Classless Ascension

In a small training room stood two men, with one about to roughly pummel the other.

Seeing the large fist headed for his face, Josh counterattacked for the first time. He suddenly drove his dagger in the man's throat. The feeling of the soft flesh getting pierced was so liberating!

The holy paladin's eyes were now as big as the cocky man's ego. Josh retracted his weapon, and with it came a fountain of blood. The man tried calling for help, but only a low gurgle resounded.

Even then, he was still alive. The vitality of a Climber was just that amazing! He was already fishing for healing items in his inventory. As he saw a healing pill appear in the man's hand, Josh decisively kicked!

But suddenly, a golden light radiated from the man's skin! Josh's kick landed squarely but didn't move the man one bit. Crap! In a few seconds, he'd devour the medicine, and Josh would be fucked!

How tragic would it be for him to be defeated after such a sudden reversal?!

The man's eyes glowed in relief as he realized that this assassin was too weak to pierce his strongest defense. He had only succeeded with his first blow because he had taken him by surprise. But he would soon recuperate before counterattacking!

Josh couldn't allow this to happen! He reacted on instinct, as he summoned the rat. He instantly pushed it straight toward the man's mouth as he had done in the past with monsters!

The victim grimaced under this new threat. He felt the rough fur irritate his skin as a long appendage suddenly filled his mouth! What the fuck was that?! The creature was remaining completely steady.

Breathing became hard, and he retreated or tried to. Suddenly a smell spread in the room. It was so horrendous that he faltered for a second as he began choking on the fat piece of flesh in his mouth.

Meanwhile, his attacker was smiling peacefully. "You really can deep-throat dagger and rat alike! You have great potential!" That fucker was taunting him! Even as he clutched his stomach, the victim realized that there was something painfully wrong here.

What the fuck was this crazy guy saying? No, there was something more: he was too calm! It wasn't the voice of someone that had lost control and had attacked out of desperation. No, this had been deliberate!

That's when Josh chuckled lightly:

"What was it again? You won't cower against an assassin? You truly weren't kidding. You're fighting tooth and nail to survive! Even now, you're crushing that pill and trying to inject it in your bloodstream." The assassin commented.

Josef forcefully rose to his feet, only to be knocked down again. Josh didn't have the power to affect him too much, but he was getting creative.

He summoned Nightmare to straddle the man with its whole body! The pet wasn't too strong at that moment, but it still weighed a lot!

Afterward came the fun part! Josh began stabbing the man over and over while spreading poison his way. He had no choice but to keep his magical armor going to survive. But, how long could he keep it up?

The answer was 7 minutes and 23 seconds. Then Josh finally managed to pierce the man's skull. It was a shame as he had wanted to capture him alive, but he couldn't afford to risk it: that man's defense was too perverse!

Just as he was sighing, he suddenly realized that he had a huge issue! He had to decide what to leave as a calling card! Would he leave a message? Would he slice the cadaver in a special manner? The options were endless!

After a few seconds of pondering, he finally decided to go for something simple. He inscribed on the man's forehead: "Guilty!" After all, his whole letter had involved the word judgment.

Josh pushed the corpse toward a corner before he opened the metallic door, ready to leave. Except there was an ambush! On the other side was the perverse guy that eyed him with a huge grin.

"Oh, trying to sneak away? Josef, you're done with him, right? Why didn't you tell me!" He hollered at his friend inside.

Oh god! At any moment, the man would realize that his friend had died. How could Josh deal with him? If he was the same level as the other fucker, this would be so troublesome for many reasons!

1. This one seemed more alert, probably because he was interested in his body. He seemed to be observing his body language carefully.

2. He would be able to scream for reinforcement since they weren't inside a soundproof room anymore.

3. He was now on a timer. The guild would probably realize soon that their holy paladin was missing. This meant less time to look for the perfect assassination opportunity.

Josh began shaking to buy himself some time to decide.

