From the beginning, Mr Samuel has struck me as someone odd. He is the head of a major guild in the city, responsible for possibly a hundred people, running an operation that spans the whole kingdom by daylight, and going on even more missions by night. I have been with him for quite some time now, yet I have never seen an actual mission or Assassination take place. I once tried getting a mission from him like that, but he simply laughed me off and said that I was too weak.

Point taken, I didn't disregard his comment since it was true. But can't I at least go on a simplistic mission that didn't involve killing someone? I further mentioned this to him, yet he shut me down once again and told me to get a drink for him. Of course, as a strong-headed person, I capitulated and brought his drink.

Speaking of his drinking, he was running such a major operation, yet why was he always at the bar? I saw his office and it was stacked with so much paperwork that it was enough to build a fort. Never once did I ever see him deal with it. I even suspected that there was someone else heading the whole thing, but it was then deemed as a fantasy later on. I knew that everywhere he went, he went by escort.

Assassins hiding in the dark crevices of the place, watching everything that transpired inside the bar, not failing to protect Mr Samuel. If someone was instead the head of the guild, then there would be no reason for that much protection to be placed on one person unless they were the emperor.

Sure there was the possibility that they were keeping up appearances, but I could see it. I did not even need to look into it even deeper. The way his subordinates look at him, their eyes indicate pure respect and awe. Like a priest that worships their god, or the way a knight is loyal to their master. Appearances can be faked, but loyalty cannot.

I looked around and saw that the Assassins with Mr. Samuel, presumably Alpha Squad, all had looked in Mr. Samuels's direction the moment Aki was about to cast his spell. Their eyes all lingered on him, their legs leaping from the ground as they ignored their enemies and tried making a full dash towards Mr Samuel, yet only failing as they could only watch everything happen. Powerless to do anything except to watch.

Reminds me something. It reminds me of myself.

Gazing back at Aki, who still had a playful smile plastered on his expression, reached out his hand as he signaled for me to come. Well, here I come. Just don't regret it.

I darted towards him, swords in hand, my mana gathering as the sound of thunder wrapped around my entire body. I coldly looked at Aki, as I swung with full force. The sound of his Fan and my swords clash. I took a step back and withdrew, feeling my palms shake from the impact. It felt like I was hitting an actual iceberg, as the cold touch of it tried pervading my body. I breathed and saw my breath become icy.

“You have trained a lot I see. Good, that's good. Because if you weren't, then the fun would drop by a lot.”

He giggled, blasting a vast amount of cold air towards me. I manipulated the thunder and used it to break the ice that formed around my body. It kept my body warm, yet I felt that it was not a long-term solution. Based on previous experiences, a prolonged fight with Aki was disadvantageous to me. I have to end it fast somehow.

Aki had a smiling expression as he looked at me, as he said.

“Sharp as ever I see. You are indeed a fun one. Too bad you are still a fledgling bird that still hasn't flown. Don't believe me, watch this.”

He backed away, widening the distance for some reason. Yet I knew better than to let him do what he wanted. I tried sticking close and slashing my swords yet it all seemed futile. He blocked everything, and in one instance he parried my attack, flinging my one sword to the side, as he kicked me. I crashed into the Titanic iceberg, yet I didn't even make a big enough impact to crack it open.

In the distance, Aki was casting a spell, and I wanted to interrupt him but I wouldn't make it in time. I was proven right, as in a few seconds, the weather from up above changed. The once sunny, bright sky was no more. Replaced with a swirling mass of clouds, gathering in one spot. Its appearance was like an eye of the storm, except the eye of the storm of what was in front of me was creating something horrific.

“{Yuki’s Breathe}”

Aki’s voice echoed in the forest, as the surrounding area started freezing. If any life from his previous attack survives, then this is making sure that none will survive. Any semblance of life seemed to have been reaped. In the swirling mass of frozen death, something started emerging from it.

Warning bells started ringing in my head. The first thing that came out was a hand, its exterior smooth and pure white like it was a woman's hand. Then came another hand with the same appearance as the other. Finally, the whole body started descending. Its head was next, and it was indeed a woman. But it was a woman that was the size of a tornado. Its face was free of blemishes, its eyes were closed and a gentle smile was formed on its face. She was beautiful, it was like she was the incarnation of what the beauty of winter means.

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And I was facing its other side. Its disaster. It looked at me, no expression changing, as she blew a gust of wind to me. That's the thing, the gust of wind’s temperatures was enough to freeze me to death. There was no dodging. There was no running. I had to face it.

