Chapter 81: Before the Screening

First Magic Training Hall.

The moment the silver chains swept through the air, Evelyn had already vanished from where she stood.

There was no direct clash. She had not even deliberately accelerated. She merely took half a step to the right, slipping into the angle Leah found hardest to keep within her field of vision.

By the time Leah realized her first [Starlight Chain] had missed and tried to adjust its direction, the cold back of a dagger was already resting against the side of her neck.

"Dead again."

Evelyn withdrew [Night Raven], smiling with complete ease.

Leah stood where she was, clenching her fist.

"Again," she said, taking another fighting stance.

"That’s what you said last time."

"So, again."

At the edge of the training field, Victor leaned back in his chair and did not stop them.

After everything that happened yesterday, he had not continued dragging Leah around to investigate clues that were becoming more complicated by the hour. Nor had he arranged some miraculous last minute training method that would make her strength explode overnight simply because the screening in the Third Enclosed Ecological Zone was approaching.

What Leah truly lacked right now was close range response.

Her [Starlight Chains] possessed extremely strong control capabilities, while [Starfall] had explosive power far beyond what an ordinary first year student could produce, but those advantages were built on one prerequisite.

She needed enough distance.

The moment a speed type profession got close to her, her reactions were still noticeably half a beat too slow.

And tomorrow’s screening would not contain only magical beasts. She had to worry about the other four hundred plus freshmen.

Once the competition truly began, no one was going to stand still and patiently wait for her to prepare her skills just because she was an Astral Spirit Envoy.

So Victor had not gone looking for magical beasts.

He had simply called Evelyn over.

As a Level 18 assassin whose [Shadow Assault Step] had already reached mastery and who had experienced genuine life and death pursuit, there was hardly anyone more suitable for teaching Leah how to deal with high speed professions.

"Fifth round."

Evelyn walked back toward the center of the training field.

Without offering a response, Leah activated her skills as silver mana began glowing at her fingertips.

This time, however, she did not launch her chains the moment Evelyn moved like she had during the previous rounds. She kept two chains suspended on either side of her body.

Evelyn raised an eyebrow slightly when she noticed this, wondering what she was thinking.

The next instant, her footwork shifted left.

Despite this, the young girl remained standing where she was.

Evelyn continued moving, her figure abruptly cutting toward the right, but Leah still did not chase. Only when Evelyn truly stepped within five meters of her did the first chain suddenly sweep across, cutting off the path ahead instead of aiming directly at her.

Evelyn swiftly changed direction, only for the second chain to descend from the opposite side. With both angles sealed simultaneously, she could only retreat, but the moment she took one step back, the third chain had already dropped behind her.

For the first time, Evelyn truly paused, and although it lasted only an instant, Leah raised her hand and sent a fist sized mass of compressed Astral mana shooting forward.

Boom!

Evelyn twisted aside and avoided it, but her movement rhythm had already been disrupted, allowing the fourth chain to shoot up from the ground.

Snap!

It wrapped around her right leg, and Leah’s eyes lit up in excitement.

"Got you."

Evelyn looked down at the chain around her leg before raising her head. "What if this were a real fight?"

Leah barely hesitated. "Starfall."

"Exactly." Evelyn did not bother trying to break free. "This one counts as half a win."

"Why only half?"

"Because you died four times before this."

"..."

The small amount of happiness that had just appeared on Leah’s face disappeared, while Victor finally stood at the edge of the field.

"That’s enough."

Leah turned toward him. "That’s it for today?"

"You already know where the problem is." Victor walked over. "The rest isn’t something you’ll solve by fighting another twenty rounds. Remember one thing: don’t chase people."

Leah looked at him. "Control their route?"

"Mm. Your skill range is larger than hers, so there’s no reason to follow her speed. Force her to move only where you want her to move."

Leah nodded thoughtfully. What she had truly needed to learn today was not to suddenly gain another skill or have her attributes increase out of nowhere, but how to properly use the strength she already possessed.

Evelyn rolled her right shoulder before walking directly toward Victor. "My job is done."

"And?"

"Reward."

She held out her hand as though it were completely justified.

Victor glanced at her.

"What reward?"

Evelyn pointed at herself. "I almost got killed yesterday, then came back today and immediately trained Leah for you. And I don’t get a reward?"

Her reasoning was sound, and besides, Victor had already planned on doing exactly that. After yesterday’s tracking mission, he had confirmed that what Evelyn truly lacked was not offensive power, since [Night Raven] was already more than enough, while [Shadow Assault Step] was also sufficient for her current level of movement.

What she actually lacked was reconnaissance. If an assassin could only rely on their eyes to locate a target, they could easily be restricted by mana concealment, disguise techniques, or unusual environments.

"Let’s go."

Evelyn froze. "Where?"

"The equipment vault."

Her eyes lit up. "I knew it."

Leah stood beside them, watching as Evelyn, who had looked as though her shoulder still hurt just moments ago, suddenly started walking considerably faster. For some reason, she finally understood why Evelyn always complained verbally yet still obediently completed whatever Victor arranged for her in the end.

...

The Alves family’s private equipment vault in the Imperial Capital was housed within one of the family’s commercial properties near the academy, rather than inside the ducal estate, and had been specifically established to serve the younger professionals of the family.

But even then, one could not simply take items from here whenever they wanted, and it did not possess the same level of high grade treasures as the academy.

Half an hour later, Victor directly selected an item from the second floor. It was an extremely ordinary looking black earring.

[Whisper Earring]

[Quality: Rare]

[Recommended Level: 15+]

[Effect: Enhances the wearer’s perception of low frequency sounds, subtle mana fluctuations, and vibrations caused by movement.]

[Attached Ability: Silent Tracking.]

[Effect: When concentrating, reduces interference from complex environments when judging a target’s traces.]

Its value was 128,000 gold coins, far cheaper than [Night Raven], but in terms of compatibility, it was even more important.

Victor directly handed it to Evelyn. "Wear this during reconnaissance from now on."

The girl took it, but her first reaction was to inspect its attributes rather than check the price. A few seconds later, she looked up.

"How did you know I needed something like this?"

"When you were following the target yesterday," Victor said, "there were three times when you almost lost their position because the distance was too great."

Evelyn froze. "How did you know?"

"There were gaps in your reporting times."

"..."

He could tell even from that? She suddenly felt that she should start taking her mission reports more seriously.

While she was lost in thought, the System notification appeared.

[Effective investment detected.]

[Investment Target: Evelyn Moore.]

[Investment Item: Whisper Earring.]

[Investment Value: 128,000 Gold Coins.]

[Target Compatibility: Extremely High.]

[Calculating Return...]