Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 135 - 39: Ilanian Instant Step

Chapter 135: Chapter 39: Ilanian Instant Step

"How’s it going?" Aske, returning to the training ground once again, stared at Mia who was still running down the hill and asked.

"Not bad," Rasul replied. "Although she doesn’t seem very bright, and her understanding of the nuances of movement is not fast, overall she is still above average."

"What surprises me is her perseverance. Running continuously in a particular stance for six hours, even in the unreal world of dreams, causes a great deal of mental fatigue. For an underage girl to persist to this extent is quite remarkable."

"She used to be a Thief, and patience is a fundamental quality for thieves," Aske recalled. "I remember she mentioned that once, to steal something, she had tailed her target for three days and nights."

"Patience and perseverance are not the same thing," Rasul said. "Among my recruits, there are plenty with the patience to listen to me lay out training plans, but less than one in ten actually have the perseverance to follow through with the plans. The rest can only be driven with whips and long knives."

"My original plan was just to get her started. But looking at the current pace, it seems not impossible to finish teaching the basics of ’Instant Step’ in this dream."

"As long as her body remembers this way of exerting force, you, Aske, can handle the subsequent corrections of the movement details yourself."

"Of course," Aske paused for a moment, "Thanks, Rasul."

"No need for thanks," Rasul chuckled. "It’s not common to meet someone who knows my identity and isn’t afraid of me. You’re the first to dare to make a request of me."

Aske smiled and remained silent; he could hardly say that he knew Rasul in his past life and they were very familiar.

Rasul stared at his expression, somewhat perplexed.

This guy... when I’m with him, I always get this strange feeling of "an old acquaintance."

However, Rasul could be certain that he truly did not know him before.

He looked at Mia, who was still running in a strange posture below, then suddenly leaped from the hill, drew his sword in mid-air, and roared:

"You’re running too slowly! Die!"

The sword blade heavily struck the ground, and Mia, like a startled rabbit, instantly dashed out more than ten meters.

"You’ve learned the ’Instant Step’," Rasul sheathed his longsword, showing a satisfied expression. "Remember the feeling of exertion just now, and don’t forget it."

Mia was stunned for a moment before clearly seeing the nearly twenty-meter distance from where she had been standing.

"Let’s go, I’ve spent enough time here," Rasul said indifferently, turning to walk away.

"Don’t forget to give me your contact information!" Aske reminded him.

Having the contact of an assassin organization would make intelligence sources much easier to come by in the future; their infiltration abilities were practically omnipresent.

Rasul didn’t turn back, only waved his hand.

"How does it feel?" Aske walked down the hill to see Mia laying on the ground in a spread-eagled pose.

"Tired," Mia said weakly.

"That feeling... it’s very strange," she looked up at the sky of the dreamworld, pondering before adding, "It felt as if the muscles in my lower body were all compressed, then suddenly exploded outward, starting with the knees, then the thighs, followed by the lower legs."

"It was as if I were a spring, propelling forward with full force. Does this mean... have I learned the ’Instant Step’?"

"You’re still a long way off," Aske laughed. "In the study of the Assassin Instant Step, you’ve only just entered the threshold, having learned this high-speed movement."

"To truly reach the level where it can be used in actual combat, you need to be able to activate the ’Instant Step’ anytime at will, accurately execute slashes or thrusts at the enemy during the step, and even change the direction of the ’Instant Step’ midway—that’s what’s called a ’Reflex Charge.’"

"Hahaha," Mia chuckled dryly, unable to stop herself from rolling her eyes, "I can’t do it. Just the beginner stage is nearly paralyzing me."

"You’re already doing fantastic," Aske encouraged her. "I myself took a whole week just to reach the entry-level."

"Ah, really?" Mia snorted. "That just means your Talent isn’t as good as mine."

"Yeah, yeah," Aske humored her patiently.

The two of them were silent for a while.

"It’s a bit strange," Mia said. "I feel like my strength is coming back to my body."

"It’s not an illusion," Aske stood up and looked around. "The Dream has ended, and we are being teleported out."

Minutes later, Aske opened his eyes and realized that he was sitting in a chair next to the arena.

In the center of the field, countless participants were lying all over the place, gradually waking up and climbing up from the ground.

"How did it go?" the Spartan Mercenary leader, Rudashus, approached him and asked.

"There are a few impressive characters," Aske said, pulling out a neatly folded list from his pocket.

Although the notes were made in a Dream realm, such specialty paper could be taken out of the Dream, presumably made of some kind of Extraordinary Material.

"Oh?" Rudashus took the list and, after looking at it for a while, said speechlessly, "The ’impressive characters’ you mentioned are these guys who lasted over three minutes against you?"

"Their styles of fighting all have unique personal features, with high potential for future growth," Aske replied. "That’s why I intentionally went easy."

Intentionally going easy and still only lasted three minutes? What would happen if you didn’t hold back? Instantly defeat the opponent?

Rudashus was completely speechless.

However, he was well aware of how skilled Aske was. Those with lower abilities could hardly make it through a match with him, and any slight mistake would be seized and punished severely.

This was a completely different style than the brute-forcing, body-clashing way of the Spartans.

Therefore, he could only nod his head and silently take note of a few names from the list.

"Oh, right," Rudashus suddenly remembered and continued.

"I received a message two hours ago."

"Thessalonica has fallen," he said gravely.

——————

Unlike Olin City, which was impregnable due to its natural geography, Thessalonica, as the second-largest city of the East Solomon Empire, had very developed land and sea transportation networks.

In peacetime, this was an advantage that maintained the prosperity of trade in the city; but in wartime, the convenient transportation turned into a great advantage for those besieging the city.

Under the onslaught of the Latin Crusaders, whose numbers far exceeded those of the city’s defenders, Thessalonica had no power to fight back.

After seizing Thessalonica, Emperor Baldwin of the Latin Empire declared that the second-largest city of the East Solomon Empire would be granted to Earl Bernifax of Montferrat.

(This was one of the Crusader leaders who, in collusion with the Governor of Venice, led the Frank Knights to attack Constantinople)

Taking this opportunity, Bernifax declared Thessalonica as the capital and announced the establishment of the Thessalonica Kingdom.

On the day of the establishment, approximately twenty thousand citizens of Thessalonica were brought to the vicinity of the town square and were then subjected to a brutal massacre.

Of course, whether they had been cunningly deceived by the officials and then killed, or they had gathered in protest against the official ruling being mercilessly suppressed,

Olympia and the Thessalonica Kingdom each held fast to their version, blaming each other for being responsible for the incident.

The only confirmed fact was the massacre itself.

Olin City declared three days of mourning, all entertainment activities were halted, and even television programs were switched to solemn black and white.

Residents gathered spontaneously, erecting hundreds of handmade memorials and altars throughout Olin City. They offered flowers and lit candles to mourn the victims of the Thessalonica massacre.

At the same time, the more than two thousand outstanding mercenary warriors who stood out in the collective combat competition began to receive Spartan assembly and collective training.

War was on the brink of erupting.