Level 1 Fallen

Wisteria led the two of us through the stone hallways and into a larger area, one that seemed to resemble an arena. In fact… I was fairly certain it was an arena, though there was no marked stage, only a smooth, stone floor. Those following behind us all went to find seats, excitedly watching the spectacle. I could even spot our innkeeper in the crowd, who offered me a friendly smile when our gazes met. So she was part of the League, after all.

"Alright, you two. This is going to be a combat trial." Wisteria announced, guiding us to the center of the large platform. It was roughly a hundred meters in radius, more than enough room for most forms of combat. "The two of you will battle me together. In order to make this fair, I will be using the arena's settings to lower my effective level to one hundred."

"This is not a 'first hit wins' type of fight. This is the League of Assassins. The fight does not end until one side dies. Is that clear?" She asked the two of us, a quest window appearing before us. Naturally, the reward for success was being granted membership to the League, while the penalty for failure was being permanently blacklisted.

The two of us nodded our heads, before Diane did something that… rather surprised me. "I'll sit this one out." She said, causing both Wisteria and I to look at her in confusion.

"Are you forfeiting your exam?" Wisteria asked, though Diane shook her head.

"You said level one hundred, right? He can handle it. I said that I was staking my membership on his trial. I have faith in my companion." As Diane said that, she walked over to the edge of the arena, simply leaning against the walls. "Or do I need to kill myself for the quest to allow a one on one?"

From her tone, it was clear that she was more than willing to do so, but Wisteria shook her head. "That will not be necessary. However, I will not be lowering the difficulty. Are you certain that the two of you are fine with this arrangement?"

Diane gave a firm nod of her head, looking straight at me. "We were looking for someone for you to fight against, anyways. Show me that you can be my shield."

I let out a long sigh, shaking my head. "You really know how to put someone on the spot, don't you?" I asked, chuckling. I brought my hands up, clenching and unclenching my fists. "Wisteria, right? Just checking, but this place has a respawn setting, doesn't it?"

"That's right." Wisteria nodded her head in agreement.

"Good." I grinned, and began to activate my combat skills. "Are there any restrictions on how we fight, or is it just the last man standing?"

Wisteria arched her brow, before shaking her head. "No restrictions. You showed your stealth ability earlier. Now, we need to determine whether or not you have the combat strength to defend whatever trait allowed that to happen."

"That's fine by me." I said as red crystals began to sprout from my armor. "Start the match whenever you are ready."

Wisteria gave a small nod, before her figure faded away. I activated Scout and Detective Analysis together, able to see a faint movement off to my side. Without hesitation, I wrapped my fists in energy and flickered to Wisteria's position, throwing a straight punch towards where I detected her presence.

Wisteria jumped back, falling out of Stealth as her eyes widened. It was clear that she hadn't used a technique like Ghost, which would allow her to keep her presence concealed even with exertion. Still, another flicker brought me into the path of her retreat, where I threw out another fist.

Wisteria let out a grunt, taking the hit to her side as she fell onto the stone, quickly rolling back to her feet. She seemed surprised by my strength, but I wasn't going to let up. Pressing my advantage, I charged towards her, only to see her clap her hands together.

Suddenly, five copies of Wisteria appeared around me, all in identical postures. They pulled bladed fans off of their waists, and began to charge at me, slashing at my crystal armor. I let out a grunt as the bladed fans began to crack and pierce through my armor, but healed myself of any damage immediately.

They're all real? It was hard to believe that there were no downsides to a skill capable of creating five realistic clones like this. I reached my hands out suddenly, seeming to give up on any form of defensive posture to grab the wrists of the Wisteria clones on either side of me. "My turn…" I growled, sharp spikes of energy appearing to stab the two held clones.

Almost immediately, the two clones faded away, and I understood that these clones only lasted until they took damage. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the remaining three from taking advantage of my openings. Blades swept across my throat, back, and stomach, causing blood to gush out before the wounds rapidly shut.

"That hurt." I hissed, blood trailing down the front of my body. Because the injury had occurred while I was holding onto the clones, I had enough support to not stagger back. My foot came up, stomping at the ground and erecting a crystal wall around my body to force the last three clones back.

Stolen story; please report.

Right now, I had to determine whether one of the three was the real one, or if the real one would only be revealed when all clones were defeated. Staring at the Wisteria in front of me, I shattered the crystal wall, flickering immediately in front of her to plant my fist into her stomach. Her eyes widened, coughing up a mouthful of blood as she vanished, and two blades swept across my back.

