NOVEL WEB B2, Chapter 5: Dark Mage
Sweat pearled down Min face, as her chest heaved. In her hand, she held two daggers, ready to act against her opponent. There were more than a few cuts and wounds on her half-naked body, and her bra had even been cut, causing it to hang to the side, revealing Min’s left breast.
Opposite her, stood her Master, Altraz, holding a single knife in his right hand. Surrounding them were the green plains that stood outside Rymalona. Since an apartment wasn’t suitable for this kind of activity, Altraz would often take Min out here, for some exceptionally ruthless training.
Due to Min’s natural healing ability, he wasn’t afraid of wounding her, as permanently maiming her had become a tricky thing. The only injury she wouldn’t recover from in a few days or hours was the loss of a limb, and Altraz wouldn’t go that far.
Min charged at Altraz, ignoring the pain her many injuries caused, and swiped her daggers at Altraz, showing considerable skill. Altraz easily dodged by taking a single step back and moved his arm to retaliate. However, Min was an agile girl, and rolled away with incredible speed, appearing behind Altraz in less than a second. In a smooth motion, she stood up from the roll, and threw herself straight into another attack, stabbing her right dagger at Altraz back, while simultaneously slashing her left blade at the behind of Altraz’s knee.
So that Min would actually be able to fight in these sparring matches, Altraz always limited his strength to around the same as a level sixty warrior, who didn’t focus much on agility. Thus, Min was naturally much swifter and nimble than Altraz right now. But even then, the differences in skill was like a canyon that Min wouldn’t be able to cross in many, many years.
Altraz rapidly turned around, raising his leg at the same time. As he kicked Min in the stomach, he also grabbed at the stabbing hand, causing Min to lift high in the air, as Altraz’s leg pushed her up. As a result, Min’s left dagger missed its mark, by a lot.
Finally, Altraz slammed Min into the ground on the other side of his body, before giving her final kick, sending her flying in the other direction. Min crashed into the field, landing in front of a long tree. She puked an entire mouthful of blood, as she tried standing up, but it was proving a difficult thing to do, as the right arm was twisted, and her ankle broken.
“Master, you’re too cruel! This is going to take days to heal! Ah, dammit it hurts!” Min said as she twisted her arm and foot into the correct position. By now, she was quite used to this treatment, though. Ever since her Master said he was going to notch her training up a bit, she’d broken bones on numerous occasions. Even if she didn’t break a bone, she would return with several deep cuts, every time she sparred with Altraz.
She was truly glad for her healing ability, or she’d already be a scarred mess by now. Not that she didn’t have any scars. She had more than most girls would, but those were from before she became a Dhampir. And they weren’t from her training. Almost all her scars had a sex story behind it. And most of them were on her back. She’d received plenty of whippings in her life.
“You’ll be fine. You should be grateful. Not many people have the opportunity to train like this,” Altraz said, as he caused hid dagger to disappear into thin air. Min, in turn, sheathed her two blades on her hips. These daggers were a gift from Altraz, and a belt and two sheaths had come with them.
“I am grateful. I’m determined to become an assassin you can be proud of. But it’s no fun, this kind of pain. I only like pain when it’s because of sex. Speaking of sex, I’m working so hard, every single day! Why won’t you just reward me with sex? There’s nothing I want more than to feel my Master’s thick cock inside me and feel his hot cum in my belly. And I’m trying to get pregnant right now, so maybe you would be my next baby’s daddy. I only want it to be you, or Dralu,” Min said. So often, she dreamed about having sex with Altraz, and even oftener did she ask him for sex, but he always said no.
“We’ve talked about this a hundred times already. I’m not going to have sex with my student. It is not proper. And I’m not interested in being the father of your child. Dralu should be enough to satisfy you, right?” Altraz said. Even after all the time he’d spent with Min, he had a hard time finding anyone stranger than her. She had incredible talent in pretty much everything she did. She was a fantastic artist, had the potential to become the most powerful mage of the era, she was good with her blades, she was very sneaky, but, she was also the sluttiest person Altraz had ever met.
