《Online In Another World》 Chapter 1 Reincarnation Online ¡°Reincarnation Online: The Second Life of Fantasy, Excitement, and Wonder.¡± Seeing the title of the ¡°VR¡± product¨Ca ¡°Virtual Reality¡± game¨Che felt it resonate with something within him as he stared at his monitor. However, virtual reality had evolved from just an ocr augmentation to something that was able topletely augment all senses of a person¡¯s mind, allowing them to fully immerse into new settings. But, even above that, ¡°Reincarnation Online¡± was touted as an experience that was quite literally a new reality. Reading the article, it seemed like less of a game and more of a ticket into another world entirely. As he scrolled down the page, he clicked on video embedded on the page: [¡°What is Reincarnation Online?¡± ¨C Answered by Haru Takeshiro, the lead developer and creative head of Reincarnation Online, and founder of SAMSARA Studios.] [INTERVIEWER: Mr. Takeshiro, we¡¯ve heard you talk about how Reincarnation Online isn¡¯t categorized as a game. Can you exin what you mean by that?] [Haru Takeshiro: Of course. Reincarnation Online is exactly what the name of the product tells you¨Cit¡¯s a new life. When using the product, you¡¯re given three options to choose from: a fantasy world known as ¡°Arcadius¡±, upied with mystical creatures and magical elements; a world filled with technological advancements centuries ahead of our world; or a vast intergctic setting with many worlds to choose from.] [INTERVIEWER: Wow, that¡¯s quite some variation there.] [Haru Takeshiro: (Nods) After our customer selects the setting he wants, the product will arrive within a few business days. When putting on the special headset, it¡¯s clear that they¡¯re ready to move on to the New Life.] [INTERVIEWER: That¡¯s right¡­It¡¯s a ¡°one-way ticket¡± of sorts, isn¡¯t it?] [Haru Takeshiro: Correct. Reincarnation Online is catered for those unfulfilled with their current lives. Be it they¡¯re not where they desire to be economically, they¡¯re gued with sickness, or simply tired of this life. In Reincarnation Online, you get a second chance at a life guaranteed with excitement. Whether you be a knight in Arcadius or a cybeic soldier in the advanced world¡­You¡¯ll be fulfilled.] With those words, he clicked off of the video with quivering eyes as his hand shook. To him, he was already sold. Sitting there on his desk chair with the curtains to his room sealed shut so that not a single ounce of light could get in, he looked at the ¡°ORDER¡± button for only a second before clicking it. It wasn¡¯t cheap in the slightest, but it didn¡¯t matter. That was the allure of ¡°Reincarnation Online¡±; what made it a bombastic topic in the world: once you logged in, that was it¨Cyour new life was cemented.. My name is Ethan Bellrose. Throughout my entire life¡­I¡¯ve lived in pain. The sun blisters my skin, the smallest collision cracks my bones, and the outside air is like the gue to me. If I was asked to list what was wrong with my body, it¡¯d be easier to list what was right with it. ¡­I¡¯ve never had any friends. I¡¯ve never enjoyed anything, truthfully. Everything I do is agonizing. I¡¯m done with this life. I want something else. Is this¡­it? ¡°Reincarnation Online¡±? He wondered. After ordering it, he researched it further, but there weren¡¯t exactly ¡°reviews¡± of it as those who had already entered ¡°Reincarnation Online¡± had fullymitted to those second lives. ¡­You can¡¯te back once you go in? It¡¯s a big leap, but¡­what do I have in this life, anyway? He thought. ¨C With a body like his, all he could do was stow away in his room like a bear in a cave, gaming all day or watching anime. Or sometimes, more ¡°explicit¡± anime. As he didn¡¯t have any reason to fund anything that actually mattered for a social life, the shelves in his room were stocked with anime figurines¨Cmostly of cute girls, but there were some gundam builds here and there. It¡¯s not like there¡¯s a difference between ¡°3D¡± or ¡°2D¡± girls for me¨Cboth are impossible for me to reach. Damn, that¡¯s pathetic, isn¡¯t it? All my life and I haven¡¯t even got to grope a tit or feel a cheek¡­What a miserable life, he thought. There was no sadder life. Perhaps he wasn¡¯t the single most unfortunate soul in this world, but he simply loathed his own existence. Every breath was pain, every step was agony, and every aspiration was crumbled to dust. Sports? Impossible. He¡¯d be broken in half by the first minute. Rtionships? Impossible. He was nothing but skin and bones with a rotten personality to boot. Simply, Ethan Bellrose was a miserable existence; a person whomented his birth and suffered day-in and day-out. Through-in-through, he was a pessimist. From the very start¡­I was stripped of a proper life. I wasn¡¯t given a chance. ¡°This was the hand I was dealt¡±¨Cyeah, it sure was. What a shitty hand it was. Sometimes¡­I even me my parents for this. ¡°If my mother was able to give me a healthy body, I wouldn¡¯t have to live like this¡± or ¡°If my mother just aborted me from the start¡±¡­Seriously, I want out of this life. Enough is enough. It¡¯s either this ¡°Reincarnation Online¡± or, well¡­He thought. ¨C [3 Days Later] Ding. Dong. The package had arrived. He sat through every second since ordering it, waiting with what little patience he had to exit this painful realm of existence. Just getting up from his chair was a cautious effort as he reached over, grabbing a cane to assist himself with walking. He was hardly neen, but he walked as if his bones were made of ss; fearful of tumbling over. The sound of his cane pressing against the wooden floorboards reverberated against his ears as if constantly reminding him he was sickly; unable to properly experience life. ¡°¨C¡° His breathing was heavy from just the slightest exertion of himself physically; his physique was malnourished, to say the least. Skin so pale it was almost transparent, with hair just as deathly white, reminiscent of the snow he could only ever experience from his window. It was a journey simply to get to the front door. But s, he reached it after some minutes, repeatedly hearing the doorbell be rung by the delivery man. As he opened the door, the impatient delivery man seemed to feel guilty once seeing the one receiving the package. ¡°Err, deliver for ¡®Ethan Bellrose¡¯?¡± The middle-aged delivery driver said, holding the package. He nodded, ¡°¡­Yeah, that¡¯s me.¡± Talking strained his throat, which was dry, sore, andden with ulcers, this resulted in his voiceing out hoarse. ¡°Just sign right here¡­¡± The delivery driver handed him the pen as he weakly gripped it with his quivering, thin fingers, slowly dragging it along the paper before leaving his signature. ¡°Here you go. Have a¡­a good day,¡± the delivery man nodded to him. It was clear that the delivery man knew what that package was, and what the sickly young man¡¯s intentions were with it. He closed the door slowly, tucking the package beneath one arm while marching forward, guiding his cane with his other hand. As he slowly ventured to his room at a snail¡¯s pace, the familiar hum of an engine approached with headlights peaking through the curtains of the living room window. ¨CIt was a silver car pulling into the driveway; one he knew well. Mom¡­He thought. This prompted him to begin moving faster, though it was hardly something he was capable of doing. There was a good reason for him to pick up the pace: he bought the ¡°Reincarnation Online¡± gear behind his mom¡¯s back. The money wasn¡¯t an issue, but the device itself¨Ca piece of technology that assured a mother that she would never see her son again if he entered into its hold. Still, he moved forward frantically, ascending the steps as he heard the engine turn off and the car door open in the driveway. ¡°¡­Huff¡­¡± The light exertion to him was nothing less than a marathon as he stumbled up the stairs, before¨Che missed a step, falling down harshly against the wooden steps. Crack. ¡°Nghh¡­Gkk¡­!¡± It was hardly a fall that would merit a scratch or two on normal people, but it resulted incerations on his skin that was as durable as paper, fracturing his bones that were as brittle as ss, but he forced himself up. ¡­I have to. I have to. I don¡¯t want this anymore. She won¡¯t let me leave this world if she finds out¡­! He thought. He crawled up the steps, eventually picking himself up as blood spilled from his nostrils, stumbling over to his room as he managed to push through the door. Behind him, he closed it, flipping the lock just as the front door to the house opened. ¡°Ethan! Ethan, what was the delivery driver here for?¡± ¨CHis mother¡¯s concerned voice called out from downstairs, as he stood with his back to his door for a moment before moving forward. He frantically tried to open the box, but his weak grip couldn¡¯t budge the tape. Thud. Thud. Thud. Hearing the footsteps of his mother throughout the house, he looked around, scrambling his hands over his desk as he luckily found a pen, which managed to suffice as he stabbed it into the tape. ¡°Ethan!¡± The footsteps began to ascend the stairs. ¡°Ngh¡­!¡± He clenched his teeth. Mustering what little strength he had, he sliced the tape, finally opening the box¨C Whatid in there was nothing less than the holy grail to his eyes; the object in which his wish could finally be granted: the pearly-white headgear with the ¡°SAMSARA¡±pany name etched onto its side, with a ck visor; it was sleek, but heavy, at least for his meager strength. He quickly took it out, scrambling over towards his bed before dropping the headset in his frantic rush. ¡°Ethan¨C! What¡¯re you doing?!¡± The sound of the headset falling seemed to fully prove his mother¡¯s suspicions as the doorknob began to jiggle. He didn¡¯t respond, focusing solely on picking the illustrious headgear up and plugging it into the outlet. ¡°Ethan! Open this door right now!¡± Ignoring the pleas of his mother, heid down in his bed, gulping as he slid the headgear over his head with the ck visor dulling his vision. Click. He pressed the power button. It began to hum, starting up as he could feel the warmth of its lights and electrical signals beginning to make contact with his mind. [Wee, New User. Begin consciousness transfer the rmended way, or the expedited route? WARNING: the expedited route can lead to unexpected errors.] [Once you enter Reincarnation Online, you will be unable to exit. From the moment you enter, your current life will cease and your new one shall begin.] It was daunting now that it was right before him. There was no teetering the line between two lives¡ªhe¡¯d have to make the choice here and now: stay or abandon his current life. But, it wasn¡¯t even a choice to him. There was no hesitation from his desperate lips. ¡°¡­Expedited!¡± He said impatiently, hearing the door be mmed against desperately. Listening to the hums of the headgear as the visor began to light up, he felt his consciousness beginning to sway as the virtual reality gear was preparing to pull him into the fantastical, digital world. Before it happened, the years of his miserable life shed before his eyes; all the times cooped up, wasting away as his body ached, peeled, and struggled merely to exist. All of the times he wished for something greater; a way out. Still, amidst all of that, he remembered that one person did care for him. One, single person who never betrayed him. Though it was painful to leave them, he knew this was best for him. ¡®A new life¡¯ was simply a promise too great to pass up. Just before it could take him away, he said hisst words¨C ¡°Goodbye, Mom.¡± ¨CWith that, the world around him faded with the monotone, feminine words of the SAMSARA headgear speaking into his ear. [Complete.] [¡­Booting Up¡­] Chapter 2 A New Life It was entirely ck. There was no body he possessed, as if solely inhabiting a consciousness amidst a void bearing nothing but total darkness. For a moment, it was nothing butplete silence in this void; deprived of all senses, his thoughts felt hazy. What¡­is this? He thought. [Wee, User: Ethan Bellrose. You¡¯re about to begin your New Life. Which world would you like to begin your Grand Rebirth in?] As the monotone voice resonated into his nonexistent ears, the world around him shifted as his options were shown: [The cyberpunk world of an Earth far ahead of our time, filled with robots, digital wonders, and a thrilling life ahead.] The abyss was reced with the sight of the technologically advanced world, surrounded by skyscrapers that bore hologram billboards, flying cars, and civilians with casual cybeic augmentations and alike. He had a bird¡¯s eye view of the world, spectating it. Woah¡­He thought. Below him on the streets, he could see the inhabitants of this alternative world pursuing their own lives. Some were rushing to work, others begged for money, and some even fought. It was a world full of life, soaring around him. [Or, if that does not fit your taste, then how about a reality in which intergctic travel is the norm. You won¡¯t be limited to just one world, but plenty.] It faded to ck once more before being reced by the vastness of the cosmos, leaving him inplete awe at the dazzling stars and vast, colorfuls. Traversing the cosmos were spaceships of varying shapes and sizes.. Vrrrrrr A hum filled his ears; it was the vibration of something of massive scale passing right by his disembodied gaze. ¡°Holy¡­¡± A ship forged of ivory metal, holding a size that rivaled that of a country, sailed by him through the cosmos. Once again, it faded, but this time, what he saw struck his heart. [Last, but not least: Arcadius, a world of fantasy; magic, dragons, and everything mystically imaginable.] What he saw were far-stretching ins and mountains with a mighty dragon flying overhead, passing his disembodied view as the strength of its crimson wings pping filled his nonexistent ears. It was clear that this was only a snippet of a world beyond his wildest imagination. [What will it be, Ethan?] It didn¡¯t take much time for him toe up with his answer. All his life, he¡¯d been surrounded by the hum of his breathing machine, attached to hisputer by the hip as his only saving grace. This time, something more ¡°natural¡± was in order; something magical. ¡°Arcadius.¡± With that answer, the world around him returned to the pitch-ck void as the monotone system voice spoke directly to him: [World decided.] After a few moments, a hum filled his ears before the void began to shift into a blinding white. [Calibrating desired life¡­] [Personality: perverted, not fond of strict rule, in need of emotional support.] [Match: found.] [Treyna & Julius: newlywed couple, entric, loving.] [In a few moments, your consciousness will fade. When you wake again, you will be reborn in your new life on Arcadius. Don¡¯t worry; you will retain your memoriespletely¨Cthis will create a splendid experience for yourself.] [Please make the most of your New Life, Ethan.] [Do not forget: dying here will mean actual death.] It was a scary thought, but it was nothing he wasn¡¯t prepared for. ¡°¡­I will¡­¡± It was almost too exciting to bear, but that joy naturally settled down as his consciousness faded away just as warned. It¡¯s time¡­for my New Life! He thought. ¨C There was a swirl of energy that epassed his body, orck thereof; it was as if the strands of time and space were rewoven, forging into a new destiny paved for him. [You will be reborn as the bearer of the Dragonheart System. The blood of a great dragon, famous through the history of Arcadius, will run through your veins with a once-in-a-millennia potency.] [You will not remember this. Only once you reach an appropriate age will the Dragonheart System reveal itself to you.] [Until then¡­Enjoy your new life.] After an unknown amount of time passed, he blinked a few times, feeling a warmth around his body. [Level: 0] The status given to him wasn¡¯t exactly shown to him, but a subconscious system ingrained in his mind. Level zero¡­? He thought. There was a swirl of energy that epassed his body, orck thereof; it was as if the strands of time and space were rewoven, forging into a new destiny paved for him. After an unknown amount of time passed, he blinked a few times, feeling a warmth around his body. ¡°¨C¡° The first sense to greet him was smell; it smelled of gentlevender and a certain fresh, natural scent. Parting his eyelids fully, he looked up to see a woman staring down at him with a bright smile. Woah, so close, he thought. Thevender smell without a doubt came from the woman. She was wearing what looked to be a pale nightgown, though it was difficult to see with his blurry sight. Though the look given to him by the amethyst eyes of the golden-haired woman was something he knew; it was an unmistakable look. The look of unconditional love from a mother. It was then he realized what that warmth around his body was; he was held in her arms. As he reached up naturally, his hands were tiny, small enough that a couple of the woman¡¯s fingers easily wrapped around his tender, pale hands. Lanterns sat idly on the walls, and the wooden structure was undeniably something befit of a medieval world, decorated with luscious flowers. Theck of white noise supplemented by electronics also added to this notion. He tried to speak, but his baby vocal cords were hardly responsive: ¡°Mm¡­mmaa¡­¡± The woman seemed delighted at the unintelligible sounds he made, looking up across the room: ¡°Julius! Come over here¨Cquickly! I-I think he¡¯s trying to call me ¡®mom¡¯!¡± The woman said with a giddy smile. Heavy footsteps rushed over as he looked up to see a man looming over with a surprised expression. He had short, jet-ck hair with a scruffy beard. By the olive tunic he was wearing with light-brown breeches and a sword at his hip, he was beginning to fully understand what this was at least. ¡­I get it now. This is my ¡°Grand Rebirth¡±, isn¡¯t it? This is¡­my mom? And this goofball is my dad? He does look sort of badass, though, he thought. ¡°Come on, say it! ¡®Da-da¡¯!¡± The man smiled, cupping his own cheeks as he enunciated the words. The woman, who he gathered was his mother in this new life, pouted, puffing her cheeks as she looked at the yful man, who he gathered was his father. ¡°Hey! That¡¯s dirty, Julius! You know he¡¯s going to say ¡®Mom¡¯ first!¡± ¡°As if! Emilio is a total daddy¡¯s boy! ept it, Treyna!¡± Julius argued. ¡°Nuh-uh! Who¡¯s the one who feeds him?!¡± Treyna retorted. Julius reeled back in shock, ¡°That¡¯s not fair! I don¡¯t have milk in my pecs!¡± ¡°Sounds like you¡¯regging behind then,¡± Treyna stuck her tongue out at him with a smirk, looking down at him again, ¡°You were almost there, Emilio. ¡®Ma-ma¡¯,e on, say it for mommy!¡± ¡°¡®Da-da¡¯,e on!¡± While his new, entric parents loomed over him, trying to get him to speak, he simply stared up at them with tired eyes. ¡­This is how my new life starts? Are these two even qualified to be parents?! He thought. Chapter 3 The Name Is Emilio Dragonheart! Over the past few months, he adamantly tried to conquer his status as an ¡°infant¡±, though it was more difficult than he gave it credit for. He was mostly left to the whims of his parents, only able to cry out when needing something as his small tongue and vocal chords weren¡¯t developed much yet. Walking was a difficult task with his uncoordinated baby body, but he didn¡¯t mind it¨Cthis ended up with him being carried by Treyna a lot, who always kept him close to her chest. There was nothing that could ruin his joyous bliss in this new life¨Cafter all, he had a functional body. ¨C On his own, he crawled against the floor. If he couldn¡¯t walk, he¡¯d make do with what he had, but he wanted to see it for himself¨Che wanted to bring himself to it: outside. Luckily, the door was cracked open, allowing him, with all of the little strength he had as a pudgy few-month-hold baby to part it open just enough for him to fit through with a struggle. ¡°¨C¡° Luscious green stretched as far as the eye could see with the spring winds brushing through the fields gently. The natural aroma to the air, uncorrupted by a world of modern technology, was sweet to his nostrils. His skin didn¡¯t burn or blister. The sun didn¡¯t harm his eyes, and the air was rejuvenating to his lungs. Such a sight brought tears from his eyes, though the act of crying for a baby was more over dramatic than he had thought¨C. ¡°Waaah!¡± ¡°What a handful you are, Emilio,¡± Treyna smiled. Now he could see it as his mother held him, watching as well; Julius was training in his swordy, moving swiftly with agility that was surely beyond natural human limits. I¡¯ve confirmed it. This is without a doubt a medieval fantasy world. From what I¡¯ve overheard, Julius is a part-time adventurer, and Treyna used to be one, but I guess my birth kind of ended that. Sorry, Mom, he thought. He only briefly got glimpses of the outside world, but they seemed to live on a peaceful, middle-of-nowhere patch of verdantnd between mountain ranges, and just outside of a quiet town. Surrounding the home were trees that seemed perpetually ensnared in autumn; golden leaves fell from their branches, littering the fields. They seemed pretty well off; the house was nice and big, two stories and filled with books that he heard his parents talk a lot about being for him as he got older. ¡°Emilio Dragonheart.¡± If there was one thing he was most appreciative of in this new life, it was his surname. He wore it like a badge of honor, constantly repeating his new name in his head. ¡®Emilio Dragonheart¡¯¡­seriously, I¡¯m destined to be a badass with a name like that! He thought. [3 Years Later] By now, he had sessfully mastered ¡°basic coordination¡± as he called it, or rather, the ability to walk without stumbling over his own feet. It was still weird walking with his height being dwarfedpared to what it once was. The first matter of business for him once being able to properly walk on his own was fully exploring his home. It was a spacious estate with two floors, a cer, and an attic. The house itself was built by his father¡¯s father, or moremonly known as¨Chis grandfather, though he only heard about it from Julius¡¯ mouth. The floorboards were made of furnished wood, which was constantly kept clean by his mother, who seemed to constantly upy herself with either cooking, cleaning, orundry. For the walls, they were wood as well, smelling of pine. It was afortable atmosphere, especially being right in the middle of the beautiful valley of Yullim, overlooked by distant mountains that reached up towards the clouds. Crystal-clear rivers ran through the clearings, and animals unknown to him like one-horned moose. ¨C Peeking into a bucket of clear water, he realized his appearance waspletely different from what he looked like in his previous life: he had shaggy, half-blonde half-ck hair with the amethyst eyes of Treyna but the sharpness of Julius¡¯. There¡¯s no ¡°HUD¡± or anything. This really is like a new reality¨Cyou would never be able to tell it¡¯s digital. Honestly, I¡¯m still having a hard time believing it is, he thought. As he peeked outside of the window, watching his father practicing his swordy in the front yard on the refreshing spring day, he pondered. It¡¯s already been three years, huh? Time flies¡­but, I¡¯ve grown ustomed to this ce. It¡¯s¡­home, he thought. Going outside, Treyna brought Julius a ss of water to hydrate with, but somehow managed to trip over and spill it all over his shirt. ¡°Ah¨Csorry, honey,¡± Treynaughed. Juliusughed out as well, ¡°Looks like I worked up one helluva sweat!¡± From what he learned by watching them closely, the two werepletely in love with each other¨Cthere was no denying that. But, true love wasn¡¯t without obstacles. ¨C In theing winter, the windows were sealed shut as the winds howled outside with snow packing up on the fields. ¡°Brr¡­¡± He hugged himself, wrapping a nket around his body. Sitting in front of the firece to warm up, he could hear his parents behind him, talking from the kitchen quarters. ¡°You lost the firewood?¡± Treyna asked with a disappointed tone. Julius responded, ¡°I already told you¨Ca silver bear wasing at me! What did you want me to prioritize¨Csome logs or my life?!¡± ¡°You know, if you were actually diligent with taking quests, you wouldn¡¯t have any issue handling a beast like that,¡± Treyna told him. ¡°What?! I take whatever I can! What do you think I¡¯m doing around here¨C? Just twiddling my thumbs and skipping around the field?!¡± Julius retorted angrily. ¡°It sure seems like it with the money you¡¯re bringing back! Or maybe¡­you¡¯re spending it elsewhere!¡± Treyna used him. ¡°Oh, really? On what? Enlighten me!¡± ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know¨Chow about at a brothel!¡± Treyna sharply said. Julius paused for a moment before replying, ¡°¨CHey! It was just one time! Don¡¯t go there!¡± Though, even if they had their small squabbles, he sat there unworried, rubbing his hands together in front of the firece as within the next few minutes the conversation had taken apletely one-eighty: ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Julius. It¡¯s just¡­I want to make sure our son stays warm through the winter,¡± Treyna apologies, sniffling. Julius gently replied, embracing her, ¡°No, I should be apologizing. I guess I¡¯ve let myself get rusty with Emilio around. If I was in top shape, I¡¯d have turned that big ol¡¯ bear into a new carpet for us!¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± Treyna looked up at Julius with a smirk. The dark-haired, scruffy-bearded adventurer nodded with a confident smile, ¡°Oh, yeah! I¡¯d have ended it in a single swing! Like¨Cthat! Or that!¡± While he said so, the grown man swung a phantom sword around, trying to impress the girl who was already tied to him by the bonds of marriage. Treyna smiled brightly, pping her hands together, ¡°Then you should go do it!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°We could use a warm new rug like that,¡± Treyna smiled happily, ¡°Imagine howfortable it¡¯d be for our son¡­little Emilio would be so happy¨Cwouldn¡¯t you, Emilio?¡± He was still sitting towards the firece, hoping not to have been dragged into their wild conversation. Please don¡¯t involve me in this, he thought. But, he couldn¡¯t deny it¨Ca great, big fur carpet did sound spectacr. ¡°Yeah. A big rug would be nice,¡± he said. With that answer Treyna shot a smiling look towards her entric husband who gulped, knowing he had little choice now as a man. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back-!¡± Julius charged out of the front door, back into the howling depths of the winter night. ¡­Are my parents really NPCs? They seem¡­real. This doesn¡¯t feel right, he thought. Within the next few hours, he was sitting on a far-stretching, silver-fur rug, and it was undoubtedly warm. Chapter 4 A Talk With A Doting Father There wasn¡¯t much to do at his young age; his parents were still overly protective of every little action he took, though he didn¡¯t me them nor did he really mind it. While sitting and reading a book, Julius watched in surprise, witnessing his young son studying away at the text. ¡°¡­You can read already, Emilio?¡± Julius asked, kneeling down beside him. He nodded with a smile, ¡°Yeah.¡± At first, thisnguage seemed foreign to me, but I picked it up quickly. I wonder if it¡¯s a special skill or something? He pondered. ¡°That¡¯s amazing!¡± Juliusughed proudly, ¡°I knew a son of mine would be amazing!¡± To his surprise, he was hoisted up in the arms of his father, who smelled of sweat from the rigorous training he put himself through everyday. Both of his parents were quite young, but he found out it wasmon in that world for people to marry and have kids in their early twenties. Despite being in the body of a toddler, it was much more capable than the one he had; he could walk with exaggerated steps, jump around, feel the outside air¡ªit was astounding. ¡°I made your favorite,¡± Treyna smiles brightly.. Served to him in a bowl was a fragrant stew of savory meat and vegetables, which he happily ate. Back in my previous life¡­I couldn¡¯t eat. I had to get my nutrients through a tube. Food really is¡­amazing, he thought. Treyna watched him eat with a smile, ying with his hair, ¡°How is it?¡± ¡°Amazing! Thank you, Mom!¡± He couldn¡¯t ask for more. Treyna and Julius supplied enough love to fill him several times over with the support he needed. What struck him was that nothing felt ¡°digital¡± at all; the air clearly filled his lungs, the passing seasons each felt different on his skin, between the blossoming warmth of spring, the winter rain meeting his skin, or the heat of summer causing him to sweat. Pain was fully real, the wobbly coordination he had as an infant, and most of all to him¨Cthe genuine love he felt from his parents. They¡¯re real, he thought. [Four Years Later | Age 7] Life was as rxing as could be as a child; there were no worries of finding a job, paying rent, or any expectations to improve. Though, sadly, he had grown out of his ability to call upon Treyna¡¯s bosom. It¡¯s probably for the best. I think Julius got a bit jealous of me hogging his wife¡¯s boobs half of the day, he thought. ¨C ¡°Comin¡¯ through!¡± Dashing into the house like a bolt of lightning, his entric father proudly presented a fish the same size as him. ¡°Holy crap¡­!¡± He let out. ¡°Impressed? Your old man is pretty amazing, isn¡¯t he?¡± Julius gloated with a smirk. Treyna entered the living room, still holding a sharp knife in her hand as she had left the kitchen. Though she held a smile, it was clear to the two males that she was angry. And, it was was clear¨C Drip. Drip. Drip. Julius wasn¡¯t exactly dexterous with a fishing rod; the youthful mid-twenties man was soaking wet, just as the fish he hoisted up proudly¨Cdrenching the floorboards that Treyna had just spent the entire morning cleaning. ¡°Err, I, uh¡­¡± Julius gulped, realizing what he did. ¡°You¡¯ll clean up after yourself, won¡¯t you, my beloved?¡± Treyna asked with a sharp smile. ¡°I¨Cwait,¡± Julius looked straight at him, pointing, ¡°¨CEmilio, you¡¯re not busy, are you? Help your old man out and clean the floor for me, would you?¡± Why¡¯re you involving me in this?! He thought. Though his lithe mother stepped forward as her bountiful rack bounced, ¡°Don¡¯t have Emilio shoulder your responsibilities, dear.¡± ¡°¨CErr, right¡­¡± Julius slumped his shoulders. He sighed, picking up the rag, ¡°It¡¯s fine, I can do this,¡± he wore a bright smile. Treyna¡¯s wicked expression immediately did a one-eighty as she looked at him with a concerned look, ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have to clean up your manchild-of-a-father¡¯s mess!¡± ¡°Hey¡­I¡¯m right here¡­¡± Julius muttered. He shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s alright¨CI can do this.¡± Both of his parents looked at him as if he were an angel that had descended from the clouds up above. While he scrubbed the floor, washing out the fish juices from the wood, he did his best to ignore the mushy talk between his parents. ¡­They might have little quips here and there, but at the end of the day¨CJulius and Treyna are freakin¡¯ attached at the hip! He thought. ¡°Have I told you how beautiful you look today, my dear Treyna?¡± Julius told his golden-haired wife. ¡°Have I told you how strong you look, my beloved Julius?¡± Treyna said in return, caressing the man¡¯s bicep. ¨CIt was like nails to a chalkboard to the young boy¡¯s ears as he scrubbed away, trying to rid their mushy exchanges from his brain. If it wasn¡¯t that, it was either Julius passing by and randomly groping his mother, or like every night¨C¡±other¡± noises. Though he didn¡¯tin much about that part. There was no denying it; he was their child¨Cthey both shared his lecherous attitude. Though Treyna was more restrained in front of him than Julius, who didn¡¯t shy away from openly discussing such topics in front of him. ¨C They were sitting in front of the house, grilling the massive, crimson-scaled fish over a campfire. It cooked slowly, but the scent of fresh seafood was something he did take a liking to. ¡°Here.¡± Julius had handed him arge chunk of the fish, served on a stick like a kebab. He hesitantly epted it, as the size of the serving was quite daunting for his small body. ¡°Isn¡¯t this a little too much?¡± He asked, staring at the fish. The scruffy-bearded man had already begun biting into his own portion of the fish, eating it without a moment of hesitation. ¡°You¡¯re a growing boy¨Cfill your belly till you can¡¯t fit anymore,¡± Julius said with a boisterousugh, ¡°You¡¯ll be big and strong when you¡¯re older. But, you¡¯ll need to eat a lot to get there.¡± There was no doubt that Julius needed to eat a hefty amount to sustain himself; Julius was above average in height, just shy of two meters, with a physique d in muscle, but not too much. He had a perfectly efficient body, but he worked it hard with the quests he took daily. Julius usually took on quests locally¨Cwhich meant he was hunting invasive species like wolves, goblins, or sometimes bigger threats like orcs. Certain odd jobs weremon though, like fixing broken toilets and such. But, whatever paid a pretty coin, Julius took. He may be a handful and honestly kind of tactless, but he¡¯s a good dad, he thought with a smile. Chapter 5 If Not A Sword, Then Magic! [Three Years Later | Age 10] Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. ¡°C¡¯mon, Emilio! Swing back!¡± Julius called out, swinging the wooden sword rapidly as he held his own training de up like a shield, being pushed back as he backpedaled across the front yard. ¡°Ngh¨CI can¡¯t when you¡¯re being so aggressive!¡± He whined. It always went like this, ever since he turned five and Julius decided he was old enough to begin his training in the way of the sword. Julius didn¡¯t exactly know ¡°restraint¡±, which resulted in him hardly being able to hold his ground against his energetic father. It was a miscalction he had made early on¨Cby utilizing his prior knowledge from his first life in this one, he thought it¡¯d bring him to a swift head start. He wasn¡¯t wrong, but it also brought a caveat¨C ¡°Expectations.¡± Since their child is a ¡°super literate genius¡±, their expectations are high of me. For Julius, that¡¯s apparently transferred into thinking I can be some sort of expert swordsman like himself. Sorry, dad, but I¡¯m still just ten years old, you know! I don¡¯t even have a single pube yet! I¡¯m as smooth as an apple! He thought. While defending against the fury of sword strikes from his father, his fingers were smacked by the wooden de, prompting him to yelp and drop his weapons¨CTHWACK.. ¡°Ah¨C¡± Julius opened his mouth in shock. In a blunder of a strike, the part-time adventurer identally struck his training sword against his son¡¯s cheek. ¡°Ow¡­¡± He had fallen to the verdant grass below, caressing his cheek that quickly swelled up. Julius ran over, kneeling down beside him, ¡°Sorry, kid¨Cthat was an ident, I swear!¡± It wasn¡¯t as though he didn¡¯t want to learn swordy, in fact, he wanted to take his new body to its physical limits, but¨Cas time went on, he realized pushing his young body wasn¡¯t going to give him the results he wanted. ¡°¨C¡° ¡°Please don¡¯t tell your mother,¡± Julius held his hands together, pleading with a worried smile. He squinted his eyes, realizing his dad was more afraid of the wrath of Treyna than the stinging his cheek received. But, he got an idea: ¡°I won¡¯t say anything¡­if you let me read one of the grimoires,¡± he said with a cheeky smile. Of course, the existence of magic brought with it an insatiable curiosity towards its existence; how to wield it and use it effectively. Compared to swordy, it was in another world of interest for him. Julius blinked a few times, ¡°Oh, that? Ha-ha! I don¡¯t have a problem with that!¡± ¡°¡­You don¡¯t?¡± As he watched Julius stand, whose ck breeches were stained with the residue of grass, a hand was extended down to him from his entric, youthful father. ¡°¨C¡° He epted his helping hand, being stood back up as he felt like a feather being hoisted by the strength of his dad. ¡°Your mother and I discussed it a few nights ago, actually. At first, we were worried it¡¯d be dangerous for you to get a hold of magic so early. I mean, most people can¡¯t grasp magecraft at all! But, you¡¯re a bright kid. And because you¡¯re bright¡­we trust you, Emilio,¡± Julius smiled brightly, ruffling his hair. Going back into the house after they finished their afternoon sword training, he was taken upstairs where Julius brought him into the library. It was a small, dusty room with a couple bookshelves, but in this world, books were quite an extravagant item; pricey, at that. It was built abnormally; the room was in almost an oval shape, narrow andpact. Julius, who had more brawn than brains, retrieved the book from the top shelf, not even being able to read the text on the cover. ¡°This is the one your mother practically lived by when we adventured together,¡± Julius told him with a smile, dusting off the old, leather cover. ¡°Really¡­?¡± He looked on with curious eyes. Julius smirked, ¡°If you really think you¡¯re up for it, I don¡¯t mind you reading this. But¡­I doubt you¡¯ll get anything from this.¡± Thanks for the support, dad of the year, he thought. ¡°How about you show me?¡± He asked with a mischievous smile. He knew well that his father was a man who lived by the sword, and definitely not a practitioner of magecraft. Julius immediately began coughing, scratching the back of his neck and fidgeting¨Cdefinitely unlike his entric, outgoing self. ¡°¡­You want a demonstration? You know I¡¯m a swordsman, right? Maybe I can get your mother to show you¨C¡± ¡°I want you to show me, father,¡± he smiled up at him. Julius began to sweat, not able to avoid the smile of his son as he sighed out, tapping his foot against the wooden floor. ¡°You know it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t believe in your smarts! It¡¯s just that magic is a very tricky thing, ya¡¯ know? I only know a couple spells myself¨Cand it¡¯s just basic crap¨Clike this,¡± Julius said, presenting his level of magecraft as he pointed his finger across the room. He watched curiously, looking up at his father¡¯s extended index finger. Julius focused, sucking in a breath as he filled his lungs, ¡°Great lord of fire or whatever¨Cgimme your strength and do something!¡± From the half-baked incantation uttered from the lips of his skillful father, he watched excitedly, expecting a great burst of a fiery spectacle toe before¨C Sizzle. Manifesting from Julius¡¯ fingertip was nothing but a small ember, hardly contained into a spherical shape before dissipating into ash, carried away by the subtle breeze. They both were silent at the embarrassing disy of magic. Even though Julius warned him his level of magic was low, his father was red at the ears, clearing his throat. ¡°As you can see¡­It¡¯s a difficult thing to learn,¡± Julius told him, trying to hide his embarrassment. Yeah, I can see that, he thought. From that pathetic disy of magecraft, Julius was quick to leave him alone in the library with the grimoire. ¡°Well, good luck!¡± Julius smiled, exiting the room, ¡°¨CIf you need help, don¡¯te to me! Well, if you need help with swordy then¡­I¡¯m your guy!¡± ¡°I know,¡± he smiled. Left alone, he excitedly sat down with the heavy book, having to use both hands to open its dense pages. ¡°The Scripture of the Element King, Aelor.¡± He had heard of the Element King in some children¡¯s stories that Treyna read to him; he was quite the legend around the country. Element King Aelor was apparently one of the ¡°Foundational Mages¡±, one of the progenitors of magic who cultivated it into the spells we have today. This grimoire holds those teachings¡­the foundational spells that all mages should begin with, he thought. Chapter 6 Practitioner of Magic It was easy to tell why magic was so difficult for people to grasp: there were hardly any real, tangible instructions given. The very first entry in the grimoire was the pre-information needed to understand magecraft itself. ¡®Mana is no different than one¡¯s own life essence. It¡¯s drained when we¡¯re exhausted, it¡¯s filled when we eat. Just as we burn through energy by tending to a field or swinging a sword, we burn through mana to manifest magic. The incantations are engrained with the true visualization of a spell; they help one topletely imagine that which they wish to manifest. However, it¡¯s possible to bypass the need for words bringing your magic to life. However, that¡¯s something one should focus on muchter in their tenure as a mage.¡¯ Still, the knowledge flowed into his mind seamlessly as he nced over the first page that caught his mind: ¡°Wind st.¡± In the peak of spring, with the fresh airing in through the open window and brushing against his blonde-and-ck tufts, it felt like the perfect spell to begin with. ¡®Feel the winds around you; whistling the chimes of the world, howling its anger, and jovially dancing in its glee. Against your skin, embrace the brush of its fingertips. Through your lungs, inhale and exhale the life it supplements.¡¯ Reading the page for the piece of magecraft pertaining to the natural element of wind, the description naturally allowed him to feel the air around him in a new sense. Inhaling and exhaling, he could feel the blood flowing through his veins warm up; against his skin, it felt like an extended sense, spiraling around him. He stood up, holding the heavy grimoire in his hands as he began to read the incantation for the spell:. ¡°Of the world¡¯s weather, I call upon the strength of the wind. Through forests, valleys of fire, snow, and green, it remains ever-moving, free and uncorrupted: Wind st!¡± Without truly expecting anything toe from his very first attempt at reading the words that anchored the wind spell¨CFWOOM. A burst of air propelled outwards from his position, fluttering the light-gray coat he wore and his matching shorts as the st of wild wind aggressively shook the neighboring bookshelves. Knocked from the shelves, the books were flung around the room in the brief disy of mystical winds, shaking the entirety of the small library. ¡°¨C¡± He looked forward in shock. ¡°Emilio! Are you okay?!¡± Rushing up the stairs, both of his parents were in the library within seconds, but both stopped and looked at the state of the room in disbelief, realizing what caused the mess. ¡°I-I¡­uh¡­¡± With such a mess that looked like a mild tornado had swept by, he stammered his words, fearful of the anger that would surelye from his parents. ¡°Did you¡­do this?¡± Julius looked at him. Gulping, he slowly nodded, still holding the grimoire in his hands. Julius and Treyna looked at each other silently for a moment as he watched cautiously, not knowing what sort of punishment wasing before¨C ¡°That¡¯s amazing!¡± Julius called out. ¡°Emilio, you really used magic?!¡± Treyna happily said. Before he knew it, he was being smothered by his mother while Julius danced around the room as if he had just told them they were going to be grandparents. ¡­Huh? He thought. ¡°I always believed you had it in you! Ha-ha!¡± Julius told him. ¡°Our little Emilio is a genius!¡± Treyna said. ¨CWhile it was surprising, he didn¡¯t dislike the reaction garnered from his sudden disy of magic as he bashfully chuckled. Though while his parents were ecstatic, internally¨Chis entire world had just changed. Magicid at his fingertips¨Creal, tangible magic. ¡­That was amazing. I¡­I want to learn more, he thought. From then on, he was given full ess to the library, and barring a few hours each day set for swordy with Julius, he delved into the grimoires there day-in and day-out; he practically lived in those books. Of course, he took the actual practice of spells to the far-reaching fields right behind his home, learning from the mess caused by his initial test. More than anything, I want to be able to use magic without invocations. Foregoing incantations entirely¡­that would be perfect, he thought. Though it was easier said than done. For hours, he stood there, racking his brain as he clenched his teeth, holding his hand out and trying tomand the magic to manifest itself through just the sheer power of his mind. ¡­Come on¡­! He thought. Throughout his body, flowing through him like the blood surging the canals of his veins, the mana inside of him was undoubtedly swirling, ready to be used, but it simply wouldn¡¯t manifest itself. ¡°¨C¡° He huffed, swearing from the continuous strain of trying to force the spells from his body as the gentle breeze brushed against him, causing the pages in his grimoire to flutter. ¡°Ah, no¨C¡± As he knelt down to try and return to the page it was opened to, he stopped, looking at the entry it had miraculously opened to. It was a passage from the author of this particr grimoire, a famous mage known as Torfollum: ¡±Magic without incantation¡¯¡­If you ask any aspiring mage, or even veteran mages, aplished in their own right, this is the mostmon aspiration shared by them. Since the dawn of magic, it¡¯s felt as if invocations were truly the chains set on our will; binding us not to break free of our weaknesses. However, I found for myself that the seeming impossibility was just that¨C¡¯seeming.¡¯ It did not exist. It¡¯s all a matter of perspective; you must stop treating the act of manifesting magic as a divine action, one bestowed by the will of the gods. Simply¡­think of it as a tool. As you would use any other tool, you understand its purpose already; a bucket to carry water, a hoe to tend the fields, an ax to tumble trees¡­You must understand what it is you want from magic. Intent is everything. Understand the magic you wish to invoke to its deepest element.¡± Reading the passage from the wizened mage, he could feel the wisdom peeling off of the weathered parchment, revealing itself to his curious eyes. He stood up straight, focusing his gaze as he breathed in, taking a new angle to this. Picture it¡­the calm of a morning breeze, the roar of a tornado; the tranquility of a still day, and the destruction of a storm¡­the many forms of wind, both benevolent and malevolent, he thought. Throughout his body, he imagined the sublime essence traversing his veins to be purified water, filling his body with a refreshing cold as the howls of wind filled his mind as he extended his hand forward. The winds themselves that brushed his fingertips felt heavier, like a solid breeze tickling his soft hand. With theplete embodiment of the spell inteced with his thoughts, he kept his hand forward with his intentions clear: to part the fallen leaves. Come¡­Wind Sphere, he thought. Chapter 7 A Sudden Shift With theplete embodiment of the spell inteced with his thoughts, he kept his hand forward with his intentions clear: to part the fallen leaves. Come¡­Wind Sphere, he thought. His eyes were still closed as he invoked the magecraft through his mind with a hope unlike that of an ignorant child¡¯s; he didn¡¯t know whether it had worked or not yet, but against his palm, he felt a brisk wind. So deeply believing in the flow of wind in all aspects, the unmistakable feeling of a stable breeze was something he couldn¡¯t perceive as real or not until he parted his eyelids. Fwoosh. Swaying in front of his palm, a sphere of spiraling air had coalesced; it swayed, building up to a size asrge as his small body as strands of visible wind moved, giving off particles of residual mana. ¡°¡­I did it¡­¡± He quietly said before a joyful smile stretched across his lips with his amethyst eyes dazzling, ¡°¨CI did it!¡± It had taken months from the very first encounter with magic to achieve it, but he had aplished it: magic invoked solely by intent.. Finally unleashing the ball of wind forward, itunched with a powerful boom, knocking him onto his rear as he watched it sail forward, hurling through the field before it crashed into a distant tree¨C THUD. Despite being just wind, it was certainly heavy by the collision it made, exploding into a short-lived storm that disappeared as quick as it came. He sat there with his palms against the soothing grass, gripping it with an excited smile across his lips still, ¡°¡­I did it!¡± While it was an amazing development, it was hardly a surprise to his ever-supportive parents who already knew of his ability to swiftly learn, still¨Cthey showered him with love and praise further. ¡°Incantation-less magic is no joke, kid,¡± Julius told him with a proud smile, ¡°You¡¯re going to surpass your old man one day¨Cand that day is scarily soon! Ha-ha!¡± ¡°Heh,¡± he bashfully chuckled. ¡°Ahh¡­He certainly gets his brains from me, doesn¡¯t he?¡± Treyna smiled, giddily holding her own cheeks, ¡°None of thates from you.¡± ¡°Hey! He gets some brains from me!¡± Julius retorted. They all ended upughing together; that night, they celebrated his improvement in magic with a nice feast; seasoned chicken with a nice aroma, bread, stew, and even some sweet pastries. [One Year Later | 11 Years Old] He was beginning to shape up to be a ¡°sharp youngdy killer¡± as his father had told him, not before following with ¡°But not quite at my level yet¡±¨Cthough he was seeing it himself as he looked down at the bucket of water at his reflection. Compared to how feeble and dull his appearance was in his previous life, he was certainly shaping up to be a looker, at least by his own totally-not-biased opinion: he had skin that remained unblemished, amethyst eyes that resembled jewels, and his dirty-blonde hair was naturally smooth and silky. I won the gic lottery this time around. I guess there is some bnce in the universe; as all things should be, he thought. ¡ª He had be a young savant of magic, able to use all elements, at least in their novice and intermediate forms, without invocation now. However, this brought something of its own into his life¨C ¡°Today, you¡¯re going to be meeting somebody special,¡± Julius told him with a bright smile. ¡°Huh?¡± He said, looking up from his grimoire. Julius was d in sweat from his sword training, ¡°It¡¯s clear you¡¯ve got a handle on magic for now. But, as for your training with the sword¡­I think you still need a push.¡± ¡°¡­Huh¡­?¡± Looking forward, he saw somebody arriving over the hill, approaching their house as Julius looked back with a smile at the enigmatic figure. The stranger arrived with a dark cloak around their shoulders and a hood over their head, but he could gather at least some information, regretfully, by his lecherous mind: the hourss figure they had. A woman? He thought. As she came over the hill, she was no doubt tall for a woman, and certainly stacked with muscle¨Cdefinitely challenging, if not surpassing Julius in physique. As she removed her cloak, his heart skipped a beat. She was tan, with long, flowing hair of a crimson shade. Despite her strong build, the feminine charms possessed by her weren¡¯t dulled in the slightest¨Cshe was gorgeous. She was dressed in ck-leather armor that left only her midriff exposed¨Cmuch to the appreciation of his lecherous gaze. ¡°Meet your new tutor: Velda! She¡¯s an old friend¨Cso I can vouch for her ability with a sword,¡± Julius introduced the unknown woman. ¡°¡­But why? I wanted a magic instructor,¡± he said, looking up at his father. He had been asking for a tutor the past half year. As quick as he was to learn, there was only so much he could develop simply through self-learning. This felt like the opposite of what he wanted, as his swordy had always been quite poor. Julius smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! This is part of that!¡± ¡°Huh¡­?¡± ¡°Your mother and I discussed it, and if you want to take your training in the art of magic to the next level, you¡¯re going to have to also be a half-decent swordsman!¡± Chapter 8 Veldalla, The Sword Instructor! ¡°Your mother and I discussed it, and if you want to take your training in the art of magic to the next level, you¡¯re going to have to also be a half-decent swordsman!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand¡­why?¡± He asked, raising an eyebrow. He could tell the discussion that Julius had with his mother was likely more of the entric, brawn-for-brains man convincing her to have him undergo this training. ¡°Bnce is key! Sometimes, a sword is going toe in handy over magic! Having both options will make you a twice as powerfulbatant!¡± Julius told him, ¡°Now, if Velda here passes you by the end of your lessons in six months¨Cyou can get your magic tutor!¡± It was a deal, or rather, a challenge issued to him. Despite his shorings in close-quartersbat with a sword, he nodded, epting the deal. ¡°Fine. You¡¯re on,¡± he smiled. ¡°That¡¯s the spirit!¡± Julius smiled, giving a thumbs-up to the crimson-haired woman behind, ¡°Alright¨Che¡¯s all yours, Vel!¡± ¨C As Julius left, he was now all alone with the amber-eyed woman who towered over him, though it wasn¡¯t exactly rare for him to be loomed over, there was an imposing aura that exuded from the woman of clear strength.. ¡°You¡¯re Julie¡¯s kid, eh?¡± Velda knelt down, looking him up and down. ¡°¡®J-Julie¡¯?¡± He stammered, leaning back with a nervousugh from being stared at so closely. Velda held her hand to her chin, which was covered in a ck-leather glove, lined with fur, ¡°You do have his eyes, but¡­I don¡¯t see the same fire in you. Well, it doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯ll see that for myself with how you handle a sword.¡± Tossed to him without warning was a metal sword¨Cwhich he certainly didn¡¯t expect as he frantically caught it, letting out a sigh of relief as he didn¡¯t lose his fingers in the process. The slightest movements caused the chain decorations on Velda¡¯s ck armor to jingle. ¡°¡­A real sword? Shouldn¡¯t we use wooden des?¡± He said nervously. Velda had a half-smile, holding a replica of the sword he held, ¡°Don¡¯t worry; they¡¯re dull, but that doesn¡¯t mean it won¡¯t hurt like hell to be hit by ¡¯em.¡± ¡°Oh, good¡­¡± He sarcastically breathed out. ¡°Just try not to get it!¡± Velda warned. Without any clear signal, it seemed their training began as the tan, muscr woman with luscious, fiery-red hair dashed towards him. She¡¯s fast¨C! He thought. Naturally, rather than relying on his sword, he extended one hand outward¨Csilently invoking a burst of wind magic, sending a cone of powerful air pressure tunneling towards his fire-haired instructor. ¡°¨C!¡± With a pivot of her foot, Velda spun around, seamlessly evading his spell, much to his dismay as he found himself stifled from his words. Having achieved but a single level, he realized it was not enough to ovee the shorings that were already present in his life¨Cthat is, with a sword, he was woefully outmatched. ¡°Nice try, but a little wind isn¡¯t going to stop me! Raise your de!¡± Velda called out with a smile. What frightened him was just how excited the woman seemed to be within the environment of a battle, even if it was just a mock match between the two. Of course, as she drew in, he refused to rely on his sword once again¨Cusing a burst of wind beneath his shoes to blow a few meters into the air,unching right over Velda¡¯s head as she swiped her dull de in a horizontal sh. ¡°Gkk!¡± He looked down in surprise. With the howl of air that released at the end of the sword swipe, he could tell that it wouldn¡¯t be pleasant to have been on the receiving end of it. ¡°I don¡¯t mind if you use your spells, but it¡¯s only going to make it worse when you¡¯re caught,¡± Velda warned with a smirk. ¡°¨C¡° As hended back down on his feet, he was taken aback by that speed of hers once again as she shed across his vision. It was simply impossible for him to react to her speed, prompting him to rely on a spell of a more broad scope, one that could reach her without having a specific aim. As he clenched his fist, he shifted the soil beneath the woman¡¯s ck, steel-studded boots to shift into mud, taking away the firm ground beneath her step. ¡°Oh?¡± Velda looked down in surprise. Just as her boots sinked into the mud, he squinted, focusing as he exhaled smoothly¨Cclenching his hand again. This time, he shifted the mud back into a solid substance, but made it more akin to rock than soil. He had cemented her boots into the ground. Heh. Gotcha, he smugly thought. But, Velda¡¯s smile only widened as if feeling as though a challenge was extended to her¨C ¡°Not bad, kid. But¨C¡± His eyes widened as he witnessed the woman break free from the rocky hold with just a simple raise of her legs; shattering the stone that clung to her boots as she vanished from in front of his vision. ¨CBehind?! He thought. ¡°¨CYou¡¯re too caught up in your spells, you¡¯ve abandoned any hope once I get close!¡± Velda yelled. Before he could react, just as he spun around, the dull edge of the steel de smacked into his stomach, sending him flying back and crashing back down onto the ground. ¡°Ngh¡­Ghh¡­¡± He groaned, coughing out as he tried to breathe in, but had trouble doing so as his lungs frantically tried sucking in air. Burns¡­My stomach¡­burns¡­I can¡¯t breathe, he thought. Sweat exuded from his pores as he held onto his stomach, curling up into a fetal position. Though he was allowed no reprieve as a kick straight to his rear knocked him to his feet as he looked up at the red-haired woman. Velda casually rested the sword against her shoulder, which was protected by an all-ck pauldron in the shape of a wolf¡¯s face. ¡°See? That¡¯s the weakness of magic users: once you get in their face, they¡¯re totally helpless,¡± Velda told him. ¡°¨C¡° ¡°Pick up your sword. Let¡¯s try this again,¡± Velda instructed. That¡¯s right, he remembered, in this world, I can¡¯t just level up and overpower my obstacles. I have to practice, fail, learn, fail¡­rinse, repeat¨CI have to work my way to the top in this world without leveling! Chapter 9 VERSUS: Veldalla! ¡°Pick up your sword. Let¡¯s try this again,¡± Velda instructed. Though thest thing he wanted to do was go for another round with the woman who certainly didn¡¯t treat him as though he were a child, he begrudgingly lifted the training weapon, knowing it was his one line of defense. Again and again, he felt it impossible to keep up with Velda, who had the speed of a bullet and the aggression of a bull. Even defending against her strikes by holding the sword up still caused him to feel the strength of the blow echo through his bones. ¡°Come on. Move your feet! Footwork is just as important as knowing how to swing that sword!¡± Velda instructed. ¨C Cling. ng. Cling. Sparks flew as the two steel-forged weapons shed; he was forced to press his boots into the soil below just to stay somewhat steady, even as Velda opted to strike casually with only one hand wielding her sword. ¡­I can¡¯t do anything! She¡¯s too strong¡­! He thought. ¡°¡­Huff¡­¡±. He breathed heavily, falling to a knee as he was left exhausted from the first batch of lessons from the red-haired woman. It went exactly the same way over the course of the first week of instruction. Each day, he was battered by the dull sword, experiencing the first fits of pain in this new life as he slept with welts. For better or worse, he also shared his room with her. While Velda snored and slept as if she owned the ce, there was one advantage to this arrangement: Velda¡¯s nightwear allowed his imagination to be put to full use. In a world without electronics, he had to use what he could¨Cso the image of the snoring, brawny, but gorgeous woman with her shirt that barely covered her chest and short-shorts that left half of her rear hanging out¨Che did the deed that shall not be named, making sure to stay quiet under his nket. ¨C ¡°Ow, ow, ow¡­!¡± He winced. ¡°Hold still, silly,¡± Treyna smiled after touching one of the welts on his stomach. He quieted down, nodding as he watched his mother ce her palm against his forehead with a verdant light gently manifesting. ¡°Hear me spirit of healing. Gentle is your way, and through all of time, your blessings have graced us with utmost kindness; grace us once more: Healing.¡± The warm light settled the bruises and welts on his body, bringing him back to one-hundred-percent. Before he went outside for his daily lessons with Velda, Treyna stopped him with a slight hold on his shirt. ¡°¨C?¡± ¡°I know you prefer studying magic, but please, try and give it your all here, too. Julius¡­really has high hopes for you, and I do, too. You don¡¯t have to be as good with the sword as with spells, but both can certainly be helpful,¡± Treyna told him with a smile. He stopped for a moment before smiling and nodding softly, ¡°I will.¡± As he met Velda outside, who was staying with over the course of the six month course, he held a resolved smile, pointing right at the red-haired woman. ¡°Let¡¯s make a bet,¡± he said. ¡°Oh? Name it,¡± Velda smirked. ¡°If Ind a direct hit on you, you have to let me feel your chest!¡± He proimed out loud with utmost vigor. Even for the toned, battle-hardened woman who had a scar stretching from over her left eye down to her cheek, she looked surprised by the nature of the bet beforeughing straight from her gut. ¡°¨CIs that a no?¡± He mumbled. ¡°Sure, kid! I ept your challenge!¡± Velda grinned. The deal was set. For the lecherous man who had undergone reincarnation into his new, young self, this bet was the perfect motivation for himself. It was certainly a luxurious prize waiting on the other side if he aplished his end of the bet. Half the reason he wound up being hit was that he was distracted by the two, sizable mounds on the darkly-dressed sword expert¡¯s chest. Waiting beyond this de¡­is paradise! He thought. Pointing his de forward, his sight was aimed on Velda¡¯s rack; the woman didn¡¯t seem to think much about such concepts, but it was likely due to not expecting much from a boy of his age. But, that would be a mistake. As they begun their sparring again, this time he put to practice what he had been theorizing about the previous night¨C ¡°¨C!¡± Velda looked forward in surprise. Using a burst of wind magic at his heels, he propelled himself forward with a swift dash, immediately shing des with her. The confidence he now had with the bet on the table had dulled his fear of being hit, and not only that, experiencing the pain from being smacked by it so many times had made things easier for him now. Cling. ng. Cling. Velda shed des with him, still handicapping herself by using one hand and hardly looking to be exerting herself, but it was still an arduous task ahead of him that he gave his all to. ¡­This kid. He¡¯s seamlesslybining his magic with his swordy? Velda thought. He honed in, holding the sword with two hands as Velda seemed to take notice of the stance he used. Meeting him in a sh, he watched as the elite swordsman reared her de back with one hand. She¡¯ll fall for it. This entire time, I¡¯ve only used magic when guiding it with my hand. But, that¡¯s not necessary! He thought. As he focused only on swinging the dull de forward with all of his might, he stomped his boot down into the soil while the natural winds of the luscious valley spectated the bout. Just as Velda swung her weapon downward¨C FWOOM. A st of wind came in, directly knocking against the red-haired woman¡¯s weapon and knocking it back. ¡°¨C?!¡± Velda looked in on surprise with her amber eyes. Normally, nothing short of a tornado can stop her. But, when you don¡¯t expect an attack, anything can take you! He thought. With his instructor leftpletely open, there was nothing left but to tie the knot on his strategic victory: The dull end of his sword finally did it; it smacked against Velda¡¯s abdomen. I did it! He thought. Chapter 10 Independence! I did it! He thought. It was much more anticlimactic than he had imagined; Velda didn¡¯t even budge from the strike, but she dide to a full-stop. Well, can¡¯t expect much from the body of an eleven-year-old, he thought with a sigh. The scarred, but beautiful, rowdy woman looked at him for a moment. In ce of surprise, Velda¡¯s expression instead turned to a fierce smile as she pped the spot where she was hit,ughing out to the azure skies above. ¡°Nicely done, kid!¡± Velda smiled wide, smacking her stomach again, which didn¡¯t even show any signs of being hit. ¡°Ehe,¡± he bashfully ruffled his own mix-colored locks. ¡°Julius wasn¡¯t kidding with that letter he sent. You¡¯re a natural. While your skill with the sword itself is stillcking in some areas¡­You definitely have a mind forbat,¡± Velda told him. It was something he didn¡¯t expect, but the rough, battle-loving woman properly gave him an evaluation. ¡°You were able to make use of your surroundings, and even lure me into a trap you set throughout our training. How exciting¡­¡± Velda looked at him as if a moment from drooling, ¡°Hey, kid, have you ever thought about bing an adventurer?¡±. ¡°Huh? I haven¡¯t really thought about anything like that¡­Why?¡± He asked. Velda pped him on the back a few times with her usual, boisterousughter, ¡°It¡¯d fit you well! You¡¯d shoot up the ranks, especially with me by your side!¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡­¡± Heughed, not really knowing what to say. ¡°Anyway, we can leave that for another time¨Cwhat was it about your prize you wanted? I think it was something with my chest¨CI don¡¯t know what value that has for you, though,¡± Velda said. The crimson-haired woman seemed genuinely confused by why anybody would be interested in, what he called, the ¡°double-Ds¡± on her chest. He smiled ear-to-ear with the topic he was truly interested in being brought up, ¡°A deal is a deal, right? You said I could touch them if Inded a hit?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure. I just don¡¯t see the merit in it, but if you want to, go ahead!¡± Veldaughed. For him, this was practically touching that which humanity should not reach for¨Cthe stars, heaven, angels, the outer gods¨Cfor him, it was the body of a woman. Throughout his neen years of living, he had never touched a girl, let alone have the chance to touch one like this. So, just the thought of it set him off like a lecherous old man, rubbing his palms together despite having the face of a young boy. Velda seemedpletely perplexed by anything that was sexual in the slightest. It was clear by her attire and attitude, but she was definitely more of a tomboy, despite having the beauty of a princess behind her tough persona. He rolled up his sleeves with a conviction fitting for a shining hero. I¡¯m taking back my youth¨Cright here, right now. It¡¯s time; we¡¯re finally going to grasp the ¡°Twin Mountains of Boy¡¯s Dreams¡±! He thought. As he reached up towards the wonderful mounds that loomed over him, it was reached¡ªEmilio had found paradise. Soft. They¡¯re like marshmallows. She¡¯s got a lot of muscle, but I guess some things never change, he thought. ¡°Ehe-he¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got a weird look on your face, kid. Is this really enjoyable?¡± Velda looked down at him with a straight face. ¡°It¡¯s just about the best,¡± he said. While he was caught in the splendid moment that was reaching for the summit of a boy¡¯s dreams, he immediately withdrew his hands as the front door to his house opened. ¡°Hey, Emilio, Velda! How¡¯s the traininging today?¡± Julius stepped out, carrying a sack over his shoulder. Velda smiled, ¡°He justnded his first hit. It was a spectacr one, I¡¯d say.¡± Julius looked surprised before a proud smile came over his lips as he looked down at his son, ¡°Really?¡± He nodded bashfully, scratching his cheek, ¡°¡­Yeah.¡± More than praise, he was praying the red-haired woman wouldn¡¯t blurt out what their deal was that made his resolve capable of winning possible in the first ce. ¡°Your boy is really something. He made a bet with me if hended a hit¡ªif he won, he was allowed to feel my chest. Ha-Ha! I don¡¯t get it, but somehow that was enough for him to man up!¡± Veldaughed. He immediately wanted to shrink away and die of embarrassment as Julius looked over at him. ¡°Emilio¡­¡± Julius said his name. Expecting some sort of punishment, he closed his eyes¡ªonly to be surprised as his hair was ruffled by his father¡¯s hand. ¡°¡ª?¡± ¡°Attaboy, Emilio! You¡¯ve got Dragonheart blood in you! There¡¯s no doubt about that!¡± Julius smiled wide. He received some yful ps on the back while listening to theughter of his entric father. ¡°Julius used to be handsy with me too, back in the day when he partied together. He always had this pre-dungeon ¡®ritual¡¯ where he groped my chest. He said something about it increasing his vigor,¡± Velda exined with a smile. ¡°Err, I was young back then!¡± Juliusughed off her words. Seriously, what kind of family was I born into?! It¡¯s perfect! He thought. His father hoisted the sack up in front of him, ¡°Anyway, Emilio, can you do me a favor and turn this in at the Guild Center?¡± He looked at the item for a moment, nodding as he took hold of it, instantly dropping it to the ground as he hoisted it back up with a struggle. ¡°¡­It¡¯s heavy, what is it?¡± He asked, holding it over his shoulder. Julius cheekily smiled, folding his arms over his chest, ¡°Just proof of the orcs I took care of around the outskirts. The Guild Center needs proof like that so they can confirm that I handled my end of the quest.¡± ¡°¡­I see,¡± he said with a disgusted expression. As he moved the sack the slightest bit, the squishy sounds now made his stomach churn as he realized it was filled with heads of orcs. ¡°I can go with him,¡± Velda offered. ¡°That¡¯d be¨C¡± He began to say before being interrupted by his father. Julius ruffled his hair, ¡°That¡¯s alright. Emilio needs to learn some independence, right?¡± ¡°Right¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°You¡¯re not going to be a kid forever. This is good for you!¡± Julius told him with a smile. To him, it seemed more like his father lightening his own load by having him handle the grunt work. Chapter 11 The Guild Going on his way, he carried the heavy, blood-stained sack with him across the dirt road that sat in the luscious fields. Still, he didn¡¯t mind the opportunity to finally walk the trail alone; the lively, verdant trees swayed in the gentle breeze along with the colorful flowers that upied the sides of the dirt path. While marching down the road, he saw a few vige kids ying by the trail, kicking rocks and ying with sticks. It was clear by how they were swinging their sticks that they were pretending they were swords. ying Knights n¡¯ Thieves? He thought. He went on his merry way, but what he was suspicious of happening in the back of his mind happened¨C ¡°Hey, you! You¡¯re the Dragonheart kid, aren¡¯t ya¡¯?¡± The pudgy one of the group was the one that called him out, causing him to stop, but he didn¡¯t turn around, only ncing back. He tried to be polite, waving back to the three kids with a nod, ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s me. I¡¯m Emilio¨C¡± Before he could even properly introduce himself, thenky one of the three with the bowl cut and buck teeth interrupted him, ¡°He¡¯s the one that¡¯s always hidin¡¯ inside of his house!¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± The short one of the group added, who had shaggy ginger hair. ¡°¨C¡° He went silent, not knowing how to respond before more words came hurling his way, this time from the pudgy kid again.. ¡°I bet he¡¯s still stuck to his mom¡¯s teat!¡± The round kid with a bald head pointed at him. This caused the other two tough as they pointed at him, beginning to insult him for reasons unbeknownst to him. It was only a reminder to him of something he had felt through his years in this new life: he didn¡¯t have any friends. Sure, his rtionship with his parents was as healthy and fulfilling as it could be, but there was nobody his age he could talk to. All he could do was tell himself ¡°I¡¯m used to this¡±; with his soul older than his body, he felt as if it were silly to even worry about being friendly with kids his age anyway. ¡­There¡¯s no point in getting worked up over what kids say, he thought. Trying to rationalize this, though he was pretty annoyed already, he began to walk away, hoisting the sack over his shoulder again before¨Cthwack. Something hard hit him in the back of his head. It wasn¡¯t particrlyrge or heavy, but it did sting, causing him to hold the back of his head and look back. ¡°What¡¯re you¨C¡± ¡°Ha-ha-ha!¡± ¡°Mommy¡¯s boy!¡± Without any warning, the three kids started throwing more pebbles at him, hitting him in the cheek and his arms as he raised them for protection. ¡°Stop it¡­!¡± He said. ¡°Ha-ha!¡± ¡°It¡¯s just like my dad told me! The Dragonhearts are wimps now!¡± After they continued tossing the stones at him while heckling, the annoyance he had shifted into anger as he tightly clenched his fists. ¡°I said stop!¡± Invoked from the anger in his yelled words, a st of wind emitted outward, carving through the trail and howling against the three kids¨Charshly knocking them back. ¡°¡­Huff¡­¡± He breathed out. While it wasn¡¯t anything extreme, the mystical release of wind did result in some scratches and bloody noses from the kids, who were now looking up fearfully with tears in their eyes. Before he could say anything, the three boys got up, crying out and running away as if some monster attacked him. ¡°¨C¡° He sighed, picking up the sack of quest proofs again as he went on his way forward. Well, let¡¯s hope that doesn¡¯te back to bite me¡­He thought. Reaching the small town just over the hill, he was greeted by the kind upants. It seemed to mostly be inhabited by elderly folk and farmers. He was actually surprised that most people there seemed to know who he was, despite him not recognizing a single person there. ¡°Hey, Emilio!¡± ¡°You¡¯ve gotten big!¡± ¡°Young Dragonheart!¡± ¡°Want a plime?¡± He was offered a bumpy, orange-and-purple fruit from a lightly-bearded man who ran a fruit stand, though he didn¡¯t know what it was. ¡°Err, I¡¯m fine, thanks¨C¡± ¡°I insist!¡± The jovial shopkeeper held the fruit close to his face. With it being so adamantly pushed his way, he epted the gift with a nod, taking therge fruit into his hand, ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Ha-ha! Enjoy, Young Dragonheart!¡± The shopkeeper said with a smile. It felt weird to have some sort of fame, or at least recognition within the peaceful town. He did start to put some clues together while looking around the town. While it wasn¡¯t poor by any means, it was quite bnced, most homes were the same size and shape, but nobody seemedvishly well off. In fact, the home he lived in seemed many times asrge and exuberant in structure and decoration. He was beginning to get an idea while walking around the town, being recognized and treated kindly by every person he passed by: Am I¡­a noble? He thought. He didn¡¯t seem excessively well off when he thought about it, but he definitely livedfortably and without issue. An easyparison he made was the way he dressedpared to those around him; most people were wearing stitched tunics and non-colorful fabric, but he on the other hand wore a gray vest over a warmth-retaining, white shirt and green shorts that were tailor-made for him. Now that I think about it¡­that¡¯s a pretty high standard for medieval times, isn¡¯t it? He thought. Putting that aside for now, he finally reached the center of town, which was upied by arge, multi-story building with arge sign attached to the front: ¡°GUILD CENTER.¡± ¡°¨C¡° By this point, his arms were just about dead as he gave up trying to carry the bag of quest proofs, dragging the bloody sack across the ground. ¡°Ngh¡­¡± He clenched his teeth, sweating. ¡­It doesn¡¯t matter how much magic I learn¨CI still have the body of an eleven-year-old! He thought. Finally moving up the stairs with the grotesque sound of the bagged heads thumping against each step, he walked through the doors. ¡°¨C!¡± His eyes widened with a curious sparkle not unlike that of a child¡¯s true curiosity. Inside of the Guild Center, an assortment of people inhabited the establishment. ¡°Next drink is on me!¡± ¡°I¡¯m taking on a dragon next!¡± ¡°¡­You¡¯re really asking to die, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right; I took down an Orc Lord! I beat him with this ax right here! Aha-ha!¡± ¨CIt was filled with adventurers; they were dressed in medieval gear, some more grounded but some werevish and fantastical¨Clike therge figure sitting alone in the back of the room, dressed in a full-set of dragon-shaped armor. ¡°¡­Woah¡­¡± He mumbled in astonishment. Chapter 12 Lurking Trouble For some reason, it was almost more breathtaking than the sight of magic itself; the atmosphere that was boisterous, loud, and filled withughter; stinking of booze and the smell of sweat and steel¨Che felt truly inside of a fantasy world at that moment. ¡°Gh-¡° He fell back after being bumped into by a passing person, not noticing them while he was awestruck. ¡°Sorry ¡¯bout that. Didn¡¯t see you there.¡± The words came from the man who had knocked into him, who extended a hand down to him that was d in a glove woven of ck leather and studded with silver. ¡°¨C¡° The man had kind eyes and a scruffy, crimson beard with messy hair of the same shade; he wasn¡¯t particrly muscr, and his armor hardly lookedvish; it was half leather and half steel, as if not being able to afford a full-set of metal protection. ¡°Are you okay? Oh, man, I didn¡¯t bump into you too hard there, did I?¡± The man asked worriedly. ¡°¡­I¡¯m fine,¡± he said, finallying to. As soon as he epted the helping hand, he was hoisted up to his feet as for a moment, he felt as light as a feather in the grip of the kind adventurer. ¡°There ya¡¯ go. All good!¡± The red-haired man smiled, brushing off his shoulders and patting him.. He stood there in disbelief for a moment, thinking only one thing: This guy is so cool. I want to be just like him, he thought. ¡°Err, who are¨C¡± Before he could ask his question to the man, a voice from across the rowdy building called out to him, calling him over. ¡°Let¡¯s go, red-hair!¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m right behind ya¡¯!¡± The red-haired adventurer looked up, going on his way. He was a bit disappointed that he didn¡¯t get to ask the man for his name, slumping his shoulders a bit with a sigh. ¡°Hey, kid!¡± ¡°¨C!¡± He raised his head, looking back as he saw the red-haired, affable adventurer flick something over to him that spun in the air. Catching it in his hand, he looked at it¨Cfinding it to be some sort of coin with anguage inscribed on it that he didn¡¯t recognize, etched with the symbol of a cross and a sword. ¡°What¡¯s this¡­?¡± He mumbled. ¡°If you want to be an adventurer someday, there¡¯s your fee!¡± The man winked, ¡°It¡¯s on me! If you be big someday, I don¡¯t want you holding a grudge over a little bump!¡± It was a yful notion, but he smiled, nodding with giddiness as he kept the coin tightly held in his hand before tucking it away in his shorts. Before he knew it, the red-haired adventurer disappeared within the crowd, leaving his sights as he finally remembered what he was there for in the first ce. ¡°¡­Grgh¡­!¡± He struggled to haul the sack over to the reception desk, but managed atst as the woman behind the desk watched with a worried smile. ¡°What can I help you with?¡± The blonde-haired woman asked kindly. With hisst ounce of strength, sweating by quite a margin, he hoisted the bloodied sack up and set it on the desk as a grotesque squelch sounded out. ¡°I¡¯m¡­here¡­to¡­turn this in,¡± he said between heavy breaths. ¡°¡­Right,¡± the guild receptionist nodded before looking at him for a moment, blinking a few times, ¡°¡­You¡¯re the Dragonheart boy, aren¡¯t you?¡± He was confused as to how she figured that out, but it wasn¡¯t exactly surprising with how many people in the town seemed to know him as well. ¡°Yeah,¡± he nodded, resting his chin tiredly on the counter. The receptionist smiled brightly, ¡°I¡¯m Lia! I¡¯m quite familiar with your parents. Sir Julius has talked a lot about you.¡± ¡®Sir¡¯? He thought. ¡°I¡¯m guessing this is from his most recent quest, then?¡± Lia asked, taking the sack behind the reception desk. He nodded, ¡°¡­Yeah.¡± ¡°Alright, then. Let me verify the quest proof and I¡¯ll get your payment for you.¡± As the joyful, golden-haired receptionist opened the sack, silently counting the heads inside of its hold, he tiredly watched her chest bounce with each movement she made. It was like counting sheep; each time they bounced, he counted higher and higher. ¡­Three, four, five, six¡­He thought. He nearly fell asleep while being hypnotized by the bouncy mounds before a small sack jingled in front of him. ¡°Here you are: twelve crowns! Thank you for your assistance to the Guild Federation!¡± Lia bowed. It was a lot of money; more than he had ever had ess to as he gulped, epting the payment before he left the building. Just as he left, he was hounded by a perturbed old man, who jabbed his bony finger near his face out of anger. ¡°Hey, you! Brat! Look at the mess you left on the street!¡± The old man yelled at him. At first, he was confused as to why anybody would bother him, but he looked down at the dirt road of the vige to see a trail of blood. Oh, right¡­He remembered. He had been dragging the bloody sack of orc heads during thest bit of his haul, to which there were a few people who seemed bothered by this. ¡°Go grab a brush and clean it right up! Or else I¡¯ll go get the guards¨C¡± Shutting the old man up, he held his hand out, manifesting a spray of highly-pressurized water that cleaned the crimson liquid from the dirt swiftly. After rinsing the street, he nced back at the old man, who was missing half of his teeth, ¡°Is that good enough?¡± ¡°I-I suppose so¡­!¡± The passing vigers seemed in shock at his disy of casual magic, but to him it wasn¡¯t anything extraordinary. Going on his way, he bounced the sack of money in his palm with a giddy smile. He wasn¡¯t nning on spending the hard-earned money his father had acquired, but it certainly felt nice to have some coin in his possession. He took some time to actually explore the humble town, getting familiar with some of its upants and how things were run. It was surprisingly bustling for such a small town, but apparently Lilgulia was a sort of muter town¡± for adventurers and merchants to pass through quite often. Little did he realize the two men who were trailing him, watching him with less-than-good intentions in their eyes. ¡°The Dragonheart brat, eh? A lot of rumors about the bodies of those folk. He should fetch us a pretty coin,¡± one of the men said. ¡°Looks like he¡¯s pretty talented, too. A young boy, well-educated, and talented? Hoh¡­I bet some dirty noble will love him,¡± the other man said. Chapter 13 Family Secrets ¡°Please! C¡¯mon!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve said it once and I¡¯ll say it again: the price is steel.¡± While moving through the bustling marker section of the town, he found a boy that looked to be around his age haggling down a stubborn merchant, who definitely wasn¡¯t willing to budge on whatever it was that was being bargained. The boy was tall andnky, with light-green hair kept in a messy ponytail. By his in, beige tunic and matching breeches, he didn¡¯t seem particrly well off, but he wasn¡¯t malnourished looking, either. ¡°How about I pay you the rest next time I¡¯m around? Huh? That sounds fair, right?¡± The boy bargained. The merchant with the bushy, brown-and-gray beard remained as stubborn as an ox with his arms folded over his chest, ¡°The price is steel.¡± It was clear that the beer-bellied merchant was not going to be haggled as he stood behind his wares like a doting father over his children. All he looked to be selling was a variety of pastries, so it was understandable that food wouldn¡¯t exactly be something with arge margin to cut down on. Either way, he watched for a minute, noticing the peculiar bodynguage of the ponytail-wearing boy. What¡¯s he doing? He thought. He noticed the boy¡¯s hand fidgeting near a piece of bread that wasying in the twig-woven basket. Even his naive eye could pick up on what was about to happen: the boy was nning on swiping the pastry and making a run for it¨Cthat much was clear by how antsy he seemed to be.. ¡°C¡¯mon¨Cjust this once!¡± The boy pleaded. ¡°Price. Is. Steel.¡± ¡°¨C¡° For a moment, the boy and the merchant had an intense staring contest while he watched the lowborn boy¡¯s hand stay near the long loaf of bread on disy. Just before the boy could swipe it¨C ¡°How much is it?¡± He asked the merchant, stepping beside the green-haired boy. Both the stubborn merchant and thenky boy seemed surprised by his presence. ¡°Huh? Who are you?¡± The merchant grumbled. The boy beside him looked confused, but the look they exchanged told the green-haired boy that he was there as a friend. In his head, he got an idea based off of how the people around the town had been treating him, he decided to fully embrace the favor they had been showing him. He introduced himself politely to the merchant, holding a hand over his heart as he bowed, ¡°Emilio Dragonheart.¡± Simply, he took advantage of his name. ¡°Wha¨C? Oh, my apologies, young Dragonheart! I had no idea you were in town today¨Cwhat a splendid asion,¡± the merchantughed while sweating, rubbing his hands together. ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± he smiled, ¡°So, what¡¯s the price of this bread?¡± The merchant blinked a few times before quickly grabbing the loaf of bread and presenting it to him, ¡°For you? Zero!¡± ¡°Oh, I couldn¡¯t,¡± he politely declined. Though he was just ying it up, trying to act benevolent but indeed¨Che wanted to spare no coin, especially since it wasn¡¯t exactly his money to spend. ¡°I insist¨Cyour father has protected Yullim for years now! This is the least I can do to return the favor,¡± the merchant nodded a lot of times with a smile. ¡°Well, if you truly insist¡­¡± ¡°I do!¡± ¨CJust like that, he acquired the fluffy pastry without sparing a single coin to the merchant. He waved him off, walking away as he signaled for the perplexed young boy to follow. As the lowborn boy, who was a good head taller than him, met up with him in the midst of the busy market, he tore the bread in half, tossing one half of it to the boy. ¡°¨CWhy¡¯d you do that?¡± The boy asked as he caught the bread. ¡°Do what?¡± He asked, biting into the soft bread. The green-haired boy looked at him, ¡°You knew I was going to snatch this anyway. Why¡¯d you go through the trouble?¡± ¡°I think what you should be saying is ¡®thank you¡¯; I¡¯m sure you wouldn¡¯t have exactly been praised and patted on the head for thievery,¡± he said, swallowing the bread down as he hit his own chest to aid his body in taking it down. He stood against the wall, trying to look cool while he ate his half of the bread though it was incredibly difficult to look imposing while being a pre-teen who was hardly four-and-a-half feet. I¡¯ll give him a lecture about not being a drain on society and contributing¡­though it¡¯s a bit riching from me¨Cbut, I¡¯m a new man! Or¡­boy. It¡¯s my responsibility as an overly-wise eleven-year-old to help my fellow youth! He thought. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°¨C¡° It was surprising to him. He didn¡¯t actually expect the young boy to thank him that easily, but he was met with an extended hand and a smile from the boy. ¡°I¡¯m Pip,¡± the ponytail-wearing boy said with a beaming smile. The boy with pale-green hair was missing a tooth in his front row of teeth, adding a certain innocence to his smile. ¡°Emilio,¡± he shook his hand. They both smiled with a new friendship being forged at that moment. ¨C ¡°So, you¡¯re the Dragonheart kid?¡± Pip asked. The two of them were sitting by a wall, sharing the bread the merchant had given as a gift. Again, he felt it odd that his name seemed to carry some sort of weight behind it. ¡°Yeah,¡± he looked at Pip, ¡°¨CWhat¡¯s it mean, anyway?¡± ¡°Wha¨C?¡± ¡°Dragonheart. It seems like everybody in this town knows who I am,¡± he said. Pip blinked a few times as if confused by his question, ¡°You¡¯re tellin¡¯ me you don¡¯t know who you even are?¡± He nodded, ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m saying.¡± ¡°Well, must be a good reason for it. So, I¡¯m not sayin¡¯.¡± After sitting silently for a few minutes in thought as he kept his knees close to his body, he looked up as the boy with the light-green ponytail jumped up to his feet. ¡°Well, I¡¯m off now!¡± ¡°Oh, alright¡­¡± Pip looked at him for a moment, ¡°I¡¯ve got some errands to run. But¡­we can hang out again sometime, alright?¡± He wore a smile before nodding, ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Alight, then¨Ccya, Dragonheart!¡± Just like that, Pip was off like a cat swiftly exiting through the crowd. Though he questioned what sort of ¡°errands¡± the young boy must¡¯ve meant, and if it had anything inmon with the almost-thievery that urred just earlier. I should get going, too, he thought. Chapter 14 Mission: Escape! As he walked around the town that smelled of freshly baked dough and manure at the same time, he stopped as something caught the corner of his way. In the alleyway to his left, he saw what looked to be a young girl, wrapped in a tattered cloth, hiding within it as she held out a rusty cup. A beggar. I guess some things are the same between worlds, huh? He thought. With the bulging sack of coins in his possession, he stood there for a moment before moving down the tucked-away, quiet alley, retrieving a coin from the sack. What¡¯s another coin, anyway? He thought. ¡°Here you go.¡± Holding a smile, he bent down as he dropped the coin into the cup. It jingled, bouncing off of the metallic interior of the coin holder. It was a nice feeling to help somebody out; it was something he didn¡¯t experience often, as he was the one that always needed charity himself before. Though that smile of his faded as the small figure looked up, revealing a wicked grin of ckened, rotten teeth from not a young girl, but an old man with twisted features. ¡°What¡­?¡±. ¡°Thanks, kid,¡± the person spoke with a raspy voice. ¨CJust then, he noticed the shadows looming over him. A shiver ran up his spine as he could sense the ill intentions oozing off of who stood behind him. As he spun around to face them¨CTHWACK. All that he remembered was arge fist smashing against his face before everything went ck. It was a valuable lesson the naive young man learned, who had been sheltered the entirety of both of his lives thus far: don¡¯t walk down creepy alleyways. ¨C ¡°Ugh¡­¡± He groaned, slowly parting his eyelids as the ceiling above was hazy from his spinning vision. It felt like a hammer was constantly knocking against his skull; it was nothing less than a nauseating migraine. What happened¡­? He questioned. What immediately greeted him was the unpleasant stench of wherever he was; it smelled of ammonia and damp stone. As he instinctively moved his arms, he found his wrists bound behind his back, and the same was for his ankles. ¡°What¡­?¡± He looked down, finding himselfying on a grimy, stone floor in a dark, empty room. To say it was empty wasn¡¯t exactly right¨C Squeak. Squeak. Rats could be seening and going from small holes in the walls; that exined the smell of ammonia. However, little else was exined to his confused, concussed mind. What is going on here¡­? How did I get here? He questioned. The sound of water dripping from the ceiling filled his ears along with the semi-frequent squeaks of rodents; he took a moment to quietly look around, making sure there was nobody else directly around. He seemed to be alone. Come on¨Cthink. What happenedst¡­? He thought. As he racked his brain for an answer, the throbbing pain it felt served as a reminder as thatst, brief memory resurfaced. That¡¯s right¡­! I found that creepy guy, then there were two people behind me¨CI think they knocked me out¡­He thought. ¡°Who just randomly socks a kid¡­?¡± He mumbled to himself. If these people were clearly alright with punching and abducting a young boy like himself, they were clearly a problem. As he scooted, sitting up as he leaned against the back wall, he set his gaze forward, looking at the singr door that sat at the end of the small, dank room. These are dangerous people. I¡¯m guessing there¡¯s probably somebody right outside of that door, he thought. After sitting there for a minute to take in his surroundings, getting an idea of what was around him, he began to hear muffled voices beyond the metal, jail-like door. ¡°Did you send the letter out already?¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯ll probably take a few nights to reach the Luwrell Domain. But, I¡¯m sure that creepy bastard will buy up our little Dragonheart, he-he.¡± He took note of the fact that they mentioned his surname; it was something that struck a deeper cord in him of dread. It didn¡¯t feel like a random act of misfortune, but something intended for him specifically. ¡°Luwrell is one sick bastard, but he does pay well. Last kiddie we sent him ended up fed to the hounds once his ¡°use¡± was over, apparently.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t give a shit what he does with the kids as long as he pays.¡± ¡°Same here. Long as he gives me a shiny coin, he¡¯s prince charmin¡¯ to me! Ha-ha!¡± The conversation between the two men with gravelly ents was less thanforting for him to eavesdrop on. ¡­I knew I was kidnapped, or something like that¡­but they¡¯re nning on selling me? Hold on, this is a game, isn¡¯t it? At least, it¡¯s something artificial, right¡­? Why would this be an aspect of it? I don¡¯t see developers adding an event like this in¡­He thought. Even though he tried to rationalize the fact that this was all artificial, he knew well that simply wasn¡¯t the case. In every capacity, this was reality for him. The smells that met his nose unpleasantly, the harsh, ufortable stone he sat his rear against, and the soreness of his bound wrists and ankles. It was real; there was simply no arguing otherwise by what his own senses told him. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sticking around to be sold off to some sleazy rich guy¡­¡± He mumbled to himself. Leaning forward, he held his tied-together wrists out behind him as he manifested a rocky protrusion from the ground. It was in the shape of a small spear, reaching up just enough for him to cut his own bindings and free his hands. After freeing the use of his arms, he quickly and quietly unwrapped his ankles, finally standing up. Easy does it, he thought. ¨CAnd just as he freed himself, he heard heavy footsteps approaching the door. ¡°¡­Oh, crap,¡± he whispered. Before the door could be opened, he swiftly pped his palm against the ground,manding a stone wall to emerge from the ground directly in front of the entrance to the room, sealing it off. ¡°¨CHuh? It won¡¯t open!¡± SLAM. The rough voice of one of the kidnappers yelled out before the door started being mmed harshly. ¡°What the hell?! Open up!¡± Now both men seemed to be bashing against the door. Each time they struck the entrance, the rocky barrier trembled, forming small cracks. ¡­That won¡¯t hold forever. I need to find a way out of here, he thought. Chapter 15 Welcome Home It was a situation like this that he thanked the gods for the elbow grease he put into studying magic as he was ced with a perfect environment: the rocky walls that made up the grimy prison were perfect for him to forge his own path out. As he ced his palm against the damp, rugged surface of the wall, the stone carved itself out into a path for the young boy as he held a surprised smile, looking at his hand as if in shock of what he was capable of. Nature magic really is amazing, isn¡¯t it? He thought. Stepping out of the room, he had to trudge his way uphill of a muddy, grass mound, gripping onto the verdant tendrils to hoist himself up. The short legs he had as an eleven-year-old boy made summiting the small hill feel like ascending a mountain. ncing back, he saw that the ce he was kept in seemed to be an abandoned dungeon of sorts, that was clung onto by overgrowth and loomed over by a tall tree. ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± Exhaling as he felt the freedom of fresh air brush against his skin, he looked up to the starry night sky above with an expression not exactly inhabiting respite. ¡°Where¡­am I?¡± He asked himself. Beyond the hill he stood on from his escape, all he could see was a dense gathering of trees into a forest that he didn¡¯t recognize at all. As he stood atop the hill, he looked back as a loud noise met his ears¨Cthe sealed door had been busted in. ¡°The brat escaped!¡± ¡°Well, go after him!¡±. ¨CThe angered yells of the kidnappers met his ears as his heart began thumping; through his veins, his blood ran hot with anxiety. ¡°Crap¡­!¡± He slid down the other side of the hill, taking off into the unknown woods. All he could do was run forward without any semnce of direction, holding his arms in front of him as the low-hanging branches whipped against him and left small cuts on him. ¡°Ngh¨C!¡± Running forward without paying any mind to his surroundings, his left foot caught onto a protruding root, causing him to tumble down a hill within the forest as the fallen branches cut and tugged on his clothes. ¡°¡­Grhh¡­¡± He groaned. Picking himself up, he spit out the leaf that had slipped between his lips, checking his arms that were cut and bleeding, but it wasn¡¯t anything too bad. ¡°Where is he?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m breaking the brat¡¯s legs when I get my hands on him!¡± ¨CHe could still hear his pursuers in the near distance behind him, prompting him to continue moving on frantically. Listening to leaves and twigs being crunched beneath the boots of the abhorrent men made him panic only more as he hurried forward, running without any sense of direction. The dense foliage made it impossible to navigate while he used his arms to forcibly carve a path for himself. Up ahead, he could see it now¨Ca clearing in the trees. There¡­! He thought hopefully. Rushing through the trees with a spirited thump of his heart, he stopped for a moment, putting his hands on his knees as he huffed for air. ¡°Are you lost, boy?¡± ¡°¨C¡° He looked up to see a man on a dark horse, who was dressed in umber leather and a verdant cloak that matched the forest¡¯s essence. The man had a kind smile on his face, though he looked confused by his presence. The horse wasrge¨Cmuchrger than horse¡¯s from Earth, likely twice as big and covered in sable fluff. ¡°I-I¡­two men¡­!¡± He stammered out. ¡°Breathe now, boy. You¡¯re alright now,¡± the smiling man assured him, reaching down to pat his head, ¡°I¡¯m Rubert. What¡¯s your name,d?¡± Rubert didn¡¯t look like much; his garments weren¡¯t overlyvish, but not tattered either. He had shaggy, ginger hair beneath his hood and green eyes that seemed to shine under the moonlight. ¡°¡­Emilio.¡± After hearing that his surname must¡¯ve made him a target to the kidnappers, he was hesitant to give it out so freely. ¡°Emilio,¡± Rubert nodded, ¡°I¡¯m a ranger. I¡¯m on patrol right now, you see.¡± ¡°¨C¡° ¡°Well, Emilio, are your parents around?¡± Rubert asked. He shook his head, ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know where I am¡­but¨Cthere are men after me!¡± ¡°Men after you? Where are you from,d?¡± ¡°Yeah, I-I think they¡¯re traffickers¡­I live in Yullim.¡± Rubert¡¯s expression shifted to dismay, ¡°I see¡­Get on then,d. I¡¯ll take you into town.¡± As he looked up at the extended hand from the man on horseback, he hesitated for a moment. It was so quiet; the field was silent and the stars quietly spectated from up above. ¡°Is there a problem?¡± ¡°N-no.¡± Grabbing onto the man¡¯s hand, he was hoisted up onto the horse¡¯s back as well with Rubert tugging on the reins. ¡°Hold on,d,¡± Rubert advised him. He nodded, holding onto the man¡¯s green cloak as the ck-furred horse began to trot gallop forward through the night. After such an experience, he didn¡¯t know whether or not he wanted to cry or vomit, feeling as though he just avoided a monstrous fate. Closing his eyes tightly, he gripped onto the verdant fabric while listening to the gallops of the fluffy horse. ¡°¡­Where are we, anyway?¡± He asked. As he opened his eyes, he once again realized he didn¡¯t have any clue as to where he had wound up. It was more forest ground; colossal trees loomed overhead, vines hung low, and birds chirped from atop the branches. ¡°¨C¡° He didn¡¯t receive an answer. As he looked up at the ranger¡¯s back for a moment, confused as to why he wasn¡¯t replied to, he realized he probably spoke too quietly, unable to be heard over the mighty steps of the equine. ¡°Where are we?¡± He asked again, but louder. Rubert nced back at him, looking forward again before answering, ¡°Oh, we¡¯re south of Yullim right now.¡± ¡°¡­I see¡­¡± There was something swirling in his gut; an unease that he couldn¡¯t quite ce as all he could do was sit on the horse¡¯s back as it moved forward through the night. He kept his head down, making sure that if they passed by his pursuers by some stray chance, he wouldn¡¯t be recognized. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Already? He thought. Beneath him, he could feel the steeding to a stop. It was eerily quiet for supposedly being back in town, but it waste, after all. ¡°¨C¡° As he raised his head and opened his eyes, his heart sank. The sight of eroded stone,tched onto by the roots of nature around it; it was all too familiar and recent to him. ¡°Why¡­?¡± It was all he could stammer out through the lump in his throat. Why¡¯re we back here?! He thought. As he looked up at the ranger¡¯s back, or whoever the smiling man was that led him here, he was met with that same smile, only twisted with malice as Rubert turned back to look at him. ¡°Wee home,¡± the smiling man told him, sounding out the words twistedly. Chapter 16 Cruel Twists And Turns ¡°Wee home,¡± the smiling man told him, sounding out the words twistedly. Before he could react, he was grabbed from behind, yanked off of the horse¡¯s back as he heard the heinousughter of a man. ¡°Nice catch, Rubert! This slippery little brat really gave us a chase!¡± His hair was held onto tightly by the callused hand of the abductor, who had a bald, scarred head, dressed in a ck cloak that smelled of urine and booze. ¡°Let go¨C!¡± He yelled out. Before he could yell further, another man tied a cloth around his mouth to silence him as he tried fighting back, but the grip on his hair from the stronger,rger adult was too powerful. ¡°Careful now, this brat knows magic,¡± thenky, rat-faced man who tied his mouth said, pinching his cheek. ¡°Ha-ha! You¡¯re right¨CI¡¯m not taking chances with him again!¡± On that same thought, filled more with fear and desperation than anger, he tried to focus his magic, but it was difficult to hone in while his heart thumped so wildly and his mind raced with dreadful thoughts. But, just as he managed to focus onto a spell¨C THWACK.. The pommel of a sword hit him bluntly against the back of his head, once again knocking him unconscious. ¨C As he came to, he could feel the warmth of his own blood trickling down his scalp as he sat there with his hands held over his head, anchored to the wall by steel chains. ¡°¨C¡° ¡°Finally awake, huh? I¡¯d rmend you to stay asleep, he-he.¡± In the chamber this time, one of the kidnappers stayed, seemingly on guard to watch him closely now after his previous escape. It was the bald-headed, burly man, who rested a blood-stained broadsword on his leather-armored shoulder. ¡°¨C¡° He remained silent, not that he could talk with the cloth stuck between his lips. Around the room, he swept his gaze, finding something surprising¨Cthere was another prisoner in there with him. It was a girl with curly, dark-blue hair who seemed to be around his age. She was left in a tattered outfit with bruises on her arms and legs, bound in chains as well. ¡°¨C¡° His eyes quivered as he began to fully realize what a terrible situation this was. Still, it wasn¡¯tpletely hopeless for him. He could still use magic even with his hands bound and his words stifled, but it would be more difficult. Casting spells wasn¡¯t the issue, though. These men already know I can use magic, and if they¡¯re guarding me like this¡­are they confident they can stop me? He thought. As he looked at the man guarding the room, who was leaning against the wall, he took note of the sigil etched onto his clothes: it was the symbol of a bearded man surrounded by three stars. He recognized it; that symbol was something his father had shown him a few times. ¡°The Mountain God Style.¡± It was an area of swordsmanship that was born on the continent he lived on¨CMilligarde¨Cit was the same style his father practiced, as well. The three stars on the bald man¡¯s badge signified he held the title of ¡°Sword Noble¡± ¨C the third rank of the Mountain God Style; it was just two ranks shy of his father¡¯s own. This knowledge made him more hesitant, knowing how easily somehow like his father was able to dance around his spells while merely ying around. ¡­What do I do? There¡¯s another person here, too¡­He thought. Tugging on the chains a bit, he was met with an immediate bark from the scar-headed trafficker: ¡°Cut that out! You should be kissin¡¯ my boots for not breaking your legs,¡± the man yelled at him, ¡°You know what? Go ahead. Keep testin¡¯ me. I¡¯m still in a real shit mood, so give me a reason to vent some anger, brat.¡± ¡°¨C¡° He could see it in the man¡¯s dark eyes; deep inside of his irises, the darkness bore only from somebody who had witnessed death many times swirled. There was no doubt about it; that man was a bonafide killer¨Csomebody he couldn¡¯t simply test. Death here means death¡­That¡¯s the point of this new life¡­Still, something like this is just¡­! He thought. ¡°¡­My dad won¡¯t let you get away with this, you know¡­¡± He said. ¡°Huh?¡± The man looked at him with a stink eye. ¡°¨CHe¡¯s strong! He¡¯ll hunt you down for doing this!¡± He told the man. Part of it was simply him releasing his frustration at the unfair situation he found himself in, but most of it was a stray hope that the fear of his father, who he knew had some fame around his name locally, or even the recently discovered noble lineage¨Cit was a shot in the dark, but it was all he had. ¡°What the fuck did I just say? You got a mouth on you, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°¨C¡° He immediately regretted opening his mouth as he watched the bald man stomp towards him, cracking his knuckles as he left his sword by the wall. The man, muchrger than himself, built like a brick house, reared his hand back¨C At that moment, half by instinct and half by intent, he summoned a wind spell¨Cor at least, he attempted to. The only thing that came was the man¡¯s fist directly against his cheek, hitting him without any restraint as if he wasn¡¯t a child. ¡°Pyuh!¡± He spit out blood from the blow, still shocked that somebody wouldy their hands on a child in such a way as his eyes quivered. Why didn¡¯t my magice? He questioned. Again, he tried to summon magic, but was met with another m of the man¡¯s knuckles against his nose this time. Why? He thought. He began to be kicked, hit in the ribs repeatedly as he coughed up blood. ¡°Wind st-!!!¡± This time, he tried yelling out the name of the spell to try invoking it a different way, but this seemed to make the man not only angrier, but alsough as he kicked him harder, stomping on his body. ¡°Ha-ha! You think we¡¯d let you use your little spells after the crap you pulled earlier?! We gave you a bit of medicine to help with that!¡± The manughed. Medicine¡­? He thought. ¡°The ¡°Mage Killer¡± medicine costs a good penny, so we didn¡¯t want to waste it on a brat¡­But, you forced our hand,¡± the man told him with a wicked smile. Now it was clear to him¨Che was drugged. He wasn¡¯t aware of any such thing that could neutralize spells, but there was a lot he wasn¡¯t aware of in this world¨Cthere was one thing he was learning right at this moment: how cruel it truly is. ¡­How is this a ¡°Grand Rebirth¡±¡­? This isn¡¯t right, he thought. Chapter 17 Imprisoned ¡°¡­Stop¡­please¡­¡± The timid, trembling words came from the pale girl who was in the chamber with him. This caught the attention of the cruel man, but it hardly felt like a respite to him. Left drooling blood onto himself, he was bruised and battered by the time the lowly criminal walked away. The bald man set his sights on the girl, stomping towards her as she hid behind her arms out of instinctual fear. ¡°Huh?! Got somethin¡¯ to say?!