BAAAM!

She flicked the black orb toward me, and I barely managed to jump out of the way. I looked back at the spot where it landed and froze.

A wave of ice… but a dark-colored ice with purple outlines…

‘…She also copied my attribute?’

My eyes went wide in shock.

I took a quick look at her again.

She wasn’t exactly what I’d call beautiful, but the power she was throwing around was something special.

I couldn’t quite place it, but it made me think she was probably either some kind of heroine or villainess.

Either way, she was dangerous.

‘An assassin, a heroine or villainess… and she can copy my attacks? This is seriously bad news…’ I rubbed my head, clicking my tongue.

I watched her carefully.

She was still panting, her eyes never leaving me. The air around her still felt charged, like she was ready to strike at any moment.

She gripped her daggers tight, and I could see in her eyes—it wasn’t just that she was cold… She had the desire to kill me.

However…

I only smiled faintly.

I wanted to test something, so…

I shifted my stance, then extended my hand out.

“Moonlit Ice Lotus Sword Art…”

『 First Move! (✦ Ice Lotus Bloom ✦) 』

An ice lotus blossomed in front of me, its delicate petals floating in the air around me, shimmering like little fragments of frost.

I stopped and stared at her.

Will she really copy this?

And… to my surprise, she did.

Coping my exact movements from before, a dark-colored mana started flowing out of her body and then an ice lotus slowly began to bloom from her.

But then—

Crack!

“Ahh…?” she gasped.

SPLURT!

A mouthful of blood splashed from her lips.

She bent forward, clutching her chest, her breath ragged. Blood dripped from her mouth, staining the ground, as she groaned in pain.

“…Hah.” I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Did you really think you could copy my technique?”

Did she actually believe she could pull that off?

It’s a unique technique, and only one person can use it.

Only I can use it.

It was made for my body. Everything about me—the bone structure, the organs, the mana flow—was built for this technique.

That’s how hard my predecessor worked.

So…

If someone really tried to copy or replicate it…

They’ll suffer a high injury that could even break their mana flow.

“Go.”

With a flick of my wrist, I sent the petals flying toward her.

She reacted quickly, pressing a hand to her mouth as she jumped back. But I wasn’t about to let her off that easy. I controlled the petals, guiding them straight toward her.

Bam!

The petals slammed into her chest and a wave of cold spread through her body. Slowly, ice began to creep across her skin, coating her.

She tried to use shadow magic, but it was useless. The petals glowed too brightly, cutting off all the shadows around us.

Everything around us became clear, bright, and exposed.

“Agh…” she groaned weakly.

Somehow, she was still alive.

Her body was really insanely sturdy.

“Hah…” Letting out a deep sigh, I slowly walked toward her, eyes never leaving her battered form.

Fwip!

Before I could get too close, she hurled a dagger straight at my face. My instincts kicked in, and I tilted my head to the side, dodging it just in time.

Drip…

I felt the sharp sting of a scratch across my cheek, blood trickling down.

I crouched down in front of her, staring at her plain, ordinary face. I lifted her chin gently, glancing just below it.

“No face mask, huh…”

I was a bit disappointed, but nonetheless…

I’m going to kill her.

I pressed my hand against her chest, the warmth of her body meeting my palm… her chest was bigger than it looked, but that wasn’t what mattered.

I pushed those thoughts aside and began to channel mana into her body.

“Hah….!” She gasped suddenly, and I saw her other hand moving.

The dagger she was holding aimed straight at me.

Thud!

I was just waiting for this.

Before the blade could even reach me, I grabbed her wrist in a flash, forcing the dagger from her hand. I pinned both of her hands above her head, holding them firmly with one hand.

“…Die.”

I muttered coldly.

I increased the pressure of my mana against her chest. The air around us grew colder, like the temperature was dropping fast.

“W-wait…!” Her voice cracked as she looked at me, eyes wide with panic.

Her voice trembled.

“D-don’t kill me… P-please…” She wouldn’t even meet my gaze now.

Her eyes darted away.

“I-I’ll tell you who hired me to kill you… a-anything you want to know!” she stuttered, pleading, her body trembling beneath me.

I looked at her coldly, before parting my lips:

“…There are plenty of people who want me dead. No one in the black market would risk it unless they were someone big… So it’s got to be one of them.”

She didn’t seem surprised at my words.

“B-but I know exactly who it is! D-don’t you want to know?” she begged, her voice looking quite desperate.

She really wanted to stay alive.

But if she really did, why would she be an assassin?

Doesn’t she know how risky it is?

“…Not really.”

Since this was an academic novel, there was a big shot that Lucas would get control of the underworld…

Or maybe, I can take control of it myself…

But yeah.

“They are bound to die anyway.”

“However…” I paused slightly, brushing her cheek slowly…

“I’m quite interested in something else…” I looked at her intently…

Her body shuddered at my words.

She bit her lower lip, her face flushing a soft pink. I could see her trying to control herself, but there was no hiding the quiver in her body.

“I-I’ll let you do anything… with my body…” Her voice was so small now like she was ashamed of even speaking it.

I frowned, irritated.

“Fucking hell,” I muttered loud enough for her to hear.

She lifted her head, eyes widened in surprise, but I didn’t care.

