Suri, for the second time, felt helpless.

  A shadow—no, a man—had emerged from Boris’s own shadow and struck without warning. She hadn’t even noticed him until Kana moved, intercepting the blow. The assassin froze for a heartbeat, surprised. Suri readied her skill, hands trembling. She could distract him. Scare him off. Anything.

  But before she could act, the two vanished into motion, blurs streaking across the field, repositioning again and again. Kana was drawing him away, keeping distance, deliberately pulling the fight out of reach—because neither Suri nor Boris could follow.

  Boris stood rigid, his face red with rage. He gritted his teeth, fists clenched, waiting. Hoping. Desperate for a chance to land a blow.

  Kana’s breath came heavier now. Suri could see blood—thin lines slicing across her neck, arms, and the exposed gaps of her makeshift armor. The man’s precision was terrifying. Each strike came from the shadows, too fast to track.

  Still, Kana endured.

  Their exchange was relentless, movements too quick for the eyes to follow. Kana’s breaths grew ragged. Blood welled in deeper cuts. Suri’s heart pounded.

  And then, as if a god had favored her—Kana landed a blow. A solid one. The man staggered, leapt back.

  A chance.

  Suri cast a small illusion, one that clung to the man’s shadow like tar. A tether. A trick.

  The man vanished.

  But her illusion remained. How?

  Suri ran to Kana, lungs burning. Blood stained her friend’s clothes, dripping from wounds now tinged with a strange color—sickly, unnatural.

  Without pause, she triggered her skill—[Illusion Call]. Her form shimmered, splitting into a flock of birds, illusionary and real interwoven, scattering through the air. She sent rats crawling through the field, all illusions, all eyes. She would find him. Then what? For the first time in her whole life.. she felt the fear of death. The man could kill her. Anytime.

  What had they done to deserve this?

  She looked down at Kana again.

  The cuts weren’t just bleeding.

  They were darkening.

  ……

  Kana exhaled slowly. Relief washed over her as the man vanished—no trace of presence, no shifting in the shadows. He was gone.

  Teleportation skill? Something close to it. The fight was over. She had survived… but just barely.

  It had been a gamble.

  She’d aimed for his shoulder earlier, and her blade had struck metal. The man hadn’t even tried to avoid it—confident in the armor protecting his shoulder. That told her everything. So she waited, then used [Dagger Pierce], targeting the same spot. Her skill cut through the protection this time, the blade sinking deep. It had done more damage than she expected.

  She slumped to the ground, exhaustion pressing into her limbs. The fight still played in her mind—each blur, each strike, each near miss.

  She had seen people with three skills before. Suri’s mother was one—born with it. Most professors at the Academy too, most of them former adventurers or still registered in the guild.

  But four?

  The man had used at least four. That last moment—vanishing instantly—that was one. Then the dagger strikes that felt off, almost unreal. His ability to slip in and out of shadows. And a fourth, something she couldn’t tell, but had been active the entire time.

  That meant… he was like her. A holder of at least two evolved skills. At least level 20.

  Maybe more.

  Her fingers trembled as she touched a cut on her side. The wound was already closing. Her body was regenerating—not quickly, but enough. Probably a result of her high HP. Boris would’ve healed faster because of his higher HP.

  Then she noticed it.

  One cut on her hand—deep, thin, but not bleeding.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  It was darkening.

  Before she could say anything, footsteps pounded toward her.

  Suri and Boris knelt beside her, faces pale with worry.

  “Kana! Are you alright?” Suri asked, frantic.

  Kana forced a grin. “More than alright.”

  Suri’s eyes scanned her arms, then her neck. “Your hand... and here—your arm. Even your neck.” Her voice dropped. “It’s poisoned.”

  Kana blinked. “Really? I don’t feel anything.”

  “I remember.” Suri said quickly. “My mom once tried to heal a man like this in the town—same kind of cut, no blood, just that dark color. [Lesser Heal] didn’t work. She had to mix herbs and use [Concoct] to make him drink it. He got better in a day. She told me the man was poisoned.”

  She glanced at the wound again.

  “It looks exactly like yours.”

  ……

  The trio decided to stay close. After what happened, none of them wanted to risk splitting up—not with the chance that the shadow man, or someone like him, might strike again.

