The first assassin moved wrong.
Alex noticed it instantly—not because he was skilled, but because the man hesitated. A fraction of a second too long. Long enough to confirm something Alex had already suspected.
They weren't here to test him.
They were here to erase him.
Six of them revealed themselves properly now, stepping out from shadows that shouldn't have been deep enough to hide grown adults. Black uniforms. Masked faces. Clean mana signatures, tightly compressed and disciplined.
Imperial-trained.
Of course they were.
Alex sighed.
"Thirty minutes," he muttered. "They didn't even wait."
System Notice:Combat Scenario Detected.Threat Level: ModerateRecommendation: Survive
"How helpful," Alex whispered.
The assassins spread out, forming a loose semicircle. None of them spoke. Professionals didn't announce themselves. Professionals didn't monologue.
Professionals stabbed first.
The one on the far left flickered—literally vanished, reappearing behind Alex with a blade already mid-swing, mana reinforcing the edge to cut through bone like wet paper.
Alex leaned forward.
Not dodging.
Not blocking.
Just… stepping out of the way.
The blade passed through empty air.
The assassin's eyes widened—just a little.
Mistake number two.
Alex reached out and grabbed the man's wrist.
The moment he made contact, something twitched inside Alex's chest.
Chaos stirred.
Alex ignored it.
He twisted.
There was a sharp crack, followed by a wet sound as the assassin's arm bent the wrong way. The man screamed—once—before Alex drove an elbow into his throat and let go.
The body hit the ground and didn't get back up.
The others reacted instantly.
Two rushed him head-on, blades glowing. Another raised a hand, mana forming into a compressed lance of wind aimed straight for Alex's chest.
System Notice:Mana Control: A (Low)Suggestion: Do Not Overextend
"Noted," Alex said, already moving.
He ducked under the first blade, felt the wind lance skim past his shoulder, tearing cloth and skin alike. Pain flared—but it was distant. Manageable. Almost annoying.
He stepped into the second assassin's guard and headbutted him.
Hard.
There was a crunch.
Alex didn't stop to check if the sound was nose or skull.
He kicked the man backward into his ally, disrupting their formation, then rolled to the side as a dagger embedded itself where his head had been a moment earlier.
Four left.
They adjusted tactics immediately—spacing out, attacking in pairs, one providing ranged pressure while the other closed in. Efficient. Textbook.
Annoying.
Alex felt heat building in his chest again, pressure coiling tighter with every breath.
You are holding back, Chaos observed.
"Shut up," Alex replied under his breath.
You will die if you continue to fight like a normal child.
Alex ducked another strike, barely avoided a poisoned needle grazing his neck.
"I am a normal child," he snapped.
Chaos laughed.
Then normal children die very quickly.
Something inside Alex shifted.
Not power flooding out—just alignment. Like a muscle finally being used the way it was meant to.
He stopped retreating.
The next assassin lunged.
Alex met him head-on.
He didn't summon ice.
Didn't cast a spell.
Didn't do anything flashy.
He simply reached out—
—and pulled.
Mana obeyed.
Not explosively. Not violently.
Precisely.
The assassin froze mid-strike, eyes bulging as the mana reinforcing his body abruptly reversed flow, tearing inward instead of outward. Blood burst from his mouth as internal pressure collapsed organs that weren't meant to implode.
He dropped.
Dead.
The remaining three hesitated.
Just for a heartbeat.
Alex smiled.
"Bad idea."
He moved.
This time, he didn't feel like he was reacting.
He felt like he was deciding.
He stepped through attacks instead of around them, his movements economical, almost lazy. A kick shattered a knee. A palm strike stopped a heart. A twist of mana sent a blade flying back into its owner's chest.
The fight ended quickly after that.
Too quickly.
Alex stood alone on the road, breathing hard, surrounded by bodies.
Silence returned.
System Notice:Combat Concluded.Damage Sustained: MinorExperience Gained: Suppressed
Alex frowned.
"Suppressed?"
System Notice:Growth currently restricted by external factors.
He glanced down at the chain-mark on his arm.
"…Figures."
Chaos's presence stirred again, faint but satisfied.
They were not sent by your family, the dragon said.
Alex already knew that.
"The empire," he replied. "Or the Church."
Both, Chaos confirmed. Neither wishes responsibility for your death. Only certainty.
Alex looked down the road toward the smaller kingdoms, where the land dipped and twisted into unfamiliar territory.
"They won't stop," he said.
No, Chaos agreed. They will escalate.
Alex wiped blood from his cheek, not bothering to distinguish between his and someone else's.
"Good."
Chaos paused.
You are not afraid.
Alex considered that.
"I was," he said. "Back when I thought I could still go home."
He stepped over the bodies and continued walking.
"Now I just want answers."
The system pulsed softly, unseen.
System Update:Mental State: StabilizingHostility Index: Rising
Alex didn't slow.
Behind him, imperial assassins lay dead on a road that officially didn't exist.
Ahead of him waited a smaller kingdom that would soon regret accepting an exiled noble with no name, no protection, and something ancient beating where his heart should be.
Alex smiled faintly.
"If everyone's going to treat me like a villain," he muttered, "I might as well be efficient about it."
Chaos laughed quietly in his chest.
And the road forward darkened, as if the world itself was paying attention now.