"Keep this tornado up. It will serve as a distraction and allow me to hit the assassins from the back."
"How will you do that, Isaac? You are injured. Let me—"
"Have you killed people before?"
Her silence answered him.
"Relax," Isaac said, softening his voice. "It won't take me long."
Truthfully, Isaac had never killed anyone either. But the assassin was determined to end his life, and Isaac wasn't about to let that happen. He would fight back, no matter the cost.
Emily was still anxious.
Smiling, Isaac interlocked his fingers with her.
"Isaac?"
Before she could say more, a glowing screen materialized in front of her.
[Isaac Hargraves has sent you a party request. Accept/Deny?]
"Accept it," Isaac said.
Only humans with awakened Talents could form a Party. Isaac had a hunch Emily could do the same. His guess had been correct.
"Okay."
[Invite accepted.]
[How would you like to adjust the experience point sharing?]
[1. 50-50]
[2. Performance-based]
[3. Decide manually.]
"Give all experience points to Emily," Isaac said without hesitation.
Giving all experience points to Emily now would allow them both to level up. After all, he could share her experience points with himself.
Then, Isaac waited for a powerful attack to rip through the tornado and reveal the assassin's location, even if only briefly.
...
Two assassins, a man and a woman, stared at the tornado from a distance with narrowed eyes.
Their bodies were hidden by a Stealth skill, making them nearly invisible.
The woman, Jinha, wielded a giant sword that was as large as her. She wore an intimidating armor beneath her cloak. The man, David, carried a longbow. He had pulled the bow taut and was aiming at the center of the tornado.
The air around the arrow's tip shimmered with condensed green mana.
"What the hell is this kid?" Jinha muttered, her voice laced with frustration. "He's too strong for someone who just awakened. And wasn't he supposed to be a Farmer? I saw him summon wind spirits!"
David remained silent.
He released the arrow with a swift motion.
The arrowhead flew straight, far faster than previous attacks, and shot through the tornado.
It created a momentary opening and allowed the assassins to see the arrow lodge into Isaac's forearm as he raised his arm to shield his forehead.
The gap in the tornado closed almost instantly.
David and Jinha moved, repositioning themselves for the next attack.
"He has to be the kid's body double. Let me finish him off. Then we'll find the real one," Jinha growled.
David opened his mouth to respond but froze. He sensed movement behind them.
Jinha reacted instantly, swinging her broadsword toward the empty space.
But Isaac was already there, his movement skill deactivating as he ducked under her swing.
"You are here! Good job coming to us and making our job easier!" Jinha snarled, her body glowing with orange energy as she lunged at Isaac.
Her movements were faster, stronger, but Isaac didn't retreat.
Instead, he activated his Demonic Eyes, spotting the weakness in her defense.
With a swift motion, he summoned Spectral Claws and struck towards the weak point.
The claws shattered her sword and pierced her chest.
Jinha's equipment was strong, and she was using a skill to bolster her defense and attack power.
However, those were no match for Isaac, whose stats were as high as Adept-rank Awakeners and had an SSS-rank combat skill, Spectral Claw.
The clash ended so quickly that Jinha didn't even realize she had died.
David was no better. He barely had time to process what had happened before Isaac was on him.
The assassin activated his stealth, disappearing from sight.
Jinha's corpse fell to the ground with a dull thud. David didn't even spare it a glance.
'Whoever this guy is, he has to be a Guardian. That's the only way to explain his strength.'
'How is a Guardian here? Captain should be holding this academy's Guardian back while we eliminate the boy who awakened the Farmer Talent!'
David was an assassin with 30 years of experience. He quickly calmed his mind and looked around.
His gaze landed on the tornado. Only now did he realize that Isaac had used the tornado as a smoke screen and circled from behind it to catch them off guard.
Normally, such an ambush would never work on David.
But Isaac's movement skill had allowed him to move faster than what David could react to.
'I need to call for reinforcements and—'
David's thoughts were cut short when Isaac dashed straight towards him, greatly surprising him.
The Stealth skill was counted as an illusion, and Isaac could see through it with Demonic Eyes. Earlier, Isaac had not known where the assassins were attacking from. The stealth had never been the problem; he just didn't know where to look.
But now that he found them, David had no chance to escape.
David fired three arrows in rapid succession, only for Isaac to destroy them with ease.
Realizing he was outmatched, David began to charge his strongest skill. A ball of light formed at the tip of his arrow, growing brighter with each passing second.
But before he could release it, a cold hand gripped his head.
Emily's voice echoed in his ears, icy and menacing.
"Were you the one who hurt Isaac?"
"What—"
David's eyes widened in terror as Emily's Life Drain skill began to sap his strength. He struggled helplessly.
There was another person here?
How many Guardians did this academy have?!
Just as Emily was about to finish him, Isaac stopped her.
"I need to talk to this guy," he told her and grabbed David's collar, who could hardly move. "Why did you attack me? And who ordered you to do so?"
David sneered, his voice trembling. "You think I'd answer—"
David's head exploded before he could finish his words.
"A prevention method to stop them from leaking information," Isaac muttered, wiping the blood off his face.
Although his emotional state wasn't perfect after killing two people, he could think calmly.
He rummaged through David's body and found an anti-toxin vial.
"What is that, Isaac?"
"Antidote for the poison. Assassins and anyone who uses poisons carry them on their body. If you encounter them next time, remember to search their bodies in case you were poisoned."
He drank the antidote.
After taking everything of value from the corpses—a box, some rations, and a pitch-black badge—Isaac transferred the items and the corpses to his Soulbind Pendant.
"Thanks for the help, Emily. It would've taken me a long time to defeat those assassins without you."
"It's no problem."
Emily floated around him with a smile. She didn't seem bothered by the gore around them.
If anything, she... seemed to like it?
The faint blush on her cheeks made Isaac wonder if ghosts had strange tastes—or if it was just Emily.