Chapter 552: The Assassin and the Elven Goddess

[Temporal Resistance]: Temporal skills used around you have their effects drastically weakened.

He had only seen a real use for that when he fought Miles. Even with time frozen, something in him had still been there, half-awake. It had caught him completely off guard. His body was locked in place, suspended in that frozen moment, but his mind… his mind knew. How to train that, he had no idea. It wasn’t exactly the kind of thing you could practice on a whim.

And then there was the final skill, the one he mentally labeled the “cherry on top.”

[Eye of the Archangel]: The eye functions as a second heart and a second brain. If either vital organ is destroyed, the eye assumes its role, allowing the body to continue functioning while severe injuries are gradually restored.

Standing at the top of the massive tree, he could see the entire region. This labyrinth had its own special zones, and he was in one of them. Luke closed his left eye and focused solely with the right. [Long-Distance Sight] tightened like a lens, giving him a hyper-zoom of the terrain. He layered [Mana Sensitivity] on top of it.

Then he added [Witch’s Gaze] to see partially through the canopy, and [Assassin’s Tracking] to bring out the faintest footprints. Without moving an inch, he could track any piece of this region with frightening precision. [Mana Sensitivity] made the footprints glow even clearer in the mana-vision overlay. He followed them… and found her.

Artemis stood between the trees, waiting. One of her tests.

“Found you.”

He sprinted toward her.

She sat perched on a stone, chin propped on one hand. “Finally. I thought I’d be waiting here all day.”

“What’s that movie you love with Bradley Cooper?”

Her brow twitched. A low growl escaped her.

Luke flicked a knife.

[You have slain a Labyrinth Prisoner – Lvl 75]

A head appeared upside down, dangling from a branch. Artemis hung there, concealed until she let herself drop.

“You cheated. You used The Hangover,” she said, landing lightly.

“How’d you get the creature to cooperate?”

“I told it I’d let it go if it convinced you.”

“I’m guessing if a shapeshifter escaped this place…”

“Goodbye to that entire city,” she said. “It would multiply like crazy, devour people, lay eggs… a whole nightmare.”

They walked together, leaving the zone behind. She’d made it clear: he had to kill every monster in the area before moving on. Her rule. Artemis finally started helping, firing her bow in rapid bursts. And she was… unnervingly good. Sometimes she’d kneel to adjust something, not even looking up as she released an arrow that nailed a creature far ahead.

The labyrinth didn’t hold only monsters. There were beasts too.

***

Luke crouched, brushing his fingers across the ground. A print. Feline. A massive one had passed through this part of the labyrinth’s forest.

Could be a good mana core for my spectral beast.

Hours later he made his way back to camp. Artemis was cooking something over the fire.

“Why are you wearing a maid outfit?”

“Because I’m cooking,” she replied, as if it were the most logical thing in the world.

He was almost certain she was messing with him.

Luke sat on the ground and slipped into a meditative posture. One of the exercises Artemis had given him, meant to help him understand how mana traveled from his core into the eye.

He stayed like that for a while.

“It’s like a faucet. You need to learn how to close it on your own,” she said, touching his cheek. Her hand drifted down his torso until she slid her fingers across his stomach, probing.

“Are you groping me?”

“Not really. I’m just… feeling the mana flow.”

When she finally finished her “analysis,” she explained how he needed to treat the eye’s skills exactly like his passive skills: suppress them when necessary, open them slowly, regulate them consciously.

After they ate, Luke cleaned himself up and went to sleep. Artemis was already lying beside him.

“Before you complain, technically we slept in the same bed every day back when I was just a voice in your necklace.”

“You’re… spooning me.”

“Reverse spooning,” she corrected. “The woman is the one hugging.”

“Don’t tell me you’re ‘feeling the mana flow’ again.”

“No. I’m just indulging in a few impulses,” she murmured. “And it’s cold. Would the young knight be willing to keep this poor farmborn elf warm a little longer?”

If the labyrinth weren’t actually freezing, he would never have humored her.

“What do you know about feelings, Luke?” she asked after a while.

“Feelings?”

“Yes. The basic kind. What do you know about them? Have you ever liked someone in your life?”

Silence.

“I mean before the system.”

“Never.”

“Never liked anyone, or never allowed yourself to?”

“There’s a difference?”

“There is,” she said softly. “You’re like a cat, Luke.”

“A cat?”

It was warm and comfortable under the blanket, the two of them curled loosely together.

“A cat is skilled at killing. It’s in its nature. But cats are terrible at socializing, terrible at understanding emotion. That’s why they’re solitary creatures.”

She shifted closer. “So here’s the best advice I can give you right now. If you don’t understand feelings, then try experiencing someone else’s feelings for you.”

“Experiencing… feelings?”

“For starters, a certain blonde vampire we know.”

“But would Charlie even understand that if I just told her I wanted to experience it? Wouldn’t it hurt her feelings?”

“And isn’t it already hurting her feelings that nothing happens at all?” she asked. “Live today. Let tomorrow be tomorrow. Try feeling something. You finally got what you wanted. The letter tells you what happened to your mother. If I were you, I’d take that step before reading it. Close one cycle by beginning another.”

After that, they both fell quiet, the weight of sleep slowly pulling them under.

Damn it… she actually gives decent advice sometimes.

***

By morning, they pressed deeper into the forest. They were searching for the wall with the opening that would take them to the next section of the labyrinth. Luke crouched, examining a paw print that looked like it belonged to a tiger. Far ahead, half-hidden in the foliage, the animal watched him in silence.

“Planning to hunt it?” Artemis asked.

He stood. “No. Better to leave it alone.”

They continued until they found the break in the stone wall and stepped into the narrow hallway leading deeper into the labyrinth. As they walked, he opened his system interface. Facing the Witch class evolution options.

“You know you lost some experience delaying that choice, right?”

“You can see my system screen?”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“My necklace is still around your neck. We’re connected.” She drifted closer, a little too pleased with herself. “By the way… I read your confused thoughts when you saw me and realized how beautiful I am.”

“Bastard…”

“Actually, I lied. I wasn’t reading anything. But it’s nice to know you think I’m beautiful.” She flashed a grin.

Damn it.

He’d walked right into her trap. Ignoring the elf’s laughter, he shifted his focus back to the system prompt.

**Mandatory Class Evolution Achieved!**

Congratulations! You’ve reached the absolute peak of your class, squeezing every drop of knowledge and mastery it had to offer. It’s been a long journey, one of focus, determination, ambition, greed… and, of course, a little luck.

As a true Witch, you advanced step by step in your understanding of magic, of combining skills, and of deepening your mana. On your path to level 50, you faced trauma, excitement, loss, and triumph. Every battle, every choice, every risk shaped who you are now.

Your fights were bloody, your spells were lethal, and your enemies were even more terrifying, from a mythic creature to one who bore the title of King. Well done, Witch. You are the sum of your own actions. May this new evolution take you even farther.

[Mandatory Class Evolution]: This evolution occurs for all races across the multiverse upon reaching level 50 in any class. On rare occasions, certain individuals awaken special evolutions during their journey, but none of them ever surpass the power of a mandatory evolution.