Warrior Training System

As Cassian stared at the bloody scene in front of him, shocked and for some reason annoyed, he began to take in the details. The half-dead body wore clothing similar to his own, leading him to deduce it was likely a servant. The shoes were the same as his, and he guessed it was a man, given the pants, though he had no intention of confirming that by looking any closer.

The cause of death seemed clear—his upper body had been blasted apart, some of it evaporated, with chunks scattered across the room. The remnants had splattered everywhere, including on Lady Katherine's face and hair, which Lucy and Fuyuko were hurriedly cleaning with worried expressions.

Cassian guessed that Lady Katherine was the one who had killed the person, but he wondered why and how. The brutality of the scene suggested the use of magic, which made sense since Lady Katherine was a mage. He could only speculate about what spell she might have used and why.

As Cassian stepped into the room, Katherine didn't seem fazed by the gruesome sight. With a calm smile, she said, "You're here. As you can see, we've had a bit of a problem. We need to leave for the Magisteria earlier than I planned. Go pack your things, but keep it light—we need to leave discreetly."

Cassian didn't know what to say, so he awkwardly nodded. "Okay?" His eyes, however, remained fixed on the half-dead body on the floor. Katherine noticed his confusion and smiled, offering an explanation. "That was the leader of the terrorist group that attacked us a few weeks ago—the one they called the Demon, remember? He was impressive, like I said.

The bastard used the chaos he created to slip into the inner castle, disguised himself as a servant, and then tried to kill me. As you can see, it didn't end well for him," she explained in one breath.

Cassian was still in shock, but at least his confusion had cleared. What's more, he realized he didn't have to clean up this mess since he was heading to Magisteria with her. Strangely, on a day he thought would be boring, something so unexpected had happened. It almost felt like someone was pulling the strings of his life, as if writing his future. "Such a strange feeling," he muttered to himself.

Still standing in the room, Cassian only moved when Katherine said, "Now go, get ready. We have to slip out today, or if my mother finds out I was the target of the attack, she won't let me leave." With a quick bow, Cassian headed off to pack his things.

"Lady Katherine, I must again advise you to stay here. We can protect you better in the castle than out there, where we have little to no authority," Tyron said, his concern evident.

"I can't stay. I can take care of myself, alright," Katherine replied, glancing at the dead body. She had been a bit careless, letting the assassin get so close, but it couldn't be helped. The sleep she got after Cassian's massages had been too comfortable, and in that deep rest, she hadn't noticed the intruder soon enough.

If she had, he'd be dead outside her room instead of near her bed, where she'd had to kill him, staining herself in his filthy blood. But there was something else about this so-called Demon that still gave her the creeps.

Tyron understood that Katherine could handle herself, but he couldn't shake his worry. She was important to him, not just because of her status, but because she was one of the few pure-bloods of Ven Dyke who didn't look down on mixed-bloods like him. That's why he had chosen Cassian to serve her, knowing Cassian wouldn't face any problems under her care.

Katherine sighed, seeing the concern still lingering in Tyron's eyes. She knew he wouldn't try to stop her if she insisted, so she didn't press the issue. Rising to her feet, she walked toward the washroom, instructing, "Stand here and let no one in except Cassian. Tell him to wait when he arrives while I clean up." Without pausing for a response, she continued, "Lucy, help me clean up.

Fuyuko, pack some clothes and everything on my work table."

With that, Katherine left to clean herself, while Tyron, still looking worried, muttered, "The lady's in danger—why can't she understand that? It's the first time in centuries that someone's attacked Scarlet Castle, and it was just to kill her. What will happen when they find out she's left the safety of this place?"

It was clear he was speaking to Fuyuko, but she remained as cold and focused as ever, packing Katherine's belongings. "The lady is determined to go to Magisteria," she said flatly. "Nothing will stop her—not even if it makes her mother furious. She will still go."

Tyron's frustration simmered, knowing all too well why this attack had happened, and that it certainly wouldn't be the last. Whoever was responsible didn't matter to him—there would be more attempts in the future, and he was painfully aware of that. Lady Katherine knew it too, but unlike him, she seemed utterly indifferent.

As Tyron's gaze fell once more on the mangled corpse lying in the middle of the room, something caught his eye. The body, which had only its lower half intact, lay in a grotesque pool of blood and viscera, its upper half blasted away, leaving exposed ribs and shredded flesh where the torso had once been.

The torn remnants of clothing clung to what was left of the servant's legs, but there was a movement—something crawling beneath the fabric of the corpse's pants, traveling unnaturally from the leg toward the exposed stomach.

A sense of dread crept over Tyron. His instincts kicked in, urging him to distance himself from the body. His voice came out sharp and commanding as he backed away. "Miss Fuyuko, take cover!"

The words barely escaped his lips before the mutilated body suddenly twitched, then convulsed violently. There was a sickening tearing sound as a spray of blood exploded from where the upper half had been obliterated. The walls, already smeared with gore, were drenched anew in crimson. But it wasn't just blood that spewed from the corpse this time.

From the hollow cavity of what remained of the torso, four grotesque long arms began to emerge, unnaturally thin, and slick with blood, the pale flesh covered in torn bits of muscle and tissue. These arms, impossibly contorted, pushed out from the inside of the corpse as if they were crawling their way to freedom.

With a slithering motion, the arms extended themselves further until they were fully outside, and what was left of the servant's body began to move. The dead body—if it could even be called that—used the four limbs to prop itself up, rising unnervingly on those twisted arms like some macabre puppet being yanked to its feet.

The legs, half-missing and barely functional, dragged beneath the hideous thing.

Tyron watched in horror as the creature stood, its four arms splayed out like a nightmarish spider, still dripping with blood and bits of flesh. The malformed hands gripped bone spikes, jagged and sharp, clearly torn from within the corpse itself. The creature's eerie movements, along with the sickening squelch of blood and flesh, sent a wave of fear through both Tyron and Fuyuko.

"Gods above…" Tyron muttered, unable to tear his eyes away from the horrific sight. He could see the terror in Fuyuko's eyes, her face pale as she backed away slowly, clearly as stunned as he was.