Royal Road
SomethingOtherThanRain
Path to Transcendence - [Isekai/Litrpg] by l-Ryn-l
Chapter 12: Meeting New Faces
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All three of them were back at the training yard. It was one of many around the estate, which was why Edwin and Julius were left undisturbed most of the time. However, it seemed like between the time they were last out here and did the ritual, someone had decided to use it as well.
There were two people training. One was a young teenager who looked a little older than Julius and another man who looked around his early twenties. The older man was carefully guiding the younger teen through some sword forms, correcting his feet and posture as needed.
The two of them hadn't noticed Julius and the others, but Julius took the time to observe the younger one. While Julius wasn't an expert on sword fighting, he was still able to see gaps in the way the young teen moved around. The biggest thing that jumped out, was how robotic and stiff the teen moved. It seemed like there were a specific number of forms to the style he was learning, but since he seemed relatively new to it, he wasn't able to smoothly transition between each position.
Finally, the older man took notice of them and immediately looked at his uncle. He then stopped the young teen from practicing and bowed deeply at the waist.
"Greetings, Patriarch. I wasn't aware you would be using the training yard at this time. I apologize, we will continue elsewhere." The man said.
Lukas smiled at the man and said, "Don't worry about it, Frederick. There is plenty of room for all of us. I see that you are showing Tristan the Imperial Sword Art."
The man, Frederick, smiled as he turned back to the teen. "Yes, I am teaching my son the forms before he sets out to Goldencrest Academy. I know he will be taught the style once he begins his learning there, but I wanted him to get some familiarity beforehand."
Lukas directed his attention to the young teen. "Oh yes, I heard you managed to get into Goldencrest. Getting into one of the most prestigious academies is quite an achievement."
Julius had heard of Goldencrest Academy. It was one of the most illustrious academies on the entire continent. There were also academies like Brightwood and Reyton that were talked about with the same reverence, but many agreed that Goldencrest trained the most powerful combatants on the continent.
"So when are you two leaving?" Lukas asked them.
"We are leaving tomorrow, the entrance ceremony takes place in several weeks, but I wanted to show Tristan around Heston beforehand," Frederick replied.
Heston was a wonderful city that was placed in the southeastern regions of the empire right off the coast. Surrounded by gigantic stone cliffs that protected it from the sea and weather, it was a city that was famous for its beauty. Julius had read that the sunsets were what the academy was named after. It was said that when the sun crested over the horizon in the morning, it would hit the golden structure of the academy and illuminate the early dawn with a gorgeous light, able to be seen from miles away.
Goldencrest was at the top of Julius's list of academies that he had really wanted to go to. However, Goldencrest was infamous for its high standards. They only accepted a thousand or fewer students every year and every student had either perfect or excellent affinities. Even those with excellent affinities had to go through extensive examination before acceptance. Only those with perfect affinities were guaranteed a spot at their school. It was probably going to be difficult since he only had high affinities. It wasn't that he thought he was weaker than the other students, but most schools place a heavy emphasis on affinity. Although William Prashe was an example of being able to overcome your affinity, in reality, there weren't many William Prashe in the world.
Suddenly, Julius was brought back to reality because someone was calling his name. He looked around and saw that his uncle was calling him over. His uncle probably wanted him to meet some of his family.
Right then he just realized that this would possibly be the first time he meets someone in his family other than Lukas. He didn't even get to say hello once to Gregor before Lukas erased him.
"Julius, I want you to meet Frederick and his son, Tristan. Tristan is going to Goldencrest, so they are leaving tomorrow." Lukas explained to Julius.
Julius had already decided to feed into his reputation as an odd boy beforehand. It was easier, people around the estate had already heard of his escapades so they had some expectations already and Julius wasn't going to correct them on it. He was amazed at how differently people treated and talked to him when they thought he was a little "special". And based on how Tristan was looking at him like he would a cute pet, he had heard some rumors already. Plus, Julius found it amusing to mess with others like this.
Putting on his acting hat, Julius walked over with an expression of awe on his face and said with a higher-pitched voice than normal, "Wow! You must be really strong Dillion! I heard that only the best of the best make it in Goldencrest." Julius could see Edwin putting a hand to his face and shaking his head with [Spatial Perception].
