Chapter 10 - Assassination attempt OR kawaii, desu ne?
2168 Words
While entering, I'm immediately surprised by the lack of luminosity.
I snap my fingers and light some flames at the end of my fingers.
I find it really strange that I'm not hearing any sound in the tower, except for…
Yes! It's that! It seems like there is a weak groaning sound, barely perceptible.
I decide to take the stairs to go above, and the light produced by my flame become feebler and feebler, and it is colder and colder.
-I have a bad feeling…
I whisper as my fire died.
I feel a tremendous pressure coming from the shadows themselves…I sigh because I know I'll have to spend a significant quantity of magic to light another fire, but as I'm not seeing anything, it needs to be done…
I continue to close in while I light up the flame, while the groaning keeps getting weaker…
I have to use a quarter of my magic to light a single little quivering flame.
But it's sufficient to see what is before me: a creature that seems to be draped of shadows, leaning above a b****y mage, visibly disemboweled.
Blood is trickling on the verge of his slips when words barely leave his lips, at an extremely slow pace:
-Nnnoooo…Nnnooooootttttt-ttthhaaaaaatt! Dddoooooonnn'ttt ccccccccoooooommmmeeeeeeeee aaannny cclllloooossseeeerrr, rrrruuuunnnnn!
He is so extremely slow that time seems to be slowed down. But in reality, he is just extremely slow, and I materialized a chair to wait for him to finish talking. The creature is putting its head in his belly, and get back to its dish, making him groan with each bite.
I watch him saying his sentence for about a minute until I give in:
-Well, with this pace we won't finish before tomorrow, so if you want to hurry to eat, I have classes, you know…
This is at that moment that two realizations are coming to my mind:
-Maybe my teacher… is him! I thought that it was impossible for him to be this weak, but as it is the only mage in the tower…
And then:
-Ah, it's true, if my teacher dies, I can't possibly have classes!
So, I quickly say a spell:
-Uta Fetus Magus Attar Polb Teri Ear Tol Lot Vens Corl Olp Piz Katt Tommos Tallum Clinas Uprox Itir Arctal Terma Teri Polb Moar Gunmat Fetus Terii Lemsi Ipero Loti Lemsi.
The flame at the end of my finger expands, and starts to light more and more intensely the room, it crackles while producing numerous sparks. These sparks spread all over the room and each time one of them touches the shadows, they are repelled a bit further away.
I have at the time an idea, that will accelerate things, and the execution I imagined is pretty funny to me.
I close my hand, letting only two fingers straight: the forefinger and the middle finger.
And I shoot!
-Bang!
With a gunshot sound made with my mouth, I shoot a fireball in the direction of the shadow monster, which is repelled until the wall.
In a flash, it seems to take the decision to flee and is transforming into strings of shadows that are infiltrating the cracks of the wall.
It seems that I took the right decision by repelling it instead of destroying it to limit my mana consumption, this body is still weak.
I watch my "magic teacher", and I evaluate quickly the gravity of his wounds, I know that a plant spell of rank 3 is sufficient to grow back his organs.
Do you remember the way that Merlin said stop instead of a formula of more than 500 words because he was of a higher rank than the spell he wanted to do?
Well for me, it's the same thing!
-Heal!
There you go! I'm healing my "teacher" with a look!
And about why I don't consider him my "teacher" at all, it's about his level…
Roughly, he broke through rank 4 not long ago, seeing as a creature of pinnacle rank 3 would be able to kill him…
But maybe he might be better at theory than his rank would have one believe?
He looks at me with admiration in his eyes, and say to me:
-Are you accepting students?
I sigh as I give up all my hopes and dreams and look at him. He is pathetic but I don't know how to reject him.
When I feel something around my neck.
My right arm is strangling me again!
-Well, sorry, I have to go!
-Wait! Then, are you taking servants?
Lately, I have to tie it during the night, to stop it from killing me, it seems that it's entirely convinced that it must kill me now.
Even if it's true that I recover bit by bit my energy, just what I did today consumed half the energy that my body can use in the day…
It is despairing me a bit but I can't do anything about it.
Anyway, my hand saved me while trying to kill me, in a way.
[…]
I walk in the forest, outside of the capital. I decided to take a walk, I was a bit depressed by the weakness of my teacher…
And…
-Uh?
Someone is watching me. I see quickly that they are imperial guards. I sigh. It seems that whatever I'm doing I'm actually one of the children of the imperial family and that the empire is decided to protect me. The problem is that it strictly doesn't have any use…
Anyway…
In any case, since earlier, even if I give this impression, I'm not walking without goal!
I hear some noises in the forest when I was taking a walk there yesterday so I'm quite curious.
And it seems I'm getting quite close!
Except…
-s**t, who is it today?
In a way or another, my hand manages to communicate when I'm not keeping an eye on it and is often hiring assassins to kill me. At the same time, there is also the b****y competition between the hundreds of children of the emperor for the succession which can have me run into some assassins by "pure" chance, but it's something else.
