"Now, this can be said to be my win, right?"

Although she's reluctant to admit her defeat, Adalia has to since it's very clear to everyone that Mia had won against her the moment she decided to use the orb. So, she somewhat nodded her head in response to Mia's question. Although she looks calm despite having a small frown on her face, she's still upset about it inside her mind. Just when the two finally put their guard down and the crowd started cheering for the winner, suddenly, a dark figure could be seen speeding toward Mia with a dagger in his hand. One can safely assume that the dark figure must have been hiding within the crowd and decided to make his move upon noticing the two relaxing their shoulders, it's hard to come by chance!

Of course, when the two finally noticed his appearance, it was already too late for them to do anything. He was already right behind Mia, slashing his dagger ferociously toward her as if his life depended on it. Just when the assassin and everyone above and on top of the platform thought Mia would get her head separated from her body in a bloody way, a slim figure suddenly appeared halfway from Mia's shadow like a ghost as if she was already right underneath from the beginning. 

Clank!

"I have been waiting for you."

From the head, one can see beautiful silver-white hair flowing freely down to the shoulder but if one looked even closer, they could see a few pieces of hair dyed in crimson red. Judging by the hair alone, one can safely assume that no matter the gender, he or she would definitely have a good looking face but sadly, they couldn't see the true appearance due to the eyes covered with a half fox mask, leaving the mouth free for all to see. To make others even more confusing, when he or she speaks, the voice coming out of the mouth sounds like an androgynous voice that can attract both female and male without any discrimination.

But most of the crowd's attention was focused on the lower half of the figure. No, it's not anything lewd like what you gods think. When they looked down after admiring the appearance, the crowd once again were dumbfounded to behold a fog of shadow blocking them from gazing at the lower half. 'What a shame, truly,' that was the thought of everyone beneath the platform as a few could be seen sighing like a disappointed pervert old man. 

The most confused one here is definitely Mia as she didn't expect someone so powerful to remain hidden inside her shadow without her realizing it. Just thinking about it gives her the creeps followed by the chills to her body. If he or she ever thought of killing her, Mia won't know about it even to her death. But since the suspicious mask had just saved her from the assassin, it might not be her enemy as she thought. Even so, she still needs to be cautious, just for the sake of it.

"Who are you?"

The assassin spoke after putting a distance from her. Mia had thought the assassin would immediately escape upon failing to complete in his mission, but to her surprise, he didn't and stay instead. Looking at the assassin from head to toes, she began to ponder how is it possible for him to hide within the crowd with that getup. His outfit is exactly what one would expect from an 'assassin.'

"Shiro is the name, and I'm your worst possible matchup. Is that good enough for you?"

The suspicious mask person chuckled after saying that, perhaps finding the lie it just made up on the spot to be funny.

"Shiro, huh? And you are my worst possible matchup, you say? Hah, what a jest. I was still holding my strength, you know?"

The assassin snorted, it seemed he didn't realize yet how powerful his opponent is. But that was obvious since Sheila didn't active her intimidate skill. If she had used the skill, the assassin companion hiding within the crowd would definitely retreat upon realizing they couldn't win against her. She didn't want that to happen. And yes, the suspicious mask person that everyone was staring at is none other than Sheila. Shiro is just an alias she had made up on the spot. In Japanese, the name has the meaning of 'White' so, the moment it appeared inside her mind, it just clicked.

As to the reason why Sheila was lurking within Mia's shadow, one can spell it in one word, curiosity. She knew it's a dangerous thing to do but, she believes that no matter what kind of danger it is, she can simply escape into the Trial Tower and holed up inside for a few days. Ria had also given her permission to do this dangerous act after listening to her reasoning and, realizing that no matter what she says, she can't stop the latter. After all, what kind of person would let their best friend willingly get themselves into danger? Especially knowing the fact that Sheila sometimes did a reckless thing, one couldn't blame Ria for worrying about her.

'Since the assassin is not making his move, I wonder what's going on through his mind. I thought of going on offense but, is he buying time for something? Tsu—perhaps, the friend of his hiding within the crowd is going to use that wicked spell again?! I can't let that happen.' With that thought in mind, her pupils immediately turned from brown chocolate into bluish light— it's the sign that she had activated the 'Mana Eyes' skill. Looking at the crowd from the platform, it's not that hard to find the friend of that assassin with her current set of eyes. Just as Sheila found her target amidst the crowd, the assassin seemed to come into realization when he saw where she was looking and immediately start speeding toward her.

