The Assassin's Seven Principles of Manipulation

Bam!

The steel jail door slammed shut with a loud bang as Jenna was hurled inside.

"No!"

Jenna shot to her feet instantly and grabbed the metal bars, trying to force them apart. However, every attempt at using the metal element came back null.

A glance at the glowing markings along the wooden edges of the cell told her why. A scrambler.

Jenna threw a fierce glare at her father and brother standing on the other side.

"Father! This is a mistake, you can’t do this!"

"Jenna..." the village head stared at his daughter with a conflicted expression. It pained him to do something like this.

"...father." Guren rested a hand on his shoulder. "You know how she is. If we don’t do this, she’ll follow us."

The village head clenched his fists at the words, his expression hardening.

"...I’m sorry, Jenna. We’ll be back soon, I promise."

He turned and began walking away. Jenna slammed her hands against the bars, trying to call out to him.

"Father—wait! Don’t do this! It’s too dangerous. You don’t know what I saw! Yo—"

"It’s going to be alright, Jenna." Guren gave his sister a small smile. "I’ll be there. Nothing will happen to him."

"Guren..." Jenna’s expression twisted as she stared at him. "...it was you, wasn’t it? You convinced him to do this!"

A flicker of coldness passed through Guren’s gaze, though his smile remained.

"I merely convinced him to do what’s best for Pulsegrove, sister. All this shouting isn’t doing anyone any good. I suggest you stop."

"You...!" Jenna’s grip tightened around the bars as she glared at him. "I saw you—you were using something just before the fight. Yo—"

A wave of bloodlust suddenly washed over Jenna, causing her to stiffen, the words dying in her throat.

Guren’s gaze was glacial as he looked at her.

"...for your sake, you’d better learn how to keep your mouth shut."

With a sharp huff, Guren turned and left.

Seconds passed, yet Jenna remained standing there, her body trembling. Was that... was that truly her brother?

The Guren she knew had always been kind. But ever since he returned from an outing some time ago, he had suddenly changed.

He became more reclusive, more distant. It was around that time his talent, once mediocre, had suddenly skyrocketed.

Jenna didn’t know what to make of it, but that... that wasn’t the brother she remembered, which was why she had been following him all this time, trying to figure out what had changed.

Jenna clenched her fists, then slowly lowered herself onto the dirty ground. She didn’t know what it was, but she could feel it, something was deeply wrong in the forest.

With her father and the warriors venturing into the woods, her thoughts drifted to the worst.

...

The break of dawn saw one of the largest gatherings across the entire village.

A crowd had formed at the gates. The silence was deafening as the villagers watched the procession of warriors, led by Omar and Guren, march through the streets.

The village head’s expression was fierce, as though fully aware of the weight behind those countless gazes. Their hope was palpable.

This was the greatest force the Pulsegrove village could muster, its strongest fighting force; consisting of two dozen warriors at the fourth mark, a couple of elders at the fifth, and the village head himself, who stood at the sixth rank.

With all this, he was certain, they would end the reign of the beasts once and for all.

As he glanced at his son, Guren met his gaze and gave a resolute nod. Omar returned it, then kicked off with his horse.

...

"Hey, guys!"

Kaiden ran into the compound, an excited look on his face.

"Finally—this is it. I just saw the village head and some of the others heading into the forest. They’re going after the beasts. If we move now, we can still catch up. Let’s go."

Zephyrion, who was seated with Fiona and the other trainees, calmly took a sip from his tea before setting it down.

"No."

"...what?"

Kaiden, who had already been about to step out, paused. He turned and stared at Zephyrion as though he had misheard.

"...what did you just say?"

Zephyrion gave him a brief glance.

"It’s not our mission."

"What are you talking about? Our mission is to protect the village!"

"Exactly. As long as the village is safe, we don’t fail."

Kaiden’s eyes widened as the meaning clicked. Even if Omar and the others died, as long as the village itself was protected, they would still pass.

"...so you’re saying we just leave them?" Kaiden clenched his fists, his gaze hardening. "We can’t do that. We have to help them!"

Zephyrion fully turned toward him, his eyes unnervingly still.

"...did you see them leave?"

"...yes, so?"

"They took their strongest force. The weakest among them is mark four. If you go out there, you’ll only be dead weight."

"Even so!" Kaiden ground his teeth. Zephyrion’s words hit him like a blow, and while they were nothing but the truth... he clenched his fists.

"...we can’t just abandon them. Fine, if you won’t go, I will."

"...alright. I’ll let you go."

Kaiden, who had been about to turn away, paused, momentarily taken aback.

"...what?"

Zephyrion rose the next moment and stepped forward, stopping across from him.

"I’ll let you go. One condition."

Kaiden frowned.

"...what condition?"

"I won’t use my element. Land a single hit on me."

"...what?"

"If you can’t even do that, there’s no point going. Do it, and I won’t stop you."

Kaiden’s eyes narrowed. Was he joking? Zephyrion might have beaten him during their last battle, but that had been largely due to his use of his element and rune arts. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Kaiden had trained relentlessly since then, he was no longer the same person.

To say he wouldn’t even use his element... that was nothing short of an insult.

"...young lord..." Fiona looked between them with a worried look, but Kaiden lifted a hand and cut her off, his gaze fixed coldly on Zephyrion.

"Don’t interfere."

"...but—"

"It’s fine, Fiona."

At Zephyrion’s calm voice, Fiona hesitated, then let out a quiet sigh and nodded.

"...fine. I accept." Kaiden said, rolling up his sleeves.

"But just touching you?" He shook his head, the air around him growing heavy. "...no. I’m beating you down."

"Metal aura."