Make like an assassin, but monstrous.

One Monster Race Upgrade Remaining

I estimated I rested in those bushes for a full four hours before deciding it was time to move. The village had been dark and quiet for a while. I rose to my feet and stretched. All of my cooldowns were available, my mana was full, and my targets were ****.

I moved silently, not bothering to engage Shroud. I wouldn't need it unless things went sideways. The hard dirt around the village wouldn't leave a print, and barely made a sound even to my ears. I approached the village from downwind, sniffing for any dogs or tabaco smoke or similar that would need to be taken into consideration as I reached the first house on the eastern side of the road.

But it wasn't my first goal. I slipped past it and into the side road where the blacksmith's workshop was located. It was a spacious building, with a huge door on one end that couldn't even be locked. I let myself inside without difficulty. This whole town probably had very little concept of security. Small towns, open arms, and all that. I grinned to myself as I found a collection of knives and other sharp tools.

There were no swords or proper weapons. A spearhead, but not attached to anything. That was fine, I just wanted a few small blades. Good knives were always to be found, even in poor or peaceful areas. They were the ultimate tool; useful to anyone and everyone. I selected three that suited my tastes. Large enough to cause fatal wounds, but small enough and balanced enough that they could be thrown with some accuracy. On my way out, a hand-hammer caught my eye and I didn't see any reason not to take it with me as well.

It was a beautiful night, I observed as I skirted the edge of town to put a knife in a sleeping dog. Its owners house was as good a place as any to begin. As suspected, the back door was not locked, and I gained entry without difficulty. The house was still. Quiet. I made my way through the halls, using my enhanced senses to take census of the occupants. Man, woman. No children.

I stood over the sleeping humans. Had I ever been so small and fragile looking as they? So dull to my surroundings? Placing a hand over the man's mouth, I thrust my blade into his throat and ripped it sideways, careful to spare the sleeping wife from the spray. He thrashed a little, but I held him and then he was still. The woman never woke.

I moved on to the next house. Man, woman, young child. I killed the man and moved on.

My plan was very simple. Kill as many of the men in the village as I could before the screaming started.

The third house was just a man. Boring. I killed him more slowly, extracting information about the village in the process. A few people in the village may have been something approaching a threat to me. There was a blacksmith, a retired adventurer, and a priest capable of using magic.

Armed with information, I chose my targets deliberately rather than at random. I started with the blacksmith. His wife woke as he died, and I had to deal with that. He had been a powerful man, strong from years of working a forge, but she was a delicate little thing. I shoved a tentacle down her throat as she tried to scream, snatching her from the bed easily with my various tentacles, trapping all her limbs and her wriggling body as she hovered above the bed.

I drew her close to my face as she struggled and cried in my inescapable grasp. She was a tasty little treat, mid-twenties by my guess. Pretty and slender. I wanted to **** her right then and there, but I also wanted to enjoy her when I did. I didn't have time for this. So I just held her as she choked on my thick tentacle, unable to draw breath. Her eyes fluttered and closed, her body fell limp.

It would have been the simplest thing to just let her die, I realized. It would be a beautiful ****, but a waste of such a fertile young female. I withdrew my tentacle and let her breathe again. With a sigh, I set to work tearing apart a blanket to gag and bind her. It felt like it was taking forever, but then I remembered I still had a precious upgrade point for the Dark. I grinned as I formulated the concept and applied the change to myself.

New Monster Trait: Smooth tentacles produce sticky web substance
New Monster Trait: Smooth tentacles produce solvent

I shivered as my form was very slightly remade. Having a Monster Core was seriously the best thing that had ever happened to me. Fuck ever having been human; being a human was for chumps. Except that being human was precisely what made me such an interesting monster, I realized with a laugh. Well, alright then.

Dragging the **** woman away from the bed, I coiled her in my smooth tentacles, which were now able to produce and dispense a sticky fluid that congealed quickly and hardened into a slightly elastic substance. I wrapped her arms and legs in the stuff and then covered her mouth with it, careful to leave her nose uncovered. I pressed her to the wall and glued her to it. The stuff shot out of my smooth tentacles like ejaculate in a strangely erotic manner. A bit odd, but undeniably useful. This female wouldn't go anywhere anytime soon. More importantly, she wouldn't raise any alarm.

After confirming that my prey would not suffocate, I hurried from the room. There was still so much to do.