Combat instincts triggered, John's aura erupted outwards as he shot into the sky, not caring at all for the disturbance he created. The illusory people in the area shouted with displeasure at him for creating such a disturbance.
However, as far as he was concerned, this trial was not real, and all he had to do was kill the target. Who cared if he did it the proper way of an assassin. That was not his way.
John shot into the sky and appeared above the building where the assassin had been. He caught a glimpse of the figure slipping behind a distant building, and shot off in that direction.
"Quite fast," John said, and then smirked, "but not fast enough."
The spatial Dao enveloped him once more, and he stepped through the barrier between his world and the dimension of spatial chaos, where distance was a much different concept. As long as one knew how to read the waves of spatial chaos in this dimension, one could utilize them to not only move faster, but also shorten the distance as well. In this realm, space expanded and contracted like waves, making it possible to move far faster than in the realm world.
He quickly read the way forward through the chaos, and then moved.
John slipped past a wave of spatial chaos that approached him, dodging it as it would have pushed him away from his intended destination. As he did so, a storm came from behind him, pushing him towards his intended destination. As it did so, the ever-changing space contracted before him, shortening the physical distance he needed to travel.
"Here," John said, arriving at the point he wanted to exit and return to his realm. Spatial Qi flaring once more, John broke through the barrier once more, appearing back in the illusory city. The cloaked figure was only a dozen yards away, only his eyes not hidden by clothing, eyes that widened in surprise at John's sudden arrival.
Che!
A blast of ruinous lightning left John's outstretched finger, slamming into the target, blasting him against the nearby building wall. The blast had pierced directly through the targets unguarded chest, killing it instantly.
A moment later, the city vanished, returning the space John was in to the empty void when he had arrived. The building beneath his feet disappeared, and he fell down to the ground, landing with a thud.
A moment later, another scene appeared, this time a tranquil forest.
"Assassinate."
Scene after scene popped up, each with a different setting, target, and challenge. Some were sneak attacks he had to avoid and counterattack, others were in dangerous locations, with dangers coming from the assassination target, as well as the surrounding area itself. Each scenario tested a different skill set of the trial participant, although to John it was all the same.
Find the target, and then eliminate. To him, these assassination trials were nothing more than a joke.
The guildmembers watched with mixed expressions as John breezed through the trials. Some were shocked at how easily he completed the assassinations, despite the target cultivations being a full minor realm higher than his own. While jumping a minor realm in combat was not unheard of, it was something that only the peak geniuses of the world could do. And from what they could tell, he was doing it with relative ease.
"He's yet to even use a weapon," one youth around John's age exclaimed, awed by the realization.
"Sure, he's freakishly strong, but his methods are crass and too straightforward. Eventually he'll run into a target he can't beat, at which point he's as good as dead," another youth said, obviously jealous of what he was seeing.
While the youths argued amongst themselves, the older members watched with mixed expressions as well. They were obviously impressed by what they were seeing, but some also had looks of concern on their faces, as if they assumed John's streak of victories would run out.
The Grandmaster watched as John killed his target, and then sighed deeply. His sigh caught Zuri's attention.
"What is it?" she asked curiously.
"This boy you found is truly a genius," the Grandmaster said, "if he had grown up in the Guild, his assassination techniques would have been amongst the best."
"But…?" Zuri asked.
"But," the Grandmaster said. "These assassination tasks were only the first trial of many. Most of the trial participants who perished within were also able to pass these trials with relative ease, although their methods were far more covert."
"All these assassination tasks only make up the first trial?" Zuri asked, surprised by this fact.
"Indeed," the Grandmaster nodded, eyes narrowing. "He's now moving onto the second trial, which had the second highest death rate of all the trials."
"The second highest death rate? How many of the six-thousand perished in the second trial?" Zuri asked.
"Over two thousand perished in the second trial," the Grandmaster said, "and from what this youth has shown, his methods are not compatible with the second trial. Unless he changes tactics and uses his head instead of his fists, he will not survive."
·ƈθm Zuri felt her heart tighten, worried eyes returning to the screen which was showing the next trial appear before John. A dark forest had appeared all around him, an ominous air permeating the place. It was as if death was lurking in every shadow, ready to pounce at him. Even Zuri felt a tinge of danger come from the forest, despite her cultivation level.
"What is this trial?" Zuri asked softly.
"The first trials focus on assassinations, testing the ability to successfully kill dangerous targets," the Grandmaster said, voice heavy. "Trial after trial was about killing, and so most youths would have heavy killing intents built up by now, focusing on killing the next target, instead of assessing each and every situation carefully with a level head."
He paused and glanced at Zuri, then back to the screen.
"This trial is not about assassination," he continued. "It is about survival. A danger lurks within this forest, one that is impossible for him to fight. If he is discovered, he will perish, as did the two thousand others who were unable to achieve the true purpose of this trial: blending into the shadows, and escaping the forest unnoticed.
An assassin must not only be able to kill unnoticed, but leave unnoticed should the mission become impossible to complete. This trial will test his ability to remain undetected, and with his straightforward approach in the first trials, I'm afraid he's not adept in such a thing. His spatial control is impressive, but not good enough if he wants to complete this next trail. But perhaps this old man is wrong, and this boy will surprise us with his ability to remain undetected."
Zuri listened silently, feeling worried for the first time. She had assumed John would be able to breeze through the trials thanks to his combat prowess, but had realized she was completely wrong. Her heart tightened with worry as she watched John start his next trial. A trial which killed a third of some of the most promising geniuses the guild had ever seen.
