Perfect Synchronization

"We should test that enhancement field properly," Rina said, her eyes still sparkling with excitement as she studied Itsuki's mysterious ticket. "But maybe not in here. If it amplifies my equipment this much, we might accidentally level half the district."

"There's a Testing Ground behind the workshop," Olivia suggested. "Standard magical practice area with containment barriers."

Itsuki was about to agree when his [SYSTEM INSPECTION] ability suddenly flared to life without his conscious activation. Warning notifications flooded his vision.

[HOSTILE ENTITIES DETECTED] [APPROACHING FAST - MULTIPLE TARGETS] [STEALTH PROTOCOLS ACTIVE] [ESTIMATED ARRIVAL: 30 SECONDS]

"We've got company," Itsuki said sharply. "Multiple hostiles, incoming fast. They're using stealth."

Rina's expression immediately shifted from excitement to focused alertness. "Assassins?"

"Has to be," Olivia said, her staff already glowing with prepared magic. "The surveillance Itsuki detected must have reported our activities."

"How many?" Rina asked, her gauntlet transforming into what looked like a Steam-Powered Crossbow.

Itsuki concentrated on his debugging vision. "I count six... no, eight. They're moving in a coordinated pattern. Professional."

"House Vaelthorne methodology," Rina muttered. "They prefer overwhelming force for cleanup operations."

◇◇◇

The first attacker materialized from thin air right behind Olivia, a curved blade aimed at her spine. But Itsuki's [SYSTEM INSPECTION] had already tracked the assassin's position.

"Olivia, duck!"

She dropped without hesitation, and Itsuki moved with fluid precision that defied normal human limitations. His body shifted into a defensive stance that cancelled mid-animation into an offensive counter, his movements so smooth they seemed to skip frames of motion entirely.

The assassin's blade passed harmlessly through empty air as Itsuki appeared beside him, having executed a perfect frame cancel that bypassed the normal movement restrictions. His fist connected with the assassin's solar plexus in a stunning blow that should have required a weapon, but Itsuki's unarmed combat mastery made his hands as dangerous as any blade.

Before the first assassin hit the ground, Itsuki was already animation-cancelling into his next move, his body rotating in a way that seemed to ignore momentum physics. He executed a Phantom Dash that covered three meters in an impossible burst of speed, appearing directly behind another assassin.

"Soul Rend," he whispered, his hand glowing with dark energy as he struck the assassin's pressure points. The technique should have required a weapon, but Itsuki's perfect execution made his bare hands as deadly as any blade.

The assassin crumpled instantly, his nervous system overloaded by the soul-based attack. Before the body even began falling, Itsuki was already frame-cancelling into Spectral Chains, ethereal bindings erupting from his fingertips to wrap around two more approaching enemies.

"What the hell?" the lead assassin gasped. "Those are Wraith Lord techniques! How is a level 1 using high-tier soul magic?"

But Itsuki wasn't done. He dash-cancelled across the battlefield, his Phantom Dash allowing him to phase through the spectral chains he'd just created. As he moved, he executed Soul Burn on each bound assassin, dark flames spreading across their bodies and leaving them unconscious but alive.

[SKILL MASTERY DEMONSTRATED: WRAITH LORD TECHNIQUES] [OBSERVERS STUNNED: IMPOSSIBLE SKILL USAGE AT LEVEL 1] [HIDDEN ENEMIES REVEALED BY SOUL RESONANCE]

The soul resonance from his attacks revealed the remaining seven assassins as their stealth shattered completely.

"Divine Binding!" Olivia called out, golden chains wrapping around the first assassin.

"Itsuki, can you track their movement patterns?" Rina asked, her crossbow whining with steam pressure.

His debugging vision showed trajectory lines, but more importantly, his PvP instincts read their attack patterns like an open book. "Three from the east - standard flanking formation. Two over the roof using aerial approach. One through the front with feint tactics. Last one's trying a stealth backstab from crystal storage."

"Perfect!" Rina grinned, deploying her mechanical spiders.

But Itsuki wasn't waiting for the trap to spring. He animation-cancelled his stance into a momentum-based dash, sliding across the workshop floor in a way that completely ignored friction physics. As he slid, he weapon-swapped to a Cracked Throwing Stone from his inventory - another "worthless" item.

The stone left his hand with frame-perfect timing, ricocheting off three different surfaces in angles that should have been impossible to calculate. It struck the aerial assassin's ankle at the exact moment he was changing direction, sending him tumbling into Rina's light barrier.

"How did you calculate that trajectory?" Olivia asked, amazed.

"Ricochet physics," Itsuki replied, already dash-cancelling toward the next target. "You learn to read angles when you've fought in enough irregular terrain battles."

The flanking assassins tried to coordinate their attack, but Itsuki's movement tech made him nearly impossible to pin down. He frame-cancelled between defensive stances and evasive maneuvers, his body moving in stuttered bursts that made their coordinated strikes miss by inches.