Tristan didn't know how he should react. On one hand, his name wasn't Dillion, but on the other hand, he was flattered because Julius was right, only the best went to Goldencrest. Tristan had heard things about the son of the Patriarch's late brother. The workers and those who had been around him, all described him as a kind boy, just missing a few pieces upstairs. So Tristan couldn't get upset if Julius didn't get his name right on the first try.
With a patient look, Tristan said to Julius, "My name is Triss-stan," emphasizing each syllable. "And, yes only the best go to Goldencrest. I have dual excellent affinities for sun and air." Tristan stated proudly.
To be fair, that was something to be proud of. Dual excellent affinities were highly desirable and with sun being one of them, doubly so. Julius wasn't jealous in the slightest.
With that being said, Julius was slightly surprised to find out that Tristan didn't seem that bad. His uncle had told him stories about some of the other children around the estate and how spoiled they acted. If Lukas was to be believed, some of them were downright terrors. But Tristan could have also been acting nice because the House's Patriarch was a few feet away.
"You are so cool! I want to go to Goldencrest too when I'm older." Julius said.
"Yeah? Well, I wish you luck, the examination was brutal." Tristan said.
Frederick, who was off to the side next to Julius's uncle asked Lukas, "It seems like Julius has reached Tier 1 already. Has he found out his affinities yet?"
Lukas nodded his head and replied, "Yes, he has high affinities in fire, life, and kinetic."
"Kinetic?" Frederick repeated with a surprised expression. "That is quite a unique affinity, hard to train, but very rare. No excellent affinities?"
Julius looked over at Tristan and noticed Tristan's face change the slightest upon hearing that. It was known that those from established families had better chances of awakening an excellent affinity, but Julius wasn't considered a genius on that front. But he was curious why Tristan had that reaction. Maybe he was disappointed at hearing of Julius's affinities.
"No, unfortunately not," his uncle replied.
"Yes quite unfortunate," Frederick said with regret. "But with his life affinity, he could have a future as a healer."
The two of them continued to talk about small things and with Tristan paying attention to their conversation, Julius found an opening to leave quietly.
He went over to Edwin who was off to the side and looked at him with pleading eyes. Edwin, being the smart man he was, knew what that look was for. Sighing dramatically, he took Julius over to the other side of the yard and sat him down.
Julius wanted to learn how to generate his affinity attributed mana. He could feel multiple distinct mana signatures in his core, but he didn't know what to do with them. Luckily, Edwin already predicted what he was going to ask.
"The main thing you have to do is identify which mana is which. After that, it becomes a decision on what types you want to keep in your core." Edwin explained to Julius.
"I was thinking about keeping fire, life, and kinetic. What do you think?" Julius asked Edwin for his opinion.
"I wouldn't keep kinetic. It is undoubtedly a versatile affinity, but House Hyperius doesn't have the resources to help you. I also don't know if the academies have much on it either. Take it from someone like me who chose shadow even though there wasn't much on it."
Julius had thought about that. There weren't many places he could learn about kinetic, it would just be him blindly finding his way. However, he thought that maybe with his knowledge from his previous world, there was a better chance of understanding it. He also liked the idea of three mana types, instead of one or two. He always believed three was a lucky number.
"I'm going to keep all three, I believe that I can find a way to make it work," Julius said with more confidence than he really felt.
"Okay," Edwin said. Julius expected more of an attempt to convince him otherwise. "I don't think it is a bad decision, if you find a way to do it, kinetic will fit you very well in the later stages of your path. Also, in the end, it is a personal preference, and I made the same decision." Edwin said.
Julius nodded at Edwin, "Thank you for understanding."
Julius then started to meditate, using [Focus] to concentrate on each mana signature. He noticed that each one had a distinct feeling, and some were much more noticeable than others. For example, his fire affinity was obvious, it was hot, almost burning him when he touched it with his senses. Another that stood out was a soothing light that exuded a vibrancy of life and hope. He could tell instantly tell it was his life affinity. Kinetic on the other hand was difficult. If he didn't already know it was kinetic, he wasn't sure he could guess it.
