Chapter 13 Assassination Investigation Has Found You
The potted fluorescent sneezing grass was placed on the windowsill and cared for by Lulu. Ancia told her to close the window when the wind and rain were too strong, and not to worry about it at other times.
Having temporarily put aside the group assignment for the Wood Element Refinement course, Ancia's schedule for this week only includes the Light Element Refinement course and the afternoon Assassination Techniques class.
Ancia frowned as she looked at her long dress, which she hadn't changed in a long time, in front of the full-length mirror.
Is it inappropriate to wear this to an assassination course?
But if we replace it...
Does that mean the attribute bonuses from this beginner's armor are gone?
The system, which had disappeared after entering the academy, reappeared and promptly offered assistance.
[The player has received a combat set x1, which has been sent to their inventory.]
[Item Description: Combat gear that conforms to the aesthetics of the Miracle Continent. The style is simple and fits well, but it will not make players more skilled in combat after wearing it.]
Attributes: Constitution +3, Agility +3, Spirit +3
It has the same attributes as the beginner armor, just with a different appearance. What a stingy system.
The assassination class was held in the castle's basement. You could reach the dimly lit classroom by following a hidden entrance on the first floor down.
Outside, it was the hottest part of the afternoon sun, but the basement was eerily cool. The only light source in the completely dark environment was the wall lamps emitting a dim glow.
Some students have already come inside. They are mostly wearing hoods, unwilling to show their faces, and also to keep each other out of sight.
It's like a large gathering place for people, and Ancia is a little sun who accidentally stumbled into this place.
The luminous aura emanating from her was striking to the dark element students, so bright it was almost scorching, causing the surrounding students to instinctively keep their distance.
Why would someone in the Light Element Department sign up for an assassination course?
They retreated into the darkness, their inconspicuous gazes fixed on Ancia, who stood alone in the middle.
Even though the current situation seemed like all her classmates had ganged up on her and isolated her, Ancia's first reaction was still—
The students are so introverted.
But that's okay, she'll give them enough time to adjust.
Ancia doubts no one but herself; she never engages in internal strife.
The minute hand of the clock on the wall pointed to 12 and clicked.
Merrith suddenly appeared in the classroom, his voice low, "Merri Vessas."
"Find me in the first class."
Assassins are always concise and direct, without any pleasantries. They leave behind only a name and a sentence, and then Murtrie disappears from the spot.
Merri disappeared into thin air, and the surrounding cloaks began to swirl as they searched for their teacher. Some of the bolder ones even brandished their weapons and plunged into the darkness.
Ancia stood there, watching the classroom descend into chaos because of a single sentence from Mortley.
However, the cloaked figures were quite affectionate, deliberately avoiding the spot where Ancia was standing when brandishing their weapons.
"Is the teacher really still here?" After searching for half an hour, a man in a cloak couldn't contain himself and muttered to himself.
"Yes, I'm here," Ancia replied, noticing that the cloak seemed startled and trembled, then shrank even deeper into the shadows.
"Hey, stop hiding, you're practically glued to the wall," Ancia said helplessly.
Another cloaked figure couldn't help but ask, "How did you know?"
“I sensed it, Ms. Murtrie has been in the classroom the whole time.” Ancia’s words instantly drew the attention of everyone in the classroom.
She scratched her head in confusion. "What's wrong? Why are you all looking at me?"
They all knew about this new student with a light element affinity of 100, but they never expected that she would be able to track down the top assassin, Mertri.
"?"
Sensing the question marks appearing on the cloak, Ancia kindly explained, "It must be due to the repulsion of elements. Not only Professor Mortley, but every one of you, anyone with dark elemental presence is very obvious to me. Professor Mortley was just wandering around the classroom, trying to avoid your probing."
"..."
An ellipsis appeared on the cloak, as if the speaker was considering whether to believe her.
Ancia immediately blindfolded herself. "I'll count to ten. You all hide and don't move. If I find you all, it means I'm right, okay? Ten, nine..."
"!!!"
Exclamation marks appeared on the cloak as he quickly sought a place to hide.
"...Three, two, one, I'm going to open my eyes now." Ancia lowered her hands.
If you don't use your mental powers to perceive it, the classroom in front of you looks like only Ancia is left; the original dozen or so classmates have disappeared.
Ancia walked to the wall under the clock, gathered a faint light source in her hand, and imprinted it on a spot in the air. Dark ripples appeared where the light touched, and a cloak appeared from the void.
On the wall lamps, on the floor, on the ceiling, in the corners...
One more to go.
Ancia looked at her shadow. "I told you not to move after you've hidden yourself. It's against the rules to keep following my shadow."
A remarkably small cloak emerged from her shadow, a head shorter than Ancia. The cloak slipped down, and the cat-like girl looked up at her, saying, "Now, I believe in you."
Its voice was dull, and somewhat like a squirrel's.
The girl in front of me, who is a light elementalist, has a natural ability to assassinate and investigate. In other words, no dark elementalist can hide from her.
Merriel, like the others in the cloaks, stared at Ancia. It wasn't his imagination; someone really could see them.
