Classless Ascension

A man could be seen peacefully exiting the golden Wolves' training area.

A few minutes ago, Josh had been in a life-or-death staring contest with a Climber from Adamantium Wolves. This was right after he had killed one of their members! One would have expected an epic showdown of good versus evil! Nope...

The reality was far more pragmatic. To better understand the event, one needed to know that for true mercenaries, loyalty was everything! ...Well, in theory.

They really had to be loyal:

1. Loyal to the coins'” or credits in this case. Getting paid was the prerequisite of any job in the circle. They were putting their lives on the line, so the remuneration had to be there!

2. Loyal toward the guild. Traitors would be found out and made an example off. Well, this one was quite similar in all organizations.

3. Loyal to their brothers in arm. The whole point of joining a group was to have people they could rely on. This meant having access to the power of many, giving them the ability to take on more challenging and rewarding tasks.

Knowing this allowed him to elaborate a plan to leave with his head attached to his shoulders.

A) Josh bluffed his ass off! He tricked the man into believing that he was someone powerful. Obtaining this effect was simple. First, was his confident smile, followed by a disdainful gaze...oh, and a shitload of killing intent!

This point changed everything. If Josh had been weak, the man could have killed him and used his corpse to prove himself as a hero. But, since Josh was strong, he had to call for reinforcements if he wanted to deal with him.

This meant that Josh would have the opportunity to talk to other guild members before his demise. This would allow him to share the dirt he had just obtained on the mercenary!

The man had guessed that Josh was an assassin yet hadn't acted. The mercenary could always argue that he only had a doubt, but even that would be hard to believe considering the earlier death threat.

As long as there was suspicion, plenty of magical means could be used to learn the truth. This would soon point out that the man had knowingly let his colleague die.

B) Josh reminded the man how he had utterly failed his guild. This was a dereliction of duty for sure! Chances were that Josh would die if he was captured, but he would bring this guy down with him!

C) Afterward, he raised another point. Was Josh getting caught good, or was it nothing else but a source of trouble? What would happen if the LoA decided to target the Adamantium Wolves for revenge? (This point was total BS, but Josh seemed convincing)

D) Finally, Josh gave the man a few credits (or a lot by normal standards) for keeping his mouth shut. This was probably the easiest job the mercenary had ever done!

So yeah, Josh bought the guy! It was the usual carrot and stick situation:

If the man held him there, they would both go down with Josh dying. But if he kept his damn mouth shut, then he'd receive credits, and none would be the wiser! Thanks to his Jammer, Josh hadn't left any trace on the place's cameras after all.

Overall, his plan had been simple but effective and had required incredible confidence. But, it had allowed him to just walk out of there without being stopped.

Ah, life sure was beautiful!

That's how Josh was happily walking away, even casually browsing his UW, checking the latest news. The internet was going crazy, with some calling it the revival of the LoA. They had been more active recently but had never been that high profile!

The main point of interest mainly was the classic Assassin's Promises resurfacing. Apparently, the LoA had just reinstated this practice now after a long time of silence.

It was one thing for the LoA to kill people without claiming the credit, but another to warn their victim in advance! It was a power move to establish their dominance!

This time was extraordinary because of how many targets were from A-Rank guilds! It was unbelievable, five at once! Was the LoA trying to declare war on the A-Rank guilds?! historically, they had never targeted more than two large groups at once.

Josh couldn't help but scratch his head awkwardly. Did this mean that he alone was causing more ruckus than the entire LoA historically?! Oh well...

That's when he suddenly noticed an advertisement flashing boldly with a face he recognized.

< Breaking news! The Adamantium Wolves have invited us to film the Holy Knight Josef! He's supposedly received an Assassin's Promise! Watch how he survives it! >

Pfft! Seriously?! Josh erupted laughing. Clicking on the article, the journalist had apparently recently spoken to the man. He had, of his own initiative, invited the media. Well....good luck to interrogate him, haha! They would need an ouija board!

