Chapter 184 - Targets

"We better get ready to move," the prior conversation ended, Staxius stood outside with Cake. The shop was closed, time was now three in the morning, it was nearly an all-nighter. Dressed with a white shirt and torn jeans, the duo made their way towards the hoodlum district.

"Sure is lively," Staxius voiced, people were still at it with the late-night celebrations. No reply came from Cake, she followed behind and kept a close watch. Adete rested atop his head, the hair felt more comfortable than before.

"Ay, who might ya be?" a familiar voice spoke, the man worked to keep people's drink filled. Most had flushed faces – nothing out of the ordinary.

"Hello, Timothy," he approached the bar and spoke monotonously.

"I recognize that tattoo," he referred to the symbol underneath the eye, "-you sure have changed, friend," with a smirk, he knew what to do. Accompanied by Cake behind, the bartender could not but help them towards the toilet.

"Twin Jellyfish Bar," Staxius mumbled, the secret doorway opened, "-feels like ages since I've been here," they walked, purple light gave faint guidance admits the dark.

"It's only been four to five days, let's not get reminiscent," she stepped forward and walked side to side, "-people are more prone to violence at this hour," she gritted out of frustration; news of her defeat must have reached the ears of all her rivals. From hunter to prey, that fall was about to spark some people's interest.  

"I know what your thinking," he had a good grasp on the situation; tis was commonsense, "-if anyone pisses you off, just take them out," telling her to kill someone so casually was beyond human. Even though she had killed before, her mind was numbed and hated every moment of it, no human with an inch of compassion could ever just blow off death as if it were a pest.

"Knocking them unconscious will do just fine," she fired back, "-remember, Jason hates to clean up," a quick chuckle later, the bar came in view.

"Bartender," he grabbed the first seat available, Cake joined.

"How may I serve you today," courteously with a cloth drying glasses, Jason approached with a smile.

"You've brought in new ladies," Cake voiced, the girl was a bit on the adventurous side. For her, gender didn't matter, anything went as long as the partner could take her tenacity.

"There's no need to get aroused," Staxius turned around and joked – a friendly relationship grew between them. "No need to worry," without waiting, Cake took off to satisfy her needs.

"Quite a handful," Jason commented.

"Yeah, she sure is lively," both locked eyes, a drink got prepared but the stare off never broke. Jason was scarily talented at his job.

"May I ask what brings you here, are you working under Cake?" the dim lighting made recognizing the man harder, to which he assumed tis was but another bodyguard.

"Come on," the voice monotonous and soothing, "-it's me," a single stern glance sufficed, a second of pure-blooded killing intent.

"My apologies," another drink got offered as recompensation.

"It's fine," the finger signaled for privacy, there was business to be discussed. A nod later, Jason understood, "-please wait for me in the private room – I shall join you." Drink in hand, Staxius walked and changed locations.

'No other ears and eyes,' he sat, the eyes closed – any aura which might have spied on them were sought out. The place was thoroughly scanned, *click.*

"Did you wait long?" the door closed; Jason walked in.

"Long enough for a quick scan," he whirled around the glass, Staxius looked as scary as ever before.

"Before we proceed, I'd like to give you a tip. Most of the people around here know of Sprinkles' recent downfall, the bosses could not care less. Though, some idiot in search of fame might try to take the head of Cake – that lady is quite a looker and has a bad past of people who want her dead. There once stood forty meat-shields protecting her life, now it's the reverse – she stands as your shield, one weak physically but a predator when it comes to strategy and wit," the arms crossed and eyes narrowed, Jason implied more than he let on.

"Putting her out in the open is a bad move," Staxius leaned, "-I agree with that," the drink finished. "What would happen if a morsel of meat is thrown down to a pack of starved animals?" the eyes looked somber, "-the morsel would get devoured."

"What's the point of doing that then?" Jason impatiently asked.

"Let me finish," he sighed and sat in a more relaxed stance, "-what if at that moment in time, a hunter stayed behind the lines and waited. Rather than going into the shadows, why not get those who wish to harm, come to us. An open declaration of war," the eyes lit with determination, "-whoever wishes to have an express ticket to hell is welcome to try and attack," a smirk, one of a man readied for anything.

"Good to see the high spirits," Jason laughed, "-what's the business talk about?"

"God's ale is ready to be exported; tell me the location and time – the cargo will be sent without delay."

"Moving that much stuff around will be difficult, are you sure you want to transport it all alone?" he asked, the tone confused.

"I'd rather hand it off myself, can't afford to be careless; especially when the walls might have ears," he meant nothing by that sentence but it sent a firm message across.

"As you wish," a piece of paper was handed over, one that had details to when the next plane towards the main-land would take-off. "-I'd watch your back," he whispered then left, not in a threatening way but more of a warning. Since news about him working directly with Renaud reached the ears of some influential people – it marked him as a target.