“Who gives a damn about your body? It’s nothing special—just above average at best. Besides… you’re not even that beautiful,” I scoffed.

Her face turned bright red.

It was like her entire face was burning. Her eyes darted away, her mouth opening and closing in embarrassment.

I could almost hear her heart pounding.

“A-aah…” she whimpered, looking utterly mortified.

“T-then… what do you want?” she whispered, almost afraid to ask.

I didn’t even hesitate.

“Of course, it’s about your damn copying ability… your talent, or whatever the hell you want to call it.” I scoffed again, looking at her like she was nothing.

“…Ah… t-that’s an innate ability that I possess…”

My eyes narrowed slightly.

“…You were born with it?”

She nodded lightly, looking away.

“Y-yeah… I was one of the experiments from a black market lab… I was born with this ability… at least, that’s what they told me…” Her voice faltered.

Those disgusting bastards…!

This makes me hesitate to kill this girl.

Fucking hell.

“…Then you’re no use to me,” I muttered, pushing myself off of her, my fingers leaving her skin.

Her face fell. Her eyes clenched shut, and her whole body seemed to brace for the death blow. I held her there, her hands still pinned above her head.

For a moment, she didn’t move.

Then, I slowly loosened my grip. She didn’t expect it, but I let go.

Her eyes fluttered open, just enough to glance up at me.

“Fuck… just get away from my sight.” I furrowed my eyebrows.

“…But if you try to kill me again, you’ll really die,” I added coldly.

I turned to walk away, but then I heard a faint dripping sound…

Drip… Drip…

I froze.

I turned around just in time to see the tears falling down her face, her eyes wide and glassy with emotion. She didn’t even try to hide them anymore, just letting them fall.

Her lips were trembling, and I could see her shoulders shake with each breath she took.

She was trying so hard to wipe them away, but her hands were shaking too much to do anything right.

She looked so… vulnerable.

So… fragile.

The way her face scrunched up in that mix of relief and shame—it felt like she was a kid like she had no control over herself anymore.

“Sniff…. sniff.. wuu…” She sniffed, wiping at her eyes, but no matter how much she tried, the tears just kept coming.

Her lip quivered as she glanced up at me, and then froze entirely, seeing how I was still looking at her and didn’t have left already.

“A-aah…” she whimpered softly as soon as she met my eyes, her voice breaking as she wiped her cheek again, her hand moving shakily.

It was like watching a child who couldn’t stop crying after they were caught doing something bad.

What the hell?

She looked like a damned child.

Did those lab bastards create some sort of growth potion or something?

<Master, you’re acting like the bad guy.>

Lumi?!

‘What am I supposed to do with her? I already spared her, isn’t that enough?’ I sighed inwardly, communicating with Lumi internally.

<How about adopting her? I could have a friend to play with when you’re not around!>

‘What? Is she even old enough to be adopt—’

My thoughts froze for a moment as I looked at the girl. She was crying even louder now, sobs shaking her whole body.

<Besides… Master~, isn’t she a victim like me?>

<She said she was part of some experiment… but who knows if she’s lying.>

‘I used my eye skill. She’s not lying.’

<Then why not? Why not adopt her? You could have a little sister or a daughter!>

“Haaa…” I sighed, looking at the crying girl.

‘Adopt her? A girl who just tried to kill me? Yeah, right. And even if I did, she looks older than eighteen, so I can’t legally do anything like that anyway.’

<…I know a spell for that. It was lost in my memories, but there’s a magic spell called “Family Brand” that makes it so people in a family can’t betray each other.>

‘…How do you even know that? Never mind, you are a gluttonous slime, so I’m guessing you absorbed someone who had that spell or something…’

‘One day, I’ll have to check how many damn skills you’ve picked up over the years.’

<Yesh~, anytime!>

<So… pretty, pleeeeeeeassseeeee?>

Lumi’s voice suddenly turned sweet and whiny in my head.

I could practically picture her, all cute and sparkly-eyed as she tilted her head to the right, like she usually does, asking me.

“Damn it…” I muttered.

‘Fine. If she’s younger than eighteen, maybe I’ll think about it.’

<Mhm!>

I stood up and walked toward the girl.

She was still sobbing, trembling like a leaf. I crouched down in front of her, and in my cold, detached tone, I called out to her.

“…Hey?”

<Master…>

Lumi instantly complained about my cold tone.

“Hiik!”

The girl jumped in fear when I spoke, her body shaking more than before.

“S-so… y-you really wanted m-my b-body?” Her eyes were wild with panic, her voice trembling.

I clicked my tongue in frustration. But, for some reason, I forced a smile—a smile that was so sweet, it probably looked fake as hell.

The kind of smile you give when you’re trying to soften a blow.

“…How old are you?” I asked, the warmth in my voice fake enough to make even me cringe.

Her eyes went wide with shock. The tears had stopped falling as quickly as they’d started, and she just stared at me, frozen.

“A-a-ah… I-I…” She stuttered, biting her lip, her voice breaking as she tried to answer.

She gulped so loudly that I could hear it, and then she answered in a small, shaky voice.

“…I-I was born five years ago…”

<Yaaayyyyy!>

Fuck.

Well… it’s not like I will really adopt her.

She probably doesn’t even have an identity…

And it’s not like anyone will believe that she is five years old…

…Right?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep