In the end, Lith was the one who got the short end of the stick . The new Quylla was a pocket sized bulldozer, while Friya and Yurial could always ask the other two for a second opinion whenever they had a doubt .
Lith, instead, had to smile more than he had ever done his whole life while listening to idiotic questions and worries . He was forced to reply without sarcasm or spicing his answers up with insults like he was used to back in Lutia .
He still managed to do it, thanks to Solus' help, his companions' constantly worried looks and the occasional friendly nudge in the ribs .
The rest of the morning was uneventful . They checked off over half the list and had time to spare . Their next destination was House Seket, in the uptown district of the city of Lorion .
"I was thinking that if we manage to finish our rounds early, we could actually come back and have lunch here . I heard that Lorion's salmon mousse is to die for . My treat . " Yurial said .
"Great idea! Let's get Phloria too, though . It would be sad for her to have to eat alone at the academy . " Friya agreed, purposely adding fuel to the fire .
"It would be too sad . " Quylla echoed, while she kept getting knots in her stomach .
"Not a big fan of fish . Do they have some good meat?" Lith's mouth and brain seemed to be disconnected . Even before finishing his sentence, he was already cursing at himself, waiting for Solus to scold him again .
Then, a Warden array appeared out of nowhere under their feet, Warping them away .
"What the heck just happened?" The Queen's corps unit that was assigned to the group as a detail was shocked . Half of them were undercover, following them closely, while the other half would scout the group's more likely routes to check for dangers .
Every student of the academy was considered an invaluable asset and the future backbone of the Kingdom . Knowing there was at least one traitor in the academy, Linjos had assigned a detail to every group without notifying anyone but the Queen .
Yet his precautions proved to not be enough . The squad was composed only of veterans, so they immediately contacted their commanding officer and requested back up, searching for their targets at the same time .
"Where are they?" The captain asked the unit's Warden . Linjos' paranoia was finally paying off . In case something like this happened, he had the uniforms imbued with a powerful tracking spell that could be remotely activated .
"The good news is that I have their position . The enemies have taken them quite far, but Linjos has spared no effort in those trackers . Four of them together produce a signal so strong that we could pinpoint them even at half a county of distance . "
"He's not here, stop blowing smoke up Linjos' a*s and give me the bad news . " The captain roared .
"They are a few kilometres away . Unless one of us is familiar with the outskirts of the city, it will take a while to get there even at full speed . Our enemies spared no effort too . " The Warden sighed .
"Damn! Let's hope they can hold on long enough . Otherwise the Queen will have our heads . "
***
The moment the Warping array activated, Lith and Solus prepared for battle . The rest of the group was panicking, trying to make heads or tails out of their situation .
"Ambush! Get ready to run!" Lith yelled, fearing he had just walked into a trap similar to the one used to kill Captain Velagros (*) and his unit . He immediately conjured several spells at once, activating both Life Vision and mana sense .
He wouldn't let any array or enemy take him by surprise again .
His companions were scared, but Lith's warning made them regain their cool and become wary of their new surroundings . They had been transported to the slums of the city, in the middle of a back alley .
The stench coming from the open sewers was enough to make them puke, but fear kept them focused .
- "No arrays?"- Lith was pleasantly surprised, failing to remember that the previous ambush had been tailored for an elite military unit, not for a bunch of teenagers . Yet he couldn't relax, there were too many life forces nearby and he had no idea who was a real hobo and who was just pretending .
Suddenly, a shadow jumped from behind a heap of garbage into the middle of the group . His dirty, raggedy clothes and some makeup made the man look like a beggar, but his curved blade aiming at Yurial's throat told a different story .
"Yurial!" Friya screamed, making her hands fumble the signs necessary to save him from death with a timely Blink .
The green radiance of enchanted steel, a splash of blood .
It was all that it took for the cleanly cut head to hit the ground with a thud, rolling in the middle of the group with an expression still filled with fear stamped on its face .
"I never understood why you guys never cauterized the enemies' wounds during the exam . There's never a reason to make a bloody mess . "
Lith had appeared out of nowhere right in front of Yurial . His left hand was clenching the corpse's crushed right wrist while the right one was open and covered by a layer of ice that made it razor sharp .
The battle experience of the group of assassins was first class, but they were no Talons . No one had told them about the Queen's corps involvement, so when they noticed the detail protecting the kids, they had been forced to improvise . Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting .
The Warp array was a last minute trick, to bring the target to a secluded place they were familiar with . It implied they had no opportunity to prepare the field in advance, since their Warden had to stay behind to cast the Warp array at the right moment .
A man placing magical stones in the middle of the road of one of the most exclusive districts of Lorion was beyond suspicious . The residents would have called the guards faster than if they had painted with blood the word "Murder" on a wall .
They had no idea their opponent was the Queen's corps, otherwise they would have long fled . With so many unforeseen problems the mission was already a disaster, yet it managed to get even worse .
