We were heading for the fields outside the city, ready to take on the quest of slaying some pesky slimes that had been plaguing the local farms. As we were getting processed past the gates leading out of the city, we overheard a group of military police knights standing nearby talking amongst themselves.

"Did you hear about the Bloody Massacre that happened near Azalea Village?" one of the knights asked the others.

My heart skipped a beat at the mention of our home village.

"The one where they found the mutilated body of Flora, the notorious adventurer killer?" another knight added.

"Yes, that's the one," the first knight said. "Man, I can't believe someone actually managed to defeat Flora. Last I heard, she was raising an army of goblins and masquerading as a guild clerk to lure unsuspecting adventurers to their deaths. Rumour has it that she was even capable of casting some B-tier spells."

"Oy oy, are you serious?" another knight asked in disbelief. "Isn't that only one tier below what even the Imperial Mages at the capital are capable of?"

"Yeah, that's why there was a massive bounty put on Flora's head," the first knight explained. "But apparently, Flora and her goblins were slaughtered like animals in their hideout by a single person. It was a complete bloodbath."

I glanced next to me at Shizu, seeing the stone-cold expression on her face. She didn't seem disturbed at all by the knights talking about her handiwork.

The knights continued to talk, unaware that we were listening in.

"If Flora was that powerful, imagine how strong the monster that killed her must have been," one of them mused. "Thank goodness we're stationed here in Lunaris and not at Azalea Village.

"Azalea Village isn't that far away from here, idiot," another knight added. "For all we know, the killer could have already travelled here to Lunaris."

The knights fell silent, exchanging nervous glances, before breaking out into uneasy laughter.

"Anyways," the first knight said, changing the subject. "The Empire has issued a decree mobilizing the Imperial Mages to hunt for the killer. There's no way they'll be able to escape them."

"Wow! They've seriously sent out the Imperial Mages from the capital?"

"--hear me? Helloooo!"

I broke out of my trance, blinking at the knight standing in front of me.

"Jesus, wake up man. I already processed you," the knight said impatiently. "Stop blocking the line and go through the damn gates already."

"R-Right, sorry about that," I stammered before walking through the gates and catching up with Shizu, who was already waiting for me outside with a smile.

~x~

The farm fields next to Lunaris stretched out before us, a vast expanse of earthy brown surrounded by wooden fences. It was neatly divided into sections based on the type of crop being grown, with small plots dedicated to corn, wheat, and other produce.

So far, I've yet to see a single one of those slimes that were supposed to be terrorising these fields, according to the job posting we had taken from the guild board.

I sighed to myself, sitting down on a nearby rock and using the time to think about my next steps for surviving this isekai world.

From the look of things, it would be a while before we would receive a job high enough ranking for me to fake my death and escape from Shizu. I highly doubted that Shizu would be convinced if I were to fake my death during a slime hunting mission.

Was faking my death still even a possible option?

By this point, I felt like I was already in too deep with Shizu, and the thought of being arrested alongside her for being an accomplice to her violent crimes against society no longer seemed far-fetched.

"What's wrong?" Shizu asked, suddenly appearing beside me and peering into my face.

Shizu's sudden appearance startled me, causing me to nearly fall off the rock I was sitting on. I quickly composed myself and forced a smile, "Nothing, I was just lost in thought. Did you find any slimes?"

Shizu shook her head, one hand shielding her eyes from the sun as she scanned the fields for any signs of the elusive slimes. "No, not a single one," she replied, a hint of frustration in her voice.

We both stood in silence for a few moments, watching the fields and waiting for any movement. But it was clear that the slimes weren't going to make an appearance anytime soon.

"What should we do, Ryuji?" Shizu asked in a sad tone. "If we don't defeat any slimes, then we won't earn any money today. That means we will have to go back to that rundown tavern."

"Don't worry," I said, trying to stay positive. "Let's just wait for another hour. If we still don't spot any slimes, we can always go back to the Adventurers' Guild and pick up another job."

"Okay, Ryuji."

"In the meantime," I said, glancing around at the vast open fields. "How about we do some training together?"

"Ooh, what type of training?" Shizu asked excitedly.

"Hm, what about a sparring match?"

Shizu's face instantly fell, "I... I don't want to fight you, Ryuji..."

