The pain Verity felt as Ash’s sword tore through his forearm was unlike anything he had ever felt before. Not that he had a habit of being stabbed, but even when reminiscing of the goblins, it was incomparable. It was as though the blade itself was made of fire, and Verity felt that he was being incinerated from the inside.

He cried out in pain as Ash twisted his sword in Verity’s wound.

“Strange.” Ash stroked his chin, his head tilted in curiosity. “You shouldn’t even be able to feel this.”

Eleanor was the next to come into Verity’s field of view. The tent had been utterly destroyed by Ash’s quick response, and now Verity was completely exposed to the outside world.

She wore a mix of anger and disgust on her face as she stared at Verity. “Did the toxin not work!?” She demanded, her voice sharp enough to cut.

Ash shook his head. “That’s impossible. We confirmed its effectiveness earlier.” With a flick of his finger, Midnight’s tent turned to ashes. Much unlike Verity’s predicament, Midnight seemed to be in a peaceful slumber, unbothered by what was happening next to her.

“See?” Ash told Eleanor.

Verity finally understood the feelings of unease he had felt earlier.

“I knew the whole thing was off…” The pain was numbing Verity’s thoughts, but his anger was palpable. He regretted not having trusted his instincts. He forced his lips to move through the torment and shot a fiery glare toward Ash. “You bastard…”

Ash silenced him with another brutal twist of his sword, sending Verity’s body arching in pain. “Hush now, the adults are speaking.”

Eleanor clicked her tongue, her brows furrowing. “Fine! I’ll confirm it myself!” She said as she stormed toward Midnight, muttering curses under her breath. When she was upon her, Eleanor lifted the hem of her dress, and knelt beside the beast-woman.

“Give me something sharp!” She ordered Ash as she extended a hand.

He quickly tossed her a silver dagger he had stored in his coat. Without a moment’s hesitation, she stabbed the dagger into Midnight’s leg, deep enough so that the blade was no longer visible. The sight of it plunging into Midnight sent a jolt of fear through Verity.

‘This is really bad..!!’ He thought.

He wanted to move, do something, anything. But with Ash pinning him to the ground, that was nothing more than a hopeless struggle.

Midnight, however, did not even react. Although her thigh was now pouring rivers of blood, her slumber remained unperturbed.

By all means, this should have calmed Eleanor’s worries, but it only increased her agitation

She whipped her head toward Verity, looking him straight in the eyes. “Why the hell can you move!? Is it a skill?”

“That’s not possible. The toxin clearly affected him earlier. Without the antidote, he would have died. I’m certain of it.” Ash corrected Eleanor.

This only aggravated her even further. “Then explain this! This was supposed to be perfect! What if something else went wrong!?” She clawed at her hair, her nails digging through her scalp. “If we screw up and father learns of it…!!” Her voice faltered, bordering panic.

Ash’s eyes narrowed, as he stared at Verity who was writhing in pain at his feet. “Two explanations I can think of.” He twisted the sword, earning another scream from Verity. “One, he gained a skill within then and now, which is extremely improbable. Or two… he has some sort of adaptive type skill. Though they’re extremely rare, and most in existence are class exlusi-”

Eleanor’s fingers found themselves in her mouth as she furiously tore through her nails. “Spare me the adventurer jargon!” She hissed. “Couldn’t the beast woman have something like that!? What if she wakes up soon??”

Again, Ash shook his head. “As I said, that’s not possible. Midnight’s class is Thief to begin with, which doesn’t have any skills like that” His tone was deliberate, as if speaking to a child. “Lady Eleanor, It’s centered around stealth and shadows, not resistance.” He paused as his gaze drifted to Midnight. “...the only way she could have resisted the toxin is if she had an external skill for it in the first place, which we confirmed she didn’t. And as you verified yourself, the toxin is having the expected effect on her” He turned back to Verity.

“I think the most likely explanation is that… this man had a poison resistance skill on the verge of leveling up before he was exposed to the toxin, and the level up made it strong enough to resist it…” He smirked, his voice laced with malicious amusement. “Miraculous timing… or terrible luck. Depending on how you see it.”

