On an edge of the Ghost Town where the Elite Division had one of their camps, Asherit and Thyriel's house seemed quite quiet, however, this was thanks to mana barriers that isolated their courtyard from the outside world because at this time, both were exchanging movements at different rhythms.

'Swish' 'Boom' 'Swoosh'

Asherit was as calm as usual while attacking, pursuing, and defending against Thyriel.

On the other hand, fine sweat drops ran down Thyriel's smooth skin, her movements had become less harsh and combining the 48 forms she attacked, defended and changed position with certain movements of the technique without stopping.

Like a swordswoman who practiced day and night trying to become one with her sword, Thyriel was making the technique flow more and more graceful and natural, as if she had been born for her.

"Try to use the breathing method of the 'Sveralf' technique without pausing and adjusting it to the state of the forms" Advanced breathing methods could provide immense help in various situations to warriors, by prolonging their resistance and helping them adopt with greater efficiency the mental states necessary to execute their techniques.

Both of them exchanged movements for a couple more minutes and after a while, Asherit signaled for stop.

"Congratulations Thyriel! You have learned the 'Sveralf' technique and you have already mastered its essence, now you just need to keep practicing and formulating more ideas derived from it to be able to fully exploit it" With a smile on his face, Asherit congratulated Thyriel a little impressed for the girl's high understanding.

'His comprehension abilities are far higher than any genius, grasping the essence of such a high-level technique as Sveralf in just one month' Thinking about this and seeing the symbol on Thyriel's forehead, Asherit's smile came warmer.

"Thank you for being patient in your teachings brother Asherit" Thyriel's beautiful face was covered in red as she thanked smiling, not even she knew if it was because she had just been in a hectic training or for some other reason.

"At this point, the new recruits have already finished their training and should take their missions in the following days, so I know, due to the complexity of these, it will take one to two weeks to return, so we will have to wait that time for it to be decided whether to pass or not, and to organize the training groups for the second chance of the mission for new recruits” Hearing Asherit's words, Thyriel nodded in understanding.

"In the following weeks we will put aside the 'Sveralf' technique a bit and you will begin to learn survival skills, tracking, camouflage, stealth, and others skills that are essential for assassination" In any society, a 6 year old boy talking about Assassination techniques would make an atrocious impression, especially when he was well trained in them.

However, Queen Elizabeth had not hesitated to teach this and many other skills to her little son while growing up, because she knew that he would face brutal situations and only with them could he survive this world full of cruelty.

On the other hand, due to the mentality that Asherit had taken over his short years, it was not unusual either, and knowing Thyriel's situation, as well as the challenges that she would face, made it natural and indispensable for her to know them.

“Well, let's eat something first and then we will go out to find some things, according to what Vade said when we got to the Town, we can borrow materials and weapons to train, then the first thing will be to go to the materials store and hopefully we will get some of help to make training easier” As they headed to the kitchen to prepare something and eat, Asherit commented to Thyriel who was nodding with a bit of blush due to exhaustion from the previous training.

…..

After eating, Asherit and Thyriel went to the warehouses where tools and training materials were kept, after registering they managed to obtain many of them and taking advantage of the trip they also went to collect their supplies for the month at the supply building where they were very well looked after by Ron.

"Brother Ron is very kind to us" With a smile, Thyriel was arranging one of the heavy bags that had all kinds of tools in the backyard of their house, while she thought about what had happened a few moments ago.

When they were gathering their supplies, Ron had mentioned that he and his friends found the nest of a wild beast called the horned tiger on one of their recent missions.

This beast was similar to normal tigers, but on its forehead it had 3 red horns and could reach 30 meters, according to Ron, it had combat skills at the same level as an F-Rank Mages, but wild beasts had powerful bodies and innate abilities that made them much stronger than mages of their level.

Ron's team was made up of 2 F-Rank Mages and 3 G-Rank Mages and they still had a hard time dealing with that tiger.

After killing him, the most valuable thing would be his claws, teeth and horns, as for the meat, although it had a good taste and was nutritious for the body, they obtained too much of that tiger for which he had given them several kilograms.

