Gunn pleaded in his mind, 'Please give me some kind of quest again. Please. Hurry up.
[New Quest available: Shut up and be patient.]
'Damn you. Who are you anyway?'
[Quest completed. Reward: 0% increase added to all attributes]
'You think this is a game? I'll kill you now.'
[New Quest available: Slay all of the guards, make a clean escale. Reward: 70% increase to all stats. Level up by one point.]
'That's more like it. Grandfather always said stealth is the silent guardian of the night, the unseen whisper that speaks volumes. He taught me that to move undetected is to dance with shadows, to embrace the quietude of one's own heartbeat. He used to tell me, the art of stealth is a tapestry woven from patience and precision. It's not just about avoiding detection; it's about manipulating perception, about being a ghost in a world full of eyes; the true mastery of stealth comes from understanding the balance between light and dark, noise and silence. It is in that balance where you will find your path, where you become one with the night. More and more situations that I get into, the more I realize that they were definitely preparing me for something big. They told me all my training and shit was just so I could protect myself in the future. But everything they're teaching…each lesson is guiding me.'
Gunn begins by scaling the weathered wall of the outpost, his fingers finding purchase in the smallest of cracks. Reaching a window, he silently pries it open, entering as silently as a whisper. Inside, he finds a lone constable. With a swift flick of his wrist, the poisoned dagger arcs through the air, embedding in the constable's neck. A twist, a pullâ€"blood sprays stark against the grey stone; the body gently lowered to the floor. Moving through the dim corridors, Gunn hears footsteps approaching. He presses himself against the high wainscoting, blending seamlessly into the shadows. As the constable passes, Gunn reaches out, hooks an arm around the man's neck and drives the jagged edge across his throat. Soft gargle, heavy thud, another shadow swallowed by the darkness.
Gunn ascends to the rafters of a vast room. Below, a constable patrols. Timing his movement with the swinging of an overhead light, Gunn drops down, driving his poisoned blade into the spine at the base of the constable's skull. Quick shift, silent scream, and body crumpled in a heap. Peering through an old keyhole, Gunn spots a patrol passing periodically. He unscrews the light bulb outside the door just as the constable comes to investigate. As the door opens, the dagger meets the unsuspecting figure, thrust upward under the jaw, piercing brain matter, a deathly blow delivered before the constable can utter a sound.
Gunn uses a small hand mirror to check around a sharp corner. Seeing a reflection of a constable, he rounds the corner low and fast, sliding on his knees to pass undetected beneath the constable's vision, then rises in one fluid motion to sever the man's Achilles tendons before severing the jugular. In a room of whispering constables, Gunn blends with the darkness under a table. Crawling silently, he reaches out to slice the ankles of each man, crawling from one to the next. As they fall, he systematically incapacitates and finishes each with precision strikes to vital arteries. Approaching a stairwell, Gunn spots two constables descending side by side. Running along the wall parallel, he leaps, somersaulting over them to land in front, facing their surprised faces. A dual swipe of his dagger leaves both unable to scream as their throats are opened simultaneously.
Removing a pocket watch, Gunn sets off its alarm before tossing it down a corridor. As the lonely constable investigates the ticking, Gunn utilizes the ancient art of echo location by clicking his tongue subtly, calculating the constable's approach. As the figure bends over the watch, Gunn's blade finds a home in his heart.
In a room lit only by candles, Gunn extinguishes each light as he circles his prey, unseen and unheard. In the final moment of total darkness, a confused constable feels only the brief burn of the blade across his neck, the room lit again briefly by the spark of life fleeting from his eyes. Utilizing the echo of footsteps in an empty hall, Gunn matches his pace exactly with a constable's until he is walking mere inches behind him. At the precise moment their steps sync, Gunn strikes, driving the dagger directly through the constable's back, piercing his heart with the rhythm of their shared footsteps.
In a room stockpiled with ammunition, Gunn spots a constable counting inventory. He strategically drops a single pin from a grenade. As the constable kneels to inspect the noise, Gunn quickly and silently moves in, sliding his blade across the man's neck, his life ends in a sigh. In the bathroom, steam rises from hot running water. Gunn uses the cover of mist to mask his approach, his figure ghostlike. A constable wipes the foggy mirror, only to see Gunn's reflection behind him. Before he can react, the dagger pierces through his reflected throat, meeting its reality. As a constable adjusts heavy crates, Gunn, moving lighter than air, brushes past unnoticed. The constable only realizes his presence as he feels the deadly kiss of the blade puncturing through his kidney, a whisper in his ear from Gunn marking his departure.
