We moved silently through the woods with Maxus leading the way. His abilities as a rogue were perfect for this little trip. Even Ronica made no noises, as if her footsteps didn’t so much as reach the ground. Quickly but silently, a pace that we kept easily.
The group was only the three of us, as I figured the rest of the hero’s party needed to stay back, guard the town, and most importantly, search for any other party involved in the assassination plot. Anyone found guilty had to go and unlike major nobles, no one would have any fucks to give about Count Hubert or any of his excuses.
I checked my stats, mostly to see if my third class had finally emerged. What if it became something like Super Potion Maker or Spirit Coin Creator? There had to be a better way than the dungeons.
Nate Sullivan
Class: Potion Maker. Secondary class: **Divine Master Magician** Third class: Unknown.
Magician rank: 8th realm of the Lesser Dragon.
Class rank: Established.
Ability: Can make up to SSS and divine-grade potions.
Power: Crushing Strong.
Defense: Emboldened Steel.
Dao of Creation. Rank: Divine. Stage: Awakening. This is an early stage.
Physique rank: D.
Primary quest: Purpose. Progression: 2%.
Shop Rank: E.
Abilities:
-Super Skill: Ultimate Identifier. [Ability to identify everything, including its quality, ranks, people, so on.]
-Dragon Magic Burst. (Evolution of Supreme Magic Bolt.)
-Blood Lightning. (With Yukihara enabled.)
You know, having the ability to punch holes through stone felt nearly pointless whenever the system decided to flaunt my shop’s rank in my face. I was certain by increasing the variety of what we sold, perhaps include a few battle items in the mix, we’d reach D-rank. Add selling other products like ice cream and milk shakes, candy, and we might even piss off the general store.
Gold wasn’t so much of a problem with our shop’s demand being so high.
What made me nod, though mostly in surprise, was the primary quest progressing more. At this point, I felt certain it revolved around the apprentices and maybe Milia too. Milia seemed to be preparing to reveal something to me but was waiting for her family to arrive. Maybe she’d turn out to be related to Wanda or someone important within the dryad system. She seemed confident that some of our current problems would either be solved or get a significant boost toward a resolution. I decided not to worry about it. Glaring at a gift horse was a good way to lose it.
The crafter’s Dao, the Dao of Creation, would still take time to increase its presence, but every day I meditated upon it, the closer I felt to it. It didn’t come with a progress bar or a percent increase like the Purpose quest. I figured a little spirituality couldn’t hurt, given that I was ripped from Earth and received no real explanation of how and why. At least allow me to invite family members to my wedding next year, you damn system. The bright side was, of course, not being alone in an unknown world. Some people thrived being a little on the edge and I wouldn’t judge them for it, but thankfully the system didn’t trap me on some island inhabited by monsters or turn me into a churro.
I needed to practice with the D-ranked spell book, so I considered summoning it against the assassin if it came to it. There had to be a reason why magicians only summoned them when they were getting serious, rather than go all out from the beginning. It was likely so they could gauge the foe. Why use a nuke on an ant if you could just crush it? Not that I was suggesting such a thing. Fire ants aside. I couldn’t stand those little shits.
Eventually, Maxus made a motion, indicating that he detected movement. I didn’t sense any nearby presences and had to assume the target was still quite far away. We’d been walking for at least a couple of hours in total.
We waited for a bit, but nothing happened. With the potion still active, I slipped into the shadows and had a look at the area within the vicinity but spotted nothing.
Of course, I didn’t believe for a moment that we’d easily spot an assassin magician. However, when I returned, Maxus was adamant that he was closing in on them, though still far away.
We were in a forest, deciding not to take the road like a couple of idiots begging to be spotted. Yet for some reason, the assassin had no fucks to give and was currently walking the road himself. Not that a normal person would be able to contend with him. He also seemed quite confident that the nobles hadn’t alerted me.
That brought chills and I had to ask since the enemy magician was still roughly an hour or more away, according to the rogue.
“Is it possible for him to spy from miles away?” I asked. “I understand being confident with your abilities as a magician, but aren’t most assassins sneaky, especially if they haven’t a clue about what they’re getting into?”
