Edric, a Silver Knight, moved with extraordinary speed and precision. In mere moments, he arrived at the West Gate, his swift and purposeful movements showcasing the natural strength and agility inherent to the Silver Knights—an impressive feat even for one like Edric, who lacked formal training.

From his position atop the roof of a tall building, Edric squatted down, carefully observing the scene below. As a Silver Knight, his movements were feather-light, and his breathing was so controlled it was almost soundless. He was confident that even the other Silver Knights couldn’t hear or sense him—at least, that’s what he wanted to believe. At a distance of over 300 feet, it would have been extraordinary if they detected the faint noises he made.

From his vantage point, Edric surveyed the scene. Below, he spotted seven Silver people. Among them, he immediately recognized his mother. Five others were knights who had come to assist her. The last figure, however, stood out—draped in black clothing, unmistakably one of the assassins.

Edric thought, "So, the assassins have finally arrived." He stayed exactly where he was, making no move to interfere. There were six Silver Knights on his mother’s side, and they certainly didn’t need his help. Besides, he could not explain his Silver Knight power without exposing his secret.

The truth about his system was an absolute secret—something he couldn’t risk revealing, not even to his mother. Edric was sure that while his mother wanted him to succeed, her priorities would change if she discovered his ability to quickly improve and strengthen himself. She would assume he had a treasure or a method to grow stronger and would undoubtedly try to claim it for herself.

Edric’s thoughts darkened. "If she could make herself a Golden Knight, why would she place her hopes on me? Everyone is selfish in the end... Maybe not everyone, but Lyria certainly is."

He knew his mother well. The reason she pushed him so hard since he was a child wasn’t out of love or genuine care—it was out of ambition. She wanted a talented and powerful descendant for her future. Edric understood this all too well. She had other children, both legitimate and illegitimate, but she didn’t care for them. Her focus was on him, simply because he had the talent to surpass them all.

Whether it was the Edric before the transmigration or the current Edric, neither was naïve enough to believe in Lyria's maternal instincts. Over the years, she had proven time and again to be pragmatic and rational, always placing her own interests at the forefront.

It wasn’t that Lyria was evil—she did care for her children, to some extent. But when it came to her priorities, her own benefits came first. That was the reality Edric had come to understand. To others, especially the common folk, Lyria might seem heartless or cruel. But to her children, she was not an entirely terrible mother. She cared for them, even if that care was often tied to her desire to use them for her goals.

As Edric pondered Lyria’s motives, the situation below quickly escalated. Without warning, she attacked, slashing toward the assassin with precision and speed. Her sword, infused with a surge of silver internal energy, cleaved through the air. The strike was a ranged attack that carried an immense force.

The assassin managed to dodge at the last moment, but the power of the attack was undeniable. The sword's strike hit the ground with such force that it left a deep, jagged scar in the earth—proof of the overwhelming energy Lyria had poured into it.

The assassin, clearly aware that he was no match for six silver knights, swiftly jumped onto the wall, leaping out of the city with impressive agility. Without hesitation, Lyria and the other five silver knights pursued him, sprinting after the assassin; their movements perfectly synchronized as they chased him beyond the city walls.

Edric hesitated, weighing the risk of chasing after them or staying hidden. After a moment of thought, he decided against it. There were two reasons guiding his choice.

The first was practicality. If he ventured out into the open, his chances of remaining unseen would be slim. The towering buildings offered some cover, but he might struggle to conceal his tracks once he stepped outside. Exposing his secret system would place him in grave danger, risking the kind of exposure he couldn’t afford.

The second reason was strategic. Lyria and the five silver knights were more than capable of handling one assassin. Edric did not doubt their capabilities. If the situation were a trap too complex for them to manage, his presence wouldn’t make much of a difference. Staying hidden would be the wiser choice. It would allow him to be a fresh force in case of an emergency—ready to step in at the right moment. Of course, he’d need to conceal his identity, perhaps by wearing a mask or using other means of disguise.

