Arcanas

Conrad stood near the edge of a rooftop. It was a sunny afternoon, and his hazel hair threshed with the flow of the wind.

He took heavy breaths as he looked down at the bustling crowd, their distinct voices added to the noise playing in his own head—It was the loud beat of his heart.

Connie felt nervous, even his hands were slightly trembling. Today was his first day on the job as an assassin.

_So, this is it? _

For the past year he had spent most of his time in the hotel being trained to be an assassin befitting his given rank.

He was taught by three people.

The first was the old man, a Diviner like himself and a former Phoenix Ranked assassin. He taught Connie on how to use the abilities of his Avatar and drilled a whole lot of knowledge into his head every single day. Also, for some reason, his Arcana Card wasn't responding to him.

When the power activated for the first time, he was supposed to meet some spiritual being called a 'Mentor', but he didn't recall having such an interaction at all.

—Perhaps that must have been the reason why he could not bring out the power of his Arcana Card.

Still, in these past grueling 12 months, he did manage to learn a handful of skills and abilities he can use effectively and efficiently in battle.

The second person to train him was the hotel's Head of Security, Klein. He was a bit of last minute, the final two months of the year to be exact. So, he didn't learn all that much from him.

He spent the time he could spare on learning some martial arts and the utilization of various weapons, both long and short ranged. This was so he wouldn't be too reliant on his abilities and more on his skills when the situation called for it.

Of course, he wasn't a master in each style he learnt but he at the very least got the basics down. So, he should be fine as long he wasn't up against a master.

The last person was Meliora, although calling it training would be a stretch. She occasionally sparred with him whenever she was not too busy or when Tessa wasn't being a pain. As you can imagine, each session with her was exactly as before.

At the time, gaping the differences in their abilities seemed like a long way off. Even now, he's not sure whether or not he could beat her in an all-out fight and live.

Connie sighed as he took a glance beside himself.

Next to him, Mel stood poised near the edge, the wind playfully tugged with her long black hair.

As usual, she had a stern expression, or rather she looked perfectly at ease and that's just how her face looked. That made it really difficult to tell how she was really feeling about anything.

"How do you feel?"

She must have noticed him staring since she shifted her gaze as she asked him that.

"Not sure how I'm supposed to feel. Seeing as I'm about to kill a person and all"

Her gaze shifted back to the crowd.

"Don't think about it too much. It's easier that way"

"How do you not feel anything about this?"

Mel paused before she responded in a rather low and steady tone.

"I stopped feeling anything a long time ago. Getting the job done quickly and efficiently, is all that matters"

Connie winced.

_That explains that_

He couldn't imagine what horrors she might have gone through to get this far. It was kind of irresponsible for Fern, as the older brother, to allow his little sister to be working in such a dangerous line of work, especially for someone at her age.

—Currently Meliora was 18 years old.

Then again, he's an only child so he wouldn't know how siblings are supposed to treat each other.

"I get it, but…knowing you're about to kill someone, doesn't it ever make you second guess yourself or something?"

"Stop talking"

She responded quickly without a second to think about it. That made him frown.

"I know they might be just targets to you, but don't you ever think about who they are as a person? I mean, the good they've done or the people they leave behind?"

Mel was silent for a moment and in that silence, the weight of the moment pressed down harder on him.

"It's not my job to think about who they are. Once they become a target, they are already deemed as a walking corpse"

Connie swallowed hard. Trying to convince her what's what ultimately proved to be fruitless. She was already in too deep to back out now.

Even though he hasn't killed anyone. Backing out wasn't an option, he had to do it whether he liked it or not.

"Right"

He muttered, giving up on the idea of trying to talk his way out of this one. Still, the nausea churned in his stomach.

This mission was his alone. Mel was just there to monitor him, for now. From what he's seen in these past months. Everyone in Sardes was paired up with someone.

The pairings he knew were;

—Klein and Zora.

—Lucian Jude Fitzroy and Nelda Quinn Evelyn.

—Oswald Reid Galloway and Gareth Bram Wulfstan.

—Fern Kael Akerman and Mae Wren Hanley.

—Nicholas Lee Aisling and Tessa Liana Fitzroy.

Those were the ones he knew about.

