Taunt

The sudden outburst of light was so ridiculously bright that he thought his eyes were open for a second.

One could only imagine what the assassin felt as a miniature sun manifested in front of him without any prior warnings.

Not to mention the heat as well. It was absolutely scorching even with Aster's heat resistance maxed out.

True sight revealed the entirety of the assassin which showed that he, too, possesses numerous skills such as heat resistance.

He didn't have multiple classes like Aster did and his one and only class was an assassin. 

He only had the standard 7 attributes, strength, agility, endurance, vitality, mana, intelligence, and dexterity plus stealth as the class bonus.

That did not mean he was to be underestimated at all. In fact, Aster realized one terrifying truth about this person.

He was level one.

Aster had his ass beat by a level one earthling.

This person was an anomaly. Every single attribute of his reached 2500 with the stealth attribute nearing 3,200.

Along with that, he had some decent quality skills as well. He was unbeatable.

Unfortunately, Aster was an anomaly too. He had many classes, many skills, and the perception attribute.

The perception attribute, Aster's blessing and bane. The effect of it was truly frightening.

Aster could permanently lose his sight and he could go on his daily life pre-abduction with no issues.

The assassin might be strong and durable but Aster doubted even he could keep his eyes open while submerged in flames.

Aster planned to jump him now while he was disoriented. The skill that was derived from the perception skill gave him an area of absolute sensitivity, a name if he didn't know fit but he could sense anything physically perceivable in an area of 400 square meters.

'Hopefully, it's enough of a distance between us.'

[[Negative fireball] has been activated]

[[Negative firestream] has been activated]

[[Earth spike] has been…]

He activated his skills one after another in a satisfying fashion and surrounded the perimeter of the fire storm.

Even the slightest touch meant that the full damage would be transferred which made the firestorm engulfing the assassin deadlier than anything he had ever experienced up until now.

So the first course of action for him is to get out of the sudden trap.

His senses must have been blinded due to the fire as he wouldn't have blindly run up to the edge if he saw what was out there.

The initial fire storm was shaped like a sphere, and the phantom flame was given the form of a donut with the fire sphere in the middle. 

The moment he stepped outside of the fire dome, fire with much higher intensity scorched every fiber of his being.

The damage stockpiled tremendously and fast, 8% of his total hp had been eradicated in less than a second.

A good chunk of his hp had been reduced due to the earlier exchange of blows so his life was at stake.

The assassin hesitated whether or not he should risk going further, or go for the defensive and remain in the fire dome where the damage was significantly lower.

The best course of action would have been to escape the trap and he knew that.

But he didn't. He wanted to accomplish the mission his monarch had given him at any cost even at the expense of his own life.

The reason for his decision was simple.

[[Taunt] has been activated]

The irresistible pull of the skill disguised itself under a needlessly loyal desire, causing the cool-headed assassin to make a rash decision.

He stepped back into the more tame dome and quickly fashioned a shield for himself by turning the ice blade into water and covering himself with it.

The water coat was further reinforced with mana and aura, making it decent enough to withstand the harsh inferno.

He discarded the hilt of his dagger and curled up his fist for hand to hand combat.

His dedication to finishing his mission was admirable but the time needed to make that decision had been crucial in his downfall.

Instantly after he had finished his preparations, the fire dome disappeared, rendering his preparation useless.

No, it wouldn't be correct to say it had been dismissed. It was assimilated to the phantom flame surrounding it, creating an ellipse shaped barrier of ghostly white and brazen orange flame.

It had created a direct line, Aster occupying one point and the assassin on the other end.

Aster had prepared for this, as shown by the gust bow in his hands.

The bow had been created out of condensed vortexes of wind, and the bowstring being the most thin and concentrated of them all.

There was an arrow drawn on the bow. A dark arrow with a pale core. It was the phantom flame shaped into an arrow and condensed as much as Aster was capable of.

The barrier shrunk, pressuring the assassin to take action while reducing the need to aim at the same time.

To hasten things up, Aster had used the taunt skill once again and the assassin came rushing to him.

And he let the arrow go.