"John," Zuri exclaimed, eyes going wide with shock. She hastily turned towards the three senior Guild members, bowing her head quickly. "Apologies for his behavior, he had just joined and does not know the Guild protocol."
"Insolence," the man on the right said, while the woman hummed softly, as if amused by John's outburst.
"To think you admitted such a youth into our guild," the man continued, obviously irate. "You will be-"
"That's enough," the Grandmaster said, cutting off the man on the right. The man stopped talking immediately, showing the high opinion he had of this Grandmaster.
"Young man, Zuri said you found the location of the Mark of Shadows on your own? Is that correct?" the Grandmaster asked.
"I did," John replied calmly.
"And did you find it because you could feel the Mark, or did you find it because you were provided with its location beforehand?" the Grandmaster asked, his words indicating the idea of John being a spy of some sorts.
"If it was the second, I obviously wouldn't tell you," John said, his words yet again causing Zuri to gasp.
The man on the right began to speak, but the Grandmaster waved his hand, cutting him off. Meanwhile, the woman on the left laughed lightly, clearly amused by the entire thing.
"True, true," the Grandmaster said, agreeing to John's words. "But then we find ourselves in a bit of a difficult situation. You see, its considered impossible to detect the Mark naturally, that is unless you have ascended to the Holy Manifestation realm, which you clearly have not. So, with that being the case-"
John's instincts suddenly flared with warning, filling him with the dread of death. The feeling was almost imperceptible, but there was something behind him, about to strike with lethal intent. Without thinking, his dantian flared with the power of the Spatial Dao, enveloping him and shifting him through the fabric that separated the two dimensions. He entered the void of spatial chaos, his body becoming blasted with the storms of spatial chaos that dominated the realm.
As he stepped into the other realm, he felt the shadow of death nearly embrace him, missing him by mere inches. A moment later, he stepped back into the real world, and immediately spotted a dagger pierced into the steps before his feet, embedded halfway into it.
The dagger was of incredible quality, and a terrifying aura wafted off it, quickly fading away. He felt a chill again, as he was able to tell that if that dagger had landed on him, he would have been gravely injured, and perhaps killed.
Boom!
His aura exploded outwards instinctively, preparing to unleash his full might at the threat. He was sure the attack had come from the Grandmaster, as he was the only one strong enough to threaten John with such overwhelming lethality, and did not know if the man was merely testing him, or trying to permanently silence him.
He was going to make sure that if it was the latter, there would be a hellish battle on the Grandmasters hands, even if the battle was a futile one for John.
"Hohoho," wizened laughter drifted out from the Grandmaster, his laughter diffusing the situation, making John realize it had been a test after all. However, the test had been a real one, and had John not possessed the ability to detect the faintest killing intent like he had claimed, then the dagger would have landed, and he would have been killed.
He felt a cold bead of sweat form on his forehead.
'This Grandmaster is insane!'
"Not bad, young one," the Grandmaster said, voice tinged with amusement and praise. "Your instincts are terrifyingly sharp for one of your age and cultivation."
His head turned slightly, looking towards Zuri.
"Perhaps you have been telling the truth after all," he said," but discussing it here will serve no further purpose. Shadow of Pain, you will complete a detailed report, including everything Shadow Four-Eight gave to the enemy. Even if they are dead, they might have sent word of their findings to others before you arrived."
"It will be done," Zuri said, breathing a heavy breath of relief that the situation seemed to have been sorted out.
"As for you, young man," the Grandmaster said to John. "Since you have yet to take the initiation trial, I will bring you to the Guild Headquarters to personally test you myself."
Zuri's eyes went wide at this news, while the man on the right stiffened as if he wanted to protest but didn't, while the woman hummed with soft amusement once more. John realized this was some sort of special occasion or something worthy of the reactions he was seeing but remained silent. He would soon find out what being tested by this Grandmaster meant.
"That is all," the Grandmaster said, turning around to leave.
"Grandmaster," Zuri spoke up.
"Yes?" the man asked.
Zuri glanced at John, and then spoke up once more.
"I was going to travel soon to the Guild Headquarters to post a high-importance mission. I figured if you are going to head there now, I would join along for convenience," Zuri said.
John listened closely, as he was sure this was related to Zuri posting the mission to find Lilian.
"High-importance mission?" the Grandmaster mused. "One of your rank can only post a high-importance mission every five years. What mission is so important to you?" he said, his words surprising John.
He had no idea the cost of posting such a mission, and had no idea Zuri was willing to use such a valuable thing just for him. Clearly she valued him highly after his display in the chamber, and was willing to eat such a cost to get him loyal to her and the Guild. Regardless of the reason, his opinion of Zuri rose greatly upon hearing this.
She would have been able to use this credit on something like investigating her fathers death, but instead used it on John.
"I understand," Zuri said, nodding her head, and gesturing to John. "He lost someone important to him, and I want to post a mission to help find her."
The Grandmaster stared at her and then John, and then nodded his head.
"You have quite a high opinion of this youth to be willing to spend such a valuable resource on him," he said.
"I do," Zuri nodded.
"Very well," the Grandmaster said. "Both of you, follow me. We shall return to the Guild Headquarters immediately."
John followed closely behind, moving through the estate that was now under the control of the guild. His curiosity rose as he thought of the things to come, such as this mysterious trial that had everyone so worked up.
Joining an assassin guild, raiding an estate and finding out a horrifying conspiracy, and now heading to the assassin guilds headquarters to partake in some mysterious trial.
'It seems like my life on this world is about to become a lot more interesting.'