The best way he could describe it was, forceful. He could feel it vibrating with energy, just waiting to be released. He also took the time to feel his other affinities. He checked on his water and air affinities and realized why the rating of your affinity mattered so much. Compared to his other high affinities, they both seemed dull. For his three high affinities, he could instinctually feel what they wanted to do and connect with them on a deep level. But for water and air, they just felt like a pane of glass separated them from him. Light was even worse. He could barely notice its presence, it was similar to a small grain of uncooked rice in a bowl of cooked rice. It took him a while to find it, and if he wasn't looking for it, he wouldn't have seen it.
After getting a good sense of each of his affinities, he got to work on the easier part. Separating what he wanted to keep and what he didn't. It was a simple process. His core worked in tandem with his intent, so if he wanted to get rid of affinity-attributed mana in his core, it would automatically remove it.
He didn't know how long he sat there, but by the end of it, he had three distinct kinds of mana in equal quantities in his core. Edwin had mentioned that once he decides which affinities to focus on, his core will generate mana on its own. He also had a notification awaiting him.
[Focus] has reached threshold. [Focus lvl 7 -> Focus lvl 8]
That was a nice surprise. He was looking forward to what kind of evolutions his skills would go through once he reached level 10.
When Julius opened his eyes, he noticed Edwin sitting next to him reading a book on a chair he got from who knows where. Lukas on the other hand wasn't anywhere to be seen, neither were Frederick and his son. They must have left while Julius was meditating.
"How long was I out?" Julius asked Edwin.
Edwin took a moment to finish whatever sentence he was at and looked at Julius. "Around an hour, give or take."
"Not too bad, we still have time before dinner, wanna spar for a bit?" Julius asked with a smile.
Edwin didn't say anything in return, but he did stand up and touch the chair with his hand. The chair then disappeared into what was probably some sort of spatial storage device. Edwin then walked over to the center of the yard and waited for Julius.
Julius didn't waste much time and joined him. They started slow, like usual. Then they quickly picked up the pace. Julius was still amazed at how well his body felt and reacted now that he formed his core.
It was still challenging to keep up with Edwin because he had adapted his strength to better match Julius. However, unlike their usual spars where neither talked except after an exchange, Edwin was advising Julius constantly, even while throwing punches or avoiding strikes.
"Your kinetic affinity goes well with your current style of fighting, you just need to figure out how to infuse your strikes with it now," Edwin said while demonstrating how he infused his own fist with shadow mana before lashing out trying to hit Julius with it. "You have three affinities, which is going to be difficult to train. But I'm not worried about that, you have the work ethic to pull it off. The real struggle is going to be combining your use of the three of them." Edwin finished saying before using a tendril of shadow mana to trip Julius's leg and land a hard kick to his side.
Even as Julius landed on the hard ground Edwin continued his advice. "I would start with a basic idea for each of them. Fire can be your long to mid-range attack, kinetic can be your close-range, and life can be your utility. Eventually, you will learn to use all of them regardless of the situation. We can work on your fire later, right now let's focus on the other two."
Julius managed to find his way back to his feet with a grunt.
"Grab ahold of your life mana, and try to infuse it into your body. Try concentrating on the thought of it rejuvenating and healing you." Edwin commanded Julius.
Julius did as he was instructed. He controlled some life mana and directed it to permeate his entire body while thinking of each unit of mana healing his cells. It was easy to imagine. After all, Edwin had been healing him for years.
Julius realized that Edwin when healing him wasn't quite using life mana before. Julius's life mana was much more invigorating than Edwin's mana. It was like he was dunked in an ice bath. His body still hurt from the thrashing, but he didn't feel as tired anymore. It was a small but noticeable difference.
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Royal Road
SomethingOtherThanRain
Path to Transcendence - [Isekai/Litrpg] by l-Ryn-l
Chapter 13: Late Night Tribulations
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Learning how to use life mana on himself was much easier than learning to use kinetic mana. The most difficult part of it was timing the release of the mana with his strikes. It wasn't like life mana, where he could just infuse every part of himself with it.
No, kinetic mana needed to be accumulated and then released. Even after a couple of hours of practice, Julius hadn't managed to successfully deliver a strike with kinetic mana. Frustrated, Julius chose to take a break for the day. Being stubborn could sometimes be a blessing but a curse at the same time. He needed to try again tomorrow with a fresh head.
