As I swiveled with an arrow drawn, alert for any foes who might come into view, I pulled up my list of slotted [Skills] in the corner of my vision.
[Dominated Skills - Slots Available 2/6
Photosynthesis
Haste
Air Step
Healing Light]
Huh, looks like I can slot another [Skill] now. I wonder if that’s part of increasing the mastery on [Skill Dominance]? Either way, I still don’t have any ranged [Skills] in there, so maybe I should slot [Psyknife]? It doesn’t have the range of my bow, but it seems pretty useful. Then again… I’ve never used it. Is now the time? Might as well check the description real quick.
[Psyknife allows the user to form blades of psionic energy at a cost of five mana per blade. The user’s Wits stat determines the range they can be thrown before disappearing as well as the amount of damage they deal, either ranged or in melee. Unlike normal blades, those produced by this Skill do not have any physical mass and cannot be used to deflect blows. As a psionic Skill, this ability may be used without verbally invoking its name, even at low mastery levels.]
Damnit, until I get a [Skill] to use with my bow, I might as well not use it. Not only can I throw them farther than I can shoot an arrow accurately, but they’ll do way more damage than my pitiful [Might] could because they trigger off of [Wits]. Hopefully all those hours of training will serve me well with the blades.
With a thought, I slotted [Psyknife] before stowing my bow in my storage ring. Another thought later and I had a pair of purple and green energy blades in my hands. “Gotta be careful, I used most of my Mana on summoning the elementals, so I’ve only got enough for ten more blades.”
To my left, Ylsa cracked her knuckles and pressed them together, when they separated they were coated in blue and silver energy. “[Storm Knuckles], one of my Class’ [Unique Skills].”
I knew [Skill Dominance] triggered, but ignored the window it generated. I’d check it out after the fight was over.
“[Arcane Battery]!” Jaegan yelled and a score of glowing orbs of all sorts of colors surrounded him. I looked over at him and found him grinning like a little kid. “Leave these interlopers to me, it’s been far too long since I got to fight someone worthy of my time.”
I mean, from his nickname, I figured he was a combat [Mage], but did he really need to set up an [Arcane Battery]? Those things are used to lay siege, not for fighting a group of spies and/or assassins.
Another elemental died just before it was about to break through into the clearing and a black blade fell from its disintegrating body. Behind it, I saw a robed figure for a moment before they faded back into the shadows. For most people, it wouldn’t have been enough, but my family pushed me and I evolved my [Analyze] into [Essence Reading] before my System day.
[Name: Assassin #5 (Wendell Woods)
Race: Human
Class: Assassin - Rare - Rank C
Level: 19
Emotional Status: Determined/Focused]
Not sure if that means there are four more [Assassins] or if that’s just what Wendell goes by. The elementals confirmed four targets, so maybe he was the fifth?
“There’s at least four [Assassins], if not five or more!” I flopped onto my back an instant before a black blade whizzed through where my neck would have been if I hadn’t followed my instincts. “Number five’s level nineteen! Be alert.”
“Bah,” Jaegan roared with joy as he let his [Arcane Battery] loose on the forest in front of us. Twenty beams of a variety of colors tore through the trees and underbrush like a scythe through so much ripe wheat. “Taste the painbow!”
As I groaned, I spotted a dark robed figure sneaking up on us out of the corner of my eye as I watched Jaegan’s frankly unreasonable level of firepower level part of the forest. I flicked a finger over my shoulder at the figure and was rewarded as the [Psyknife] sunk into their shoulder.
I expected them to stop moving to deal with the wound or to rush toward me, but instead they locked in place as the purple and green blade in my other hand started to pulse. The figure threw their head back to reveal a stubbled man’s face with a mouth drawn in a mask of abject terror. He stood like that for a few seconds before foaming at the mouth and falling to the ground, unmoving.
“Damn, that was more effective than I thought it’d be.” I hurried to summon a new blade in my free hand as I scanned the area around me. My remaining elementals were all nearly back to the clearing, but instead I yelled out in Auran. “Fight the black robed figures outside the clearing!”
“You got two of them.” Jaegan beamed as he looked over the glowing construct covering the end of his staff with loving eyes. “Old girl’s still got it.”
Ylsa, not to be outdone, dove into the forest with her hands held up in a boxing stance. Ten seconds later she launched another man in a black cloak into the clearing. I stalked over to him and leveled my psychic blade at his throat.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“How many of you are there?” I kept my voice level. “Who are you working for?”
He rubbed his jaw, but didn’t respond. Instead, he palmed a blade from his belt and lunged at me. I slashed the back of his hand and he stopped dead as he started to scream bloody murder.
As I stared at the screaming robed figure, behind him another dark robed figure fell from the sky with a loud crunch. “I got one of them!” Raiju barked happily as she ran circles in the air around us at full size.
I quickly glanced over at the [Statuses] of the three dead bodies and the single man who was still screaming. “Number five is still missing and there’s one other assassin out there.” It looks like he really was the fifth in the group, huh. We have two, three, four, and six here, but one and five are missing. None of them were higher than five’s level nineteen, so we should be able to handle them.
“The air is clear.” Raiju sniffed the air. “There’s one to the west, but they’re moving away really fast. Can I chase them?”
“You’re good to go. Don’t let them get away!” I looked over where Ylsa was bouncing foot to foot. “Keep an eye on Mr. Scream here, I’m going to check in on the rest of my [Sylphs].” I danced backward until my back was against a tree.
