Project Schemer: A Pure and Twisted Thought

Chapter 3: Transcend

Thomas's movement caused nearby puddles to splash us as his bare hand cut right through the heart of an assassin, and with a simple spell, the assassin ruptured and the blood formed into countless spikes and pierced every assassin standing behind him. Normal people can only endure three arcane enhancements and that is what the assassins calculated until Thomas continues with a chain of enhancements. The look on the assassin's face is what pleases him, it is a look of utter surprise, of fear in his eyes that is what makes him delight. But the upper class's assassins are not something Thomas can take for being an amateur. Those who are stabbed by the blood lance use a sigil to recover and they aim for him like a bounty.

"Round two. Let me make the game a little bit harder, I'm sure you are all bored to the bone."

In Thomas's hand is a strange silk bag and inside of the bag is a strange white powder that almost looked like ash. Thomas pours the bag on the ground and the ash combines with the dirt and branches nearby to form a golem and this golem is something the assassins see for the first time in their lives. But that is not everything Thomas has. In another bag is that same bottle with black liquid inside and Thomas's purpose is very simple. None of them will get away alive and Thomas will make sure of that, even without the clock hand, a few assassins is nothing compared to war and the clock hand is even invented after that.

"Let me see... you're weak and not even enough to amuse me. My dear old friend, how about you kill them and I will make sure they die."

The golem roars but its movement isn't sluggish like its appearance, the golem turns into a twister of white ash and appears behind one of the assassins. With a quick attack, the golem delivers a strike that crushes the bulkiest assassin with just one fist and after that is a quick series of punches that turns the assassin into a pile of mush. And the assassins aren't trained for this situation and the moment they let their guard down, Thomas just normally stabs them with the blood lances from the first assassin he killed. Thomas is a little bit disappointed because these assassins are quite useless and with one last strike, Thomas throws the blood javelin he is carrying and it hits right on the heart of the spy in the dark.

"D'artenge, I don't need your clean up service this time, this is my own mess."

"Alright, if that is your decision, you know what that means, right?"

"It means Killian is not someone they shouldn't mess with."

"Show what a creature that transcends time can do. Show them the color of cruelty, show them they haven't killed the last Clovis but also the strongest one."

"I will be the shadow in the dark that slowly drags them into the abyss."

With the same spell that warms the children, Thomas burns every assassin and the spy until nothing is left but dust and a gust of wind blows everything away. And Thomas no longer walks with his friend and the same can be applied to D'artenge. Maybe it was their doubt towards each other because both of them witnessed what the other could do. In Thomas's mind, D'artenge can poison him any second and, for D'artenge, Thomas's talent is a dangerous weapon. A weapon that seeks to destroy everything to transcend them, they work together because that is what Killian wanted.

"I will need your assistance in the future D'artenge, but when there is my own mess, I will solve it."

"So, can I use the footage when the assassins attack you, then edit it?"

"You can do what you want, D'artenge, as long as it is not something that harms me, blocking my path or harming Gradnare."

"Why should I harm Gradnare? I gave him a scholarship after all. What, do you think he is from an upper-class family? You're dead wrong my friend. Gradnare's parents are blacksmith and farmer in the north... so, you have a weakness now."

"Don't you dare."

"I won't because this will be a treasure to me and I am still your employer. You don't want to live on the street, don't you?"

"Fine, you win. What do you want?"

"Nothing, just teach your class, my stage play is settled."

Thomas doesn't know anything about any stage play, but when D'artenge says that, it means everything is settled and everything will go according to his plan. Like what he said about a stage play when he poisoned the enemy's camp or when he said he had a stage play, then took over the headmaster position. Everything in his life is his stage play and that is when D'artenge shines, he is the director, the actor, the choreographer, the scenographer, he is everything but the supporting actor. And his masterpiece is the ascension of Thomas Clovis and now, even Thomas Clovis can't stop him from repeating the same stage play. But D'artenge never wants to ascend or reach godhood, he is malicious and cruel, but he knows people like him reaching godhood is the closest thing to their destruction. Now, he is searching for his next target, another ascension for someone else.

D'artenge doesn't like it when Thomas no longer treats everyone else like dirt. For the first time in so many years, he witnessed his best friend, someone who he turned into a god, have compassion and kindness. But that is alright, he doesn't need a loveless god or a cruel deity, he needs someone with emotion, someone who can complete his plan and be happy when everything is finished. Now, Gradnare is here, Thomas has almost everything, a goal to achieve, a power to have, someone to care for and now, for the last piece of the puzzle, an enemy to annihilate.

"Go on, little pawn. I will use your corpses to make my queen something you have to be on your knees, begging for your pathetic life. But don't misunderstand, I am not the king, I am simply a player."

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"For your defensive style, I think you should use a different set of enhancements."

"Anything wrong with my enhancements?"

"You are good, but for a set of three, you focus a lot on defense but without retaliation. Maybe focus a little bit more on retaliation. You are not a turtle and I know that is not your true style. Let's start again. This time, you can put all kinds of wounds on me. I have countless spells to keep me alive."

But how could Gradnare harm his idol? He can barely harm Thomas even under the relentless attack from his teacher. Gradnare only uses a few enhancements to knock his teacher back because, in his mind, Thomas is a star and a star is something precious. Gradnare starts with his usual enhancements, but the situation changes when Thomas knows he is disobeying him and that is the moment Gradnare switches to retaliation. With the retaliation, Thomas stands no chance against Gradnare, as his attacks are proven to be useless and the retaliation becomes a real threat when it manages to scratch him. And that was the moment Thomas saw something strange for the first time in so many years. He actually bleeds.

"Great job, making me lower my guard, then switch to retaliation. You are the first who managed to scratch me, but remember, in a real battle, you can not deceive your opponent twice."

"No sir, it wasn't a deception. I just don't want to disappoint you, I would never hurt you even when you demand me to."

"You never disappoint me, I never want you to do anything you don't want, then use expectations to make you do that. You can fight in anyway you want. I just want you to do some experiments and find a way to improve."

For the first time, Thomas genuinely cares for someone else, but that isn't wrong, that is what his father taught him and that is what allows him to retain the last piece of his humanity. Thomas wants to take care of this student, but only Gradnare. He sees the potential of the young student and how he can shine even brighter than the veteran himself, surpass his teacher like he surpassed his father. The day Gradnare transcends him will be the best day in Thomas's life and that is how his father felt when he saw Thomas in that attire. But happiness and dreams can't last forever.

The session ended when D'artenge called Thomas to his office for some important news. Thomas did get some attention from his fellow workers but he didn't care about them that much to notice what they were saying. Thomas knows some of them are visited by the upper-class and most of them are defenseless enough, so they listen to what the upper-class demanded them to do, but why does he even need to care? Just three worthless brats, whether they exist or not, their classmates don't even care about that.

"Do you really want to know who killed Killian?"

"What do you know?"

"Through my network, it has something to do with... your mother."

"I should have guessed that woman had something to do with the incident. But let's not rush, alchemist, let her savor this moment when we find everyone else in her network."

"And let her drown in her own corruption."

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Gradnare can finally relax after the training session with his teacher, tiring but exciting regardless, even when he accidentally hurts his teacher. Because for the first time in two months, Gradnare feels he has actually improved something and is no longer standing still at the start. But what will he do when he graduated? Will he just join the north's army or will he return and work like his parents? Many paths, many futures and so many choices, maybe he should ask his professor or wait for the future.

"Right, it is that day of the month again."