Basil kept running in his top speed. Due to the inability to hide his presence while utilizing his Circle, he traveled with an insane speed along with choosing a difficult route.
He had traveled to many places in his past life, naturally he knew many routes to Fortescher County like the back of his hand. He knew the terrain well, and even the places people hadn't found out yet.
Therefore, being chased by people who could take his life, he naturally had many ways to remove them. There is strength in number, however there is no guarantee number means unity. Therefore, whenever he was ganged up, Basil would take care of his enemies separately.
Basil stopped running as he had used up all of his Mana and Qi. He needed to rest himself and recuperate. Recovering his exhausted Mana and Qi was easy, however it wasn't the case with relieving the strain on his body.
He sat himself down near a boulder. He had fully hidden his presence from the assassins, and also chose a spot that couldn't be seen easily. It was easy to hide from them.
The reason why he didn't just hide himself and wait untill the assassins gone was because he wanted to obtain something in Fortescher County. If he were to be idle, he would lose the item to another person.
He didn't want that! Therefore, he chose to remove them one by one. Basil quickly practiced [Star Withering] and [Heart Clenching] at the same time. Practicing them at the same time was hard, however it was easy for people who were used to multitask like him.
Grit!
Basil clenched his jaw tightly. [Heart Clenching] was starting to take an effect. The pain it brought was less than the first time, however it still hurt. Aided by his abnormal vitality and Mana Heart, after some time, his body along with the Qi and Mana was replenished quickly.
Mana Amulet was proven to be very useful. Basil didn't have to bother himself gathering the Mana surrounding him, it had already done that for him.
Normally, a Mana Heart was cultivated with raw Mana from the nature. However, Basil chose to cultivate his with Mana that was imbued with Star Energy. The result was superb.
Thirty minutes was all he needed to recuperate. His body, Qi and Mana had fully recovered. Utilizing his Circle and pulling up his Qi, he once again announced his presence to the assassins.
...
The remaining four people were alert. They had split themselves when they had felt that the presence's direction became vague. None of them had expected that the vague presence would be felt clearly once again.
Cold sweat ran down their face. The presence didn't reappear. They still could feel the vague presence. The presence became two.
Gulp.
They had been tricked. Naturally, the vague presence was Deacon who was running separately from him. Deacon was a magical beast, surely he could run faster than mere low-class assassin.
Basil had rubbed some of his Mana signature around Deacon. Of course, it was all just a figurative speech. It meant, Basil merely enveloped him with the Mana from his heart.
Mana couldn't disperse immediately, it took time for it to disperse. Just like Gorgophone said, once you used Mana you would leave a part of you into it. Therefore, the assassins had mistakened Deacon as his vague presence.
Who was he to joke? Vague presence? Ridiculous! He could make himself as if never existed to them. Having a vague presence to one's enemy showed one's lack of skills. Basil had none! He didn't lack the skill, he lacked the power.
Two out of the tree assassin quickly moved their way to the strongest presence could be felt. On the other side, the other assassin duo also moved toward the strongest presence.
Little did they know, the earlier vague presence followed behind their backs. However, none of them felt concerned.
It is a decoy anyway.
All of them were sure about that. However, Man is no stranger to mistake. Which means, they make mistake often.
Swish!
Squelch!
Two things happened in the blink of an eye. The first thing was an extremely fast something tearing the wind, the second was a dagger stabbing one of the two assassins.
!!!
The remaining one was startled and stopped running. He looked at his surrounding, which was very idiotic for him to do. He heard a faint rustle, and he quickly turned his head facing that direction.
However, what he met was a squirrel. He spread his awareness. He was on high alert. He approached his fellow assassin's body and looked at the dagger. His heart instantly went cold. It was the Umbra Guild special dagger, given to only assassins.
Is there a betrayer?!
His mind was in a disarray. Fear and rage was mixed into one. At that moment, another faint rustle was heard. He quickly turned his head toward the direction once more, however he saw nothing.
Suddenly, a powerful hand wrapped around his mouth. His neck was left opened, prone to attacks. The assailant did just that, as they slit his throat in a swift manner.
Slit!
Burst!
Blood was bursting out of his slit throat. It was hurt, however he couldn't scream. He was chocking on his own blood, however he couldn't spit it out out. His lungs were filled with blood, however he couldn't cough it out.
He had slit many people's throats before, however he didn't know that it was this hurtful. He was no stranger to pain, however facing death was his first and last.
The face hidden under the hood was filled with pure horror. Blood flowed out of his nose, running down the hand of his assailant. The assailant paid it no mind as they twisted his head, separating it from the body completely.
The blood splashed onto the assailant's face. As if on cue, the moonlight shone down on his face. It revealed the identity of the assailant. An equally handsome and pretty young man, with a cold face and equally cold eyes.
He shook the blood in his hand and wiped his blood tainted cheek.
"Nasty."
He muttered in annoyance. The identity of the young man was none other than Basil. Turned out, he was the vague presence. It meant the other presence being Deacon.
How could his presence became vague? The answer was simple, it was because he didn't hide it since the beginning. His control over his power was so amazing that idiots couldn't know he wasn't hiding!
How did his presence in Deacon became stronger? Simple! Deacon had just used his Mana that had been tainted with Basil's for the first time. He couldn't control his as good as Basil. Thus, the presence became stronger.
As a clean freak, Basil couldn't stand being dirty for too long. Therefore, he conjured a water with his Mana and cleaned himself first, before heading to the other assassin duo.
