*ding!*

[Congratulations. Image Stealer has reached Level 11. You have been awarded 3 stat points.]

Meera decided to go through her notifications from yesterday. After all, she had gotten six kills, so she was expecting some good things and, hopefully, a new skill. But she was sorely disappointed.

She looked through the notifications and found she had gotten one Monkey Fist, one Climbing, and three more Tail Whips. She wondered if these monkeys would eventually give her some skill related to the assassin-type class, but so far, no such luck. Maybe these three are all the skills they have.

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Image Stealer has reached Level 12. You have been awarded 3 stat points.]

She put her points into Dexterity and Perception, as she figured she needed it to handle her two chakrams and assassins needed to be wary of their surroundings. She hoped she was doing the right thing.

She left her tent and joined the brothers for breakfast, which was nothing but stew—monkey meat stew. She would kill to get toast or pancakes if they existed in this world. Even a piece of regular bread would be heavenly. She put the thoughts of bread away and ate her breakfast in peace. Beggars can't be choosers.

Cossus commented on her second chakram, and she explained its ability to multiply as she levelled up. There were some raised eyebrows and impressed gestures at that. They wrapped up camp and headed out for the day. They couldn't have been far from getting out of this infernal forest and those monkeys, which had surprisingly not attacked them. Either they had given the monkey the slip, or their numbers had significantly reduced.

Meera waited patiently for her training to begin, but neither brother said anything about it, as if they had forgotten the whole thing. Morning turned to the afternoon as the sun blazed high in the sky, which in this world meant that it was half blocked by the planet Mirithia. And then there were the rings or the Great Dragon Aetheron. Every time she saw them, it quickened her heartbeat. How could a thing of such beauty be supposed to destroy not one but three worlds?

After walking some more, Silas called for them to stop and take their mid-day meal. The trees in this area had thinned even further.

"Looks like we're running out of the forest," Meera commented to start a conversation.

"Hmm," Silas looked around as if noticing for the first time. "Not really. We're still two days away from clearing the forest, and then it's another half-day journey to Belacre."

Meera's jaw dropped. "We're that far away."

Silas nodded. "Yes, we're quite deep. The woods of Rothedon mark the end of the known world, at least on Rhione. They cover the entire eastern end."

"No one knows what lies beyond these woods?" Meera asked. "No one's even taken a ship to map the world."

Cossus snorted. "We know what lies beyond, which is why everyone stays very far away from the Rakinyes."

"The what?" Meera frowned.

Cossus rubbed his temples. "Sometimes, I hate how much you're not from around here."

"In simpler terms, as the people would know them, they're soul-eating demons," Silas said. "It is said they grant you a wish for your soul. Some also say the goddess Midiea shoved them to the corner of this world when she was fashioning this world. But every so often, one of them leaks out to cause havoc. Anything past Rothedon's Fist is their territory. Venture past that, and you're as good as dead."

Cossus sniffed loudly. "I've never heard of anyone coming back to the side of the living once they make it past the Fist."

"And how far are we from this Rothedon's Fist?"

"Oh, we have nothing to worry about. We're many days away from the Fist. You've been closer to it than we've ever been. Remember those crooked trees by the mirror? The Fist is right around there."

Meera blanched. If she had gone the wrong way from there, she would have been resting comfortably in a demon's belly. To think demons are real in this world.

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"But I think that is not what we should be discussing," Silas said. "Your training. That is the real topic you wished to discuss, no?"

Meera nodded quickly.

Silas gave her a small smile. "You've shown remarkable patience in keeping quiet about it so far. That is the first thing you must learn when to be an assassin—patience. Sometimes an assassin has to wait for days in the shadows for their prey to rear its head, and when they do, that is when we strike."

"What about skills?" Meera asked. "Those are going to be a problem for me, aren't they?"

"I've been meaning to try something for a few days. Take off your chakram and give me a slight cut on my arm." Silas lifted the sleeve of his right and presented her with his arm.

She took off the chakram on her right arm and held it in her hand.

"Now, be careful not to cut too deep," Silas reminded her.

She did her best not to cut him too deeply. She left a small cut on his forearm, barely above a scratch. A single drop of blood leaked out from its edge. She raised her eyebrows as she had just touched his skin. But the strange thing was that it did not cut her when she inspected her new one last night. Maybe it only cuts other people…

"So, what did you get?" Silas asked.

She waited patiently for the familiar bell but nothing. A minute later, she shook her head, doing her best to hide her disappointment.