Gunn catches a constable blinking during a routine blink test for alertness. In the milliseconds of darkness behind closed eyelids, Gunn moves forward, blade swinging in a graceful arc to sever the carotid arteries. The constable crumples, forever in darkness. While Hiding under the draped flags of the Empire in a commemorative hall, Gunn uses the fabric as camouflage. A constable comes close to adjust the positioning of a flag, Gunn strikes from beneath, pulling the man down into the cloak of shadows, impaling him with the upward thrust of his dagger.
Gunn approaches a constable standing guard over a restricted area, his back turned and trusting the silence of the secured hallway. Gunn uses a thin wire to draw across the constable's neck, the silent but deadly motion barely disturbing the air, the body found standing, as if still on guard. In a room with a concealed trapdoor meant for emergency escapes, Gunn manipulates the mechanism as a constable walks over. The floor gives way, and as the man falls, Gunn leaps after him, driving his dagger into the falling body, joining him in descent only to detach elegantly and roll to safety upon landing.
While two constables converse around a corner, Gunn mixes a reactive agent with water from his flask, creating a potent vapor. As he rounds the corner, he throws the concoction at their feet where it bursts into disorienting fumes. Blinded and coughing, the constables do not see Gunn's two-pronged attack strikes that are both quick and drastically terminal. Gunn encounters a constable skilled in close combat. What follows is a deadly dance, each avoiding the other's strikes, the constable's routine predictable to Gunn's trained eye. Eventually, Gunn uses his agile moves to redirect the constable's momentum, using his own force against him, the poisoned dagger sliding sure and silent into the ribs.
Near an exit, Gunn finds a gambling den where off-duty constables unwind. Using cards as distractions, he flings them with precise flicks, grazing past faces and drawing attention. As a constable stoops to pick up a card, Gunn moves stealthily behind, a fluid motion binds the man's eyes and throat with a cord, the finality of the game declared silently, his footsteps fading away like a ghost in the night.before they realize the threat among them. Quick thrusts, a dance of death as Gunn leaves none standing, each kill executed with a brutal elegance that leaves no room for counterplay.
'Is that all? Shit. The system isn't talking to me. I'm sure I cleared this entire outpost. What's happening?'
As Gunn pivots towards the final exit, his escape is thwarted by a man. A constable, desperate to halt his escape, thrusts a black crystal into the unsuspecting maw of a sturdy outpost watchdog. The transformation is grotesque and swift, muscles bulging and bones cracking as the dog enlarges to thrice its size, its eyes glowing with a menacing, unnatural light. It grew, it's fur becoming red and white, growing black crystal horns and its fur being covered in red flames, and its teeth became crystals as well.
The constable screamed, "Haha! I got you now, assassin! You probably work for that bastard Gunn—!"
FLING!
Gunn's dagger darted across the air and pierced the constable through the head, killing him instantly. Gunn immediately dashed to grab it, ripping out of the constable's head.
He turned around slowly, saying, "He has to do it now, didn't he?"
[Quest completed. Reward: 70% increase to all attributes]
[You have leveled up]
[Level 13]
Strength: 2,297
Speed: 1,934
Magic: 1,904
Stamina: 1,919
Curses: 1,904
Acid: 1,904
Poison Strength and Effectiveness: 2,856
Speech: 1,904
Wisdom: 1,921
[New Quest available: Kill the beast. Reward: Level up]
Gunn smirked, "Tch. Easy."
'I can't linger though. Should I even fight this beast, I know the backup is coming. If I don't fight it, it'll follow me. I can't risk it. So my best bet is to kill it fast!'
The mutated beast charges, its paws thundering against the cobblestone with each stride, closing the gap between it and Gunn. With quick reflexes honed from numerous battles, Gunn side steps, narrowly dodging a swipe from the beast's crystalline claws that shatters the stone wall behind him, sending fragments flying. Gunn responds in kind, channeling his supernatural speed to circle to the beast's flank. He slashes with his poison-green dagger, cutting a deep, glowing wound along the beast's side. The gash sizzles but the creature barely winces, its body mutated to endure even the deadliest assaults. The beast roars, a sound wave so powerful it vibrates through the air. Spinning around, it lashes out with a tail now edged with spiky crystals. Gunn leaps up, flipping backward, feeling the wind from the deadly appendage brush beneath him. Landing gracefully, he dashes forward, aiming another slice towards the creature's limb.
