The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 12

“Hmm….”

Despite my calm demeanor, my jaw trembled slightly.

“No need to be so tense. I just want to have a casual conversation.”

The long-haired Branch Family member at the front approached. I knew his name—Crain Zigheart. He’d started trouble this morning and displayed quite impressive talent during the aptitude assessment.

“Hey.”

At Crain’s gesture, three children beside him positioned themselves to my left, right, and behind me.

“A conversation? What kind of conversation?”

I tried to step back, but the three of them blocked my escape simultaneously.

“You’ll find out if you come along.”
“Come quietly.”

Crain smirked and gestured, prompting the others beside him to start pushing with their shoulders.

With me being smaller than my age suggested and the Branch Family members being larger than their peers, it looked like an adult dragging away a child.

“Wait, just a moment. Can’t we talk here….”
“It’s too late for that.”
“You should’ve been more careful.”

I lowered my gaze and hunched my shoulders, causing the Branch Family children to chuckle and link their arms through mine.

-You said you’d show me a scene worth watching, yet what are you doing now?
‘Good things require patience. Just wait a bit.’

Outwardly, I appeared flustered, but internally, I was more composed than ever.

“Ugh!”

I was dragged helplessly to the outer edge of the Training Ground and hurled against the wall. It was a secluded, shadowy corner where few people passed through.

“W-what on earth are you doing?”
“Spirit potion bastard.”
“What?”
“Rejected by the direct line, yet you strut about after lucking into a spirit potion?”
“If it weren’t for the spirit potion the Saint gave you, you wouldn’t have even been able to run today!”
“Coward!”

The Branch Family members’ expressions turned savage, like predators eyeing prey.

‘Over something so trivial….’

Their reason for attacking was childishly petty and pathetic, proving they were nothing but children.

‘And they don’t even consider the possibility of losing.’

I let out a soft chuckle.

‘Of course they wouldn’t.’

Unlike myself at twelve, the Branch Family members were thirteen, and considerably larger. They had been training for quite some time, so the very thought of defeat seemed foreign to them.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure it doesn’t show.”
“This isn’t our first time doing something like this.”
“You heard what the instructor said. We’re just having a little chat among classmates.”

The Branch Family members advanced with their fists clenched.

“That’s right.”

I lifted my lowered head and smiled faintly.

“A beating’s in order.”

The fear and confusion that had lingered in my eyes moments before had vanished entirely.

“This bastard!”

The boy with the bowl-cut hairstyle on the right threw a punch.

I twisted my shoulder to evade the blow, then struck his right chest with my right elbow.

“Gack!”

The bowl-cut boy crashed headfirst into the ground, gasping and wheezing. Unable to catch his breath, he clawed at the dirt beneath him.

“What, what is this!”

The narrow-eyed boy on the left thrust his foot forward.

Whoosh!

I deflected the rising kick with my left hand, then stepped forward and drove my fist into his solar plexus.

“Ugh…”

The narrow-eyed boy collapsed, clutching his stomach, his eyes rolling back.

Crack!

The one behind me clenched his fist and brought it down. I deflected it with my palm and kicked his abdomen.

“Huff!”

The largest of them all collapsed, gasping for breath.

“You, what are you doing! Why are you losing to that guy!”

Crain Zigheart, now alone, took a step back. His voice trembled as his eyes quivered.

“This is dialogue. The intimate physical conversation between classmates you mentioned.”

I advanced as Crain retreated.

“Don’t come closer!”

Crain screamed and extended his left fist. His right fist followed immediately after—a well-trained combination attack.

However, the person receiving it was no ordinary twelve-year-old child.

Crack!

My arm coiled upward like a viper. I wrapped it around Crain Zigheart’s left arm and twisted it to the right.

“Aaaargh!”

Crain Zigheart screamed, unable to fully extend his right arm as pain from the twisted limb shot through him.

“Not yet.”

I channeled my aura into my left hand and struck his right flank with a sharp blow.

“Gack! Kueeegh!”

Crain Zigheart let out a breathless shriek and rolled across the ground.