"Hm, it is difficult for other races that are not abysmal in this Kingdom, so they will always look for a good sponsor, although the title of seventh prince that I have is of no use since I enlisted, if I managed to survive and climb, he can try to seek the support of the seventh prince to establish himself in the Kingdom” As Thyriel nodded as she understood Asherit's explanation, she also noticed the derogatory tone in his way of speaking about his title of prince, but being intelligent she decided not to ask more .

In the middle of the courtyard, Asherit placed 3 wooden dolls wearing light and tightly closed metal armor, leaving only very few parts of the doll uncovered.

He also put a doll that looked quite strange, as if it were a normal human being, but without skin, all its veins and some bones were visible, its organs and entrails were exposed.

Standing in front of Thyriel, Asherit suddenly asked.

"Tell me Thyriel, what does it take to become a great assassin?"

Hearing him question, Thyriel lost herself in thought thinking about her family and after a few seconds she answered.

"Power, extraordinary combat techniques, skill with weapons and extraordinary magic techniques" Hearing her reply, Asherit smiled and replied.

"Without a doubt it would be the best if you had all those characteristics, but to be a great assassin you need more than that" As Asherit sat in lotus position and indicated to Thyriel that she did the same, he continued.

"The Abysmal King for example, has all these characteristics, we can say that he is at the peak of power of what we know of this world" Seeing Thyriel nod, Asherit continued.

"So, with his abilities to face his opponents and overcome them with pure power to kill them is simple for him, however, if I wanted to kill the Abysmal King" Hearing him, Thyriel trembled with fear thinking that if someone listened to them the consequences would be fatal, but then she thought Asherit was just taking this as an example to teach her.

On the other hand, Asherit continued unaware of Thyriel's thoughts.

“I would have to possess a power greater than him and even so, he can call on the full power of the Kingdom by being its sovereign, so, to achieve my goal, I would have to surpass his strength by a good margin and be able to break the Kingdom blockades, reaching that level of power can happen one day, but, dozens of factors such as talent, growth speed, accidents, cultivation resources and many other things will always be a variant that influences this possibility in a forceful way and can may I never achieve that goal and even die on the way, this is where the Assassination Arts come in” Thyriel's gaze seemed to shine thinking of certain things.

“When people and societies with different ways of thinking and acting live in common spaces, conflicts will always occur, if two or more parties reach a certain understanding, peace may exist even if it is limited, on the other hand, if one or more of them believes in the possibility of dominating on the disputes, such conflicts can lead to dozens, hundreds or thousands of deaths, or even the extermination of one or several parties, in this other case, the Art of Assassination can also have a great impact "

“For the first case, imagine that instead of spending a lifetime training to acquire the necessary power to kill the Abysmal King, I focused on researching and creating some kind of odorless, colorless and tasteless poison with the ability to kill someone as powerful as the King, and find a way to infiltrate some position near him to put the poison in his food, without a doubt there would be the possibility of assassinating him",

“In the second case, where several societies that for this example we will call Kingdoms come into conflict, instead of a definitive war, if any Kingdom possesses the patience and wisdom necessary to delay the war and begin to plant small and large officials within the other Kingdoms, as well as spies, mind games and methods with which they develop small or large conflicts between the other kingdoms weakening their forces, can carry out coordinated coup d’état and assassinate key pieces of their adversaries, gaining the possibility of attacking at the moment just to lessen their losses and achieve victory” Hearing this, Thyriel nodded as Asherit continued.