Clearly, these ones are not to be trifled with: they got rid of my guards without me noticing right away, and are clearly of high rank.
If I detected them, it's certainly their intention: after having encircled me and having blocked all my escape paths, they revealed little by little their presence to test my capacities. They probably think something is wrong with my power level and want to make sure of it before attacking me.
-Pff!
Assassin's habit, I suppose…
But totally useless!
I'm not showing that I detected them and I'm acting as if nothing happened.
Until they reach the point where one is breaking a branch.
-c***k!
-Who is there?
I'm reacting in a really convincing way. I did well to do some acting and to learn politics in this body.
I display a "worried" look while I take a step back.
But my magnificent act is drowned out by a scream!
Hidden by the trees, there is a young girl!
She didn't see me, but she saw the assassins.
The assassin behind me is attacking me earlier than I wanted! I wanted to make them go around in circles and do some nice and funny things!
This is at this moment that I give up my act. Like any gentleman, I decided to save the girl as a priority!
…
No, seriously, did you really think that I was going to stop acting?
On the contrary, it's funnier to kill enemies while playing RP!
I move forward a few steps to look behind the trees.
-Hey, you OK?
-Ouch!
I hear a little muffled sound behind me.
It's the sound of an assassin who punched the ground.
I knew he was going to take aim at the back of my neck.
-Hey! Oh! Are you hearing me?
This is then that begins my "without noticing anything" fight.
He throws a dagger on my back, I move a step on the left to "have a better view of what's happening on the other side".
-Ow! What are you doing, f*****g i***t?
I see one of the assassins who was about to sneakily cut the throat of the girl being hit by a dagger on the arm.
I move forward, and the assassin behind me, as well as the two others rather close on my left and my right, take out daggers to attempt to kill me again.
I come closer to the girl, and I bend down:
-Are you all right?
The three assassins that were aiming respectively at my head and both my sides, are stabbing each other.
-…
-Urgh!
-Urgh!
The right assassin is definitely dead of a stab in the head, while the two others are injured on the side.
-Can you stand up?
I'm still acting as if I still haven't seen them, despite all the noise they made so far.
She nods her head gently and I help her a bit to walk.
-Bastard!
Finally, the assassin who was keeping the girl is throwing towards me the dagger that was stuck in his arm!
I start to carry her, and "stagger" under the weight for a moment, avoiding by that way by a "happy coincidence" the dagger, that comes to stab deeply in the stomach of a fifth assassin. He won't survive for long.
I'm about to disappear behind the trees while carrying the girl, and make a hand gesture in the aloft:
-Even if you trained since your mother's womb, you'll never be able to beat me!
-…
-I was training years before that! And I went to the worst high school in my region! It builds character!
I vanish behind the trees.
After being sure that I'm far from them, I drop off the girl.
I'm leaving with a quick "bye" when she says to me:
-Wait!
-What?
-Can you marry me?
She says absolutely seriously with glowing eyes.
-Sorry, but no.
I answer, a bit hopeless due to the naivety of the inhabitants of the Empire, who still believe in Prince Charming. There are princes, but not charming…
-Then, are you taking apprentices?
-So, well one more or one less… Go see the imperial mage and say to him that you're my new apprentice and that he's accepted too and also take this seal to pass the guards.
I'll have to tell the guards for these assassins…
I walk to leave, and disappear under the dusk's light while she watches me with an admiring look…
By the way, while I'm at it, she seems quite young, like 14 years… And my body is like… 8 years since today, no?
-Oh s**t! That makes her loli! And a shotacon!
I'm only 8 you know?
[…]
In a clearing…
The twilight…
Five assassins…
Three of them are talking, seated in the center of the clearing, before a fire.
-One dead, a guy who's losing all his intestines and is in a coma, two injured on the sides and one injured on the arm…
Sigh the one who's injured on the arm.
-A heavy toll this time, huh?
Answer one of the guys injured on the side.
-Clearly, yes, and I don't know how we'll be able to announce that…
Say the third.
-What, that we're shitty crap and that we easily lost against an 8 years old kid?
Answers the second.
-…
-…
-Well, we'll need to say something, no?
-Yes, but I'd like that to be done differently! We need to find a way to save the honor at least!
Retort the one who's injured on the arm.
-At least, if we release the rumor that he is a genius as no one saw since the birth of the Empire, it should work to explain that 5 assassins of the pinnacle of human level 27 didn't succeed to kill a mere kid who is not even level 1. [1]
-Ah! He took his last breath!
Say the first of the two injured on the side.
-Let's go, then!
Say the one injured on the arm.
All of them transform into shadow filaments. The dead are dispersing and disappear, while the injured are infiltrating the ground.
[…]
-Here! Over here!
About fifty knights emitting without any restriction undulations of rank 3 are coming by running, and are quickly surrounding the area.
Some are moving aside respectfully and let a horse past.
Of this horse is riding down a man…
A tracker.
But after an hour of research, the tracker gives up: the clearing is empty, there remains no blood, no tracks, no corpse, and even fewer weapons.
- Writer