Deciding on his course of action, Edric remained hidden at the top of the same building, waiting for his mother's return.

...

Five figures cloaked in dark attire stood on the roof of the tallest building in the city, exchanging wary glances. Their demeanour was unmistakably suspicious, marking them as individuals of ill intent. These were the five assassins from the notorious Wind Slash group.

The assassins' names mirrored the icy mystery of their existence. One went by the moniker //11, another by //15, and a third by //7. The fourth and fifth were identified as //10 and //3. There was also //19, though they were conspicuously absent from this gathering.

The Wind Slash group operated under a rigid code of anonymity. Real names were strictly forbidden; instead, members adopted numeric designations—"slash" followed by a number—indicating their rank within the organization. According to rumours, the ranking system reflected an assassin’s power: higher numbers denoted weaker members, while lower numbers signified greater strength. If a member died, they were removed from the ranking altogether. This meant that //19, the lowest-ranked assassin present, being a Silver-level assassin, implied the group had at least 19 Silver-ranked members.

Every assassin in the group was equipped with a magical item that altered their voice, ensuring even their speech betrayed nothing. Clad in dark garments that completely concealed their identity and gender, they maintained full mobility and unimpeded vision. The only discernible difference among them was their height. While one might attempt to infer their gender based on stature, this was far from reliable—shorter men and taller women ensured such guesses were often misleading.

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One of the assassins, known as //3, turned to the other four and spoke, his voice laced with confusion. "It’s really strange. The magic equipment isn’t working at all. We can’t find the target."

The others exchanged uneasy glances, equally puzzled by the malfunction. They, too, were at a loss as to why 'the Leaf,' their magic equipment used for finding targets, wasn’t functioning. The Leaf was a Silver-level magic tool, an extraordinary piece of equipment capable of detecting anyone below Silver rank within a 10-mile radius. It was highly prized for hunting down hidden targets, especially in cases where enemies tried to escape or remain undetected.

However, the Leaf was not without its limitations. It was not a permanent item; it had only a finite number of uses—10, to be exact. After the 10th use, the equipment would automatically shatter, rendering it useless. Each Leaf was worth millions of silver coins, given its rarity and power.

"The magic equipment can’t detect him," //3 said, his voice carrying a sense of finality. "That only means the target isn’t here. Now that we know he’s not in the city, there’s no reason to stay longer."

He paused for a moment, then issued his command. "Disperse."

The other four assassins nodded in acknowledgment, and within moments, they faded into the shadows. The assassins hadn't considered the possibility that their target, Edric, might have broken through to the Silver rank. It was something no one would have anticipated. They had assumed Edric wasn’t present in the city, and that Lyria had hidden him elsewhere.

With their target apparently gone, there was no reason to linger. The assassins weren’t here to destroy the Windwalker family. They were here for one purpose only—Edric’s death. The moment they took his life, they would leave. They weren’t mercenaries interested in wreaking havoc or making a grand statement. The Darkwind family had only paid for one thing: Edric’s head. That was their mission and nothing more.

Of course, there was a problem. //19, one of the weakest Silver-level assassins in the Wind Slash group, had been captured. His assignment had been straightforward: serve as bait to distract the enemy's Silver Knights and keep them occupied. Yet, now that the group had failed to find and kill Edric, it seemed that //19's sacrifice was in vain.

None of the five assassins were concerned about //19's fate. The group had a notorious reputation. Anyone who dared to kill one of their members would be swiftly avenged. To them, being captured was just a temporary setback. //19 might spend some weeks in prison, but the group would pay the ransom, and he would be freed.

The assassins of the group did not know each other well, nor did they care about each other's survival. They were nothing more than temporary teammates, bound by the same goal for the moment—nothing more, nothing less. Not caring about their teammates meant that none could genuinely trust each other. When faced with a difficult opponent or a dangerous situation, their only concern would be their own survival, and they wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice their comrades if it meant saving themselves.