With a surge of will, I threw my mind into the strands of Mana attaching me to the remaining six [Sylphs]. It was disorienting at first, having seven viewpoints at once, and I was glad I was leaning against a tree or I definitely would have fallen over. I closed my eyes and everything immediately became clear. It was like I had six System windows open in my mindscape in a three by two grid, each displaying what the remaining [Sylphs] were seeing.
I stood there, just watching those displays for the better part of five minutes until something in my top right view caught my eye. I mentally commanded that [Sylph] to hurry over and check out where I’d seen the flash. The second it pulled around the tree, it was greeted with a blade to the face. It wasn’t enough to kill the small scout, but it was enough to piss it off. It screamed obscenities in Auran and I heard them with my body’s ears as well as in my mind.
My eyes snapped open and locked on Jaegan. “There’s an assassin that way.” I pointed toward where the screaming was coming from. “Can you take care of them from here, or should I send Ylsa?” I looked over at my much larger companion, who was standing over a comatose robed figure. Only the rising and falling of his chest let me know he wasn’t dead because he wasn’t moving at all.
What’d she do to him? I shook my head. Not the time. Focus on the assassins.
“Aye, I can take care of them.” Jaegan gave his staff a quick spin before leveling it toward where I’d pointed. “How high in the air is your summon? I’d hate to hit it with this.”
I closed my eyes to check. “About seven feet, though it looks like the assassin is trying to knock her out of the air, so she might flow up higher.”
“Got it,” a runic circle formed on the end of the old [Mage]’s staff. “[Severing Gale]!” A hellacious green and black blade of wind leapt from Jaegan’s staff tip, expanding to dozens of times the size it was initially as it ripped through trees and bushes like they didn’t exist.
I closed my eyes to check and was immediately unhappy with my decision as I had to watch as the assassin was bisected and then swiftly pounced upon by a trio of [Sylphs] who made damn sure he was dead. I messaged them to bring back anything metal or shiny from his body before opening my eyes again.
“You got him.”
“I know.”
Before I could continue our verbal tennis match, Raiju came back into view and she did not look happy with her tail hanging between her legs. She landed next to me and quickly hung her head as she shrunk back to what I lovingly thought of as camp size.
“I failed.” She whimpered. “He got away.”
I blinked a few times. “How did he outrun you?” With how fast she was, it would have taken a level thirty or so to escape her without some serious gear.
She spat a cracked black gemstone the size of my fist next to my feet. “This glowed bright green and he disappeared.” She nudged it with her nose. “I tried, but I couldn’t smell where he went.” If anything, her tail hung even lower at that point.
I walked over and knelt to give her a big hug around the neck. “It’s OK not to succeed all the time. I’m just glad you tried.” I picked up black gemstone and somehow knew it was a [Spellwrought Emerald], though I had no idea what Spell it might have contained. “Who could afford something like this? Even I know anything that lets you teleport is incredibly expensive.”
Jaegan walked over and snorted when he saw the gemstone in my hands. “These are Verdant’s Shadows. They’re a group of assassins who work for the council behind King Evergreen’s rule.” His eyes grew distant. “The council are the ones who get things done in Verdant, even if everyone blames the king. It’s been years since their dogs captured me and longer even before that since I really knew what they were capable of.”
I looked at him for a few moments before my curiosity boiled over. “How do you know so much about them?”
He let out a hoarse laugh. “That’s easy, I used to be on the council.” His eyes grew wide. “They wouldn’t.” He breathed out before his eyes went wide. “Arthur, did you re-enable your [Status Shield] after showing us the real thing?”
“I should have,” I frowned as I pulled up the menu in the System that I triggered [Status Shield] through and groaned. I rubbed my hands over my face slowly. “No such luck. It was disabled.”
To my left, Ylsa blurred into motion and sent the assassin we had captive slamming into the ground hard enough to make him bounce. She snarled before remembering the company she was in. She bowed deeply. “My apologies, Storm-Blessed.”
I walked over to check on our hostage and groaned even louder when I found him dead. [Healing Light] did nothing, and that was enough to tell me he was dead. I looked Ylsa up and down and was surprised to find her looking demure for once. She really didn’t like what she’d done.
“So, what happened?” I kept my tone even.
She kicked a small rock between her feet and wouldn’t make eye contact. “He woke up and his first reaction was to grab with his arms at max extension.” She took a deep breath and looked away with a huge blush on her light grey skin. “He grabbed the loop of my underclothes and I panicked.” She bowed deeply. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to kill him!”
I patted her shoulder, as it was finally low enough for me to reach, as I guided her to stand again. “It’s OK, Jaegan can probably figure out what they were looking for using whatever we find on their bodies.” I forced a smile to my face despite my displeasure. “It’s all going to be fine.”
Sensing her shame, Raiju padded over and commiserated with Ylsa about their respective failures as she pulled the much larger figure along, away from the corpse of our prisoner.
Tearing my gaze away from the body, I looked over to Jaegan, who had a pensive look on his face. “Copper for your thoughts?” I pulled a coin out and tossed it into his chest.
He didn’t smile and that’s when I knew it wasn’t good. He grimaced. “The council wants us dead, even though we’re going to clear a dungeon that’s about to break. What does that tell you?”
I thought about it for a few moments before gasping. “They want it to break! Why would they want that? So many people would die…”
“Oh, that part’s easy. It’s the reason I left the damn council.” He leaned on his staff as he addressed me with a wan smile. “They’ve been corrupt for generations, taking bribes and stuffing their pockets with gold for the better part of two centuries.”
“Shit.”