System Awakening Era: I Have 10x Skill Effects-Chapter 16: Aamon and Avery

"I’m sure there was someone here earlier," Avery said.

She turned and noticed that her room door was wide open, even though she clearly remembered leaving it only slightly ajar.

Her hand was still gripping the white towel wrapped around her smooth, naked body.

Droplets of water fell from the tips of her still wet hair, and Aamon could faintly smell a fruity shampoo scent coming from her direction.

Shadow Stealth only lasted eight seconds. Aamon tried not to be noticed by Avery as he quietly walked toward the room door to leave.

Suddenly, something unexpected happened. Avery closed the room door and locked it tightly.

Aamon panicked and found himself trapped. If he forced the door open, Avery would immediately notice him.

Five seconds left. Aamon tried to reach the balcony and escape that way.

But Avery walked there as well and closed the balcony door, pulling the curtains shut.

Damn. I can’t go anywhere.

Aamon looked toward Avery. She began removing the white towel and dropped it onto the floor.

The young man grew even more nervous when he realized that his Shadow Stealth skill had ended.

Fortunately, Aamon was standing behind Avery, so she did not notice him. He immediately activated his second assassin skill.

[Assassin Skill: Death Sigil]

Aamon’s body vanished again for a short duration, around three to four seconds. Since both the exit door and the balcony door were locked, Aamon’s only choice was to hide in the bathroom.

He managed to reach the bathroom and hide inside. The skill ended, and Aamon’s figure reappeared.

He would remain there until Avery finished changing her clothes. He also needed to think of an excuse for why he had been trapped in that place.

Not long after, the room door opened. Aamon heard Avery talking with someone named Jake. However, the voice of the man sounded more like that of a young boy.

"I just came back with some food cans from the building next door."

"I thought you were already here. Earlier I heard something like someone coming in."

Just as Aamon was listening to their conversation, the bathroom door suddenly opened. Jake was the one who opened it.

Both he and Avery froze in shock when they saw Aamon standing inside their apartment bathroom.

"YOU?!" Avery shouted.

"Wait... I can explain."

"So you were the one sneaking in earlier? So you’re the one who—"

"I didn’t know it was you. I swear!"

Avery, who was now wearing a T-shirt and shorts, summoned her sword and attacked without even looking at Jake.

Aamon felt threatened and quickly reacted by activating his assassin skill.

[Assassin Skill: Shadow Stealth]

Avery’s slash was avoided by Aamon. Moving quickly, he left the bathroom area and reached outside the apartment.

Avery and Jake were clearly shocked. They never expected Aamon to use a disappearing skill like that.

But it did not stop Avery from chasing him.

She ran out of the room and turned her head, watching Aamon run away from their apartment.

Jake looked confused, but seeing Avery’s anger, he could not do much.

Avery chased after Aamon while he continued running away from her.

Right outside the apartment building, the woman struck him directly.

Aamon turned around and blocked the force of Avery’s sword swing. His body was pushed back quite far, but the attack did not injure him.

They stood facing each other with some distance between them. Aamon pointed his sword forward, and Avery did the same.

However, the young man could see how embarrassed Avery was from the blush on her face.

"You... saw everything?!" Avery shouted.

"No. I... didn’t see anything except your back."

"My back is still part of my body!" Avery yelled.

Avery leaped forward and swung her sword. Aamon blocked her attack.

A fight broke out. Both Avery and Aamon attacked and defended at the same time.

The sound of their clashing swords attracted the attention of nearby monsters.

Aamon realized that fighting Avery would only bring greater danger.

"Stop!" Aamon shouted.

Avery stopped attacking and narrowed her eyes. She looked around and saw several fly and mosquito monsters hovering around them.

There were five monsters in total.

"Because of our fight, they came," Avery said.

"This is all your fault!" she shouted.

Aamon clicked his tongue. "I tried to explain to you. But you’re too stubborn."

The five monsters attacked both Avery and Aamon.

Avery swung her sword sideways, fighting a mosquito monster that flew toward her.

[Assassin Skill: Death Sigil]

Aamon activated his second assassin skill. His presence vanished as he launched a sharp iron needle toward one of the fly monsters.

The needle struck the monster, inflicting the debuff effect from Aamon’s assassin skill.

With lightning fast movement, Aamon dashed forward in stealth mode.

His slash tore open the fly monster’s abdomen, cut off its wing, and stabbed deeper until the wound became fatal.

The fly monster died, its corpse falling onto the ground.

Avery glanced briefly and was shocked when she realized Aamon had killed the monster faster than she had.

Aamon did not stop. He activated another skill and moved forward in a flash of blue light.

[Sword Skill: 1000 Sword Movements]

His sword sliced through the monsters’ bodies, landing strike after strike until the tenth hit.

The wounds on their bodies glowed bright blue before exploding by themselves due to the skill’s effect.

Aamon defeated three monsters in less than ten minutes.

[Congratulations! You obtained drop items:]

[+75 EXP || +30 Contribution Points || +30 Coins || 3x Monster Core]

Aamon succeeded. He turned toward Avery, who was still struggling against two mosquito monsters.

"Need some help?"

"I... don’t need your help!" she replied firmly.

Aamon sighed and glanced upward to the side. Jake was standing on the balcony watching Avery fight.

So he’s her younger brother?

After waiting for ten minutes, Avery finally managed to kill the two monsters and gain EXP.

In total, it took her twenty minutes to kill two level 1 monsters.

Avery looked exhausted. She dropped to her knees and quickly drank water from a bottle in her inventory.

She clearly no longer had the energy to fight Aamon.

"I’m tired. Tell me, why were you in my apartment room earlier?" Avery asked.

"I didn’t know whose room it was. But you suddenly came out of the bathroom and surprised me."

"I reacted immediately by using my assassin skill," Aamon replied.

The woman froze for a moment and put away her sword, resting both hands on her hips.

"Assassin?"

"That’s... my class."

Hearing that Aamon had already obtained a class clearly surprised Avery.

She wanted to know how he got it, but she did not want to look like a woman who was too curious.

"Oh. And how exactly did you do that?" Avery asked, crossing her arms and looking away.

"You’ll get it when you reach level two."

Jake walked over from the apartment building and immediately asked about Avery’s condition.

Her annoyed expression suddenly turned into a smile. Her voice softened as she spoke to Jake.

"I’m fine. It seems there was just a misunderstanding," Avery said.

"Oh, really? Then who is he?" Jake asked.

"Remember the man who helped me yesterday? That’s him," Avery replied.

Aamon nodded with a faint smile and introduced himself politely. Jake did the same. He had the same last name as Avery, Ashton.

"Why did you come here?" Avery asked.

"To stay for the night. I was trying to find an empty apartment room there, and then I found yours," Aamon explained.

"There’s one empty room left there. I can take you to it."

Aamon sighed in relief. "Thank you."

Avery and Jake nodded. The two of them walked back into the apartment building together. Aamon followed behind them.

"Are you interested in my goods?" a mysterious voice asked.

Aamon stopped walking. His attention shifted back after someone suddenly called out to him.

A man was standing on the sidewalk near the railing by the seaside.

He wore a black robe, had a large build, and a dark hood covering his head. What caught Aamon’s attention the most were his glowing red eyes.

Aamon narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out who the man was. As his vision focused more clearly, he finally realized.

"Merchant?"