The assassin blurred toward Noah, who released the violent magic that he’d been gathering. Screaming whorls of snow and ice ripped across the ground, picking up the snow before it and forming into a miniature, horizontal avalanche.

A pop of faint purple light was all the warning Noah needed to know the assassin had avoided the attack. He didn’t wait for the man to reappear before dragging magic from Natural Disaster once more.

Against an opponent that could teleport, there were two main methods to fight. The first was to try and get lucky with a fast enough attack and hope they were either too slow to avoid it or they teleported into its path by accident.

The second was a little more interesting, but it wasn’t time to use it yet. He’d have to bide his time for just a bit longer.

Noah’s neck prickled and his tremorsense picked up the assassin as he appeared in the snowdrift several paces behind him. Noah twisted to the side, leaning his head until his ear touched his shoulder.

The sword flicked over Noah’s neck and he spun around, whipping his leg up. The assassin vaulted back, avoiding the attack before, disappearing once more and reforming ten paces away from Noah. His leg passed through the air where the assassin had been, just barely missing.

“Is this really how we’re going to do this?” Noah asked, his eyes narrowing. “What are you after?”

He didn’t get a response. The assassin disappeared in another blink of purple energy. Noah drew in a deep breath, then gripped onto the wind around him with his magic and yanked.

Even as the assassin took form, he was pulled off his feet as a powerful gale pulled the snow, dirt, and everything else around them directly toward Noah. The assassin contorted his body, just barely managing to avoid Noah’s hand as it passed over his head.

He drove his foot into Noah’s stomach, sending him stumbling backward. An instant later, the man blinked and reappeared out of reach, his swords at the ready. He’d already teleported several times, but it didn’t look like he was getting tired yet. That seemed odd. Brayden had talked about how difficult it was to constantly use space magic, and this man didn’t seem stronger than Brayden at all.

On top of that, he’s avoiding using magic inside my domain – but he doesn’t seem to have one of his own. That doesn’t make any sense. He shouldn’t be able to sense my domain at all if he’s a Rank 3.

Unless…

“You aren’t human,” Noah said, narrowing his eyes. “You aren’t even in control of yourself, are you?”

The assassin didn’t respond, and Noah didn’t expect them to. He’d gotten a pretty good grasp of the situation now. The assassin hadn’t been surprised or reacted to his domain because the person controlling them wasn’t actually present.

That means I was right to avoid using any of my strongest moves. Revealing Sunder or my violin to kill this guy would have been a waste. That said, if someone wants to play, I can play.

Noah’s fist clenched as power gathered within it. The assassin sprinted at him again, blinking as soon as it drew close. Noah considered using Combustion to suck the air away, but he wasn’t even convinced the assassin was breathing.

Instead, he let crackling electricity leap from one of his palms to the other. An orb of lightning started to grow between his hands, steadily growing more powerful. Noah’s hair stood on end.

The assassin teleported as he grew close, reappearing at Noah’s side. Noah hurled the ball of lighting. Energy leapt off it, melting the snow instantly as it passed by it. As soon as he released the magic, Noah drew more power from Natural Disaster.

With the power contained within the lightning orb, Noah knew for a fact that the assassin would teleport again instead of trying to dodge it. Sure enough, the man blinked out in a flash of purple, reforming on Noah’s other side.

The assassin lunged, entering Noah’s domain as he swung the swords for Noah’s neck. And, in that same moment, Noah’s fist whipped up. Normally, trading one punch in exchange for two sword strikes would have been a pretty good trade for the one with the swords, but the assassin had already shown that he was prioritizing avoiding attacks from Noah. Sure enough, the man vaulted back, abandoning his attack – but he was still inside Noah’s domain for a brief instant longer.

Noah released a blast of wind, throwing himself toward the assassin and keeping the other man trapped within his domain. It only went a few feet out of his body, but that was all the room that he needed.

