Michelle had had it with the silly feud between the two feuding criminal gangs in Oak town. Her orders were to help Martin Martello overthrow Vincenze Tessio. However, no matter how much she tried to raise the tension between them, they didn’t seem to engage in any decisive battles. It was always petty skirmishes and useless power displays. That evening, she decided to take things to the next level whether the two gangs wanted it or not.

The young assassin had learnt of a tavern that was frequented by many from the Tessio gang. She figured there wouldn’t be any better invitation for a full-scale war between the two gangs than a few broken bones at one of their favourite tavern. And so, she weaved her way through the dingy streets of Oak towards her destination.

Michelle was at the entrance of the alley where the tavern was located. She wasn’t foolish enough to march into a crowded bar and take all of them on at the same time. So, instead, she hid in the shadows and waited to pick her targets one by one as they entered or exited the building. Her first target was a puny, sloshed man, who had to come out to take a piss. Easy target. As the man approached the bush around the corner Michelle was hiding behind, she grabbed him by the collar, pushed him down on the ground and kicked him hard on the chest, knocking the wind out of the guy. In the man’s intoxicated state, that was more than enough for him to pass out instantly. Michelle flipped the guy over, took the spray paint she was carrying and sprayed the Martello gang’s crest on his back. Then, she carried him to the tavern’s entrance and dropped him right in front of the doors. Now, to wait for someone to come looking for him and then nab them too. She rushed back to the corner and hid again, waiting for her next target.

Michelle waited and waited for more than ten minutes, but not a single person showed up. She could understand why no one from the inside came out looking for him; she figured they were all too drunk to even notice that one of them have gone missing for too long. But she hoped someone new will try entering the tavern at least. Nevertheless, she waited patiently, not letting her guard down. And all her patience came to fruition, or so she thought, when a tall dark-haired teen approached her bait.

The assassin pounced immediately from her hiding place and dashed towards her new target without thinking. Even though she could see the large sword resting on his back, it wasn’t until she had already moved towards him that her brain registered it and raised an alarm. She should have waited for some more time and analysed the situation; but it was already too late for any such thing. Without hesitation, she attempted to punch Jeremiah at the back of his head, hoping that would be enough to knock him out.

Poor Michelle was unaware of what she just landed herself into. Ever since she came to Oak town, she had done her best to avoid Phantom Lord members, trying to stay under their radar. But that night, there she was, attacking a powerful mage from the same guild, inviting big trouble. Surely, she was going to disappoint her master with both lack of judgement and power. Maybe, after that night, she would learn some restraint.

The purple-haired mage was rather surprised at how quickly the man reacted. He not only managed to block her punch with much ease, but also followed it up quickly with an attack. While the young assassin still had much to learn, she was not an amateur. His quick reflexes may have taken her by surprise, but she was a trained fighter too. Michelle saw his legs arc towards her and quickly jumped, avoiding the sweep kick in time. She then attempted to kick him with both her legs while she was in mid-air, hoping that would deal some damage and also put her a fair distance away from her target. However, the dark-haired sword-wielder was too quick for her. By the time she extended her legs to kick him, he had already leapt away from her.

Michelle’s eyes widened, and her logical brain had already flared an alert. She knew she might have bitten off more than she can chew with this fight she had picked. But her pride prevented her from accepting the fact. Instead, she decided to brush it off as a lucky move by her opponent. Once the kick failed, she rolled back quickly to regain her balance and took her fighting stance. Despite telling herself that her opponent was simply lucky, she couldn’t get herself to move as recklessly as before. She carefully analysed the distance between them; they were about three meters apart. She knew if she chose to use one of her offensive spells, he would simply leap out of range again. Besides, her wind attacks were most effective in close range, when the opponent is least expecting it. She did not like the huge sword the hung behind the man. That meant he had a much longer range than she did. The poor girl did not know that wasn’t the only advantage he had with Samehada.

Nevertheless, there was not much choice left for her. She wanted to end the fight quickly and not create a commotion. All she wanted was to knock down some of Vincenze’s goons and make it look like it was done by Martin and his crew. If she stayed here long, all that would be spoiled. So, she charged towards Jeremiah, after answering his question. “No, you don’t. But you should know. This is nothing personal. You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time,” she said.

