"This person named Silas Vane should have used his Shadow Talent to hide his body, so I can't see him with the naked eye."
Ryan immediately began analyzing the situation.
"Since he has awakened his talent, there is no doubt that he's already a Blood Warrior. But with only Inferior Cultivation Talent, his cultivation should be limited. He should be around Rank 1 Blood Warrior Initial Stage."
In only an instant, Ryan had roughly figured out Silas's situation.
It was already evening.
Night was about to fall, and most of the academy's students had already left.
Ryan was the only person in this grove.
The purpose of Silas hiding here was self-evident.
"Are you here to assassinate me?"
Ryan said secretly in his heart.
He didn't know Silas.
It was obvious that someone had hired him to assassinate Ryan.
As for who had hired him, Ryan could only think of 2 people.
Connor Blake.
Victor Langford.
Both came from prominent Blood Warrior families, and both undoubtedly had enough money and connections to hire an assassin.
Ryan couldn't be certain which one of them had done it.
However, after thinking about it, he suspected Connor more.
Victor had already left Aegis Martial Academy and seemed to be occupied with matters involving his family's inheritance. He probably didn't have much time to arrange an assassination against Ryan.
Connor, on the other hand, had a direct grudge against him and had recently returned from seclusion after attempting to break through to Rank 1.
"Connor Blake... was it you?"
Murderous intent flashed through Ryan's eyes.
Of course, without evidence, he couldn't be certain.
"If I find out who sent you, I won't let him go!"
Ryan swore silently.
The current situation was dangerous.
But it was also an opportunity.
His copying ability could be used again.
He had been thinking about what kind of talent he should copy next, and now a valuable talent had appeared directly in front of him.
Shadow Talent was unquestionably an extremely useful ability.
Even someone who wasn't particularly strong could become extremely dangerous with the ability to hide inside shadows.
And once Ryan possessed Shadow Talent, many things that were previously difficult or impossible would become much easier.
"If I want the Shadow Talent, I must first deal with Silas Vane!"
Ryan thought calmly.
He continued walking slowly.
In the darkness, he could feel that killing intent was about to erupt.
Silas was preparing to make his move.
But just as Silas was about to attack, Ryan moved first.
Whoosh!
Ryan suddenly turned.
His saber flashed toward the seemingly empty shadow beneath the tree.
Silas clearly hadn't expected Ryan to know where he was.
Clang!
A knife struck against Ryan's saber.
Ryan stepped forward immediately, not giving Silas the space needed to attack freely.
His saber swept out again.
Silas twisted aside, but the blade still struck his arm.
"Boy, you're looking for death!"
Silas appeared from his shadow state.
His expression had completely changed.
He had originally believed assassinating Ryan would be easy.
But the moment the fight began, everything had gone wrong.
Silas switched his knife to his left hand and attacked again.
Clang!
Ryan raised his saber and blocked.
He didn't give Silas room to circle around him.
Step by step, Ryan advanced, constantly forcing the assassin backward while his saber threatened him from different angles.
Silas's expression gradually became ugly.
Ryan was stronger than he had expected.
His saber technique was sharp, and it was extremely difficult for Silas to land a clean attack.
Soon, Ryan had forced him into a position where retreat became increasingly difficult.
Silas suddenly found an opening and slipped away.
His figure flickered.
Then the entire person disappeared.
"Boy, you wait!"
Silas's voice came from the darkness.
However, Ryan did not stop.
His eyes moved toward what appeared to be an empty patch of ground.
Then he swung his saber directly toward it.
Clang!
A figure was forced out of the shadows.
It was Silas.
"Damn it, you actually saw through my Shadow Talent, it can't be!"
Silas stared at Ryan in disbelief.
Within Greyhaven, ordinary Blood Warriors had great difficulty discovering him once he entered the shadows.
That was precisely why he had survived for so long as an assassin.
Yet Ryan had somehow seen through his concealment.
Ryan didn't answer.
He simply raised his saber and advanced again.
Silas tried to disappear once more.
But as long as he remained within Ryan's detection range, hiding his body was meaningless.
Ryan blocked another desperate attack and forced Silas backward.
Silas continued resisting, but his condition grew worse with each exchange.
Finally, Ryan seized an opening.
His saber flashed forward and struck Silas across the neck.
Silas staggered.
A moment later, he collapsed and died.
"Fortunately, the corpse is intact, otherwise there would be no way to copy the talent!"
Ryan breathed a sigh of relief.
He had already experimented with this restriction of his copying ability before.
Once a corpse was damaged too severely, his ability would no longer be able to detect the talent, and naturally, there would be no way to copy it.
"Copy the Shadow Talent!"
Ryan's heart moved, and he began to copy.
In an instant, the Shadow Talent was successfully copied.
Instead of returning home immediately, Ryan began fusing the talent on the spot.
Fusing the Primary Shadow Talent was not too painful for Ryan.
After all, his physical strength was far from comparable to before, and after undergoing several talent fusions, he had gradually become accustomed to the process.