So after dinner, he found himself outside in the training yard by himself. He was going to try using fire mana this time and he didn't want to risk setting his room on fire. At least here, not much to burn down, only stone and dirt,
Julius sat down and began focusing on the task at hand. Fire magic was supposed to be relatively easy to use. It was an affinity that was highly desired for combat because of its offensive potential while being easy to learn. The hard part was being able to control the flames with any measure of success.
He started to gather fire mana from his core with an obsessive single-mindedness. He wasn't going to fail another time today. Once he accumulated enough mana he willed it to ignite. For a moment nothing happened, the mass of fire mana just sat there idle.
Gritting his teeth, he pushed hard. Visualizing a spark that ignites the fire mana into an explosion of flame.
Then there was a huge release and a pillar of fire blasted right in front of his face and up to the night sky.
He flinched backward and dove out of the way. Julius had been inches away from burning his face off. He was so worried about just creating fire magic that he didn't even think about where it was going to go.
Getting back to his original position, he took a deep breath. Once he calmed himself, he tried again. This time he used about half the amount. It came much easier and immediately he felt he could ignite it whenever he wanted. However, unlike last time, he imagined a spike of flame constructed from the fire mana.
What appeared was an uneven red stick that wobbled in the air. It was a start at least. He tried to fix the shape carefully. He didn't want to accidentally release the volatile fire mana that it was made up of. At first, he tried to change the shape after putting a dozen feet between him and the stick-like mana construct. Unfortunately, it seemed that it became much harder to manipulate its shape the further away he got.
At last, he got closer to the scary fire stick and began to change its shape. He handled it like a newborn baby, the last thing he wanted was for it to explode in his face again. With a tight grip around it, he could feel the fire mana slowly dissipating.
Thinking for a bit, he started to feed more mana into it. He concentrated on making it more uniform across the length. Ever so slowly, the uneven stick turned into a red pencil-like object. It wasn't pretty by any means, but at least now it looked like it could fly through the air.
Excited, he quickly aimed the fire arrow at the nearest training dummy. The dummy was made of wood and reinforced steel. So it was a good target to see how it was. Julius focused on making it fly toward the target and then explode.
The results were anti-climatic. He had imagined an arrow of fire launching through the air and exploding the dummy into pieces. Instead, the arrow of fire was still moving at the pace of a slow jog.
It was a wonderful technique if his opponent was a turtle. Julius needed it to go faster.
Once the arrow of fire landed on the target, an explosion erupted with a bang. It had scorched the dummy pretty badly, leaving some burn marks over the surface.
Power-wise, it was far beyond what he thought should have been possible for his rank. It might have been the result of condensing his mana so much before he formed his core, but he didn't have anything to compare it to. He certainly felt like his mana was potent and still hadn't come close to emptying it, but he had no context.
While the power was impressive, the speed was atrocious. It moved like a fat man waddling toward a salad bar. But he had an idea about what he could do to fix that.
He believed that he was controlling the mana too tightly. It felt as if he was guiding the mana to the target, not releasing it. With a brand new idea in mind, he tried again.
This time, he carefully formed a much smaller bullet size construct. It barely took any mana to form. Then he envisioned what he wanted it to do. He wanted to recreate a bullet firing out of a rifle. Hence, he wanted to create an explosion behind the actual projectile, that would generate enough force to shoot it towards his target.
The only issue he could foresee would be the mana construct would not be able to handle the force of the explosion and would just blow up instantly.
Therefore, Julius wanted to start slow. At first, he wanted to create an explosion that would shoot the fire bullet at a reasonable speed. Something he felt like he could control or at least that would keep the bullet together so that it wouldn't blow up in his face.
Julius held the bullet a foot away from him and focused on creating a small burst of energy behind the bullet.
He immediately stopped what he was doing. Was he dumb or something? Why would he think setting off a small bomb in front of his face was any better? He had seen what that small deformed arrow had done to the target. If that was his face, he might have gotten seriously injured or even killed.
He was so set on creating little fire bombs that he could shoot at enemies that he forgot that most fire users did not use fire mana in this way. The typical way fire mana was used, followed how he had used it the first time. Others would manifest streams of fire towards their enemy similar to a flamethrower. It wasn't until they reached Tier 2 that they started to use more advanced techniques, like a fire bolt.
He felt stupid. Here he was, late at night, practicing deadly techniques that could blow him up, without Edwin or anyone to look over him. He may have a life affinity now, but it wasn't anywhere close to good enough to heal from 3rd-degree burns. He realized he had been impatient for so many years not being able to use magic, and he was getting way ahead of himself.
