Dinner happened early and ended just a couple of hours later; every dish was made with seafood. Ogine was the one whose suggestion won, and I don’t regret choosing her—the restaurant served wonderful food. Sadly, there was no ceviche, but there were many exquisite dishes; I almost ended up licking my fingers after trying a few.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be there in a couple of hours.” Everyone was heading back for different reasons, and even Brendu had a meeting with her best friend to talk about girl stuff. I waved goodbye to my friends; it was time to go buy some fresh produce as supplies.

  After finishing my shopping, I noticed a small crowd gathered along the riverbank. I asked the coachman to stop halfway, paid the full fare plus a generous tip, and decided to walk along the river for a while.

  After a few minutes I found a good spot—no one around, and the breeze was exactly the way I liked it. Glia came out of my cube for a moment and lay down on the sand to enjoy nature. It was a beautiful view and the perfect place.

  I let my body drop onto the ground and closed my eyes, thinking about everything I need to finish during this time. I’ve already raised Gravity Burst to level 14—just one more level before upgrading it to the next rank. I’ve made solid progress with the improvement of my pseudo Laws; all three are close to evolving, and starting tomorrow I should focus on one of them.

  Once all my pseudo Laws evolve, the only thing left will be upgrading my abilities to Rank IV. Reaching Rank V is impossible—they require 40 levels, and it’s getting harder each time. I’m also a bit scared of damaging my cube since it might not withstand that level of pressure. Maybe I should just upgrade one? I’ll think about it later.

  After that, the next step would be raising my banner to move up in rank. I’m not in a hurry; I’m taking everything as calmly as possible, focusing on my classes to improve the foundation of my mana and Imra. I’m enjoying myself more and more each day as a teacher—maybe I’ll ask for two courses next year if I stop being a substitute.

  My peace is interrupted when I feel someone enter the range of my Personal World. They immediately throw an object a few meters away. My body reacts—I jump back as far as possible, my defenses activate instantly, ready for an explosion or attack.

  Nothing happens for a few seconds… or so I thought. The object now has a shield, and judging by the runes, it’s extremely high-grade—probably a grade 5 object. A construct formed around us, and I hadn’t noticed earlier because of its size. When I extend my senses to check for more enemies, I realize something’s wrong—my ability can’t surpass a certain limit.

  “Who are you? Who sent you?” I shout at the only attacker in front of me. He stands still with a wide grin. Darkish skin, a deranged expression, an unkempt beard down to his chest, shoulder-length light-brown hair, and a trained body.

  “The dead shouldn’t ask questions.” A disgusting, evil smile stretches across his face as a powerful wave of Imra bursts from his body. This bastard is Ruby rank—and a strong one, probably the strongest I’ve faced so far. Some professors could beat him, but I’ve never fought them.

  Glia immediately retreats into my cube. She’s not much help in this situation, and it’s better to keep her as backup in case I need mana for healing.

  “I’ll drag the answers out of you later—idiots only learn through pain.” I don’t shout. My voice stays calm as I activate my abilities at full power. The murderer’s confident smile slowly fades.

  “At least you’ll make this entertaining.” The middle-aged man cracks his knuckles. I pay closer attention to the gauntlets on his hands—they’re definitely not normal. A magic item? They’re on the same level as my Thundersnow Fangs, which I’ve already summoned and hold ready.

  I feel the bastard activate several abilities at once; his body is heavily reinforced. In the small movements he makes while approaching slowly, I can see the experience—every step is weighted, practiced thousands of times.

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  I create 10 Joyeuse blades, fully empowered, loaded with all my affinities for maximum strength. The mana is woven with Imra to surpass any defense, layered with multiple laws and pseudo laws. I’ve never used this much power in my constructs—I’ve never felt so threatened by someone as a Sapphire.

  My constructs fly without delay, some aimed directly at him, others cutting off his escape paths. My whole body screams I must kill him. The assassin conjures massive spheres—one and a half meters wide—of yellow-and-black fire. Yellow indicates mastery over fire, and the black is an affinity I’m familiar with: Death.

