After Anfey had entered his combat mode, his eyes hardly focused. It was as if he was lost and could not see anything. In fact, he was observing his opponent’s every move, and every time he suspected danger, his eyes would focus in an instant. Anfey tended to focus on his opponent's moves instead of their looks, but this woman was too strange an opponent. Normally, women who were skillful fighters tended to be very tall and muscular, or at least bear some form of male characteristics. However, this woman’s appearance slightly shocked Anfey.
The moon does not care what happens on the ground beneath it. No matter what kind of bloodbath or murderous act was taking place, the moon would always shine the same way. The woman lay on the ground, her eyes shut. There was blood on both her cheeks and lips, was the result of Anfei pressing her face against the bottom of the pond.
She had a small frame; her shoulders were relaxed. His eyes glided passed her chest down to her legs. Her legs were long and gentle, and did not look very muscular. Her feet were small and delicate. It was hard to imagine these very legs had almost killed him.
All in all, the woman looked very gentle. However, she only appeared soft and gentle when she was unconscious. What she would do when she woke up was another story.
Anfey stood and walked over. He grabbed the woman’s elbows, and with two crisp movements he dislocated both of her arms. The woman was beautiful. For Anfey, however, even if the most beautiful woman were before him, his first priority would still be ensuring his own safety.
Anfey only cared how much of a threat his enemy was. He tended to disregard gender and appearance. An enemy was an enemy, no matter how beautiful. A friend was a friend, even if the friend was ugly. When facing his enemies or people he was unsure about, Anfey did not have any sympathy for them.
Anfey found a pea sized pill in his ring, pinched the woman’s cheeks, and forced the pill into her mouth.
Afterwards, Anfey rested for a moment before walking over to the woman’s clothes. He picked up a longsword from the ground. The sheath was well made and from some kind of animal hide; it was black and had a blue gleam under the moonlight. The sword itself was also well made, with strange symbols Anfey could not understand carved into it. He gripped the sword, and felt it was very comfortable in his hands. He pulled the sword out halfway.
A bright, blinding light came from the sword. Anfey was startled and pushed it back into the sheath. He turned to the woman and found her still unconscious, only her slightly raising and falling chest showed that she was alive.
Anfey walked over to the woman, grabbed her, and swung her over his shoulder. His other hand grabbed her legs and the clothes, and he began walking towards a nearby tree. Anfey looked more like a bandit that had just robbed a family of their wealth and their daughter, and now he was going to enjoy his prizes. Of course, Anfey would never stoop as low as a bandit, but his actions now were unpleasant, to say the least.
Anfey tied the woman’s arms and legs behind her and hung her from the tree upside down. Now, even if she were a master swordsman, she still would not be able to escape. Plus, Anfey was not a dead man, and if she tried anything, Anfey would no show mercy just because she was a woman.
After he had done everything he wanted to do, Anfey circled the tree a few times and made sure he did not leave any loopholes. Then he picked up the clothes from the ground and draped them on her. Of course, this was unnecessary. He had tied her to the tree and had circled around her several times. He had seen everything already. He had his own concerns too. He needed the woman to stay as calm as possible when she woke up. If she was frantic, there was not much room for talk and negotiation. When he wasn’t sure whether she had ill will towards him, he didn’t want to have another fight.
Afterwards, Anfey lifted the woman’s legs and began hitting her on her back. After spending so much time with Ernest, he knew well what the body of a swordsman was like. She was a strong swordsman, and his actions wouldn’t kill her. Just as he expected, after he had hit her back a few times, she began coughing violently and spitting out water. Anfey pinched her under her nose, and after a few whimpers she went silent.
"Now that you’re awake, let’s talk," Anfey said coldly. "Stop playing dead. I’m not an idiot."
The woman lifted her head and glared at Anfey. Then she lowered her gaze. Once she did, she realized that she was naked, and let out a sharp scream.
"This sounds cliche, but you can scream your heart out and no one will come for you," Anfey said. "If you want to live, your only way out is to convince me."
After realizing she was naked, the woman calmed down, and her threatening aura disappeared. She turned her head away, biting her lips and preventing herself from making any sound. Tears rolled down her cheeks and onto the ground.
"Don’t want to talk?" Anfey asked, smiling. "Alright, I’ll wait. But I have to warn you. You have poison in your system. The longer you wait, the smaller your chance of survival."
Anfey had not actually fed the woman poison, but he could always explain the effects as poison. So even if she did get away, she would still have concerns. He liked security, and unless it was necessary, he would never put himself in direct danger.
For a few moments, the woman remained quiet, so Anfey just sat down on the ground. The woman began struggling, and from where he sat, Anfey could clearly see some of the more private parts of her body. She began crying and struggling harder. Anfey did not want her arms to have any last damage, so he tied some rope around her neck as well, so her neck would share some of her weight. However, this put her in excruciating pain, and the harder she struggled, the more pain she felt. After only a few minutes, she was sweating and panting.
Finally she stopped struggling and relaxed her body. Her eyes, however, were still focused on Anfey and filled with hatred.
"Still don’t want to talk?" Anfey said. His eyes flickered, and he realized someone was approaching discreetly. Even though the person approaching was very quiet, Anfey could still detect them. However this person’s magic surge was weak and no better than Anfey’s.
The woman hanging from the tree appeared terrified as Anfey did a backflip and dashed away fast as lightning. A teenage girl in a pale green dress was standing there, stunned. Her spell wasn’t even finished, and Anfey’s sword was already against her neck.
"This is dangerous business, kid," Anfey said. He looked cold and distant, but he had a seed of doubt in his mind. Something was wrong here, but he could not quite put his finger on it.
"Let her go!" the woman suddenly screamed. "I’ll give you everything, please, let her go! I’ll give you what you want!"
"What I want?"
"The map is in my sheath, take it! You can kill me, but she’s just a child. Please don’t hurt her. She doesn’t know anything. I started this all, she has nothing to do with it." Tears streamed down the woman’s face. She fought to straighten her body, not caring if the clothes slipped off. The hatred and anger had disappeared, and now all she wanted to do was to plead for the young girl’s life.
"Map?"
"Shally, no," the women cried.
The young girl, despite the threat of the sword, lunged at Anfey. She kicked and bit and scratched at Anfey, fighting as if her life depended on it. If she were a few years older and had combat power, she would be tough opponent. Now, though, she was no threat to him. All he needed to do was push her lightly and the girl was lying on the ground. The girl pushed herself off of the ground and dashed at Anfey again.
"Please! Don’t hurt her! I’ll give you everything, just don’t!" the woman cried. She knew what kind of opponent Anfey was. All he needed to do was a simple thrust of the sword and the girl would die.
"I don’t need your map," Anfey said. He pushed the girl away and smiled. He realized when he saw the girl. Following him was a tough job, and it was unlikely that the woman would bring a child with her.
"What do you want, then?"
"Nothing," Anfey said. He turned to the girl, "be quiet. If you don’t I’ll kill her."
It was an effective threat. The young girl sat on the ground and watched Anfey through tearful eyes.
Anfey walked over to the woman. He had appeared calm, but on the inside he felt ashamed of himself. Ever since he started being an assassin, he would find an excuse every time before he went on a mission. He would only kill if the excuse was enough to motivate him. Today, though, even the worst kind of bandit could not find an excuse.
Under the woman’s terrified gaze, he put her joints back into place. Then, without saying a word, he turned around and hurriedly disappeared into the darkness.