Marcus stood on a hillside overlooking Baron Aldric Blackwood's estate, using a telescope enchanted with night vision. The estate was impressive—a small mansion surrounded by manicured gardens, guard posts at regular intervals, and magical wards that glowed faintly in his enhanced vision.
The Baron was Silver Rank - Low Stage, wealthy from tax fraud and treasury embezzlement, and paranoid enough to maintain serious security. Twelve guards visible on patrol, probably more inside. Detection wards covering all obvious entry points. This wasn't going to be a simple infiltration.
But Marcus had learned from his previous contracts. He'd spent the afternoon gathering intelligence—questioning servants in nearby taverns, bribing a delivery person for information about interior layouts, using his newly purchased merchant intelligence network to obtain the estate's architectural plans.
The Baron had a predictable routine. Every night at 11 PM, he retired to his private study on the second floor to review financial documents. The study had one entrance from the main hallway and one window facing the gardens.
That window was Marcus's target.
At 10:45 PM, Phantom moved. He'd circled wide around the estate to approach from the forested hillside, avoiding the main road where detection wards were strongest. His Wraith Cloak made him nearly invisible in the darkness, and his Shadowstep Boots muffled any sound.
The outer wall was twelve feet high, topped with iron spikes. Marcus scaled it using handholds between stones, his strengthened Bronze Rank body making the climb manageable despite his actual weight. He dropped silently into the garden on the other side.
A guard patrol passed twenty feet away, two Iron Rank soldiers chatting about the tournament at Luminaris Academy.
"Did you see that Aldrich kid's match today? Brutal efficiency."
"Heard he's got odds to win the whole thing now. Made a killing on that."
Marcus waited until they rounded a corner, then moved toward the mansion. The gardens provided good cover—decorative hedges, statuary, ornamental trees. He navigated through them like a ghost, avoiding sight lines and patrol routes he'd memorized.
The study window was on the second floor, above a first-floor balcony. Marcus climbed the balcony support pillar, his muscles straining under his real weight, then pulled himself onto the stone railing.
Through the window, he could see Baron Blackwood sitting at his desk, reviewing papers by candlelight. The Baron was a heavyset man in his fifties, wearing expensive robes, with rings on every finger. His Silver Rank - Low Stage aura was relaxed—he felt safe in his own home.
Mistake.
Marcus tested the window. Locked, naturally. And likely warded against forced entry.
He pulled out his detection ward disruptor—a 15,000 gold device that created a small null zone in magical barriers. He activated it and placed it against the window frame. The detection wards flickered and died in a three-foot radius.
Then Marcus used his glass cutter to carefully remove a pane from the window. Slow work, silent work. Five minutes to cut through and remove the glass without sound.
He reached through and unlocked the window from inside, then slipped into the study.
Baron Blackwood was so focused on his embezzlement ledgers that he didn't hear the intrusion. Marcus moved behind him silently, his poisoned Hellfire Dagger drawn.
Three feet away. Two feet. One foot.
The Baron's head turned slightly, some instinct warning him. His eyes widened as he saw Phantom's masked reflection in a nearby mirror.
"Guards—"
Marcus's hand clamped over the Baron's mouth while his dagger cut across the man's throat—a shallow cut, just enough to break skin and inject the Legendary-grade Serpent's Whisper poison.
The Baron struggled, his Silver Rank strength making him difficult to hold. He reached for a panic button on his desk, fingers inches away.
Ten seconds. His movements became sluggish.
Fifteen seconds. His struggles weakened as paralysis set in.
Twenty seconds. Baron Blackwood slumped in his chair, his Silver Rank aura flickering and dying as the poison destroyed his mana channels.
Thirty seconds. Dead.
Marcus released him and immediately began the next phase. He placed his right hand on the corpse and activated his Midas Touch.
The Silver Rank - Low Stage cultivator transformed into a massive mana crystal, roughly the size of a large dog. It pulsed with concentrated power, calling to Marcus's cultivation base.
He sat down cross-legged and began absorbing immediately.
The mana flooded into him, pure Silver Rank energy that his Bronze Rank channels struggled to contain. But his foundation was solid, built on paranoid over-preparation and careful advancement. He could handle this.
BRONZE RANK - MID STAGE: 84%... 93%... 100%
BREAKTHROUGH DETECTED. ADVANCING TO BRONZE RANK - HIGH STAGE.
His body transformed, channels expanding and reinforcing. His physical capabilities increased dramatically. His Midas Touch range extended to thirty feet. The world became clearer, sharper, more detailed.
BRONZE RANK - HIGH STAGE: 27%
Still the crystal had more. Marcus kept absorbing, pulling every drop of power from the Baron's remains.
BRONZE RANK - HIGH STAGE: 48%
Finally depleted. Marcus stood, feeling the new strength coursing through him. Bronze Rank - High Stage. He'd jumped an entire sub-rank in minutes.
But he needed to move. The assassination had taken less than two minutes, but the absorption had taken nearly fifteen. Guards would eventually notice the Baron hadn't responded to check-ins.
Marcus grabbed the Baron's ledgers—evidence of his crimes—and moved to the window. He was halfway through when he heard voices in the hallway.
"My Lord? Is everything alright? You missed your scheduled check-in."
The door handle turned.
Marcus dropped from the window just as guards entered the study. He heard their shouts behind him as he hit the ground, rolled, and sprinted for the garden hedge line.
"INTRUDER! The Baron is dead! Alert everyone!"
Alarms began blaring throughout the estate. Magical lights flared to life. Guards poured from the barracks.
Marcus ran through the gardens, his Bronze Rank - High Stage speed making him significantly faster than before. Guards spotted him, shouted alerts, began pursuit.
An arrow whistled past his head. Another struck his Guardian Amulet, which absorbed the impact with a flash of light. One charge consumed.
Marcus reached the outer wall and leaped. His enhanced strength let him clear the twelve-foot height easily—something that would have been impossible at his previous rank. He landed on the other side and kept running.
More guards emerged from the main gate, cutting off his escape route. Marcus counted six Iron Rank guards, two Bronze Rank, and one Silver Rank officer in the distance.
The Silver Rank was the problem. At his previous Mid Stage cultivation, Marcus would have needed his 100x Effect to fight Silver Rank opponents. But now at High Stage, with his actual combat experience...
He might manage without it.