I will save you in this 5th Life

I chose to continue going up towards from the right wing to the area where the twins went to because I remember there being both the Swordsman training area and also the training area for the Assassins so that I can contemplate between the two classes before entering the room I want to go to 

And this will also give me the chance to take a look at what is going on in both of the classes at the same time 

As I walked up towards the upper corner of the wing, I heard more sounds of metal clanking on the left side of the corridor and also many people shouting 

While on the right side I could not hear any sound at all which was very eerie, to say the least, since it was supposed to be lesson time during this hour 

But these two differences were the signal to me that I had arrived in the right area, and the name tags on the classroom also signalled the same thing 

On the left, I could see the word Swordsman written on the door as the tag which indicates the room number continued to shake as the tremor of the metal clanking in the room continued to grow more intense 

Then I turned right and saw the letters for Assassin being written in neat letters, and the deadly silence persisting which is a big contrast compared to the liveliness in the other room 

But this is what made me choose which room I wanted to enter 

Since Swordsman is something similar to being a Paladin and also because I also I had prior experience with using swords, so instead I think I should go to the Assassin course so that I can see what I have to be used to for this unfamiliar 

And I am also very curious as to why the room is so eerily quiet 

But just for I opened the room to the classroom I switched to my Assassin class through my Job Deck, just to be on the safe side 

And to be much safer... 

“Shroud me using the shadows, CARNWENHAU” 

I uttered as a knife with a white hilt appeared in my hand, it is very unique due to the fact it had a distinct recurve in its blade 

I don’t think it is how this dagger originally looked like, but I recalled seeing this on one of the books I read and finding it unique because a certain nomad tribe used this weapon both as a melee weapon but also has a utility tool 

And this unique characteristic was what made me remember this weapon so deeply and also might be the reason that it manifested in this form 

I touched the cool steel of the weapon and slight felt the teeth of the blade, it is a good thing it was my Armament or else that slight touch would have cut my finger 

I put it behind my hip as a sheath manifest from the shadows, and after confirming where it was, I carefully sheathed in the blade 

Carnwenhau (Sheathed) Personal Skill activated Silent Shadow (User is covered in a shadow that decreases enemy visibility and decreases user’s presence) 

If I am not wrong this is my only Armament that has two personal skills since it has the ability to be sheathed, unlike the other three 

Which gives it much more flexibility for me when I am using it 

But I have not really had any chance to use it in its unsheathed form since I rarely use a dagger as my weapon, hopefully, this class will prove useful in allowing me to have a better feel for using a dagger as my main weapon 

And I hope I can also improve my Assassin rank to learn some more skills before the battle for the class representative 

As I silently open the door I see, or more aptly put I could not see anything since the lights were turned off 

But that was not the weirdest part, because the lights being turned off is no reason for there to be no light when I have opened the door since outside the classroom was very bright in contrast due to it still being early in the morning 

And this difference in visibility also clearly highlights the boundary between the classroom and the corridor that I am standing at 

The possible explanations for this are that someone in the classroom is either using a barrier that obstructs all the light or visibility, or there are multiple shrouds being activated in the classroom by the students 

To be honest it could also be both at the same time so I will only find out after I have entered the room 

I steeled myself and gulped as I entered the room 

Then I suddenly felt someone attack me as the door behind me closed 

But luckily due to the misdirection effect of the dagger they missed me by a few inches, which is surprisingly closer than I thought, they must really be a good tracker if they can sense me even through the shroud 

I heard them click their tongue as they realized they missed, then they immediately hid back into the shadow 

Or at least I think they did because I am not really sure if they hid or are just erasing their presence in order to scout out for me again 

I took small and silent steps as I walked around the room 

I could not feel out any of the people in this room but I am sure there are people here since I can feel a sense of unease in my gut, which is obviously not a great indicator of danger but that is all I can rely on now 

As I continue to walk around, I suddenly felt a skill activate  

Rank 1 Skill Eye of Sköll (Grants better vision in the darkness and night) 

As the skill activated, I felt my vision clearing up and was able to see better in the classroom, good thing the skill activated since I was about to hit the table in front of me 

Hitting the table would have given me away and I feel like that would have spelt a fail in this course 

Although I was not here for the beginning, I have a feeling that we are currently going through a test to see who will be able to stay hidden the longest and to test us if we can find any of our hidden classmates 