Everything came at a cost. Anonymity, though valuable for a group like theirs, also carried its own price. How could you trust someone when you couldn’t even see their face or know their real name? Other assassin groups might have members who knew and cared for each other, but Wind Slash was not one of those groups. They valued secrecy above all else, and in doing so, they traded true trust for the convenience of anonymity.

...

Lyria soon returned to the city, racing to Edric's hiding place. She burst into his room, only to find it empty. A wave of unease swept over her. He was gone. She thought, "The assassins must have taken him. But why? Why not kill him on the spot? What could they possibly want with him alive?"

She quickly ran through the possibilities in her mind. Could they be planning to blackmail her? If it were something reasonable, she would pay the ransom without hesitation. But if their demands were absurd—like a million gold coins—she wouldn't be able to meet them even if she wanted to. After all, even the Marquis of the Windwalker family didn’t have that kind of money.

But before she could think further, a voice from behind interrupted her thoughts.

"Mom, you’re here? I was waiting for you," Edric said calmly.

Lyria spun around, startled. She had checked the entire room before but hadn’t seen him. Yet now, there he was, standing right behind her.

"Where were you? Why didn’t I find you?" she asked, still bewildered.

"I was downstairs training," Edric replied nonchalantly.

Lyria eyed him suspiciously. She had looked downstairs, too and hadn’t found him. But at that moment, questioning his whereabouts seemed trivial. The real issue was that five assassins were out looking for him. They might even have magic equipment to track him.

With five assassins actively searching for Edric, possibly with the help of a mysterious magic item, Lyria realized her options were increasingly limited. She could no longer keep him in a hidden location. The assassins likely had some means of tracking him. If she hid him in a secluded building and left, there was a very real risk that they would find him quickly and kill him.

Therefore, any plan Lyria devised from this point on had to include keeping Edric with her at all times. Her current strategy involved taking him along, accompanied by the five Silver Knights. Even when they faced the assassins, they would have to protect Edric while simultaneously engaging in battle. It was the only viable option. There was no other way to ensure his safety.

Lyria secured her sword on her back, stepped out of the room, and began moving swiftly alongside the other five Silver Knights, who were not far from the building. The plan was simple—find the assassins. It would be ideal if they could locate them one by one. Given that the assassins were now hunting for Edric, it was possible that they had dispersed, and so, if they were lucky, Lyria and her knights might encounter them individually. That would give them the upper hand. But, of course, such a scenario was far from guaranteed.

Despite their efforts, the search stretched into a full day and night—24 hours of relentless searching. But they found nothing. No signs, no clues. It was as if the assassins had disappeared completely, or perhaps had abandoned their mission.

That night, Lyria, the five Silver Knights, and Edric all slept in the same room. It was a matter of life and death now, so concerns about propriety or discomfort were irrelevant.

After several days of being holed up together, it was finally determined that the assassins had left. However, Lyria and the knights couldn't afford to let down their guard completely. Despite the apparent retreat of the assassins, there was no clear reason why they had disappeared so suddenly.

The knights decided to stay another week before they even considered leaving. They couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. There was no logical explanation for why the assassins had given up. Lyria mulled over the possibilities, and the knights did the same. But none of them could devise a convincing reason for the sudden halt in the assassins' pursuit.

It seemed as though the assassins might have been intimidated by the six Silver Knights' strength and feared that they wouldn't just fail but might actually be killed in a confrontation. But Lyria couldn't bring herself to believe that the assassins had simply been scared off. If they were so easily intimidated, why would they choose such a dangerous line of work in the first place? Assassins were trained to face death head-on, not run from it.

After two weeks of cautious waiting and constant vigilance, Lyria and the five Silver Knights finally made the decision to take Edric to Marquis Windwalker's castle. The Darkwind family’s assassins were still possibly out there, and it was too easy for them to find him in such an exposed location.

The Marquis's castle, however, was a different matter. Strong and fortified, it was equipped with defenses capable of detecting even Silver Knights trying to infiltrate. It was the safest place for Edric at this point.