As he saw this, the man sniffed exaggeratedly. "Ah, the sweet scent of innocence. Ah, and blood. Josef has really hurt you a lot, didn't he? Don't worry. I'll help you bandage your wounds. Why don't we head to my room." He offered with a lecherous gaze.

Now, there was an obvious method that he could use to get out of there alive. Act meek, follow the man, play along, and finally strike at the first opportunity. But…fuck that plan! It was too risky for he could end up the one getting butt fucked!

"B-be right back. I have to apologize a bit more to sir Josef!" Josh's entire body visibly shook as he retreated back inside the room, closing the door behind him.

The other guy remained outside, chuckling to himself. He couldn't help but find this guy's reactions cute. He was so naive that he had mistakenly incurred Josef's wrath, getting tortured in the process.

This was great! Josef had taught him fear, and he would show him kindness instead. This would make it easier for him to make him his. Well, not that he really needed it since he was an A-ranked Climber, one that stood close to the top of the food chain.

Oh, they would have lots of fun together!

But as time passed, he couldn't help but grumble. What was taking so long?! Did Josef decide to begin another round of torture? Was he happily watching him beg at his feet? What if he had killed the man he wanted as a pet?

He resolutely kicked the door open, ready to complain to his colleague. "Hey, you had your fun, but now it's my turn to….what the hell?!" He couldn't help but cry out.

On the ground, there was a corpse. The problem was its identity. Josef was dead!!?! This could only mean that the youngster had killed him! Wait, was he already dead when they had spoken about an hour ago?! This was batshit insane!

The problem was that the room was completely void of his presence. No matter how he searched, he couldn't find him at all! Just as he was about to go crazy, his foot sank into the ground.

Hidden below a thin layer of rock was an underground tunnel, one that led to the outside…

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

As Josh exited the tunnel he had just created, he couldn't help but smile to himself.

Once more, his pickaxe was saving his ass! The soundproof room had really helped him, or the sound would have busted him instantly!

At that moment, he was right outside the large building he had been in before. Now there only remained for him to leave asap, and everything would be fine. But, of course, life was never that easy.

Josh felt a newcomer approach. It was the first time he saw him, but he instantly recognized him. It was the guy who had been hiding in the tree earlier! He opened his mouth and spoke softly:

"Seeing as you're here, I take it that Josef didn't make it. Assassins truly are bold nowadays to dare attack A-Ranked guilds." He commented.

"Bold?? It could have been an S-ranked one instead." Josh shrugged as he made sure to look as calm as possible.

There was something strange about this Climber. Why hadn't he already sounded the alarm if he had solved the crime? Why was he still here talking to him? Also, how had he found him?!

"You seem awfully calm for a man that is stranded alone into enemy territory." He remarked.

"Oh? Are you implying that freaking out would help in any way? Plus, whether I'm truly stranded or not depends on my ability to kill my way out of here." Josh shrugged once more.

This guy didn't feel like he was stalling for reinforcements. No, he didn't even seem surprised by this outcome.

"How did you know?" Josh casually asked to keep the conversation going.

"It was obvious. Contrary to the other two, I actually pay attention to the recruits in Golden Wolves. After all, they are the ones that will join our ranks eventually. As for you, you obviously don't belong here."

"Is that so? Was I that obvious?" Josh sighed.

"How does it feel to know that your career as an assassin is ending?"

Josh observed the man carefully. That's when it hit him. The guy had hoped for someone to kill the asshole and had probably rejoiced about the upcoming assassination. No, he wasn't here to get revenge, far from it.

Out of the three Adamantium Wolves members:

1. The first one had died to his surprise attack.

2. The second one had been avoided by digging his way out.

3. What about this one?

Josh suddenly showed enormous confidence as he released a tinge of killing intent. Then he stared the man straight in the eyes before uttering.

"I can assure you that you'll let me pass!..."

Creator's Thought

It was my first time dealing with an assassination. I have to admit that I had been extremely lucky when escorted by my target to a secluded location. It was just getting out that proved more troublesome. Well, if it was that easy everyone and their mother would be assassins!"