Although she had moved to a better apartment now, she had long since gained the reputation as the neighborhood slut where she used to live. Everyone who knew her knew her as an incredibly easy girl. A lot of people disliked her due to this. Especially due to the reason that some of the less faithful men would fall to the temptation of having an easy lay.
Min had become quite the homewrecker, but she didn’t really care. She just thought that those women were too uptight, and they should just go have sex with someone else. No reason not to have sex with others, just because you’re married, right?
Naturally, a lot of people had been happy, when she moved away. Although, they did feel pity for her new neighbors. Meanwhile, the men mourned the loss of the easiest girl in the city. Indeed, even though she had caused a lot of harm for many housewives, she had also done right for plenty of young men who had the chance to lose their virginities, due to her.
Sometimes, the young men who had still to lay with a woman, would come up to her and beg her for sex. Min would just smile and say okay, before taking the young men into her apartment, or wherever else they would be having sex.
“Oh, fine. But you have to carry me home!” Min said, quite adamant in her tone. Altraz could only sigh at his ostentatious student. Not many people dared to order him to carry them.
“You dare ask me, your Master, to carry you?” Altraz asked, his voice betraying that he wasn’t actually angry, even if one might fall to that conclusion.
“Yes, I do. You broke my ankle. Take responsibility,” Min said, determined not to walk home. If she could get carried home, it would be her victory.
“Fine, then. I’ll carry you,” Altraz said, as he took Min under his arm, carrying her by his side before he started walking back towards the city.
On the way back, Min looked visibly disappointed that she was being carried like a sack of potatoes. She’d been expecting to be carried like a princess. But a victory is still a victory.
When the two got back to Min’s new apartment, Altraz placed Min on the couch, before taking a seat opposite her, on a chair. His expression had suddenly turned serious, alarming Min that something important was about to happen.
“Min, you remember when I told you that you were going to get more missions, right? That things were about to get busier?” Altraz asked.
“Well, of course. That was only a few days ago,” Min replied, confused. Of course, she’d remember that. That day had turned into quite the big event.
“Well, the time has come, for your first real mission as an assassin. This time, you won’t be posing as a prostitute or anything. You’ll be sneaking into your target’s home, and killing him, simple as that. Your target is a bandit, who killed and raped the daughter of some rich merchant. He doesn’t even want the bandit to go to trial, he just wants him dead, plain and simple. Thus, he contacted us. Now, he’s only a simple bandit leader, so his level is even lower than yours. However, he does have several thugs, and if they surrounded you, you could get in trouble. Yet the mission is to kill everyone in the gang. There can’t be any survivors. Which is why we’re sending two others along with you. They’ll also be apprentices. This kind of low-level missions are usually given to the apprentices, for the sake of training them,” Altraz said.
“I see. My first true mission as an assassin. I promise I won’t disappoint you! But when do I set off? You did break my ankle so I won’t be able to walk very well for a few days. Unless you send me to Lord Aldon, to heal it. My magic is still not good enough to heal bones, after all,” Min said. In the past few months, Min had advanced in both Light, as well as Darkness magic, but she didn’t have very much use for her Light magic, as all she knew to do, was healing.
But the kinds of wounds that Min could heal would heal in a matter of minutes, anyway. Her Light magic had reached level twenty-six, which made her a ranked Apprentice in the discipline. At her level, she could heal some superficial wounds, and stop bleeding. It was useful to keep someone gravely injured from dying a bit longer, but it didn’t do her much use. It was still a valuable skill to have, when she was in groups, though.
“It’s no rush. The target isn’t going anywhere. You’ll go as soon as you’re ready. But before you go, I have a gift from the organization. Not so long ago, you reached level sixty-five in the Darkness Discipline. When one reaches this level, is when they can acquire a magic class. Thus, the organization offers you this book, as a method to increase your power,” Altraz said, as he caused a thick, leather-bound book to appear in his palm.
He handed the book to Min, who hesitantly accepted, scared that she might break it or something.
