YM778.TV Chapter 51: Chapter 51:Cruise Ship [3]
As the horde of 10 goblins approached our group of 12 students, I was the first to... step away from the frontline!
Watching Irene cast countless fireballs, Ruby with her fire-tornados, and Zach charging into the battlefield with his battle axe in his hands, I patiently waited until the entire battlefield was covered by smoke before making my move.
Using dash to appear in the center of the battlefield, I took out my daggers, now completely covered in a night-black aura, before locating the various goblins with my eyes.
Like a true assassin, I silently crept around the battlefield, killing each goblin with a clean dagger strike right into the heart.
As the aura surrounding my dagger grew in size, I could also feel my mana capacity growing bigger, and my elemental slashes seemed to grow more powerful.
The Corruption of the Night was essentially fuel for the rest of the movements. The more fuel you had, the longer you could use other skills and the more powerful they were.
As for my planning, I was able to find time to visit various stores and areas without the others noticing. Well, Ruby would notice occasionally and tag along, but I didn\'t really mind as she didn\'t question my motives.
Thus, the last day of the training camp arrived, and only one group was sent home for failing a task.
Walking up the ramp to the ship, I could feel the freedom as we were no longer forced to stick together with our group besides the banquet in the evening.
Immediately heading to my room, I pulled out my new cloak from my backpack and laid it out on my bed.
After getting my room situated, I headed back down the stairs to the breakfast hall, where hundreds of students were already eating and talking.
Waiting at the hostess stand, I looked around for a second before confirming that there were indeed no tables left.
The hall should have been large enough to accommodate our first-years, but the problem was that students were sitting at the tables with empty plates and talking instead of just leaving.
"Currently, we are at maximum capacity; however, if you\'re willing to share a table with another guest, we can accommodate you in two minutes."
Nodding my head, I sat down in the restaurant lobby while browsing my smartwatch. Let\'s see what my luck decides to be today: G- or S+!
Better to know it now than to be surprised during the incident when 10 S+ ranks randomly show up and jump me.
Receiving a gesture from the waiter, I got up and followed her to a table that sat in the corner of the hall and right next to the window, displaying the sea that seemed to sparkle under the sunlight.
Sitting down at one of the three chairs, I wasted no time grabbing my plate and heading towards the buffet area.
Today was going to be a long day. No matter how much planning and strategizing I did, there were bound to be variables that could cause me to adjust or even completely change my plan, rendering all my effort useless.
After scooping a variety of food onto my plate, I headed back to my table, where a bag was now wrapped around one of the chairs.
Taking out my smartwatch, I sent a quick message to Han and Jin, letting them know I would be unavailable today.
[Ren: Will be busy today.]
[Jin: ??? Wdym, this banquet is actually the perfect place for you to get with that girl.]
[Ren: What girl?]
[Han: He\'s talking about the transfer student, I think.]
Yeah, let me just ask out my boss, who is one of the biggest threats to the world!
[Ren: yeah, yeah, Jin, why don\'t worry about getting a girl yourself.]
[Jin: Low blow...]
[Han: he\'s right, you know.]
[Jin: Look at whose talking? Han, really?]
Putting down my smartwatch, I began to enjoy the scrambled eggs and toast on my plate. The soft and fluttery texture of the eggs danced on my tongue, while the toast\'s saltiness perfectly complemented the eggs. The sweetness of the apple juice next to me just made the already amazing meal immaculate.
If only the academy cafeteria food was this good...
During my last fight in the museum, I accidentally learned about the third movement of the shadow arts. When I placed my corrupted daggers to the mana cage of the caster, I had done it as a subconscious reaction, and it had caused the blue mana cage to turn to pitch-black
What if I made a mana cage of my own and then corrupted it so I could have my class\'s perfect environment whenever I wanted?
That was the whole idea of the third movement.
A Shadow Cage.
By spreading out my mana and creating a mana cage, then corrupting the cage with my daggers, I could create an area with absolutely no light, activating my cloak and creating the flawless habitat for an assassin.
The third movement also increased my capability in handling spell attacks, as by touching my dagger to a spell attack like a fireball, I could somewhat corrupt it and take control of it.
If I held my daggers long enough to a fireball, I could completely steal control over the spell and send it right back at the caster.
Well, the domain part was easier said than done, as after an entire week of practicing, I could barely even cover myself with the shadow cage.