Eleanor was undoubtedly not seeing the amusement in the situation. “You think this is funny!?” She paced back and forth going through scenarios in her mind. “What if he contacted someone, or what if-” She was muttering to herself, her heart racing furiously.

Seeing her, Ash couldn’t help but sigh and roll his eyes. It was always like this with her. Ash already knew that she had a few screws loose, based on the other ‘jobs’ he had helped her with, but every time something deviated even slightly from the plan, she just completely lost it.

If it wasn’t for the safety and credibility her name provided, he would have left long ago. ‘It’s fine. I won’t be with her much longer.’ He thought, as he lifted his gaze from the panicking noble lady.

What met him when he glanced back at Verity however, wasn’t a look of terror, like he had expected. Instead the man, the Planewalker really, was smirking, chuckling, even.

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Ash raised an eyebrow. “Have you lost it too?” He asked the black-haired man.

Evidently, Verity was in unimaginable pain, but he still found the strength to chuckle hoarsely, and indulge Ash with an answer. “Nah just…I also used to have a crazy, annoying boss. Total pain in the ass.” He told Ash, a smirk plastered on his face.

For a moment, Ash blinked. Then, he scoffed, and the scoff turned into a chuckle, only to end up as genuine laughter. He laughed loudly, even clutching his stomach. It was so out of character for him that Eleanor was brought back from her spiraling panic. She turned toward the crimson haired adventurer, confusion in her eyes. The joke hadn’t been that funny, but what really amused him was that this man could make jokes in his situation.

Well, Ash knew part of the reason as to why Verity didn’t seem as afraid as he should have been, though he still planned on playing along for now.

Eventually, when his laughter died down. Ash wiped a tear from his eye and stood up. “You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that.” He pulled the sword out of Verity’s forearm, and dragged him by his collar, only to sit him up against a rock.

‘Damn… I’m even further from the spear now…’

Ash crouched in front of Verity, Eleanor standing close behind him. “Frankly, I wanted to know how you did it, out of pure curiosity, but I don’t think we have time for that.”

He pressed his blade against Verity’s neck, drawing a trickle of blood. His gaze was cold, and there was an eerie tone in his voice. “You know how this ends, don’t you? You could have died peacefully in your sleep, but I’ll just have to kill you now…”

Verity closed his eyes, feigning resignation. “Do what you have to do...”

Though he seemed resolved to die, Verity obviously wasn't. His eyes were closed, and he seemed calm, but his heart was racing. No one was ever ready to die, no matter what they claimed.

‘Please… please don’t notice…!’

No, instead, Verity was relying on something. He had just obtained it, and he wished he could have used it for something more important, but this was as good as any other situation. Verity was relying on the sole effect of the ring he had gotten from his sponsor. It could save him from death once. He wasn’t sure how exactly it worked, but the effect description couldn’t be clearer.

Now, he just had to pretend that he wasn’t planning on fighting back and that he had accepted his fate, and this guy would surely kill him. Then, hopefully, the way the effect manifested would give Verity the chance to either escape or return to his original plan to activate [Vow of Fire].

Seeing the young man who had seemingly accepted death, Ash scoffed. Did this planewalker think Ash was stupid?

He slicked his hair backward as he began. “As an adventurer. It’s expected that the first skill you obtain from the guild is [Appraise]. It’s inexpensive and crucial to the job. They learn to use it on anything and anyone they encounter during their missions.”

Verity’s eyes widened, but Ash continued.

“What do you think I did when I first met you?” He stared into Verity’s eyes, his crimson pupils basking in the moonlight. “Level 7 it said. Imagine my surprise when it told me that your class was ‘hidden’, and when all your skills were ones I had never heard of before… but can you guess what I did find.”

‘Sh*t!’ Verity knew he had been seen through. Mustering all of his strength, he rushed toward his spear, leaving Ash behind. He knew he wouldn’t make it, but he had to try.

