24 Chapter 23

Reid woke up feeling refreshed despite spending all night awake. Immediately after dinner, his mother had led him to an empty clearing close to where they were residing for training.

Sometimes he wondered what went through her mind. He had never been so sore and exhausted before. Truly, the sharingan is a powerful tool. He doubted he'd be able to move at the moment if it wasn't for [Gamer Body].

He gotten fairly used to using it but it could be better. There was the fear that his body wouldn't be able to keep up with it but it was quickly destroyed as he was easily able to react to what he could see.

He had also realized something. Unlocking the sharingan allowed him to see Miko's move…that was until she increased her speed but it was progress nonetheless. He wanted to ask for her help in a project he was working on but it was already late and he had no energy to start.

He would also like to try it himself before asking for her help in it. He had been advised to stay within the confines of the house because the people were still skeptical about them and it would be easier to avoid trouble.

Although that was said, it didn't stop him from having visitors, such as the white haired child currently poking his arm at the moment. He clicked his tongue in irritation.

"Will you stop that!?" He spoke annoyedly, to which Ashton replied with a grin.

"Finally! You've been giving me the silent treatment all day. What was it like at their house!? Tell me! Tell me!" He asked like a kid high on sugar.

"There's nothing special about it." Reid answered, earning an indignant snort from their third other companion. Blake was put out by his words but didn't say anything. Their parents were somewhere discussing important business and thought it would be a great idea for the three of them to spend some time together.

The headache that started to grow when Reid was informed of this continued piling up even till this very moment. He would prefer to be training but instead he was here.

'What a pain.' He thought, mentally exhausted from Ashton's antics. Another thing that gave him a headache was watching Ashton try and fail to talk to Blake. Knowing his normal behavior, it was a predictable failure.

He watched him at his latest attempt before standing to his feet with a sigh. He looked around before picking a destination and walking off.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Blake called out seeing that he was walking away. He pondered on whether to let them know for a moment before speaking.

"There's something I want to get here." He answered vaguely which didn't quell her curiosity one bit.

"And what exactly is that?" She asked once again. This time, Ashton was also listening for his reply.

"Nothing you need to worry yourself about." He answered before turning and walking away causing Blake to frown before she spoke.

"Well I'm coming with you! Dad says I have to stay with you guys, so it's my job to come along and make sure you don't get lost." She said, as if trying to convince herself.

"Do what you want." Reid threw back without slowing down his pace which she ran ahead to meet.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Ashton screamed as he was seemingly ignored.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unlike what he thought, the faunus who sold stuff on menagerie weren't looking at them in hate or overpricing their items. They only had a slight look of apprehension before it vanished when he wasn't bothered by it.

'It seems that here, as long you don't treat them bad then you won't have any problems…most of them.' Not all of them followed that concept.

The trio had walked around for a while, going from shop to shop with Reid leading them. He still refused to tell them what exactly he was looking for.

••••••••••••••••

[Area Sense has leveled up!]

••••••••••••••••

It was now at level four, increasing his range even more. With the amount of people here moving about, the skill leveled up faster.

"What are you looking for that's so important?" Ashton groaned in boredom as he clutched his head.

Ashton was bored and Blake was irritated. She had no choice other than to follow him or her dad wouldn't let her hear the end of it. It's bad enough that he ignored her throughout, now she was technically being dragged around.

"If I knew what you're looking for it would make this much fas-Ahh!" She didn't complete it as she walked into Reid who had completely stopped.

"Don't just stop like that!" Blake complained irritatedly but Reid turned around looking at her with complete seriousness which she had never seen before.

"I'm looking for where they sell dust. Any idea where that is?"He asked, his expression not changing. Surprised by the strangeness in his mood, Blake could only stutter out a reply.

"U-Um…I know a place?" It was more of a question than an answer but he let her lead the way and walked at the same pace behind her with Ashton.

Ashton who had been complaining all day was strangely silent which creeped Blake out even more.

It didn't take long for them to find themselves in front of a small shop with different colored crystals on display. Still weirded out, Blake watched him purchase a small amount of uncut dust.

She watched with wide eyes as he nonchalantly shoved it in his pocket.

"Hey, that's dangerous!" She called out trying to explain but was quickly shut up as he grabbed her by her arm and quickly pulled her away. With his higher stats, it was easy.

"What are you-!" She trailed off as her eyes trailed to where she was previously standing. A black violent scorch mark was etched on the ground. The area of kuo kuana they were in was mostly deserted so the very few people present were already fleeing in panic.

"I'm impressed that you were able to dodge that." A scratchy voice sounded out.

"So you finally came out. I was wondering how long you'd keep following us. Come out!" Reid spoke coolly, looking straight at the roof of the building to their left.

"So you noticed me. In all my years I never thought I'd be discovered by a snotty kid." The voice said as a figure with a blank white mask stood up from a crouched position on the roof Reid stared at. He was holding what looked to be a highly advanced sniper rifle.

'Mechashift weapon?' Reid thought, noticing the ridiculous amount of gears on the weapon.

"W-what's going on?" Blake stuttered out in fear, still on the floor.

"Who's that?" Ashton asked completely focused on the masked figure. There was no sign of his usually playfully self anywhere.

"How would I know? I'm just as clueless." Reid answered, not taking his eyes off the man.

"Enough talking. While you two aren't my targets, I can't say the same about you little girl. Let's get this over with!" The masked man said gesturing to Blake, whose eyes widened ridiculously.

Without giving them any time to think, he dashed towards Blake as his rifle shifted into a polearm. The weapon struck thin air as the cat faunus was longer there. Reid stood a small distance away carrying Blake in his arms, his sharingan activated.