The entire movement depended on my ability to control and spread my mana, and my ability to do that was connected with the severity of the wound on my hands. So, technically, I already had full mastery over the movement. If I made a deep enough wound on my hand without killing myself, I could flawlessly create a shadow cage whose size would be unknown even to me.
Of course, with the cruise ship incident coming up, I hadn\'t been crazy enough to do something like that, but who knows what could happen on the cruise ship?
Snapping me out of my thoughts, a very jolly voice suddenly came out from my left side.
"Hey, Ren! Even though we\'re not required to stay together anymore, I think as groupmates, we should still st-"
"I\'d rather jump off the ship, Zach."
"... actually, well, I was assigned to sit here by the waitress, so if you don\'t mind, I\'ll g-"
"I actually do mind. This confrontation alone has ruined my appetite."
"..."
Ignoring Zach\'s crumbling figure, I picked up my fork and went in for another bite when another voice sounded from in front of me.
"Ren? Zach? Are you two sitting here as well?"
A very relieved Zach sparked up at the prospect of not being alone with me as he responded.
"Scarlett, hey! Yeah, we were sitting he-"
"Who\'s we? I just said I do mind."
"Ignore him, Zach; he\'s grumpy in the mornings."
"?How would you know that?"
Ignoring my question like always, Ruby headed towards the buffet with Zach following behind like a sad golden retriever.
Well, I guess I\'m in for a streak of bad luck today!
I would say, at least Irene isn\'t here, but at this point, I wouldn\'t be surprised in the slightest if she just appeared at the table.
But seriously, what were the odds of us 3 all deciding to eat at the same exact time?
After finishing the last of my eggs, I decided against going for another round and instead went back to my room.
Sitting down on my bed in a lotus meditating pose, I stabbed the tip of my dagger slightly into the palm of both my hands, feeling the mana immediately flowing alongside my blood to the wounds.
Instead of controlling my mana and channeling it all into my daggers, I did my best to let my mana run wild as a small blue barrier surrounded my figure, trapping me inside.
Feeling the amount of mana decreasing, I stopped the leaking of mana and began sending the blue orbs into my daggers.
Seeing the pitch-black aura surrounding my daggers, I placed the tip of one of them onto the blue cage. The intersection spot became black, then quickly spread like a plague before covering the entire cage in pitch-black.
This movement did not require skill or practice. It was simply: put more mana in, get a bigger cage. After one week of trying to use the movement, I had finally come to that conclusion.
Then, how does one progress to the next movement? I technically already have full mastery of this movement, yet the information on the next movement still isn\'t available.
Drawing back in my mana, the cage disappeared, revealing the sun shining through my cabin\'s window.
I had hit a wall in progression for the Eclipse arts, so is time to switch?
Well, if I had hit a regular wall in progress for my Eclipse art, then I would have hit the Great Wall of China in my progress for Dragon\'s Will.
No progression had been made in that AT ALL.
===Menu===
User : Ren Montclair
[Class: Rookie Assassin: (Level 2: 92%) ]
-> Stealth : D+
-> Intermediate Dagger Mastery : 95%
-> Arts: Eclipse Blade [3/5]
[Stats]
-> Rating : D {Dream not yet completed}
-> Strength : E+
-> Agility : D
-> Stamina : E+
-> Magic Power : D+
-> Luck: G-S {Conditional}
-> Intelligence : E
-> Charm : G+
[Traits]
-> Passive: Dragon\'s Will [1 / ?]
---> Dragon Eyes : Your eyesight is enhanced.
[Skills]
-> [[E] Dash] : Not requiring any mana usage, the skill allows the user to move 10 meters from their current location in any direction with a cooldown period of 7 seconds. The skill does not instantly move the user but temporarily increases the user\'s speed until they move 10 meters.
=======
Completing my next dream would take who knows how long, so I decided to attempt it any time after the cruise ship incident.
Getting off my bed, I patched up the small wounds on my hands before walking to my room\'s terrace.
Yes, every single room on this gigantic cruise ship had a terrace.
Putting my hands on the railing, I peered down into the ocean, examining the various species of fish and resisting the urge to jump off the railing and into the ocean below. At this point, it just felt like second nature to do so.
With all my preparations made, I passed the time by covering any wounds with bandages and peering into the ocean with a wistful gaze like a king looking over his kingdom.
...
...
...
Finally, it was time.