I laughed light-heartedly, "It's not a real fight, Shizu. It's just for fun and to help us improve our techniques. Think of it as play-fighting."

The real reason why I was suggesting this insane idea was because I wanted to gauge Shizu's strength and train myself to be stronger than her. If faking my death was no longer an option, I needed to rely on myself and become more powerful. Waiting for someone stronger than her to show up was too unreliable, as Innis had proven.

Having sparring matches with Shizu could prove vital for me, even if it's just to study her movement in combat or patterns in her fighting style. All these bits of information could be pieced together like a jig-saw puzzle, helping me develop the strategy to defeat Shizu for real, if the situation ever called for it.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Shizu gave me a reluctant look, "I don't want to..."

"Please Shizu," I pleaded, not wanting to give up this opportunity. "Do it for me."

"F-fine," Shizu hesitatingly agreed. "If that's what you want, Ryuji."

"Yes!" I exclaimed, pumping my fist in excitement. I stepped back to create some distance between us and turned back to face her. However, I was surprised to see that she was still standing in the same place, without any fighting posture or even her weapon. "Where's your knife?" I asked. I used all of our emergency money to buy Shizu a new knife just before we left the city.

"In my belt," Shizu replied, still looking reluctant.

"Take it out," I said. "And get into a fighting stance. We're starting the sparring match now."

"..."

"Fine," I sighed. "If you're going to be like that..."

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and then felt it. The sensation of tapping into mana was indescribable, like opening a portal to a realm of boundless energy. It sent my heart racing and flooded my body with pure adrenaline, as though I was harnessing an energy that surged and pulsed, a living thing with a will of its own.

As I opened myself up to the energy within me, it crackled like a bolt of lightning, sending sparks of electricity coursing through every inch of my being. It was as if I was a conduit for some divine force, a mere mortal channeling the power of the gods themselves. I savored the sensation, feeling more alive and invigorated than ever before. It was a feeling of pure potential, a sense that I was capable of achieving anything if I only focused my will.

Concentrating my mana to the palm of my right hand, I raised it and aimed it at Shizu.

"Fireba--"

Shizu appeared in front of me with a flash of silver, and I jumped back, clutching my neck with one hand.

Despite the fact that there was no mark on my neck, I could feel how incredibly close her knife had come. It was clear that if she had wanted to, she could have killed me right then and there.

"You're slow, Ryuji," Shizu said. "You need to be less obvious with your spells if you want to catch your target off guard."

"Heh," I chuckled, smiling at her through a grimace. "I didn't think you were actually going to do anything so I wasn't serious that time. This time, I'll go for real."

"Okay."

I kept a close eye on her, waiting patiently for her to make the first move. The only sounds that broke the silence were the cool wind blowing and the faint chirping of insects and birds in the surrounding fields. But still, she remained still and didn't make a move.

I decided to make the first move.

With a sudden motion, I slammed my hand onto the ground, unleashing a shockwave of energy that surged towards Shizu, aiming to paralyze her movements. At the same time, I concentrated my mind on ionizing the air around her, creating a plasma field of lightning sparks that would prevent her from jumping away.

I had been practicing this combination for a while — a two-way spell that impeded movement and could be cast quickly. One thing I learnt about this world was that it wasn't actually necessary to use incantations to cast spells. However, using them could enhance the spell's power since it often helped with concentration.

Shizu was lightning-fast as she dodged to the left, evading my ground attack, then darted right, avoiding the plasma field. Suddenly, she disappeared into thin air, leaving me bewildered. I blinked, and to my surprise, she appeared right in front of me as if she had teleported across the fields. It was almost too much for me to process. How was she able to move that quickly and seamlessly?

I leaped backwards, empowering the gust of the wind to increase my air time and create more distance between us. In mid-air, I channelled my mana to shoot fireballs rapidly at Shizu. Each spell sapped more and more of my mana away, but I didn't hold back, refusing to let her close the distance again.

As we clashed, I could feel her wide violet eyes on me, watching for any sign of weakness or vulnerability. Her movements were cold and efficient, and her attacks were executed with lethal precision with each one aimed at a vital spot. Even though she was purposely not landing her attacks, a sense of grim hopelessness washed over me as I realised — every strike she made should had easily killed me.

