Assassin Assassinated

"This is terrible! "How could he survive three weeks inside a gate?" "The plan was to kill him, Senan," Imari explained.

"Kill? You should go ahead and give it a shot. You misled me, telling me he wasn't an esper despite the fact that I still managed to throw him away, and you dare to tell me the plan was to kill him...argh!! Whatever, at this rate, he'll report to the Bureau that I shoved him into the gate, and if the Bureau gets involved, this is going to be a mess not just for me... all of us," Senan stormed off.

"He's cocky; should I teach him a lesson?" Asha asked as he emerged from the shadows.

"No, Asha."

"But what are you going to do?" Asha inquired.

"He's correct, if the Bureau gets involved... no, if the clan gets involved, things are going to get pretty messy."

"Should I try to assassinate him?"

"That would be really useful, Asha... but can you do it?" Imari stated, "Viktor died by his hands and he survived a gate for three weeks." "Viktor is weak, and there's no knowing... the gate could have been empty... we can't be sure either way, but if there's anything fishy, I'll let you know, even if it means dying in the process."

"Thank you, Asha," Imari said with a smile. "I will do everything for my master," he stated before walking away.

.....

In the middle of the night, in the hospital. "By the way, black," Karl said quietly.

[Of course]

"Are you sure you sealed a lot of my esp... I mean, it still appeared that this much was going to cause some trouble in the future."

[I had no idea, I made a point of concealing 9/10 of your ESP... I had no idea 1/10 would cause such a commotion; perhaps I should reduce it?]

"I think things will get suspicious if you do that...besides, I like the attention, it makes me feel like my old self again," Karl stated as he glanced at the ceiling with a smile.

[It was a prudent decision to conceal it.] "Yes," Karl replied.

Karl flinched and sat up, as Black whispered to him in his brain.

[Pull him from the darkness]

'...eh? 'How do I go about doing that?'

[Your esper power is of the darkness element, and because you have more esp, I conducted a fast check and you are now the esper with the most esp among all darkness element espers in the entire planet, thus you can overpower them all]

'...I understand, but how?'

[Plunge your hand into the darkness underneath you]

Karl quickly agreed and reached his fingers down, feeling his palm penetrate into something sticky, "oh-oh..." he exclaimed excitedly, "...got him."

-pull-

-Gbam!-

Asha crushed the roof and fell back on the floor as Karl pushed the invader out of the darkness.

'What in the world was that?' He reasoned "Wow, that was really fantastic, Black; is that my skill?"

[No...that is not a skill of yours; it is simply something you can accomplish as a result of your forthcoming title, Monarch of Darkness.] "Oh-oh..." "Finally, I can be stronger!" Karl exclaimed.

[You'll wake everyone] "I'm sorry, I got a little too excited."

[And the enemy is still in front of us, so don't get too carried away.] "Oh, absolutely."

Just then, Asha stood up and pulled out his dagger before leaping back into the darkness. "Should I pull him again?" Karl wondered.

[Are you normally this foolish, or is today a special case, use your sense... you should be able to recognize the difference between the two] groaned Black. "Hmm... the difference," Karl observed as he took a look around. "hmm hmm, I see"

[Have you uncovered anything new?]

"...nope"

[...Stupid, isn't it?] "I know nothing about esp, but I know everything about qi, so sure, I'm a little stupid, but don't underestimate me, I'm a generational genius."

[With certainty] Black said as he moved inside Karl's chest. "eh?!!" Karl was taken aback when he saw what had happened. "This is my opportunity!" As he ran at Karl, Asha engulfed himself in darkness. "Dark vision," Karl exclaimed abruptly, catching Asha by the neck in mid-air before Asha could reach him. 'Wh-en... d-id... he m-ove?!' he was perplexed, his thinking jumbled. They both plummeted into the darkness at the same time.

'Even though it's late at night, I can see extremely well.'

[It's a dark vision, but due to the circumstances, I've decided to assist you] 'So that's why I know what to do...'

[That's because I'm in you.] 'I see...'

[Don't get too comfortable; I won't always do this; it's detrimental for your development and terribly dangerous for me.] 'why? ...didn't you come from me at first?'

[When we get to that bridge, we'll cross it; in the meantime, let's deal with what's in front of us.]

"Yeah yeah," Karl said, smiling. Asha took a glance around "He forced his way into my zone...an he's esper for sure, and unquestionably a darkness attribute esper... I should notify maste-"

-Whish-

Asha's head slid to the floor as he attempted to vanish into the darkness.

Karl held a whip-like sword that he had made out of the darkness; he let go, and the sword returned to the darkness. "What was that?" he inquired.

[That was a taste of your skill] Black said as he came out of him. "Oh, I just grasped my hand in the darkness and that long whip sword sprung out."

