The moment he was out of Melinda’s mansion, Hal knew he was being followed, mostly because those following him did not bother to hide it that well. There was confidence in their sneaky gait, obviously their information contained his ‘strength’.

‘This is interesting’ Grimiore mused

‘What is?’

‘The strongest is at the Eight stage of the energy sensing realm, two are at the fifth stage and the other two are at the sixth stage. This is the combat experience you’be been seeking’ if Grimoire could clap, it would have.

Hal groaned. In a normal case he believed he could survive the attack however his strength was still a little unstable so he ran taking care to limit his speed to that of the third stage.

“I can’t believe this guy is actually thinking of running” one of the assassins whispered to another, not having expected hal to hear

‘What an idiot, I just don’t want witnesses’ Hal mentally snorted

Hal did not really know the city all that well, however he guided himself with the use of astral perception and soon found somewhere empty, but while heading towards it, the group of five seperated with two running ahead while the other three chased from behind, Hal knew what was happening, he was being herded, guided towards an ambush. It seemed a little unnecessary to waste this much time killing an ‘inferior’ target unless,

‘This guys really take joy in their work, Good thing I’m prepared’ Hal thought as he withdrew a scroll out of his inventory and came to a stop surrounded by the five of them.

“This is the end of the line for you” The one who was obviously the leader said from behind him

‘Just my luck, of all the assassins I could get, I had to get the chatty one’ Hal sighed mentally before activating the rune and tossing it into the air creating a dome of rich royal blue astral energy

‘This should keep away prying eyes but it won’t last long’ Hal mused before dashing forward with speed above his ‘strength’, to attack the fifth stage assassin in front of him, however his poor control over his strength caused his sudden speed to be explosive and slammed into the assassin causing the both of them to fall to the ground

‘Damn it’ he cussed feeling so embarrassed

“I meant to do that” he said before plunging his hand right into the assassin’s chest

“Arrrrgh” he roared and it jeered the others out of their shock. The second fifth stage assassin ran forward and made to grab him but Hal slammed his chest and jumped backwards, the assassin made to follow but was shocked to find an activated rune on his chest unfortunately he had barely a second warning before it exploded and blasted him backwards

“Puchi” he spat out blood while clutching his chest

One of the sixth stage assassins made to move forward

“Stop, the two of you should go together, and do not underestimate him” the leader instructed

Hal knew he had lost the element of surprise and he also knew they would be looking out for runes now. Things were about to get serious.

The two came from both sides making it impossible for him to fend off both he withdrew another attack rune but it proved useless when his target activated a defensive rune which blocked Hal’s rune effectively. With no hope of defending himself Hal leapt backwards but he still got hit.

“We came prepared” The one who had successfully hit Hal said smugly.

Hal finally revealed his true cultivation strength and the two became dismayed but did a good job in hiding it and instead they went in on the attack, Hal stood calmly, since he had decided to go all out, he might as well do it in a grand fashion.

The two were surprised, this guy was strong but he lacked experience, his attacks were uncoordinated and he seemed unused to his strength, he must have opted for a quick rise and neglected the importance of a good foundation. He had only succeeded till now through sneak attacks and the element of surprise. Then why did he seem so confident now?

The instant they got closer he dodged an attack from one and hit him in the chin, with speed that surpassed theirs, Hal grabbed the other assassin’s neck and twisted it killing him instantly.

The assassin he had hit in the chin was groggy but beginning to rise back up so Hal ran to end him too but his attack was intercepted by the leader whose face was a mask of rage but how was he to expect that Hal had no intention of indulging his rage and made the first move which was to kill the assassin on the ground by using his leg to break his neck.

The leader took a moment to look around in resignation, Hal’s hand was still red with the blood of his colleagues, he took a deep breathe

“Let me go and I will tell you who sent me. Do we have a deal”