...
By the time they arrived, the assassin duo were perplexed. All they could see was a Saberwolf sleeping in front of a tree.
What the heck just happened?
Bewilderment was plain on their face. How could they not? They had chased the presence in vain! Amongst the six, they were the strongest. They hadn't expected to be tricked this badly.
However! They had experience, they couldn't just lower their guard. They searched for their surrounding, looking for trap. They found none. They headed toward a different direction to search more thoroughly.
No matter how good a squirrel can jump, it will someday fall. No matter how good a assassin at killing people, they will someday be killed.
Clank!
One of the two assassins met Basil in his way to look for trap. He didn't expect that he would meet the one he was chasing there. He was taken aback by the precise and abrupt attack as it managed to injure his arm.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Their weapons danced beautifully. One was shining in red, the other was shining in bright orange. The assassin was frustrated, he couldn't land a proper hit on Basil. They were in a stalemate.
Basil calmly observed his fight, and shook his head inwardly. His skills didn't get rusty, he merely lacked the power. To fight a Peak Stage Orange Core in a stalemate was already amazing for the current him.
However, he wasn't merely a Knight. He was also a Mage.
[Gale]!
He muttered a Spell and a whirlwind quickly surrounded him and the assassin.
"Aura?!"
The assassin was bewildered at Basil's showcase of power. He didn't quite know whether Basil was a Knight or Mage. By judging his fighting style however, he had been sure Basil was a Knight. Sadly, he had been wrong.
Basil didn't clear up the misunderstanding. He merely reinforced his body while using the Gale he had produced to his utmost advantage. Domain was owned by a Sixth-Circled Mage and above. However, he currently looked like he had one.
Clank!
Slash!
Swish!
Splash!
The assassin was quickly overwhelmed. Basil who was aided by the Gale looked like a ghost to him. The movement was so fast and sharp. He couldn't even dodge as he was injured constantly by Basil. Already, his blood smeared the ground.
Bang!
Cough!
He coughed a mouthful of blood when Basil kicked his chest. The fight took longer than he had thought, so Basil was irked. Then, the assassin fell down, he didn't think much of it as he merely wrapped his foot with Gale and stomped down on the chest.
Splash!
The ground was colored in red. The chest that had been stomped on was caved downward. Some red mush was spread on the ground, painting it gruesomely. Basil didn't care about that.
He had no remorse for killing someone who wanted to kill him. It was all fair. They died doing their job, he killed them saving his life. He gave them no honor to be remembered either, he could feel the death aura surrounding them.
Unlike Jaden, they had killed many people. Therefore, he didn't give them an honor to be remembered. They didn't worth it.
Kicking the ground, he quickly moved toward the direction of the other assassin. Once he arrived there, Deacon was already fighting the assassin. He held up his ground quite well, however Basil could see many scars littered his body.
Deacon was ecstatic though. He was sure the past him wouldn't be able to hold on for long against the man in front of him. However, when he chose to follow his Master, his fate changed. The potion his Master gave was superb. He had already become stronger.
Fall back.
An instruction was heard in his head. Quickly following his Master's will, he retreated himself. The man in front of him naturally charged at him, however —
Clank!
Slash!
Splash!
— his Master was already there.
He looked smugly at the man he had just fought. In a brief exchange, his Master managed to injure the man he had a hard time fighting with.
Behold, the power of my Master!
He was ecstatic to see what the man fighting against his Master would end like. Naturally, his Master didn't disappoint him.
[Drill]!
An Art was applied to the daggers Basil were wielding. The wind around it spun like a drill with a sharp point. He charged at his opponent again. Everytime his opponent took on his attack, the dagger would would be twisted to the wrong way, making it hard to control.
This was his variation in using [Drill]. It wasn't limited to the body only. He could apply it to anywhere he wanted. However, to do that, a fine control over one's Mana was needed. Therefore, not many people could do it.
Basil who had the capability and experience to do it was an exception amongst exceptions.
When the fight gets too hard, people tend to surrender. The assassin did just that. Basil didn't use any fancy Spell or anything to defeat him. Only a simple art and skill.
Boom!
Basil's dagger pierced the assassin's chest. However, due to [Drill], it didn't end as merely being pierced. The chest was completely blown away, leaving a hole enough for a person's head to fit in.
Cough!
The assassin knew he couldn't win since the beginning. Therefore, he didn't reinforce his body or use his Qi before Basil pierced his neck. He didn't want a painful death.
If I were going to die, better to make it quick.
A very simple thought, and his wish was granted. He only felt a pain at the beginning, before it was all blown away together with his chest. He felt his chest cleared, both figuratively and literally.
Thud!
The body of the assassin fell to the ground lifelessly. Basil merely glanced at it for a brief moment before shamelessly stowing away the assassin's weapon to his Spatial Bracelet, just like what he had done to the other assassin.
He had no choice! He had no acceptable weapon. He would naturally break many weapons if he were to fight with his life on the line in the future.
"No need to justify your reason, Darling. The loser's things, belonged to the victor."
"Hm."
Basil merely nodded his head sagely at Vagus' words. For once, he agreed with Vagus. He quickly looked back and was met with Deacon's eager face. He exhaled lightly and jumped on top of Deacon. He was going to resume his disturbed journey.
Just like that while recovering themselves on the way, five days passed, and finally they arrived at Fortescher County.