¡± He could only watch as the man kicked his muddy boot forward, knocking the chained girl back before kicking her in the face far too many times. Though it pained him to see the girl being hurt, he didn¡¯t dare open his mouth as tears trickled down his cheek. He was scared. The pain was still fresh throughout his body; he didn¡¯t want to be hurt again. Compared to the girl who spoke out for him, he was a coward. There was no remorse or hesitation from that man; he was simply cruel. It didn¡¯t seem to be mostly of sadistic intention, but more so that he simply saw children as ¡°products¡± more than actual people. ¨C. After such a scene, even the other kidnappers had the man leave the room, leaving just the two kids in there now as it was quiet, save for the own dripping of his blood that he was listening to. ¨C He nearly nodded off before the door opened once again some minutester. ¡°Hey, how¡¯re you holding up?¡± It was a familiar voice, but not one he wanted to hear. There was a frivolitycing the man¡¯s words that held little ce in a dreadful environment like this. As he looked up, he caught sight of the man who entered into the room: It¡¯s him¡­¡±Rubert¡±, he recalled. An anger filled his veins as he saw the man who had lured him back into the dungeon after his attempted escape, but the fear swallowed any part of him that wanted tosh out. He could still feel the pain from the previous beating ringing through the marrow of his bones. Rubert knelt down in front of him, his face covered by the shadows of the unlit room, ¡°Wow, he really did a number on you, didn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°¨C¡° ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t take joy in kicking down people weaker than me like that guy. I promise, I promise,¡± Rubetughed, holding his unmoving smile. Still, he knew better than to trust anything that spewed from the lips of the criminal. He kept himself tucked close to the wall, averting his gaze. He could feel the man staring at him silently. Just his eerie presence made him quiver, though it wasn¡¯t that alone that sent chills through his body. Grrr. His stomach growled out, rumbling as it had not yet seen sustenance on that day. Rubert smiled, ¡°You must be hungry.¡± ¡°¨C¡° As the noise of the man shuffling his own pocket filled his ears, he looked forward as Rubert retrieved something wrapped in cloth from the pocket of his trousers. He watched as Rubert slowly unwrapped the cloth, revealing bread that was vored with a sprinkle of spices on it. ¡°¨C¡° Just seeing it made his stomach feel like a void, yearning for any scraps possible. It instantly made him salivate as Rubert waved it around in front of his face. ¡°Want a bite?¡± ¡°¨C¡° ¡°I¡¯m trying to be nice here, you know? Come on. Take it as my way of apologizing for having to trick you earlier,¡± Rubert smiled. Though he was bitter and spiteful towards the man, he knew he wouldn¡¯t survive long if he neglected to eat. He swallowed his own contempt, nodding, ¡°¡­I want it.¡± Rubert cupped his ear, leaning forward with a grin, ¡°What was that? Sorry, I didn¡¯t catch what you said.¡± ¡°I want it,¡± he said louder. ¡°Again. With a bit more energy this time,¡± Rubert told him. ¡°I want it!¡± He yelled out. As he said that, Rubert looked at him with his smile, which was the sole feature of the man¡¯s face visible past the overbearing shadows. ¡°Ah¡­that¡¯s too bad,¡± Rubert grinned. Right in front of the face of the hungry child, Rubert bit into the bread with an overdramatic chomp, tearing the loaf apart as its white, fresh grain was on disy to his hungry gaze. ¡°¨C¡° ¡°So yummy,¡± Rubert teased him, speaking with his mouth full. ¡°¨C¡° More than ever, he was spiteful, but more so simply defeated as his stomach had yearned for that bread, fully expecting it as once again he was betrayed by the cruel man. There were no other words exchanged for a solid minute within the dank cell. It was silent save for the sounds of Rubert chewing in full detail to his ears; his saliva swirling, his teeth mping down on the bread, and swallowing. He heard it all; his stomach heard it all. It was one of the greatest joys he had earned in this new life: being able to eat freely, tasting the wondrous dishes of this world with a cleansed palette and healthy body. Sitting there, chained and humiliated, deceived and beaten, it felt as if he had made no progress on this clean te. ¡­This isn¡¯t a game. There¡¯s no way. Something like this couldn¡¯t exist. It couldn¡¯t be made by a person. Only a cruel god could shape a world like this, he thought. After a few minutes, Rubert finished his taunting lunch, eating all but a few crumbs of the bread as he stood up, taking his leave as he waved the boy off. ¡°Be good in here, little Dragonheart. Things could be much worse¨Cremember that,¡± Rubert told him. With the m of the metal door, it was once again silent. The girl in the room with him was asleep, or at least that¡¯s what it looked like to him, but she was always quiet anyway. It felt so familiar. The walls around him were impervious; blocking the outside world. It was no different than the life he lived previously. A prisoner. Completely helpless; nothing had changed. He bided his time silently, though every passing minute crawled on for an eternity as hunger cramps set in and boredom racked at his mind every moment. Chapter 18 First Blood ¡°Hey¡­what¡¯s your name?¡± He asked quietly. The girl was hugging her knees, leaning against the right wall, while he was chained up to the back. ¡°¡­Irene¡­¡± He felt terrible. The fact was, she stood up for him despite herself being covered in bruises. Such a sight made him clench his fists, but he hardly felt like he could even justify being angry after such a cowardly act. ¡°I¡¯m Emilio¡­How long have you been here?¡± He asked weakly. ¡°Two weeks¡­¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± He replied quietly, ¡°We¡¯re going to get out of here, Irene¡­¡± ¡°¨C¡± She looked up at him. The girl had the eyes of a beaten dog; they were hollow of hope, quivering at the sight of nothing as she looked at him with her hazel irises. ¡°Once whatever this drug they gave me wears off¡­I¡¯ll break us out, okay?¡± He said quietly.. ¡°¨C¡° ¡°Irene?¡± ¡°¡­Okay¡­¡± She epted with a small nod. He understood her reluctance; he felt it himself to a degree. The fear of trying to escape and failing loomed over his timid heart. Experiencing the savagery of their captors, he knew that if he tried it again and didn¡¯t seed this time, he¡¯d suffer pain greater than he¡¯d ever felt before. ¡°¡ª¡± Deprived of a meal the past however long, his stomach growled out in contention. Though he didn¡¯t dare ask for any handouts from the cruel men. An hour passed of sitting there idly as his wrists became sore and irritated; red at the touch of the grimy chains that held them. With only the sounds of water slowly dripping to fill his ears as he sat in silence, unknowing if at any moment those men would step in tosh out again, he looked towards the girl. ¡°¡­Are you from around here? Assuming we¡¯re actually around Yullim¡­¡± He asked the girl quietly. The girl sat there for a moment, looking at him before silently shaking her head. It seemed she wasn¡¯t in a talkative mood, but he couldn¡¯t me her. She¡¯s not¡­? She does look different from the locals. I don¡¯t really know how to ce it, though, he thought. With hours passing, he grew tired, but sleeping was not an option in this scenario. I¡¯ll have one more shot at this. If I fail, I don¡¯t know what will happen to me, but it won¡¯t be good, he thought. Finally, the door opened once again. This time, it was the rat-faced abductor who had two shortswords sheathed at his sides. But, he wasn¡¯t walking towards him, but the young girl. ¡°It¡¯s time to go, littledy. We¡¯ve found a buyer who¡¯s interested in ya¡¯,¡± the buck-toothed man said. ¡°¨C¡° The girl was quiet and didn¡¯t resist at all as the man undid her bindings, grabbing her by the arm as he began to drag her off. ¡°¨C!¡± He, on the other hand, felt a surge of desperation flood through his body. Irene looked back at him with those empty eyes as he began tugging away at his bindings, continuously trying to invoke his magic that was quelled by the drug in his system. ¡°No¡­!¡± Something like this¡­it¡¯s not right! I lived my whole life being helpless, suffering by myself¨CI know how it feels, better than anybody else! He thought. With the meager strength he possessed, mitigated by the exhaustion of his body and the loss of blood, he stood no hope of breaking the metal chains around his chains, but he continued pulling nheless. ¡°Ngh¡­!¡± Mustering all of his strength, he pulled and he pulled, feeling the gritty metal pull on the skin of his wrists harshly, peeling into it as he ignored the pain. The rat-faced man and the girl had already long since left the room, but he stomped forward, finally pushing forward with all of his strength in his unorthodox stance until¨CSQUELCH. ¡°Ghh-!¡± He fell forward as he managed to rip his hands away from the tight cuffs, looking at his hands to find the skin of his wrists yed, leaking blood onto the grimy stone. His thumbs had turned purple from being crushed by the tightness of the metal cuffs, but he stood himself up, using the adrenaline in his body to ignore the pain. Flowing within his body, he could still feel the Mage-Killer drug suppressing his magical abilities as he quietly moved forward, opening the door, which was surprisingly unlocked. ¡°¨C¡° ¡°Aaack¡­¡± As he quietly left his chamber, he stepped into the dimly lit corridor, kept with some light only by two torches sitting on the overgrowthden walls. ¡°Aaaack¡­¡± Looking to the left, he found the snoring toe from the man sitting in a chair beside the door, soundly asleep. He didn¡¯t recognize the man, which wasn¡¯t a good sign¨Cthis clearly meant there were more than just the three he had seen. He started to tiptoe past the slumbering bandit, but stopped as he noticed the weapon sheathed in the man¡¯s belt. ¡°¨C¡° Reaching towards the ragged handle, he kept his eyes locked onto the bushy-bearded man who snored like a bear. As soon as he managed to grip the handle of the weapon, he slowly unsheathed it, drawing a shortsword that was luckily something he could wield. Just as he held it, the snoring stopped as the man¡¯s eyes opened¨C ¡°Wha¡­? Hey!¡± Before the bearded man could stand up, he moved out of fright, instinctively thrusting the de forward. Squelch. ¡°¨C¡° His eyes were wide as he looked forward; the de piercing right into the man¡¯s chest, likely nicking his heart in the process as his beige tunic became dyed in scarlet quickly. He stood there silently in shock for a moment, breathing heavily as he finally withdrew the de just as the man fell forward, dead on the ground. As the sound of blood trickling into a puddle met his ears, it was cemented into his mind what he had just done. I killed him¡­? He thought. It was his first time taking a life. Though he would normally try to ration that this was simply an artificial world, he knew that didn¡¯t apply. Somehow, the people of this world were hardly artificial; it was just as real as the life he lived before. Chapter 19 Another Battle of Life and Death He looked at the steel sword that was now half-dyed in fresh blood, only looking up once one of the doors in the hall was kicked open. ¡°Marlo! What happ¨C¡± It was the man with the scarred, bald head. The wordsing from his lips halted as he saw what had transpired in the corridor; the man¡¯splexion shifted into an angered red as he drew his de from its sheath. ¡°You little piece of shit! Do you know what you just did?! I¡¯ll kill you!¡± The bald man roared out. All he could do was lift the sword up out of instinct as he defended against the unseen attack; the man, despite his burly build, moved swiftly like a feather, dashing the distance between them in an instant. CLANG. He slid back a good meter after blocking the blow, feeling his arms quivering just from guarding the powerful strike. So strong! He thought. For a moment, he saw the sigil of the Mountain God Style again, remembering that the cruel man in front of him was nothing less than an expert with his de. Compared to that, he was a fish out of water. Even if he had the proper skills to match, in terms of physical prowess, he was trailing behind the man, who was rushing towards him again. ¡°Gyuh!¡±. He hid behind his de as another wide-arc sh came his way, defending against it but still being knocked back several meters from the strength behind it. ¡°I¡¯ll gut you, fucker!¡± The bald abductor said through his clenched teeth. The man clearly had an uncapped temper; he was slobbering with rage as he wildly swung his de around. All of the training and sparring in the world couldn¡¯t prepare him for this: a battle to the death against a man much stronger than himself. Come on¡­Magic,e on! He prayed. As the Mountain God Style Noble dashed forward him again with that blinding speed, he hid behind his sword, flinching as it was struck. This time, a knee came up, striking him in the gut and lifting him into the air as the force sent him up higher than the adult¡¯s head. ¡°Ghh-!¡± He spat out the breath from his lungs. Being kneed up into the air, his grip naturally loosened, dropping the sword down as his mind went ck during that brief moment while airborne, though the moment crawled forward sluggishly. ¡­He¡¯s too strong. I can¡¯t beat somebody like this¡­He thought. While in the air, falling as he struggled to kickstart his burning lungs again after receiving such a heavy blow to the gut, he looked up to see the bald, enraged man jumping up, rearing his leg back. It was a form he recognized picture-perfectly from when watching his father train; the Mountain God Style incorporated brawling into swordy¨Che remembered this just as the man kicked him against the head. The air hissed from the powerful impact before he was knocked down against the stone floor. ¡°Grhhh¡­¡± He winced, coughing out blood as heid t against the ground. He looked up with his wavering sight, seeing his swordying on the floor as he reached out to grab it. CRUNCH. ¡°Aghh!¡± A scream left from his lungs as the dirty boot from the adult stomped down on his fingers. While the man grinded his sole down against the small, pale fingers of the young boy, he held his enraged expression. ¡°I¡¯m going to make this slow. Spoiled brats like you never learn,¡± the bald man told him. Though it hurt to have his fingers pressed down on, feeling his bones bepromised, he realized the singr advantage he had: his opponent was blinded by rage. It was something drilled into him not just by Velda, but his father as well; each time he¡¯d get frustrated during sparring, they¡¯d show him just how little it helped him, and how a cool head rewarded him. ¡°¨C¡° He breathed in slowly, exhaling smoothly as he adjusted his breathing. ¡°Come on¨Cscream for me!¡± The man said, lifting his boot, preparing for a mighty stomp. Just then, he felt it flutter inside of him as if awakening from a lengthy slumber¨Cthe mystical warmth within. FWOOM. A massive shock wave propelled outward from his position; the wind howled like a banshee as the bald man was flung back across the hall. The swaying mes that sat on thenterns were snuffed away by the cascade of sharp wind. It was a ¡°Wind st¡± invoked with his utmost will, more powerful than any he had unleashed previously as it caused the dungeon to shake by its foundations. ¡°What the¨C?!¡± The man growled. He picked himself up with a focused gaze, stretching his fingers as he clenched his fist a few times, feeling the mana flowing through his body properly again. A dull pain rang through his body after the visceral release of mana, but he ignored it. It¡¯s back, he thought with a small smile. ¡°¡­Tch,¡± the man clicked his tongue, wielding his sword with a proper stance this time, ¡°Your magic is back? So what? A brat like you is nothing!¡± As the man rushed towards him with a powerful dash, he responded by mming both of his palms against the cold stone. Through an internal invocation, he created a thick wall of gray stone in front of the swordsman¡¯s path. ¡°¨CThis won¡¯t stop me!¡± The man roared out as he shed his de, cutting straight through the b of sturdy material. After bisecting the barrier, the angered man looked around, not seeing the young bow anymore. ¡°What¡­?¡± Above?! The man realized. ¨CIndeed. Through a gust of air propelled from the soles of his shoes, he hadunched himself upward, aiming his palm down at the man as he clenched his teeth: Imagine the wrath of mes, roaring and stretching their chaotic reach across thend! He thought. Coalescing in front of his outstretched hand, embers gathered before an orange me was born, unleashing out a cone of roaring mes directly towards the bald man. ¡°Ngh¨C?!¡± He wasn¡¯t experienced with fire magic, and it showed¨Cflipping back with surprising nimbleness, the cruel criminal evaded the mes as they crashed against the floor, dissipating just as quick as they came. ¡°¡­Grk,¡± he winced at the failed spell. Due to not being able to properly manifest it to its full potential, the mes died out, washing away like dust to the wind. ¡°¨CYou¡¯ve got talent, but you¡¯re just a kid at the end of the day! Too bad for you!¡± With an acrobatic flip forward, the man hurled towards him as he jumped back with a burst of wind aiding him. Though it didn¡¯t seem to be enough as an unorthodox maneuver came from the man; as he managed to leap out of reach from the spinning sh, he looked up to see the sword being flung towards him like a spear. What¨C? He threw his sword?! He thought. Chapter 20 Freedom Comes With A Price Though it didn¡¯t seem to be enough as an unorthodox maneuver came from the man; as he managed to leap out of reach from the spinning sh, he looked up to see the sword being flung towards him like a spear. What¨C? He threw his sword?! He thought. It felt like a dirty trick, but an effective one nheless. ¡°Ghh!¡± Just as the tip scraped against his forehead, he invoked a st of wind, knocking the de back, but not before the man sprung towards him and threw his fist straight into his gut. ¡°Pyuh-!¡± He spit out. The gut punch sent him tumbling backward as he manifested a protrusion of stone from the ground behind him to stop his tumble. He quickly picked himself up to see the man catch his airborne sword, rushing towards him again. It was terrifying to be faced against; the bald-headed criminal,yered in scars and wearing heavy leather armor, had such palpable bloodlust that was solidified by his status as a cruel, unforgiving person. This time, he threw his hands around, tossingpressed sts of wind in an attempt to keep the man at bay, but the expert swordsman danced around his sts¨Chopping off of the walls and flipping around. Something¡­! Think! He told himself. If wind didn¡¯t work, he switched it up, nting his feet against the ground as he invoked magecraft that allowed him to manipte the stone around him, creating small, sharpened projectiles thatunched forward swiftly.. The bald swordsman deflected the iing stone arrowheads, but one managed to stick him in the arm. ¡°Yes¨C¡± Before he could celebrate, he realized the man was still pushing forward, grunting as his shoulder bled, but seeming even angrier than before. I have to do something¡­! He thought. As he racked his brain, an idea came to mind, but he was reluctant to do it. It was something definitely risky, but as he watched the man evade his spells effortlessly, he decided a risk had to be taken. He held his hand forward, concentrating as he drew further sweat from his pores while blood trickled down his forehead. Feel it heat up your blood; condense that destruction into the palm of your hand¡­! He thought. Visualizing the mes, it bore into reality as the small fireball swirled in front of his palm, but he wasn¡¯t done yet. In addition to the element of fire, he manifested a swirl of wind around the newborn inferno, feeding it precious nutrients as the me as its pale orange hue became a howling vermilion¨C Just as the man dashed towards him, he unleashed the oxygen-fueled me while stabilizing his spell-arm with his other hand. ¡°Ghh-!¡± ¡°¨C!¡± The criminal¡¯s eyes widened at thest moment as once the young boy released the fed me, it filled the width of the dingy corridor with its burning wrath. He nearly fell back from the massive expansion of wind that came from the me¡¯s birth. Holy shit¡­! He thought. The flood trembled beneath his boots as the great me burrowed through the hall, swirling and disying its destructive nature. It shed its fangs for only a moment, but that seemed to be enough as once the mes dispersed into smoke, he could see the figure of the man standing in the hall. ¡°¨C¡° All of the flesh on the man¡¯s body was charred; turned to aplete ck as he lingered there for a moment before falling t on his face. ¡°¡­Huff¡­huff¡­¡± He stood there for a moment, still holding his hand forward while catching his breath. The walls and floor were charred as well,den with ck burn marks that sat in the wake of the destructive me. As the spell had left with an explosive percussion, his ears were left ringing as he watched ashen particles flutter in the air before him. It wasn¡¯t just the bald man that had turned to a crisp, but the other child trafficker he had finished off prior. Experiencing the wrath of thebined magic he had used, he was stuck between a spectrum of emotions for a minute. After gathering himself, he remembered¨C ¡°Irene!¡± He ran forward as his right arm was numb at his side from releasing such a potent amount of mana. ¡°Ngh¡­¡± His entire body was in pain, but he pushed forward, moving up the staircase and finding a wooden, steel-reinforced door sitting at the top. Of course, it was locked. He drew in a quick breaths, preparing himself before¨C ¡°Gh!¡± mming his shoulder against the door, he was bounced back, nearly tumbling down the stairs before catching himself. He only weighed maybe thirty kilograms, not much more than a sack of potatoes, that much was made obvious as the door didn¡¯t budge in the slightest. ¡°¡­Fine, then¡­!¡± Taking a step back, he breathed in as he raised his left hand forward, exhaling in unison with the wind invocation,manding a pressurized shot of air to blow the door not only open, but flying off of its hinges. ¡°What the¨C?! Ghkk-!¡± To his fortune, the heavy door sted forward into the next corridor, mming directly into one of the criminals that was guarding the area. It was an instant knockout as the metal-infused door collided with the man into the far wall, trapping him beneath its weight. ¡°¨C¡° He carefully walked into the corridor, holding his open palm forward as if it were a tangible weapon. ¡°Raaagh¨C!¡± From the nook in the right wall, a tall, bearded man roared out, attempting to take him by surprise as he immediately responded with a powerful wind st. CRACK. It was purely by reflex, having flung the giant man back and knocking the back of his head against the jagged corner of the stone wall. ¡°¨C¡° As he stood there for a moment, still holding his quivering hand forward as a defense, he looked at the slumped over man whose eyes were open, but looking a hundred yards past him at nothing. Trickle. Blood seeped from the back of the man¡¯s head¨Cit was an idental kill. Either way, he gulped and moved on, not looking back as he navigated through the rancid-smelling building. Through aimless stumbling and turning around corners, he found his way into a vast courtyard that led outside. There was no roof overhead except the veil of the stars in the night sky. In the center of the dingy courtyard was a campfire, and a sole upant sitting beside it¨Che recognized the man with just a single nce. The verdant cloak and belt-like straps around his trousers and sleeves, a head of frizzy, light-orange hair and a constant smile: Rubert¡­He thought. It was the man who deceived him; the man noticed him as well, slowly getting up as he picked up his dark-brown scabbard with a smile. ¡°¡­Oh? You¡¯re a slippery one, aren¡¯t you? I doubt you could have escaped without running into a few of my friends¡­You killed them, didn¡¯t you? I heard the Dragonheart boy was a talented mage, after all,¡± Rubert said casually, ¡°I told Owen to take your legs, but he didn¡¯t listen. Oh, well.¡± Chapter 21 The Most Unorthodox Style of Them All The silver hissed as it was slowly withdrawn from its leather scabbard, unsheathed fully before the ginger-haired man tossed the sword-holder to the side. ¡°¨C¡° As the man raised his sword, resting it on his shoulder, he caught a glimpse of a tattoo etched onto the back of the smiling man¡¯s right hand: it was a sigil simr to that of the Mountain God emblem, but of a horned jester with four stars surrounding it. He didn¡¯t recognize what the sigil belonged to, but the stars told him one thing: this man was nheless dangerous. ¡°You¡¯re a bad boy, Emilio. Looks like I¡¯ll have to cut your hands and feet off to keep you obedient,¡± Rubert said, slowly walking towards him with an ear-to-ear smile, ¡°Don¡¯t worry; our customers like them a little broken, anyway. Might even pay a bit more.¡± With the light of the mes and the moonlight shining down, he got a good look at the man¡¯s face, sweating as he saw the man¡¯s peculiar right eye; which was all-ck with a star-shaped iris. What is this guy¡­? He thought. He held his ground, keeping his hand raised in preparation to fight back, though Rubert hardly seemed cautious of the young boy¡¯s magecraft. I¡¯ll have to be careful. I don¡¯t know what this guy is capable of¨Che thought. Though his thoughts were stifled as the ginger-haired man vanished from in front of his gaze. ¡°Cat got your tongue?¡±. ¨CRight into his ear, the words were whispered with such malice it made his skin crawl. If he had hairs on his body, they would¡¯ve been raised. ¡°Ngh!¡± He swept his hand through the air, unleashing a burst of air as the swift, smiling man flipped back with frivolousughter. What was that? I¡¯ve never seen speed like that before¨Cit was almost like he warped, he thought. The wind spell had knocked up the dirt around him, obscuring his own view of his surroundings as his eyes darted around. ¡°He-he-he¡­¡± Laughter echoed around him, apanied by rapid steps that seemed toe from every direction, shifting each moment as he spun around. He waspletely dumbfounded by his opponent, having no clue as to where he was or how he nned to attack. ¡°I can smell your fear, Dragonheart. It¡¯s always spoiled brats like you that have the whole world fall into theirp on a satin pillow; once it alles crashing down, you ooze fear like a trembling puppy,¡± the man spoke, vanishing around him, ¡°¡­Are you scared, Dragonheart?¡± Thosest words were bestowed directly into the canal of his ear as he spun around, unleashing another spiral of wind, only to once again meet nothing. ¡°Gyah¨C!¡± After failing to hit his opponent, he was suddenly pushed forward by a kick against his back. He turned around in a mixture of anger, fear, and confusion, once again toote to eveny his eyes on the slippery man. Changing his focus, particles of water began to manifest around him like stagnant rain, coalescing in front of his hand as he invoked the aquatic magecraft¨C¡±Water Beam.¡± It was a condensed pir of water that shot forward with a hiss, cutting through the soil and stone in its path, but the agility of his opponent proved annoying once more as the ginger-haired man flipped over the aquatic spell. ¡­I can¡¯t keep up! So I¡¯ll¡­! He decided. nting his feet down, he spread his arms out as he spurred on sharp winds around himself, creating a ¡°safe zone¡± in a two-meter radius that protected him. The winds howled out, slicing into the dirt around him with a perfect circle being carved to mark the radius. ¡°¡­Hmm¡­Not bad,¡± Rubert said. Appearing in front of him, just a meter in front of the zone of cutting winds, Rubert watched him with a smile. ¡°Still, how long can you maintain that, though?¡± Rubert asked with a smile. ¡°¨C¡° He ignored the man, focusing on keeping the zone of wind up while steadying his breathing, trying to n out his next move. I¡¯ve never seen somebody fight like him. Father is a Mountain God Style user, and so is Velda. This is something else¡­he moves like a cat, he thought. While thinking to himself, he watched as the man in the verdant cloak reached behind his back, retrieving something. ¡°¨C!¡± He was caught by surprise as a throwing knife was flung sharply his way, aimed right between his eyes with pinpoint uracy. As it sailed towards him, he could feel his forehead tingle as if sensing he was just a moment away from dying. This feeling of dread prompted him to move his hand forward, using a condensed cannon of air to knock the knife back, but doing that caused his circr radius of protection to vanish. In the very moment the sharp winds left, the ginger-haired man of the mysterious sword style dashed forward with incredible speed. ¡­Crap! He thought. He used a gust of air to propel himself backward just enough to evade the unseen swipe of the man¡¯s silver de. ¡°¨C¡° Rubert smiled, looking at him with that devilish grin as he looked down, seeing his shirt cut cleanly in half around his belly. His heart sank as he realized just how closely he teetered on the threshold of death in that moment; just a few inches short in his evasion, and his entrails would be strewn across the courtyard. ¡°Nice reaction~¡± Rubert told him. Again, the ginger man dashed towards him with a silent step, closing in quickly. He pressed the sole of his shoe against the ground, shifting the dirt in front of him into mud. ¡°Oh?¡± Rubert held his unmoving smile as he looked down. The man¡¯s boots sank into the mud, but before the amethyst-eyed boy could take advantage of the swift man¡¯s ensnarement with a st of fire, Rubert leapt up, flipping multiple times. ¡°¨C?!¡± He looked up, watching Rubert flip up before condensing his body like a spring,ying his ck boots against the air as if it were a solid tform. What is he¡­? He questioned. Every instinct in his body fired off for him to move back, and he did just that as Rubertunched towards him as if utilizing the air itself as a foothold. Did he¡­? What was that?! He questioned. Half of Rubert¡¯s de was stuck into the dirt, being withdrawn swiftly as the ginger man looked up at him with his mix-colored eyes. ¡°You really are talented¨Camazing! In a few years, you¡¯d definitely give me a run for my money! Unfortunately¡­¡± As Rubert trailed his words, he vanished from the boy¡¯s sight, reappearing directly behind him. Goosebumps rose across his skin as he could feel the creepy presence of the horned jester-tattooed man behind him, breathing down his neck. ¡°¡­You won¡¯t live to meet that potential.¡± CLANG. ¡°¨C!¡± The silver wielded by Rubert didn¡¯t meet the unguarded back of his neck, instead being stopped by what sounded like steel. He nced back as sparks danced in the air, seeing a familiar figure standing between him and the ginger-haired swordsman. The man had shaggy, jet-ck hair with an unshaven stubble, dressed in a ck cloak that sat over light leather armor and metal greaves. ¡­Father? He thought. ¡°Oh? I don¡¯t remember inviting you here,¡± Rubert said, jumping back as he held his sword up with an unorthodox stance. Chapter 22 Chaos God Style versus Mountain God Style The man had shaggy, jet-ck hair with an unshaven stubble, dressed in a ck cloak that sat over light leather armor and metal greaves. ¡­Father? He thought. ¡°Oh? I don¡¯t remember inviting you here,¡± Rubert said, jumping back as he held his sword up with an unorthodox stance. Rubert¡¯s stance was low to the ground, keeping his legs spread out as his upper body was leaned over with his elbows nearly touching the ground below, keeping his ck-and-white eyes on the man. ¡°I found you, Emilio¡­¡± Julius looked back with a relieved smile, breathing heavily as heid his eyes on his son. By the puffy, pink state of the man¡¯s eyes, it was clear he had been shedding tears. There were also dark bags beneath them as if he had been losing sleep. ¡°Dad¡­¡± He said out of relief, ¡°¡­Look out!¡± Just as he called out, Julius deflected the iing blow from the swift, ginger-haired man, who flipped back with augh. ¡°¨CA Mountain God Style user at a ¡°King¡± rank! What an opportunity this is!¡± Rubertughed in ecstasy,nding his feet against the side of the building, ¡°Let¡¯s see what¡¯s better: Mountain God Style or Chaos God Style! How about it?!¡±. ¡°Shut up ande at me. I¡¯m going to kill you forying a hand on my son,¡± Julius said with a quiet, stern anger. It was his first time seeing his entric, yful father exhibit such rage. He could only watch as the two high-leveled swordsmen began shing, moving at speeds he couldn¡¯t even perceive. This is a fight between two sword experts¡­? ¡°Chaos God Style¡±¡­that¡¯s what he said? I¡¯ve never heard of that, he thought. It was something he was taught some time ago by his father¨Cthe ¡°ranks¡± of the Ten Divine Styles of swordy. From weakest to strongest, it went: Squire, Knight, Noble, Champion, King, Tyrant, and Hero. A simr ranking existed for magic users, as well, only subtly different¨Cfrom weakest to strongest: Novice, Intermediate, Keeper, Ethereal, Grand, Emperor, and Hero. However, mage rankings applied to each elemental mastery individually. He looked back at the sound of horses galloping, seeing men dressed in silver armor riding in, with another familiar figure joining them. ¡°¡­Velda?!¡± The crimson-haired woman joined him, looking around before checking his body for wounds. He still had some small wounds, especially his torn skin on his wrists. ¡°Are you alright? I¡¯ll take you to a medic right away¨C¡± Velda said. He interrupted, ¡°I¡¯m fine, don¡¯t worry about me! There¡¯s still another person out there!¡± ¡°What?¡± Velda looked at him. ¡°A girl! One of the men here took a girl away!¡± He told her. As he told this, Velda looked back at the Milligarde soldiers that sat on horseback, who seemed to understand the notion given. ¡°Alright, men, let¡¯s go! There¡¯s still more out there!¡± The bushy-moustached man who seemed in charge of the guards said. The guards left, looking for Irene as Velda stayed with him, watching beside him as his father shed with Rubert. ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­? How did you find me?¡± He asked, looking at the red-haired woman. Velda looked forward, watching the fight, ¡°After you failed to return by nightfall yesterday, your father gathered a search party to look for you. It turns out, some people witnessed you being carried off, leading us here¨Cthe abandoned ¡°Pale Prison¡±. Sorry we took so long, kid.¡± ¡°¨C¡° He stayed silent, rubbing his wrists before quietly muttering ¡°Healing¡±, beginning to finally take care of his wounds. Though he was still worried for his father, who continuously shed des with Rubert, but Velda seemed to have absolute confidence in him. ¡­I¡¯ve never seen him fight for real. I¡­want to see it, he thought. Part of it was anger; he wanted to see the man who deceived, berated, and kept him captive be punished, and it seemed to be approaching. Rubert utilized his feline-like nimbleness, bouncing from wall-to-wall, springing off of the air, but unable to reach Julius who read him like a book; countering each sh and retaliating with powerful blows. ¡°Amazing! Amazing! You¡¯re amazing!¡± Rubert yelled out with an ecstatic grin. Just as Rubert dashed by with his de reared back, Julius ducked down seamlessly as the silver missed his flesh, holding a look of focused rage in his eyes before countering with a kick to the man¡¯s side. ¡°Ghh¨C!¡± Rubert winced. The powerful kick unleashed a shock wave, knocking the ginger-haired criminal across the courtyard and crashing into the stone wall. ¡°Get up,¡± Julius said sternly. He watched with big eyes, looking upon the broad, strong back of his father as the man¡¯s ck, silver-feather decorated cloak was brushed by the nightly winds. With a burst of speed that rattled the sound barrier, piercing through it, Julius burst forward with speed that left his ears ringing as he stood motionless in awe. Amazing, he thought. ¡°Impressed, kid?¡± Velda said, noticing his awe-struck gaze. He nodded, ¡°¡­I never knew my father was this strong.¡± ¡°He used to be even better,¡± Velda told him. The red-haired woman stood with her arms folded across her chest, watching beside him with a calm smile. ¡°Really?¡± Velda smirked, ¡°Your old man had the nickname ¡°Silver Wind¡± in our heyday. It was a name earned out of respect for his strength. He¡¯s rusty now, though.¡± ¡°¨C¡° He watched as Rubert jumped back onto his feet with a grin that was now covered in blood, though Julius was already in front of him with monstrous speed. Rubert used an unorthodox technique; throwing his sword between both hands repeatedly, striking with each before flipping hands as he danced around, unleashing a fury of strikes towards Julius. Each sh that came towards Julius was deflected precisely by the much more refined technique of the Mountain God Style user. The Chaos God Style was the total opposite; it seemed to toss away fundamentals in favor of shy, abnormal techniques¨Csuch as Rubert flipping around, catching the handle of his sword between his calf and his thigh, using the back of his knee to swing his sword while on his hands. ¡°Ha-ha-ha! Now this is more like it! A true master, you are!¡± Rubertughed out in joy. It was almost uncanny to see such swordy; theughing, ginger-haired man flipped on his hands, spinning around as he swiped his sword with leg, flipping which leg he wielded his silver de with with surprising uracy. After deflecting the blows with his stern expression, Julius began thrusting his sword as if using a rapier, stabbing Rubert multiple times, though none of the wounds seemed to go very deep. Chapter 23 Rousing Clash After deflecting the blows with his stern expression, Julius began thrusting his sword as if using a rapier, stabbing Rubert multiple times, though none of the wounds seemed to go very deep. Pain didn¡¯t seem like a concept that existed in the man with ck and white eyes as heughed, charging forward as he threw his de into the air, spinning around andunching a kick against Julius¡¯ abdomen. ¡°Gh!¡± Julius blocked it, but was knocked back. ¡°Father!¡± He yelled out. With little semnce of rhyme or reason, Rubert jumped up, catching the handle of his silver de in his mouth as he now wielded his sword in his jaws, swinging his neck around to attack. Julius countered and deflected the blows, but the aggressiveness and urate disy of the mouth-style swordy was nothing short of insane. Rubert spun around, spitting his de into his hand with a grin as he fought with what was rtively normal, but still unorthodox; spinning around, ducking and jumping up as he attacked. ¡°How do you like the Chaos God Style?! We¡¯re technically rivals, you know?! The boring Mountain God whose sternness never erodes in the rain, and the maniacal Chaos God who spins anarchy into this world like yarn¨Cwhich is superior, I wonder?!¡± Rubertughed. Ignoring the maddened man¡¯s words, Julius stomped down, caving his boot into the soil below as a concussive shock wave momentarily froze Rubert. ¡°Mountain God Style: The Vale.¡± Invoking the masterful technique, Julius used a picture-perfect overhead strike that split the wind that carved through the soil before embedding a gash across Rubert¡¯s chest.. ¡°¨CAmaz¨C¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± With his free hand, Julius spoke quietly as he mmed his knuckles against Rubert¡¯s nose, knocking the man through the stone wall as it crumbled away. Though he didn¡¯t get very far in learning it yet, as he was mostly being trained in the fundamentals of swordsmanship, he knew the strength behind the Mountain God Style swordy well. Those who use the Mountain God Style embody the stalwart nature of a mountain; they summon the monstrous strength of the sky-reaching rock formations, remain sturdy and can continue fighting on for days on end, Father tells me. Though it¡¯s considered the most ¡°rigid¡± of the Ten Divine Styles of the humannds, it also has its fair share of tricks up its sleeve, he thought. Rubert jumped back to his feet, now covered in dust from the fallen stone with his unmoving smile as another brutal attack came in, this time shattering his knee was a kick. In terms of physical might, Julius far outsses Rubert, who was no slouch himself. Seeing a directparison like this, the young boy realized just what world of difference sat between him and an elite swordsman like his father. Just minutes ago, he was helpless against Rubert, and now, his father was making Rubert seem like a powerless child himself, unable tond a single blow on the part-time adventurer. Julius had no magic or mystical assistance; he was simply strong. Though ¡°strong¡± had a different meaning in Arcadius than on Earth. By all means, the strength Julius possessed would be considered supernatural on Earth, but here¨Cfantasy was reality. ¡°Grggh¨C! So merciless! Ha-ha!¡± Rubertughed. ¡°I thought I told you to shut up,¡± Julius said coldly. Even with a shattered knee and a crooked face, Rubert was smiling, flipping his sword between hands as he continued his dance with the Mountain God Style swordsman. There was no doubting that the ginger-haired man was hardly clinging to any sanity, but what he did next dissuaded any notion of a working mind: ¡°You¡¯ve got it all wrong~!¡± ¡°¨C?¡± Just then, Rubert gripped onto the fabric covering his torso, ripping it open as he revealed a magic seal etched onto his chest. ¡°What¡¯s that¡­?¡± He muttered. Though he seemed to be the only one who didn¡¯t recognize it as Velda yelled out desperately to his father. ¡°Get back, Julius!¡± Julius jumped back just as Rubert lifted his de, plunging it into the circr-symbol that sat in the center of the scar-made seal. The moment the sword entered the man¡¯s chest, it was as if a key had turned a lock: BOOOOM. An explosion of ck mes swirled out, sting the immediate area around the ginger man to kingdome. ¡°Ghh!¡± He was knocked back by the following shock wave, though Velda caught him in her arms, using her back to shield him from the pebbles and debris that flew outward from the explosion. As it settled down, his ears were ringing, deafening him as he could see the amber-eyed woman¡¯s lips moving, but hearing nothinge out from them. ¡°¨CAre you alright?!¡± He finally heard her, nodding his head as she sat him down onto the ground. They were surrounded by smoke that stretched across the courtyard, filling his lungs as he coughed up. He spun around, looking for his father before yelling out. ¡°Father!¡± Please¡­! He thought. As his heart throbbed and his stomach retreated into the depths of his being, he watched the familiar figure step in through the veil of heavy smoke. ¡°Father¡­!¡± Julius coughed, regrouping with them as he exhaled heavily, ¡°¡­Crazy bastard. Chaos God practitioners are always the same.¡± They all stood there for a moment within the smoke. He looked up at his father, who looked down at him with eyes brimming with emotion. ¡°I¨C¡± Before he could say anything, he was embraced by his father, who fell to his knees and wrapped his strong arms around him, holding him close. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Emilio¡­! It¡¯s my fault for making you turn in the quest for me!¡± Julius cried, caressing the back of his head. He stood there silently for a moment before tears left his eyes as well, returning his father¡¯s embrace as he shook his head. ¡°¡­It¡¯s not your fault,¡± he assured him. ¨C After the ck smoke had settled down, the remains of Rubert were nothing but a few scraps of burnt leather and charred flesh on the ground. The three waited just outside of the abandoned prison gates, sitting together while waiting for the scouting party to return. ¡°You¡¯re still shaking, Emilio. Did you have to¡­?¡± Julius trailed his words. He stayed silent for a moment before nodding, looking down at his quivering hands. The memories were fresh of what he did in order to escape. ¡°I see,¡± Julius said quietly, ncing at Velda who stayed quiet in the tender situation, ¡°¡­I¡¯m proud of you. It¡¯s easy for people to freeze andy down, letting people walk all over them and allowing themselves to die. You acted, and you were sessful.¡± He shook his head, ¡°That guy would¡¯ve killed me if you didn¡¯t show up. I couldn¡¯t do anything against him.¡± Julius looked over at Velda, who shot him a re as if telling him ¡°Comfort your kid¡±; the part-time adventurer seemed foreign with things like this, but he breathed in-and-out. A wince came from him as he received a flick to the head from his father. He held his head, looking up in confusion at the scruffy-bearded man. ¡°You¡¯re a kid. I know¡­I push you a lot and set high expectations for you, but it¡¯s only because I know how amazing you are. Still, you¡¯re just a kid. There are a lot of things out there far beyond your scope¨Cyou¡¯ll get there, eventually,¡± Julius told him. Chapter 24 Swordplay: Progression! As they sat there against the wall, the sound of horse hooves trotting against the soil met their ears. Through the woods, the Milligarde soldiers returned, and it was clear they didn¡¯t take any prisoners as their swords were slick with blood and their armor lightly scratched. He looked up, his eyes widening as he searched with his eyes for the girl, scrambling up to his feet. ¡°Did you find her¡­?¡± He asked. The silver-armored guard with the bushy, pale-blue mustache looked down at him for a moment before nodding, looking back. He looked past the guard as well, seeing the quiet girl held in front of one of the guards atop horseback. Julius and Velda got up as well as the leader of the small group of guards looked at the man, holding onto the reins. ¡°¡­I questioned the girl already. It seems she doesn¡¯t have a ce to stay,¡± the man spoke quieter so his words weren¡¯t privy to the girl, ¡°¡­It looks like her family was killed by these traffickers.¡± ¡°¨C¡± He fell silent. ¡°That¡¯s terrible¡­¡± Julius said. ¡°Indeed,¡± the man replied, ¡°She¡¯ll have to be sent to the orphanage. Though I don¡¯t see a girl with her trauma doing too well there¡­¡± As they stood there quietly for a moment, he could see his father was likely questioning the same thought he had in his mind, so he stepped forward and said it: ¡°What if shees to stay with us?¡± Julius¡¯ eyes widened as he looked down at him, ¡°Emilio¡­¡±. ¡°Hm,¡± the guard grumbled, ¡°That¡¯s an option. What do you say, Silver Wind?¡± All eyes were on his scruffy father, who scratched the stubble on his chin for a moment, ncing down at him. The look in his eyes was a quiet plea that the man who raised him recognized without a word. ¡°¡­Alright, then,¡± Julius said. ¡°Really?!¡± He smiled. ¡°But¨C¡± Julius interrupted him, ¡°You¡¯re going to have to take her under your wing as well, Emilio.¡± He paused for a moment before smiling, ¡°Of course!¡± ¨C It was a long trail home, taking until dawn on horseback for him to reach Yullim again. Waving the guards off, it felt almost nostalgic to see his house again despite only being away for two days. As he stood there beside his father, Velda, and the quiet girl, his stomach growled in sync with Irene¡¯s. ¡°Sounds like you both are hungry,¡± Juliusughed. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± He bashfully nodded. ¡°¨C¡± Irene was quiet. Julius patted him on the head, ¡°Why don¡¯t you show her around the house and I¡¯ll have your mom whip you both up a warm meal?¡± ¡°Alright,¡± he nodded, looking back as he grabbed Irene¡¯s hand, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± The girl seemed taken aback by his forwardness as she silently nodded, following with him as they went into the house. ¡°Are you sure about this, Julius? How will Treyna react to this?¡± Velda asked with a small smile. Julius scratched his stubble, ¡°Well, you don¡¯t have to worry about that. You know what she told me before we got married?¡± ¡°Hm?¡± Velda looked at him. ¡°She told me ¡®I want ten kids: five boys, five girls, and that¡¯s that¨Cno discussion¡¯¡­So, I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll have a problem with this!¡± Juliusughed out. ¨C Showing Irene around the house while his father and Velda exined the circumstances to his mother, he was excited to finally have somebody his age around. ¡°¡­I see,¡± Treyna had her hand to her chin. ¡°So¡­it¡¯s okay?¡± Julius asked with a smile, rubbing the back of his head. ¡°I don¡¯t have a problem with it. I think this will be good for Emilio,¡± Treyna said with a smile. ¡°I was thinking the same thing, ya¡¯ know,¡± Julius said, ¡°It¡¯ll be nice for him to finally have somebody else to socialize with.¡± ¨COf course, this conversation only took ce after his mother had smothered him with hugs, tears, and kisses on the cheek from his sudden disappearance. At first, she hardly spoke, usually justmunicating through nods or shakes of her head, but over time, she talked. Once washing the dirt from her skin and tending to her wounds with healing magic, and getting some new clothes for her in town, he was taken aback¨CIrene was quite cute, actually. ¨C Over the passing months, he continued his training in the way of the sword with more passion than ever. Velda seemed delighted by this change of pace. CLING. CLANG. ¡°What¡¯s brought on this shift in energy, eh?¡± Velda asked. ¡°¨CA few things,¡± he answered. They spoke while shing des. Now, after going through harsher physical training and adjusting to Velda¡¯s ¡°sparring¡± strength, he was able to sh with her without his arms going numb and his body being flung back. The real reason he had a change of heart was due to two factors: I was helpless back then. Against that bald freak, I couldn¡¯t even swing my sword¨Call I could do was cower behind it. If I wasn¡¯t saved by a stroke of luck, I would¡¯ve died. I have to improve. But, what inspired me to change was¡­the Mountain God Style; it¡¯s seriously amazing. Father decimated the smiling man without a scratch on him, he thought. [Six Months Since The Beginning of Swordsmanship Training] It was thest day of his tutge under Velda. Though there weren¡¯t any set guidelines on how he would be passed, the final session was no different than a final exam. ¡°Ready?¡± Velda asked. He paused for a moment, holding his dull sword up before nodding, ¡°Yeah.¡± As the session began, he immediately knew what wasing¨C A frontal dash from the get-go, he thought. Predicting the swift opening from his instructor, he nted his feet down firmly for bnce as he held his sword high. ¡°Raagh!¡± With a fearsome smile, Velda swung her weapon forward, though just as she did, the soil beneath the young boy¡¯s shoes rose. The dirt raised into a pir, lifting him up as the crimson-haired woman¡¯s de struck right through the column of soil. ¡°¨C?!¡± Velda¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. Up? Velda realized. He was already leaping down with his sword held overhead, roaring out as he swung it downward. ¡°That won¡¯t be enough, kid!¡± Velda yelled with a smile. Going for a counter to the wide-open, inelegant strike from the young Dragonheart, Velda reared her de back again, but as she tried to swing her sword forward¨Cher hand was stopped. What¨C?! She thought. As the red-haired woman nced back, there were veins protruding from the grassden ground below, wrapped around her forearm tightly. ¡°Gh!¡± It was child¡¯s y for the powerful swordswoman to rip out of the viny bindings with a strengthened tug, but it gave the young boy just the opportunity he was looking for. ¡°¡­Gotcha¡­!¡± Just as Velda looked up again, the de was stopped just in front of her forehead, held by the boy with the triumphant smile. Velda sighed with a smile, ¡°¡­I yield.¡± ¡°He-he,¡± he smirked, drawing his sword back, ¡°¡­Finally!¡± After a short, but intense skirmish, he fell onto his rear, resting on the grass as the refreshing winds brushed by. Chapter 25 History of Arcadius ¡°Well, I can safely say I¡¯ve melded you into a proper man now,¡± Velda said with a smile, resting her sword on her shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m still twelve years old, but thanks¡­¡± He said, catching his breath. ¡°It¡¯s up to you now to improve from here. I¡¯ve helped you build your fundamentals, but you¡¯ve got a long road ahead of you,¡± Velda gently knocked her fist against his chest, ¡°You¡¯ve got a good head on your shoulders¨Cuse it, kid.¡± He nodded, wiping the sweat from his chin. With the end of his mentorship under Velda, the red-haired woman finally took her leave from the Dragonheart household, though it was a begrudged leave. They made sure to share a big dinner together, with Irene as well, to thank Velda for her help and to send her off with happy memories. She wasn¡¯t wrong; he had made a lot of improvement over the past few months, but he still didn¡¯t have much understanding of a style as of yet, only how to wield a de properly and a body capable of swinging one. ¨C. ¡°Whacha doing?¡± Popping her head into the library with a bubbly smile, Irene posed her question, holding her hands behind her back. She was wearing a light-green jacket with a beige skirt with her curly, dark-blue locks bouncing with the slightest movements she made. ¨CA total shift. It took a couple months, but eventually Irenepletely opened up. She¡¯s a kind girl¡­An angel, actually. Just thinking about how they treated her back then¡­It makes my blood boil. But, it¡¯s okay now, he thought. He smiled, closing the book he had on hisp as he sat against the wall, ¡°Just studying.¡± Currently, he was studying books that pertained to the history and culture of Arcadius; it was a vast, diverse world, with almost too much to learn. There are seven countries on the ¡°Continent of Man¡±: The one we live in¨CMilligarde; a lusciousnd of green mountains and springs. It¡¯s vast in scope and ruled by a powerful hero-king who suppressed a war against the dark races known as ¡°The ck Tide.¡± Vasmoria; it¡¯s our neighboring kingdom and considered the ¡°sisternd¡± to Milligarde. It¡¯s said there that the magic is the richest on the Continent of Man, with impossible architecture and grand cities of magic. Apparently, it¡¯s the only kingdom on the Continent of Man ruled by a matriarchy. Transluvia; the militaristic empire that is at odds with Milligarde, currently. It¡¯s ruled by a tyrannical lineage, built upon very, and even weing dark races such as orcs into their army. From what I¡¯ve read, theirnds are t, resulting in most of its cities being built into the ground, or even beneath it. Ygsdra; it¡¯s said that it¡¯s contested by the other kingdoms if it should even be considered a so due to the primitive nature of thend, which inhabits the world¡¯srgest jungle known as ¡°The Great Green¡±, housing trees that reach the clouds, fruits that either will grant power or death, and magical beasts rivaling natural disasters. Even if Ygsdra is contentious on its state as a kingdom, nobody denies the greatness of the Ygsdra warriors, notably the ruling n: the ¡°Lycan Half-Bloods.¡± Jubra; the kingdom bordering the sea, yet filled with sands that stretch endlessly in all directions. It¡¯s said to be the kingdom closest to the gods, housing spiteful deities and vengeful spirits which have cultivated its warriors into fearsome fighters. Bellmisa; the holy kingdom¨C Before he could finish his thoughts, daydreaming the wondrousnds of only a small portion of this world, he was snapped back into reality as he noticed Irene standing over his shoulder. As he opened the book again, she watched him. Irene sat beside him, looking at the pages as she squinted for a minute but gave up, letting out a dramatic sigh. ¡°¡­I can¡¯t read it¡­¡± Irene pouted. Heughed a bit, ¡°You know, I can teach you, if you want.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Irene said as her eyes lit up. ¡°Yeah, of course,¡± he nodded. From then on, starting on that same day, he began tutoring the blue-haired girl, helping her to learn to read and write the ¡°Horizon-King Language¡±: thenguage shared by the alliance of three kingdoms known as the ¡°Azure Table¡±: Milligarde, Bellmisa, and Vasmoria. Since thenguage is used by three of the most powerful kingdoms in the world, it¡¯s sort of like themon tongue of Arcadius. That exins why Irene can speak it, but doesn¡¯t know it herself, he thought. On that thought, he remembered what she told him of the homnd she came from when he originally asked: What she told him was ¡°It¡¯s a prettynd. Orange fields and golden trees¡­Half the year it¡¯s perfectly warm, and the other half it rains constantly.¡± He didn¡¯t know which country she was talking about at first, but after reading more, he found her words to be perfectly describing and known as Hollowvale. [A Month Prior] When he opened arge, heavy book that wasden with dust, titled ¡°The Continent of Man¡±, he found the passage of Hollowvale, entranced by the description of the enigmatd: Marlu, Vasmorian Explorer, Hollowvale IIV: ¡°¡®I remember the first day my eyesid on the ind hidden behind such mist. It felt as though thend was too pure to be touched; something so beautiful that the hands of corrupt men such as myself shouldn¡¯t be allowed to graze it. The sea swirled around our ship, lightning struck our sail, monsters of the depths mmed into its side¡­but, somehow, by some miracle¡­I washed on those shores. The grains of sand were silken smooth and pale white like snow. It never stopped raining; the clouds cried upon the trees which bore golden leaves, flourishing the vibrant fields of orange grass. I felt as if I was in some sort of wondend. I soon learned it wasn¡¯t simply an ind, but a grandnd expanding far, housing a civilization of its own with humans just like myself. At first, I believed such isted people would be primitive, but I was wrong¡­They were far more advanced than us; steel moved on its own, smoke billowed above their buildings of such stalwart architecture, and those buildings themselves reached towards the heavens. I couldn¡¯t find the words in my throat to voice it; I was simply in awe. They had wagons that moved without horses or beasts to drag them; self-sustaining water systems that didn¡¯t require wells. It was I that felt like a primitive creature in those wonderfulnds.''¡± A passage like that felt as if he was hearing of an entirely new world within the one he inhabited. Unfortunately, that was about all of the knowledge there was on Hollowvale. Though it didn¡¯t sound like they were adverse to outsiders, it did seem like most that came in were unable to leave. Chapter 26 The Instructor of Magic: Celly! When he tried asking Irene about her homnd, the girl didn¡¯t seem to remember anything. The fact that she was from such a mysticalnd made him more interested in her, though. Julius and Treyna tried asking her as well, but Irene simply didn¡¯t seem to remember anything before being taken away by the traffickers. It was a much more widespread issue than he had initially though, mistakenly believing the actions of the traffickers were limited locally. ¡­This world has its own share of corruption. All around the world, children are taken away like that¨Csold to the highest bidder. With adventurers being plentiful in everynd, it¡¯s helped reduce the numbers as parents usually pay to establish a quest to find their missing child, but¡­it¡¯s only a band aid solution, he thought. [Present] ¡°It¡¯s written like¡­this,¡± he said. Sitting beside her at the desk, he used the quill to disy the proper way to write the letter for the young girl with long, but curly locks. ¡°¡­Oh, like¡­this?¡± Irene asked, writing it for herself. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯ve got it,¡± he nodded with a smile.. Irene smiled as well; it wasn¡¯t a bad experience for himself, either. Being able to go over themonnguage again cemented it for him once more. ¡°You like reading a lot, don¡¯t you?¡± Irene asked while practicing her writing. While he was sitting beside her as she did her busywork, he had a pale-red book open in front of his eyes. ¡°I do,¡± he nodded, ¡°Why do you ask?¡± ¡°¡­Well, I just don¡¯t know what¡¯s so interesting about it. I¡¯ve never been able to read a book myself¡­¡± Irene looked down. He stopped for a moment, closing the book as he looked up towards the ceiling. There were a lot of reasons why he read, but he wanted to find one answer that was all-inclusive to his intentions. Part of it for me is simply disbelief. Or I guess¡­confirmation. I doubt this world is artificial, and these books almost prove it to me¨CI mean, these are written by real people in this world. Some of it is beautiful¨Cthis¡­isn¡¯t something you could just program into a machine. In these words¡­you can read the human spirit off of those pages, he thought. He ran his fingertips along the bumpy cover of the book he held, looking down at it with a soft smile. ¡°Someday, I want to explore this world. I¡¯ve already started nning it,¡± he told her, ¡°once I¡¯m old enough, I¡¯ll be an adventurer so I can do it. I might not make much money at first, but it¡¯ll be enough. I¡¯ll stay on the move¨CI¡¯m sure I won¡¯t have any problem finding quests to take, even if it¡¯s chasing chickens or ying goblins.¡± ¡°¨C¡± Irene looked at him in awe. ¡°It¡¯s amazing¨Cthis world, Arcadius¡­There¡¯s so much out there. I want to visit every kingdom¨Cand not just the ones on this continent; the elven continent, the demon continent, and even the palends. I want to see it all,¡± he told her with a glint in his eyes. Such words inteced with his heartfelt conviction made Irene smile as well as she leaned on the desk, looking up at him. ¡°So, do you read so you can learn about where you want to go?¡± Irene asked. ¡°Something like that,¡± he said with a bashful smile, ¡°It¡¯s the next best thing before I get to see it for real.¡± ¡°¨C¡± Irene looked at him before staring forward, ¡°¡­I want to see my homnd, too. With my own eyes.¡± ¡°You can,¡± he told her. Irene simply smiled and nodded before they continued their studies together. The young girl was surprisingly bright, and quick to learn; she was around his age, but her ability to pick up on written information allowed for a seamless learning process. Sitting beside the girl, whether they were studying or ying, he finally achieved one goal in this life¨C ¡°Make a friend.¡± ¨C One evening, while he was cleaning the room he shared with Irene, a knock came to the front door. He and Irene looked at each other for a moment before he started moving towards the hall. ¡°I¡¯ll get it,¡± he told the blue-haired girl with a smile. As he ventured to the front door, he opened it to find a youthful woman waiting on the other side. She was dressed in oak-brown robes that were lined with verdant fur. If it wasn¡¯t clear enough by therge, pointy hat she wore atop her head of lengthy, silver hair, the wooden staff she wielded made it obvious: A mage, he thought. ¡°Greetings. Is this the Dragonheart residence?¡± The young woman asked with a gentle smile. She didn¡¯t look to be any older than her mid-teens, looking down at him with her soft, emerald irises. Though she was small herself and of a lithe build, the girl stood a full head taller than him. A demure white skirt stayed just above her knees, leaving a lot to the imagination of the young boy, who looked her up and down. As he nodded, he found both of his parents already standing behind him with giddy smiles, as if expecting this unknown visitor. The girl bowed her head kindly, ¡°Well met. I am Celly Van Strezzhume, a grand-ss mage.¡± As she gave her name and rank, the autumn wind brushed by, prompting the girl to hold herrge hat in ce with her fingers. It was then with her polite introduction did he begin to piece it together with eyes full of awe. His suspicions were confirmed from the girl¡¯s mouth as she extended her pale hand down to him. ¡°You must be Emilio. Your parents said some very kind things about you in the letter,¡± Cellia told him, ¡°Starting today, I¡¯ll be your tutor in the art of magic.¡± ¡°Tutor¡­?¡± Repeating what he heard, his eyes lit up as he felt a pat on his shoulders from the firm hand of his father, who smiled down at him. ¡°A promise is a promise, right? You did your part with sword training, and now I¡¯m doing my part,¡± Julius told him. ¡°Just make sure to behave yourself, alright?¡± Treyna told him. He nodded, ¡°Of course.¡± Chapter 27 Settling In Celly had arge case of her belongings that she brought with her, as this was going to be a lengthy endeavor, so the young woman would be staying at the Dragonheart residence. ¡°Sorry again that you had toe all the way out here to a ce like this,¡± Juliusughed, helping Celly with her case. Celly shook her head, taking off her wizard hat as she held a soft smile, ¡°Please¨CI don¡¯t mind. I¡¯ve always heard of Yullim¡¯s beautiful valley, anyway. It¡¯s a pleasure to finally see it for myself.¡± ¡°Really? I¡¯m sure it¡¯s not all that specialpared to the cities you¡¯ve been to,¡± Treyna said with a smile, resting her cheek against her hand. ¡°It¡¯s certainly a change of pace from big cities like Pellio, but this reminds me of home¡­¡± Celly said, taking in the atmosphere. His mother as always seemed delighted to have morepany around, rubbing her palms together with a smile before she pped, ¡°You must be hungry from the long ride over. I¡¯ll whip something up!¡± ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have¨C¡± Before Celly could try to politely decline the offer, a growl came from the young woman¡¯s stomach, bringing a reddening to her cheeks. ¡°¨C¡° ¡°I¡¯ll get started on it,¡± Treyna smiled.. ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± Celly nodded shyly. ¨C Julius intended to help Celly set herself up in the guest room, but it seemed he had lost track of time as he quickly got dressed, attaching his scabbard to his belt. ¡°¨CI¡¯ve got to run to the Guild Center, Emilio. How about you help show Celly around and get her settled in?¡± Julius asked him. He nodded, ¡°Alright.¡± It was a bit confusing as to what the rush was with his father, but he didn¡¯t mind. Especially since less-than-noble intentions were on his mind. ¡­Alone time with a cutie like this? Don¡¯t mind if I do! I¡¯ll have a whole year with her, he thought. They went up to the second floor as he offered to help Celly carry her heavy luggage, but the small mage declined. ¡°¡­I¡¯ve got this¡­¡± Celly said. Though she said that, the silver-haired girl was struggling as she hoisted the luggage up the stairs as if dragging a boulder up its height. As he showed her to her room, which was empty, save for a medium-sized bed and a drawer by its side, he watched as the silver-haired mage began to unpack her belongings. ¡°Is there something on your mind, Emilio?¡± Celly said with a smile while cing her clothes into the drawer. He was caught off-guard, not realizing she knew he was staring at her for so long as he chuckled a bit, scratching his cheek. ¡°¡­I was just wondering, where are you from, Celly? I¡¯ve never seen somebody with hair like yours before,¡± he asked. ¡°Oh¡­Does it bother you?¡± Celly asked with a mncholic smile, touching her own hair. He shook his head vigorously, ¡°Not at all! In fact, I think it¡¯s beautiful! It reminds me of the moonlight.¡± Celly¡¯s expression seemed surprised but she smiled gently again, patting his head, ¡°You¡¯re an odd kid, Emilio. Thank you.¡± ¡°¨C¡± He blushed a tad. It felt somewhat strange to him to be treated like a child by the girl who looked younger than he was in his previous life, but it wasn¡¯t exactly a bad feeling. A few moments passed of silence as he stood by the door, watching the mage tutor settle in, continuously taking nces at her. By all means, she was beautiful; her features were fair and her skin was pale and smooth without a blemish to be seen. Beyond that, an aura of kindness naturally radiated from her. ¡°¡­I¡¯m a half-elf,¡± Celly finally told him while settling her clothes into the wooden drawer. ¡°An elf¡­?¡± He repeated with a sparkle in his eyes. Though it seemed almost unbelievable to him at first since to him, elves were supposed to have long, pointy ears, but Celly¡¯s were pale and round, just like a normal humans. Celly nodded, looking at him, ¡°I¡¯m sure my kind are quite rare around here. So, I don¡¯t me you if I stick out as abnormal to you. I understand¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re not¨CI promise,¡± he told her. Again, Celly seemed surprised for some reason. It seemed almost as if his eptance of her differences were unexpected, but to him she hardly seemed any different besides her standout beauty. ¡°What a kind boy you are,¡± Celly gave him a smile. The way the young woman spoke was as if she was wise beyond her years, holding a calmness andck of ego that made her seem much older than she looked. ¡°Are you excited to learn about the ways of magic? Your parents told me a lot about you in the letter,¡± Celly asked, continuing, ¡°I¡¯ve heard it¡¯s impossible to get your head out of those grimoires.¡± It was a bit embarrassing to be called out for being a bookworm like that as he bashfully chuckled and nodded. ¡°Yeah¡­but,tely I haven¡¯t been able to make any progress,¡± he replied. Compared to how quickly he assimted the knowledge at the start, the sluggish progress he had made in recent times was disheartening to him. Celly seemed to notice as she smiled, sitting down on the neatly-made bed after having finished storing her belongings in the drawer. ¡°There¡¯s only so much you can teach yourself. Being able to even teach yourself magic at your age is a tremendous feat in itself¨Cyou should be proud,¡± Celly told him. ¡°Really?¡± He knew it was impressive to some degree, but there wasn¡¯t exactly something he couldpare his own progress with, seeing as he was the only person he knew who actively used magic in Yullim besides his own mother. Celly nodded, ¡°It¡¯s incredibly rare, actually. Most people can¡¯t even use magic beyond simple, practical usages like a small me to boil water or grant life to a bigger fire.¡± As the silver-haired half-elf exined this with a gentle smile, she manifested a tiny me above her index finger as an example while she spoke. ¡°¨C¡° ¡°Honestly, I wasn¡¯t interested in tutoring anybody,¡± Celly admitted. ¡°¡­Then why did you?¡± He asked. Celly looked at him with her emerald irises, ¡°When I heard about the boy who was self-taught and able to naturally weave spells without a whisper, I packed my bags immediately and set across the country.¡± Such kindly spoken words from the cute-and-beautiful half-elf made him blush from ear-to-ear as he did his best to hide his embarrassment. ¡°¡­It¡¯s nothing that impressive,¡± he mumbled, ¡°I mean¡­I was helpless to defend myself.¡± He remembered his encounter with the Chaos God Style swordsman, and just how helpless he was to the smiling man¡¯s overwhelming strength. But, he looked up at the youthful girl with a resolved smile, ¡°That¡¯s why I want to learn more and be able to explore this world without a worry.¡± Celly smiled, ¡°I can show you the path to reach that, but you have to be willing to walk it yourself.¡± ¡°I am.¡± Chapter 28 Mission Failed; Next Time Celly smiled, ¡°I can show you the path to reach that, but you have to be willing to walk it yourself.¡± ¡°I am.¡± His answer seemed to satisfy the kind, young woman who held her reassuring smile to him before looking forward towards the wooden wall. As their conversation went on, he sat himself down on the chair across from the bed, looking at the woman. Being a young boy again, he had every excuse to stare without beingbeled a ¡°creepy¡± since nobody could pin such desires on a boy of his age. Due to the skirt Celly wore and how she was sitting, he had full-view of her pale, smooth thighs¨Cand as she moved her legs just slightly, he prayed to whatever gods inhabited this world for a sneak peek at her panties. No such fortune came as he sighed. ¡°I take it you want to be an adventurer?¡± Celly asked. He nodded, ¡°Yeah. How did you know?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a fair assumption to make about anybody who pursues swordy or magecraft,¡± Cellyughed sweetly, ¡°If you want to explore the world, then there¡¯s no better fitting path.¡± By the way the silver-haired woman spoke, he could gather that she knew a bit more than she was letting on. ¡°Ms. Celly¡­¡± ¡°Just Celly, please,¡± Celly said. He nodded, ¡°Celly, are you an adventurer?¡±. The young woman nodded, reaching into her luggage as she retrieved a badge that was attached to a string; it was some sort of ne. The badge held the symbol of a silver-and-gold, intertwined dragon with a red jewel embedded in the middle. That¡¯s right¡­I think Father has something like that, he realized. ¡°This is my ¡®Adventurer Insignia¡¯; it¡¯s proof that I¡¯m affiliated with the Guild. This red jewel here means I¡¯m allowed to tank quests up to S-rank difficulty,¡± Celly told him. He was enamored by the beautiful badge as Celly handed it to him, letting him inspect it as he ran his fingers across the dense symbol. Though he couldn¡¯t quite recall what jewel was in Julius¡¯ insignia. As he handed it back, he looked at Celly, ¡°Did you be an adventurer to explore the world, too?¡± Celly shook her head, ¡°That¡¯s part of it, yes. But, I¡¯m interested in honing my craft as a mage. I became an adventurer to earn money while in school.¡± ¡°You¡¯re in school?¡± ¡°Willeria Academy,¡± Celly nodded, ¡°It¡¯s a prestigious school in Willeria, the ¡°Capital of Magic¡± in Vasmoria, so I flunked the first couple times in the entrance exam, but I¡¯ve made it. Right now I¡¯m on break though.¡± I think I get it now. Celly took on this tutor job to fund her academy expenses, then, he thought. After getting to know the young tutor of his, their conversation was cut short as Irene appeared in the doorway. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± He looked at Irene. ¡°Treyna says dinner is ready,¡± Irene informed them. ¡°Oh, thanks,¡± he nodded with a smile. Irene seemed to look at Celly for a prolonged bit, which the silver-haired half-elf definitely didn¡¯t seemfortable being stared at so nky. ¡°Err, hello, I¡¯m Celly,¡± she introduced herself to Irene. A hand was extended down to Irene, who stared at it for a moment before looking over at him, who nodded his head as if saying ¡°she¡¯s fine.¡± Irene epted her hand, ¡°¡­Irene.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a very pretty name,¡± Celly smiled. ¡°¨C¡± Irene¡¯s cheeks went slightly pink from thepliment. ¨C At the dinner table, what was prepared for the five of them was arge boar that Julius had caught earlier that day, which was prepared by Treyna, who quite clearly was proud of herself for managing to make such a dish out of the giant, wild animal. ¡°There¡¯s a lot, so dig in,¡± Treyna said with a smile. Though it was easier said than done with such a gargantuan serving left in the center of the table. He looked over at Celly, who was as pale as a ghost at the sight of the prepared boar, looking as if she was staring a ghost straight in the face. ¡°Erm, I¡­¡± Celly muttered, looking down at the te that had one of the massive legs of the cooked boar. ¡°What do you eat in your homnd, Celly?¡± Treyna asked with a fork that carried a chunk of seasoned meat. Celly gulped, ¡°¡­Usually light dishes like¡­sds, fruit, maybe fish, but¡­certainly not things like this.¡± ¡°Ha-ha! I guess the Yullim way is just different!¡± Juliusughed, holding a whole boar leg in his hand that he tore away at with his teeth. ¡°Is it not to your liking?¡± Treyna frowned. ¡°No, no¨C! It is¨Cit¡¯s just a new experience for me,¡± Cellyughed nervously. He could only watch, empathizing with the silver-haired, young instructor as he knew the struggle she was going through. ¡­Believe me, I understand. The meals that Treyna and Julius like to cook are intimidating, to say the least. I ate my first bear when I was three, he thought. Still, even if the meals are quiterge and daunting in appearance, one must push through the imposing sight to reach the other side. ¡°¨C!¡± Celly¡¯s expression lit up as she tried a piece of the boar. ¡°How is it?¡± Treyna asked with a wide smile, anxiously waiting for an answer. Celly swallowed, having to pat her own chest a few times to help the food go down as she breathed out, regaining her breath for a moment before looking on in surprise, ¡°¡­Tasty!¡± He had the exact same reaction himself when first experiencing the cooking of his entric mother. It might look like nightmare fuel sometimes, but the dishes Treyna makes are blessed by the God of Culinary!¡­At least, that¡¯s my theory, he thought. ¨C After dinner was finished, night had snuck up on the peaceful day, prompting everybody in the house to check in for the night. As Treyna started to gather the dishes, he stopped her by taking the dirty tes from her. ¡°I¡¯ll handle this, mom,¡± he looked up at her with a smile, ¡°You should rest.¡± ¡°Emilio¡­¡± She was confused for a moment before grinning, patting him on the head, ¡°¡ªI really raised a great one, didn¡¯t I?¡± He watched as Treyna left upstairs to her room before he got to work on the dishes. Rolling up the sleeves of his gray,vish coat, he scrubbed the tes with a rag, washing them clean. While he wouldn¡¯t deny beingbeled a good, dutiful son, he didn¡¯t take this chore upon himself solely out of the goodness of his heart. No, no¡­A young man like myself has to think ahead. That¡¯s the only way I¡¯ll get to see¡ª¡±it¡±! He thought. There were quite a few dishes to clean, but this was to his advantage. What he was doing was biding time for his parents and Irene to settle into bed before making his move. After finishing cleaning the dishes and putting them away, he tiptoed up the stairs, staying as quiet as possible as he approached the guest room. At first nce, the wooden door looked close, but it was cracked open just a smidge. Lucky! He thought. As he peered through the gap in the door, he witnessed it: disappointment. The young woman was already getting into bed, having already changed into her nightgown, and having already passed by his precious opportunity. ¡­Curses! He thought, as if he were some sort ofical viin. On that night, the young boy had suffered an unknown defeat. Chapter 29 The Development of Magecraft The first day of his tutge under Celly came with a nice, good-weathered day to greet the two. It was a bit windy, causing the coat that the silver-haired young woman wore, that reached down to her knees, to sway in the passing breeze as she held onto her hat. ¡°It¡¯s a nice day today. Perfect for what we¡¯ll be focusing on,¡± Celly said with a smile. ¡°What¡¯re we doing today?¡± He asked curiously. Celly looked back at him, ¡°I was told you favor the winds, right?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he nodded. It was true; he definitely held his wind magecraft above all other elements under his belt. ¡°Can you tell me why you favor wind, Emilio?¡± Celly asked with a smile. It felt more like a test than a genuine question being prompted, but he yed along as he put his hand to his chin, pondering the answer. ¡°For me, wind is really versatile. I¡¯m not very fast or strong, so I use wind to make up for the differences between me and my opponent,¡± he said. He gave a little demonstration as he manifested wind silently beneath his feet, hovering in the air a solid meter.. Celly looked up to him with a surprised look, ¡°¡­It¡¯s true; you really can use incantation-free magic.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he said. Coming back down to the grass, he exhaled as his gray coat settled back down from the abrupt winds. ¡°What you said is half-correct,¡± Celly told him. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Wind is indeed versatile, but every element is. I believe you have a natural affinity for wind; though, I think it¡¯s safe to say you hold a good affinity for most elements already,¡± Celly told him. The praise made him chuckle bashfully for a moment before he watched Celly retrieve something from under her coat. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± The silver-haired girl handed him what looked like a stick of smoothly-carved wood with emerald stripes along its length. ¡°A wand,¡± Celly told him, ¡°While it¡¯s not necessary, a catalyst will improve a mage¡¯s proficiency greatly.¡± He was silent for a moment with his lips slightly parted in curiosity as he held the want between his fingers. ¡°Catalystse in different forms: wands, grimoires, tattoos, and most prominently¨Cstaffs like mine,¡± Celly held up her staff with a smile before looking at him, ¡°It¡¯s only a basic wand, but it should amplify your abilities. Give it a try.¡± ¡°Right now?¡± He asked. Celly gave him a nod as she pointed over to the bush near the short, vine-clung stone fence that sat around their property, ¡°Aim for that hedge.¡± ¡°¡­That far? I don¡¯t know,¡± he said. It was a good ten meters away, which was outside of his effective range of control. He usually didn¡¯t put much thought into refining or condensing his spells, and tended to just simply use wind sts to knock away whatever was directly in front of him. ¡°Rx and focus yourself. Just imagine the wand as an extension of your body; allow the mana to flow gently from your fingertips and through its shape,¡± Celly guided him with her gently spoken words. He stood there silently, focusing as he kept the wand held tightly in his grip while holding it forward, pointing towards the verdant hedge. Through his visualizations, the ticklish sensation of mana fluttering from his fingertips into the wand was felt, and as he felt it, he squeezed the wand and invoked the desired magecraft¨C FWOOSH. A swirl of wind shook the hedge, propelling the leaves from its thin limbs as he looked up in both surprise and awe while the luscious, green leaves swayed in the air above him. ¡°¨CI did it!¡± He smiled wide. For a moment, there was a look of somber surprise in the emerald eyes of his tutor, who watched the mystical winds carry the leaves in a soft spiral. ¡°As I thought, you¡¯re a natural¨Cwell done, ¡± Celly held a gentle expression, ¡°So, could you feel the difference?¡± He looked at the wand then at her, nodding, ¡°Yeah. It felt like I hadplete control over my output¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s what catalysts are for, usually. They allow us to focus and control the output of mana. Have you ever experienced numbness in your limbs or a type of ¡°ache¡± after casting a spell?¡± Celly asked. Thinking about it for a moment, he did recall something like that when he was back at the trafficker hideout. ¡°Yeah¡­I used magic that was stronger than normal¨Cit made my arms feel like pins and needles!¡± He nodded a few times. Celly smiled, ¡°With a catalyst, you¡¯ll be able to prevent yourself from that happening. It¡¯s an important element in a fight; if you cause your body to go numb in the middle of a battle, you¡¯re practically setting yourself up for loss.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± He replied quietly. For the next half hour, his instructor had him adjust to using the wind as he uses gusts of wind, water spheres, and controlled mes to practice. Around his wand, he moved a sphere of azure water that jiggled and bounced around as he guided it; it followed the movements of his wand before he finally released it. ¡°Phew¡­¡± He exhaled. It was draining in its own right to simply stand around and cast spells, even if they were mostly small-scale, basic invocations. Celly looked at him, ¡°Tell me, what¡¯s the highest order spell you know?¡± ¡°¨C¡° He didn¡¯t answer right away, scratching his head with a nervous chuckle as he averted his gaze. A curious look came from his half-elf instructor who tilted her head slightly, ¡°You understand the ssifications of spells, right? Such as the ones you¡¯ve been using so far¨Cthey¡¯re all ¡®novice¡¯ rank.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know that, it¡¯s just¡­¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°¡­The one I learned is¡­well, can we take this somewhere else?¡± He asked with an innocent smile. Celly raised an eyebrow, confused to what the young boy was acting strangely about as she nodded, ¡°¡­Alright, then.¡± The two headed out to a clearing that was a good twenty minute hike away from the Dragonheart residence, tucked away over some hills and walled off by the verdant mountains as a calmke extended. It was a secluded spot he came too at times when practicing spells that were a bit more ¡°wild¡±, like the one he was scared to show by his house. ¡­Did he want toe out here so that he didn¡¯t create a mess by his home? What kind of spell is this boy nning to show me? Celly thought, looking on towards theke. ¡°I¡¯ve only really learned novice spells and a few intermediate castings, but this one¡­¡± He said. ¡°Show me,¡± Celly gave him the go ahead. It was something he learned recently from peeking into the back of the ¡°The Scripture of the Element King, Aelor¡±¨Che found a spell that caught his eye. After that encounter with the Chaos God Style swordsman, I had to find my own ¡°trump card¡±¡­He thought. He held his wand up, beginning the incantation, ¡°Four spirits of the world¡¯s nature order of creation and destruction: Great Gnome of Rock, Undine of Water, Sylph of Air, and Smander of Fire! Elemental Sentinels!¡± Chapter 30 A One-In-A-Million Spell ¡°I¡¯ve only really learned novice spells and a few intermediate castings, but this one¡­¡± He said. ¡°Show me,¡± Celly gave him the go ahead. It was something he learned recently from peeking into the back of the ¡°The Scripture of the Element King, Aelor¡±¨Che found a spell that caught his eye. After that encounter with the Chaos God Style swordsman, I had to find my own ¡°trump card¡±¡­He thought. He held his wand up, beginning the incantation, ¡°Four spirits of the world¡¯s nature order of creation and destruction: Great Gnome of Rock, Undine of Water, Sylph of Air, and Smander of Fire! Elemental Sentinels!¡± Magecraft of this caliber required an invocation; trying to cast it without the proper saying was like trying to untie an endless array of knots within his mind. Just saying the proper incantation of a spell wasn¡¯t enough; there were a multitude of factors that went into weaving the desired concept into reality. He had to visualize itpletely; imagining it to the tiniest detail until it became second nature to him. A fundamental understanding of magic was needed, too; how to conjure and focus his mana, and how to transmute that formless energy into the desired element. Above all of that, one needed the proper vessel in the first ce¨Cthis is where both inherent talent, lineage, and grit came into y. Celly looked on in surprise as the water of theke began to ripple, the field was jostled, the air howled, and the temperature warmed. ¡­This spell¨Cit¡¯s from the teachings of Aelor, isn¡¯t it? But, an invocation like this¨Cit¡¯s¨C! Celly thought. From the spell¡¯s invocation, four lights encircled the young boy; a rocky-brown shine, an azure glow, a verdant luminescence, and a crimson radiance.. It¡¯s a ¡°Grand¡± ranked spell!¡­It requires a high-level affinity for all four natural elements¨Cit¡¯s a one-in-a-million for somebody to have the capability of using it, Celly thought. ¡°¡­Phew¡­I did it,¡± he said quietly. The four spherical lights hovered around him before he pointed his wand forward towards theke, ¡°Smander!¡± With hismand, it was the fiery glow that conjured a small fireball, sending it towards theke. SWISHHH. As the ball of inferno crashed against the calm body of water, the vtile impact caused steam to rise and extend over a section of theke. Again, he disyed the high-ss spell, ¡°Undine!¡± This time, the azure sphere was invoked, but rather than conjure a raw element, theke itself was manipted, causing the water to swirl before arge sphere of liquid was suspended into the air. ¡°Sylph!¡± Hemanded with a wave of his wand. The verdant spirit by his shoulder responded with its windy form, sending a slice of air that cut the hoisted ball of water in two. From the aftermath of the sphere of aqua being bisected, a ssh of water came their way. ¡°Gnome!¡± With onest invocation, the brown, small spirit responded by automatically raising a wall of mud in front of the two, blocking the ssh of water as it pelted against the natural barricade. Showcasing all four of the elemental spirits, he allowed the spell to dissolve, breathing out as sweat left his pores heavily. ¡°¡­Huff¡­¡± He ced his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. The entire time, the silver-haired magic instructor was left speechless from the showing. ¡°¨CI still don¡¯t have itpletely down yet¡­It¡¯s exhausting,¡± he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. ¡°No¡­¡± Celly said, still looking forward, ¡°Emilio, that was amazing. Really¡­by the end of our time together, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll be left trailing behind you.¡± He looked at the young woman for a moment, staring up at her before smiling with a smallugh, ¡°That¡¯s not true. I still have a long way to go¡­but, I was wondering¡­¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Celly looked at him. ¡°Could you show me something?¡± He asked with a dazzle in his eyes. ¡°¨C¡° ¡°I¡¯ve just never met a mage like you before¨Cso, I was just kind of hoping you¡¯d be able to show me something cool,¡± he told her. It was impossible for Celly to deny the curious request from the starry-eyed young boy as she smiled gently with a nod, holding her staff up. ¡°Alright, then. Pay close attention, okay?¡± ¡°Okay,¡± he nodded, focusing up. There was a certain grace and refinement to how Celly stood while holding her wooden staff high,manding a swirl of mana around her that caused the grass to sway and the winds to sing quietly. Celly firmly ced her beige boots down, beginning the invocation, ¡°Flow from the great sea of divinity! Gather here, will of the Sea King! Let your judgment reign supreme in your domain! Great Water Prison!¡± As Celly spoke with powercing the incantation, a brisk wind spiraled just as the river did. The orb at the end of the young woman¡¯s staff glowed before the swirl of water suddenly shot up like a fountain. ¡°¡­Woah¡­¡± He was in awe, looking up as it seemed as if the entire river was ripped from the ground, though as the geyser of Aqua settled, he saw the true nature of the ethereal water spell. A giant cube of clear water hovered above the river, sealing within it a single fish. ¡°¡­That¡¯s a bit overkill for a fish, isn¡¯t it?¡± He said with a wry smile. Celly held her focused expression before smiling, waving her staff to disperse the water back into the river. ¡°There is a second stage of the Great Water Prison, but unfortunately¡­It¡¯s a bit lethal. It¡¯s not for squashing fish,¡± Celly sighed out after using the ethereal spell. ¡°That was amazing!¡± He jumped up. Celly paused for a moment before holding a pleasant curve to her lips, ¡°I can teach you that one, if you want.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Mhm,¡± she nodded, ¡°Right now your arsenal is mostly offense-oriented, isn¡¯t it?¡± He was surprised that Celly managed to guess that perfectly, but he nodded. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got this¡­¡± nting his boots against the soil, he breathed out as he summoned the circr zone of wind around him. Celly watched before the spell dispersed, ¡°It¡¯s handy, but you need more options. One type of defense doesn¡¯t cover all potential threats.¡± ¡°Right,¡± he nodded. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll give you a couple things to begin studying, alright?¡± Celly said with a smile. ¡°Oh?¡± He looked up curiously. By some stroke of luck, a breeze passed by at that moment, flicking the silver-haired girl¡¯s skirt up, revealing to the young boy¡¯s lecherous eyes that locked onto what was beneath that skirt like a hawk to a mouse: Not only did he get a clear shot of her smooth thighs, which were just plump enough, but he also saw the true goods¨Cthe article of fabric that was the personification of the girl wearing it: ¡°Panties.¡± They were all-ck with a refined fabric that he certainly didn¡¯t expect from the goody-two-shoes, demure youngdy. ckced¨C?! I expected all-white, basic undies, but this is the opposite! Nice job, Celly! He thought. Celly¡¯s face went red as she quickly pulled her skirt back down, facing away from him as she covered her face in embarrassment, letting out a groan. He quickly wiped the deviant smile from his lips, unfitting for a young boy his age, recing it with the innocent, pure smile of the angelicd they all knew. ¡°You didn¡¯t see anything, did you?¡± She asked with an embarrassed tone. ¡°Not a thing,¡± heughed innocently. Chapter 31 The Intrigue of A World Beyond It wasn¡¯t until they returned to the Dragonheart residence that Celly gave him the two grimoires for him to begin studying: ¡°Sea of Mana Majesty¡± and ¡°The Astral Teachings.¡± The first he was lent by the young woman pertained to water spells, and the second was one she herself said she could hardly use¡ªit focused on spirit arts. While he was studying at the desk in his room, his nose was pleasantly greeted by the aroma of warm broth. Before he could peel his eyes from the words on the page, a bowl of piping hot soup was ced on the desk. ¡°Thanks,¡± he smiled, looking up at the woman who ced the bowl down. Of course, it was his mother. ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± Treyna asked, looking over his shoulder at the text. He nodded, ¡°Great. I¡¯m learning a lot from Celly.¡±. ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that. Just make sure not to cause trouble for that girl,¡± Treyna said, yfully pinching his cheek, ¡°You¡¯re your father¡¯s son, so¡­control those urges.¡± What¡¯s that supposed to mean?!¡­Oh. Yeah, he realized. He nodded, ¡°I¡¯m not like dad.¡± ¡°I know. Thanks to my amazing job as a mother,¡± Treyna held a proud smile. Though he was clearly lying¡ªhe was very much like his father, and like his mother. ¨C After expending quite a bit of mana in his first day of lessons under his new tutor, the soup added much needed energy to his body before he delved right back into the bookid open on his desk. For him, studying like this came easy. Before, I was trapped in my room for my entire life. All I had were books for a lot of that time. If I couldn¡¯t experience the world outside firsthand, I could learn about it. When I read the text on those pages, describing the world I couldn¡¯t touch for myself¨CI didn¡¯t feel better or sad; I felt a fire light up in me. ¡®One day, I¡¯ll explore it for myself¡¯¨CI carried that resolve for years. But eventually¡­I guess I just gave up. Spending neen years cooped up in your own room does that, he thought. Having so many new teachings to explore made him giddy, making it almost a struggle to stay focused on the pages of the grimoire as he wanted to get up and put the spells on the page into practice right away. As night came, he hardly took any breaks as he delved deep into the knowledgeable scriptures. He had already gained an understanding of plenty of novice water spells and was now focusing on intermediate castings and even a few Keeper spells. The main difference between each ranking of spells is how difficult they are to use. It actually doesn¡¯t specifically mean that an intermediate-ss spell will be stronger than a novice one, but it is usually a safe bet. To me, it seems like novice spells are a bit more vague and able to be shaped with more imagination, while upper-ranks are more of singr use cases, he thought. Irene was already asleep on the other bed in their shared room, so he definitely didn¡¯t want to risk being loud or causing a ssh with his newfound water spells. He sat there boredly for a minute, resting his cheek against his hand as he stared towards the window, gazing towards the star-filled night. ¡°¨C¡° As he looked down, he saw the other grimoire that Celly had lent to him for his personal studies: ¡°The Astral Teachings.¡± Grimoires tended to be muchrger than a normal book, but the scripture of spirit arts took that to a new extreme; it nearly epassed the entire surface of his desk with its gray-and-ck design. The fabric that wasden across the cover was stringy and tattered as if the book was old beyond years. ¡°¡­Hmm¡­¡± It was because of his disy of the grand-ss spell from earlier that Celly had given him the book pertaining to spirit arts, but he still wasn¡¯t quite sure what ¡°spirit arts¡± really was. This curiosity led him to opening therge book,ying his amethyst gaze on its scribings. He muttered what he read; it was something that urred when he was truly enamored with the text he was reading. The man who wrote ¡°The Astral Teachings¡± seemed to be some sort of legend in this world: ¡°Torvald, The Realm Walker,¡±¨Cit wasn¡¯t just a book simply teaching the mechanics of spirit arts, but also delving into its origin as a whole. [Torvald I: ¡®The ¡®Astral Realm¡¯ is something that has always existed since the dawn of this world. It¡¯s only that it¡¯s been discovered more widely in recent times¨Cif only those fools at the Archives would understand that. Nheless¡­It¡¯s the domain in which spirits reside. Yes, spirits do roam our world freely¨Cit¡¯s not an umon urrence, but they doe from somewhere¨Ca home, a sanctuary¨Cwhatever you may call it. It¡¯s a dark ce. It does not function like our world. Thought is given form and sanity is challenged by merely standing still in that ce. However, if you wish to contract with your ¡°soulbound spirit¡±¨Cyou will have to be able to enter this realm.] The passage from the man who at the very least seemed abrasive had piqued his interest by quite a bit. ¡°Soulbound Spirit¡±? He thought. Wanting to learn more, he continued reading the text inked onto the page with less-than-beautiful handwriting, sloppily strewn across the parchment, but still decipherable through a squint of his eyes. From the sounds of it, obtaining a ¡°Soulbound Spirit¡± was a rare feat, but one with a lot of merit behind it. It says here that they¡¯re spirits that are perfectly in tune with the person seeking them. It¡¯s not something pre-ordained, like how it sounds. It seems¡­this ¡°Soulbound Spirit¡± is one who chooses you; the difference between a normal spirit contract and a contract with a Soulbound Spirit is that these Soulbound ones apparently are able to grow with you? Hmm¡­I should really do this, if I can¨Csounds handy, he thought. [Torvald II: ¡®Let me preface this and save you some time: in truth, I don¡¯t believe spirit arts are a tool that can be grasped simply through hard work and dedication. You either possess a link to the astral realm, or you do not¨Cit¡¯s that simple. Fortunately, in my time between both realms, I¡¯ve discovered a wless technique to decipher if one has such potential to cross between realms.¡¯] More than ever, he felt his heart racing with excitement as he wanted to understand what it was that could achieve a contract with a spirit, and to enter this elusive ¡°Astral Realm¡± that the knowledgeable man described. He turned the page: [Torvald III: ¡°Creating The Gateway¡±: ¡®This will be your very first lesson, and perhaps yourst if you fail to make it work. What you will need to do is forge a ¡°gateway¡± to the Astral Realm; a catalyst from our world into the world of the spirits¡­] Chapter 32 The Astral Realm As he etched these teachings into his mind, he was already getting to work on creating this gateway as he snuck outside with quiet steps, bringing only a small knife with him and his wand tucked into the pocket of his gray shorts. Around the side of the house, he stood in front of the cer doors, which were hardly ever used as nothing of much value was kept in the cer, as he was told. He brought the edge of the de next to his palm, breathing in as he remembered the text once more: [¡­¡¯To create this gateway, you will need to draw your own blood. It doesn¡¯t matter where from, just make sure it¡¯s fresh. You will need to create the seal as shown on this page¡¯¡­] Drawn onto the page was a picture of the circr seal needed to be painted: it was one circle holding six more inside, all surrounding the center which were archaic letters and a bloody handprint in the center. [¡­¡¯Depending on the size of the catalyst you choose as your gateway, you may need a lofty bringing of blood¡¯¡­] ¡°Ngh¡­¡± He winced quietly as he slid the knife across his hand, drawing blood before he began to draw the seal on the cor door. Carefully, he made sure to copy the described seal picture-perfectly, having to cut deeper into his hand in order to create enough blood to draw it across the broad doors of the cer. The thought dide to use a bit of water to create more blood, but the man in the grimoire was quite adamant about it being ¡°fresh and pure.¡± ¡°¡­There we go.¡±. There was but only one step left¨Cthe most simple of all. [¡­¡¯Once the seal is done, simply walk through those doors with your eyes closed. Count to ten before opening your eyes. If you find the normal scenery beyond the door once you part your eyelids¨Cyou don¡¯t have the makings of a spirit arts user. However, if you should find yourself in the Astral realm¨Cremember these words: ¡°I am alive,¡±¨Cuse those if you find yourself needing to leave¡¯¡­] With that, he unlocked the wooden doors, shutting his eyes tightly as he opened the cer entrance. The moment his eyes were closed and he was standing before the entrance that had a fifty-fifty chance of being a gateway to an unknown realm, he felt the air caress his skin with a certain eeriness that made him hesitate. Listening to the winds of the night whisper against his skin, he finally took the leap; he cautiously guided his feet past the cer entrance, walking down a few steps to make sure he was past the gateway fully. He began counting with a whisper: ¡°One¡­two¡­three¡­¡± It waspletely silent now; the utterances of the wind were gone and around his body the air felt cold. ¡°Four¡­five¡­six¡­¡± Trickling down from his palm and down his fingertips, the blood ran from his cut as he stood perfectly still. ¡°Seven¡­eight¡­nine¡­¡± For some reason, his breathing began uneven one ¡°nine¡± left his lips; goosebumps rose across his skin and the coldness felt more tangible than ever. ¡°Ten.¡± As soon as he opened his eyes, he nearly fell over backward as he was certainly not in the cer. There were no walls that neighbored him, but only a vastness of such darkness that swirled about, inhabited by entities that loomed in the distance¨Cgiant and foreboding. Twisted trees curved around in the air, and the footing beneath his soles was of rotten soil. ¡­This is it? ¡°The Astral Realm¡±? He thought. Standing there, alone and stranded in the enigmatic domain as he watched purple clouds spiral in the nebulous sky above before shifting into faces that looked down at him, he immediately began to regret jumping so recklessly into this. The air was difficult to breathe in; it felt like each breath was filling his lungs with ice but then each following exhale would melt it with a burning sensation. ¡°¨C¡° It was something like this that made him doubt the artificial nature of Arcadius; an entirely different realm; how real and dreadful it felt. A veil of utter darkness wrapped around the scenery; it was difficult to make up the shapes in the distance¨Cwhat was animate and what was inanimate. What he perceived as slumbering, ck mountains in the distance marched forward the next second. Beneath his feet, the rotten soil gave away with each step he took forward, stumbling about as he tried grabbing one one of the crooked trees for support. As he reached for one of the twisted branches, it curved away from his fingertips, avoiding his grasp as he nearly fell forward. He couldn¡¯t even lean against the tree as it uprooted itself and walked away, abandoning the stray, uncoordinated young boy. ¡°Ngh! Woah¨C!¡± Before he could realize it, the lifeless, clumpy soil gave out beneath his step, breaking away as he began to plummet downward into unknown depths. What the¨C? What¡¯s up with this ce?! He questioned. As he fell through the ground with soil flowing down beside him, he grabbed his wand, preparing to use a perfectly timed wind spell to safelynd, but just before hended against the ground¨C He fell gently, sinking into the soft bed below¨Cmuch to his surprise. Picking himself up, he looked down, finding himself havingnded perfectly on a bed of colorful flowers. The verdant des of grass were cushiony and somehow bouncy as he pressed his palm down, feeling the softness of it. The flowers seemed to stare at him, twirling their violet pedals as one waved with one of its stems. ¡°¡­Thanks,¡± he said quietly. He couldn¡¯t quite process the fantastical, head-swirling nature of the Astral Realm, but as he looked up, he found himself in a small cave that wasden with flowers, but it housed once thing most of all that his eye: Looking at it, he remembered the text he read in the grimoire: [¡­¡¯If you wish to find your Soulbound Spirit, you will need to find the ¡°Origin Altar¡±; do not try and seek it out. Let it find you¡¯¡­] It was standing there, half-embedded into the rocky wall, curtained by vines, but it stood there¨Cthe statue in the shape of an all-seeing eye, housing cosmic jewels around its orbr shape. He found himself to his feet, slowly moving over to it as he gulped. As he ced his hand against the ¡°Eye of Origin¡± as Torvald had described in the book, he felt a jolt go through his body as a cold sweat broke out. It felt as if his very soul had be tangible once in contact with the enigmatic statue. He was unable to move his hand away as the sensation of being able toprehend his own soul had made him freeze in utter disbelief. All of the emotions he felt, the memories that stood out, and the voices of his mind¨Cthey all shed in unison. What¡¯s this? He thought. His entire life seemed to flow across his vision, scrolling through like a tale sung by a film roll; his heart stopped during this moment; the flow of his blood through his veins stifled. During this segment of existential confrontation, words were whispered directly into his mind: ¡°You are not worthy¨Cyet.¡± Chapter 33 Spiritual Unknowns ¡°You are not worthy¨Cyet.¡± ¨CIt was a cold, feminine voice. With those words, he felt the strength in his body sapped, convulsing for a brief moment as if an electric shock had just surged within his body. In a single blink of his eyes, the mystical scenery was ripped from him. ¡°Wha¨C?!¡± He jumped, startled by the jarring shift as he was standing on grimy steps. The sudden change in setting made him stumble as he rolled down the stairs with a harsh tumble. ¡°Ghh¨C!¡± Wincing, hended on the floor, slowly looking up after a moment of hugging his own body as he saw the opened cer downs behind him, giving the only semnce of light in the form of the moon¡¯s shine. ¡­I¡¯m in the cer? What happened? He thought. Sitting there in the darkness for a minute, all that rang in his mind were those words spoken from a mysterious source: ¡°You¡¯re not worthy¨Cyet.¡± What¡¯s that mean¡­? I didn¡¯t hear anything about requirements¡­Did I miss a page? He thought.. As he picked himself up, he left the cer, almost leaving in his exhausted state before noticing the blood-written seal drawn on the wood. ¡°¨C¡° As not to leave any proof of what he did, he washed it away with a simple dousing spell before reentering the house, sitting on the steps as he brought his own fingertips near the gash on his palm. ¡°Healing.¡± The soft green light appeared, slowly mending his flesh as the cut closed and the blood that stained his pale skin evaporated. ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± He sighed out. After an eventful experience like that, he brought himself into his room and flopped into bed without any further thought. ¡°¡­Ngh¡­¡± That night, the dreams he experienced were off another level; they were vibrant, disjointed, and terrifying. In the span of one night, he experienced what felt like a hundred dreams, all conjoined and continuous, yet with no seeming connection. This continued for the next week; his lessons with Celly continued, but he didn¡¯t make any mention of the crossing of the Astral Realm. Every night, the plethora of disjointed dreams would y. It began to wear him down as he would try to avoid sleeping for as long as he could¨Csimplyying in bed with his eyes to the wall, but eventually, he would always relinquish himself to slumber. ¡°¡­Unworthy¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re not from here.