Even an idiot would be able to guess that the assassin is trying to distract her by going on offense but, it's a futile effort. When the assassin reached close enough to hear her breathing, he immediately thrust his dagger toward her, aiming precisely at her heart. 

When the assassin saw his opponent not avoiding his thrust and simply stand there like an idiot, a frown appeared on his face, followed by a strange feeling surging through his body. Though he finds something is amiss from her, the assassin didn't stop nor pull back. Time seems to have been slow down as his dagger slowly creeps closer to her chest. Below the platform, the crowd was watching the scene intently with their eyes wide open. Right next to Sheila, Mia widens her eyes in surprise as she had thought the suspicious mask person would try to avoid the attack by stepping to the side or something but, beyond her expectation, Sheila simply stood and does nothing in response to the incoming dagger.

But what they saw next caused Mia to heaved a relieved sigh whilst the crowd and the assassin went speechless. After all, Sheila had managed to stop the dagger in between her forefinger and thumb like a master. If someone at her level with tremendous strength coupled with high agility couldn't perform even a simple thing like this, they should be ashamed of themselves.

"What! That's impossible!"

"What is? You can also do the same if you simply put more effort into your training, can't you?"

'No way in hell that could be true! If one simply needs to put a lot of effort into training and can stop a dagger speeding toward your chest with just your fingers, you might as well say that you can fly in the sky!' Everyone, be it the students or the friend of the assassin, both unanimously agreed in their mind that she spoke nothing but nonsense.

Crack!

When Sheila applied a bit of force in her fingers, a small spider-like crack appeared on the edge of the dagger caused the assassin to become dumbfounded. One must know the dagger in his hand isn't a toy but, a real dagger made of a full steel. Yet today, a human somewhat managed to put a crack on it like it was nothing. If someone had told this information to other people, they would get beaten up for spouting bullshit in broad daylight. But to their horror and awe, everyone saw the suspicious masked person does the impossible.

"What the?"

Sheila was quite surprised, but that's it. With her strength increasing in each passing day, she noticed a couple of things. For one, if she didn't fully control her strength, it is possible to turn a joke or a prank from her into a full-blown accident. Secondly, because her hearing is much better than average people, she's having difficulty catching a relaxing nap in the afternoon as she had done in the past. It's like trying to sleep next to a working Television with a loud volume as, without the ability to shut down her sharp hearing, she now has to kiss her afternoon nap goodbye.

No wonder the stronger one becomes, the more they feel like losing something in return to gaining strength beyond others. Was that the case here? She didn't know the answer to this question. But one thing for sure is that she isn't too upset regarding this. After all, the stronger she is, the more secure her loves one. For her, that is enough.

"It's already been five minutes, Tch. Oi! What are you doing? Didn't you say you were going to use that spell?"

The assassin shouted at the confused crowd upon retreating with nothing in his hand. He had no choice but to abandon his beloved dagger now that it is of no use to him anymore. Actuality, he tried yanking the dagger away from her but, he couldn't put any strength on it. Though the assassin looks pretty calm yet annoyed outside, he was now quite afraid of the suspicious masked person since it is now clear to him that whoever was behind the mask, he or she is undoubtedly much stronger than him. He alone has no chance to win against her, so the assassin decided to group up with the one below the platform and together, they might have a chance to defeat the masked person now dubbed as 'Fox.'

"Shit! Why is he not responding? Did he escape already, that bastard!"

The assassin grumbled under his breath with a visibly pissed expression on his face. Sheila chuckled in response when she heard him cursing. Since the assassin wanted to see that man so much, she will show him her empathy by bringing that guy out from within the shadow of the crowd. With a snap of her fingers, a figure of a man suddenly came out of her shadow. The assassin was visibly startled as he didn't expect her to finish off the other agent hiding within the crowd already, he was sure that her attention was focused on him back then, was it a mistake? Either way, now that he knows no one else can team up with him to fight against her, he decided to retreat without any hesitation as he immediately dashes toward the crowd with a plan in mind.