He then checked the other guilds that had received a similar letter, and there was one missing. That tortoise guy hadn't received his? Either that or he had simply kept it a secret. Either way, Josh would visit him last.

As for the Jackson guy he had taken care of in Metropolis-D, a maid had found the letter, and he was already considered missing and quite possibly dead!

But, for now, he had to focus. His next target was the Gemini guild. They were one of the most successful jewelers in Metropolis-C, thus making it, so they had a wide contact network. Now, how would they react in this situation?

Josh couldn't help but be shocked at what he saw.

Instead of going into hiding, Gemini was hosting a recruitment event. What kind of madness was this?! The recruiter would inevitably have to attend, and it would make him an easy target.

Wait, no. It wasn't just any kind of event. This one was for the recently summoned Fallen: it was a goddamn reunion party for Earthlings! How would they even verify people's identity? As he was puzzled, he suddenly thought of something.

The candidates of the current LoA evaluation were all native to this world, including the man he wore the face of! Was it a coincidence or a recruitment policy? What if the LoA didn't want Fallens in its midst because of their dependency on the Tower?

What if this event was one huge trap?! Did they have a way to detect any non-Fallen intruding on the premises? This would mean that an assassin mixing in the crowd would instantly be singled out and eliminated.

Plus, as a recruitment event, the attendees would likely be powerful and trying to make a good impression. They'd volunteer to take care of the issue.

Well, maybe he was overthinking this...

The event was scheduled to begin a day later, and Josh didn't feel like assaulting the guild directly, so he headed for his old lair, entering the good old sewers!

Just as he was about to arrive at his place, he heard annoying laughs echo in the area. From where it was coming from, there seemed to be people squatting in front of his room! He carefully approached, slowly peeking around the corner to observe.

There were a bunch of teenagers, all equipped with spray paint cans, eagerly filling the entrance with wonderful and tasteful art'” 10% luck, 20% skills, 70% spray paint, and 100% dicks.

They were even commenting on it all:

"Look at how huge mine is!"

"Mine's bigger! Just look at it!"

"Yes, but it's not about how big it is, but how well-drawn the pubes are!"

"You guys are disgusting. Do you know that?! Plus, we really shouldn't be here!"

"Yes, I heard that there is a secret laboratory that tests on aliens behind that door!"

"What, are you scared? There is nothing remotely frightening here as even the U-bot don't'”"

The last one suddenly stopped mid-sentence as his face turned into a mask of horror. His brows instantly became damp with sweat as his lips began shivering from the cold he suddenly felt.

He had just noticed a man, one who was very ordinary and yet had terrified him with just a look. He really couldn't stand it anymore as he fell to his knees, losing complete control over his motor functions.

His friends showed concerned expressions as they tried to figure out what was wrong with him. But then, one by one, they turned to look behind them and reacted in the same manner.

Josh didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Now, his place was totally trashed, but he had just gotten his hand on many helpers that he could order around. Now, he wouldn't even need to order food delivery as he could send them.

"W-who are you?!" One cried out.

But all Josh did was slightly increase the killing intent, just enough for them not to wet themselves...but close.

"P-please don't kill us!" Another begged, with tears streaming down his face.

Josh suddenly felt like teasing them as he slowly and carefully walked to open the door that only responded to his presence. With a swoosh sound, it revealed the interior.

"Weren't you wondering what's inside? You can look all you want and I can even show you how everything works." Josh happily gestured them to step inside, lightly reducing the killing intent.

But, as they finally saw the decor in there, they almost had heart attacks. These were all torture equipment?! They were fucked! Their faces were quite hilarious: livid, hopeless, and with regret in their eyes. Life lesson: don't randomly draw paint dicks.

As for Josh, he was gleefully thinking about all the tasks he would have them do to repay the damage they had done. Tomorrow he would attend this recruiting event for sure.

He couldn't help but wonder how the others from the tutorial were doing....