As if struck by a sudden flash of inspiration, Furan spoke those words:
"Richter..."
Richter's expression changed instantly, and his hand, which had been hanging naturally at his side, reached for something at his waist.
He suddenly felt as if he had made a mistake; the person opposite him knew who he was... but they shouldn't have, because he had never shown his face in front of Furan.
Yet now Furan knew he was Richter, and she spoke with absolute certainty, making it highly likely she knew the person luring her here was Richter before she even arrived.
Although he believed an apprentice could never defeat a High-level Apprentice, if this apprentice knew she was facing Richter—that notorious madman—would she really come unprepared?
Putting himself in her shoes, if he were targeted by someone who had harmed multiple apprentices and killed countless people, he would surely find every possible way to deal with them.
If nothing else, he would definitely contact a few rivals who held grudges against him—for instance, someone from Vilos Academy whose relatives he had just killed; they would surely come to kill him upon hearing news of him.
He was now very afraid that two or three High-level Apprentices would suddenly pop out and surround him, in which case he might meet his end here.
His current defensive equipment was not as complete as it had been during the Assessment; he only had a third of it left.
Many precious consumable items had been damaged while he was being besieged during the Assessment; if he were truly surrounded now, he probably wouldn't last two rounds of attacks.
Damn it, who was targeting him? Was it that Milanke, who had kept his distance and avoided contact with him throughout the Assessment?
He knew it wasn't normal for someone to see him and not think about ganging up on him, but instead keep their distance.
Now, he had to strike first to gain the upper hand and incapacitate the apprentice before him.
He pinched a clump of bone meal from the material bag at his waist and scattered it quickly; the white powder vanished into thin air.
His other hand shot out a ghastly pale ray, heading straight for the apprentice.
Skeletons gradually crawled up from the ground, accompanied by the 'clatter' of their rattling bones.
Furan, however, felt a surge of power envelop her, sensing that her attributes had increased significantly at this moment.
But in the heat of battle, Furan didn't overthink the source of this power; she first activated her Breathing Technique, and wind elements gathered in her hand.
A Wind Blade had already condensed in her hand, which she released toward the skeletons before immediately activating [Spiritual Power].
She had long ago crafted her sword into an enchanted weapon with the [Haste] and [Sharpness] runes, which she also activated at this moment.
Like a flash of lightning, Furan lightly sliced across Richter's throat, then gave the neck of the nearby apprentice a quick slash as well.
Richter only felt as if something had touched his neck, followed by a warm sensation flowing down to his collarbone.
As his vision went dark, he realized at the very last moment: I've been attacked, I'm going to die.
Wait, why didn't the defensive equipment activate? He was wearing gear that should immediately emit a shockwave if an object struck his body, so why didn't it trigger?
Also, he had made a second mistake: as a Spellcaster, he was too close to a melee class.
In the final moment of his life, he looked around and saw no other figures; only Furan's silhouette remained on this wasteland.
Furan did not approach rashly, but stayed on guard against a possible counterattack from Richter; what if he had something that could self-destruct?
"Ah..." Richter tried to speak, but with a fatal wound to his throat, he could only let out meaningless cries like that.
Why did this apprentice have such strength? Did she really defeat a Teacher from a School?
Richter felt his worldview being overturned, falling into deep self-doubt.
However, he thought of something else, and a slight curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Even if I die, the School will still send people to find my killer, because I have a notebook for Modification School studies on me, as well as a reward from my ranking in the Assessment.
These things are very important; the former could leak the School's knowledge, and the latter is something every High-level Apprentice wants.
He stared wide-eyed at Furan. Just wait; when the School finds my body and kills you, the status of a High-level Apprentice from another School won't be enough to make them overlook the potential leak of knowledge.
Furan waited in place for three minutes, watching as the ground beneath Richter was stained dark and his staring eyes lost their luster, ceasing to move.
That's enough; he's lost enough blood that he must be dead. They're all just apprentices; there aren't any tough guys who can survive losing this much blood yet.
Furan slowly stepped forward and began to cautiously inspect the corpses of the two lying on the ground.
After a bit of confirmation, she was certain that Richter was indeed dead.
Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief and begin the essential post-victory ritual—looting the bodies.
After some searching, her hands were stained with a bit of blood, but looking at the haul, she felt it was well worth the effort.
Furan used a shovel to dig two pits and tossed the bodies inside.
It must be said, having a good constitution makes this kind of manual labor really fast; plus, the soil here was relatively loose, so she finished digging in just a short while.
Having thrown the two corpses inside, she cautiously made her way back with the night's spoils.
---
The next day, two apprentices from the Construction School arrived at the wasteland.
"Is this the place?"
"That's right, according to the description on the manifest, this is it. We just need to lay the foundation."
The two didn't waste any time and immediately began their work.
They drove dozens of white long spikes into the ground at specific intervals; these were tools they specifically used to compact the soil.
Once all the spikes were fixed in place, they would activate a Spell and use a nearby device to press the soil down firmly.
Naturally, if there was anything in the soil, it would easily be crushed by the powerful pressure and mixed into the earth, making it impossible to distinguish its original form.
"Hmm?"
One of the apprentices suddenly noticed something.
"There seem to be signs of digging here."
He pointed to some darker patches on the ground.
"Should we dig it up and see? Maybe there are some gold coins or something inside."
But the other apprentice shook his head, stopping his thought.
"Is this your first time handling a job that only requires compacting the land?"
"Yeah, why? Is there a problem?"
"A huge problem! It's fine if you dig it up and find nothing, but what if you dig up a corpse?"
"...Report it to the Law Enforcement Team..."
"Heh! Let me tell you, if the corpse inside is involved in some shocking secret, the higher-ups will use us as scapegoats when they can't find the killer."
"This..." The apprentice felt a chill run down his spine. He had heard of many seniors who went missing one by one because they were too curious; how could he have almost ended up like them?
"Thanks for the reminder. Let's finish up quickly and get out of here."