“Liliana please give me your hand, I might be able to get rid of that sickness you have.”

“HO, let’s see what you can do.”

If something is wrong with her I will find out when I make skin contact. After using almost all my magic I found the source of her condition, it’s an illness similar to diabetes, most probably caused by too much sugar intake. Well, let’s see how having diabetes feels like.

 I was able to transfer Liliana’s illness to me. After I let go of her hand she took a few deep breaths.

“How do you feel?”

“I’m starting to feel better. The magic spell you used is similar to the one I used to restore your mother’s vision.”

“Except that I don’t need a dead body and a ritual to use it.”

“But you aren’t curing people; you transfer their illnesses to you and by looking at you my illness reverted to its normal state.”

“I feel like I’m going to pass out any moment, it must have been hard for you to live like this.”

“Not anymore it seems. Since Maria insists on standing behind me you can lay on the couch.”

“If you insist.”

I guess she isn’t the headmistress for nothing, the couch felt better than the bed in my dorm room and those are supposed to be expensive. I will take about one hour for my body to recover so I might as well sleep.

I felt something poking my cheek; does Liliana like these types of jokes? When I opened my eyes I saw Maria poking me. She was smiling; she looked like she was enjoying it.

“Is there a reason you are doing this or you do this for fun?”

“Fun can be considered a good reason.”

“Well I’m glad I can entertain you.”

“I’m joking. I believe you slept more than you intended to, it’s almost evening and I tried to wake you up but you didn’t.”

“So, where’s Liliana?”

“She is out; she wants to try out your idea so she went to negotiate.”

“I will be on my way then.”

I was on my way to the exit when Maria stopped me. She looked embarrassed by something.

“Do you need something from me?”

“Do you not like me?”

That was the only question I didn’t expect. If I’m right she isn’t talking about love but the fact that I usually don’t talk to her more than necessary; I thought she didn’t like me.

“I know I’m beautiful but am I not a little young for you?”

After I said that she pouted. She actually looked cute for once.

“Jokes aside, I thought you were the one who couldn’t stand me.”

“I spend most of my time reading books and practicing magic that’s why I’m not good at talking with other people.”

“So it’s just a misunderstanding. Then how about giving me a tour of the library, since I want to know more about the world I will need to know what I can find in there.”

“Very well.”

She looks relaxed now, I’m glad. Now that I convinced her to show me around the library I will get the authorization to go there freely. I don’t understand why you need an authorization to enter the school’s library. Considering how little rules and regulations are here, something terrible must’ve happened.

“Maria, I will be going now.”

“See you tonight then.”

So I guess I won’t be spending my weekend in peace, oh well sleep is for the weak anyway.

Despite being evening there were a lot of students outside. Usually people go inside when night comes because monsters tend to be more aggressive than usual. I thought that at least the students would be a little paranoid and stay inside. Since neither Jaden nor Saya are here I believe that I’m going to have to deal with Jaden acting like he is god after talking with her.

I was right, the moment I entered the room I saw Jaden with a smug look on his face. I wonder if I can make fun of him.

“How did it go?”

“Better than I hoped. Her green eyes and the way she was looking at me made me lose my composure and stumbled on my words. She took the initiative, introduced herself and talked about herself.”

“Why did you lose your composure?”

“When she looks at you with those eyes of hers it’s like she looks into my soul, it made feel me nervous.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“What do you mean?”

I struck a pose and told him with a sarcastic voice.

“It’s Mr. Steal Your Girl!”

He looked confused and sad at the same time. It’s like when you don’t understand what happened to you but you are supposed to feel sad.

“It’s a joke man, relax a little.”

“I would have believed anyone but you. You are the most approachable students from the third grade, keep that in mind when you make jokes like that.”

“One last question: did you kiss?”

“That wasn’t even a date, how could you ask me that?”

“A real man shouldn’t stop midway.”

“I think I’ve heard that before.”

“Yeah, they are from a book, very inspirational.”

“You… That’s Karma Sutra. I didn’t expect you to take me seriously but really now.”

“I only read the first chapter of the second volume; the midway quote is the only one I used.”

The book I found inside Kraft’s storage room was Karma Sutra. From what Ellen spoiled me the books tell the story of a man who had the sole dream of fucking as many women as possible. The “Karma” from its title has to do with the books ending, where the protagonist gets stabbed by one of the girls he slept with and died. I actually should read the trilogy.

“Anyway, did you schedule a date or something?”

“I will talk to her tomorrow. Do you have any plans?”

“Not really, for now I’m trying to get access to the library.”

I spent the rest of the day helping Jaden study. Now that it’s bedtime Jaden goes to sleep and I go to the rooftop. I haven’t seen Mir today and I’m getting a little paranoid. When somebody who was an assassin suddenly disappears it might turn into something ugly.

It’s 11 P.M. and I am sitting here waiting for Mir to appear. There’s something wrong about this, I hear footsteps, footsteps that shouldn’t be heard.

“Are you still sitting here?” When you remember a person’s way of talking you can detect slight changes; in this case she sounded both sad and worried.

“I haven’t seen you all day, where were you?”

“I had something to do, something that may backfire.”

“Care to share?”

“It’s complicated.”

“If somebody is after you Jaden may be in danger. If you care for him as much as you say you do then tell me, I might be more useful than you think.”

“There are people after me but they are too strong for you.”

“It’s not like I’m going to fight them alone, if something happens I’m bringing Liliana and Maria with me.”

“I don’t want to endanger other people’s lives because I was sloppy.”

There are moments when you look people in the eye when you talk to them and moments when you don’t. For some reason I had the feeling that if I turn around things will go south.

“It’s almost time for me to go.”

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“Wait. Turn around.”