As my vision fully cleared out or as much as it can be cleared out in this dark room, I looked around and still could not see any of the classmates hiding which shows how adept are they at hiding themselves and their mana 

If we do not want this to go on for too long, I guess I have to be on the offensive and try to look for them 

I could use the unsheathed skill of my dagger but that will expose me to my enemies since my shroud would be gone 

Unless I can gain control of the Shroud skill which Rank 2 Assassins can learn this instant 

Which is something way too risky  

But 

I do like risks 

I smirked as I tried to learn how to use the Shroud skill  

I think it should work similarly to how the Shroud of my dagger activates when I sheathe it 

I temporarily unsheathed my dagger and felt something being taken off me 

That should be the Shroud 

Carnwenhau (Sheathed) Personal Skill Silent Shadow has been deactivated 

I then saw a mana outline of purple coming towards me 

Carnwenhau (Unsheathed) Personal Skill activated Haunting Shadow (Tracking and Sensing ability increased) 

The speed that they came at me nearly made me think I was not going to make it but I immediately sheathed my blade and rolled to the left to avoid the attack 

I think I heard them being confused as I felt the Shroud coming over me like a blanket as I moved to another corner of the room slowly 

Carnwenhau (Sheathed) Personal Skill activated Silent Shadow 

Carnwenhau (Unsheathed) Personal Skill Haunting Shadow has been deactivated 

I think I know how the Shroud skill works but let me try it while I am shrouded just to make sure there are no extra problems 

As far as I remember the whole feeling was like a blanket wrapping or being draped around me to hide my presence 

I think this is done by using the mana in the body and covering up the body so that people will have a harder time finding me and making it easier for me to hide 

First, I collected the mana I have in my body into a centre point near my stomach, if I were not shrouded this would have led me to be found by the others 

Then I slowly turned it into a shroud or a clothed form as best as I could 

Shit, I think I leaked some mana 

My prediction was correct because I suddenly felt a knife being thrown near me, but luckily it was quite off so I could still concentrate 

And another good thing is that they did not come over to attack me or search around the area to locate me 

But this small incident also gave me the boost I needed to make sure that I learn this skill as soon as possible 

Now back to the skill 

I continued to smoothen and lengthen my mana into a shroud and slowly draped it over myself 

And I slowly made sure that the shroud completely cover up my body and prevented any mana from leaking 

Then I suddenly felt something after a few seconds 

Rank 2 Skill Shroud (Decrease visibility and presence) 

Yes, it worked 

But let me try if it is strong enough for this situation 

Then I unsheathed my dagger in my back and I felt a similar feeling again 

Carnwenhau (Sheathed) Personal Skill Silent Shadow has been deactivated 

Carnwenhau (Unsheathed) Personal Skill activated Haunting Shadow 

My vision further cleared up like earlier and then started to see the mana outlines and leaks I saw earlier 

One two three.... hmm I am just going to see it as there are more than three people in this room and I imagine that there should be quite a few that I am not able to find them, just to be on the safer side because I think there should be other who are able to hide much better than this 

Even the three I was able to find was only a smidge of minor mana leaks that I see in the dark, it is all thanks to my rank 1 skill and Carnwenhau that I was able to find them 

I would have a much harder without Carnwenhau, now what should I do 

I turned to the left corner, and saw a larger leak than the other two and went towards the leak 

I think I see someone crouching in that corner, the closer I got the clearer the mana leak was being 

Once I got to a certain distance, I started to think about what should I do 

I think I am just going to toss something ahead so that I can attract their attention 

I looked around but I could not find anything 

I checked my pockets 

Cshsh 

I did not account for my pockets being this loud, I do not think it would usually be this loud but in this quiet environment the sound is highlighted 

And then I saw the person I was stalking turn back and look at me, then I realized where that mana leakage was coming from 

I saw their eyes glowing and leaking mana as they turned towards me 

This is probably from the rank 1 skill the Eyes of Skoll that is making them leak mana, I guess it is because they have more mana than me which is causing it to leak?  

