123rd Adversary: Gathering

Grim Academy had dozens of training facilities that students could use for self-training. Some of these training facilities were filled with several hi-tech machinery, designed to nurture the user's strengths and help them overcome their shortcomings. There were a lot of private training rooms as well, where students can train using an environmental setting, that changes the room into the training environment of their choice. An example of this is turning the room into a snowy mountain range and learning to adapt to the cold.

Currently, one of these private rooms were being used by one of the most famous students in the academy right now.

The setting was several thousand feet underwater. One of the four dragon stars, Zora was feeling the immense pressure of the ocean floor and had zero oxygen to work with. However, since this type of training room has a sensor that picks up the user's vitals, it deactivates the program and even sends a distress call to the medical staff if needed. Yet, the program was still running.

*Swoosh!* *Swoosh!*

*Swoosh!* *Swoosh!*

With a focused look in his eyes, Zora threw powerful punches right after the other. The force of his punches caused maelstrom-like currents around him. It was like he was standing in the center of a whirlpool.

He put his hand at his waist and then threw a quick kick.

*Swoosh!*

That sole kick produced enough force to counter the wild currents around him and calm the ocean floor.

*Beep!*

The water disappeared and he was left breathing heavily. After catching his breath, he leaned on the wall and slid down to sit on the floor.

"45 minutes. I was able to hold my breath for 45 minutes and was able to fight normally. Which means I can now fight Tang and Klaus in their ideal environments."

He stood up and wiped the water from his brow.

"I can't be satisfied with this. This only means I have 45 minutes to beat them if I'm forced into an underwater battle. If they purposely prolong the battle, I'll lose."

He frowned.

"There's also Kaido. Unless I can find an easy way to break through his defenses and defend from his attacks or even neutralize his monstrous strength, our fights will always result in a stalemate since we're practically equal."

He started to think while operating the machine to exit the room. The door slid open and he walked out.

"Hm?"

The moment he did, he saw someone standing in front of him. This person was also a student but he was wearing full white. Zora frowned because he knew this person wasn't standing here waiting to use the training room. No, he was too proud to use something used by people beneath him.

This student stood at 5'7, had a slim build, brown skin, golden eyes, silver hair, and wore a golden necklace with a serpent pendant.

"What do you want, Klaus?"

"Nothing much."

Klaus, a fellow member of the Four Dragon Stars and the #1 ranked student in the academy, smiled and then said-

"I just wanted to say hello to one of my favorite servants."

He spread his arms open.

"So hurry up and greet your Emperor, Peasant."

"In your dreams."

Zora walked past him.

"This is not the way you treat royalty."

"I only see you as a royal pain in my ass."

Zora walked with a frowning Klaus following behind him.

"Besides, your empire and my tribe are equal in standing on the Night Continent. The two of us being heirs of our respective countries and families makes us equal in status. So how am I a peasant?"

"Because I'm the king of this academy."

Klaus responded.

"I'm #1 and you're #2….Oh, sorry. You're #3 now."

He laughed.

"I stand at the top here and as the top student, I have authority and privileges second only to the principal himself. That makes me king."

Zora burst out laughing.

"You're not the king of me, Klaus."

Zora turned around and faced him.

"You can act like a king as you want but remember this."

He placed his fist over his chest.

"In the end, the one who will surpass Kylian is me."

Klaus's eyes narrowed. He took a step closer and was standing toe to toe with Zora.

"In your dreams. The only one who will be recognized by and eventually surpass the World Eater is me. Whether it's you, Tang, or Kaido I'll crush you all with superior strength and make you all understand where you stand in life."

Sparks were literally flying with the two standing face to face with each other. It wouldn't be odd if the two started fighting.

"Oh, if it isn't Zora and Klaus."

The two turned their heads and saw someone walking down the hall with a cup in her hand.

"Prof. Draxler."

"What's up? You two look tense."

Tiana walked up to them with a smile and took a sip of whatever she was drinking.

"We were just discussing our ambitions and got a little heated."

Klaus said.

"I see. Well, there's nothing wrong with being a little heated. You're teenage boys with raging hormones after all. Not to mention you're both descendants of powerful demon dragons. So being a little hotheaded is normal. Well, as long as you don't get too carried away."

Tiana replied with a smile.

"That reminds me. The ranking tournaments are coming up. Are you getting prepared? This tournament will decide if you can move up a grade. For you Klaus, it will decide if you should graduate. Then again, with your ranks, you're sure in to advance and graduate."

She laughed but the two didn't. They didn't know why but whenever they were in front of this woman, they felt small as ants. They didn't feel like dragons at all but mere children. They didn't know if she was doing it intentionally or if she naturally had that presence. If it's the latter then she was beyond dangerous.

"I wonder who'll win this year's tournament?"

"That's a meaningless question, Professor. I'm the only one who will win."

Klaus spoke with a proud tone.

"I don't know. This year has quite a few new arrivals."

Zora and Klaus's eyes narrowed.

"I don't understand what you're trying to say. Are you perhaps implying that new students can take my throne?"

Tiana nodded and opened her palm.

"There are five candidates actually. Coincidentally, two of them are dragons themselves while the other three are Apostles of one of these dragons."