  My constructs collide with his, creating a huge explosion. Two of my swords barely survive, and he breaks them with a single strike from those gauntlets. His expression shifts a little—he frowns for half a second. I wouldn’t have noticed without my Personal World.

  I create 22 more—my limit while keeping maximum power and speed. The assassin tries to destroy them all, and now his spells disintegrate my constructs, generating massive explosions. Sand rises, steam builds around us. He can’t destroy them all at once, so he focuses on dodging at high speed.

  His speed is no joke—he’s even faster than me at full power. Without Gravity Burst I wouldn’t be able to keep up. The gauntlets aren’t cheap toys either—they’re easily breaking my Joyeuse without taking damage.

  He gets closer and closer; controlling so many things at once makes everything harder. I break some nearby constructs and merge them into my armor—close combat is inevitable.

  When he’s about 20 meters away, he vanishes from my senses for a second. Suddenly he’s in front of me, swinging his fist at my face. I had pre-loaded gravitational and electric energy, so I manage to react at the last moment—I duck and his punch grazes my hair, the flames scorching my skin slightly.

  While ducking, my left arm is already moving—my blade aims for his torso. He must have sensed the danger, because he retreats just enough to reposition and blocks my strike with his other gauntlet.

  My other blade shoots toward his head—a two-sided attack catching him off guard. He uses fire mana to retreat as much as possible. Not fast enough—I nick his cheek before he escapes my range.

  The cut does nothing—Ruby-rank regeneration is absurd. I watch him erase the wound using his death mana, then wipe the blood with his shoulder.

  He gets into position again and charges. My sword swings don’t stop; I must back away to deny him space. Mid-range favors me.

  His fast, precise moves don’t give me time to dominate completely. His speed and strength slightly surpass mine. My blades are constantly countered by those gauntlets; every cut avoided at the last second, and when he slips into my guard I must do everything I can to avoid his hits.

  He pierces into my preferred distance. I dodge a body blow; he avoids a slash to his neck; a powerful punch aims for my head—I dodge by centimeters; a cut meant to take his leg is blocked by yellow flames.

  We’re dancing between ranges. Neither of us has the advantage. I’m defensive at times, and he is forced to retreat when I push.

  I create a few Joyeuse behind him mid-battle—only four, so I don’t lose focus—and send them at full speed to pierce him. A massive surge of fire mana bursts from his back, stopping my attempt. Those flames are far hotter than normal.

  I use that moment to unleash a massive burst of my electrifying fierce river, focused directly in front. The assassin reacts instantly, dodging with his movement skill—fire affinity is excellent for explosive repositioning.

  I increase the pressure with gravitational mana, slowing his movements. Thanks to that, I’m almost matching his speed. This bastard keeps trying to imprison me with his banner—every time we get close, he attempts to crush me like a raisin. Without my reverse-prison technique, I’d already be caught.

  A Ruby banner is extremely annoying. I must stay focused at all times. One slip—one tiny mistake—and I’ll be vulnerable. I don’t even want to imagine what happens then.

  The assassin charges again, pressing hard, trying to trap me or finish me in a single blow. The heat radiating from his fists is intense; I counter it with my ice affinity distributed around me to lower the temperature.

  He comes again; his punch drops toward the ground and unleashes a blinding light. I shut my eyes on instinct. He presses harder—his intent to blow my head off is immense. His strike heads straight for my body. I can’t dodge, so I block it with my blade. He must have grown overconfident after blinding me, because he fails to fully protect himself—I tear a huge gash into his right arm before being blasted backward.

  He broke bones in my arm and cracked a couple ribs—his punch carried multiple abilities. Without blocking it, I’d have a massive hole in my stomach. But he’s not unscathed—the gash on his arm is deep.

  I don’t heal completely—I need a trump card for later. His confident expression is gone; now he’s frowning, fully focused.

  “Kid, stop resisting. You’re going to die no matter what you do.” His deep voice reaches my ears.

  “Trying to act tough is useless. I tried talking—you refused. I’ll pull the info out of your dying corpse afterward.” We both power up again, moving slowly, calculating each other’s next move.