Crack.
A dry twig gave beneath his foot.
Nclai went on.
It was a humid air. The fog was low as confined breath.
Branches that should be touching the sky scraped the sky with black blood like streaks, and something just did not feel right in the ground itself.
He continued his progress.
His boots were softly walking on the dirt, bygraded signs written in moss-blackened rocks.
The officials claimed it was safe.
But the air disagreed.
...
His blood stirred.
Blood Sensitivity: Passive
The pulse came first... subtle, deep under the skin.
Eight signatures. Close.
Not beasts. Not students.
Killers.
He stopped near the mouth of an ancient ruin, marble broken, statues eaten by time.
One more step, and–
Whoosh.
Like knives parting fog, they stepped from the gray.
Eight.
Black masks, curved daggers, loose stances too still to be amateur.
One stepped forward. Taller. Red thread at the edge of his coat.
"You weren't supposed to survive the first strike."
Nclai's voice was low. "I'm still here."
A breath. A blink.
Shadow Veil – Activated
He vanished.
...
Clang!
Clink!
Whoosh—
He reappeared behind them, coat whipping.
A blood thread burst from his finger like liquid steel, slicing toward the lead assassin.
The man dodged barely... but the tip nicked his thigh.
The blood inside twisted.
SPLAT!
The man howled, leg bursting at the joint, collapsing like meat cut from the bone.
Two more charged.
Nclai's palm struck one in the ribs–
BOOM!
Their blood detonated outward in a sharp thump, body slamming into a pillar.
The second lunged, blade grazing Nclai's coat.
Too close.
Nclai twisted, blood forming into a thin rod mid-air
Thwack!
Crunch!
It cracked against the man's temple.
He dropped.
...
Four assassins remained.
Their steps weren't rushed.
These were trained killers.
One blinked forward with a burst-step, dagger raised–
The others circled, cutting angles.
Nclai ducked low.
A dagger scraped across his shoulder.
"Tss—" He winced. Blood seeped through torn cloth.
The pain stung. The wound was real.
His eyes flickered red.
Eyes of Verdict – Activated
He met one assassin's gaze.
"Kneel."
Thump.
The man dropped immediately, body convulsing.
Nclai didn't look at him again.
...
System Notification
Cooldown: 45 seconds
Blood Control – Active
The blood from his own wound curled outward–twisting through the air like a leash.
Another flick,
It hardened.
A spike.
Shink!
The assassin's arm was pierced through the elbow, blade dropping from his fingers.
Shriek!
He fell to one knee, howling.
...
But then–
Boom!
A new pressure flared behind him.
A glyph lit up on the stone floor.
Nclai twisted but it's too late.
Chains burst upward from the ground, pure mana–gold and cold.
They wrapped around his ankle.
Another around his waist.
The last two assassins moved in,
And a voice called from the shadows:
"I warned them you'd be trouble."
A man stepped forward from the mist.
Unmasked.
Cloaked in gray.
Eyes like polished bone.
Nclai's pupils narrowed.
"…Instructor Verrick."
...