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¨CAll voices were different; scattered within his mind, some close, some far¨Cmuffled, clear, raspy, elegant¨Cit was a feverish night until: He saw it. There was one dream that stood out among them; it reurs every night. Alone in and that was pale-white; the world was bleached over¨Chollow and decimated. Each time, his vision would vibrate once he looked up to see the singr entity that existed in the snow-white dreamscape. It was a faceless man who faced his way, but every time their eyes would meet¨Che¡¯d wake up. What is that? Who is that? He questioned. Among the endless dreams, it was the only dream that was clear; it was so clear in fact that each time he felt it, to him it felt like reality¨Cthe taste of fumes in the air, how the dested winds carried the bleached ashes of the world by his body¨Cit all felt real. To him, it felt like some sort of message. ¡­Is it trying to tell me something? I don¡¯t understand any of this, he thought. ¨C ¡°Are you feeling alright, Emilio?¡± On a tranquil day in the luscious fields behind his home, Celly posed her question with a concerned look. They were practicing his control over intermediate-ss water spells that day, but he was hardly focused; sweat clung to his skin and bags hung under his eyes. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine¡­I just didn¡¯t sleep wellst night,¡± he said with a forced smile. ¡°¨C¡± Celly gave him a worried look before seeming to ept his answer. Though they continued for a bit longer, it was clear he was hardly holding the proper mindset as the water formations he conjured were uneven and fell apart after mere moments. ¡°Let¡¯s call it a day, alright?¡± Celly looked down at him with a reassuring smile. ¡°¡­Alright.¡± It wasn¡¯t just Celly that noticed; his appetite had dwindled, which was a surefire way to make his mother worry. ¡°Hey, wanna spar!¡­Emilio?¡± Julius, as full of energy and vigor as always, tried his best to get him to sh swords with him, but he wasn¡¯t up for it. ¡°¡­Maybe some other time,¡± he told Julius with a smile. Irene took notice, and she was the one who sought to help him the most during this time of silent trouble. She began tofort him at night; they didn¡¯t exchange any words, but at some point she began holding his hand while he was in the rampant, sessive dreams. ¨C Finally, he decided to open ¡°The Astral Teachings¡± once again to check if there was anything written about these mind-numbing nights he¡¯d been experiencing. He was reluctant at first to return his eyes to the book. It feels like if I look at it again¡­I¡¯m inviting those dreams back directly. But, enough is enough, he thought. Finally, he came across something that resonated with his troubles¨Cit was buried much further into the book: [Torvald XXV: ¡®It will not cease now. Days are interlinked now; the week before and the week toe are conjoined. I¡¯ve experienced it over and over and over and over: I¡¯ve named it ¡°The Soul Strain.¡± It¡¯s simple. It¡¯s something that should¡¯ve been obvious. As mortal beings, alive and tethered to flesh, the Astral Realm is the pr opposite to our condition. There is something about it¡­the more often you traverse the two realms, the longer you stay in the Astral world¨Cthe more your soul unravels, allowing things inside of it that should not be permitted entry. Listen to me now, do not repeat the same mistake I have: stay away from the Astral Realm. If you¡¯re experiencing the ¡°Soul Strain¡± now, stop while you can. It can subside, however¨Cthere is a point of no return.¡± It was harrowing to read, and even more so, the once abominable, wise words of Torvald now seemed weakened and defeated in thister text. What he discovered from nces through the next pages was just what the ¡°Soul Strain¡± seemed to be, or at least what it was doing to him. ¡­¡±The Cries of The Days To Come¡±; usually we¡¯re ignorant to the pleas of spirits, but while under the effects of the ¡°Soul Strain¡±, we can hear those cries. That¡¯s what this is?¡­So, the spirits are trying to show me something? Is it a warning? He questioned. Chapter 34 Onward To A New Day ¡­¡±The Cries of The Days To Come¡±; usually we¡¯re ignorant to the pleas of spirits, but while under the effects of the ¡°Soul Strain¡±, we can hear those cries. That¡¯s what this is?¡­So, the spirits are trying to show me something? Is it a warning? He questioned. While pondering this, all that flooded his mind with that thought was the bleached world and the faceless man he kept dreaming about. But what he was perplexed about most was one thought¨Cone that clung to his mind that made him fully question the authenticity of this world¡¯s artificial nature: ¡­My ¡°soul¡± is being exposed? Soul? Is something like that possible inside of a ¡°digital world¡±¨CI just don¡¯t get it. Is this world truly artificial? I know what I saw, I know what I¡¯m seeing¨Cit can¡¯t be fake, he thought. ¡°¨C¡° He didn¡¯t know what to think of it, but at least he¡¯d found some sort of answer. After a few days, it seemed that what Torvald had written was true¨Cthe effects of the Soul Strain subsided due to him only entering the Astral Realm a single time. There was a new motivation in his mind, a new drive to be an adventurer, a new aspiration for exploring the world: He looked outside of his bedroom window towards the horizon with this goal in mind: I¡¯ll explore every corner of this world and find out for myself¡­if Arcadius is truly an artificial world or¡­if this is all truly reality, he resolved.. ¨C ¡°Water Prison!¡± With a wave of his wand, he coalesced the water from theke into a massive square prison of smoothed out, reinforced aqua. As he waved his wand again, he dispersed the water prison that had ensnared a fish¨Cthe same one that Celly had trapped previously. ¡°Phew¡­¡± He exhaled, ¡°How was that?¡± ¡°Perfect. You¡¯ve already mastered it. I¡¯m not surprised¨Cyou¡¯re a hard worker, Emilio,¡± Celly smiled to him, ¡°I take it you¡¯re feeling better now?¡± He nodded with renewed vigor, ¡°Yup!¡± ¡°I¡¯m d.¡± Again, the ever-gentle smile of the silver-haired half-elf was enough to make the young boy¡¯s heart skip a beat. She¡¯s an angel! He thought. Still, the recurring dream was still at the back of his mind, lingering there as he still didn¡¯t know what to make of it. With theing afternoon, Treyna brought out sandwiches for both him and his magic instructor¨Cwhich he happily epted. What began as a lunch shared between him and the wizard-hat-wearing tutor of his grew; Julius returned from a quest he had been on the past two nights, and immediately plopped himself down between the two and grabbed a sandwich for himself. ¡°Treyna¡¯s cooking? Don¡¯t mind if I do!¡± Julius smiled. Oh, yeah, you¡¯re cordially invited to join our lunch, dear father¨Cno, what the hell?! This was going to be a date! He thought. While he was slightly bitter about his one-on-one meal time between him and Celly being interrupted, the jovial mood of his youthful father washed away any grumpiness within moments. ¡°¨CMountain orcs are tough bastards, I¡¯ll tell ya¡¯!¡± Julius said. While talking about the quest he was away on the past two nights, the scruffy-bearded,te-twenties man moved his hands around as if swinging an invisible sword. ¡°Really? I¡¯ve never seen a mountain orc before,¡± Celly asked with a smile, nibbling on her sandwich. The silver-haired girl sat with her pale boots to the side as her oak-brown robes swayed just a bit in the calm winds. ¡°Definitely! Let me assure you¨Cthey¡¯re a different breed from normal orcs! They¡¯re bigger than bears!¡± Juliusughed. This is funny? That sounds horrifying! He thought. As he shivered at the thought of bear-sized orcs, the next words toe from his father¡¯s lips made his heart skip a beat¨C Julius looked at him, ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right! Hey, Emilio¨Chow about tagging along with me on a quest? I was thinking it¡¯d be a nice experience for you. It¡¯s one thing to practice, but putting that practice into actual battles is what matters!¡± ¡°That sounds like a good idea. It¡¯d be a good opportunity to utilize what we¡¯ve gone over so far, Emilio,¡± Celly told him. ¡°Want toe with? You¡¯re certified, aren¡¯t ya? We can split the earnings!¡± Julius asked Celly with a mouthful of sandwich. Celly nodded, ¡°Sure, but we don¡¯t need to split anything,¡± she politely waved her hands. All of this was being discussed and decided as he sat there silently, sulking a bit as he nibbled on his b of bread and meat. I didn¡¯t even get to say anything¡­guess this is happening, he thought. Though after thinking about it for a moment, he wasn¡¯t against the idea¡ªnot at all, in fact. It wasn¡¯t often he actually had targets to test his magic on. Usually I just have to subject the poor trees and bushes to being my test subjects¡­but this could be good, he thought with a grin. ¡°What kind of quest would we be doing?¡­¡± He asked with a smile. Of course, while inside of his mind he was cackling like aical viin, on the outside he was the angelic, perfect son of the Dragonhearts. Julius scratched his chin, jutting his lip out a bit as he thought about it, ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­I saw a posting on the guild board on my way back for a band of cave goblins. How¡¯s that sound?¡± ¡°Goblins¡­?¡± He said with a hint of displeasure, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t orcs be more beneficial? Wolves?¡± Without a doubt, goblins were the bottom of the barrel, lowest-of-the-low and would hardly suffice for actual growth¡ªthat¡¯s what he thought, but Julius seemed to think otherwise for him. Julius¡¯ckadaisical attitude stiffened as he looked straight at him with his sharp eyes, ¡°Emilio. You¡¯re plenty talented and strong for your age, but don¡¯t get conceited. For a kid, you¡¯re capable, but you¡¯re still that¡ªa kid.¡± ¡°¡ª¡± He looked down. ¡°I know you¡¯re raring to go y dragons and all that mess, but you¡¯ve got to start the same as the rest of us,¡± Julius told him, ¡°If you try to skip steps along the way, you¡¯ll end up tripping over.¡± ¡°Your father is right,¡± Celly added, ¡°even goblins can be dangerous if you¡¯re not careful. I¡¯ve known people who¡¯ve thought of them as easy opponents, but¡­they were overwhelmed.¡± To him, it felt like he was just being treated like a child still, and that they didn¡¯t trust him. But, he begrudgingly epted. ¡°I understand,¡± he wore a smile. ¡°You do?¡± Julius looked pleasantly surprised at his willingness to ept. ¡°Yeah,¡± he nodded. The maturity he disyed at times put his own jovial father to shame, who was always caught off-guard by it. Chapter 35 Goblins! As the next day arrived, it was time to tackle the quest. It required a hike as the area they were sent to was in one of the opposing corners of the valley. ¡­Nobody mentioned this part! We¡¯ve been walking for three hours straight! He thought. To make matters worse, since they were climbing one of the trail-paved mountains around Yullim, he has to walk up an incline. ¡°¡ª¡± ¡°C¡¯mon, Emilio! Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re tired already?¡± Julius yelled back at him with a smile. There wasn¡¯t a droplet of sweat gracing his father¡¯s skin, but he on the other hand was sweating and breathing out like a dog. Celly was ahead of him as well, though she was sweating a bit, she didn¡¯t look strained. He didn¡¯t answer, mostly because he was so sparse on breath that he couldn¡¯t spare the precious oxygen as his lungs worked overtime just for him to march on. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, just a bit more to go,¡± Celly assured him with a smile, holding a map. Angel, he thought.. There were excuses that ran through his head, like the outfit he wore not being appropriate for hiking: the gray, noble coat, decorated with a silverce he wore and brown shorts¡ªbut, it was just that¡ªexcuses. He was still just a pre-teen with a body that wasn¡¯t built for physical activity of this degree. To make it worse, he was carrying a short sword with him, which added a bit of weight he wasn¡¯t used to. Even worse, a quick nce to the side should show him just how high up they were. Swishhh. The town below looked minuscule, obscured by the foggy air of the morning. It wasn¡¯t as if they were even very far up the mountain, or aiming for it. ¡°Alright, we¡¯re here,¡± Julius said. Though he heard those words from his father, he didn¡¯t see what they meant until he caught up a minuteter, standing beside Celly and Julius as he peered into the shadow-crept hole in the side of the mountain trail. An ominous howl emitted from the dark cave entrance, making his skin crawl for a moment as he gripped his wand tightly between his fingers. ¡°¡­This is it? How can you tell?¡± He asked. Julius smiled, running his hands, which were wrapped in ck-leather, fingerless gloves, along the threshold of the cave entrance, ¡°This shoddy work is the doing of goblins. And, look right here.¡± He stepped closer as his father knelt down, pointing to something near the entrance as he peered down as well. It was a series of small footprints left in the gravel-covered dirt. ¡°¡­Footprints?¡± He mumbled. Julius stood back up, ¡°Yup. They¡¯re fresh, too. I¡¯d say we just missed theming in, maybe half an hour ago, give or take.¡± It was surprising¨Che never got to see this side of his father: the capable adventurer with years of experience beneath his belt. ¡°Have you hunted goblins before, Celly?¡± He asked. Celly looked at him with a slight tilt of her head before ncing down the cave opening, ¡°Not cave goblins. I¡¯ve heard these types create homes in mountains or hills themselves¡­they don¡¯t settle for natural caves.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Gotta hand it to the little snots¨Cthey¡¯re diligent bastards, at least,¡± Julius said, stepping inside, ¡°Come on.¡± Celly followed inside but he hesitated for a moment, feeling a certain unease swirl in his gut when looking down into that dark cave, but he stepped in as well. The air was immediately different; cold and mmy. It stunk of wet stone, ammonia, and other repugnant odors he dared not to think too hard about. ¡°¡­Shouldn¡¯t we have some light?¡± He asked in a whisper. Julius nced back at him, ¡°If you need it, sure. Go ahead.¡± For a moment he questioned how his father could see in such ustrophobic darkness, but he remembered hearing about it a few times¨Ca unique skill his father possessed. One aspect of it allowed him to see in total darkness, apparently. ¡°Celly?¡± He asked. ¡°I can see just enough, but some light would help, Emilio,¡± Celly told him. That was enough for him as he lifted his hand, conjuring a small me on its end point that immediately stretched its luminescence outwards. He held his wand up like a torch, looking at the walls of grimy, rigged stone as bits of water dripped from the ceiling. ¡°¡­There we go,¡± Julius said. ¡°¨C?¡± He looked forward, seeing for himself what it was that his father noticed as his small, makeshift torch showed it to his eyes: they were unintelligible symbols drawn in blood. ¡°What¡¯s that¡­?¡± He asked. ¡°Their way ofmunicating,¡± Julius answered, ¡°We¡¯re close now. Get ready, Emilio.¡± He nodded silently, holding his me-bearing wand up as he gulped. From there, no words were exchanged as the three walked forward silently; Julius had his special, ck-ded sword out and Celly kept her staff tightly held in both of her hands. After a bit more of the anxious walking he did behind the two, he found himself in arge, open space within the cave. ¡°¨C¡± Julius nced around. ¡°¡­Aren¡¯t there supposed to be goblins here?¡± He asked. A few more seconds of the gnawing silenceter¨Che jinxed himself. All of that silence was shattered all at once as the rapid footsteps of many beings sounded out, pattering against the rocky floors anding from seemingly every direction. ¡°They¡¯reing!¡± Celly called out. ¡°Yeah¨Ca whole lot of them, too,¡± Julius said. Though the other two didn¡¯t seem too bothered by this, but still cautious, he on the other hand gulped and felt his fingertips quivering as he held his torch-turned wand higher. With the stretch of me-born light, he saw the dozens of holes that were bored in the walls around the empty room in the cavern. ¡°Get that sword out, Emilio! It¡¯s time to y some goblins!¡± Julius called out. Roll credits! He thought. With the sounds of the cavern-dwelling fiends racing through the various tunnels, closing in on them as the three stood together, his fingers scrambled to draw his small sword from its sheath¨Cgetting stuck and nearly causing his scabbard itself to fall from his belt as he finally draw his de. ¡°Gah!¡± Just as he drew his shortsword, he looked up to find goblins already pouring out from the surrounding passageways. They were as he expected from the goblins he saw in the media in his previous life: short and with dark-green skin, pointy ears, drooling and looking on with beady, ck eyes. But, there was just one thing¨C Though goblins were known for their small stature, he wasn¡¯t exactly big himself as a twelve-year-old who had yet to experience any sort of growth spurt. They¡¯re practically like orcs to me! He thought. Chapter 36 A Green Wall With how many goblins there were and how plentifully they came through the small tunnels, there wasn¡¯t much of a point in hoping for his father to protect him as the man was already hacking away at goblins. The same went for Celly, who was focused on her own enemies¨C ¡°Bring forth punishment to my enemies beyond the shores! Water Roar!¡± From the staff wielded by the silver-haired half-elf, a highly-pressurized spray of watershed out at the drooling goblins that attempted to rush her. In a violent sh, the water sliced through the green-skinned fiends, dicing them apart. ¡°¨C¡° This sort of violence was something he wasn¡¯t adjusted to, but it seemed to be the norm in a medieval world of magic. He didn¡¯t have any opportunity toment this fact as he was met face-to-face with one of these goblins, which attempted to m its wooden club against his head. ¡°Ghh¡­!¡± By some stroke of luck, he managed to block the strike with his small de, though he felt the tenacious force of the beady-eyed goblin still pressing down as he struggled against its strength.. He was roughly the same size of the goblin, only a few hairs taller but less muscr as their bodies seemed forged by physical activity. It continued to press its club down against his de, breathing out heavy pants as it seemed desperate to incur pain onto him. ¡°¡­Back off!¡± He grunted. As he pressed the tip of his wand against the sternum of the goblin that drooled close to his face, he invoked a wind spell he had recently learned¨C¡±Burrowing Wind.¡± It conjured in the form of a spiraling wind, condensed to a point that dug through the goblin¡¯s chest and blew out from its back, causing the goblin¡¯s body to twist around and blow back from the force of the spell. ¡°¨C¡° He fell back after having used the spell, huffing and looking on in horror at the mess of blood and entrails left by the goblin that had beenpletely eviscerated by his spell. Amidst the chaos, he looked up to find another goblin charging towards him with an ax in its hand, letting its tongue flop from its mouth as it snickered. ¡°¨CCrap!¡± He rolled to the side just as the ax was mmed down, barely missing him as it lodged into the stone. Though the quick, desperate evasion had caused the wand to slip from his hands, rolling across the stone as he felt his stomach sink. ¡°Raaagh!¡± The goblin snickered. As it dislodged its rusty, blood-stained ax from the stone floor, he was forced to thrust his shortsword forward, stabbing right through the green creature¡¯s chest. The disgusting sensation of the steel he wielded burrowing through the squishy innards of his enemy was something that made his stomach churn. Again, before he could gather himself, another of the cave-dwelling barbarians charged towards him. ¡°¨C!¡± He tried pulling his sword out from the chest of the goblin he had just in, but it was stuck; he tugged harder as the slobbering kin of the goblin approached, finally drawing his de as the dead fiend fell over, knocking into the one that was charging towards him. Scrambling back, he ran towards where his wand had rolled off to, dodging through goblins and witnessing his father rush by. ¡°Keep going, Emilio! You¡¯re doing great!¡± The supportive words from his parent would be heart-warming in any other scenario, but they left Julius¡¯ lips as he cleaved through two goblins with a single sh, cutting them both in half as the young boy ran by. Come on¡­! He thought. He could hear the same goblin chasing behind him as he rushed for his wand, seeing it just a meter in front of him now as he extended his hand¨C STOMP. ¡°¨C¡° His stomach dropped as he saw a green foot stomp down atop his wand, keeping it from him as he looked up towards the unnaturallyrge goblin. It drooled, looking down at him with its bloodthirsty eyes. It was tall and burly; its arms hung down to its knees, carrying a massive club in one hand. It was dressed in only a cloth that covered itsher region, towering over him like a mountain of violence. What the hell is this thing¡­?! He thought. Armed with only his small sword, sweat evacuated from his pores as he looked up at the massive goblin as it raised its club into the air. As the club was brought down, he used a gust of wind thrown from his hand to knock himself to the side. In ce of him being squashed, the normal-sized goblin that had been chasing him was instead crushed beneath the weight of the club as a disgusting mixture of flesh squelching and bones being turned to powder met his ears. ¡°¡­¡± He looked on silently with his mouth agape as therge goblin rose its club without any remorse for its skin; bits of flesh clung to the wooden weapon as a ttened corpse wasid beneath the cracked floor below. As he nced back, his father and Celly were preupied with their own fair share of goblin encounters. ¡­I guess that means this big guy is up to me, right?¡­I guess I asked for something like this! He thought. Without his wand, he felt like a fish out of water; he had grown used to using it and the focus it granted him. It¡¯s not like I can¡¯t use spells without it, but¡­we¡¯re inside of a cave right now. If I unleashed something, who knows if it might bring the ce down on top of us?¡­I¡¯m going to have to keep it low and controlled, and rely a bit on swordy, he thought. What he remembered most was the unintended destruction caused from his usage of fire magic back at the trafficker hideout; the destion set to the dungeon. To his own admission, he hadn¡¯t been rigorously training in swordsmanship since his lessons with Celly, but it¡¯s not as if the lessons ingrained into him by his time with Velda had just vanished. He spread his feet and nted down, raising his shortsword as he wielded it with his right hand, keeping his left ready by his side. A swirl of mana concentrated around his left hand as he kept his eyes on the burly goblin that stomped towards him. Through his veins, his blood ran with a boiling heat as his heart thumped against his chest; in his ears, all that filled them was the beat of his own heart as he breathed out. This was a real battle; there was no dull de to smack him and let him do better the next time¨Cif he messed up, it could mean certain death. You¡¯re a whole lot smellier, uglier, and unpleasant than Velda, but you¡¯re not nearly as strong, smart, or skilled! I can take you! He resolved. Chapter 37 Accomplishment and Triumph He stood his ground as sweat trickled down his cheek, watching as the massive, scar-covered goblin began to rush towards him with its heavy stomps echoing out against his ringing ears. ¡­Hold! He thought to himself. Just as it stomped within reach of him, rearing its club that wasrger than him back, he sprung forward with his sword tightly gripped between his sweatden fingers. ¡°Raaagh¨C!¡± The burly goblin let out a deep roar. As it swung its club down towards him, he swiped his left hand, unleashing a small burst of wind directed at the weapon itself. It wasn¡¯t very powerful nor far reaching, but it was just enough to subvert the attack, causing the muscr, oversized goblin to miss him¨Cmming its club down just to the right of him. In that moment, he rushed forward with his heart beating like a drum in his ears before he shed his de across the chest of his foe. ¡°Gragh¨C!¡± Therge goblin roared out in pain as the gash opened across its torso, spraying out blood. Yes! I can do this! He thought.. As the burly goblin stumbled back, bleeding from its torn chest, he caught a glimpse of his wand that fortunately wasn¡¯t snapped beneath therge fiend¡¯s step. ¨CCome on! Please work! He thought. With a wave of his hand, he drew in a gust of wind from behind his wooden wand, knocking it towards himself. Recovering and drooling over itself in anger, the towering brute stomped towards him with its heavy steps quickly approaching, sending vibrations of fear beneath his boots. As the wand flew overhead, he jumped up¨Cbarely catching it in his grip just as the goblin arrived in front of him,unching a massive swing of its club. ¡°¨C!¡± With the wand between his fingers, the swirl of mana that burned inside of his body cooled into a honed calm as he pointed it towards the mindless brute. Between him and the wooden club, the rocky ground rose, breaking off and forming a circr shield that was suspended in the air before him¨Cdefending him from the swing, though the shield of rock was shattered by the blow. It was enough though as the fragments of stone pelted against his skin, he held his wand pointing forward. The moisture in the air magnified as droplets of water were born around the two, coalescing at themand of the young mage into a cube prison around the massive brute. ¡°Great Water Prison.¡± He smiled with heavy breathsing as he sessfully used the spell. Feeling the shift in the air¡¯s moisture and temperature, Celly watched alongside Julius as thest of the goblins were finished off¨Cleaving just the burly brute who was now trapped within the aquatic hold. With onest squeeze of his wand, hemanded the true nature of the spell: ¡°Crush.¡± The perfect cube of mystical water copsed in on the prisoner within it, crushing the goblin as the azure blue was dyed with crimson. ¨CFor the first time, in the face of a fight, he smiled. As the crimson-dyed water sshed onto the stone, leaving only a crushed corpse of therge goblin, his heart thumped with triumph. ¡°¡­I did it!¡± He proimed. ¡°That you did!¡± Slumped around his shoulder was the heavy, muscr arm of his father, who ruffled his ck-and-blonde locks with a grin. ¡°I see those lessons are paying off!¡± Juliusughed. Though he appreciated thepliments and closeness from his father, Julius was soaked in the blood of the goblins which he had butchered with that blood-soaked, ck de of his. Celly stood by them as well, looking at the aftermath of the water prison. ¡°¨C¡± He looked up at his silver-haired tutor, longing for her evaluation of how he did. ¡°I can tell you¡¯ve been taking your studies to heart, Emilio,¡± Celly told him with a gentle smile, ¡°That was a perfect Water Prison.¡± A smile stretched across his lips as he received the words of approval from his teacher. He bashfully scratched his cheek after sheathing his de, chuckling a bit, ¡°I got sorta lucky in the end there. What kind of goblin was that, anyway?¡­I thought they were all tiny.¡± ¡°That one there was a ¡®Hobgoblin¡¯¨Cbig bastards, as you can see. Not like it made a difference against your magic, anyway! Ha-ha!¡± Juliusughed, ¡°goblins tend to grow from well¡­Nevermind!¡± For some reason, Julius shifted the conversation away after exchanging a nce with Celly, avoiding some information from being told. Instead, Julius ruffled his hair again before patting him on the back, ¡°Good job today, kid¨Creally. You made quick work of those goblins¨CI saw you, too. You weren¡¯t just relying on your magic, either.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± He nodded. ¡°You¡¯ll make a fine adventurer in a few years, Emilio,¡± Celly smiled. Finishing off the hive of goblins, it was time to head back, which meant he had to hike once more. By the time he got back home, it was already sunset. As his mother presented him with a hot dinner, he swallowed it faster than any he had ever had before. For the first time in a while, he neglected studying magic as he instantly plopped into bed with his face buried against the pillow. ¡°How was it today?¡± Irene asked from her bed. ¡°Tiring,¡± he answered, muffled. ¡°I see¡­Was it fun?¡± Irene asked. At first, he didn¡¯t know how to answer that, instead simply falling asleep before he could properly answer. ¡­I¡¯d say it¡¯s about half-and-half, he thought. ¨C This set-up became a recurring thing throughout the next couple months. Each day he¡¯d practice magic under Celly, but three times a week, he¡¯d go along with his father on quests that were deemed suitable for him to be brought along with. With Celly, he¡¯d moved on from learning just water magic, as he earned an ¡°Ethereal¡± level grasp on it and moved on to other elements; wind and rock were natural for him, but fire was a bit difficult to properly practice as it was highly destructive in nature. Still, he was improving at a rapid rate, flinging spells naturally that continued to surprise his tutor nheless. Chapter 38 Howls of Snow [Winter] The cold winds of winter howled, arriving with an abrasiveness this time around as snow quickly piled up around Yullim. ¡°Brrr¡­¡± He sat in front of the firece, rubbing his hands together as he kept a id nket wrapped around his shoulders. ¡°You¡¯re not cold?¡± He asked, looking over at Irene. Irene was reading a book as studying for her own learning of thenguage, but she was still wearing a light dress that certainly did not aid in repelling the cold. The girl with frizzy, but long, dark-blue hair shook her head, ¡°¡­Nope. Is that weird?¡± ¡°I¡¯d say so,¡± heughed. In the kitchen, Celly was helping Treyna prepare a warm dinner¨Cthough the half-elf girl wasn¡¯t very experienced with Yullim dishes, apparently.. ¡°¡­You want me to¡­skin this?¡± Celly was pale in the face, holding the knife up as she looked down at the white-furred deer that was lying limp on the table. ¡°Yup!¡± Treyna replied with a beaming smile, ¡°Have at it! This is the way we do things around Yullim!¡± ¡°I-I see¡­¡± Celly gulped. Cooking was one of the things his mother prided herself on the most, aside from her bright son and her adequate knowledge of magic, though she didn¡¯t like to disy it often. He could hear the two speaking from the kitchen, letting out a quiet sigh with a smile as he could feel Celly¡¯s struggle. Julius told me a secret that he made me swear ten times on, about their days as full-time adventurers. Apparently one of the other girls in the group was an amazing cook, and Treyna¡­well, he described her dishes back then as ¡°emperor-ss poison spells.¡± Long story short, I guess Julius got a bit¡­close with that other girl, and Treyna thought it was entirely because of their differences in culinary abilities. So, Treyna abandoned her path as a mage and became a cook¨Call to seal the deal with Julius. These are my parents¡­seriously, were they even qualified to have a kid?! He thought. While sitting in front of the firece as the orange mes began to settle down, the front door suddenly opened as the wind howled inside. He, along with Irene, turned back to see Julius stomping in, bundled in a fur-lined coat while covered in ayer of snow, bringing in the icy winds with him as he carried firewood in his arms. ¡°Close the door!¡± He yelled out, shivering already. Julius stumbled in as the fearsome winds of winter brushed against his back, kicking the door shut as the raging winds were silenced. ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± Julius let out a sigh of relief. The man¡¯s beard had grown from an aesthetic five-o¡¯-clock shadow to a full-blown, jet-ck beard, though at the moment it was lined with droplets of snow. As the grown man shook the snow off of him like a wet mutt, he walked over, setting the firewood down before splitting them into smaller chunks with his bare hands, tossing them into the firece to stoke it further. ¡°¡­Ah, that hits the spot¡­¡± He closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth. Julius plopped himself down right beside him, letting out a rxed sigh in unison with his son as the mesbatted the icy grips of winter. ¡°How¡¯d you get this much firewood, anyway? You were gone for less than half an hour or so¡­You didn¡¯t go into town, right?¡± He asked curiously, looking up at Julius. The man casually answered, ¡°I took down a tree.¡± ¡°¡­Right. I don¡¯t see an ax on you,¡± he furrowed his eyebrows inquisitively. Julius tapped the scabbard that was strapped to his back, ¡°Why would I need an ax? I¡¯ve got ¡®Onyxwing¡¯!¡± It¡¯s not as if he didn¡¯t know the sword was strapped to his father¡¯s back, but it was pretty obvious that using a sword to cut down trees would definitely dull the de, if not outright destroy it. But, he stopped himself from questioning further as he recalled the nature of ¡®Onyxwing¡±¨CJulius¡¯ personal sword: it was enchanted with a spell that allowed the de¡¯s edge to never dull. Though Julius always went on-and-on about his beloved, ck-steel sword, he never actually spoke about how it came to be enchanted. ¡°How¡¯s it, Irene? Warm enough for ya¡¯?¡± Julius asked the young girl. Irene nodded, but didn¡¯t give a verbal answer. ¡°Apparently the cold doesn¡¯t affect her,¡± he said. ¡°Is that right? That¡¯d be pretty convenient for adventuring!¡± Juliusughed, ¡°That reminds me of this ce I went to. It was when I was just starting off as an adventurer¨Cstill green behind the ears and thinking I could conquer the world.¡± Both he and Irene listened in as the three sat around the firece. Though it was practically an everyday urrence that Julius told stories of his adventures, they never grew old, and he never seemed to hear the same one. ¡°It was an area that had picked up the name ¡°Stretch of Zero.¡± There isn¡¯t a single vige there and it¡¯s flooded with snow year-round,¡± Julius said. ¡°¡­Wait, this is in Milligarde?¡± He asked. Julius nodded, ¡°Yup! Hard to believe, isn¡¯t it? Around here, it¡¯s usually endless green and blooming flowers except for winter.¡± ¡°Yeah, it kind of is,¡± he nodded. ¡°Well, anyway¨Cit¡¯s this whole area; there¡¯s not a damn person living there. Not that anybody can survive there. All that lives there are beasts¨Cand let me tell ya¡¯: the harsh cold forged those beasts into real bastards,¡± Julius exined with a smile. ¡°Really?¡± Irene looked up at him with a curious look in her hazel eyes. Julius nodded, ¡°Yeah! You should¡¯ve seen the look on my face when I ran into a ¡°Goliath Bear¡± there¨Cit was about five times the size of the bears around here! It had this coat of silver fur and ws that were practically swords.¡± Such a fantastical story would normally be nothing but exaggeration to the young boy¡¯s ears, but in this world, he knew it was without a doubt the truth. ¡°How¡¯d you run into it?¡± Irene asked. ¡°Yeah, why were you in a ce like that anyway? Sounds like somewhere nobody outta be,¡± he added. Julius seemed overjoyed to have these questions posed, ¡°Well, let me tell you¡­¡± He was able to picture it for himself as his father told the story with a youthful flow in his eyes. ¡°I saw that quest posted on the board¨Cit was just a simple ore gathering quest, but the reward for it was sky-high. I remember thinking to myself it was practically free money. Little did I realize¨Cthe reward was that high because nobody wanted to go into that ce¨C¡¯The Stretch of Zero¡¯,¡± Julius exined, ¡°¡­I nearly froze myself to death ten times over before I found the cave with the ore, but¡­¡± ¡°But?¡± He asked curiously. ¡°Little did I know that the cave was the den of a certain grumpy bear,¡± Julius smiled. Chapter 39 Tales of The Past [Years ago¡­¡±The Stretch of Zero¡±] [¡­¡±Back then, I was just a few years older than you. Just barely had a couple hairs down there, but I felt like I could defeat anything in my path. Let¡¯s see¡­around that time I was¡­I believe a ¡°Noble¡± ss swordsman¡±¡­] ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± Standing in the sea of pale white, he exhaled a misty breath between his lips, looking towards the cavern. THUD. THUD. THUD. The stomps of something massive were approaching from the bowels of the shadow-covered cavern. Around him, the perpetual blizzard of the hellish region of ever-winter roared, swirling as the rain of snow pelted his pale skin. The tips of his ears, his nose, and his fingertips were red from the biting frost, but he still held a confident smile as he slowly unsheathed his sword from the scabbard on his back. ¡°Let¡¯s do this!¡± He confidently called out. Youthful vigor birthed itself with that smile as his eyes gleamed with the yearning of glory and triumph; behind him, a ck ponytail swayed in the cold winds.. [¡­¡±I wasn¡¯t alone, though. I was with the other two members of my party: Valliam, a support mage, and Maria, a pdin¡­I remembered how much convincing I had to do to drag those two along with me out to that destend of frost. A lot of booze was put on my tab¡±¡­] ¡°A-are you sure? Whatever ising sounds huge!¡± The man with frizzy, light-blue hair said, gulping as he clutched his red-steel staff. [¡­¡±Valliam was meek and opposed to danger. We were opposites in that regard, but despite that¨CI trusted my life to him, and him to me. Even if he was adverse tobat, he was invaluable on the battlefield¡±¡­] Standing beside him, a tall woman dressed gantly in ivory armor, brandishing an emerald cape with the sigil of a lion on its back, held up a heavy, steel shield and a mace as her orderly, orangish-red hair was moved by the cold winds. ¡°It¡¯s toote to run now. We¡¯re in its element¨Cif we try to turn tail and run, we¡¯ll be slogging through the snow, wearing down as it chases us like prey, but¡­¡± The woman raised her mace valiantly with her purple eyes shining, ¡°¡­Retreat is never an option, anyway! We¡¯ll fight in the name of the Holy Order!¡± [¡­¡±Maria, on the other hand, was overzealous and honest to a fault. She was as stubborn as a behemoth, and even tougher. In that regard, she definitely had me beat in recklessness¡±¡­] Together, the three stood in the rampant snowstorm as the stomps continued. ¡°Uegh¡­¡± Valliam trembled, gulping again. He held his confident smile despite the biting frost attempting to wither at his strength, looking forward as the upant of the cavern finally unveiled itself. Massive paws, d in silver fur plummeted down against the snow as the beast marched out from the shadows of the cave, entering the field of snow. ¡°¡­You¡¯re kidding me¡­!¡± Valliam said, ¡°That thing is massive!¡± ¡°Perfect! The bards will sing songs about this! I¡¯ll be getting free drinks from every tavern for the next year!¡± He raised his ck-steel sword high. ¡°For the Holy Order!¡± Maria shouted, charging forward without a second thought. [¡­¡¯What ensued was a messy entanglement with that house-sized bear. Still, I was overjoyed¨CI don¡¯t think I ever stopped smiling the entire time, even as I came inches away from those massive ws tearing me in two¡¯¡­] Dashing across the snow, he rushed the silver-furred bear as it swept its arm through the snow, bulldozing through the white mass as it roared out, attempting to cleave through him. ¡°Ha-ha-ha!¡± Heughed as he flipped over the paw of the goliath bear; its paw alone was the size of his torso, but he managed to evade it with his youthful agility. As he countered with a sh to the bear¡¯s arm, all that was left was a shallow cut that didn¡¯t so much as bleed through its fur. ¡­Its hide is tough, he realized. Standing there for a moment, he looked up to find the massive paw of the bear plummeting down towards him. ¡°¨C!¡± THUD. Swooping in front of him, he was shielded by the overzealous pdin, who blocked the w, though her boots sunk into the snow in a struggle against the bear¡¯s massive strength. ¡°Go!¡± Maria called out. He looked on for a bit before nodding, ¡°¨CRight!¡± As he ran in again towards the humongous beast, with snow swirling around him, he watched as fireballs hurled through the air, flung against the beast. ¡°Hear me, Spirit of The Great Pyre! Through ashen winds does your breath exhale! From charred ground does your rage be heard! Fire Storm!¡± ¨CFrom the frizzy-haired mage, the incantation left in the form of a volley of fireballs manifesting, shooting off towards the goliath bear rapidly. Explosions roared out in small bursts, causing the silver-furred beast to roar out in pain and stumble back, freeing the pdin from the contest of strength. ¡°Nice on, Valliam!¡± He grinned wide. With the opening made, he rushed forward without hesitation in the swirl of smoke and snow; his blood rushed with such vigor that the embrace of the cold was unfelt. [¡­¡¯We worked together well. Even against a beast like that, for me it simply felt like a hunt. Now that I think about it¡­I loved the cold that day; the feeling of my own blood rushing and warming my body from the frost made me feel truly alive¡¯¡­] Swiftly, he scaled the body of the massive bear, dragging his never-dulling de into a series of deep cuts along its form before reaching its head. ¡°¨CAnd down you go! Let the bards remember the time Julius Dragonheart felled a beast as vast as the fields it lived in!¡± With that, he sunk his sword straight into its skull¨Cinstantly ying the great beast with that finishing touch. [¡­¡¯Still, that was only one part of it. Our journey through ¡®The Stretch of Dread¡¯ was anything but easy or simply¡¯¡­] Exhausting hikes through the sea of snow, pelted by harsh winds carrying pellets of frost that felt like arrows to the skin. During the nights, they bundled around a campfire, kept aze only through the efforts of Valliam, who stoked the me with his magic. ¡°You almost passed out back there, Vally,¡± he said teasingly, leaning back against the frost-d wall. Valliam huffed, ¡°I-I did not! I was simply catching some rest between steps!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a thing,¡± Maria added. [¡­¡¯No matter how much we bickered, we had each others¡¯ backs. That¡¯s how it was. Those days were some I¡¯d never take back¡¯¡­] Chapter 40 Devious Dragonheart ¡°That¡¯s pretty much how it went,¡± Julius finished his story. For a moment, he was totally silent as he looked up at his father in awe. Amidst the recollection of the journey from Julius, he was so engrossed that he could visualize it for himself. He wanted to experience it for himself; the mystery of an unknownnd, traversing its obstacles, and oveing trials. ¡°I want to go there someday,¡± he said, looking at the firece. Juliusughed a bit then stopped, looking at him, ¡°Wait, you¡¯re serious, kid? I just told ya¡¯ how terrible that region is!¡± ¡°¡­It sounded more to me like you were recalling how amazing it was,¡± he said. Those words made his father silent for a moment before the man held a genuine smile across his lips, staring into the me with his son sitting beside him. ¡°Yeah¡­you¡¯re right. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll visit a lot of ces like that soon enough,¡± Julius said quietly, ¡°That was only and within Milligarde. Just imagine it, Emilio¨Cthere¡¯s so much out there: cities in the sky,nds ruled by beasts, kingdoms of giants, dwarves, elves, and even demons¨Cit¡¯s all there¨Cwaiting. Are you excited? You¡¯re almost that age.¡± The way Julius spoke was partly almost as if he was goading himself into stepping out of that door and setting on an adventurer, but he settled for the next best thing: Emilio living that journey he had yearned for.. ¡°Excited? I¡¯m so thrilled that I can barely contain myself,¡± He smiled as well, looking down at his own hands that shivered with excitement. Irene was quiet from the talk of the young boy¡¯s prospect of bing an adventurer. ¨C After somehow managing to skin the white-furred deer, Celly, along with Treyna, finished up their winter-time dinner: ¡°¡­Woah¡­¡± He looked down at the bowl that exuded steam along with an aroma that enticed his stomach into a dance within his body. It was a stew made using deer meat as the key ingredient, with a variety of vegetables thrown in and some spices that were certainly not cheap. But, it was worth it as he brought that spoon to his lips, allowing the savory spoonful to slide across his tongue and down his throat. ¡°¨C¡± Celly looked around the table for the reactions of those trying the stew. He wasn¡¯t the first one topliment it though, as across the table, his boisterous father roared out in delight¨C ¡°This is amazing!¡± Julius said. Celly¡¯s expression lit up for a moment in surprise; everybody seemed delighted with the result of the stew. ¡°It¡¯s pretty yummy,¡± he added, looking up at Celly. He was sitting right beside the silver-haired young woman, swinging his legs yfully under the table as he had yet to grow tall enough for his feet to reach the ground from those chairs. Irene was already halfway done with her bowl, ¡°¡­Delicious.¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯m d¡­¡± Celly said quietly with a smile. A warm meal was always a good way to bring people together, but what aided in that was the winds of winter that swirled around the walls, keeping everybody close in the toasty home. After a hearty meal with Julius and Treyna sharing old adventuring stories that somehow turned into stories of their romance, Irene and Treyna handled the dishes before it was time to check-in for the night. Though this time, he had a secret n. Over the course of Celly¡¯s time staying at the Dragonheart residence, he had been studying the schedule in which one aspect of the house was used by the young woman: the bath. ¡­This is my perfect chance! Usually everybody else is still somewhat awake by the time she goes to the bathing room, but tonight¡­they¡¯re asleep! He thought. The amount of effort and thought that had gone into this would¡¯ve surelynded him on a list in his previous life, but with a new lease on life, in a new world¨Che was making sure to take full advantage of his ¡°kid privilege.¡± As he snuck up the staircase after making sure everybody else in the house was checked in for bed, he saw it¨Cthe bathroom door closed. He nonchntly tip-toed across the floorboards, moving to the door as he pressed his ear against it to double-check: The sound of water dripping onto the floor met his ears with delight as he smiled without any innocence there. He reached up to the door handle, slowly and silently turning it as he made sure to only open the door but a few hairs. ¡°¨C!¡± Come on! Let¡¯s see it! He thought. As he peeked a single eye through the crack of the door leading to the bathroom, he saw it¨C Celly was getting undressed in the bathing room, having already taken her robes off as she unbuttoned her pale-white vest. Each second crawled by like an eternity as he watched the silver-haired young woman slide her clothes down, unveiling her pale, smooth skin that was free from any blemish. It was like a te from heaven; pure and untouched. From his small preview he had between the cracks of the door, all he could see was her backside as she faced away, but that definitely had its own merits as his eyes lingered lower. ¡°¨C!¡± Immediately, his blood ran hot as he saw her rear; perfectly shaped¨Cnot too big, but not quite small, either¨Ca perfect ¡°heart¡± shape. As he concentrated on peeking through that door that showed him a glimpse of heaven itself, he was caught off-guard by a creak resounding as if a step had pressed down on the wooden floorboards. ¡°¨C!¡± His blood ran cold as he slowly looked to the side, seeing none other than his father standing at the other end of the hallway. Before he could part his lips to try and make an excuse for himself, he stopped as Julius gave him just one gesture: a thumbs-up. Just then, he remembered: My father is an even bigger degenerate than me! He thought. It was his father¡¯s own ¡°seal of approval¡± giving him a lecherous smile and a nod as if telling him ¡°go get ¡¯em, tiger!¡± He smiled and gave a thumbs-up as well, watching as his father returned to his room as he himself brought his attention back to the cracked door. As he peeked through again, he scolded himself for looking away as he realized he missed his opportunity for a front view, seeing as Celly had already entered the bath itself. But then, for some reason, a certain confidence burned itself up inside of him¨Cit was spurred from the gesture from his father. I¡¯ve got Dragonheart blood running through my veins! This is my intended path! He resolved. Chapter 41 [Bonus chapter]Shameless Somebody What he nned to do was anything but orthodox, and less than normal¨Cin fact, this would normally be something of an act that wouldnd one on a list, but he had on advantage he nned to use to its fullest: Right now, once again, I¡¯m a twelve-year-old boy! That means¨CI¡¯m totally innocent! Free of suspicion! This is my chance! I¡¯ll take a bath with Celly! He thought. With utmost confidence, he tossed his clothes away as if he was some sort of male dancer, tossing them to the floor as without hesitation, holding a smile of overflowing belief in himself¨Che opened the door with a push of his palm. Immediately, Celly¡¯s eyes widened as she looked towards the door, covering her chest, ¡°¨CWha? Emilio?!¡± ¡°Yo, Celly,¡± he greeted her with his best attempt at a suave introduction. There was no attempt by him to cover his own body as he strutted into the bathroom like he owned the ce. This was a strategy of its own. In fact, it was the core aspect of this operation: ¡°Mission: Celly Bath time¡± What benefit did this have, you ask? A kid wouldn¡¯t care about something like this one way or another. If I get all flustered about it or excited, she¡¯ll catch on! But! If I just act like I¡¯m here to use the bath as well, just like any good-minded kid would do¨CCelly will have no reason to suspect I¡¯m actually aplete degenerate who wants to gawk at her parts! He thought. Celly, on the other hand, was on theplete opposite side of the spectrum¨Calready a flustered mess as she kept switching between covering her chest and shielding her eyes.. ¡°What¡¯re you doing in here, Emilio¡­?¡± Celly asked. He flicked his blonde-and-ck locks up, ¡°Why am I here? What more reason is there to use the bath than to bathe?¡± ¡°¨C¡± Celly looked at him for a moment with a reddened face. He could almost see it then; though Celly was using her arms to cover her chest, he could see a good portion of the heavenly mounds. As he stood there for a moment, feeling the air brush against his parts that were normally protected from the whispers of the wind, he watched Celly, who seemed to be contemting the sudden, unexpected situation. Alright. First step down¨Cshe didn¡¯t immediately kick me out or run out of the bathroom! He thought. ¨CFor his next move, he closed the door behind him, shutting it with an important thought in mind: If the door is closed, it¡¯ll be less on her mind for me to leave! He thought. It was embarrassingly well throughout, though most of it was pure improvisation from the lecherous twelve-year-old. Twelve years¡­It¡¯s been twelve years since I came into this world¨Cthere¡¯s no inte here¨Cso there¡¯s no porn! There¡¯s no dirty magazines! None of that! For twelve years, the only thing in my spank bank was my imagination! That changes now, Celly! He resolved. The goal was to get a true peek at everything Celly had to offer, and he was just a few key steps away now. ¡°C-can¡¯t you wait just a few minutes, Emilio¡­?¡± Celly asked. ¡°Nope.¡± Without missing a beat, he declined her words instantaneously¨Cshutting them down as he began to march forward towards the tub that held the object of his desire. ¡°N-no?¡± Celly repeated, ¡°¡­Well, I¡¯ll just get out now then¨C¡± ¡°¨C!¡± In that moment, time slowed down for him; his perception crawled to a slow pace as he saw his mission beingpromised as Celly began to pull herself out of the tub. But, the synapses in brain fired off, running through endless simtions of what he could say, flipping through all potential responses in that second before he chose¨C Tears. ¡°Waaa!¡± He began to cry, sniffling as releasing tears as he held his hands close to his eyes, letting the tears flow without any restraint. Celly stopped, sitting back in the tub, utterly flustered as she waved her hands around, ¡°¨CHuh? What? What¡¯s wrong, Emilio¡­?¡± He sniffled, peeking with one eye as he saw Celly back in the tub. Good¨Cit¡¯s working! He thought. ¡°I-I usually bath with my mom¡­but she can¡¯t tonight¡­the water is scary,¡± he continued, letting out his crocodile tears. In his mind, he was experiencing an entirety different set of emotions: Holy shit! Kill me! This is so embarrassing! Are twelve-year-olds even supposed to cry over stuff like this?!¨CBear with it! You¡¯re so close now! He thought to himself. ¡°Okay! Okay¡­Calm down¡­¡± Celly assured him. It was clear that the meek youngdy wasn¡¯t used to handling situations like this as he was putting on his best act as a crying child. He sniffed, wiping his tears, ¡°So I can¡­?¡± Celly hesitated for a moment with a begrudged expression, ¡°¡­I suppose it¡¯s alright.¡± He almost had to his own lips from forming a smile ofplete lechery as he instead grinned with his childlike innocence he used for less than innocent means, ¡°Yay!¡± Without any hesitation, he hopped into the tub, sitting across from Celly as he sank into the warm water. Alright! That was the hardest part!¨CNow, it¡¯s smooth sailing, he thought. Being so close to her, he first got a really good look at her appearance in a new light¨Che had seen her almost always wearing thatrge, pointy hat, but now it was just her in her natural form. There was never any doubt of how beautiful her silver hair was as it cascaded down her shoulders like a silken sea of exuberance. It was quite long; it seemed to reach down to her lower back. It was difficult to decipher her age, but she definitely looked no older than eighteen to him, but likely anywhere from fifteen to neen. This was mostly due to how smooth and free of wrinkles or any blemishes her skin was; it was pale and delicate as if she was a doll. Part of her youthful appearance though was due in part to her cute button nose and her cheeks that were plump-seeming and pinchable. Celly was doing her best to avert her gaze as her sparkly, emerald irises held a certain refinement of them, mixed of wisdom and elegance, mostly focused on washing her own body. Though, none of this was even mentioning the aspects of her that were normally not on full disy to the young boy. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Of course, this was still an experience he was very much foreign to¨Cbeing this close to a girl in the nude, obviously. Calm it! Calm it! Excalibur shall not awaken yet! He urged himself. An experience like that was enough to be a ¡°core memory¡± in the young boy¡¯s mind; though he spent the next few nightspletely swallowed in cringe from the act he had put on. Chapter 42 An Awry Mission Eight months had came and went, marking the three-fourths point of his tutge under the half-elf, young teacher of his. For some reason, he noticed after this day of learning after having cast several, high-level invocations, Celly almost looked sad. It was a mncholic smile she held, looking off into the distance. ¡°¡­Soon enough, I¡¯ll have nothing left I can teach you,¡± Celly said with a small smile. There was no doubt that she was happy for the young boy, but there did seem to be something there that wasn¡¯t joyful. ¡°¨C¡° He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it. With a smile like that held in somber across her lips, he didn¡¯t know how he was supposed tofort her. ¡°Thank you, Celly.¡± ¨CInstead, he chose to express his heartfelt gratitude. ¡°¨C?¡± Celly looked down at him in surprise. ¡°You¡¯ve taught me so much. I¡¯m forever grateful to you for that,¡± he smiled. Celly smiled as well, recing that somber, ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything worth such words. It was your own effort that brought you here.¡±. ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± he told her. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I have the best teacher in the world to help me!¡± It was a bit embarrassing for him to express his childish gratitude in such a way, but he did have the excuse of literally being a child. Besides, it was worth it to him to see the breathless smile of joy across Celly¡¯s lips as her divine, silver locks blew in the passing wind. ¨C There was time spent each night of him theorizing his own ¡°level up¡± ability, but there wasn¡¯t much to go off of. He was daydreaming in his thoughts while standing around, constantly going over the information he had currently. Unlike normal games, I don¡¯t have any information guides or console disys to aid me. I can¡¯t use the inte to search, either. I¡¯m on my own here. All I know is that it seems defeating opponents and pressing my own limits levels me up. Leveling up itself seems to increase my mana limit and mastery of magecraft. It does feel like I get a little stronger physically, but I don¡¯t know, he thought. ¨C That same day was another goblin-hunting venture with his father and Celly, once more delving into the mountains. After having cleared out a band of goblins, he stretched his arms and yawned, ¡°These goblins really are small fry¨C¡± As he started to walk back towards the entrance of the cave, he was stopped as he nced back to see his father holding onto the back of his coat. ¡°Eh?¡± Julius smiled wide, ¡°Who said we were done here? We haven¡¯t found their ¡®boss¡¯ yet!¡± ¡°¨C¡± He smiled wryly at this news. And just like that, for better or worse, they were marching even deeper into the cavern that was apparently still holding the grimy fiends within. At the very least, it was great ¡°father-son¡± bonding time, at least that¡¯s the way Julius told his mother in order for her to let him join his father on these less-than-safe jobs. Since winter had passed, Treyna had basically forced Julius topletely shave his beard, leaving not even a stubble this time as his face was as smooth as his own son¡¯s. Without any facial hair, Julius looked even younger¨Cpassing for his early-twenties. ¡°It¡¯s almost that time, Emilio,¡± Julius said while walking beside him. ¡°Yeah,¡± he nodded with a small smile. ¡°You¡¯ve improved a lot. Both in swordy and magic¨Cyou¡¯ve been getting better and faster!¡± Julius patted his head. Heughed, ¡°I still haven¡¯t beat you yet.¡± Each time they took on these quests to either hunt goblins, wolves, or sometimes slime, they had a friendlypetition to see who could eliminate more. At the very start, with thepetitive, merciless side of his entric father, he hardly got one or two in while Julius wiped out dozens by himself. However, over time, he had steadily closed the gap; this time around, he managed to get fifteen goblins to Julius¡¯ twenty. ¡°Ha-ha! Don¡¯t beat yourself up over that¨CI¡¯m pretty awesome, you know? I¡¯m not that easy to beat, even if you¡¯re a bundle of talent,¡± Julius smirked. As they headed in deeper, there surprisingly weren¡¯t any other goblins that met them on their path further into the cave¨Cbut Julius repeatedly found tracks of all he could im was ¡°something.¡± ¡°¨C¡± Julius held a serious look on his face as he knelt down. ¡°What is it?¡± He asked curiously. The man was quiet as he ran his fingertips across the sediment-filled dirt, finding what looked to resemble a washed away footprint. ¡°¡­Something is here, but¡­I don¡¯t think it¡¯s goblins,¡± Julius said quietly. ¡°Huh?¡± He let out, perplexed. It was rare to see caution overtake his father¡¯s carefree expression, and seeing him move silently forward, carefully, he felt anxiety bubble up in his stomach. ¡°Emilio, stay behind me,¡± Julius told him quietly and sternly. He simply nodded, ¡°¡­Alright.¡± It was dark through the tunnel, but for some reason it was much more wide than it should be¨Cover the past few months, he¡¯d begun to pick up the telltale signs of goblin upation in a cavern. ¡­These walls¡­they¡¯re not narrow at all. Goblins usually create just enough space for them. Father told me they kept the passages narrow to make it difficult for people thate inside to attack, so they¡¯ll have an advantage. Something like this¡­it¡¯s the opposite. It¡¯s spacious, he thought. With how devoid of light the tunnel was, the luminescence that emitted from the other side of the goblin-carved passageway was tant and alluring. Still, there was little respite felt as he looked up at the back of his father, who moved forward with his sword held tightly in his grip. ¡­I don¡¯t get it, what could be here if it¡¯s not goblins? A bear? No¡­there were still goblins in this cave earlier¨CI don¡¯t think those two coexist¡­He thought. As they reached the otherside of the tunnel, he squinted, covering his eyes at the reemergence of light. ¡°Dang, that¡¯s bright¡­¡± He mumbled. ¡°Emilio¡­¡± ¡°Huh? What is it?¡± He asked. The light was still bothering his eyes as he just then blinked, finally adjusting as he realized they had entered a spacious domain within the cavern¨Clined with glowing crystals embedded in the pale-gray stone, luminate with an azure glow. ¡°Run. Get out of here¨Cnow!¡± Julius told him. ¡°¨CWhat? Why?¡± He asked,pletely lost. It was only just then that he saw what was waiting inside of that room: it sat on a throne made of intertwined bones, sitting on a small hill of what looked to be human skeletons. Seeing that horrific scenery, the smell finally reached his nostrils¨Cit was putrid; the scent of dposed flesh. What is this¡­? Why is this here? He questioned. Chapter 43 The System Awakens What was sitting on the throne of bones was arge, pig-faced creature, towering at least four meters tall with a humanoid body with four arms; it was dressed in jewelry of chained skulls around its neck, wearing a cloth around itsher region. ¡°What¡­?¡± He let out. ¡°It¡¯s an orc¨Cnot just any normal orc, either! That¡¯s an ¡®Orc Chief¡±!¡± Julius yelled out, holding his sword up, ¡°I don¡¯t know what that thing is doing here, but you need to get out of here! This is too dangerous for you!¡± ¡°But¡­I can¡¯t leave you here!¡± He contested. Julius nced back at him, ¡°Listen to me, Emilio! I¡¯m your father, so¨C¡± Before the man could finish his words, he looked forward to see the red-skinned orc stand itself up with its beady, ck eyes looking straight at him, reaching to either side of its throne as it wielded four, giant, curved swords in each of its hands. Shit! Julius thought. ¡°Father¨C?¡± Just as he called out, his messy blonde locks were brushed by a fierce wind as Julius dashed forward with blinding speed, meeting the Orc Chief halfway as they shed des in the center of the room. CLANG. The sh of steel resounded throughout the room with a gust of wind propelling outward from their position.. He stood there in shock for a moment at the speed not possessed by his father, but therge, burly orc that shed against him. ¡­Is he going to be alright? He thought. Standing there in disbelief, he watched as Julius continued to sh swords with the orc, swinging swiftly, but the orc seemed to be a match for him. He knew his father had told him to run, but that was thest thing he wanted to do. It wasn¡¯t quite as fast or as refined in swordy as his father, but its monstrous strength backed by its superior number of des made it incredibly difficult tobat as Julius strained himself to keep up with its barbaric barrage. ¡­I¡¯ll help him! I¡¯ll stay! He resolved. ¡°Ngh¨C!¡± Julius clenched his teeth. For possessing such size, the orc moved with surprising agility, using nimble footwork to pressure the Mountain God Style swordsman. As he raised his wand, he realized there was another issue¨Che¡¯d never had experience in supporting another like this. The massive orc and his father continued shing steel as sparks rained down in the crystal-illuminated chamber of bones; he pointed his wand forward, but there was no room for a spell to be cast. ¡­They¡¯re too fast. I-I can¡¯t find an opening like this! He thought. ¡°Gyrah!¡± Julius roared out. ¨CBreaking through the orc¡¯s offensive streak, the ck-haired man stomped forward as his dark-brown boot cracked the stone beneath with the adrenaline that flowed vigorously, swiping his de with such force that the wind hissed. The orc squealed out like a pig as a gash was etched across its chest. ¡°Yes¡­!¡± He let out in relief. ¨CThough, it wasn¡¯t enough. The beast stomped down, countering with a sh of all four des, though Julius blocked it¨Cthe force had knocked him back several meters. SCHING. SCHING. SCHING. Dragging its des together, the shed orc looked forward as it cut its des together. What¡¯s it doing¡­? He questioned. Just then, as a result of the unorthodox action of the orc chief, purple mes birthed themselves around its blood-stained steel. ¡°Ge-he-he¡­¡± The orcughed. Julius huffed, holding his beloved sword high before he caught in the corner of his eye that his son was still in the room, ¡°¨CEmilio! I told you to run! Go¨C!!!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Before he could react as he looked towards his father, a shadow loomed over him¨Cwith monstrous speed, the orc chief had appeared in front of him, rearing those des back with utter malice as it salivated. ¡°Emilio!¡± Julius yelled out. Though he held a de in his hands, the thought didn¡¯t even ur to lift it. Not that there was enough time for his twelve-year-old body to do so, but simply the absolute dread that crawled over his body made him freeze. SQUELCH. As the des swept forward, he remained unharmed, but blood stillced the air as the smell of iron hit his nose instantly. ¡°¡­Huh¡­?¡± Across his vision, he saw blood spraying as somehow, Julius had gotten in front of him, being flung to the side by the brutal sh of the orc¡¯s des. ¡°¡­Father¡­?¡± He mumbled quietly. He looked to the side with trembling eyes at the sight of Juliusid out on the ground across the chamber; a puddle of blood silently formed beneath the man. ¡°¡­Father¡­?¡± He said again. ¨CThere was no response. Looming over him, the chortle of the orc chief met his ears instead, but he didn¡¯t hear it. He didn¡¯t even acknowledge the presence of the four-armed, pig-faced brute in front of him. Dread crept over his body, but soon that despair shifted into something else¨C¡±rage.¡± BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. ¡°Father¡­¡± His expression began to shift into one of contempt, ¡°¡­Why? Why did you do that¡­?¡± Father¡­It¡¯s this thing¡¯s fault, isn¡¯t it¡­? He thought. What filled his ears was the resonance of his own heart; like a drum being beaten to the tune of his anger, his heart pumped a new flow of blood through his veins. It burned. Through his veins, it felt as if moltenva flowed, filling his body with a heart unlike any other; steam exuded through his pores; his breath left as smoke. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Something was changing. In this state of mind, filled with fresh grief and rage, he didn¡¯t question it¨Call of his focus was set on one thing: ¡°Kill the enemy in front of me.¡± Still, it didn¡¯t hurt. Pain was changed into adrenaline as his heart pounded increasingly with the sound of its thumping being audible now. A change urred with his body: his veins were visible, shifted into a ck shade; his amethyst eyes had increased in vibrancy with his pupil altering to an almost vertical slit. [Dragonheart System Unlocked.] Chapter 44 The Dragonheart System A change urred with his body: his veins were visible, shifted into a ck shade; his amethyst eyes had increased in vibrancy with his pupil altering to an almost vertical slit. [Dragonheart System Unlocked.] [Current Stage: Dragon Newt | 1/10] I feel it now. I can win, he thought. There wasn¡¯t a single ounce of fear that tainted his blood as he looked up at the orc. The pig-faced creature instead looked fearful; stumbling back before it attempted to swing its des towards the young boy. ¨CHe vanished. In ce of the young boy, the sword he held dropped to the stone floor, ringing out. THUD. He mmed his fist against the gut of the orc chief, using his entire body weight behind the blow. The impact rippled the round gut of the savage creature before the orc spit out saliva, being blown back by the powerful blow. The orc crashed against the far wall, causing the entire cavern to tremble as bits of sediment fell down with ayer of dust. ¡°¨C¡± He stood there silently. There was little control over himself; everything in his body worked towards the singr goal of destruction of his enemy. ¡°Raaagh!¡± The orc roared out in frustration. As the orc chief picked itself up with its bruised belly on disy, he sucked in arge breath that expanded its chest before exhaling a release of purple mes. In response, he lifted a single hand forward. ¡°Burn.¡±. What unleashed from hismand was an onught of azure mes; pure and unfiltered in their destruction as it tunneled forward. In an instant, the purple inferno of the orc waspletely overwhelmed by the blue mes, being swallowed up as they continued on their path before crashing against the pig-faced brute in an explosion of azure smoke. ¨C On the ground, Julius was barely conscious, turning his head to the side as he witnessed the heat from those azure mes, watching his son. ¡­So, that¡¯s how it is¡­? I suspected as much¡­Emilio. The blood of the Divine Dragon runs through your veins¡­All Dragonhearts possess that blood¡­but, only a select few can actually tap into it¨CEmilio, you¡¯re one special kid, aren¡¯t you? Julius thought weakly. ¨C After the smoke settled, the orc was revealed to have half of its body burnt as its flesh was cooked, but it still stomped forward¨Cspewing blood out as it roared with a war-cry of a squeal. ¡°Reeegh!¡± The young boy stood calmly with an idle expression worn. As the orc tried cleaving him with its desrger than the boy himself, it was unable to reach him as he evaded them with his superior speed before again¨Cthat physical might was on disy. With an uppercut, the orc spit out with its chin being cracked before a kick lodged itself into its already battered gut. THUD. The orc mmed into the wall, looking up to see the young boy holding his hand out again, uttering that samemand, this time with a finishing tone: ¡°Burn.¡± A swirl of azure mes manifested, spiraling around the orc chief as it squealed, being consumed by the mystic ze. The normal me magic he wielded held no candle to these deep-blue winds of destruction; stone melted, pebbles disintegrated, and the air whistled from the expansion of rampant heat. By the end of the mes¡¯ malice, the orc was left as nothing more than a pile of ckened bones, blending in with the rest of the pile. [Level Up!] [Level Four Achieved.] ¡°¨C¡° With the job finished, his ck veins settled into their normal state as his eyes reverted and the heat giving off from his body stopped. ¡°Pyuh¨C!¡± He immediately vomited out ckened blood from his bowels, keeling over into his knees as he spewed out onto the floor. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. What happened to me¡­? I cked out¨Cmy heart¡­it feels like it¡¯s going to explode! He thought. As he clutched his chest, heaving and struggling to pull a breath into his lungs, Julius scrambled to his feet despite his wounds,forting his son. He had fallen onto his back as ck blood trickled out from the corner of his mouth, trailing from his nose and even leaving his ears and eyes. All of his muscles contracted; cramping up as he lost control over his own motor functions. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. ¡°Emilio! Are you okay?! Can you hear me?!¡± The sound of his heart that thumped with such intensity had blocked out the words of his father, who looked down at him, speaking frantically with tears in his eyes. He was relieved, even in hispromised state, to see that the wounds his father had suffered were nothing more than non-lethalcerations. ¡­That¡¯s good. You¡¯re alright, father¡­He thought. ¡°Emilio¨C!¡± Before he knew it, he had lost consciousness with the world around him turning ck with the closure of his heavy eyelids. ¨C ¡°Uengh¡­¡± As he slowly parted his heavy eyelids, his vision was left spinning and hazy. A throbbing pain resonated through his head like a migraine from hell, and his temperature felt as if there was a me boiling him from within. ¡°¡­Emilio? You¡¯re awake¡­Thank goodness¡­¡± Sitting beside the bed he wasying against, the silver-haired instructor let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Father¨Cis he okay?!¡± He tried sitting up quickly, but immediately fell back down, wincing as his body was incredibly sore and stiff, ¡°Agh¡­!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t move so much!¡± Celly told him. As heid back down while breathing sharply through his lips as his muscles ached, he looked up at the emerald-eyed half-elf. ¡°¡­Is he?¡± He asked quietly. ¡°Your father is alright. He had a few wounds, but nothing that your mother couldn¡¯t handle with some healing magic,¡± Celly assured him with a small smile. It was a relief that felt like a weight lifted off of his body as he let out a small sigh of relief, holding himself. ¡°¡­What happened?¡± He mumbled weakly. Celly looked down at him worriedly, ¡°You developed a fever. Your father carried you home¡­that was three days ago.¡± ¡°¨C¡± Heid there, holding his head for a moment, ¡°¡­Three days?¡± The memories of what happened were foggy at best for him, but his body certainly remembered that feeling. ¡­All I remember was my body feeling like it was on fire, but it didn¡¯t hurt. It felt¡­good? Seriously, what happened? He thought. ¡°Sorry¡­¡± He apologized. ¡°What¡¯re you sorry for?¡± Celly asked unknowingly. He looked up towards the ceiling, ¡°¡­I¡¯ve missed my lessons the past three days.¡± Cellyughed at his weakly spoken words, prompting him to look up at the young woman with a squint. ¡°¨C?¡± ¡°That¡¯s alright. You can make it up to me by resting up today, alright?¡± Celly asked him. He nodded slowly, ¡°¡­Alright.¡± ¨C Being in such a sorry state physically with a body sore from head-to-toe wasn¡¯t so bad; his mother spoon fed him soup and pampered him like a baby. Irene had been helping his mother with cooking, though apparently quite a few messes were made in the process. ¨C ¡°Thanks,¡± he smiled at his mom. ¡°Mhm, just focus on recovering,¡± Treyna told him with a smile. He received a kiss on the forehead before his blonde-haired mother left, and in walked Julius just a few moments after. Behind him, Julius quietly closed the door, pulling the chair closer to the bedside as he sat down near him. ¡°¨C¡° For a moment, they sat there in silence as he looked down, remembering what his father had done for him back there. It was because I didn¡¯t listen, he could¡¯ve died¨Cit would¡¯ve been all my fault, he thought. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± He apologized. Chapter 45 Many Questions, Few Answers ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± He apologized. ¡°Don¡¯t be. It¡¯s my own fault for being rusty,¡± Julius chuckled. ¡°¨CStill, I should¡¯ve listened.¡± ¡°Maybe, maybe not. You made your own call, though. I¡¯m not going to say I was happy about it, but you did stay there¨Cyou chose to fight alongside me, and it looks like you saved your old man¡¯s ass,¡± Julius smiled. The pat on the shoulder he received from his father sent a jolt of pain through his body, causing him to wince as Julius nervously retreated his hand with a ¡°My bad.¡± ¡°Emilio, do you remember what happened?¡± Julius asked. Of course, he¡¯d been racking his brain on that question himself. There wasn¡¯t much else he could do but sit with his thoughts, anyway. He shrugged his shoulders, sitting up against the wall, ¡°¡­I remembered you defending me, then¡­I sorta cked out from there.¡± ¡°¡­I see¡­¡± Julius said. ¡°But, I remembered bits and pieces¨Cmostly how I felt during that ckout,¡± he said. These words interested his father, who looked up at him with a look in his eyes as if saying ¡°go on.¡± He nodded and continued, ¡°I remember how my heart was beating¨Cit was like it was mming against my chest. It was all I could hear. Then, it felt like there wasva in my veins. It was so hot, but for some reason, it didn¡¯t hurt at all,¡± he looked at his hands, ¡°¡­I think it might just be the fever, though.¡±. ¡°It¡¯s not.¡± ¨CJulius said this so confidently and firmly in a swift response that he was taken aback; he looked at his father. ¡°¡®It¡¯s not¡¯?¡± He repeated. There was silence from Julius for a minute as the man looked down as if contemting something before finally looking back up at his curious son. ¡°¡­Emilio, I think it¡¯s about time I tell you about your blood¨Cour family¡­not just the Dragonhearts, but the Omnisuls, as well,¡± Julius told him without any yfulness in his words. ¡°¨C¡° This is something he had been waiting on for years. It had been a question he kept locked inside of himself out of trust for his parents, and now, that was finally being opened. ¡°I¡¯ll need you to listen closely, Emilio. Alright?¡± ¡°Alright,¡± he nodded. Julius exhaled, running his fingers through his dark tufts, ¡°The Dragonhearts¨Cour family¨Cis just one branch of arger bloodline¨Cthe ¡°Omnisuls¡±¨Cone of the most powerful families in all of Milligarde.¡± This information widened his eyes, ¡°How¡­? I mean, I would¡¯ve heard of the Omnisuls if they were as big of a deal as you¡¯re saying.¡± ¡°Sorry, Emilio¡­¡± Julius said, ¡°¡­Your mother and I made sure to keep books out of reach that talked about them. It was for your sake.¡± ¡°¨C¡° He didn¡¯t know how to process or ept that, but he knew better than to throw a fit right now. This was the moment he¡¯d wanted¨Che was finally being trusted with this information. ¡°Anyway¡­just know that the Omnisul family has been influential in Milligarde almost since its foundation. What matters is the ¡°Dragonheart¡± branch¨Cus. There didn¡¯t used to be a Dragonheart branch, but during the ¡°War of Man¡±¨Cthings got desperate,¡± Julius exined, ¡°One of our ancestors, Dedrick Omnisul, made a pact with an entity known as the ¡®Divine Dragon¡¯; I don¡¯t know what sort of deal was made, but our ancestor managed to earn the blood of the Divine Dragon.¡± ¡°¨C¡± He listened curiously. It was rare for his father to speak so elegantly, but he realized what the reasoning for this was: it was likely due to his father trying to hide his noble heritage. ¡°The blood of the Divine Dragon was powerful. This strength allowed Dedrick to fight on the frontlines himself, but the Divine Dragon aided Milligarde as well. I don¡¯t know the whole story¡­A lot of it has been wiped out, but¡­from there, the blood of the Divine Dragon was passed down to Dedrick¡¯s children. This strength created some sort of gap between him and the other Omnisul members¨CDedrick was forced to relinquish his inheritance, and so the ¡°Dragonheart¡± branch was created. We were stripped of our inheritance and given a small plot ofnd out here to live,¡± Julius told him. He was starting to realize what this exnation meant and how it connected to what he had experienced; the burning blood, the rapid heartbeats, the adrenaline¨Call of it. The ¡°Dragonheart System¡±¡­Is that what that was before? He questioned. ¡°Still, over the years, the blood of the Divine Dragon hasn¡¯t dwindled. As you can see with your old man here, that blood makes us badasses,¡± Julius smirked before focusing again, ¡°¨CThough, it¡¯s said that there is a rare urrence with our bloodline¡­somebody ¡°blessed¡± by the Divine Dragon¨Cthey¡¯re known as the ¡°Dragon King¡±¡­but, it¡¯s been over a century since thest one.¡± ¡°What¡¯re you saying, father¡­?¡± He asked this question, but he already knew what Julius was trying to tell him. There was that look of a revtion sitting in the eyes of his youthful father. ¡°I think¨Cno, I¡¯m pretty damn sure you¡¯re this ¡°Dragon King¡±, Emilio. Right now, I¡¯d say you¡¯re more of a newt, but that¡¯s beside the point. The blood of the Divine Dragon thrives in your veins. I saw it¨Cyou demolished that orc like it was nothing. I almost felt scared there for a minute,¡± Julius told him. ¡°¡­¡¯Dragon King¡¯¡­? What¡¯s that mean for me?¡± He asked, ¡°¡­Why¡¯d you hide the truth about our lineage until now?¡± Julius didn¡¯t seem willing to fully answer that as he scratched his chin, ¡°There are a lot of things you don¡¯t know, Emilio. The world is aplicated ce. Still, now that I¡¯ve seen the potential you have¡­Emilio, once your lessons with Celly are over¨Cwe¡¯ve decided: you¡¯ll be an adventurer.¡± His eyes lit up momentarily, though he still didn¡¯t know what to make about all of this new information poured onto him. ¡°¡­Adventurer? Four more months, then¡­¡± He muttered. Julius stood up, ¡°I started when I was younger than you. So, I¡¯d advise you to train even harder. The world is full of things way more frightening than that orc. You¡¯ll want to blow those guys away.¡± He nodded, ¡°Alright¡­¡± During the next couple days, he spent his time in bed recovering, studying his grimoires while Irene practiced her reading and writing in the same room. Though she seemed to be doing something she made an effort to hide from him; there were wood chips scattered on the floor and paint buckets left around the hall. What¡¯s she doing? He questioned. He wasn¡¯t aware of any new hobbies or teachings Irene took up, but he chose not to pry if she was choosing to hide it. After recovering, his tutge with Celly continued on seamlessly¨Cgetting back into the groove of learning and casting spells in the tranquil fields of Yullim was fulfilling for him. Again and again, he was amazed by the silver-haired young woman¡¯s knowledge and natural grace with magic, and she was in awe of his talent and ability to adapt quickly to new obstacles in front of him. ¡°Have you been looking into the other book I gave you?¡± Celly asked. ¡°The one about spirit arts?¡± He replied. ¡°Yeah, that one¨Chave you been studying it?¡± Celly rified. He stayed silent for a moment before shaking his head, ¡°No. I¡­didn¡¯t quite get it.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Celly seemed surprised for a moment, ¡°That¡¯s fine. Just focus on what¡¯s in front of you, then.¡± As they talked, he was practicing spells still, expending mana while at the same time getting used to naturally calling upon the new magecraft he was learning. Using mana wasn¡¯t a bad thing¨Cin a controlled environment, at least. Celly told him that in order to increase your natural ¡°reservoir¡± of mana, you have to use it. It¡¯s sort of like a muscle, he thought. Though Celly did point out it wasn¡¯tpletely necessary since his natural mana reservoir was far above the norm¨Cbut even she didn¡¯t know the full scope of it. Another two months had passed, leaving only two remaining before his time with Celly would end and she would have to return to her academy. FWOOSH. FWOOSH. FWOOSH. He flung miniature cyclones around the fields with swipes of his wand, conjuring the spirals of wind that tore up the flowers from the soil. ¡°Emilio¡­¡± Celly spoke his name softly. ¡°¨C¡± He didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Hey.¡± He finally stopped, swiping his wand again to disperse the small cyclones, breathing out as he looked up at the half-elf girl. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You seem impatient,¡± Celly asked worriedly. There was always that warm kindness that exuded from the demure girl; it wasn¡¯t that of maternal care, but more akin to the gentleness of a loving elder sister. ¡°¨CI don¡¯t know¡­¡± He muttered. ¡°You can tell me, Emilio,¡± Celly smiled softly, kneeling down beside him. He sat down on the small incline of the grass hill, cing his arms over his knees with a somber look in his eyes. ¡°You¡¯ll have to leave soon, won¡¯t you?¡± He asked quietly. Chapter 46 Happy Birthday ¡°You¡¯ll have to leave soon, won¡¯t you?¡± He asked quietly. Celly was quiet for a moment, but she seemed to already know that this would be it, ¡°Yeah. In two more months, I¡¯ll be returning to Vasmoria.¡± ¡°¨C¡± He looked down with a silent sadness in his amethyst eyes. ¡°But, Emilio¡­¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be able toe see me on your own again. You¡¯re nning on bing an adventurer soon, right?¡± Celly asked with a kind smile. As he looked up at her, the sunlight caused those emerald eyes of her to glitter with a kaleidoscope of beauty and benevolence, leaving him speechless. All he was able to do was simply nod his chin. ¡°Well, you can¡¯t explore the world without seeing Vasmoria, now can you?¡± Celly asked. The somber expression on his face faded away as he began to smile, shaking his head, ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll be waiting. I¡¯ll wait for the day that the great adventurer, Emilio Dragonheart,es to visit me in Vasmoria. But, I won¡¯t fall behind either, by that time, I promise I¡¯ll be a certified archmage,¡± Celly told him. ¡°Promise¡­?¡± The young woman with enchanting silver locks smiled, holding her tall hat on her head as a breeze whistled by before an idea seemed to pop in her head before she leaned closer to him.. ¡°Hold your hand out,¡± she told him. ¡°Hold me hand out¡­?¡± He said before extending his hand with his palm facing upward, ¡°¡­Like this?¡± Celly nodded, ¡°Just like that.¡± Without knowing what she was nning, he watched as she ced her palm against his own. A small tint of pink came to his cheeks as he felt the silken smoothness of her pale hand against his. What he assumed to just be his blood running warm with fluster was in fact something else¨Ca blue glow persisted between their hands. ¡°What¡¯s this¡­?¡± He asked. ¡°Tell me your promise, Emilio,¡± Celly asked him. He looked at her for a moment before epting, ¡°¡­I promise to be an aplished adventurer. Somebody that can freely explore the world and discover its mysteries, and take in its joys!¡± Celly smiled, ¡°I promise to be an archmage capable of understanding the nature of magic and sharing that knowledge with others.¡± As he watched in quiet awe, Celly withdrew her hand to reveal that they both had a mystical seal imprinted on their palms: it was the shape of a four-pointed star, etched with a light-blue shade. ¡°A ¡®Remembrance Bond¡¯,¡± Celly told him. ¡°¡®Remembrance Bond¡¯?¡± He repeated. ¡°It¡¯s a bond forged between us¨Cthe promises we made maintain this seal,¡± Celly exined while showing him the shared star on her palm, ¡°¡­Only once we meet again with our promises fulfilled will the bond bepleted.¡± Such a concept invoked a bright smile on his face as he ran his fingertips over the mystical seal before looking at the young woman, ¡°Thanks, Celly.¡± ¡°No, I should thank you¡­¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Seeing you so involved with magic, full of passion and determination to learn¡­It reminded me how much I love it, too. Thank you, Emilio.¡± The smile he received from Celly surpassed the beauty of the flourishing day; it was a smile brighter than the sunlight beaming down on the pale-green fields. ¨C With the beauty of spring at its peak, a special day had arrived. ¡°Happy Birthday, Emilio!¡± ¨CAs he stepped into the living room quarters, he was greeted by those words shouted in unison from his parents, Irene, and Celly. It was exactly one year from when he¡¯d be setting out on his own journey, so a part of it felt bittersweet, but that was overshadowed by his own joy. The sweet aroma of cake batter met his nose as he saw a vani-frosted cake sitting on the dining table, decorated withvish velvet that only came out for special asions. It wasn¡¯t just that; a bountiful, warm feast was waiting. He was taken aback, but smiled, ¡°¡­You didn¡¯t have to do all of this!¡± Before he could get another word in, Julius¡¯ arm was already slung around his neck, ruffling his locks with augh, ¡°¡®Course we did! This is a big day, Emilio!¡± ¡°Mhm! Turning thirteen means you¡¯re a man now¨Cjust look how fast you¡¯ve grown up,¡± Treyna smiled brightly. ¡°Man¡±? He thought. It was definitely something he wasn¡¯t aware of, but he did suspect something like this of the medieval world of Arcadius. There were certainly much different standards than on Earth, but he wasn¡¯tining¨Cthis meant he had the privileges of an adult much earlier. The celebrations began¨Cit wasn¡¯t anything grand orvish, but it was better that way¨Ccelebrating with the other four members of the household, a warm, fuzzy feeling filled his stomach. ¡°Congrattions, Emilio!¡± Irene held her hands together. ¡°Mhm! Thanks,¡± he smiled. As he was delving into some cake, he was greeted by something of a surprise¨C Julius handed him a long, thin object that was wrapped in a beige cloth, kept sealed by a tail of rope that he epted into his arms, but didn¡¯t know what it was. It¡¯s a bit heavy¡­He thought. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± He looked up. Both Treyna and Julius were looking down at him proudly as he held the object in his arms. ¡°Open it,¡± Julius said with a smile. He nodded, beginning to undo the rope around the cloth-wrapped item. As he took the rope off, he moved the cloth while the others watched, unveiling what was kept tucked in the fabric: ¡°Wow¡­¡± A gold-tipped scabbard of ck material sat on hisp now, with a pommel of the same shine. He unsheathed the de halfway, looking at its beautiful shine; it was simr to his father¡¯s beloved sword as it was mostly forged of ck steel, but the edges had a silver finish. ¡°How do you like it? Had it forged by an old friend in Vasmoria. He¡¯s a bit of a hardass, but he¡¯s the best cksmith I¡¯ve ever met,¡± Julius asked, standing beside him. He was in awe of the craftsmanship of the de, ¡°It¡¯s amazing¨Cthank you, father, mother!¡± As he tucked it back into its scabbard, he set the gifted sword down and embraced both of his parents. ¡°Heh! Happy Birthday, kid!¡± Julius said. ¡°You¡¯re all grown up now,¡± Treyna said. After pulling away from the embrace, he unsheathed the sword again, getting a full look at it in its unrestrained glory. The sunbeams that gleamed through the window reflected off of its spotless steel. ¡°So, got a name for it?¡± Julius asked with a smirk. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°The sword of a swordsman with high prospects needs a name. Give the bards something to sing about!¡± Juliusughed. He thought about it for a moment while everybody in the room looked at him. It was definitely a sentiment he agreed with, though it was mainly because wielding a named de to him was about the pinnacle of ¡°badassery¡± in his opinion. A name¡­? He thought. Looking at the ck-and-silver de, he inspected its design; the smooth darkness that ran down its center and the silver edges that ran parallel to the shadows. ¡°Silver Wing,¡± he said. ¡°¨C¡° For a minute, everybody else was silent after he uttered the chosen name for his sword. But, the first to make noise was, of course, his father. ¡°S-s-silver Wing? Is that what I think¡­?¡± Julius stammered out. He smiled and nodded, ¡°Mhm! I wanted it to be like your name¨C¡±Silver Wind¡±¨Cso I went with ¡°Silver Wing¡± for it.¡± ¡°Ahh! This is my proudest moment as a father!¡± Julius yelled out as tears immediately streamed down his cheeks. It was an expected disy from his father, who was a surprisingly emotional man when it came to things like this, but he did genuinely want to give his sword such a name. Chapter 47 Temptation of Ambrosia After gratefully epting the sword specially forged for him, he was surprised by Celly herself giving him a gift. He looked up as the silver-haired young woman gave him something that was wrapped in a verdant cloth, bearing a simr, long shape to the sword he had received, though as he epted it, it was certainly lighter. ¡°¡­You didn¡¯t have to,¡± he smiled. ¡°I wanted to,¡± Celly smiled, ¡°Teaching you has also taught me a lot. It¡¯s been more fulfilling and¡­fun, than I could¡¯ve expected. It¡¯s thanks to having such a bright student. Happy birthday, Emilio.¡± It still made him feel somewhat guilty that the tutor who was being paid to be there went out of her way to get him a gift, but he knew that the rtionship with Celly was more than something simply peddled by coin. As he unwrapped the item in the blue cloth, his eyes sparkled at the sight¨Ca staff. It was scaled to his size, made of finely-carved wood with the end spiraled into a circr shape. ¡°It¡¯s nothing fancy, but it¡¯ll aid you much better than that wand,¡± Celly sold. He held it up, moving it around to feel it out as he smiled, ¡°¨CNo, this is great! Thank you, Celly-really.¡± As he gave her a warm smile, he was greeted with one in return as the half-elvendy seemed relieved that he liked it. With both a proper staff and a sword to boot, it felt as if he had just reached a new stepping stone in strength. As he got a feel for his staff and the weight of his sword as he attached the scabbard to his belt, he was surprised by Irene approaching him with a small item in her hands.. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± He asked. Irene had a small tint of pink to her cheeks as she meekly held the item forward, ¡°¡­Happy birthday. I¡­made this for you.¡± As he looked at what was on her hands, he saw it was some sort of ne with a ck-and-gold insignia on it, painted with an alluring design. Wait¡­this is what she was doing before? I remember seeing her working on something then hiding it¨CI don¡¯t deserve kindness like this¡­! He thought. ¡°Oh! Thank you!¡± He smiled. He graciously epted the ne, allowing her to put it on for him as he smiled giddily, swirling the insignia while inspecting it. ¡°It¡¯s a dragon¡­in the center,¡± Irene told him shyly. ¡°Oh¡­I see it!¡± He said. To the blue-haired girl¡¯s surprise, he gave her a tight hug, seizing the opportunity to feel her fluffy locks in the process. ¡°Look at that! You¡¯re all set for when you begin your adventuring!¡± Julius said. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± He nodded while smiling. Looking up at his mother, who was filling his te with seconds of the marinated-and-spiced chicken she had made, he noticed that look present in her eyes, though she was smiling and mostly happy still. As the topic of adventuring, he always noticed a small look of subtle sadness on his mother¡¯s face, but it was obvious why. He felt it himself: the inevitable departure. Will this¡­be myst birthday celebrated here? He wondered. It was a sad thought, but at the same time it also brought a warmth in him. Thirteen years¡ªit had been thirteen years since he abandoned his prior life and began this new one. There were already plenty of memories he had made with his parents and others around. It¡¯s time to open a new chapter in my life. For now¡­I¡¯ll cherish this time with them, he thought. It was an all-day celebration; Celly and Treyna both prepared the feast that was savory and filled with his favorite dishes. Spicy boar meat, crumble bread, mashed potatoes¡ªthere was much more, and almost too much, but with Julius¡¯ endless appetite around, there was never ¡°too much.¡± Amidst the birthday celebration, Julius had brought out booze, having his fill before he began pouring some of the amber liquid into his son¡¯s cup. ¡°Err¡­¡± He smiled wryly. ¡°C¡¯mon! You¡¯re a man now, aren¡¯t you? Well, you aren¡¯t a true man unless you¡¯ve had a belly warm with ale!¡± Juliusughed. It was clear that his father was already drunk by his reddened cheeks, slurred words, and the fact that half of the booze he was pouring ended up on the table rather than in the cup. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Counting even his prior life, he had never even had a sip of alcohol in his life. Even then, he still had the small body of a thirteen-year-old with no resistance to booze in the slightest. Medieval booze¡­I bet it¡¯s ten times more powerful than the stuff back on Earth, too! He thought. He was hoping his mother would save him, but as he looked up, he realized he was practically alone in being sober. Treyna had red cheeks and a smile, waiting for him to sip as he looked over and saw even the demure Celly had begun drinking, mming her mug down as she burped cutely. ¡°Gimme another!¡± Celly demanded with a flushed face. It was like seeing a unicorn when witnessing the meek, well-mannered tutor of his abrasively demand something so openly and without shame. ¡°Coming right up!¡± Treyna indulged her. Even Celly?! He thought. ¡°C¡¯mon! Don¡¯t be shy! It won¡¯t bite!¡± Julius coaxed him. There was little holding him back besides his own ignorance of alcohol itself. He didn¡¯t know what would await once that golden liquid traveled down to his gut. I¡¯m already a hopeless degenerate normally! What the hell will I be with booze in me?! He thought. Though with the atmosphere of the party around him and the warmth of his family, he decided to take the dive and finally lift that mug up with a mission. ¡°Woah! Go! Go! Go!¡± Julius cheered him on. GLUG. GLUG. GLUG. He kept the mug to his lips, pouring the booze down his throat as he opted to finish it all in one drink. It was bitter, but smooth. As long as he let it flow past his tongue without taking the time to taste it or concentrating on that vor, he was able to put it down the hatch while the others watched anxiously. He finally mmed the mug down, emptying its contents into his body as he let out a breath that reeked of alcohol, but that was par for the course at the Dragonheart residence right now. ¡°That¡¯s my student right there!¡± Celly drunkenly said. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s my boy!¡± Juliusughed. He immediately felt a warmth bubbling up in his gut, swirling as it filled his body like a soothing cloud. An entire mug was certainly enough to have a quick effect on him as he already felt as if he was wrapped in a heated nket. ¡°¡­Uegh¡­¡± He chuckled. ¡°Another!¡± Julius proimed. Before he could say anything, his entric father had already begun pouring more of the golden, head-swirling liquid into his mug before having another gulp for himself. ¡°Yeah¡­!¡± He celebrated with a burp. Things like this were certainly not able to be experienced in his previous life. Underage drinking aside, this as a whole was a new experience for him. I never got to evene within ten feet of liquor. It was kept away from me, kept out of reach or locked away. It was for my health, apparently. My mother was so overprotective that she suffocated what little enjoyment out of life I¡¯d be able to have. This is¡­what I wanted, he thought. ¡°What¡¯s with that gloomy look on your face, kid? Drink up!¡± Julius said, sitting directly beside him. ¡°¡­Right¡­Yeah!¡± Chapter 48 Birthday Shenanigans Though he acted in the moment rather than the long term, that came to bite him as the alcohol gripped at his mind¨Cswirling his natural self and letting loose any filter he once had. With red cheeks, hot and flushed, he was fully drunk now. It was a new experience for him, that¡¯s for sure. Attempting to simply walk around felt as if the world below his feet was spinning around like a merry-go-round being tugged by storming winds. Irene was the only one who stayed away from the booze, though it wasn¡¯t because it was kept away from her. In fact, he tried multiple times to try and get her to drink it. ¡°C¡¯mon! It¡¯s kind of bitter and tastes like gunk, but it¡¯ll make you all warm inside!¡± He tried urging Irene. Though he was less than convincing with his flushed cheeks and lecherous expression that was unrestrained by the attributes of alcohol. ¡°¡­No, I¡¯m fine,¡± Irene shook her head with a small smile. ¡°Ya¡¯ sure? More fer¡¯ me den!¡± He slurred his words before gulping down the mug. As he continued drinking down too many mugs for a boy and a newbie at that, the drunken father and tutor of his were getting at it: ¡°Huh?! You think your magic is better than a sword?! What do you think people started fighting with, anyway? It was weapons! des!¡± Julius said with half-opened eyes and a reddened face. ¡°That was then, now is¡­now! Magic is superior!¡± Celly huped. ¡°Haaaah?! Can magic cut a bear in half?!¡± Julius retorted. ¡°It can! It can also blow a bear into red mist!¡± Celly fought his words. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Julius was stumped for a moment before continuing, biting off a chunk of meat from a grilled drumstick, ¡°¡­Well, can magic block a sword?!¡±. ¡°Mhm!¡± Celly replied. ¡°Not my sword!¡± ¡°Can too!¡± Celly retorted. They were both red in the face and barely able to stay upright with how enveloped in the alcohol they were. Traces of booze were still on the corners of Celly¡¯s mouth and stains of alcohol were dirtying Julius¡¯ shirt. ¡°How about we settle which one is better then?!¡± Julius challenged. ¡°You¡¯re on!¡± Celly epted. ¨CIt was less than a safe challenge issued, and Irene tried stopping it as the only sober mind around, but the two practically couldn¡¯t even register the small girl¡¯s existence with alcohol flooding their senses. ¡°You two should settle down¡­!¡± Irene said, between them. Julius scratched his ear, ¡°Huh? A challenge is a challenge!¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Celly agreed, huping again. He was too busy trying not topletely pass out as the amount of booze he drank was finally taking its full effect on his inexperienced body. They all went outside to witness this drunken bout between both Julius and Celly, who both stumbled onto opposing sides of the verdant field. Even Treyna, who at times like this was the voice of reason, was swayed by the booze, simply pping her hands and cheering, ¡°I believe in you, Celly!¡± Julius seemed heartbroken, ¡°Huh?! I¡¯m your husband¨Cyou should be on my side!¡± ¡°Go, Celly, go!¡± Treyna continued pping. Fueled by intoxicated anger, Julius flipped his sword around in his hands, holding a stance though he wobbled about to do so, ¡°¨CLooks like I¡¯ll have to win to reim the love of my wife! I¡¯m going all out!¡± ¡°Bring it on, then!¡± Celly said. Of course, the booze brought out theplete opposite attitude of the silver-haired young woman, who didn¡¯t seem to shy away from anything right about now. As he was standing by the house and spectating, leaning against the wooden exterior, Irene tugged on his sleeve. ¡°¡­Huh?¡± He groggily let out. Irene looked up at him with her hazel eyes, ¡°Please stop them, Emilio¡­this is dangerous.¡± Though he hadn¡¯t been in any sort of rational mind this whole time, seeing the young girl with her frizzy locks looking up at him as her freckled cheeks were as pale as ever, he understood atst that this was probably something that shouldn¡¯t be happening. ¡°Alright¡­¡± He nodded. ¡°Thank you¡­¡± Irene sighed out in relief. While Julius and Celly were preparing for their inelegant brawl of sword-vs-magic, he began cooking up a spell he was learning in secret. It was something he had yet to actually try out in practice, and something he had failed to gain a proper understanding of until recently. Such a spell was definitely not something to use lightly and with an uneven mind. In short, he was choosing to use it with little rationale in his drunken state, yet it wasing to him naturally. ¡­The staff¡­the focus it¡¯s bringing. Though my body still feels like something between lead and soggy noodles, that mage-part of my brain¡­it¡¯s so clear while I¡¯m gripping this staff, he thought. ¡°¡­Spirit of the sky¡­across the world you sing your melodies¡­the songs of tranquility¡­the requiems of storms¡­¡± It was mumbled by him tiredly as he had to work hard just to hold his staff upright towards the sky, stumbling a bit even though he was leaning against the sturdy house for support. Julius flipped his sword around with surprising finesse with booze filling his veins, and Celly was doing simr as she spun her staff in a circle before holding it up. ¡°Emilio, hurry¡­!¡± Irene urged him. He focused on weaving the spell, huping between words, ¡°¡­Through your kindness and¡­h¡­wrath¡­Present your power to the world below¡­¡± ¡°Go, Celly, go!¡± Treyna was still cheering on the opponent of her husband. Just before the two were about to set off in their drunken duel, thest bits of the unknown invocation left his lips: ¡°Greater Storm.¡± Immediately, the looming shadow of the clouds up above cast a shade down on the fields as dark clouds sat overhead. ¡°What the¨C?!¡± Julius looked up. ¡°Huh?¡± Celly looked up as well. Drip. Drip. Drip. Rain? Celly thought. What began as nothing more than a few droplets suddenly shifted into a monstrous downpour that turned the soil they stood on into mud within moments. ¡°Gah¨Chow the¨C?! A storm?!¡± Julius questioned, feeling the mud squish beneath his boots. ¡°¡­This is¡­!¡± Celly looked down at the mud-turned ground. The dark clouds above rumbled and thunder cracked and roared out with the rain flooding the fields below. ¡°Get inside before you get sick!¡± Irene called out. Somehow even though they were so ingrained in having this drunken duel, both Celly and Juliusplied as they followed, along with the others, back inside the warmth and dryness of the house. ¡°Seriously¡­why¡¯d it start pouring like that all of a sudden?¡± Julius yawned, leaning against the windowsill. Celly fiddled with her tall, oak-brown hat that was drooping from the wetness of the rain, ¡°It didn¡¯t look like a storm wasing¡­¡± He whistled a bit, feigning ignorance as heughed, ¡°How about some cake?¡± ¡°Sounds good to me,¡± Julius said groggily. ¡°Yeah,¡± Celly smiled a bit. Irene was the only one who seemed to have realized the storm that was secluded only around the immediate area was of Emilio¡¯s creation, though he gave her a wink as if saying ¡°let¡¯s keep this one a secret¡±, to which she obliged. Nearly falling into his chair, having used his own sheathed sword as a cane to guide his drunken body, Julius sat down as Treyna cut and served him a piece of the white-frosted dessert. On the other hand, he lent a shoulder to Celly to get up to the stairs and to her room. Though he was hardly a beacon of bnce himself, the half-elf was much worse off than him as she continued to hup and sway. ¡°¡­Easy does it¡­¡± He said. He helped Cellyy down, who gave him a few pats on the head while resting her head on the pillow, ¡°You¡¯re so¡­h¡­kind, Emilio¡­what a cutie.¡± As she yfully pinched his cheek, all he did wasugh it off and return back down stairs to get a piece of cake before returning, setting the te beside her head, but she seemed to be in a different world than him. He froze as he noticed the rain had soaked the white shirt that Celly wore under her long coat, leading to her body beneath being partly visible with the fabric clinging to her skin. She smells like booze¡­Just stay on that and you won¡¯t get any bad ideas, Emilio! He told himself. As he gulped, feeling the sober scratch at his brain like a devil on his shoulder, he couldn¡¯t stop staring at her partly see-through clothes. ¡°Do it. Cop a feel,¡±¨Cthis was the devil on his shoulder whispering into his ear. No! Stop that! He thought. Shaking his head to try and rid those intrusive thoughts from his mind, it only felt as if he spread the seeds of temptation deeper into his brain. I knew it¡­! Booze was seriously a bad idea for somebody like me! He thought. Without even thinking about it, his hand was naturally reaching towards her, as if the mere sight of a girl in that state was like a ma to his devious fingers. ¡°¡­What¡¯re you doing, Emilio?¡± Chapter 49 The Restraint of A Saint ¡°¡­What¡¯re you doing, Emilio?¡± Celly¡¯s words came out lightly and tiredly as her emerald eyes were only half-open, but he immediately withdrew his hand with cheekspletely flushed. ¡°Err, n-nothing!¡± He said. ¡°¡­I see¡­¡± Celly yawned. He let out a sigh of relief from not being caught on the subconscious act of ¡°copping a feel.