Her inexplicable teleportations only added to the eerie feeling of the battle. Despite it being the middle of the day with the sun at full bloom, I felt like I could hardly see anything beyond Shizu's glowing violet eyes and the faint light of my spells. It was like being trapped in a surreal nightmare, pursued relentlessly by a monstrous presence with no chance of escape or mercy.

Finally, after toying with me until I was at the point of exhaustion from using up all my mana, she closed the gap between us with ease and held her knife to my throat, the icy steel pressing against my skin.

"That was better," Shizu said, smiling at me with those wide eerie violet eyes. "You did well, Ryuji!"

Despite it being a mere sparring match, a cold sweat broke out on my skin as I gazed at the glinting knife. The fight had been overwhelmingly one-sided as I expected, but at the very least, I learnt a couple of things about Shizu's fighting style.

"Blindspots, huh?" I said.

Shizu opened her mouth in surprise, confirming my deduction.

Undoubtedly, Shizu possessed incredible speed, but it served a dual purpose as both a tool and a distraction. She used her swiftness as a red herring, concealing the true technique behind her seamless movements in battle.

In essence, she relied on abusing her opponent's sight — positioning herself on the outskirts of her opponent's vision, lurking at the edge of their field of sight, and exploiting their blind spots to create the illusion that she was seemingly slipping in and out of existence. Although it sounded straightforward in theory, replicating it in practice was a monumental challenge.

The mere thought of facing Shizu in complete darkness—where her technique could be utilized to its maximum potential—unlike the sunlit openness of the fields where we fought, sent shivers down my spine.

Now I just had to figure out how to use this newfound knowledge to my advantage in a potential battle with Shizu. Though the likelihood of defeating her was still slim to none, today's experience had increased my chances, however slight they may be.

"That's amazing, Ryuji," Shizu exclaimed with admiration. "How did you figure that out?"

"Let's just say I was very good at strategy games in my previous life," I replied, grinning. After glancing around, I added, "Anyways I don't think we will be seeing any slimes today. Let's just head back to the guild and look for another job before it gets too late."

"Okay!"

~x~

Back at the gates entering the city, I was standing in the line, waiting with Shizu when I suddenly saw a familiar figure ahead of me, being confronted by one of the knights stationed around the gates.

"Hey..." I said, nudging Shizu at my side lightly. "Isn't that Innis?"

I pointed to the short blue-haired girl in a traveller's cloak standing at a distance in front of us. It was hard to not recognise Innis since there wasn't many people as short as her besides children.

"It is..." Shizu replied, though she didn't seem that pleased, seeing her again.

Just as I was about to walk ahead with Shizu to say hi to Innis, I heard the knights talking to her.

"What is it, kid? You lost?" The knight sneered. "What are you doing out here without your parents?"

Hearing that and feeling angry, I began to head up to them to stop the knights from bullying Innis.

All the other knights around the first knight seemed stiff as a rod, and the knight next to him elbowed the one that spoke harshly, "Y, you fucking imbecile, do you realise who you're speaking to right now...?!"

"Who?" the first knight asked.

"S-she's..." the second knight swallowed, his face pale as chalk, "an Imperial Mage..."

I stopped.

A look of pure horror and trepidation fell over the first knight's face, hearing what his comrade said, "I-Imp... I-I-Imperi..." he could barely even speak anymore.

Everyone around us, besides the knights, began whispering amongst each other in excited chatters, staring and pointing fingers at Innis.

"Look, it's an Imperial Mage in the flesh!"

"Wow, this is my first time seeing one in person!"

"What's an Imperial Mage doing here in Lunaris?"

"Is that child really an Imperial Mage?!"

"Hush, she will hear you!"

All of a sudden, every knight standing at the city gates fell to their knees before Innis, their heads bowed in reverence.

"Y-your Imperial Magehood, Innis the Azure, the 2nd of the 13 Imperial Mages blessed and granted ordinance by the divinity of His Majesty," the head knight immediately rushed over to greet Innis, kneeling in front of her whilst his voice trembled with fear. "We humbly offer our swords and services to assist you in any way we can. May your magic guide and protect us in our endeavours!"

"For the glory of the Mideron Empire! For His Majesty!" All the knights proclaimed in unison.

----------------------------------------

AI generated image : Innis

[https://i.imgur.com/VlAC1KS.png]