The assassin adapted to Noah’s strategy quickly, thrusting his swords to try and push him back. Noah ripped the snow up around them, slamming the assassin’s swords to the side. It was tempting to tank one of the sword strikes in exchange for landing a blow himself, but he didn’t want to give away his regenerative properties either.

As the assassin tried to raise his swords again, Noah used Natural Disaster to rip a stone out of the ground, using the snow to hide it until it was too late for the assassin to use his impressive speed to dodge it.

The rock struck his arm with a loud crunch, sending one of the swords spinning from his grip. As Noah had expected, the man didn’t even respond to the pain. He rolled to his feet, swinging his other sword to try and force Noah back.

Unfortunately for the assassin, the tempo of the battle had shifted the moment Noah had figured out the other man’s strategy. He flicked a hand and a pillar of stone shot up, slamming the second sword from the assassin’s hand.

The blade spun to the side and impaled itself in the ground, just barely poking out over the snow. At the same time, the ground bucked beneath the assassin, tossing him into the air.

Noah grabbed the unarmed man by the neck, then twisted his entire body and pelted the assassin into the ground with all his might. He ripped all the snow away from the impact point and was rewarded with the satisfying crunch of a bone breaking in the assassin’s arm.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

And then – instead of finishing the man off, Noah kicked him in the face. The assassin rolled back and out of Noah’s domain. As soon as he was free, he blinked, reappearing beside one of his fallen swords and grabbing it.

Noah walked over to the other sword and picked it up, studying the blade for a moment before tossing it through the air to the assassin, who caught it using his broken arm without even flinching.

“I’m crushing you the old-fashioned way,” Noah said, a grin stretching across his lips. “And I take it back. You clearly aren’t an assassin. Whoever is controlling you had best pick up the pace. If you want to see how competent I am, I’d appreciate if you actually put up a fight.”

The hooded man sprinted toward Noah, leveling his swords. Wind whipped around him, boosting the man’s speed just before he reached Noah’s domain. It was a pretty clever strategy – he wouldn’t lose his momentum, even if the magic ran out.

Unfortunately for him, Noah wasn’t interested in playing fair and finding out which of them was faster. He set off a blast of wind directly beneath where the assassin would be, sending the man flying into the air.

Noah jumped, colliding with him and grabbing both of the man’s wrists before he could spin the swords around to face him. His opponent struggled with surprising strength and managed to free one of his arms – but that also meant that one of Noah’s hands was free as well.

Normally, taking a sword cut in exchange for a punch was a pretty poor idea. Noah wasn’t just hitting the man with a normal punch, though. The air around his fist hummed with energy as he whipped it forward, driving deep into the cloaked man’s stomach and unleashing a powerful wave of vibration.

A dozen loud cracks split the air and the assassin rocketed downward, slamming into the ground with one final crash. His swords flew from his hands, disappearing into the snow as Noah dropped to the ground in front of the man, power still humming around his knuckles.

The fallen man twitched, clearly still trying to move, but the vibrations ripping through his entire body made it impossible. Noah put his foot on the man’s chest and leaned forward. “How’s that for a show?”

He sent one last pulse of energy into the man through his foot, ripping his innards to shreds with violent tremors. Despite the serious damage, no blood leaked into the snow. Noah knelt by the mangled body, digging through his pockets.

His fingers found a letter, and a thin smile crossed over his face. He pulled it out and flipped it open. There, written in familiar golden letters, was a message addressed to him.

Congratulations, Vermil Linwick. Turn around.

“Well, if you aren’t a cheesy bastard,” Noah said with a dry laugh.

He turned, squinting into the snow falling all around him. A woman stepped out from behind the ruins of the building, an umbrella open over her head stopping the snow from touching her shoulders.

She walked across the top of the snow instead of through it, but her feet were making imprints in the ground. There was no way she was actually that light, nor was she flying, so she had to have some form of ice or snow related Runes.

