Episode 11: Conflict

I stared up at the guys who were leaning in the doorway. I couldn't tell if it was my gaze or my fight with Darius that had caught their eye, but regardless of what caught their eyes, the truth of the matter was that they were after something.

One of them leaned against the wall next to Jessica, and I could practically see the animosity and rage seeping out of Darius. Over the past few hours since coming into this university, I'd actually grown to like Jessica. Perhaps not in a romantic way right now but I valued not just the fact she'd provided me with a skill, but also the fact that I had a good eye for people's personality, and she had a good one. It made me feel a little guilty for suspecting her of anything other than just good nature.

Still using {Muffled Footsteps}, I cleared the distance between me, in the arena, and the guys, who were at the door, in moments. Next I activated {Apply} and strengthened my arms using mana, thanks to this, when I put my hand in the way of one of the guys and Jessica, the wall cracked under my force and the guy's face paled a little before his confident smirk took back over a moment later.

"And who are you? Her guardian?" He snorted at me. My face wrinkled at his sour attitude, and my eyes glinted with the secret power I was hiding. "And if I said I am? Would you still risk having a fight?" I shot back with venom in my tone.

The boy reeled slightly at my response, and his face contorted into a face of rage. "Do you know who I am?! I'm Samani of house Seisyll! How dare -"

His voice cut out as I stared him down and got close to his face. "I don't care if you're a Seisyll, a Prince or God himself... if you've got a problem, with me, then tell me and we can sort it." I commanded sharply and coldly.

I had never particularly enjoyed having to put on this persona that I'd used during my time in the military. Having become a general and then soon after one of the very few 'Neofelis Soldiers', which is what the soldiers who were freaks of nature and acted solo were named, I'd had to put on a harsh persona and control my aura in a way that psychologically confused my opposition and my allies when they weren't following commands. Then again, for a 15 year old boy, that was rather difficult back then. Now, however... that was a different story...

"It's not a problem if I want to talk to Jess over there, right?" Proclaimed Samani, pointing to Jessica, who was behind me. Our eyes met, and Jessica gave me a look, and my eyes understood immediately.

"I'm sorry, but I need to borrow her. Let's settle this when I've got more time. OK?" I said, sharpening my aura and making my tone deadly as opposed to just icy. Samani nodded and backed away, while at the same time I grabbed Jessica's hand, and we walked out, Darius was right on my heel, too.

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After a few minutes of walking away, I slowed down and let go of Jessica's hand. I saw I'd left a red mark from how tightly I'd been gripping her hand, and I felt a pang of guilt, which was soon settled by the fact that I'd saved her regardless. But I made the effort anyway. "Sorry about your hand, I was a bit focused," I told her.

She just shook her head, "No, no, it's OK, I'm thankful that you did that for me. I didn't realise you would be in the same class as my brother."

Darius walked up to Jessica and checked her, "Sis, you could've easily handled them. The Seisyll house is nothing on house Black." His face went white, and I'd finally connected everything. My memories of the war and my assignments were clear as day, and a particular house seemed to come up a decent amount: Black.

Before he could react, my hand had shot towards his throat, and I pinned him to the wall. "I knew I'd heard of house Black before. I feel stupid for not seeing it sooner... you're assassins..."

"Wait... I can... explain..." Darius choked under my grip, and I felt the tingle of lightning at my back.

"Let my brother go, I might have enjoyed your company, but I won't let you hurt my brother," Jessica said in a firm voice.

I raised my free hand and activated {Lightning Bolt}, causing yellow electricity to crackle in my palm. "Really want to try that?" I asked calmly.

Their eyes both shook at my abilities. And in unison, they both asked me, "Aren't you a fire mage?!"

I just laughed, "That's something. Even assassins couldn't figure out my secret. How ironic." Then I let go of Darius' throat, and he gasped for breath as Jessica rushed to his side.

"So you're both assassins then... why are you in this university?" I asked, more as a command to tell me rather than a curious question.

Jessica and Darius looked at each other and nodded before answering, it was Darius who spoke up, "we were sent to study and improve our abilities before returning home and being integrated into the clan for real."

"I see... are you here to kill me?" I asked flatly, I didn't care if they found out who I was. I wasn't going to hurt them unless they planned on doing so to me, and, to give them credit, I trusted them quite well.

They both gave me clueless and confused looks, "Why would we kill you?" Jessica asked me in a truly confused tone.

Sighing, I sat down and looked them in their eyes. "I think it's time we told each other who we really are. Don't you?"