Mentally reprimanding himself that magic wasn't a toy, he slowed down and practiced just igniting fire like he did before. He started with small amounts that he would then release outwards, careful not to burn himself.
He had to admit to himself, that while he wasn't making firebombs, he was having a lot of fun. After a while, he was experimenting with how various shapes of fire mana would create different flames.
He was so focused on playing with his fire that hours passed by without him realizing it. By now, he had become more familiar with the steps of gathering and igniting, and it had become more of a cohesive process. Julius was able to now summon fire over his palm without burning himself at will. He also could maneuver it with increasing precision.
At the moment, he had split the fire into several strands of thin ribbons and was trying to recreate complex shapes like a double helix or even animating little stick figures. They weren't pretty, but he thought if someone were to see it, they would have a good guess of what it was.
Julius didn't quite comprehend it, but he started to see how far along his mana manipulation had come. He didn't have the skill, so it was hard to measure his progress. Nevertheless, he still remembered how hard it was to form a simple triangle with mana when he first started.
If his first attempts were like a toddler learning to write, the current him was incomparable. He was curious what his skill level would have been if he had the skill. He was confident it would have reached its first rank by now, getting a neat upgrade, and a small part of him regretted not going with [Mana Manipulation]. But he knew that in the long run, he would be better off not leaning off the crutch of the skill. He had felt what the skill was like, it was comparable to [Focus], and it practically did half the work by itself. With [Mana Manipulation], he might not have spent as much time challenging himself to find ways to improve. His creativity and connection with mana had been the main benefits of using it naturally.
Julius didn't know what time it was, but he checked how much mana he had left in his core. He was still full on his life and kinetic mana, but his fire mana was at just under fifty percent. Honestly way more than he would have thought after such extensive practice. With that being said, he wasn't using large amounts at a time and whenever he could he would try to recycle as much as he could back into his core. So he could see why he still had so much left.
In any case, Julius felt like it was a productive night and had improved by a large margin. He was very happy with himself, he didn't know that playing around with fire could be so entertaining. But it was about time to head back in and go to sleep. He still had early training with Edwin after all.
As he got up from his position in the training yard, he looked around, taking in the beautiful crisp night air. There weren't any clouds obscuring the night sky and the dazzling stars.
It was late at night, so many of the lights were turned off around the estate and it was hard to see where he was going. Therefore, he turned on [Spatial Perception] to find his way back to his room. Once he entered the wing where he, his uncle, and Edwin lived, Julius felt something.
It was a tingling sensation that crept up his spine. The dark hallways that were only lit with the occasional glow of mana lamps were quite eerie when he noticed it. He shouldn't be scared, he wasn't actually a kid and knew there weren't monsters hiding in the walls anymore.
Despite that, he still activated [Spatial Perception] to the limit, just to make sure. He knew he was being paranoid but it was good practice anyway, he told himself.
However, he picked up something at the edge of his senses. A mixture of nervousness and curiosity went through him. He intensified his ability and directed it toward where he detected something.
It was a figure hiding in shadows down the hall. Julius froze in terror. His heart just stopped and his stomach felt like someone had just stabbed an icy dagger right into it.
A worker? No, there are never any around this time of night. Even if they were, why are they hiding in the shadows? If I didn't have [Spatial Perception] I would not have ever noticed them. An intruder? How did someone make it inside the mansion, even getting into the estate should be impossible.
A thousand questions and no answers ran through his head. He didn't know if the person was watching him or not. Should he pretend that nothing was wrong? Or should he confront him? No, confronting is a really bad idea. If the person was hostile there was nothing Julius could do. You don't just break into House Hyperius's property without some strength.
Luckily, the person should not have been given any reason to notice Julius. To his knowledge, [Spatial Perception] didn't let others know he could perceive them.
Okay, so pretending I didn't notice him is my first step. But what do I do after that?
Julius started to walk again like nothing had happened, making his way to his room. He was so anxious and scared. What if the person thought Julius was suspicious anyway and decided to come out of hiding to silence him? Julius swore the person could hear his heart pounding in his chest from where he was. His legs were shaking from the fear and adrenaline coursing through him.