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Min asked, her voice trembling. If this were truly what she hoped it was, it would be a dream come through. It was everyone’s dream to receive a class, but in the end, the vast majority of people never got one.
“Open it,” Altraz said, his mouth curving into a smirk. Min did as asked, and opened the book. As soon as she did, the pages started turning on their own, as the letters left the paper, hovering above it. The letters turned and toiled around, forming strange words, before dispersing, until, it finally started creating sentences.
Eventually, the pages stopped turning, and the floating letters had formed into something similar to a status screen, but in a silver color.
[You have been granted the Class: Dark Mage.
Dark Mages are the harnesses of darkness, using shadows to kill, hide, or manipulate. Conceal your body in shadows, cast bolts of acidic darkness at your enemies, or penetrate your victims mind with dark energies, putting them under your control, the possibilities for the Dark Mage are endless.
Increased comprehension of the Discipline of Darkness Magic.
Darkness spells have increased potency.
Mana regenerates at a rate of 2 points per point of Wisdom, per minute.
Total Mana is 12 points, per point of Intelligence.
You gain 1 point of Intelligence per level. Valid as long as the Class is equipped.
You gain 1 point of Wisdom per level. Valid as long as the Class is equipped.]
As she read through the words, she could feel herself change, not unlike how when she invested attribute points from several levels, or how when she’d felt when she evolved. It was as if her mind expanded, and she could feel the pool that was her available mana extending into a lake! But it was different. Not only did she feel power flow throughout her body, but she could feel her comprehension evolve! It was like she suddenly understood her spells by another level.
It wasn’t as much as when she’d leveled up her spell, all those years ago back in the village, but it wasn’t too far either. Perhaps, she would be able to level her spells soon. At least, she felt like it was a possibility.
“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! Is this for real! I gained almost a thousand extra points of mana from that! I got 956 points to be exact! My Intelligence is now 188! This is amazing!” Min exclaimed, hardly able to believe what she saw and felt.
“Indeed, those who have a Class are on another level entirely. Your strength has increased by nearly twenty levels now. And if you were a normal person who only receives five points per level, your strength would have increased by twenty-three levels. And this is only a low level, basic Class. There exist better Classes. Some of which might even double your strength. None the less, at your level, just having this simple Class is impressive. Let’s put it like this, out of all the assassins who’re going with you to eliminate the target, you’re the only one with a Class,” Altraz said.
“Truly? I feel so honored,” Min said.
“You should be. Out of all the initiates, novices and apprentices in our organization, you’re the most valued one. You’re also amongst the fastest progressing ones. This time, there will be three other apprentices joining you, and all three of them have been apprentices for at least two years. They’ve been with us for even longer. Meanwhile, it’s only been a few months since you joined, and you’re already at their level. But don’t let this get to your head. You might be superior to them, but if you act pretentious, they’ll start disliking you. And in this world, you really don’t want to be disliked. In the future, when you join the higher rankings, people might start plotting your downfall, if no one likes you. It’s imperative to have friends you can trust, which is why you should do your best to get close to your fellow apprentices,” Altraz explained.
“I see. Then, these apprentices, they’re not completely ordinary, are they? If you’re sending them with me, the apparently top student, I’d imagine that they, too, are skilled,” Min said.
“Indeed. You’re pretty smart when you want to be. They’ve all been apprentices for two to three years, but that just means they have more experience. They’re all a higher level than you, but since you have a Class, you are their match. They are some of our top apprentices, and considering the rate you’re advancing at, they might become full-fledged assassins at the same time as you, which is why they were chosen to be your allies on this first mission. If you work well with them, you might see them again, in your future tasks. Apprentices are very rarely sent on missions alone.
“Then I look forward to meeting them,” Min said, a smile on her face. This would be the first time she’d meet someone at the same rank as she was, so she couldn’t help but be a bit excited.
“Good. I will be leaving now. Tomorrow, I will bring you some reports on both the targets, as well as your partners. Staying informed is important. Goodbye,” Altraz said, as he headed for the door.
“Goodbye, Master. See you tomorrow,” Min replied before Altraz disappeared.