[Yes...should we customise this location now?] "Uh? What exactly is this place?"

[The opponent was an assassin who was capable of constructing a zone, a region of darkness, from which he could sneak around to anywhere he had previously reached as long as that spot had darkness or shadows around it, we would transform it to ours]

"Wow," Karl exclaimed with a broad smile, unable to contain his excitement.

Black continued to stare at him. "Go on," Karl urged.

[I can't because I'm not the one with a massive esp] "Oh, what shall I do?"

[Distribute your esp to tame the amount of esp used by the opponent to create this zone. It should be simple, just like when you purposely show off your Qi to terrify your opponent]. "Oh, like that..." Karl said with a grin.

~whoommmm~

~thhrrriiii~

Like tentacles a black materialized aura stretched out from Karl and into the darkness.

The environment went from a black shadow to pitch black in the blink of an eye. "Uh, it got darker, but it's not too dark to see."

[...You used far too much] "...aha... I only followed your advice, I'm used to flexing my Qi," Karl scratched his brow.

[hmm... Ah, so that's how I should have done it] "What?"

[Utilize your skill: Call of the Darkness] "Uh? skill? how?"

[Stretch your hand towards the enemy corpse and absorb his soul essence using the power of darkness as the extraction hook]

"...what exactly do you mean?"

[Is it feasible to kill an enemy without using physical force?] "Yes...all I have to do is infiltrate my Qi into the enemy's body, dominate his Qi flow, and suck it out."

[Exactly, do it this way towards this corpse, but use your esp to control the darkness surrounding you.] "hm, huh... but he's dead already" Karl replied.

[Just follow my instructions that is the only way to extract his soul essence]

When he held his palm out, a whirlpol of darkness enveloped the corpse, and a black shadow warrior with red stripes around its upper torso, hand, and eyes began to crawl out. It bowed and knelt in front of Karl. "ehh...what exactly is that thing?" Karl stated.

[Name him right away,] Black demanded. "Um...Nightkiller?" Karl hastily named it, and the black warrior Nightkiller vanished into the darkness.

[All right, let's go back to the surface for the time being; we'll investigate the zone later, and I'll properly explain what just happened] "All right," Karl muttered as he stepped out of the darkness and sat back in his bed, Black slipping into his clothing.

[Good night] "Hmm! "Good night, it's going to be a lot of fun starting tomorrow," Karl murmured, his stomach churning with excitement.

[Yes], Black answered.

...

Karl was finally allowed to leave the hospital after three days. "Aunty, mother... I'm not sure why you're in my house... especially you, Aunty... don't you have to go back to Norstrom... you're the clan leader." "Karl, don't treat me so coldly, or I'll feel sad," Sylvia replied, making a heartbreaking expression at Karl.

Karl exhaled a sigh. "By the way, you're now an esper, therefore you can't go to Thulford." Sylvia stated. "That's right," his mother said as she set the table with a variety of delicacies and a plethora of side dishes, which was unusual. "I know, but I have a few things to finish off." "Don't worry, we'll go after your dinner, and I don't want your father to meet me here," his mother assured him. "Are you two fighting yet again?" Karl inquired, his face solemn. "There's nothing to be concerned about." "...you know how your father can be, a stubborn man," his mother added with a smile. "Don't worry, now that I'm an esper... a lot will change," Karl explained. "Which is exactly why I am concerned Karl, don't attempt to go up against your father because you are now powerful, or don't try to shoulder everything alone, remember even among espers, your father is still respected even though he is not an esper," his mother added.

"But why?" Karl inquired. "You'll find out soon enough... now say ahhh," his mother said as she spooned rice and chicken rib stew into his mouth.

Sylvia departed to take a phone call and returned with a severe attitude, "let's go Pia," she stated. "Is there something wrong, Aunty?" Karl inquired. "Everything is fine," Sylvia remarked as she hugged Karl, "wrap everything up quickly, the newly admitted kids will be enrolled next week, I know Casimir will be very glad to have you, he's in year four now...you senior" she added

"Now that you are an esper, don't run around causing trouble, this is the time to be careful, you don't always have to respond to everyone and everything, learn to hold your anger... do not be a slave to your emotions, do not let them tell you what to do...man your emotions and be the dictator of your self, be discipline–" "Mother..." Karl intervened. "Yes?" She responded quietly. "I believe Aunt Sylvia is expecting you... "I've heard all you've said," Karl said her. '...she can keep going like that until midnight.' "Hmm... okay, then I'll leave it to you," she remarked as she rose up. "Please convey my greetings to Silas and Remi." Karl said.

"They'll both hear," she added, waving him farewell as she walked away with the escorts.