Julius needed to figure out a plan quickly. There wasn't much time left before he reached his room, and once he got there he wouldn't have another chance. He couldn't just go into his room and hide. If they were here to harm them, hiding inside his room would just guarantee his death, as well as Lukas's and Edwin's.
The first thing that popped into his head, was trying to alert Edwin and Lukas of the danger. With panic-filled desperation he pushed [Spatial Perception] to its limits, trying to see what was happening in his uncle's and Edwin's rooms.
He could make out both of their bodies sleeping in their beds. Unfortunately, he also noticed several more figures outside their hallways. They all seemed to be surrounded by some sort of shadow mana, hiding their presence.
Julius wouldn't be able to make it to their doors without being seen by the intruders. How was he going to wake them up without grabbing attention? He purposefully slowed his walk to give him more time to think about what he could do.
Yet, Julius wasn't able to come up with anything. The only plan he could come up with was to get as close as he could to their rooms and shout as loud as he could.
It wasn't much of a plan. Honestly, it was a shit plan. But he had nothing else.
Julius took a slow breath and steeled himself. He needed to use [Spatial Perception] and pay attention to each of the intruder's movements. It was essential to get as close as he could before they noticed something was up.
If he could get to either Lukas or Edwin, he would have a much better chance of surviving. But Julius suspected that they would try to kill him before he could reach the door.
Acting as casually as Julius could, he walked towards Edwin's door. It was the closer of the two and was twenty paces down the hall from his room.
At the moment, twenty paces felt like crossing the ocean. He could feel all the intruder's gazes shift towards him as he passed the door to his room. Julius faked a yawn and stretched, trying to lower their guards even by a little.
Fifteen paces away. They probably realized that Julius had just walked past his door and was walking toward the others.
Keeping his focus on every inch of their movements, Julius was ready to act at the slightest indication they were going to stop him. [Spatial Perception] was the only thing going for him, they didn't have reason to suspect him knowing they were there.
Ten paces. Julius felt the one who was closest to Edwin's door shift ever so slightly. Fortunately, they were the only person who seemed like they would make a move at the moment. The rest were still just tracking him from the shadows with their eyes.
Five paces. The person seemed to get suspicious of Julius and removed a small knife from the inside of his clothing. Then he stood up and slowly walked towards Julius's position.
Julius finally arrived right in front of Edwin's door. The person was now just a few steps behind him silently getting closer. If it wasn't for his skill, he would have never known he was there. Julius was unable to fully control his breathing, and his hands were slick with his sweat.
With a jolt of fear, he felt the person's muscles tense. Julius was able to recognize the telltale signs of when someone was about to strike.
Unbelievably fast, the intruder delivered a strike at his head that would have killed him, Julius already moving, threw himself down supporting his hands on the door, and launched a kick at the intruder's face.
Julius hadn't managed to time a kinetic strike a single time today. However, when everything was on the line and he was on the edge of death, Julius delivered his first kinetic strike.
Julius didn't hold back on mana whatsoever, he loaded as much mana into his leg and blasted it into the intruder's face. The force of the kick, knocked the intruder only a few feet back, surprising him more than actually hurting him.
Julius on the other hand felt like he just kicked a steel wall. The recoil of the strike threw him head-first into the wooden door to Edwin's room. The door was unable to take it and the hinges blew off the door.
Julius was thrown into the middle of the room, dazed from breaking the door with his face. It was only by instincts that saved him from the follow-up from the intruder. He still had residual kinetic mana left in his leg and used it to literally throw himself away from the knife coming for his throat. Even though he moved before the man even struck, the knife still nicked him right under his chin.
However, he was unbalanced now and in no position to evade the next attack. The extreme usage of kinetic mana had left his legs a painful mess and he couldn't move. But he wouldn't go out quietly. Not like before. While he would undoubtedly die again, he would go out fighting this time.
In his final seconds, time slowed to a crawl. Julius didn't have anything else on his mind except to compress as much fire and kinetic mana as possible. To the outside world, it seemed like in the blink of an eye a violet-colored orb of mana was created and shot out.
Julius all the while, could only stare at the knife that was heading straight at his eye. Beyond the edge of the knife, he could see the surprise and fear in the assassin's eyes behind their mask.
I gave it my all. He thought to himself with a smile.
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