16. Assassin

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Swinging a coat around his shoulders, Zhanghao moved to quickly grab his sword which had been left on the ground after returning from the arena. He burst out of his room, his feet running hard towards Hanbin's room. Hold on, Hanbin... his thoughts whirred around in his head as he ran. 

He hadn't even bothered to strap the sword to his back as he gripped the handle tightly, the weight pulling his right arm down slightly. Not even stopping to knock, Zhanghao barged into Hanbin's room, only to see his dream come to real life. 

However, he must've been shown the dream moments before the real thing had happened, because there lay Hanbin, sleeping soundly still. The cloaked figure was hovering over Hanbin's bed, knife held high, and if Zhanghao had been any later he was sure he would've entered Hanbin's room only to see a dead body. 

Doors closing behind him, Zhanghao jumped across the bed at the figure, knocking him away from Hanbin. In doing so, Hanbin woke up with a start, looking to his left to see Zhanghao standing steady, his sword raised towards the supposed assassin.

"Zhanghao?" Hanbin said, confusion rising in him as he looked from Zhanghao to the mysterious cloaked figure. 

Zhanghao knew there was no time to reply as he stared into the mask of the person he was facing, waiting for him to make a move. But the seconds turned into minutes—it was too long. Zhanghao made for a lunge, but they were fast, dodging Zhanghao's sword with speed before attempting a swing with their knife.

Zhanghao pulled his body out of the way, turning quickly to bring down his sword on them. However, the assassin's swift reflexes saw their knife coming up to meet Zhanghao's sword, pushing hard up against the sword as Zhanghao pushed down. 

After a quick power nap, Zhanghao was recharged, and his strength showed as he pushed harder, making the assassin fall to their knees as they gave in all their strength to beat Zhanghao. Zhanghao could feel their arms giving in as the pressure grew weaker against his sword, making him grin on the inside. 

Catching them off guard, Zhanghao took his sword away suddenly, hand coming out to make a grab for their mask. He couldn't see their face, but Zhanghao knew behind the mask they had a look of terror on their face as Zhanghao was miliseconds away from revealing their identity. 

Zhanghao yelled in pain. 

While his hand had been raised to grab the mask, the assassin had made a quick slice into Zhanghao's exposed area, blood pouring from his side. 

"Zhanghao!" Hanbin yelled as soon as he realized what happened, jumping out of his bed before running to grab a book. 

Zhanghao's vision began to blur as the masked figure got up, running back to the balcony before they were gone, off into the night. Zhanghao's hand grabbed his side, blood overflowing in his fingers. The last thing he saw before his eyes were clouded with black, was Hanbin at his side, a book and quill in his hand. 

When Zhanghao's mind awoke again, his eyes didn't have the energy to open but as he felt around at the soft sheets beneath him, he realized he was on a bed. Then he heard voices, 

"Which one did you say you used again?" A male voice said, whom Zhanghao had never heard before. 

"A healing spell." The other voice replied. It was Hanbin. 

"And it worked?" 

Zhanghao thought he could picture Hanbin's face as he talked, "I don't know.. It stopped most of the bleeding, but he's been out ever since." 

Zhanghao took the opportunity to open his eyes slowly, blinking as he pushed himself onto his elbows. He was still in Hanbin's room, however he was no longer on the floor, and rather on Hanbin's bed. Hanbin and another man sat at the foot of the bed, where Zhanghao had heard them talking. Turning around at the sound of movement, Hanbin exclaimed in delight, 

"Zhanghao! You're awake," He said, running around the bed to be next to him. As Zhanghao shifted his gaze to the windows, he realized it was still night. How long had he been asleep?

"How're you feeling?" Hanbin asked him, before grabbing some cushions to prop him up. Looking down at his side, Zhanghao saw that part of his clothes had been ripped away, where the wound had been. Although there was a lot of dried blood still stained onto his skin and clothes, the wound itself had somewhat healed up. Yet, a deep cut like that couldn't have healed up so fast. 

"What happened to my-" Zhanghao asked Hanbin, pointing towards his side. 

"Oh, um.." Hanbin started, "This is going to sound kind of weird but.." He paused, "I used magic to heal your cut." Hanbin said. 

Zhanghao looked at him in shock, "You what?" 

Amused by Zhanghao's shocked expression, Hanbin moved to bring the book he had grabbed before, opening it to show Zhanghao. The page was titled 'Healing Spell', with lots a little words and a big curly symbol drawn in black ink. As Zhanghao looked from the book to his wound, he realized that there seemed to be a faint outline of the same symbol on his cut. 

"What—how?" Zhanghao said, still in surprise. 

"Matthew found it for me," Hanbin said, gesturing towards the man who had been unknown to Zhanghao until now. "You were losing so much blood and I didn't know what to do, so I just grabbed the book and started drawing." Hanbin stammered, face turned down. "You're not mad are you?" Hanbin asked, after seeing the blank expression on Zhanghao's face. 

Zhanghao put a hand on Hanbin's shoulder, "Hanbin," He said, "Thank you."

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