae's companion looked over at the ice, his eyes widened in fright, but he didn't dare to mention it, it was apparent where the source of the ice had come from. Afterall, Tae was not much less emotionless than the ice.