Worker

"So, can I go?" Shui looked up at Bartos with his anxiety obvious in his expression.

He knew his request would be very hard to agree to, especially since he was still a child. Even so, he couldn't give up easily. It could have been a signal from his martial intent, or maybe it was a simple delusion, but the problem was that it existed; the feeling that he was in danger. He wasn't sure exactly when it started, but before the trouble with Bartos had intensified he felt more gazes watching him. And after it was over, he felt as if those gazes had grown sharper.

Although he was sure none had ever seen him go to the waterfall, without being able to defend himself, or even run away, he couldn't stop himself from being scared at times.

He needed to get stronger but even if he threw away his plan and broke through straight to the ninth level of the Mortal Realm, it would only be enough to perfectly hide himself from a peak Soul Realm cultivator for a limited time. Additionally, once he used this trick he would probably have to leave the clan or else the people who were watching him might decide to attack him while his guard was down.

Under these conditions, Shui asked Bartos for permission to leave to Cyrus on his own. Bartos knew that Shui was mature enough to take care of himself, however that wouldn't stop someone from killing him. Bartos believed that Shui could stand his ground against anyone below the Soul Realm, but Soul Realm practitioners were too common in Cyrus. If one of them decided to kill Shui, he wouldn't be able to face his family.

"Shui, normally I wouldn't question your decisions too hard but, I need to know this time. Why are you so determined to go to Cyrus by yourself? What is so important that you don't want anyone to follow you?"

"I know I'm still weak, but that's exactly why I need to go. The clan may not hate me as much, but I still plan on leaving as soon as possible. If I just wait here until I become adult, then there's no telling whether or not the clan might change their mind about my treatment."

It didn't seem to insinuate much, but when it came from Shui's mouth it caused Bartos to think of something.

"You don't mean-"

"It's just a feeling, but I doubt everyone's bought the lie. There are definitely people who want to dig deeper."

Bartos had the sound-dampening array on so their words wouldn't reach outside the forge, but Shui refrained from being too specific. In addition to the gazes he felt, Shui believed there were new faces walking around in the clan and he even got confirmation from Yur. Apparently, they were distant relatives of certain elders, but Shui didn't think so. Every time he saw one of these 'distant relatives', his heart tightened in instinctual fear.

"Fine, I understand. But how will you protect yourself?"

Though it was a mere part of his reasons, Bartos had an idea as to what sort of stress Shui was under and he knew he couldn't say he would be able to protect him with confidence. The boy in front of him was more sensible than most adults and knew how to get out of trouble, so he only needed to ensure that he could take care of himself in emergency situations.

In response to Bartos' concerned question, Shui pulled out a talisman with the symbol for 'Light'.

"Sorry about this."

Shui then sent in a string of his energy into the talisman and threw it at Bartos. Halfway before it reached him, the talisman exploded with bright gold light.

"Ahh!"

Bartos swiftly turned away his head and closed his eyes. Only a few seconds after the light died down did he open his eyes again.

"That was the minimum power. Once I use this as a distraction, I can hide my aura and get away."

"Well, it certainly is effective."

While remembering the strip of paper that Shui turned into light, Bartos was once again shocked by the boy's tricks.

"Okay, you can go by yourself twice a week, but you have to make it back before dinner."

"Got it."

"Oh, and, this is just between us."

"I know."

Although Bartos gave him permission, Shui was sure Lilia would disagree so he knew not to let even a whiff of their deal reach her. Bartos also gave him a shield of supreme special-rank just in case. Naturally, Shui was grateful for this shield since it could come in handy.

The following week, Shui went to the Library early before going to Cyrus. Or at least that was his plan before he felt an intense gaze on him. The gaze didn't feel unfamiliar to him, but there was a big difference with this gaze compared with the ones he had felt recently; he could feel a heavy intent behind it. Though he had always been able to sense them, these gazes would try their best to stay hidden and not leak any emotion that would bring forth fluctuations that may further alert him. However, this gaze had given up on trying to remain hidden, which might mean that it wasn't planning on simply watching.

"This is rather bad."

Shui had already reached the edge of the forest near his house, so it would be too far to run for help from Bartos. Without any confidence that he would be able to defeat the person behind the gaze, Shui quickly thought of a way to escape. The Primordial Library seemed like the best escape destination, but he couldn't reveal its existence and he had already used up his time in there for the day. The secret of the Library was arguably on the same level of importance as his own life, so even if he could escape to it, he would have to shake off the tail on him first.