¡± After such a dangerous encounter, he could still feel the amber liquid meddling with his senses. So knowing it was rather risky to be around, he chose to tuck his young tutor into bed, pulling the nket over her and patting it softly. ¡°¡­Thank you¡­¡± The slumbersome gratitude escaped Celly¡¯s lips in a yawn as the silver-haired youngdy used her hand to gently pat his head a few times. He couldn¡¯t help but smile before a yawn escaped his lips by ident as well. Man¡­I¡¯m tired, too, he thought. Looking at the space left on the bed that the girl wasying on, a certain thought did cross his mind. It was a thought, or perhaps a wish of his, so far out of the realm of possibility for him that he instantly dissuaded it from his mind. There¡¯s no way that¡¯s feasible, he thought.. What was this thought that was so out-of-this-world yet still on the mind of the hopeful, intoxicated boy? He wanted to sleep in bed with Celly. There wasn¡¯t even much of a devious inspiration behind this desire¨Cit was just something that wound up on his bucket list. That, and the alcohol was certainly not helping his right state of mind. ¡­I¡¯m getting out of here before I do something that¡¯ll make me embarrassed tomorrow morning, he thought. As soon as he made an effort to walk away, through sheer willpower that fought against the devilish voice in his head¨Chis sleeve was grabbed. ¡°¨CHuh?¡± Looking back, he saw the girl with silver locks looking up at him with those tired eyes, holding cheeks of a red tint as she huped. ¡°Thank you¡­Emilio¡­¡± Celly said quietly. ¨CAnd just as those words left, she passed outpletely. A smile came over his lips as he nodded and made sure she was properly tucked, turning back with the intent of going to bed himself before remembering something¨C Her clothes, he realized. They werepletely soaked in icy cold water. While he wasn¡¯t ignorant of this fact, the implications of it didn¡¯te to mind until just then with the thought of tucking her in warmly. ¡­If she sleeps in drenched clothes like that, she¡¯ll get sick¡­! He thought. Though it was obvious what would be needed in order to circumvent this issue, even for the lecherous being he was, it was in a different horizon itself. Undressing¡­a drunk, unconscious girl¡­!? I¡¯d end up on five lists if I did something like this back home! But¡­It¡¯s for a good cause, right? I¡¯m doing it to help her! Plus, I¡¯m a kid!¡­It¡¯s fine, right? He gulped. As he pped his own cheeks, he forged his resolve. ¡­I¡¯ll get her out of those wet clothes so she doesn¡¯t get sick! He thought. It was a special mission only he could do¨Cat least, that¡¯s what he told himself to dissuade any notion of this being for any other reason than Celly¡¯s own benefit. First, he checked the stand beside the bed, opening the first drawer as he was immediately met with severe whish at what waited within¨C The pantie drawer. It was the utopia of a pervert¡¯s mind; the end-all-be-all of a wardrobe discovery. Heavy exhales left as he was stunned by the sight¨Cckced, vani white, polka dotted blue¨Cthere was a variety of undergarments stored there. As he stared at the drawer, he found his left hand naturally reaching out toward the sacred fabric, having to grab his own wrist to stop himself. ¡­No! It¡¯s not the time for that! He told himself. He withdrew his hand, breathing in and out to calm himself before he checked the next drawer, finding a vani nightgown that was designed with minimal flowers; it was definitely something he had seen Celly wear to bed on a few nights. Alright¡­this will work¡­Wait, how am I going to get this on her?! He realized. It was definitely a problem as Celly wasn¡¯t heavy by any means, in fact she was as lithe and in shape as one could expect, but the problem was that he was once again gued by the issue of having the body of a thirteen-year-old boy. ¡°¨C¡° By this point, the silver-haired youngdy was already snoring quietly and quite cutely, at that. This was important to note because if he was going to do this, he was making sure there was absolutely no chance she was waking up amidst the process. After studying her breathing patterns for a minute while holding flushed cheeks, he confirmed that she was indeed in deep sleep. Alright¡­! Let¡¯s do this! He told himself. He reached down, cing his hands on the buttons to her soaked shirt as he gulped. It wasn¡¯t as if he hadn¡¯t seen her nude before, in fact, he saw a whole lot of her on one asion, but this time¨Cit was different. Alcohol was still giving him a certain warmness to his body and his mind, and the scenario waspletely changed. And so, he did it. Beginning to undo the buttons to her soaked, snow-white shirt, he gulped and began to open it. ¡­Stay strong! Don¡¯t pop a tent now! Don¡¯t unsheath Excalibur! He urged himself. Of course, he wasn¡¯t some sort of saint. At his core, this was somebody who had lecherous thoughts twelve hours a day. With that in mind, he wasn¡¯t averting his eyes. In a strong tug, he opened her shirt, revealing the contents below that were almost too much for his eyes to process¨C ¡°Boing,¡± that was the sole thought in his mind. They weren¡¯trge by any means, but they certainly weren¡¯t small. But, size wasn¡¯t the attribute most noticeable about the pair of heavenly mounds, but theplete symmetry of them and the fact that they were smooth andpletely free of any blemishes¨Cnot a mole, wrinkle, or anything to be seen. He audibly gulped at the sight, remaining frozen as the fluster on his cheeks grew and he began to sweat. ¡­Think, Emilio, think! He urged himself. After having to p his own cheeks again to bring himself into focus, he removed her shirt, which by some miracle didn¡¯t wake her up. While the sight of her bare chest was certainly enough to send his devious mind into overdrive, what came next was even worse: the removal of her lower garments. ¡°¨C¡° What the hell am I even doing¡­?! Couldn¡¯t I have asked Mother to do this?¡­Wait¨Cwhatever! I¡¯m too far in to back out now! This is for her sake! He told himself. He gulped and prepared himself¨Csteeling his mind as he removed her soaked skirt. Just like that, the demure tutor of his was in nothing more than her panties and he was in a situation that would be unsalvageable if he was caught. Still, he had to fight every urge in his body not to caress her smooth, pale thighs as they were slick with the rainfall from before. ¡­Resist the ring, Emilio! Throw it into theva! He told himself. He forced himself to grab the nightgown and begin the duty he set out to aplish to begin with. By the end of it, he miraculously wound uppleting the objective he set out to achieve. Somehow, the worst oue didn¡¯t happen. ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± Maybe¡­I¡¯m actually less of a degenerate when I¡¯m drunk?¡­Wait, what kind of twisted concept is that?! He realized. As he ventured back to his own room, plopping down on his bed, it wasn¡¯t difficult to find himself falling to slumber swiftly with the booze still bringing his body to a soothing warmth. Well, that was certainly a birthday celebration to remember¡­He thought. Chapter 50 The Final Lesson ¡°¡­Why¡¯re we all the way out here?¡± He asked. It was just a couple weeks out from the end of his time with Celly. Though it was supposed to be just a normal day of magic lessons, he could feel there was something different¨Cnot only by the chosen location, in the most vast and empty field in Yullim, between two mountains, but by the demeanor of his tutor. That day, Celly seemed more serious than usual. ¡°I can¡¯t issue anything officially, but¡­if you pass this test, I¡¯ll recognize you as a proper mage,¡± Celly told him. ¡°Huh?¡± He looked at her. It came out of nowhere, but the young, demure woman wasn¡¯t ying around as the gentle breeze brushed her silver locks. Celly brushed her hair behind her ear, ¡°It¡¯s the same bar that is set to gain entry into academies like Willeria: you must be able to summon an Emperor-ss spell. If you can¡¯t do that, you won¡¯t even be weed through the front doors.¡± He was a bit confused, ¡°¡­I¡¯m not entering any academies, though.¡± ¡°You want to be an adventurer, don¡¯t you?¡± Celly asked. ¡°Well, yeah¡­¡± ¡°Then this is the level you need to be at,¡± Celly told him.. It was a jarring change of pace for her to talk sternly with a certain strictness to her voice, but he followed along. ¡­It¡¯s kind of hard to imagine the cute, gentle Celly is actually kind of scary when she¡¯s serious¡­He thought. They were both standing under a colossal tree that towered high in the center of the flourishing field like a pir of nature; it had a name¨Chis mother had told him about it when he was little: ¡°The Grandfather of Yullim.¡± Celly looked forward, ¡°¡­Those who can use magic are valuable in the eyes of adventurers. Mages are sought after¨Cbut, that means there is a lot of responsibility on your shoulders. You¡¯re not aiming to solely be a mage, are you?¡± He shook his head, ncing down at the sword he wore at his hip. ¡°Swordsmen are as plentiful as grass. It¡¯s something that anybody could pick up¨Cpoor or rich. Magic is not; it¡¯s inherent. What I¡¯m saying is¡­be the best mage you can be; that¡¯s how you¡¯ll get far in this world,¡± Celly told him. ¡°I see¡­¡± He nodded, ¡°Why is an Emperor-ss spell necessary, though?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just the mage academies that¡¯ll test your capabilities, Emilio. If you¡¯re aiming to be a world adventurer and not just a regional one like your father, your test will be difficult,¡± Celly informed him. It was a lot packed onto him, but he listened closely and nodded, understanding that she was only trying to help him. ¡°¡­Alright, understood,¡± he said. He was already confident in the usage of Emperor-ss magic anyway, as he had gained the usage of ¡°Greater Storm¡±, so he nned to use that. But, before he could step forward, Celly walked forward instead. ¡°¨C?¡± He watched her. ¡°Watch closely. I¡¯ll show you the spell you¡¯ll need to cast¨Clisten carefully and keep your eyes open, Emilio,¡± Celly instructed with her delicate voice. ¡­I¡¯ll have to replicate it after one watch? He thought. With that restriction set on what seemed to be his ¡°final exam¡± of sorts, he made sure to watch his tutor like a dutiful hawk, keeping his amethyst eyes on her as she raised her staff to the air. There was always a certain grace to the way Celly wove her spells; stepping forward as if beginning a dance, and raising the catalyst of hers as if calling for the heavens above. ¡°Great spirit of the torrents; wrath of the rivers,kes, and vast seas, flowing never in rest, but seeking; through my body, the stride of water roams free¡­¡± As Celly invoked such words that held mystical power in their sound, the air grew noticeably more cold as ayer of mist settled in. Moisture umted on the des of grass that stretched on like a verdant sea, resembling morning dew in the light wetness to it. What the¡­? This is just from¡­the invocation itself? He thought. Returning his gaze to Celly, he was even more awestruck by the sight of the caster herself; rings of crystal clear water surrounded her, coalescing and running along the fields all to encircle her and gather at the summit of her raised staff. I can taste it, he thought. Parting his lips, he subtly held his tongue out as droplets of moisture formed on top of his taste-sensing organ. It¡¯s not just that¡­He realized. Against his whole body, he could feel a thinyer of water press against his pores, soothing them with their brisk touch as a wind began to pick up, forming from the origin of the spell being woven by his tutor. The moisture in the air¡­What spell is she about to use? It¡¯s something else¡­He thought. Finally, the orb at the end of Celly¡¯s staff illuminated with the pivotal words of the magecraft being invoked, ¡°Awaken and soar through the world! Dragon Hurricane!¡± A bountiful release of water flourished out from Celly¡¯s position as the rings of water around her shaped into something new. Guided by her staff that was aimed for the sulking clouds above, the strides of water took the form of three serpentine dragons. ¡°¡­Woah¡­¡± He watched inplete awe. They werepletely formed of water, but resembled dragon heads nheless, roaring out in their see-through form, soaring through the air above the fields as they danced around one another amidst the moisturized winds. ¡°Epic¡± was the first word that came to mind to him when witnessing the grandiose conjuration of water magic; the dragon heads held a length of several meters, imposing yet beautiful. Seeing such a sigh, it was ingrained in his mind from the very moment heid eyes on it. ¡­Stuff like this¡­this is why I came here. I abandoned that previous ¡°life¡± of mine for this! I don¡¯t regret it¨Cnot at all, he thought. After allowing the trio of water-formed dragon heads to soar in the air above the field for a minute, Celly swayed her staff, causing the serpentine summons to dissolve into a brief fit of rain before turning back to her student. ¡°That was ¡®Dragon Hurricane¡¯¨Can Emperor-ss water spell. You were paying close attention, I assume?¡± Celly asked. He nodded fervently, ¡°How could I not?!¡± It was his turn now to step forward and replicate the high-ss water magic shown to him by his teacher. As he stood there with the emerald eyes of his teacher watching him, he felt the soothing briskness of the lightyer of mist pressing against his skin; he breathed out calm breaths as he gripped his staff between his fingers. Usually, something like this would probably freak me out¨Cbeing put on the spot like this to perform something so elite. But¡­right now, my mind is clear. It¡¯s as if I¡¯m peering through a clear window; my thoughts are unrestrained but focused. I can do this, he thought. Celly watched him closely as the boy held his wooden staff up to the sky just as she did; a focused breath was inhaled through his lips before he began. In his mind, he embodied the state of water to its utmost, feeling almost as if his physical form itself was blending with the moisture in the air. Shapeless¡­Formless¡­That¡¯s ¡°water¡±¨Cif you hope to manipte an element, you should first know what it¡¯s like to be it. That¡¯s what I¡¯ve learned, anyway, he thought. ¡°Great spirit of the torrents; wrath of the rivers,kes, and vast seas, flowing never in rest, but seeking; through my body, the stride of water roams free¡­¡± As he ushered in the invocation of the Emperor-ss magic while visualizing its existence throughout his body, he was taken aback by the sudden manifestation of mana that arose from him. ¡°¨C!¡± All around him, droplets of water conjured in the air as if rising from the morning dew that stretched on. There was no need to imagine it anymore¨Cit indeed felt as if he was one with water as it soothed his skin and fluttered around the wind, swaying in the air unlike rain that only fell downward. This is¡­It¡¯s nothing like what I¡¯ve used before¡­It¡¯s amazing, he thought. As he nced around, strands of water danced around him, circling around him and eventually focused on the summit of his staff. Even Celly was left shocked at the sight; it was clear that he had grasped the high-level magic just after one showing. ¡°¨C¡± Celly watched quietly with her lips slightly agape. Focusing once more, he let out the final words of the invocation, ¡°Awaken and soar through the world!¡­Dragon Hurricane!¡± He stumbled backward as the water-formed dragon heads unleashed into the sky above, nearly falling back as he was left in awe, watching the creatures of aqua soar in the winds. It was his own creation; seeing it flourish in such a grand form was nothing short of inspiring to his dazzling eyes. Almost as surprised as him, Celly looked up as well with a small, mncholic smile, catching him by the shoulders as he had nearly fallen over backwards. ¡°¡­I did it¨CI did it!¡± He let out with a surprised smile. Chapter 51 A Journey Begins ¡°¡­I did it¨CI did it!¡± He let out with a surprised smile. Celly nodded, ¡°You did¡­now, I have nothing left to teach you.¡± ¡°¨C¡± He nced up at his tutor. It was clear that the smile she had was one of pride and joy of her student¡¯s achievement, but it did have a certain sadness to it. As he released the trio of water-shaped dragon heads, letting them dissolve into a sprinkle of rain, he turned around to face his teacher, who knelt down to match his gaze. ¡°Emilio, over this past year, you¡¯ve be a wonderful mage. You¡¯re ready for the world ahead of you now,¡± Celly told him, ¡°You¡¯ll surpass me in no time.¡± ¡°¨C¡± He was left devoid of words, only able to nod. Of course, instead of words, they instead shared a hug in celebration of this achievement for the young practitioner of magecraft. ¡­Part of me felt bad for some reason I couldn¡¯t exin. It seemed to me¡­Celly didn¡¯t feel like she actually taught me anything; to her, it seemed merely as if she was presenting the proper knowledge that I already had an understanding of. That¡¯s wrong¡­Celly, you made me a hundred times the mage I was before you came here, he thought. ¨C Though that time had toe eventually. He made sure to squeeze all of the time he possibly could with Celly¨Clearning under her, studying beside her, and even just simply chatting with her at times. Still, time waits for nobody. It was that day. He was sad to see ite: the full year of learning under Celly hade to its end.. ¡°At least let me get you a carriage ride¡­¡± Julius said. Helping the silver-haired young woman outside, his father was carrying her luggage for her, stepping outside with it. Celly shook her head with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°If ya¡¯ say so,¡± Julius sighed. All he could really do was stand there and see her off as he didn¡¯t know what to say. It was different from his time with Velda; he felt as if Celly was somebody he had grown a real bond with. Celly seemed to notice this as she smiled at him, ¡°Emilio.¡± ¡°¡­Yeah?¡± He looked at her. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll aplish great things. I couldn¡¯t have asked for a better, brighter student than you¨Cit¡¯s almost too much for an unqualified teacher like myself,¡± Cellyughed a bit. ¡°That¡¯s not¨C¡± ¡°Remember our promise, alright?¡± Celly told him. He nodded, looking at the silver-haired mage as she showed him the seal on her palm, which he possessed as well. ¡°Alright¡­I should get going now,¡± Celly said, lifting her luggage. It felt so bittersweet to watch her begin her leave, walking away as he felt a piece of his life leaving, but a new chapter was beginning. ¡°Just make sure to avoid the mountains during the night!¡± Julius called out. Celly simply waved back while bing more distant. He finally called out, ¡°Goodbye, Celly-!!!¡± The young woman looked back with a surprised expression for a moment before smiling brightly, waving back. It was sad, but that¡¯s the way life was. It¡¯s full of goodbyes. Though Celly promised to write me letters every now and again, it still felt like a true goodbye. At least, in the shorterm, he thought. ¨C There was a lull period in his life; a time in which not much happened besides the usual¨Che maintained his magic studies, sword training, and helping his father with more quests. This was all in preparation for his journey to be an official, certified adventurer. [Fourteen-Years-Old] ¡­Today I set off to be an official adventurer, he thought. He was dressed in new gear: a light-gray suit with rolled up sleeves, a ck vest decorated with golden tracings, and a green cape that was tied around his neck. Of course, he had his personally-forged sword attached to his belt and his wooden staff in hand, with the dragon-designed pendant hanging around his neck that he was gifted from Irene. ¡°Today¡¯s the day!¡­Damn, this is harder than I thought¡­¡± Julius¡¯ expression wavered. Although his father tried to be vibrant, it was clear that what wasing was a difficult goodbye. ¡°My little boy is all grown up¡­Well, I know you¡¯ll do just fine,¡± Treyna smiled down at him. ¡°It¡¯s not going to be forever. I¡¯lle back and visit every now and then,¡± he said with a smile. Though his words were only met with very tight hugs from both his father and mother, but he definitely understood the sentiment. It wasn¡¯t as if it was easy for him, either, but he was more excited than anything for this opportunity ahead of him. As he looked over, just as his eyes met with the young, blue-haired girl¡¯s own, she finally came forward with her words. ¡°¨CBy the time you return, I¡¯ll be fluent in writing, I promise!¡± Irene told him, having to work up the courage to be so forward. ¡°Got it,¡± he nodded, patting Irene on the head. It wasn¡¯t too long after that the sound of carriage wheels riding over met his ears. Turning over the dirt trail that led to the Dragonheart residence, the sound of the wheels cycling was impossible to miss. They had been outside waiting for the person set to be his escort to the Guild Foundation to arrive, and it seemed it was that time. ¡°¨C¡° Huh¡­? He thought. As the carriage came into view, he was taken by surprise at its all-ck appearance, looking as if it came straight out of some gothic fantasy; the wooden foundation was ck, the door was ck, and even the steed that pulled it was coated in abyssal fur. ¡°¡­He¡¯s here,¡± Julius said. The carriage stopped just before the short, stone walls of the residence, but after a minute, nobody came out. ¡°Isn¡¯t he going to¡­you know?¡± He said. Julius shook his head, ¡°¡­Vandread is a special one. But, he¡¯s reliable¨Cplus, he owed me a favor, so that¡¯s why he¡¯s going to be the one to take you to the Guild Foundation.¡± Father told me a bit about this ¡°Vandread¡± person, but he¡¯s still a mystery. The ¡°Guild Foundation¡± is apparently in Vasmoria and located in a pretty secluded ce, with some dangerous locations in between. So, Father called in an old friend of his for a favor. Apparently he was in the same party that Velda was in, as well. I was hoping he was normal, but¡­guess that was too much to ask, he thought. He gulped, looking back at his family once more as this would be thest time he¡¯d see them for a long time. As he approached the all-ck carriage, he raised his hand to knock on the door, but just before his knuckles could touch it¨C It opened. It was pitch-ck inside, causing him further doubt as he gulped, looking back to see his family happily waving him off as he felt as if he was about to step into hell. ¡­Well, here goes the new chapter in my life! He thought. As soon as he stepped in, the door closed behind him, leaving him in the pitch-ck interior of the carriage before suddenly¨Cthe me of antern manifested. ¡°Gah-!¡± He stumbled back, falling right onto the cushioned seat below as he noticed the figure sitting across from him now that had caused the scare in the first ce. It was a man with dark-brown skin, dressed ck garbs; the man was definitely around the same age as his father, looking to be in histe-twenties, but he possessed numerous scars on his face¨Cstill, despite those scars, it was easy to tell the man was a looker. ¡°You¡¯re the brat of Julius, huh? You do have his eyes.¡± ¡°¨C¡± He gulped, ¡°¡­Yeah, that¡¯s me.¡± The mysterious man stared at him with his tired, tinum eyes before raising his hand, snapping his fingers. With that signal, the tall, ck-furred steed out front let out a grunt before the carriage began to turn around and leave the residence. ¡­I thought it was weird that there wasn¡¯t a driver up front¨Cthe horse doesn¡¯t need one?! He thought. As he looked forward again, the enigmatic man with tinum eyes and shaggy, jet-ck hair and matching painted nails was still looking at him. ¡°Erm¡­I¡¯m Emilio Dragonheart,¡± he put on a wry smile, trying to break the ice with an introduction. Though he extended his hand, he didn¡¯t receive the same etiquette as the mysterious, dark-skinned manyered in scars simply stared at him before leaning back, lounging on the cushioned seat of the carriage. ¡°Vandread,¡± the man introduced himself simply, ¡°Behave yourself and let¡¯s just get this over with.¡± He nodded, gulping, ¡°¡­How long is it? To the Guild Foundation, I mean.¡± The man hardly looked interested in conversation, though he replied as the sounds of the carriage wheels rolling apanied his monotone words, ¡°If we¡¯re not interrupted¨Ca couple months.¡± ¡°A couple months¡­?!¡± Such a time frame seemed like hell¨Ca month spent with this abrasive, unmannered man who seemed to want to do anything else but escort him. ¡°I said that¡¯s if we¡¯re not interrupted. Which we will be. Why do you think your dad sent for me?¡± Vandread said. ¡°¨C¡± He remained silent. ¡°Yullim may be a peaceful ce, but we¡¯re riding across all of Milligarde here and into Vasmoria. It¡¯s a dangerous trail we¡¯re heading down¨Cso sit down and get ready for the road ahead. It¡¯ll be awhile,¡± Vandread told him. And just like that, a fresh path was being carved ahead for the young boy¨Cone that would introduce him to the grim reality and the splendid wonders of Arcadius. Chapter 52 What Watches, Who Acts [???] In the sky, a fortress floated, secluded from the rest of the world, surrounded by a swirl of clouds that slowly spun around its immacte architecture. It was forged of stone so smooth and pure, glistening white, that such a ce resembled the keep of Heaven. Within its imprable walls, an illustrious throneroom awaited; the floors were of rich marble that echoed with each step the one that approached the throne took. Statues stood tall on both sides of the chamber; colossal sets of knight armor, forged of rich steel. Sitting on the lone throne was a wizened man of a long, aged beard of snow and lengthy hair to match; his garments were as seraphic as his domain in their silver-and-white design. ¡°Lord Aelor,¡± the visitor to the chamber knelt. The aged man, resting his cheek against his jewelry-covered hand, gestured for his subordinate to stand. ¡°Rise,¡± Lord Aelormanded. A simple nod came from the visitor dressed in the all-white cloak as he stood to his feet. ¡°What is it?¡± Lord Aelor asked.. The messenger paused for a moment before speaking, ¡°¡­It¡¯s recently been discovered, Lord Aelor: another wielder of ¡®that one¡¯s¡¯ power.¡± ¡°Mmm¡­¡± Lord Aelor¡¯s eyebrow twitched as he listened closely. ¡°It¡¯s the son of the Dragonhearts; Julius Dragonheart¡¯s offspring,¡± the messenger said, ¡°Traces of that power were found in a cavern; it seems the boy has awakened his gift from ¡®that one.''¡± This news seemed to disgruntle the man of authority who sat on his throne within the sky, though it was difficult to tell through his stone-like expressions. Lord Aelor sat up, ¡°He¡¯s meddling with the bnce of the world again, I see. This isn¡¯t the first awakening from thest few years. If ¡®that one¡¯ is making his move, then something disastrous ising.¡± ¡°What should we do, Lord Aelor? Should we eliminate the Dragonheart boy?¡± The messenger asked. The throne upant thought about it for a moment before sighing out, ¡°¡­It is not our ce as the overseers of bnce to act so hastily. Perhaps the birth of the Dragonheart is a necessity for something yet toe, but perhaps his birth is also one of destruction. Simply, we do not know yet.¡± ¡°Then¡­?¡± The messenger lingered his question. A snap of Lord Aelor¡¯s fingers echoed through the exuberant throne room, bouncing off of the marble architecture. The simple gesture caused a figure to appear in front of the steps leading to the throne as if warping; it was a woman with flowing, pale-white hair of a divineplexion. ¡°Lord Aelor,¡± she said. She possessed golden irises that glowed like amber that reflected moonlight, paired with unique, cross-shaped pupils. Fitting to the nature of the sky-inhabiting fortress, she was dressed in avish, snow-white uniform that was half a dress and half a garment optimized forbat. ¡°Crescentia,¡± Lord Aelor called her name, ¡°I am appointing you to keep watch over a boy bearing the name ¡®Emilio Dragonheart¡¯. Keep your distance and do not interfere with his life¨Cthat is, unless he is deemed to be a threat to bnce. If you suspect him of being allied with ¡®that one¡¯ or if he presents destructive tendencies, eliminate him.¡± Crescentia slowly nodded her head, ¡°Understood.¡± Just like that, the woman, who looked no older than her early twenties, but possessed a demeanor ageless in grace, warped away in a sh. The messenger gulped as he thought to himself, ¡°Crescentia¡­One of the Sentinels? I see; Lord Aelor is enacting supreme caution.¡± Unknown to the two within the carriage, the golden eyes of the Sentinel watched over them from afar. It didn¡¯t take long for the carriage to find its way out of the upied part of Yullim, leaving them passing through between the colossal mountains that loomed overhead. He was already a ways away from home; the pace at which the powerful steed that pulled the carriage moved made sure of that. Through his second life thus far, he¡¯d lived mostly sheltered around his home and sometimes going into town, but that was the extent of it for the most part. It was different now¨Che was on a fast track from a long journey away from his home and family. ¡­Can¡¯t be a kid forever, I suppose, he thought. ¡°¡­So, you¡¯re a friend of Father?¡± He tried to make conversation with the mysterious, tinum-eyed man who was lounging on the seats across from him, reading some sort of journal. ¡°Friend?¡­I guess you can say that. Not that I haven¡¯t seen Julius in over fifteen years,¡± Vandread replied without much care in his voice. ¡°¡­If that¡¯s the case, then why didn¡¯t you talk to him when you picked me up?¡± He asked. Vandread stayed silent, reading his tattered journal before answering, ¡°Who knows.¡± ¡­How am I supposed to hold a conversation like this?! I¡¯m already inexperienced with people as it is! He thought. Any attempt at conversation was swept away just like that by the abrasive man¡¯s uncaring attitude. Even as somebody who wasn¡¯t particrly an extrovert or even close to one for that matter, the silence was gnawing as the only noise that met his ears was the sound of the horse trotting and the carriage wheels rolling. Every now and then, pages flipping was audible, but that was it. ¡°What¡¯re you reading?¡± He asked. Vandread finished reading the pages he was on before ncing up, ¡°A book.¡± ¡°¡­I can see that,¡± he wryly chuckled. It was awkward, to say the least, and what certainly didn¡¯t help was his own body speaking up¨CGROWL. A small tint of his cheeks came as he covered his stomach, letting out an awkwardugh as he looked up at Vandread. The dark-skinned man nced at him, looking as if he was trying to ignore him by reading his book, but giving in as he snapped his fingers. ¡°You¡¯re hungry?¡± Vandread asked. Just like that, the carriage stopped moving at just the simple signal given by the man. ¡­Seriously, how well trained is that horse? He wondered. He nodded, still embarrassed, ¡°¡­Yeah.¡± It had been since morning that he¡¯d eaten, and it was already night outside¨Cthough if it wasn¡¯t obvious from a nce out of the window of the carriage, it was by the crickets. ¡°Let¡¯s go, then,¡± Vandread said, standing up from his seat. ¡°Huh?¡± For some reason, he thought the man already had some food with him, especially since he hade all this way already, but that didn¡¯t seem to be the case as Vandread stretched his neck and pulled his hood over his head. ¡°I thought you were hungry¨Cget up. We¡¯re going to hunt,¡± Vandread told him. ¡°¡­Alright,¡± he nodded. It was definitely unorthodox, to say the least. As he followed the man out of the carriage, it seemed they had stopped in the middle of a dense forest amidst the trail. Under the curtain of the night, it was almost impossible to understand his surroundings as he stuck close to the scar-faced man. Chapter 53 Outdoors Beginner The sounds of forest-dwelling creatures were audible throughout the depths of the nature-ruled domain; some were the chirps of birds, but some were the howls of apex predators. ¡°Err, are you sure this is a good idea?¡± He wryly asked. Vandread drew a pair of hunting knives that were sheathed beneath the all-ck cloak, ¡°Just keep quiet and follow along.¡± There wasn¡¯t much of a choice with how lost he felt in the dark forest and how stone-like his escort¡¯s personality was, so he simply nodded and followed close behind the man. ¡­Father, you couldn¡¯t warn me at all about this guy?! I¡¯m going to be stuck with him for at least a month¡­He thought. Though he was curious about how the man handled himself inbat; it was something he had been looking over since firstying eyes on the enigmatic man: there were at least twenty des that Vandread kept sheathed on various parts of his body, like the knives strapped to his chest, the ones under his wrists, a pair by his ankles, and even a pair on his shoulders. ¡­He doesn¡¯t strike me as a swordsman¨Cat least not the same kind as Father. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s a mage, either. Is he some sort of assassin, or what?¡­I¡¯m curious, he thought. As he followed behind Vandread through the thick foliage of the forest, he noticed something else about the man¨Clooking at his dark-leather boots as they stepped over leaves, breaking them but no crunching being heard. His steps are totally silent. Is he a ninja?! He wondered. It wasn¡¯t very often that he had been to the forests that inhabited the outskirts of Yullim, but it was usually with Julius and during the day, at that.. By the stories he heard from Julius over the years, it sounded like the forests around Yullim were definitely not a ce of peaceful little forest critters¨Cin fact, more than once or twice, Julius returned with minor injuries from ventures to these foliage-filled areas. ¡­Please, no bears! He thought. He kept his staff held tightly in his hands as he stayed closely behind Vandread, though he didn¡¯t possess the same ability to make his steps silent¨Cso each stride was apanied by the crunching of leaves and twigs beneath his boots. ¡°¨C¡± Vandread nced back at him. ¡°¡­Sorry,¡± he chuckled quietly. ¡°Stay still,¡± Vandread whispered to him. ¨CHe realized Vandread wasn¡¯t turning back to wordlessly reprimand him for his loud steps, but that there was something behind him. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Now that he had stopped moving, he could hear those steps quietly approaching from behind¨Cstomping over the fallen leaves on the forest ground. ¡°¨C¡± He froze. ¡­There¡¯s something behind me? He realized. Across his body, a frightening chill crawled over his skin. He didn¡¯t dare move, following the words of advice from the man as he kept his eyes forward¨Cgripping his staff even tighter as sweat exuded from his palms. All he could do was listen to those prowling footsteps while watching Vandread, who was even more still than him, butcking any urgency in his tinum gaze. Aren¡¯t you going to do something?! Whatever it is behind me¨Cget it! He thought. As soon as a growl from the unknown creature met his ears, he nearly soiled his pants as hearing the daunting tune bellowing from the beast with his back to it made it ten times as worse. ¡­Please, please, please! He thought. He couldn¡¯t tell exactly how far behind him it was, but the steps began to sound out closer and closer while the growl continued. ¨CFinally, it reached the worst as the air shifted and leaves were dispersed by a seeming leap from the unseen beast; a roar emitted from it as itunched towards his back. ¡­Dammit! He thought. Just as he began to turn around with his staff clutched tightly, intent on sting it with whatever magic came first to mind¨CSWOOSH. He was left speechless as before he could make a move, darkness swept across his vision swiftly; now turned around, he saw what the prowling beast was: an enormous, tiger-like creature with gray fur and stripes of ck; it seemed twice asrge as tigers on Earth. That sh of darkness was as he suspected¨CVandread. With such swift movement, the man had taken initiative the moment the beast leapt, managing to strike it from below as he sunk his hunting knife beneath its chin anding out from its skull. ¡°¨C¡± He was devoid of words. A whimper left the giant tiger¡¯s mouth before its body went limp. Vandread plucked his knife from its head and wiped the blood off. ¡°Looks like our dinner came to us,¡± Vandread said. He looked on, still in shock, ¡°¡­That huge thing?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a long road ahead. This¡¯ll feed us for a week or so,¡± Vandread told him. While the dark-skinned, insociable man certainly didn¡¯t seem weak as he was just shy of a full two meters with a toned build, it was definitely surprising to see him hoist the creature that likely weighed around half a ton and nearing twenty feet in length. ¡°¨C¡° Vandread nced back, holding the gray-and-ck tiger over his shoulder, ¡°Are youing?¡± ¡°Y-yeah!¡± As he followed the man back towards where the ck carriage was parked, he couldn¡¯t help but be even more curious about the mysterious escort of his. He¡¯s strong. I know that he used to be in an adventurer party with Father, but¡­there¡¯s still a lot about him I don¡¯t know. Something tells me it won¡¯t be easy to get stories out of him¡­He thought. As they returned by the carriage, Vandread tossed the tiger down onto the ground floor and held his knife, kneeling down beside the felled beast and beginning to cut into its flesh. ¡°¨C¡° It never got easier for him to witness this process: the skinning of an animal. But, he knew it was a natural thing and there was no point in being squeamish about it. ¡°Fetch some wood,¡± Vandread said without looking at him. ¡°Err, alright¡­¡± Though he didn¡¯t really feel like going into the forest alone, with magic by his side, a lot of that fear was quelled, though some of it was simply irrational¨Csuch as the fear of spiders. And there sure were a lot of them in the forest of Yullim. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± He clutched his staff close to his body as he slid by low-hanging cobwebs that were woven around tree branches. The insects of Arcadius seemed familiar to those on Earth, but there were certainly variations¨Csuch as therge, yellow spiders that weaved ck webbing; he made sure to stay as far away as possible from those sorts. ¡­Seriously, I should¡¯ve read more creature encyclopedias! I have no idea what¡¯s venomous or not¡­Well, it¡¯s a safe bet to just avoid anything colorful, right? He thought. Chapter 54 Grizzly Encounter As he looked around for a bit to find a proper source of firewood, an effort was made to avoid all of the insects that slithered through the nightly forest. Once finding a tree that wasn¡¯t covered in eerilyrge millipedes or colorful arachnids, he drew his sword from its sheath, nning to strike the tree down. Here goes¡­He thought. ¡°Hyaah!¡± As he swung towards the body of the tree with all of his might¨C Nothing. Just a few pieces of bark were chipped off and a small cut was embedded in the trunk of the stalwart tower of nature. ¡­Father made that seem a lot easier than it is! He thought. Sheathing his sword, he instead lifted his staff this time, pointing the end towards the tree as he breathed in.. At first, he was going to use slices of highly-pressurized water to get the pieces of wood needed, but he realized that would definitely be an unwise idea. If I did that, I¡¯d just end up soaking the firewood¡­I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯d be getting the stink eye from Vandread for the next week, he thought. Instead, he used a burst of wind slices to get the materials needed, feeling as if he was ying some sort of sandbox video game by gathering wood like this. While he could¡¯ve easily just cleaved the tree in half, he was making an attempt to stay low and off-the-radar to whatever creatures lurked in the densely-packed forest, so he only used silent winds to cut off the portions of firewood needed. ¡­How do I carry all of this? He realized. Again, he found himself cursing his barely-teenage body as he hoisted up the firewood, struggling to hold it up as he marched back towards the area where the carriage was stationed. Though it was difficult to see in front of him with the firewood stacked in his arms, he moved forward nheless with no clue what was in front of him. A scratching nose met his ears, but it was soon clear that it was the sound of something cutting into flesh. It was certain enough of a sound cue for him to know he found his way back properly through the dark forest, though it wasn¡¯t as if he ventured far anyway. I guess it makes sense he¡¯d still be skinning that thing¡­it was freaking huge¨Cjust to think it was leaping towards me¡­He thought with a shiver. ¡°Is this going to be enough?¡± He asked. As he gave his question out as a sort of greeting, he didn¡¯t receive an answer, but the sound of cutting stopped. ¡°Vandread?¡± He asked. There was no answer, but leaves were crunched under the weight of something. The man he was traveling with was certainly few of words, but not to this degree. As he peeked around the pile of freshly-cut firewood he held, he saw it¡ªsomething that was certainly not the tinum-haired, dark-skinned man. On the ground was a fallen elk with its belly torn open and guts strewn out across the small clearing, but what was standing over it and looking right at the young boy was a dread-inspiring creature. It was around three meters in height; towering over him like one of the trees of the forest. Shrouded in bristly, ck fur that was covered in the blood and guts of the elk, it wasn¡¯t a human, but its physique was simr in how it stood as a bipedal, but possessed massive ws and beady, onyx eyes. ¡°¨C¡± He was left speechless in fear. It was a cross between a bear and a gori, packed with muscle and a terrifying stature; the sharp ws it possessed were dripping with fresh crimson, falling down onto the leaves below. The firewood was dropped as he immediately equipped his staff, raising it, but before he could invoke a spell, he was stifled byplete fear. It was the terrifying predator rushing towards him with surprising agility that his concentration was broken and his natural instincts instead caused him to falter. ¡°Gh¨C!¡± As the bear-like creature dashed over, it roared out with a skin-growling warcry before using its massive paw to p the staff out of his grip. Against the strength possessed by the carnivorous creature, there was no chance of him holding onto his catalyst as it was flung several meters to the side. Shit¡­! He thought. There was no time to draw his sword, and no merit in doing so in his mind as the creature loomed over him with its mighty stature. Backed into a corner, he raised his hand and instead invoked magic the old-fashioned way he knew how: manifesting a swirl of water and sting it against the torso of the creature. ¡°¨C!¡± It was a strengthened water ball, spiraled and contorted into a stronger shape: ¡°Piercing Water Sphere.¡± As the gyrating sphere of water crashed against the bear-like creature¡¯s chest, it sent it back several meters as it crashed into the tall foliage that neighbored the trees. Did that do it¡­? He thought. Of course, he jinxed it. He heard deep growls from the terrifying, giant creature that took him by surprise as the quickly-cast spell was fully intended to bore right through it. Crap¡­! He thought. Before it could get up, he sprinted over to where his staff was flung, but the creature was quick to its feet as it roared out. ¡°¨C!¡± It raced towards him, prompting him to desperately slide across the leafden ground and grab his staff, pointing it towards the burly, bear creature just as it got within range of him. He clenched his teeth and focused with the half-second spared to him to do so, invoking a massive spear forged of stone to rise from the ground, piercing through the creature¡¯s chest and hoisting it a couple meters into the air. ¡°Graaagh¡­!¡± The creature roared, trying to swipe at him. ¡°¨C¡± He caught his breath. Even with a pir of sharpened rock sticking through its body, the creature was still terrifying to be within distance of as he watched it closely to make sure it died to the blow. He was still left vacant of breath for a solid minute at the encounter with the bloodcurdling creature; it was a startling example of what type of world awaited him. ¡­Creatures in this world are no joke. What the hell kind of bear is this?! Something like that would¡¯ve been the apex predator of Earth! It was so fast¨CI guess my training really paid off, huh? Thanks, Celly¡­He thought to himself. Chapter 55 Slumberous Travels Picking himself up, he brushed the dirt from his pants and began picking up the scattered firewood before moving on, now holding a heightened sense of caution with the prospect of what he nicknamed ¡°super bears¡± on the prowl. It reforged the way he saw Julius¡¯ stories that were always told in a jovial manner as if they were just simple encounters. All those times he talked about fighting bears¡­he meant things like this?!¡­I am deeply sorry for any disrespect I¡¯ve shown over the years, Father! He thought. Somehow, he found his way back to the carriage, surprised to see that Vandread had fully skinned the massive tiger and already seemed to separate the pieces of its body into portions. Vandread nced back at the sound of his audible footsteps approaching, ¡°Oh, you made it back? Set the firewood down right there.¡± Did you expect me not to return?! He thought. He nodded and ced the wood down on the spot cleared of leaves and twigs, shuffling it into a proper starting ce for a campfire. Sitting across from Vandread, he watched as the insociable man retrieved unknown tools with the intent of starting a fire, but he decided to take the initiative and do it himself. As he pointed his staff towards the firewood, he invoked a simple manifestation of me magic, lighting the fresh material on fire as a healthy me was born.. ¡°¨C¡± Vandread watched. He looked at the man with a smile as if waiting for apliment of any sort. Vandread seems to notice as he ced arge chunk of the tiger meat on a contraption above the me, ¡°¡­Not bad.¡± Even that simple, two-wordpliment was enough for him as he happily nodded. He watched as Vandread handled the actual cooking of the tiger meat, though there wasn¡¯t much to it besides letting the meat cook. ¡°Here.¡± Arge chunk of freshly cooked meat was handed to him by Vandread, who already began eating a portion he served himself. He gulped, epting it with a small nod, ¡°Thanks.¡± As he bit into the meat, he found it incredibly tough to chew¨Cit wasn¡¯t just difficult to chew, but tearing it from the actual rest of the serving was difficult. ¡°Ghh¡­¡± He had to pull his head back while biting onto it to tear a piece off, then the process of chewing made his jaw tired. On the other hand, Vandread was eating it as if it were a tender meat, casually biting and swallowing it while maintaining that ever-bored expression. ¡­He makes it look so easy. He¡¯s probably used to eating stuff like this, isn¡¯t he? He wondered. As he swallowed arge chunk, having to hit his own chest to help it go down, he let out a breath before looking at the man, ¡°You¡¯re an adventurer, right?¡± ¡°¨C¡± Vandread looked up at him, ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°You¡¯re from Milligarde, then? I assume so since you know my father¡­¡± He asked. Vandread ate another piece of meat before answering, ¡°Vasmoria.¡± ¡°Vasmoria¡­?¡± He repeated. He¡¯d only read about it in books, but it was regarded as the ¡°sisternd¡± to Milligarde, but he didn¡¯t know much else about it aside from the fact Celly studied there and it was famous for its magical achievements. ¡°Eat your dinner. We¡¯ve got a long ride ahead of us,¡± Vandread told him. ¡°Right¡­¡± I miss Celly, he sulked to himself,ing to the realization just what kind of journey was ahead of him. After finishing a big enough serving, he realized his mouth was dry¨Cto which Vandread seemed to guess as much as a canteen was tossed to him. ¡°¨C!¡± He caught it in his arms, ¡°Thanks?¡± Vandread didn¡¯t say anything to him as he watched for a moment before taking the cap off of the leather canteen, gulping the water that was stored inside. While he was hydrating himself, he watched as the quiet man began wrapping the leftover servings of meat into peculiar, silver wrappings. ¡°¡­How¡¯s that going to stay good? It¡¯s a lot of meat¡­¡± He asked. Vandread bundled all of the wrapped meat together into one package, taking back the canteen as he moved back towards the carriage, ¡°It¡¯s a special type of material that slows down degradation. There are other uses for it, but it¡¯ll keep perishable rations like this good for months.¡± ¡°That sounds convenient,¡± he said. He followed Vandread back into the carriage, which was still being led by the sole mare that didn¡¯t even look tired in the slightest yet¨Cnot having evenid down during their outing for food. There was a cab built above the seats within the wooden transport, to which the man stored the wrapped meat into. Back into the carriage, the safety of its walls proved justfortable enough to make him realize how tired he had be. The turning of the wheels began once again, starting off slowly as the steed trotted forward. Vandread noticed the tiredness in his eyes, opening his book as he looked across at the young boy, ¡°Get some rest while it¡¯s quiet.¡± ¡°¡­Yeah,¡± he yawned. Using his green cloak as a nket, he wrapped it around his body and leaned back against the seat, closing his eyes for some much appreciated rest. The dreams he experienced were forgotten by the time he woke up, which happened quite abrasively as a grating sound met his ears. It was like metal scraping against metal in a sharp hiss, causing him to groggily blink, opening his eyes as a sparse bit of the morning sunlight peeked through the curtains. As he looked forward with a yawn, he saw the source of the abrasive sound: the man was sharpening one of his knives. ¡°¡­Morning,¡± he yawned. ¡°¨C¡± Vandread didn¡¯t reply. It was definitely easy to wake up quickly as the interior of a carriage was the mostfortable ce, with the constant moving of the room itself. He stood up, pulling the curtain back as he nced out of the window. The sight he was met with wasn¡¯t anything familiar in the slightest. It was aplete atmosphere of thick fog; it blinded any scenery to be seen as he was left perplexed. ¡°¡­Where are we?¡± He asked. Chapter 56 Elsia, The Lively City ¡°¡­Where are we?¡± He asked. Vandread answered, ¡°Elsia.¡± ¡°I thought Elsia was a city,¡± he replied. ¡°It is. We¡¯re in its outskirts right now,¡± Vandread rified. Though he got an answer, the bountiful fog still made him uneasy as he sat back down across from the man. ¡°Have we been moving the entire time?¡± He asked. ¡°Yeah,¡± Vandread responded without looking up. ¡°¡­How? Isn¡¯t that horse tired at all?¡± Vandread finished sharpening his knife, tucking it back into its sheath as he looked up, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about Wexlo. He can go for another few days straight, if needed.¡±. ¡°Wexlo¡±? Guess that¡¯s the name of the horse¡­I already suspected it was something out of the ordinary as it¡¯s just one horse pulling us along, but it must be pretty special, he thought. Boredom was already at an all-time high and it was just the second day of what he knew would be a long journey. There was no library to choose from or anybody sociable to talk with¨Cnothing except the mysterious, quiet man and the road ahead. ¡°Are we going to stop in Elsia? You know, for a break?¡± He asked. ¡°Do you want to?¡± Vandread asked, inspecting the same book he always read. He didn¡¯t think he had a choice, but he nodded, ¡°¡­Yeah. I¡¯d like to see it.¡± ¡°Alright, then,¡± Vandread said. ¡°Wait, really?¡± He asked in surprise. Vandread looked up at him, ¡°Is that surprising? I can pick up a few things while we¡¯re there¨Cbesides, you¡¯ll need a change of pace from being in the carriage all the time. Trust me.¡± ¡°¡­Alright,¡± he nodded, trying to hide his enthusiasm. It was definitely a wee surprise to be able to stop at the uing city, especially since Elsia is one he had read and heard quite a bit about. Mostly though, he was excited to cure his boredom, if only temporarily. ¡°¨C¡± Vandread nced to the side towards the fog outside of the window. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± He asked. ¡°Nothing,¡± Vandread replied. The entire day was spent within the interior of the carriage, with him having tiger meat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. By this point, the boredom was gnawing enough that he called it a night early, falling asleep and waking the next morning to almost the exact same scenery of mist. There was definitely something obscure about the thick fog that clouded the road to Elsia, but that was only a thought in the back of his mind as they soon arrived within the famous city¨Crolling in through the front gates, which they were wee into by a sh of Vandread¡¯s adventurer insignia. As the carriage pulled in, he looked outside of the window with a smile bubbling with excitement, seeing the bustling city with its streets filled to the brim with a diverse cast of people. What mostly caught his eye were the people that possessed the traits of animals, mainly the woman that had fluffy cat ears and tails, but the shining beauty of human women. There were quite a high number of people like this; men and women that had the traits of animals. I read about it in books, but it¡¯s true¡­! Demi-humans do exist! Dwarves and elves, too! Elsia is close to the sea, so it¡¯s the city in Milligarde with the highest mix of races since otherse in through ships all the time! Cat girls are real! This is a dreame true! He thought. A lot of the people roaming the streets, checking the markets and such, looked to be adventurers by their armor worn¨Cwhether of light-leather or heavy-ted steel, carrying swords small or enormous, spears, or staffs. It was everything he had hoped for. ¡°¨C!¡± He leaned out of the window with dazzling eyes. As soon as the carriage stopped, he was suddenly tugged away from the window as Vandread had pulled him out of the carriage. ¡°Gah!¡± He let out. ¡°Quite gawking. You don¡¯t want to draw the wrong kind of attention,¡± Vandread warned him. The carriage had been parked in some sort of area that resembled a parking lot, except for carriages and alike, with employees that watched over the transportation vehicles and the steed that pulled them. ¡°I was just looking around,¡± he huffed. Vandread stared down at him for a minute before moving on, ¡°Well, do what you want, but make sure get yourself back here. We¡¯ll stay for two days, you got that? I might as well take care of some errands while I¡¯m here.¡± He didn¡¯t know what inn the man was talking about before realizing that¡¯s exactly what they were standing in front of: an inn. ¡°Oh,¡± he nodded, ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°Just stay away from alleys and don¡¯t bother anybody. I don¡¯t have to tell you to stay out of trouble, do I?¡± Vandread asked. He shook his head, ¡°No. I¡¯ll behave,¡± he gave an innocent smile. Vandread didn¡¯t seem amused, but epted it, ¡°Don¡¯t get the wrong idea, kid. I¡¯m only trusting you with some freedom because your father vouched for your capabilities. I¡¯m just your escort to the Guild Foundation. You should be able to handle yourself around a city, at least.¡± Just like that, he was left to his own devices within the bustling, flourishing city of Elsia. Though he had ventured into the town of Yullim alone sometimes, it paled inparison to the grandeur of a huge city like Elsia. The buildings wererge andvish in architecture; some of quartz, chiseled stone, and pale brick, and the aroma of the city was maintained well by the alluring scent of the many restaurants that upied the city¡¯s blocks. Not only that, but the sheer amount of people, whether they were human, demi-human, dwarf, or elf, was simply astonishing. As he stood in the street, looking up towards the buildings around, he truly felt independent in this fantastical world. ¡­Alright, what should I do first? He thought. He had a good portion of money that he had brought along with him before setting off on this journey. Most of it was the portion he¡¯d gotten from helping Julius with his more tame quests, which had umted to a respectable sum over time. Of course, him being him, the first thought that came to mind wasn¡¯t surprising: I wonder what kind of brothels this world has to offer¡­He thought with a lecherous giggle. But, as his stomach growled, the order in which he nned to spend his day changed as he shyly covered his stomach, looking around to make sure none of the passing by crowd noticed. ¡­Alright, first on the agenda: something to eat! He thought. Chapter 57 Alleyway Assault ¡­Alright, first on the agenda: something to eat! He thought. After eating nothing but tiger meat thest two days, he was more than happy to find some quality grub for himself. There seemed to be a plethora of choices avable to him, whether it was small outside markets serving fresh bowls of mixed fruit or full-blown restaurants that exuded savory aroma from beyond their front doors. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± What to do? That ce looks like it serves some killer sandwiches¡­that one across from it seems to do pies of some sort¡­Honestly, just about anything sounds good to me right about now¨Cas long as it has sauce, spices, or salt, I¡¯m game¡­He thought. As he ced his hand over his pitifully empty stomach, he looked up towards one of the signs on the other side of the busy street, though it was difficult to see with the constant influx of peopleing-and-going all directions, and with just about everybody, even the dwarven people, being taller than him. ¡°Sunshine N¡¯ Noodles.¡± ¨CThat was the name of the restaurant that had caught his eye, due to the sign having the etching of a ramen bowl. This was definitely a surprising concept to him in a medieval world, and in a kingdom that was certainly european-esque, at that, but he did recall Elsia being a center of diversity within Milligarde. ¡­That doesn¡¯t sound like a bad idea, he thought. As he approached the chosen ce of food for himself, he pulled out the sack of coins he had before¨Csnatch. ¡°Huh?¡± Like a gust of wind had blown by, the bag of money vanished from atop his palm the moment he pulled it out. Left stunned for a solid second at the sudden disappearance of his precious coins, he saw somebody sticking out amidst the crowd¨Ca figure sprinting through the sea of people with something in their grasp: his bag of coins.. ¡°Hey!¡± He yelled out. What the hell?! He thought. Immediately, he began running through the crowd to find the mysterious thief, though it was a difficult endeavor to push past the groups of people muchrger than himself, who didn¡¯t even seem to notice him trying to get through. The idea came to use magic to aid himself in either moving through the sea of people or to cut-off the thief, but that was certainly out of the question. ¡­That¡¯s a dangerous gamble with this many people around! I¡¯d just end up hurting somebody! He thought. Though he was kept a few peoples¡¯ distance from the thief, he was able to see them turning down an alleyway, which he followed without hesitation. Into the empty, quiet alley, he sprinted harder, now having nobody between him and the thief as he watched their azure scarf fluttering behind them. ¡°Give it back!¡± He shouted. Of course, spouting such words was only a pipe dream, but somehow¨Cthe thief actually stopped, turning around and facing him with a confident smile. He stopped as well with a surprised expression, catching his breath. Wait, they actually listened?! He thought. To his surprise, the thief was actually a young girl¨Cshe wore a half-top of dark-blue fabric which exposed her navel with ck shorts that resembled something a cyclist would wear, and golden locks kept in a ponytail. She looked at him, standing on top of a crate with confident, sapphire eyes as her leather-glove covered hands bounced the sack of coins in her hand. When it came to him, his first thought was ¡°cute¡±¨Cbut then he remembered the situation he was in. ¡°Alright, just hand it here and this¡¯ll¨C¡± But, he realized the errors of his hopeful thoughts as the small thief snapped her fingers, causing a few more figures toe out that were hidden in the dingy alley. ¡°Hehehe¡­¡± ¡°¡­He¡¯s got nice clothes¨Cmight have even more money.¡± ¡°Looks like we found a lil¡¯ lord.¡± ¨CThe sleazy words came from the three figures that revealed themselves: quite unmistakably low-life thugs. There wasn¡¯t even any attempt for them to hide their identities with masks or the like, proudly disying their malicious smiles to him. The three thugs all possessed wildly different builds: one wasnky with hardly any meat on his bones, but he drew arge, curved knife that certainlypensated for his flimsy physique. The other was burly with a bald, scarred head, but it was clear by his rough, worn expression and his reddenedplexion that he was devoid of a lot of brainpower. Lastly, the third was stocky, possessing a height that was even shorter than himself, but he withdrew a slingshot from under his gray jacket. ¡­Just my luck, isn¡¯t it? He thought. ¡°Get ¡¯em!¡± The girl ordered, pointing right at him. Just like that, he was being rushed at by the three thugs, who didn¡¯t seem very hesitant to swarm a fourteen-year-old boy. ¡°Tch!¡± He clicked his tongue. I didn¡¯t want to do this, but I guess you aren¡¯t leaving me a choice! He thought. Lifting his staff upward, it seemed as if they suspected it wasn¡¯t even used for magic, since it was held in the hands of a young boy such as himself, but they were certainly proven wrong as a st of wind emitted from the tip of the staff. ¡°Waaagh!¡± The burly, bald-headed thug who was at the vanguard was sted back, knocking into the other two thugs as they were sent flying back down the alleyway. ¡°What the¡­? You¡¯re a mage?!¡± The sapphire-eyed girl yelled out in surprise. He held a stern expression, looking towards her with his amethyst gaze, ¡°I am. So, return what¡¯s mine before I resort to ¡°less gentle¡± spells.¡± The girl looked annoyed for a moment before recing that expression with a smirk, ¡°Hah! You may know some magic, but you¡¯re still just a brat!¡± ¡°Brat¡­?¡± He was left stunned for a moment before retorting, ¡°Who¡¯re you calling a brat?! You look the same age as me, no¨Cyou look younger!¡± ¡°Huh?!¡± The girl seemed offended, ¡°¨CI¡¯ll have you know I¡¯m mature past my age! You¡¯re just a sheltered brat! Either way¡­Get up, you idiots!¡± Stomping her foot down, the blonde-haired girl yelled out to the trio of thugs that had been knocked down, prompting them to slowly and groggily get back up to their feet. ¡°Grhh¡­Damn, that smarts¡­¡± The bald thug groaned, rubbing his head as he stood up. Thenky, red-haired thug coughed, getting up as he rubbed his back, ¡°Lose some damn weight, you oaf! I almost died right there!¡± ¡°Hah?! It¡¯s yer fault for being right behind me!¡± The bald man retorted, spitting as he talked. On the other hand, the stocky thug was stillid out on the ground¨Chaving been the one to be caught beneath the other two, which had really taken the life out of him. ¡°Hey, get up, Racio!¡± Thenky thug kicked the stocky, slingshot-wielding partner of his in the side. ¡°Gah!¡± The stocky one got up finally. He simply watched with his staff held up, not even feeling an ounce of intimidation from the three as he tried not tough. Talk about a trio of stooges¡­He thought. ¡°¡­Whenever you¡¯re ready,¡± he sighed out. This time, the three thugs seemed to rush towards him with a new strategy in mind: ¡°Shoot ¡¯em, Racio!¡± Thenky thug yelled out. The stocky, hazel-haired thug pulled back the string of his slingshot, equipping it with a bundle of dense spheres, ¡°Aye, aye!¡± He witnessed the slingshot being readied out of the corner of his eye, but at the same time, the burly man was rushing towards him with brass knuckles equipped. ¡°¨C¡° A level of focus was maintained as he watched the slingshotunch its ammunition towards him, propelling a st of pellets towards him that shot with surprising speed. With a wave of his staff, he raised a wall of stone in front of him, blocking the pellets before they could reach him. ¡°Wha¨C?!¡± Racio let out. The sapphire-eyed girl witnessed this as well, ¡°Stone magic, too¡­?!¡± He kept himselfposed, hearing the heavy stomps of the bald-headed thug quickly approaching as he watched him calmly. ¡°Yer goin¡¯ down, brat!¡± The burly man roared. Just as the man reared his bolstered knuckles back, the young boy held his staff forward again with a wordless incantation manifesting itself in the form of manipting the wall of defensive stone. Before the thug could throw a punch, the wall of stone protruding with the shape of a fist mming against the man¡¯s nose¨Cknocking him back harshly as the crunch of his nose shattering became audible. ¡°Graaah-!¡± The bald man winced as blood trailed from his nostrils. Ah¡­that one was kind of brutal, he thought in surprise. Before the short member of the uncoordinated trio couldunch another shot of his slingshot, he noticed this, using a burst of wind beneath the soles of his boots tounch himself upward. This unorthodox movement caused the pellets to misspletely as he was several meters in the air now, causing the attackers to look up in surprise. ¡°Wha¨C! How?!¡± The short thug let out. I¡¯ve had enough of you! He thought. Chapter 58 Rooftop Chase I¡¯ve had enough of you! He thought. He pointed his staff down towards the hazel-haired slingshot-wielder, deciding to give him a taste of his own medicine as he coalesced the loose stone in the surrounding area into balls of rock, gathering them around himself before shooting them towards the stocky thug. It was thanks to his recent level ups, reaching ¡°Level Four¡± thatbat felt much more natural for him. ¡°No, no¨C! Gah!¡± The thug pleaded. As the small, squeaky-voiced thug dropped his slingshot, he was met with a swift barrage of tennis-ball sized rocks that shot against him with non-lethal, but certainly painful aggression, knocking him out on the spot. ¡°¡­Magic without words?¡± The girl muttered, witnessing this. The only conscious member of the trio of thugs clicked his tongue, flipping his curved knife around as he looked up at the airborne, blonde-and-ck haired boy with his cat-like eyes. ¡°You bastard! You¡¯re going to pay for that-!¡± Thenky man hissed out. He found those words funny, as he was kept at a safe distance several meters high by using a controlled, perpetual gust of wind beneath both of his boots.. ¡°Am I now? Just give me back what¡¯s mine and I¡¯ll forget about this,¡± he said. The words he used were pointed directly at the young, blue-scarf wearing girl who seemed to be the ringleader of sorts, but was staying out of the fight. For a moment, the girl almost seemed ready to give in, but she yelled out towards thest standing member of the less-than-capable band of thugs, ¡°¨CWhat¡¯re you standing around for?! Take him out, Yuhai!¡± Even with thatmand, thenky man seemed hesitant to be the solebatant against the young boy who wielded such magic. He simply watched from above while the controlled flow of air continued to keep him afloat. It did make him feel as if he were trying to present himself as ¡°above¡± these folk, but it was a tactical strategy¨Ca simple one, at that. I¡¯m out of range from his de like this. It is a bit hard to keep this going continuously for a prolonged amount of time, but I¡¯ve been practicing this for a while now, he thought. ¡°What¡¯re you waiting for, Yuhai?!¡± The girl called out again. The cat-eyed man growled before letting out, ¡°Alright, alright! I hear ya¡¯!¡± He was taken by surprise as instead of rushing forward immediately with that uniquely-curved de of his, the thug named Yuhai reached behind his back and retrieved something that he couldn¡¯t see for himself. What¡¯s¨C? He questioned. But before he could figure out what Yuhai had retrieved, he saw it in action as the red-haired thug tossed a few small, ck orbs in his direction, which he instantly sted with a condensed shot of air. BOOM. ¡°Ghh¨C!¡± A sh of light blinded him momentarily as a concussive explosion released, but it wasn¡¯t any sort of dangerous release¨Cit was a smoke bomb. He coughed out as smoke filled his vision, refocusing himself as he gripped his staff and released a strong gust of wind that blew away the smog around him. ¡°That won¡¯t work¨C¡± Just as he said so, having cleared the smoke, he looked down to find that Yuhai wasn¡¯t below him anymore. Huh¡­? He thought. His instincts fired off as he brought his gaze up just in time to see thenky thug jumping side-to-side from each wall of the narrow alleyway, closing the distance swiftly as he leapt towards him with a swing of that curved de. ¡°¨C!¡± Swiping his wooden staff, he summoned a protrusion from the right wall, creating a pir between him and the knife, blocking the iing strike. He went back down to the ground floor, looking up towards the thug as he took a breath of respite. But, the man was nimble like a feline¨Cusing the thin shield he had created as a new foothold as he continued his aggressive pursuit. ¡°¨CYa brought this on yourself, kid!¡± Yuhai yelled out. Though it was a surprising assault from the thug, he was only worried for a moment before heposed himself, this time pointing his staff toward the man as the air grew denser with moisture. In an instant, water began to manifest in the air around him before coalescing into strings of aquatic rope, wrapping around Yuhai¡¯s limbs and restraining him in the middle of his attempted sh. ¡°What the¨C?!¡± Yuhai let out. ¡°¡®Water Bind¡¯,¡± he said, ¡°Pretty neat, isn¡¯t it?¡± With a movement of his staff, he manipted the ropes of water to fully restrict Yuhai, leaving him bound on the ground as he now set his sights on thest target¨Cthe girl. ¡°I¡¯ll be taking my belongings back now,¡± he said, holding his hand out. The young girl, no older than him, clenched her teeth in frustration before smirking and sticking out her tongue, ¡°Bleh!¡± ¡°Huh¡­?¡± ¡°¨CYou can have your bag back¡­if you catch me!¡± The girl said. Before he could react, the nimble, tan-skinned girl was off, using the footholds of the alleyway walls to scale up and take off on the rooftops. ¡°Hey, wait¨Cdammit!¡± He began to race after her. Though he wasn¡¯t nearly as athletic as the girl, he made up for it by usage of magic¨Choisting himself up to the roof in pursuit of her with a burst of air beneath his feet. ¡°Come back here! Hey!¡± As he shouted out while racing across the rooftop after the girl, it was clear words were only a waste of breath. It was shocking just how swift she was and coordinated on her feet; the girl ran like an olympic star¨Cracing against the uneven tiles of the roof as if it were any ground, while on the other hand he stumbled about just trying to keep up. Dammit¡­! I won¡¯t catch her like this! He realized. Across the tall tops of the buildings, he could see a lot of the city¨Cespecially the people below, with a lot of people beginning to notice, but not seeming to care much as this was probably just a natural element of the city. As he chased behind the girl, he witnessed her reach the end of the roof, feeling relief as he opened his mouth to shout something corny like ¡°There¡¯s nowhere to run!¡± but just as his lips parted¨Cshe leapt. ¡°Huh?!¡± Chapter 59 Equipment Acquisition ¡°Huh?!¡± Covering the gap between both rooftops, the girl in the blue scarf leapt to the other building, ncing back at him and teasing him with another slip of her tongue past her lips. ¡°Grrr¡­!¡± He was definitely getting frustrated, resulting in him not hesitating to pursue her further as instead of covering the several meter gap with a straight leap, he manipted the winds once again tounch himself. This time, he decided to use a lot more power behind his speed-augmenting winds, bursting towards the girl. ¡°¨C!¡± She looked back with surprise embedded in her sapphire eyes. I¡¯ve¡­got you! He thought. With an extension of his arm, he swiped his hand, allowing his fingertips to graze her scarf, but narrowly missing as the girl escaped his grasp. Crap! He thought. Hended on his feet with a stumble, having to roll over and catch himself as the speed boost from the wind was a bit too much for his body to keep up with. This tumble resulted in the girl gaining more distance on him, but he countered by raising his staff and invoking magic.. Water Bind! He thought. It was multides more difficult to urately utilize the spell from a distance, but he did so anyway, summoning the ropes of water around the nimble, lithe girl in an attempt to ensnare her. Come on¡­! He hoped. He picked himself up to his feet and ran towards her while focusing the spell, but it failed to bind her limbs, but it did manage to trip her up as one of the tendrils of clear aqua swept against her ankle. ¡°Gah!¡± The girl let out. Though the nimble thief managed to seamlessly catch herself, flipping back onto her feet, the momentary trip was enough for him to catch up as he used a few short bursts of wind to cover the distance between them. Before he could reach her, the girl managed to narrowly escape his grasp again with almost inhuman swiftness, flipping back and leaping to the next building before running off. He stopped, not chasing further as he exhaled with a drawn-out sigh. ¨C Racing off, the golden-haired girl looked back, noticing she hadpletely lost the magic-wielding young boy as she smirked to herself, leaping a few times before stopping in a tucked-away alley. ¡°That was a cinch¨Crich boys like him are so easy!¡± The girl celebrated to herself. As she reached to her belt for the sack of coins, she found nothing there. ¡°Huh¡­?¡± She began patting down her entire body, finding no pack of coins on her body. It was a quick realization for her¨Cshe trusted herself enough to know she didn¡¯t simply drop it while running. ¡°He¡­he got me¡­!¡± The girl let out in frustration. ¨C ¡°¡­Victory,¡± he mumbled with a cheeky smile. On his hand, he bounced the bag of money on his hand happily as he sat down atop the roof for a minute, catching his breath as he lounged beside a chimney. I knew there was a chance my ¡®Water Bind¡¯ wouldn¡¯t grab her, so I made sure to at least aim one of the water tendrils for the bag of coins. She was so focused on evading the bindings that she didn¡¯t think about that, he thought. After securing his money once again, he kept it tucked away in his pocket with it always on the back of his mind as he hopped down from the roof safely, using a small concentration of wind to lower himself. ¡°Phew,¡± he exhaled quietly. Luckily, the city of Elsia seemed less than worried about his own side adventures as it was likely not such a rare urrence in the bustling stretch of the city. Alright¡­where to, now? He thought. As he nced around, he didn¡¯t recognize any of the buildings around him¨Cthere was a tailor, a tavern, and even a store for adventurer equipment, but this certainly wasn¡¯t where he remembered beingst. ¡­I guess I got a little overzealous in that chase, huh? I don¡¯t know this city at all! Oh, well¡­Maybe I can find something in this ce? He thought. His sights were set on the adventurer-aimed store that disyed gear in its front windows: leather armor and metal greaves. The sign on the front showed its name: ¡°McGrooves¡¯ Arsenal.¡± The money he had nearly lost was burning a hole in his pocket by now, after having saved it for some time, so he ventured into the store as a small bell jingled with his arrival. ¡°Wee to ¡®McGrooves¡¯ Arsenal¡¯! Have a gander!¡± ¨CHe was immediately greeted by the shopkeeper; a tall, middle-aged man with a braided beard and slicked-back, blue hair that matched his facial hair, disying his bulk arms with his sleeveless vest worn. He nodded his head with a smile, ¡°Thanks.¡± It was definitely a new experience for him¨Cshopping independently, that is. On asion he¡¯d be given the responsibility of going into town to buy some produce that his mother sent him to get, but that was it. This was an entirely new field; it was his own money and his own choices. Even before¡­In my first life, I didn¡¯t have this kind of independence. Isn¡¯t that sad?¡­I was a grown man, but I couldn¡¯t even choose my own clothes or buy my own food. I was just a parasite, leeching on without providing any worth¡­He thought. With such thoughts in his mind, he shook his head to dispel that haze, seeking to avoid any memories of his life before as he browsed the store. It smelled of fresh pine and a hint ofvender, which was likely due to the candle that sat atop the shopkeeper¡¯s desk. The store itself was made out of dark-brown, oak nks; neat and furnished. As he looked around, perusing the items on disy without any particr desire in mind, there was something that caught his eye. ¡°Oh, interested in that?¡± The shopkeeper asked with a smile. What had gained his attention was something simr to a scabbard, but made for mage staffs like the one he held. It wasn¡¯t anything fancy¨Cjust a light-brown, leather holster for a catalyst that wrapped around one¡¯s torso, but he nodded. ¡°Want to try it on?¡± The man asked. He nced back, ¡°¡­Yeah, sure. Please.¡± The affable man who ran the store helped him put it on, cing the wrap around his green cape and sliding the wooden staff into the sheath so that it was neatly situated on his back. ¡°How¡¯s it feel?¡± The shopkeeper asked. He moved his arms around a bit, walking in a circle before hopping up and down, feeling that the staff was tightly secured in its hold before smiling, ¡°This is perfect!¡± The manughed, ¡°If you buy that, I¡¯ll throw in a caster glove for free!¡± ¡°Really?¡± He sounded excited but then curious, ¡°Wait, ¡®caster glove¡¯?¡± It was the first he had heard of such a thing, but the blue-eyed shopkeeper seemed more than willing to show him as he retrieved the so-called item, picking one that was a fitting size for his hand. ¡°Go ahead¨Ctry it on,¡± the man said. He nodded, taking the ck-leather glove and sliding it over his hand. It was a fingerless glove with a magical seal etched onto the back of it, holding the symbol of a great tree. ¡°You¡¯re a mage, arentcha? You really haven¡¯t heard of these?¡± The shopkeeper asked. As he squeezed his palm to feel out the glove, he shook his head, ¡°No. They don¡¯t have these where I¡¯m from¨CYullim.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it, then. These are the newest, hottest things on the market for mages!¡± The bearded manughed. Chapter 60 Strolling Through The City ¡°That¡¯s it, then. These are the newest, hottest things on the market for mages!¡± The bearded manughed. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah! Apparently they¡¯re a type of catalyst for you mages! Specially made n¡¯ stuff¨CI dunno how they work exactly, but apparently they boost the proficiency of your magic flingin¡¯!¡± The man told him. It sounded nice, and it was free with the staff holster anyway, so he smiled, ¡°I¡¯ll take both, then!¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I like to hear!¡± The shopkeeper smiled. Though it was an obvious ploy to secure a new customer into a repeat buyer, he could sense that the man was quite benevolent. ¡°One crown!¡± The shopkeeper told him the price. It was a bit confusing for him at first to adjust to thebels of currency in this world, but it was easy enough to figure out when he applied it to game logic: Copper is copper, ¡®Crowns¡¯ are ¡®silver¡¯, and ¡®Thrones¡¯ are gold! He thought. He obliged, reaching into his pocket to retrieve the sole coin in there, but stopping as he withdrew it. I can¡¯t use this one. That red-haired adventurer gave it to me¡­It¡¯s going to be what I use my adventurer fee for! I promise! He resolved. Instead, he opened his sack of coins, grabbing a shiny coin and cing it on the counter, which the merchant epted.. ¡°Be safe out there! Word of advice: don¡¯t let too many people see that bag o¡¯ money you¡¯ve got!¡± The bearded man advised. With a nod, he smiled, ¡°Thanks!¡± Yeah, I figured that out the hard way! He thought. As he left the store with his staff maintained on his back and a new, slick glove, he felt as if he fit right in with the bustling crowd of adventurers that seemed to make up almost a majority of the people within Elsia. After being distracted once again, his stomach growled as he realized he still had yet to grab something to eat. I¡¯ve got to find something to eat¨Cstat. If I¡¯m going to take advantage of this free day of splurging, I need to do it on a full stomach! He thought. ¡°Oh! Sounds like somebody is hungry!¡± The call of his empty stomach was heard by some coincidence by the man to his left that called out to him. ¡°¨C¡± He looked to the side with an embarrassed tint to his cheeks. It was an older gentleman with a bushy mustache and a weing smile. Though what was more weing to the food-seeking young boy was what the man stood behind: a streetside shop that had a fresh aroma swirling around it. Although it was a confusing mixture of scents at first¨Csweat like fresh caramel glory, but savory like a brisket bathed in marinade, he soon saw what it was that was being sold at the street-side, small establishment: skewers¨Csome more of a salty variety, and some more of a dessert feel. ¡°¨C¡° ¡°C¡¯mon! Try one!¡± The older man urged him, gesturing with his hands. ¡°I don¡¯t know¨CI¡¯m not that hungry¡­¡± he chuckled. ¨CAnother growl of his stomach emitted, this time loud enough to have surpassed some of the nearest words of passing people, prompting him to blush further. The food merchantughed, ¡°Your stomach is more honest than your tongue,d.¡± There was no arguing as he finally obliged and stepped forward, looking at the skewers that are on disy. Enveloped in steam as they were freshly grilled over a contraption behind the mustache-possessing chef, the skewers were either packed with savory meat on the sticks¨Cwhich seemed in heavy variation itself in chicken, beef, or even ¡°behemoth meat¡±; or more sweet skewers that wereced with fruits that were decorated in delectable sprinkles. The smell was overwhelming as he found himself almost foaming out the mouth at the fresh aroma. ¡°Does anything catch your eye? Perhaps a spicy-chicken sword? A creamy, marinated beef-and-pepper sword?¡± The kind, but passionate chef presented his savory wares, ¡°Perhaps something more sharine is more to your stomach¡¯s desire? A green-apple-sparkle sword? A sour, rainbow sword?¡± Apparently the skewers seemed to be called ¡°swords¡±¨Cthough he didn¡¯t know if that was just the general term in this world or something exclusive to this small, local merchant. As he looked around, it didn¡¯t seem to be the only pop-up, small-scale restaurant on the street¨Cnot even close. There were quite a few people, in fact, that he saw walking around with the very same skewers from this ce. ¡°¨C¡± He gulped, not knowing what to pick with so many options. As he looked at therge variety of steaming ¡°swords¡±, he was taken by surprise as one was presented to him personally by the man. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± He asked. ¡°The ¡®Behemoth Field¡± sword,¡± the kind, mustache-bearing man said, ¡°If I may suggest one, that is.¡± He nodded, reaching to his pocket for his bag of coins, ¡°Alright, then. I¡¯ll have that one¨C¡± ¡°No, no,¡± the man shook his head, stopping him. Looking back up, he found the hazel-eyed, kindly man presented the stick of fresh, steaming meat and vegetables to him further. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s on the house,¡± the local chef smiled. ¡°I can¡¯t¨C¡± ¡°I insist. Please,¡± the man told him. With no other choice, he smiled and graciously epted the skewer of seasoned meat and colorful, grilled vegetables. Holding it by his nose, he was taken into bliss by the rich fragrance it brought when even closer, making his stomach grumble in earnest desire. It smells great, he thought. As he nced up, he could see the bushy-mustache man watching him eagerly, clearly wanting feedback on the item as he obliged¨Cbringing it near his mouth and taking a hefty bite. Though the sounds of behemoth meat sounded like something tough and hard to chew, it was surprisingly tender. It melted into his mouth as he chewed it, with each mp of his teeth squeezing in a burst of rich vor. As he swallowed, he looked forward at the kind, older gentleman who watched him earnestly. ¡°How is it?¡± The man asked. ¡°¡­Yummy!¡± He said. It was a pure promation of his honest thoughts; if there was one word that persisted in his mind when eating that grilled skewer, it was ¡°yummy.¡± The genuine response he gave seemed to te the man who crafted such a delectable item of nourishment, whoughed, ¡°d to hear it!¡± He still felt bad about not paying, but after another minute of back-and-forth, he finally epted it and went on his way, snacking on the surprisinglyrge serving that the ¡°sword¡± came with as he walked the streets of Elsia. There were street performers putting on shows, as well¨Cif the city wasn¡¯t energetic enough as is. He stopped for a bit and watched as he ate his skewer, watching a man in a colorful jumpsuit with clown makeup, juggling ming swords with utter finesse all whileughing. ¡°Ho-he! Ho-he! Ho-he!¡± The orange-haired clown had quite the uniqueugh, in that it sounded like a dying animal as the entric performer flipped around, dancing as he continued juggling the fire-engulfed swords without a care in the world. As he nced around, he saw a couple people looking on, though they seemed to be on the older side and not adventurers, which seemed about right. Something like this just wasn¡¯t that appealing to him as he tried to find some enjoyment in it while munching on his free skewer. ¡­This would be fun to watch back on Earth, no doubt, but¡­I don¡¯t know¨Cthis world has freaking magic, you know? You¡¯ve gotta kick it up a notch or two, Mr. Clown! He thought. As he moved on and finished his skewer, he tossed it into an empty crate that was sitting on the edge of an alleyway, wandering and looking around as he decided where to go next. Alright¡­now that I¡¯m full¨Cit¡¯s time to figure out if there are any brothels around here!¡­Specifically: ¡°cat girl brothels¡±! He thought. Though it was easier said than done to track down one specific type of establishment in the vast, diverse city of Elsia, especially when it was filled to the brim with people and he had no clue as to where anything was in the first ce. As he marched on, he felt a chill run down his back¨Cthe feeling of somebody watching him intently. ¡­Huh? He thought. ncing back¨Che saw it, but just for a brief moment: her. Golden hair, a blue scarf, and unmistakable, sapphire eyes¨Cshing by with swiftness that took him by surprise. It¡¯s her¡­! He realized. The first instinct in his mind was protecting his bag of coins, but it was toote¨Cthe girl was simply faster than him. Chapter 61 Renos Games The first instinct in his mind was protecting his bag of coins, but it was toote¨Cthe girl was simply faster than him. Again, it was lost from his possession in that brief moment as he looked in front of him¨Cseeing the young girl racing off and ncing back at him with a smirk, presenting the stolen goods in her hand. ¡°Damn it¡­!¡± He yelled out. Without a moment of hesitation, he broke off in a sprint towards the thief, pushing past the crowd of people that filled the width of the street. What¡¯s with this girl?! Can¡¯t you rob somebody else?! He thought. The idea came to him while having to push past the crowd of people that he could call for a guard or whatever police force existed in Elsia, but he realized such a decision might not actually be a great idea. If I do that, who knows what the response time is?! A kid like me giving a report isn¡¯t going to help, either! Crap! I¡¯ve gotta handle this on my own¨Cagain! He thought. With proper nutrients in his stomach, he had the energy to give chase properly this time, though he was still falling behind as the nimble girl seemed far too experienced at this¨Cshe was flipping by people without ever touching them, moving forward as if there wasn¡¯t a sea of people in her path. Alright, then¡­let¡¯s even the ying field! He thought. It took a lot of focus, but he conjured a subtle stream of wind that persisted only around his body, having to concentrate as to not disturb anybody else with this quiet usage of wind. This cloak of tranquil wind amplified his speed just enough to allow him to not lose sight of the girl, keeping up as he was a good three people behind her. Again, he found himself following the girl into an alleyway, this time one more damp with shadows but more wide.. The girl stopped as there was a deadend, and it wasn¡¯t exactly feasible to hop up the walls and over the roofs as there were curtains hanging above. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t expect more goons to pop out, should I?¡± He asked. As he stopped, blocking the entrance to the alley, he drew his staff from behind his back, holding it in the grip of his caster glove. The sapphire-eyed girl smirked, tossing the bag of coins up and catching it before setting it down. ¡°¨C?¡± He watched her. ¡°I don¡¯t need them,¡± the girl held a confident smile as the wind tugged on her scarf, ¡°You should¡¯ve just epted your loss like a man! Now I¡¯m going to have to take this seriously.¡± From behind her back, the small-of-stature girl drew a dagger with a red cloth wrapped around its handle, holding it in a reverse grip. ¡°¡­Seriously?¡± He said with a sigh. ¡°Huh?¡± The girl blinked. ¡°I¡¯m not beating up a little girl!¡± He called out, pointing at her. An offended look came over the girl¡¯s expression as she barked back, ¡°Hey! Who¡¯s little here?!¡± ¡°You! You¡¯re not even big enough for a bra yet!¡± He yelled. The girl¡¯s cheeks became as red as roses as she became flustered from hisment, ¡°¨CYou! That¡¯s it! I was going to take it easy on you¨Cbut you asked for it!¡± He raised his staff, but just as she did¨Cthe girl had burst forward with speed that took him by surprise. There was at least a ten meter gap between them just the second prior, but it was already being closed in an instant. ¡­This speed¨CI knew she was fast, but this is something else! He thought. With little time left to react and make a decision, he had to act quickly as that dagger wielded between her lithe fingers was swiping towards his head. Using stone magic was out of the question as it was too slow to rise, wind would be a risk with how close the dagger was, and fire was out of the question for defense. This left one choice: Water quickly formed from the moisture spurred into the air, gathering into a t, circr shape between him and the iing de. ¡°Huh-?¡± The girl let out. It was a shield that was hardly immutable, but the nature of water, in its ever present, shapeless form, allowed it to envelop the red-clothed dagger and act almost like a gtinous mattress. ¡­It worked! He thought. After sessfully blocking the dagger-strike, he lifted his staff upward, pointing it towards the uncovered abdomen of the girl. ¡°¨C¡° It was fully open to him: the opportunity to strike back. There were arge number of spells at his disposal, and many that could end the fight¨Ctemporarily or forever. However, what emitted from his staff was¨C FWOOSH. A st of air rippled the girl¡¯s stomach, knocking her back to the other end of the alleyway, but the girl still managed to flip around and catch herself on her feet. This attack was¨C ¡°Taking it easy¡­¡± The girl mumbled. ¡°¨C¡± He stood there quietly, holding his wooden staff up. ¡°You¡¯re taking it easy on me!¡± The blonde-haired girl yelled out. For some reason, the girl who turned to thievery seemed angry at the fact that he used such simple, harmless magic against her. ¡°¡­Huh? You¡¯re mad that I¡¯m¡­taking it easy?¡± He repeated, raising an eyebrow. It was definitely confusing, but there was no doubt that the girl was frustrated as she was nearly growling like a dog towards him, gripping her dagger tighter as she was quivering with rage. ¡°I¡¯m not a kid! So, don¡¯t treat me like one¨C!¡± She yelled. ¡°But, you are a kid!¡± He yelled in return. She still held a fluster to her cheeks as she yelled with her golden ponytail swinging behind her, ¡°I am not! I bet I¡¯m older than you!¡± ¡°Oh, yeah?!¡± He challenged. ¡°Yeah!¡± She replied, putting her hand on her chest, ¡°My name is Reno! I don¡¯t have a surname or anything fancy like that! I¡¯m fifteen-years-old!¡± Fifteen?! I¡¯m just a few weeks shy of that! He thought. The realization hit him like a brick as his words were caught in his throat. It was unbelievable, but he had realized he was a poor judge of age with his conflicting mind that hardly knew what to settle on for itself. ¡°¡­Fifteen?¡± He muttered in shock. The girl didn¡¯t seem to realize why he was so taken aback, only seeming more flustered herself, ¡°Y-yeah, what about it?! It¡¯s your turn now!¡± He was put on the spot as Reno pointed directly at him. For a minute, he stood there silently, undecided on how he should answer. ¡­Should I lie?!¡­Somebody like her would definitely lord a single year difference in age over my head! He thought. Giving in, he introduced himself, ¡°I¡¯m Emilio Dragonheart! Fourteen-years-old!¡± The truth. Why didn¡¯t he lie? Well, there wasn¡¯t much of a reason for it, besides the sprinkle of a chance that honesty would lean into something other than fighting. Staring at him for a moment, the blonde-haired thief girl blinked a few times, ¡°¡­Fourteen?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he nodded. ¡°You¡¯re younger than me and able to use magic like that?!¡± Reno let out before coughing and correcting herself, ¡°¡­Anyway, just because you¡¯re a kid doesn¡¯t mean I won¡¯t hold back on you! You¡¯re younger than me, so do the same!¡± ¡°What?! You¡¯re still going on about that?! One year! You¡¯re one year older than me!¡± He contested. Chapter 62 Peace! ¡°You¡¯re younger than me and able to use magic like that?!¡± Reno let out before coughing and correcting herself, ¡°¡­Anyway, just because you¡¯re a kid doesn¡¯t mean I won¡¯t hold back on you! You¡¯re younger than me, so do the same!¡± ¡°What?! You¡¯re still going on about that?! One year! You¡¯re one year older than me!¡± He contested. Before he could get any further words out, Reno sprung towards him again with the nimbleness of a cat, springing forward and attempting to swipe at him with the sharp silver held in her hand. ¡°Gh!¡± He managed to lean back to avoid it, feeling the reflexes carved into him through his time with the red-haired swordswoman kicking in as he watched the dagger miss just above his gaze. When it came to close-quartersbat like this, there was no question that it¡¯d be safer to rely on swordy himself, but against a girl like this¨Che certainly wasn¡¯t up to the task. Instead, he retaliated by manifesting a pir of stone that rose up beneath the girl¡¯s feet, hoisting her high into the air to create space between them. ¡°Wah!¡± Reno let out, bncing herself as she waved her arms around. It was tall enough to create a few meters of distance, giving him an opening as he ran across the alley, hauling straight towards the bag of money that was stolen. Reno noticed this after regaining her bnce on the narrow pir, ncing down as she watched the boy with blonde-and-ck hair running past the column of rock. ¡°Hey, wait¨C!¡± Reno yelled out. Is he trying to get his stash back without a fight?! Reno thought.. ¨CThat was exactly his n as he rushed towards the sack of coins that was left on top of the dingy, water-damaged crate near the back of the alleyway. Using a burst of wind at his heels, he propelled himself forward while extending his hand, straining himself as his fingertips grew near the bag of money. Come on¡­! He thought. But, the girl wasn¡¯t ying it easy, either, as she ran down the magically-manifested pir of stone, using it as a foothold to leap towards him. ¡°No, you don¡¯t!¡± Reno said. The girlnded right on his back, causing him to fall just short of retrieving his stolen coins. Though she was surprisingly light¨Cthere was no pain on his back, but he did fall pretty harshly against the paved stone. ¡°Gah!¡± He let out as his chinnded against the ground below. As Ren used him as a bridge to jump towards the bag of coins, he reached up, using his staff to trip the girl as she fell over in front of him. ¡°Wah!¡± Ren let out. It was anything but elegant, their battle. As the blonde-haired thief copsed in front of him, he used a gust of wind to knock himself up to his feet, rushing towards the coins. ¡°¡­No!¡± Reno yelled out. Just as the girl scrambled to her feet, he grabbed hold of the sack of coins with one hand, using his other to aim his staff towards the girl¨Cinvoking the same spell he used to ensnare the thug from earlier: ¡°Water Bind.¡± ¡°¨C¡° It was just mere inches from his throat¨Cthe dagger held in the girl¡¯s fingers. The de was only stopped because of the limbs of water that restrained the girl; her fingers quivered as the steel was only a moment away from having sliced his neck. What went through his mind was a mixture of relief, fear, and confusion: somehow, he believed the girl wasn¡¯t actually trying to kill him, but his eyes told him differently. ¡°Ghh¡­¡± Reno winced as the bands of water had restrained her limbs. As he stood himself up carefully, he picked up the bag of coins and looked at the girl, who was just a few hairs shorter than himself, ¡°¡­You were really going to kill me? Over coins?¡± A look of guilt and frustration was present on Reno¡¯s expression as her sapphire eyes were contorted with a spectrum of conflicted emotions, ¡°¨C¡° ¡°..If you¡¯re asking me that, then¡­I need them a whole lot more than you do!¡± Reno screamed. He looked at the girl for a moment as he straightened himself off, brushing the dust off of his ck vest and his green cape as the water bindings still held the girl in ce. ¡°Just because you might need something more doesn¡¯t mean you have the right to take it from others,¡± he told her. ¡°Shut up¡­¡± Reno said bitterly, averting her gaze as she mumbled, ¡°¡­You¡¯ve probably lived an easy life¨Cyou wouldn¡¯t understand the struggle at all¡­¡± ¡°¨C¡° Those words caught him as something inside of him was rubbed the wrong way by those words, but he stopped himself fromshing out. She¡¯s just a kid, don¡¯t get heated¡­Well, I¡¯m a kid too, aren¡¯t I? Sorta? Anyway¡­I do feel kind of bad, still, he thought. He chose to ignore her words, instead asking something else, ¡°What do you need this money for, anyway?¡± ¡°¨C¡± Reno seemed hesitant to talk, though it looked more like pouting to him. ¡°You seemed pretty desperate to get your hands on this,¡± he said. Holding it out in front of the girl like a carrot on the stick, he crouched in front of her while bounding the jingling bag of coins before her, though she wasn¡¯t able to do anything about it with the water ropes restraining her on the ground. ¡°¡­What¡¯s it matter to you? You won. Leave me alone,¡± Reno huffed. ¡°I won so I deserve an answer for my troubles,¡± he responded. ¡°¨C¡± Reno gritted her teeth in frustration before sighing, looking up to realize the amethyst-eyed boy wasn¡¯t backing down, ¡°¡­You¡¯re annoying, you know that?¡± ¡°I have a knack for that,¡± he smirked. The look he got from the sapphire-eyed girl was one that said ¡°I¡¯ll talk, but you¡¯ll have to get these restraints off first¡±¨Cto which he was hesitant as he raised one of his dirty-blond eyebrows to her. ¡°I¡¯m not going to do anything¨Cpromise. I swear on Aerium The Great,¡± Reno told him. It was something he hadn¡¯t heard personally before, but he was familiar with the promise as he had read about it in books. ¡®Aerium The Great¡¯ is some sort of deity-like figure in this world. I think he¡¯s the ancestor of arge chunk of humans and demi-humans¨Cit¡¯s a bit weird. It¡¯s a religion based on heritage. I guess it¡¯s the same as swearing on God, he thought. He looked at the girl for a moment, inspecting the look in her eyes to make sure there was no ill-intent present before letting out a sigh and tapping his staff against the ground. The small gesture caused the bands of mystical water to disperse, releasing the girl from its bindings. ¡°¡­Jeez. Who knew water could be so rough?¡± Reno mumbled, gathering herself. As the girl stood up, he made sure to keep the bag of money out of reach, which she noticed as she furrowed her eyebrows and averted her gaze. ¡°¡­I told you, I¡¯m not going to do anything!¡± ¡°Well, you kind of have a history of robbing me, and¡­trying to cut my throat,¡± he said wryly with a sigh. ¡°The past is the past, okay! Move on from that already,¡± Reno waved her hand. ¡­That was a couple of minutes ago, he thought. Before he could get an exnation from the girl, the call of a stomach was heard¨Cand it wasn¡¯t his. A pink tint came to Reno¡¯s slightly tan cheeks as she froze for a moment before covering her stomach, ¡°You didn¡¯t hear¨C¡± ¡°Want to grab a bite?¡± He offered with a smile. The girl seemed surprised by this invitation from the boy that she just tried to steal from for the second time, but she stared at him for a moment as if gauging whether or not he was pulling her leg before nodding. ¡°¡­Sure,¡± she said quietly in almost a whisper. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°I said alright!¡± Reno piped up. In all honesty, even he was surprised that he was doing something like this. Helping out the person who not only tried to rob him for essentially all he had¨Ctwice, and nearly cut his throat, was certainly as close to ¡°sainthood¡± as he could get, in his mind, that is. There wasn¡¯t much of a good reason as to why he decided to take things easy and try to make friends with the scarf-wearing girl, but he just felt it was the right thing to do. ¡­I guess I just sorta get it. She seems desperate¨Cthere has to be a good reason why she did what she did. I just want to know why. Plus, if she was a dude, I would¡¯ve totally knocked her out! He thought. ¨COf course, the young boy was definitely nowhere near such ¡°sainthood¡±, in reality. Chapter 63 Mysterious Adult As he walked through the streets of Elsia beside the girl, he watched her out of the corner of her eye, which she noticed quickly as she huffed. ¡°¡­I swore on ¡®Aerium The Great¡¯, didn¡¯t I?¡± Reno asked. ¡°Well¡­¡± He wryly smiled. ¡°You have no idea, do you?! Children of Aerium can¡¯t break a promise like that!¡± Reno looked at him. The girl was quite loud in her words, drawing attention from the goers of the city as he nced around, not much of a fan of all the unwanted gazes. ¡°Err, sure¡­¡± He nervously scratched his cheek. ¡°Good,¡± Reno held a satisfied smile, ¡°¡­Still, I think the better question is why I should trust you?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± He raised an eyebrow to the girl. ¡°I just tried to steal from you, and you¡¯re being all nice to me¡­Fishy doesn¡¯t cut it,¡± Reno looked at him suspiciously. It definitely was an understandable question as he was perplexed by it as well. There wasn¡¯t much of a straight, logical answer he could give to the girl as he walked beside her. ¡°¡­Well, I guess I just want to try being better in this life,¡± he mumbled. ¡°What?¡± Reno looked at him. ¡°Oh, I just meant¨CI think it¡¯s a waste to only make enemies, you know? It¡¯s a whole lot more beneficial to make friends!¡± Heughed it off. Luckily, it seemed the girl didn¡¯t catch on to his even more suspicious words that he had whispered. Reno shrugged her shoulders and ced her hands behind her head in a tomboyish walk, ¡°You¡¯re weird, you know that? In this world¡­that type of thinking is what¡¯s going to get you in trouble.¡± Those words were spoken from a ce of experience from the young girl who shouldn¡¯t have had to gain such a callused view on the world, but had one anyway.. ¡°Anyway, where are we going?¡± He asked. Reno nced at him, ¡°I knew it¨Cyou¡¯re a total stranger to Elsia, aren¡¯t you?¡± He nodded, ¡°Yeah? Was it that obvious?¡± ¡°Why do you think I chose you to snatch from?¡± Reno chuckled. ¡°¨C¡° It definitely made sense;pared to the majority of people who seemed at least familiar with the bustling city, he had been gawking and taking it in the whole time. Renoughed, ¡°Well, I know a ce with great grub!¡± ¡°Lead the way,¡± he sighed. As he followed her through the city, he took in the sights to try and establish some sort of mental map, though he was mostly enamored by the surprisingly tall architecture for medieval times and the well-armored adventurers that passed by. ¡°Hey, what happened to those goons you were with?¡± He asked. ¡°Goons¨Coh, you mean those three from before?¡± Reno looked at him. He nodded, ¡°Yeah, them.¡± Reno sighed, ¡°Well, they just partnered up with me because I¡¯m pretty good at what I do, you know? They wanted in, and I didn¡¯t see a problem with a little protection.¡± ¡°Good?¡± He raised an eyebrow. ¡°Don¡¯t get cocky just because you¨Cugh,¡± Reno sighed and furrowed her eyebrows, ¡°¡­You¡¯re really annoying, you know that?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard that once or twice.¡± Through the city, he followed her for quite a ways, turning corners and descending stairs to lower sections of Elsia, though as they went deeper into the city, its flourishing state became more and more rugged. The crowded nature of the city began to lessen as the streets became more quiet, the rich architecture shifted into dingy houses, and the stone pavement became streets of dirt. ¡­Where are we? He wondered. It felt as if he had stepped into a new world entirely without realizing it as he looked in front of him at the young girl who led the way. ¡°¡­Are we going the right way? Where are we?¡± He asked. Reno spun around, spreading her arms out as if introducing the area to him, ¡°Wee to the ce that ¡°nobody cares about¡±; where dreams die as they¡¯re born: the Elsia slums.¡± ¡°¨C¡° It made sense to him now, seeing the state of the secluded section of the city: there was no development of roads, houses were made of y, tending to be small and of basic shapes, and trash littered the dirt trails. There weren¡¯t many people to be seen, though those that could be were quietly sitting on their porches or the street-side, dirty and wearing tattered clothes. It was a culture shock, for sure. ¡°¡­I see. Is this where you live?¡± He asked. Reno hesitated for a moment before nodding, ¡°Yeah, but don¡¯t lump me in with these guys.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not nning on epting my fate lying down. If the world wants to put us down, so be it. If they want to ept that, that¡¯s their problem¨Cthey¡¯re losers, anyway. I won¡¯t ept it, though,¡± Reno said, looking up towards the sky, ¡°¡­I¡¯ll make it out of here someday. I just need money.¡± ¡°I see,¡± he said quietly. Reno stopped and turned around, pointing right at him, ¡°That¡¯s why I snatched that bag off of you!¡± ¡°I gathered that already!¡± He snapped back. ¡°Well, just making sure you knew,¡± Reno huffed, turning back around, ¡°¡­I don¡¯t want you to get the wrong idea, thinking I¡¯m one of those vain girls who spends money on pretty clothes and sparkly jewels.¡± Watching her now, he definitely lost what little amount of bitterness or spite he held towards the sapphire-eyed girl, seeing where she wasing from. It¡¯s not that having an unfortunate life makes it okay to steal, but¡­that also doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t try to make this right, he thought. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think you need fancy clothes or anything like that,¡± he sighed. ¡°Huh?¡± Reno looked back at him with a surprised look. He scratched his head as he walked beside her, ¡°I just think you¡¯re doing good enough already¨Cthat¡¯s all.¡± A small blush came over the girl¡¯s cheeks before sheughed it off, folding her arms over her chest as her small snaggle tooth was apparent amidst herugh, ¡°I am, aren¡¯t I? That¡¯s right!¡± ¡°¨C¡± He nced at her nervously. Maybe I should avoidplimenting her. She¡¯s got enough of an ego as it is, somehow, he thought. As he sighed out, he nced around, noticing that there wasn¡¯t exactly any sight of thriving businesses. It looked to justpletely be a residential area, though it was difficult to tell since most of the buildings looked simr. A lot of these homes had boarded-up windows, which made it difficult to tell if they were upied or not. ¡°¨CYou never answered me: where¡¯s this ce you¡¯re taking me to? What is it?¡± He asked. Part of why he was asking this question was certainly that the slums made him just a tad bit nervous, seeing shady figures watching him as he passed by. There was no doubt that he stuck out like a sore thumb with his fancy outfit and equipment he held. Reno marched confidently without a worry, however, ¡°You¡¯ll see! Just be patient!¡± ¡°¡­Alright,¡± he nodded. The girl seemed to notice the anxiousness in his amethyst eyes as she lightly elbowed him in the side. ¡°What was that for?