Dean walked slowly by himself, traversing through the thick blizzard.
The snow couldn't get past his Warmth Barrier, but the cold was an exception.
"First, Donovan will drop me off near the area where he and Vincent got their ass ambushed by the arrows."
He kept moving forward, his feet slightly sinking in the snow. His black umbrella was on his right hand.
Since he didn't bring a pair of gloves with him, his fingertips were turning red. And cold.
"Then, using my invisibility, I'll rush forward. If arrows don't come falling down on me the next second, that means I'm allowed to take a look at this… 'defense system' and maybe deactivate it."
Suddenly, Dean stopped and activated his Invisibility. He was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded only by ice and the harsh, terrific blizzard.
Taking a deep breath, he tightened his grip on his umbrella, and got into a running stance.
"As you all know, heh, an Assassin's invisibility is very different. For example, a Mage's invisibility only makes them invisible. It's that simple. But as for an Assassin, my invisibility can not only make me invisible physically, but I'm also invisible to any kind of tracking systems. I'm invisible to radars, and Annihiliths can't detect me, despite them being very sensitive to magic!"
"Which is why the Assassin class is superior, and will always be superior! Haha!"
Then, in one burst of energy, Dean rushed forward, leaving a cloud of snow behind him.
He moved at an incredible speed, moving as fast as a bullet train. But he needed to move faster. Faster than a bullet.
Dean wasn't sure if his invisibility's special trait exclusive only for Assassins would be able to hide from the "eyes" of the "defense system."
He recalled Vincent's words:
"You have to move fast. They, or… 'it,' have incredible aim. It was able to almost hit me and Donovan accurately while flying at a high speed in the air."
And Dean wasn't sure if he was even in the vicinity of the arrows yet. He wasn't sure if his plan was working. He wasn't sure if the "defense system" had noticed him or not, all because of the very thick blizzard that surrounded and followed him everywhere.
I have to move faster…! Push past my limits!
And he was also confused on why exactly he was pushing his limits, why he was putting so much effort into this, and why he had brought up the plan in the first place.
It's to finish this mission as fast as possible. Dean convinced himself of this. But he had another reason for doing all this. A reason he didn't know himself.
It was such a simple reason. So very childlike, that it'd baffle Dean if he knew of the existence of this reason.
He wanted to look cool in front of Juliana.
Although Joseph had told him that he had no chance with her, and was out of her league, he refused to believe it.
Denial.
But in the end, he wasn't aware of this reason. He wasn't aware that his entire being wanted to look cool in front of the tall woman, Juliana.
While running, Dean remembered his earlier outburst at the restaurant. It was so immature, so childish, that he thought it probably irked Juliana. And getting slapped by the sweetest, most cheerful girl in the group, Sasha, had probably ruined his own image of him to Juliana.
Dean let out a scream as he ran. It was a scream full of regret and anger. He was angry at his immature, childish self. If he could go back in time to an hour ago back at the restaurant, he'd probably knock out the guy who had a sudden, immature outburst. The guy who was so arrogant, so full of pride.
"Why can't you do one thing right, you immature f*ck?!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. His voice was furious, full of shame, and regret.
His head full of anger, he suddenly tripped and fell to the snow. Because of how fast he was going, he was sent flying and rolling a few times before finally stopping.
Laying flat on the snow, he stared up at the sky, which he couldn't even see because of the blizzard.
Then, Dean yelled once again. He clutched his head with both of his hands, and rolled a few times on the snow. He kept screaming. "You immature, arrogant f*ck!"
After a full minute, he calmed down from his breakdown and laid flat on the snow.
Then, he deactivated his Warmth Barrier, letting the snow fall to his clothes and on his face.
But upon reminding himself of why he was here, he sat up and activated his Warmth Barrier again. He dusted off the snow stuck on his shoulders.
Dean sighed, stood up, and looked forward. He found his umbrella and picked it up.
Despite tripping, rolling, and making a fool of himself on the snow, his invisibility wasn't deactivated.
Now, he was certain that the "defense system" couldn't "see" him.
As he prepared a running stance, something suddenly caught his eyes.
In the distance, he saw something vertical. But it was so far away, so he had to come closer.
Dean rushed forward again, moving even faster than a bullet this time.
In only four or five seconds, he reached his "destination."
It was a tree. It was quite tall. Despite the snow, Dean identified it as a white spruce. Suddenly, he ran to the right, and just as he expected, there were even more trees.
It was a forest.
Is the "defense mechanism" somewhere in here? Dean wondered. Before he could go back to the group, he had to find and deactivate the "defense system" first.
And going alone was always a bad idea. A terrible idea. But he had no choice, he was the only Assassin in the group. It was his plan, and he had to do this.
Taking a deep breath, he tightened his grip on his umbrella, and walked forward.
As he walked forward, he suddenly heard the sound of bells jingling, but he couldn't determine which direction it came from.
***
The rest of the group was huddled around a fire. They were sitting on metal chairs, and the fire was actually some kind of device, made for missions such as this. The snow and the cold couldn't put out the fire.
The metal chairs they were sitting on was also another handy, convenient technology. Once done, the one sitting on it has to press a button on the chair, and it'd shrink, turning into the size of a small rock. It was originally being kept by the messenger, Johnny White. The device that acted as a campfire was also being kept by Johnny.
Nick, Joseph, and Vincent were having a conversation together. Sasha, Clara, Ashley, and Juliana were also having a conversation. Rayman was glued to his phone while eating bread that he brought along with him.
The messenger, Johnny White, was writing something in a small notebook.
As for Donovan, he was also glued to his phone, but his thoughts were somewhere else.
Dean's plan sounded alright, but it's still too risky for him to do it alone.
It's such a shame that Dean's the only Assassin here…
But from my memories, I remember that Assassins have quite the high survivability, on par with Tanks…
And although Fighters have high survivability too, the abilities of an Assassin are far too convenient in terms of survivability…
Why am I even worrying about him? He proudly said that he was probably the strongest here… Well, I kinda doubt that. I think Miss Clara's the strongest here, but it's just a hunch, though…
Is there really nothing we can do but wait for Dean? What if he fails? What if he's killed…?
I guess that's all I can do right now. Have faith in him…
Donovan sighed. He looked towards the direction where Dean set off.
And also… I'm surprised he's putting this much effort. I thought he just wanted to lay back and relax for this mission…
Donovan snapped out of his thoughts. Seeing that Rayman had a bag full of food, Donovan tapped Rayman's arm, and said, "Can I have one?"
"Oh, sure, buddy. Here you go. It's yummy, I'm telling ya!" Rayman grinned as he reached into his bag and gave him one.
Donovan received the bread, his gaze falling on the brand name of the bread:
"Chocolate Cream pie! Yummy! No artificial flavors, made with real cocoa! Chocolate that'll fill you up to the brim!"
And on the side was an image of the bread with a feminine face in a swimsuit, and with a bubble chat and the words: "Fill me up, Daddy!"
Upon seeing this, Donovan lost a bit of his appetite.