The moment he saw the masked man move, he used [Flash Step] to get Blake out of the way. He felt her shivering in fear as the man in front of them looked at them murderously.

'She's not going to be much help here.' Reid thought as he looked at Ashton from the corner of his eye and received a slight nod from him. They were thinking the same thing which surprised him.

"Run. Find my mom and your dad and bring them here." He ordered, setting her down on her feet.

"What about the guards!? What about both of you!?" She asked, afraid and panicked. Reid stood in front of her as Ashton joined his side, standing in between her and the man.

"The guards won't be much help or they would have caught him already. Now go!" He ordered firmly, not looking at her. That shocked her into action as she turned around and fled the scene.

"Meddling kids! Don't waste your time. You're only delaying her demise!" He yelled madly and leapt towards her fleeing figure.

He was intercepted as Reid, using [Flash Step], appeared in front of him with a kick aimed at his rib. He caught it with no problem but that wasn't the goal.

"Ackk!!!" He let out a sound as Ashton landed a kick on the space in between his neck and his shoulder, sending him back down to the floor.

They now stood side by side as he got up, rubbing his slightly sore shoulder.

"I'm no longer amused. Forget what I said earlier, I'll kill the both of you." He said, brandishing his spear.

"Bring it!" Ashton taunted with a grin. More angered by his words, the assassin went for him first, thrusting his spear at him.

He dodged by stepping back, out of reach of the weapon before it changed targets and went towards Reid who jumped over it. While in the air, he took out a few stones from his inventory and aimed them at him.

He retracted his spear and twirled it to deflect the incoming projectiles. As the first one made contact with the spear, he was shocked as he was immediately pushed back by an unexpected force.

'What! What was that!?' He thought, trying to figure out what happened. He looked at the stones wearily. He wasn't given time to analyze as Ashton rushed towards him with Reid giving him ranged support.

He dodged a powerful kick from the white haired boy and tried to counterattack, only to be forced to dodge by one of those unforgiving stones. He couldn't let either one connect as it would be bad. He didn't even think of tanking the white haired kid's attacks after the first one that landed on his neck.

'These kids aren't normal!' He thought as he was forced to dodge a jab, only to be cornered as a stone was already en route to his head as he dodged.

'Shit! I got distracted!' He cursed internally before a resolved look appeared on his face.

Just as the stone was about to hit his head, he suddenly disappeared without a trace.

"What!?" Ashton exclaimed in shock as he immediately jumped back and landed beside Reid.

"What's going on? Where did he go?" Reid wondered out loud. Even with [Area Sense] he couldn't find him.

"Here!" His body suddenly tensed as he spun around with a dagger that appeared in his hand, slashing behind him.

*Clang!*

The sound of metal striking metal rang out as Reid's dagger blocked a downward slash from the polearm user that appeared behind them. It didn't last long as said polearm user was stronger than him.

He quickly retracted the weapon and swung it at the young boy who tried to block it with his dagger. Although he blocked it, he was sent flying away and landed on his back.

Ashton who was still in shock suffered the same fate as he was also knocked back.

"I can't believe I'm being being pushed this much by little kids. I'll admit it. You're good but this ends here!!!" He disappeared from his position, appearing in front of Reid, swinging the weapon at his head.

Having learnt his lesson, he jumped over it and threw a kick that was blocked by the spear. The spear slashed at him midair only to go straight through him as he dispersed with the wind.

Reid appeared at his side with [Flash Step] with a slash through the tendon at the back of his leg, spilling blood. The man let out a scream and directed his spear backwards to hit him away, only to stumble and miss as Ashton kicked behind his knee.

The two jumped in tandem, both aiming a punch at his head only to miss as he disappeared once again. They landed softly, panting a bit.

"We can't keep this up forever." Ashton said, his breathing uneven as he watched the man appear a short distance in front of them.

"We won't have to. With that injury he won't be able to move as fast as before. Also…I think I've figured out what how to end this." He spoke, low enough for only Ashton to hear. The white haired boy's eyes widened hearing that.

The man in front of them standing tentatively in front of them only saw their mouths move but could barely hear anything.

"It doesn't matter how much you scheme. It's hopeless if you can't touch me!" He yelled with a crazed grin.

"You say that but you're the one bleeding." Reid challenged with a smug smirk causing the grin on his face to falter as it was replaced with a frown.

"Follow my lead." Reid whispered to Ashton.

'The black haired one, he's the brains of their attack. I need to separate them and take him out first if I want to end this.' He thought before looking in surprise as other boy shot out first.

"Hey what are you doing!?" Reid screamed in irritation as Ashton rushed out on his own.

'You just made my job easier. Kids will forever be that same, impulsive and impatient.' He said as he disappeared from his position just as Ashton reached him. What he didn't notice was that Reid reached into his pocket and retrieved something. Though he kept his palm closed, hiding what it was.

"It's over!!!" He screamed as he appeared behind Reid, his thrusted spear only an inch away from taking his head off.

Just as the spear dug into Reid's neck, the sound of violently chirping birds rang out right before he lost feeling in his body.

"Kk-!!" He coughed out blood as he felt weak.

"W-what h-happened?" He asked in confusion. He looked down at his body to see a lightning encased hand was sticking out of his chest.

"I'll tell you what's going on…" A cold voice spoke from behind him causing him to widen his eyes in familiarity. He looked at the boy who was pierced by his polearm just in time to see him dissipate.

With the small amount of strength left in him, he strained his neck to see who was behind him. His eyes hidden behind the mask met black hair and glowing red eyes.

"…you're dying!" Reid finished coldly with his arm having already pierced through the masked assassin's heart.