Assassination

Chapter 8 – Assassination

After talking with the Old Witch, Arthur prepared himself for the assassination of his target: Darius Bone. It took three days to understand most of Darius Bone's habits, and his routine.

Convincing the prostitute Laylah to lead Darius in the forest outside the Tower was an easy task as well. After all, Arthur had built a fairly strong reputation among natives and soldiers within the tower as a patrolling acolyte. He did not oppress the tribes of natives upon monitoring their number unlike others, and more importantly, he did not steal from them. Few could boast the same.

Promising Laylah to help her escape the grasp of the Arcane Faction so that she could return to her tribe, she abided by her words and successfully led her in this no-man's land, the Northern Forest, which was known as the home of numerous predators: Swamp Wolves, Dryads and Iron-skin boars.

Within sight, Arthur waited for Darius to unclothe himself before firing an arrow in order to deal the maximum amount of damage, and increase the feeling of fear his target would feel from the surprise attack.

[Beep! You have dealt 6 points of damage]

"Shit…It didn't reach his throat", Arthur cursed lowly, before unsheathing his cross sword with his right hand, while reciting his chant, illuminating his left with a blinding azure colour: *Gloria Glacians*

[You have successfully activated the spell [Low Grade Rank 0 Spell – Freezing Touch]]

As soon as the spell incantation was finished, Arthur leaped forward, thrusting his sword towards Darius' Chest. The middle-aged acolyte could not react fast enough and willingly sacrificed his uninjured left arm to block the blade from piercing his heart. The pain was real, causing the man to scream in agony.

*ARGHH*

Arthur did not stop here, however, as his left hand reached Darius' throat, choking him against a nearby tree. The scene of a young teenager easily choking an obese 40-years-old man with one hand entered Laylah's eyes.

However, Darius would have never survived so long if it weren't for some trick he developed over the years. After some time, the body in Arthur's hand became muddy and dissolved into dirt.

"This…", Arthur muttered in shock

*BAM*

Before he could react, a fist-sized rock hit his ribs at extremely high velocity, sending him flying onto the nearest tree.

[Beep! You have received 14 points of damage]

[Beep! Your left-sized rib is fractured!]

[Immediate treatment is recommended]

Darius moved closer. From the start, he seemed to have controlled the situation perfectly. Arthur thought his plan to be perfect, but it turns out that he had been played.

"So they sent a kid to take care of me, huh?", Darius muttered as he released a second spell, crushing Arthur's left arm with ease.

[Beep! You have received 10 points of damage! Your left arm is fractured]

"They must have greatly underestimated me…I am not much of a fighter, that is true…but it's not like you can take care of a veteran with a newcomer, no matter the odds", Darius spat as he moved closer still, casting a third spell aiming at Arthur's head, "I will gladly send you to hell"

Arthur could not believe it.

Dying…

He had already died once, and upon reincarnating, he had sworn to himself that he would find immortality in this lifetime. Every day, in addition to meditating, he would complete the Landragon Household training cycle. Every week, he would risk his life so as to increase his survival skills and train his swordsmanship in life and death battles, challenging his body to its limits. Every month, he would consume nauseating toxins and regents to allow his body to grow stronger and faster.

But then, he realized…

How could Darius Bone possibly be so strong? He had gathered a lot of information before attempting an assassination on the man. Darius was no fighter. He had little to no experience at all in this field, and in the brotherhood, he played the role of corpse broker. He basically bypassed the authority of Dorian Sylvester and delivered fresh corpses to the brotherhood's acolytes in exchange for gold coins.

With this realization, Arthur took out a dagger with his right hand and cut his arm on purpose. With the agonizing pain, the world became distorted and he returned to reality.

It turns out that the fight, which had just begun, was a mere illusion.

"Stats"

[Name – Arthur Landragon

Class – Level 5 [Beginner Rank] Acolyte (0 / 1 200 EXP)

HP – 32 / 40 | Mana: 30 / 50

→ Experience Stored: 4

Attributes:

Strength – 7 | Agility – 3 | Vitality – 4 | Magic Power – 5

Skills: Basic Swordsmanship (40), Ice Magical Knowledge (19), Spell Reading (16), Scroll Copying (15), Archery (11), Deceiving (8), Acting (4), Trading (4), Information gathering (3), Eloquence (2)

Knight Technique: Heavy Vertical Strike (10)

Spell: Freezing Touch [Low Grade – Rank 0] (14)]

Darius Bone, who stood four meters away from him, pale and vomiting blood, was cursing.

[Darius Bone – Level 8 Beginner Rank Acolyte

Status – Injured (Backlash from [Black Illusion]), Bleeding (Left Shoulder)

Attributes:

Strength – 2 | Agility – 1 | Vitality – 3 | Magic Power – 8

Spell – Earth Spike [Low Grade – Rank 0], Petrification [Low Grade – Rank 0 Spell]]

As Arthur moved forward, Darius begged: "Please! I never meant to harm you! This was all an illusion so that I could capture you!"

However, Arthur knew all too well what would have happened if he had been killed in the illusion. [Black Illusion] was an infamous spell in the Ivory Tower. Even if it was just an illusion, it could trick the mind and the body. If you died in the illusion, then having some soul damage would be the better outcome. There were records of individuals becoming vegetables! However, if the caster was dying inside the illusion, he could prematurely return to reality and escape. It truly was the perfect spell to escape an ambush.

Arthur did not want to experience another trick, and immediately plunged his sword in Darius' head. It pierced him all the way through.

[You have dealt 24 points of damage]

[You have killed [Level 8 Acolyte – Darius Bone]. You have earned 160 EXP]

Inspecting the body, Arthur smiled as he found six magic crystals, a low-grade magical artefact and a used scroll containing 'Black Illusion' [Low Grade Illusion – Rank 0 spell]. The harvest was just as great as the risks.

'No wonder Darius was so careless about his movements, even though he had betrayed one of the most infamous criminal organization of the Ivory Tower History...Against a normal acolyte, [Black illusion] would be sufficient to survive any incoming threat...But my vitality and mental strength is higher than the average acolyte, for I went through reincarnation once already'