As soon as they moved toward the target, some of Lith's rings glowed, releasing several fireballs aimed at them . They exploded beside or above the assassins' hiding spots, engulfing them in flames that would have been lethal if not for their enchanted protections .
"How the heck does he know where we are?" The leader screamed in his communication earpiece, having become temporarily deaf due to the explosion .
"It's almost like he can see us!"
- "I actually do . " Lith thought with a wolfish smile on his face . "Let's see if they like this . "–
Lith shot another round of fireballs, this time high in the sky .
"Oh gods, why?" The assassins' leader was on the verge of tears . The key to a job well done was to be quick and go unnoticed . With so many fireballs flying around it was just a matter of time before the city guards and the Mage Association swarmed the place .
"I could use a little help, here . " Lith said while shooting down whoever ran towards them instead of away from them .
Yurial stopped staring at the head laying at his feet, remembering who he was and who he was meant to become .
"Friya, protect me! I'm clearly the target of the attempt . Quylla, keep the flames under control! This may be a sh*thole, but there are people living here and they need our protection . Lith…" His brain froze for a split second .
What kind of advice could he possibly give to someone that moved faster than his eyes could see and capable of attacking fiercely like a divine punishment?
- "I literally meant to help me, not to do damage control . " Lith thought, surprised by Yurial's care for the residents . "Whatever . The more spell they cast, the less people will be able to understand who did what . " -
"You just focus on those b*stards, I'll cover your back!" If there was something that Yurial had learned from Lith's negative attitude, fueled by his unbridled paranoia, was to always expect the worst .
Hence Yurial started to conjure the faster arrays of his repertoire in case something went wrong .
Less than ten seconds had passed since the activation of the Warp array, and most of the assassins were already dead or gravely injured .
- "F*ck! If I leave even one of my men behind, my identity will be exposed . A royal constable's tortures can even make you remember how much milk you drank as a newborn . I can only kill my way out of here . "– The leader thought .
"Code black! Repeat code black! We sink or swim here, boys!" He yelled in his earpiece . The remaining assassins quickly gulped down all the enhancing potions they had, even those with dangerous side effects .
While their leader bravely charged forward, they ran away as one, scattering in all directions . Their only wish was to see another day as free men . No amount of money was worth their lives .
The leader was now empowered by top tier Hatorne (*) potions, that turned him into a one man army .
He easily dodged the barrage of incoming spells . To his eyes the world was now moving in slow motion . He had never felt so powerful in his whole life . The first target was the rugrat that had ruined their ambush .
Years of experience in the field had honed his instinct . The other three were like mages riding on the back of a dragon, his sword had no chance to reach them without slaying the beast first .
Seeing his mana was going to waste, Lith interrupted his casting, projecting instead a shroud of spirit magic that engulfed the assassin and squeezed him like a wet rug .
The leader noticed something was attempting to restrain him, but he shrugged off the feeling with sheer force .
- "F*ck!" Lith thought . "Whatever this guy is high on, has effects so similar to fusion magic that the mana flowing in his body counters my spirit magic . Time for plan B . "–
Lith infused himself with all the elements at once with fusion magic . The assassin executed several feints, using footwork to make his real target unpredictable .
Between the high speed movements and the abysmal gap in technique, Lith was left in a daze . He was still physically superior, but thanks to the potions the assassin was able to use the advantage coming from his combat skills to put Lith on the defensive .
The sword struck Lith several times, piercing both the uniform and his magically hardened skin . Lith had managed to avoid or block all the slashes aimed to his vitals, but it came at a price .
His arms and legs were full of cuts, some even deep enough to bleed profusely .
"Do you see it, men? If he bleeds, we can kill it!"
From their short exchange the leader had partially regained his confidence . The rugrat was a monster, but still an untrained civilian .
Now that he had managed to stop the little monster from raining death from above by putting his life on the line, his teammates could safely join the battle . It was only a matter of seconds before they surrounded the rugrat and killed him with their teamwork .
- "Any moment now . "– The leader stopped his attacks to catch his breath, taking a quick look over his shoulder to check the situation . Only then he realized no one was coming to his help .
Lith exploited that pause to use Invigoration, making his wounds close with a speed visible to the naked eye and sending the assassin further into panic . He immediately resumed his attack, discovering that little by little the monster was getting used to his pattern .
"I still need help, here!" Lith yelled after noticing his opponent's distress . Yurial racked his brain to find a way to help him, but they were moving too fast . If they attacked without a plan, the enemy could exploit their spells turning Lith into a human shield .
Their opponent was the one with a clear line of sight, while their friend was unaware of their actions . The only silver lining was that he had already finished placing the first array, so he was able to talk again .
"Quylla, attack on Lith's right side . Friya, same on the left . Lith, push forward . " Yurial yelled .
"F*ck, no!" The assassin moaned .
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