19 Limited Means

After about an hour of running, Amon slowed down his pace and started moving stealthily among the alleyways. He saw a high amount of patrols combing the streets but was able to dodge all of them. When he came back to his hotel, he sighed before climbing to his room. He started when he saw there was a presence from outside the windows and he readied a knife before entering the room.

Ven jumped in fright when she saw the windows open, but she relaxed when she saw who it was. Amon put his knife on the dressed and asked why Ven was here. "I wanted to look for you, but I didn't expect you'd be here already. Something the matter?

-When I was on patrol, about an hour ago, we heard a report that someone had intruded the mayor's estate and that we were to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious. I immediately guessed it was you and found an excuse to run back here in case you needed help.

-Well, I'm fine now, but I wasn't far from death. Stormbringer had planned everything. He knew we were going to be there and was ready for us. We finally decided to escape as the odds were not in our favour and we were in hostile territory. However, I won't let this night go to waste. Since we've foiled his plan, we must act before he formulates a new one.

-Will you need my help to fight?

-If you're willing to help me, then I'll gladly have you. However, that'll break your current cover story. Are you sure you want to do that?

-I already made up my mind. If you keep your promise and help me become your companion, I won't need that cover story anymore.

While they were talking, Amon had removed his shirt and was about to go into the shower. Ven only looked at him with an amused glance as she was aware he was just trying to show off his body. After about fifteen minutes, Amon walked out of the shower and got dressed, now fully refreshed. When he got out of the bathroom, he described to Ven the earlier events.

Her face was grim as she listened to his retelling and when he was done, she offered her opinion. "I think that by having me by your side, we'll be able to bridge the gap in terms of fighting strength. Since you were outnumbered, even if by one only, you couldn't correctly exercise your abilities. With me in the mix, you two will be able to fight to your full potential.

-Indeed that will help. There's also the fact that neither Bel nor I have gone all out in the previous fight. If we decide that we have a good chance of killing them, then we'll pull no stops. However, since there were too many unknown factors earlier, we held back.

-You mean you still had cards in your hand? Like some other technology?

-I guess if it's you it doesn't matter if I tell you. You see, assassins from the Ravens all have another hidden augmentation. Most call it a limited augmentation, some also call it latent.

-I've never heard of such a thing. Is it something the Order has developed recently?

-Quite the opposite. It's one of the few technologies that the Ravens were able to develop by themselves. They were forced to invest a lot into research when the Order rolled out the Holy Knights program to counter us. Since they had the support of the Order and its massive resources, the Holy Knights were often stronger than their Ravens counterpart. To bridge the gap between the two, the Ravens tried to push augmentations past their compatibility point forcefully, and although it resulted in assassins having power surpassing the strongest Holy Knights, they died within a few hours of the augmentations being amplified.

" They then came up with a brilliant idea. What if the augmentations were only boosted for a limited time? This would allow the Ravens to exert an explosive boost in power, and their bodies could heal afterwards. They went ahead with that plan and developed the limited augmentations that assassins have today.

Each assassin has a trigger to enhance his augmentations forcefully. Afterwards, they'll see a massive boost in performance. There is also an end trigger that stops the enhancement of the augmentation. Once the boost ends, the assassin will see a drastic drop in fighting strength, excruciating pain and will need a period of recovery to get back in peak performance.

Limited augmentations are the secret weapons of the assassins and are only used when we are confident of killing our target as the backlash of the enhancement will use nearly crippled. It would have been foolish to use that in the mayor's mansion with danger lurking everywhere.

Ven readjusted her position on the bed, deep in thought. The revelation that the Ravens had such technology was astonishing. She was an intelligence operative and prided herself in knowing all there was to know about the Ravens, but this revelation toppled her knowledge and confidence in such matters.

-Do you mind if I ask what your trigger is?

-It's okay if I tell you. You'll need to know regardless if we are to cooperate for the foreseeable future. I am one of the few who has two triggers. The first one is intense physical pain, and the second is uncontrollable anger.

-Does that mean that your trigger can be activated even without you being willing?

-Yes, it has its drawbacks, but it also has its pros. Since I can't control it, it's possible for my limited augmentations to activate in a situation where I would otherwise be unable to do it myself. It also means that I have to be careful to control my emotions and avoid major injuries during fights.

-Does Bel also have limited augmentations?

-Bel is a bit special. You might have noticed that he is unbelievably skinny. By any metric, with the amount of food that he consumes every day, he should never be so rackety. I suspect the reason he is so skinny is that his augmentations take a considerable toll on his body and he has to eat regularly to regain the energy he loses. His trigger is a drug that he carries in a few syringes. Once he injects the drug into his bloodstream, he gains unimaginable power, but he also loses his mind. He'll use whatever means he can to get his hands on food and will not hesitate to consume human flesh if necessary. In that state, he becomes a frenzied animal and will kill everything in sight.

Ven shivered at the mere thought of it and couldn't help but draw a large breath. By this point, Amon had put on pants but had yet to put on a shirt, apparently trying to show off his chiselled body as he sat next to her on the bed. She didn't whether to laugh or cry in front of his attempts at seduction but whatever mood he could have created had been destroyed by the mention of Bel's cannibalistic tendencies. She gave him a playful push and went to the window to look at the town.

-If Bel gets into his animalistic, drug-fueled rage, do you think you can stop him?

Amon gave her a look and lamented at his failed attempt to seduce her as he thought deeply about her question. In a duel, he knew Bel was stronger than him, and that was without Bel activating his limited augmentations. However, the answer he gave surprised Ven.

-I could probably be able to restrain him. It's true that he's stronger than me but when the drug only lasts for about a minute and a half, which is why he barely ever uses it. I don't think I can win against him, but I can at least restrain him until the drug wears off.

-That's good. I wouldn't want us to take care of the Holy Knights only to die at Bel's hands.

-You should go back and have a good night's rest. Tomorrow morning, Bel is coming here, and we're going to plan our next step. If you don't mind skipping work with the guard, then please do come.

-How surprising I thought you were going to ask me to spend the night in your room, said Ven with a flirtateous look.

Amon blushed and shooed her out when he noticed the laughter she was trying to suppress. Now that he was alone in his room, Amon realized that Ven's presence had helped him calm down. He acted like the events of the night didn't bother him, and they could come back from this, but it had dealt a blow to his self-confidence. This was the first mission he was in charge of, and they had nearly been killed on the second day. If he wanted to prove himself, he would have to do better. Thankfully, Ven's playful nature had helped him loosen up, and he would be able to have a better sleep thanks to her.

Amon tidied up the room a little before he went to sleep, his head full of plans for the next day.