‘Just a bit mo-’

The crimson haired adventurer quickly caught up to him, however, sending him crashing into the ground with a wave of his hand. The impact sent a shockwave through Verity’s body, causing him to spurt out a handful of blood, and clouding his vision.

Ash continued. “That spear of yours…” He whistled. “Refined, with no less than two effects at that. This would go for millions of gold coins at an auction house, but that wasn’t what caught my attention the most.” He leaned down, grabbed Ash’s left hand, and pulled the ring off of his finger. “No, it was this. An ordinary ring at first glance, but all that I saw when I tried to appraise it was… a question mark.”

He put it to Ash’s face. “It’s special, isn’t it?” Ash asked him.

Verity’s face contorted, which made Ash sneer. “I’m right, aren’t I? Is this what you were counting on?”

“What’s happening!? What’s so special about the ring!?” Eleanor asked, confused by the whole situation, and especially by the generally cold and stoic Ash’s demeanor.

Ash inspected it closely, his foot pressing Verity against the cold grass. “No idea, but I doubt he’ll be a threat without it.” He turned to Verity. “What happens if I kill you now?”

Verity could only bite his lip until blood trickled. He had no ‘out’ for this situation. None of his skills would help him, Ash had taken the ring, and Verity doubted it would work if he wasn’t wearing it. Tears started to well up in his eyes. Some part of it was fear, some sorrow, but most of it was frustration.

He felt that he was going to die here, without accomplishing anything, and that frustrated him to no end.

His fist smashed into the ground. ‘F*ck, f*uck, f*ck!!’

In his desperation, his lips parted, and he turned his head toward Ash. “Listen! You don’t have to-”

“Shut up.” In an arc of searing fire, Ash’s sword cut through Verity’s neck, ending his life almost instantaneously.

He heard a few faint words as his brain shut down. “You idiot!! Now he’s damaged goods!! Do you have any idea how much less they’ll pay for this! Are you [...]”

Verity died.

***

[...]

His heart was pounding, but he knew he could do it. He instinctively knew that he could not activate the effect from a distance, meaning that he had to be in direct contact with the spear. Thankfully, it was awfully close. He just had to be careful.

Slowly, without making a sound. He absolutely needed to take them by surprise. From the glimpse he had gotten earlier, Verity was certain that facing Ash in a direct confrontation was the same as asking for death.

Suddenly, a headache overcame him.

[The skill Lesson Learned is being activated.]

He knew what this meant. Something was about to happen. He was in danger. Fighting through the headache, he listened closely to the voice in his ear, but no such thing came. No, instead, Verity's world went blank, and a scene was displayed before him.

It was hazy, fragmented, and only showing silhouettes, but this one he understood. The scene showed what he could only guess to be him lying down in the tent. Then, in an explosion of impossible speed, someone impaled him through the forearm. However, something had happened between the two. There was no sound in the scene, and it was hard to tell, but Verity could see that something had startled him, causing him to be noticed.

As abruptly as it came, the scene disappeared, and Verity was back to reality.

[The usage of the skill Lesson Learned has been successful. You have gained exp.]

He knew it. He only had a few more seconds before he was impaled. What would startle him so much that it would cause him to be noticed? He didn’t really have the time to think about it, so he covered his mouth, flexed all his muscles, and braced for whatever it was.

What happened next was almost too stupid to be true. Verity felt something crawl up his leg, and before he could understand what it was, it bit him, sending a wave of pain coursing through his body.

But he was ready this time. His body shifted because of the pain, but he held his voice in, albeit barely. He waited for a moment, making sure that he had not been discovered, and internally sighed with relief when he realized that the two outside were still discussing.

There was only one thing left for him to do. He slowly placed his hand on the spear. Still being as careful as possible, as to not be found. Then, he grabbed it, and pointed it to where he believed Eleanor to be from the sound of her voice.

Cold sweat running down his face, and his hands trembling, he felt his energy being drawn into the spear as he activated its most destructive effect.

‘[Vow of Fire]!’