**Chapter 24: Rescue**

Everyone was once again stunned by Linton. The scene was simply too bizarre, and they couldn't quite comprehend what was happening. It wasn't that surprising that he could defeat an opponent in one strike, but the shocking part was that Linton hadn't used any battle energy. It was clear he had simply relied on brute force to break through the energy armor, which was almost too outrageous to believe. Even barbarians weren't that strong.

The situation was so shocking that the other assassin, who had come up with the now-dead one, was frozen in place, unsure of what to do. Of course, Linton wasn't going to be polite. He immediately charged forward with another slash.

With a sharp "clang," the opponent finally reacted at the last second, raising his hand to block Linton's attack. However, the difference in strength between the two was far too great. When the weapons collided, the sword in the opponent's hand was instantly sent flying, completely out of his grasp.

As the assassin stood there, still in shock at Linton's power, Linton swung his sword again, slicing across the assassin's throat. There was some resistance, but once again, Linton landed a fatal blow, instantly killing both men.

At that moment, a fireball suddenly came flying toward Linton, clearly from the mage earlier. However, with Linton's Sharingan active, his observational abilities were far from ordinary.

To be honest, Linton was a little disappointed with the fireball. It was so small—could it even kill anyone? Back in the world of Naruto, Linton had been hit by fire-style jutsu many times. Even a D-rank fire jutsu from the Third Hokage was several times more powerful than this little fireball.

Dodging it would've been easy, but Linton decided to try out some ninjutsu instead. Raising his hand, he said, "Earth Style: Earth Wall."

A stone wall suddenly appeared in front of Linton, surprising even himself. The reason was simple—he hadn't made any hand signs. According to his memory, ninjutsu in Naruto always required hand signs, and some even had a whole series of signs. Linton couldn't remember them all, so in automatic combat mode, his body had always made the signs on its own. This time, he just wanted to see if he could cast ninjutsu without the signs. If it didn't work, he could easily dodge the fireball, but to his surprise, it actually worked.

Linton guessed it might have worked because he had a game-like system, where skills were just that—skills. Once cast, it would calculate success. Now that he knew it was possible, it was definitely a good thing. However, he noticed that the Earth Wall seemed weaker than he remembered, even though his abilities had significantly improved since returning. Was this because he didn't use hand signs?

He vaguely recalled another anime, *Bleach*, where not chanting an incantation would reduce a spell's power. But that wasn't a rule in *Naruto*. Without hand signs, ninjutsu shouldn't even work, but since it did, it seemed his version of ninjutsu had some variations—perhaps like not chanting, which reduced power.

Even though the power was slightly reduced, it was still more than enough to block the enemy's attack. The fireball hit the stone wall and fizzled out without leaving a trace. Linton frowned slightly. This was too weak. Back then, it had taken two Earth Walls to block the Third Hokage's fire-style jutsu when he fought Orochimaru. This didn't even compare.

"Run! He's a star-ranked mage!" one of the assassins suddenly shouted.

"Star-ranked mage?" Everyone turned to look at Linton in shock. Judging by the assassins' reaction, Linton guessed they had mistaken his ninjutsu for some kind of magic spell, which was fine by him—saves him from explaining. However, he didn't really know what a star-ranked mage was, but it seemed to be a big deal.

The assassins, on the other hand, were completely dumbfounded. Was this guy really a mage? He just brute-forced his way through two of their men, and now he was a mage with such strength? What was going on here? Could he be normal for once?

Though confused, the assassins were clearly shaken by the star-ranked mage title. Even though there were still seven or eight of them left, none of them dared to make a move. The apparent leader waved his hand, and all of them began retreating.

"Earth Style: Earth Rising Spears."

This time, Linton wanted to try using hand signs to test his earlier theory, but halfway through, he forgot the sequence and just released the jutsu as it was.

