Calum stepped out of the inn, in the early morning. The town was just starting to wake up, merchants were setting up their stalls. Bakers opening their shops. The smell of fresh bread mixed with the usual stench of the wizard town.

  He headed toward the edge of town.

  The slums, the same place where he'd massacred sixty beggars a few months ago.

  (Wonder if anyone cleaned up the bodies.

  Probably not.) Nobody cared what happened in the slums. That's why they made perfect hunting grounds. But today he needed to be careful, because what he had done.was not something the people who control this town would turn a blind eye to.

  Last time he'd killed openly and left witnesses who ran at that time. (Word must've spread by now and those who control the wizard town might've posted guards. Maybe even hired a mage.) “Good thing I planned for that.”

  A smile stretched on his face as he reached into his inventory and pulled out the mask.

  It had appeared after he'd hit Level 6 back at the inn. A system reward or whatever the notification had called it.

  [Grinning Phantom—Mask of Concealment]

  Dark red porcelain face with a wide, frozen smile carved into it. Empty eye holes, It looked creepy as hell.

  He put it on. The mask settled against his face and immediately he felt its effect.

  [PASSIVE EFFECT: IDENTITY CONCEALMENT - Witnesses will not remember your face or voice clearly]

  [ACTIVE EFFECT: FEAR AURA (LEVEL 1) - Weak-willed targets experience increased anxiety in your presence]

  “Not bad”

  Calum pulled his hood up over his head and continued walking. The path to the slums took him past the nicer part of town first. Clean streets. Well-maintained buildings. People who actually had money and power.Then the buildings started getting shorter and shabbier. The stone roads turned to dirt.

  By the time he reached the slum entrance, the sun was fully up. And he could already see dozens of beggars lying like pigs in a farm.

  Someone was definitely controlling this area. You don't get fifty new beggars moving into a massacre site by coincidence.

  This was organized.

  Calum walked deeper into the slum. A few beggars noticed him but the mask made them hesitate and nobody approached.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  He stopped in the middle of an open area and pulled out both daggers.

  Everyone was just just busy in their work until two bodies fell on the ground, headless.

  It felt like time stopped.

  Silence….

  Then it broke when Calum closed the distance to another beggar in a mere second. His dagger flashed across the man's throat before the man could even register what was happening, his head fell on the ground with a small thud, then was it when everyone's eyes widened after seeing this horror and screamed their lungs out, running in every direction.

  But it didn't matter. Calum cut through them like they weren't even there. His daggers moved in quick, efficient strikes and within thirty seconds, eight bodies were already on the ground, lifeless.

  The remaining beggars finally got organized. About fifteen of them formed a loose circle around him and attacked him in self-defense.

  "It's him!" one of them shouted. "That masked one is the demon boy! The boss said he'd come back!"

  (Oh, so they were expecting me.)

  "Get him! There's a reward if we bring his head!"

  They all rushed at once. Calum sidestepped the first attacker. Drove his dagger into the man's back as he passed. Blocked a knife strike with his arm guard. Countered with a slash across the attacker's face.

  Ducked under a hatchet swing. Came up and buried his blade in the man's throat. The beggars kept coming but they were slow, uncoordinated and weak. What can you expect from a beggar? He killed three more in quick succession.

  But suddenly—

  WHOOSH………………….

  Calum's senses screamed and instinctively grabbed the nearest beggar by the collar and yanked him forward. A fireball the size of a human head came blazing through the air.

  It hit the beggar square in the chest. The man didn't even have time to scream. He just... ignited. His entire body went up in flames instantly and within seconds he was nothing but ash and the smell of burned flesh.

  Calum let go and stepped back. He looked toward where the fireball had come from.

  A middle-aged man stood on top of one of the broken buildings wearing dark robes that marked him as a proper mage. Second Circle at least, judging by the power of that fireball.

  The man was already preparing another spell. His hands glowed orange.

  "So you're the one who killed the cattle last time," the mage called out. His voice carried across the slum. "Took you long enough to come back."

  The remaining beggars scattered. Running away from both Calum and the mage.

  Smart….

  Calum didn't answer. Just stood there and watched the mage's hands.

  "Not much of a talker, are you?" The mage smiled. "That's fine. I'll just burn you to ash and take your mask as a trophy." Another fireball formed in his hands and it was bigger this time.

  He threw it and its speed was terrifyingly fast.

  Calum immediately activated Dash again and moved left. The fireball hit the ground where he'd been standing and exploded in a burst of heat and flame.

  The mage was already casting another one.

  (Can't get close if he keeps throwing those.)

  Thoughts raced in his mind as Calum scanned the area quickly. Broken buildings. Piles of trash…. A few wooden support beams barely held up the structure the mage was standing on.

  (There)He threw one of his daggers.

  Not at the mage who could dodge it but at the support beam on the left side of the building.

  The dagger hit dead center and the beam cracked.

  CRACK..

  The mage's eyes narrowed as he noticed the danger; he jumped just in time before the building collapsed. Landed hard in the dirt below. His concentration broke and the half-formed fireball in his hands fizzled out.

  Calum was already on the move. He closed the distance while the mage was still getting to his feet. Pulled out the dagger which the mage saw coming.

  He thrust his hand forward and a burst of flame shot out. Not a fireball but just raw fire.

  Calum dove to the side, feeling the heat wash over him. He had dodged it in time may be out of pure luck.

  The mage was backing away now as his hands were glowing again. But he needed time to form a proper spell. Time which Calum wasn't going to give him. He pushed his limits and activated Dash one more time, which placed a huge pressure on him.

  And in an instant he drove his knife into the mage's stomach. The man gasped and the glow in his hands died instantly.

  Calum twisted the knife and pulled it out ruthlessly but stabbed again then again.

  “Aaaaakhh” The mage fell to his knees. Blood poured from his wounds.

  "Who... who are you..." he managed to say a word which Calum didn't answer. Just pulled his knife out one last time and slit the man's throat.The mage collapsed face-first into the dirt.

  [LEVEL UP!]

  [LEVEL: 8→10]

  Calum stood there for a moment. Breathing hard as much as he could. Around him were bodies soaked in the blood, again..

  The rest of the beggars were long gone. Ran the moment the fighting started. He then walked over to his daggers and pulled it out of the broken support beams. Then he checked the mage's body, finding a small pouch with coins. Twenty silver and three gold. He also found a small badge. Made of bronze, having a symbol on it—a clenched fist holding three coins.

  Probably related to the group controlling this slum. Calum pocketed the badge and looked around one more time before turning back to the inn.