Chapter 36
The room, once neat and orderly, was now utterly destroyed. The bed was half-crushed, the walls bore deep gashes, and the floor was scorched and cracked from stray attacks. The faint light from the flickering bulbs cast eerie shadows across the wreckage, giving the room a ghostly, almost haunted atmosphere. But none of that mattered to William.
His attention was solely on the green-haired warrior standing amidst the wreckage, victorious, his blade as sharp and gleaming as when he first drew it.
Gathering the courage that had abandoned him throughout the fight, William finally spoke. His voice was low and cracked, shaking with the residual fear coursing through his veins.
"W-Who… who are you?"
The ninja turned slowly, his gaze locking onto William. The moment their eyes met, William\'s entire body froze, as if the weight of the ninja\'s presence alone had rooted him in place. All the hairs on his body stood on end, an instinctual response to the danger he sensed in this man, a predator sizing up his prey.
"You don\'t need to know," the ninja replied coldly, his voice as sharp and detached as his katana.
Without another word, the ninja pulled out a small handkerchief and began wiping the black blood from his sword with slow, deliberate strokes. The silence in the room was deafening. Each movement of the cloth against the blade seemed louder than it should\'ve been, and William couldn\'t help but wonder how someone so powerful, so terrifying, could exist.
Unable to resist his curiosity, William took the opportunity to activate his Third Eye and focus on the ninja, hoping to glean some kind of information about the warrior who had just fought a demon and won so effortlessly. As soon as William\'s gaze landed on the ninja, the man stopped wiping his sword. The tension in the room skyrocketed.
The ninja turned his head slightly, his eyes narrowing. "What do you think you\'re doing?" he asked, his voice laced with a dangerous edge. He began walking toward William, his steps slow but deliberate, each one sending a shiver down William\'s spine.
"Let me warn you," the ninja continued, his tone dropping to a cold, almost lethal whisper. "I was given two orders: to protect you… or to eliminate you. And I can still fulfill the second order."
William\'s heart skipped a beat. Shit! he thought, his mind racing. I got too arrogant. I didn\'t think someone could sense it when I\'m using the Third Eye. Shit, just when I thought I was safe, he\'s also going to kill me!
As the ninja drew closer, the pressure was almost unbearable. But then, just as suddenly as he had started, the ninja stopped. His gaze shifted to the window, and in an instant, he disappeared. Just like that, he was gone.
William sat there, unmoving for a long moment, his body trembling. He slowly scanned the room, his breath still ragged, to make sure the ninja was truly gone. Only the half-destroyed room and the lifeless body of the Heretic remained.
With a heavy sigh, William finally allowed himself to relax. "Well… that went well," he muttered to himself. "Looks like I\'m not dying today."
From within his mind, the system\'s voice chimed in. How can you die when you have the system of the Shadow Lord?
William rolled his eyes. "And where exactly was the \'almighty Shadow Lord system\' when I was about to get killed?"
The system\'s response was unbothered. You have to get stronger, fast. They\'re not going to stop coming.
William nodded grimly. "Yeah, that\'s the plan—to get stronger fast."
He slowly stood up from the corner he had been huddled in, the weight of everything hitting him all at once. His legs were still shaky, but he forced them to move as he approached the Heretic\'s lifeless body. Kneeling down beside it, he made sure not to let the disgusting black blood touch him.
"If I heard right…" William murmured to himself, "the ninja called this guy an Anbu." He furrowed his brow, then mentally asked the system, "What\'s an Anbu?"
The system\'s response was more serious than usual. There are classes among the Heretics. The one that attacked in the tunnel was from the lowest class. The Anbu, however, are the third strongest class of Heretic. They\'re only beneath the Pillars and the King. Although they\'re the third strongest, they specialize in assassination.
Their powers are equivalent to the generals of military bases.
William\'s eyes widened in shock. "Equivalent to a military base general?"
Though he hadn\'t witnessed General Zhao\'s full strength when he came to save them in the tunnel, William had heard stories from other students. They spoke of how effortlessly the general dealt with the enemy. And now, the system was telling him that someone as powerful as that had just tried to assassinate him.
Which begged the question—who was the ninja who had so easily defeated someone of the general\'s caliber?
William\'s thoughts raced as he looked down at the Heretic\'s body again. Carefully, he started searching through the Anbu\'s pockets, making sure not to touch the poisonous skin. After a moment, his hand brushed against something small and round. He pulled it out carefully—a shimmering crystal orb, surrounded by intricate, swirling patterns that resembled sound waves.
William\'s eyes narrowed. He used the Third Eye to inspect the orb, and information immediately flooded his mind.
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Name: [Orb of Silence]
Properties:
1. Sound Absorption: Absorbs all sound within a designated area, making it inaudible to those outside.
2. Confidentiality Charm: Prevents lip-reading, telepathy, or other forms of surveillance.
Limitations:
1. Range: Effective within a 10-foot radius. Experience tales with empire
2. Duration: Lasts for 30 minutes, requiring reactivation.
3. Requires Soul Essence for activation.
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"So this is the artifact he used to seal off the sounds in the room," William muttered, turning the orb over in his hands. "I wonder how much something like this costs…"
Suddenly, a notification popped up in his mind: Would you like to store this item in your inventory? Yes or No.
William blinked. "Wait, I can store things in the system?" he said, amazed. "But what if the system decides to steal my stuff?"
The system replied, sounding irritated. What use would your items be to me? I was created by the Shadow Lord himself!
William smirked. "Well, if you steal it, I\'ll infect you with a virus."
He mentally commanded, Yes, and the orb disappeared from his hand.