It was finally the weekend once again as I laid on the matt of my self made training room, my legs were crossed as I tried to maintain the two revolving belts in both my hands.
If at first I could only maintain one bullet at my other hand, now I could produce 5 at the same time.
A large improvement from the last days of my training which meant that I was also getting closer to breaking through mystic tier 2.
I have been training both my body and mana control for a while now and it's only a matter of time before I ascend.
I sweated profusely as I struggled to prolong the duration of my class skill and for the next few minutes, my hold finally burst as I laid down on the sweaty matt.
My chest heaved up and down as I recovered my stamina for a bit. I then looked at my vrace as I checked the balance on it.
'383,500 Dels huh,....this-this might be enough for it to work' I mused while I proceeded to take a quick shower.
After having a light dinner, I sat down on my couch while I contemplated my next possible move before the first year's rush dive test.
A week from now, the academy will let the first years embark on their own to the lower layers. The days before that is an adjustment period of some sorts to prepare themselves.
First and foremost, the academy wants it's students to be independent and have their initiative when it comes to the labyrinth.
Such is why they conduct such a test to let them freely challenge those layers as they want.
Unlike in the first layer before where there was an accompanying quota to fullfill, the coming layers is a free for all in that test.
They wouldn't interfere on how far one will be willing to go but of course within the time limit of one day.
This part of the curriculum stands above all else, once students go in the labyrinth in Proffessor Ulden's class, the test will officially start.
Although that includes the heavy risk, it will be something that the party themselves will have to handle if they decide to bite more than they could chew.
It is quite an effective way of training and motivation for students but it is unwise to dive layers that one can't even handle, it basically tests your decision making skills in all stages.
In the original story, Jun and the gang decides to conquer the layers up to the 5th layer and they did it relatively well due to the fact that they've grown as delvers and as a party from the last incident.
'...Although I'm not so sure about their state as of now...'
In my case, I would have loved to do the same or less, I'm not suicidal afterall however-
"Those bastards are going to show up. It wouldn't be wise to avoid them either too"
More specifically assassins sent by the Order of Fifteen, basically a cult that aims to keep people from conquering the labyrinths.
These guys have been getting in the way of delvers and the alliance since the start of the apocalypse and the emergence of fallens which they worship as messengers of the Gods.
Basically they're crazy fanatics and will not hesitate to commit war crimes in a heartbeat.
More importantly their goal in the coming event is to snuff out the life of major names of important households.
Unfortunately, it included me as a bonus target among their priorities like Emily, Alice, Sophia, Amana, Brian, and Lily.
As for Jun, they still haven't had an inkling nor were they aware of his identity. Only after the assassination attempt did the order take interest in him.
Long story short, it was a close battle to the death but luckily all of the main cast survived, including Ray but the irksome thing to me was that they failed to kill a very annoying villain in that event.
To which will further cause some untold destruction in the future.
I clenched my hands as I recalled the horrible things that person did in desperation and revenge.
"If I could eliminate him there and then, it would be less trouble for everyone in the long run. I wouldn't even care about for the butterfly effect for this fucker, he needs to go quick"
'For me to ensure that, I need to prepare and finally get those materials'
The need for funds was finally met after getting that hefty sum from Amana the other day.
Although the sudden challenge was unexpected, it was a great oppurtunity nonetheless.
I expected to get the money from Lily at best through the Scale Ring but because of some circumstances, the elf princess gave me the money I needed.
I even braced myself to shamelessly sell it to Lily myself if ever Alice or Emily refused to become my agent in the transaction.
"Now then, might as well get myself a mask and some hair dye before I go there tonight"
I stood up from my couch as I went out the dorm to go shopping.
-----
At the edge of capital city of Durevellis
Two youths were wondering around a dark alley where the lights of the city barely reached.
The foul smell of dirty canals and dead corpses of animals lingered in the dusty air.
