The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

Chapter 28: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada...

Isaac brought his loot back home while regretting the fact he couldn't kill the other 3. Sect rules allowed bullying, beating, theft, and even torture since it would ultimately help the victim. These kinds of events would help temper disciples, toughen them up, and prepare them for life outside the sect.

On the other hand, death did not benefit the victim. The sect had no reason to allow murder and it was punished rather heavily, so Isaac didn't dare. Isaac had to do something he didn't want to; let people with a grudge against him live.

Thinking this, he could only sigh. His face was concealed and he hadn't used his Anima, so they couldn't know who he was unless they recognised his pale blue eyes. If they could recognise him from just that, he could only applaud them.

Realising there was nothing more he could do, Isaac stopped thinking about it. He pushed open his door and entered his house. He walked over to his bed, lifted the mattress up, and placed the bear pelt underneath. Then he put the mattress back, grabbed some food, and left again.

Of course Isaac wasn't satisfied with just one success! He was heading back to the gate to find some more prey.

20 minutes later, he was back in the same spot as before. He waited, watched, and picked another target. Then he followed then through the back-alleys and picked a moment to strike.

The outcome was a very predictable one; Isaac returned home to hide more loot.

Then he went back to the gate and repeated the process.

By the end of the day, many things were stuffed under Isaac's mattress. In addition to the complete bear pelt, there were 3 arctic foxes' claws and 2 wolves' claws and noses.

For others, feeling claws underneath the thin mattress might have been uncomfortable. However, every time they poked Isaac he simply thought of the reward points he would sell them for and how much more he would earn tomorrow.

Isaac slept soundly and woke up in the morning, ready to repeat the same routine as yesterday. He ate breakfast, then headed to the training grounds where he diligently practiced swordsmanship.

When it was nearly 1pm, he went back to his house to bathe and then made sure he arrived at the gates for 1:30.

Funnily enough, the first person he saw walking through the gates was Johan. He had arctic fox pelts over both shoulders and looked like quite an enticing target. Isaac knew he would win in a fight, and couldn't see the exact number but Johan had at least 4 fox pelts.

However, Johan knew him well. Even if Isaac covered his face, it was likely that Johan would still recognise him. If he did, there would be long-term consequences: Isaac would lose a skilled partner for missions as well as an opportunity to get acquainted with the Friberg family. In fact, he might even antagonize them.

Isaac very quickly decided that 4 fox pelts was not enough for him to act against Johan. Instead, he continued to wait for a better target, preferably one who didn't know him.

Soon, he settled on a muscular female warrior with 2 arctic fox corpses. Unlike Johan who was skilled at skinning an animal and taking its pelt, this woman had left the foxes whole and carried one under each arm.

Isaac watched her walk down a street and was about to follow her, but then he saw movement in the corner of his eye. A group of 6 people were moving towards the street the woman had walked into. At first he wasn't sure, but then Isaac saw how they acted and tried to blend into the crowd and he knew they were also following her.

Seeing this, Isaac stayed back a little bit and followed behind the group of 6. However, such a large group wasn't very stealthy. After several twists and turns, the woman noticed that this group of 6 was always behind her and tried to make a run for it.

In hindsight, this was a mistake. Carrying 2 foxes made it hard for her to escape and she was quickly caught. They started fighting in an enclosed alleyway, and Isaac turned the corner just in time to see the woman throw one of her 6 pursuers to the ground. The man sprung back to his feet while clutching his shoulder and backed off.

This woman was strong enough to go hunting on her own she was likely a league or two above each of her pursuers individually. However, this was not an individual battle.

The group quickly surrounded the woman and used their number advantage to pressure her. Suddenly, gusts of icy wind appeared around the woman, stopping the group from getting closer. The wind contained sharp ice particles which cut at the group as it passed by. The exposed skin on their hands was quickly covered in a collection of tiny cuts and their coats were also buffeted and torn in places.

