The atmosphere within the dining area had completely shifted from calm and relaxing to deadly and vicious.
Everyone's gazes were focused on the four masked individuals in brown attire that were spotted on the pillars that held up the roof. From their figures alone, one could tell they were all women.
The four of them exchanged glances before giving each other nods then faced their opponents in the room below.
Aron made no abrupt moves while Jin and Jagu followed suit. He wanted to see how they'd react and what they'd do next.
Much to his surprise, three of them jumped down while one rushed out through a window high up near the ceiling. Seeing this, Jagu was about to pursue, but Aron raised his hand and gestured for him to stop.
"Don't bother, she's probably going to report these events to whoever sent them. That works in our favor." Aron turned to Jagu and explained, causing him to shift his attention to one of the three masked women who held out curved daggers and had a battle stance ready but didn't attack first.
They were clearly cornered but still didn't attack first, Aron could take a few guesses as to why, but he couldn't know for sure.
"Suppress them but don't kill... yet, at least. The rest of you, block off all the entrances," Aron muttered in a low tone before stepping forward. His words were clearly directed at Jagu and Jin who followed suit while the other members present including Claudia rushed to cover the exits.
She was largely still confused as to what was happening, but Aron seemed sure of his actions so she could only follow.
"We don't wish to do battle with you." One of the masked women tightened her grip on the blade she held and announced, causing Aron to raise a brow towards her. "Then will you tell me who sent you and why?" Aron replied, but she gave no answer. Underneath the mask, she bit her cherry lip while her heart rate began to increase. She didn't think the situation would deteriorate so far.
"No? Then I have no choice," Aron muttered in a calm tone but in that very moment, his figure appeared before her and his large hand gripped her by the front of the face before slamming her to the ground with tremendous force.
The neat, wooden floor under them broke the pressure and left everyone stunned. The victim of the attack felt the air rush out of her body while she coughed out bits of blood mixed into her saliva.
Her body trembled and she felt an aching pain everywhere from the sudden shock. Her companions didn't have time to understand what had just happened, so they quickly tried to rush to her side.
However, one found a large figure blocking her path, forcing her to step back.
Boom!
Once again, the floor shattered but this time under Jagu's enormous weight since he had jumped from his position to the masked women.
He growled at her and raised his hand while releasing his claws. Panic rose in the woman's mind, but it was the same for the other one.
She didn't even try to reach her companion, who was suddenly pinned down, and directly faced Jin who she was worried would also surprise her with a burst of speed.
However, he didn't move from his position but instead threw up a bottle before kicking it in her direction. She panicked and quickly dodged, but another one came flying towards her just as fast.
Her stance broke as she barely dodged it and she quickly tried to restore it, however, this was more than enough time for Jin to close in on her.
She was off balance but she still tried to attack him, however, he quickly struck her on the wrist and she found herself unable to hold the dagger anymore. It dropped and she quickly jumped back while holding her right hand by the wrist which now felt numb.
"You're a fast one." Jin whistled and smiled towards her, completely relaxed. None of them had even drawn their weapons yet her and her companions were completely at a loss.
It was clear anymore fighting would be a needless struggle where one of them may be gravely injured.
'What do I do? ' This thought ran across the mind of the woman facing Jin but before she could reach a conclusion, she heard a clang sound from her right.
A little further away from them, the woman facing Jagu had dropped her weapon and raised her hands in defeat. "We surrender."
It seemed she too shared in her companions worries and saw this was a losing battle. Jagu growled in irritation as his lust for battle had just begun to rise, but he turned to Aron along with Jin to see how he'd react to this.
Aron took a deep breath and breathed out slowly, it felt as if his aura was receding since the glow in his eyes faded before he released his hold on the woman's face and stood up. "We'll end there, then."
Claudia, who watched from afar, felt a great weight lifted off her shoulders in her mind. She had already begun to think of the worst case scenarios where they might go to war with the imperial family of Findel.
'Does she not hear this commotion?' Claudia looked up to the second floor and wondered if Lady Rose was purposefully just ignoring the situation. Looking at Evanora, who was still seated and eating even in this situation, it seemed entirely possible.
Whenever she saw how trusting they were of Aron's actions, she felt left outside since they looked relaxed and calm, she was panicked and worried.
"Thank you." One of the masked women muttered as they both rushed to aid their fallen companion near Aron. She was attacked before she could use mana to strengthen herself to defend, so the damage was all the more apparent.
Jagu growled in irritation and said no words as he just stormed out of the building. In his tribe, all disputes were settled with fists. This whole idea of using words and being careful was very much irritating to the battle maniac who wished to battle and gain experience.
No one stopped Jagu from doing so and just got out of his way. Jin, on the other hand, walked over to Aron's side and the two faced the three women together. "Speak, otherwise I have no reason to spare your lives." Aron shattered the momentary relief they felt, but one woman closed her fists and approached Aron to speak.
"Sister, don't!" The woman tending to the fallen one pleaded, but was ignored. "If I don't do this we may all lose our lives, forgive me, sisters, but I'll be taking responsibility today." The woman expressed in a lovely voice with a thick, northern accent.
Aron didn't disturb their exchange of words nor did he show any sentiment. He simply watched and waited for her to speak.
"We aren't servants of the imperial family, we belong to the "Aramil Alsahra" and were simply hired to monitor you and report back our findings to the Fourth Imperial Prince. As to why we don—" Suddenly, the woman was unable to speak any longer; she coughed out a large amount of blood that stained the mask she wore before she fell to the ground... lifeless.
The woman who watched this showed a pained expression and muttered. "Find Salam, dear sister."
"Aramil Alsahra?" Aron repeated the word with curiosity but this time, it was Jin who answered. "A formerly famous organization of assassins that dates back ages, however, during the war with the Aethel Empire, they were practically wiped out. I heard the remnants retreated in the north and still carried out minor operations. Didn't think they had ties to the Findel Imperial family."
"They were notorious for breeding the best assassins the continent had to offer, as for her, she probably broke her oath by telling you information so her runic life seal caused her death. I'm surprised they're capable of something so intricate," Jin explained what he knew to Aron before turning to the lifeless corpse.
Aron already knew of Runic Life Seals and they came in many forms. They essentially prevented the holder from breaking certain laws placed upon them, if they did, like the name suggests, they'd die.
As for why Jin was surprised, it's simply because of the complexity behind Runic Life Seals. When drawing the runes, one had to precisely dictate which laws the seal fell under while carefully pouring their will into the rune as they constructed it.
Drawing runes was a daunting task on its own that required great willpower, a strong mentality, large amounts of mana, and extremely steady hands. One small mistake and ones' work would completely fail, such is the reason very few mages dedicated their lives to this category of mana application.
"I've heard they had ties to the old Era, perhaps their knowledge in Runic Life Seals stems from there." Claudia barged into the conversation and added before looking at the woman still alive and the one who was unconscious. "What will you do with them?" She then turned to Aron and asked.
"Use them as bait and wait. If that breeds no results, then we'll kill them," Aron coldly answered, causing Claudia to look at the women with slight pity.
"That won't be necessary!" A voice rang out from behind, capturing everyone's attention.
[A/N: Thoughts on the chapter? I already mentioned that battles here would be more realistic in a way. In that, one, the battles against mobs don't last several chapters and two, that enemies act according to their traits. Just because they're enemies, it doesn't mean they don't have their thoughts and worries or even troubles.. It's ambitious, but I'm really trying to make characters feel as alive as I can, please give feedback and tips you may have in the comments or leave a review.]