“Vermil Linwick,” the woman said, inclining her head. She wore a veil that obscured most of her features, but her lips were a bright ruby-red that were clear even through the obscurement. “You knew?”

“It wasn’t hard to figure out someone was screwing with me when an assassin was actually waiting for me to make a move,” Noah said with a shrug. “You’re with the advanced track teachers.”

It wasn’t a question. The woman nodded, a smile playing across her lips.

“Yes. We take our applicants and their teachers very seriously. The teachers already in the advanced track met, and we decided that you needed to be tested. There were some that did not believe you deserved to join our number, given your… colorful past.”

“I see,” Noah said. “Well? Did I pass?”

A pained grimace passed over the woman’s lips. “You shattered a puppet that I spent two months building so badly that I no longer have even the slightest shred of control over it. Why did you intentionally avoid doing serious damage to it at the start of the fight? You made it seem like…”

Noah’s grin grew as realization set in on the woman.

“You baited me into committing to the fight, thinking you couldn’t do severe damage, purely to destroy the puppet before I could ask you to stop?”

“Let’s just call it the price of screwing up my day,” Noah said. “I told you that I was having a moment, you know.”

The woman walked past Noah and knelt beside the shattered remains of her assassin, prodding it. She let out a groan and stood back up. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re an asshole?”

“I could say the same to you. Next time, if you want to test me, say it to my face. Don’t try this shit.”

“Point taken, Vermil.” The woman held her hand out. “For what it’s worth, you pass. My name is Ulya.”

“I haven’t decided if I want to join the advanced track yet.” Noah took Ulya’s hand. “I’m surprised you aren’t mad about the puppet.”

“Mad? No, Vermil. I am livid. You were supposed to be a Rank 3. That puppet was meant to crush you, and you would have been judged on how long you fought against it. I did not expect… this.” She waved her hand around them, then sighed. “You did give me quite the show, though. How many Rank 4 Runes do you have? Three? Four?”

“Enough.”

Ulya’s lips quirked up in a grin. “Secretive. I suppose I should have guessed. I look forward to seeing how your contributions hone the rest of us. It has been too long since we got new talent. Especially talent as… abrasive as yourself.”

“I’m not sure that was a compliment, and I haven’t said I was joining the advanced track yet.”

“You will,” Ulya said, not a shred of hesitation in her voice. “You are too powerful not to. Nobody gets to your level of strength while avoiding chances to improve. And you are correct; that was not a compliment. I just respect power enough to know when I have been thoroughly bested. My only request that you choose to humiliate someone else the next time someone chooses to try you.”

“Why would I come after you again if you aren’t screwing with me? I already smashed your puppet to little pieces, so there’s no grudge.”

“I’m the newest teacher in the advanced track, so I was given the privilege of being the one to test you. It may happen again.”

Noah let out a snort of laughter. “Well, I suggest you either have a good throwaway puppet or respectfully decline the next time the opportunity comes up. But, now that you’re here, I don’t suppose you’ll tell me how you had a puppet using magic?”

And could you give me any insight into the clone Evergreen had taken over? If this lady is a puppet user, maybe she can actually be of use.

“Join the advanced track and I’ll be willing to exchange information.” Ulya knelt beside her puppet again, running a finger over a ring on her thumb. There was a faint pop and the body vanished in a streamer of purple energy, zipping into the ring. Noah’s eyes widened.

The hell was that?

“Until next time,” Ulya said, her voice still slightly pained. She turned on her heel and set off, heading back into the snow. Noah watched her leave, a thoughtful frown on his face.

Interesting. I can’t say it didn’t feel good kicking that puppet’s shit in, though. I wonder how she’d react if she knew I’d only hit Rank 4 a bit ago. Either way, it got me a little bit of exercise.

I almost wish it was stronger, though. If you’re going to make me fight, you might as well make it worth my time. That was too easy.

Noah stuck his hands into his pockets and set back off toward the T building, whistling to himself.

Maybe the advanced track was a little more interesting than he’d initially thought.