11 A bit of talk... and tussle.

Was Rosaria weak?

She had thought of this before.

Since she was just a child, she had been living with bandits on Dragonspine. She would oftentimes help them to scout or help in a job.

Because of this, she had to naturally hone her skills to not die in each job.

But everything changed on that day. The day when she had to make a choice.

Alas, she was never given a choice to begin with. The only person that looked out for her, taught her how to kill, and the one that became her father figure— killed by her own hands.

At that moment, it felt like time had stopped for her. She was lost in her thought— contemplating her decisions.

The bandit gang was starving that day. Food was scarce and they needed to remove some members. So, the old man that looked out for Rosaria challenged her to a fight.

Before she knew it, a vision had already appeared in her hands. A cryo vision.

The bandits found Rosaria useful since then. After all, what is an old man compared to someone that wields a vision?

Since then, Rosaria had been trained by the bandits to become stronger to do their work, honing her skills.

It was not only when Varka led the Knights to eradicate their camp in Dragonspine did Rosaria got free.

And although Rosaria did not like it, she found herself feeling indebted to Mondstadt for saving her, thus deciding to protect it from the shadows.

And now, standing in front of a man that has only two blades, Rosaria clenched her fists. "Don't move."

Rosaria may look like she's about to fight Albert with her bare fist, but in reality, she has three daggers hidden in her clothes.

Calmly humming, Albert decided to sit back down. "Are you really gonna do this?"

"I don't want to fight and neither do you." Albert said confidently.

Though, this was only a facade. In reality, he still feels a bit weak, but enough to hold her down and escape.

As for Rosaria, she still hasn't completely analyzed Albert's strength. Fighting him would be tantamount to fighting the unknown.

As such, he intended to talk with her calmly. "Come on now... It's not like I'll kill someone as beautiful as you are."

"Tch." Rosaria clicked her tongue. "What's your game?"

"What do you mean?" Albert replied.

"You're the one that killed that inspector from Ordo Favonius, right?" She looked at him with fierce eyes.

"And if I am?" Albert smirked.

[+10 Fame Points]

Just then, a system window appeared at the bottom right corner of his view. Albert subtly looked at it and sighed in relief internally. 'So my guess is right.'

'The more I act, the more fame points I get.' He thought. 'Though, another possibility is also publicly showing off... But right now, that is not the best time to test.'

Hearing this, Rosaria clenched her teeth. "I only have one question. Why?"

"Quite bold of you," Albert said. "Asking for information from an assassin... Isn't that tantamount to asking for death?"

Hearing this, Rosaria subconsciously backed away and prepared to take out the daggers she has on her.

"I won't be taking those out if I were you," Albert said.

He then stood up and intended to leave. 'I need to leave now. Who knows if she called Varka here...'

The door was right behind Rosaria, but it seems like she was not gonna move.

She then took out two daggers and positioned herself in a fighting stance. "You're not gonna leave here."

Hearing this, Albert sighed. "Are you sure you want to fight? I mean—"

While Albert was in the middle of his sentence, Rosaria moved swiftly and ran towards him at a quick pace.

She then stretched her arm out, intending to puncture Albert's arm.

Albert reacted quickly and took out his hidden blades.

Ting—!*

The hidden blade that appeared beneath Albert's hand dropped the dagger.

"Huh?" Rosaria muttered. She was sure that Albert had no weapons left on him when she brought him here.

She then jumped back. She then crossed her arms while holding her daggers. "You truly are an assassin... Cowards who love hiding their weapons and going for sneak attacks."

'Quite the hypocrite, aren't you?' Albert amused himself when he heard this. 'Too bad I'm also a hypocrite.'

He then shook his head with a smile. "Ah, but milady, although you are not wrong about that, there is much more to us assassins than that, you know?"

Rosaria scoffed. "Hah, like what?"

"Not gonna tell." Albert grinned. "The third tenet of our brotherhood is to never compromise it, after all."

"Brotherhood?" This word piqued Rosaria's interest.

[+30 Fame Points]

Albert smiled at this message. 'Forgive me, master... But I have to break the third tenet.'

"Perhaps I've spoken too much." Albert faked a sigh. "Truly, I'm sure Grand Master Altaïr would scold me for this..."

Albert softly said the last part, to the point of it sounding like a whisper.

However, Rosaria managed to hear it. 'Grand Master? A brotherhood and a master... Is he in an organization?'

[+40 Fame Points]

'I am severely breaking the third tenet, but I must make the necessary sacrifice.' Albert ironed his will. 'Forgive me... Master Ezio.'

Thinking of this, Albert decided to stop here. He then turned more serious.

"Although I'd love to stay and chat with you more, I am needed in other places," Albert said whilst walking towards her. "As such, I will have to end our conversation here."

"You're never gonna leav—" Before Rosaria could finish, Albert moved extremely fast and lunged toward her.

Rosaria saw this and tried to dodge, but when she did, Albert's arm moved along with her.

Thinking that he will cut her down, Rosaria tried to defend herself from the approaching hand of Albert using her cry vision.

Elemental energy started appearing around her, trying to form a cry shield, but it was too late. Albert's hand was already closer and it was fast.

"Have a good sleep, alright?" However, contrary to her expectations, Albert didn't kill her.

"Ugh!" But instead, he hit a certain area of her jaw which caused her to be knocked out.

The jaw houses a lot of nerves, as such, it is always the target for martial artists to knock their opponents out.

But Albert restrained himself so that she won't suffer any major issues.

"Have a nice good rest..." Albert softly smiled. "My fame points maker..."

With Rosaria picking up Albert's mumblings earlier, she would no doubt want to learn more about the brotherhood he talked out.

Which she may also say to Varka.

Albert predicted this and thus, only mentioned an unknown organization known as the Brotherhood and a mysterious mentor known as Altaïr.

If Rosaria does mention this to Varka, then Albert would no doubt earn more points.

As for the Brotherhood itself, Albert decided to compromise it as it does not really exist in this world.

...Yet

So even if Varka tries to find out more about the Brotherhood, he would learn nothing.

'A perfect plan.' Albert thought.

He then stretched out his arms. 'Fighting right after waking up... That sure doesn't feel nice.'

Placing his hands back down, he noticed something hidden in Rosaria's pocket.

It was a golden item.

Curious, Albert decided to take it out.

When he saw it, he entered a moment of confusion. 'A geo vision? But why is it on Rosaria? Wasn't she supposed to be cryo?'

He then inspected it using the analysis feature of his system

•~•

Name: Vision

Type: Geo

Description: A manifestation of a person's ambition to form a stage. A stage where he is every actor and the audience is the world.

(Lvl.1) [Elemental skill: Actors on Stage]

- Forms a Geo Construct called "Puppet Actors", resembling a human with an appearance that can be changed according to the user's will.

- Will only last for ten seconds.

(Lvl. 1) [Elemental Burst: The Play of Life]

- Summons the Grand Stage of the World.

While inside, everyone that is within the skill's radius would be replicated and have a Puppet Actor similar to them that has their skills. (Excluding Elemental Skills and Burst)

- There can only be two Puppet Actors under this that can be formed at the moment.

- The duration of Geo Constructs lasts for only fifteen seconds

Owner: Albert Derichs

[System Note: Do remember that elemental manipulation is not limited to your Elemental Skill/Burst.]

•~•

"Huh?!" When Albert saw this, he couldn't help but exclaim out loud. "Am I seeing things?"

He then rubbed his eyes just to make sure. But it was still there.

'My very own... Vision?'