“I once read the story of two Kingdoms that lasted decades at war, one was more powerful than the other, however, one of the Kings of the weak Kingdom, had a daughter that no one knew about, was his most outstanding descendant, whom he train during the first 10 years of her life and then he do not hesitate to send her to the enemy Kingdom where the girl managed to place herself close to one of the descendants of the then King of the strong Kingdom”

"Then, gaining great supporters, developing her strength and generating schemes, strategies and killings, the girl helped the young prince on the path of the accession to the throne and finally this prince managed to crown himself as King of this strong Kingdom, the girl who now had becoming Queen even managed to plan a great method that everyone gasped in amazement for years to absorb the weak Kingdom, by carrying out this method she ended their endless conflicts uniting these two Kingdoms into one”,

“One day, when the great Kingdom had become the greatest power of the continent, a great party was held in the palace, the entire royal family, the high officials, their great military, sages and all their descendants attended the event full of joy and arrogance”,

“However, the morning after the event, all the guests except for the Queen disappeared from the face of the earth, that same day, the King, the royal family and all the notable people who had been inhabitants of the weak Kingdom took the control of the great and prosperous Kingdom, establishing a Kingdom that would last for centuries, this King is known as one of the wisest in history and who along with his daughter implemented some of the bases of the schemes and strategies of the Art of Assassination” Thyriel was lost as if she could see the whole story passing before her eyes.

“It is because of this kind of thing that the Elite Division is so special in the Abysmal Kingdom, and with that I am not saying that the Art of Assassination is the best way to go, without a doubt all paths are impressive if the user can take them beyond the limit, but this Art can help you confront enemies in a smarter and more cunning way, giving you the ability to challenge opponents more powerful than you with fewer resources"

"From my point of view, the ideal is to focus on taking the skills in which you stand out the most to the limit and also learn in a moderate way other skills with a certain level of dexterity to be prepared and be able to act in any situation" Listening Asherit’s comment, Thyriel nodded and engraved his words deep in her heart.

"Returning to the main topic, to become a great assassin you need a series of very well developed skills and abilities such as camouflage and stealth, espionage, planning and strategy, tactics, medical knowledge, poisons and all kinds of antidotes, knowledge of advanced survival, great adaptability to changes, cunning, intelligence and wisdom, among many more that I will try to teach you” Then walking towards the strange looking doll, Asherit took a marker and began to speak again.

"The first and most essential thing is that you learn deeply about your main weapon, your body" Settling in front of Asherit, Thyriel nodded energetically.

"All species have different bodies, and even among members of the same race some practice different arts that make them have a different body structure, but each and every one has vital points",

"Most races with humanoid constitutions have dozens of primary and secondary meridians that are channels through which energy flows in our bodies",

"Also, with hundreds of acupuncture points that are points that are on the surface of the skin, they are very specific places of transmission, concentration and manifestation of energy and blood that circulates through a meridian",

"There are also some curious points that are outside the meridians, with specific names and functions, although they do not belong to any meridian, they are related with them and complement them",

"Finally, there are the Ashi points that do not belong to any meridian either, they have no name or fixed location and are pain points"

“These acupuncture points began to be studied due to their great medical and cultivation benefits, for example, this point in the midline of the lower abdomen, about 3 cun[1] below the navel” Asherit began to draw a line and a point where he had mentioned about the doll while explaining to Thyriel.

“It is called Guanyuan or also known as Gate of Origin, it is the fourth of 24 points belonging to the Ren Mai meridian or the Conception Vessel meridian and is a crossing point with the Spleen, Liver and Kidney meridians, the ancient medical sages found that with its help different diseases such as sexual dysfunctions, impotence and sterility, chronic syndromes associated with general exhaustion, chronic syndromes associated with anemia, anxiety, indigestion and some other ailments can be treated, but…” Turning his gaze to Thyriel, Asherit continued .

“The great martial artists who were also scholars in the medical field, realized that, although some points brought great benefits when acted on in certain ways, such as moxibustion or needles, they could also bring great damage if attacked with certain techniques"

'Swoosh'

Suddenly, Asherit made a fist and taking a certain direction he launched a blow with a specific speed on the point he had drawn on the body.

'Pa!' There was a slight noise as his knuckles collided with the doll.

“Hitting in a certain way, with a specific direction, speed and force that of course can change according to the opponent's body structure, you can cause damaging effects on your opponent, for example, at this point and with this hitting style, the victim will lose a great deal of energy” Removing his fist, Asherit continued.

