The Extra System: Summoner of Shadows

Cedric still remembers how death felt. It was a cold claw seizing his heart as his blood failed to fight against it. The feeling of losing power in his body and the helplessness were things he never wished to experience again. 

As he faced that feeling again while looking at the estate, he vowed to fight for his life. Even if the assassin was outside, entering the guesthouse was not an easy feat. Cedric reached out toward the window and found that he couldn't touch it. 

"Is this a magical barrier?" muttered Cedric as he watched the strange characters appear on the ethereal wall separating him from the window. "It can be to ensure that I don't escape, but can it protect me?"

The realization made him sigh in relief. If there was a barrier, then it would alert the guards once broken. Unless the assassin was someone from the Ravenswood mansion, Cedric was safe for now. 

According to the system, the assassin was waiting for a chance to strike. After he calmed down, Cedric paced around the room as he realized that if played right, he could take advantage of this situation. 

As long as he killed the assassin or survived, this should count as a personal achievement and an impact on the story. Even though he had a different idea of using his knowledge in Ironhold, these SPs walked straight into his lap. That is, if he survives.

Cedric had four options now: 

1) Use Forgotten Skill on the assassin and wait for Ember. 

2) Use the skill to escape somehow and seek Ember rather than wait for her. 

3) Summon something that would definitely run out of control and cause a commotion that would drive the assassin away. 

4) Lure the assassin and kill him if he could. 

Since he had no weapon, Cedric excluded the last option. Even if he did have a weapon, it was still too risky. Although he could try to wait and hope Ember would return, he did send her on a mission to search a giant garden. 

One thing was for sure: the Forgotten Skill was his trump card. It was the only skill that didn't require mana since his pool was pathetic. Cedric could use the skill just because he was an extra character in the novel, which tended to be forgotten. 

Cedric paused at that thought. If he was an extra that could be forgotten, why was an assassin hellbent on killing him? What made him so unique that someone wanted him dead? After a few moments of thought, Cedric opened his status menu. 

[Class: Summoner]

This was the root of all evil. The damned class he got assigned was a cursed one. It was not only weak, but also hated and cursed. The church even made sure to arrest anyone with that class. The reason was explained in the novel as such: 

[In the world of Elaris, summoners were loathed, even by a child who could barely read. Although thriving now, the six kingdoms once reached the brink of extinction because of the Undead Summoner and his army of summoners. Their existence plagued the continent and turned the world into a den for monsters who remained even after their death.]

And there you have it. If Cedric was a citizen of this world, he would be pretty pissed at summoners too. Those bunch of psychos did not use their mana to summon but used the mana veins scattered around the world as fuel. Their summoning got out of control and monsters kept pouring out from the circles until now. 

A vicious cycle ensued, since monsters fell dead and fed the mana summoning more monsters. Before the summoners screwed things up, the world was still dangerous, but not as much as today. The kingdoms are still threatened by the monsters to this day. 

Cedric didn't know if this assassin knew about his real class. According to his memories, most people didn't know his real class and his family just said that he was a tamer. Most people didn't care since Cedric has always been a failure in their eyes.

"If the church knows that I'm a summoner, it would explain the assassination, but not the methods. No one would dare say a thing even if they barged into the palace and arrested me."

In any case, there was an assassin. Cedric would worry about the reason once he defeated him. Since he didn't know for how long the assassin would forget about him once the skill was used, Cedric had to seek Ember himself. 

The plan was set in motion. Cedric emptied the freestanding shelves and placed the carpet next to it. Then, he used every muscle in his body to lift the shelves and move them atop the carpet. Once he was done, he crouched and began dragging the carpet. This ensured no noise from his activities that could alert the assassin. 

Cedric looked through the guest house and found some cabinets. He picked the heaviest utensils and pans to place above the shelves as well. Since he had no weapon, he would need to create one. 

Once the shelves were full, Cedric tried pushing it as hard as he could. It tilted slightly, and he stopped. Cedric was already sweating, but he realized that he could indeed tip the shelves over the assassin once he entered. 

The assassin was waiting for a moment of carelessness, so Cedric decided to give him just that. He walked into the bathroom and picked up the towels. Then, he placed the towels next to the door. 

Cedric then turned on the hot water and walked out, closing the door and dragging the towels. The fabric stuffed the door openings, ensuring the bathroom was soundproofed a little. Then, he waited until the steam rose within the sealed bathroom. 

There was no clock to know how long he waited, but Cedric felt like he waited long enough. He prepared himself as he swung the bathroom doors open before running away. Steam had already built up inside the bathroom and it finally found an escape: the living room. 

In a matter of seconds, the living room was already steamy, preventing vision. The sound of running water created the illusion that Cedric was taking a shower, which provided the moment of carelessness for the assassin. 

As for Cedric, he hid behind the shelves with his sleeve covering his mouth and nose. It was getting a little suffocating with the steam, but it was necessary to make sure his attack landed on the assassin.

The wait was more agonizing than Cedric had imagined, but he heard someone unlocking the door from outside, slow and soundless. If he wasn't beside the door instead of inside the bathtub, he wouldn't have heard this. 

Cedric waited until the door unlocked. The handle was turned as someone began pushing the door open. Steam clouded their vision, Cedric hoped, as he began to push on the shelves with his back. It began to tilt, but not too fast to hit the target. 

Footsteps rang behind him as Cedric began feeling lightheaded from the steam. The entire living room was white with steam, obscuring vision. As the footsteps stopped once the assassin saw the steam, the shelves came crashing down. 

"What the—" someone shouted with confusion as hardwood, leather books, and steel pans came crashing down. 

Cedric tried to stop himself from falling, but failed because of his dizziness. He added to the weight of the shelves, bringing the assassin to the ground. 

A breeze of fresh air came from outside, reminding him how he used to open the bathroom door in the past just to breathe some fresh air. It brought him some strength, letting Cedric jump over the shelves and out of the guesthouse. 

Cedric did not look back or attempt to use his skill. He decided to use it at the last second when he needed it because of its long cooldown. If he used it on the collapsed assassin, the assassin might have some friends nearby that would catch Cedric before he escaped.