¡± He red at her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about these guys. They¡¯re total wimps. You¡¯re with me¨Cso they won¡¯ty a finger on you,¡± Renoughed, pointing her finger forward and making a motion as if casting a spell, ¡°¨CAnd if they do try anything, you¡¯ve got that crazy staff there!¡± The words she gave him were anything but reassuring when she also had to mention he had his staff for protection, though he didn¡¯t particrly enjoy the idea of having to use it here. ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± he sighed. A small river ran through the slums, to which the two had to cross over a dingy bridge to get to the other section of the less-than-affluent area of Elsia. ¡°¨C¡± He looked down wryly. As he took slow, careful steps, he could feel the crooked nks below shifting and creaking beneath his weight. On the other hand, Reno was practically skipping over the bridge without a care, crossing it quickly as she waited for him on the other side, ¡°C¡¯mon, slowpoke!¡± ¡°Easy for you to say¡­¡± He mumbled. Gathering his courage, he hopped to the other side with a few quick steps, not wanting to risk staying on the unsteady bridge for any longer than he had to. ¡°Good job! Knew you had it in you!¡± Reno patronized him teasingly. ¡°¨C¡± He sighed. As they both moved forward once again, Reno came to a sudden stop in front of him as he had closed his eyes momentarily while fixing his hair. Opening his eyes, he saw the girl frozen in front of him, ¡°Hey, what¡¯s up?¡± Though he saw the reason once realizing there was a man standing directly in front of the young girl, looming over her. He had a bristly, jet-ck goatee and shaggy locks of a matchingplexion, having sharp, olive eyes that held a certain glint of avarice in them. It was clear he wasn¡¯t a slum-dweller by his clothes, which he wore a ck-and-silver coat with matching pants and a leather vest beneath. The man¡¯s gloves were ck, as was the sheath attached to his hip. Who is this guy? He wondered. ¡°Thought I¡¯d find you here, Reno. Though¡­who¡¯s the kid? A little boyfriend, perhaps?¡± The man asked with a smile that was anything but benevolent. ¡°¨C¡± He returned the man¡¯s gaze. The mysterious figure was likely middle-aged by the slight wrinkling to his light-tan face; it didn¡¯t make much sense to him what a grown man would have to do with the girl. ¡°He¡¯s a friend,¡± Reno responded to the man. It was a surprising answer for him, but he felt butterflies flutter in his stomach from that answer. But, what little brief respite he felt was squashed as he realized the confident, sapphire-eyed girl was averting her gaze from the man, who tried to look at her, but she tried her best to avoid eye contact. She¡¯s¡­scared of him, he realized. The man rubbed his chin with his sable glove before ncing at the young boy, ¡°Oh, I see. It¡¯s like that, then. Well, get to it¨CI¡¯m expecting my payment by tonight. If I don¡¯t have it, well¡­¡± Chapter 64 Gramps Urming The man rubbed his chin with his sable glove before ncing at the young boy, ¡°Oh, I see. It¡¯s like that, then. Well, get to it¨CI¡¯m expecting my payment by tonight. If I don¡¯t have it, well¡­¡± There was something being alluded to by the man¡¯s words, though he didn¡¯t know what it was, Reno certainly did as she visibly shivered. ¡°¡­I know!¡­I know¡­I¡¯ll have it,¡± Reno said through a quivering voice. The tension in the air was palpable as the darkly-dressed man stared down at the girl before returning to smile, patting her on the head, ¡°Well, that¡¯s all I came here to say! As long as you know.¡± Just as the mysterious man turned away to leave, he noticed what was hanging from around the man¡¯s neck¨Ca ne bearing the unmistakable badge of an adventurer. He¡¯s an adventurer¡­? He thought. ¡°¨C¡° There was silence for a solid minute as Reno stood there, not breathing again until the man was out of sightpletely. ¡°Who was that?¡± He finally asked, quietly. ¡°¨C¡± Reno inhaled then exhaled, trying to gather herself, ¡°Oswell¡­¡± ¡°Oswell? What¡¯s he want with you? He¡¯s an adventurer, isn¡¯t he?¡± He asked. Though the girl was sparse of answers before, it seemed this encounter opened her up a bit as she was left vulnerable by the encounter that the young boy hardly understood. Reno seemed hesitant to answer, but after looking at him for a moment, she did, ¡°¡­It happened a couple weeks ago.¡± ¡°¨C¡± He listened. ¡°I had just lucked out big time¨CI managed to snag a purse from a highborndy. I ran and I ran; feeling how thick that purse was, almost bursting with coins¡­I thought ¡®I did it. I¡¯ll make it out of here¡¯ but¡­¡± Reno exined.. ¡°But?¡± ¡°I bumped into ¡°him.¡± I was so happy that I finally got a big snatch that I wasn¡¯t watching my way¨Cand so I ran straight into him. I broke the potion he had just bought¨Cit was an ident, but he wasn¡¯t hearing it,¡± Reno looked at him, ¡°Those magic potions are real expensive, ya know? They draw a real pretty coin.¡± As she exined the story to him, Reno¡¯s snaggle tooth was on disy though her voice was noticeably more timid when discussing anything rting to this ¡°Oswell¡± figure. ¡­Is an adventurer somebody to be this scared of? They¡¯re good people, right? He thought. ¡°¡­Anyway, those three losers tried defending me¨Cthough I think it¡¯s because they didn¡¯t want to lose their cut. Oswell tore them a new one¨Cthen, he took me¡­¡± Reno¡¯s words trailed off. ¡°¡­¡¯Took¡¯?¡± Reno seemed more hesitant than ever to answer as she slowly nodded, ¡°It was just for one night. He took me away to show me ¡°what would happen if I didn¡¯t pay for that potion¡±¨Cthere were others. Other¡­kids. Most of them were demi-humans, ya know?¡­Kept in cages. Being sold off to highborns for a pretty coin¡­¡± ¡°¨C¡° It was an abhorrent realization brought to him, and he knew it wasn¡¯t any sort of lie or exaggeration by the way it was being told to him. What made him believe this more was his own experience with it; this brought a boiling anger to his blood as he clenched his fists. ¡°So, if I don¡¯t pay up, he said I¡¯ll be next¡­He¡¯ll make his money back by selling me,¡± Reno said quietly, ¡°¡­I already paid back the sum of that potion¨Cbut the ¡®interest¡¯ or whatever it is he wants¨Cit¡¯s impossible¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s unforgivable,¡± he mumbled. ¡°Huh?¡± Reno looked at him. There was a resolve swirling in his amethyst eyes that was noticeable even to the golden-haired girl recounting this story. ¡°¡­Do you know where he is?¡± He asked. ¡°What? Why do you want to know that¡­?¡± Reno asked, confused. ¡°Somebody like that¡­I can¡¯t stand around and just let them continue doing what they¡¯re doing,¡± he said. ¡°Huh?! I just told ya that Oswell is dangerous! Real dangerous! He beat my guys up worse than you did! He¡¯s a certified adventurer, ya know?!¡± Reno got close to him with her words. Though his mind was already made up. There were many things wrong with this, in his mind. Too many wrongs to ignore. ¡­An adventurer like that is a stain on what it means to be one. He¡¯s a viin¨Cit¡¯s as simple as that, he thought. ¡°Let¡¯s make a deal,¡± he looked at Reno. ¡°Wha-?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll help you out with this Oswell situation, but in return, you have to give me a tour of Elsia!¡± He announced his deal. This sort of offer took the slum-dwelling girl by surprise as she raised an eyebrow, looking at him as if there was a screw loose in his mind. ¡°¡­Are ya crazy or something? That¡¯s not a fair deal at all. Oswell is¡­dangerous, ya know? I even heard he¡¯s a ¡®Champion¡¯ rank swordsman of the Mountain God Style!¡± Reno told him. That information made him sweat a bit, but he wore a confident smile, ¡°That¡¯s all?¡± ¡°¡­That¡¯s all?¡± Reno repeated. ¡°My father is a King-rank swordsman! My instructor was just as good! My teacher is a Grand-ss mage!¡­So I¡¯m saying: that¡¯s all?¡± ¡°¨C¡± Reno was astonished by his words. There was a trembling look in those sapphire eyes, but the girl who wanted to stand on her own finally seemed to ept him, ¡°¡­Fine. A deal¡¯s a deal.¡± ¡°Alright, then. Let¡¯s leave that for tonight¨Cfor now, what about this restaurant you keep boasting of?¡± He smiled. Though he smiled, he was trembling with a mixture of fear and anger at the thought of this ¡°Oswell¡± figure. Somebody connected to trafficking¡­using the title of an adventurer as a shield¡­Sorry, Vandread, looks like I¡¯m going to get myself into some trouble, he thought. Reno seemed taken out of it still, but slowly smiled as she nodded, leading the way, ¡°¡­Alright, it¡¯s just down this way.¡± He followed behind her down the unpaved streets of the slums, falling beneath the grayness of the clouds up above as he kept his eye out for the mysterious man now. Though he did his best to y it off as if he wasn¡¯t worried, ¡°I hope this ce is good¨CI worked up an appetite chasing you around.¡± Reno nced back, ¡°Gramps Urming makes the best potato pies¨Cyou can hold me to that!¡± ¡°¡®Gramps Urming¡¯?¡± He repeated. The girl nodded, holding a genuine smile now as the new topic seemed to work to move her mind away, ¡°I¡¯ve known him since I was little. He¡¯s always done right by me! Even gives me free pies whenever Ie by!¡± ¡°Sounds like he¡¯s a good person,¡± he smiled. ¡°Mhm!¡± Reno nodded with a beaming smile, ¡°Though if you get him angry¨Cwell, good luck!¡± ¡°Huh?! ¡®Good luck¡¯?!¡± He replied. There was no rification given from the girl as she chuckled from his attempt to gain a proper answer, but none such came as the two soon arrived at the desired destination. In the sector filled with deste buildings and littered streets, the establishment certainly stood out as it wasrger than most, built of wood with a sign attached to the front: ¡°Urming¡¯s Fan-Fantastic Pies!¡± Cute name, he thought. There weren¡¯t any other buildings or houses that neighbored the restaurants, just maple-leaved trees that seemed to be purposefully nted around the buildings rather than spawning naturally. There was a small set of steps that led up to a porch before the front door, which Reno had already ascended. ¡°¡­Is it open?¡± He asked, slowly walking up the dingy stairs. What served as a door was actually quite standout from the rest of the building: arge set of two doors, forged of dark-brown, smoothed wood that was bolstered by a doorbell resembling the head of a silver bear. Reno didn¡¯t seem nervous in the slightest, in fact, any stress she felt seemed to evaporate as she approached the door, using the silver doorbell to knock. There was a special rhythm that was used¨Cthough it could have just been something yful from the girl, it seemed too deliberate to be that. One-Two. One. One-Two. One-Two-Three: the rhythm of the knock. ¡°¨C¡± He gulped. Why is there a code?! Just what am I about to walk into¡­? He thought. Reno nced back at him, ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be closed right now¨Cbut Gramps Urming serves you if you know his special password!¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Just then, after the special set of knocks against the door, thunderous stomps grew closer to the otherside of the front entrance. THUD. THUD. THUD. ¡°¨C¡± He found himself gulping again. ¡°Do ya have any idea what time of day it is?! Can¡¯t be forcin¡¯ an old man like me to move around so much!¡± It was a rough, but deep voiceing from the other side of the door, apanied by the heavy footsteps. There was no doubt about it as he listened to those imposing steps, stomping all the more closer to the door. Whoever this ¡®Gramps Urming¡¯ guy is¡­he¡¯s huge! He thought. Reno seemed excited while he, on the other hand, was preparing for utmost doom. As he waited to meet the mysterious owner of the shop¨Cthe door finally opened. ¡°¨C¡° He froze when seeing the figure that became present in the doorway; there was no way for him to prepare for what he saw. It wasn¡¯t a man, at least in the sense he was used to. What he saw was a figure that towered over him, covered head-to-toe in thick, coarse fur of a ck shade. It had a snout and ck eyes, with the left bearing a prominent scar. ¨CA bear. It was a bear; standing on two legs, staring down at him as it was dressed with a beige loincloth and nothing else but a bandana around its head. Across its belly, a patch of silver fur was left in a streak. ¡°Err¡­¡± He let out, frozen. ¡°Hey, Gramps!¡± Reno called out. Once the young girl had greeted the bear, who had a wheat straw sticking out from between its lips, he was beginning to piece together what was going on. This bear is¡­? Hold on¨Cis this a demi-human?! I thought they all looked kinda, more¡­human?! He realized. Chapter 65 To Be An Adventurer ¡°Hey, Gramps!¡± Reno called out. Once the young girl had greeted the bear, who had a wheat straw sticking out from between its lips, he was beginning to piece together what was going on. This bear is¡­? Hold on¨Cis this a demi-human?! I thought they all looked kinda, more¡­human?! He realized. The bipedal, human-clothed bear gave a pat to the girl¡¯s head, ¡°Staying safe out there? It¡¯s been getting rowdy around heretely¨C¡± While speaking, the bear demi-human stopped as he finally noticed the existence of the blonde-and-ck haired boy standing there like a statue. ¡°Who the hell are ya?¡± The bear asked. There was an obvious shift in tone as the ck-furred demi-human went from aforting tone straight to a bellowing, unweing voice as soon as he spoke to the young boy. ¡°I, err¡­¡± ¡°Huh? Spit it out!¡± The bear man stomped forward. A hot exhale propelled from the bear¡¯s nostrils, pelting against him in a rather unsavory smell. The build of the demi-human bear in front of him reminded him of the ¡°super bear¡± he encountered in the forest around Yullim, though there was obviously a big difference in the fact that this one could talk.. ¡°This is Emilio! He¡¯s an acquaintance of mine, Gramps Urming!¡± Reno stepped between them. ¡°An acquaintance?¡± Urming rxed, looking down at the young boy. The bear demi-human scratched his chin as he leaned down, inspecting him and sniffing a few times. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Urming grumbled. It was all too ufortable for him as he could only chuckle nervously and hope the towering bear didn¡¯t use the ws he had at his disposal. Suddenly, the expression of the bear shifted into a weing smile as heughed out, patting the young boy¡¯s shoulders, ¡°A friend of Little Reno¡¯s is a friend of this old bear! Come on in!¡± It was a jarring shift, but he was just d to not be dissolving in the bear¡¯s stomach acid as he nodded and smiled, following Reno and Urming inside of the establishment. To his surprise, it was a clean interior awaiting; the aroma of freshly baked dough immediately greeted his nose as he stepped inside, finding a velvet carpet sitting over the wooden floorboards. ¡°Wee to ¡®Urming¡¯s Fan-Fantastic Pies¡¯!¡± Urming said. Though it wasn¡¯t anything fancy, it was a far cry from the state of the slums just outside of its doorstep. It was well-maintained, kept clean, and the smell of piping hot bakery items was definitely enough to sell him. ¡°We¡¯ll have the ¡®Big Bear Special¡¯!¡± Reno said excitedly to the bear-man. Urming nodded, ¡°Oh! Comin¡¯ right up, then! Find yourself a seat and make yourself at home, Little Emilio!¡± With that said, the owner of the peculiar restaurant disappeared into the back where the aroma originated from. For a moment, he was surprised to find no other customers inside, but he did remember Reno saying something about it supposedly being closed. Guess she has ¡°V.I.P¡± ess, huh? He thought. He looked around before taking a seat, finding paintings on the wall of unknown sceneries: a pale forest illuminated by moonlight, a valley of crimson mountains, and a cityscape that seemed somewhat familiar. ¡°¨C¡± He looked. ¡°Whatcha eyein¡¯ over there?¡± Reno asked by his ear. ¡°¨C¡± He jumped, not hearing her sneak up on him. Renoughed, ¡°If you steal anything, Gramps Urming will gobble you up, ya know?¡± ¡°Thanks for the warning, but I wasn¡¯t thinking about that!¡± Though he was curious about the paintings, what caught his eye more than that were the sets of armor sitting around and the weapons hung on the walls in questionable abundance. He nced around at the plethora of equipment in the eastern sector of the restaurant, ¡°Is all of this needed for a ce where you serve food?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s because ¡°Urming¡¯s Fan-Fantastic Pies¡± isn¡¯t just a restaurant,¡± Reno told him. ¡°Huh?¡± He raised an eyebrow. ¡°It¡¯s two-stores-in-one! It¡¯s mostly a restaurant, but it also serves as an equipment store. Though a lot of this stuff is from people who tried to rob Gramps Urming¨Cso he robbed them instead!¡± Renoughed. That¡¯s totally scary and not aughing matter! He thought. After perusing the establishment for long enough, he finally sat down at one of the tables, sitting across from Reno who looked giddy at the prospect of one of Urming¡¯s pies. There was nothing to do now but wait. ¡°¡­You said Urming was your family, right?¡± He asked. Reno nodded, ¡°Well, not by blood, but he¡¯s taken care of me since I was little. He¡¯s always been there for me.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± He said, ¡°¡­He seems strong, so why didn¡¯t you just get him to help you out with this problem? With Oswell, I mean.¡± The question seemed to instantly dampen Reno¡¯s expression as the sparkle in her sapphire eyes dulled for a moment. ¡°¡­I can¡¯t involve him in this. It¡¯s my problem¨Cmy responsibility¡­¡± Reno said quietly, clenching her fists. ¡°Well, he cares about you, right? If he knew, I bet he¡¯d help you in a heartbeat,¡± he told her. Reno looked at him, ¡°No. I¡¯m not involving Gramps in this. This is my problem¡­¡± ¡°And mine now,¡± he said with a cheeky smile. The girl didn¡¯t look exactly pleased with his response, but even more displeased that it was the truth before she sighed out. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do it, you know?¡­I¡¯m in your debt, not the other way around. I stole from you, and I almost killed you, so why¨C¡± He shrugged with a smile, ¡°I want to be an adventurer.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that have to do with this¡­?¡± She asked. To him, the answer was fairly simple and a concept he had been holding within himself for some years now¨Cespecially since that one encounter that stuck out to him: The ¡°Red-Haired Adventurer¡±¡­He just seemed so ¡°free¡±; he was smiling andughing, kind and glowing. In a way, a man like that is the antithesis of who ¡°Ethan Bellrose¡± was¨Ca boy imprisoned in his own room¡­no, imprisoned in his own skin, he thought. He looked towards one of the scenic paintings before responding, ¡°¡­These types of things are exactly what adventurers find themself meddling in all the time, right? Getting into new, dangerous, but exciting situations¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, but that¡¯s usually for a boatload of coins,¡± Reno replied, looking at him curiously. ¡°It doesn¡¯t make a difference to me. I want to see the world for everything it is, for all that it has to offer; beautiful and ugly, but more than that¡­I don¡¯t want anybody else to experience that,¡± he said. ¡°¡®That¡¯?¡± Reno repeated. ¡°Being taken away, held by grimy, scum-of-the-world men like that with the idea of being sold off,¡± he answered, ¡°It¡¯s just the worst. As simple as that.¡± Chapter 66 The Boss of All Pies ¡°Being taken away, held by grimy, scum-of-the-world men like that with the idea of being sold off,¡± he answered, ¡°It¡¯s just the worst. As simple as that.¡± It was clear that there was something inside of the young boy that spoke of firsthand experience, but Reno chose not to pry as she parted her lips quietly, stopping herself from emitting a word. ¡°I understand how you feel though,¡± he replied with a smile. ¡°¨C¡± Reno looked at him. ¡°You¡¯re afraid of Urming getting hurt, aren¡¯t you? I have a family that I care about, too,¡± he told her, ¡°¨CThough, my old man definitely doesn¡¯t need me worrying about him.¡± Reno nodded slowly, ¡°¡­Gramps Urming has done a lot for me¨CI can¡¯t cause trouble for him. I don¡¯t want to. He loves this ce, ya know? It¡¯s his pride and joy.¡± ¡°Is it?¡± He questioned. ¡°You¡¯ll see,¡± Reno smiled again. Amidst the wait for the ¡°Big Bear Special¡±, an alluring aroma billowed from the kitchen, filling the dining area with the pleasant, sweet-and-savory fragrance. ¡°¨C¡° Both of their stomachs ended up growling in response to this aroma, prompting him to shyly cover his stomach, but Reno justughed out.. ¡°Ya know, people around here say Gramps Urming has a special spell on his pies that can make stomachs talk!¡± Renoughed. ¡°¡­I¡¯m starting to believe that¡¯s true,¡± he chuckled. It wasn¡¯t long after that the ck-furred, bipedal bear stomped out, carrying with him a tray with a massive dome of steaming dough on top of it. ¡°¡­Woah¡­¡± He let out quietly. For a moment, he didn¡¯t even realize it was a pie as its size was so out of the ordinary, but it was undoubtedly a pie as through the veil of steam, the perfectly cooked, golden crust of the pie could be seen. ¡°One ¡®Big Bear Special¡¯in¡¯ on up!¡± Urming announced. The sparkle in Reno¡¯s eyes was not unlike that of a child on Christmas morning as she giddily watched as the towering bear ced the massive pie down on the table. Meanwhile, he watched in silent awe and horror at the meal that was just set down on the table. The pie itself was heavy enough to where the table squeaked beneath its weight. If that wasn¡¯t enough, the amount of steam exuding from the specially-crafted dome of pastry was enough to make him sweat. ¡°This is¡­¡± He gulped, ¡°¡­A lot.¡± Urmingughed out mightily, ¡°Hah! Why do ya think it¡¯s called the ¡®Big Bear Special¡¯?¡± ¡°Why?¡± He asked. ¡°It¡¯s the amount of pie it takes to fill this old bear up!¡± Urmingughed, pping his own stomach. Though it was almost too much to believe that the pie asrge as the table itself was something of the norm for the restaurant owner, it wasn¡¯t difficult to buy after another look at the towering bear. ¡°¡­You eat this much? Is that even possible?¡± He asked. Renoughed, ¡°Are ya scared or something? Not up for the challenge?¡± He nced up, ¡°I didn¡¯t say that.¡± It was still exuding enough steam to be inedible for another few minutes, which was a scary idea since it was likely a lethal amount of heat if one wound up inside of that pie. ¡°How much is this, anyway?¡± He asked. Urming scratched his chin, ¡°Depends.¡± ¡°Depends?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Urming nodded, ¡°If you can finish it all in one sitting, then it¡¯s free of charge! I won¡¯t charge ya a single copper for it!¡± That was an alluring idea¨Cgetting all of this pie for free, but he knew better than to think that was possible. Yeah, right. I had a little bit to eat, but even if I was totally starved, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d manage this. And Reno is a small girl¨Cshe¡¯s lighter than me! I doubt we¡¯d even get through a tenth of this, he thought. ¡°¡­Well, what¡¯s the price if you can¡¯t finish it?¡± He asked. ¡°Oh,¡± Urming said, holding up three fingers of his paw, ¡°Three thrones!¡± ¡°Three thrones?!¡± He let out. Urmingughed out, ¡°What? Little Reno didn¡¯t tell ya?¡± He realized now that this waspletely on purpose, since he was the one who offered to pay for a meal, the girl tookplete advantage of that offer. Dammit, that little¡­whatever¡­It stings, but it¡¯s not a big deal, he thought. ¡°He-he,¡± Reno chuckled. Urming left a pat on each of their backs, ¡°Well, I¡¯ll leave ya to it, then! Best of luck to ya both!¡± Just like that, he was left with a monstrous mountain of pie in front of him. In his hands, he held a fork and a knife, gulping as he prepared himself for the challenge. ¡°¡­Have you done this before?¡± He asked. Reno thought about it for a moment before nodding, ¡°Yeah! A few times! Usually Gramps Urming has a lot of ingredients left at the end of each day, so he¡¯ll throw together something like this!¡± The way the girl spoke of the bear¡¯s homemade pies sounded as if they were forged from the culinary graces of Heaven, but he was still intimidated by the size of it. ¡°Alright, next question¡­Have you ever finished it?¡± He asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Nope,¡± Reno answered quickly. ¡°Thought so¡­¡± He sighed. Though he was mostly bummed about practically all but guaranteed to lose three thrones, the palpable excitement oozing from the girl was enough to dissuade his pessimistic side. After a couple minutes of letting it cool down to some degree, it was time to dig in. ¡°¡­Thanks for the meal¡­¡± He mumbled wryly like ast prayer. As he gulped in preparation, he cut into a portion of the grand pie to section off onto his te. The moment he cut into it, delving the knife into the crispy, but tender crust of a goldenplexion, a newyer of steam exuded, though it was inteced with the savory aroma even further. ¡°¨C¡° He didn¡¯t know beforehand what was actually inside of the pie itself, but now that he saw its interior¨Che had to stop himself from drooling. There was some sort of creamy gravy flowing inside, caressing a variety of fresh meats and vegetables that resembled a grandiose stew. Holy crap! This looks amazing! He thought. Reno was already digging in; eating without any semnce of table etiquette as she shoveled spoonfuls of the meat-filled pie into her mouth. ¡°Hurfy op! Gef it while iz hot!¡± ¨CIt was a bit hard to decipher what the girl was saying as she talked with a mouthful of pie, but he understood the sentiment and finally took the plunge. The moment he allowed the spoonful into his mouth, his taste buds thanked him from the bottom of their heart. ¡°¨C!¡± Instantly, a warmth flooded his body as if he was cozied up by a campfire at him, snuggled into a nket. That¡¯s what the pie instantly felt like as itid on his tongue. While it was still hot enough to burn his tongue just slightly, the taste bypassed all of that as he quickly began shoveling more of it into his mouth. ¡­This stuff is amazing! He thought. Though that joy for the well-made pie died down after enough bites. Chapter 67 Eve of The Meeting ¡°Ugh¡­¡± He groaned. ¡°¡­I¡¯m out,¡± Reno gave up. There was roughly one-fifth of the pie consumed, as it was far too much of a tall task for the two youths. ¡°Ba-ha-ha! Got a long way to go, don¡¯t ya?¡± Urmingughed. ¡°¡­Yeah, yeah,¡± he quietly mumbled. Retrieving three thrones from his pouch of coins, he paid up for failing the seemingly impossible task, to which the bear continuedughing boisterously as he took the leftovers away and cleaned the dishes off. ¡°¨C¡° He sat at the table for a solid few minutes, noticing the sun beginning to set outside of the narrow windows. ¡°¡­We should head out,¡± Reno told him. Though he didn¡¯t know why at first, he quickly figured out why she wanted to leave: it was the meeting with Oswell, and the fact she probably didn¡¯t want that dangerous man having toe here to cause trouble for Urming. ¡°Alright,¡± he said. As they left the establishment, with Urming trying to send them off with leftovers, though he declined, the sky was now a warm hue of orange as the sun retreated further. ¡°What¡¯s the n?¡± He asked. They stood under the yellow-leaved tree just to the side of the restaurant; Reno was leaning against the trunk of the cedar, looking as if she was gued with a few thoughts of her own.. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know,¡± Reno replied quietly. ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t, okay?¡­I wasn¡¯t nning on fighting this guy! I told ya before, didn¡¯t I? Oswell is dangerous¡­¡± Reno told him. ¡°What¡¯s your n, then? Tuck your tail between your legs and run?¡± He asked. ¡°¨C¡± Reno was quiet. ¡°We both know that isn¡¯t going to work. You wouldn¡¯t leave Urming, either. What was the n, Reno?¡± He asked again. The girl seemed devoid of answers as she shook her head, clenching her fists, ¡°¡­The n was to use that money of yours! Ya know that!¡­Ya should stay out of this. Forget ying the hero.¡± Amidst the setting sun, it was clear that doubt was swirling in the head of the sapphire-haired, slum-dwelling girl, though he didn¡¯t me her. It¡¯s scary. I know that myself, he thought. ¡°I¡¯m not ying the hero. This is an equivalent exchange,¡± he told her. ¡°Yer still going on about that?¡± ¡°I am. Besides, this is for my own benefit, too,¡± he said. It was clear that beating around the bush wasn¡¯t going to convince the girl that was hardened by her own experiences, so he came forward with it: ¡°I was kidnapped before¨CI got knocked out and taken away; they beat me, berated me, tormented me¡­¡± As he came forward with his own experience, Reno¡¯s expression shifted as she clearly felt some sort of inner guilt for judging him beforehand¨Cthere was a soft glint in her eyes as she looked at the young boy now. ¡°They were nning on selling me. But, through some luck and recklessness, I made it out¨Csomehow. I just don¡¯t want anybody else to go through that. And¡­I don¡¯t want to go through it again, either. If I can put a stop to it, even just a small part of it in this city, I¡¯m more than willing to do so,¡± he told her. ¡°Emilio¡­¡± Reno said quietly in surprise. With the truth spelled outpletely from him, he extended his hand to the girl, who looked at it for a moment before epting it¨Cshaking it as they sealed their partnership for this goal. ¡°Let¡¯s take Oswell down,¡± he told her. ¡°Yeah,¡± Reno nodded. ¨C Cementing their mission, the two set out now with him on his utmost guard, ready for anything as night inched closer. ¡°Where were you going to meet him?¡± He asked. Reno was silent for a moment before answering, ¡°¡­Where we¡¯re heading right now: my home.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± He nodded. For some reason, he hade to believe that Urming¡¯s half-restaurant half-shop was the girl¡¯s home, but that didn¡¯t seem to be the case as he now followed her curiously through the dull slums. ¡°No offense, but it¡¯s kind of hard to believe this is still ¡®Elsia¡¯¨Cfeels like a whole different world,¡± he noted, looking around. There were crooked trees around, unmaintained and left to wither away without proper nutrients or care. ¡°No offense taken,¡± Reno replied, ¡°¨CIt is different. ¡°They¡¯ve¡± just left us in the slums to rot away.¡± ¡°¡®They¡¯?¡± He asked. ¡°The council,¡± Reno told him, ¡°Each city has one, but Elsia drew the short end of the stick¡­Those greedy low-lifes keep taking away more and more from the slums, all to line their own pockets.¡± ¡°I can see why you¡¯re nning to leave, then,¡± he said. ¡°Yeah,¡± Reno nodded, ¡°I¡¯ll save up enough and rebuild Gramps¡¯ restaurant in a better ce.¡± A goal like that, sitting between childlike and genuinely earnest, made him smile as he followed the girl down the dirt-paved road. After enough time, his unease and fear of the slums had shifted into something different, once venturing into its depths alongside the inhabitant of the area that he befriended. Seeing the people there, they weren¡¯t violent or rude, but just simply there¨Clike objects blending in with the scenery; devoid of life or ambition. Though they watched him, nobody said a word. There was a ¡°let sleeping dogs lie¡± mindset around the sector, it seemed. It¡¯s sad, he thought. There was a depressing atmosphere that clung needily to the slums; a thin air that suffocated dreams. Yet somehow, there was still so much life held in those sapphire eyes of the girl; she walked as if she always had somewhere to be, with greater things on her mind and even vaster dreams than the day before. He couldn¡¯t help but just focus on Reno herself; amidst the slums, she stood out like a beacon of light, not engulfed by the tide of stagnation that had swallowed up the rest of the inhabitants. ¡°It¡¯s just around here,¡± she said, gesturing for him to follow. With a nod, he followed her around the corner. Though Reno had stopped as if they reached their destination, he was left confused as there wasn¡¯t any sort of house to be seen in the small clearing of lifeless road. ¡°¡­Why¡¯re we stopping?¡± He asked, looking around. Reno looked at him with a raised eyebrow, ¡°Huh? We¡¯re here. This is where I live.¡± It fell from his sight at first, but he realized what the abode was that Reno was alluding to: it was a small shack, if it could be called that. A bundle of propped-together wood, kept held together by mix-colored rags that tied together the wood for some sort of unstable foundation. It was norger than a single room, fitting nothing more than a bed with little leg space. ¡°I see,¡± he said quietly. Reno put her hands on her sides, ¡°Well, not everybody lives in a high-and-mighty castle like you, Mr. Noble.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not¨C¡± Though he wanted to reject her words, he truly had no ce to counter as Reno¡¯s words were true enough, even if only slightly false. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Reno huffed, ¡°I¡¯m not staying here for long, anyway! I¡¯ll be out of this ce soon enough!¡± ¡°I know,¡± he smiled. Reno seemed taken aback by his support of her words as her cheeks had just the slightest pinkness to them for a moment before she looked the other way, sitting down on her frameless mattress, ¡°¡­Whatever.¡± ¡°You¡¯re meeting Oswell here tonight, right?¡± He asked, sitting beside her. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right,¡± Reno nodded, ¡°I already told ya that, didn¡¯t I?¡± ¡°Well¡­I was just thinking¨Ca fight with him might not be a great idea around here,¡± he noted. As he said so, he looked around at the quiet houses that neighbored the clearing that the girl¡¯s shack inhabited. ¡°I told ya! Fighting this guy is a bad idea,¡± Reno said, ¡°Having doubts now?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I said,¡± he corrected her, ¡°I said fighting him here isn¡¯t a great idea.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t getcha,¡± Reno looked at him nkly. It was clear she wasn¡¯t catching on to what he meant, so he tried to exin it in the most efficient way possible. He scratched his head, ¡°Well, I fight with magic¡­and my magic can be pretty destructive to the things around me¨Cespecially if I¡¯m fighting somebody as skilled as this Oswell guy¨CI won¡¯t have the chance to try and leave this area unscathed.¡± ¡°What¡¯re ya saying?¡± Reno asked. ¡°I¡¯m saying your home is going to get destroyed in a fight,¡± he told her. ¡°Oh, that? I don¡¯t care! This hunk of junk means nothing to me!¡± Reno told him with augh. Though the girl didn¡¯t mind, he was annoyed since this was actually just an excuse he was trying to forge for another n of his, but he decided to just be forward with it. ¡°Reno,¡± he said. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°I have an idea. One that you¡¯re probably going to hit me for suggesting,¡± he told her while looking her straight in the eyes. The sapphire-eyed girl gulped, ¡°What is it?¡± Chapter 68 The Plan Commences ¡°I have an idea. One that you¡¯re probably going to hit me for suggesting,¡± he told her while looking her straight in the eyes. The sapphire-eyed girl gulped, ¡°What is it?¡± There had been a clear discrepancy in their n, if it could be called that, which he had only noticed earlier. The idea is to stop Oswell¡¯s trafficking, but how¡¯s that going to happen if we¡¯re just waiting out here to beat him down? Can we really trust that he¡¯s going to lead us back to his operation, and not right into some sort of ambush? Or just run away? He thought. As he looked at the girl, he gave it to her straight, ¡°I need you to get taken away by Oswell.¡± ¡°Huh¡­?¡± Reno looked at him. ¡°¨C¡± He was quiet. Reno squinted at him, ¡°Ya were right. I do kinda want to punch you right now.¡± ¡°I know you don¡¯t like it,¡± he said. ¡°Oh, ya think?¡± Reno replied sarcastically. ¡°You want to make sure there are no more abductions, right?¡± He asked, ¡°You don¡¯t want to live in fear of this guy snooping around selling kids, don¡¯t you?¡± This question definitely hit the girl deep as she fell quiet with her lips parted, only able to nod as she was silent for a moment. Above them, the sun was beginning to fully set, nearing the veil of night soon enough.. ¡°I do¨Cof course I do! That¡¯s the whole n! Why do I have to be taken away for that, though?!¡± Reno asked. ¡°How do you think we¡¯re going to find his base?¡± He asked. ¡°Beat it outta him,¡± Reno said. ¡°No.¡± ¡°No?¡± Reno repeated. He shook his head, ¡°People like Oswell are the worst-of-the-worst. If there¡¯s even the slimmest chance they can hold onto their riches, they¡¯ll take it. He probably has friends in this city¨Cpeople he¡¯ll lead us right into if we give him the opportunity.¡± It seemed the girl was starting to catch on as she squinted at him for a moment before looking forward, folding her arms over her chest. ¡°¡­So, ya want him to take me to this ce so you can ambush it yourself?¡± She asked. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s pretty much it¡­I know it isn¡¯t pleasant, and pretty scary, but¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± Reno interrupted him. ¡°Huh? Really?¡± He looked at her in surprise. Reno held a small, but resolved smirk, ¡°¡­This¡¯ll bring that guy down, won¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he nodded. ¡°Plus¡­he¡¯s surely got boatloads of money at this base, doesn¡¯t he?¡± Reno said. ¨CJust then, he figured out quite arge motivator for the girl: money. Though he was relieved she found something to motivate herself for this task. ¡°Alright¡­¡± He said, ¡°I¡¯ll keep myself hidden and trail behind so just¡­¡± ¡°y my part?¡± Reno asked. ¡°y your part,¡± he nodded. ¨C It was a n that he hated himself for having toe up with, but it was the best shot at bringing down the terrible, underworld establishment that Oswell was running. As night came and the shining stars shined down from the sky, he had already hidden himself around the corner, watching from behind a shrub while Reno sat in her shack. Please¡­Please, let this go right, he wished. Soon enough, footsteps were audible, approaching the shack as he watched from his hidden position. It was him. The darkly-dressed adventurer, wearing his jet-ck goatee and his shaggy, ck hair that had a streak of gray through the middle, formed from his years into adulthood. Oswell¡­He thought. Seeing him again, there was an anger that bubbled up inside of him just from the sight of the main, but heposed himself, watching the corrupt adventurer approach the shack with a sleazy smile. One way or another, that man was sure he was getting his money¨Cwhether it was direct payment or otherwise. ¡°You¡¯d better have my payment in there, Reno,¡± Oswell said, announcing his arrival. The man knelt down in front of the dingy shack, poking the structure that looked hardly stable enough to fight a calm breeze. ¡°You¡¯re in there, right?¡± Oswell asked. Just as the man brushed the tattered curtains that served as a door to the side with his ck glove, the girl popped out. ¡°¨CI¡¯m here¡­¡± Reno said. ¡°Yes you are,¡± Oswell said with a sleazy smile, returning to his feet, ¡°¨CThe question is: is your payment here, too?¡± Of course, that question wasn¡¯t met with a satisfactory answer from the young, slum-dwelling girl as she began to sweat, averting her gaze, ¡°¡­No.¡± It was spoken quietly enough that the middle-aged man dressed in an expensive, ck-and-silver coat didn¡¯t catch it as he leaned closer. ¡°What was that? I didn¡¯t quite catch that,¡± Oswell asked. ¡°I said I don¡¯t have the money¡­!¡± Reno told him. Oswell¡¯s expression contorted into one devoid of any benevolence, ¡°Oh. That¡¯s too bad, then. You do remember what our deal was, right?¡± ¡°¨C¡± Reno looked down. Though this was obviously a negative thing, Oswell didn¡¯t seem angered by the girl¡¯sck of coins, in fact, he seemed d to have a reason to take her away. ¡°You know what happens now, don¡¯t you?¡± Oswell asked. ¡°Yeah,¡± Reno mumbled. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Oswell looked down at the girl. Oswell nced around, forcing the boy hiding in the bush to duck down away from the man¡¯s spective gaze. The man with salt-and-pepper hair seemed suspicious as he nced around, checking around the girl¡¯s shack before he stared down at the sapphire-eyed thief, ¡°¡­You¡¯re not nning anything stupid, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°¨C¡± Reno kept quiet. ¡°Those low-life thugs you were hanging around surely got the message before,¡± Oswell said, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t do something idiotic like trying to ambush me, right?¡± There was something dreadful about the way the man inspected the situation, seeming to sniff out trouble in the air. Reno slowly shook her head, noticeably trembling in the presence of the corrupt adventurer. ¡°Well then. It¡¯s time to go for a walk, then,¡± Oswell said. ¡°I¨C¡± As Reno looked up to try and say something, the man struck her behind the head with his balled fist, hitting her hard enough for the girl to instantly lose consciousness. ¡°¨C!¡± He immediately moved, having to stop himself from yelling and jumping out from his spot of hiding after witnessing the ruthless act. Control yourself, idiot¡­! He told himself. A bundle of rope was taken out from a pouch attached to the man¡¯s belt, used to bind the girl before he also bound her mouth with more string. Oswell seemed to have heard the brief, infinitesimal rustling of the bush as the man nced around with his dark, unflinching eyes before lifting the unconscious girl up and hoisting her over his shoulder. As the man took his leave from the area with the girl slung over his shoulder, he quietly tiptoed away from his spot in the bushes, beginning to follow behind the man from a safe distance. ¡­This is such a risky n! I really didn¡¯t give this much thought, did I? He thought. Chapter 69 Sneaky Sneak As the man took his leave from the area with the girl slung over his shoulder, he quietly tiptoed away from his spot in the bushes, beginning to follow behind the man from a safe distance. ¡­This is such a risky n! I really didn¡¯t give this much thought, did I? He thought. While trailing behind the scruffy-bearded man, he listened in as Oswell talked to himself, or rather, spoke to the unconscious girl who couldn¡¯t hear him. ¡°Guess it doesn¡¯t hurt to say it now, but it was always going to go down like this¨Cpayment or no payment,¡± Oswell said with a smile, ¡°I have a quota to fill. My customers are pretty impatient, you know? Those coins were just the cherry on top.¡± It was disgusting to hear, but it hardly surprised the boy as he listened in from several meters behind, keeping himself tucked near the walls, slowly moving every so often. After turning enough corners while doing his best to stay as silent as possible, he wound up following the man into a quiet, empty area inhabited only by a singr,rge building made out of decrepit wood. It was near one of the gates leading out of the city, around the outskirts of Elsia itself with a few carriages parked and a couple men standing outside on watch. ¡­There¡¯s more people? I kind of expected it, but I was hoping there wouldn¡¯t be¡­He thought.. ¡°Yo, Boss!¡± Greeting Oswell was a tubby, but burly man with a bald head and a blonde mustache, bearing tattooed arms and a sword at his hip. ¡°We coulda snatched this one up for ya, ya know?¡± In addition, the man with a long face reminiscent of a horse spoke up; he was a lot morenky, wearing a bandana with his stringy, ck hair reaching down his back. Oswell walked past them, patting the unconscious girl on the back as he smiled, ¡°It wasn¡¯t like it was a difficult job. You can get away with anything in these slums¨Cit¡¯s fantastic. The people here have no reason to go yelling to the guards, and if they do, a little bit of coin will always change those guards¡¯ minds.¡± ¡°Heh! As ruthless as ever, Boss!¡± The burly criminal said. ¡°ce her with the others,¡± Oswell said, handing Reno off to therge man. The burly man held the unconscious girl, nodding his head as he looked at the middle-aged, corrupt adventurer, ¡°What about you, Boss?¡± Oswell rubbed his beard, ¡°I¡¯ve got to prepare for our buyer. He¡¯s arriving tonight. I¡¯ll be paying a visit to some of our ¡®friends¡¯ in the guard unit. Let them know some business will be conducted under this beautiful night.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right¨Che¡¯s a big shot, ain¡¯t he?¡± The horse-faced man asked. ¡°He might as well be a walking bag of coins,¡± Oswell said, ¡°Lord Nerus is our most important customer. It¡¯s important that we make sure he¡¯s happy¨Cdo you understand? Make sure our ¡®items¡¯ are all ready to be disyed. I mean washed up, dressed, and obedient. It doesn¡¯t matter if you have to put a few bruises on them to get them there¨Cour buyer doesn¡¯t mind such blemishes.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± both men said in unison, heading inside the deste building. It was a disgusting conversation he eavesdropped on, but he maintained himself as he hid behind a parked wagon, ducking down just as Oswell nced back. ¡­How do I get in without getting noticed? He questioned. Originally, the n was just to detain Oswell after finding his way to his hideout, then free those who were being held captive, but with the prospect of aplices to Oswell in the picture, it was seeming more difficult than he imagined. I expected this¨Cso act like it, Emilio, he told himself. After peeking by the wagon, which was filled with what smelled like foul menuer, he watched as Oswell disappeared around the corner from the hideout. Making sure there was nobody that could see him, he quietly paced over to the side of the building, sticking close to it as he began scouting it out. Come on, there¡¯s got to be a different way in, right? He thought. While trying to find a secretive way in, he stumbled upon a hole that was formed in the exterior of the structure. ¡°¨C¡° It was quite arge hideout; the building was massive, but what surprised him was what he saw when peeking through the small hole in the wall. There wasn¡¯t anything out of the ordinary inside of the building itself¨Cin fact, it was mostly empty, aside from something that caught his eye: the burly man tasked with taking Reno away kicked a dingy rug that was on the floor, revealing a hatch. ¡°Open that for me, will ya?¡± The burly criminal grumbled. The horse-faced man with the bandana huffed and scratched his chin, ¡°Fine, fine.¡± Getting up from his seat, the bandana-wearing criminal had a set of jingling keys attached to his belt, which he used to unlock the suspicious hatch. It was a heavy, sturdy door which was pulled up with some struggle by the man, revealing a stairwell that therge man began to descend with Reno in his arms. ¡°Lock it behind me,¡± therge man said. ¡°It ain¡¯t my first day on the job, Leebo,¡± the horse-faced man sighed, ¡°Our Boss is a real damn paranoid man¨Cis this really necessary?¡± ¡°Just do it,¡± Leebo said, ¡°He¡¯ll gut ya if ya don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, funny.¡± ¡°Not joking.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± the horse-faced man replied. It was an odd conversation he was listening in on, but it gave him priceless information before he watched the bandana-wearing hideout guard close the hatch after the burly-man named Leebo descended down its enigmatic depths, locking it up and recing the rug. It¡¯s down there, isn¡¯t it¡­? Everybody they¡¯ve abducted? Sickening¡­I can¡¯t stop shaking, he thought. Though the situation felt dreadful, there was a clear advantage opened to him¨Ca window of opportunity that he had to seize, and one that was only open for a small amount of time. ¡­He¡¯s alone now. He¡¯s got the keys¨CI can do this. Oswell is away for now¨Cif I can avoid fighting him and get everybody out¡­I could call for the guards¨Cno, you know that won¡¯t work, idiot. He¡¯s got them on payroll. Maybe Vandread?¡­No, too far. I don¡¯t even know my way back. He might not even be willing to help, he thought. Whatever thoughts raced through his head, he came to the same conclusion: he needed to take out the man with the keys¨Cespecially while he was unknown. Chapter 70 The Depths of Depravity Whatever thoughts raced through his head, he came to the same conclusion: he needed to take out the man with the keys¨Cespecially while he was online. With that in mind, he didn¡¯t discard the idea of finding an alternate entrance, looking up to find an empty window sitting high above his head. Quietly now¡­He told himself. Wielding his staff, he focused as he silently manifested a slow protrusion of stone from beneath his feet, lifting himself up as he allowed it to rise at a crawl, making sure to keep as silent as possible. Once the tower of stone brought him up to the window, he crawled through it, now looming right above the key-bearing man, who was nodding off in his seat. If he could avoid killing, he would choose that. The same went for a spell-flinging battle, as he knew just how much noise it would attract. Thest thing I want to do is find myself surrounded¡­especially by Oswell, if he¡¯s as strong as Reno said he is, he thought. ¡°¨C¡°. He jumped down without any second thoughts, opting not to use a spell nor his sword, instead using just his staff. BONK. With the force gathered by his leap downward, he whacked the bandana-wearing man on the head with a downward strike, using his spell-conjuring catalyst as a blunt weapon. There was a clear cracking sound as the hulk of his wooden staff mmed against the skull of the man below; which, while he intended for a good impact, was definitely not a sound he was prepared for. ¡°Ghhh¡­¡± The man slobbered as he slumped over, falling from his chair and onto the ground¨Csnoring without putting up any sort of fight. For a moment, he stood there in surprise of how well his stupid ¡®n¡¯ worked, but was thankful it did as he used his staff the proper way this time, invoking stone magic as he created bindings of stone around the knocked-out man¡¯s body. Sorry, Celly¡­that definitely was not how you taught me, he thought. It was eerily empty inside of the building¨Caside from dusty crates and vases of what looked to either be alcohol or oil¨Cor both, which made it seem like they were definitely aiming to be as low profile as possible. As he retrieved the set of keys from the unconscious man¡¯s belt, he quietly moved forward before pulling the rug to the side, unveiling the secret hatch that he caught a glimpse of prior. ¡°¨C¡± He looked down at it. Seeing the thick, metal passageway below, it was definitely an uneasy sight as he could only specte what sort of sight was hidden below the sealed hatch. ¡­I¡¯m sorry, Reno. If I would¡¯ve known it was like this, I wouldn¡¯t have even suggested this. You knew¡­yet you agreed to it anyway. I won¡¯t let you down, he thought. As he found the correct key to fit the lock, he gulped as he slid it in, turning the key as a click resounded against his ears. Though, what came next was the hard part. Alright¡­How am I going to get this thing open? He thought. It took the behemoth of a man from earlier to lift the metal floor-door open, and he was, being generous, one-fifth of that man¡¯s size. He grabbed onto the handles to the hatch, pulling up with all of his strength as he clenched his teeth. It felt like his arms were going to tear off just from attempting to ce his strength against the door¡¯s weight. ¡°Ghh-!¡± Through his all-out struggle with deadlift what felt like a ton, he only managed to lift it mere perhaps an inch, at most. He tried harder as hisplexion reddened, but all he did was nearly pass out as he stumbled backward, unable to open the heavy hatch. ¡°¨C¡± He breathed heavily. What the hell?! It¡¯s so heavy! Or am I just that weak¡­? Either way, this isn¡¯t going to work¨Cnot the usual way, anyway, he thought. The problem came with finding an alternative way to open the hatch that was too heavy for the likes of his body, but out-of-the-box thinking happened to be his strong suit, or at least, that¡¯s what he liked to think. As he inspected the hatch for a moment, putting his hand to his chin, he nodded to himself, ¡°¡­Alright, this might work¡­¡± It was definitely a bit unorthodox, but unorthodox was the path of the mage; he pointed his staff down towards the hatch handles, invoking a maniption of stone from the surrounding ground. This conjuration of stone came in the form of limbs of rock that curved around the handles, gripping them before extending upward and using the strength of rock to begin hoisting the thick, secretive door up. ¡°Yes¡­!¡± He let out in excitement and somewhat surprise that this worked. It was something he¡¯d never tried before, but its sess was greatly wee in this time of need. There was a certain difficulty that came with manipting rock in such specific, small ways, so it was one of his lesser affinities, but still more than capable. Though opening the hatch was only the first step, or perhaps even ¡°step zero¡± as he stared down the dark, decrepit stairwell that awaited him. ¡°¨C¡± He gulped. He stepped into the secret staircase, which was forged of weathered stone and surrounded by mmy walls that stunk of grime and mold. It¡¯s dark¡­He thought. As he brought his shirt over his nose while descending the stairs quietly, he could see a small amount of light awaiting the bottom of the steps. There was a level ofplete unease that clung to his body. I talked a big game before, but this is the real deal. It¡¯s easy to say you¡¯ll do this or do that, but in the face of real, life-threatening danger¡­It¡¯s something else. These people are evil. They¡¯re not afraid to do anything¡ªeven killing a kid like me. I have to be prepared to defend myself, even if it means less ¡°gentle¡± means¡­He thought. As he reached the bottom, listening only to the infrequent sounds of scraping that came from deep within the secret hideout, he reached a maze-like hallway. Abyrinth¡­? You have to be kidding me¡­He thought. There were a few torches spread out on some walls, but it provided only dim lighting to the grimy environment around him. As he began to slowly walk by, he found that there was blood stained onto both the walls and floors, with chains and cuffs anchored to these walls as well. Even though there were cells, it seemed there were other uses for this hideout. ¡­What did I get myself into? What did I get Reno into¡­? He thought. Chapter 71 An Enigma In The Cell He kept his shirt over his mouth and noise as to not breath in the miasmic air that hung in the stale air, slowly making his way down the hall. Rattle. ¡°¨C!¡± Nearly jumping out of his skin, he was startled as his boot kicked into something by ident¨Clooking down to find bones justying in the corridor. Such a sight made his stomach drop as a cold shiver ran throughout his body. It was beginning to seem like much more than he narrowly imagined. ¡­Is this ce really just a ce where they abduct and sell people? That¡¯s bad enough, really¨Cbut what¡¯s the deal with there being skeletons around here?!¡­What the hell is this ce?! What¡¯s wrong with this world¨C!? He questioned. That¡¯s when he began to realize that he was only aware of the ¡°child trafficking¡± side of this criminal hideout, not considering the possibility that this fell under a more general description: a hideout for criminals in general¨Cnot just one facet of crime, but abduction, murder, thievery¨Cit was like all of those. It was something beyond what he experienced before with Rubert and the others; there were bodies dposing in the cells he walked by, some strung up by chains, carved up, burned, and being fed on by vermin. Keep it together, Emilio. You¡¯re here for a reason. Reno is here. You came here to help, didn¡¯t you? You know what it¡¯s like, right?¡­But, at the end of the day, I¡¯m just a kid, right? So¡­shouldn¡¯t I leave this to adults? Wait, no¡­! Stop it, he thought.. He couldn¡¯t help but tremble as he clutched his staff close to his body, slowly walking as he felt the air swirling around him like the paranormal. It was too quiet; such a realization made him more uneasy than anything as the absence of sound made him unaware of what he should be ready for. Most of the cells seemed to inhabit either dead prisoners or people who looked close to it, or at least hoping they would die already. These people didn¡¯t even ask him for help, and most didn¡¯t even look at him. They were sacks of skin and bone, malnourished and already dposing despite being alive¨Cthere was no fire in their eyes, no ambition for life¨Cthey looked already past the threshold of death, simply waiting for their physical bodies to catch up. ¡°¨C¡± He breathed heavily. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Inside of his chest, his heart thumped wildly, filling his ears with its percussion as he soon found himself at another staircase, leading even further downward. There¡¯s multiple levels¡­? He thought. It definitely didn¡¯t seem like Reno wasn¡¯t on this floor, as he didn¡¯t hear the burly man responsible for imprisoning her on that floor. In fact, he didn¡¯t notice any children imprisoned on the current floor¨Conly adults. As he gathered himself the best he could, he descended to the next floor of the abhorrent hideout as his instincts red up for him to leave, but he pushed on anyway. ¡­If ites to it, I¡¯ll just find Reno and get out of here. I¡¯lle back with Vandread¡­yeah, that¡¯ll work, right? Right? He questioned. Finding himself on the next floor, it was noticeably darker, withnterns being few and far between now. He was hesitant to conjure his own light as he didn¡¯t want to draw attention to himself, but the thought of aimlessly exploring the horrific setting was enough to deter that thought. ¡°¨C¡° He conjured a small orb of me at the end of his staff, using it as a source of light as he began exploring thebyrinth of depravity. It was more of the same from the initial floor: bones, lifeless prisoners, more vermin. As he was passing by a cell, he nearly had his heart burst from his chest¨C ¡°Hey, boy.¡± The voice came so unexpectedly that he¡¯d thought his blood turned to ice in his veins. It was a surprisingly smooth voice, though there was a certain yfulness to it despite the atmosphere. As he slowly looked to the left, he looked into the grimy cell where the voice originated from, finding the one who called him. It was a man with skin as pale as snow; it was aplexion that bordered inhuman with how white it was. He had wavy, bright-orange hair that seemed only possible to have such a style by being gelled, but it was natural by the looks of it. ¡°Hello there! You aren¡¯t one of them, are you? Would you do me a kind favor and let me out? Pretty please?¡± With hisplexion, hair, and scarlet eyes paired with an odd smile, entuated by his alluring style of speaking, the man resembled a clown. ¡°¨C¡± He was still frozen. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m a friend,¡± the man said. As if supporting this idea, the pale-skinned man, dressed only in ragged, dark-blue breeches, raised his wrists, revealing the cuffs that bound him to the wall. ¡°See? I¡¯m not one of those monsters,¡± the peculiar man told him, ¡°I¡¯m a friend.¡± Though every part of him felt as if somebody iming to be a ¡°friend¡¯ was anything but so, he couldn¡¯t deny that the man didn¡¯t seem to be affiliated with the criminals. ¡°¡­Who are you?¡± He asked. The clown-resembling man held a smile, despite his body being bruised from what looked like painful beatings, ¡°I am a traveling bestower of joy¨CLawrence; though I believe I am better known as an ¡®adventurer.''¡± ¡°Adventurer? How¡¯d you end up here, then¡­?¡± He asked. Just as he asked the question, the sound of distant, but definitely imminent footsteps were heard somewhere on the same floor¨Cstomping about. That sound made his blood run to a chill as he nced back. Noticing both this noise and the cloud of fear around the boy, Lawrence smiled, standing himself up as his wrists were still bound to the wall, ¡°I can aid you if you free me from my bindings.¡± ¡°¨C¡± Emilio gulped, listening as the footsteps seemed to grow closer. This Lawrence guy gives me the creeps¡­There¡¯s this weird air about him. Sure, he¡¯s a captive here, but¡­He thought. Lawrence was still smiling at him, ¡°What¡¯ll it be? The people running this establishment are quite boarish, I¡¯m afraid. Rough fellows that can¡¯t take a joke. I won¡¯t be able to help you if I¡¯m bound here.¡± ¡°¨C¡° In this environment, he was a deer in the headlights, stuck at an impasse of decisions as those ominous, heavy footsteps drew closer and closer. There was little time to decide if he¡¯d free the man or not, and there was no telling if he¡¯d have the opportunity again. More than that, the idea of an ally while stuck in this dreadful situation was extremely alluring to him. ¡°Tick-tock, my friend,¡± Lawrence smiled, ¡°Time waits for nobody, I¡¯m afraid.¡± Chapter 72 Lawrence, An Entire Circus ¡°Tick-tock, my friend,¡± Lawrence smiled, ¡°Time waits for nobody, I¡¯m afraid.¡± As the stomps seemed to being in the general direction of that specific hall, he finally made his decision as he retrieved the ring of keys from his pocket, scurrying to unlock the door. Though of course, he didn¡¯t know which key it was that unlocked the cell. Shit¡­! He thought. The footsteps were growing faster; seeming suspicious of the jingle of keys now. As he struggled, the clown-resembling man didn¡¯t seem worried at all despite the boy holding the literal keys to his survival in his hands. ¡°Try the copper key, my friend,¡± Lawrence suggested. ¡°¨C¡± He gulped and nodded.. As he picked out the copper key, it slid into the lock perfectly, but the footsteps had grown even more rapid now just as he turned the lock and opened the door. The screeching of old metal from the cell being opened seemed to fully ignite the unknown figure¡¯s suspicions. ¡°Time is of the essence,¡± Lawrence told him. ¡°I know¡­!¡± He quickly got into the cell, rushing over as he now had to find the right key that worked for the cuffs around the man¡¯s wrists. The anxiety flooding his veins made him impatient and unsteady as his hands trembled, making it harder to rummage through the keys and try them out. ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± A deep, gravelly voice boomed from down the corridor. ¡°¨C!¡± He began to sweat. It was almost eerie just how calm the imprisoned man was; Lawrence wasn¡¯t shaking in the slightest or exuding a single drop of sweat from his snow-white skin, simply watching the boy as he tried to unlock his cuffs. By some miracle, he found the right key that slid right into the lock. Yes! He thought. Before he turned it, he looked up at the man¡¯s right hand, noticing the symbol etched onto the back of his hand. The sight of it made his stomach drop, but he had already turned the cuffs, unlocking them by instinct as they fell from the man¡¯s wrists. It was a brand of one of the Ten Divine Styles: a horned jester with three stars around it. A ¡®Chaos God Style User¡¯¡­Noble-rank¡­It¡¯s the same style as that man¨CRubert¡­! He realized. More than ever, his heart rapidly thumped in his chest as his blood frequently switched from boiling to icy cold, unknowing of who he had just freed. Did I¡­mess up? He thought. As he was distracted by this discovery, he didn¡¯t even realize the stomps had grown so close until just then, ncing back to see an enraged man rushing into the cell with a ymore in hand. The man was dressed in oak-brown, leather armor with a bushy beard and eyes full of indiscriminate rage at the young boy. ¡°Who the fuck are you?!¡± The man yelled. At that moment, his mind was at an impasse, not knowing what to do as he felt he had two enemies on two fronts. But, he was surprised as the orange-haired, jester-like man stood up, moving between him and the hideout guard with a smile. ¡°Huh?¡± He let out. ¡°Many thanks, my friend,¡± Lawrence said, ¡°¨CAllow me to enact my end of the deal.¡± In a mysterious act, the enigmatic, snow-skinned man parted his jaw, opening it wide to both the surprise of him and the hideout guard. There was a muffled jingle of bells that sounded out, but its source was unknown. He¡¯s a Chaos God Style user, isn¡¯t he¡­? If I remember, it¡¯s the most unorthodox style there is¨Cthere isn¡¯t anything like it, he thought. And those thoughts were proven correct as surfacing from the man¡¯s bowels and protruding from his throat, reaching out of his mouth, was the colorful handle of a sword. The pommel was shaped like a ¡°cap and bells¡±¨Cthe iconic hat of a jester with bells on each end of the pommel, jingling as the man wrapped his pale fingers around the rainbow-clothed handle of his regurgitated sword. ¡°What the¨C?¡± The guard let out. But, before the ymore-wielding man could react, Lawrence drew the saliva-slick sword from his throatpletely in a quick, unexpected motion, cleaving through the guard in a swift movement. The de itself was shaped abnormally; the steel curved like a wriggling worm, seeming impractical, at the very least. ¡°¨C¡± He watched, standing there like a statue. It was done so swiftly that it took him a moment to register what had even happened as his mouth was left agape and the whites of his eyes on disy from shock. From the sh of the regurgitated de, the hideout guard had stopped moving¨Cslowly revealing the damage inflicted by the sword strike as his upper-body slid off from his waist, having been cleanly bisected. ¡°¡­Now, I was meaning to ask,¡± Lawrence looked down at him, still holding a smile, ¡°What¡¯s your name, my friend?¡± Is he an enemy? He helped me¡­He¡¯s a Chaos God Style user¨Care they all bad people? I was never able to find out much information on it. He seems weird, but¡­he doesn¡¯t seem intent on fighting me, he thought. ¡°¨C¡± He was left speechless for a moment before finally responding, ¡°Emilio.¡± After hearing his name, Lawrence smiled before opening his mouth wide again, leaning his head back as he slid his wriggly, snake-like de back down his throat, storing it away inside of his body in such an unnatural fashion. What is this guy¡­?! Is he even human?! He questioned. Lawrence let out an exhale before stretching his limbs as he cracked his knuckles, his neck, and bent in abnormally flexible ways¨Ccontorting his joints around in a disgusting fashion while the boy simply watched in awe and horror. Once the clown-like man finished his stretches, he bowed down politely in front of him, ¡°Allow me to properly introduce myself: I am Lawrence Vi Vavadago! A humble traveler of this delightful world!¨CThough, I found myself in quite the unsavory predicament, up until you, my friend, came and freed me from it. To that, I owe my utmost gratitude. My life is yours, Sir Emilio.¡± Chapter 73 Questionable Motives In a world of magic and monsters, the man before him was a sight that made it all feel more mysterious and abnormal than ever before. He nodded, ¡°¡­Well, if you¡¯re set on helping me, then¨C¡± ¡°Of course¨Cyour wish is mymand,¡± Lawrence stayed bowed. ¡°Help me find my friend¨CReno¨Cshe was just brought in here before I arrived,¡± hemanded. There wasn¡¯t any guarantee in his mind that the mysterious man would truly help him, especially with how unpredictable he was, but he went along anyway. If he does help, it¡¯ll be invaluable. He¡¯s definitely strong¨Cthere¡¯s no doubt about that, he thought. ¡°Ah, I see! You¡¯vee to rescue a friend? How admirable! A courageous feat that I¡¯d expect nothing less of from my dear friend, Sir Emilio!¡± Lawrence apuded him. ¡°¨C¡± He raised an eyebrow. He¡¯s strong, but¡­he¡¯s definitely got some screws loose. ¡°Dear friend¡±?¡­Whatever. For now, this is good, he thought.. Leaving the cell with thenky, pale-skinned man at his side, he felt a new sense of confidence with an ally at his side. To his surprise, the entric man seemed more than adept at this sort of thing¨Cthe man moved silently with casual steps, yet they invoked no sound. ¡°You never answered my question,¡± he said. ¡°Oh? Oh! You¡¯re referring to my being here, aren¡¯t you?¡± Lawrence asked. ¡°Mhm,¡± he nodded. Lawrence didn¡¯t seem to mind at all telling him, ¡°Well¡­It¡¯s all a bit hazy! I owed that Oswell fellow a debt, you see. All I had in my pockets was lint¨Csadly, Oswell couldn¡¯t find much value in that.¡± ¡°¡­So, he was going to sell you off?¡± He asked. The question made the clown-like manugh, ¡°Oh, no! I doubt anybody would see value in a fool like myself. You see, Oswell was nning to y me as an example to the others who owed him coin!¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­totally dark,¡± he mumbled. Despite the words being spoken to him being so grotesque, there was always a jovial, almost sing-song way in which Lawrence spoke. ¡°Still, I must say it was quite brave of you toe here alone, my friend,¡± Lawrence noted, ¡°Though I mean no insult by this, you are but a boy, no? This is truly no ce for the young¨Cthough I find my words are met with ck irony.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not here just to get my friend,¡± he said. ¡°Oh?¡± Lawrence watched him. At first, he didn¡¯t see any reason to bother exining the true mission to the man, but he also didn¡¯t find much of a reason not to tell him. If he¡¯s intent on helping, it¡¯ll be better this way, he thought. ¡°I¡¯m here to stop Oswell. I¡¯m not going to stand around while this sort of thing goes on right under my nose¨CI wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep at night,¡± he admitted. ¡°Oh? Oh! I see¨Cdelightful¨Cthen this should be quite the fun adventure ahead of us,¡± Lawrence said, pping his hands together, ¡°You¡¯re nning on freeing everybody here, yes?¡± ¡°¡­Yeah,¡± he slowly nodded. Lawrence looked at him, ¡°I¡¯d advise against it, my friend.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± He raised an eyebrow. ¡°Well, you may find the scale of operation here far too much for but just our hands to recover. It¡¯ll be best to leave this in the hands of the ones who protect this city and its people,¡± Lawrence suggested. It was somewhat surprising to find wisdom from the lips of the chaotic, clown-resembling man, though he could tell he was somebody experienced in the ways of this world. The two were traveling down the dark corridors, which seemed to go on endlessly, looping around and holding sights of horror and death. ¡°Yeah, but the guards are on Oswell¡¯s payroll¡­That¡¯s not going to do us any good,¡± he mumbled. ¡°Ah, but you see, we need only to snuff out the hand that pays,¡± Lawrence said. ¡°¨C¡± He looked up at the man. ¡°The guards will only look the other way while the coin meets their pockets. Though if Oswell is no longer able to pay¨Cif he¡¯s captured and revealed¨Cthe guards will have no reason to hold back. In fact, they¡¯ll want to jail Oswell so he never reveals their tricky, little secrets to the ears of the people,¡± Lawrence said. It was almost eerie how much the man knew, but the words he gave did make sense to the boy as he nodded. ¡°So¡­we just have to defeat Oswell, then? He¡¯s away right now, but he¡¯ll probably be back soon. We have the element of surprise,¡± he nodded, half muttering his thoughts out loud. ¡°Precisely, my friend. The element of surprise and chaos is here,¡± Lawrence smiled, ¡°We need only capitalize on it.¡± He looked up at the man, ¡°Alright, but first things first¨Cwe need to find Reno. Do you know where they keep the children they¡¯re nning to sell?¡± To his relief, Lawrence nodded after spinning around in a shy manner, ¡°In fact, I quite do! The men around here are always quite bored and of such hubris, you see. They talk and they talk because they have no doubts you¡¯ll rot away in those cells¨Cbut I listened. It¡¯s the fifth floor¨Cthough I hear it is the most guarded.¡± ¡°I see¡­three more floors down, then,¡± he nodded, ¡°Let¡¯s go, Lawrence.¡± ¡°With pleasure, my dear friend.¡± Traversing thebyrinth built underground was both difficult and disgusting; it was an environment of waste and filth, unmaintained and simply used for acts of evil. The sight of the people in the cells was enough to churn his stomach, but Lawrence aided him in moving forward, putting his hand on his head and gently guiding his gaze forward, away from the horrific cells. ¡°Keep your gaze straight, my dear friend. They will receive help soon enough¨Cwe must do our best,¡± Lawrence told him quietly. ¡°¡­It¡¯s horrible. I thought it¡¯d just be a few people, but¡­how are there so many¡­?¡± He questioned in disgust. ¡°I¡¯m sad to say that it¡¯s simply how this world seems to function, my dear friend. Most of these people you see are from the Elsia slums or foreigners who, by their own faultless ignorance, fell into the jaws of the predators of this city,¡± Lawrence exined, ¡°¡­Oswell is truly an irredeemable man. I suspect the mes of hell would never stop burning for him.¡± There was something he was beginning to catch on to as the man spoke; it was small, but it stuck out to him. ¡°You know a lot about Oswell and this ce, don¡¯t you?¡± He asked. ¡°¨C¡± Lawrence looked down at him. ¡°Tell me the truth, Lawrence,¡± he stopped, blocking the path, ¡°¡­Why¡¯re you here?¡± Chapter 74 The Guard Dogs ¡°You know a lot about Oswell and this ce, don¡¯t you?¡± He asked. ¡°¨C¡± Lawrence looked down at him. ¡°Tell me the truth, Lawrence,¡± he stopped, blocking the path, ¡°¡­Why¡¯re you here?¡± Obviously, there was a clear suspicion he had of the man being some sort of ploy for the hideout¨Ca figure acting like a prisoner to fool people like him. Beyond that, there was something that served as the very basis for his suspicions: the ¡°Chaos God Style.¡± Lawrence smiled, stopping as well, ¡°¡­I suppose I should stop pulling your leg, shouldn¡¯t I? There¡¯s no point in hiding it at this stage.¡± ¡°¨C¡± He gulped, holding his staff tightly to prepare for what was about toe. The man began to regurgitate something, opening his mouth as saliva leaked from the corners of his lips. Is he taking out his sword¡­?! He thought. But, just as he was about to raise his staff to fling a spell, he witnessed something else be pulled out from Lawrence¡¯s throat: a ne. It wasn¡¯t just any sort of ne, either.. What Lawrence withdrew was an unmistakable badge; one that served as his very ambition on this journey. An adventurer insignia? He thought. Lawrence wiped his mouth, holding the badge up, ¡°I believe I mentioned when we first met, my dear friend. I am a world-ss adventurer¨Cright now, I am undertaking a ¡°B-Rank¡± danger quest to capture the emunicated adventurer, Oswell Trifus, and seize his criminal operations.¡± It was the total opposite of what he hade to expect, but it was a relieving, yet confusing reveal to him as he lowered his staff and looked on in surprise. ¡°Quest?¡­Wait, then howe you were imprisoned? What about your story?¡± He asked. ¡°It was true; I didn¡¯t lie, my dear friend,¡± Lawrence told him, ¡°though, I went undercover and allowed myself to be abducted so I could get into this hideout, you see.¡± These words made him see the clown-like man in a new light; it was almost imposing though, just how crafty this man seemed to be, but he was d he was on his side. ¡°You should¡¯ve told me that from the start,¡± he said, huffing and beginning to walk down the corridor again. Lawrence smiled, following beside him, ¡°You¡¯re right. Many apologies.¡± THUD. THUD. THUD. ¨CIt came fast, just as they turned a corner to find another staircase, it was being guarded by two men, and what looked to be a wolf of some sort. ¡°Look a¡¯ that. Ol¡¯ Brisky was smellin¡¯ somethin¡¯ in the air, wun¡¯ he, Terry?¡± The red-haired man spoke in a rough dialect, dressed in dark, baggy clothes with a ck bandana covering his mouth and nose. ¡°Seems so. Two intruders, it seems. I was just getting bored¨Clet¡¯s have some fun, Dingo,¡± the other man said. The second of the two hadbed-over, hazel hair and a more refined dialect, though a face covered in scars, wearing a ck cloak. Standing by the bandana-wearing man with the improper dialect was the ck-furred wolf, snarling and foaming out of the mouth at the sight of the two. ¡°Well, which one would you like to face, my dear friend?¡± Lawrence asked with a calm smile. ¡°¨C¡± He didn¡¯t know how to answer at first, but chose the man that wasn¡¯t near the wolf, ¡°¡­I¡¯ll handle the one with the nice hair!¡± ¡°Noted,¡± Lawrence smiled. With that decided, the orange-haired, newfoundpanion of his opened his mouth as he spat up his rainbow-handled sword. Thement from the boy enraged the bandana-wearing man with the red hair, ¡°Oi! Are ya sayin I don¡¯t have nice hair!? I¡¯ll shave your fuckin scalp off then decide who has the pretty hair ¡¯round here!¡± Just as Dingo, the red-haired man, unleashed his rage, drawing two curved swords from behind his back, Lawrence was already rushing towards him. The wolf attempted to intercept, but the man as pale as a cloud itself swept his unsolid de, using it like a sharp whip as it sliced straight through the canine¨Cfrom the snout to the tail. ¡°You¡¯ll be fighting me, I¡¯m afraid,¡± Lawrence said. ¡°Huh?!¡± Dingo let out angrily. As those two shed des, he prepared himself for his own opponent, who calmly approached him, bringing out some sort of weapon from behind his back. This one is ¡°Terry¡±, right? He doesn¡¯t look very built. He looks like the type who will use a dagger or a shortsword, he thought. Though his assumptions werepletely dissuaded from behind the thin, scar-faced man¡¯s back, a massive greatsword as thick as the man¡¯s body was drawn. It had saw-like ridges around the sharp side, creating an imposing sight. ¡°¨C¡± He breathed out, trying to maintain hisposure. I¡¯ve been in plenty of real fights. But, those were mainly goblins¡­Real people like this¨Cbattles to the death¨Cit¡¯s something else entirely, he thought. ¡°Come on, boy,¡± Terry said with a bored expression, ¡°Let¡¯s lighten up my shift.¡± Immediately, he opened up with a wall of stone between him and the man with the gargantuan de, hoping to create space to give him enough time to¨C SMASH. Used like a destructive hammer, the man with bored eyes, zed over by sights of death that were mundane to his desentized, ck irises, Terry cut through the shield of rock in a casual swing. He broke it¡­that easily? He thought. Terry continued slowly walking forward, ¡°Poor little mage.¡± In the face of that imposing greatsword, he turned the other way and sprinted around the corner, going into the next corridor as the man followed him. ¡°Running? A chase can be fun, too,¡± the man said boredly. I¡¯m not running¨CI just need more space! This corridor is more open, and Lawrence isn¡¯t around¨Cso I don¡¯t have to worry about friendly fire! He thought. As he raised his staff, he summoned multiple orbs of fire around his staff, aiming them towards the man. ¡°You¡¯re going to regret underestimating me,¡± he said. ¡°I hate overconfident brats,¡± Terry responded with a straight face. Propelled outward, heunched the fireballs towards the man, which were easily guarded against as the man spun his massive sword around, almost using it like a spinning shield to deflect the orbs of fire. The man seemed quietly angered, spinning his greatsword around in the residual smoke from the fireballs, ¡°¡­You¡¯ve got a de at your hip, don¡¯t you? Use it.¡± Chapter 75 A Style, Unforgettable He didn¡¯t have time to respond, nor did he intend to as the man rushed towards him, seemingly unhindered by the weight of his massive weapon. The atmosphere was so dense with dread and horrific acts that his mind was hazy¨Cthere was no doubt he was off of his game. ¡­Don¡¯t lose your focus. You¡¯re better than this. Use what you¡¯ve learned! He told himself. Focusing up, he faced the man square on, drawing his sword from its sheath just in time to narrowly block against the iing downward swing of the massive de. ¡°Do you actually believe you can defend against my strikes¡­?¡± The man asked. Of course, it wasn¡¯t feasibly just off of physical merits alone, but the man was surprised to find that his massive hunk of steel was indeed stopped by the much tinner, ck-tinged sword that the boy wielded. ¡°¡­What?¡± Terry let out. There was a small space between both edges of their des; a gap in which a stream of air flowed, acting as a barrier between them both. In his other hand, he still held his staff, focusing the wind in that specific region with surgical precision. What kinda mage is this kid? There aren¡¯t any incantations being used! He¡¯s just a brat! The man thought.. He used the opportunity while the man was stopped to invoke a new element, clutching his wooden staff tightly as mana swirled around it, causing fist-shaped protrusions of rock tounch from walls,ing at the man from both sides. ¡°Urgh!¡± Terry winced. The dense fists of stone mmed into the man¡¯s arms, side, and even hitting his cheek, forcing him to jump back as he snarled in anger. In a resourceful manner, he followed up by waving his staff, causing the fists of stone to shift into drill-like shapes that levitated in the air around him, protecting himself with projectiles. ¡°Spin,¡± he whispered. The drills of stone began to rapidly gyrate, building a deadly force in their spin as the man seemed to notice this, keeping his distance with his thick de in front of him as a shield. Just as the man dashed towards him, he guided the stone drills forward with a wave of his staff, using them simr to bullets. A lot of the time, basic elemental maniption is more handy thanplicated spells. Especially when I canbine knowledge of Earth with it! He thought. ¡°Grgh!¡± Terry clenched his teeth. The cloaked man was definitely no slouch with his sword, able to deflect a few of the speedy drills of stone with his sword, but not all of them. As a few of the drills bypassed the man¡¯s guard, their damage was massive¡ªboring right through flesh and bone without any stop. ¡°Agh!¡± Terry yelled out in pain. One had drilled straight through his left shoulder, his right thigh, and nicked his left hip. ¡°Damn brat. That¡¯s my fault¡­I shouldn¡¯t treat you like a kid¡ªI¡¯m going to treat you like a real enemy,¡± the man warned him, ¡°I¡¯ll slice you in half and be done with it.¡± The hazel-haired man twisted the handle of his greatsword as a click sounded out, causing the giant, saw-edged de to split into two separate swords, each still possessing the size of a greatsword individually. ¡­Two? A dual-wielder?! He thought. This time, the man rushed towards him with greater speed, swinging both of the massive des towards the amethyst-eyed boy. He managed to duck down in time, evading the cross-sh that was aimed for his neck. Straight through the walls of stone that neighbored them, the sharp steel had cut straight into it. Being so close to having met that brutal sharpness, he saw the potential of his own death he had avoided. Are those des just that sharp or¡­no, he¡¯s just that strong! He thought. ¨C On the other hand, in the neighboring corridor, the clown-like adventurer danced around the attacks of the red-haired underground guard. ¡°Stand still, dammit!¡± Dingo growled, ¡°I¡¯m going to cut you up for what you did to Brisky?¡± As the abrasive man yelled out, continuing to wildly swipe his curved des around, Lawrence smiled while weaving between the strikes, untouched by the vicious steel. ¡°Are you perhaps angry with something I¡¯ve done?¡± Lawrence asked. The question seemed to make the man only drool in anger as he stomped down, attempting to slice the pale-skinned man¡¯s neck with his circr-shaped sword. ¡°Yeah! Ya bet I¡¯m pretty damn pissed!¡± Dingo replied. Though once again, the man who fell out of the concept of ¡®normal¡¯ simply leaned back to an unnatural degree to evade the de. ¡°I truly do hate it when people are angry with me, but I must say¨Cif you loved that mutt, you should¡¯ve kept him on a leash,¡± Lawrence said with a smile. Rising back up, Lawrence caused the bandit to jump back to avoid a sh of the whip-like sword wielded by him. ¡°Fabulous moves,¡± Lawrenceplimented. ¡°Shut it,¡± Dingo replied. Lawrence continued to smile, disregarding his words, ¡°I must ask: what Divine Style is it you serve?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t serve nuthin. I practice the Beast God Style¨Crank squire,¡± Dingo told him, ¡°don¡¯t be deceived, though! My rank doesn¡¯t represent shit!¡± ¡°Seems so,¡± Lawrence smiled. Angered by the ever-jovial nature of the clown-man, the bandit rushed forward, dashing with a low form as he swiped his des towards the man¡¯s legs. Lawrence watched him, spinning around almost like a ballerina as he evaded the sword strike before responding with a swift kick to the man¡¯s chin, knocking him across the corridor. ¡°Gyuh-!¡± Dingo spit out. What is this? He¡¯s skin n¡¯ bones, ain¡¯t he? Why¡¯s it feel like I was just hit in the chin by a hammer, then? Dingo thought. Sliding across the rough, stone floor, the red-haired bandit picked himself up, pulling down his bandana to reveal his chin had been split open by the swift, seemingly casual kick. ¡°Grgh¡­¡± Dingo winced, groggy from the blow. As the bandit looked up, a wave of primordial dread ran through his body as he watched the man as pale as the moonlight slowly walking towards him, watching him with those merciless, scarlet eyes. ¡­He¡¯s too strong¨Cno, fuck that noise! I¡¯m notyin¡¯ down and takin it! Dingo thought. Rushing to his feet, the bandit sprung towards the Chaos God Style swordsman again, this time spinning around in a form of unorthodox swordy, using the wall as almost alternate flooring as he managed to get behind Lawrence. I¡¯ve got ya now! I told ya not to underestimate me! My rank may be low, but that¡¯s just cuz I¡¯m dumb as bricks! Dingo thought. Going for a cross-sh towards the clown-like man¡¯s back, the bandit found himself sorely mistaken as an ungodly counter to his swift attack revealed itself. It was something simply unpredictable; a technique that shouldn¡¯t exist; something more monstrous than human. Chapter 76 Shackles Unbound With his back turned to the bandit, the thin, snow-skinned man twisted his joints aroundpletely, reversing the direction his arms faced and guarding against the attack. Lawrence¡¯s elbows popped and reversed, his shoulders rolled and rotated,pletely allowing his arms freedom to defend his back. ¡°What the¨C?!¡± Dingo let out. In an abhorrent orchestra of cracking and popping sounds, the head of the mysterious, jester adventurer spun around as his neck twisted, facing the man with his smiling expression. ¡°Do I scare you? I have a tendency to do that, I¡¯m afraid,¡± Lawrence said. Dingo couldn¡¯t get the words out of his throat as his eyes widened with horror at the sight of the twisting man. This opportune moment was seized as Lawrence¡¯s joints shifted back to their normal state before the entric adventurer spun around and shed his de across the bandit¡¯s chest. ¡°Ghh-!¡± Dingo winced. The massive gash formed across the bandit¡¯s torso immediately spewed out a heavy amount of arterial fluid¨Cperhaps too much for such a wound. Dingo fell onto his rear, clutching his chest as blood continued to pour out, seeping and pouring endlessly past the wound as the crimson fluid rushed out into a ck gunk.. ¡°Wh-wh-what is this¡­?¡± Dingo said, his voice frantic and growing weaker by the second. As the pale, abnormal man stepped towards him, a terrorizing wave of dread crawled over the bandit, causing him to hug himself as his wound continued to bleed. There was somethingpletely terrifying about the orange-haired man; an aura that of a human, devil, and a monster. ¡°Stay away¡­!¡± Dingo yelled. ¡°You¡¯ll be dead within the minute, I¡¯m afraid,¡± Lawrence told him with a sad voice, though still smiling, ¡°I don¡¯t like the idea of letting prey escape even though I¡¯ve clearly won, so a cut from my de guarantees such death.¡± ¡°¨C¡± Dingo watched silently while shaking. The red-haired bandit¡¯splexion had grown incredibly pale as his teeth shattered; the blood continued to ooze endlessly from his wound while he sat there in a puddle of his own loss. ¨C Against the other of the two bandits, the boy was doing his best to evade the massive des that cut through stonelike butter. Though all he could do was his very best, as a single shnding would spell his death. Using small bursts of wind, he moved himself around swiftly, allowing himself to dodge cleanly and to repel his opponent¡¯s attacks, but the man was swift himself. I can only rely on simple, small-scale spells right now. Small, confined spaces like this are the worst for me! He thought. It wasn¡¯t just that he was looking out for his ally or the people trapped in the cells, but potentially damaging the integrity of the hideout itself could result in it copsing on top of him. Simply put, he had to be cautious. He was constantly on his feet, moving back and creating obstacles of stone for the dual-wielding man to have to cut through as he chased after the boy. ¡°Stop running, brat. You¡¯re only going to make this worse when I get my hands on you!¡± ¡°Thanks for the advice¡­!¡± He replied. As he waved his staff again, this time he conjured bands of water, attempting to ensnare the man, but failing to do so as Terryunched forward suddenly, rushing directly towards him. Crap¨Cbad timing! He thought. He ducked down to avoid the des, causing the man to now be directly above him in the air as he found his chance for a counterattack. ¡­Now! He thought. Pressing his staff up against the man¡¯s stomach, he summoned a pressurized beam of water, unleashing it against the bandit¡¯s abdomen mercilessly as it tore through his garments and pushed him up, mming the man against the stone ceiling harshly. It was only for a moment, but he could see that the man had a tattoo on his neck¨Cit was the Mountain God Style sigil, with three stars¨Ca noble rank. It¡¯s the same rank as the bald man I fought before¨Cbut this guy is way tougher. I knew that the guy I fought was blinded by anger, but this is really how strong a Noble-rank is¨C? Scary, he thought. Though it seemed that he had all but already secured a victory as he watched the bandit fall back down to the ground, who picked himself up, revealing a bruised and bleeding stomach; dozens of smallcerations were left on the man¡¯s stomach from the beam of water, seeming to drain a lot of fight from the bandit. ¡°¡­That smarts,¡± Terry groaned. ¡°Give yourself up,¡± he suggested, ¡°You don¡¯t have to die.¡± Though his offer of mercy was rejected as the hazel-haired man simplyughed out, almost choking on his ownughter. ¡°¨C¡± He watched in silent confusion, ¡°¡­What¡¯s so funny?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get it at all, do you, kid? Trying to y the hero in a world like this?¡­Please. Even if I wanted to give up, Oswell would gut me anyway,¡± Terry said, raising both of his greatswords again, ¡°Let¡¯s get on with it, then.¡± Just then, an ungodly amount of bloodlust oozed from the man; it was enough of an aura that spoke of the countless killings the man had likelymitted, the atrocities he had witnessed and done¨Cit was enough to force the boy to no longer stay his hand. It wasn¡¯t as if he wasn¡¯t trying to achieve victory beforehand, but he did strive not to kill. That reluctance to kill dulled his proficiency by arge margin, so once he relinquished that idea¨C ¡°Phh¨C!¡± Terry vomited blood. There was a massive hole straight through the man¡¯s stomach. A clean hole bored through in an instant, taking the bandit by surprise as he looked down. ¡°¡­Not too shabby¡­¡± This was done swiftly by the young boy, who aimed his staff towards the hazel-haired bandit with an adamant expression worn on his face. It was a st ofpressed air; it ovepped many times into what acted almost like an invisible cannon. Such a spell was something he had taught himself, but it was one that could only be utilized with the intent of ¡®destruction.¡¯ Still, with some sort of zombie-like vigor, the bandit still rushed towards him, rearing his arms back as it looked as if he was preparing to throw his swords at the boy. ¡­That? I remember the other man tried that. I won¡¯t let you, he thought. He held his rock-solidposure, aiming his staff forward as he squinted his eyes, unsure if he should watch the result of his own actions, but choosing to do so as he summoned a sphere of fire in front of his staff. It was a vtile orb; crackling with sparks and fuming as he added air to it to increase its potency beforeunching the small, but destructive orb of fire towards the all-but-dead bandit. BOOM. The impact of the orb meeting the bandit resulted in a small-scale explosion, though he made sure to use something that wouldn¡¯t destroy the corridor. ¡­I scaled it down, but it¡¯s still more than enough to kill somebody. Spells like this are only meant to kill. A part of me didn¡¯t like the idea of that, but this is the kind of world I live in now, right? Father didn¡¯t hesitate to kill Rubert. I killed those traffickers before. Why should I hesitate now? He thought. Chapter 77 The Bottom Layer As the smoke dissipated from the minuscule explosions, the state of the hazel-haired bandit¡¯s body was revealed¨Cthe vtile explosions had charred his flesh and crushed his internal organs. The bandit fell over onto the stone as a mixture of billowing smoke and steam exuded from his burnt body, which was now a corpse. [Level Up!] [Level Five Achieved.] The level up was instantly felt through his body as it felt as if his wisdom was expanded and his grasp on his own magecraft heightened. It was over within seconds once the boy had removed his restraints¨Cthough his opponent was strong, he had faced many stronger opponents in his time of training. The triumph he should be feeling, cementing his improvement from his tutge under Celly and his experience garnered in fighting alongside Julius, was dulled by the dreadful atmosphere around him. ¡°¨C¡± He covered his mouth and nose out of disgust of what his spells had done to the man¡¯s body.. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m trying to be some sort of hero or something. I¡¯m not trying to avoid killing because I think I¡¯m a saint who can do nothing wrong. But¡­I just don¡¯t know what those around me will think if I do things like this. Will I be seen as some sort of killer? A merciless boy with destructive magic? Somebody they should fear? I don¡¯t want that. I just want to be Emilio, he thought. As he moved past the body of his fallen foe, he returned to the corridor where his newfound ally was, greeted by another abhorrent sight. ¡°Ugh¡­!¡± He reared back in disgust. It wasn¡¯t from seeing the man Lawrence had foughtying in a pool of blood, dead, but it was the act the clown-like man himself wasmitting. Lawrence was using his de to peel the tattoo from the man¡¯s skin, slicing off the b of flesh from the man¡¯s neck before dropping it into his own mouth and swallowing it. Such an act of what could be considered cannibalism to some degree was abhorrent, to say the least. ¡°What¡¯re you doing?!¡± He asked in disgust. Lawrence wiped his mouth, ¡°Oh, my apologies. I didn¡¯t mean for you to see that, my dear friend.¡± ¡°Yeah?! What the hell was ¡®that¡¯?!¡± He asked again. Before he answered, the orange-haired man slid his peculiar sword back down his own throat, swallowing it before responding, ¡°Swallowing the brands of one of a Ten Divine Styles user strengthens us Chaos swordsmen. It¡¯s an offering to the Chaos God, you see.¡± ¡°Still¡­!¡± He averted his eyes. Lawrence was still smiling, ncing around the corner to see the charred body of the bandit the boy had fought, ¡°Hmm¡­It seems you¡¯re quite capable, my dear friend. I expected nothing less.¡± In that moment, he felt some sense of relief for having burned his enemy, as it seems Lawrence had intended to also take the brand from Terry¡¯s body as well, but it had been charred. ¡°¡­Yeah, well, let¡¯s just move on.¡± ¡°As you wish,¡± Lawrence smiled. After defeating the two hideout guards, the unlikely duo moved down to the fourthyer of therge, criminal hideout. Surprisingly, and fortunately, the fourth floor didn¡¯t seem upied by any guards, at least they didn¡¯t encounter any before finding the passage to the fifth floor¨Cwhich seemed to be thest of them. I guess criminals are short-staffed, huh? He thought. ¡°Be on your guard, my dear friend,¡± Lawrence whispered to him. ¡°Huh?¡± It was an unexpected bit of advice from the clown-like man as they quietly walked down the dark steps to the finalyer of the hideout. Lawrence kept his scarlet eyes forward, ¡°¡­Something quite troublesome is lurking down here, it seems.¡± What¡¯s he talking about? He thought. Though he didn¡¯t have a chance to ponder the man¡¯s words as once they reached the bottom of the stairs, the nature of the new domain revealed itself to his eyes. Unlike the previous floors, it wasn¡¯t a maze of halls, but arge room, filled with cages and cages, mostly filled with demi-humans and children. It was the size of a stadium, but also unlike the previousyers, it was maintained with more light¨Cthough this didn¡¯t seem to be a good sign. He immediately hid behind one of the walls, pulling Lawrence into hiding with him just as chattering and footsteps were heard. ¡°¨C¡± He kept quiet. Lawrence stayed mostly silent as well, whispering to him, ¡°That was close, wasn¡¯t it?¡± The nature of therge area being kept so bright and the fact it held many valuable ¡°items¡± for the criminals meant it was the most guarded area¨Che recognized that. The voices of bandits could be heard as well as their footsteps stomping about. Sounds like there¡¯s a lot of them¡­He thought. ¡°Can you¡­?¡± He began to ask. But, to his surprise, Lawrence was already leaving their spot of hiding, drawing his sword from his mouth as he smiled, ¡°Leave it to me.¡± Though the clown-like adventurer didn¡¯t seem to actually know what the boy was asking of him, as without any hesitation, Lawrence leapt up, rapidly approaching a few unsuspecting bandits with a wicked smile. ¡°What the¨C!?¡± ¡°Who the fuck is that?!¡± Before either of the two men could react, the snow-skinned man dashed by them with a whip of his formless de, dicing them into multiple pieces as their limbs were cleanly cut and their torsos cleaved off. ¡­I was going to ask if he could quietly take them out¨Cone-by-one! Not whatever this is! He thought. Lawrence was far too fast for the bandits to react to, but it wasn¡¯t just that: they were undoubtedly caught in terror of the sudden appearance of the murderous clown that was rushing towards them with the cacklingughter of a jester. With acrobatic flips, the orange-haired man of mystery andughter cleaved through the bandits without any semnce of stealth. There¡¯s something seriously wrong with this guy!¡­But, I¡¯m d he¡¯s on my side, he thought. Chapter 78 Unforeseen Obstacle While Lawrence was definitely taking the attention of the hideout bandits, one way or another, he began searching the area for Reno. ¡°Reno¡­? Are you here?¡± He called out. All he found at first were cages that held frightened captives of the bandits, who didn¡¯t reply and seemed to flinch at any words thrown. As expected, there were mostly demi-human children being locked in cages. It seemed most demi-humans possessed majority human features, with just some aspects of animals like tails, ears, ws, and sometimes noses. Though there were some cases of some leaning more into the animal side. Though he felt deeply regretful of their situation, he knew for now, he had to simply move forward. ¡­I¡¯ll be back for you all, I promise. If it¡¯s not me, then there¡¯ll be others here¨Cbut for now, I have to find my friend, he thought. It was easier said than done to find a single person in therge room, especially with the amount of cages and the fact it was quite an intense situation¨Cwith Lawrence continuing to butcher the bandits that upied the space. As long as he¡¯s going at it, I should be fine¡­I can take a few liberties with finding her, he thought. As he went deeper into the domain, he ended up bumping right into what he was looking for¨Cor something close to it. ¡°Gh-!¡± He winced, stepping back. What he bumped into was soft, yet firm¨Che looked up to find a mustached, burly man looking down at him, towering over him, in fact.. It¡¯s him¨Che¡¯s the one that brought Reno down here, he thought. ¡°Who the hell are ya?¡± The man asked in a low, bitter tone. ¡°¨C¡± He went silent, raising his staff, ¡°Where¡¯s the girl you just brought down here?¡± ¡°Huh? Was she yer girlie or somethin, brat? How the fuck did you get down here, anyway?¡­Wait, a staff? Are ya a mage?¡± The man asked. It was a confusing shift in tone the man held, going from intimidating to almost frightened, as soon as he answered with a ¡°Yes?¡±¨Cthe man ran off in the opposite direction. ¡°What the¨C? Wait!¡± He called out. Therge man scurried away without putting up any sort of fight at all, hurrying off towards something. Crap! If he got down here, he must¡¯ve taken out Terry and Dingo! I don¡¯t stand a chance against him! I¡¯ll have to let ¡°him¡± loose! Boss will be angry with me, but screw it! The burly bandit thought. Before he could give chase, something caught the corner of his eye¨Cin the cage to his left: blonde hair, tight shorts, and a small vest. ¡°Reno!¡± He called out in relief. In the dark situation, it was a relieving sight to see her, and she seemed unscathed, though she was unable to respond as she had a rope in her mouth and a blindfold on. He rushed over to the cage, raising his staff and using an extremely small, condensed st of fire to blow off the lock before swinging the doors open. ¡°Are you alright?!¡± As he asked this, he quickly took the rope out of her mouth and the blindfold off, drawing his sword to cut the bindings from her wrists and ankles as well. Reno coughed out, holding her tongue out in disgust from the taste of the stringy rope, ¡°¡­Blegh¡­I¡¯m fine.¡± For a good minute, he sat on his knees in front of her, catching his breath as he slid his sword back into its sheath. Reno looked at him worriedly, ¡°¡­Are ya alright, though?¡± He slowly nodded, ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m fine.¡± It was clear he was affected by the sights and experiences of the abhorrent ce by the shakiness of his eyes and the trembling of his fingers, but he held himself together. ¡°Now all there is to do is wait for Oswell,¡± he told her. ¡°Seems like it,¡± Reno nodded. ¡°Aha-ha-ha!¡± Catching both of their attentions as they left the ck-barred cage was the hecklingughter that echoed through the arena. The orange-haired, pale man could be seen, running along the upper cliffs of stone in the room, continuing to cleave through any bandits in his foe. ¡°¡­Who is that? A friend or a foe? He¡¯s killing bandits, but¡­¡± ¡°Good question,¡± he sighed out, ¡°He¡¯s an ally, I¡¯m pretty sure, I think¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a very convincing answer,¡± Reno told him. ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± Though as things seemed to be going swell, reality always struck hard¨C FWOOM. The rattling of cages being mmed against and moved filled his ears abrasively as he swept his gaze to the left, hearing the scream of a mansh out before looking up to see an object flung through the air. It wasn¡¯t an object. Though it flipped around, it was spilling blood and sailing overhead, but it was a human¨Cone they both recognized. ¡°That¡¯s¡­!¡± Reno began to say. ¡°It¡¯s the one who brought you down here¨Cwhat¡¯s going on?¡± He questioned. Lawrence is on the opposite end of this ce. What did that¡­? He thought. Whatever did it must¡¯ve been absurdly powerful, as the full-grown, burly man was flung high and far. This caused both of the youths to ready themselves as Reno retrieved her dagger that was set outside of her cage, and he held his staff up, facing the shadow-crept area in which thunderous stomps began to sound out. ¡°Grrrr¡­¡± There was a bellowing growl emitting from that direction, prompting them both to stay shoulder-to-shoulder in preparation of what wasing. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. From between the battered cages, it walked out: standing likely three meters in height, d in all-ck fur with emerald eyes like the aurora borealis, what stood before them, salivating like a rabid dog, was a beast that seemed mixed between man and wolf¨C A werewolf?! He thought. ¡°It¡¯s a ¡®Grand Lycan¡¯! What¡¯s something like this doing here¡­?¡± Reno let out. As he looked over at the sapphire-eyed girl at his side, he could see her quivering from the sight of the beast. Though it was definitely frightening in appearance and imposing in form, it seemed as if knowledge of its true nature was even more daunting. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± He asked. The beast stared them down while growling, standing upright as its lengthy arms were held by its side, wielding blood-drenched ws that could easily rend flesh. It seemed to have been bound in chains, but either broke out or was freed, having cuffs around its wrists and a cor on its neck¨Cbut all were broken and useless now. Reno stuttered out, ¡°I-it¡¯s a rare type of demi-human¡­They¡¯re from a special n! They¡¯re¡­they¡¯re just really dangerous, that¡¯s all you need to know! Really, really strong!¡± The fear had caused the girl¡¯s vocabry to minimize as her brain seemed more intent on surviving than talking. ¡°Strong as in we should be running right now?!¡± He asked. Chapter 79 The Grand Lycan ¡°Strong as in we should be running right now?!¡± He asked. ¡°Yes!¡± Reno replied. With that, Reno already began turning around to run, moving in the opposing direction. Just as he turned his head to think about running beside the girl¨Ca cold, dreadful air zoomed by him. What¡­? He thought. It was there. A burst of speed that was by all means terrifying, the grand lycan had appeared in front of Reno, blocking her path as it reared its ws back. No¡­! He thought. There were only milliseconds left to react, but he did so by letting out whatever spell his subconscious chose in that moment, raising his staff up as he nearly stumbled back. Just as its ws swiped down in an attempt to eviscerate the unsuspecting girl, ropes of water manifested, all of which focused solely on restraining the beast¡¯s arm. ¡°Graaagh¨C!¡± The Grand Lycan growled out. Reno, only just now processing what had happened, jumped back, ¡°¡­Eep! Nice save¡­¡±. ¡°Yeah¡­! I can barely hold this thing!¡± He said through a strained tone. Though the water bindings did halt the attack, it was a struggle to hold back the arm of the powerful, ck-furred beast, as it attempted to pull away from the aquatic ropes. ¡°Don¡¯t let up!¡± Reno told him. He had been taken aback by the sight of the beast still, nodding, ¡°¡­Right!¡± As he raised his trusty catalyst again, he opted to summon more of the aquatic bindings to fully restrain the werewolf, not to capture it, but to create a safe opening for attack. However, just as the tendrils of azure aqua formed andshed out, the towering beast managed to rip away from its single restraint, disying its wicked agility again as it evaded the water-formed ropes. ¡°It¡¯s so fast¡­!¡± He yelled. ¡°Emilio! It¡¯sing!¡± Reno screamed. It was difficult to react to the insane speed possessed by the beast, as its tall form almost made it seem unreal as it hopped around and rushed towards them, but he managed to conjure a spell just in time. Protect us! Triple-Layered Dome! He thought. As he mmed his staff against the ground, he caused a dome of stone to form around himself and Reno, reinforcing it with multipleyers right as the ws of the feral beast sliced at the newly-formed barrier. It was a horrifying sound, even when inside a protectiveyer¨Cthe massive ws carved through the firstyer like butter. ¡°¡­What¡¯s that clown doing?!¡± He mumbled. ¡°Will he be fine out there¡­?¡± Reno asked. He gulped, ¡°Lawrence is strong, but¡­I don¡¯t know.¡± Though there wasn¡¯t much time for chit-chat as before long, the grand lycan cut through the dome using nothing but its ws. Crap! He thought. ¡°Cover your ears!¡± He warned. It wasn¡¯t clear why this warning was given from him, but Reno nodded and did as he advised, covering her ears with her hands. ¡­Alright, this isn¡¯t going to be pleasant! He thought. Just as it broke through, he countered its aggression with an unrestrained st of air, releasing a massive howl of pressurized wind that manifested itself like the shock wave of a massive bomb. This, of course, rippled the fur of the towering beast, sending it off its feet and violently flying back. Though he wasn¡¯t able to block his own ears, resulting in a ringing sound ring in his throbbing eardrums. ¡°¡­Huff¡­¡± He breathed out. Reno uncovered her ears, walking out as the effects of the pressurized air was still felt through the passing breeze, ¡°¡­Nice one.