CHAPTER 79: DASH DAGGER

It was a dagger.

A black dagger that seemed to be made of darkness itself, with small, almost unnoticeable runes on it. The hilt seemed to be wood but dyed a deep black.

Vacuse picked up the dagger. "This is the the dash dagger. Don’t ask, I don’t know who named it such. But one interesting thing about it was that it killed a Dragon Lord once.

"Used by an assassin, and since then it’s been in the family. It’s usually gifted to members that show high aptitude for the assassin fighting style.

"Here, it’ll be yours for now too. Check out its special use."

Kagerou collected it with a solemn look on his face. He touched his hand to it lightly, and then he raised it, testing out its weight and balance.

He slashed with it, and still the dagger made no sound as it cut the air. "Impressive."

Vacuse smiled. "What makes it very priceless is that it’s a type of bonding artifact. They are the type of artifacts that’s in use by the Emperor’s elite force.

"The Vorrakyn suspected that the assassin was dispatched by the Emperor."

"And how did we respond?" Kagerou asked, still staring at his new weapon.

"We killed all the ambassadors from the Emperor that were here, and then we did the same to all that were in the West. Of course, not publicly. They all just happened to die mysteriously.

"Our family influence was at the peak then, so all the other Regions followed our example. That greatly reduced the Emperor’s reach in Regions.

"They still don’t send ambassadors to Regions again."

Kagerou flashed a quick grin. "The Vorrakyn family are always dramatic, but in the sword, blood, and death type."

Vacuse snorted. "Oh, you can’t blame them. The reaction was made by the Elders. The struggle to pick a new Dragon Lord would have been horrific. There was even a rumor that the Dragon Guards were created and headed by the Elders to stop this.

"We love spilling blood."

Kagerou looked at him, his eyes flashing. "You like spilling blood too?"

"If there’s a reason to. But then, there would always be a reason to spill blood. You just have to find it."

Vacuse gestured to the dagger. "To unlock its special use, it must accept you. Smear your blood on it."

Kagerou did as he was told.

His drop of blood was absorbed instantly, and the assassin had a blank look on his face as if he was sleeping while still standing with his eyes open.

Then he began to sweat before he shuddered and opened his eyes. He gasped. "I... I think the weapon likes me."

He raised the dagger up to the air, and then he threw it across the room. The dagger shot forward with blinding speed, blending into the near distance, only to disappear and appear in Kagerou’s hand again before it touched the wall.

Kagerou grinned. "This is going to be of such help."

Vacuse nodded in satisfaction.

In his past life, Kagerou was known as one of the most deadly assassins in the world. But now that he was Kagerou too, he must be more than he was.

"Good. Then let me tell you secrets and plans about the place we would be going in the next few days..."

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’..do, don’t make it into a Lance... make it into a thread! And you must add your intent, what you want it to do! Put out exactly the strand you want out of the thread!...’

Vacuse frowned. "What exactly are you saying?"

Training with Rith always ended up like that.

Rith isn’t the best teacher around, and he won’t hesitate to point out that Vacuse himself is a bad student.

But they still couldn’t change each other.

It was the night after the army came, and Vacuse had fought for him to be alone. The day had been filled with meetings and more meetings.

And now, he was finally starting his training.

Rith was in front of him where he sat in a cross-legged position. The small void dragon raised his snout. Suddenly, thin dark threads began to appear all around him, hovering like snakes ready to snap.

’...the Void is a lot of things, so when you are making a technique, you have to put the intent of the specific parts of Void you want in it...’

Vacuse opened his mouth to speak, but then one of the threads lashed out at him, slammed into his head... and passed through as if he wasn’t there at all.

Immediately, Vacuse frowned, and he looked confused, opening and closing his mouth. He didn’t remember what he wanted to say. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Wait... what was that?"

’...I just cut your memory. This thread is an area of effect technique that could do a lot of things. It can even cut emotions, but those abstract things would return some seconds later...’

Vacuse’s eyes widened. "I can erase memories?"

Rith snorted. ’...yes, although it’s only for seconds now. When you reach some stage, you’ll be able to do it for days, months, years, and permanently...’

Another thread snapped out and cut into the wall.

’...the disadvantage here is that you can’t hold things with this... it’ll only tear it to pieces...’

Vacuse nodded. "I understand."

Rith looked at him with skepticism. ’...no you don’t. But you will. Come on, give it a try...’

Vacuse did.

He raised his hand in concentration and frowned. He began to chant mentally:

’...deletion... cutting... deletion... cutting... deletion... cutting...’

Void energy spilled into the air in front of him, and he began to mentally shape it... and it turned into what resembled strong straws.

"I don’t think it should look this way."

Rith snorted coldly. ’..it shouldn’t. This time, you don’t have to force the energy. You need to let it flow and then you twist out the one you need.

’...unlike the Lance, the thread is flexible. It is coiling and twisting. You don’t need to force it. You just need to guide it. Now give it a try again...’