The Spider Queen

(Zrudread University Main Campus)

(Forest Biome- Training Field No. 53)

The final exam for the students who chose to specialise in the assassin major was entirely a practical affair.

One could not become a killer from merely testing one's knowledge but rather by learning skills to aid in hunting, stalking and tracking.

The forest biome was an enormous stretch of land that encompassed over thirty-five hectares. 

Four individuals were currently travelling through this dense forest while carefully watching their surroundings for any hidden threats.

The leader of the group was a massive Mendolesa female who held two twin scimitars in the palm of her hands.

Two human men with identical appearances followed closely behind. They were painfully thin, and their eyes gleamed with hunger.

At first glance they seemed quite weak since neither man had a weapon or armour on their bodies.

They wore simple white robes with a heavy silver chain hung around their necks.

But there was a dangerous aura surrounding them that was hard to ignore.

The final member of the party was an aquatic-like alien with pale bluish skin and scales that covered most of her flesh.

She had four hands, a long-forked tail and gills along the sides of her neck.

She held a golden trident using her webbed fingers and constantly stopped to sniff the air. 

There was nothing in common between the four of them except for one crucial detail…

They were all criminals sentenced to death.

Crimes such as genocide, murder, rape and torture were just a few of the charges listed against them.

They all possessed cultivation levels of the qi tide stage and were formidable foes. 

An ordinary student could not possibly hope to face them head on and win.

But it was precisely for that reason why they were the targets of the assassin class. 

Professor Aegon wanted his students to carve one important message into their minds.

No creature is truly unkillable. 

Even the greatest warrior has moments when their concentration slips for just a fraction of a second.

And that was all the opportunity that a skilled assassin needed to kill them.

Qiana hid among the leaves and softly leapt from branch to branch as she kept a firm lock on her targets.

She was the first one to track down the group, but her classmates should not be too far behind. 

Now Qiana was faced with a choice. 

Should she engage first or wait for her classmates and launch a multi-pronged attack.

Cooperation would certainly be an advantage but whether or not her fellow students would want to work together was another matter.

Only the one who landed the killing blow would pass the exam. It was an insidious trick that manipulated their psychology perfectly.

Professor Aegon ensured that his students would be aggressive to both their targets and each other.

Qiana closed her eyes and silently planned out her next series of movements.

Concentrate… focus… do not leak a trace of your killing intent.

The most important trait of an assassin is patience.

The shadows surrounding Qiana's body twisted and wriggled as if they were alive. 

Dark runes formed on her skin and the quiet girl bore a striking resemblance to a devil crawling out of hell.

Qiana bent her knees and channeled qi into her legs. She activated a movement technique and her speed instantly doubled.

There was no hesitation in her movements because she knew that hesitation would lead to failure.

It was time.

Light Transmission!

Small electromagnetic signals pulsed outwards from Qiana's body and entered the minds of the four criminals.

This was a special technique created by her ancestors that allowed the caster to modify the electric signals sent to the brain of those affected by the technique.

Qiana lunged forward with her dagger poised to strike the neck of one of the unarmed human men.

Just as her blade was mere inches away from his skin, the man suddenly ducked, and the knife passed over his body.

Qiana felt a sense of danger come from the side and quickly jumped out of the way just as a small metalloid device flew at her. 

Bang!

A large explosion echoed through the forest and Qiana could not completely avoid the aftershocks of the blast.

She slammed against a nearby tree and groaned as she felt one of her ribs crack. 

There was no time to recover as the Mendolesa warrior swung her scimitars towards her neck.

Qiana scrambled up the tree and narrowly avoid the blade that would have certainly separated her head from her body.

The students had not been provided with barrier devices for the final exam so any significant injuries would most likely be lethal.

There was a reason why the assassin major had the highest fatality rate of all the courses offered at Zrudread University.

One could only learn when their lives were truly on the line. 

Qiana narrowed her eyes and maintained some distance between herself and her attackers.

Why had her technique failed? 

Qiana silently observed the four criminals who stared back at her with bloodthirsty expressions.

Wait a moment…

Qiana's eyes widened in shock as she saw the blue alien creature wave her four hands around and mana circles hovered in midair.

A mage? Was Professor Aegon completely mad?

"Ignis explosio temporis!' the mage roared in rage. 

Multiple runic circles formed in midair as the alien channelled the power of the arcane.

Qiana wrapped the shadows around her body just as an enormous wave of fire flew towards her. 

The surrounding trees began to burn, and the high temperatures caused the air to shimmer. Clouds of black smoke filled the air which made it hard to see what happened to the quiet girl.

"Did you get her?" the Mendolesa warrior growled hoarsely. The mage clasped their hands together and nodded.

No one could survive a direct hit from her fire spell. That reckless student was most likely burnt to a crisp.

Nothing should remain of her corpse except for ashes that would be scattered across the forest by the winds.

"We need to keep moving… those brats must have been alerted to our position now and I'm sure that they are not far behind," one of the two men spoke.

"Brother… don't worry… my pupil technique can see through all illusions," the other man spoke proudly.

"Let them come… we will slaughter them all," the Mendolesa warrior boasted confidently as she snarled with a bloodthirsty expression on her face.

Being treated as a whetstone for a bunch of shitty youths was a humiliation that none of them could forget.

Although they would most likely die after or during the exam… the four of them made a pact to kill as many students as they could.

"My blade is thirsty… I will kill… arghh!"

The Mendolesa warrior's voice trailed off and her eyes widened in shock. 

A lithe figure rose up from the ground beneath her feet and planted a dagger inside her throat.

Qiana's body was now completely black, and her eyes were a bottomless pit of death and destruction.

The Mendolesa warrior struggled to breathe as she desperately grabbed her throat and tried to stop the bleeding.

She eventually fell to the ground with a dull thump and stopped moving.

Qiana pulled another thin blade from her pocket and threw it at the two brothers approaching her with their fists extended outwards.

The mage whispered another chant, but Qiana's mission was already accomplished. 

She briefly glanced at the corpse and then tossed a small circular object at the ground.

The metalloid device hissed, and an enormous white fog was released from its center. One of the brothers activated his pupil technique to try and find her but…

She was long gone.