I followed Clark in silence for almost an hour as we ran to the outskirts of the academy grounds. It seemed a bit strange that the killer would be all the way out here if the attacks happened so close to H rank dorms.
I could finally start to see the high walls that stood around the academy, standing at twenty feet high they were quite impressive. Suddenly, I saw Clark start to slow down, indicating that we were getting close to the destination.
"Alright, I think we are in the general location that the others informed me of." He said, appearing to be looking for something in his bag.
It was then that I acted on my suspicions.
"Hey Clark?" I began.
"Yes?"
"The assassin was never here was he?" I asked in a suspicious tone.
"Nope, you're pretty sharp Jake." He said, confirming what I had been thinking on the way over.
"Care to explain why you're doing this? What purpose you are serving by killing the students that you were charged to protect? Also, why am I not dead yet?" I asked getting angrier with each question.
He looked at me for a few moments like he was deciding if I was worth an explanation or not. I saw his expression swiftly change from friendly to cold in an instant.
"It's pretty simple actually, power. Power is the only reason for all of this. I have been stuck in H rank for four years training to become a stupid porter. After this year I'll be forced to do manual labor for other asshole adventurers for six whole years." He explained as if it was a reasonable excuse.
It was true however, whatever rank a person graduated at was the rank they retained for the rest of their lives. Only active students and very high ranking officials had access to the ability orb to further progress their abilities. Another problem was that every new graduate had to carry out their own adventurer duties for six years. For some it was a rewarding experience, like those with powerful abilities. For others however, it meant being treated as an afterthought by the stronger adventurers.
"I only wanted a taste of holding power above the weak before being reduced to nothing again. Is that so wrong? For god's sake the academy doesn't even care about tracking me down, that should tell you something." Clark explained while still rummaging through his bag.
My instincts kicked in at that moment as in the next Clark hurled a long and curved dagger at my chest. I dodged it by a hairs width, clearly there was a skill gap between us as he was a senior student. I was about to take my sword from my inventory when I felt a sting in the back of my left shoulder. I felt for the cause and found it to be the dagger.
"What do you think of my skill? It's name is boomerang, meaning that any object that I throw returns to my hand unless it's caught or embedded." He was taunting me now, thinking that he had won, not knowing that I had recently undergone some improvements.
"Ah, I knew that after you got your beast weapon you would get a little stronger, that is why we're here. I have to admit, straight up killing has gotten boring, I want to challenge my prey to a death match now. Luckily, you just happened to be out tonight, my perfect first victim. Don't be shy, let's see that mist ability of yours." Clark continued, becoming more and more excited by the idea of his plan.
I pulled the dagger out of my shoulder and threw it far from Clark, he couldn't throw what he didn't have. I then activated mist veil, this guy was about to pay for messing with me, my friends and all of H rank.
"Ah, very clever Jake, you clearly have some battle intuition. The only thing you don't seem to understand is that I have an entire arsenal with me prepared for such occasions. While I am only H rank, I still have four years of training on my side and that includes preparedness." He said, laughing at my attempts to turn the tide.
I could never have predicted what came next, Clark closed his eyes and leaped through the mist and into my direction. It seemed that he was able to track me somehow be it by smell or sound. It seemed that my usual trick of taking the sight of my opponent was useless here.
I quickly dodged to the side of Clark and readied an attack.
"What can you do now Jake? You gonna attack me with a weak ass ball of mist?" He yelled, really starting to get on my nerves.
"Actually Clark, you chose the worst day to come after me!" I declared and let loose an air slash. Clark somehow sensed it at the last second and jumped away only being slightly cit on his leg.
"Woah, since when do you have that skill? Don't tell me that you have been playing weak this entire time. That would be really unfair to me man." There was only a hint of worry in his voice but it quickly disappeared as I was met with another projectile being flung my way.
I made sure to follow it's movement this time, but instead was kicked from behind by clark. I had made the mistake of taking my eyes off of him like a novice.
I had had enough.
I only had to think about it for a split second and my S rank sword appeared in my hand. Clark quickly put a lot of distance between us and readied two weapons simultaneously.
"What is that energy and why do you have it?!" He was clearly shaken up by my sword, which was good.
"As I said before Clark, you picked the worst day to target me, say hello to my S rank sword that I have affectionately named Golden Shadow." I said, readying my stance.
I gave the sword the name for it's black and gold color scheme, which seemed a bit edgy but it worked.
"Where the hell did someone like you get an S rank weapon?!" Clark asked sounding panicked.
"Unfortunately for you, you'll never get the chance to fond out." I said before sprinting ahead toward Clark.
The sword again boosted my strength and speed ten fold. I knew that I could easily keep up with Clark now even though he was more experienced. I stopped right in front of him and swung my sword like a bat, hitting him in the head with the flat face of the blade.
Clark groaned in pain, flying back almost twenty feet. I did not let up on my attack though, I leaped into the air and sent out another air slash. This time I was successful in catching Clark in the stomach, slicing him open.
Still not finished I aimed my blade on my descent and swung downward, successfully amputating him at the knees. This was all I needed to decide the battle. Now I could inflict hundreds of victims worth of suffering upon him.
I kicked his once attached legs away and let my mist dissipate so that Clark could see my clearly. I then walked over to the dagger that had been used to impale my shoulder, this would be the paintbrush to my canvas tonight.
"Please just let me go Jake, I promise to turn myself in and repent for all the lives I've taken just PLEASE don't kill me!" Clark begged as I flashed him a cheerful smile.
"Clark, were you going to let me go had I not surprised you tonight?" I asked innocently.
"Of course I would have let you go! I could see that you were different, this was just a spar..yeah that's it a spar." Clark said, scrambling for a way out of this.
"Clark there is only one thing that I hate more than being attacked and that's being lied to, and you've done both tonight." I said, bending down and making a long thin cut on his face.
That night was long, the moon was bright as it illuminated my work space. I made Clark regret every life he ever took, every mistake he ever made. He never stopped pleading to be let go, even trying to crawl away once before I removed his hands. They would never be used for death again.
Eventually, he blacked out after passing his pain threshold. Only then did I activate mist veil again and end him for good, leaving his head impaled on the hilt of his own dagger with the blade stuck into his chest.
[LEECH! +BOOMERANG]
Wait what? I had just leeched Clark's ability for myself? It looked like leech could be used for more than gaining attributes, I could leech so much more than that…this was truly my most significant skill.
I walked back to my dorm after admiring my handiwork, I couldn't wait to tell the guys what I had done…after a shower anyway.