The wind blew back one disciple's hood and Isaac could see his head was wrapped in bandages. This triggered a thought and he tried to get a better look at the faces of those in the group of 6. However, the icy wind clouding the air obscured his view. It was so dense that he couldn't even see the woman at the centre of it.

He could only see 6 hazy figures, hesitant to approach the eye of the storm. Suddenly, 3 of them disappeared from Isaac's view as they stepped deeper into the icy whirlwind. About 5 seconds later, one of them was sent flying out.

She crashed to the ground several metres away from Isaac, barely conscious. It was not the strong warrior woman, but a skinny girl from the group of 6. After seeing her face, Isaac could confirm this was the group he'd robbed yesterday.

However, his attention was brought back to the battle when he saw the icy winds suddenly stop. It meant the warrior woman had either been defeated or had run out of Qi and would be defeated soon.

When the wind fully dissipated, Isaac could see her slumped against a wall, out cold. Lying near her were the 2 foxes and the man with bandages around his head. He was bleeding heavily from the side that Isaac had hit with a stone; he'd obviously been struck there again, causing the wound to reopen.

Meanwhile, the 4 members of the group who were still standing looked slightly battered but not seriously injured. They exchanged a few jubilant words, then one went to help the bleeding man, while another approached the injured woman near Isaac.

Isaac picked up a stone when he saw them approach since he thought he might be spotted. Fortunately, the person didn't see him as they walked to the injured woman and bent over to see how she was.

Isaac saw this as an opportunity. He readied his stone and rushed at the man. The man was looking at his friend on the floor and saw Isaac late. He didn't even have time to raise an arm in defence as Isaac clobbered him with the stone. Then Isaac felt hands clutching at his ankles. Hah... not this again.

The woman on the floor was trying to restrain him so the group could come and help. Isaac didn't like that. He stomped hard on her face, breaking her nose and causing her to cry out in pain.

Then Isaac turned and threw his stone at one of the other group members. They managed to dodge, but Isaac had closed in on them while they did so. They tried to throw a punch while slightly off-balance, but Isaac easily parried it. He followed up with a swift blow to the stomach, then chopped the woman's neck as they were winded and bent over.

It was a clean knockout and the woman collapsed like a sack of potatoes. This left Isaac in a fair(?) fight against the remaining 2 people. From what he'd seen of their fight, Isaac could tell they either didn't have Anima or had them but couldn't use them properly.

He didn't plan on using his Anima either, since it could be used to identify him. He was known as the most skilled swordsman in the academy, so he would be the first person others thought of if they saw a mysterious man wielding a sword Anima.

That left good old-fashioned fists.

Isaac faced off against the duo a short, stocky man and an athletic, 6-foot 3-inch giant of a woman. The man rushed at Isaac, throwing a huge overhand punch that he easily avoided. Isaac tried to turn and strike the man's exposed side, but the woman quickly attacked and forced Isaac to block instead.

Contrary to the huge mismatch in appearances, the pair demonstrated good coordination in attacking Isaac. He was hit a few times despite dodging, blocking and counterpunching to the best of his abilities. However, the fight slowly began to swing in his favour.

He was targeting the short man, who was a considerably weaker fighter than the woman. By now, the blows were beginning to add up and the man looked tired.

He swung a lazy right towards Isaac, which Isaac ducked underneath. Then Isaac followed up with an uppercut to the jaw, knocking the man to the ground. However, the woman kicked Isaac in the ribs as he did so.

Isaac staggered sideways and the woman came after him while he was off balance. She threw a left-right jab combo. Isaac blocked the left, but the right glanced the side of his head. The woman continued to press her advantage by aiming a knee to the stomach.

However, the punch hadn't dazed Isaac like the woman thought it had. Isaac caught the knee with both hands and used a low kick to sweep the woman's other leg from under her.

She fell flat on her back and Isaac jumped on top of her. He delivered several vicious blows to the head until her face was a mess and she could no longer speak, let alone retaliate.

Satisfied with his work, Isaac got up and wiped his bloody knuckles on his coat. Then he walked over to the foxes, picked them both up and disappeared into the labyrinth of alleyways from whence he came.