Chapter 55: Unwilling Duel

Cyanide escaped from the school building, his business done, and prepared to head back to his base at the Aterra Headquarters.

With the slaying of that Stage Three Mutant (presumably), he had gained two straight levels from 22 to 24, and put 10 of the CP he received into AGI while purchasing Inspect II with 1 SP he got so he could see other players' specific stat distributions. Because the base skill was a Core one and cost 0 SP, the upgraded version only cost 1. This left him with 10 CP left to spend and 1 SP, the former of which he spent on VIT since he was going for a more or less balanced stat distribution while conserving the 1 SP.

Why was he obtaining this [Inspect II] skill? Well, since other survivors were going to be starting to flock towards the city of Lumina, Cyanide needed to be ready. He always was.

Even now, he was invisible, so no one could possibly track he was going. That poor girl with the katana could try all she wanted, but she wasn't going to catch up to the number one assassin in the underground.

Or so Cyanide thought.

"Hey, you! Wait!"

"…"

Cyanide stopped in his tracks at the sound of the feminine voice calling out to him. Not because he was actually listening to her, but because he was surprised she could see through his invisibility. As such, he decided to humor her, and see what she wants. If she was really just a weakling, he wouldn't even bother and just kill her, but if she was strong…

"Hah… hah… you… actually stopped?" The tall girl with a katana by her hips panted heavily, looking up at Cyanide, who canceled his invisibility and stared at her with his usual cold, empty gaze.

"… What do you want?" He asked, voice quiet yet dangerous. One misstep, and the girl would be dead.

"Why… why did you save me back there?"

"Save you?" Cyanide laughed darkly. "I hate to burst your bubble, but I didn't save you. I just wanted the kill on that mutant while she was distracted on you, so I could get XP—nothing more. Saving you was just a by-product of my actions."

The girl folded her arms, as if unconvinced. "… Regardless, you still saved me. As a fellow player, shouldn't you have planted a bullet in my head as well, while I was busy looking at the dead mutant?"

But Cyanide only chuckled, then turned to inspect his knife and twirled it around on his fingertips.

"… You're not worth the bullet."

"H-Huh?!" At this, the girl was clearly both surprised agitated. "Are you saying I'm weak? I nearly killed you back there, you know!"

Cyanide sighed, as if exhausted of this conversation already. "Listen closely. There is no such thing as 'nearly killed'. It's either you killed your target, or you didn't. And if you didn't, you've failed."

"Hmph… awfully arrogant, are you?" The girl said, drawing her katana and pointing it at Cyanide. "If you think I've failed… then why don't you test that theory yourself?"

She had a wry grin on her face, as if ready for a challenge, but-

"Nah, I'm good."

-Cyanide spun on his heel and promptly began walking away, completely shooting down her invitation.

"Wha- you're just going to leave?!"

The girl hurriedly ran past Cyanide and cut in front of him, stopping him from going any further. Cyanide, after some thought, sighed deeply.

"… Fine. If you want to duel me this much, tell me one thing—how did you track where I was, despite me being invisible?"

"Oh, that was easy," the girl replied with a smirk. "Even though you were invisible, you can't erase your 'aura'."

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"… Aura?" Cyanide raised an eyebrow, slightly intrigued. This was what he had been waiting for. The true reason why he didn't kill this girl.

"Mhm. That's how I could tell you were behind me earlier in the building as well. But if you want to know more… beat me in a fight first."

Cyanide considered this for a moment. Fighting this girl would be a hassle, but if he finished it quickly, it shouldn't waste that much time. And besides, it would be a lie if he said he wasn't at least a little curious about what this so-called 'aura' the girl spoke of was.

If it turned out she was lying to him, he would simply kill her. No big deal. But if she wasn't… perhaps this 'aura-sensing' power would be useful to Cyanide later on. His [Radar] skill wasn't going to always be available, and if he ever came across any invisible or silent mutants, this could potentially save his life.

After carefully considering this choice, Cyanide sighed. "Any rules in particular to the duel?"

The girl shrugged. "Anything goes, as long as you don't kill."

"No promises."

"Well, if you kill me, no one will be able to tell you about the aura power you're interesting in, so…"

'That's a good point,' Cyanide thought. 'This girl has quick wits.'

"In that case…" Cyanide glanced at the katana in her hand. "Do you have a spare, by any chance?"

"Eh?" The girl's eyes widened slightly. "You want to fight me with… a katana? You know that's my specialized weapon, right?"

"All the better. I need to diversify my weapon arsenal… perhaps you could teach me a few tricks?"

Always resourceful. Always finding a way to bring benefits to himself. That was Cyanide's mindset.

"Hm… sure, I suppose, as payback for saving me back there. But you still have to beat me first, thanks to your little comment earlier."

Saying this, the girl pulled a spare katana from her inventory and held it out to Cyanide.

'… She's better than some. At least she has backup weapons prepared,' he analyzed, then stepped forward and lifted his hand to accept the katana by its handle. But-

"—!" The girl's eyes widened in shock as she was pulled closer to Cyanide by her outreached arm, and before she knew it, Cyanide had her in a headlock, katana's blade resting mere inches away from her neck.

"… Rule one of survival: don't trust anyone. Not your allies, not your friends… no one."

"U-Um… I get it, so… could you let me go now…?" The girl asked, almost in a whimper. She was usually upbeat, but in this position with this man, she felt both terrified and embarrassed. It was an interesting mixture of emotions for sure.

Cyanide considered outright threatening the girl since he could kill her as easily as blinking in this position, but ultimately decided against it. This skill to identify 'auras' had to be trained, honed over time for it to be successful. It wasn't a one-and-done thing like information, which he was used to threatening people into giving.

So, he stepped back and let go of the girl, then swung the katana in his hand around a few times to get a good grip of the weapon. What he said earlier about diversifying his weapon arsenal was a complete lie to make the girl underestimate him. In reality, as a professional assassin trained to be the ultimate human being, Cyanide had learned to use all sorts of different weapons, from sniper rifles to a mere pen. Katanas were no exception.

Even though he was certain the girl before him was realms weaker than him, Cyanide still tried to obtain every advantage he could before the fight even began. By making the girl underestimate him, she will leave openings that otherwise wouldn't have been left.

That was how Cyanide's mind worked.

That was how careful Cyanide truly was.

"Now…" The girl pointed the tip of her katana towards Cyanide, a fair few meters away. "Shall we begin?"

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