Chapter 518:Attack.

Chapter 518: 518:Attack.

Silver’s own troubles began three days later.

He had been assigned to a supervised Field Adaptability exercise near the outer Green Zone, where students were required to navigate a series of abandoned service routes and establish temporary observation positions without relying on academy transport.

The exercise itself had been uneventful.

Silver had completed his assigned objectives, submitted his observations, and received permission to return through a designated military checkpoint.

But as he approached an isolated maintenance road several kilometers from the academy’s outer perimeter, Spatial Sense detected something unusual.

[Spatial Sense Lv3 Activated.]

He slowed.

The surrounding forest was too quiet. He glanced toward the trees where several birds had suddenly stopped calling.

A faint disturbance appeared near the road ahead.

His expression changed.

Someone’s there.

He didn’t immediately draw his weapon; instead, he continued walking while carefully extending his perception. At that moment, he noticed something else; a second disturbance coming from behind him.

He smiled faintly.

Well, that’s inconvenient.

He stopped beside an abandoned maintenance vehicle, then looked toward the trees.

"You know, if you’re going to follow someone, you should probably choose a route with fewer blind corners," he said outloud.

Silence answered him.

Silver waited.

Then a man stepped out from behind a large tree. He was tall, dressed in dark tactical clothing, and wore a plain gray mask that concealed most of his face with a short sword resting against his hip.

Silver studied him.

"Hello."

The man said nothing.

He sighed.

"Not much of a conversationalist?"

The man slowly drew his weapon and Silver’s expression hardened. He could feel the dense and controlled pressure radiating from the stranger. It was far stronger than his own.

His stomach tightened.

Rank Five.

The man moved.

He barely had time to react.

[Short-Step Lv3 Activated.]

His figure disappeared.

A moment later, the ground where he’d been standing exploded. Silver reappeared several meters away, his heart racing as he gazed at the man.

Fast.

The assassin turned and vanished from his ordinary vision.

He immediately activated Spatial Sense.

[Spatial Sense Lv3 Activated.]

A warning flashed.

[Abnormal Spatial Interference Detected.]

[Short-Step Efficiency Reduced.]

He frowned.

Interference equipment?

The assassin appeared beside him,blade coming down at him.

Silver raised his sword to counter.

[Advanced Swordsmanship Lv3 Activated.]

Their weapons collided.

The impact nearly tore his sword from his hands as he staggered backward from the momentum.

The assassin immediately followed with another strike, then another.

Silver blocked the first, barely avoided the second but the third cut across his shoulder. Blood sprayed as pain slowly took over.

He gritted his teeth.

[Iron Bones Lv3 Activated.]

[Primal Strength Lv3 Activated.]

He stepped backward and activated Spatial Displacement.

[Spatial Displacement Lv1 Activated.]

The assassin’s leading foot shifted slightly, but the man immediately adjusted his balance.

His expression changed.

He knows.

The assassin smiled beneath his mask.

"Interesting."

Silver stared, then smiled.

"Finally. He speaks."

The man tilted his head.

"Spatial manipulation. Quite rare," he said with a deep voice.

He tightened his grip on his sword.

"Thanks. I worked hard on it."

The assassin chuckled.

"Unfortunately, your abilities won’t save you."

He smiled faintly.

"People keep telling me that."

The man raised his weapon.

"Then perhaps you should listen."

He immediately moved.

Silver activated Short-Step.

[Short-Step Lv3 Activated.]

His figure flickered but the movement was incomplete as the interference intensified.

He stumbled.

The assassin appeared in front of him with his blade descending.

Silver instantly raised a barrier.

[Spatial Distortion Lv2 Activated.]

The barrier shattered and the sword struck his chest.

He was thrown backward, his body crashing against the abandoned maintenance vehicle. Metal crumpled around him as pain exploded through his torso.

[Severe Physical Damage Detected.]

[Multiple Rib Fractures.]

[Internal Bleeding.]

[Warning: Rank Disparity Exceeds Recommended Engagement Parameters.]

Silver coughed, blood spilling from his mouth.

He stared at the assassin, then laughed weakly.

"Well..." He wiped his lips. "...this is familiar."

The assassin approached.

"You’re remarkably calm."

He smiled.

"Occupational hazard."

The man stopped several meters away.

"Your family will be disappointed."

Silver’s expression changed. For a moment, the pain seemed distant as he looked directly at the assassin.

"My family?" He asked.

The man froze before smiling.

"Oops! Did I say that?"

Silver’s eyes narrowed.

The assassin raised his sword.

"How unfortunate."

Silver tightened his grip on his weapon.

So that’s how it is.

His uncles.

He couldn’t prove which one but the implication was obvious. Someone from the Ruddington family had decided, again, that waiting for him to fail wasn’t enough.

He slowly stood despite his chest burning and his spatial pathways trembling plus the assassin was still considerably stronger than him.

But Silver wasn’t planning to win, he was planning to survive. Which was sort of his speciality to be honest.

He glanced toward the maintenance vehicle, then toward the nearby drainage channel, a narrow road, several unstable slopes and an abandoned fuel-storage structure farther down the route.