¡± ¡°¡­Yeah, don¡¯t celebrate yet,¡± he said, straightening himself out. As he said that, the beast stomped back over, though it was visibly damaged as it suffered the full-force of the wind st, bleeding out from its snout and cut up in various patches of its ck coat. ¡°It¡¯s hurt, so we should be¨C¡± Just as he began speaking, his words proved to be jinxed as the beast rushed forward, swiping its ws towards him. ¡°Ghh-!¡± ¡°Emilio!¡± Reno yelled out. He knocked himself back with a gust of air, but the end of the lycan¡¯s ws still managed to graze his forearms, leaving deepcerations on them before hended back on his feet. Reno nced at him before rushing in despite seemingly being afraid of the towering, demi-human wolf. ¡°Be careful!¡± He called out. Though it seemed his words were unnecessary as he was reminded of how nimble the girl was¨Cmanaging to duck under the beast¡¯s ws and counter with a sh of her de to its side. She rushed back over by his side after leaving a good infliction on it, breathing out as she seemed surprised by her own actions. ¡°Nice,¡± he said. ¡°Thanks,¡± Reno caught her breath. Despite the injuries the beast had sustained, it still seemed as full of violent energy as ever as it howled out. He raised his staff, ¡°I¡¯m going to cast something that can put it down. I¡¯ll need you to hold it off for a small amount of time¨Cmaybe twenty or thirty seconds, can you do that?¡± Reno nced at him with her jewel-like, sapphire eyes before slowly nodding, ¡°¡­I think so.¡± ¡°I need you to be sure. I won¡¯t do this if you¡¯re not¨C¡± ¡°I can!¡± Reno assured him. ¡°Alright,¡± he nodded, giving her a small smile, ¡°I¡¯m counting on you.¡± A small blush came over the girl¡¯s cheeks before she forced her eyes forward, ¡°Yeah, well, just start weaving that magic stuff of yours!¡± Just as the beastunched itself towards him, it was intercepted by Reno, who countered its ws with her dagger, drawing its attention as it focused on her now. While they were fighting the grand lycan, it seemed Lawrence was still seeking out more bandits to take care of, with some managing to give him some sort of a fight¨Cthough he always came out on top. Standing in the middle of the grimy clearing, freed of cages, he focused, holding his staff as he gathered his intent. This is my weakest element. It¡¯s not that I can¡¯t cast higher-end spells of it, but I¡¯m not able to use it as quickly as the others. It takes more time, and more focus. But¡­once this one is done, not even that monster wolf can survive this, he thought. Chapter 80 Oswell, The Hunter and The Hunted As he kept his eyes closed, muttering unheard words to himself, he visualized a sea of mes, constantly rising in temperature, the same thought became reality around him; the temperature rose, with the air shifting into heat waves around the boy. Reno continued to lure the beast around, ducking and rolling as it constantly tried to bite or w her. ¡°Gah! Anytime now, Emilio¡­!¡± Reno yelled out. Though it was understandable why the girl was desperate for him to finish weaving the spell, he definitely was annoyed that she was disturbing the delicate process, but he did his best to speed it up the best he could. He could hear the snarls of the towering beast as it rushed towards Reno, trying to swipe at her as she used her nimbleness to evade it, but just barely. ¡°Alright, bring it here!¡± He called out, opening his eyes. As he was ready to conjure the battle-finishing spell, the heat waves around him had increased, causing the rocks he stood on to begin steaming as he aimed his staff forward. Reno nced over, hopping to a spot in front of him before jumping out of the way again. This led to the ck-furred lycan to be perfectly in his sights for the opportune moment, allowing him to call upon the magic in full:. ¡°Carve through fields of grass,kes of water, and towers of rock! Bestow your destruction onto my enemies! Grand Fire Cannon!¡± He yelled out. It was a condensed beam of heat, pressurizing a stream of mes to the point it resembled a straight, radiantser as it shot forward with such force that the boy¡¯s boots slid across the stone. ¡°Raagh¨C!?¡± Just as the lycan noticed the increase in temperature, it was swallowed by the radiant beam, being vaporized by the sizzling heat nearly instantaneously. ¡°¨C¡± He huffed. As the straight-shot of pressurized inferno fizzled out, he was left breathing heavily as blood dripped from his forearms. All that was left of the beast was a charred spot on the mmy, stone ground, and ashes of its fur left swaying in the stagnant air. ¡°Holy crap¡­¡± Reno muttered before yelling out, jumping up and down as she regrouped with him, ¡°That was freakin¡¯ amazing!¡± He couldn¡¯t respond at first as the high-end spell tired him out, forcing him to catch his breath and wipe the sweat from his chin. Reno nced at his arms, ¡°Hey! Yer bleedin!¡± ¡°Oh¡­I am,¡± he noticed, ¡°Healing.¡± The simple incantation was enough to handlecerations of that degree. While his forearms recovered, the two were greeted in surprise by the orange-haired adventurer leaping down beside them. ¡°Gah!¡± Reno yelled out in shock. Out of pure reflex, the girl had almost dug her dagger into the clown-like man¡¯s neck, but was stopped as the boy got between them, stopping her. ¡°This is Lawrence¡­I told you about him¨Che¡¯s an ally,¡± he told Reno before looking at the man, ¡°¡­And this is Reno¨Cmy, err, partner in this mission.¡± Lawrence held his smile, not having flinched despite having that dagger aimed at his neck, bowing forward, ¡°A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I¡¯ve handled all of the guards on this floor.¡± With that said, he noticed the amount of blood that was on the pale man¡¯s body¨Cdefinitely supporting the idea that he just got done butchering a number of people. ¡°¡­Right, nice job,¡± he muttered. Reno finally rxed, though still seemed creeped out by the man, ¡°Well, that just leaves Oswell then, right?¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Lawrence said. ¡°Why¡¯re you here anyway? Who the hell are ya?¡± Reno asked. Lawrence answered, ¡°I¡¯m an adventurer, you see! My job here is to take down Oswell and his operation here. Your friend here happened to share that same mission¨Cas do you.¡± ¡°Mhm,¡± Reno kept an eyebrow raised on the man, ¡°As long as yer here to help, I don¡¯t mind. We¡¯ll need ya against Oswell.¡± There wasn¡¯t very long of an opportunity to gather themselves as the sound of footsteps approached, then stopped. They all turned around to see him¨Cthe one they all had their sights set on, but it seemed that man¡¯s sights were set on them as well as quiet anger boiled in his eyes. ¡°¡­Oswell,¡± Reno muttered. It seemed the man had just returned, but he was quick on the uptake as he found the intruders quickly, holding a look of utter disdain in his dark eyes. ¡°¡­This is what I return to? I couldn¡¯t leave the hideout in their hands for just a short outing? What ridiculous bullshit. It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Oswell said in a quiet scorn, beginning to slowly draw his sword, ¡°¡­It means I have less pigs to pay.¡± The man with the olive eyes and shaggy, fluffy hair of ck-and-gray hairs looked anything but pleased, but he didn¡¯t outwardly express such rage. There wasn¡¯t any time wasted; the wanted adventurer slipped his ck coat off along with the vest underneath, leaving his upper-body uncovered as he revealed the ck tattoos that covered his chest and arms. ¡°Shitty brats¨Cyou¡¯re the boy that was with Reno earlier, eh? Some sort of little mage? You got this far¨Cso I¡¯m not going to treat you like a child,¡± Oswell said, turning his attention to the clown, ¡°¨CAnd you. What¡¯s your deal?¡± ¡°The Guild Foundation has revoked your status as an adventurer, Mr. Oswell,¡± Lawrence said, stepping forward with a smile, ¡°I can take you dead-or-alive, but¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bother,¡± Oswell said, cracking his neck side-to-side as he held his cobalt broadsword in his right hand, ¡°I¡¯m going to kill all of you anyway. I don¡¯t do half-measures; what happened here, stays here.¡± There was an aura that exuded from the goateed-man of clear experience; though it was easy to just liken him to a sleazy criminal, there was no doubt he was strong. Scars were iid in his flesh, and the four-starred badge of the Mountain God Style was etched into him: a Champion-rank swordsman. ¡­He¡¯s the same rank as Rubert. Back then, I could hardly even perceive Rubert. I was helpless¨Cif Father didn¡¯t show up, I would¡¯ve been dead. But, it¡¯s different now¨CI¡¯m stronger, and I¡¯m not alone, he thought. Chapter 81 Three-On-One ¡°I¡¯ll take his focus,¡± Lawrence said, ncing back, ¡°However, I will need your support, my dear friends. This man is quite the troublesome opponent.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got it,¡± he nodded. ¡°I want a piece of this creep myself!¡± Reno added. As the three readied themself for the fight, Oswell had already initiated the fight¨Cdashing forward as he closed the distance between himself and the clown-like adventurer within a single moment. ¡°You¡¯re talking as if you can contend with me, jester,¡± Oswell said with a look of utter bloodlust embedded in his eyes, ¡°Please, show me where that unwarranted confidencees from.¡± There was only just enough time for Lawrence to raise his de to guard against the heavy downward strike from the cobalt steel that Oswell wielded, but even then it seemed he struggled to block the attack. ¡°As expected of a Mountain God Style user¨Cyou¡¯re quite the brawny one,¡± Lawrence smiled. Though the clown¡¯s smile was immediately stifled as he spat up his own saliva and air; Oswell¡¯s de might¡¯ve been stopped, but the emunicated adventurer still used his free left hand to strike the clown in the gut. ¡°Pyuh!¡± Lawrence let out. ¡°I¡¯m tearing you apart limb-from-limb first, jester,¡± Oswell threatened.. As Lawrence¡¯s guard was broken, another swing of the criminal ringleader¡¯s de sailed in, but was stopped as the boy summoned a countermeasure: a binding of stone, shaped like chains, wrapped around Oswell¡¯s right bicep. ¡°¨C!¡± Oswell nced at his sword-wielding arm that had been restrained. He yelled out to Reno, ¡°Now!¡± Reno nodded, ¡°Yeah!¡± Springing forward with that nimbleness that seemed as if the wind was carrying the girl forward, she aimed her dagger for the man¡¯s neck, but even restrained, he proved to be as potent as ever. As Oswell drew in a breath, the young boy recognized it, knowing what wasing¨C Father¡¯s done that one before, it¡¯s¡­! He realized. ¡°Get back!¡± He warned. But it was toote as words were far too slow for such quick exchanges; as Reno drew close and the man filled his lungs with air, Oswell stomped his boot down, unleashing such a tremendous stomp that the stone cracked and a shock wave propelled outward, stunning the girl briefly. In that time, Oswell breathed in again, flexing his right arm as he roared out before breaking free from the rock-formed chains. What is this¡­? He¡¯s too strong! He¡¯s a lower rank than Father¨Ckeep it together! He thought. He took the initiative, despite primarily being a spell caster, heunched himself forward with a burst of air, closing the distance between him and Oswell. This sudden closing of the gap seemed to catch the man off-guard, giving him the chance to cast another quick spell as he knocked the bottom of his staff against the ground. ¡°¨C?¡± Oswell looked down at him, partly throughmitting to another sword strike. Wait¡­below? Oswell sensed. But, the realization came a moment toote for the ringleader as from below, a protrusion of stone in the form of a fist shot up, uppercutting Oswell with hefty force. ¡°Pyuh-!¡± Oswell spit out blood. Attempting to seize the opportunity while the man was momentarily lifted in the air from the force of the unforeseen uppercut, the orange-haired clownunched forward, using his wriggly de like a whip. ¡°¡­It won¡¯t be that easy!¡± Oswell growled out. Reaching behind his back, the wanted adventurer drew a small de, using it to toss forward with pinpoint precision¨Cdeflecting Lawrence¡¯s attempted strike. ¡°Oh! How surprising!¡± Lawrence let out. Oswell flipped back, putting some distance between himself and the three as he rubbed his bruised jaw, moving it side-to-side. ¡°Not bad. Think you broke it,¡± Oswell said before spitting out blood. ¡°¨C¡® He didn¡¯t respond. ¨CAgain, Oswell shot forward with that unpredictable speed, rushing by both Reno and Lawrence as he aimed specifically for the boy. Me?¡­He¡¯s trying to close the distance and take me out first because of my spells. Still, it won¡¯t be that simple! He thought. He invoked another spell as he squeezed his catalyst, causing the stone beneath Oswell¡¯s boots to shift and sink into clingy mud. ¡°¨C!¡± Oswell looked down in surprise. It was not unlike quicksand; bing tighter and pulling the man¡¯s boots deeper the more he struggled. From both of the man¡¯s sides, Reno and Lawrence closed in with the edges of their des aimed at Oswell¡¯s neck. Still, the man proved to be a devil on the battlefield as he managed to somehow leap out from the trap of swallowing mud, evading the strikes, but not before tossing a few throwing knives out¨Chitting Reno in the arm and Lawrence in the stomach. ¡°Oh!¡± Lawrence let out. ¡°Gh¡­!¡± Reno winced. What did he do?! He wondered. As he looked closer, he realized what the man had done in order to escape what seemed like a certain finisher: Oswellnded back down on the stone with his bare feet now. He abandoned his boots!? He realized. Reno reached to the thin knife that hit her shoulder, about to pull it out, but was stopped as the orange-haired man called out: ¡°Don¡¯t remove that knife, my friend!¡± Lawrence advised. ¡°Huh¡­? Why?!¡± Reno said, clearly in pain and difort. ¡°These are special ¡°Dinger Knives¡±¨Cthey tear at your flesh if you tear them out¨Cthey¡¯re meant to cause quite a hefty amount of blood loss! Keep it in until the battle is over! I know it may be ufortable, my friend, but be strong!¡± Lawrence told the girl. Reno seemed hesitant, but nodded, ¡°¡­Okay!¡± Though talk was sparse as Oswell nearly managed to cleave both of them in two as he rushed in with a mighty sh, but was stopped only by the boy countering in time with a barrage of stone shards shot at Oswell. ¡°Tch¡­!¡± Oswell clicked his tongue. The criminal ex-adventurer was forced to halt his attack and evade the sharp, spear-like shards of stone that shot at him with velocity amplified by wind magic. Despite being middle-aged, and seeming older than Julius, Oswell moved as if he was in his prime of the youth, with a body to fit that perspective as he moved with nimbleness and deflected the stone shards he couldn¡¯t dodge with his de. He¡¯s strong, but not unbeatable. This is doable! He thought. Chapter 82 Triumph In The Darkness He predicted that this time, Oswell would rush towards him, which he was ready for as he waved his staff around, summoning rings of fire around him that howled in a beautiful ze. ¡°¨C!¡± Oswell looked forward in surprise. It wasunched just as the man got close: a fire-born spell that shaped itself like a mightynce¨Cbeing thrust forward as if wielded by an unseen knight before crashing against Oswell¡¯s de. ¡°Ghhh¡­!¡± Oswell struggled. It wasn¡¯t just that the boy¡¯s magical arsenal had grown in size and strength, but his mindset, tactical abilities, and physical senses have all improved as well¨Che was able to contend with the Champion-ss swordsman. This realization was a massive boost of confidence to the amethyst-eyed boy. As he gripped his staff, aiming the mence forward, he strengthened its march as it finally broke through Oswell¡¯s guard, mming into the man and releasing into a vtile explosion of mes. ¡°Woah¡­! Hot, hot, hot!¡± Reno said, holding her arms up. ¡°Glorious, my dear friend!¡± Lawrence smiled.. But, that wasn¡¯t the end of the man¨Cby some monstrous feat, Oswell dashed out from the mountain of smoke, though his body was covered in burns and cuts, the man didn¡¯t seem on death¡¯s door quite yet. I have to take out this boy! He¡¯s troublesome! Oswell thought. It was an unexpected burst of speed, even more surprising as the fact it was from a man who just suffered a direct hit from his me magic. Crap¡­! He thought. Oswell closed in on him quickly, but he managed to conjure a few walls of rock in his path to slow him down, though Oswell simply cut through the foot-thick barriers of stone easily. However, it was enough time for Lawrence to catch up, jumping between them as he did a cartwheel across the ground, swinging his de in the process as he forced Oswell on the backfoot now. ¡°¨C!¡± Oswell guarded against the strikes. The scarlet-eyed clown was now on the offense; smiling wide as he danced around, flipping his sword between each hand and even catching it between his teeth, using his sword in his mouth to fight. ¡°Damn!¡­You Chaos God swordsmen are always a pain in the ass!¡± Oswell said through a strained tone, though half-smiling. Lawrenceughed, ¡°Happy to hear it!¡± Such a battle between high-ss swordsmen was impossible to get between, with there being a likely chance of him identally hitting Lawrence with a spell if he tried to fling one. It was a perplexing sight of the entric man who initially stood no chance against the criminal ringleader; Lawrence was now pushing forward without stopping, keeping Oswell on the defensive. ¡­What¡¯s going on? I know Oswell is hurt, but¨CLawrence is pushing him back? He¡¯s winning this?! He thought. Lawrenceughed out, ¡°I¡¯ve hit my melody! This is my encore! Can you hear it?!¡± The melody that was being referred to was heard by the young boy who witnessed the sh of des, and it was just that: the dance of steel¨Csparks danced in the air, metal continuously shed, rapidly and with a sing-song beat. What is this?! This damn clown had this kind of strength?! Oswell thought. ¡°Keep going¡­!¡± Reno yelled out, clutching her shoulder. There was no need for such words as the clown adventurer had seemingly found his stride, entering a flow state that seemed almost imprable, but the words bolstered him as heughed out once more, spinning around as an array of lights seemed to gather around him, flourishing into shapes. What is that¡­? Magic? He¡¯s not a mage though, is he¡­? He questioned. Lawrence smiled wide, ¡°This is my special Chaos God Style, my evolution of it and my, Lawrence Vi Vavadago¡¯s exciting act: ¡®Cirque Du Freak!''¡± There was only a moment given to Oswell to attempt to regain himself, but the injured man, sparse on breath and exhausted, was only able to barely raise his guard before Lawrenceunched forward, whipping his unstable de-whip around. It was a swift flurry of strikes, utilizing the length and unpredictable nature of both his movements and his de. Each of these strikes unleashed a small, harmless sh of colorful light, attacking the man¡¯s eyes with the irritating brightness. Though Oswell tried to jump back to create distance, he still found himself being cut by the edge of the exotic de. What?¡­How? Wait¡­he! Oswell realized. By all means, it was an unorthodox move, buting from Lawrence himself, it seemed all but logical: the snow-skinned swordsman had dislocated the joints in his arms and shoulders, allowing them to extend just a few inches, but it was enough to take Oswell by surprise. ¡°¨CYou freak!¡± Oswell called out, wincing as severalcerations embedded themselves in his flesh. Lawrence smiled, reconnecting his joints, ¡°Now, now! I do believe some self-introspection is in order before you start hurling insults at another!¡± The finish of the flurry of unpredictable blows left the ringleader¡¯s thighs, arms, and chest shed, leaving him all but defeated as he stood there huffing, but still opting to continue¨Cwhether by grit or fear of failure. ¡°Raaagh! Dammit!¡± Oswell yelled out in frustration. ¡°¨CAlive!¡± He yelled out. This singr word was met with confusion in Oswell¡¯s ears, but it wasn¡¯t meant for him¨Cit was meant for the girl that swooped in to intercept his assault. ¡°Gragh!¡± Oswell called out in pain. Reno had sunk her dagger into the man¡¯s knee, taking away his bnce as he fell over, dropping his sword. As soon as the emunicated adventurer fell to the ground, the young boy didn¡¯t waste a moment to bind him with stone-forged ropes, making sure that he was unable to continue fighting. ¡°Nicely done, my friend,¡± Lawrence said with a smile. ¡°¡­It¡¯s over, right? We got him?¡± Reno asked, huffing. He stood by her, nodding, ¡°Yeah.¡± As the three left the bounds of the safehouse, hoisting Oswell up with them, it was already well into the dead of night in the quiet slums. ¡°Well, what a spectacr sess that was!¡± Lawrence said with a smile. It was difficult to find a reason to be as bubbly as the clown, but he realized there was no merit in trying to be like a jester in the first ce. ¡°¡­Yeah,¡± Reno said, wincing. Only just then did he remember the wounds that the two had suffered, prompting him to step forward and cast healing magic on both of them, to which the clown was delighted to witness healing magecraft up close. Unfortunately, it seemed defeating somebody like Oswell wasn¡¯t quite enough to level up, which prompted him to question the mechanics of his unique leveling up ability. ¡­I wonder: do I have to defeat opponents directly? It seems I have tond the finishing blow in a fight, at least, he thought. Chapter 83 Abnormal Encounter ¡°Ah! Many thanks, my dear friend!¡± Lawrenceughed in joy. ¡°Mhm,¡± he nodded, ¡°You were amazing back there, Lawrence. Are you sure you¡¯re a Noble-rank? You seemed even better than Oswell at one point¡­¡± Lawrenceughed again at this remark, ¡°That¡¯s the nature of being one of chaos, my dear friend. You can¡¯t quite be certain of any match against suchvish unpredictability, can you?¡± ¡°¨C¡± He didn¡¯t know how to respond. Lawrence smiled, ¡°Well, I¡¯ll handle the rest from here. You two young ones should rx and rest your tired bodies¨Cyou¡¯ve done spectacr on this day. I am ashamed to have had to rely on you two, but I am even more d that I did.¡± He shook his head, ¡°No, thanks, Lawrence.¡± ¡°Yeah, thanks, clown guy!¡± Reno added. The orange-haired manughed, walking away as he waved, ¡°Let us meet again on our journey through this wondrous world, my dear friends! Should we meet, let us dance in celebration andugh of our tales. Till then.¡± We didn¡¯t end up seeing it ourselves, but it was the talk of the city after that: Lawrence handed Oswell off to the guards, who busted down the trafficking ring once it had been put in the hands of the Guild Foundation. Apparently, Lawrence has a lot of authority as an adventurer because the guards listened to him without question.. As for how the rest of the night went¡­He recalled. The two ended up back at Reno¡¯s shack, which was hardly a ce for two people, which they both seemed to silently know, but he waspletely exhausted, and Reno insisted on him doing so. ¡°C¡¯mon already! I don¡¯t bite!¡± Reno said. ¡°¡­I know, it¡¯s just¡­¡± He scratched his cheek. ¡°It¡¯s just what?¡± Reno asked. ¡°Nothing.¡± With hesitation, he got onto the mattress directly beside the sapphire-eyed girl, finding himself as frozen as a statue as he didn¡¯t know how topose himself in such proximity to a girl of simr age. Surprisingly, for just being a mattressid directly on the ground, it wasn¡¯t ufortable. Maybe I¡¯m just super tired, but this isn¡¯t too bad. Or maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯mying with somebody¡­Who knows, he thought. It was difficult to fall asleep though, since Reno fell into slumber before him and was surprisingly quite the snorer¨Cand selfish with bedspace, as she nearly took the whole mattress for herself. ¡­I¡¯m definitely not telling Vandread about this. I wonder if he¡¯s out looking for me? No. That guy is all about ¡°hands off¡± from what I can tell, he thought. The thought came to his mind to leave and go check-in with Vandread, but ncing at the snoring girl, he decided to do so. If I stay here, I might get some bad ideas! He thought. It was an excuse for him to leave the awkward situation, and so, though he was exhausted, he began walking back towards the inn Vandread had checked out for them. You can show me around the city tomorrow, Reno, he thought. Though he could definitely say he didn¡¯t like the vibe of the slums during the night as he constantly looked over his shoulder. Definitely much less appealing than its already unsavory daytime counterpart! He thought. It took a bit of work, but he did find himself back in the normal section of the city, which was still plenty lively, though not nearly as much as it had been during the day. ¡­Alright, where¡¯s that inn? It had a lot of carriages parked in front of it, he thought. There was a rxing atmosphere to Elsia in the night; there was light in the form of illumination runes, though it was a gentle glow like the moonlight, and the people that strolled through the night carried themselves with respect for those who were already checked-in for the day. Though, something caught his eye as he walked down one of the streets that was eerily empty¨Cthere was one person. Just a single person, dressed in a gray cloak with a hood hiding their features, walking directly towards him. What didn¡¯t aid him in feeling ufortable with the sudden emptiness of the street was that it waspletely silent; not a bird chirping or a cricket sounding out. At first, he thought it might just be coincidence¨Cthat the stranger might simply just be heading that way, but as he moved to one side of the stone-paved road, the figure followed¨Cstill walking directly towards him. ¡­Who is this person? A beggar? He thought. Just as he turned to face them, summoning his courage, ¡°Who are¨C¡± His words were stifled. What he expected to be the cloaked figure was instead a woman; her beauty was unmatched by anything he¡¯d seen. It wasn¡¯t a question of preference; she possessed objective beauty. She had lengthy, snow-white hair and golden eyes that imposed such power and authority he found himself shrinking beneath her gaze. ¡°Who¡­?¡± He muttered out. The woman looked closely at him as if inspecting his very pores, bringing her hand up to her chin, which was d in a ck glove, ¡°¡­It seems you enacted control today. Perhaps you may not yet be a problem.¡± ¡°Huh? Who are you?¡± ¡°Still, it means nothing,¡± the heavenly woman spoke, ignoring his question, ¡°It changes nothing. You¡¯re still a whelp; perhaps an incubating egg is a more apt term?¡± ¡°What¡¯re you talking about?!¡± He asked. As he tried to back away, being a blushing mess from having a woman of such beauty close to him, it was futile as she swiftly moved in closer, not allowing him to put any space between them. ¡°Emilio Dragonheart,¡± she spoke his name. He was at a loss for words as she spoke his full name just like that, finding his words caught in his throat as his heart throbbed in his chest. She knows my name? He thought. Those eyes she possessed were almost inhuman; angelic, yet fierce and indignant. As he looked into those eyes, it felt like lies could not be spoken, as if the very truth was seen by those irises. She leaned in closer, speaking directly into his ear with a soft whisper, ¡°Be careful now. I happen to enjoy the show you¡¯ve put on¡­for now. If you lose yourself to what¡¯s within you, I won¡¯t hesitate.¡± ¡°Hesitate to what¡­?¡± As he found the courage to ask his question, he nced over to find the snow-haired woman was already gone. ¡°¡­What the heck was that¡­?¡± He mumbled. This world¡­is really strange sometimes. I¡¯ve had about enough weirdness for one day, thank you¡­He thought. Chapter 84 Time of Detoxification It was such an odd, perplexing encounter without little clue of its purpose that he chose to bury it in his mind for now, going on his way again. Eventually, he managed to wander his way back to the inn, entering through the flower-decorated door as he found a wizened, old man standing at the reception desk. ¡°How can I help you,d?¡± The silver-haired man asked, setting his book down. He scratched his cheek, ¡°Err, mypanion checked in here. A tall guy, darkly dressed, got a lot of scars¨Cring a bell?¡± It seemed the old man was a bit sluggish in the thinking department as he hummed for a minute before slowly nodding, ¡°¡­Ah, yes, yes. He said a ¡°little brat with hair that doesn¡¯t know if it wants to be ck or gold will show up, so show him to the room¡±¨Cthat¡¯s what he told me.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s me¡­¡± He smiled wryly. You didn¡¯t have to be honest, old guy! He thought. He was guided down the corridor of the inn, being brought to the designated room by the old man, who had to use a cane to walk. ¡°It¡¯s right here,d,¡± the old man told him.. He nodded and smiled, ¡°Thanks.¡± As the wizened inn manager walked away, he opened the door to the room, hoping to find hispanion asleep, but that was not the case. There was immediately a shift in temperature between that room and the rest of the inn. In the center, within the free space away from the two beds, the tinum-eyed man was on the floor, engaging in what looked to be a rigorous circuit of pushups. ¡°Four-hundred-ny-nine¡­five-hundred¡­¡± Vandread counted. The man finally seemed to acknowledge his presence once finishing his pushups, standing up and looking at the boy as he wiped the sweat from his body with a towel. Five-hundred?! He thought. It was his first time seeing Vandread outside of his standard gear¨Cthe man was without a shirt, wearing only his ck, baggy trousers as his scarred, brown-skinned torso was on disy. ¡°You stayed out awhile,¡± Vandread said. Though it seemed the sweatden man could care less that the boy had stayed out throughout the duration of the day, as he held that same stoic expression on his fair, but scarred face. ¡°¡­Yeah, I got some new gear,¡± he said. Vandread grabbed his canteen of water, taking arge gulp of it before responding, ¡°Did you at least haggle for it?¡± ¡°Err, no?¡± He replied. ¡°Rookie mistake,¡± Vandread told him. Before he could respond, he witnessed the man drop back down to the floor, returning to his workout session as he began cranking out sit-ups with fearsome speed. This guy is a total nutjob¡­It¡¯s pretty much midnight by now, isn¡¯t it?! He thought. He set his sword and staff beside the bed before crawling under the nkets, trying to obtain some sleep, though he had to suffer through Vandread¡¯s constant sharp breaths and grunts as the man continued his exercises. ¡­This guy has no regard for my rest! He thought. In order to actually fall asleep, he was forced to put his pillow over his head to muffle out the sounds of Vandread¡¯s vigorous, seemingly non-stop workout routine. ¨C With theing morning, he was awoken not by the chirps of the sunrise birds or the noise of the town, but by the room-filling snoringing from the bed beside him. Are you kidding me?! He thought. As he sat up, he looked over in the nearby bed to see Vandread, sprawled across his own bed and snoring out like a bear. He didn¡¯t snore at all when we were in the carriage. Is this his x mode¡± or something?! He thought. Either way, the ambient sound of snoring quickly forced him out of bed as he left the room and ventured out into the morning streets of Elsia. He put his hand over his stomach, feeling it yearn for some early morning grub. Breakfast. I bet I can find something good around here, he thought. There was a certain feeling that came with walking through the streets of the city in the bright morning¨Cwatching as carriages drove by and adventurers went on their way¨Csome carrying quests in their hands with a mission ahead of them, and some seeking out their own quests. It was ¡°Independence¡±¨Che felt one step closer to being just like them. Equipped with his staff and sword at his hip, with his green cape flowing behind him, he already felt like he belonged, though he was definitely a few inches short from truly fitting in with the majority of adventurers. Maybe I can just say I¡¯m a half-dwarf or something¡­He thought. He nodded to himself before looking up, surveying the area for a good ce to grab breakfast. There wasn¡¯t ack of options¨Cnot by a long shot. Cafes were present, which seemed almost a bit progressive for a medieval world; establishments exuded aromas of morning dishes like eggs, sausage, and the alluring scent of bacon. ¡­Am I picky? No, that¡¯s not it. There¡¯s just too many options! How do I choose?! I also saved this money for a while¨Cso I want maximum value from every coin, he thought. He managed to find himself in front of a small diner, captured by the overwhelming scent that resembled the sweet nectarine of syrup. Could it be?! He thought. It was something he had longed for sinceing to this world; in his previous life, most foods were off the table for him due to his condition¨Csoing into this life, he nned to make up for his previous by trying as many foods as he could. Syrup had been high on thest, for some reason. The miracle sauce! I¡¯ve never seen somebody use it that walked away disappointed! It always makes them eat everyst scrape off their te¨Chell, I¡¯ve even seen people lick their te clean if it¡¯s syrup! He thought. Such a smell invoked this mission within him as he entered through the front door, finding himself in a cozy, wooden establishment. It was already warm inside, due to a firece that burned calmly in the center. Chapter 85 Surprise Reuniting ¡°Wee!¡± He was immediately greeted by a waitress, who gave him a big smile and bowed in front of him, as if trying to match his height. ¡°A new customer? Just yourself?¡± The waitress asked with a smile. He nodded slowly with flushed cheeks, ¡°Y-yeah.¡± There was something catching his eye¨Cno, two things that were catching his gaze. Though they were tucked into the white-and-green waitress uniform that was matched with a medium-length skirt that stopped just above the knees, those two mounds bounced with the slightest movement from the woman. Boobs, he thought. ¨CA simple thought, but such a sight tended to make him devolve millions of years back into a caveman. The waitress smiled, ushering for him to follow to his seat. She had long, curly hair of a dark-red shade and freckles on her pale cheeks. There was no denying her natural beauty, and her bubbliness amplified that. I picked the right ce, he thought. Guided to a table that was near enough to the firece to experience its warmth, he sat down as the waitress handed him a menu.. ¡°Here ya go! I¡¯d rmend the ¡®Over The Moon Fluffcakes¡¯!¡± The waitress told him. It definitely sounded like an intriguing name for a dish, though he looked over the menu for a moment, he decided to put his trust in the words of the cute woman¨Cdefinitely not swayed by the movement of her chest. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll have that, then¡­and a coffee¡ªck,¡± he told her with flushed cheeks, trying not to stare. ¡°Comin¡¯ right up!¡± She smiled, leaving the tableside. Sitting there, waiting for his order as he sat by the firece at the smooth, wooden table, he felt like an adult for once. I was an adult in my previous life. Even so, I didn¡¯t have an ounce of freedom or responsibility. My mom took care of everything, never letting me handle anything. You could call it being ¡®pampered¡¯ but¡­I hated it, he thought. Though he was still just fourteen, he felt more independent already than he ever felt before. He had his own money, choices, and self to take care of. Though this stop in Elsia would likely be thest sheer freedom he¡¯d have until reaching the Guild Foundation, he was going to squeeze everyst bit out of it he could. What a lovely view, he thought. The waitress returned, carrying a mug of steaming, fragrant coffee and a te, though the view he was focused on were more of the chest variety. He was interested to see exactly what ¡°Over The Moon Fluffcakes¡± were, as they presented such an over-the-top name for a dish. What was presented to him on the te certainly was the counterpart of pancakes in this world, but they did seem slightly different in some ways. They wererger, fluffier in texture, and taller than normal pancakes. But, what was more eye-catching to him was the dark-brown, sticky sauce that hadthered the fluffcakes: syrup. ¡°Enjoy!¡± The waitress said before leaving. ¡°Mhm! Thanks!¡± He smiled. It wasn¡¯t more than seconds after that he delved into his breakfast, getting to experience the sweet joy of syrup for himself atst. ¡°Ah¡­it¡¯s all worth it just for this,¡± he said to himself in delight. For somebody that mostly got their nutrients through a tube in hisst life, the explosion of vor that syrup brought was heaven to his taste buds. After finishing his meal, he paid for his meal, leaving an extra crown as a tip for the busty waitress before he went on with his day. ¡°¨CThank you very much! Have a good day, young man!¡± The waitress waved him off. ¡®Young man¡¯? He thought. To him, the waitress hardly looked older than eighteen, so to be called ¡®young¡¯ certainly dampened his feeling of adulthood, but he simply smiled and waved before returning to the streets of Elsia. As he walked around, he tried to figure out how he should spend his final day in Elsia¨Cthough again, he found himself with the problem of not knowing much about the city¡¯syout. ¡­That¡¯s right. Reno was going to show me. I kind of just¡­left in the middle of the night without saying anything so, there goes that. Hope she didn¡¯t get the wrong idea about that, he thought. Sighing out, he stopped for a moment to watch one of the street performers, who was a man dressed entrically in a purple suit with a fluffy, pink afro. He was performing some sort of magic trick with floating cards, swaying them around in front of the eyes of the onlookers. I bet being a magician is pretty easy in this world. I mean, there¡¯s actual magic to use. Maybe that makes it harder? You have to ¡°wow¡± people who¡¯ve seen magic, he thought. Magic tricks like this weren¡¯t particrly entertaining for him anymore, not with the existence of spell-casting, but he did find himself intrigued by whatever spell the afro man was using to levitate the cards around his body. Is it wind magic? If so, it¡¯s incredibly precise and quiet. I can¡¯t hear or feel any shift in wind, he thought. He had his hand to his chin, trying to figure out if wind magic was being used or not by the card magician as the decorated cards danced in the air with precision. Though before he could fully decide, he felt something swoop by¨Ca weight left his side as the sack of coins he kept on his belt was taken. ¡°Hey¨C!¡± He spun around in a hurry, but found a familiar face behind him, holding a yful grin. It was unexpected at first, but not so much so as he remembered the very first encounter he had with the scarf-wearing girl. ¡°Reno?¡± He said, surprised. ¡°Gotcha,¡± Renoughed. The sapphire-eyed girl tossed the sack of coins back to him, which he caught with a breath of relief leaving his lips. ¡°How¡¯d you find me?¡± He asked. Reno nudged him with her elbow,ughing again, ¡°Ya think I came lookin¡¯ for ya? Just a pure chance, is all!¡± ¡°Right¡­¡± He chuckled. Though it seemed like the golden-haired girl had something more to say as she looked at him, keeping her hands on her sides. ¡°Didja forget already?¡± Reno asked. ¡°Huh? Oh¡­right!¡± He remembered. Reno nodded, ¡°Ya wanted to see the city, right? Well, I happen to be free today!¡± ¡°You¡¯re free everyday, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°As if! I¡¯m totally busy, ya know! I¡¯ve got¡­stuff I do!¡± Reno huffed. Heughed as he began to stroll around the bustling street alongside the girl, who he was relieved to reunite with. I was scared thatst night would be thest time I¡¯d see her. That¡¯d be a sorry goodbye, he thought. Chapter 86 Crossing Boundaries ¡°Ya never told me why you¡¯re here. Yer younger than me, arentcha? What¡¯re ya doin alone in Elsia as a traveler?¡± Reno asked. He shook his head softly, ¡°I¡¯m not alone exactly. But, well, we¡¯re just stopping here for a bit¨Ctoday is myst day here, actually.¡± ¡°Last day?¡± Reno looked at him with a slight dulling to her expression. ¡°Mhm,¡± he nodded, ¡°I didn¡¯t actually get much of a chance to see Elsia yesterday, so¡­¡± ¡°My bad,¡± Reno sulked. Heughed a bit, ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. I made my own choices. But, today, I¡¯d like to see it properly.¡± Reno¡¯s smile returned in full-force as she ced her hand on her chest, ¡°Leave it to me! I hope ya got the right wallet, because yer gonna need some souvenirs to take with ya!¡± ¨C Through the city, they both explored it together with Reno proudly leading the way like a guide¨Cshowing him the best street performers that ranged from sword juggling clowns to beast tamers whomanded their partners through ming hoops. He did acquire a souvenir in the form of a bracelet that had the tooth of a dragonskin behemoth attached to it, which he thought was fairly cool. A lot of what he was shown was streetside restaurants¨Cto which he bought from each time, both for him and Reno.. ¡­I feel like I¡¯m the one doing a favor here, he thought. It was clear from the challenge with the humongous meat pie yesterday, but the girl had quite the appetite¨Ccasually eating enough to feed a few grown men as she continued marching with boundless energy. ¡°Where to next?¡± He asked. Reno hummed, ¡°Well, I think that¡¯s enough about the grub!¡± You think? He thought. ¡°Have you seen the ¡®Champion Tower¡¯?¡± Reno asked. ¡°¡®Champion Tower¡¯?¡± He repeated. A smile stretched across the young girl¡¯s lips at his response, ¡°Ya want a memory of Elsia ya can¡¯t forget? That¡¯s our ce, then!¡± He didn¡¯t know what this ¡°Champion Tower¡± was, but the name alone was enough for him to follow the girl through the streets of the city closely. Though he was left a bit confused once they started cutting through alleyways, leaving the loud-and-crowded streets. ¡°Why¡¯re we going this way? It¡¯s a public ce, right?¡± He asked. ¡°Nope,¡± Reno answered quickly. ¡°Nope¡­?¡± He repeated. Reno turned to face him, walking backward with a big smile, ¡°¡­The ¡°Champion Tower¡± is a totally private structure¨Cit¡¯s reserved only for high-ranking adventurers and stuff! Nobles and priests I think are allowed, too, but¡­It¡¯s pretty exclusive!¡± ¡°Huh!?¡± He let out, ¡°If it¡¯s closed-off for us, then why are we going there?!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t freak! I know a way¨CI¡¯ve been in n¡¯ out a buncha times! Trust me!¡± Reno assured him. ¡°¨C¡± He looked forward, hesitant. By all means, he certainly fell under the ssification of a ¡°goody two shoes¡±, not out of respect for society, but out of fear of being reprimanded by thew force and out of fear of prison. I seriously wouldn¡¯t do well in prison! He thought. ¡°C¡¯mon! If ya follow my way, we won¡¯t hafta worry about anything!¡± Reno assured him. The girl patted him on the shoulder as they stopped in the shadow-covered alleyway, though he still didn¡¯t know how to feel about breaching what sounded like pretty strictws. ¡°Alright, fine¡­lead the way,¡± he sighed. He couldn¡¯t deny that the name of the structure sounded interesting at the very least. With the MMORPG experience under his belt, it definitely seemed like a ce of interest. ¡­Maybe there¡¯s special loot there. Wait¨CI¡¯m not a thief! Reno is a bad influence¡­He thought. Following behind Reno, he could tell the experience she had with the city just by watching how casually she moved, hopping off of crates yfully. As he looked up towards the windows of the buildings that created the alleyway, he hoped none of the inhabitants of the structures caught on to what they were doing. ¡°Is it far?¡± He asked. ¡°Just a bit a ways,¡± Reno said, ¡°It¡¯s on the highest point of the city!¡± He didn¡¯t realize until she said that, but they were moving up an incline, though it was subtle at first, it was definitely felt through his legs after awhile of walking. Soon enough, the secret alleyway path that Reno was guiding him down led to a set of ivory fences that blocked their path from going any further. ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Reno presented with a smile. ¡°We¡¯re¡­here?¡± He repeated. He certainly didn¡¯t feel like they arrived at their destination by the fact that the fence, which seemed to stand well over ten meters high, stood before them. ¡°It¡¯s right past this gate here¨Cthe Champion Tower,¡± Reno said, ncing back at him. It was nearly impossible to see what was truly tucked away behind the fence as there were tall, perfectly-trimmed hedges that obscured his view. ¡°¡­Alright, well, how do you n on climbing over it? This is practically a tower itself,¡± he asked. ¡°Easy! Just watch ¡®n learn!¡± Reno told him. Stretching her legs side-to-side, Reno prepared herself before leaping up, beginning to scale the colossal, ivory fence swiftly like a spider. ¡°Woah!¡± He let out. I shouldn¡¯t be surprised by her nimbleness anymore, but seriously¨Cshe¡¯d be a gold medalist in the Olympics! He thought. ¡°Hyup!¡± Reno climbed the gates within seconds, sitting at the top as she looked down at the amethyst-eyed boy with a smirk, ¡°Your turn, slowpoke!¡± ¡°Slowpoke, huh? We¡¯ll see about that,¡± he mumbled with a smirk of his own. Feeling as though a challenge was issued to him, he felt naturally inclined to respond in kind, especially since they were simr in age, there was a natural rivalry. Of course, in terms of physical prowess in movement, he couldn¡¯t hope to match a swift lioness like Reno, but he had his own way of doing things. As he gripped his staff, he manifested a steady propulsion of wind beneath his boots, lifting himself into the air as he ascended the height of the gate. It took him mere seconds to reach the top of the gate, which he met with Reno at the top of, sitting beside her at its peak. ¡°¡­I almost forgot ya could do that,¡± Reno squinted at him. ¡°Sorry,¡± heughed. As he looked forward, he saw what awaited on the other side of the gate: it was a stunning garden; perfectly maintained with immacte hedges and beautiful beds of colorful flowers that apanied paved pathways. The pathways in the secretive, closed-off garden led to one ce: a colossal, ck-and-gold tower that loomed in its center. ¡°¡­Is that it?¡± He asked in awe. ¡°Yup,¡± Reno nodded with a smirk, ¡°We¡¯re goin¡¯ in there.¡± ¡°¡­Alright,¡± he said quietly. Chapter 87 The Champion Tower He still wasn¡¯t a fan of breaking-and-entering, but it at least seemed devoid of ask as the garden looked empty, and Reno definitely knew her way around. Once again presenting the movement abilities not unlike a monkey, Reno hopped down, grabbing onto the branches of one of the old, tall-standing trees before hopping to the garden floor. ¡°C¡¯mon!¡± Reno called out to him from below with a smile. He breathed in before nodding, jumping down andnding with a calm wind guiding him to the paved trail. It was definitely a change of pace from the rest of the city; the secluded garden felt like a ce straight out of a fairy tale. The cityscape couldn¡¯t be seen as trees and hedges lined the gates like a veil of tranquility; the pale, but lively leaves of a verdantplexion were softly tugged at by the passing breeze. ¡°Whatcha think? Pretty nice, ain¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he nodded. There weren¡¯t many words that he could provide as he was still awestruck by the environment around him¨Cthe smell of the flourishing flowers was carried by the soft winds, and the sight of the Champion Tower entuated the beautiful view before him. ¡°It¡¯s theplete opposite of the slums, ain¡¯t it?¡± Reno asked. ¡°¨C¡± He didn¡¯t answer.. Reno nudged him, ¡°C¡¯mon, don¡¯t think I¡¯m in love with the slums or anythin¡¯. A rich ce like this is what they want to keep from people like me. I say: screw that! I wanna experience it, too, yeah?¡± ¡°Sure¡­It really is beautiful, though. Are you sure nobody is here?¡± He asked. ¡°No,¡± Reno answered. ¡°No?!¡± Reno chuckled, ¡°Rx! I¡¯ve been here a handful of times¨Cit¡¯s not a very bustlin¡¯ ce, ya know? Not much to do here but look, and people are busy!¡± ¡°True,¡± he sighed. Walking along the stone-paved trail, which was neighbored by the perfect garden of vibrant grass and swaying flowers, he followed Reno towards the famous structure that sat in the center of the hidden garden. It was an immacte structure; sculptures of heroes protruded from the building as if protecting it, surrounding its ck-steel and golden decorated form in a glorious fashion. ¡°¨C¡± He looked up at the tower, ¡°What is the ¡®Champion Tower¡¯, anyway?¡± Reno answered, ¡°It¡¯s really famous in Elsia. It¡¯d be the main attraction, but the stupid founders wanted to keep this exclusive!¡­It¡¯s a holy ground for heroes.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s for the heroes of Milligarde! Ya know, to appreciate them and stuff!¡± Reno huffed, ¡°A lot of adventurers usuallye here to pray to these heroes for strength or whatever¨CI don¡¯t really care about that stuff, though.¡± For a moment, he stopped and took in the view of the flower beds that inhabited the garden; the scent of the flowers filled his nose wonderfully as he inhaled then exhaled with a smile. It was something he never took for granted, something that most people did: simply being able to painlessly enjoy the outside world. ¡°C¡¯mon!¡± Reno ushered him. ¡°Yeah,ing¨C¡± he replied. Following the blonde-haired girl once more, the two of them found themselves in front of the Champion Tower. Up close, it felt taller than ever, looming over like a mighty pir that stood beneath only the clouds. ¡°¡­Have you actually gone in before?¡± He asked. Reno slowly shook her head, ¡°Tried, but it¡¯s always locked.¡± While he definitely wanted to see the interior of the famous structure dedicated to the heroes of Milligarde, he was also satisfied not diving deeper into breaking thew by entering such a sacred ce. ¡°Alright, well, maybe we should head out¨C¡± Just as he said that, beginning to turn around, he heard the sound of the tall, obsidian door clicking. He looked to see that Reno had already grabbed the handle, turning it as the door actually opened. ¡°Huh?¡± He let out. ¡°It¡¯s unlocked¡­?¡± Reno said quietly. It seemed like even the daring girl was feeling intimidated by this sudden turnaround as she slowly opened the door to the immacte structure of heroes. ¡°¨C¡± He watched. Reno nced back at him with a look in her sapphire eyes that basically said ¡°Are yain¡¯ with, or not?¡± Should I go in with her¡­? It¡¯s dangerous, right? Ahh! I came this far, right?! I might as well! He thought. He begrudgingly decided to follow her into the entrance to the Champion Tower, instantly finding himself in a room unlike any other. There were many weapons engraved into the walls of the tower, iid like jewels into a ne; they were all legendary in their own right, with the insignia and names of those the weapons belonged to inscribed by them. [Gared, The Mighty] Positioned by that name was a massive greatsword, forged of a silver-and-gold steel with a handle dressed in jewels. [Ezekial, The Radiant] By that name was a normal sized de, though it possessed an all-gold handle that was sculptured with the design of angel wings on its hilt. [Rosemary, The Scarlet] A two-ded sword of red steel sat on the wall beside that name, possessing a blood-like appearance. Woah, he thought. There were candles lined along the walls, which struck him as odd, seeing as it should be empty, but he only noticed something that confirmed this as he realized Reno was frozen in front of him. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± He asked. As he stood beside her, he finally noticed what it was that made the girl stand there like a statue: the tower wasn¡¯t empty inside¨Cthey were not its only visitors. Sitting in the room, in front of a shrine of swords that sat at the end of the illustrious chamber, there was a man dressed in an all-white uniform, bearing a scabbard on his back that bore the design of a dragon wing. The uniform he wore consisted of a coat, pants, and a vest underneath; it resembled something akin to a military uniform, but almost divine in a sense. He had snow-white hair, though his features couldn¡¯t be seen as he faced away from them, praying to the shrine of des. ¡°¨C¡± He was silent. There was an imposing aura that naturally exuded from the man; something inexplicable, yet inspired reverence. What is this? Is this his natural mana signature¡­? It¡¯s so dense, but so light¡­? Who is this person? He thought. Chapter 88 Bittersweet As the man returned to his feet, neither he nor Reno could do anything but stand still, knowing well that the unknown visitor to the tower knew they were there. Slowly, the figure turned to face them, though he was surprised to find the one dressed in the white-and-ck uniform was a young man, likely in his early twenties, at most. What stood out were his eyes¨Cthe irises the man possessed weren¡¯t just one shade, but many¨Cit was as if staring into a rainbow kaleidoscope. ¡°Oh? A pair of children have wandered in?¡± The man said. ¡°¨C¡± Reno gulped. As Reno didn¡¯t respond, he did, ¡°¨CWe¡¯re sorry, we identally¨C¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± the man smiled assuredly. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not looking to punish children for being curious¨Cthat¡¯s your nature after all,¡± the youthful, snow-haired man said, ¡°though, I¡¯ll have to ask you to leave. It wouldn¡¯t look good for me if you two were caught while I was here.¡± He slowly nodded, ¡°¡­Alright, we¡¯ll go.¡± ¡°Safe travels,¡± the man raised his white glove to wave them off, ¡°If you want to visit this ce again, perhaps you should earn the proper qualifications so you can experience its beauty fully.¡±. ¡°¨C¡° He took that to heart; it was something naturally aligned with his current goals anyway, so he nodded, ¡°Yeah. I will.¡± ¡°Good to hear. This world can always use more heroes,¡± the man smiled. Though he wanted to ask the man¡¯s name, he decided against it as he gestured for Reno to leave with him, just making sure to get out of there before actual trouble found its way to them. ¡°That was close¡­!¡± Reno breathed out. ¡°Yeah, lucky for us that the guy there was nice,¡± he sighed. They both traveled over the fence once again, taking a breather in the alleyway as they sat against the wall. In his chest, his heart thumped; it was a feeling he¡¯d focused on a lot at moments like this¨Cthe epitome of feeling ¡°alive.¡± This can¡¯t be replicated. I¡¯m living a real life right now¨Cone realer than my previous one ever was, he thought. ¡°I bet that isn¡¯t being forgotten,¡± Reno said. ¡°Nope,¡± he replied, ¡°but I¡¯d also have a problem if I lost track of all the times I broke thew. His response caused the girl tough as she yfully elbowed him in the side, but it didn¡¯t feel too yful to him. ¡°You¡¯re a real goody two shoes, ya know that?¡± Renoughed. ¡°¡­That¡¯s pretty normal, I¡¯d like to think so, anyway,¡± he wryly chuckled, rubbing his side. Though he couldn¡¯t make any excuses¨Che did enjoy a bit of mischief alongside the girl; there was a certain adrenaline rush it brought when snooping around a ce you¡¯re not supposed to be. But, he wasn¡¯t the type to chase that rush¨Che liked to think he had a good head on his shoulders for not getting into trouble. ¡­If only Vandread knew how I was spending my free time here. I think he¡¯d put me on an actual leash. Scary, he thought. ¡°Thanks, Reno.¡± The sudden, heartfelt gratitude he bestowed to the girl surely flustered her, as she flicked her gaze to him quickly as her cheeks turned red, then quickly looked away, standing up. ¡°¡­Whatcha mean? This was our deal,¡± Reno mumbled. He smiled warmly, ¡°Yeah, but you gave me a memory I won¡¯t forget¨Cbetter than any souvenir.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get all mushy with me now,¡± Reno sighed, smiling in return. ¡°Sorry,¡± heughed. With noon approaching, they both headed back into the heart of the city, which Reno finished showing him around the local restaurants by grabbing a bite to eat together. This time, they grabbed sandwiches from a streetside shop, sitting under arge tree that sat in the center of one of the sectors. ¡°So, whatcha think?¡± Reno asked, taking another bite from her sandwich. ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°About Elsia, I mean!¡± She smiled. He nodded, ¡°Oh¡­well¨Cit¡¯s pretty amazing. I didn¡¯t expect to see a city like this. There are so many kinds of people¨Cthere weren¡¯t any demi-humans where I was from.¡± ¡°That so? I¡¯ve always lived with ¡¯em so it¡¯s normal to me,¡± she exined. ¡°I can see that,¡± he smiled. After finishing her lunch, Reno hopped to her feet with a small tint to her cheeks. Though she stood with that natural confidence to her¨Ckeeping her hands on her side and her scarf fluttering in the calm breeze, the girl averted her gaze shyly. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± He asked. Reno didn¡¯t respond for a moment before reaching into her pocket, retrieving something that was wrapped in a beige cloth. She seemed hesitant to present it to him, as if a light breeze in the other direction would deter herpletely, but she held it out to him. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± ¡°¡­Well, you¡¯re going away after today, aintcha? Ya said something about traveling across this whole, wide kingdom and even into another, so¡­it¡¯ll probably be a long time until we see each other again¡­¡± Reno exined quietly. He could tell what the girl was trying to tell him, though it brought a soft smile across his lips as he epted what it was that she was gifting him. ¡°Thanks,¡± he nodded before opening the cloth. As he unveiled the wrapping around the object, he found a ring within it; the ring wasn¡¯t made of metal or possessed anyvish jewels, but was instead made out of fabric. It wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d seen before, so he assumed it might¡¯ve been a normal thing in this world, but he realized the likely case was that this was simply something Reno did her best to make. ¡°It isn¡¯t much, but I stitched it up, ya know? Gramps Urming gave me some leftover supplies he had, so¡­¡± Reno exined. ¡°I¡¯ll wear it¨Calways!¡± He assured her with a smile. ¡°Huh?¡± Reno blushed, ¡°Ya don¡¯t hafta do all that¨C¡± ¡°I will,¡± he assured her further. He slid the brown-and-gold fabric ring over his index finger on his glove-free hand; it was surprisinglyfortable. ¡°¡­Well, if ya insist,¡± she mumbled, looking away. ¡°Thanks,¡± he told her, ¡°I¡¯ll definitely return though¨Cthat¡¯s a promise.¡± ¡°Really? I mean¡­not that I¡¯m gonna be countin¡¯ the days, or anythin¡­¡± She muttered. He smiled, ¡°Yeah. Once I be a certified adventurer, I¡¯m going to make sure to show off my insignia to you¨Cso be ready.¡± ¡°Heh,¡± Renoughed, ¡°I¡¯ll be waitin¡¯.¡± It was a seldomly wanted goodbye, but he knew it wasing due to the nature of his journey. The two parted ways with a handshake, though he wanted to share a hug with her, he was pretty sure he¡¯d be elbowed hard for that¨Cat the very least. Though the reason Reno gave for having to go early was ¡°Helping Gramps Urming out with his bakery¡± he could tell by the unnatural stuttering to Reno¡¯s voice and the way she fidgeted that the girl simply felt she needed to cut their time short before she got any ideas. Yeah, same here. If I spent more time with you¡­It¡¯d get harder to go separate ways. It¡¯s only temporary though; we¡¯re both young¨Cthere¡¯s so much time left in this life, he thought. Chapter 89 Get A Move On As he ventured around the city for a bit longer, stretching his legs and taking in the crowded atmosphere onest time before he¡¯d be back in that carriage for quite some time, he found himself looking in surprise at the sight before him. He had returned near the inn, where the ¡°carriage parking service¡± inhabited. There was a man standing in front of a peculiar carriage; it was bright pink with polka dots and colorful gs disyed on its sides. Waiting in front of it were twopletely opposite steeds: an all-white, majestic horse with a single horn on its head, and an all-ck, brooding mare that exhaled steam from its nostrils. A unicorn¡­? He thought. But what caught his eye was the man preparing to set out in the carriage; a familiar set of orange hair and snow-white skin. ¡°Lawrence?¡± He said out loud. He was proven correct in his assessment of who the man was as the clown-like adventurer turned to face him, though the man was now dressed in surprisinglyvish clothes¨Ca departure from the ragged, half-naked get-up the man was wearing when they met previously. Lawrence was wearing a colorful, blue-and-purple tailcoat, adjusting a gentleman¡¯s tophat on top of his head as he looked at the boy. ¡°Ah, my dear friend¨CI was about to pay you a visit!¡± Lawrence said. ¡°A visit? Why?¡± He asked. The answer he got was received in the form of the clown man reaching into his coat, retrieving a small pouch that was filled to the brim with coins.. It was handed directly to him, surprisingly to him. ¡°¡­What¡¯s this about?¡± ¡°Your portion of the payment¨Cfor the quest,¡± Lawrence told him with a smile. ¡°Why? I¡¯m not an adventurer yet,¡± he asked. ¡°That may be true, but your assistance could not be denied¨Cit¡¯s only fair that you receive a portion of the reward, my dear friend,¡± Lawrence smiled. It definitely seemed like a nice sum of change, as he could see the glint of crowns within the pouch, but he sighed out and held a smile, not epting it. ¡°Instead of that, I have a favor to ask instead,¡± he said. ¡°Oh?¡± Lawrence looked at him. ¡°Can you give that to Reno¨Cthe girl that was with us yesterday?¡± He asked, ¡°You can take some out as payment, if needed, but just make sure the majority of it goes to her.¡± Lawrence¡¯s expression was agasp for a moment before once again, the scarlet-eyed entric smiled, cing the pouch back beneath his coat, ¡°As you wish, my dear friend. I will not question your benevolent motives, nor will I take any fee from you. In truth, I was going to pay the girl a sum of her own, but this amount will surely be life changing for one such as her.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he nodded with a small smile, ¡°Thanks, Lawrence.¡± ¡°It¡¯s truly my pleasure, my dear friend¨Clet us cross paths once more on our journeys through this fabulous world,¡± Lawrence bowed. With that, he felt arge sense of relief as he went on his way again, venturing down the street, not too far from the inn now. I know if I tried to give her money outright, Reno¡¯s pride would not have it. She¡¯d reject it endlessly. At least this way, she can¡¯t deny it. She earned it herself. I hope this helps improve your future, Reno, he thought. As he returned to the inn, he already found Vandread outside, loading the carriage with the supplies he had picked up during their stay in Elsia. ¡°Oh, good timing,¡± Vandread said, noticing him. ¡°¡­Are we leaving already?¡± He asked. Vandread nced at him, ¡°Yeah, change of ns¨Cget in.¡± ¡°Err, alright¡­?¡± Aiding the man, he helped pack in the rest of the supplies in the carriage, looking around at the city onest time, knowing soon he¡¯d be staring only at trees and fields for days on end. Ah, goodbye, cat girls¡­He thought. He was left perplexed by this sudden departure, but he got inside of the carriage as Vandread finished bringing their new set of supplies in, closing the door behind them and snapping his fingers¨Csignaling the horse to begin moving. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He asked. As the carriage began rolling through the street, traveling through the city, he looked at Vandread, who seemed wary of something unknown to him. ¡°It¡¯sing,¡± Vandread said. Of course, the answer given to him was anything but sufficient, but he knew this was the case when talking to the man of few words, so he pressed further. ¡°¡®It¡¯? What¡¯s ¡®it¡¯?¡± He pressed. ¡°You won¡¯t have to worry about ¡®it¡¯ if we move at the right pace and avoid ¡®it¡¯,¡± Vandread told him. It was clear that the dark-skinned, scar-covered man was dodging the question, but it only served to make him more anxious. ¡°I¡¯m not a kid,¡± he said. ¡°¨C¡± Vandread stared at him. ¡°I can handle myself. In the event whatever this ¡®it¡¯ is reaches us, I need to be prepared,¡± he told the man. This seemed to finally get through to the tight-lipped, abrasive escort of his as Vandread quietly sighed out while ruffling his own, messy tufts. ¡°¡®It¡¯ is the ¡®Hunting Party¡¯,¡± Vandread admitted. ¡°¡®Hunting Party¡¯?¡± He repeated. As the rolls of the carriage rolled over the nicely-paved, stone streets of Elsia, he looked closely at the man while listening intently, watching as Vandread nodded. ¡°It¡¯s a Massacre-ss threat, as ssified by the Guild Foundation,¡± Vandread told him, ¡°You know the danger ranking for quests and individuals, right?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he nodded. It was something he learned from reading frequently at home: the ¡°Danger Ranks of the Guild Foundation.¡± These were tiers given to missions and individuals to properly disy what threat they possessed to adventurers. The order went, from least dangerous to most: Casual, Lethal, Destructive, Massacre, Cataclysm, Bleak, and Doom. A Massacre-level threat? Something that high of a danger rank is insane¡­He thought. ¡°The Hunting Party is a traveling band of knights thate and go with one telltale sign: fog. They aren¡¯t normal knights¨Cthey¡¯re magical entities of some sort; ghosts, spirits, demons¨Cwhatever you want to call them¨Cthey¡¯re trouble. What makes them so dangerous is that fog¨Cit¡¯s blinding and makes it almost impossible tounch a counterattack, especially since the Hunting Party is apparently capable of vanishing within a moment,¡± Vandread exined. ¡°¡­Fog? Something like that sounds¡­scary,¡± he said. This information made him remember the fog that sat outside of the carriage directly before they entered Elsia, but he brushed it off as a coincidence. ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re getting a head start,¡± Vandread told him. ¡°How can you tell it¡¯sing?¡± He asked. It was a question that seemed important enough, as he wanted to know so he could figure it out for himself as well. Vandread stared at him before tapping his index finger against the carriage window. This prompted him to gaze past the window, looking up towards the sky, which was immensely cloudy. ¡°What about it? Looks like it¡¯s going to rain soon,¡± he noted. ¡°Weather like this is a giveaway¨Cthis region is all sunshine and rainbows during this time of year. Besides, I¡¯ve heard some rumors around the guilds in Elsia,¡± Vandread told him. It was all a bit sudden, but he knew better than to doubt Vandread, who at the very least seemed pragmatic in his ways¨Cnot the type to be overly paranoid if something didn¡¯t merit such caution. ¡°¡­What about the city?¡± He asked. Chapter 90 The Hunting Party ¡°¡­What about the city?¡± He asked. ¡°What about it?¡± ¡°The Hunting Party is traveling this way, right? Won¡¯t that leave the citizens in its path¡­?¡± He mostly asked this out of concern for Reno, knowing well that by the sounds of it, this Massacre-level entity was probably something beyond the likes of Oswell, by a long shot. Vandread scratched his head, ¡°The Hunting Party won¡¯t go through a city¨Cnot one like Elsia, at least. It¡¯s not a mindless entity¨Cthey¡¯re smart and slippery. They seem to aim for caravans and mostly small groups that¡¯re traveling the roads, not entire cities like that.¡± ¡°I see¡­What happens if it reaches us, then?¡± He asked. By now, he saw out of the corner of his eye that the carriage had rolled through Elsia¡¯s back gates, heading into the bare region as thick, forest trees neighbored the dirt road they traveled on now. Vandread stared at him for a moment at this question, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we¡¯ll stand our ground.¡± ¡°¡­Really? If they¡¯re as dangerous as you¡¯re making them out to be, wouldn¡¯t it be better to just run?¡± He asked. ¡°It¡¯d be better¨Cif it was possible. But, once you¡¯re in that fact¨Cyou¡¯re in their territory. There¡¯s no running. The Hunting Party has yet to be vanquished, but I have heard of adventurers surviving encounters with them,¡± Vandread told him. ¡°How?¡±. To him, it sounded like the man was contradicting himself between the Hunting Party never being in, being inescapable, yet their being survivors. ¡°They¡¯re knights¨Cinhuman knights, but knights. Even as astral, malicious entities, they seem to have some code of honor, still¨Cas useless as something like that is,¡± Vandread exined, ¡°Apparently if you provide a good fight, they¡¯ll go on their way.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound too bad, then,¡± he smiled wryly. ¡°Until you realize only a handful of people have survived¨Cand all were strong, capable fighters. Most of the time, victims are found as headless corpses¨Cabandoned in bloodied fields,¡± Vandread told him. It almost felt like the dreary man was trying to intentionally scare him, which wasn¡¯t helped by the gloomy atmosphere present within the ck carriage, but he knew Vandread wasn¡¯t the type of person to pull his leg. ¡°We¡¯ll avoid shortcuts and going off-road; we¡¯d end up right in the sights of the Hunting Party if we did so,¡± Vandread informed him. ¡°Got it,¡± he nodded. ¡°Just sit back and rx, kid. We¡¯ll probably be fine,¡± Vandread half-heartedly assured him. ¡°Probably?¡± ¡°Want me to lie?¡± Vandread looked at him. ¡°Fair enough¡­¡± Vandread pulled out arge map, likely acquired within Elsia; it was unraveled to a length that made it awkward to hold. ¡°We¡¯ll be passing through Tseurilia Forest next¨Ctricky territory,¡± Vandread said. ¡°I¡¯ve read about that forest. I think Father talked about going through there a couple times. It¡¯s thergest forest in the world, right? I¡¯ve heard it rivals kingdoms,¡± he said, resting his cheek on his hand, ¡°Howe it¡¯s tricky?¡± ¡°Tseurilia is a demi-human inhabitednd. It¡¯s mostly for more traditional kinds¡ªstrong and protective of their territory,¡± Vandread exined. ¡°Oh¡­Demi-humans, huh?¡± ¡°After that, we¡¯ll ride through the calm ins, through the mountains, greatkes, and pass through Larundog. Vasmoria isn¡¯t very far after that,¡± Vandread exined. While their journey through Milligarde resumed earlier than expected, heid across the seat, gettingfortable as he used his cape as a pillow. Laying there, he touched the ring that Reno had given him before their departure. ¡­Calm before the storm, huh? He thought. It was difficult to find his way to thend of dreams with the prospect of fog-bringing, man-hunting knight-spirits looming around the region, but he did feel a certain sense of safety around Vandread. Even if the man was abrasive and less than sociable, he was reliable, at the very least. This ¡°Hunting Party¡± thing sounds pretty scary, honestly. I just hope it doesn¡¯t target us, he thought. Somehow, he did manage to fall asleep. After spending a majority of the day with Reno, filling his stomach and exploring the city, his body achieved some much needed rest. However, this was only a reprieve so breath that it passed like the breath of the wind¨C THUD. A jarring sound caused his eyes to shoot open; what immediately filled his ears was the sound of the carriage wheels rapidly turning¨Cit was moving fastly. ¡°Huh?¡± He sat up. As he rubbed his eyes, sitting up, he saw Vandread standing up, positioned by the window with tworge knives drawn. There was an intense, focused, but anxious look in the man¡¯s tinum eyes. ¡°Vandread¡­?¡± He said. The man was delved into such focus that it almost seemed like he didn¡¯t hear him, but he kept his gaze past the window while responding, ¡°Be ready. It¡¯s here.¡± For a moment, he was left confused, thrown into this situation right out of the gates from slumber as the carriage swiftly pulled over a bumpy pathway, rocking violently. But, ncing at the window, he realized what it was that was happening¨Cthe fog. There was no doubt about it; the fog was as thick as pea soup, obscuring their surroundingspletely. ¡°¡­It¡¯s here? The Hunting Pa¨C¡± Before he could even say it, Vandread covered his mouth with aggressive swiftness, much to his confusion. ¡°¨C?¡± He looked at the man. Vandread quietly whispered, ¡°Do not use its true name. Try not to even think about it. Acknowledging their existence will bring them to our location.¡± He slowly nodded, which allowed the pragmatic man to remove his hand from his mouth, leaving him silent as they stood in the fastly-moving carriage. Though looking at Vandread, he could tell the man was hesitant to say what he was about to say, and he sorely wished that the words didn¡¯t leave the man¡¯s mouth¨C ¡°I have to fight,¡± Vandread told him. ¡°¡­I know you said that, but is that really the only way?!¡± He asked. As soon as he asked that, an object mmed against the carriage with such force that it nearly caused it to topple over: an arrow. It was a single arrow, though by all means arge one¨Cseeing the impact it carried with it was daunting as it was sticking in through the back of the transportation device. ¡°¨C¡± He looked on. ¡°That¡¯s why I have to fight. We won¡¯t be able to escape ¡®it¡¯,¡± Vandread told him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll be safe if you wait in here.¡± With a snap of his fingers, Vandreadmanded the carriage to stop moving as it pulled to a stop from its rapid speed, now leaving them in a terrifying silence. He could tell only partially through the window, but through the small bits he could see through the fog, they were already in a forest. ¡°Don¡¯t die¡­¡± He said. Vandread opened the door to the carriage, revealing the sight of abundant fog past its entrance, ¡°Unfortunately, that¡¯s not going to happen today.¡± Chapter 91 Subversion of What Lurks Amidst the dense fog, it waspletely silent as he watched the tinum-eyes, shaggy-haired man step outside into it, being swallowed in the mist within just a few paces. He could only stand there and watch the fog anxiously after Vandread had disappeared into its hold. Am I really supposed to just sit here and wait¡­? He questioned. After a couple dreadful, slowly-crawling minutes, he had enough: the gnawing silence and the sway of the thick, imprable fog got to him. Even against his better judgment, he decided to step out of the carriage. You¡¯re crazy if you think I¡¯m going to just be a sitting duck¡­He thought. He kept his staff held tightly in his right hand, and had his other ready by his sheathed de as he left the carriage. The bottom of his boots met firmly on the moist, but not muddy soil; he looked around, but there was hardly any merit in doing so as he couldn¡¯t see past two meters around him. ¡°¡­Vandread?¡± He quietly called. It felt like his voice was immediately siphoned away in the mist like a me being snuffed out; it was vastly empty yet densely-packed with a dreadful atmosphere. Squelch. Beneath his step, something wet was felt against the sole of his boot, sshing slightly with an audible sound.. ¡°Huh?¡± As he looked down, he found a puddle of blood beneath his boots,ing from what looked like the mutted corpse of a man in full-armor; a knight of some kind. Though from the rugged look of the armor and the situation he was in, he realized who that being likely was: One from the Hunting Party?¡­Wait, is Vandread winning, then? He thought. However, what struck him as odd was how torn up the body was¨Csevere gashes were left over the body, its armor split, and limbs chopped offpletely. The fallen knights were definitely not human¨Cthey had massive bodies, towering at the smallest two meters, and at the tallest¨Cfour meters. Beyond that, the steed of the Hunting Party were in as well, varying from horned mare to scaled beasts. This sight made his stomach churn, but he covered his mouth and nose with his cape, continuing to move forward anyway. As he moved forward, he saw more corpses of knights, though they became more grotesque and mutted as he walked forward¨Cfinding himself having to restrain himself from heaving at the sight of the mincemeat of bodies. ¡­Vandread didn¡¯t do this, right? He questioned. s, he found a figure in the fog, a familiar shape that was relieving to his eyes. ¡°¡­Vandread!¡± ¨CHe was correct; it was the man he was traveling with. However, as Vandread heard his voice, the man looked back at him with horrified eyes. ¡°Emilio¡­? What¡¯re you doing here?!¡± Vandread said desperately. ¡°I¨C¡± ¡°I told you to stay in the carriage!¡± Vandread shouted. He didn¡¯t understand why the man sounded so upset, and it was definitely a shift from his usual quiet, brooding self. It struck him particrly weirdly as it looked like the Hunting Party was obliterated. ¡°You won, right? What¡¯s the problem¨C?¡± He asked, confused. Vandread huffed, breathing heavily as he looked at him, ¡°¡­I didn¡¯t do a damn thing! I wasn¡¯t the one who yed them!¡± ¡°Huh¡­?¡± It was only just then that he made out another figure within the swirl of fog; anky entity that stood amidst the highest density of corpses. Who is that¡­? He thought. ¡°¡­Heads or tails? This is myst time asking. If you don¡¯t answer¡­I¡¯ll decide for you.¡± It was a voice devoid of emotion, exempt from humanity; it was masculine, but empty, sounding as if bored. Vandread looked forward in fear before looking back, ¡°Emilio, you have to get out of here¡­!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand!¡± He replied. Just then, the sound of a coin being flipped up filled his ears in the silent fog. He watched as the shadow within the fog flicked a coin upward before itnded on the figure¡¯s hand. Vandread and himself watched anxiously before the fog-hidden figure checked the coin slowly before slowly looking up. ¡°¡­Heads. You lose¡­¡± Those words wereced with such thick bloodlust that it could be tasted like iron. Vandread looked back, yelling out to him, ¡°Emilio, run¨C¡± Before the words could even be finished, they were stifledpletely. The figure in the fog had disappeared¨Cthe very instance he did, Vandread had frozen. ¡°Huh¡­?¡± Into a dozen pieces, the man who served as his escort was sliced; falling onto the ground into mincemeat before the figure reappeared, now standing directly in front of him. ¡°¡­Huh?¡± He repeated. He was engulfed in shock, having just watched the man he relied onpletely be eviscerated brutally in such an inhumane way. The figure was now clear, as they stood directly in front of him: they were anky man, standing in an improper form with their shoulders slumped. It was difficult to make out the man¡¯s features clearly as he was covered in paint; the left side of his body was as ck as the abyss, and the right side was as white as snow. The left eye had a silver iris, and the right a ck one. ¡°It seems the Two-Faced God hungers on this day. I¡¯ve flipped this coin many times, and many times it has deemed those in front of me to die. How curious,¡± the mysterious man said. What happened¡­? Vandread¡­died? No¡­that¡¯s not right. It doesn¡¯t make any sense. Who is this? Why did he do this? He questioned. The mysterious man wore his hair in mix-colored dreadlocks that matched his half-and-half painted skin, though it was flipped. In his left hand, the man held an all-ck greatsword, and at his right hip, there was a white sheath. What stood out most was the tattoo that was etched onto the back of the man¡¯s hand, a sigil that invoked utmost dread into the bowels of his being: It was a two-faced man with seven stars hovering around him. Seven stars¡­? A Hero-rank swordsman? That¡¯s the highest there is. That¡¯s an entire two higher than Father¨Cthat symbol¡­I¡¯ve seen it in books: the ¡°Two-Faced God Style Swordy¡±¨Cone of the Ten Divine Styles. Why? It doesn¡¯t make sense¡­He realized. Chapter 92 The Hero-Rank Swordsman In terms of the swordsman rankings, the ¡°Hero¡± rank was something in an entirely different realm; for each style, there could only be one hero-rank swordsman. That meant the man standing before him was a living legend¨Cpractically a god himself of the de. Though he knew of the sigil, he hardly knew anything about the Two-Faced God itself. There were many thoughts flooding through his mind¨Cthough most, if not all were scrambled and dibobted as he was left swallowed in fear. He was still in shock from witnessing the man be chopped up, but worse was the realization of just how powerful the one in front of him was. ¡°You may call me Siegmare, child. By crossing my path, your thread of fate has been woven around the Two-Faced God¡¯s finger,¡± the man said. Between the bony, ck-and-white fingers of his free hand, Siegmare caressed the two-sided coin, which had a white side and a ck. ¡°Call it: white or ck? If the side you choosends, you shall walk away on this day. However¡­should the coin fall to the other side¨Cyour life is deemed to end on this day,¡± Siegmare exined, ¡°¡­What will it be, child?¡± It was true fear that flowed through his veins¨Cslugging through like ice as he stood there, breathing heavily and unable to answer. The fog smelled of death; there was an aura that naturally gave off from the mysterious, painted man¨Cone that stifled any courage and only stoked the anxiety within him further. ¡°¡­He¡¯s dead¡­?¡± He mumbled in disbelief.. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Though fear traversed his veins, there was something else beginning to awaken inside of him. A presence that warmed the blood in his body that ran cold¨Cheating it up more and more as his heart continued beating like a drum. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Siegmare looked down at him with his two different colored eyes, ¡°Choose a side, child. If you do not, I will choose for you.¡± Inside of his chest, his heart thumped wildly, beginning to pump through his veins a fearsome blood; one that boiled with rage and the essence of destruction. It happened again¨Cjust like the time with Julius against the ogre. His mind went nk, his ears rang and his veins turned ck, pressing against his skin as his pupils shifted into vertical slits. Worse than the anger he felt at hispanion¡¯s death, it was the shock and fear that overwhelmed his body; the swallowing dread pressed him into a corner, triggering his adrenaline, and thus, beginning the ¡°Dragon Flow¡± once more. [Dragonheart System Activated.] [Expanding Physical Capabilities.] [Current Stage: Dragon Son | 2/10] ¡°¡­It seems I¡¯ve angered you,¡± Siegmare said calmly, observing him closely. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. From his hand, the grip of his staff released. For just a moment, the eyes of the ck-and-white faced swordsman locked onto the falling object. Before the catalyst reached the ground¨C ¡°¨C!¡± Siegmare looked up. The fist of the boy uppercutted the hero-rank swordsman with both devastating speed and power, causing the man to beunched upward several meters. In the air, Siegmare stared nkly, briefly rubbing his chin, ¡°I see. This child possesses a unique ability. Impressive.¡± Utilizing that same shy speed, the young boy met with Siegmare in the air, having jumped up and reared his fist back again for another punch. In this state, his mind was nk; it was as if he was running on pure instinct¨Coperating with the sole purpose of destroying the obstacle in front of him. As he threw his fist forward¨Cit was caught. ¡°¨C¡° Even in his primal state with his dragon blood running through his veins, he was shocked. The power in his fists was that of a beast, but the man, who wasn¡¯t particrly muscr, stopped itpletely without much effort. Siegmare looked at him, ¡°¡­A child is just a child.¡± Before he could spin around and counter with a savage kick, his entire body was flung by an inhumanly strong force, being ragdolled as Siegmare tossed him to the ground harshly. The force of the throw ced a crater in the forest clearing, taking the breath from his lungs. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. He picked himself up, thoughtless and filled with destructive intent; the ck veins he possessed pressed against his pale skin as his fingernails turned to sharp ws. ¡°Destroy.¡± ¨CIf there was one thought in his mind, it was simply that. Just as Siegmarended on the soil, sheathing his onyx de into its sheath, he spun around and swept his hand, unleashing a wave of azure mes that traveled towards the Two-Faced God swordsman. With little effort, Siegmare quickly drew the quartz, all-white de that was at his left hip, swinging it towards the air. FWOOOSH. It was as if a high-ss wind spell had been unleashed, but it was nothing more than the sheer strength the man possessed; with a single swipe of his de, the hero-rank swordsman unleashed a burst of wind pressure that repelled the blue mes. ¡°¨C¡± He looked forward with those wide, beastial eyes of his. Siegmare still held that unmoving, stoic expression on his peculiar face, ¡°Child, you¡¯re testing my patience. I¡¯ve not yet deemed your life forfeit, so why is it that you attack? Curious.¡± He rushed forward, kicking off with such strength that he spurred up a cloud of soil that mixed with the fog, moving at such speeds that were untraceable to the untrained eye, but he could see it¨CSiegmare¡¯s gaze followed him perfectly. Still, he unleashed a wild flurry of attacks, using his sharp nails and amplified strength as he carved through the fog with punches, kicks, and even headbuts, fully embracing his savage dragonhood. None of these attacksnded; they weren¡¯t even remotely close to doing so. Siegmare moved casually, but methodically, using footwork that was impossible to predict for his savage eyes as it seemed he could only assault the fog, but not the swordsman. ¡°I¡¯ve never met a boy of your age with such strength. However, strength without training is nothing more than a hindrance,¡± Siegmare told him. Countering his assault, Siegmare struck him in the chest with a palm strike, unleashing an ear-filling shock wave that knocked him back harshly, sending him flying back and crashing into a tree. It wasn¡¯t just masterful skill that the hero-rank swordsman possessed, but his physical might was like a mountain; it was simply insurmountable, seeming so even in his Dragon Flow. Though he had crashed harshly, leaving cracks along the thick base of the tree, he instantly jumped to his feet with the tenacity of a dragon. Without any response or hesitation, he reared his left hand back again, summoning a massive gathering of blue mes above his palm. This coalescence of mes burned brightly, swirling and releasing heat waves around the boy as he intended to unleash utmost destruction upon the man. Chapter 93 Failure, Defeat Distant from the skirmish, but watching from a cliff far above the forest ground, the woman with divinely white hair watched, keeping her hands orderly behind her back as her eyes seemed to see past all of the fog and through the thickness of foliage. Crescentia mumbled to herself, ¡°¡­Let¡¯s see how you handle yourself, Emilio Dragonheart.¡± ¨C [Increasing Dragonze | Increasing Physical Capabilities] The azure mes born of his dragonblood were instinctively amplified by his own natural aptitude for wind magic; thisbination brought on a new realm of power to this fireball. If it sessfullynded, the resulting explosion would be capable of leveling a small vige. Seeming to notice the true nature of this fireball, the hero-rank swordsman had his expression shift ever-so-slightly into one of seriousness and preparation. ¡°Troublesome. I¡¯ll admit you possess impressive firepower, given some years, you will be a mage worthy of challenging me,¡± Siegmare said calmly. Just as he moved his hand forward to unleash the destructive, azure fireball, Siegmare did something of his own, drawing both of all-ck de and his all-white sword, nting them both into the soil in front of him. ¡°N¡¯gha ng lw¡¯nafh ah ehyee sides ot ahehyee coin. H¡¯ ah ya role l¡¯ oversee h¡¯, enact h¡¯, ng persecute. Feast, double mgepahororr¡¯e r¡¯luhhor.¡± What left Siegmare¡¯s lips were unintelligible words of anguage that sounded anything but human, but it invoked something akin to magecraft.. Manifesting in front of the hero-rank swordsman, a ck-and-white door appeared, engraved with two, hollow faces on each side. As the mystical doors opened, what was revealed inside was a sight that stunned him; it was an existence beyond this world, an entity shrouded in such enigma that it flooded the mind with a thousand, concurrent thoughts. He only saw it briefly, but the massive fireball he unleashed continued traveling forward, burrowing directly towards the opened door to an unknown destination. It hissed and sizzled; the air vibrated and the trees quaked in the presence of the azure sphere of destruction. But, just as it reached the door, it was sucked in through the entrance with the double doors immediately closing to seal it inside. ¡°Close,¡± Siegmaremanded. A muffled explosion was heard as the mystical, levitating door vibrated; cracks ran along its form, but it withstood the explosion of the mes within it. Even in his mindless state, the overwhelming power of the man in front of him still buried fear into his pores, but he pushed on once again with the dragon blood pumping through his veins even greater. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Scales stretched across parts of his body; his forearms began to be d in scales, along with his legs and his corbone. [Dragonheart System | Further Amplification : Level Two Acquired] He¡¯s getting stronger. I should put an end to this now. The Lord has not yet deemed his life forfeit; I shall not let him kill himself before that is dictated, Siegmare thought. Frantically, he threw azure mes towards the swordsman, though the man dodged it with just as much ease as before¨Ca development came. The mes shifted direction sharply, spiraling and tracking the hero-rank swordsman with a destructive roar. ¡°Ah,¡± Siegmare let out. That¡¯s interesting, Siegmare thought. Still, it seemed simply impossible to inflict harm on a man of such a level; before the mes could reach him, an invisible wall seemed to exist around the man now, keeping the bright-blue inferno from harming him. ¡°Not quite enough,¡± Siegmare said. The unseen barrier wasn¡¯t there when he first punched the man, but it seemed now that Siegmare was prepared, yet still frivolous, there was little that could be seen. He gritted his teeth, clenching his fists as the ck blood flooded through his body further. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Delving deeper into dragonhood, inching closer to the source of his strength, he sprinted forward with speed that caused the air to hiss around him, aiming to use his w-like nails to carve through the ck-and-white painted swordsman. But¨C Siegmare was directly in front of him now. Just a fraction of a moment before that, the swordsman was more than ten meters away, but by the time his left boot lifted and had yet to meet the ground again, Siegmare was before him. ¡°I will do this another way, then. Survive your own condition and that will be a worthy rite of passage through this judgment,¡± Siegmare quietly told him. Just then, the swordsman swiftly hit the boy in the chest, siphoning the air from his lungs and knocking him unconscious as the restrained force rattled through his bones. In the few moments before sinking fully into unconsciousness, the dragon blood was quelled, and his mind returned. What¡­happened? He thought. ¨C He didn¡¯t know how long as he was knocked out, but he opened his eyes sharply, finding the fog that veiled the forest now cleared. The mutted corpses of the Hunting Party were still present on the soil; chopped into pieces. Now he understood how such a feat was possible, after having experienced the strength of the hero-rank swordsman. Agony coursed through his body as he was leftpletely immobile,ying face down against the misty soil; he was left in this state both from the toll of Dragon Flow and the singr hit received from the mysterious swordsman. Breathe, he told himself. It was difficult tomand his lungs as when he tried to inhale, it felt as if they were narrow and taut; each breath came in sharply, and when exhaling, he felt the soreness of his body quake. Breathe. You have to breathe¡­! He told himself again. He was hyperventting now; it was impossible to control his lungs as they spasmed and felt as if they were cramping up. Slowly raising his hand, it was shaking terribly; quivering from the mixture of pain and desperation flooding his body as he brought his palm close to his mouth. ¡­Come on¡­He thought. With such anxiety coursing through his mind, it was difficult to concentrate and focus even a simple spell, but it was thanks to the caster glove he had that he was able to use it: a small burst of air was sent straight into his mouth and into his lungs. It was just what was needed; the new flood of oxygen kick started his lungs back into proper form as he coughed out, spitting out blood as he sat himself up. ¡°¡­I¡¯m alive¡­¡± He quietly said, holding his head. Not being in the depths of eternal nothingness was a surprise to him, considering the type of entity he had just encountered, but he felt as if a stray miracle had found its way to him. Now that he had his breath returned, he surged his agonized body with healing magic as blood trickled from his nose. Though any relief he had was swept away as he picked up his staff, returning to his feet as he looked over, once again finding the sight of Vandread¡¯s chopped-up corpseid out on the soil. ¡°¨C¡± He was silent. Why did this happen¡­? How? He questioned. Chapter 94 ...Or victory? There was a spectrum of emotions flooding through his mind as he sat in the field that stunk of death, finding crimson having painted portions of the foliage. He didn¡¯t know the man very long, nor did he share many nice moments with him, but he still felt grief andmentation¨Che instantly med himself. It was due to his desire to be an adventurer that this person was sent on this journey with him, and why that person was now dead. Or, so he thought. Wriggle. Wriggle. ¡°¨C¡± He looked up with a perplexed expression. The pieces of the dark-skinned man that were on the grass began to convulse, crawling across the soil as it seemed as if they were reattaching to the body of Vandread. It was a disgusting, confusing, inexplicable sight before his eyes, but he found himself experiencing some glimmer of hope. There were ck threads that sprouted from the flesh of the man, connecting the various pieces of his scattered body and reassembling himself whole once again. ¡°¡­No way¡­¡± He muttered. He watched the act that was by all means supernatural, witnessing the mincemeat reform into a whole body before¨C. Those tinum eyes opened once again below the moonlight. Like a corpse risen from a grave, Vandread sat up, sitting still for a moment and nking staring off into the distance. Seeing how still the man was, etched in silence, he kept his fingers wrapped around his catalyst, gulping. Don¡¯t tell me¡­is he a zombie now?! He thought. ¡°¨C¡± He watched anxiously. Expecting the man to growl or begin salivating while muttering ¡°Brains¡±¨Che was surprised to hear a sigh leaving Vandread¡¯s lips. Finally moving, the ck-haired man dressed in dark clothing, which had stitched itself back together as well, cracked his neck side-to-side before standing up. ¡°Talk about overwhelming. Who would¡¯ve thought we¡¯d run into one of the ¡°Ten Disciples¡± out here in the boonies?¡± Vandread spoke casually, stretching his arms across his chest as his joints cracked. He was still left in disbelief with his mouth agape, staring at the man without a single word having yet formed in his throat. Vandread raised an eyebrow, rolling his shoulders as he finished his stretches, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Looks like you¡¯ve just seen a ghost.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m looking at one right now! I thought you were dead¨Chow are you not?! I saw you get chopped up into a dozen pieces by that guy!¡± He yelled out. For a moment, Vandread looked at him before casually replying, ¡°Right. Forgot to tell you: I¡¯m immortal.¡± ¡°¡­Immortal?¡­Immortal?! Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s something you tell somebody you¡¯re traveling with?! Especially in life-or-death stuff like this?!¡± He yelled out frantically. ¡°You¡¯re giving me a headache,¡± Vandread exhaled. Without even making a case for himself, the dreary-eyed man began moving back towards the carriage. ¡°Huh¡­?¡± He let out in disbelief at the man¡¯spleteck of urgency. Scrambling to his feet, he winced as pain coursed through his sore body, prompting him to cast a continuous healing spell throughout his body. It didn¡¯t mend his expended physical state, but it helped. Vandread seemed to notice this, ¡°¡­So, it¡¯s true. Julius mentioned this ¡°dragon blood¡± of yours. Seems like you don¡¯t have much control over it yet.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­Wait, how did you see it?¡± He asked. ¡°I was conscious the entire time,¡± Vandread answered. For some reason, he began to realize a fact that struck him as odd: the man only reformed once it seemed the hero-rank swordsman had left the area. ¡°¡­Hey, you could¡¯ve reformed way earlier, couldn¡¯t you?¡± He asked, squinting up at the man. Vandread didn¡¯t answer for a moment, ¡°I could have. It would¡¯ve been pointless, though. That man wanted me dead¨Che would¡¯ve just continued cutting me up until I somehow died. It was my best move to wait him out.¡± ¡°¨C¡± He didn¡¯t reply. They returned to the carriage, which hadn¡¯t moved from its original spot, with the silent steed standing like a statue at its forefront. As he got in after Vandread, he could still feel the chills from the encounter with the legendary swordsman. ¡°I¡¯m going to make a report of what happened here today, for the Guild Foundation,¡± Vandread told him. ¡°¡­Of that Siegmare guy?¡± He asked. Vandread snapped his fingers tomand the carriage to begin moving, shaking his head, ¡°About the Hunting Party being vanquished. That kind of news will be valuable; trade routes will reopen and some will stop wasting their time trying to hunt them.¡± ¡°Why aren¡¯t you going to report that guy¡­? He¡¯s dangerous, isn¡¯t he?¡± He asked. ¡°That¡¯s not how this works. The ¡®Ten Disciples¡¯ are seen as the paramount heroes of the human world. They¡¯re the strongest swordsmen, and our first line of defense in the case of powerful threats. Because of that, they¡¯re exempt from the samews we have to abide by. Practically only the King can persecute them¨Ceven then, I doubt it¡¯d go down well.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t¨C¡± ¡°I know,¡± Vandread cut him off, understanding his sentiment, ¡°¡®Siegmare, the Reaper¡¯¨Che¡¯s the worst one we could¡¯ve run into. There¡¯s no rationalizing with him. The Two-Faced God followers are all like that; they enforce the whims of their god, ying and saving.¡± The carriage began moving through the forest once again, returning to a proper trail between the valley of colossal trees that loomed overhead. ¡°A guy like that is a hero¡­?¡± He asked quietly. ¡°Believe it or not; yes. While he¡¯s got a few screws loose, we ran into him on a bad day, I suppose. He was out looking for something¨Cit seems he found it,¡± Vandread exined, ¡°Let¡¯s just count ourselves lucky we survived.¡± ¡°Lucky?¡± He said this sarcastically as his body was still utterly in pain, definitely out ofmission for the day as pain ran through the marrow of his bones. Vandread stood by his words, ¡°Siegmare wasn¡¯t taking us seriously. Count that as a miracle. He didn¡¯t use his Two-God Style at all; let that be a lesson of what kind of beings you¡¯ll find in this world, kid.¡± He couldn¡¯t deny this, as he did remember most of what happened during his time in the Dragon Flow. ¡­I was powerful. That kind of power¡­It made me feel invincible¨Cyet that guy toyed with me as if he was babysitting a toddler throwing a tantrum. He didn¡¯t use his swordy against me at all. That¡¯s the strength of a hero-rank¡­He thought. ¡°Still¡­¡± He said, ¡°You¡¯re immortal? How¨C¡± ¡°Not answering.¡± ¡°¨C¡± He looked at the man. It seemed the topic of Vandread¡¯s death-defying regeneration was not something the man wanted to bring to light as he could see fragments of memories etched into his tinum eyes. ¡°Alright,¡± he said quietly. ¡°We¡¯ll continue moving as nned. This was a sess,¡± Vandread said. Before he could say anything to reject that notion, or at least make light of it, the scar-covered man continued speaking: ¡°The Hunting Party isn¡¯t on our trail anymore, and we¡¯re both alive¨Cin this world, that¡¯s a victory,¡± Vandread told him. Chapter 95 Dreams of Cosmos ¡°The Hunting Party isn¡¯t on our trail anymore, and we¡¯re both alive¨Cin this world, that¡¯s a victory,¡± Vandread told him. He didn¡¯t respond, only listening as the carriage rolled through the uneven forest trail, riding over protruding roots and causing the critters of the verdant region to scatter in its path. Days came and went, all spent traversing the stretch of the massive forest. It wasrger than he could ever anticipate, especially since the carriage moved constantly, pulled at a respectable pace by the mare that seemed to never require rest. He learned it while pestering Vandread, but the steed that was solely responsible for pulling the carriage was a special breed that hailed from the demon continent; they didn¡¯t exhaust, but did need to rest every few days, and could live off of sunlight alone. So boring¡­He thought. There wasn¡¯t much to do, but luckily during their stop in Elsia, Vandread had picked up a few books. At first, he thought they were bought solely for his entertainment, but he did remember that the man was quite the advocate of literature, as he usually had his head down in a novel. For food, most of what Vandread had stocked up on were potatoes, bread, and cheese; it was hardly tasty, as the bread became hard and the potatoes were dull and nd, but he made do with what they had. ¨C Falling into slumber on one, unsuspecting night, he wound up in a dreamscape unlike any other.. ¡°¡­Huh¡­?¡± As he sat up, he found himself sitting on wooden floorboards, but there were no walls to the room he upied. Past the few square meters of floor, the entirety of the cosmos sat around him. This is a dream¡­He thought. Even if it was a dream to him, he felt all too conscious of it, and it was almost too real. He sat on that lone floor that was anchored to nothing but darkness amidst the endless stretch of space. The swirls of gxies afar, colorful and blinking with stars within, felt near and imposing in depth and size. He carefully crawled to the edge of this wall-less room in the bowels of the cosmos, peering downward to find an infinite depth below; darkness and twinkling stars inhabited what was below. This sight made his stomach drop as he retreated his gaze from the seemingly infinite space around him. It all made him feel like an ant, if that; perhaps a piece of lint or even an atom¨Ceither way, it was all too unfathomable. The cosmos seemed to breathe as if a sentient lifeforce; the nebs swirled, though slowly, any movement was a massive march of creation. This is weird¡­He thought. ¡°Enjoying the view?¡± He nearly jumped out of his skin from the words spoken to him, having thought he was alone. Following the words, he turned around, finding an unknown entity sitting on the floor across from him. He didn¡¯t know what to make of the entity in front of him; it looked vaguely human, but that¡¯s all it was: ¡°abstractly human.¡± It possessed no notable features, noplexion, but it did smile. ¡°I¡¯ve got a question or two for you, Ethan.¡± The words that spilled from its lips, which seemed to be forged out of coalesced particles, shook him to his core. Fourteen years. It had been over fourteen years since he¡¯d heard that name. ¡°¡ª¡± He looked forward silently with wide eyes. Ethan,,,.? That¡¯s right¡­that was my name, he remembered. Over the course of the childhood spurred by his rebirth, he¡¯d buried his past life deep into the trenches of his mind. Just the single utterance of that name dibobted him. ¡°Sorry, my bad. You prefer ¡®Emilio¡¯ now, don¡¯t you?¡± The entity asked casually. It was simply naseusting; he wished to forget that past self, but the memories of his helpless, fragile body were vivid in his mind again. ¡°¡­Why did you say that name¡­? Who are you!?¡± He asked. As he spoke, his voice became deeper and raspier¡ªto his surprise. The way the entity looked at him, sitting across the room in space from himself, he realized there was something happening to his body. The young, short form of his lengthened and sprouted before his eyes, though thinned and became pale and scarred. He held his hands up in front of his gaze as his fingers lengthened, bing bony and rigid. ¡°¡­No¡­¡± It was ¡°Ethan Bellrose¡±¡ªthat body was unmistakable to his eyes; that form that was to him the most despicable and grotesque. ¡°Why do you mourn the sight of your own self?¡± The entity asked. ¡°What did you do!? Turn me back!¡± He yelled. The entity tilted its head, ¡°I¡¯ve done nothing wrong. All I¡¯ve done is try and give you a nostalgic sight. I apologize.¡± To his surprise, the enigmatic figure obliged, snapping its fingers before he looked down, finding his body returning to its normal form, smaller but healthier, flourishing with life. ¡°¡ª¡± He sat there, panting as his heart had already been riled up. ¡°Interesting. I was aware you wanted to escape your life, but you actually wanted to escape your skin, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°¡­Who are you?¡± He asked. The entity, which seemed tangible but not at the same time, smiled, staring at him with unseen eyes, ¡°Me? I suppose you can just call me a fan of yours.¡± ¡°Huh¡­?¡± He was noticeably taken aback by this introduction, orck thereof. The idea of this being a simple dream seemed distant to him, as he was conscious and able to form coherent thoughts, but it all made little sense to him. ¡°A fan of mine?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ve taken a liking to you. That¡¯s all, really. So, I¡¯d like to grant you some aid,¡± the being told him. ¡°Aid¡­?¡± ¡°First, I said I have a couple questions for you, didn¡¯t I?¡± The faceless entity said. ¡°¨C¡± He looked at the mysterious being. It was a setting that still felt daunting in all forms; space swirled around them, deeper than any chasm and more vast than any sky; pale blue spirals in the form of gxies were distant, but still felt in their imposing presence. ¡°Do you recall meeting anybody that struck you as odd before?¡± ¡°Odd¡­? I¡¯m looking right at ¡¯em¡­¡± He answered. The figure chuckled, ¡°Answer earnestly now. This is important¨Cfor your good, especially.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve met a lot of odd people, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re asking.¡± ¡°Let me narrow it down for you,¡± the formless entity said, ¡°White hair, gold eyes¨Canybody like that?¡± Chapter 96 The Faceless Dream ¡°Let me narrow it down for you,¡± the formless entity said, ¡°White hair, gold eyes¨Canybody like that?¡± The moment that was said, he found the memory stirred up of his encounter with the odd, beautiful woman amidst the night in Elsia before. ¡°Yeah¡­I recall meeting a woman with those features. She¡­was intimidating,¡± he answered. ¡°Ha-ha,¡± the entityughed, ¡°That sounds about right.¡± ¡°You know who that was?¡± ¡°Mm. It¡¯s a bitplicated, but just think of that woman as a force of nature. Right now, she¡¯s got her eye on you. If she deems you to be a danger to the stability of the world, well¡­¡± The enigmatic entity made a motion with his finger across his neck. ¡°Gk¡­¡± He winced at the thought, ¡°Why me¡­? What¡¯d I do?¡± ¡°Who knows. I¡¯m sure you can figure that out for yourself. Either way, just try not to cause too much trouble and she probably won¡¯t kill you,¡± the entity casually told him. ¡°Probably?