Tred, the Alchemist

A fierce battle of flesh was unfolding on the large bed in the room, and its male lead was none other than Zhang Yao's target this time-Will. There was no need to ask who the female lead was: she was the mistress Will kept. The battle on the bed had clearly reached its final stretch, and both participants were spending every last ounce of energy to reach that ultimate peak.

Watching the scene on the bed, Zhang Yao had to admit that Will and his mistress were truly dedicated professionals. Had they been on a certain island nation in his own world, they would definitely have been first-rate stars.

Slowly approaching the bed, Zhang Yao drew his dagger. As Will let out a roar that seemed to mark a critical moment, the dagger flashed coldly across his throat. Will's mistress, still savoring the afterglow, had no idea what had happened. Only when Will's blood spattered her naked body did she prepare to scream in terror. Unfortunately, before she could get a sound out, Zhang Yao struck her hard on the head with his dagger, knocking her clean unconscious.

"Killed one Ironblood Brotherhood leader. Gained 1,500 experience. Gained 200 gold coins."

"Character level increased. Character advanced to level 8. All attributes increased by 2."

The long-missed surge of warmth flowing through his body made Zhang Yao freeze for a moment, then wild joy swept over him. He had leveled up again. He had thought he would have to kill a few more before reaching level 8, but Will had given more experience than the previous leaders, allowing him to level up directly.

Buoyed by the joy of leveling up, Zhang Yao went downstairs with a spring in his step. He had now assassinated five leaders, completing half the mission, and night had only just fallen. Finishing off all ten before dawn tomorrow was entirely possible. Moreover, now that he had gained another level, even if he failed the mission and lost a level, he would only drop back to where he had started. His strength would suffer little loss.

Even without this level gained, it would hardly have mattered to Zhang Yao, who had already discovered how much experience the Ironblood Brotherhood's minor leaders yielded. In his eyes, those minor leaders had become a great heap of walking experience.

At worst, failing this mission would simply mean a few more days of hard work to recover the lost experience. After all, he had already killed so many of the Ironblood Brotherhood's leaders that his relationship with them could not possibly get any worse. There was no need to worry about much else.

When Zhang Yao reached the ground floor, he saw that the bound assassin from earlier was still unconscious. He immediately picked him up, chair and all, and swiftly left Will's small house. As for Will's mistress, Zhang Yao had not killed her. The line he would not cross in his heart made him disdain killing an unarmed woman who had no means of fighting back.

Carrying the assassin to the alley where he had hidden earlier, Zhang Yao set him down. Rather than waking him immediately, however, he began searching him thoroughly.

The assassin's earlier performance was still fresh in Zhang Yao's mind: with a mere lift of his hand, a crossbow bolt had harvested a life. Those bolts were not only discreet but also quite powerful. Unless Zhang Yao found the weapon, he would not feel safe waking the assassin. If the man shot him during their conversation, he would have nowhere even to cry over his misfortune.

Before long, Zhang Yao found two Arm Crossbows strapped to the assassin's arms. He then found several potion bottles inside his clothing. Since he had not obtained authorization for these items, Zhang Yao could only see their names, not their specific attributes. Still, names such as "Cloud of Death" and "Miasma of Venom" gave him a rough idea of what the bottles contained, and his wariness toward the assassin rose another notch.

"Hey, hey, wake up! It's morning!" After confirming that the assassin had no other odds and ends on him, Zhang Yao lightly patted his face, trying to wake him.

"Uh, what... Who are you?" The assassin gradually regained consciousness. At first, he was groggy and unsure where he was, but he came to his senses almost immediately and remembered Zhang Yao knocking him out. He promptly tried to take an attacking stance, but unfortunately, bound as tightly as he was, he could not move at all.

"Me? A man with no control over his own circumstances." Zhang Yao leaned against the wall, concealing himself in the shadows cast where the moonlight met it. Only his cloak, occasionally fluttering in the wind, betrayed the presence of a person there.

"Hmph, a running dog of the Ironblood Brotherhood! Stop playing ghostly tricks! Whatever you've got, bring it on! Once I, Tred, took action today, I put life and death out of my mind!" The assassin facing him-Tred-snorted disdainfully at Zhang Yao's mysterious appearance.

"First, let me point out two mistakes. One, I'm not playing ghostly tricks. Two, I'm not a running dog of the Ironblood Brotherhood. If you really think about it, I'm their enemy." Zhang Yao did not move, remaining in the shadows. Because of the Concealment Technique, he had initially needed to stand in shadows to practice the skill. Over time, however, once he became accustomed to standing in them, he suddenly discovered that they offered quite a few advantages. First, he could use the shadows to conceal everything about himself. Second, when someone spoke to him without being able to see him clearly, they felt a certain pressure, giving him every advantage in the conversation. Finally, Zhang Yao thought he looked very cool standing in the shadows.

"You're their enemy? Hmph, do you take me for an idiot? If you're their enemy, why did you stop me from killing Will?" A cold sneer hung at the corner of Tred's mouth. Clearly, he did not believe Zhang Yao.

"Because I wanted to kill him myself!" Zhang Yao replied coldly.

"Uh..." Tred was clearly left at a loss by that answer.

"All right! I'm pressed for time. I'll ask you two questions. Answer well, and I'll let you go! If I'm not satisfied, you know what happens!" By now, Zhang Yao had noticed something amiss. It seemed that Tred was not an assassin hired by Fehr, but someone going after the Ironblood Brotherhood for his own reasons. Still, that was only his guess. He would have to question him properly to find out. "First, why are you going after the Ironblood Brotherhood? Second, where did these things come from?" Zhang Yao pointed at the items he had just found.

"The Ironblood Brotherhood destroyed my home and killed my family. How could I not go after them? I made all these things myself. I'm an Alchemist!" At first, Tred had clearly been unwilling to cooperate with Zhang Yao, but once Zhang Yao laid his dagger against his neck, he readily spoke.

"Oh, an Alchemist?" Zhang Yao gave Tred a surprised look. He had not expected this fellow to be an Alchemist. Alchemists were a type of mage, and although their standing among the many branches of mages was not particularly high, they were still mages-one in ten thousand. The Ironblood Brotherhood had unwittingly made an enemy of someone like this. It was truly fortunate that they had not been wiped out.

"Heh, very good! Then let's continue. Could you give me these things of yours?" Zhang Yao nodded in satisfaction, smiling as he pointed to the items he had searched out and placed on the ground.