Classless Ascension

As Josh showed up at the door of the LoA test area, he couldn't help but find the scene strange.

The place had already been turned into a small vegetable market, no trace of the mysterious meeting area for the LoA. What the hell?

As he paced around, he suddenly felt a gaze on him. It was coming from a small tomato vendor, one who was wearing an old jacket stained with tomato juice— or so it seemed. Josh could actually notice a few very subtle bloodstains.

Was this guy one of his people? He did smell of a killer. Josh happily went toward him, as he began subtly recording:

"Hey there! What happened to the tests? Do you have any idea?" He asked.

"Test, what test are you talking about?" The man stared at him, showing evident confusion.

Oh? So he was going to play dumb? There just happened to be an ex-assassin right at the spot of the evaluation? It likely wasn't a coincidence.

"Meh, whatever. Tell them that I'm done." Josh said before waving the man goodbye. At the same time, he sent a strand of killing intent to linger around his target.

He was 99% sure that this guy was with the LoA. But even if he were wrong, it wouldn't be too late to fake being a content creator playing pranks on people. This made for a fantastic alibi to explain weird actions.

Josh hid in a dark alleyway nearby and waited. Would he take the bait?

A few minutes later, the man passed near him, with Josh recognizing him thanks to sensing his killing intent on him. The guy was suddenly cross-dressing and weirdly looked good while doing so. Talk about a master of disguise!

He was often looking all around him discreetly but warily, making sure not to be followed. Except this wasn't Josh's first rodeo. His own killing intent served as a beacon as he kept tracking the man. This kept going until they finally reached a lovely church in the city's periphery.

Wow, this sure was different than what he had expected! The exterior looked so vibrant, people were walking nearby, and it really didn't feel like a good place for assassins to gather— that being a good thing.

It had beautiful colorful glass artwork and a few pretty expensive-looking statues. The man he was following had entered the small local confessional but didn't seem to be reappearing.

Josh went right after him, finding an empty box. He couldn't help but admit that the workmanship associated with this place was outstanding. He couldn't find any secret entrance at all at first glance!

The only thing noticeable was a small cross rosary embedded in the wall. But, it seemed to be purely decorative. No matter how Josh played with it, nothing would activate.

There wasn't any opening either for inserting a key or anything similar. What about using mana on it? That, too, was a failure. This sure was annoying! As he internally vowed to beat up that guy for answers, he began emanating killing intent.

Just as he did, the floor suddenly disappeared under him as he fell. What the fuck was this?! Had this thing reacted to his killing intent? Had someone activated a trap against him?!

Ahhhh! He got ready to activate his spider set!—but he had been overthinking. His fall was suddenly cushioned by a slide right underneath, allowing him to descend gently. What a surprise!

After a minute of sliding in the dark (perfect title for a sex tape), he finally arrived in a dimly lit room.

Now, this looked more like an assassin's den as there were many engravings of various killing methods on the walls: Backstab, poison, arson, duel, journey (%), but he quickly stared at something else.

In front was a rusty-but-sturdy-looking metallic door with a combination on it. He would have to bypass this one to progress. Ah, C'mon! First a slide and now a puzzle?

There were eight slots and numbers from 1 to 9, aka a shitload of possible combinations. Was this password changing regularly. Also, was there any punishment for failing to enter the proper code? This would change everything.

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He could always destroy the door, but that would be a bit rude and counterproductive, especially after all this effort to join. Having an official identity with them was still the fastest way to collect information on who had dared scheme against him.

There was no way that this failed attack on his school had included too many masterminds. Otherwise, there would have been way more assassins, and they would have been better prepared.

Anyway, he now had a plan!

He would wait for an assassin to come through and get the information about the combination out of them. Then he would just have to find that one fake lawyer in charge of his evaluation somehow.

It was far from a perfect plan, but he felt this would likely work. After all, his performance so far had to be pretty impressive, probably enough to bend the rules a little as long as he didn't exaggerate. As for how to pass the time, he had a great idea!

Josh lay down on the floor, ready to take a nap.

He happily summoned his rat, used it as a pillow. He couldn't help but chuckle, picturing what would have happened if he had thrown the rat into the chaos tornado earlier.

Would It have evolved and become useful, or would it have turned feral? He hadn't felt like trying it since the Tower was bound to give him an evolution treasure for it, right? It had done so for Nightmare.

That's how he slowly began slumbering. Unknowingly, his fight with a god had taken a massive toll on his psyche and body.

He slept so soundly that he seemed dead. As he kept sleeping, assassins entered the premises one after the other.

Every time they would jump in surprise as they saw him before readying their weapon. Not only was sleeping in the entrance forbidden, but this guy didn't look like an assassin at all. He seemed too…innocent. Had he fallen here by mistake?!

One such assassin was now facing the sleeping Josh:

"Blame your bad luck for being at the wrong place at the wrong time." He whispered as he readied himself for the kill.

But that's when it happened. The sleeping Josh reacted to the killing intent sent his way, only to return some of his own. The difference was that his was so pure and concentrated that the assassin fell on his ass!

His face froze in fear as he mumbled to himself. "Oh my fucking god. This guy has to be elder level or something?! What the heck is that killer's aura?! While sleeping too?! It's so fucking pure! How many millions has this guy killed?!"

He could only stare in shock at the man that seemed so young. Was he an elder having become younger thanks to the Tower, or was he a one in a million genius? Either way, he could only thank his luck that he was asleep. Otherwise, he'd be dead already!

"Still, I wonder what he's doing here? Ah, I bet he's just messing with Newbies like me." The assassin concluded before entering the premises, leaving Josh behind.

Every single assassin would reach the same conclusion. They wouldn't touch the seeping master. Well, all except one.

Josh was having a nice dream when he suddenly felt his body shaken. What?! Was it morning already?

As he slowly opened his eyes, all he could see was blue. Was that the sky? Had he slept outdoor? But as his eyes focused some more, he finally noticed the long blue robe.

"Oh, it's you! You're the lady in blue!" He greeted while stretching. Ah, this sure felt nice.

She gave him a suspicious glance: "Did you already finish your mission?"

"Yep, I only ended up killing two of those dumbasses, though. The other two were actually nice, so I spared their lives."

"Two core members of A guilds in 2 days?!" She jumped in surprise.

"Yeah, I kinda took my time with the second one. But hey, shit happens, am I right?" Josh replied while shrugging.

As for the month that he had to accomplish it? He didn't have any time for that!

He couldn't help but smile slightly. It was time to visit the LoA! Well, at least one of their bases…

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[A/N] You all ready? It's fucking mass release time! ☠ 6/8 !! ?

Creator's Thought

That tracking trick was literally the one I had just figured out with the shadowy monster. That's how I had been able to easily keep track of where it was after waking up. It looked like it worked incredibly well on humans too. Hell, I could have become the best PI in another life!