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Having finally calmed down and established that there were no hard feelings, despite me nearly killing them both moments ago, we sat and began our discussion.

I told them who I was, how when I was 10, I'd been taken in by a man named Fredrich Connors, who was a general in the RMMT. How I'd been raised not to be a soldier but became one anyway at the age of twelve. Continuing on, I told them briefly about my friends, about my connections, how I knew of house Black because I'd done some of their assignments for them and finally how I was tossed aside like dirt when the war ended. Carefully, I'd omitted me being a Neofelis Soldier as that would have caused some commotion, most definitely.

They both listened to what I had to say and nodded along. Jessica even showed a look of horror when I told them I'd been thrown away for not having an artefact.

"Wow... that's awful... and you've been in Tenella since then?" Darius asked.

I nodded and didn't reply, only gestured for them to share their story.

Jessica spoke first and began the story, "Well, I guess I'll introduce myself again. I'm Jessica of House Black. As you're aware, we are a house of Assassins who help deal with external assassinations as well as internal ones too."Darius continued for her, "We are both the same age, 19, just like you, and we've been trained all our lives to be assassins... we were sent here to better our magical and combat skills so that we can take our clan induction exam when we return in a few years."

It was a lot of information to take in. My original suspicions had been right, though slightly different from what I'd thought. They were still accurate. As assassins, they were constantly assessing people in order to test their reliability, trustworthiness, and security. That's what Jessica had been doing when I'd first talked to her, and I had my suspicions. It made more sense now, knowing who they were and why they had the artefacts they did.

A stealth or a destruction based artefact would be the optimal choice for an assassin. To have the power to sneak around and to be able to kill instantly and with absolute assuredness that it had killed the target was far beyond what a couple 19 year olds should have to have. I wasn't exactly proving that since I'd fought a war and done assassination jobs when I was 15, but that wasn't the point.

"Fine, I believe you." I said as I waved a hand dismissively towards them, trying to ease any concerns they had about my rather mixed opinion of their household.

"OK, good. But before we go any further... why don't you start by explaining exactly... what THE HELL IS WITH YOUR POWERS?!" Darius screamed at me as if I wouldn't be able to hear him. I sat there as he rambled with a deadpan look on my face. "You done?" I asked.

To this, Darius calmed and sat down sheepishly. I began to talk, leaning forward as I did so, "This ring is a special one. It's called {Ring of the Forgotten Sovereign}, and it provides me with a skill named {Archive of the Forgotten Sovereign}. Essentially, it contains the knowledge and ability to use every magic type along with some physical abilities."

They both looked at me like I was lying, and I continued, "Believe me or not, I don't care, but I'll pose you with a question. How could I have your skills, if not for what I've claimed?"

With that question asked, I activated {Fade}, which was Darius' ability, and I fully vanished by applying a large volume of mana to the ring. Both Darius and Jessica stood up with shocked looks as I vanished right before them, and I could see the conflict in their eyes.

On the one hand, they couldn't believe me. The very foundations of what artefacts were was built on that they were unique and not all-encompassing, however I'd just told them that there was an artefact that could use any and all skills that have, currently, and will come to exist.

On the other hand, they'd just witnessed me use Jessica's skill aswell as Darius' which would require a magic based artefact, and not to mention they had seen my physical capabilities in the classroom when I fought Darius himself and when they both saw me stand up to Samani.

I understood their conflict and honestly, after having nobody for years, it was a little refreshing to have some people I could consider friends, even though we had gotten off on the wrong foot, in a very drastic way. Orebrul was the start of my healing since I couldn't hide much from him through our mental link. I realised that he'd been asleep this whole time, and I laughed at that, which earned some confused looks off Jessica and Darius since I was still invisible.

I deactivated {Fade} and reappeared before them, and they looked startled and a little relieved.

I extended a hand and smiled. "Well, shall we agree to be friends based on mutual destruction then?" I asked.

They both chuckled, and I swear I could see a glimmer of happiness in Jessica's eyes, but I must have imagined it. They both took my hand, one at a time, and they bid me farewell.

Alone, I looked up at the now night sky, which was littered with gleaming stars. Unlike Tenella, where the stars were blocked out, Nova was well known for having the most beautiful night sky across the entire continent, hence its name Nova.

"It's time for a change." I said to myself as I flicked and ruffled my shoulder-length hair. "One day I'll make a choice... cut you, or let you grow."

I smiled, planted my hands in my pockets, having relived myself of all stress for that moment, and walked towards the dorm building with a heavy breath of relief.

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