Unfortunately, his offer was met with a dagger.
In the cramped elevator, Ethan quickly dodged the first swing from the assassin. The guy was fast, clearly a professional at this deadly job.
The assassin struck again, relentless in the confined space. Ethan ducked and weaved, using the tight quarters to his advantage. Despite this, Ethan didn't retaliate. He evaded the assassin's attacks, anticipating the resilience he already expected.
"Are you sure you won't talk to me?" Ethan asked as he avoided another strike. He sighed inwardly. "Alright, then..."
Suddenly, Ethan pretended to stumble, and the assassin took the bait, charging forward. Ethan sidestepped, sending the assassin crashing into the control panel. The dagger clattered away.
Seizing the moment, Ethan snatched the dagger, a smirk playing on his lips. "I'm guessing you lack a high-level ability and relied on your shapeshifting skill for this mission. So..." Ethan manipulated the dagger in his hand, taunting. "Ready to talk now?"
"How did you know I'm not going to kill you?" the man finally spoke. This time, he used his real voice. It was no longer Jihoon's voice.
"I guess," Ethan smirked. "Are you going to tell me who sent you to kill me?" he asked.
"No."
"Good… " Ethan nodded, surprising the assassin. Each Assassin has their own code, and some of them were willing to die just to uphold their promises. This was no secret in the world of mercenaries. "Do they have something on you?" Ethan asked.
"Yes."
"Then… Shall we talk about the details of our collaboration over coffee or something?"
"Do not—" the man spoke. "Do not take a single step. Stay where you are."
"Oh…" Ethan nodded. He completely understood this man's reasoning.
"I'll take a hundred pounds of magic stones and two experts to accompany me. I will need them for a week at most."
"Oh?" Ethan smiled. Magic stones can only be found in dungeons; this was a well-known fact. Aside from being used to make weapons and jewelry, magic stones were considered useless. They needed thorough processing to achieve the hardness needed to create a good weapon. However, many people loved them, and they were popular as jewelry abroad.
Despite being useless to Essentia users, magic stones had been a very good source of income for some Essentia Users as they could simply sell them to various companies. However, Ethan knew something that many people in this world didn't.
In the game, Magic Stones had another purpose. And that is… food for tamed pets!
In the game, players could raise their own pets or monsters from eggs. To feed them, players needed magic stones!
For some reason, this fact was not available in this world—yet.
"If you wanted money, I can—"
"I do not need your money," the man interrupted Ethan. "I need you to give me the magic stones. Lead me to where the Kai Family keeps their magic stones. Do not even think that I would not harm you. I know you are useless! I could kill you if I wanted to!"
Ethan nodded. He could not understand why this man wanted magic stones, as NPC's were not very well known for taming monsters from the dungeons. Ethan had already delved into this matter when he researched this world and realized that humans—the NPCs—had no ability to control pets or monsters.
They simply seemed to exist with the monsters, occasionally fighting to acquire some resources. He did not know if this was some sort of a glitch in this world or something else.
However, he had no time to think about this matter now.
"Very well…" Ethan smiled. "There is no need for us to go back. We store our magic stones on the ground floor, in a vault, hidden away by my grandfather," Ethan said.
"Do not try something else."
"You already said it. I am useless. How could I defeat an assassin who wanted to end my useless life?" Ethan said.
The Assassin glared at him.
"Let me open the doors…" Ethan said. He did not know what this assassin did to stop the door earlier, but the moment Ethan pressed the open button, the doors actually opened, leading them to the floor where Ethan had trained with Jihoon before.
Hiding the dagger in his sleeve, Ethan placed both of his hands behind his back before he calmly walked out of the elevator.
"Why aren't you following me?" Ethan asked.
This time, the assassin followed.
"Stay close," the assassin said.
"Of course."
With that, Ethan started walking deeper into the floor. On the way, he met a few servants and even guards who were training, but he only nodded at them and smiled as if nothing happened. After a while, they arrived at a door that needed Ethan's thumbprint.
"It needs your prints too," Ethan said. "Everyone who will go inside the room needs to use their print." Ethan moved to the side, keeping a close eye on the assassin. He wasn't surprised to see the assassin nonchalantly use his thumb, identifying himself as Jihoon.
It was evident that the assassin was indeed an expert in espionage and assassination. Ethan couldn't help but appreciate having someone of such caliber next to him. Ah! Ethan could only smile to himself.
The door opened after a beep, and then the two of them went through a series of verifications, including their voice and iris scans. Once again, the assassin passed with flying colors. This time, Ethan was in awe.
Finally, they stood in front of a large door. "Welcome to the Kai Family's vault," Ethan said.
"Hurry and open it," the assassin demanded.
"Of course," Ethan said. He began entering a series of passwords. "It's funny because the password for this vault is actually my brother and my birthday," Ethan mentioned.
Ethan continued to input the password, pretending there was a delay in the system. He glanced at the assassin, who was growing impatient. He could feel the tension in the air thickening.
"Just a few more seconds," Ethan said, keeping up the act.
As the seconds dragged on, wisps of smoke began to curl around the edges of the massive vault door, creating an illusion of a malfunction.
"What are you doing!?" the assassin hissed.
"Ah, right. I believe… I forgot the rest of the hundred numbers and letters password combination. I must have used the wrong letter," Ethan smiled at him. The smoke was potent enough to knock down everyone below class S, so Ethan was confident this will work.
The assassin immediately used his hand to cover his mouth and nose before he tried to attack Ethan. This time, it was clear that he intended to harm him. However, Ethan was prepared for the attack. He might not be physically strong, but he knew how to fight against someone like him!
....
A/N: I've made a few adjustments in the recent chapters. After creating a spreadsheet detailing the system and a thorough outline with all the intricacies of this world, I was finally able to accurately tally the EXP points he earned, and... I got it wrong the first time. Haha, my bad! Nevertheless, I've made the necessary corrections and decided to keep track of the points diligently after each chapter. Please, if you come across any errors, feel free to leave a comment. I'm new to this genre, and I'm eager to learn! Thank you.