Not knowing what else Yara might be hiding up her sleeve, Lucy misinterpreted her proposal. She believed Yara was thinking of a way to lure the Marquis's son and the two subordinates accompanying him to come to them, possibly using the bracelet on Gary's wrist to send them some message.
"I don't know what to say, Yara... I don't see how we could get them to come to us willingly. If Marquis's son saw what happened to Gary, he probably wouldn't even come if we threatened his mother's life..."
Seeing the confusion on Lucy's and Rina's faces, Yara felt a sense of pride, thinking it was finally her turn to show off. Since Lucy had been in the spotlight lately due to her cooking skills and knowledge about kissing, Yara felt like she hadn't had much of a chance to impress her new lovers with anything other than her beauty.
"That's not what I meant. I was saying that I can teleport all three of them here…," Yara said with no hint of doubt in her voice, her face practically begging, "Start praising me."
"Huh? You can do that? From your fighting style, I thought your class was Assassin or something similar, so it seems odd for you to have a skill that lets you teleport people from such a distance. Or do you have some sort of magical item that does this?", Lucy asked for more details, because, although thrilled by Yara's news, she wanted to make sure Yara wasn't taking any risks.
Though Lucy didn't know much about how classes and skills worked for the natives of that world, she assumed it must be similar to how they worked for players and NPCs in MMOs, which seemed to have much in common with the world she had been reincarnated into. In those games, someone with the Assassin class couldn't have skills that seemed better suited for a Mage class, so Lucy feared that Yara's method might have negative consequences for her. Of course, if Yara had a skill or magical device that allowed her to teleport someone, Lucy would agree with Yara's proposal. But if Yara planned to perform some suspicious ritual to summon the three of them, Lucy would definitely oppose it.
"Well, you weren't wrong, since I do have the Assassin class. But when I reached level 50, I gained another class, Shadow Master, which not only evolved many of my existing skills, making them more compatible with the shadow element, but also allowed me to acquire some skills that are uncommon for someone with only the Assassin class, whose skills are mainly focused on stealth, close combat, and surprise attacks…"
Since Lucy had suspected that someone could have multiple classes because her status screen had a "Classes" section, not just "Class," she wasn't shocked by the news that Yara had acquired a second class. Instead, she admired how capable Yara was. However, this fact reminded Lucy that, being so content with her class, she had forgotten to ask the system how she could acquire a second class, something she intended to address as soon as she had some free time, as she wanted to plan ahead for a second class that would best complement her current one.
Additionally, it made her realize once again how crucial it was for her to obtain the ability to view more information from others' status screens during her next eye power upgrade. As with Yara, relying solely on appearances wasn't enough to determine what someone was truly capable of, which could land her in unexpected situations. Lucy regretted not opting for this ocular ability upgrade when she had the chance, as she had been too tempted by the thought of her eyes having more impressive abilities. Sure, she could create a skill that would allow her to do this once she could receive a new skill, but Lucy wasn't thrilled about using her resources this way, because she wanted her skills to make her a more complete ninja, not focus on technical and boring details like this. Besides, she preferred her abilities to be somewhat organized, and inspecting someone's status seemed more fitting as part of her ocular abilities.
Rina, however, was far more surprised by Yara's words, knowing how rare it was to obtain a second class immediately upon reaching level 50. It was common knowledge that you could obtain a second class after surpassing level 50, but most people only acquired it around level 75 because you needed to master your first class thoroughly before gaining the second.
"Did you really obtain your second class when you reached level 50?", Rina asked Yara, her eyes filled with admiration. In this matter, it wasn't about resources or opportunities, not even hard work; it was purely about talent, so Yara could indeed be considered a genius.
"What's wrong, Rina? Can't believe your new girlfriend is someone so capable?", Yara teased Rina, amused that she seemed more fascinated by her power than by her beauty.
"Well, I have to admit, you are amazing…," Rina said with genuine sincerity, which made Yara feel, for the first time, what it was like to be hit by one of Rina's straight balls.
"...Alright. So, I'll use a skill called Shadowgate to create a portal under their feet, through which they'll fall directly in front of me. Normally, I can only use it on people I have visual contact with, but if I combine it with Umbral Mark, the skill that lets me track someone's location through the mark left in their shadows, I can use it even on people much farther away, provided their shadow has been marked by me. Of course, the mana cost will be significantly higher, but it shouldn't be a problem as long as the distance between me and them isn't greater than 100 kilometers...", Yara tried to shift attention away from herself and towards the teleportation process, not used to being praised so sincerely for her abilities.
Since Yara was going to teleport the three using only her skills and not through some dubious method, Lucy agreed with her plan. However, to ensure Yara wouldn't suffer from the high mana cost, Lucy handed her two mana regeneration potions, one to take before teleporting the three and one for after the task was done.
Additionally, Lucy asked Yara for some details about the classes of the three and whether they had any magical protection items with them, as she didn't want any unpleasant surprises (it had already been an emotionally intense morning for her). Yara reassured her that there was nothing to worry about, since of the Marquis's two subordinates, only the one with the Hunter class was more capable, being level 48, but he excelled in fighting beasts rather than human beings, and the other was just a level 33 Formation Crafter, who wasn't good at close combat. As for the Marquis's son, he couldn't be considered a combatant at all, as he was just a level 10 Swordsman. The only thing that might prevent him from being captured instantly was a necklace similar to the one Rina now wore, except his necklace didn't drain mana from the wearer but charged from the ambient mana in the atmosphere.
Since the three didn't seem to be opponents worthy of a direct confrontation with her, Lucy created three Black Vines Substitutes to ambush them as soon as Yara brought them there, and, to ensure the three would behave, Lucy had her substitutes hold explosive papers to give them as "welcome gifts" (instead of flowers). However, considering that the Marquis's son might resist two explosions due to his magical necklace, she gave one of her substitutes an extra 10 explosive papers to stick progressively onto him until his defense gave way, after which the substitute would transform into a pile of black vines to capture him.
"I know they're very attractive, but I'd refrain from getting too close to them…," Lucy joked, noticing how Yara was staring in awe at the three substitutes.
"I was just marveling at how identical these golems are to you. The only problem is that they spend too much time without saying anything, which is very uncharacteristic of you. But for someone who doesn't know you well, I don't think they'd notice the difference…", Yara said, having never had the chance to closely observe one of Lucy's substitutes before. But no matter how impressed she was, she noted the discrepancy between Lucy's very extroverted personality and her stealthy, deceptive skills.
".....", Lucy didn't know what to say, because she couldn't deny that she could probably use her substitutes better if she were a quieter ninja. But what could she do? A silent ninja is only cool when filmed, which wasn't the case for her. If she defeated her opponent without saying a word, who would be there to witness how amazing she was?
"...Anyway, everything's ready. Go ahead and cast the net, Yara!" Lucy finally said, deciding there was no point in doubting her ninja path. After all, for a ninja, it didn't matter if he was quiet or talkative; what mattered was whether they could complete their mission successfully.