"Besides, Professor Murtrie didn't say that cooperation is forbidden. Although I can see him, my light spot can't keep up with his movement speed. You can attack quickly, but you can't see his existence. So, should we cooperate?"
Ancia smiled slyly and winked. "I'll mark Professor Mortley's movements. You all work together to block him."
The cloaks all nodded in unison.
The collaboration has begun.
Ancia released her mental energy, and among a bunch of dark energies, one stood out, several times stronger than the others, almost like a dark sun.
He raised his hand and unleashed a point of light, and the cloaks swarmed in, colliding together where the light landed.
Ancia thought she heard a few muffled groans. "How about we scatter to different places? Surround Mr. Murtrie with fishing nets."
The cloaked figures followed the instructions well, each choosing their own area to stand in, which was much more comfortable than having them huddle together.
Ancia looked again in the direction where Mertri was. Although it was just a ball of energy, she could feel a focused gaze in it. "There."
The points of light followed Merri's movement, connecting in the void to form a bright, slender band of light, moving like a shooting star through the dimly lit classroom.
Merri accelerated, and for every point of light that appeared, three nearby students would attack. These brats showed no mercy, launching deadly attacks with every move. Meanwhile, Ancia was watching, updating the positions in real time.
Gradually, Merriel's available movement became increasingly limited, and the cloaked figures intentionally tightened their encirclement. Merriel, who had been deliberately keeping his distance, did not flee outwards but instead moved inwards according to their plan.
As she swiftly passed the center of the classroom, Ancia anticipated Mortley's path, and suddenly thrust out the dagger she was holding in reverse, the blunt end of the hilt aimed at Mortley's heart.
“Mr. Murtrie, you’ve hit the mark.”
Dark ripples appeared, and a tall, strong figure shed his disguise, looking down at Ancia with bright eyes.
"Yeah, you hit me."
Merrith glanced at the cloaked figures who had gathered around him. "First lesson, all passed."
After two tense and exciting games of hide-and-seek, Murtrie finally began one-on-one instruction. During the chase, he had clearly seen the habits and weaknesses of each student's moves, and with just a few words, he made them realize their mistakes and start practicing according to the improvement directions Murtrie pointed out.
The last one is Ancia.
"You...you're not a dark elementalist, what do you want to learn?" Mortley asked hesitantly.
"Because of my limited talent, I can't learn any combat skills, so I want to learn techniques from my teacher that can increase my damage." Ancia still held her dagger in her hand, looking somewhat troubled.
"Completely unable to learn?" Mortley began to ponder the extent to which Ancia's talent limited her. "Shadow Clone, Shadow Strike, Shadow Walk, Void Pierce... can't she learn any of them?"
A series of advanced assassination techniques came out of Merriel's mouth as if he were giving them away for free. Ancia listened with bated breath, finding each one interesting.
"I can't learn any of them." She said through gritted teeth, enunciating each word clearly.
"Then let's add a blood groove to the dagger and smear it with poison. That's the simplest and most effective way," Murtrie said helplessly.
Ancia thought the suggestion was great. There was a potions class coming up later, and she could ask about poison making.
"Then, teacher, teach me some dagger techniques?" Ancia brandished the dagger given to her by Mortley, without any skill or technique.
“Yes, there are two grips for daggers: one is suitable for powerful stabbing, and the other is suitable for quick and concealed slashing. They also correspond to different target areas.” Mortley stood behind Ancia and guided her hands to demonstrate.
In front of Ancia was a training puppet, and she was being guided to attack various parts of the puppet using different grips and force exertions.
She learned quickly and soon mastered the standard grip and the point of force application. She happily looked back and shared her joy with her partner, Merri.
Then he crashed headfirst into the elastic pectoral muscles.
It's huge.
Ancia stared blankly into thought, then subconsciously rubbed her cheek against the ground.
No...no!
Ancia jumped back quickly, her cheeks flushed red, staring intently at the dagger in her hand, not daring to look at Merrith's expression.
The subtle patterns on the dagger are truly exquisite...
Lust is a double-edged sword, Ancia!
The minute hand once again coincided with 12 o'clock, and the signal that get out of class was over saved Ancia from her near-fuming state.
"Mr. Murtrie, get out of class is over. See you next week." Ancia breathed a sigh of relief. As long as she didn't touch Murtrie's pectoral muscles, she was still rational.
“Well, is there anything you want? Something from outside the Eternal City?” Mertri asked.
"Is Professor Mortley's true form outside the Eternal City?" Ancia blurted out.
“…Hmm.” Merriel said stiffly.
"Ah, should I not have said that? It's just that Professor Murtrie's energy was much dimmer than the previous two times I saw him. I was just guessing..." Ancia's voice trailed off.
“It’s alright, the main body is on a mission, the one attending classes at the academy is a shadow clone,” Mertri admitted.
"That's good. If it won't trouble you, Professor Mortley, I'd like to try some local delicacies from outside the Eternal City." Ancia clasped her hands together. "Please, Professor Mortley!"
"Okay." Merri's figure vanished instantly, while his true form, thousands of miles away, touched his chest.
Even though it was a blunt dagger handle, he felt as if he had been pierced through the heart by an arrow.
A note from the author:
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