Bear School Astartes

The next morning, Lann felt quite awkward when he walked onto the deck.

But once he got up there, he found that neither Barnabas nor Herodotus showed any special expressions.

They were open and natural.

However, Lann felt that while Barnabas’s beloved ship was of decent quality, its soundproofing was definitely poor.

And last night, Cassandra’s voice seemed like wild cries of someone wounded.

When the Hawk Trainer came up, Barnabas warmly embraced her.

”Love has rejuvenated you, at least you’re better than when you just came down from Andros Island, Cassandra.”

”So the old saying goes...” Herodotus supplemented in his unhurried and gentle manner, ”Love and sex are the panaceas for healing the soul.”

Lann tilted his head, looking at people going about their usual routines, suddenly realizing he was overly sensitive in this era.

This was an era where expressing joy and affection was incredibly natural and unabashed.

In both the East and the West, everyone was very open.

So Lann just shrugged to himself and greeted everyone naturally.

”I have to leave, Cassandra.”

After everyone dispersed, Lann and Cassandra stood together, speaking softly.

”If I hadn’t pinned you to the bed and rode on you last night, I’d think you’re trying to disown me.”

Cassandra turned her head in surprise, looking at Lann.

”Do you have other matters?”

”I mean, it’s time for me to leave.” At this point, Cassandra realized the meaning of ’leave’ from Lann’s mouth might be unusual.

Looking at Cassandra’s eyes filled with doubt and suspicion, Lann explained earnestly to her.

”I didn’t arrive in Kefalonia in a conventional way, remember?”

The Hawk Trainer’s eyes slowly widened.

Phoebe must have told Cassandra about how he descended into this world.

Cassandra was her relative; she couldn’t hide it.

”Are you saying? Wait!...”

The Hawk Trainer seemed to want to reintroduce herself, looking Lann up and down.

”Did you really fall from the sky? Olympus?!”

As she spoke, she seemed to have marvelously aligned with her knowledge framework.

”Wait, Herodotus said Divine Capital was a precursor. You are taller than any human and perfectly proportioned, as if you were meant to be... Are you a precursor?!”

Lann opened his mouth, unsure of what to say.

But considering Cassandra’s knowledge scope, to facilitate her understanding, Lann didn’t flatly deny it.

”It’s a bit~ different from what you’re thinking. But I really do have to go back.”

The Demon Hunter gestured a ’finger galaxy’ sign.

The silence lasted for a long time between them.

Cassandra’s expression shifted from amazement at having a precursor by her side to speechless solemnity.

Will you come back?

She wanted to ask that.

But when the words reached her lips, they turned into: ”When are you leaving?”

She was a strong woman who had overcome many hardships, strong not only in strength but also in intellect.

She didn’t want to appear weak, as that would be... too unbeautiful.

But Lann didn’t follow her words.

The Demon Hunter clasped Cassandra’s hand resting on the railings; as she turned back, his amber cat-like eyes firmly locked on hers.

”I don’t know if I’ll have the chance to come back; that’s the truth. But I promise, Cassandra. If there’s a chance, I’ll definitely return.”

After looking at each other for a while, Cassandra hastily pulled her hand back and turned her head.

In the faint distance, Lann heard the sound of sniffling.

Then everything returned to normal.

”’Men always lie on different women’s bellies, making the same promises’... that’s the wisdom an escort from Kefalonia Island shared with me.”

Cassandra paused.

”But I choose to trust you, Lann.”

”You should trust me.” The Demon Hunter deliberately flashed a shrewd smile, ”Anka is very important to me; even if it’s just for using it, I’ll definitely come back to find you.”

The Ancient Greek Civilization was a maritime civilization.

To survive on this broken and barren land, people had to leave their homeland without looking back, to trade, to adventure.

Partings or eternal farewells were commonplace on this ocean.

Yet even so, in those legendary stories, like Odysseus’s Odyssey, there’s still a heart waiting solely for family members’ return.

-----------------

AD 2018, an abandoned building in London City.

”Exhale~ Breathe!”

Lela Hassan abruptly woke up from the Animus.

This model, not belonging to the Abstergo Company, was modified by her, professing a gentle and more efficient experience than the prototype.

She tore off the patch from her temple, sat up from the machine’s humanoid groove, and rubbed her head.

As a newly recruited member of the Assassin Organization, responsible for constantly monitoring Lela’s vital signs, physician Victoria quickly approached, squatting in front of Lela with concern.

”Don’t close your eyes, keep them open. Follow my finger with your gaze...”

After a series of neurological checks, Victoria finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The Animus can extract character memories from ancient DNA residues, allowing the user to immerse into those memories, searching for desired knowledge and clues.

It’s a machine capable of penetrating the fog of history, allowing personal experience of the ’past’.

As the developers of the prototype, the Abstergo Company, also the sworn enemy of the Assassin Organization—the Templar Knights—had even made some memory fragments into games in recent years, selling them along with the civilian Animus to countless history enthusiasts and gamers around the world.

Hoping to use a tactic of the crowd to clear the historical fogs they wanted to see. Then, from it, find clues about the knowledge and technological residues of the First Civilization.

Their slogan: History is your playground.

The Assassin Organization does not have the resources or qualification to use the crowd tactic.

They can only employ an elite tactic—finding the most precise memory fragments with the closest bloodline to DNA residues and the most exceptional abilities.

”You won’t believe what I saw!”

Lela Hassan felt dizzy and nauseous while simultaneously excited and wanting to dance.

”I saw the prototype of the Assassin Organization! And the legendary assassin who led it! Oh my god...”

”What did you say?”

Even though Victoria was a physician, after joining the Assassin Organization, she couldn’t help but feel admiration for those legendary assassins in history; she was now excited too.

”Phoebe! Yes, that’s the Phoebe!” Lela boasted.

”The one that assassinated Alcibiades, who had already been recruited by the ancient order, oscillating back and forth among Athens, Sparta, and Persia during the late Peloponnesian War, and finally hid away. Then she assassinated the Thirty Tyrants ruling Athens after the Peloponnesian War ended!”

”Can you imagine, Victoria? It wasn’t Da Vinci during the Renaissance who redesigned our Sleeve Sword, letting it, like in ancient times, inject a large amount of air into the enemy’s body during penetration to cause vascular embolism!”

”The Sleeve Sword originally didn’t have this function! We haven’t lost the original version of the Sleeve Sword; we are missing ancient techniques!”

”Phoebe, her fists, and blades can stir up the wind! I don’t know what the principle is yet, but this must be a technique, merely lost over time. In her hands, even a fingernail can inflate the enemy’s blood vessels!”

”That indeed is incredible.”

Victoria said from the side, as she handed some nerve-stabilizing medication to Lela.

After all, this Animus is still—using safety in exchange for performance—requiring caution.

”But you better regulate your emotions, Lela. Excitement is detrimental to your body and subsequent actions, don’t forget what we’re after in the end.”

”Certainly.” Lela Hassan tilted her head back, swallowed all the potion, and started moving her body.

”We’re seeking Atlantis... Ah, it’s a pity, I’ve already begun longing to return to the Ancient Greece Era.”