He briefly stared at the a Rank Five assassin who believed he had already won and smiled.

"All right."

The assassin tilted his head.

"What?"

He raised his handgun.

"Let’s make this interesting."

The next several minutes became a desperate struggle.

He abandoned any attempt to overpower the assassin and instead concentrated on controlling the battlefield. He used Spatial Sense to anticipate attacks, Short-Step to avoid fatal strikes whenever the interference allowed it, and Spatial Displacement to disrupt the assassin’s movements at critical moments.

But the Rank Five Contractor was experienced. He adapted quickly, avery time Silver attempted to create distance, the assassin closed it.

Every time he used a spatial barrier, the man attacked its weakest point. And every time he tried to exploit the surrounding terrain, the assassin adjusted his approach.

Silver’s injuries accumulated; a cut across his shoulder, a deep wound along his side, several bruised ribs, his breathing became heavier and his soul energy reserves continued declining.

[Warning: Physical Condition Deteriorating.]

[Warning: Spatial Energy Consumption Exceeding Sustainable Rate.]

He gritted his teeth.

Come on.

He needed an opening, something small, something the assassin wouldn’t expect.

Then he remembered Major Halden’s words.

Your objective isn’t to defeat every threat you encounter.

Silver looked toward the abandoned fuel-storage structure, then smiled.

Exactly.

He activated his system.

[Happiness System Activated.]

[Emergency Shop Accessed.]

[Current Available Affection Points: 1,214 AP.]

He frowned.

Still poor.

He quickly searched the available items. Most were useless, advanced recovery medicines were too expensive and high-grade combat tools were beyond his current balance.

Fortunately, he found something.

[Emergency Signal Disruption Charge - 900 AP.]

[Temporarily interferes with nearby electronic targeting and short-range suppression equipment.]

He smiled.

Perfect.

[Purchase Confirmed.]

[Remaining Balance: 314 AP.]

A small cylindrical device appeared inside his system storage which he immediately retrieved.

The assassin noticed.

"What is that?" He asked.

Silver smiled.

"A surprise."

He threw the device.

The man reacted instantly, moving to intercept but Silver had already activated it. A sharp pulse spread through the surrounding area and the assassin’s suppression equipment flickered.

[Spatial Interference Reduced.]

Silver’s eyes widened.

Now.

[Short-Step Lv3 Activated.]

He disappeared.

The assassin turned towards him but it was too late. Silver reappeared beside the fuel-storage structure and raised his handgun.

[Phantom Draw Lv4 Activated.]

Three shots rang out.

The first struck the structure’s damaged support, the second hit a weakened pressure valve and the third struck an exposed ignition component.

He immediately activated Short-Step again.

[Short-Step Lv3 Activated.]

His figure vanished as the explosion erupted behind him.

A massive wave of fire and debris tore through the maintenance road, collapsing part of the unstable slope and sending several tons of earth and broken concrete crashing toward the assassin.

The man reacted.

A powerful defensive ability erupted around him but the explosion had already destroyed the road.

Silver reappeared farther down the drainage channel. He stumbled, then fell to one knee before blood spilled from his mouth.

The ground shook behind him. He looked toward the rising smoke.

The assassin wasn’t dead, Silver could still sense his energy signature, but the man was trapped beneath a collapsed section of the road, and his movements had slowed considerably.

He smiled weakly.

"Did it."

He forced himself upright, then activated his communicator.

"Emergency assistance required. Field Adaptability student Silver Ruddington reporting an armed attack near maintenance route seventeen. Suspected hostile Rank Five Contractor. Severe injuries. Requesting immediate extraction."

A moment later, the response arrived.

"Ruddington, confirm your location."

He glanced toward the smoke, then transmitted his coordinates.

"Confirmed."

"Remain in position. Military response team dispatched."

Silver exhaled and slowly leaned against a damaged concrete wall.

His vision blurred.

He looked toward the forest, for a moment, he considered pursuing the assassin, then shook his head.

No.

He’d survived, that was enough. And this time, he intended to remember it.

The military response team arrived twelve minutes later. By then, the assassin had disappeared and the collapsed road remained.

The damaged fuel-storage structure was still burning, and Silver was sitting against a concrete barrier, pressing a bandage against his wounded side.

The responding officer approached.

"Silver Ruddington?"

He looked up.

"That’s me."

The officer studied the destruction before turning back to him again.

"What happened here?" He asked.

Silver smiled faintly.

"Unpleasant conversation," he said with an exhausted voice.

The officer frowned.

"Sir, this is a military maintenance route," he firmly said.

He nodded.

"I noticed," Silver replied.

"Unauthorized destruction of military infrastructure is a serious offense."

Silver stared, for several seconds, he couldn’t believe what he’d heard, then he laughed.

The officer’s expression hardened.

"Is something funny?" He asked.

He shook his head.

"Sorry," he replied and gestured toward his bloodstained uniform. "I was just wondering whether you’d like to discuss the infrastructure before or after someone treats the stab wounds."