"Hmm," Silas rubbed his chin. "Maybe you can only get one skill from one person."

"That's…annoying."

"Ha!" Cossus barked a laughed. "The girl can steal practically any advanced skill from anyone without working for it and is disappointed that she can only get one skill per person."

As much as she hated how he said it, Cossus had cut to the heart of it. She hoped to get all of Silas' skills and become a full-fledged assassin.

"Looks like my journey to assassin is not going to be easy," Meera said, trying to keep her disappointment from her voice.

"Unfortunately not, but we can still get you one more skill," Silas said, smiling at his brother.

Cossus looked between the two of them as if they had just asked him for his kidney, then he finally sighed. "Oh, alright." He lifted his shirt and offered his forearm to her. "Well, let's hope you don't get my Cat-Calling skill."

Meera paused. "You have that as a skill?"

"Yes," Silas answered. "Along with the Dumbass skill."

"At least you didn't give the girl the Scaredy-Cat skill."

"Okay, boys, let's stay focused." Meera cut in before things got out of hand like they usually did with these two. She left a similar cut on Cossus' arm, though she had to resist the urge to go just a bit deeper.

*ding!*

[Class ability activated. You have stolen the skill Eagle Eye. Eagle Eye – Type: Passive. You have gained the eyes of an eagle, and with it comes the ability to perceive details, spot distant objects, and observe your surroundings with incredible precision. Would you like to learn this skill?]

"I got Eagle Eye," Meera announced.

"Dammit," Cossus cursed. "You know how long it took me to evolve my Hunter's Sight to that."

"Don't mind him," Silas said. "That is an excellent skill for any class. It should help you on your path."

Meera beamed and accepted the skill.

*ding!*

[You have acquired the skill: Eagle Eye – Level 1]

"Now, can we begin training?"

"Not so fast," Silas said. "First, tell me what skills you got from the monkeys. You've killed a fair share of them."

So, Meera told him about the three skills she had gotten from them. Now that she thought about it, it was odd that even the animals had skills, but then again, there was a literal Saturn-sized planet hanging overhead whose rings were supposed to wake and eat them one day. Of course, Cossus couldn't resist making a crude comment about Monkey Fist.

Silas tapped a finger on his chin as he pondered something. After several moments, he finally said, "Climbing is good. It will help you in many situations—lots of places for an assassin to climb. Tree Walker is mostly situational. Still not too bad. Monkey Fist seems like a melee move, but maybe we can work with it."

"But I told you, I don't want to be in many hand-to-hand combat situations," Meera said.

The Hunter scoffed. "Clearly, Earth is a rosy place where everyone gets along. Well, Bait, you don't get to decide when you have to use your fists, rather than just killing someone from afar."

"It might be a rough way of putting it, but he's right," Silas said. "You're going to have to learn some close combat moves to save yourself."

Meera hung her head. "Okay…"

"But before we do that, I want to test something," Silas said. "Meera, go punch that tree as hard as you can."

She frowned. "What?"

"You heard me. Now get to it."

Meera stood and dusted herself off. She punched that tree with everything she had, fully expecting it to break and hurt…a lot. But none of that happened. At most, she felt a dull pain in her hand. The tree, however, shook as if she had taken a pole to it. The leaves and some thin branches shook violently.

She looked down at her Fist incredulously. "When did I get that strong?"

"It's the skill," Silas answered. "It's actually for monkeys which are, pound for pound, much stronger than us, and of course, your strength also adds to it. Remind me, what is your strength attribute?"

She quickly checked and replied, "Twelve."

"Hmm, that's low. You should raise it a little bit more. On the other hand, we could combine the skill with Dexterity and get even more out of it.

"Huh?" Meera and Cossus said at the same time.

Silas snorted. "Hold one of your chakrams in your hand and then use the Monkey Fist skill."

"I can do that?"

"Let's find out."

"But wouldn't it break?" Meera realized.

"Let's find out."

Meera did as he asked. She clutched the mirror chakram in her Fist. The sharp edge pressed against her palm, and she hoped that the punch didn't push the chakram through her hand. She drew a deep breath and, using Monkey Fist, punched the tree.

Her eyes widened as her chakram did some weird things. First, it did not break or rip her hand in two. Second, it went more than halfway through the tree trunk. When Meera pulled it out of the tree, there was not even a scratch on the glass.

Both the brothers stared, eyes wide.

"What is in that mirror?" Cossus commented.

Silas' smile slowly turned into a grin. "We have work to do."