When I turned around I saw that she wasn’t wearing her usual outfit, she was wearing a ninja outfit, mostly made of cloth. The only visible part of her body was her head. She looked worried which means there is a chance for a fight in the near future.

“Nice clothes, you look lovely in them.”

“I know I don’t look well, I just need some time to think.”

“Suit yourself, in the meantime I have to go train.”

So somebody tracked her down and now I have to pay attention to the one who makes the first move.

It’s past midnight and Maria is not here. She usually arrives on time, did Mir talk with Liliana?

“Oh, you are here.”

I might be wrong but she looks more relaxed than before. Instead of wearing a skirt she was wearing pants, she looked like she was going hunting.

“What kept you so long; did Jaden’s maid talk to you about something?”

“So you made her talk, so much for confidentiality.”

“I knew some things so I didn’t have to work that much to convince her.”

“I bet you offered to help her, didn’t you?”

“I want to see how strong those people are.”

“Then let’s see how good you are.”

Maria took out a dagger and took her stance. The stance was similar to Ellen’s and if she knows half the moves Ellen does then I’m going to lose fast.

I took out my dagger and prepared for her to attack.  Maria came at me aiming for my throat; I parried it and tried to counter attack. I too aimed for the throat but Maria blocked my attack and used the force of the impact to put some distance between us. She is faster than I thought and she’s not pulling her punches. She was attacking me from all sides while constantly moving so I was forced to back away after each strike.

I closed the distance between us and repeatedly attacked her. Every attack was aimed at one of her vital points yet she was able to block my attacks and push me back. Her body enchantment was stronger than my empowerment and I had trouble keeping up with her speed. I had to stop after each attack to make sure she won’t hit me.

We’ve been sparring for some time and I wasn’t even able to scratch her clothes, Maria on the other side was able to scratch both my arms and my neck and I wasn’t fast enough to react.

“I think it’s time to end this.”

I jumped back and kept my guard up.  This was the last attack so it should at least be a good one. I expected her to run towards me but she didn’t. In a second Maria closed the distance so fast that I was only able to see some afterimages before realizing that she was already behind me holding the dagger on my throat.

“This is the end.” Maria put her dagger down.

“What was that, I lost track of you for a second and I was sure you would come front.”

“The last move I used is called Shadow Dash; you use the magic on the ground to accelerate yourself.”

“But you appeared behind me; that’s not possible unless there is something you aren’t telling me.”

“The technique isn’t perfect, that’s why people can use it as they see fit; I use it to speed up my running, perform a feint and then I jump behind my enemy.”

“Liliana is teaching you black magic; where did you learn dark magic?”

“Jaden’s maid isn’t the only person who used to be an assassin but that’s a personal story I don’t intend to share.”

“OK then, how was my test?”

“For somebody with little fighting experience you did well, now you may want to treat the cuts.”

“What cuts?”

The cuts were shallow so it took a few moments for them to heal now that my body realized that I wasn’t in any immediate danger. Maria looked surprised because she didn’t notice when my cuts healed.

“Surprised? I’m not so eager to die in a fight so I won’t pick a fight with somebody I can’t beat.”

“Very well, don’t forget to call us when something happens.”

“Us?”

“The headmistress will participate, after all this is her school.”

“If something happens I will come and get you.”

“How about another round?”

“I’m in.”

The second round was more of a demonstration; Maria dashed around me waiting for the perfect moment to strike. My body empowerment was at full power and I still couldn’t keep up with her. She uses the afterimages to distract me while she prepares to strike. I could predict where she would strike but I was not fast enough to act.

I jumped around so much that I started getting tired. Maria’s aura was visible, thing that rarely happens when you fight with spells. While I was thinking about her aura she took that opportunity to attack me and almost cut my right hand’s fingers off.

“You really want to see how fast can I heal?”

“I wanted to see if you can keep up with me.”

“When I figure out who’s the afterimage and who’s the real you I will be fine.”

“Good, because then I can go faster.”

Oh great, that was the only thing I didn’t want to hear. I’m already burning too much of my magic as it is. I was already out of breath and Maria shows signs of fatigue, I think it’s about time to end this.

I purposely lowered my guard, giving her an opportunity to attack then I used all my magic on one last counter attack. It was the same thing I did when I fought the black wolf; the only difference was that when my veins turned black I felt an adrenaline surge through my body.

Maria took the bait and attacked me; for a split second I was able to see her and countered her attack sending her dagger flying. The last attack pushed Maria back but the technique was too stressful on my body, making me lose my balance, falling on my knees and dropping my dagger.

“So…How was…that?”

“It was unexpected; I thought you were too tired for an attack like that, still it was a good strategy.”

“Thanks.”

I was on my knees, breathing heavily but I didn’t pass out so that means I’m slowly getting used to this. This time I was lucky she took the bait otherwise I would have collapsed without doing anything.

“Need any help?”

“Just give…me a few minutes to rest.”

“Alex, next week you are getting a library permit.”

“Good. I’m going to go back to my room, I am too tired talk.”

“Good night.” I left Maria in the courtyard and headed to my dorm room.

Sometime next week I’m getting a library permit soon I will be able to study this world. If there is no Demon King to defeat I’m thinking of becoming a merchant or an information broker.

When I reached the dorm I saw the window closed, that’s strange…Wait; what if something happened?

I ran to the dorm room expecting trouble but the only thing I saw was Mir opening the window. When she saw me she closed the window.

“Welcome back.”

She watched me as I fell flat on the bed. I was expecting something bad to happen so I ran like an idiot.

“Is there something wrong; did I surprise you?”

“Assassins, nights and tired people don’t go very well together.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not going to happen now, I expect it to happen in a few months when they gather enough information.”

“So can I rest easy tonight?”

“Yes.”

I was too tired to care anyway so that will have to do tonight.