¡± Emilio repeated. After a less-than-enlightening exchange of words within the swirl of the dreamscape of cosmos, the entity moved on to the next question. ¡°I believe you¡¯ve asked this question yourself,¡± the entity said, ¡°that is: do you believe this world is an artificial creation, or a true, naturally-formed?¡±. ¡°Huh¡­?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a simple question, isn¡¯t it? You came here with the pretense of this being a ¡®game¡±¨Ca fabrication of reality, an escape from your life. Now that you¡¯ve lived in it and experienced it so far, which do you think it is?¡± The entity asked. When posed with this question, he recalled his time in this world; the experienced cultivates, the rtionships formed, the pain he suffered, and the joy he felt¨Cit was all real. The family he loved and the friends he made; there was no ce in his mind where any of that was false. ¡°¡­The Dragonheart System¡­¡± He said. ¡°Mm?¡± The entity looked at him. He looked up, ¡°Do you know what that is?¡± The entity looked at him for a moment before shrugging, holding a yful smile, ¡°I wonder. Anyway, it¡¯s rude to answer a question with another question.¡± In the face of such unknown, he couldn¡¯t help but oblige the mysterious figure as he nodded. ¡°Right, then¡­I¡­I believe it¡¯s real,¡± he answered. ¡°Interesting.¡± ¡°¨C¡° ¡°You¡¯d like me to tell you which it is, don¡¯t you?¡± The being asked with a smile. ¡°¨C¡± He stared silently. ¡°You¡¯re hesitating. I know why: if I do end up telling you that this world is indeed just a fabrication, your perspective will change. You¡¯re afraid of that; the knowledge would dull your rtionships,¡± the entity said, ¡°but, isn¡¯t that wrong? They feel real to you already, don¡¯t they? I don¡¯t understand it very well. Isn¡¯t that enough?¡± He didn¡¯t know how to answer, but he didn¡¯t feel as if the mysterious entity was wrong, either. It was something that scared him: the truth. Of course, he wanted it to all be real. Though he came into this world believing it to be a digital construction, he had believed for most of his second life now that it was as real as Earth. But, if he was told that it was fake, by the entity that resembled a deity, there would be no denying it; the new life he¡¯d found would be flipped. ¡°Would you like to know?¡± The entity asked. It was right there; the truth was served to him on a silver tter, hidden only by a lid that could be removed by a single syble word. ¡°Yes.¡± Even if he knew he¡¯d regret knowing if one answer came to be, the curiosity inside of him bubbled like an active volcano, bottled and unsteady. This answer brought a grin across the faceless entity¡¯s lips; the unidentified entity reached his hand out before answering: ¡°First off, I think there¡¯s something else you might want to know first,¡± the entity told him. ¡°Huh? Something else? What¡¯re you talking about?¡± ¡°Think about it,¡± the enigmatic figure said. He was left perplexed, but as he thought about it, the question popped into his mind naturally¨Cit was something he¡¯d considered briefly over the years, but not something he could actually confirm in any meaningful way, seeing as he was secluded to his small town. That¡¯s right¡­a question like that is just as important, he thought. More than that, the answer to the question would further his knowledge on whether or not the world he lived in was real or artificial. ¡°Figure it out?¡± The entity asked. He nodded, ¡°¡­The question is¡­In this world, are there others like me? People who entered Reincarnation Online and ended up here?¡± There was nothing on the software¡¯s page that he remembered mentioning it being a multiyer experience, but it was futile to try and remember that. It¡¯s been over a decade, I wouldn¡¯t trust my memory with that¡­He thought. The entity smiled, ¡°There are a few like you, yes.¡± ¡°¨C!¡± His eyes widened, ¡°Then this is¡­?¡± ¡°Ah, don¡¯t be so hasty,¡± the entity stopped him, ¡°The existence of others like you doesn¡¯t mean the world of Arcadius is one thing or another. Be it a glitch in the system, if it were a game, or the act of an all-powerful entity, if this were reality¡­exceptions do ur.¡± ¡°¡­Just tell me, please¡­stop beating around the bush!¡± He prodded. The figure stared at him for a moment before smirking, ¡°Sure. Listen closely.¡± He nodded, surprised that they obliged so easily as he listened in, leaning forward as he gulped. ¡°The truth is¨C¡± It was all a blur; static in his mind by the time he woke up. As his eyelids parted, his ears being abrasively greeted by the sound of the carriage wheels moving through the night, he¡¯d forgotten that peculiar dream. ¡­My brain¡¯s all fuzzy. Did I sleep weird? He thought. ¨C What followed for the near future was nothing short of a ¡°calm¡±; through the great forest, the carriage slugged along as he was cooped up in the carriage, day in and day out, only going out for bathroom purposes or to clear a particrly messy path for the steed. Only twice a week did the carriage actually stop and they¡¯d camp out. [One Such Night] The campfire was calmly swaying; the orange light provided warmth amidst the briskness of the forest night. Critters clicked and creatures called out within the maze of trees. Despite the presence of such beasts within the great forest, Vandread calmly ate his meal: a smoked piece of fish that had been stored in his special cloth. ¡°How far are we from the other end of this ce?¡± He asked. ¡°Far,¡± Vandread answered, minimally as always. ¡°¨C¡± He quietly ate. He was the same; by now, he¡¯d grown used to the wilderness nights, though sleeping was a whole other beast. The steed snored, as well as Vandread; beyond that, he constantly scratched at his arms and legs as insects tried crawling over his body. Chapter 97 Forest Ambush [Two Months After Setting from Elsia] [Level Six] [Well, I¡¯m fifteen now. Woohoo. Some birthday it was¨Cyou know how I celebrated? By myself. That¡¯s right¨CVandread slept through the whole day while the carriage moved. And about that! We¡¯ve been stuck in this carriage, moving along for months straight now¨Call through this forest! It¡¯s insane howrge it is! I thought it was just hyperbole or something when they said it was the size of a nation.] Beyond just the change of age, other, more tangible changes produced themself on his body: his voice had grown noticeably deeper, his height increased by a few inches, and his ¡°baby face¡± had shaped into an adolescent, fair shape. It was a far cry from looking like an adult, but it was progress. Still, Vandread treated him like a child all the same. He rested his arms on the carriage windowsill, looking at the great trees of the forest that were as wide as a house and as tall as mountains; veiling the sunlight were thick leaves and hanging vines, leaving little light shining through. ¡°¨C!¡± The loud yell of the steed up front made him jump, though Vandread was much faster on his feet than himself. With the agonized roar of the mare, the carriage came to a rocky stop; he left the carriage bounds, following behind the man. ¡°What happened¨C?¡± He asked. Though there was little point in asking as he found what had happened before his eyes: the front leg of the ck-furred steed had been caught in a trap of sorts¨Csimr to a bear trap, it bit into the limb of the equine.. Vandread did not look pleased; he was quietly angered. ¡°This isn¡¯t good,¡± Vandread said. ¡°I can cast healing on it,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s not the problem here,¡± Vandread told him. He didn¡¯t¡¯ waste any time getting closer to therge steed, casting a healing spell on its leg after the trap was removed, but he watched as Vandread was cautiously inspecting the area. What¡¯s he looking for? He seems on edge now, he thought. ¡°They¡¯ve upied this area now,¡± the man said, finding a marking on one of the trees. ¡°Huh? Who are?¡± ¡°The ¡®Outriders¡¯,¡± Vandread said. He didn¡¯t know what that name meant, but it seemed to be something bad as Vandread was paranoid, on the top of his guard as he stood in such a way that was guarding him while he tended to the horse¡¯s injured leg. ¡°Outriders?¡± ¡°They¡¯re a tribe that upies this forest. It¡¯s vast enough that they¡¯re not usually an issue when following the main road, but it seems they¡¯ve either moved or expanded to this area,¡± Vandread told him, ¡°Hurry it up.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t heal any faster,¡± he huffed. ¡°Well, you don¡¯t want to be skinned and cooked alive, do you?¡± ¡°What kind of question is that?! That¡¯s not funny, you know!¡± He replied. Vandread wasn¡¯t joking though, not by the look on his face, ¡°That¡¯s the kind of thing the Outriders do¨Cso I suggest you speed up unless you want to fill their bellies.¡± ¡°Alright, alright¡­¡± He was careful while tending to the horse¡¯s wood, as the beast was by all means intimidating; exhaling steam through its nostrils as it continuously fidgeted in such a way that made him wary. Please don¡¯t kick me¡­He thought. After fully restoring the wound, having spent a good amount of mana doing so, he stood up, looking at Vandread, who was leaning against the coach and watching the treeline. ¡°All done?¡± Vandread asked. ¡°Yeah¡­Ipletely restored it,¡± he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. ¡°Good. Get¨C¡± In that moment, as Vandread spoke to him, he witnessed the man¡¯s eyes widen unlike any other. ¡°Van¨C?¡± Just as he began to call the man¡¯s name in confusion, he was pulled over into the man¡¯s arms, who moved him as if securing him from danger. FWOOSH. He looked back, witnessing a spear lodge itself straight through the head of the singr steed they had. Huh¡­? He thought. Just like that, from a disembodied spear that he didn¡¯t even detect, the horse was felled, falling to the side. He didn¡¯t have any time to react as he saw somethinging in the distance¨Cmoving quickly. The air hissed every so slightly; parting in the way of the iing projectiles. Arrows? He realized. ¡°Ngh!¡± Vandread gritted his teeth. He was pulled aside in the arms of Vandread, being brought behind the carriage before the rain of arrows befell the coach. The sound of the wooden material of the transport being attacked by the arrowheads filled his ears, sounding like a brutal hail thundering down. ¡°¡­They¡¯re here. Shit¡­¡± Vandread said quietly, ncing around the carriage. Now he could hear the bushes rustling in the forest, moving subtly, but still being heard. By the sounds of it, they were being closed-in on. What¡¯s going on? He thought. All of the training in the world couldn¡¯t prepare him for such a chaotic ambush, but Vandread seemed quick to adapt¨Cretrieving a couple of dark-gray spheres from the pouch on his belt. ¡°Run to your east on my signal. I¡¯ll be right behind you,¡± Vandread told him in a whisper. He was left in shock by the unseen assault; though the spear came, arrows rained, and the bushes rattled, he¡¯d yet to see any of the attacks that were encircling the trail. ¡°Got it?¡± Vandread asked for confirmation. He nodded, ¡°¡­Got it.¡± After a few seconds, Vandread threw the spheres down at the ground with force, causing the balls to explode into a cloud of ck, obscuring smoke. ¡°Go!¡± With that, he ran, sprinting hard through the constantly expanding smoke as he nced back, not seeing Vandread behind him. ¡°Vandread¡­?!¡± He called out. Though he couldn¡¯t see the man, nothing in his body wanted him to stop running as he continued moving east, putting his faith in the reliable escort. These attacks¨Cit¡¯s the ¡®Outriders¡±, isn¡¯t it¡­? Is this why Vandread was so paranoid? It¡¯s all happening too fast! He thought. What propelled him into running even faster were the sound of rapid steps all around him. To his left and right, he could hear others rushing through the foliage, keeping up with him, though he was still obscured by the smoke. The spheres that Vandread had used seemed to be special to some capacity; they weren¡¯t normal smoke bombs by any means. It seemed that upon being detonated, they continued to release bountiful smoke,tching on and following whoever was caught in its initial release. This was beneficial for him in terms of staying hidden from sight, but it also led to one ring issue: he couldn¡¯t see where he was going. I¡¯ve got to run¡­! Vandread, you better be right behind me! He thought. Chapter 98 Captured and Confused Though the man was seemingly immortal, he still feared for him. Perhaps he feared for himself and wanted the reliable fighter with him, or perhaps the child-like part of his brain didn¡¯t want to be left alone in this dreadful situation. But s, his frantic run led him to an obstacle¨C SMACK. As he was running blindly into the forest, he ran face first into a bulky tree, being floored by the sudden, harsh impact. ¡°Ghh!¡± He winced. At the end of the day, no matter what spells he had at his disposal, he was still a human of mortal flesh¨Cand a child at that; a collision like that resulted in a quickly-forming welt on his forehead that bruised and bled. ¡°Gahh¡­¡± He exhaled sharply. Sitting up slowly, he caressed his head as the world spun around him; he was, without a doubt, concussed. The bushes rattled around him, but as he tried to pick himself up with his staff held high, he could barely even stand upright as his sense of bnce was skewed by his dibobted senses. That¡¯s when he saw them: the ¡®Outriders.¡¯. There were six men that came out from the foliage, surrounding him; all were tan and possessed well-conditioned physiques. What immediately stood out to him were the dog-like ears they possessed, their sharp nails, and the fearsome pupils they possessed. He knew what those traits were: Demi-humans? He realized. They were definitely imposing; especially the one who looked to be the leader of the group: a muscr man with long, fiery-red hair that was surprisingly straight. He had tan, golden-brown skin and was covered in white tribal tattoos. Surprisingly, the presumed leader didn¡¯t wield any weapons, yet silently approached him with unwavering confidence in his abilities. ¡­I¡¯m not going down without a fight! He thought. Just as he raised his staff to invoke a spell, a ring sound thatsted no more than a second pounded his ears. It came from the red-haired warrior, who had his mouth open and his body flexed as veins pressed against his neck: it was a roar. Though he could hardly hear it as it vibrated his eardrums, he could feel the soundwaves grinding against his skeleton. What the¨C?! He thought. But, it wasn¡¯t just an act of intimidation; his body shook and his fingers quivered, resulting in him dropping his staff as he slowly fell forward like a statue. I¡­I can¡¯t move! He realized. ¡°Migardo snaw boza,¡± the imposing, fiery-haired man spoke in an unknownnguage. These words seemed to be some sort ofmand given to the other demi-human tribesman, who bound his limbs while he was still leftpletely stunned by the bestial roar. ¡­What was that? Magic? I¡¯ve never seen something like that¡­They¡¯re tying me up? Crap¡­this isn¡¯t good¨Cwhere is Vandread? He questioned. It wasn¡¯t just a paralyzing effect that the roar had on his body; it seemed to exhaust him, dragging him into an unconscious state as he was hoisted up, carried in the arms of one of the tribesmen. Well, crap. I¡¯m going to be food, aren¡¯t I? He thought. ¨C By the time his eyelids parted again, feeling as heavy as stone, he found himself sitting in a room made out of intertwined grass and wood. ¡°Huh¡­?¡± He let out drearily. As he blinked a few times, he looked up to find the red-haired, demi-human warrior standing in the doorway to the room, leaning against the wall with his bare arms folded across his chest. ¡°Awake?¡± The man asked. He was surprised to find that the man spoke themon tongue of Milligarde. Moving around a bit, he found that his wrists were bound behind his back, but his legs were freed. A quick nce around the room earned him more words from the muscr, imposing demi-human. ¡°Your magic weapon isn¡¯t in here,¡± the man said. ¡°¨C¡° ¡°Answer my question, and speak only the truth,¡± the red-haired warrior said sternly, ¡°Did youe here to hunt my people?¡± The question came to a shock to him, to which he looked up at the man with an agape expression before shaking his head. ¡°Hunt? No. Me and mypanion¨Cwe were just riding through,¡± he exined. As he spoke, the man fell silent, staring at him intensely with his silver eyes as he seemed to sniff the air for deception. ¡°¡­I see. Well, you were lucky we found you,¡± the man said. To his surprise and relief, the man seemed to believe him, walking him and kneeling down before using one of his sharp fingernails to cut through his bindings. He rubbed his wrists for a moment, wincing a bit as the ropes had been tightly wrapped around his skin for a good amount of time. It was perplexing to him to hear that as he raised an eyebrow, ¡°Huh? Lucky?¨CWhat¡¯re you talking about!? You attacked us! Where is the person I was with, anyway?!¡± A look ofmentation was present on the man¡¯s face, but his expression didn¡¯t seem guilty of any crimes; he had an honorable face, with a scar across his left cheek. ¡°¡­You¡¯re the ¡®Outriders¡±, right?¡± He asked, not knowing anymore. ¡°You¡¯re mistaken; your confusion is understandable,¡± the man stepped forward, ¡°I am Alekkai, the champion of the Verma n. The Outriders you speak of are our natural enemies¨Cthey¡¯ve tarnished thisnd with their ways.¡± Though this information came to a surprise to his ears, he still didn¡¯t believe the illusion that this man was on his side, or rather, at least not his enemy. ¡°But, you attacked us¨Cyou killed our horse!¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t my people. The Outridersunched that attack, but we managed to intervene in time. If the Outriders have found you, you¡¯d find yourself bound above a giant me when you¡¯d opened your eyes, child,¡± Alekkai exined. ¡°¨C¡± He gulped, ¡°the name¡¯s Emilio, not ¡®child.¡± For some reason, he felt he could believe the words that fell from the champion¡¯s lips; he was a stern-seeming man; as stalwart as a mountain, but noble and rational. ¡°¡­Still,, mypanion¡­¡± He said quietly. Alekkai looked at him, ¡°I apologize from the bottom of my heart, child. I had my men search the area after we brought you here, but your friend was not found. It pains me to say this, but¡­if he fell into the hands of the Outriders, then¨C¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°¨C?¡± Alekkai looked at him curiously. ¡°Vandread¡­he won¡¯t die that easily. Trust me¨Che¡¯s still there,¡± he said. Chapter 99 The Verma ¡°Vandread¡­he won¡¯t die that easily. Trust me¨Che¡¯s still there,¡± he said. The utter belief in these wordscked any trace of a lie or exaggeration, causing the fluffy, red tail sprouting behind the tan-skinned man¡¯s back to wag. ¡°Interesting. You¡¯re a magic man, aren¡¯t you?¡± Alekkai asked. ¡°A mage, yes.¡± ¡°Are you a capable warrior?¡± Alekkai asked further. ¡°¡­I¡¯d like to think so,¡± he nodded. Alekkai stared at him for a moment before ncing back, yelling something to the outside, ¡°Viga for zhawma!¡± Thismand prompted a minuteter, a younger, silver-haired tribesman to walk in, carrying the boy¡¯s scabbard and staff, carefully setting it down beside the boy. ¡°¨C!¡± He was surprised to have his gear back, but didn¡¯t waste any time returning it to his belt and back. Alekkai watched him, ¡°We willunch an attack on the Outrider vige when the sun falls tomorrow. My scouts are out right now, tracking them as we speak.¡±. ¡°You don¡¯t have¨C¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be mistaken. This assault has been nned for a long time now¨Cour people have been in conflict for even longer. I am doing this for my people. If it aligns with you, I will dly ept your strength. The Outriders have brought ruin to my people for decades now¨Cit¡¯s time to settle this. A magic man will be just what is needed,¡± Alekkai told him. There was a certain contempt in the beast warrior¡¯s tone each time the ¡®Outriders¡¯ were mentioned. By what he experienced and came to know so far, he understood what kind of existence they were. Vandread saved me earlier. I¡¯ll repay the favor, he thought. ¡°I see¡­I¡¯ll help, then,¡± he resolved. Alekkai smiled, ¡°Thene. For now, make yourself at home.¡± It felt like arge responsibility was now saddled on his back, but he was relieved to find himself not in the hands of cannibals. In fact, it was quite the opposite of what he expected¨Cas he ventured outside, following the champion of the tribe, he found a peacefulmunity of wolf demi-humans; children yed outside and young men trained with wooden weapons. Even the young members of the tribe moved fiercely, hopping around and moving with animalistic agility¨Cswinging wildly and not holding much back in their sparring. It was clear to him just what sort of natural physical abilities were inherent to demi-humans, or rather this n specifically. It wasn¡¯t surprising, looking at the build of Alekkai, who in his own thoughts, would put Mr. Olympia¡¯s to shame. Seriously, this world doesn¡¯t have protein powder, does it? You¡¯d easily think this guy is juiced up! He thought. The soil had been turned to soft mud in the light rainfall that scattered downward through the surrounding tree¡¯s leaves. ¡°¡­Amunity of demi-humans in Milligarde?¡± He said in astonishment. The houses were unique in shape too, resembling igloos formed of wood and grass, mostly tucked against tall, wide trees. Alekkai looked back at him, ¡°Many of my kind are brought to thisnd as ves. The worst of it was many decades ago; demi-humans have integrated with thisnd. It may be small, but this forest was given to us by the King for our aid in the Great War¨Cit is a piece of Ygsdra.¡± ¡®Ygsdra¡¯, huh? I think that¡¯s the continent where demi-humanse from, he remembered. ¡°Really? We were just in Elsia, and demi-humans seemed perfectly integrated¨Cthey were living in the city, I mean. Not like this,¡± he said. ¡°Do you think this is a lesser way of living, Emilio?¡± Alekkai asked. ¡°No, not at all,¡± he smiled, ¡°It seems nice around here. To me, as long as you can eat your fill and y beneath the sun, you have a good home.¡± Alekkai held a surprised expression for a moment before smiling, ¡°I agree. But, Tseurilia is not just the home of my n. There are many within her territory. but the Verma n has served as its guardians since we all migrated here. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find other ns within the forest to be more like the human viges you¡¯re used to.¡± ¡°Really, I don¡¯t have a problem,¡± heughed. ¡°Do you understand why we must wipe out the Outriders? Look around you,¡± Alekkai asked. What the champion of the n was referring to was the peaceful state of the vige; the carefree children and the warm, friendlymunity of demi-human people. ¡°They seek to destroy this way of life. The Outriders believe in culling the weak at birth and conquering the great forest to expand their own strength. Whether it¡¯s my people or yours, they will capture and consume them like mindless beasts. They¡¯re a gue to thisnd; it¡¯s my duty to stop them,¡± Alekkai said with conviction. ¡°I know. I¡¯ll help you do that,¡± he smiled. Alekkai looked down at him before nodding, ¡°Thank you, child¡ªno, Emilio.¡± Something like this wasn¡¯t a concept he¡¯d read in books pertaining to Milligarde¡¯s history, but he knew there was a whole world of knowledge out there beyond his scope. ¡°Are you hungry?¡± Alekkai asked. ¡°¡­Yeah, I could eat,¡± he nodded. ¡°Come. My wife makes food that¡¯ll make your stomach sing,¡± Alekkai smiled. He followed the benevolent champion of the tribe through the vige, passing by ying children and elderly tribespeople that tended to isted farms, who kindly waved at him, and he returned the favor. The abode of Alekkai was ced in the middle of a grand tree, led up by a rickety staircase that he carefully ascended. An unsteady bridge like the one beneath his boots kept him hugging the ropes that kept it suspended; this unstable path was further worsened by the wood being slick by the rainfall. It was quite a ways up, at that, though he knew that heights didn¡¯t pose the same threat to him as they once did, it didn¡¯t stop the archaic parts of his brain from still fearing them all the same. ¡°It is rare to see one of your youthing through this forest,¡± Alekkai said. He nodded, ¡°I¡¯m on my way to Vasmoria.¡± ¡°Vasmoria? Hmm,¡± Alekkai looked forward. The two marched up the winding bridge together; Alekkai rubbed his chin as if trying to remember what ¡®Vasmoria¡¯ was. ¡°That ce. I¡¯ve heard of it from other passing travelers. A ¡®Magic Land¡¯,¡± Alekkai said. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m going there for the world-adventurer trial,¡± he smiled. ¡°Hm. Adventure around the world?¡± Alekkai said quietly. ¡°Yeah,¡± he nodded. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Their conversation was cut short as he arrived at the destination that the tribe champion had guided him to: the house of Alekkai. Chapter 100 Champion and Elder It was surprisinglyrge, and well-built with unique architecture, though it wasn¡¯t inferior to anything he¡¯d seen within Milligarde. The home was built in a dome structure, made of well-furnished wood with the floorboards being mostly covered in a thick, wooly fur of some sort of in, pale white beast. There was an incense lit within the home, producing a refreshing aroma that billowed within the abode. It¡¯s nicer than I expected, he thought. ¡°Papa!¡± Rushing out from one of the rooms, a young girl with wolf ears and a tail ran out straight into Alekkai¡¯s arms, who embraced her with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ve brought a guest with me¨CEmilio, this is Ve,¡± Alekkai introduced, holding his daughter up in his arms. It seemed like the young girl, who couldn¡¯t be older than six or seven, didn¡¯t see many humans like him, and likely not as young as him, as she looked at him with a surprised expression. He smiled politely, ¡°Nice to meet you. Thanks for having me.¡± Almost going without noticing the other person in the room, he looked over to see a woman with long, silver hair sitting in a chair, knitting what looked to be a quilt. She had the same, tanplexion as Alekkai, with simr tattoos. ¡°Mienna, we¡¯ve got a guest today,¡± Alekkai said, ¡°A traveling magic man.¡± The knitting woman, who looked to be in her mid-twenties, simr to Alekkai, looked up in surprise, standing up and smiling brightly.. Before the woman greeted him, she exchanged kisses on the nose with Alekkai, which seemed to be some form of showing affection between demi-humans, or at least this specific n. ¡°Wee!¡± Mienna greeted him. She quickly took his hand, holding it between both of hers as she smiled warmly. It was a pleasant greeting; one that made his cheeks red. By the proud smile that Alekkai held, it was as if he was silently saying ¡°I am a lucky man, aren¡¯t I?¡± It was almost a relieving sight to see the stoic, intimidating man act like a doting family man. ¡°Where are you from?¡± Mienna asked him, still holding onto his hand. Though it felt slightly weird to him, it seemed this type of physical contact was just how people of the tribe were with each other, though he didn¡¯t mind it at all. The lecherous parts of his mind kept causing his eyes to linger towards Mienna¡¯s chest, which was only covered by a short shirt of leather that was practically a sports bra. Resist! Don¡¯t get yourself cleaved in half by Alekkai! He thought to himself. Alekkai looked at him, ¡°Mienna used to be an adventurer. She knows Milligarde well.¡± ¡°Really?¡± He looked up in surprise. Mienna confirmed this with a nod, ¡°That was a long time ago, though. Around twenty years.¡± Twenty years?! Is she in her forties?! How?! He thought. Either way, he answered, ¡°I¡¯m from Yullim. It¡¯s kind of in the middle-of-nowhere, he-he.¡± ¡°Yullim? Ah, I¡¯ve been there once!¡± Mienna smiled brightly. ¡°Really?¡± The silver-haired, demi-human woman nodded, ¡°It¡¯s a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains. I was only there for a short time, but the people were kind.¡± He smiled, nodding a few times, ¡°I¡¯m d you liked it.¡± ¡°Ah¨C¡± Mienna put her hands together, ¡°You¡¯re hungry, aren¡¯t you? I¡¯ll prepare something!¡± Just like that, Mienna had rushed off to the kitchen, which he was more than ready for as his stomach was practically running off of fumes. ¡°Ve, why don¡¯t you go help your mother?¡± Alekkai said, setting his daughter down and patting her head. The young girl seemed happy to oblige as she nodded, ¡°Okay!¡± As it was just him and Alekkai in the main room of the house, he already felt naturally adjusted to the warm setting. ¡°You¡¯ve got a great family,¡± he said with a smile. Alekkai smiled as well, ¡°I am blessed. Sit, friend.¡± The gesture of the man¡¯s hand guided him to sit down, which the seats of the home were ofrge pillows, packed full of what felt like grass innards. It was surprisinglyfortable, but perhaps it was because he¡¯d been standing for so long. Watching him, the man with long, crimson hair seemed ready to say something, but hesitant. ¡°I don¡¯t mean any offense but what I¡¯m about to say¡­¡± Alekkai said. ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°I have my reservations about bringing a child into this fight,¡± Alekkaiai admitted, ¡°I spoke earlier with a hot mind and boiling blood¨Call my mind was on was vengeance against the Outriders¨Cfor what they did to my son¡­¡± A moment of silence persisted in the room as the smell of incense continued to sway his nose. He could tell there were hidden scars attached to the champion; a look of anguish sat in his once fearsome eyes. ¡°¡­If you don¡¯t mind me asking, what happened?¡± He hesitantly asked. Alekkai didn¡¯t look happy to recall such memories¨Cso he silently declined, standing up as his expression contorted to one ofmentation and anger. The anger wasn¡¯t pointed at the boy, but at the memories the man held on to. ¡°¡­I need some air,¡± Alekkai said. Walking out of the room, the red-haired man left the abode as his steps sounded heavier and more intense. ¡­Crap, why did I ask that? He thought. He sat there for a moment awkwardly, not knowing what to really do in a situation like this. Though he wasn¡¯t the most social butterfly, he did feel this was a misstep, even for him. As he nced back, he could see Alekkai standing on the bridge just outside the front door, watching the rain continue to descend on the forest. Though he was saved from his sit in silence as the daughter of Alekkai popped into the room excitedly. ¡°Mother wanted me to tell you that dinner is ready! Come!¡± The girl told him happily. He smiled and nodded, ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll be right there.¡± ¡ª Alekkai watched from above as children yed below on the forest ground; they were ying a game that involved catching the most critters. Though he was hardly watching as most of his focus was siphoned to his thoughts. ¡°¡ª¡± Alekkai stood silently. ¡°A man must always brood alone, is that it?¡± The words approached from the warrior¡¯s left, prompting him to look over to find a familiar, wizened man who walked with arge cane. This elder had a long, silver beard and the same prominent wolf features like the rest: ears, a tail, and ws. Though he seemed to have more than most as his nose was more wolf-like and his arms were bushy with silver hair. ¡°Chief Hurun,¡± Alekkai said in slight surprise, ¡°¡­I take it you¡¯re here to try and stop me?¡± The elder slowly shook his head, standing beside the man, ¡°If I was capable of snuffing that fiery head of yours, I¡¯d be the most powerful man in the world. I can¡¯t stop that passion of yours, nor do I intend to try. You¡¯re the champion of our people; the strongest warrior¡ªif you believe this is the right thing to do, they will follow.¡± ¡°¡­Then what is it you¡¯vee to say?¡± Alekkai asked. Chief Hurun looked at him, ¡°Do not die for this vengeance, young Alekkai.¡± Chapter 101 Sleepover ¡°¡­Then what is it you¡¯vee to say?¡± Alekkai asked. Chief Hurun looked at him, ¡°Do not die for this vengeance, young Alekkai.¡± ¡°This is not for revenge¡ªthe Outriders are¡ª!¡± The man was interrupted by the elder, ¡°You can say such things, but I know what stirs you, young Alekkai. Words may leave your lips, but your eyes speak the truth; a thousand mes burn in your gaze.¡± ¡°¡ª¡± Alekkai looked at him before returning his gaze over the bridge. Rain continued falling harder now, pattering against the wooden bridge that became moist and cold, though the hot-blood of the Verma were unfazed by the cold. ¡°The previous champion failed to bring the Outriders down. They¡¯re strong and without restraint; no shackles of morality restrain their hostility; no honor, no mercy. They consume our own kin, and any who pass through their territory. The Outriders are predators not unlike a rabid bear,¡± Chief Hurun said, ¡°¡ªYou know better than anybody how strong thest champion, your brother, was. Even somebody like him failed.¡± Alekkai was silent for a moment before responding, ¡°Amenkai was mighty. He was always better than me at fighting¡ªhe had the strength of a mountain, and the ferocity of a waterfall, but¡­he was unprepared. The Outriders ambushed him on that day.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the nature of fighting them. Do you believe you can outmaneuver such fiends?¡± The Chief asked.. Alekkai nodded, ¡°I can. I will. For my brother, Amenkai. For my son, Tasman.¡± The Chief began to walk away, ¡°Well, don¡¯t drag that child to his death. That¡¯s the least you can do.¡± The man was surprised that the Chief already knew of the n to have the human boy help on the attack against the Outriders, but such was the nature of the Chief. ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll make sure of that,¡± Alekkai said, ¡°Nobody else. Nobody else will die to their hands.¡± It wasn¡¯t just him. There were many within the vige who shared the same scars, both unseen and not. Mothers mourned their lost sons, and fathers scolded their ownck of strength. Though the vige remained in good spirits, it wasn¡¯t without its spots of despair. Alekkai saw this all; watching from up above, their pain was clear to him. Before the red-haired father and husband reunited with the others for dinner, who walked to the back of the tree-embedded house to a small memorial tucked away. It was caressed by intertwined branches. The memorial was a sword, which he ran his fingertips over slowly with a look of sorrow in his eyes. Brother, Alekkai thought. Beside the resting de was another de, though smaller, it was decorated with a small charm for good fortune, which the mourning father held between his fingertips. Though the man wanted to smile when remembering the source of that charm, his expression was of anguish. My son, he thought. He stayed knelt, bowing his head in front of the incense-smoked memorial, which not even the rain could touch; his eyes were kept closed as he paid his respects. I will return victorious. For you, and for everybody that has been lost to them. I promise¡­they will not take anymore lives, Alekkai thought. ¡ª As dinner was already served in the form of forest boar meat and special rice that was seasoned with tangy spices, the red-haired man returned. The young boy already had his mouth full with a b of cooked boar meat, gulping it down. ¡°How is it?¡± The woman asked with a smile. ¡°Great! I¡¯ve never had something vored like this before! It¡¯s kind of sweet, and sort of spicy?¡± He said, ¡°¡­I¡¯d love to know the recipe.¡± ¡°I¡¯m d you like it! It¡¯s a family secret, though,¡± she cheekily responded. Alekkai watched from the door for a minute, left silent by the sight of the bot at the dinner table. To the man¡¯s eyes, he didn¡¯t quite see Emilio, but in his eyes, he saw a lost figure that resembled the boy¡ªa person he missed. ¡°Dear, your food will get cold! Come!¡± She ushered her husband to sit. Alekkai slowly nodded, ¡°¡­Right.¡± The portion sizes that the Verma ate were incrediblyrge; it was enough to make him question how Alekkai maintained what looked like a body fat percentage below the five percent range, but he already knew the answer. He had witnessed peopleing and going from the vige, and those who weren¡¯t venturing out were still moving¡ªchildren yed and elders tended to farming. Simply, the Verma people were incredibly active. After this meal, he had to sit down and caress his stomach as he felt bloated, groaning out. ¡°Heh. The appetite of a Verma is said to be equal to a behemoth,¡± Alekkai said. He exhaled, ¡°I can believe that.¡± The sun dipped below the horizon as the veil of the night came. It was a cold one; the rain never stopped and the winds sang melodies below the stars. ¡°Come, Emilio, you¡¯ll sleep with us,¡± Alekkai offered. He didn¡¯t know exactly what that meant, but it was likely better than staying uncovered during the brisk night as he nodded and followed Alekkai into the next room over. The beds that the Verma used were simr to futons, but made of grass and intertwined straw. They were lined up together, with an extra being brought out by Mienna, who ced his directly beside Alekkai. He watched as the man, his wife, and the daughter got into their resting positions, using nkets that were made out of animal fur, which lookedfortable and toasty. ¡°¨C¡± He stood there for a moment. ¡°What is it? Lay,¡± Alekkai said. ¡°¡­Yeah, sure.¡± The thing he was hesitant about was snuggling up a bit too close to a grown man, but he obliged since it was simply rude of him to refuse. The four shared arge, thick nket made out of wool fur; it was warm and easilyfortable. As the rain continued to fall harder through the night, it helped him sleep. What didn¡¯t help him find rest were the beastly snores that came from Alekkai, whoid in an unorthodox way, resting his heavy leg on the boy¡¯s body as if he were a pillow. Just great, he thought. Chapter 102 The Unwelcomed Guest Somehow he did manage to get a decent amount of rest by the time morning came. As the sun rose, he looked outside while yawning to find the vige upied by mist. The rain had yet to stop, with no signs of iting to an end. It was worrying to him that an entire day had passed while Vandread was still in the hands of the Outriders, but the best he could do in his situation was simply believe in the man¡¯s strength. At the very least, it seemed highly unlikely somebody with an abnormal body like Vandread would meet his end easily. ¡°¡­It feels like I finally drew the good end of the stick for once,¡± he mumbled. It seemed he was the only one still inside the dome-shaped house, which was odd to him as he was practically a stranger, but it seemed the differences in culture were apparent. He decided to leave the house, venturing out into the vige as he descended the windy, tree-attached bridge. ¡°¨C¡± He looked around. The refreshing smell of brisk rain running slick on therge leaves overhung on the forest trees was a reinvigorating atmosphere; he felt like a nt being watered and bathed in nutrients just by the calming scenery. Already, kids were ying in the rain, mostly ying what looked to be tag, but aiming to grab each others¡¯ tails. As he reached the flooryer of Verma vige, he saw one of the children ying was Alekkai¡¯s daughter¨CVe.. ¡°Mornin¡¯, erm¡­Emalo? Enilly?¡± Ve greeted him, putting her finger to her chin as she tried to call his name. Heughed, patting her head, ¡°It¡¯s Emilio.¡± ¡°Emilio! Want to y with us?¡± Ve asked. As this was asked, he could see the other children looking at him with their giddy, innocent smiles as well, but he declined. Of course, his rejection of ying the game was met with some disappointment from the children, but they were over it within seconds. It did feel out of his scope already to be ying such games, but he was mostly curious about the vige itself. ¡°Young man.¡± He was caught off-guard amidst his walk around the vige, turning to find an elderly woman sitting on a seat made out of repurposed tree branches and leaves. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s rare to have guests in this vige. Here,¡± the elderly woman smiled, handing him something. It was something wrapped in fresh leaves; as he unwrapped it, he found it to be a fluffy pastry that gave off a sweet, vani scent. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± He asked. ¡°A Lycor strune,¡± the elderly woman told him, ¡°I¡¯d find it to be a shame if one visited our smallnd and they didn¡¯t get to experience our food.¡± While he was a bit confused for a moment, he realized the elderly demi-human was simply being kind, to which he smiled and nodded, taking arge bite out of the sweet bread. Just as he thought, it was delicate and refreshing; it was lightly sweetened. ¡°It¡¯s great,¡± he smiled. The wizened woman smiled with a smallugh, ¡°How wonderful. Thank you for giving it a try.¡± He shook his head, ¡°No¨Cthanks for the food, granny!¡± As he went on his way, eating the rest of the unique bread, he found himself fully woken up and freshened on the misty morning. I get it now, Alekkai. This vige is a precious ce, he thought. As night crawled around, it was that time. He didn¡¯t know how to feel about it yet, but watching Alekkai gather the squad for the assault on the Outrider vige, he felt the reality of what wasing swirling in his stomach. ¨C [The Outrider Vige | Vandread] ¡°¡­Just great¡­¡± Standing with his wrists bound by rope, Vandread was locked inside of a cage with wooden bars. The man¡¯s shirt was stripped away, deprived of his various des as his scar-covered, dark-skinned body was subject to the rainfall. Around the cage, guards stood; warriors dressed in bearskin kilts. They were each tall, with the shortest being just at the cusp of two meters; the members of the Outrider tribe were built broad and muscr, with long arms that had prominent, wide and bushy forearms. Well, it definitely seems like they didn¡¯t get the brat. That¡¯s good. Problem now is how do I get out of this situation? They¡¯ve got a real troublesome few in this n¡­¡±Strength of a bear¡±¨Cthat¡¯s an understatement, he thought. The members of the Outrider tribes were bear demi-humans; the appearance of men, but the power and build of nature¡¯s imposing, bristly kings. There was no doubt in his mind what kind of strength a n like the Outriders possessed when also taking into mind the ¡°strength rules all¡± mindset they held. He watched with his tinum eyes, scanning the surrounding area as he counted three guards specifically put around his cage. Beneath his feet, the soil had shifted into mud; he slowly slid his foot back, moving it at a snail¡¯s pace as to not make a sound nor draw the attention of any of therge sentinels. On the heel of his right foot, there was a stitched scar that stretched its length, one that he plucked out silently and with minimal movement, using his left foot to do so. ¡°Valu to ma.¡± One of the guards spoke in a bellowing voice to the other, though it was impossible for the man to understand thenguage they spoke in. ¡°Vaga le swirshu! Ga-ha-ha!¡± ¡°Ha-ha!¡± It seemed the guards were making some sort of joke about their prisoner; each of them had almost identical, roaringughs. To his favor, the guards faced away from him; rather than guarding him as in watching him for suspicious movement, it seemed they were more focused on watching for anybody that would try to break him out. Though he prepared to make his move, ripping the stitches from his heel, he was hesitant to take action until he could see a pair of Outrider warriors marching his way. They carried arge pot, filled with water so hot that steam danced in the air above it. He knew what they were nning to do to him. What a drag. I was hoping it wouldn¡¯te to this, he thought. Chapter 103 The Godless Style Even if one were to strip all of the des off of Vandread¡¯s body, they would find their oversight met with swift impunity. That oversight was one, simple concept: they didn¡¯t strip the des from within his body. After removing the stitching, a hole opened up in the flesh of his heel, to which he reached in with his toes, sliding out a de that was stored within his foot. The benefit of his immortality kicked in quickly as his heelpartment reformed; strands of flesh reunited, stitching itself back together as within moments, it was back to new condition. ¡°Open pa mara!¡± The Outrider warrior that was dressed head-to-toe in bearskin shouted out, leading the carrying of the massive pot. It seemed these words tranted roughly to ¡°Open up the damn cage before I eat you!¡± because it quickly served to make the joke-cracking guards turn around. He assessed the situation and his surroundings, darting his eyes around quickly. Though his cage was out in the open of nature, it was in a secluded section of the forest, just on the outskirts of the Outrider vige; besides the two guards, there were the two carrying the boiling pot, meant to ¡°escort¡± him within it, most likely. I can do this. Four targets right away, he thought.. With such arge pot being carried, and the rumors of the Outriders having met his ears¨Che knew what sort of fate awaited him if he fell into their hands right now. It would be a gruesome and agonizing future for him. ¨CHowever, the man had already made his move. He had jumped up, using his core strength to wield the hidden de between his toes, slicing the rope that bound his wrists in a swift kick. It was a quick, precise movement that freed his hands, leaving himnding back down on the mud cleanly, now wielding a singr, small de in his hand. ¡°Mug!¡± ¡°Mug!¡± Though he didn¡¯t know what that word meant, yelled from two of the bear demi-humans, it seemed like either a warcry or a call to attack. ¨C [Before Emilio Left | Yullim, Milligarde | The Dragonheart Residence] Sitting in their room, the parents of the young boy spoke. Treyna spoke confidently in front of him, but behind closed doors, the mother of the boy was gued with doubt. ¡°¡­I can¡¯t help but worry. I know Emilio is a smart boy, but¡­the world out there can be too unforgiving for a child,¡± Treyna said. Julius understood the worries of his wife, but he simplyughed, which earned him a funny look from the golden-haired woman. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t know it because you were never in a party with Vandread, but I¡¯d trust that guy more than myself to protect Emilio,¡± Julius said. ¡°What do you mean?¡­It¡¯s not like you to say something like that,¡± Treyna looked at her husband as if he were sick. Julius smirked, ¡°That¡¯s just how much I trust Vandread. He¡¯s saved my life countless times. It just so happens I was thest one to do the saving, so he owed me one,¡± he continued, ¡°¡­Unlike me, he¡¯s been continuously pushing himself to his limits. And that style of his, well, to put it simply¡­it always sent chills down my spine when I witnessed it¨C¡± [¡°That taboo style¨Cit¡¯s not just for swordy, but crafted for killing¨Cbeast, man, god¨Cyou name it: the ¡®Godless Style.''¡±] ¨C Through the droplets of rain, the figure slipped out like a phantom; silently and with tinum eyes of stone conviction. ¡°Mag?!¡± One of the Outrider warriors yelled out in shock. A rain of blood sprayed down onto the soil, mixing with the falling rain as the two guards of the wooden cage had their necks split open in the blink of an eye. The scar-covered man held only that small knife that looked too dull to even slice paper, and too small to cut deeper than an inch, but with it, he cut through the locks of the cage and slit the throats of the guards within a moment. [If it bleeds, you can kill it.] [If it is of flesh, you can kill it.] [If it feels fear, you can kill it.] [If you hold a de, no matter how small, no matter how dull, you can kill it.] [That¡¯s the ¡°Godless Style¡±] ¡°GRAAAGH!¡± Rushing towards him, the pair of therge, bulky demi-human warriors roared out, having dropped the pot, attempting to use theirrge size to ensnare him in theirrge hands. But, the stoic, dark-skinned man quietly slipped through their attempts to grab them, using the tiny scalpel to counter with a session of shes against the warrior with long, bristly hair of a brownplexion. ¡°Grah¨C?¡± The result of the shes; silent and swift as if not even being evoked¨Cthe bear demi-human¡¯s arm gushed out blood before the limb went limppletely. With the other closing in quickly, wielding arge, wooden club in his hand, he finished off the opponent directly in front of him with a stab straight into the man¡¯s neck. Fortunately for him, the swiftness in which he acted, at an opportune time in which his captors were distracted, allowed him the freedom of confronting them in separate encounters before they could react and coordinate. These guys are troublesome. They might be barbarians with muscle for brains, but that muscle is no joke. Even if I can regenerate my wounds, there¡¯s limits to that¨Cand if I¡¯m knocked out, it¡¯s over, he thought. He pushed the body of the warrior bleeding out in front of him away, using it as a shield as the bearskin-wearing Outrider mmed his club against the body of his kin. SQUELCH. A single hit by the club of the two-and-a-half meter tall Outrider, who growled in anger, had crushed the bones in his dyingpanion¡¯s body, sending thepromised demi-human flung to the side harshly. It made him more wary seeing how much force was behind a single swing of that club; it would likely be able to smash boulders easily, even with a wooden club. I bet this guy is some sort of elite. I have to be on guard¨CI can¡¯t run now. In terms of speed, I might edge him out, but stamina is the issue here. A demi-human of this caliber¡­I don¡¯t see him tiring out, and I want to take him out before he calls his buddies, he nned. Chapter 104 Vandreads Stand The bearskin-dressed Outrider had spiky, ck hair with no eyebrows and beady, ck eyes,yered in scars and possessing a body with unnaturally wide arms and a muscle density far beyond that of a human. Simply put, he would be relying on skill rather than power for this encounter. Just as he flipped his knife in his hand, he was forced to jump backward as the Outrider sprung forward with surprising speed, mming his man-sized club down into the ground. THUD. ¡°¨C!¡± Even witnessing the result of the club swing before, he felt its strength more than ever as he witnessed the soil cave in, propelling out as chunks of dirt and rock spewed out from the powerful impact. I have to avoid that! He thought. Before he could properly return to his feet, he was taken by surprise as another figure appeared by his side¨CSQUELCH. From his body, his right arm was flung off, flipping through the air as a trail of blood gushed out into the rain-filled air. As he looked to the side in shock, he found a towering demi-human man: he was albino without a speck of hair on his head, but armsyered in bristly, ck fur. In the demi-human man¡¯s hand, who neared three meters in height, he wielded a blood-slick ax, holding a twisted smile. Shit, he thought.. As the club-wielding Outrider rushed towards him again, he rolled to the side, also having to weave through a swing of an ax as the de passed right by his scalp. He purposefully brought himself closer to his lobbed-off arm, allowing it to reattach itself through his mystical, ck threads with heightened regeneration. Bringing himself to his feet, wielding nothing but his small knife that could hardly be ssified as a weapon, he faced the demi-human pair. They were drooling just staring at him, looking at him with eyes that saw only prey; a fresh meal. For the first time in a long time, he felt his blood pump through his veins with a certain warmth¨Cadrenaline. He knew his own limits well; the fate that was nned for him if he ended up in the hands of the Outriders was something that not even his abnormal existence could defy. The steam from the spilt water from the giant pot could be seen, catching the corner of his eye. It was a reminder for him: if he is cooked in that pot, not even he could return from being boiled and consumed. That¡¯s right. I can¡¯t be given the pleasure of dying and meeting with you again just yet. I¡¯ve got to live. If I die, who¡¯s going to keep that brat out of trouble? He thought. ¡°¡­Alright, then. I¡¯ll show you barbarians what the ¡®Godless Style¡¯ is all about,¡± he said. Sliding down his bare chest, the rain continued to fall on the dreadful corner of the world-ss forest; he readied himself with his de held between his fingers. It seemed the pair of bulky demi-humans didn¡¯t understand him as they didn¡¯t say anything before rushing at him. Both at once? Alright, then, he thought. The speed theyunched towards him was unorthodox when taking their size into ount, but he slipped through as they got within range of him; between both of their bodies and past their swings, he fell through like a passing cloud. ¡°Graagh?!¡± ¡°Gah!¡± As he passed by them, a few sessivecerations were left on the Outrider warriors¡¯ bodies, shing them across their arms and chest. Still, as he turned around to face the two, he found that the attacks he left hardly fazed the towering barbarians as they roared out, spinning around and once againunching an assault towards him. The Outriders had skin that was like a natural set of armor; it was thick and tough like a steel hide, making it impossible to cut for a normal person. Even with his technique and honed strength, it was difficult to cut when pushed into awkward angles. The bearskin-wearing club-wielder slobbered before swinging down, attempting to split his skull, but he slipped through the attack, gaining distance at the same time. In a brutal counter, he used his palm to m his de straight into the left eye of the club-using warrior, sending it in deep. ¡°Raaagh! Graa!¡± The Outrider warrior roared out in pain. Blood squirted out from the pierced eye, causing the massive demi-human tribesman to thrash about, swinging his club wildly in an agonized rage. The albino Outrider moved back as hispanion thrashed around in a blind rage, not realizing that the dark-skinned man was already up to something else. All I need is a de. Doesn¡¯t need to be steel or sharp¨Cjust something, he thought. ¡°Tub!¡± The Albino demi-human yelled. Rushing towards him with the ax capable of bisecting a full-grown man in a single swing, the albino Outrider yelled out unintelligible words, swinging his ax wildly in an attempt to cut him up. He evaded the ax swings, though as it came towards his head, he sacrificed fingers from his left hand to deflect it from smashing his skull in. SQUELCH. Three fingers from his hand were chopped off seamlessly, though he didn¡¯t flinch as he reached into his mouth, yanking teeth out before flicking them towards the demi-human, like bullets. ¡°Ghh-?!¡± There was surprising velocity to the bullet-used teeth that he yanked out, keeping the demi-human warrior at bay as they pierced his flesh, aiming for his eyes. Due to his regenerative factor, the teeth he plucked popped back within moments of him removing them¨Cthe same happened for his lost digits as they returned to his left hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the bear coat-wearing demi-human whose eye he destroyed finally regaining his senses, huffing and sweating, slobbering on himself as he began storming towards him once more. Crap. That didn¡¯t buy as much time as I wanted. Both at once is problematic, he thought. As the albino demi-human roared out, mming the ax down towards his head with a two-handed grip that could fell a tree in a single blow, he quickly flicked a couple teeth into both of the demi-human¡¯s beady, red eyes. ¡°Arggh!¡± The albino Outrider yelled. With that moment of distraction given to him, he kicked with all of his strength, mming his shin against the family jewels of the demi-human, holding nothing back. ¡°Graaagh!¡± Even the beastly man that towered high was reduced to a squealing mess after hisher was attacked, leaving him keeling over and dropping his ax. The giant ax fell right into his grip, as intended. It came into his possession just as the club-wielding warrior reached his position, to which he looked up with utmost malice buried in his tinum eyes. ¡°A proper weapon atst.¡± ¡°Gra¨C?¡± Before the bearskin warrior could even react, the club he wielded was cut through and his head was flung from his shoulders. The ax was slick with the blood of the demi-human, washed off in the rainfall just as the albino warrior looked up at the scaryered man who looked down at him. ¡°Vernana! Geru! Geru!¡± The Outrider warrior pleaded. ¨CNone of it was heard. With utmost impunity and zero hesitation, the steel of the ax mmed down straight into the skull of the warrior, instantly snuffing out his me. As he removed the ax from the demi-human¡¯s skull, he looked up as his torso was bathed in the rain. All around him, bushes rustled and warcries could be heard, but all he did was smile just a bit. ¡°¡­Looks like the cavalry has arrived. Come get me, then,¡± he challenged. With nothing but an ax in hand, Vandread was surrounded by the entirety of the Outrider n, backed into an inescapable corner. Chapter 105 Dead End [Verma Vige | Emilio] ¡°¡­Do you think this is going to be enough?¡± He asked. There were about a dozen warriors of the Verma n readied by Alekkai¡¯s call, who seemed confident that this group would be capable ofunching a sessful attack on the Outriders. ¡°Having¡¯ some doubts, kid?¡± The one who asked this was one of the women in this elite group of Verma, who was built like a powerlifter, having her tanned, chiseled abs on disy, which were shining from the rainfall. ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­¡± ¡°We know how dangerous the Outriders are already. We¡¯ve all had battles with them in the past,¡± the dark-haired, muscr woman told him as her tail flicked behind her back, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Just worry about weavin¡¯ those spells.¡± As they began to move out, already having their n established after Alekkai went over it with the strategic mind of the group¨Canky, blue-haired Verma named Minstril¨Che was approached by a youthful, spiky-haired member of the assault group. ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t worry about Y¨Cshe can be feisty, but she means well!¡± The young man assured him with a smile. ¡°Y? Oh, buff chick. I wasn¡¯t worried, but thanks,¡± he nodded. The young man with light-brown skin and tattoos smiled brightly, moving the spear he wielded to his other hand before extending his, ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m Bruman. Let¡¯s do this right so none of us have to die, alright?¡± He looked at Bruman¡¯s hand for a moment before epting it with a smile, ¡°Emilio. Yeah, let¡¯s do this right.¡±. Bruman didn¡¯t seem any older than sixteen; the energetic Verma warrior was clearly the youngest of the dozen warriors gathered by Alekkai, but the confidence the group seemed to hold calmed him. Still, he could feel tension in the air as they traveled through the dense forest with Alekkai leading them; using his demi-human traits, the champion was able to use his powerful sense of smell to track down the scent of Outriders in case of any stragglers on their way to the vige. I¡¯ming, Vandread. I¡¯ll show you how reliable I can be, he thought. [Outrider Vige | Vandread] Surrounded by a seemingly insurmountable wall of man-eating demi-humans in the rain-drenched forest, the man stood alone with nothing but an ax in his grip. The wet wood he gripped onto irritated the palm of his calloused hand as he looked on at the approaching demi-humans. The Outriders held rage in their eyes for their fallenrades, but all he did wasugh quietly to himself at their hypocrisy. ¡°Mag!¡± ¡°Ug!¡± Standing around him, the Outrider warriors mmed their weapons against their shields, drumming and letting out warcries. ¡°Stop yelling at me and attack,¡± he said, holding the ax in his hand as he nced around, ¡°¨CSlobbering and drooling all over yourselves isn¡¯t going to make me piss my pants, so hurry it up.¡± The first few Outrider warriors rushed towards him, possessingrge builds all the same as they attempted to bash him with their weapons, but he evaded and countered. Using the ax, he spun around in a spinning strike, amputating the arms from the three bear demi-humans that closed in on him. ¡°Graaagh!¡± The icy-cold look in his tinum eyes was anything but fearful; there was a rock-solid conviction to killid in those irises as he swung his weapon, taking the heads of the Outrider warriors. [¡°Godless Style¡±¨Cit¡¯s unrecognized as one of the Ten Divine Styles of Swordy. That¡¯s because of the very nature of it: it¡¯s an art forged for the sole purpose of killing and surviving. Practitioners of the style are taught expertise with every type of weapon, even unconventional, everyday tools and perhaps sometimes their own body parts. Due to this unorthodox nature, the ¡°Godless Style¡± is considered the ck sheep among sword styles. In this regard, Vandread is one of its most seasoned and knowledgeable disciples.] The rain poured down harder, mixing into the mud with the blood and entrails of the demi-human barbarians that confronted him. Even with the axe he wielded, he had to make every swing purposeful and with intent to kill as the skin of the man-eating barbarians would scowl at any half-baked attack. Some of the more resilient warriors were only left with shallow cuts from his swings, forcing him to prioritize their heads and necks. By now, there were a couple dozen bodiesid out around him as he stood in the rain, slick in blood both his and not, panting slightly. Even all of that, and I still see just as many of these man-eating pricks, he thought. Stepping out from the barrier of Outriders that surrounded him, onerger than the rest, wearing the cloak of a scaled beast on his back and bearskin armor around his limbs, a warrior unlike the others presented himself. One look at the Outrider in front of him was enough to tell he was a step above the rest; the demi-human barbarian wielded battle-axes in both hands, standing twice his height and three times as wide with the behemoth cloak swaying in the rainy winds. The unique Outrider spoke in a coarse, bellowing tone, ¡°¡­Human¡­¡± He can speak mynguage? He thought. ¡°Strong human. I challenge you¨CI am the Champion of the Outriders: Urganna!¡± The scale-cloaked Outrider challenged. He smirked, seeing an opportunity in the seemingly unwinnable obstacle presented around him as he stood his ground. ¡°How about this? If I beat you one-on-one, you let me the hell out of this shithole,¡± he challenged, holding his ax forward. ¡°epted,¡± Champion Urganna responded. It was difficult to decipher the facial features of the Outrider champion as it was a dark night and therge, beastly man wore the skinned head of a behemoth on his head like a hood. Alright, just one mo¨Che thought. His thoughts were interrupted as the towering foe in front of him disappeared from before his eyes. He¡¯s fa¨Che thought. Again, his thoughts were too slow as suddenly¨Can unseen swing swept through his midsection, tearing through his skin, flesh, bone, and sinking through his entire body. In less than a second, he had been cleaved in half. Flying off from his waist, his upper body was in the air in the moment as his eyes widened in surprise, looking forward again to see the champion finally reappear in his sight. There was no doubt about it; in that fraction of a second, the colossal man swung one of his axes and split him in half, but he couldn¡¯t react to it. What the hell is this guy? The Outriders had a warrior like this?¨CI¡¯d say he¡¯s at the level of a King ss swordsman¡­This isn¡¯t good, he thought. He gritted his teeth as abyssal threads sprouted from his innards of both his torso and his waist that was still standing upright in the grass; these threads reunited both halves of his body in an instant, reattaching himself. As he was reformed, he used the element of surprise in his regenerative, zombie-like abilities to swing his ax towards therge champion¡¯s knee. If I can limit his movement, then¡­! He nned. ¨CIn an instant, once more, the sh came faster than he could perceive as both of his arms were torn off in a single attack. ¡°You can rebuild your body? Splendid. There will be an endless feast, then!¡± The Champion roared out. The other Outriders roared out in celebration as well, taking his immortality as nothing more than a benefit for their man-eating selves. Luckily for him, it seemed the Outriders were honoring the duel by staying to the side and watching, but it hardly felt to be something ssified by honor. They¡¯re sitting back and watching because they know¨CI stand absolutely no chance against their champion, he realized. But, this fact made him smile as his own blood squirted out from his amputated arms. He knew there were several advantages he had, things he¡¯d taken note of from what little he was able to observe: the Outriders operated on a rule of strength¨Cthey now wanted to prove themselves individually by being the one to fell him. This led to a variety of one-on-one confrontations. Most importantly, they were trying to capture him, not kill; it seemed putting him in the giant pot was part of their tradition. Underestimate me, then. I¡¯ve lived through everything this world has thrown at me¨CI¡¯m the biggest cockroach of them all; even if I don¡¯t want to be here¡­You¡¯re stuck with me, till death do us part! He thought. The ck threads sprouted again, stitching his arms back together as he was still gripping onto the handle of the ax with an immovable hold, rushing forward again. He rushed forward again, this time receiving an impact from the massive, fur-d knuckles of the towering champion, which blew him back with a small shock wave that parted the descending rain. ¡°Grh¡­¡± Blood spewed from his nose as he was sent back, but he flipped around onto his feet, catching himself. After receiving the powerful blow, the strength behind the punch didn¡¯t just shatter his nose, but also left it nearly torn off of his facepletely; bruised and leaking ck blood. He didn¡¯t feel any of it as his nose rebuilt itself, allowing him to rush forward again without an ounce of fear in his blood. Each time he charged, he was countered. Each time he was countered, he charged again. ¡°No matter how many times youe¡­¡± The Champion said, raising his axes, ¡°¡­The result will not change.¡± [One Hour Later] The clearing within the forest was drenched in crimson; not even the rain could wash away the blood and guts that had spilled and painted the grass. Held in the one hand up by the massive, scale-cloaked champion, the hardly conscious, torn-in-half body of Vandread was held as a trophy. ¡°Ready the pot! The undying human has been defeated!¡± The Champion dered. Despite the victory, the colossal champion wasn¡¯t unscathed;cerations were etched across his body and blood mixed into the pelt he wore. The Outrider warriors roared out in celebration, following the words of the victorious champion. Even reduced to but half of himself, the heart of the immortal man still thumped. What a pain. Looks like I messed up, he thought. Chapter 106 The Raid [Through The Forest | Emilio] As he followed the Verma elites, he kept his staff close to his body, wary of even the slightest sounds that disturbed the foliage around him. I hope Vandread is doing alright¡­Maybe he already escaped? Yeah, that¡¯s right. That¡¯s entirely possible as well, he thought. ¡°You look awfully gloomy,¡± Bruman said, pping him on the back. He jumped a bit, looking up as he ced a smile on his lips, ¡°Well, I¡¯m just worried about my friend. The Outriders sound pretty scary, you know?¡± The spear-wielding, demi-human youth smiled brightly, ¡°They¡¯re tough, but we¡¯re tougher! Plus, your magic will make easy work of them¨Cdon¡¯t worry!¡± ¡°I guess,¡± he nodded. ¡°You know, Alekkai didn¡¯t want to bring you along at first,¡± Bruman told him. The energetic, young warrior said this quietly as the two hung at the back of the group, walking through the dense forest amidst the rainy night. ¡°Really? He seemed pretty quick to bring me along,¡± he said. Bruman smiled, ¡°We all talked about what to do with you while you were knocked out cold. After seeing you attacked by the Outriders, I guess Alekkai said ¡°enough is enough!¡± just like that, and decided to take the fight to them. We could tell you were a mage by your gear, but Alekkai was still hesitant¨Cwell, it¡¯s obvious why.¡± ¡°Why?¡± He pressed. The spiky-haired youth seemed hesitant to answer as he nervously scratched his cheek with a wriggly smile, walking beside the blonde-haired boy. ¡°¡­Well, ya know¡­Alekkai lost a son around your age¨C¡±. ¡°Enough talking. Move your feet faster!¡± Calling out from up front, a bristly man among the group of twelve¨Ctall and built like stone, sternly called out to the two youths at the back. ¡°Right!¡± Bruman called back with a smile before turning back to the boy, ¡°Raegun is a bit strict, but he¡¯s reliable.¡± ¡°I can tell,¡± he replied. There wasn¡¯t any doubt to be had about the capabilities of the group brought together by the red-haired champion of the Verma. Most of them were quiet, except for Bruman and Y, who asionally teased him and had him try sour berries they found along their path. ¡°C¡¯mon! Give it a try!¡± Y held the bumpy, pink berry near his cheek. There wasn¡¯t much resisting the teasing from the tall, muscr, but quite beautiful woman, so he obliged, taking the berry from her fingers and trying it. His lips quickly pursed as he swallowed it, ¡°Blegh¡­¡± ¡°Ha-ha! That face always gets me!¡± Brumanughed. ¡°Right?!¡± Yughed as well. Yelling to the three in the back, the strict, seasoned warrior called out, ¡°Quiet! We¡¯re approaching enemy territory soon!¡± ¡°Right¡­¡± Y and Bruman slumped their shoulders in unison. Though it was obviously a bit of a handful to be around the two, he didn¡¯t mind it at all¨Cin fact, he appreciated it. I was a bit tense about all of this, but they helped me calm down, he thought. It seemed to him that his capabilities with magic, though unseen by the tribe, were highly regarded. He couldn¡¯t recognize any mages within the vige, but he did recall the peculiar warcry that Alekkai used before when they first met. Was that magic? I doubt it. Maybe it¡¯s something unique to the Verma¨Cor maybe just Alekkai? Either way, it seems like they have a lot of hope for my magic, so I can¡¯t disappoint, he thought. ¡°Hissss.¡± The hissing sound caught his ears as he froze, looking around for the source of the serpentine noise. As he looked to the right, just as the others in the group did, he felt his skin crawl as his eyes found the sight of a giant, yellow-scaled serpent that was the size of one of the forest trees. ¡°A snake¡­!?¡± He let out, gripping his staff. ¡°Ha-ha! Guessing you don¡¯t see ones like that where you¡¯re from, do you?¡± Brumanughed. To him, this was anything but a joking matter as he watched Y step forward, cracking her knuckles with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll handle this one!¡± Y said. It seemed ridiculous to him to let the weaponless woman fight the massive serpent by herself, but as he looked around worriedly, he found the elite Verma watching without any doubt. ¡°¡­Will she be fine?¡± He asked. Bruman watched beside him with a carefree smile, ¡°Ha-ha, don¡¯t worry¡ªY is as tough as theye. She¡¯s got more raw strength than even the Champion.¡± ¡°Huh? Really?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Bruman nodded, ¡°That¡¯s why she uses only her fists. Whenever she tries using weapons, she breaks them!¡± It sounded like nothing short of a fable, but in this world, he knew better than to doubt what sounded like fantasy. He decided to just spectate as well, witnessing the gold-skinned snake hissing as its navy-blue tongue rattled, extending from between its lips. The giant serpent swayed its head as the confident, demi-human woman approached, hissing out with a sharp warning. ¡°C¡¯mon and try me!¡± Y taunted it. It seemed to oblige as it lunged towards her, parting its jaws to reveal massive, venom-slick fangs. ¡°¨C!¡± He watched anxiously. To his surprise, the serpent was caught midway through its attempt to bite the woman as she caught it in a chokehold, wrapping her muscr arms around its neck and squeezing. ¡°¨CAnd done you go!¡± Yughed out. The warrior¡¯s arms flexed, bulging as strength was summoned from the woman¡¯s powerful body before the tight hold resulted in the serpent¡¯s neck being squashedpletely. ¡°Woah¡­¡± He said. Y turned back with a smile, ¡°That was nothing!¡± ¡°¡­Yeah, it seems like it,¡± he said quietly. Moving forward again, he found a new confidence in the elite warriors after seeing the showcase of physical strength from Y. Partway through, it was time to eat. It was surprising to him that the Verma decided to have mealtime amidst what felt like a covert ops mission, but apparently the Verma required a high-caloric intake to operate at peak conditions. They all gathered in a circle, with Raegun and another opting to stay on watch while the others sat down on the forest floor. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± He looked down at what ¡°meal¡± was prepared for him. Arge leaf was used as a te, and on it were an assortment of edible berries and felled insects that were also deemed ¡°edible¡±, though he was doubtful. Of course, he was tucked in between the two yful ones¨CBruman and Y. There wasn¡¯t such thing as ¡°personal space¡± around them, not with Y, pping his shoulder andughing as she egged him on to try the less-than-savory looking meal. ¡°C¡¯mon! Give it a shot, kid!¡± Yughed. ¡°¡­Uergh¡­¡± He hesitated. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad¨Csee?¡± Bruman said. As the young, spiky-haired man said this, he popped one of the slimyrvae straight into his mouth, eating it as it crunched. ¡­That didn¡¯t help at all, he thought. For better or worse, he somehow managed to put down most of his serving of berries-and-bugs, though he didn¡¯t feel splendid afterward. ¨C ¡°We¡¯re here¨Cthis marking represents the territory just outside of the Outrider¡¯s.¡± It was a circr marking carved into the hide of a tree, tucked behind foliage so that it¡¯d only be known by the one who left the mark. This was pointed out by one of the Verma warriors who seemed to be in his early twenties with a prominent, triple set of scars running across his face. It seemed he was one of the scouts sent to track down the Outriders and find their current abode. ¡°I see,¡± Alekkai nodded, looking back at the rest of the group, ¡°From here on out, we move silently.¡± Not a word spilled from the lips of anybody there as each nodded in agreement, beginning to move silently and steadily now. He gulped as he tightened his fingers around his staff, clutching it close to his chest as he followed behind the bulk of the group. As they approached closer along the path that seemed to be nothing more than more foliage, but a trail to the eyes of the Verma, the sight of two,rge demi-humans posted in front of trees could be seen. ¡°That¡¯s them. Those are ¡®Outriders¡¯,¡± Bruman whispered to him. ¡°Really¡­?¡± Huh¡­? They look different from the Verma. They¡¯re huge! Those ears¡­that built; are they part bear?! He thought. Him and the group were hidden among the dense shrubs and tall grass, but a pair of Verma slowly crept forward, taking it upon themselves to handle the Outrider guards. It was Alekkai and the warrior with three scars; they crept through the grass, circling around the Outrider guards before swooping in and slitting their throats in one fell swoop. ¡°¨C!¡± He watched in surprise. Though he knew this was a brutal mission ahead of him, somehow the violent nature of it took him by surprise as he witnessed the two Outriders fall with their split necks, seeping crimson onto the mud amidst the rainfall. ¡°Come,¡± Alekkai looked back at the rest of the group, ¡°Emilio, stay hidden, but close¨CBruman, stay with him and protect him as he weaves his magic.¡± It was time for ¡°that.¡± Chapter 107 Plan Commence He knew this was already the n, but he felt anxious already as that doubt swirled in his stomach, but there was no time for that anymore. All he could do was his best as he stayed hidden within the grass while the Verma moved on ahead into the Outrider vige, still within the element of stealth. Bruman stayed beside him, staying wary. ¡°Is something bothering you?¡± Bruman asked. ¡°¨C¡± He nced back. Bruman chuckled, ¡°Sorry, I can kinda smell doubt like that. Just part of being Verma.¡± He turned back around, ¡°Well¡­I was just thinking¡­the Outriders, they¡¯ve got women and children, too, right?¡± ¡°I see¨Cthat¡¯s what¡¯s bothering you,¡± Bruman said. ¡°Yeah,¡± he nodded. While he still had some restraint about battling to the death with others, if it were ruthless savages like the Outriders, he could manage. But the thought of hunting women and children didn¡¯t sit right with him. Bruman pped him on the shoulder, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, then. The Outriders don¡¯t have women or children around.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°The Outriders¡¯ seed only creates males¡­which means they reproduce by raiding and using the women from other viges,¡± Bruman exined as his expression dimmed, ¡°¡­Get it? They cull any weak boys, too. Everybody in that vige is a cold-hearted killer.¡± ¡°I see,¡± he nodded, ¡°Thanks.¡± He stopped moving once he reached the treeline before arge clearing, which was inhabited by the Outrider vige¨Cbuilt of huts of animal skin and dingy logs, though filled with at least a hundred warriors.. ¡°¡­Alright,¡± he breathed out, readying himself. ¡°You¡¯ve got this,¡± Bruman assured him. ¡°Yeah.¡± He raised his staff, ncing to the side to see the eleven Verma staying hidden within the trees around the vige, knowing they were waiting for him to initiate the battle with a spell. The assault relied on his magic, specifically¨Cstone magic. Focus, he told himself. There were a couple dozen Outrider warriors roaming around the vige outside of the huts, either eating, drinking, or messing around. What caught his eye was the person being hoisted up by a pair of Outriders¨Cit was Vandread, though his body was devastated and in the process of slowly healing. Vandread¡­! He thought. ¡°Emilio, what¡¯s the hold up¡­?¡± Bruman asked. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m getting it ready¡­!¡± He replied in a whisper. I have to y my part as well. Those nice people¡­! I don¡¯t want them to be hurt! He thought. As he held his staff up, sweat left his pores as he focused his intentions on the entrances of each hutt and also on the perimeter of the vige. ¡°In all of this world, it is your flesh that makes it whole. Our roads, homes, andnd are all your body. Reshape it and mold it into new forms: Stone Vige!¡± All at once, many massive walls of rock rose from the ground, specifically rising in front of the hutt entrances to block them off, as well as forming walls around the vige to keep any Outriders from escaping. This sudden shift caused many roars to sound out, and the Outrider warriors to yell out in surprise, spouting out words that seemed to signal them to fight. ¡°Mug!¡± One roared. ¡°Gama!¡± Another yelled. The savage, bear demi-humans looked around perplexed, looking for the enemy that had spurred such a sudden change. From within the hutts, the roars of Outriders could be heard as well as the stone walls were hit repeatedly. ¡°Go¨C!¡± Alekkai roared out. It began. From the trees, the Verma warriors descended into thepromised enemy territory, immediately taking out a few of the Outriders who were ill-prepared for the nighttime raid. The champion of the Verma moved swifter than any other; he moved with palpable emotion in his steps as he carved his de through the Outriders. Even from there, tucked away in the foliage, he could feel the intensity of Alekkai¡¯s warcries and that shining look in the man¡¯s eyes; the rage of a brother and of a father. ¡°Raagh!¡± Inbat, Alekkai was an entirely different being. Through his short, but meaningful time with the red-haired warrior, he¡¯d recognized him as a kind, weing person, but when he witnessed the man fight, he could see the beaste out. The Champion of the Verma wielded a shortsword, using a smaller weapon that wouldn¡¯t inhibit his speed as he nimbly dodged around the attacks from the roaring Outriders, countering swiftly. While the panic of the Outriders surely provided a benefit to the Verma, there was no doubt that Alekkai simply outssed the warriors he faced against. Their clubs and des never met his skin as he ducked and weaved through their attacks, slicing them up while rushing into the next battle without a moment to waste. Woah¡­He thought. Bruman smiled, staying beside him as they watched, ¡°There¡¯s nothing to worry about, see? With Alekkai with us, nothing can beat us!¡± ¡°¡­Yeah. They¡¯re all strong,¡± he nodded in agreement. It wasn¡¯t just Alekkai; the other Verma were doing well¨CY was fighting an Outrider that towered twice her height, yet she was holding that fearsome, battle-loving smile the entire time. ¡°C¡¯mon! Is that all ya got?!¡± Y taunted. Using just her fists, the warrior woman struck the massive Outrider before jumping up and using her legs to lock her opponent¡¯s head before mming him into the ground. ¡°Well, we can join in now,¡± Bruman stood up with a smile, ¡°though you can stay here if you want. I think Alekkai would prefer that.¡± He didn¡¯t answer for a moment as he wasn¡¯t exactly roaring at the idea of facing off against the massive demi-humans, but he stood up as well. ¡°I¡¯ll fight,¡± he said, ¡°I saw mypanion earlier¨CI¡¯ll free him.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll help you, then!¡± Bruman smiled, holding his spear up. He was taken aback by the kindness from the spiky-haired youth, but epted with a nod, ¡°Thanks!¡± Amidst the chaos of the Outrider vige, the two ran in; the huts were still blocked off, but some Outriders had ripped through their walls entirely. Still, the Verma had already seized the advantage within the nned chaos. There were many Outrider warriors already felled, with Alekkai not taking a moment to catch his breath before fighting the next. Still¨Cit wasn¡¯t all perfect. ¡°Argh!¡± ¡°Mag!¡± As the two were running down the middle of the vige, aiming for the center stronghold where he¡¯d seen Vandread be carried off to, the screams met his and Bruman¡¯s ears. It was one of the Verma; a young man with a bald head¨Che¡¯d shed with an Outrider and had his sword knocked from his hands. ¡°Teero!¡± Bruman yelled out. Though it was toote; the armored Outrider swept his massive de through the Verma warrior, cleaving him in half with one swing. ¡°No¨C!¡± Bruman screamed. The Outrider¡¯s attention was turned to the two youths who stood there in shock. It wielded a swordrger than both of their bodies, now slick with blood as it breathed out, stomping towards them. Bruman waspletely still, gripped by shock and grief as his spear trembled in his grip. As the Outrider raised his weapon, swinging it down towards Bruman¨CFWOOSH. A burst of wind knocked the Outrider back, causing the man-eating warrior to stumble back as his attack was intercepted. ¡°¡­Emilio?!¡± Bruman looked to the side. ¡°Get it together!¡± For some reason, the young Verma warrior was caught off-guard by the pinpoint usage of magic, but the Outrider warrior came rushing in quickly once again. ¡°Oh crap!¡± Bruman let out. On the other hand, the young mage was focused; he kept his staff clutched in his hand, conjuring another spell to counter the massive demi-human. With the Outrider being so close, he opted not to attack as not to risk the attack failing to put down his opponent, instead choosing to stop the beast man¡¯s assault altogether. Sprouting from the dirt floor, vines reached out, binding the ankles and wrists of the bear demi-human, ovepping multiple times for a strengthened hold. What kind of strength is this? I can feel it tearing at the vines already¨Cthey¡¯re infused with magic! He thought. ¡°Do it!¡± He yelled out. Bruman gulped, nodding as he rushed forward with his spear held in front of him. The young warrior had a surprising amount of speed packed into his legs as he burst forward, mming the spear head straight into the gut of the Outrider. ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± Bruman quietly exhaled. The young Verma still held onto the spear fervently; holding it so tightly that splinters surely formed on his calloused hands. ¡°Get back!¡± He yelled out. Bruman looked up in surprise, ¡°¡­Huh?¡± The spear to the abdomen didn¡¯t seem to sway the fiery rage within the Outrider, who ripped the vine bindings off of his limbs before looking down at the young warrior. ¡°¡­Ah¡­¡± Bruman froze. Dammit! He thought. Though there was little time to aid hispanion before the Outridershed out, swinging his massive de across the wind. From that distance and at that speed, the goliath sword would surely sweep through the flesh of the young Verma. ¡°¨C!¡± It was ast minute save, but a sudden gust of wind managed to push Bruman aside harshly, saving him from the harrowing sword swing. Chapter 108 The Champions Bout Bruman rolled across the ground before looking up at the blonde-and-ck haired boy, ¡°¡­Emilio?! Nice save!¡± ¡°Thank meter!¡± He said, holding his staff up as he wasted no time with his next incantation. The ferocity and tenacity of an Outrider warrior couldn¡¯t be understated; even with a spear lodged in his gut, the bear demi-humanunched forward, swinging his de wildly towards the boy. He moved around, rolling and using his spear to create walls of rock to space the Outrider away and give himself room for a counter. Though the bs of stone were merely momentary stopgaps, as a single swing of the massive weapon of steel crushed the walls in the Outrider¡¯s way. ¡°Gah!¡± Upon one of the walls breaking, a piece of stone flew out, hitting him in the forehead, which caused him to flinch for just a moment. In that single moment, the warrior closed in, watching him with those beastly eyes as it reared its de back. SQUELCH. The leather-armored Outrider, who stood three times his height, stopped. ¡°Huh?¡± He finally noticed it: behind the Outrider, Bruman was standing there, shaking but holding a confident smile as he had picked up a sword from the ground, sticking it straight into the leg of the giant demi-human. ¡°Graaaagh!¡± The Outrider roared out. ¡°Do your thing¡­!¡± Bruman yelled out. He nodded and hopped to his feet, readying his staff as blood trickled down his forehead. There wasn¡¯t much time to think about repercussions, so he unleashed it: a ming sphere conjured at the tip of his staff, spinning andshing out as the me grew in head with oxygen being supplied to it aggressively.. As the me turned to a crisp blue, he unleashed it in the form of a methrower that shot out like the breath of a mighty dragon. In order to avoid turning his Verma friend into a charcoal corpse, he pointed upward, scorching the top half of the Outrider¡¯s body in the path of the destructive me. ¡°Woah! Hot!¡± Bruman ducked down, covering his head. Faced against a foe like this, the boy didn¡¯t consider restraint or holding back; he simply unleashed his magic in full-capacity. In the end, with the mes quelled, this resulted in the top half of the Outrider warrior seizing to exist. ¡°¨C¡± He caught his breath. Bruman looked up, moving out of the way as the body of the Outrider fell over. Ash lingered in the air as the cries of battle continued all around. In an environment like this, there was hardly any time toment what was done. ¡°¡­Nice one,¡± Brumanplimented him in surprise, patting him on the shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s keep going,¡± he said, wiping the sweat from his chin. ¡°You got it!¡± Bruman nodded. Fortunately, it seemed not many Outriders upied the main pathway as they diverted their attention to the Verma that were attacking the outskirts. ¡°So, you¡¯re thinking they¡¯ve got your pal in there?¡± Bruman asked, looking ahead towards therge structure. He nodded, ¡°I saw him being carried off in there¨Cit¡¯s the chief¡¯s ce, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Good eye! Yeah¨Cthat¡¯s definitely their leader¡¯s ce. We¡¯ll just have to kick his butt and free everybody in there!¡± Bruman said. ¡°You think there are others kept prisoner?¡± He asked. Bruman looked at him, ¡°¡­Of course! That¡¯s a big reason why we¡¯re here!¡± The path being clear made them lower their guard for a moment until proven otherwise once reaching just shy of the temple¡¯s entrance. This didn¡¯t mean there weren¡¯t any Outriders, however. As the two reached the steps leading to the chief¡¯srge abode, a group of six of the man-eating demi-humans greeted them with their weapons raised and eyes gleaming with malice. The ce in which the chief upied, and where Vandread was seen to be brought, was arge temple that seemed to be used for other things besides the chief¡¯s living quarters. It was mostly made out of wood and shoddily banded-together leaves and twigs, but it was grand in size. ¡°¡­Uh-oh¡­¡± Bruman said quietly, stepping back with his spear held up. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a warrior? Shouldn¡¯t you be jumping at an opportunity like this?¡± He asked with a half-smile. Bruman smiled as well, ¡°¡­That¡¯d normally be the case, but these guys scare the crap out of me!¡± ¡°Can¡¯t say I disagree,¡± he said. Just then, a pair of the bear menunched forward, dressed in leather armor that covered most of theirrge bodies; the one on the left wielded a halberd, and the right held a ck-tipped spear. Without any hesitation, he raised his staff and manifested water amidst the rainfall, spinning and weaving it into limbs made out of water. Though these limbs weren¡¯t shaped like his, but made to berger and bulkier than the Outriders. In the rainfall, he was able to manipte the precipitation around him without having to fully tap into his mana, allowing him to make the water armsrger than usual. ¡°How about this?!¡± He yelled out. The water-formed fists intercepted the pair of Outrider warriors, mming into the bestial mean andunching a swift number of haymakers against the unsuspecting warriors. He controlled the triple-set of water limbs with his staff, twirling his catalyst as the fists continued mming into the two warriors. Against the wooden foundations of the building, the knuckles of the aquatic fists mmed through with brutal strength. ¡°Mag! Tsurana! Tsurana¨C!¡± One of the warriors yelled out. It seemed the usage of magic caught their eye, making them cautious as the first pair to meet the aquatic fists were swiftly knocked unconscious. As he was focused on the two he had knocked out, he didn¡¯t realize that another charged him before he noticed them closing in. Crap, the water fists are too far! He thought. But, the Outrider that lunged towards him, d in ck fur, was intercepted by a spear-rush straight to the side. ¡°Nice one, Emilio! But, I¡¯m not going to let you one-up me all night!¡± Bruman smiled. It seemed the young warrior had regained hisposure as he now fought with a smile, plucking his spear from his foe¡¯s side and using sessive thrusts to ovee the Outrider. ¡°¡­Three down, three to go,¡± he said. He stood side-by-side with Bruman as three more Outriders blocked their way into the chief¡¯s keep. ¡°About what I said earlier¡­¡± Bruman smiled wryly. He sighed, ¡°I¡¯ll take the two on the left.¡± ¡°Thanks!¡± Bruman said. ¨C While the two youngest of the assault team handled their own battle, the Verma Champion remained agile and endless in his pursuit of Outriders. ¡°Come! Do not cower from your end!¡± Alekkai roared out. The Verma warrior¡¯s long, crimson hair swayed in the rainy wind as the blood of his enemies washed away in the nightly storm. A dozen bodies of in Outriders surrounded the champion as he huffed, unending in his vengeance yet. ¡­I¡¯m close, brother, my son¡­It¡¯s almost done, he thought. THUD. Suddenly, a figure was flung through the air, catching his attention as he looked up. Rather than picking up on the appearance of the figure, the scent was known to him. ¡°Y?!¡± He yelled out. Jumping up, he caught his kin in his arms,nding back down as he looked at the woman to see her body covered incerations and bruises. ¡°¡­Who did this to you?¡± Alekkai asked. There weren¡¯t many who could put the monstrously powerful woman in such a wounded state; he knew that well. Y coughed up blood, ¡°It¡¯s him.¡± ¡°¨C!¡± Alekkai¡¯s eyes widened. As he looked up once more, setting his kin down, he saw the one responsible¨Cstomping out from behind the hutts, the massive figure clutched two Verma in one hand; they were mangled and torn limb-from-limb. ¡°Uryu! Massafa!¡± Alekkai yelled out in agonized anger. The figure that clutched his fallen brethren was one he knew well; a sight that made his blood boil in rage as he squeezed the handle of his weapon tight enough to begin cracking it. It was an Outrider, taller than any other and built like a mountain; the warrior wore the hide of a behemoth, protected in its scales. ¡°¡­You¡­!¡± Alekkai growled, ¡°Urganna!¡± The threads of fate seemed to intertwine to allow the two to meet; the Champion of the Verma, and the Champion of the Outriders. Flung to the side, the bodies of Alekkai¡¯s kin were tossed like discarded toys as the Outrider champion let out bellowingughter, pulling out his twin war-axes as the rain ran slick on his scaly armor. ¡°It¡¯s the wolf pup! I thought the Verma¡¯s balls had been snipped, but here I find you attacking our vige¡­I am excited!¡± Urgannaughed wickedly, ¡°I¡¯ll end your bloodline tonight! No¨CI have a better idea! After I end this attack, I¡¯ll go to the Verma vige myself and take your wife!¡­I¡¯ll need to repopte for my lost brethren.¡± Alekkai was silent in his rage as his muscles bulkened; veins pressed against his tan, light-brown skin as he wielded his sword, ¡°¡­I¡¯ll kill you¨Cright here.¡± ¡°Be careful¡­He¡¯s got incredible strength¨Che¡¯s not the same as before¡­¡± Y said weakly. ¡°Got it,¡± Alekkai nodded quietly. Chapter 109 Split Search ¡°Be careful¡­He¡¯s got incredible strength¨Che¡¯s not the same as before¡­¡± Y said weakly. ¡°Got it,¡± Alekkai nodded quietly. Rushing forward, Alekkai took the initiative, staying low as he ran almost like a wolf on all-fours, aiming to sweep the Outrider Champion¡¯s legs with his de. CLANG. The sword swipe was blocked by one of Urganna¡¯s axes before the other was mmed down, which Alekkai dodged swiftly before countering with a roar, puffing out his chest below unleashing it to the rainy wind. ¡°¨C!¡± The special roar concussed Urganna, who was frozen still momentarily, allowing the red-haired Verma to close in. ¡°Watch out!¡± Y yelled. Before his sword could rend the flesh of the merciless Outrider, the bristly fur that covered portions of the beastly man¡¯s body protruded like hardened spikes. A few of the Outrider¡¯s defensive spikes pricked his skin, but he leapt back in time with an angered curve to his lips. Urgannaughed as he cracked his neck side-to-side, ¡°So hot-headed. You¡¯re just like your brother.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare speak of him¡­!¡± Alekkai roared out. ¨C [The Outrider Chief¡¯s Abode] Both of the youths were faced against one of the initial six guards of the temple, having defeated two more, however¨Cthis mighty demi-human was problematic. It seemed to be the ¡°Captain¡± of the guards; the bear demi-human towered over both of them with the height of a grizzly bear and the physique of a strongman. Unlike the others, the unique Outrider was dressed head-to-toe in ted armor, though it was mix-matched as if looted from various victims of the n.. The water fists that he summoned shifted into a shield seamlessly, guarding against a massive sweep of the Outrider¡¯s lengthy il. ¡°Woah¡­! Close one!¡± Bruman let out. ¡°Do you always talk this much during a fight?!¡± He said. Bruman replied, ¡°¨COnly when I¡¯m nervous!¡± Again, he was forced to manipte therge shield of water as the spiked il intended to swing through both of their midsections, blocking it. Though the il itself was blocked, the fully-armored demi-human rushed both of them without any hesitation. As the brown-furred beastly warrior rushed in, it was Bruman who stepped in to halt his charge, thrusting his spear forward. ¡°Raagh!¡± Bruman let out a warcry. Though the spearhead was aimed for the Outrider guard¡¯s head, the goliath managed to swerve out of the way of the attack, only suffering a sh to the cheek from the spear before thrusting his fist against the young Verma¡¯s gut. ¡°Gah!¡± Bruman spit out. The strength of an Outrider was unlike that of a normal demi-human; it was as if a massive st of wind magic emitted from the warrior¡¯s knuckles¨Csending Bruman flying back harshly as his back mmed against one of the temple pirs. ¡°Bruman!¡± He yelled out. Though he had only himself to worry about as the ferocious guard was already dashing towards him. So fast! He thought. With no time given to him, he used a burst of air to allow himself to evade, watching as the fully-armored guard nced at him, spinning the deadly il around as another attack was prepared. It came so quickly that he couldn¡¯t follow up with another spell, instead reflexively guarding against the spiked il with his staff as it burrowed forward, knocking the catalyst out of his hand. Crap¡­! He thought. ¡°Raagh!¡± Bruman charged back in with a warcry. Though the massive Outrider was able to effortlessly halt the young Verma¡¯s spear that wasunched towards his back, reaching back and grabbing it. ¡°Ngh..?!¡± Bruman gritted his teeth. The young man tried desperately to pull his spear away, but the grip of the Outrider was far too strong. Utter silence came from the cold-blooded guard, who raised his il, sending it towards the young man¡¯s head, who could only look up in horror. He was ncing back, undecided on rushing towards his staff or not, but instead rushed forward, holding his hand out as he unleashed a burst of unfocused wind. FWOOSH. It was a desperate gambit, but it managed as the st of air managed to knock the il away from Bruman¡¯s head, instead nicking the young man¡¯s shoulder. Just the young demi-human¡¯s shoulder being hit still caused him to be knocked back. This left the steel-d Outrider facing him, exuding steam from his nose that was hidden behind his cross-shaped helmet. ¡°¨C¡± He gulped, steadying his breathing. I could try running for my staff, but this guy is faster than me. If I use wind, maybe¡­it¡¯s risky. He¡¯s not only faster, but his weapon, too¨Cit¡¯s got range and he knows how to use it. What I need is speed¨Cquick casting¡­! I have it! he thought. Instead, he came up with another n¨Craising his hand to create a wall of stone that blocked the Outrider guard from him and Bruman. This wasn¡¯t meant to fully stop the goliath, but instead give him time for what came next. Without his staff in hand, he had to unleash more mana than necessary, flooding it out as the air vibrated around him and pulsated momentarily. ¡°Four spirits of the world¡¯s natural order of creation and destruction: Great Gnome of Rock, Undine of Water, Sylph of Air, and Smander of Fire! Elemental Sentinels!¡± Manifesting from his call, four spheres of light encircled him, acting aspanions to him in this time of need: the crimson light, Smander; the emerald light, Sylph; the brown light, Great Gnome; and the azure light, Undine. Just then, the massive il shattered the stone wall, crushing it as he began running back for his staff that had slid across the smooth, wooden floor of the temple entrance. ¡°Graagh! Mag!¡± The guard roared. Though the Outrider guard tried chasing him, he was able to passively fend off the goliath as the crimson spirit shot out a fireball towards the man-eating demi-human. ¡°¨C!¡± The guard looked in surprise. It wasn¡¯t just the fireball; after the guard managed to use his il to swipe through the mes, the azure light shot a burst of multiple bullets of water in quick session. Due to the back-to-back casting, though the individual attacks weren¡¯t advanced, they got through to the mace-wielding cannibal as the projectiles of water pierced cleanly through the guard¡¯s armor, thrusting through his flesh. ¡°Grrrgh!¡± The guard winced, stopping for only a moment before continuing towards him. He managed to slide across the ground and obtain his staff again, turning back towards the demi-human, who was trying to attack him again, but the emerald light and the brown light intercepted. From Sylph, the emerald sphere by his shoulder emitted a small-scale cyclone that caused the full-ted Outrider to spin around, halting him and dizzying him. From Great Gnome, a st of rock pellets pelted the warrior¡¯s skin, knocking him back with repeated sts. Each individual spirit isn¡¯t that strong, but together, they¡¯re incredibly powerful¨Cthe unison of elements, able to be used continuously¨Cit¡¯s amazing! The only downside is, it¡¯s heavy on my mana! He thought. After thebo-attack from his lesser spirits encircling him, the guard was left dibobted and bruised. ¡°Bingo,¡± he said with a smile, breathing out. SQUELCH. Through the gut of the guard, a spear pierced through, havinge in through its back as the warrior spit out blood. ¡°¡­Huff¡­¡± Bruman was behind the guard, pulling his spear out as the Outrider fell face-forward. After such an encounter, the two had to catch their breath before exchanging a high-five for theirbined victory. ¡°¡­Seriously, you¡¯re way too strong for a kid,¡± Brumanughed. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a kid, too¡­?¡± He chuckled. With that obstacle out of the way, the entrance to the Outrider temple was left open for the two; looming over them with the bear-carved doors. Though the battle was over for now, he maintained his Four Elementals as they provided an irreceable security for him. As they headed in, they found it surprisingly empty, though it was hardly lit by just a few spore bugs that were purposefully used as makeshiftnterns. The interior was decorated with the skulls of beasts and humans alike, some likely demi-humans, especially by the scent as Bruman seemed horrified at the sight of some. ¡°Freaky,¡± Bruman shuddered, following behind him. Isn¡¯t this guy an elite warrior or something? Why¡¯s he hiding behind somebody younger than him¡­? He thought. ¡°Let¡¯s just hope they didn¡¯t already turn Vandread into one of these decorations¡­¡± He said quietly. Bruman looked at him, ¡°Woah. Dark.¡± ¡°¡­Stay on guard, would you?¡± He raised an eyebrow. ¡°Aye!¡± Bruman saluted. In the depths of enemy territory, especially when it came to where high-quality ¡°meat¡± was being stored, he knew the emptiness they¡¯ve experienced so far within the temple was likely only temporary. As they ventured further into the wood-and-leaf domain, they came across two paths: stairs leading upwards and stairs leading down. ¡°¡­Looks like it¡¯s time to split up,¡± he said. ¡°Wait¨Cwha?! Isn¡¯t that like¡­super risky?!¡± Bruman contested. He looked over at the spiky-haired young man, silently judging his cowardly nature, but realizing his confidence likely only stemmed from his own magical abilities. An idea came to mind as he put his fingers to his chin for a moment before moving his staff, ¡°Here.¡± Bruman watched with wide, sparkling eyes as the dark-brown sphere and the fiery, crimson sphere moved over to him, hovering above his shoulders. ¡°Woah!¡­This is magic?! For me?!¡± Bruman said, ncing back and forth at the two lesser spirits. He held his finger up, ¡°If we split up, I¡¯ll lend you those two¨C¡± ¡°¨CYou got it!¡± Bruman nodded vigorously. Well, that was easy, he thought. As he watched Bruman, the young man poked at the spherical spirits with a giddy, childish smile, giggling to himself as if discovering magic for the very first time. ¡°Alright, those two will defend you automatically, so don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll go upstairs, you go down,¡± he said. Bruman frowned, ¡°But, downstairs is¨C¡± He gave an unimpressed look as if saying ¡°I¡¯ll take those two back for myself if you can¡¯t handle it¡± to which, Bruman coughed and adjusted his words. ¡°I mean¨Cyou can count on me!¡± Bruman assured him. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s meet back here in a bit,¡± he said. Like that, the two parted ways in search of Vandread, which he exined the features of the stoic man to the entric Verma warrior. ¡­I hope he handles himself well, he thought, heading up the stairs. Chapter 110 The Chief As he ascended the stairs, he found himself undersizedpared to the structure of the temple; doors towered like arches and normal furniture stood head-and-shoulders above him. It was a frightening discovery, as it spoke of the size of whoever upied the abode; everything felt as if it was built around giants, toorge even for the Outriders he¡¯d seen previously. As he was walking down the corridor of the nature-built temple, a low grumble echoed through the halls. ¡°¨C¡± He stayed silent. It didn¡¯t sound immediately close, but it was on the same floor. Whatever it was, the groan alone made the floor subtly vibrate beneath his feet. Sounds like a big one¡­is it the ¡°chief¡±? He thought. Venturing further, he kept his staff in front of him while the azure and emerald sphere hovered above his shoulders, watching his blind spots for him. It was eerily quiet once more as sweat trickled down his cheek; there were a few doors along the corridor, though they only led into rooms filled with misceneous luxuries that only seemed valuable to barbarians like the Outriders; skull nes, rock decorations, and weapons that looked looted from others. As he kept his eyes forward, he stared at the tall, orange-wooden door that stood at the end of the corridor. ¡­That door down there¡­It¡¯s where that noise came from, he thought. Getting closer to the door, he could feel breaths emitting from the other side; it was like the vibration of an almighty engine sitting beyond the threshold, yet it was unmistakably the breathing of a flesh-and-blood entity. He stopped in front of the door, gulping as he looked up; it loomed over him like the gateway to hell¨Cstanding multiple times his height as the enigmatic breathing continued behind it.. Here goes¡­He prepared himself. As he held his staff up, he didn¡¯t opt to knock or even open the door normally¨Cinstead going all-in as he unleashed a propulsion of fierce wind, blowing the door open in an instant¨CFWOOM. mmed open, the door revealed the chamber that was hidden to his eyes; it was vast, but upied by a single entity that made his blood freeze in his veins: It was a half-man half-bear like the Outriders, except more bear than man; it had the face of a man but the body of a bear, covered in thick, silver fur. The being seemed primordial; moss had grown on their fur and vines had stretched onto the throne and limbs of the entity as overgrowth reached into the old chamber. What is that¡­? He thought. ¡°¨C¡± Heavy breaths exuded from it. What was most shocking was its size; the bear-man wasrger than any creature he¡¯d seen¨Cit sat on a throne-turned-bed of twigs, though even while sitting, it was the size of a small house. The entity was dressed in verdant garbs, wearing a crown of thorns on its head; he could tell by one look¨Cthis was the ¡°chief.¡± ¡°¡­Human¡­¡± The massive demi-human bellowed, ¡°¡­A human visits my chambers¡­?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right¡­Tell me: where¡¯s mypanion at?¡± He asked, raising his staff. As he threatened the colossal demi-human with his mystical staff, all that followed was a low, ground-vibratingugh from the entity. It looked down at the young human with its beady, ck eyes, slowly beginning to lift itself from its throne. Looks like I stumbled right into the ¡°final boss¡±ir. Just my luck, he thought. ¡°I am Chief Omana of the Outriders. I¡¯ve consumed hundreds of humans. I¡¯ve consumed hundreds of my kin. I¡¯ve lived hundreds of years,¡± the Chief bellowed, ¡°Who are you, who has not lived but a fraction of my time?¡± ¡°¨C!¡± His eyes widened. What caught him by surprise was the weapon that the Outrider Chief reached for: not a sword or ax, but a gargantuan staff of intertwined, mossden wood, fit for the size of the towering demi-human. He¡¯s a mage¡­?! He realized. ¡°What puny spells will you fling at me, human child?