“There is a rare spying skill,” Ronica said. “If he has that, then he could’ve watched you from about a half day away.”
My eyes widened. “A… half day. Well, fuck.” I had no proof or motives, other than this guy simply being a professional assassin paid to do his job by the count.
“What’s the matter?” Maxus asked. “Afraid he saw something unsightly? The technique can’t penetrate houses, which makes it no different than perhaps a spying glass, no?”
The rogue began tossing a copper in the air. “The fact that he has such a skill does compliment his potential strength. I’m not saying we’ll have another Andros, but be very careful.”
“Or he’ll eat your throat!” Ronica said, making gestures that was supposed to be creepy, only to come across as irritating to me.
“That will all depend on whether he summons a D-ranked spell book or not,” I said.
“Doubt it,” Maxus said. “If high-ranked spell books were common, no one would bother using an F-ranked book. That’d certainly make the E-ranks significantly more affordable.”
“Even E-ranks are out of your price range?” I asked them.
Ronica nodded. “Damn blasted nobles hoarding and selling them at outrageous prices. I feel like it’s a trap. Any magician found being able to handle an E-ranked spell book in the capital will likely be either drafted into the Black Cross, the court magicians, or the Lord Ruler’s Bronze Court Magicians. Against their will, of course.”
“So if they’re that rare and being hoarded, how the hell did Andros get ahold of a D-ranked spell book? You guys didn’t seem to know they existed until seeing it.”
“He is… was… the Black Knight,” Maxus said. “I think being the leader of the Black Cross had a few perks. I didn’t see what was in his storage ring, but given the fact that you’re wearing it means you scored something big.”
I shrugged. “Someone had to pay for my injuries.”
“I’m… just glad you stood up for us,” Ronica said, scratching the back of her head. “Most people would’ve sold us out in a heartbeat and went home to sleep without a care in the world.”
Maxus nodded in agreement. “Not that it would be their fault. We broke our promise to remain in the capital for a year.”
“Ramon broke his promise,” Ronica corrected. “But yeah, we would’ve chased them down anyway in a feeble attempt to rescue him, only to get captured ourselves and made into the Lord Ruler’s slaves.”
“The way you worded that bugs me,” I said, but the twerp only smiled sadly.
“Let’s get going,” Maxus said. “I would say time is critical, but with the assassin walking leisurely toward us, we could sit here and wait and still achieve the same results.”
I considered it, but in the end, agreed with Maxus. We needed to minimize the chance of witnesses as much as possible.
“Lead the way,” I told him.
“I feel like a kid again, playing follow the leader,” Ronica said.
“Aren’t you always following a leader? As a member of the hero’s party,” I said, but she rolled her eyes without being affected much by my rhetorical question. Her cheery attitude only brightened.
One hour later, Maxus stopped the advance again and, this time, even I could detect an approaching presence from afar. Minutes later, someone walking casually in a dark blue cloak approached, but soon he stopped, detecting us as well.
A smile emerged on the face of the assassin, one filled with a hint of rage before it finally curled into the sneer I expected.
“Unless they were stupid enough to brag, there is no way you should know anything about me,” the assassin said. “So, tell me who broke the contract of confidentiality. I’ve got a new target and no need to waste my time with you.”
“I wasn’t born yesterday,” I said. “That’s the oldest trick in the book.” I blurred in front of him, snarling as I punched a hole through his heart. Or so I tried, but the elusive fucker just barely dodged. Well, not knowing the vastness of my own rage, a shockwave of pure wind and electricity destroyed at least thousands of meters of forest ahead.
The assassin squealed his surprise, before chuckling and shaking his head.
“Wanda’s trembling bottom of heart medicine, you’re a monster,” the assassin said, though his voice was calm again. “The file says nothing about a barbarian magician.” He sighed. “And here I thought I’d be killing and stealing the treasures of a simple peasant whose vast luck ran out. Or a man pretending to be a peasant while employing three interesting kids.”