I closed my eyes, drew in a deep breath, and focused. All external sensories started to disappear. I felt like I was back inside of my mind, silent as my surroundings were pitch black. I sheathed my sword as if I were drawing it, reversed my grip, and gathered my mana. The sound of crackling thunder disappeared, and what replaced it was something else. It felt like it was my mana.

Not mana that was from another [Class] but from my own [Class.] I had no idea what the specifics of my class were. All I knew was that it allowed me to embody any class I wanted. But instinctually, I knew that there had to be more. Like every other [Class] was a side quest that built up to the main quest. And that main quest was my primary [Class]. In my life-or-death situation, it was making its presence known. I started to feel what that was. I tried reaching my hand out and grabbing it, but it seemed that it was so far away. Only letting me see what it could be, but not showing me what it truly was.

That was enough.

Ignorant of what was happening, my [Lexicon] started flipping through its pages, glowing a deep purple color, as it stopped and landed on a specific page. Without even seeing the name of the spell, I uttered its incantation.

“[Void Severance]”

I snapped my eyes open and sliced my swords in a blink of an eye. It made no sound. As it silently traveled in the air and split apart the incoming wintery breath. It did not stop, cutting the icy woman in half. Even as it was sliced in half, it made no change of expression as it started vanishing, its closed eyes seemingly directed at me.

Just when the icy woman was gone, she followed the sound. It was the sound of the air being sliced, as everything in front of me was cut. Even the gathering blizzard and the iceberg was sliced in half. Parts of it started falling, making a crashing sound as it landed on the ground. My twin swords then vanished, and my body shook, as it so desperately screamed at me to just fall to the ground. I overexerted myself again. God knows how long I have to stay in bed after this. But for now, I have to deal with him first.

I turned my head to Aki, who had a blank expression on his face. The annoying smirk was wiped off, and instead, he looked at me with a puzzled gaze. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of me. He grabbed me by the throat and lifted me in the air.

He looked at me for a few seconds, as I tried breathing but failed. He then opened his mouth and said.

“What are you…”

“Ukh… You.. Bastard.”

Seemingly enraged, he slammed me to the ground and put his fan against my neck. He pushed it further as blood started leaking.

“Answer me. Who are you? What is your [Class]? Are you one of those scum of the earth [Chaos Systema] users?”

I couldn't respond, my eyesight was blurry. My hearing was even worse, as everything that could be considered a sound was like a broken instrument in my ears. It made no sense. I didn't even feel anything in my entire body. But I never did take my eyes off Aki, even though I was seeing five of him, I still tried looking at him.

He seemed to have realized my current state, as he put away his fan. He grabbed me by the collar and started dragging me away. I wanted to resist, but I couldn't even feel my body. Is this the end? Will I end up captured again? Sigh.

Just when I was feeling despair, Aki then stopped and let off the hand that gripped my collar. I lay down on the ground, knowing that I was saved. Even as my consciousness was slipping into the void, I could only see the blurry figure of Mr Samuel.

…

“Still alive I see.”

Samuel nodded, staying silent.

“I'm guessing that you want me to let go of Cosmo.”

He nodded again.

“And as a final ‘request,’ you want my head on a golden platter?”

This time Samuel didn't react, and just drew his blades. Its blade thawing the remaining ice that once froze it. Aki didn't seem to be surprised, expecting that if that's all it took to kill Samuel, then he would have been dead decades ago.

“Well, it was fun. But I still have a job to do. I already got what I wanted.”

Marcus didn't wait and darted toward Aki. He slashed and made an impact, yet the only thing he hit was the snowy mirage of Aki Sunderhall.

“Tch.”

“You can keep the metal by the way. We have a lot of it lying around the corners of the kingdom. Think of it as a consolation prize. Because know this, that child does not where he came from or where he goes. We will have him.”

Samuel didn't look back to where the voice was. He already sensed that Aki was gone. He focused on Comso, sleeping soundly as the injuries that he incurred were just some blood in his neck and some bruises. He looked at the iceberg that was once his prison and saw that the Alpha Squad members were already thawing and escaping from its icy clutches.

Samuel thought that if they couldn't even survive being frozen to death, then he would revive them and kill them himself. The ice was powerful, Samuel admitted it. It took some time to escape, but he eventually did but it seemed that he was barely on time. Any longer and Aki could have escaped with Cosmo. Any number of things could have gone wrong with this mission. Aki could have brought others with him, other enemies from other kingdoms would have ambushed them in the middle of Aki beating up Cosmo.

It was due to Aki’s defects that they were able to survive. Samuel of course took into account Aki’s disgust with working with other Inquisitors. At best, he would work with others more lowly than him but that was it. Samuel sighed, needing a good drink after this.

He stared at Cosmo and thought that he should bring this little pup back to its job. Samuel did need a barista.