  Suri’s skill still lingered, her illusion rats scattered throughout the city. Through their eyes, she’d mapped alleyways and passages few others even knew existed. That was how she had discovered the underground city. Her reach extended far, even when she wasn’t present.

  Early morning light filtered through the streets as they made their way toward the Central District. There, tucked beside the Adventurer’s Guild, stood a modest apothecary shop. Compared to the towering stonework of the guild, it was humble—its wooden frame aged and vine-wrapped, a small swinging sign carved with a mortar and pestle.

  Outside, an older woman in her fifties was arranging crates with the help of a younger assistant, a girl perhaps a year or two older than them.

  Boris stepped forward. “Excuse me,” he said, gesturing to Kana. “Our friend needs help.”

  The woman set down her crate and approached. One look at Kana’s arm and her face turned grim.

  “Goodness…” she murmured. “That’s a nasty poison. You must have a strong resistance to still be walking. A normal person would’ve collapsed—dead in under a minute.” She gave a short nod. “Come inside. Quickly.”

  Kana blinked. Strong poison resistance? She couldn’t remember anything that would’ve granted her that.

  Inside, the shop was a cozy labyrinth of shelves and dried herbs hanging from the ceiling. The scent of alchemical ingredients thickened the air—sweet, earthy, acrid all at once. Kana was helped onto a bed near the back. Boris stood pacing, unable to sit still. Suri took a seat beside Kana, her eyes constantly scanning the room, as if expecting an attack even here.

  “I’ll need a sample of your blood,” the apothecary said, already preparing a small knife. “Then I’ll begin mixing. It may take an hour to get the right combination—poisons like this require precision. But once it’s ready, it should purge the toxin completely.”

  Kana gave a small nod.

  The woman pricked her fingertip, catching a droplet of blood in a glass vial. Without another word, she turned and disappeared through the innermost door of the shop, leaving the three of them alone in silence, the weight of what had nearly happened still settling on their shoulders.

  …

  “I can’t believe it,” Boris muttered, pacing the room. “Someone really tried to kill me… That poison says everything. They didn’t just want to scare me. They wanted me dead.”

  He ran a hand through his hair, eyes unfocused. “Was it that noble? Or that one? Or maybe—gods, there’s too many to choose from!”

  “You’ve made that many enemies?” Suri tilted her head, arms crossed. She had placed a tracking illusion on Boris long ago—precaution, mostly—but she hadn’t expected this. She knew he’d ruffled some nobles, but judging from his face, there were more than she realized.

  She had only been aware of two and hadn’t noticed anything unusual—except for a few days ago, when the connection to the illusion she latched onto Valdis was lost for an hour or two.

  “Can you find him?” Kana asked from the bed, her voice steady.

  Suri shook her head. “Not yet. It’s like he vanished. No trace. I’m not even sure if he’s still in the city.”

  She paused, then added with a shrug, “We’re lucky, though. My mom always puts weird stuff in our food. That’s probably why you resisted the poison.”

  Kana blinked. “What?”

  “You didn’t know?” Suri said with a grin. “She told me once—‘Don’t worry about poisons, dear. I’ve taken care of that. I heard she even increased the dosage after we got accepted into the academy.”

  Kana stared at her. “That’s why my stomach always felt weird after eating at your house…”

  Suri smirked. “I hear that a lot.”

  Then her tone shifted, the grin fading. “But what if that man comes back? What if he attacks us again?”

  Kana didn’t answer right away. She looked down at her hand, clenching it slowly into a fist. Then she smiled.

  Not a casual smile. Not forced.

  It was a smile of excitement. Strange. She was looking forward to it. To their next encounter. And she would best him.

  “I feel like… I’m going to beat him next time,” she said softly.

  There was more to it than that. His skills weren’t just powerful—they were mastery of raw skill, the one that did not rely on the System. His strikes were precise, aimed at blind spots and vital points. That wasn’t something granted by the System or Text of God. That was from experience and study. Years of it. And tons of training.

  She already learned something from him. She would grow.

  And when he returned—because she knew he would—she’d be ready. There was only one thought running through her mind, I will defeat him next time.

  Boris stopped pacing and stared at her. That strange little smile on her face said everything.

  “Ah,” he said, rubbing his neck. “Right. I forgot we’ve got a fre—I mean weird in our group. Here I am, worrying for nothing.”