The serenity of the silent night was unceremoniously broken by the sound of glass shattering.
The masked man who had run past Andy had jumped through a window, soaring a few feet in the air before landing close to a tree.
Just when he landed, this masked individual saw a shadow closing in on him.
It was Andy.
And behind him was a salivating three-headed dog the size of a car.
Andy landed first, with a light thud, and a few breaths later came a heavy thud.
"Ruff!!" The dog barked, drawing the attention of many in this direction. Its eerie, brown eyes, which seemed to glow in the dark, locked onto Andy and the masked man.
Treating the two of them as intruders.
The masked man veered towards the tree lines, and Andy swerved to follow. Not because he wanted to, but because he was heading towards the direction of the river he came through.
That was his exit.
Andy glanced at the system notification he received the moment he tore a part of the ledger.
[Quest Complete!]
He didn't have time to think much about it but was grateful as he could feel his speed rising due to the increase in his Agility stats.
Andy began moving fast enough to be just a few feet behind this masked man.
Turning his head for a glance, the masked man put his hand in his clothes, storing his part of the torn ledger. And when his hand reappeared, two needle-like knives appeared in his hands.
He threw them at Andy.
The knives crossed the air with chilling speed and precision.
If it weren't for his ability to sense his surroundings, Andy wouldn't have noticed this.
His pupils contracted and his mind began working faster than it had ever done.
If he doesn't do anything in time, these knives would hit his shoulder and leg. At first, a part of Andy didn't think much of it as these injuries would heal once he got to the river.
However, there was a mutated beast chasing after them and it was fast approaching. Anything that would slow him down could lead to his death.
Without even thinking much, Andy moved, diving forward and twisting his body.
Whether this move was of his own inspiration or Yaroslav's influence, he couldn't tell.
Nor did he care at the moment.
The two knives screamed past Andy like bullets, missing their target. Well, from one perspective.
From another, the two knives struck one of the heads of the dog chasing after them, causing the beast to growl even louder. Angrier than before.
Landing with his hands and into a front roll, Andy picked a rock from the ground and as soon as he got on his feet, he hurled it at the masked man who plotted against him.
Due to his strength, the rock moved at a speed and with a force that would be ghastly to a normal human being.
He wasn't going to let such an obvious plot slide. Even if it would mean that this would cause the other person to die.
The rock was only several meters away from the masked man when a knife flew out and collided against it, causing it to break into smaller pieces.
For a few seconds, even while running, the masked man looked at Andy with shock in his gaze.
This guy doesn't give off the aura of a Mage. And just like me, his physical strength seems to be higher than that of Mages.
Andy was trying to figure him out using the academy's power system.
When Andy compared himself to Mages, he was referring to the level of damage they could cause using Mana.
However, when it comes to the physicality of their bodies, he was already leagues above them… and so was the masked man.
Does he also have a system guiding him? Andy thought.
He genuinely felt like that was the case. After all, one couldn't make conclusions without evidence.
Unknown to Andy, he was the only one with a system.
If it's not a system guiding him, then is he a human from the outside? Did he infiltrate the academy to take something from the Baron's place?
To Andy, this option was also highly likely, mainly because of what he had seen in the Fragmented Shard. The people outside didn't categorize their power system the same way they did in the academy.
Moreover, they didn't give off auras that even remotely resembled that of Mages.
If the auras of those from Durssia were like volcanoes waiting to erupt, then the auras of Mages in the academy were the wind.
Present but intangible. Present but flimsy. It was easy to break and suppress.
At the same time, the masked man was thinking about the same thing. Wondering if Andy had come from beyond the Academy's territory.
Just while the two of them were sizing each other out, from the corner, Andy saw a grotesque figure, running… no, crawling towards their direction.
It was a human-sized, beetle-like creature. Black carpasse and a sharp horn in the middle of its head.
A Wesen!
At first, it looked as if it was running, due to how fast it was moving, but as it got closer, Andy realized that it wasn't.
Just a few breaths later, he heard the branches of trees snapping, only to trace the sound and see a humanoid figure swinging rapidly through the forest using the tree branches.
This one focused on the masked man.
Andy's heart surged with anxiety, only for it to be doused with adrenaline. I'm almost by the water. Once I'm there, it will be smooth sailing from then on.
He encouraged himself, knowing that now wasn't the time to let his fear overcome him.
With every foot that they covered, their pursuers inched closer. And as they got closer to the river, the masked man suddenly stopped and turned to wait for Andy.
His abrupt stop was unexpected and even confusing. Andy thought he wanted to fight.
"Hey, let's work together, there are—" the masked man had only just begun when Andy ran past him and dove into the water.