Or they just plainly lack control over the usage 

As I was thinking about that they suddenly jumped towards me in an instant 

That’s the rank 3 Pounce of Geri 

And I suddenly felt a pain in my stomach as a blunt object was used to attack it 

I think they were thinking that the shot would have been enough to knock me out 

Well, they were not wrong 

If I were a normal assassin, but I am someone who was trained as a paladin so this much damage is nothing to me 

Then I used my hand to hold their arm that was used to attack me and pulled them in, which gave me a better look at their face 

Seemed quite feminine but not someone I recognized, and then as I pulled her in I did the same manoeuvre she did but a bit stronger  

Ack 

This properly knocked her out and also cause the mana gathering in her eyes to be shut off and her shroud to be lifted 

Then I suddenly felt someone appear next to me and tap my shoulders 

As I was about to turn and attack them, they deflected it away and moved to the other side where the student was knocked out and carried her while giving my shoulder a tap on the way out of the area 

I think that was the teacher? 

But true assassins are different, could not even feel them approaching and I could not even land a good hit at that close of a range 

And I could not even see them leave, the moment they tapped my shoulders 

I shuddered as I thought I was being watched the school time by them while during this lesson 

It is really a good thing that this is not a battlefield because I would have been a goner 

Then after I shook off the feeling from that encounter, I continued to look for the other two leaks 

And they both ended with me doing the same thing I did for the first one 

After I finished with the third leak and the teacher took away their unconscious body something was flying close to me and I immediately rolled forwards to avoid it 

But then I felt a blade being thrust towards me as I rolled forward, then I brought my dagger upfront as I stood straight after the roll which slight deflect the weapon  

And as I was trying to strike them from the area where I thought they were, I could only feel my hilt hitting the air 

Then another projectile came yet again 

This time I did not roll so that I do not make the same mistake as last time and go towards another sword strike but instead this time I tried to deflect the projectile that was sent to me  

And I think by doing so I can instead invite them to attack me instead 

And  

Clink 

Bingo 

I was correct in thinking that 

But from what I have been experiencing now, this is definitely not only one person that is doing this whole attack 

There should be at least two people in this scenario 

But why are they working together when this will not benefit both in the end? 

Despite crossing swords with the other dagger user in this situation, I still could not see their face clearly and they had no mana leak at all 

Proving their proficiency with their class and their abilities, they are someone who had trained for this since an early age  

We were still locking blades surprisingly since I thought they would have gone back into the shadows to attack me again, but I guess I hurt their pride by blocking their attack again 

But too bad our level of strength is too different, in terms of combat as an Assassin I am weaker, but if we are locking swords then I am stronger in this department 

But just as we were locking swords, I did not fully extend my power so that I will have time to react when the other attack comes 

And so it did 

I pushed my assailant and jumped back to a safer distance 

We are just going to be in a stalemate if we keep doing this 

And then I thought of another thing I had not tried to use in a battle but would probably work out best in this situation, especially if they really care for each other 

I probably would not have much time to do this so I should do it after the next rotation they do 

And here it comes again 

Clink 

They switched angles this time but I was still able to rotate my dagger in order to deflect their attack 

And then I waited for their second part of the attack to come through 

Clink  

After deflecting the same thrust again 

I was the one who jumped back first into another area so that I can set my plan in motion before they launch their combo attack again 

I switched back to being a Freelancer, but I made sure to sheathed before switching so that I have my shroud active  

Carnwenhau (Sheathed) Personal Skill activated Silent Shadow 

Then I am going to stay as a Freelancer and fight them 

I quickly went through what I needed to do and went out again 

Even hiding might not be a smart choice since they were able to locate me the times, they have attacked me, I think one or both of them are great trackers  

So instead choose to bait them into fighting me one vs two 

That sounded awful overconfident of me, but I guess I will have to see if this gamble pays 

I unsheathed my dagger as I activated my shroud 

Rank 2 Skill Jack of All Trades (Grant access to one skill from each job in the job deck for a duration of 24 hours) 

Rank 2 Shroud (Assassin) Selected 

Rank 2 Shroud has been activated 

I am bending the rules a lot by doing so, but the me now just wants to win against them in this scenario and it is too late to change plans anyway so I went through with it 

As I went out with my shroud activated, I felt a familiar attack yet again, and I did the same thing 

This time I added something special 

“Do you not get bored doing the same thing over and over?” 