A few minutes later, Staxius stepped out and took a seat at the bar. There, he drank till Cake stumbled out of the room with her face flushed. Her stance barely stable –"they are good," slowly, she made her way to the table, it had been more than an hour, the passing of time didn't look apparent for Staxius was engrossed in tasting Jason's masterpieces.

"Took you long enough," he added as if teasing the lady.

"I had to let loose," a drink was ordered, "-after all that f.u.c.k.i.n.g mess I made, that's the only way I know of relieving stress," she drank.

"Sure," uninterested, Staxius drank – the movement of people around felt strange, a subtle one. The gaze of certain individuals was placed onto her neck; a target.

"Cake…" he whispered, a few hits with the elbow sufficed to capture her attention.

"Is something the matter?" from the drunken act, she asked with the voice of someone in control.  This had all been a scheme from the start, a little act to provoke anyone who might be of interest.

"Yeah," the voice subtle,"-I can feel their intent, there's two who wants to kill."

Once the information was given, Cake went back to her venerable act, Staxius played the part of not being interested. He purposefully focused on Jason, thus giving an opening for anyone to abuse. Oblivious, the bartender kept on conversing.

'That's strange,' the presence lowered, the killing intent subsided. 'Our enemy is far smarter than they let on,' the mouth spoke one thing but the mind thought another. A battle was taking place behind the scene, a battle that none realized. A bait, a fish wanting to bite but took its time, the more the bait became obvious the lesser the fish's likelihood of biting.

"You're being overzealous, keep it down," at the same time, a bulb on stage broke, it took everyone by surprise.

"Not again," Jason sighed, "that's the third time this week," those who danced were taken into another room.

'Sorry for the troubles,' the reason it broke was because of a hairpin. One Staxius got from Cake, he had to get all the eyes away from them. Turning around and giving orders to which, her attitude might change would have given a clue about the scheme.

'Good, they didn't notice. After that commotion, it's unlikely that they'll attack. The only viable option is to ambush us in the tunnel. This might be overthinking,' he stood, '-if they're following orders by a higher-up,' he wrapped her arms around his shoulder, 'they'll be forced to attack.' The duo took their time and disappeared into the darkness. 'If we're left alone, then we can assume that the people acting independently. There's also the possibility that the attack might get called off, either-way there are too many variables in this scenario. The best thing is to go with the flow and stick with what is probable.'

Half-way across, he stopped, "-I didn't take into account that the assassin might have the ability to hide his presence," instantly, he pushed Cake away, *clang.*

"How quaint," a voice spoke, one dignified and bearing an accent similar to Renaud, "-are you just an alchemist?" it snickered.

"Depends on my mood," he stood unbothered by what had happened. 'With this new vessel, everything is possible," that strike was stopped so fast that the brain only realized what happened after the body reacted.  

"I'd be a fool to take you on right now," from whence he came, the man retreated.

"What just happened?" Cake regained consciousness, she hit the wall too hard.

"No time to explain, we need to get out of here," teleportation was used.

"Were we attacked?" they arrived to which she hurled.

"Good thing we teleported outside," a casual joke as she puked her guts out. Teleportation paired with low-alcohol tolerance, a stomach-turning combination. "Long-story-short, there's somebody after you. I'm going to guess it's someone from the assassination sect. There's no other lead left," the backdoor opened.

"That is to be expected," she finished, "-what are you going to do now?" the eyes ready to rest.

"For now, a good night of sleep is in order. Do you have somewhere to crash? I don't mind letting you stay the night, but we'll sleep on different floors; I'm a loyal man," he pulled out his tongue.

"I'll take you up on that offer, there's no way I can return home in this state," the decision made, Cake slept in the attic whilst Staxius pulled out a futon and slept in the lab. An eventful day came to a close – the return to the capital was one even he could not have expected. One that he didn't regret – leaving behind the boy who cried, lessened the burden Staxius carried alone, without anyone ever knowing.

Inside the magical guild, treatment for all who were injured ended a few hours earlier. Jona returned to Claireville academy via help from the scholars, her face looked disappointed. That night, Athus could not sleep a single bit, the memories kept flooding his mind. That man wasn't the only one suffering, all who were injured by the ogres had vivid nightmares.

Sadly, out of the seven who returned, two passed away in their dreams. Jona had her doubts about their survival. The amount of blood loss and mana exhaustion was detrimental to anything she could have performed. Even the Rare-potions provided weren't enough, Kniq, Athus, and Heath survived. The latter being the leader of Swift, the man who risked everything to save the others.

The next day began with woeful cries, the death and near annihilation of Swift made both the leader and vice-leader angry. Their eyes burnt with pain and vengeance; the body of their comrades taken away on stretchers. Covered by a white-cloth, there was no fighting the reality of their situation. This was by far the worst defeat the main-guilds as a whole had suffered. Many talented adventurers killed; this was worse than the apparition of the masked-murderer.

Even so, teetering on the edge of despair, a phrase from Viola sufficed.

"All who died will live on in our memories; we were given a second chance at life – any sort of decision made in the heat of the moment would only bring shame to our comrades."