Moving away, Adam heard the sharp sound of a system notification in his ear.
Looking at it, his eyes widened.
There was this kind of milestone?
[Ding! For rejecting someone for the first time, you have earned the title: [Heartbreaker] ]
Rolling his eyes, he thought: 'Too soon to joke."
He swiftly pulled up the details of the title.
[Heartbreaker: You have broken someone's heart. Which reveals a part of yourself, and your steadiness. As you reject other's confessions, who have deep feelings for you, who you have attachments with, your steadiness solidifies. Raising the clarity of your heart, causing your appearance stat to increase by 0.1. Count: 1 (Total: 0.1)]
While he did not mind getting his appearance improved, he would not seek to improve this skill.
Now far from the inn, Adam walked through the street.
The stone street that was shrouded in shadows, echoing as he stepped.
Having rejected Yerlarain, he had one less task to take care of.
While he would still see through getting the Violetstones help, it would be as a friend.
His decision would likely cause him to not get along with Micheis again, having made Yerlarain cry.
Once he finished with getting help from Miltivan for them, by then he may have also found a person to use the Skill Usurper ticket on.
Zarthak having the 100+ win streak meant that he was not ordinary, there was something special about him.
His thoughts turned to the tests that Miltivan mentioned, he wondered what they could be.
Where would they occur?
Would they be sudden?
Taking a breath, he walked for a while.
A faint sound entered his ears.
Looking over his shoulder, he saw what looked to be a shadow shifting.
Unsure if it was, he walked to one of the nearby buildings, lowering his head as he peered into the alleyway.
After examining around him for a minute, he continued walking.
Taking a breath of refreshing night air, he headed back to the inn.
He half anticipated seeing Yerlarain, but, it appeared that she was in her room.
Not wanting to stir up anything, he decided that he would pack up at the inn, and move to the arena.
This would save him time for the commute to the arena, and give Yerlarain space.
Time could help her heal.
Having helped her out, he would prefer not to make an enemy out of her and the Violetstones, who were starting to recover.
His bag packed, he took a late-night carriage ride which costed extra, to the arena.
Announcing he was there, he was let in by one of the staff, and was given a room.
Thanking them, he looked at where he would be staying now.
The accommodations were nicer than the inn, but less than the castle.
Which was to be expected, if Adam was being honest.
There was a bed, window, dresser, desk, like the one in the castle.
But, the furniture was high end rather than top end.
Laying down onto the salmon bed, Adam looked up.
His arms stretched over his head, he sighed.
Adam's eyes gradually closed.
His breathing softening, his chest rose and lowered rhythmically.
Focus slipping, he yawned.
Right as he was about to sleep he heard a creak.
Jumping up, his eyes narrowed, as he saw a large shadow shift in the corner.
The shadow in the corner warped, emerging out of it was the shape of a human.
Masked, and holding twin ebony knives, they lunged towards him.
Shadows seeming to bleed out of the air as the knives were drove towards him.
A combination of irritated and surprised, Adam struck his leg out at their head.
The masked individual slammed against the wall.
A deep groan emerged from their lips, as they pushed themselves up.
However by then, Adam pulled out his sword, slashing up, his sword drew a vertical line on their mask.
The cloth mask dropping to the ground, he slightly wished it to be someone he knew.
However, it wasn't.
Driving his knee up, he struck their chin, causing the intruder to strike their head against the wall.
Their head dropping down, they fainted.
Using one of the bed sheets as rope he covered their mouths, and bound their arms.
He checked the knives, and was a bit surprised by their description.
[Iron (Shadow) Knives: Weapons made of quality iron, that are imbued with shadow magic, providing a subtle cloaking effect. They seemed to be dipped in poison.]
Though not amazing, he could sell them, once he cleaned off the poison.
Stashing them away, Adam looked at the intruder.
He was left with three choices.
One, he could kill them, having been nearly slain.
Two was he could get them imprisoned.
Or three, he could try to get the assassin on his side.
However, the third choice was wishful thinking, and his best means of persuasion would be money.
Unless they were not an assassin for hire, and rather worked for a family.
Having examined all they had, he saw nothing that would denote that they were from one.
That said, having anything of the sort that did, would be a rookie mistake.
In novels, when the protagonist at the risk of death by their enemies, the enemy was either spared, killed by the protagonist, or someone else dealt with them.
Determining he would be likely more rewarded by getting the assassin locked up, he dragged them into the center of the empty reception hall.
Upon locking and blocking both the window and door, he slept.
In the morning, Adam met with the manager, to confirm that it was fine for him to stay.
He looked around and no longer saw the bound intruder.
Adam thought: 'They must have dealt with it.'
Wilbonn enthusiastic, nodded and said it was all good for him to be there.
Mentioning how seeing the 2nd largest star around was good for the arena's publicity.
Adam gave his thanks to Wilbonn and started his matches for the day.
Which, held no surprises for him, netting him five more wins to his streak.
He was fast approaching his next arena milestone.