The dog anticipates, snapping its jaws shut mere inches from Gunn's outstretched arm. Quick on his feet, Gunn rolls under the beast's belly, dragging his dagger along its underside, leaving a trail of sparkling green blood. The beast howls, bucking and twisting in agony as each movement dislodges more shards from its crystal-coated hide. Recovering quickly, the beast channels an unearthly power, its eyes flashing brightly as it sends out a shockwave of crystalline energy. Gunn, expecting brute force, is caught off-guard. He's thrown backwards, crashing through a wooden barricade, splinters embedding in his armor. He shakes off the impact, his durability keeping him in the fight longer than any ordinary man.
Standing amidst the debris, Gunn wipes a trickle of blood from a cut on his forehead. The beast charges again, more cautious but equally ferocious. Gunn, using the debris around him, throws large wooden splinters towards it. The beast, part crystal now, absorbs them with minimal effect, but the distraction allows Gunn to leap, a high arc over the creature. As he descends, Gunn targets the beast's exposed neck, thrusting his dagger deep. But the creature bucks at the last moment, and the blade only grazes its thick, crystalline armor. Landing awkwardly, Gunn barely rolls out of the way as the beast's paw crashes down where he had been just a moment before.
Gunn thought, 'Tch. I hate this bastard. I gotta remember why I'm doing this. Why I do what I do. If I'm eager to kill, I shouldn't wait for it, I gotta grab it myself. It's like as I'm getting stronger, my enemies do too. I have to overcome them.'
Regaining his stance, Gunn rushes forward. This time, he employs a feint; he dashes left then abruptly shifts right, eluding the beast's instinctual charge. He slashes horizontally, his dagger cutting a fresh wound across the creature's flank. The beast roars in frustration and pain, but Gunn is already on the move. Circling to the beast's rear, Gunn gathers all his strength and delivers a mighty kick to one of the beast's hind legs. The leg buckles unnaturally, the sound of cracking bone thundering through the air. As the beast stumbles, Gunn leaps high, elbow driving down in a fierce arc, smashing against the back of the beast's head. The impact drives it face-first into the cobblestone, leaving a substantial indent.
The beast, wild with rage, snaps blindly behind it, attempting to catch Gunn in its crystalline jaws. Gunn, anticipating the attack, uses his speed to blur past the beast's side. As he moves, he drags his dagger along its body, leaving deep, venomous gashes that hiss and burn into the crystal hide. Utilizing the chaos, Gunn kicks up a cloud of dust and debris towards the beast's eyes. While it shakes its head, disoriented, Gunn vaults onto the beast's back, stabbing down repeatedly, each plunge of his dagger precise and lethal. He aims for the joints and softer tissues, areas where his blade can cause the most damage.
The beast, maddened with pain, bucks wildly, attempting to throw Gunn off. With a skillful roll, Gunn dismounts, landing on his feet. He then dashes a few steps back, analyzing the beast's pained, yet still dangerous movements.
"AGHHHH!" Gunn screamed, continuing his pursuit.
Gunn's attacks become a blur as he dashes in and out, his movements a dance of death. He slices at tendons, aiming to cripple the beast to lower its body. With each pass, he fluidly evades swings, bites, and lunges, his dagger flashing green in the dim light. Seizing a lull, Gunn rushes the front, sliding beneath the beast's snapping jaws. In one fluid motion, he swings his dagger upwards, bashing the pommel into the underside of the beast's jaw. The impact reverberates, stunning the creature momentarily, causing it to stagger.
While the beast is dazed, Gunn exploits the opening. He lunges, driving his knee into the beast's side, followed by a series of rapid stabs into the regenerated, lesser-armored belly. Each strike is quick and deep, capitalizing on its brutality. Feeling the beast waning under his relentless assault, Gunn grabs a nearby broken spar. He thrusts it into one of the beast's larger wounds, twisting cruelly. The beast howls, an agonizing, haunting sound echoing through the outpost. Gunn steps back, ready for the next move.
'Footsteps..I hear them. They're entering the outpost. Backup has arrived. Gotta leave now. But if I don't kill the beast, I won't get the reward.'
With the beast badly wounded and struggling to keep steady, Gunn decides it's time to make his exit. He does a final sprint, pushing his physical limits, leaving the now floundering beast behind. As he vanishes into the labyrinth of the outpost's shadowy corridors, the echoing roars of the wounded beast serve as a deadly distraction to the incoming patrols of constables and rogue automatons.
[Quest failed.]
'Shut up! I know what I'm doing! Dammit! I don't! Do I really? I left him there so they could deal with that beast instead of pursuing me. That beast is hard to kill, so I would've wasted time finishing it off. Dammit! What did I do wrong?!'
Gunn's departure is laced with deadly grace and a somber acknowledgment of the destruction left in his wake, a testament to his survival instincts and combat prowess in the face of monstrous adversity.