"Reaching the Guanyuan point with an attack can cause disease, damage to the small intestine and the energy system of the kidneys and bladder, loss of consciousness, loss of energy and even death if struck correctly" Thyriel was impressed with this explanation.

Any martial artist or even ordinary people were able to determine vital points like the heart, eyes, neck, and others, but these were quite logical.

However, hitting certain points with certain styles as Asherit told to cause the death of an opponent was something amazing which surely geniuses found after long research and tests.

"Realizing this, the ancient sages began to develop techniques such as 'The Art of the First Second', 'Delayed Death Touch', 'Point Manipulation', 'The Art of Pressure Points' and others more focused on the control of the opponent using the meridians and acupuncture points, being these the first techniques of assassination in form”,

“During the following weeks, we will focus on the meridians and acupuncture points on the body, you will have to memorize everything, their positions, benefits, harmful effects, how to reinforce them and then I will teach you multiple techniques and styles to attack, defend, antidotes and revivals forms for a third of the day”,

"The next eight hours I will teach you about survival techniques, stealth and camouflage styles, the Art of Poisons, use of different weapons, planning, strategies and tactics, the remaining time you will spend cultivating" Thyriel nodded accepting Asherit's arrangements without hesitation.

"Once you learn the basics we will begin with a practical training, although due to the depth of this knowledge it would take anyone a lifetime to train a style to the limits, I believe that with your abilities you will be able to reach a good understanding and mastery of them"

"I will try very hard!" Hearing Asherit speak like this, great determination was born in Thyriel when she exclaimed.

“Hm, let's continue, this is the Juque point, also called the Great Barrier, it is located 6 cun above the navel on the midline, it is the fourteenth of the 24 points belonging to the Ren Mai meridian, it is the Mu point of the heart where the energy is concentrated ..."

"This point is called Hegu or Element Valley Fund, it is the fourth of the points belonging to the Large Intestine meridian, it is located on the back of the hand, between the first and second metacarpal bones, at the midpoint of the second Metacarpal radial side, it is a Yuan point…” Thus, Asherit began to draw lines and points and to give extended explanations to Thyriel who was focusing all her attention on him.

…..

It had been two weeks since Thyriel started learning about different subjects, today night was about to fall as both continued with their routine.

"Arsenic is a semi-metal used throughout history to poison people giving them a slow and painful death, in reality, pure arsenic is not toxic, it is the arsenic compounds that present high toxicity ..."

“Hemlock is a flowering plant, it has a hollow and striated stem, tripinnate, soft, triangular or lanceolate leaves, with small white flowers, they can give small achene fruits, round or oval, of light green color, the whole plant contains various types of piperidine alkaloids, some of which are neurotoxins such as coniína that inhibits the functioning of the central nervous system producing the so-called cicutism, their ingestion in certain concentrations can lead to the death of the victim, there are not many treatments against it and it is best to remove it from the system ..."

Asherit was drawing on a blank book certain plants and elements to Thyriel, telling her which were medicinal and which were toxic, where she could find them and how to use them in different situations.

"Well, that will be it for today, you have already learned a lot these weeks, perhaps in the next two weeks you will be able to reach the necessary foundations for the next step of training" Seeing the joy on Thyriel's face, Asherit continued saying.

"Tomorrow we will have to go check again if the second round of training will start, if so we will make adjustments in our plans to be able to attend the training of the Division during the next 3 months"

"Brother Asherit!, No matter what, I also want to spend some time teaching you about the Spiritual Sense, you have been dedicating all your time to me and I still don’t do anything for you" Thyriel interrupted Asherit and commented with a shy look and carrying some guilt.

"Haha, very good!, From tomorrow then I will begin to learn about my Spiritual Sense, I’m in your hands" Seeing her face, Asherit commented with a smile.

"Mm, yeah, I won't disappoint you" As both nodded, their gazes met and they unleashed a warm smile on the other.

[1] 1 Cun (Chinese Inch) is the width of a person's thumb, while the width of two fingers indicates 1.5 Cun and the width of four fingers (Except for the thumb) side by side equals 3 Cuns.