The Devil’s Cage

[Name: T1 Bullet Proof Vest]

[Type: Body Armor]

[Rarity: Common]

[Defense: 1, Able to guard against regular gun bullets; 2, Weak protection against sharp weapons.]

[Attributes: None]

[Effect: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: Yes]

[Remarks: This is a standard issue bullet proof vest. Wearing it doesn’t make you invincible!]

The moment Kieran picked up the vest, all that information popped up in front of him. After a quick review of the item, he put it on without any further delay.

Compared to the Common Village Outfit that he was wearing, the T1 Vest was much better protective gear. One able to take bullets and protect him in hand to hand combat.

Even if it was not that effective against daggers and other weapons of that sort, it still made him more confident in carrying out their plan.

Kieran closed his mouth and tried to control his breathing. He didn’t want to make any sound as he headed towards his second target.

The man had not noticed that his comrade had died.

Although they knew that he and Colleen were nearby, he acted the same way the first one had right before Kieran had killed him. He walked around casually, not paying much attention to his surroundings.

He had not noticed that Kieran was close to him.

Kieran did not ambush him. He started closing up on him from behind instead.

When he was within range, he covered the guy’s mouth with one hand to prevent him from yelling for help. He used his other hand to slice the man’s throat open with his dagger.

He had moved his hands almost simultaneously.

Before the thug could even shout or bite Kieran’s hand, the dagger had already slit his throat.

Fresh warm blood gushed out from his neck. Before long, the man stopped struggling.

[Stabbing: Lethal Attack, Inflicts 100 Damage to HP (50 Sharp Weapon (Dagger) (Basic) x2). Target dies ….]

Kieran dragged the second body into the ruins and claimed his loot.

This time, however, he did not take the T1 Bullet Proof Vest. He just took the fully loaded M1905.

If it were possible to wear two vests at the same time, he would not have minded another one.

Too bad that as soon as he had put on the first vest, he had already started feeling a slight weight increase in his movements. If he wore a second one, his agility would be compromised even more.

He could not risk compromising his speed in a situation like that.

It could cost him his life.

He would be shot down on the spot by the remaining men.

“Two down,” he thought to himself while he kept walking like a cat.

He moved forward for about ten meters and then hid in the shadows, revealing his head out a little to spy on his third target.

Unlike the the previous two, the third man was standing on top of a pile of debris and broken wood about a meter high. Although he was not paying attention either, the height slowed Kieran’s progress down somewhat.

Because of it, Kieran could not face the man head on. Even with the cover the debris provided, he would still be spotted if he tried to.

He had not gotten cocky after killing two men.

The third man was armed as well.

Perhaps he could attack him from the back?

Kieran noticed the look on the man’s random scanning of the surrouding. It was enough to make him give up that plan.

He did not want to be discovered while he was approaching him.

“Lets skip this one for now,” Kieran decided before he moved on.

Although he still had the fully loaded M1905, he had no intention of using it so early on in the game.

The thugs had protection against bullets, and when it came to his own shooting skills, he was not confident that he could make a lethal shot while they had their vests on.

Besides, the gunshots would expose his location.

Even with only five of them remaining, he still had to come up with a plan with Colleen if he wanted to avoid any one against five situations.

“I must take out at least two more.”

With this thought in mind, Kieran took a detour.

To avoid being discovered by the man on top of the debris, Kieran chose the long way back to the spot where he had taken out the first thug, then did a U-turn.

More than ten minutes later, he reached the back of the remaining men’s formation.

Using his eagle-like eyesight, he marked everyone’s position and decided quickly on the third target that he would go for.

It was the one on the far left.

That man looked even more lazy than the others and was not paying any attention, even compared to the two that Kieran had already killed.

At least the dead men had tried to look for Kieran. The guy on the far left, though, just squatted down where the others would not be able to spot him, and lit up a cigarette.

His laziness made him an easy target for Kieran, who carefully closed in on his target while avoiding detection.

He would not let his guard down, even if his target was squatting down and smoking a cigarette.

Kieran knew perfectly well that accidents could happen at any time. It was better to be safe than sorry.

With extra vigilant movements, he closed up on his target step by step.

He was within two meters of him, and the man still had not noticed him. Only when the dagger came close enough to him did the thug finally realize that something was off.

But it was already too late.

Kieran did not mind the cigarette burning his hand. He covered the thug’s mouth with his left hand and used his right hand to deliver the killing blow with the dagger.

His throat was slit open and he fell to the ground, just like the others.

[Burn: Inflicts 1 Damage to HP]

[Stabbing: Lethal attack, Inflicts 100 Damage to HP (50 Sharp Weapon (Dagger) (Basic)x2). Target dies …]

[Approached target 3 times without getting discovered. Skill acquired: Undercover]

[Name: Undercover (Basic)]

[Related Attribute: Agility]

[Skill Type: Ancillary]

[Effect: Makes use of the shadows, conceals you from sight, increases Hiding by 10%]

[Consumes: Stamina]

[Skill Prerequisite: F in Agility]

[Remarks: Just because you are good at hiding, it doesn’t mean you are invisible!]

As the thug fell to the ground, a system notification popped up, explaining the [Undercover (Basic)] skill.

Suddenly, a chain of information was transferred into Kieran’s brain.

He was used to the process as he had already acquired two skills.

Once the information was transferred into his brain, his body could use the knowledge that he had gained right away.

“Three times?”

Kieran was searching the body before him, while at the same time looking at the system notification.

When he had acquired the [Sharp Weapon (Dagger) (Basic)] skill, it had required three effective hits to achieve it as well. The number had caught his attention.

“Are only three successful hits required in order to acquire the respective skill in the newbie dungeon?”

That was his guess.

He quickly came back to his senses. He knew what he had to do, and it was definitely not think about these things. There would be time for that later.

As Kieran looked at the remaining four targets, his brain filled with information about the undercover skill.

He walked into the shadows silently, leaning against the walls and slowly moving towards his next target.

If Kieran’s lurking speed had been a “crawl” before, one could say that now he had learned how to ‘walk’. He was faster and more quiet.

He was like the best thief in town. Or more like an assassin.

“Four down!”

“Five down!”

Kieran took out two more of the thugs. It was even easier than before because of his newly acquired undercover skill. Even though the fourth and fifth man had been much more vigilant than the others, Kieran had still been able to cut their throats.

If one or two men out of a squad of seven went missing, it could perhaps go unnoticed. If most of the men went missing, however, even an idiot would be able to figure out that something was wrong.

If Wurke the Jackal was an idiot, he would not have ended up as the Vulture’s right-hand man.

His contempt though made him no different than a common fool.

Wurke screamed for his men with a tightening grip on his gun.

None of them responded.

Wurke looked at his surroundings. Everything that he had been familiar with suddenly looked completely strange to him.

The emptiness of the ruins and the shadows cast by the moon in the sky made him feel like the Devil was watching him. Cold sweat ran down his back.

When the wind blew, he could not help but shiver.

“Boss Jackal!”

A sudden voice cut through the silence. Wurke trembled with rage when he saw that it was one of his men.

Furious, he started yelling at him.

“YOU PIECE OF.... “

BANG!

Before Wurke could even finish his sentence, a shot was fired.

The third man, whom Kieran had chosen to avoid earlier, fell to the ground.

His vest had protected him from the lethal blow.

However, when he fell to the ground, he turned, pulled out his gun and started shooting aimlessly at the source of the gunshot.

Wurke, who had witnessed the whole incident, pulled out his gun as well and aimed at the spot where the first gunshot had been fired. He pulled the trigger over and over again.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The whole scene turned into a sea of flying bullets.