Solaan's room wasn't as he had left it. Upon returning, he saw a few things that weren't here when he left.
On his bed sat three folded robes, gray with bronze trim. Their edges were marked by an unfamiliar insignia.
Next to the robes was a small pouch, a scroll, a book, and a small note.
Solaan read the note.
To the provisional scholar.
You are to arrive at the Imperial Academy within two days. Present this edict at the gate. No transport has been arranged but a few coins in the pouch for your journey.
Failure to arrive on time would automatically result in your expulsion.
Solaan wasn't expecting to be sent away so fast. The decree had only been made less than an hour ago and he was already required to set out.
He almost felt as though he was being directed to do something.
Nonetheless, he didn't have any problems with it. Leaving the palace felt like a good thing to do.
Quickly switching the slave uniform he had on with the better-looking gray robe, Solaan opened the pouch and inspected it.
There were two silver coins and four bronze ones.
Just this much?
They had truly only given him enough for his journey, nothing more, nothing less.
From his memories, Solaan knew that the Imperial Academy was over a hundred kilometers away.
At his peak, covering that distance would be light work. But with his current body and cultivation, he would have to reserve his strength and tread carefully.
Covering a distance of over a hundred kilometers on foot was a bit challenging. He would have to take short breaks, to eat and to recover his strength.
Moreover, he also had to remain alert because of people he could sense tailing him.
With no strong attachment to the room he was in, Solaan stepped out shortly. He packed the gray robes into a big cloth and tied it.
There was nothing of value in his room… nothing else to carry.
Though he seemed alright on the outside. The thought of it did have Solaan thinking.
It was a bit sad.
People live and cling to life due to their attachments to worldly things. How have you lived with no true desire?
He wondered.
Leaving through the eastern gates, Solaan still had to cross a few kilometers to get to the nearest town.
He soon found himself walking through a forest.
Since he had left the walls of the palace, the people tailing him seemed to have multiplied. And some of them even carried killing intent.
Although he didn't show any reactions, Solaan was a bit curious. He wanted to know how Neili would fare against Qi.
And also, what their differences were.
This would help him understand the term and concept. And what better way to do that than to fight?
His only worry was his little reserve of Neili and how much of his stamina would be drained. And also, he didn't want to expose himself yet.
I can use what's left of the life force I seized. Besides, cultivating with such energy could make my foundations unstable.
It's better to use it this way.
Solaan thought as he continued moving forward. As for the men tailing him, they had no clue that he was aware of them.
Even though they were skilled in stealth and well hidden a few meters away from him.
After some time, when the number of people following surpassed fifteen, he stopped in his tracks and sighed.
"Your killing intent is ruining the scent of the forest," He said aloud, not turning around. "If you're going to take my life, come and claim it."
The people trailing were stunned at first, wondering if the slave boy had gone mad. But surely, there were a few people here with killing intent.
About eight of them, and they were all people who showed up after he left the palace.
For almost a minute, no one responded. Just the soft breeze of the late morning, and the glow of the sun weaving through leaves.
And then, that was when it happened, seven men that appeared after he left the palace attacked those that came out of the palace with him.
Their exchange didn't last 10 seconds as they overwhelmed the other party with their numbers.
"You are quite a weird slave… perhaps a smart one." A man dressed in all black, with a black cloth covering his face, appeared on the branch of a tree in front of Solaan.
"His Grace does have a reason for wanting your head." The man added.
"An assassin?"
Is this because I was allegedly an accomplice in an attempt on a prince's life… or are they just brazen people in this Empire that do not fear their Emperor?
Despite not being a fan of politics, Solaan could tell a few things. At first, after leaving the Morning Court, he suspected it.
But when he read the note in his room, he was certain that there was an agenda, and he had a role to play in it.
What the agenda was, he was still uncertain.
"How were you able to sense our killing intent?" The man asked.
Curious to find out how a seemingly normal slave could sense them.
Meanwhile, the other people in hiding came out. Eleven of them including the assassin on the tree. Of them, only three others weren't directing their killing intent at Solaan.
It was directed at the other assassins.
"I don't particularly like to look down on others… Neither do I particularly like to look up at anyone." Solaan uttered calmly.
His words came off as arrogant and ignorant to these people.
How could a slave dare to say such to men who, by birth, were already considered to have a higher social status than he?
At the same time, they didn't think Solaan was dumb, after all, he had sensed them.
"Are you a Spiritual Scholar?" The assassin on the three asked. "No, I can't sense any Spirit Qi from you. You are through and through a mortal." He finished and his worries vanished.
The assassin was initially worried that Solaan was hiding his strength, but after buying time to repeatedly probe the young man, he was certain that he didn't have Qi in him.
"I suppose you can die no—"
"An assassin who talks too much. It's no wonder you were sent to take the life of a simple mortal."
Solaan's rebuttal caught him off guard, irking the man.
"I wasn't asked to kill you quickly. I'll take my time stripping the life out of you." He jumped down from the tree.
Even up until this point, these people couldn't see an ounce of fear on Solaan's face or body language.
This was one of the reasons why they had held their hands.
"I suppose several of you guys come from different factions," Solaan uttered as he observed them closely. "I am curious to know what your masters want with me, but I dare not approach them now."
"… Do you all know what your first mistake was?" He looked at all of them. "Killing those men taking me from the palace. Without them here, I wouldn't have sent reservations in killing you guys."
Since none of them had taken the initiative to attack, Solaan moved first. Circulating Neili into his feet, his figure vanished and he appeared before the assassin who jumped down from the tree.
With a fist coated in Neili, Solaan struck the man's chest.
Boom!