Stealth Assassination Art

This guy really had no shame. Barely a moment after agreeing to his offer, he already had his eye on the assassination art the Fatui used to train their agents.

Christie was speechless. He tugged at the brim of his black hood, trying to conceal the enviably young, handsome face exposed by his broken mask.

The assassination art taught to Debt Collectors was considered a secret art outside the organization, but within the Fatui, it was nothing particularly valuable.

Since this bastard had agreed to let him go, there was no harm in giving him the Stealth Assassination Art.

Once I get away and head back, who's going to bother with you? We're never meeting again!

Li Qiuzhi had no idea what he was thinking, and would not have cared even if he did. He was merely giving him a reason to hand over the skill willingly.

Humans were contradictory creatures like that.

If Li Qiuzhi really threatened Christie with force, what if he felt humiliated, his pride so badly wounded that he could not stand it, and declared he would rather die?

Could Li Qiuzhi really kill him then?

It was not easy to encounter a Debt Collector he could beat at his current level. The stronger ones could use sacrificial knives imbued with Pyro, after all, while Christie only used an alloy-forged Mercenary Ritual Blade.

The Mercenary Ritual Blade was only a two-star weapon. Above it were the three-star Agent's Sacrificial Knife and the four-star Inspector's Sacrificial Knife.

Imbuing a poor-quality sacrificial knife with elemental power could easily reduce the hardness of its material, making the weapon brittle. That was hardly worth the risk in battle.

The consequences of a weapon suddenly shattering in the middle of a fight were easy to imagine.

He wondered whether Christie knew how to imbue a weapon with Pyro, or whether the higher-grade sacrificial knives were actually elemental weapons made with Pyro ore, like the Quenched Arrow.

"Since you want the Stealth Assassination Art, I can write it down for you from memory."

All Christie wanted now was to satisfy this guy's demands as quickly as possible, then get out of there.

"All right."

There was nothing available here to write with, so Li Qiuzhi took him to Mondstadt General Goods, which had not yet closed, and bought paper and a quill.

Li Qiuzhi was not worried about him falsifying it. After all, Teyvat had no concept of cultivation deviation, and as long as he could successfully learn the basics, that would prove the skill Christie gave him was genuine.

During this time, Li Qiuzhi also asked about Debt Collectors using Pyro to coat their blades for attacks.

Christie seemed a little surprised. He had not expected Li Qiuzhi to know about that, but those were elemental weapons that only higher-ranking agents who had perfected the Stealth Assassination Art had a chance of obtaining.

Li Qiuzhi was a little disappointed to learn it was merely an effect of the weapon. Still, that made sense. How could secret arts capable of controlling elemental power be so common?

Otherwise, the Fatui would not have needed to develop Delusions modeled after Visions, despite their side effects.

After obtaining the training instructions for the Stealth Assassination Art, Li Qiuzhi asked Christie for a way to contact him, then let him leave.

With his main objective accomplished, Li Qiuzhi returned to Sanborn's Fishing Tackle Shop.

By then, Lucaer had also left. Only Sanborn remained, slumped dejectedly in the chair behind the counter.

"What's wrong, Mr. Sanborn?" Li Qiuzhi asked with concern, though his expression made it fairly clear that things had not gone the way he had hoped.

"Lucaer really did do something wrong. I can't help him."

Beneath the candlelight in the corner, Sanborn rubbed his graying hair and shook his head as he spoke.

It was not the money he had lost to Lucaer's deception that troubled him. The deception itself hurt more, and the thought that his old friend might face imprisonment filled him with sorrow and regret.

"Never mind. Young adventurer, your commission is complete. Here's your payment."

Sanborn did not discuss the matter further with Li Qiuzhi. Instead, he simply took out a bag of Mora and handed it to him. Perhaps he needed some time alone.

The matter no longer concerned Li Qiuzhi, and he had gained quite a bit today. He nodded twice and said goodbye.

On his way back to Valberry Street, he stopped at the Good Hunter restaurant for a late-night meal. After being busy for so long, he was feeling tired and hungry.

Sanborn had paid him fifty thousand Mora, which was quite generous for merely investigating a few things about Lucaer.

The night was hazy, and the rain that had been threatening all day finally began falling in a fine drizzle. Left with no choice, Li Qiuzhi had to run home.

Once home, Li Qiuzhi eagerly began studying the Debt Collector's Stealth Assassination Art.

This was the first skill he had obtained that came so close to the supernatural. Perhaps archery or swordsmanship would also display supernatural qualities at higher levels.

But he had too few experience points to immediately max out their levels and reach that supernatural realm.

I'll go see Katheryne tomorrow and check for commissions to clear out monsters. I wonder how the Adventurers' Guild's investigation of the domain at the Temple of the Thousand Winds is going, too. They still haven't paid me the reward.

A long while later, the uncovered candle flame flickered gently.

Li Qiuzhi finally finished reading the Stealth Assassination Art. It was a martial art developed specifically for the peculiar sacrificial knives wielded by Debt Collectors.

Li Qiuzhi's armor-piercing arrow had chipped Christie's two-star Mercenary Ritual Blade. It was probably unusable, so Christie had left it on the rooftop where they fought.

Still, he could practice without a sacrificial knife. A short blade or shortsword would work as well, though it would not be as well suited to the art and would be slightly less powerful.

Moreover, the "stealth" and "assassination art" portions of the Stealth Assassination Art could actually be separated. Only the assassination art had a weapon requirement.

Stealth was more like an independent secret art. It could be learned separately and had no special requirements.

However, only by complementing each other could the two reveal their true worth.

Li Qiuzhi glanced at the study's clock. It was nine in the evening, not yet time for bed, so he began practicing the Stealth Assassination Art, working on both stealth and assassination.

After all, once he learned the basics, he could simply pour experience points into it to improve it, without worrying about anything else.

Defeating Christie had also earned him a batch of experience points, so this was the perfect chance to see how far he could take it.

Time passed little by little. Li Qiuzhi treated practicing the Stealth Assassination Art as a form of entertainment, and that mindset helped him stay focused.

At one in the morning, he finally heard a pleasing sound.

[Stealth Assassination Art learned]

With a breath of relief, Li Qiuzhi stopped moving and opened the Character Panel in anticipation:

Name: Li Qiuzhi

Level: Lv.10 (0/1000)

Race: Human

Title: None

Innate talent: intertwined affection

Skills: Hunter's Archery Lv.3 (0/300), Favonius Archery: Basics Lv.2 (0/200), Hand-to-Hand Combat Lv.2 (0/200), Favonius Swordsmanship: Fundamentals Lv.1 (1/100), Favonius Swordsmanship: Royal Lv.1 (2/100), Stealth Assassination Art Lv.1 (1/100)

Specialties: [Descender] [Maiden Rescuer]

Experience points: 719

Sure enough, it had appeared in the skills section. Having only just learned the basics, he could not see much of an effect yet, so Li Qiuzhi poured all his experience points into it.

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