"You're talking about Miko and Luka?"

Zora asked.

"And Miko's Apostles too. Those five aren't that inferior to you guys. It wouldn't be strange if they defeat you."

"I don't who these people you are speaking of are, but they're nothing in comparison to me."

Klaus snapped back.

"Then have Zora and Kaido educated you on them. I'm sure they'll pique your interest."

Tiana pushed past them and started walking away while drinking her drink.

"By the way, Klaus. Until you defeat Tang, calling yourself king of the academy is laughable."

She said while the two were staring at her back.

"Man, this coffee is good. I should start drinking it every morning."

Zora and Klaus watched her as she disappeared from their sight. Klaus gritted his teeth in silence and growled. Meanwhile, Zora was pondering Tiana's words.

"Tang, huh? I wonder what that guy is up to?"

******

It was currently nighttime in Grim Academy. The exact time was 3 am. A shadow was seen moving under the moonlight at a speed that was hard to follow. They caused no sound as they advanced toward their destination. This shadow arrived on an old crop field that was no longer being used by the academy and was far away from where the schools were.

The moonlight emerged from the cloud and made this person's figure clear in the night. It was none other than Miko.

"...."

He looked around silently as if he was searching for something.

"?!"

That's when he felt something cold touching his neck.

"Boom, you're dead."

A voice came from his side, yet there was no one there.

"I give."

Someone appeared in front of him literally out of nowhere. It was Kimiko Mors-Dragna, Miko's grandmother.

"I can't believe you still can't detect my presence."

"If I was able to detect the presence of history's greatest assassin then I would be a real monster."

Miko replied with a shrug.

"You gave up too easily."

"I couldn't tell which direction you were. Even if the blade was coming from the side along with your voice, that doesn't mean that's where you really were. I had already lost when the blade reached me."

Miko replied.

"By the way, Nana; while I'm grateful for your training, why does it always have to be so late?"

"What does it matter? You sleep mostly through the day anyway. But if you must know, an assassin must know how to make the dark his friend. So you must learn to be accustomed to darkness and make it your natural habitat."

Kimiko replied.

"Now that I've answered your question, let's begin."

She put on a serious experience.

"First, let's review how you erase your presence. This is the most common thing for assassins. I'm going to erase my presence. I want you to close your eyes, and tell me if I'm standing in front of you or not. Oh, you can use your nose to try and catch my scent if you want."

Miko nodded and closed his eyes. He felt as if Kimiko had disappeared from around him. He couldn't locate her scent or hear her heartbeat. It was like she vanished.

"You're standing in front of me."

Miko opened his eyes after he said that, and surely Kimiko was in front of him.

"How did you know? I could've teleported away."

"Even if you teleported your scent would still remain for a while. But your scent completely disappeared along with your heartbeat. That was unnatural, so I guessed you were still around me."

Kimiko nodded with a satisfied expression.

"So how did I erase my presence?"

"You used the skill called Stealth, a technique that erases your presence completely in seconds. It's perfect for stalking your target."

Even as he was looking at her, Miko couldn't feel Kimiko's presence. Nor could he hear her heartbeat or smell her scent. It was like she was a ghost standing before him.

"How do you use Stealth?"

"Using Vita."

A dark glow surrounded Miko, which was proof he activated his Demonic Vita.

"You use your Vita to create a small vacuum inches around your body. This will make the sound and scent coming from your body nonexistent to those around you. It's like you create an invisible wall around you to prevent the sound and scent you generate from leaking to the outside world."

"And how do you create a vacuum around you?"

The glow around Miko spread out around him and formed a small domain.

"Basically, you spread out your Vita and construct it into your body shape, you then need to force your will on the space around you and manipulate it like you're cutting yourself off from the outside world."

Miko's presence was completely erased while he stood in front of Kimiko.

"….That's a simplified explanation but it works."

Miko could feel Kimiko's presence again.

"Why couldn't you use magic to erase yourself or create a vacuum around you?"

"Magic causes a disturbance in the Mana particles surrounding an area. Because of this, a trained eye can detect when magic is about to be used. If you use magic to do [Stealth] there's a high chance of you giving yourself away before you even begin to stalk your target. Vita, on the other hand, is harder to detect, and most people can't detect it unless you're up close or it's being used in a large quantity. So Vita is better for [Stealth]."

Kimiko nodded.

"Good. You've pretty much mastered Stealth. It's not much but it's better to know it than not to. It'll take a while for you to learn more advanced techniques after all."

"Nana, I did some digging and found out that this technique is pretty well known, even though you said it was a technique your clan created."

"As you would expect, our techniques have been leaked out to the world over the years and became widespread in the assassination and fighting world. There are even copycat organizations, that use these techniques to make a name for themselves. But since we're the originators, the Mors Clan is recognized as the #1 assassination organization in the world. Also, since we created them we know better than anyone how to counter them."

Kimiko replied.

"This is the main objective of this training. For you to get accustomed to assassination techniques. So even if you can't do them yourself you'll be able to defend against them."

She placed her hand on his shoulder.

"So get ready. I'm going to show you the terrors of assassins."

Suddenly Kimiko disappeared, but her voice could still be heard clearly.

"Now let's review the next technique, Camouflage."