I let out another hiss of pain, but soon grinned, stomping the ground again to release another wall, this one thicker than the last. "Sorry, Diane… looks like this is as controlled an environment as it gets."

"Don't you dare!" Diane suddenly shouted out when she heard my voice. "You're not losing this!"

"Maybe not… but it's time to put on a show!" I let out a laugh, seeing the last two clones slashing at the crystal wall. I took a stance, my arms in front of me, fingers spread to resemble claws. "Darkest shadow beneath the sky, umbral fangs. Hunt, howl, and rend flesh from bone."

Black energy gathered along my arms, tearing into my flesh. I hissed, but couldn't hold back my laughter. Even as it felt like my muscles were being torn apart and knit back together, a howl echoed through the arena.

My shadow spread out behind me, and a large wolf emerged. In the corner of my eyes, I noticed the window saying that I had successfully enchanted Animate Shadow onto my fists, the enchantment carrying the name Shadow Wolf.

"Kill." I ordered, and the shadow jumped over my crystal wall, charging at the two clones. Although they seemed surprised, they quickly reacted, slicing apart the wolf before it could even dismiss a single clone.

"Is that your big move?" One of the two asked, as if disappointed.

"No… this is." I said, my shadow spreading out once again. The reason why I wanted to learn magic so badly that I was even willing to maim myself after learning my traits. Wolf after wolf appeared, my shadow continuing to spread through the arena.

The two clones looked around with wide eyes as the wolves quickly filled the space around them. The muscles in my hands tore apart at the constant usage of the enchantment, but I was able to heal them just as quickly.

Once again, I issued a solemn order. "Kill."

The wolves all began to growl, pouncing towards the two clones. They fought valiantly, slicing apart any that came near them, one by one at first, and then by the dozens, pulling out hidden weapons to pierce the eyes or throats. However, I was constantly resummoning them to join the fight. Eventually, one clone was struck, disappearing. Then the other.

In one corner of the arena, Wisteria appeared with a pale expression, the wolves turning to pounce on her before she could recover.

Individually, they were too weak to do much damage to her, due to my low level of mastery over the skill. However, when you get enough of them… there was a reason why Wisteria used her cloning ability in the first place.

A moment later, and another window appeared to announce my victory. With that, I closed my eyes, dismissing the wolves. Wisteria's blood began to flow across the ground, all the way across the arena until it connected with my boots, soaking into them. The deep cuts and dents left by her weapon on my armor began to knit together, one by one.

Diane walked over towards me, glaring as she approached. "We said that we'd do that in a controlled environment to experiment first. Did you really just gamble our memberships on whether or not your body could withstand the enchantments?"

I chuckled guiltily at her question, before meeting her gaze. "Last I checked, you gambled your membership on whether or not I could defeat a level one hundred assassin in single combat."

Diane lifted a hand, looking like she wanted to retort, but not finding the words. "This and that are two different things!"

I let out another laugh, shaking my head. Soon, I heard Wisteria's voice from nearby, the foxfolk having apparently respawned already. "Did you see that, Erebus?" She asked curiously, and I turned to see that the Grandmaster had been seated in the back row.

He nodded his head, speaking casually. "It was a regular Animate Shadow skill, enchanted into the Shadow Wolf form."

Wisteria looked at Erebus as if what he had said was ridiculous, before turning to regard me again. "To think I lost to a second-tier skill fired by a level one…"

Diane abruptly turned to face Wisteria, eyes still sharp. "He is not a Failure. Got that?" She asked, and Wisteria chuckled wryly.

"Yeah, I got it." She said, Erebus slowly rising to his feet.

"Well, then. Diane, Drake, you have proven yourselves in a trial of combat. Starting today, the two of you are now low-level members of the League of Assassins. As your examiner, Wisteria will be in charge of communication between you and the League, so you will be required to add her to your friends lists."

As soon as Erebus said that, I saw a window appear in the corner of my vision, Wisteria sending me a friend request. "Wisteria's positive trait allows her to teleport to anyone on her friends list, though doing so carries with it a heavy mana burden. If you come across anything that you urgently wish to sell to the League, you can do so through her."

"As for you, Drake…" Erebus turned to look at me, and I was painfully aware that he was using my real name, which Diane and I had been careful not to mention. "All here are sworn to silence about today's examination. Any violations will be taken as betrayal to the League."

My eyes widened further at that. Not only was Erebus aware of my identity, but also the bounty on my head. And, given what he had seen earlier, he had likely figured out what my positive trait was.

I looked around, nervously, seeing various members of the League all nodding their heads in understanding. If they kept that vow of silence, everything would be fine. If not… well, I may have just stepped in something.