Ascension of the Master Assassin

It was extremely anticlimactic to receive a monster core in such a way. Venn had imagined many times the scenarios in which he could land one, but it was never in such a way.

However, beggars can't be choosers. With a grateful heart, Venn analysed the round orb in his palm. Depending on the rarity of the monster core and the power of the skill, the price of the monster core would fluctuate greatly. With great anxiety, his vision focused on the descriptions of the shiny black item.

[Ding]

[Elemental Monster Core Obtained]

[Shadow Partners (Dark Elemental)]

[Conjure and control shadows up to a maximum of three shadows from your position. Each shadow has 10% of the user's stats and the percentage can be increased by 10% more per skill mastery level. Shadow can last for a maximum of one minute and has 300 health points. Reactivate the skill to teleport to one of your shadow's locations.]

[Cost: 5 stamina points per activation. 300 health points per shadow conjured.]

"Ha… Jackpot!" Venn screams internally in his mind like a little girl who saw her beloved idol in a concert. Although it was out of his character to do so, he couldn't help it because of the insanely powerful skill description of the monster core he was currently holding in his possession.

A core that has such a high versatility of both attacking methods and defensive abilities with such a low cost of activation was all he could ask for.

"B rank? No. This core could be classified as A rank or even higher!"

Thinking about the amount of credits the core could be auctioned for had Venn temporarily dumbfounded. Just by selling this, he could cure Rena's illness and even had a little sum left over for both him and Rena!

Turning his head towards the succubus whose height was around his waist, he gave a hearty smile to her. Ever since he met her, his life had been getting better and better.

To Venn, Lilith was like Santa Claus who loves to give out presents to everyone. 

When he remembered how nonchalantly Lilith had tossed him such a valuable monster core, Venn had overcome with greed.

He wanted to strip Lilith bare and see what other things she had underneath her clothes!

Remembering that Lilith had tossed a sword to him as well, Venn immediately turned his gaze towards the sword he had in his right hand.

The sword was pure black including its scabbard, its shape was similar to the japanese katana but was an inch shorter in length. 

Holding it in his hands, Venn was astounded by the lightness of the sword, and as he grasped the handle of the pure black sword from its scabbard, a metallic glow shone from the reflective surface of the sword, giving Venn the impression of absolute sharpness and and the poetic beauty of violence he could unleash upon his enemies with the cold blade in his hands.

Analysing the glowing black sword with a small serpent inscription carved slightly above the handle, a paragraph of the item description popped up in his vision immediately.

[Mirasume Katana (Rare)]

[Durability: 75/75]

[Damage: 45 - 85]

[Increase level of User by 5 when equipped.]

[Requirement: STR 20+]

[Forged by the master blacksmith in the Mirasume village, its length is slightly shorter than a typical katana sword to allow for better manoeuvrability for its user and faster attacking speed.]

"Mirasume village? What is this?" Venn puzzling muttered to himself. He had not heard of the place anywhere before.

However, Lilith picked up his mumbling and kindly answered his question.

"The katana sword is a weapon that is given to all Blood Serpents' members. In our line of work, there are times where you will have to battle against large monsters so the sword will come in handy. Of course, you can choose not to use the sword if it doesn't fit your battle style, but remember to keep it with you at all times as it carries a ceremonial purpose for the guild."

"You are now at the rank of an E rank member. The more missions you successfully complete, the higher your rank within the guild will be. Correspondingly to your rank, the guild will give you better equipment and training resources as well."

The information that Lilith explained was acceptable to Venn. It was only fair that the stronger would get the larger share of the pie. Just like in the real world, weaklings have no say in Heaven Descent. Rather than waste time and effort to cultivate mass armies of useless cannon fodders, Venn thought that the motivation method of focusing on a few powerful individuals which the Blood Serpents adopted was much more efficient. 

Taking down mental notes of the guild's operation, Venn smiled. He realised that there were many more things that he could learn from the game.

"However, before you are let into the privy details of the guild, there is one more thing that needs to be done first. And that is — your first mission."

As she ended her sentence, she pulled out her large read scythe from seemingly out of nowhere before pointing it at Venn's face. After which, she began to speak, but this time, the pace of her speaking doubled.

"The details of your first mission is inside the black pouch I have given you. Help one of our allies and liberate them! It was originally a mission for all newly accepted guild members but only you survived. Thus, you have to bear the entire burden of this mission on your own."

"Always keep in mind the motto of the Blood Serpents — Mission first! If you attempt to flee or fail to complete the mission, the Blood Serpents will hunt you down like any other deserters!"

"Now, open the pouch and use the teleportation scroll inside. You have five more seconds before I cut you down for attempting to delay the completion of the mission given to you."

"Five."

"Four."

"Three."

"Two."

"One."