The assassin pulled off his cloak, revealing an average-looking man with forgettable features, someone who could disappear into a crowd and never be found. Just knowing this guy was an assassin actually made me shudder within. Despite giving him a little credit for having the build to be a deadly machine, my rage refused to die, not even a little.
“I’ve never been a fan of someone targeting me or threatening to destroy everything I’ve built,” I said, while moving toward him. “Not that it’s much. I’ve been given a reminder just how long of a journey I’m in for before reaching the summit. If you think I’m going to let some random guy with an edgy name kill me off, you’re in for a surprise.”
I slipped into the shadows, which did, in fact, surprise him, judging by his expression as I returned. He wasn’t able to avoid the fist but blocked with surprising speed. Magic burst around his arms, seeming to prevent them from breaking. Unfortunately for him, Ronica’s pink lightning coated his backside. The smugness left the assassin as he yelled, but rather than give in, his eyes only hardened.
[Enemy analysis.]
Yakrin, the Throat Eater, Honed Assassin.
Magician rank: blocked by unknown contracts.
What the hell…?
Interrupting my developing thoughts, Yakrin suddenly leapt to the top of the tree, wiping blood from his lip, frowning. He was on the move as Maxus emerged from the tree itself, plunging a dagger into the man’s back.
“This will not do,” Yakrin said. “I am not built for three on ones.”
I was on the move, following him as he leapt from treetop to treetop, heading in the direction of the town.
Given that it was hours away, I didn’t worry about losing him.
Suddenly he leapt into the air. A large spell book manifested at his side, indicating that he planned to take the fight seriously. It would be in his best interest, because when I got ahold of him, I planned to dismantle this guy.
Having multiple nobles plan my death when I hadn’t done anything wrong had affected me a lot more than I thought. No, I didn’t arrive expecting to command respect like some exalted fantasy hero, but this event would surely serve as a lesson. Be careful getting involved with anything before learning of the big players. I may just find a knife to my throat while asleep.
I fired a Dragon Magic Burst right as Yakrin started to descend. Instead of an explosion, I hit pure air as he vanished. Sensing danger, I ducked, but before I realized that was simply a feint, my vision went white, and pain shot through me like the feeling of being both burned and electrocuted. The magic flung me through multiple trees until I found myself flat on my back.
Pushing through the intense pain, I forced myself back up, my head spinning. In fact, I vomited.
Fortunately for me, Maxus was currently engaging the assassin in fierce hand-to-hand combat, their daggers emitting flames at each collision.
“Are you okay?” Ronica called while still providing support to Maxus. The twerp not leaving Maxus revealed a level of experience which I couldn’t help but respect.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just caught by surprise,” I said.
“What? How could you possibly get up from that?” Yakrin yelled. “That was my strongest…”
Maxus turned up the pressure, forcing the Throat Eater to concentrate on both attacking and dodging Ronica’s lightning. The lightning hit him almost every time.
I still felt like utter shit. My blood ran cold and the need to just collapse and let death take me crawled to the back of my mind, which I admitted was a testament to the power of Yakrin’s attack.
However, being a potion maker had its perks. Downing a health potion to evaporate the damage, including the unseen wounds, I shook his attack off like it never happened. Not that I wanted to get hit by it again. Something told me surviving it twice wasn’t possible.
“Collapse. Come forth, Yukihara,” I said, feeling a bit uneasy about not going at this guy with full power. The pressure of the spell book manifesting brought all attention to me. The D-ranked spell book made me feel… fucking amazing, but I knew right away not to let that shit go to my head. After what happened with the summoning potion, powerups like this made me nervous. Being out cold for six days wasn’t ideal for trying to grow as both a person and a potion maker in this world.
“You called sooner than I thought,” Yukihara said as she examined the others while floating above the massive tome. “Are you ready to cast Blood Lightning?”
“In a bit,” I said as I retreated into the shadows. The assassin didn’t have the luxury of watching my movements due to Maxus and Ronica keeping up the pressure on him. I didn’t emerge directly at his side as he expected judging by the way his eyes darted nearby, but right on top of a tree.