Since the person had obviously given up on hiding from him, Shui only walked a few steps inside the forest before standing in place.

"You might as well come out now."

Three seconds after Shui spoke, the clear sound of footsteps on brittle fallen leaves came closer. Even without turning his head, Shui 'saw' that it was man who wore black leather armour and had black cloth covering his head, leaving only his eyes exposed.

'All black really is the trademark of assassins.'

Shui also noticed that the man was in the second level of the Soul Realm. It was a little unexpected to him that someone of such a cultivation would be sent to kill him, but it also helped him get a good guess as to who sent this assassin.

"I know you won't answer me but, were you sent by the Clite clan?"

Just as Shui expected, the man didn't answer, instead he took out a short sword and cloaked it in dark green energy. This energy colour wasn't caused by his aura, but rather because of the spell that he was using. It wouldn't have looked as obvious in a normal cultivator's eyes, but in Shui's that energy seemed to be made up of infantile cries and broken souls, a template for curse spells done through sacrifices. Shui was of the opinion that techniques themselves couldn't be evil, but ones such as this were the exception.

'So the Clite clan really uses pawns like this.'

Shui was sure that the assassin had some connection to the Clite clan because only the hidden Soul Realm cultivator that tried to kill him and Kate would be aware of his true skill. This incident engraved into Shui that he shouldn't show his power carelessly.

From the assassin's perspective, Shui didn't dare to turn around, and him speaking of the Clite clan was just a bluff. He had been warned to be careful and after being shaken off Shui's trial several times, he knew not to underestimate the kid. However, he didn't think that the kid would be much trouble in a fight.

The assassin swung his short sword and the dark green arc it formed flew at Shui. Shui had long prepared for this so he easily managed to jump out of the way, and once he was safe for a moment he took out two talisman from his satchel. One was plastered onto his chest while the other was placed sideways on his forehead. A talisman would automatically adhere to the surface of any object it was placed on so he didn't have to worry about it falling off. The one on his chest had a basic 'Haste' inscription while the other was a low-level 'Perceive' inscription. With both of them applied he could react fast enough to his opponent's moves. However, unlike when applied on objects, when talismans were applied on living beings there was a time limit to be careful of. Fortunately, due to his one-star nebula soul, he didn't need to worry about adapting to his new physical status.

After his first attack was dodged, the assassin summoned several dark green knives and sent them at him. Shui dodged each one by drifting backwards while closely watching the assassin. The assassin repeatedly threw physical and energy projectiles at Shui but didn't try to engage in close combat, and Shui knew that even if he could see behind him, he wouldn't be able to escape from the assassin's gaze since he had revealed himself. Only by utilizing a few tricks and concealing his aura was he able to escape from spiritual sense, but now that his opponent was serious, he would have to first be fast enough to get out of his sight. Additionally, the enemy was too far to be affected by his 'Light' talisman so he was stuck in a deadlock.

'But why?'

Even though he would be hunted down eventually, Shui didn't understand why the assassin would waste his energy by using spells instead of confronting him directly. As he ran from the knives thrown at him, Shui recalled the fight he had when he saved Kate, and then he realised.

'Could he be afraid of me getting close?'

The wounds that Shui had left on the three assassins at that time, and on Rune, seemed to ignore physical defense so it was certainly possible that the assassin was cautious of that. Shui didn't actually think he would be able to bypass the senses of a Soul Realm cultivator, but he could definitely take advantage of that misunderstanding.

After dodging another projectile, Shui jumped into the air. The assassin thought that he had slipped up and left himself in a vulnerable position, but that was because Shui was holding back his grin.

Two sharp, dark green arcs flew towards Shui, but were stopped by the shield made by Bartos that Shui quickly took out of his satchel.

'I'm using this sooner than I thought.'

Though he couldn't use an artifact to its full ability, he was perfectly capable of throwing it to block attacks.

The arcs were shattered by the shield as it spun towards the assassin who jumped out of the way. When the shield crashed where he had been a moment before, he sighed in relief. Unfortunately, that was too soon. By the time the shield had shattered the arcs, Shui had planted his feet on a tree before pushing off with his full strength inclusive of the effect from the 'Haste' talisman, his one-star saint body and seventh level in the Mortal Realm cultivation.

Before the assassin returned his focus to him, Shui flew by his back and landed five steps away. But not without slipping a talisman with symbol for 'Burst' on his neck.

"That should do it."