When one assassin tried to grab him, Itsuki executed a counter-throw that involved cancelling his defensive animation mid-frame into an offensive grapple. The assassin found himself airborne before he realized what had happened, flying directly into Rina's Electrified Wire trap.

"Mass Purification!" Olivia's spell swept the area, but Itsuki was already moving with perfect timing that kept him just outside the spell's effect radius while ensuring every enemy was caught within it.

The fight ended with Itsuki standing in the center of eight unconscious assassins, barely breathing hard. His perfect spacing and frame-perfect execution had turned what should have been a desperate battle into a systematic dismantling of professional killers.

"That was..." Rina paused, staring at him with a mixture of awe and confusion. "How did you move like that? Some of those maneuvers seemed to ignore basic physics."

"Advanced combat techniques," Itsuki said simply, not wanting to explain the concept of animation cancelling and frame data to people who lived in this world. "You pick things up over time."

◇◇◇

"Combat synergy," Olivia said, slightly out of breath but clearly impressed. "Itsuki's analytical abilities and combat mastery provided perfect battlefield control, your technical solutions managed area denial, and my magic supported both approaches."

Itsuki was flexing his fingers, feeling the residual soul energy dissipating. "Perfect timing with soul techniques," he murmured. "Haven't used Wraith Lord skills in actual combat for a while."

"I've never seen movement techniques like that," Rina said, still looking amazed. "Some of those animation transitions seemed to break the normal rules of motion."

"Advanced PvP training," Itsuki replied vaguely. "You learn to optimize your movements when you're fighting skilled opponents regularly."

"Awakened weapons," Olivia said knowledgeably. "They respond to specific circumstances or emotional states."

"That's incredibly rare," Rina added, examining one of the unconscious assassins. "Most people never find their resonance triggers."

Before they could discuss it further, Itsuki's debugging vision highlighted something else.

[ENCRYPTED MESSAGE DETECTED] [SOURCE: CAPTURED ASSASSIN EQUIPMENT] [DECRYPTION AVAILABLE]

"There's an encrypted message on one of their communication devices," Itsuki said, kneeling beside the lead assassin. "I think I can decrypt it."

He activated [CODE DEBUGGING MODE] and focused on the small crystal device attached to the assassin's belt. Lines of encrypted text began scrolling past his vision, then suddenly resolved into readable format.

[DECRYPTION COMPLETE] [MESSAGE CONTENT: "PRIMARY TARGET CONFIRMED: CLARA VAELTHORNE. SECONDARY TARGETS: ANYONE ASSISTING HER ESCAPE. OBJECTIVE: CAPTURE ALIVE FOR SUCCESSION CEREMONY. AUTHORIZED FORCE: MAXIMUM."]

"Clara Vaelthorne?" Itsuki read aloud. "Wait... the person I helped escape the other day said her name was Clara. Could it be...?"

Olivia's eyes widened. "Vaelthorne? As in House Vaelthorne? The same house that sabotaged Rina's workshop?"

"Wait," Rina said, her expression growing serious. "If they're trying to capture Clara for a succession ceremony, that means..."

"She's the heir," Olivia finished. "And someone's trying to force her into it."

Itsuki felt pieces clicking together in his mind. "The assassination attempt wasn't trying to kill her. They were trying to capture her."

"Forced succession," Rina said grimly. "It's an old noble house tradition. If an heir refuses their position, the family can force them into it through magical binding during a ceremonial ritual."

"That's barbaric," Olivia said, her voice cold with anger.

"It's politics," Rina replied. "And if Clara's been refusing her position, there are probably other family members who want to claim it for themselves."

Itsuki looked at the encrypted message again. "There's more here. Something about corrupt branch families and illegitimate claims. It sounds like there's a whole conspiracy brewing."

"Internal house warfare," Olivia said thoughtfully. "I've read about this. When the legitimate heir refuses their position, it creates a power vacuum that ambitious relatives try to fill."

"And they're using Clara as a pawn," Itsuki concluded. "Either force her to take the position and control her, or eliminate her so they can claim it themselves."

Rina was already moving toward her equipment lockers. "We can't let that happen. If Clara's been hiding from her own family, she's going to need help."

"Agreed," Olivia said firmly. "This goes beyond simple assassination attempts. They're trying to subvert the entire noble inheritance system."

Itsuki felt a familiar weight in his chest. Some fights were worth having, regardless of the personal cost.

"Do we have any way to find her?" he asked.

Rina grinned, pulling out a complex device that looked like a cross between a telescope and a magical focus. "Life Sign Tracker. If she's anywhere in the city, I can find her."

"And I can provide magical concealment once we locate her," Olivia added. "House Vaelthorne won't be expecting us to interfere directly."

Itsuki nodded, checking his inventory of seemingly worthless items that kept proving invaluable. "Then let's go crash a conspiracy."