Michelle would attempt to reach the melee range. If she managed to, she would then throw two very obvious punches straight towards the man’s face. She knew any good fighter could easily block or parry those; but that was her plan. She wanted him to think she was an amateur and let his guard down. After the first two punches, she would then take a quick side-step getting to Jeremiah’s left side and then try the side-kick with her left leg, right below his ribs, all the while keeping both her hands up for guard. In case she missed the kick, she would give him a smirk before quickly pointing her extended foot towards him to send a wind bullet straight at him, using her Pound spell. After the attack, she would put her foot back down and swiftly switch to her left lead, ready to defend if necessary.

Even if Michelle could come up with the best strategy possible, it would be of no use against someone who was simply stronger and faster than she was. She learnt that lesson by foolishly charging at her opponent and failing miserably. Michelle hoped to deceive the man using her easy fake punches, but that backfired terribly. Her opponent simply caught her punching fists using his palm. The young lady had never been exposed to such unconventional counters; she didn’t even know it was possible. Her eyes widened and she quickly tried pulling back, but it was too late. She was caught and knew she was going to get kicked. Expecting another conventional strike, she clenched her abs, ready to take a kick to her gut. But the kick was not to her gut. She had underestimated her opponent’s flexibility too. The Phantom Lord member managed to get his knee up to her chin, and as it came from a complete blind spot, by the time she saw it coming, she could do nothing about it. She tried rolling her head back, but that was not enough. His knee struck the end of her chin and she was thrown back several meters. Her tense body flew an arc and she landed on her back. The momentum dragged her along further on the ground, scraping her back.

The kick had disoriented her and she had to shake her head several times before she stopped seeing three Jeremiahs. When she finally got back into her sense, adrenaline had kicked in. While she could still feel all the injuries, the rush of the battle had numbed them down. The assassin got back on to her feet; not as gracefully or quickly as she did before, but definitely as proudly. She wasn’t done yet. This was now more than just a petty fight she picked for her mission. It was now a test of her strength.

But as much as she wanted to fight, the young lady was running out of ideas; especially because, now her opponent had readied his ginormous weapon. This time, however, she decided to stay on the defensive. Couple more hits like that, and she knew she would be out for good. Michelle waited for her opponent to make the move and chose to defend until she found an opening.

Michelle was not given any recovery time after the kick. The moment she landed and slid through the ground, her opponent had already made the next move. She shook her head, trying to clear her vision as she saw multiple afterimages of Jeremiah dash towards her with that monstrous blade. Before she could get back onto her feet, he had closed the gap between them. She saw that he was about to swing that weird weapon at her and she instinctively crawled backwards by pushing off the heels of her palms and feet. While that was not enough to completely avoid the attack, fortunately, it was enough to avert the potentially killing blow. The blade shred her skin and left a deep wound on her flesh. A couple more inches and she was sure the blade would have hooked her innards and pulled it out on its way. She screamed in pain as she was sent rolling towards the side.

The severely injured assassin came to a halt when she hit the wall next to the entrance of the tavern. Her scream had alerted everyone inside and she knew they were about to come out to check what was going on. As much as it ate at her pride, she had to admit defeat that day. Besides, if Vincenze’s men saw her, that will blow her cover and jeopardize the mission. She grit her teeth and grunted in pain; mustering the last bit of energy she had left, she held her left hand in front of her and made the sign to cast her Haze spell. Before the men inside the tavern could get out and take a good look at her, she had transformed into her ethereal wind form. This form obscured her features, and considering it was a dark night, the men barely even noticed her as she slipped through the grill next to her and entered the sewers. Through the sewer channel, she escaped the vicinity of the tavern and came out onto an empty street.

It took a lot of will power for the bleeding woman to drag herself to the nearest clinic. But she knew she had no option. If she so much as closed her eyes, she knew she would lay unconscious on the street and bleed to death. This was not how she imagined her life to end… Not in such a pointless fight. If at all she was going to give up her life, it would be for Benjamin when he demands it. Until then, she must survive. And survive she did…

-Exit-