Then it was a matter of pointing, aiming, and firing. Ronica unleashed her pink lightning a little after I did, and we watched as the man exploded into goo.
Instead of relief, we heard his voice.
“By the time you receive this, I shall be almost to town with my movement spell. The moment I hit you with my strongest attack, I left this little dummy behind to keep you low-brains busy. Farewell. You lose.”
“And why did he tell us any of that?” I asked, shaking my head.
“I guess he wants to be a theater villain,” Ronica said.
I pulled out the summoning potion without another word, poured some on the ground, and within moments, my giant dragon, Aku, manifested into existence. Maxus and Ronica gaped, still unused to the surprises I sprang into existence as a potion maker.
“Aku, we’ll need a ride back to town,” I told him. “And fly as fast as possible. Prey is escaping.”
“Will do, Master. On my back now,” Aku said, voice booming.
“Are you…?” Maxus paused.
I shook my head and smiled at the two. Or was it an evil grin?
“Let’s just say he’s going to have a nice surprise waiting for him. I just want to catch some of it.”
Yakrin pushed his movement ability to the limits as he evaded the monster and his irritating friends from the hero’s party. Just what kind of man could get back up from an attack meant to collapse space from inside the body? The assassin had never witnessed anything more terrifying. Could this be the reason why the count himself visited to pay for his assassination? To think, Yakrin didn’t triple the price for that scheming balding idiot.
Yakrin’s wounds weren’t healed yet due to the weird properties of the Phoenix Magician’s lightning. It may not be the most powerful electrical spell out there, but it was extremely dangerous. The magic damaged life force directly, then continuously sapped mana from its victims, slowly weakening them over time. He wondered if the potion maker even knew of the hidden monsters in the hero’s party. There was a reason why they were able to bring down the Midnight Dragon when no one else could.
The mystery of why the hero, Ramon Thunderblade, got most of the credit would likely never be revealed to the public. Maybe Yakrin would dig for blackmail information, someday. For now, he had to inflict as much damage as possible. Burn everything.
Due to his damage and mana expenditure because of the three back in the forest, he’d have to enter the premises. Good thing he was at least two hours ahead of those fools thanks to his body double skill. Perhaps they didn’t figure anything out.
Unfortunately, the downside of using such a convenient skill was the possibility of it exposing a small part of one’s thoughts, as it was formed from the very essence of the magician to be as convincing as possible. Hopefully he misled them, but there wouldn’t be a reason for the group not to return.
The forest gave way to the farm ahead and with glee and a grin on his face, Yakrin rushed to the yard.
However, the first thing that greeted him was a powerful sun-bright beam of energy that the magician couldn’t dodge due to his current injuries. Pain exploded in his chest, and he wondered if that monster set him up.
The attacks didn’t end there. Vines grabbed his limbs and powerful magic winds sliced at him. A… small kitten pounced on his head with glowing claws.
As his vision darkened, Yakrin thought he heard the sound of a lute.
“To think you dare underestimate us, assassin,” a cool female voice said. He looked up to see a glowing green blade coming for his head.
“I am ashamed for allowing myself to be this sloppy,” Yakrin said. “He paid me to fight monsters.”
The blade cleanly sliced the assassin’s head off. Milia stared coldly at the man that tried to ruin their home and shook her head.
Nate was right, having warned them before leaving. Judging by his injuries, Yakrin had barely escaped with his life.
Woofy and Wingy seemed as if they were expecting his arrival, though judging by their gazes, this wasn’t the threat the spirit beasts were searching for. Milia knew fate assigned them an unseen foe somewhere out there.
Woofy likely felt it.
“Let’s burn the body,” Chenzu said. Then he looked up to see the approach of a giant dragon. “There he is. What exactly is he, Milia?”
“A cheat potion maker,” she said, laughing.
Chenzu sighed. “Whatever that means.”
Of course he wouldn’t get Milia and Nate’s little inside joke. The dryad waved her betrothed down.
“I volunteer to help loot his house,” Milia said, which set Nate off in a fit of laughter.
End of Phase 4…