"...Why did we need to visit the black market again for the fourth time this week?" said a man with a ponytail and a katana on his hips.
The young boy next to him then turned to him with an annoyed expression as he crossed his arms.
"I already told you! My innate skill tells me I need to get something from here" the youth with short rusty red hair said.
"I don't really get that innate skill of yours kid. You don't even know what it looks like and why do you even need that on the first place, I'm supposed to be teaching you the master's techniques right about now"
"Swords suck! It doesn't match me at all, I'm making a gun and it's going to be a powerful one. My skill is never wrong. I already know who's going to make it....I think"
The one holding the katana facepalmed to hear a fellow disciple disparage the teaching of their master.
"The order is going to kill me for this..." he lamented.
The two then stopped before a blank wall and then the older one extended his palm to it's surface.
"Six inputs of minor dose of mana and three major input" his palms glowed blue as it flickered.
The wall then dissapeared before their eyes as they proceeded inside.
Unlike the other side of the wall, the place inside of it was bustling with all kinds people. Stalls neatly lined up as far as the eyes could see.
The stalls featured all kinds of goods and something important to note that these are all illegaly sold and extremely punishable by death if found by the Alliance.
The black market was an outlet for those people that don't believe in the jurisdiction of the Alliance and prefers to make deals with people in the underworld of the barrier nations.
This included also the Order of 15 which this place couldn't care less about at all, as long as they paid then they would let it pass.
The two then checked the stalls once again which displayed varying items, potions and materials that was very tempting for those that have loose hands.
Like the young subordinate of a particular handler.
"Don't even think about it. We don't have anymore budget for your shopping spree"
"Tch!"
"..Please help me oh fallen supremes..." he prayed.
After a little bit more of walking around the black market, the handler asked a question.
"Is your skill reacting kid? You said to me before we came here that it was even giving you visions for this"
"Hmmm? hey speak up..." he asked puzzled that the brat didn't reply.
The young boy just stayed still as he became eerily quiet all of a sudden. His eyes glazed over the people passing by him.
"Hey handler...use your zone skill"
The handler then furrowed his brows as he sensed that his subordinate was being serious for once which was a very rare occurrence.
The fact that he was acting like that meant that an enemy was close to them, a threathening one at that.
"...What's the attribute?"
"....Wait a bit....try null"
"Null...got it"
The handler then closed his eyes shut as he activated a skill.
"[Territory-Null]"
A wave of extremely thin particles of specialized mana spreaded out in a wide circle, with him as the center.
It expanded rapidly in the blink of an eye as it passed through all the people there in the black market.
Moreover, they couldn't even sense that someone had activated a skill let alone they realize that they were inside someone's insta-kill zone.
It continued to expand until it encompassed the whole area in his skill.
"...There's 7 of them here..I can try even at this distance. All of them will still be dead" he said it casually while his eyes held such a dark and unemphatic depth to them.
The boy however just had a confused look on his face as he tried to connect with his inner self or more specifically, his innate skill.
Alas his eyes widened when he realized that-
"What the hell is happening? I was quite sure that someone was aiming at me ..."
"It's not even responding anymore..." he clutched his head as he felt like his brain was being overloaded with incomprehensible information.
"Hey you ok there kid?" the handler asked in concern.
The kid just stared blankly at the ground for a few minutes before calming down.
"Stop, shut it off"
"....Why? They're still there you know" he reminded.
"No. It's pointless. I'm not even sure if it's null anymore" his voice cracked at that exchange.
Even the handler was taken aback by what his subordinate has said. Not even once has he heard the words "not sure" from his mouth ever.
"...What the hell happened kid?"
"You tell me, what the hell was that all about? My skill was telling me that I was really close to what I was searching for just now but it suddenly warned me about danger..."
"..So are we still going to search for it?"
The kid nodded while still being left with a weird feeling of something being drastically wrong at that point in time.
Not even he knew that a certain masked individual had passed by them in a dazed state a few seconds before.