The Assassin's Seven Principles of Manipulation

Chapter 232: Chapter 228 — Sand

Zephyrion’s mind felt hazy and muddled. Slow. His body was slick with sweat. The air burned like a furnace.

His eyes snapped open.

Darkness.

’What is this?’

The softness of his bed was gone, Lumi’s warmth replaced by suffocating heat. He’d fallen asleep on his bed only moments ago, and now he lay on something hard and scorching, surrounded by nothing but pitch darkness.

Zephyrion shook his head, trying to clear the fog clouding his thoughts.

’Another attack? Another test.’

He reached out and touched something hard. It was smooth and blistering hot, like smoldering metal. Sweeping his arm around, he confirmed the metal enclosed him like a dome.

’I’m trapped.’

Whoever had taken him from his room and sealed him inside this metal had done so without him having the slightest clue. Their power was unmistakable. Controlling the metal of such a person should be impossible. Yet he continued feeling along the surface for several more seconds, only to find there was nothing for him to work with.

’It’s worth a try.’

Unless the test was surviving inside a smoldering metal dome for an unknown amount of time, there had to be a way out.

Zephyrion waited for his mind to return to its optimal state, formed two daggers around his arms, alert and ready for whatever might come, then reached out to the metal surrounding him.

To his surprise, it offered no resistance. In fact, it might as well have been forged by a Mark One Vessel. It peeled away instantly.

Then light tore through the darkness and flooded his vision.

’Shit.’

Zephyrion’s eyes snapped shut, his arm instinctively rising to shield them. Heat washed over his skin, but he remained still for several seconds. Once his eyes adjusted, he slowly lowered his arm.

An odd sight greeted him.

A smoldering sun hung overhead. An endless sea of sand stretched before him, broken only by rolling dunes fading into the horizon.

He’d closed his eyes and fallen into bed moments ago, so how the hell had he ended up in the middle of the desert?

...

It took Zephyrion a few moments to get over his shock, and then his mind filled with deliberations and calculations.

A test of the academy, no doubt, but what sort? No enemies as far as his eyes could see. No instructions. He was completely blind.

Zephyrion stood atop a high dune, overlooking the desert in deep thought when something caught his eye.

’Hm?’

He squinted, noticing something glinting just meters away.

’A reflection.’

Mulling it over for a moment, he approached it, then paused in surprise. It was a brown dome that blended almost perfectly with the desert, but at such close range, he didn’t even need to inspect it to realize it was metal.

’Another cadet.’

Or a trap.

Zephyrion stared at the dome for a moment, then shrugged. Either way, his current circumstances offered nothing to work with. He would rather take his chances. Tightening his grip around his dagger, he peeled the metal away.

A slumbering cadet appeared before him.

’Tier Two.’

Zephyrion recognized him as one of the cadets from the pressure test a few days ago.

’So I’m not the only one. Good.’

Zephyrion watched the cadet, waiting. Several seconds passed. Despite the scorching sun overhead, the cadet continued sleeping peacefully.

"..."

Zephyrion flicked a bit of sand into his face. Whether it was the heat or the unfamiliar sensation against his skin, he did not know. But the cadet jolted upright.

"Huh? Wha— what the— blegh!"

He spat out the sand that had gotten into his mouth, rubbing at his face frantically to get rid of the rest.

"What the iron... the fuck’s going on— ah!"

The cadet’s eyes widened the moment he spotted Zephyrion. He hastily scrambled to his feet and fisted his chest.

"Prime!"

"At ease."

Regaining his bearings, the cadet seemed to realize the odd situation and asked more quietly,

"...Prime, what’s going on?"

"I’m not sure. I woke up inside a metal dome in the middle of the desert too."

He paused for a moment before adding,

"I think it’s another test from the academy."

The cadet paled. After all, the hell of the last test was still fresh in everyone’s minds. They could only expect the worst.

As though he had just realized something, the cadet nodded.

"Uh... then the sand that hit my face... that was you getting me out of the dome?"

Zephyrion looked at him.

"Yes."

The cadet bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Prime!"

Feeling a little awkward at taking credit for the opposite of what he’d done, Zephyrion cleared his throat and looked away.

"It’s fine."

His gaze swept across the desert. He’d just made a sudden realization. If the domes blended into the sand, then finding them in this endless desert with sight alone would be nearly impossible.

’Metal.’

He shut his eyes and focused.

The world around him lit up like a blank canvas. A wave of force spread from his mind, sweeping across the desert. Like targets appearing on a radar, countless domes surfaced within his senses.

’The others.’

He turned to the cadet.

"There are others, but they’re partially buried beneath the sand. We have to get to them."

"...Huh?"

The cadet blinked blankly, lost. Zephyrion inwardly rolled his eyes and raised his foot. When he brought it down, a blast of air erupted outward, sending sand and debris flying for hundreds of meters.

Though faint, the outlines of small brown domes emerged from beneath the shifting sand.

"They’re domes containing the rest of the cadets. Control the metal and release them."

Zephyrion walked to one as an example. With a thought, the metal peeled away, revealing another sleeping Tier Two cadet. He looked back at the frozen cadet, who was staring at the scene with wide eyes.

"Understood?"

The cadet hastily nodded.

"Y-yes!"

"Then move."

"Yes, Prime!"

The two of them moved across the desert, freeing as many cadets as they could find. Zephyrion noticed several cadets from the pressure test among them as well. It was still hard to determine their total number, but from what he sensed, he was certain it easily exceeded a hundred.