The ground suddenly surged, and a row of sharp spikes burst out, accompanied by several screams. Three or four assassins were struck, with two of them pinned in place, while the remaining ones, too scared to continue, glanced at Linton in terror and then ran into the nearby woods without looking back.

Linton had no intention of pursuing them, and neither did the nearby guards. Their job was to protect the baron, so they weren't going to leave him just to chase some assassins.

With the enemies retreating, the guards finally breathed a sigh of relief. The situation had indeed been dangerous, and if Linton hadn't shown up in time, they might not have survived.

Among the crowd, Wilson Thurs also let out a sigh of relief. He had thought he was about to die since the assassins had clearly targeted him. He had been saved. Glancing at Linton, Wilson was puzzled. What was this young man's deal? A brute-force mage? Regardless, he was clearly a talented individual, and Wilson knew he had to get to know him.

"Young hero, may I ask which family you're from?" Baron Thurs stepped forward and asked.

"The Merlowe family," Linton replied.

"The Merlowe family?" The baron was momentarily stunned. He knew the family very well, but he hadn't heard of anyone named Linton. The Merlowe family was famous for their swordsmanship, not magic.

"Linton Merlowe," Linton introduced himself.

"You're Linton... my nephew?" The baron was taken aback, adding the title because he had been close friends with Linton's father, the former Baron Merlowe, making him an elder figure to Linton.

While speaking, Baron Thurs took a good look at Linton. He had seen him a few times when he was a child, back when their families were more connected. However, after both men received their own lands, they had fewer opportunities to meet.

After a moment, the baron remembered the young Linton and matched him with the man standing before him. However, something felt off. Linton had once been engaged to his family. Years ago, they had agreed to a betrothal between their children, but his daughter had passed away shortly after birth, and the matter had never been pursued.

Baron Thurs had always kept an eye on Linton. From what he had heard, Linton was considered a failure. Most noble children awakened their battle energy around 12 or 13, while geniuses could do so at 8 or 9. But Linton had never awakened his energy.

If Linton had shown any potential, Baron Thurs might have honored the marriage arrangement, as he had other eligible daughters. But Linton had been too much of a failure to consider. Besides, he was the fourth son and couldn't inherit his family's estate. Looking at him now, the baron realized he might have made a mistake. Linton had no battle energy, but he had become a mage?

If he remembered correctly, Linton wasn't even 20 years old yet and was already a star-ranked mage. This wasn't a failure; this was a rare genius. Had he missed out on the perfect son-in-law? Baron Thurs felt a pang of regret. Breaking that engagement had clearly been a bad idea.

"Linton, my nephew, do you remember me?" the baron asked.

"No, but I know who you are. We probably met when I was a kid," Linton replied.

"Yes, your father and I fought on the same battlefield. Too bad that old man died so early," the baron sighed.

"Baron…"

"Just call me uncle; no need to be so formal," the baron quickly corrected him.

"Uncle, are you headed to Degarnot City? For my brother's wedding?" Linton asked.

"Yes," the baron nodded. "I couldn't make it to your father's funeral earlier this year, so I'm attending your brother's wedding and paying my respects to your father. I didn't expect this ambush."

"Do you know who the assassins were?" Linton asked.

"No idea," the baron shook his head. "I wasn't expecting assassins here. These weren't just ordinary killers. I don't know who's behind this, and I'm completely in the dark."

"My lord, should we still head to Degarnot City?" one of the guards asked.

"Going back might mean running into more assassins, which could be even more dangerous," Linton said. "It's better to head to the city and send someone back for reinforcements. I'll escort you there. I'm attending the wedding anyway, and with me around, you should be safe."

"Agreed," the baron nodded. Turning to his guards, he ordered, "Send word back to have Torag lead a unit of guards over."

"Yes, sir," the guard replied.

"Uncle, your carriage ran off earlier. How about you just take mine for now?" Linton pointed to the carriage behind him. "It's better to leave early. I don't think they'd dare to attack us so boldly in the streets once we're in the city."

(End of chapter)