And he was paired up with Mel. Not ideal but still kind of comforting since she was virtually the only person he spent the most time with, in the hotel. Also, she was there to ensure he doesn't screw up.

He took a deep breath, trying to force himself to detach from the situation the way Mel seemed to do so easily. But still, his fingers twitched, and his mind was swarmed with doubt.

_Despite that intense training with the old man. I still haven't toughened up. What's wrong with me? Do I really value the life of some random stranger more than that of my mom and dad? _

Connie clenched his fist to block out the trembling, but it wasn't working.

—He felt extremely nervous.

"Listen..."

She turned to face him, her turquoise eyes meeting with his through the frames of her glasses.

"Like I said. Don't think about it too much, it's easier that way. If you mess this up. Don't worry, I'll handle it"

Mel turned her head back to the crowd as she said the final part.

After a year of relentless training, Connie knew he was skilled, far beyond where he had been before. All that time he knew what he was training for and yet, he still didn't feel ready.

"Okay"

He muttered to himself more than to Mel.

Clenching tightly on the bag in his hand that held the soon to be murder weapon of a running candidate.

Connie stared down as the silence between them stretched out as they waited for their target to make his appearance.

_I hate to admit it, but the only way I'd be able to survive this is to discard my human…no, former human self and focus on becoming what I need to become_

His fingers stopped shaking and as the crowd shifted, he took his first step towards the edge of the rooftop.

Connie pulled out a sheet of paper as the crowd began to rally. Two political leaders walked out onto the stage. He focused on one man in particular.

"—Bartholomew Ed Langley"

The name of the former Sect Leader. In his glory, he was seen as a beacon of change, a visionary who promised change and prosperity to the people of Lindorwic.

However, that turned out to be quite the task for him to handle. His promise for change immediately became twisted. He had become nothing more than a self serving crook who pocketed bribes, silenced his oppositions and made deals with the underworld to increase his influence.

Once all of that came to light. He was removed from the office, yet somehow, he was out here today competing for office again.

_He must have pulled some strings to get back here again. Honestly, it's surprising how people are still rallying to this guy's side after that scandal. What a bunch of sheep_

Connie had seen him before multiple times on TV and what he was looking at right now was a far cry from what he initially looked like.

On the pedestal, Bartholomew stood with a broad and imposing frame. His grey hair was slicked back to reveal a polished forehead. His ginger eyes shined through under those heavy brows. The tailored grey suit he wore seemed to shimmer under the bright lights of the stage.

And that smile curled up into half a smirk really reminded him of someone.

"Birds of a feather"

Connie knew what she meant by that but decided to brush it off. He had a job to complete after all.

As the crowd raged on, Connie put the paper aside and pulled out a sniper rifle from the bag. It was a sleek custom model matte black with a long barrel designed for precision.

It was one of the 3 ranged weapons Klein had spent countless hours drilling them into him on how to use them effectively. He quickly slid the pieces together and positioned it in front of him, laying it on the railings of the rooftop.

The rooftop of the building they stood on wasn't the tallest in the area and also wasn't the shortest.

They chose this particular building because it struck a balance between the two. It had a perfect vantage point that provided a clear line of sight to his target without drawing attention.

Snipers perched on the tallest building were often the first suspects in any assassination attempts, it was becoming a cliché at this point. Meanwhile, lower buildings would just leave them too exposed or limit their angle.

So, by selecting a moderately tall structure, Connie could blend into the city's skyline. It was a tactical advantage. He was close enough to ensure accuracy with minimal interference from the wind or distance, but far enough that they would be able to escape without being noticed once the job is done or some other unforeseen factor.

"Focus"

Through the scope, he brought Bartholomew into sharp focus.

The man was in mid speech while gesturing grandly to the audience. Connie could perfectly see the subtle twitches in his jaw as he spoke through the microphone, and the way his eyes darted around the edges of the crowd. Probably out of paranoia.

_He's wide in the open. I don't blame him_

Connie inhaled deeply as his fingers steadily hovered over the trigger. This was the moment of truth, and he could feel his heart beating faster. The pressure he felt in that instance was almost unsettling, but…

_I'm sorry, it's your life or theirs. I've already made up my mind_

He pushed those feelings aside and tried not to think about it too much as Mel advised.

Connie exhaled and pulled the trigger.

Bang!