-Excellent screaming. But you haven’t crushed his skull yet. Do it now.
‘That obsession with his skull….’

I shook my head and turned my gaze toward the four Branch Family members writhing on the ground.

“What should I do with you?”

I rolled my neck and approached the Branch Family members. A chilling murderous intent flickered in my eyes.

“Hnngh!”
“Uuugh!”
“Wh-what….”

The Branch Family members trembled as if seized by a chill. Their faces bore an expression of terror that transcended mere confusion.

“Uuuh….”

Crain Zigheart’s teeth chattered as if he were freezing.

‘What exactly is this guy.’

Even Burren Zigheart, a direct descendant, had never emanated such an aura—nor had the other direct descendants who were older than him. Raon possessed something far darker than mere aura; it was a palpable shadow that seemed to swallow light itself.

‘It’s like… like looking at adults…’

Not ordinary adults, but the chilling sensation of meeting the gaze of those who had become pillars of the family—those who bore the weight of generations.

“Conversation deepens the more you engage in it, after all.”
“Ugh!”
“P-please!”

As Raon approached with a smile, the Branch Family members’ teeth chattered as if they were meeting death itself.

Crack! Thud!

Under the force of his fists, the Branch Family members convulsed like worms, unable even to scream.

-You beat them quite thoroughly. For the first time, I approve of you.
‘Thanks for that.’

Raon pummeled the Branch Family members to a degree that even Wrath found admirable—targeting only the spots where pain would be most intense, though invisible to the eye.

“Hck!”
“Aaagh…”

The Branch Family members could no longer meet Raon’s gaze. They merely curled up like shrimp cast upon the shore.

“P-please stop…”
“We were wrong!”
“Nngh!”

Raon rose after ensuring the Branch Family members wouldn’t even dare glance at his feet.

“What happened today was merely a conversation between peers. Understood?”
“Y-yes!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“You won’t mention this conversation to anyone, will you?”
“O-of course not!”
“Never, sir!”

Crain Zigheart and the Branch Family members, eager to end the beating, quickly nodded their heads.

“Then I should wrap this up before ending our conversation.”
“W-wrap it up?”
“What do you mean by that….”
“Who sent you to provoke me? Was it Burren?”
“Uh….”
“No? That’s not it.”

The Branch Family members shook their heads.

“Then what is it?”
“B-Burren never gave us any orders.”
“Yes. He actually told us not to do it. We just….”
“Is that so?”

I chuckled softly. Seeing their desperate expressions, I knew they weren’t lying. It really seemed to have nothing to do with Burren.

‘He hasn’t completely rotted away yet.’

Though Burren harbored ill feelings toward me and had a sharp tongue, he didn’t seem to be beyond redemption.

“If you don’t want to talk with me tomorrow, you’d better stay out of my way.”
“Yes!”
“Of course!”
“W-we won’t even step on Shadow’s shadow!”

I turned my body as I heard their responses. A notification chimed as I was about to leave the Alley.

Ding!

*

*

*

Click.

Rimer descended into the corner of the Alley after Raon and the Branch Family members had departed.

“Hmm!”

He smacked his lips while watching the Branch Family members shuffle away.

‘That was entertaining.’

He had merely been killing time as usual, yet he had witnessed something quite remarkable.

‘The more I observe him, the more intriguing he becomes.’

The Raon I saw today bore no resemblance to the pitiful patient that Glen and Sylvia had described.

‘Is he a prodigy?’

Raon had never learned martial arts. I heard he had never struck anyone or been struck. Yet the movements he displayed now told a different story.

He evaded the first punch with minimal distance, then immediately countered with his own strike.

The second and third exchanges ended swiftly—he struck vital points before his opponent could even properly react. Though rough around the edges, his fists moved with a level of skill that could not be called a first fight.

I had thought only his mental fortitude was exceptional, but it seemed he possessed talent in martial arts as well.

‘Blood runs true.’

Rimer chuckled softly, recalling how Raon had struck down the Branch Family members and then even intimidated them in return.

Glen had been the same when I once thought the world was small and believed myself the strongest. He appeared ordinary, yet whenever he stepped forward, he surpassed everyone else.

That even I, who scorned humanity, was moved to follow him—there was no need to elaborate on what manner of man he was.

‘And furthermore….’

The way Raon turned the Branch Family members’ own words against them to intimidate them resembled Glen even more.

“An incomprehensible talent standing among the greatest talents….”

Rimer tapped the ground lightly, as if playing a piano.

“My heart is racing.”

His lips curved upward in a soft smile.

*

*

*

I entered room 405 according to the key number the instructor waiting in front of the Dormitory had given me.

It was a spacious private room that didn’t differ much from my quarters in the Annex Building. The bed looked plush, and there was ample space for cultivation.

‘Well then.’

I finished surveying the room quickly and sat on the bed, pulling up the message I had seen moments before.

[Wrath is satisfied with your actions.]
[Agility has increased by 1 point.]

A message appeared indicating that Wrath was satisfied, along with a notification that my stat had risen.

‘Can I raise my stats this way as well?’

It seemed that not only by enduring Wrath’s restraint, but by satisfying him as well, my stats could increase.

However.

[Wrath roars in indignation.]

-A delusion! I was not satisfied! It’s still insufficient! I will only be content when I tear off their heads!

Seeing Wrath throwing a tantrum, it seemed the stat increase had been transmitted regardless of his will.

-Where in the world are these stats coming from all of a sudden!

Even Wrath seemed unaware of where these additional stat increases were originating.

“You don’t know either? With your abilities, there’s nothing you don’t know.”
-You took what belongs to me, and you don’t even understand what happened because of it?!
“Either way, not knowing is still the truth.”
-Grrgh….

Wrath’s voice trembled as all the good humor from before evaporated.

-Fine. I’ll investigate and return. Wait for me.

With those words, Wrath’s presence vanished. The bracelet remained on my wrist, but his spirit seemed to have flown elsewhere. I waved my hand experimentally, but there was no response.

“Finally, some peace and quiet.”

I lowered my hand. Taking advantage of Wrath’s silence, I prepared to wash up and headed toward the bathroom on the fourth floor.

After a quick bath, I returned to my room and sat down on the floor without even drying my hair.

‘Now I see—he’s a goose that lays golden eggs.’

I chuckled, gazing at the flower bracelet on my wrist. Granting stat increases simply for receiving recognition or enduring interference—it was practically free.

I had the Ring of Fire and water attribute resistance, so I’d never lose to Wrath anyway. It was nothing but beneficial.

‘I should practice cultivation before he returns.’

Maintaining my pleasant mood, I closed my eyes to operate the Ring of Fire.

Whoooosh!

Just as I was about to begin cultivation after raising my concentration.

-Grrgh!
“Back already?”

I clicked my tongue and opened my eyes to find Wrath trembling violently on my wrist.

—You thief!
“Thief?”
—You’ve been stealing the power I left in my original body!
‘Original body?’

Now that I thought about it, Wrath had mentioned being a king somewhere and referred to himself as the sovereign. I hadn’t bothered to remember it since it seemed unimportant.

—The Demon Realm! I was the lord of the Demon Realm!
‘I see.’

Since I had no interest, I simply nodded slightly.

Grrrrind.

The sound of teeth grinding came from Wrath.

—What is that response? You insignificant insect, receiving power from me. You should kneel and show reverence.
“You’re not even giving it willingly, so why should I be grateful?”
—Ugh….

Wrath fell silent, only groaning.

—Your audacity truly pierces the heavens.
“Not particularly.”

I shook my head. I’d never thought anything of the sort. Wrath had spent his entire existence being revered, so he simply couldn’t tolerate even the slightest firmness.

—Currently, my original body is connected to you. That’s why the status window’s abilities were transmitted to you.
‘Hmm….’
—So I have a proposal.
“A proposal?”
—Let us make a wager. If you win, I’ll transfer the stats to you. But if you lose, you’ll bear my wrath.

Wrath’s voice was filled with resentment and indignation, just like when we first met.

[Wrath has proposed a wager to you.]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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