The opponent did not answer but I felt them drive their attack harder on me 

I then loosened up my hand and they saw this as an opportunity to push further 

And I saw the attack coming but I let it hit me for the final step of my plan 

Ouch but man does that hurt 

I felt a taste of iron, as a liquid entered my mouth 

Criteria have been fulfilled, access has been granted 

It seems it cut my cheek 

They saw it as another opportunity and went for another thrust 

I blocked this one properly, making sure to keep it locked with my sword 

And now starts my 30 seconds 

“Raise the banners of rebellion, CLARENT” 

I shouted as a red spark started to materialize in my left hand, which was not in contact with my opponent 

As another weapon started to materialize in my off-hand, the red spark started to lengthen and turn into the shape of a sword 

The hilt was red as the spark that was used to form it but the blade was silver which made it contrast with the red hilt and the tip of the blade which was similarly red 

Rank 1 Skill Weapon Mastery (ATK Up when using any weapons) 

Rank 3 Skill Dual Weapon Mastery (ATK Up when wielding a weapon in both hands) 

As I gripped Clarent I felt much stronger due to both of my passives activating  

25 

Now let us test your friendship 

I thought as I swiftly send my offhand towards my enemy who was still locking swords with me 

Then I heard someone shouting and I think my blade hit another weapon since I heard a clanking noise 

I guess they are really friends since the other one risked being discovered to save my original opponent 

“Then let's finish this at once, both of you come to me at once” 

20 

I think they had some kind of understanding because they both unlocked their blade from me and moved away then swiftly jumped back in to attack me 

I was still unable to see their faces properly but as I got used to my dagger's ability, I was able to see their outlines much better and we continued to clash in the darkness 

15 

I felt more slashes near my arm, I need to dodge those better but are they getting better at dodging or is that just my imagination 

I thought as I parried another blow and kicked one of them away  

I think I heard them roll away from the ground 

10 

I think I was finally able to cut them with Clarent 

Clarent Personal Skill activate Bloody Rebellion (Restore vitality when blade draws blood, Vitality restored increased if the blood drawn is of the person who fulfilled the activation condition for Clarent (the one who drew my blood first)) 

Because I think I felt some of my wounds heal 

5 

There is not much time left before it runs out, I have to finish them off soon 

AH 

As I successfully blocked their blades again, I felt my muscles strain and more liquid starting to flow from my arm to my hand 

But I am not even sure if its sweat or blood, but I felt my grip on my weapons slipping due to the liquid 

Here we go 

4 

I loosened my grip and made my weapon fall 

3  

Then with their moment still on the blades, their bodies feel forward 

2 

Since I let go of the dagger my vision started to cloud up again 

1 

Clench your teeth was what I thought as I bought up my fists to give them a strong punch 

I felt an impact  

Works like a charm 

Gack 

Ugh 

Was what I last heard 

0 

As I also lost feeling in my body as I fell to the floor 

This is going to be painful tomorrow morning 

My muscles strained so much that I could not move them at all 

As I was about to pass out 

My body started to feel more comfortable and the strain and cuts being slowly healed as the lights of the room also slowly started to return 

As I slowly stood up with the energy returning to my body, I saw that the two people I was fighting were the twin that I got acquainted with just recently 

But that’s weird are they not Ninjas, is this not the room for Assassins 

I thought as I stood up 

It seems they also got fully healed and regained consciousness 

I extend my hand to them while standing 

They looked shocked at first then realized what happened 

But then they smiled as I pulled them up 

“That was a good match, you two” 

“We could say the same about you Tida” 

“You were able to use the skills of an Assassins so well for your first time even fought so well in the dark” 

“To be honest, I cheated a little” 

They were confused, then I beckoned them over and silently told them what I did 

They were shocked at first but then came to understand what happened 

I then asked them why they were in the Assassin classroom despite being Ninjas 

They then said 

“It seems the school groups up all the jobs that are related or similar to Assassins so that they did not have to call in multiple teachers and take up too much room” 

Kaminari answered 

I was able to separate them better after this battle since I had a closer look at their features 

Kaminari was the one who was fighting with me first since she was on the right side of me when the lights were turning on 

She had also had a scar on her right arm which I also saw when I was standing up, she prefers to use short blades and fight close and personal 

While her sister Inazuma, had a slight discolouration in her, with her left eye being much darker than her right 

And she preferred to fight from a distance while throwing projectiles such as kunai and throwing knives, and only comes to fight closely if the situation calls for it  

Then the teacher whom I finally thought I would see the face of appeared 

It was only an eerie shadow 

“Thats al for the lesson this time, the winner of this mock seems to be Miss Tida, I hope you will all try harder next time” 

“Thats all for today and I hope not to see any weird tricks next time” 

That was definitely targeted toward me 

Then the bell rang, signalling the end of the morning class and the start of the lunch period 

I went with the twins in order to meet up with the rest of our friends