¡± The Chiefughed low, standing over ten times his height. The aura that exuded from the silver-furred, man-eating chief made him freeze up as he felt a pressure unlike any other; this was without a doubt the most imposing threat he¡¯de across, the only exception being the hero-rank swordsman. Rubert, Oswell¡­those two don¡¯te close to this. I can sense it as a mage; the density of mana oozing from this guy¡­It¡¯s thick and ancient¡­I didn¡¯t expect something like this. Should I retreat? Look for others for help? He thought. ¡°Labyrinth of The Jungle,¡± the chief cast. As the idea of a tactical retreat crossed his mind, it was quickly eroded as with a simple wave of the chief¡¯s staff, the chamber was sealed off by thick, densely-ovepped roots and stone. ¡°¨C!¡± He looked around frantically. Chief Omanaughed low as the silver beard that dropped down to his abdomen swayed, ¡°¡­I do not let my prey escape. Especially those that have wandered into the spider¡¯s nest on their own, so foolishly; so brazenly.¡± The colossal demi-human before him was realms different from the others he¡¯d encountered; an archaic wisdom was held by the chief, unlike the savage, barbaric mindsets of the other Outriders. ¡°Go ahead,¡± the chief said, standing tall, ¡°I¡¯ll grant you the first move.¡± ¡°¨C¡± He stood there silently with caution. The chief seemed to recognize the hesitance and suspicion of the amethyst-eyed boy as he grumbled, opening his arms, ¡°This is no trick. Out of respect for your bravery to barge into my domain, as a child no less, I¡¯ll allow you the chance to strike first.¡± It still felt like nothing short of a trap, but he nned on taking the initiative anyway as he mmed his staff down. ¡°Undine! Sylph!¡± He yelled out. Commanding the two lesser spirits that protected him signaled the spherical elements to glow, with the azure spirit rippling as it manifested a beam of highly-pressurized water that shot straight towards the chief. Utilizing the wind spirit, heunched himself upward to change his position. ¡°I see,¡± Chief Omana said, ¡°That¡¯s how you¡¯ll use it, then.¡± As the stream of water neared the chief, a quick incantation left his ancient lips, ¡°Nature¡¯s Gift.¡± The spell invoked petals to coalesce into an unborn flower, shielding the massive chief from the beam of aqua as it absorbed the liquid into its unblossomed form. A flower? He thought. Hended on a towering bookshelf, watching carefully towards the massive, stagnant flower that hovered in the air. As the water attack came to an end, the flower began to unravel itself, following the next words from the elder of the Outriders: ¡°Nature¡¯s Gift: Blossom.¡± The simplemand unveiled the spectacle within the sealed flower; bright-blue petals swayed as the core of the nt, a golden orb filled with sparkling orbs, shot seeds out, aiming them towards the boy. ¡°¨C!¡± His eyes widened. With the velocity of the sparkling seeds, he had to evade with a st of air that pushed him to the left, though one of the bullets of nature managed to pierce his right forearm. ¡°Gh!¡± He winced. Though he managed to dodge all except one of the seed bullets, the chief seemed to halt his attack, simply watching him with his onyx eyes while the giant, malicious flower was still hovering in the air. What is this¡­? He¡¯s not attacking further? He questioned. As he rolled up his sleeve to check his arm, he was rmed to find what looked like roots spreading beneath his skin like veins. ¡°Ngh!¡± He gritted his teeth. The roots that sprouted within the flesh of his forearm gripped onto his muscles, tangling with his flesh as it seemed to be siphoning something from his body. What the hell¡­?! This hurts! What¡¯s this doing to me?! He thought. In the face of unknown magecraft, he began panicking as the pain only heightened with his loose mind. ¡°A young mind like yours; though you may be gifted with natural talent, you¡¯re woefullycking in experience,¡± the chief told him. As sweat left his pores in a panic, he clenched his arm, watching the roots press against his skin as the entry wound was closed off by the verdant nt. He could feel a certain substance leaving his body, but it took him a moment to realize as sweat dripped from his chin. ncing over at the nt, he realized it was growing bigger, sprouting a dozen limbs of thorny vines as it seemed to pulsate each time his forearm pulsates from the invasive roots. Mana, he realized. Before he could decide on what his best move was, the spray of projectile seeds resumed as he was forced to run along the bookshelves that encircled the chamber. ¡°Ghh¡­!¡± He breathed heavily, holding his arm and staff as he sprinted. It¡¯s that flower¡­! If I can destroy it, then maybe the roots will go away¡­! It should-! Magic might be powerful, but it¡¯s bnced! It¡¯s not all-powerful like this! He thought. Chapter 111 Brumans Drive ¡°Run from the inevitable, young human,¡± the chief taunted him, not having moved a single step. He suddenly stopped with a stomp the wooden below his boots, holding his staff forward as he unleashed arge wave of wind to stop the hail of seeds that soared towards him. There! I can do¨Che thought. ¡°Ghh-!¡± He winced. His thoughts were interrupted as pain struck throughout his entire body, focusing on hispromised forearm as the roots seemed to dig in violently. It didn¡¯t take more than a moment for him to realize what happened: It reacted in response to me using magic? What the hell?! He thought. The chief bellowed, stroking his silver beard, ¡°Nature¡¯s Gift collects the mana of those its seeds are embedded in. That mana is used for its own life essence; growing and bing more splendid. Of course, using a spell just means you¡¯re speeding up the process. It¡¯ll drain you until nothing is left; do you know what happens when you reach absolutely no mana?¡± He understood well what that meant already. After using the spell, the blue-petaled flower had manifested a thick, emerald stem that stretched down, producing more, smaller flowers along its length that seemed ready to fire more seeds. Though to the surprise of the chief, the boy¡¯s expression seemed to calm as he stood himself straight, steadying his breathing. ¡°So, that¡¯s it, huh?¡± He said with an exhale. ¡°What?¡± The chief replied. He raised his staff, ¡°Thanks for exining it to me. I know what to do now.¡±. For a moment, the colossal elder seemed surprised, but then brushed it off with a smallugh, ¡°A bluff will not aid you to avoid death.¡± Ignoring the chief¡¯s words, he began to focus as he slowly breathed in, and out, repeating the process as he held his catalyst forward, aiming it directly towards the flower. I just have to put it all into one move, he thought. As he focused himself, he had to fight against the agony in his forearm; the pain nibbled at his concentration as his arm quivered, but he remained looking forward. What I need is¡­something destructive. But, I can¡¯t miss it, either. It has tond, or I¡¯m dead. You taught me the perfect spell for this, Celly, he thought. The air became noticeably more moisturized within the isted room, even felt by the chief as he raised an eyebrow. It was the swirl of mana around the boy, beginning to take the shape of loose, unformed water particles that soon coalesced. ¡°Great spirit of the torrents; wrath of the rivers,kes, and vast seas, flowing never in rest, but seeking; through my body, the stride of water roams free¡­¡± He calmly said, raising his staff up. The gesture of his staff invoked the streams of water to encircle him, swirling around in a grandiose entrance. Just weaving the spell caused the roots to grip into his flesh with further intensity, causing blood to seep from the pores of his forearm as his entire body was strained, but he focused anyway. A spell of this degree seemed to invoke a real reaction from the vige elder for this first time as the true strength of the elite magecraft could be felt. ¡°Don¡¯t delude yourself into believing I¡¯ll let you do as you please!¡± The chief eximed, waving his staff. The eldermanded the monstrous nt to begin firing again; though the bands of water shielded him from most of the high-velocity seeds, multiple made it through¨Cpiercing into his body. ¡°Ghh¡­¡± He winced, trying to maintain his concentration. Seed bullets sank into his flesh; through his chest, stomach, legs, and even one into his neck, the roots began to spread, causing the nt to mutate further. With the next evolution of ¡°Nature¡¯s Gift¡±¨Cthe petals shining and gathering some sort of natural energy, the chief invoked it to begin charging a new attack, but the blonde-and-ck haired boy had finished his own spell weaving¨C ¡°Awaken and soar through the world! Dragon Hurricane!¡± Birthing into the vast chamber, three, massive dragons born of aqua soared forth, flying through the room and nullifying all of the seeds that shot towards the boy as they defended him with their sheer size and aggression towards the enemy. ¡°¡­Tear that nt apart, Dragon Hurricane!¡± Hemanded, falling to his knees as the roots spread throughout his body. ¡°No-!¡± The chief roared out. With ferocity not unlike the apex predators of fantasy, the gang of water-born dragons roared out, sweeping through and shredding the flower with their fangs and ws, not stopping as they pulled it apart in their flight. It was even more viscous than he had intended, but his desperation was invoked through the maws of the beasts; the dragons, though of water and not flesh, disyed utter brutality in reducing the flower to nothing but scraps of nature. ¡°¡­Huff¡­¡± As he looked down, he found his theory to be proven correct: the roots withered and died out within his body, breaking down and falling from the entry wounds of the seeds. Though it didn¡¯t solve all of his problems¨Ca hefty amount of mana had been drained, and many holes, though shallow, were drilled into his flesh. Blood seeped out through various points of his body, but he returned to his feet. ¡°Healing¨C¡± Just as he intended to cast a healing spell on himself, he found the three water dragons he¡¯d summoned be wiped out by the chief. ¡°¨CHuh?¡± There was a clear miscalction in his evaluation of the Outrider chief; though the elder was a mage, he still possessed a mighty body not unlike a living mountain. With that size and the strength of an Outrider, the chief used his ws and staff to dismantle the water dragons. ¡°It seems I was wrong to treat you as a child ying pretend with a wand,¡± the chief said, mming his staff down to disperse the final water dragon, ¡°¡­I¡¯ll crush you with everything I have.¡± At the very least, the water dragons did leave some bites on the chief¡¯s body, leaving him with bleeding bite marks as he huffed as well, feeling fatigue of some level. ¡°¡­Sure thing,¡± he said quietly, regaining his breath, ¡°I¡¯ll do the same, then.¡± Saying that, a look of sharp resolve was embedded in the eyes of the young boy; standing tall as he was, seeping blood from various holes, yet looking forward with determination, the presence he gave off was not of a child. From here on out, I¡¯ll use everything, he thought. ¨C [The Bottom Layer of The Temple | Bruman] Left with the two lesser spirits gifted to him by Emilio, the young Verma warrior carefully walked along the unlit floor of the temple. He gulped, constantly ncing around constantly and looking over his shoulder. ¡°Why¡¯d I have to be the one toe down here¡­?¡± He muttered to himself, hugging his spear. It was dark and grimy; the walls were no longer made of smoothed wood, and now hardened, ckened soil that was mixed with the smell of iron. There was hardly any light, in fact, there was none; the only source of light were the lesser spirits that tagged along with him, which left him in his own little bubble of luminescence, being surrounded by mysterious darkness. ¡°¡­C¡¯mon¡­¡± He mumbled anxiously. The young warrior continued moving forward as his bare soles walked across the mmy dirt floor, soon finding the dirt walls shifting into a new appearance as he ventured further down the dark corridor. ¡°¨C¡± He stopped in silence. There were cells embedded in the walls; stone prisons that imprisoned the ¡°food¡± of the Outriders. The sight of it made his stomach churn as he covered his mouth in disgust and abhorrence. It was the ¡°feeding ground¡± for the chief of the Outriders; a dungeon of ¡°gourmet¡± for the wicked elder. His hazel eyes had their glimmer fade as he stood there, now seeing the depths of depravity that the Outriders sunk into firsthand; decrepit bodies were left in the cells, most of which were long dead. It¡¯s¡­terrible, he thought. A cough was heard, and some faint breaths met his sensitive ears¨Cthere were still living prisoners. This prompted him to gulp down his fears and move towards one of the dingy cells carved into the wall of the dungeon. Inside the cell he was standing in front of, there was a demi-human girl; a mouse demi-human. She was understandably frightened; covered in bruises and hesitant to even look at him. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll get you out of here¡­¡± He said. Before he could move to open the cage, a stomp echoed through the shadow-filled basement. The loud, imposing step made him freeze as he remembered a simple concept. If these people are precious ¡°food¡± to the chief¡­then it¡¯s probably guarded, isn¡¯t it?¡­That guard ising this way by now, isn¡¯t he? He thought. Being right there, amidst the grotesque horror, he questioned why he was there¨Che questioned the resolve that brought him this far. I remember, he recalled. Confronted with fresh dread, memories naturally flooded to the front of his mind; these recollections resurfaced at such a sensitive time to support his resolve. [The scenery of the tranquil forest filled his mind. On that day, it was particrly beautiful; sunlight caressed the towering leaves as the light warmly shined over the flower-filled field. It was a sight he remembered many times; children ying happily in the flower.] That¡¯s right. I came here because I have people to protect. My little brothers and sisters¡­I¡¯ll stop the Outriders so they never have anything to fear. They won¡¯t have to share a forest with them, Bruman thought. The stomps continueding down the hall. They were heavy and dense with a malicious aura. As he nced over into the cages at the shivering prisoners, it seemed the footsteps belonged to an entity they all feared. He gulped and held his spear tightly, ¡°¡­Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll save you!¡± Chapter 112 Saviors Savior He gulped and held his spear tightly, ¡°¡­Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll save you!¡± Though he said such courageous words, his heart thumped inside of his chest with fear; his fingers trembled against his spear and sweat dripped from his chin, STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. It was only thanks to the two lesser spirits that aided him and the light they emitted that he saw the approaching figure: it was an Outrider dressed fully in ck garbs; he was bulky and stalwart like a steel wall. In the hand of the approaching foe, arge greatsword was dragged across the floor. In the face of such a beastly adversary, he found his legs quivering beneath him as his grip on his weapon felt as fragile as ss, but he held himself together with a false stretch of his lips. Being able to smile in the face of dread allowed for some semnce of hope, no matter how insignificant it might be. ¡°¡­You¡¯re awfully big, aren¡¯t you?¡­¡± He said with a shaky smile. ¡°¨C¡± The Outrider stopped, staring at him from behind his painted mask. There wasn¡¯t a word or growl that came from the scarily silent Outrider; the foe simply stood still, watching him for a moment with eyes that had seen a thousand deaths. If it wasn¡¯t by sharing a gaze with his adversary, it was by the scent he gave off that the young warrior recognized the kind of person he was faced against. This man¡­the stench of blood is engrained in his body. So much death¡­How many has he killed? It¡¯s not surprising¡­this is the ¡°butcher¡± of the Outriders¡­That just means I have even more reason to stand my ground and fight, he thought. With what feeble resolve he managed to etch together, the youthful warrior of the Verma people rushed forward with a warcry, holding his spear forward. It was a blind attack; he had to fight not to close his eyes out of fear as tears lined the corners of his eyes as he thrust his weapon forward. ¡°¡­Ah!¡± Of course, such a straightforward attack was countered as the mask-wearing Outrider smacked his spear to the side with his hand, going in for an attack of his own. Being on the receiving end of an Outrider¡¯s aggression, who towered over him like a swaying tree, he yelled out desperately. ¡°Hey! Spirits, do something¨C! Please!¡± He called out.. As he shut his eyes out of instinctive fear, he found that the massive greatsword wielded by the Outrider didn¡¯t rend his flesh. THUD. Opening his eyes, he found a shield of stone between him and the steel of the man-eating demi-human. For a moment, he was left awestruck, but quickly resumed back into the nitty-gritty of battle as the broad foe in front of him mmed his de against the rock shield again, cracking it heavily. ¡°¨CThanks for the save!¡± He called out. As he jumped back to create some space, he looked to his shoulder at the crimson sphere as it glowed with a red light. ¡°¡­Err, can¡¯t you st that guy¡­or something?!¡± Bruman asked. There obviously wasn¡¯t any verbal response from the lesser spirit of fire, but it did blink a few times before shifting around, seeming to ignore his words. ¡°What?! I thought you were supposed to help me?! Do you only listen to Emilio?!¡± He asked frantically. Again, the crimson orb simply blinked a few times before the young man was forced back into action, having to duck and weave as the Outrider¡¯s sword aimed to behead him. ¡°Ghh!¡± He breathed through his clenched teeth. The wind pressed against his ears; hissing through the force of each sword swing that came from the burly bear-man. Remember¡­what you trained for! He reminded himself. In the face of a life-or-death battle, with a foe stronger than oneself, it was easy for even the fundamentals ofbat to be lost with the inexperienced; it was the most valuable asset of experience¨Cthe ability to retain yourposure and swing your weapon when pressured. A single misstep and I¡¯ll be cut in two. But, that won¡¯t happen¡­! He thought. As he continuously dodged the sword shes, which came both horizontal and vertical, sometimes nicking the walls as the steel rang against the solidified mud, his foe seemed to grow impatient. That impatience led to an opening, which waspromised immediately¨C ¡°Do it now, brown thing!¡± He called out. As he hadmanded, the lesser spirit of stone conjured a small protrusion on the ground, causing the Outrider to trip forward in the middle of rearing his de back. ¡°Gragh¨C?!¡± The Outrider warden grunted in surprise. ¡°Raaagh!¡± He let out a warcry. With all of his might and desperation, he lunged forward, thrusting his spear through the sternum of the beastly foe before him. It was almost as if the Outrider had fallen right into his spearhead, which helped to dig the wound in deeper. ¡°Hah!¡­I did it!¡± He celebrated. As a smile, both of triumph and relief, stretched across his lips, it was quickly snatched away as the hand of the beastly foe gripped onto the spear, keeping it locked in ce. ¡°Huh?!¡± He let out in shock. ¡°¡­Grrrh..!¡± The Outrider growled out. He tried plucking his spear from the flesh of the masked man-eater, but found it not moving in the slightest. This strength¡­! He thought. Despite having a weapon impaling its sternum, the burly beastman still possessed such overwhelming strength, gripping like an iron vice as the young man was unable to budge his weapon. In such an unpredictable situation, he looked up, watching as the hair-covered barbarian raised his sword overhead, growling out with a gargle of blood before¨C FWOOSH. A swift fireball shot out, sting the Outrider back with an intense force and even more lethal heat. The fiery impact left the man sliding back across the ground,yingpletely still as the ze reduced his flesh to char. ¡°¨C¡± He stood there in shock for a moment. He nced to his shoulder, seeing the lesser spirit of fire still hovering, blinking subtly towards him. ¡°¡­Thanks,¡± he said. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he looked around to find the imprisoned people watching with some hope in their eyes now, to which he smiled as he circled around the fallen man. He poked at the corpse for a moment with his spear, keeping his distance. ¡°He¡¯s really dead¡­right?¡± He mumbled. After making sure he properly finished off the man, he reached down for therge, wooden key that seemed to be an all-purpose key for each wooden cell. Retrieving that, he held it with a bright smile. Alright¡­I did it, Emilio¡­! I¡¯ll free these people and find your friend¡­! He thought. Though victory wasn¡¯t something to be savored for long as a stomp came from behind him, thundering down like the signal of death itself. ¡°¨C!¡± His eyes widened. In that moment, chills ran over his body as his blood ran cold; he could feel therge presence behind him as a heavy breath ran down his neck. Another Outrider¡­?! He realized. Within that moment of dread, he almost epted his own death before pulling himself back together, letting out the start of a reigniting roar before¨C SQUELCH. ¡°¡­Grah¡­¡± ¡°Huh¡­?¡± To his disbelief, no attack came to rend his flesh as he turned around to find the towering, masked Outrider dressed in a ck loincloth spitting out blood. There was a piece of wood, sharpened at one end, sticking through the throat of the Outrider. What¡­? Somebody saved me? Who¡­? He questioned. As the weaponized pole of wood slid out from the beastman¡¯s throat, causing him to copse with a heavy thud, the unknown savior was revealed to his eyes. A man with dark-brown skin, dressed in scars and wearing a gaze colder than any frost; he quickly recognized who such a person could be. ¡°Are you¡­Vandread?¡± He asked. The tinum-eyed man looked surprised, in the middle of exchanging his makeshift weapon for the greatsword dropped by the felled Outrider, ¡°Huh? Who¡¯s asking?¡± In an abrasive, cautious turn, the man raised his corpse-looted de, pointing its end towards the neck of the young wolf demi-human. ¡°Eep¡­!¡± Bruman gulped, raising his hands in defense. Such an action caused his words to be caught in his throat at the ruthless tact of the man, and his silence only served to further stoke the fire of suspicion within the scaryered stranger. As the de pointed closer, touching the skin of his neck, he yelled out, ¡°¨CI¡¯m a friend of Emilio!¡± The man¡¯s eyes widened, ¡°¡­What? Oh. I think I¡¯m starting to understand now. Huh¡­¡± It seemed the usage of the human boy¡¯s name got through to the man as he withdrew the sword, looking down in thought for a minute. Out of fear, Bruman stayed still with his hands up to make sure he stood as no threat to the man. ¡°Alright, I get it now. That brat actually managed to do something pretty impressive, didn¡¯t he? Yeah, I¡¯m Vandread,¡± the man finally confirmed. Bruman let out a sigh of relief, ¡°¡­I¡¯m Bruman. What a relief¡­We assumed you were being held prisoner¨Cbut, by the looks of things¡­you handled that on your own, somehow.¡± ¡°Of course I did,¡± Vandread said, ncing towards the weaponized piece of wood he discarded, ¡°The bars of the cell were shoddy, at best. I used it to my advantage to make a weapon. These guys are awfully confident in their strength, so they didn¡¯t see my counterattacking.¡± ¡°I can see that¡­¡± He chuckled wryly. Vandread looked at him, ¡°Catch me up on the situation¨Ceverything. I can hear it from down here¨Cthere¡¯s a raid on this ce, isn¡¯t there?¡± Like that, Bruman filled thepanion of Emilio on the entire situation, from the very beginning of his capture and up until that very moment. ¡°¡­Apple doesn¡¯t fall far from the tree, eh? He¡¯s just like Julius¡­hot-headed bastards,¡± Vandread mumbled. Though those words left the man¡¯s lips, he smiled just a tad bit at the information of Emilio¡¯s reckless battles he¡¯s pursued. Straight into Outrider territory¡­That kid is as reckless as he is stupid. Still, he¡¯s just like you, Julius. It¡¯s that ¡°Dragon blood¡± you always touted, Vandread thought. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± Vandread said, walking past him, ¡®If the n is to rescue everybody here, then I¡¯m leaving that part to you.¡± ¡°But¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯ll join the fight. Just worry about getting these people to safety,¡± Vandread assured him, holding the greatsword on his shoulder, ¡°¡­What a drag this has all been. Let¡¯s just get this over with.¡± ¡°Right!¡± Chapter 113 Dragon Flow [The Chief¡¯s Chamber | Emilio] The chief¡¯s ears flicked as he seemed to notice the sounds of battle outside of the temple walls, ¡°I see. It¡¯s the Verma; how unsurprising. They¡¯ve fallen so low that they¡¯ve recruited human children into their ranks.¡± ¡°¨C¡± He was silent. After the damage he¡¯d sustained, the lesser spirits had naturally vanished from him from the loss of focus. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you¡¯re a man or a child. If you¡¯ve walked into my home, I¡¯ll crush you all the same. I¡¯ve got my own people to protect here,¡± the chief said, ¡°Don¡¯t barge into my territory believing what you¡¯re doing is simply righteous.¡± Faced against the almighty chief of the Outriders, bleeding out as his body ached, a switch was flipped in the mind of the young mage. Pressed into a corner with his body fluctuating between a cold and a warmth, a surge of energy as if adrenaline flooded through his veins came. Beyond that, his eyes sharpened and his breathing was calm as he slicked back his hair. [Level Up!] [Level Seven Achieved.] [¡°Zone¡± Unlocked.] Though he had not yet won the battle, the culmination of his previous victoriesbined with the experience gained being shoved against a wall allowed him to grow further. I feel it. ¡°Inspiration¡±¨CI can do it now, he thought.. It was the unwinnable situation in front of him that triggered this development; all of the shorings that he experienced in what he sought to develop in his craft seemed to connect as the synapses of his brain fired off, working in unison to ovee the aspect of death in front of him. As his shirt was packed full of holes, he took his vest and gray, long-sleeves coat off, leaving only his verdant cape around his shoulders as his blood-slick, hole-filled torso was on disy. THUD. To the surprise of the chief, who stood across the vast, stadium-sized chamber in curiosity, the youthful human tossed his staff to the side. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Chief Omana raised an eyebrow, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re nning on using that de at your hip? Forgive me, but I may find myself caught inughter if that¡¯s truly your n.¡± He didn¡¯t respond, only looking forward as he readied himself, stretching his arms and cracking his joints before lowering his stance. The way he stood, lowering his body and bending his knees was as if he intended tounch forward directly towards the chief. Those limitations are removed. That natural inhibition to destroy. I can let it all out now, right? Yeah, it¡¯s fine, he told himself. Just as the chief grumbled, casually raising his pir-sized staff, the young boy¡¯s hand flicked up, sweeping forward as a monstrous wave of wind burrowed through the chamber. It was as if a viscous storm birthed itself in a moment, concentrating solely on desecrating the enclosed space as the bookshelves in the path of the wind were thrown to the side. ¡°¨C!¡± Chief Omana¡¯s eyes widened. The strength of the split-second thrown wind magic caused the giant demi-human to stumble back as his fur was brushed aggressively by the momentary storm. How¡­? The boy still has this much mana?! Surely Nature¡¯s Gift took everything! Chief Omana thought. As the colossal elder regained his footing, he set his gaze forward to find the boy no longer across the vast room, but gone from his vision. ¡°What?!¡± Chief Omana let out. The boy had propelled forward with wind, rocketing towards him with speed that caused the room to part in the wake of viscous air once again. Chief Omana raised his staff in a hurry, ¡°¨CNature¡¯s Fury!¡± With the invocation, the orb at the end of the massive staff illuminated,manding vines to form and intertwine, forming into enormous whips that were sharpened by thorns the length of spears. Each of the vine whips stretched the length of trees, whipping around with strength that shattered the sound barrier as they swung around and attempted to swat the boy out of the air. Amidst his travel forward, he flipped back with a burst of air at his soles, avoiding a whip strike before raising his hand up. Without a word, he manifested four conjurations of fire; each of these spawns of me were condensed spheres of incredible heat, swirling and instantly heating up before unleashing into massive propulsions of me. ¡°¨CWhat?!¡± The Chief watched. It was woven in a moment and without a word or even a catalyst; such a feat was inexplicable to the archaic, demi-human mage who was ill-prepared for such a counter. The simple exnation for this ability without a staff being wielded was one thing: he no longer yearned to control and focus his magic, instead opting to unleash everything towards the chief. ¡°Burn,¡± hemanded in a whisper, looking forward with his sharp, amethyst eyes. All at once, the four beams of fire roared out, spewing out as if falling from the maw of a dragon, spinning and bathing the chamber in orange inferno. The methrowers reduced the colossal vine whips to cinder, filling the chamber with obscuring smoke within moments before the silently cast spell came to an end. He stood there, looking forward as he hovered in the air, watching carefully for the chief hidden in the smoke, unknowing if the fire had felled the beastly elder. ¡°¨CYou arrogant child!¡± Roaring out, the smoke dissipated in the advent of the chief¡¯s roar as a massive sphere of stone crumbled away, revealing the silver-furred demi-human within, who had hid within it. The enraged words boomed out as the chief¡¯s staff pointed forward, leaving him little time to react. ¡°Fist of The Golem!¡± Chief Omana cast. From the massive demi-human¡¯s lips, the spell that was woven cast itself in an instant, causing stone to form in the middle of the air; it shaped itself into the size of a fist that wasrger than a boulder. ¡°¨C!¡± As he moved his hands, he began to summon shields of stone, but it was toote¨C SLAM. With a brutal impact, the stone fist shot forward, mming its knuckles into the body of the boy, who was multiple times smaller than the rock fist. The force from the attack shot him across the room harshly, bouncing him off of the wall and causing him to roll across the ground. The sound of cracking filled the room; it was almost too audible to be bones, but it was a pleasing sound to the ruthless chief. As heid there, feeling the impact in his bones, the old chief watched for a moment almost in surprise before looking down on him. ¡°Unsurprising. The meager spells of a whelp who still feeds on the teat of his mother could never stand against the ways of a Disciple of Nature,¡± the chief spoke. Though as the chief looked down, watching from across the immense domain, he was surprised to find the boy beginning to pick himself up. ¡°¡­What?¡± The chief let out. That was a direct hit. He¡¯s a mere human child! There was nothing protecting¨Cthe chief thought. Such thoughts were swept away as something caught the eyes of the magic-weaving elder: there were bits of stone crumbling away from the body of the boy, falling away as if it were a shattered armor. ¡°I see. You wove that spell beforehand. ¡°Stonekin¡±¨Cimpressive, but¡­It did not nullify the attack in absolute,¡± the chiefmented. It was true; as the boy picked himself up, his upper-body was clearly bruised; his nose was turning to a shade of purple and oozing out blood as his lip was busted. Still, he didn¡¯t utter a single word in response to the chief; his brain was still overclocked; running on the sole intent of ¡°victory¡±, the synapses began to fire off in unison once more. This time, his heart thumped; it beat against his chest with overwhelming vigor as his blood ran hot in his veins. ¡°Not a single word? Perhaps I rattled your brain quite hard,¡± the chief egged him on, raising his staff, ¡°¨CI¡¯ll put an end to this miserable resistance.¡± BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. It was that same melody; the orchestra of his heart beating like a drum in his body as his blood danced in his veins with such heat that filled him with strength. [Dragonheart System Activated.] [Current Stage: Dragon Son | 2/10] As he looked up once more, the eyes he looked at the elder with were different; his pupils had turned to ferocious slits. ¡­What is this? This feeling, the chief thought, the smell of mes; the stench of ¡°that¡±¨Ca dragon. Is this human of beast blood? A demi-human? No¡­that isn¡¯t quite right. He¡¯s something different. I must crush him now! The dragon blood was pumped into his veins, but he maintained himself; he didn¡¯t lose himself in blind savagery, but instead reached to his side, unsheathing his precious sword from its scabbard. It was the subconscious restraint he managed to invoke the Dragon Flow in that allowed him to withdraw its repercussions; he opted not to rely on the mes, saving his body from overextension. Chapter 114 Unthinkable Strategy The dragon blood was pumped into his veins, but he maintained himself; he didn¡¯t lose himself in blind savagery, but instead reached to his side, unsheathing his precious sword from its scabbard. It was the subconscious restraint he managed to invoke the Dragon Flow in that allowed him to withdraw its repercussions; he opted not to rely on the mes, saving his body from overextension. As he drew his ck-steel sword, the chief immediately invoked a new spell in response: ¡°Spears Of ntana!¡± Alone in the center of the foreign domain, the boy, smaller than even the kneecaps of the great elder, stood with his de in hand as nts sprouted from all around him. The lethal nts unveiled colossalnces of spiraling, sharpened roots that were reinforced into the strength of steel; they pointed at him, aiming from above and each direction. ¡°Kill him! Now!¡± Chief Omanamanded, directing the spears of nature with his catalyst. As the first few spear-shaped roots were thrust towards him,rge enough to make a kebab out of an elephant, he wielded his sword with a single-hand stance. You¡¯re out of moves, boy! With a sword in hand, you¡¯ll be skewered by the Spears of ntana! Chief Omana thought. FWOOSH. The air hissed; it whistled against the sensitive ears of the chief. It was a single sh from the boy; his de didn¡¯t even seem to make contact with the thick body of the weaponized roots, but even so, they were cut apart in a sh. This result wasn¡¯t simply the oue of his strength, but something else¨Csomething the experienced elder recognized. It was shrouding the de held in the human boy¡¯s hand; a swirl of wind was enchanting it.. Wind magic¡­? He¡¯s using it in tandem with his sword swings! Chief Omana realized. This time, the oversized roots attacked from all angles, stabbing towards him with the emerald spears. He looked around calmly, flipping back and flicking his de, slicing apart the next spear that came his way as the dozen-meter long root was cut into pieces. What he had reached was the ¡°Zone.¡± [The ¡°Zone¡± is a state of mind reached by athletes and warriors. It is typically reserved for those who have reached a certain level of mastery. It can¡¯t be obtained willfully and is only achieved through extensive effort and utmost difficulty pressing one into a corner. Within the ¡°Zone¡±, actions are instinctive, enemy actions are predicted, and greater heights are reached. No other thoughts taint focus; it is the sheer embodiment of striving for victory.] [Level Up!] [Level Eight Achieved.] It was within the ¡°Zone¡± that he acquired further development through ying the nts that counted as foes, swinging his de and moving elegantly. It was bing clear what level the boy was at now as he used the sharpness and boundless range of wind to extend his sword strikes, striking down the many roots that came his way. Witnessing this, the chief added another spell into the mix, ¡°Fist of The Golem!¨CNo, Great ttening of the Golem!¡± The invocation caught the sharp eyes of the boy, who was upied withbatting the roots. He looked up, finding a dozen spaces in the air of the chamber which stone gathered and chiseled into various shapes. All above him, giant fists and feet of stone loomed, beginning to m down and stomp towards him in addition to the malicious roots. Flipping back, he avoided the crash of one of the colossal, rock knuckles, using his newfound agility to do so before having to use a double-handed grip to swing his sword with his full-strength. This sword sh was aimed upward at the giant foot of brown stone that tried ttening him from above. ¡°Hyaah!¡± He yelled out. The winds werepressed and sharpened with the swing, managing to cut straight through the thickyer of tall, reinforced stone as the foot was split in half. More and more, the fear and desperation of the old chief amplified at the sight of the boy who seemed to rise to every obstacle thrown his way. Even bruised, battered, and bloodied, the boy who should by all means be unconscious or buried in the dirt, was storming towards him like a natural disaster; unavoidable and unstoppable. ¡°Crush him! Crush him! Crush him!¡± The urgency of the chief¡¯s words as he stomped his own feet in desperation was shown through his spells as the disembodied fists and feet of the Golem moved faster, propelling as if amplified by unseen jets. This sudden increase in speed took the boy by surprise amidst his trance within the ¡°zone.¡± ¡°¨C!¡± His eyes widened. Before he could properly react to raise his guard, one of the massive fists of tough material mmed into his side, knocking him across the room before he mmed into one of the walls. Blood fell from his lips; the blunt infliction rang through the marrow of his bones like the chime of a bell. ¡°Crush him¨C!!!¡± The chief roared out, his voice booming through the stadium-sized room built for his giant stature. Thismand brought one of the stone fists to fly towards the boy once more, who could barely raise his arms in time before the next impact came. THUD. Against the skin of his forearms, the abrasive stone knuckles scraped his flesh, battering it as the force squeezed and fractured the bones of his arms. ¡°Crush! Crush! Crush!¡± With his mortality being felt, the chief didn¡¯t let him, swinging his staff around as he continuouslymanded the massive fist to continue pounding against the human. Even with his heightened constitution with the draconic blood flow, the blunt attacks, carrying power to reduce boulders to mere dust, each collision rippled through his body as he kept his guard raised. It wasn¡¯t just the Golem fist; as the stone hand withdrew, the foot and other fists began stomping down. He tried raising walls of rigid rock, but the stone magic of the elder was proven to be superior; it was refined and reinforced, allowing the golem appendages to break through and smash the boy. By the end of the barrage, there was no doubt the boy of blonde-and-ck hair was pulverized as the chief stood tall, huffing as he watched from his colossal height. As the stone appendages moved away, it was true; the boy was lying on the ground with broken bones; his left arm was twisted around and his legs were contorted. Most of his bones had been fractured or shatteredpletely. The chief breathed heavily as his silver fur had been ruffled by his frantic castings, ¡°¡­A boy is just a boy. Remember that in your next life.¡± To him, his body was weightless; his mind severed itself from his body as he couldn¡¯t even budge a fingertip. All he could do was look at his own hand that was beside him, noticing the fabric ring that was slid on his finger. The sight of that item, gifted to him and made especially for him, invoked something within. Next life? That¡¯s right. This is my next life. It¡¯s my second¡­myst chance to live a proper life. A proper life¡­Dying at fifteen¡­I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a proper life. I didn¡¯t abandon him¡­I didn¡¯t abandon ¡°Ethan¡± just to fall here. That¡¯s right¡­I still have people I need to return to. People that care about me¡­Mother, Father¡­Irene, Celly, Reno¡­Shouldn¡¯t I get up, then? He thought. As the room fell silent; desecrated and disorganized as walls were charred and the furniture had been flung around previous, the chief was about to sit back down on his tall chair before¨C ¡°¡­Healing¡­¡± The word was as quiet as a breath; perhaps even lighter as it was nothing more than a shallow exhale, but the sharp ears of the elder caught it. The probability of healing magic recovering such wounds seemed like a faraway fantasy for a mage so young, but the chief realized the error of his thinking as quickly as the thought crossed his mind. Slowly but surely, the small cuts along the bare torso of the boy began to close; this process was witnessed by the cautious eyes of the silver-furred elder. ¡°Give up and fall!¡± The chief roared. As the enraged elder sought to squash thest embers of the boy¡¯s life, guiding the golem appendages once more¨Cthey were intercepted. The entirety of the floor rumbled along with the walls as over a dozen mighty walls of stone rose tall, surrounding the boy. They rose in an instant, propped up as stalwart barriers that caused the chief to be taken aback for a moment. This human¡­Even on the brink of death, while tending to his wounds in that state¡­he can wordlessly cast such intricate spells? A shame. If only such talent was born in this n, the chiefmented. Still, these thoughts didn¡¯t dull the cold-hearted brutality of the chief, who mmed the foot and fists of the golems through the walls. ¡°¨CIt doesn¡¯t matter! Even if you try, your stone magic is inferior¨C!¡± The chief shouted. As the appendages closed in on the paralyzed, shattered human, they were stopped once again; it was the same wild array of natural walls that rose once more, halting the attacks. ¡°What?!¡± Chief Omana let out. It was a simple strategy, though one that could only be possible with a vast reservoir of mana: even if the boy¡¯s stone magic was inferior in durability, he sprouted the defense just as quickly as they were destroyed. Chapter 115 Dragonheart Drive Even facedown with a mind that barely clung to consciousness, he managed to defend himself while the healing magic tended to his tender, broken body. Collisions constantly filled his ringing ears as stone shed against stone; new walls sprouted each time they were shattered, using the material from the broken shields. ¡°¨CNo! No! No! Impossible! Something like this¡­it¡¯s impossible!¡± The chief roared out. The levitating appendages were held back by the unending walls, allowing for the healing magic to stretch across the boy¡¯s body as it began to mend his bones. Fractures were reversed; ivory filled in the gaps as his twisted joints cracked and shifted around to their proper form. Slowly, his body reconfigured itself, allowing him to weakly pick himself up with trembling arms. He didn¡¯t manage to stitch all of his wounds together¨Cnot by a long shot, but he gave himself just enough to avoid the grasp of death and to continue fighting. ¡°¨C¡± He looked up with those same, utterly resolved eyes of his. ¡°Gh!¡± The chief¡¯s words were caught in his throat. Though the dragon blood within him had quelled, there was no mistaking the ferocity of a beast still burned within him. It was the act that was at the pinnacle and origin of humanity; using the me that burned within to spur that engine inside; a heart thumped with the will to live. In that moment, the act of standing up once more was more than enough for a further development: [Level Up!] [Level Nine Achieved.] ¡°I can¡¯t fall for a simple reason: my defeat means something. It¡¯s not just about my own death or pride, but on my shoulders¨Cthere¡¯s a lot,¡± he spoke quietly through a hoarse voice as blood trickled down his forehead, ¡°¡­If I fall, the people¨Cthe good people that came here with me, they might fall, too. I have to do my part. And if I fall, my mom will cry, and my father will have to console her¡­I don¡¯t want to imagine those two goofballs being all gloomy. So¡­¡±. ¡°Silence!¡± The chief boomed. ¡°Fine by me. I was just speaking my mind,¡± He looked forward, inhaling and exhaling smoothly. ¡°Do you truly believe my defeat would mean nothing? Who are you, child, leader of nothing, encumbered by nothing? I am the chief elder of the Outriders!¡± The chief roared, ¡°I stand at the pinnacle of my n! I am royalty!¡± Just breathing hurts, he thought, my lungs are bruised. I¡¯m exhausted, but¡­I¡¯ve still got mana. I¡¯ll end this now. Just go with the flow; follow that same feeling like before¨Cit was so seamless; like guiding a kite perfectly within a nice breeze. In his hand, he still held onto the handle of his sword firmly, using his right hand to begin weaving an unknown spell. Just the sight of the boy beginning to conjure magecraft spurred the rattled chief to act, who began to m the bottom of his staff down. As the massive staff, which resembled a tree in size and appearance, mmed down, a loud thud echoed off of the walls as an invocation poured from Chief Omana¡¯s lips: ¡°Jungle of Predators: Man-Eating Traps!¡± With the spell beginning to shift into reality,manding vines to sprout from the walls and blossom into massive nts that resembled venus flytraps, but with a muchrger size and ferocious vine-whips apanying them, he continued weaving his own spell. ¡°Inspiration,¡± it was key for a mage, and for one of his talent, he was limited only by his knowledge, experience, and creativity. Throughout the fight, learning from his own strengths and weaknesses, he found the ¡°inspiration¡± for a new spell altogether; one that required meticulous, precise usage of three elements: stone, fire, and wind. ¡°What¡­?¡± The chief watched. It began to form. Stone rattled, pebbles vibrated before coalescing, meshing into one,rge chunk that shaped itself naturally. The rigid, undefined rock took on the form of a dragon with heavy wings. It wasrge enough for him to jump up atop its back, but the chief failed to see how the spell could be used to any merit. Simply put, the stone dragon was too dense andcked any driving force within it. With such weight and using a stagnant element, flight would be impossible. However, this is where the other elements came in. A breeze kicked in, swirling and building up around the rock dragon, focusing on its form and enveloping it carefully. ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± He exhaled slowly, focusing. He stayed on one knee, keeping one hand against the back of the rock-formed dragon while his sword was gripped in the other. As the man-eating nts protruded from the walls, surrounding him, the wind built up, guiding the winds to begin pping as the dragon lifted. ¡°¡­A desperate,st ditch effort? I¡¯ll apud your skill, human, but you¡¯ve already lost!¡± The silver-furred chief yelled. Then, the me was born. Kept alit within the interior of the magically-chiseled dragon, the me burned as the wind hissed, allowing the mystical familiar to begin soaring through the chamber now as the boy stood atop its back with an exhausted smile of sess. ¡°Dragonheart: Mountain Soarer!¡± The newly-crafted spell was born; he rode atop its back through the chamber as the gargantuan nts closed in. ¡°What?!¡± The chief yelled out in surprise, mming his staff down to invoke more of the nts. mes spewed from the maw of the stone dragon, burning up the big-mouthed ntlife in their path; he assisted with swings of his sword, increasing his cutting power and range with slices of wind. The sheer number of carnivorous nts made no difference in the presence of the sea of mes; smoke billowed as the stone dragon¡¯s wings pped with great strength, carrying him closer to the chief. As the human drew closer, the elder stumbled back, ncing back in fright as he found the wall directly behind him. Out of fear, the chief of the Outriders yelled out another invocation, ¡°Nature¡¯s Protect¨C¡± The words were stifled in the chief¡¯s lungs, blocking out his words as the massive demi-human gasped for air, finding nothing in those pivotal moments. What¡¯s this¡­? The chief questioned, grasping at his throat, It¡¯s as if the air vanished from my lungs¡­! As the elder ced his gaze forward, he saw the bruised-and-bloodied human boy aiming his hand towards him from a distance, still closing the distance. It was clear now what had happened, yet it was a frightening discovery for the elder. He¡­used wind magic to take the air from my lungs?! The chief realized. It was a gamble; such surgical precision was required in chaotic circumstances that he had to rely more on chance than skill, but it worked. The effect was only for a few seconds before the chief began to breathe again, but it was enough¨Cthat small amount of time allotted gave the boy the opportunity to close in. ¡°You¡¯re so scared, yet you haven¡¯t felt a damn thing yet! I¡¯ve been getting knocked around left and right, and I¡¯m still charging at you head on¨Cme, just a ¡°boy¡±, like you said!¡± He yelled out from the top of his lungs, ¡°Don¡¯t try and hide now! I¡¯ming for you, Omana!¡± ¡°Grk¡­!¡± The chief fell silent. He lowered himself, flexing his legs as he focused a swirl of wind at his heels. It was the aspect of magic he was least experienced with, but he utilized everything he had for this final effort: ¡°Reinforcement.¡± It was the implementation of mana as an amplifier for one¡¯s physical capabilities. Using this, he centered it on his legs, allowing himself to spring off of the dragon¡¯s back into a swift leap as he soared towards the head of the chief. ¡°¡­Ngh¡­!¡± The chief watched in horror, ¡°¨CDo you understand what you¡¯re doing!? Without me leading, the Outriders will run rampant! I¡¯m the one keeping them restrained! Don¡¯t you see?! They¡¯ll be wild beasts without my leadership! You¡¯re only hurting yourself by attacking me!¡± He gripped his gifted sword in both hands tightly, now focusing his reinforcement solely on his arms; in that desperate few seconds, he couldn¡¯t restrain himself or steady the flow smoothly enough¨Cthis caused his biceps, triceps, and shoulders to cramp immensely, but he focused everything he had nheless. ¡°I¡¯ll¨C!¡± Before the colossal chief could say anything, he was stifled as the human boy, nothing more than an insect inparison to his size, invoked such an imposing presence he might as well be towering over the elder. As his bootsnded on the forehead of the silver-furred bear demi-human, he yelled out with everything he had before plunging his de down. STAB. Straight into the beast man¡¯s skull, the steel dived deep, ending the life of the long-lived, savage mage. With that final strike, the forest of man-eating nts that swarmed the vast chamber dropped and withered away, and as he rxed his shoulders at least, exhaling¨Cthe stone dragon crumbled into dust. ¡°¡­Ah¡­¡± It might not make much sense, he thought, I¡¯m still having trouble understanding it myself: why does something like this fill me with such life? It¡¯s because detours like this¡­it¡¯s what being an adventurer is all about. I¡¯ve got a strong body now; I can walk beneath the orange rays of the sun, basking in it without my skin peeling off. I can swing a sword without my arms breaking. There¡¯s so much I can do now, thanks to this grand rebirth. Do you think I¡¯m not going to use it? [Level Up!] [Level Ten Achieved.] [¡°Draconic Constitution¡± Acquired.] Chapter 116 Under The Moon As the adrenaline died down, the pain that was suppressed within his body kicked in and his strength gave out, causing him to fall back as he held onto his sword, falling with the mountainous body of the chief. It¡¯d be real nice¡­if prince charming caught me in his arms right about now, he thought. With therge body of the chief plummeting down, an echoing thud sounded out, causing the temple to rumble momentarily. Landing harshly against the fur-carpeted, wooden floor, the fall from such a height should¡¯ve hurt, but it didn¡¯t register to his nerves. Just as his eyelids began to flutter for him to attempt to take a nape¨Cthe chamber rumbled vigorously as a booming roar sounded out, beginning like a revving engine before exploding out. ¡­Dammit¡­can¡¯t a guy catch a break¡­? He thought. It wasn¡¯t over. Even with a stab wound through the head, the elder lifted himself back to his feet, using nature magic as wood and nt life sprouted against his back, bringing him back up. Just as the elder did, he slowly brought himself back up like a zombie risen from the soil, exhaling out with half-open eyes. ¡°¡­Graaagh¡­¡± Chief Omana growled out. It seemed the once wise chief was now devoid of logic and himself; his eyes were zed over and his fangs bare; his silver fur pricked up like a porcupine as the gash in his head oozed out crimson. Shrubs protruded from the ear holes of the chief; roots shifted out from his pores, lining his pore. I see¡­You used some sort of spell that activates only in the event of your death, he realized, you¡¯ve let the nts use your body¨Call for the purpose of protecting your people, right?. He wiped the blood from his mouth, ¡°¡­Hate to break it to you, but I¡¯m not letting that happen. If you leave this room, and the Outriders win, then the Verma people will suffer. They¡¯re good people. Alekkai took me in, fed me, treated me like family despite barely knowing me¡­A kind old woman gave me tasty bread to try. Children y carefree in the forest¡­A world like this¡­It¡¯s exactly what I wished for. If I let something happen to them when I could¡¯ve done something¡­What was the point of me abandoning ¡°that¡± life?¡± ¡°GRAAAGH!¡± The elder roared. ¡°Yeah, me too,¡± he said under his breath. [One Last Stand.] On thest bits of energy, the two stood opposite to one another. Even in the dested chamber with both figures at their limit, a final battle ensued. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. This time, he called on it. In this moment of limits being reached, it was necessary to remove any restraint. Give me all you¡¯ve got, he thought. The veins running through his body ran ck as the draconic power manifested itself further than ever; rock-like horns extended from his head and navy-blue scales protected his arms and legs. His hands shifted, resembling gauntlets of scales as his fingers became beastly, forcing him not to rely on his sword. [Dragonheart System Activated.] [Current Stage: Dragon Warrior | 3/10] Unbeknownst to him, thisst-ditch transformation was only possible due to the ability he had just unlocked: ¡°Draconic Constitution.¡± Without it, there¡¯d be no doubt his heart would¡¯ve shut down on the spot. Even so, it still strained his body; ckened blood trickled down from his nostrils and his amethyst eyes were strained as the whites ran bloodshot. They both moved at the same time; thousands of nts blossomed from the puppeted corpse of the chief, sprouting out intensely as a blue heat gave off from the young man. It was over in the first move. An explosion of azure mes filled the room, burning away all of the nature-manipting spells as ayer of ash danced in the isted air. Just as quickly as it came, the Dragon Flow ended, leaving him barely conscious and teetering with each step as he scavenged his precious sword and staff. He returned his sword to its scabbard and his staff to his back, doing so amidst the burning room. Crumbling to ash, his horns withered away as did the scales that protected his flesh as he returned to his normal, fully-human state. ¡°Alright¡­next is¨C¡± As he nned to continue on, his consciousness wavered atst as he fell forward,nding on the ground and slipping into slumber instantly. ¨C [The Outrider Vige | Alekkai] The bout between two champions continued, marking a momentous asion in the history of the great forest. This time, it was Urganna who took the initiative, firing off from the spot he stood like a cannonball, carving through the wind with speed that took Alekkai by surprise in his rage-clouded mind. The massive ax shed against Alekkai¡¯s de; the war-ax was forged of silver with a red tint, dirtied with old blood that didn¡¯t wash away in the rain. ¡°Grgh!¡± Alekkai struggled. Though they struggled, Urganna gained the upper hand with his superior physical might, mming the man back with his shoulder before rushing forward again. ¡°¨C!¡± Alekkai looked up. Looming over him was thatrge, crescent ax, ready to be swung down onto his flesh. CLANG. The ax failed to cleave through his body, instead being intercepted by the sword of a familiar ally; a grizzled, bearded man of the Verma. ¡°Raegun¡­!¡± Alekkai called out. Raegun grunted, being pressed back as his feet caved into the soil below from trying to hold back the might of the Outrider Champion, ¡°¨CGet it together, Champion!¡± It took every ounce of strength in the veteran warrior¡¯s body to hold back Urganna¡¯s ax; every vein pressed against his skin, coiling and rushing with warm blood as his darkplexion reddened, straining incredibly as his eyes went bloodshot. Urganna pressed down further, inflicting greater pressure down on the man as heughed, ¡°Puny Verma. How many more of you do I need to eat before you understand your ce on the food chain?!¡± As the veil of irrationality dissipated from his mind, Alekkai jumped back to his feet, but not before Raegun¡¯s guard was broken¨Ccausing the ax to be pulled down harshly through his shoulder and down into his torso. ¡°Raegun¨C!!!¡± Alekkai roared out. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me¡­! Fight!¡± Raegun yelled out as he fell back. With those words, bestowed from one warrior of the Verma to another, Alekkai respected them; rushing past Raegun and immediately jumping back into battle with a new vigor. ¡°Come as many times as you like, wolf pup! I¡¯ll carve you up nheless!¡± Urganna bellowed. As they shed des once more, a continuous onught extended between the two; repeatedly, steel shed at high speeds, producing sparks that fell alongside the rain. Against both of Urganna¡¯s giant axes, the Verma Champion kept up, moving nimbly as hebatted the disadvantage in weaponry with skill and precision. This finesse with the de pushed Urganna back, who struggled to keep up despite his overwhelming strength and ferocity with his two weapons. In the rain, Alekkai looked as if he were dancing; spinning and flipping as he swung his de in unorthodox ways, switching between low-attacks and jumping strikes at a moment¡¯s notice. ¡°Grrr¨C!?¡± Urganna growled in surprise. Finally breaking the violent guard of the scale-armored demi-human, Alekkai managed to inflict multiple shes against his massive body. Y smiled, coughing as sheid against the mud, ¡°¡­That¡¯s our champion¨Cya can¡¯t beat ¡®im.¡± [The ¡°Beast God Style¡±; most swordsmen consider it too savage to be among the likes of the Ten Divine Styles, but only those that have shed with a Beast God Swordsman know the truth: they¡¯re just as formidable as any other, if not more so.] A style such as the one under the Beast God was anything but simr to those that humans were adjusted to; Alekkai wielded his sword as if it were his ws for swipes, and thrust it as if it were his fangs. As he danced around the twin axes wielded by his nemesis, he stayed low, using all-fours to move around momentarily as his tail flicked around; the nature of the Beast Style was this very showcase¨Che moved like a beast, closing in on his opponent. Though Urganna was a demi-human just as he was, the Outrider Champion was a barbarian without any style, a brute that relied solely on his strength. Inparison to the noble Alekkai, there was nopetition in terms of skill. Still, the battle was far from over. As the steel w of Alekkaished out at Urganna¡¯s flesh, the gargantuan beast-man roared out, summoning a further evolution of strength as his muscles erged and the animalistic side overtook his human aspects. ¡°¡­I see¡­You truly are nothing more than a mindless beast,¡± Alekkai said, looking up. Drooling down, the Outrider Champion had grown nearly twice asrge with a height of a small hill,pletely d in dark, bushy fur and massive ws that resembled shortswords. [¡°Full Beast Transformation.¡±] Alekkai knew what he was looking at; it was a rare trait that was rarely possessed by demi-humans, and most often came from those who chose to consume their own kin. It was that animalistic nature that allowed one to tap into their bloodlinepletely¨Cturning into what was before the Verma Champion¡¯s eyes: a towering, goliath of a bear still d in the scales of a behemoth. ¡°Come, then,¡± Alekkai said, holding his de up as the rain fell down his body, ¡°Allow me to y you like the beast you are.¡± Chapter 117 Warriors Sacrifice ¡°Come, then,¡± Alekkai said, holding his de up as the rain fell down his body, ¡°Allow me to y you like the beast you are.¡± Though he was taken aback by the sheer speed at which Urganna moved¨Cbursting forward with agility that didn¡¯t shift at all from the increase in size. A ground-trembling roar unleashed from the monstrous bear¡¯s jaws as it tunneled forward, digging up piles of mud with its ws. ¡°¨C!¡± Alekkai readied himself. He dodged to the side as the paw of the champion, which now was the size of his body, mmed town, causing the mud to ripple with a shock wave of the bear¡¯s weight. In an attempt to counter, he struck the arm of the champion-turned-beast, but found his sword unable to sh the flesh of the great bear. What? Alekkai thought. What stopped the edge of his de were the hairs belonging to the champion bear; they stood up, spiked and hardened like endless spears. ¡°Grr-ha-ha!¡± A contorted, chasm-deepugh bellowed from the champion bear¡¯s maw at the failed attack. ¡°¨C!¡± Alekkai looked up. His entire vision was filled with ck; it was a sea of darkness closing in on him. That unending darkness was the arm of the great bear, which swatted him away like a fly as he was sent flying back harshly. ¡°Alekkai!¡± ¡°Champ!¡± Calling out, both Raegun and Y yelled out worriedly, but they were both in too poor of a state to worry about any other than themselves. ¡°Little pups¡­I could use a nice meal,¡± the voice of Urganna vibrated the mud as his words traveled from his colossal body. Still, Y and Raegun picked themselves up, meeting side-by-side as they hardly seemed to register the pain inflicted to their bodies.. ¡°Ya good to fight like that, pops?¡± Y asked with a smirk, having her left eye closed by a welt as she breathed heavily. The veteran warrior¡¯s left arm was hanging on by a thread as his shoulder had been cut into heavily, allowing crimson to dye his entire torso. Raegun took a moment to catch his breath as his expression remained of stone, his beard swaying in the stormy winds, ¡°This? It is merely a flesh wound!¡­Right now, what matters is allowing our Champion to recover! He is our key to victory!¡± ¡°Well said, pops!¡± Y said, mming her knuckles into the palm of her other hand. The united front of the two, half-dead Verma warriors caused the Outrider Champion to roar withughter as he stomped in front of them, staring down, ¡°The pride of a wolf is as boundless as they say.¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard¡­?¡± Raegun asked, breathing ruggedly. ¡°¡­Hm?¡± Urganna peered down at him. ¡°Its bite is even greater,¡± Raegun corrected him. ¨C The Verma Champion only stopped once his back mmed into a tree, colliding into it with an echoing thud as the oxygen was squeezed from his lungs. Such a blow caused his entire body to seize up as his lungs burned and his bones were rattled, causing him to fight for his next breath. The back of my throat¡­it tastes like coal. I see why you had trouble now, brother¡­this one is tricky. However¡­I am Alekkai¨CChampion of the Verma¨CI am your brother! He told himself. As he stood up, he found his knees buckling and his body failing to follow hismands as he fell back to one knee, coughing up blood. ¡°Grk¡­!¡± I was hit harder than I thought¡­such raw strength¡­! He thought. While he struggled to pick himself up, his tworades held off the gigantified champion of the Outriders, who moved with agility that surpassed even the swift, elite Verma, yet possessed such grandiose size. In his ce, Y and Raegun held off the Outrider Champion, though it was a losing battle; they were ced on the defensive as continuous, powerful attacks flooded in through Urganna¡¯s assault. Y was flung back several meters despite blocking a swipe of the Outrider¡¯s ws, causing her to flip back to regain her bnce. ¡°¡­How am I supposed to get an attack in when he¡¯s so fast at that size?!¡± Y yelled out. Raegun stood beside her, readying his de, ¡°Focus. If you lose your cool, the battle will be over.¡± ¡®Right,¡± Y said, wiping the sweat from her chin. As they rushed back in, the fight was over just as quickly as it resumed; it happened just as Alekkai managed to regain his strength and step back in. ¡°Y! Raegun!¡± The Verma champion roared out. They had been caught by the sword-like ws of the gigantified bear-man, suffering massivecerations across their bodies as they were knocked back harshly by the strength of the blow. Blood fell alongside the rain as the two warriorsnded on the ground, though Alekkai had no time to check on them as Urganna rushed him without any mercy. ¡°Grrr¡­!¡± Alekkai growled. ¡°Angry, little pup?! Good-!!!¡± Urganna bellowed. The Outrider Champion mmed one of his boulder-sized fists down, causing the soil to crack and split, caving in as the attack had missed the red-haired Verma. ¡°Silence!¡± Alekkai roared out. As he deflected a set of swipes from the gargantuan bear champion, he dashed in, going in for a front flip that carried into a spinning sword sh, aiming to disembowel the beast right then and there. CHNK. ¡°¨C!¡± Alekkai looked forward in surprise. No cut was left despite having a clear opening on Urganna¡¯s stomach; his de bounced off of the fur of the beastman as if striking a sea of imprable steel. Urgannaughed with his distorted, animalistic voice, ¡°¡­Now do you understand, little wolf? When I¡¯m serious, nobody can harm me! My fur is as tough as metal!¡± Before he could react, a counterattack came as the harrowing ws of Urganna swept against the flesh on his chest, carving in and knocking him back. It burnt like a brand being held to his torso; blood spewed from the set of three gashes on his chest as skin and flesh alike had been eviscerated. The rain ran against his body as heid on the grass, wincing and trying to stand up, but the wound caused his body to seize up. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. Urganna approached with his thunderous footsteps, though his approach was stopped for some reason unknown to the bleeding champion of the Verma. ¡°¡­Huh?¡± Urganna bellowed. As Alekkai managed to lift his head up just enough to look, he saw what had stepped Urganna¡¯s march: the veteran warrior of the Verma, Raegun, stood between him and the man-eating demi-human, huffing as blood poured from his fresh wounds. ¡°Raegun¡­!¡± Alekkai shouted. The experienced warrior didn¡¯t look back, only standing tall as he looked up at Urganna, gripping his sword as crimson seeped from hiscerations. ¡°Pops!¡± Y yelled out, trying to stand up, but falling over due to her wounds. There was nothing that could do in that moment to stop the man from standing his ground, but as he watched, Alekkai found himself not wishing to; the warrior pride he witnessed was not something he could tarnish. ¡°Prepared to die, old wolf?¡± Urganna asked. ¡°I always have been,¡± Raegun answered without flinching, ¡°I am a warrior.¡± Though Urganna watched the wolven demi-human, looming over him like a pir of death and destruction, there wasn¡¯t an ounce of fear that left the pores of the seasoned warrior of the Verma. Raegun spoke without looking back, ¡°Champion!¡± ¡°¨C¡± Alekkai listened, struggling to pick himself up. ¡°It is you who bears the title of Champion, Alekkai! As long as you¡¯re still fighting, the Verma will not lose! However! The same goes for the Outriders¨Cso, until you defeat this man, this war will not be over!¡± Raegun shouted. ¡°Enough,¡± Urganna said. Noticing the sense of malevolence dripping from the steel-furred Outrider, Y picked herself up, but was unable to move in time. ¡°¡­Pops!¡± Y yelled. Raegun didn¡¯t look away, ¡°Get on with it.¡± Just then, those colossal ws struck as the body of the proud warrior was cleaved in half in one go, painting the drenched fields in his blood. ¡°Pops¡­!!¡± Y painfully yelled. It was enough; though only a few moments were bought, a fire was lit within the champion of the Verma as he picked himself up to his feet; blood ran slick down his body, but he solidified his hold on his sword. Urganna scoffed, ¡°¡­It¡¯ll be no different for the rest of you. The Outriders are the dominators of this forest; after wiping the Verma out, we¡¯ll take over the rest of it! There won¡¯t be a woman spared! There won¡¯t be a child spared! The Outriders will take it all!¡± ¡°No,¡± Alekkai said, interrupting the promations of the beastly foe. ¡°Huh?¡± Urganna looked down at him with his blood-dripping ws. Alekkai looked up at him, ¡°I¡¯m still standing, so save your ims until I¡¯m buried beneath the mud.¡± A smile crept against Urganna¡¯s lips, ¡°Is that how it is, then? Ha-ha! So be it! I¡¯ll bury you six feet under, then!¡± As the giant bear-man went in for a m of his fist, Alekkai flipped around andnded on hisrge hand, beginning to run up the length of his arm in a swift sprint. ¡°Urgh¡­?!¡± Urganna growled. Before the Outrider could do anything, Alekkai had reached his head, using his sword to stab into the abhorrent demi-human¡¯s right eye, sinking it in deep. Chapter 118 Roaring Clash ¡°Urgh¡­?!¡± Urganna growled. Before the Outrider could do anything, Alekkai had reached his head, using his sword to stab into the abhorrent demi-human¡¯s right eye, sinking it in deep. ¡°Graaaaaagh¨C!!!¡± Urganna roared out in agony. The sudden burst of pain caused the monstrous bear to thrash about, mming his fists and flinging his body side-to-side, causing the crimson-haired Verma Champion to withdraw his de and jump away. ¡°That pain! Does it hurt?! Does it burn!? My brother, my son¨Cthey suffered much worse than that! Your screams will be a melody to their spirits!¡± Alekkai shouted. ¡°¡­Quiet!¡± Urganna roared out. Even with an eye lost, the savage Outrider rushed forward as his mighty stomps quaked the forest ground, cracking the soil and trampling the fields with an enraged warcry. It was a natural disaster born amidst the colossal forest; the beastly foe burrowed forth, his cries mimicking the roars of a storm and his ws carving up the soil. Still, Alekkai stood tall as his blood ran slick down his chest, being muddied with the rainfall as he readied himself; his muscles clenched, tightening yet bulking up as he summoned the ferocious blood that boiled inside his veins. ¡°A duty to win.¡± That was the source of his strength; the resolution not to fall. It was abination of his responsibility as the champion of his people, and to avenge his fallen family. The moonlight danced down on the grass, reflecting off of the Verma Champion¡¯s de as the shine seemed to bolster his strength further. Rushing at one another, the Outrider and the Verma shed; Urganna¡¯s ws versus Alekkai¡¯s steel. This collision caused the rain to repel around them as the wind sharpened and sparks sprinkled down. ¡°What¡­!?¡± Urganna growled.. There was a surprising amount of new strength sprouted from the red-haired, wolf demi-human. Even against Urganna, who possessed a size a dozen times greater than his own, such strength equaled his own. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Y watched, holding her fallen parent in her arms with shock in her eyes; it was a mixture of grief and flickering hope now; it was hope that was reignited by the sight of the champion. Urganna swiped with his mighty ws, using swiftness like that of an elite swordsman, yet Alekkai countered and kept up, all while seeming to have strength to spare. ¡°Moon Wrath,¡± it was something she knew and recognized just by a nce at Alekkai. The Verma Champion¡¯s muscrity had been altered, bing optimized as veins pressed against his body and hisplexion darkened with his fangs growing and his nails bing feral. The full moon is out¡­Y thought, only somebody like the champion can enter it¡­the ¡°Moon Wrath¡±¨Cunder the light of the moon, the wolven blood awakens. Though the gargantuan bear had the advantage in sheer size, it was in itself a disadvantage; thatrge frame was an even bigger target for the swift champion of the Verma, who moved low to the ground like a wolf, dragging his de across the hide of Urganna in his wake. ¡°Graaaagh¡­!¡± Urganna roared out in pain. Alekkai ran along the beast¡¯s massive body, leaving far-stretching eviscerations, ¡°This is justice, Urganna! For a savage beast like yourself¨Ccorrupted and evil¨Cthis is your punishment!¡± There was nothing Urganna could do now; the nimbleness of Alekkai made it impossible for therge demi-human to fight back as each time he spun around and tried to swipe at him, Alekkai was already in the opposing direction. Y watched, ¡°¡­Do it, Alekkai!¡­For everyone!¡± It wasn¡¯t clear whether or not the words of the warrior woman met the ears of Alekkai, whose blood ran as hot as magma, driven into the peak of his warrior mind which melded with his animalistic instincts; he roared out and cleaved across Urganna before leaping onest time with his sword reared back. ¡°Grhh¡­! No, please¡­!¡± Urganna pleaded. Alekkai didn¡¯t listen; the rainfall itself was more powerful than the empty words of the cowardly Outrider Champion. I¡¯ve done it, brother, son, Alekkai thought. Just then, he brought his sword down overhead, carving through the skull of the mighty, hill-sized bear as fragments of Urganna¡¯s skull and flesh sshed onto the war-torn fields. As Alekkainded back down, the resonance of the moon dimmed as his body simmered down, causing him to fall to his knees, huffing for air. ¡°¨C¡± Alekkai breathed. All eyes were on him; the fighting stopped the moment the champion of the man-eating demi-humans was in. It was quiet now; only the sound of perspiration meeting with the grass filled the vige. This was the significance of a champion; a pir that represented the strength of a n. ¡°Champion¡­¡± Y said quietly, holding Raegun in her arms, ¡°¡­Pops, did you see that? He won.¡± Alekkai was waiting for something, watching the temple doors that sat afar as he thought to himself. I saw you go in there, young Emilio, Bruman¡­I trust you¡¯ve seeded, Alekkai thought. Finally, the doors to the temple opened, revealing the blonde-haired, human boy, who was covered in blood and bruises himself, but victorious as well; Bruman and Vandread followed, bringing with them the freed captives of the Outriders. Amazing¡­You¡¯ve done it, Alekkai thought. Forcing himself to stand, Alekkai stood tall despite his quivering body while his lengthy, unkempt hair swayed in the stormy wind. He raised his blood-slick sword to the sky before roaring out in his promation of victory, ¡°Raaaaagh!¡± After that roar, more followed from the fellow Verma, ¡°Raaagh!¡± The Outriders were left in disbelief. It was a hard fought victory; in total, half of the Verma warriors that participated in the raid were in. ¡°¡­We did it,¡± Emilio sighed out, ¡°¡­phew.¡± He slumped down on the grass just outside the vige with his shirt and vest torn, holding his staff in his arms with a tired look. Sitting beside him, Bruman sighed as well, ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m alive¡­¡± With the victory seized by the Verma, the Outriders surrendered, or rather, were forced to as any who refused were killed on the spot. While it seemed a bit harsh to Emilio, Alekkai insisted this was the greatest kindness he could offer the brutes. ¨C Vandread scratched his head, ¡°You¡¯re the leader of the Verma, right?¡± The tinum-eyed, scarred man asked, looking at Alekkai, who had his wounds tended to already, though he wasn¡¯t fully healed. Alekkai softly shook his head, ¡°¡­I am the champion, but whatever it is you need, I will do what¡¯s in my power to help. ¡°Well,¡± Vandread nced back towards the freed captives, ¡°Can you do something about them? I¡¯m not familiar with this forest, but¨C¡± ¡°Leave it to me,¡± Alekkai nodded with a smile. ¡°Alright,¡± Vandread replied. Alekkai stood straight, extending his hand to Vandread, shaking it then giving his hand also to Emilio, who returned to his travelingpanion¡¯s side. ¡°The Verma are forever in your debt, foreign warriors,¡± Alekkai said, ¡°no¡­You¡¯re honorable Verma now¨Cnot foreign. You¡¯ve proven yourself.¡± ¡°Heh, it was nothing,¡± Emilio bashfully chuckled. ¡°Sure,¡± Vandread said uncaringly. The Verma Champion seemed relieved, but he wasn¡¯t joyful; there was still loss from the battle. But, he did his best to handle it as he looked at both Vandread and Emilio with a small smile, ¡°On times of victory like this, it¡¯s best to celebrate, no?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Emilio nodded with a surprised look. Alekkai gestured for everybody to follow, ¡°Let us return to the vige and inform the others of our victory¨Cthen, we will celebrate greatly!¡± Vandread ruffled his own hair, ¡°¡­I suppose.¡± ¨C As they began venturing back to the Verma vige, he stayed at the back of the group, walking beside Vandread, who didn¡¯t seem very excited about a celebration. ¡°It seems like you had quite the battle,¡± Vandread said. He was surprised the man noticed, but by looking down at the state of his body and clothes, he realized it was obvious, ¡°¡­Yeah. Actually, it was incredible. I¡¯ve never had a battle like this. I¡­really almost died.¡± ¡°Hm,¡± Vandread nced at him, ¡°Remember that feeling. ¡®Death¡¯ is a great reminder of things: caution, resolve, time¨Ceverything. Feeling your life be so close to that threshold, you learn what it feels like to truly be that close to losing it all.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he nodded. What he opted not to mention was the new ability he had gained ess to ¡°Draconic Constitution.¡± I can feel it, he thought, my body¡­it¡¯s much stronger than before. ¨C Arriving back at the Verma vige, it was at the peak of night, leaving the returning group to enter quietly through the front gates that stood as reinforced trees. ¡°The day has fallen; celebrations wille tomorrow,¡± Alekkai said. He nodded with a smile, ¡°I think we could all use some rest after today.¡± It was a relieving sight; the Verma vige had aforting atmosphere to it, even more so whenpared to the barbaric camp he just had to fight in. ¡°It is not my time for rest,¡± Alekkai said, ¡°but you should¨CBruman, walk them to my home.¡± ¡°You got it!¡± Bruman said. Though as the young Verma warrior walked towards both him and Vandread with the intention of guiding them to their ce for the night, Emilio found himself perplexed by why the champion refused to call it in. ¡°You¡¯re not done yet? I fixed your wounds up, but you¡¯re still not in great condition¡­¡± Emilio intercepted his words. Alekkai shook his head, ¡°I have things to tend to still,¡± the red-haired warrior smiled softly, patting the boy¡¯s head, ¡°¡­Don¡¯t worry. I will be fine. One does not be a champion through being defeated by a simple bit of exhaustion.¡± ¡°¡­Well, if you say so,¡± he smiled. Chapter 119 Time of Rest and Recovery Alekkai shook his head, ¡°I have things to tend to still,¡± the red-haired warrior smiled softly, patting the boy¡¯s head, ¡°¡­Don¡¯t worry. I will be fine. One does not be a champion through being defeated by a simple bit of exhaustion.¡± ¡°¡­Well, if you say so,¡± he smiled. Though he wanted to help, he was partly d to be spared of having to work further that day; while walking up the tree-apanied bridges, he watched from up above as Alekkai began to settle in the freed captives. ¡°I never asked, but what happened? You know, while you were captive at the Outrider vige?¡± He asked, looking up at Vandread as they walked. The wooden nks of the spiraling bridge creaked, running slick as the rainfall crept through the foliage all around them. Vandread seemed hesitant to answer at first, looking forward with that ever-bored look in his eyes, ¡°Nothing I couldn¡¯t handle. Don¡¯t think too hard about it.¡± ¡°¨C¡± Emilio watched him. ¡°I was going to break out on my own anyway, but your friend there showed up¨CI found him nearly bing food for one of the Outriders,¡± Vandread exined. Bruman flinched at those words, walking in front of them as he held an embarrassed, shameful expression, letting his shoulders drop. Come on man, he thought, your role was to rescue him, but he rescued you instead? As if hearing Emilio¡¯s thoughts, Bruman sighed out before stopping in front of Alekkai¡¯s home, ¡°This is, err, the ce! Well¡­I¡¯ll be on my way, then! I¡¯ll see you tomorrow!¡± In a hurry, Bruman rushed off for some unknown reason, but that reason was made clear by the way the young man was buckling his knees. Ah, you gotta go when you gotta go¡­He thought, watching before knocking on the side of the door. Though the entry way was open to Alekkai¡¯s home, he didn¡¯t feelfortable just barging in, but it didn¡¯t seem to matter what he felt as Vandread walked right past him and into the tree-attached abode. ¡°Wait¨Chey!¡± Vandread ignored him, looking around, ¡°It¡¯s a lot more advanced than I expected it to be.¡±. ¡°Of course it is,¡± a feminine voice greeted them, ¡°I am responsible for the architecture in this vige these days.¡± Both Vandread and himself looked over to find a familiar face, at least to himself¨Cit was the wife of Alekkai. ¡°Mienna!¡± Emilio said. ¡°Sh,¡± Mienna raised a finger to her lips with a small smile, ¡°Ve is asleep. It takes quite a bit to get that child to sleep. ¡°Oh¨C¡± he covered his mouth. Still, the silver-haired woman of the Verma had a smile of relief as tears seemed to be held back in her eyes. It wasn¡¯t as though she seemed particrly emotional about the boy¡¯s return, but what it meant. ¡°¡­This man with you, is he¡­?¡± Mienna nced at Vandread. Vandread ced his hand on Emilio¡¯s head, messing up his hair, ¡°I¡¯m this kid¡¯s babysitter. Thanks for taking care of him in my absence.¡± ¡°I see¡­that means it was a sess then, right?¡± Mienna said, asking carefully as she looked at Emilio. Nodding slowly, he smiled, knowing the way such confirmation would unshackle the woman from her stress. Of course, the moment it was put into reality for Mienna, she exhaled all of the doubt from her body as she held her hands together. ¡°Thank goodness¡­thank goodness, I¡¯m so d¡­¡± Mienna said, ¡°And my husband¡­?¡± ¡°He¡¯s fine,¡± Emilio assured her, ¡°He said he¡¯s got a few things to finish up then he¡¯ll turn in.¡± ¡°I see. Thank you, Emilio¡­It¡¯s not the first time my husband has taken such a dangerous mission, but¡­it doesn¡¯t get any easier; waiting out the night, unknowing if he¡¯ll walk through the entrance,¡± Mienna said. A good minute was spent by the wife of Alekkai to simply regain her breath and settle her stress before she looked at Emilio again, her eyes scanning the state of his outfit, which was left tattered and stained in blood. ¡°Emilio, your clothes¡­¡± Mienna said. ¡°Ah¨CI forgot about that,¡± he said, looking down. Vandread looked at him, ¡°I was going to say something, but there wasn¡¯t much of a point since I don¡¯t have any spares that fit you.¡± Miennaughed, ¡°Leave it to me. I happen to be quite dexterous with a needle¨CI¡¯ll have to find you something to wear in the meantime, though.¡± ¡°Alright¡­I¡¯d appreciate it,¡± he epted. ¨C He found himself having to wear the garments of the Verma, which was no top and just a leather loincloth to cover his goods. It left parts rather chilly, but he put up with it as he sat on one of the cushioned seats in the home. Mienna herself was multitasking in the kitchen area, whipping up ate night meal and tending to Emilio¡¯s torn clothes. ¡°Looks like you built a reputation for yourself while I was gone,¡± Vandread said, sitting by him. ¡°Yeah, I guess,¡± he said, ¡°the Verma are really good people. They took me in without question.¡± As he spoke, he spurred a small manifestation of healing magic, tending to his bruised and sore body as he sat there quietly. The sound of rainfall was loud and clear from beyond the walls as no door sat to border the home from the outside world. ¡°It¡¯s been raining awhile now, hasn¡¯t it?¡± Emilio said, looking towards the ceiling. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. It was a rxing melody of the cloud¡¯s tears; the gentle pitter-patter of rain droplets echoing against the rooftop and falling past the colossal trees. Vandread brought out a map, gazing at it, ¡°Let¡¯s hope it stops by tomorrow¡¯s sunrise.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he replied. Though Mienna imed she wasn¡¯t going to cook a fabulous feast, as it waste at night and Ve was sleeping, it seemed their definitions of what constitutes a feast was different by the time the food wasid out. ¡°This is¡­a lot,¡± Emilio said. ¡°¨C¡± Vandread looked down at the tes. A lot of vegetables and naturally-grown spices from the forest were used in conjunction to make spicy, tangy dishes, involving rabbit meat, deer, or even boar, it seemed. Miennaughed, ¡°Is it? Well, I guess when I¡¯m feeling overwhelmed with emotion, I sort of get lost in baking things. It¡¯s easy to get caught up in the aroma that swirls around the pots.¡± ¡°I¡¯m notining,¡± heughed as well. Vandread seemed to share the same sentiment as he raised a bowl of what looked to be rice and rabbit meat, seasoned with a spicy, ck powder. ¡°Besides, Alekkai can eat quite a lot,¡± Mienna smiled softly, ¡°Especially after a battle¨Cthat man can eat an elephant.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve felt like that before,¡± he chuckled. Such authentic food, unique in its spices and procedure in which it was cooked, was an experience in itself. As he lifted the wooden spoon, guiding a boat of sweet-sauced vegetables and meat to his mouth, he took it in gratefully. For the first time in his life, it felt as if he had truly earned such a meal. Through battle and adventure, he was rewarded with this. A life-or-death battle just for some good grub?¡­Right now, that seems like a fair deal to me, he thought. ¨C The rain continued on and Alekkai had yet to return, though the exhaustion guing his body was getting the better of him as his eyelids began to flicker. ¡°Get some rest, Emilio,¡± Mienna told him, ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve done enough for today.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± He answered in a yawn. As heid himself down, just the act of finally allowing his body to rx allowed a wave of feelings toe over his physical form; his muscles soothed, but ached at the same time. Oh, man, he thought, I really overdid it today. Without fail, he managed to fall asleep within moments ofying down, slipping right into slumber. Of course, Vandread didn¡¯t relinquish his body to sleep as he stayed up, sitting by the front door as he read his crinkled map. ¡°Are you sure you shouldn¡¯t be resting?¡± Mienna asked the man, stitching up Emilio¡¯s clothes while sitting on the chair in the middle of the room. Vandread was quiet, taking a moment to respond as he traced his tinum eyes along the map, ¡°¡­Don¡¯t need it. Besides, it¡¯s my job to keep that brat safe.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not thinking we¡¯re out to get you, are you?¡± Mienna frowned. ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. I¡¯m just staying ready for anything¨Cstraggler Outriders, beasts, you name it,¡± Vandread told her, ¡°It¡¯s best to be diligent.¡± ¡°Maybe. But, I think rest is important for everybody Even if you think you don¡¯t need it,¡± Mienna said. ¡°Perhaps,¡± Vandread replied. ¨C It wasn¡¯t until a few minutes of silenceter that the sound of footsteps approached from outside the abode, weing in the sight of the red-haired champion, who was slick in rain. ¡°Alekkai, dear!¡± Mienna greeted the man. The husband and wife met each other in an embrace, sharing kisses and a level of affection that made Vandread awkwardly cough in an attempt to interrupt them. ¡°Ah¨CI hope my home is to yourfort, friend,¡± Alekkai said, looking over at Vandread. The quiet man scratched his head, ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s a lot better than an Outrider cell, so I can¡¯tin.¡± ¡°I suppose that¡¯s true,¡± Alekkai smiled, ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry you had to go through that. It¡¯s been my n¡¯s purpose to punish the Outriders, but we only acted once¨C¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Vandread yawned, ¡°It¡¯s nothing to me.¡± ¡°Nothing¡­?¡± Mienna repeated quietly. Though at first it seemed as though the tinum-eyed man was trying to seem tough, by the look of indifference in his eyes, it seemed to be the truth. Alekkai could smell the scent of it on him; death lingered around Vandread, but it never imed him. In those eyes, he saw it clearly. This man has faced death countless times, Alekkai thought. ¡°Apologies. It¡¯s disrespectful to patronize a warrior¡¯s will,¡± Alekkai nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t know about any of that¨CI¡¯m fine and dandy, but just one thing,¡± Vandread said, raising a finger. ¡°What is it?¡± Alekkai looked at him. Vandread sighed, ruffling his own hair, ¡°It¡¯s really damn troublesome thinking about it again. Those Outriders killed my steed. I¡¯m guessing my carriage is destroyed now, too.¡± There was no shame possessed by Vandread, who didn¡¯t hesitate to use the guilty conscience of the Verma Champion to seek out a new mode of transportation. ¡°Mm¡­¡± Alekkai thought to himself, ¡°That¡¯s troublesome. We don¡¯t have the vehicles of man in our vige, but we do have horses.¡± ¡°That¡¯ll do. Just one strong enough for me, the brat, and some supplies,¡± Vandread said. ¡°Sure thing,¡± Alekkai nodded, ¡°After the contributions of Emilio, that¡¯s a small price. Tomorrow, I will present to you the strongest of our steed.¡± A handshake sealed the deal between the two, to which Vandread was slightly caught off-guard by the agreeable nature of the champion. He¡¯s quite the honorable fellow, Vandread thought. Chapter 120 Tears of A Warrior The following day was a day of celebration, but the nature of it caught Emilio off-guard quite a bit. It began at the peak of the morning, just before the afternoon; festivities began with feasts being prepared and contributed by members of the vige. A massive bonfire sat in the center of the vige, to which children yed and danced and the vige shaman danced and sang. The great trees that served as walls around the isted vige towered high, though were inhabited by the many upants of thend, who celebrated together. It was a beautiful day in which the sun¡¯s rays danced over the foliage, letting the soft, orange light glimmer down onto the verdant grass below. What was curious about the celebration of victory itself is that it was also the funeral for those that had fallen in the battle against the Outriders. ¡°¨C¡± He sat by therge bonfire, a safe distance away. It was a pleasant surprise, but Mienna managed topletely restore his outfit; cape, vest, and all, to perfect condition. Seriously, I was happy not to have to keep wearing just a loincloth¨CI can¡¯t unsheath excalibur so soon to the eyes of everybody! He thought. The bodies of the fallen Verma warriors, including Raegun, who was carried in by Y, were brought to the mes. Vandread was sitting beside him, both of them eating sticks of meat as they watched the dancing and festivities continue. Even Bruman was involved, who was dancing around the fire with a teary-eyed smile. ¡°Is this kind of thing normal?¡± Emilio asked quietly. Vandread chewed his meal, ¡°¡­Normal isn¡¯t the way I¡¯d put it, but it¡¯s not wrong, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re getting at.¡±. ¡°¨C¡± He looked at the dark-skinnedpanion of his. ¡°I¡¯ve seen it in other ns, too. A ¡®warrior¡¯s death¡¯ isn¡¯t something to treat as a tragedy or a sorrowful thing; it¡¯s something that should be honored and celebrated. I don¡¯t know it too well, but that¡¯s the gist of it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not too far off.¡± ¨CCatching Emilio by surprise, he looked back to see the tattooed, red-haired champion of the Verma standing right behind them, watching the bonfire dance with a somber smile of his own. ¡°Alekkai,¡± he said in surprise before his eyes trailed to the man¡¯s bandaged torso, ¡°How¡¯s your wound?¡± The crimson-haired demi-human smiled, grazing his fingertips over the wrappings, ¡°I feel almost at my best, thanks to you. The magic you wield is amazing, Emilio.¡± Emilio bashfully scratched his cheek with a chuckle, ¡°Well, maybe it is,¡± he looked up, ¡°What did you mean, though? That he wasn¡¯t ¡®far off?''¡± Sitting just behind them, Alekkai rested as his lengthy, unkempt hair flowed by the natural winds; the man seemed to carry a smile more natural than any other when witnessing the celebrations of his people. ¡°It is a day of victory; a triumph of a lifetime for our people,¡± Alekkai said, ¡°What sense would it make for only the living to be a part of it? It is because of those who died that victory was achieved in the first ce¡­¡± He sounded almost regretful to say that as the look in his eyes dimmed, ¡°¡­You see, ¡®Mbak¡¯, the festival of victory, is for all. It is on the day of such happiness, carefree joy, and celebration that one can grieve and ovee without losing themselves in sorrow.¡± That much seemed true as Emilio looked towards therge, bright-orange bonfire that illuminated the vige; those that danced around it had smiles, but also shed tears as they celebrated. ¡°I see¡­¡± Emilio said quietly, beginning to understand as he looked towards the illustrious me, ¡°What about the fire? What¡¯s that represent? I mean, I doubt it¡¯s needed during the day.¡± Alekkai seemed happy to exin, ¡°The ¡®fire¡¯ is the image of a warrior¡¯s soul; his fighting spirit, hispassion, and his dreams. Every burning; bright and warm. Those that have fallen will be taken in by that me and allowed to move on.¡± ¡°A ¡®warrior¡¯s spirit¡¯ is something that amazing? Being a fighter does take a lot of courage¡­¡± Emilio replied quietly. ¡°You may be mistaken in your thinking,¡± Alekkai told him. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°A ¡®warrior¡¯s spirit¡¯ isn¡¯t exclusive only to those who fight inbat; it¡¯s born from those who stride against the flow, trudging through the river of fear. My wife, Mienna, may not be a fighter, but she certainly possesses the ¡®warrior¡¯s spirit¡¯; she ventured past the walls around her and into the world,¡± Alekkai exined. These words caused him to be left speechless as he looked at Alekkai, finding what was said to strike something deep within him; utterances that pierced through ¡®Emilio¡¯ and touched ¡®Ethan.¡¯ ¡°Being a warrior doesn¡¯t mean wielding a de. To me, it means fighting against what has shackled you, and pursuing what it is you truly desire. Whether that means to be a powerful fighter, an adventurer, or simply to ovee what¡¯s held you back. Even if you¡¯re enclosed by impossible hurdles, you must try to ovee them; that¡¯s what it means to be a warrior.¡± Such words caused him to remember memories he painfully tried not to reminisce; he remembered it: the buzzing of the fan in his room, the hum of hisputer, and the darkness of it all, hidden behind curtains. I was anything but a warrior then, he thought, I wasted away in my room; bitter and resentful of my own defects. But, I changed it, didn¡¯t I? I overcame it, right?¡­Or, did I run away? I don¡¯t know. As he questioned this, he looked down at his own hands, unknowing of what his actions led him to be. Though he knew the answer; as much as he wished to think of himself as a warrior, he knew the truth. [¡°Ethan Bellrose¡±] It was the same as any other day in the life of the young man who thought of himself as the most miserable person who inhabited Earth. He sat at his desk, tapping the mechanical keys of his keyboard with his frail fingers as his hollow eyes reflected the bright light of his monitor. All the frail, bandaged youth could do was browse the inte, day in and day out, wasting away without any feasible aspirations held. There were things he yearned for, sure, but he knew well everything he wanted was impossible for his ¡®ursed¡¯ body. A knock came to his door; gentle and light. ¡°Ethan, honey¡­¡± ¡°¨C¡± He didn¡¯t respond. Only the tapping of his keyboard stopped for a moment to signify to the woman on the other side of the door that Ethan had even recognized the sound of her words. ¡°I found a movie we could watch¨Cyou know, like when you were little? It¡¯s ¡®The Cautionary Knight, Rumptil¡¯¨Cit used to be your favorite,¡± his mother said from beyond his bedroom door. He sat there in the darkness of his room with his oxygen tank sounding out, tubes running up his nose as he failed to respond. ¡°Ethan?¡± ¡°¨C¡± He didn¡¯t respond. It was the same thing he did every time; he simply sat in silence until she left him alone. Though his solitude was something that was unquestionably a necessity, he chose to remain utterly alone. That bitterness was like acid; he melted his connections, sealing himself away. ¡°¡­I hate you¡­¡± Those words he whispered almost in a small exhale through his non-rebreather mask were ones that were heard through the door; said in his darkest hour, those words came from a ce of utter miserableness. He was a spiteful being; each day as his skin itched and burned, his body ached and yearned for the outside world, and his loneliness pressured his soul, he cursed the one who brought him into this world with such a miserable constitution. ¡ª Remembering the way he was back then, he felt disgusted with ¡®Ethan¡¯, but he knew he could only judge who he was now because he had found a ce of happiness. It wasn¡¯t as if he naturally became a better person of his own will, but it was the new body and life that allowed him to desert the bitter, hateful shell of ¡®Ethan Bellrose.¡¯ I¡¯m not some strong-spirited person who overcame hardship. If I managed to beat it¡­I wouldn¡¯t have abandoned the one person in the world who cared about me, he thought, maybe if I recognized what I had, not what I didn¡¯t, I could¡¯ve carried on with it. But, I ran away in the end. There¡¯s no changing that. ¡°You¡¯re a warrior, Emilio,¡± Alekkai said, setting his hand down on Emilio¡¯s head, ¡°There¡¯s no question about that.¡± ¡°Huh? Really?¡± He looked up at the man. The words caught him by surprise as he became lost in his own thoughts momentarily, but they meant a loting from the champion of the Verma himself. ¡°¡­Did you not venture to rescue yourpanion here? Not only that, it was you who yed the elder of the Outriders; a legendary beast in his own right! Perhaps you¡¯re gifted now, but you chose to use those gifts not only to fight alongside us, but to save another. If that¡¯s not the spirit of a warrior, then I don¡¯t know what is.¡± After remembering his old life, those words that meant everythinging from the pinnacle of a ¡®warrior¡¯ brought tears to his amethyst eyes as they sparkled. ¡°Darn, this dust¡­!¡± Emilio said, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve. Alekkaiughed, ¡°It¡¯s alright to cry. Even warriors shed tears.¡± As he was told that, he moved his sleeve away from his eyes as he looked up, finding Alekkai to be looking towards the great bonfire as visible tears ran slick down his cheek. ¡°Oh¡­¡± He said quietly. It wasn¡¯t just the champion himself; those who danced around the fire, moving so jovially and with passion, weren¡¯t absent of tears, either. Perhaps the only one in the vige that day that didn¡¯t shed a single tear was the stoic, darkly-dressed man himself, who sat there, filling his stomach quietly. ¡°¨C¡± Vandread sighed to himself. Chapter 121 Onwards Again After the festivities quieted down, it was time to finally continue the journey that hade to a standstill. ¡°As I promised¨Cthis is the most reliable steed in the vige,¡± Alekkai said. A Verma viger, responsible for tending to the horses within thend, brought the lead to Vandread¡¯s hand, who looked at the ginger-furred stallion, petting its hair as he sized it up. ¡°He¡¯ll do nicely. Thanks,¡± Vandread said, hopping up on its back. Alekkai hoisted up arge sack that seemed filled to the brim, ¡°Don¡¯t forget this. You¡¯ll need to eat to survive such a long journey. My wife made sure you had plenty to fill your stomachs with,¡± Emilio couldn¡¯t help but smile at those words as he epted the heavy sack of supplies, handing it to Vandread before getting on the horse, sitting right behind him. ¡°It¡¯s not just food in there; natural medicines and basic tools are in there, too. It is the least we can do for you,¡± Alekkai said. ¡°Thanks, Alekkai,¡± Emilio smiled. Though he yearned for his journey towards the Guild Foundation, he knew he was going to miss Verma vige; the petrichor from the previous night¡¯s rain, the kind elders, yful children, and warm food. It won¡¯t be easy, what¡¯s ahead, but if this world has more people like the Verma¡­I¡¯ll manage, he thought with a smile. Saying his goodbyes to Alekkai and his family, along with the others, he waved them off as Vandread began to pull the reins of the stallion.. ¡°AAAAAGHHH¡ª! Hey¡ª! Wait¨C!¡± A familiar voice called out as he looked back, seeing the young warrior of the Verma racing towards them with something held carefully between his hands. ¡°Bruman?¡± He called out in return, perplexed. Bruman reared his hand back before tossing forward something wrapped in a beige cloth, ¡°¨CYou need a memento, right?! I¡¯m not going to rely on your memory alone, so here¡¯s something so you don¡¯t forget¡ªso you don¡¯t forget that you need to visit again after you be an adventurer!¡± He watched as the unknown object secured in cloth sailed towards him before catching it while the stallion had already begun trotting away. What¡¯s this? He thought. As he opened it, he found a bracelet in it; a string bracelet with canine teeth decorating it. Looking up, he saw Bruman waving with arge smile, catching his breath, but what caught his eye was a matching bracelet on the young warrior¡¯s wrist. He smiled, epting it as he slid it onto his right wrist, ¡°Thank you!¡± I¡¯m building a collection of mementors, aren¡¯t I? He thought with a warm smile. The fabric, gold-and-brown ring on his index finger, reminding him of Reno, the wolf-tooth bracelet from Bruman, and his dragon-symbolled ne gifted to him from Irene. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry,¡± Vandread said, guiding the stallion, ¡°We should be able to make it out of the forest before nightfall if we move with haste.¡± ¡°Right,¡± he nodded. He wasn¡¯t prepared for the monotonous journey ahead. Of course, somebody who embodied the definition of ¡®overly cautious¡¯ to a fault like Vandread opted to travel slowly and steadily, which meant the horse simply gandered slowly through the barely-visible trail. Hours of this persisted, making him more annoyed by the loss that had urred in the first meeting with the Outriders. It was a far cry from thefort of the dreary carriage, which he somehow came to be nostalgic over, if not from the bumpiness of riding on the stallion¡¯s back as its hooves trotted over the uneven pathway. Though the barbaric bear warriors had been dealt with, the unexplored, mysterious nature of Tseurilia forest led him to be cautious of whatever else may inhabit its borders. It had been two months since he¡¯d first entered Tseurilia, and he¡¯d started to be sick of the sight of the overbearing trees and thick foliage; the sound of birds chirping and critters scampering grated his ears. ¡°Urgh¡­¡± He groaned. He was forced to hold onto the man most of the time for stability, though he didn¡¯t like the idea of being clung to Vandread, though the man didn¡¯t seem to like the thought of it much, either. ¡°Keep it down back there,¡± Vandread said, guiding the stallion, ¡°I need to keep a clear head. We¡¯re not home safe yet, so keep yourself ready.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± He knew well what sort of troubles lurked in the world of Arcadius; it was a world that, while beautiful, could be as dark as an abyss when looked at carefully. The sun was beginning to set beyond the horizon as the pale-blue sky shifted to a soft sepia, bringing the temperature to a perfect bnce between brisk and warm. ¡°Vandread,¡± he called out quietly. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°What¡¯s it like being an adventurer?¡± Vandread nced back at him, keeping the majestic stallion steady in its pace, ¡°Huh? What¡¯re you asking me for? You¡¯ve been around your pops all your life. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve rang his ear about it.¡± ¡°Well, before I didn¡¯t realize what being an ¡®adventurer¡¯ meant,¡± he said with an expression ofment, ¡°I thought it would be all about journeying around the world, fighting monsters, discovering precious artifacts, you know the drill¡­¡± Hearing his words, the stoic man slowly sighed out as he looked forward, ¡°I know what you mean. It¡¯s amon misconception kids have when they idolize adventurers. They only see the ¡®good side¡¯; the glory, victories, riches, and the tales of heroes. Well, that¡¯s not their fault, really. But nobody talks about the nitty gritty side of it.¡± ¡°¨C¡± He looked down, knowing well what he was talking about. The lively forest dimmed with the sunset arriving; the chirps of morning birds quieted and the sounds of critters traversing the overgrownnd settled down. Soon, only the soft trots of the stallion¡¯s hooves resounded. ¡°What happened with the Outriders isn¡¯t your typical quest, but it¡¯s not out of the norm, either. Things like that happen; people are taken captive, either to sell or worse,¡± Vandread continued, speaking from experience, ¡°There¡¯s a whole lot of darkness in this world. It¡¯s not just Milligarde; I¡¯ve been around the world, and I¡¯ve seen it at every corner; humans, elves, demons¨Cit doesn¡¯t really matter. We¡¯re all tainted down here on the pretty fields.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a bit pessimistic, isn¡¯t it¡­? There¡¯s still good left,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m not saying there isn¡¯t. I¡¯ll even admit that there¡¯s more good than bad, but sometimes the abhorrence far outweighs the nice things you see. It sticks to your mind more; things you won¡¯t forget,¡± Vandread looked back at him, directly into his eyes, ¡°¡­I know you experienced something when we were in Elsia.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± He let out in surprise. Though he wanted to deny it, he knew there was no deceiving the discerning, wizened eyes that belonged to Vandread; the man whose scars spoke of his experience, tested by trial after trial. ¡°¡­How¡¯d you know?¡± He mumbled. Vandread exhaled slowly, ¡°The look in your eye changed. You may not have acted like it, but I could tell; that sparkle dimmed. But, perhaps it motivated you. Who knows. As long as you came back in one piece, I had nothing toin about.¡± ¡°Well, the truth is¡­¡± Finally, he poured off of his chest the entire ordeal that urred within Elsia, from meeting Reno and the thugs, to finding the trafficking ring, and the fight against Oswell. ¡°I see,¡± Vandread said, ¡°That certainly sounds like an eye-opening experience. I heard about what happened to you before, you know. When you got captured by that low-life crew.¡± ¡°You knew?¡± ¡°Julius really doesn¡¯t know how to shut up and be concise in a letter,¡± Vandread sighed, steering the stallion clear of a jutted tree root, ¡°¡­Anyway, you¡¯re not ignorant to that part of the world, at least. A shitty silver lining, but a silver lining,¡± he nced back at him, ¡°I¡¯d take this as a good opportunity.¡± ¡°For what?¡± ¡°You asked me what being an adventurer is like. From the sounds of it, you¡¯ve already seen for yourself what the bad parts are like,¡± Vandread told him. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Vandread looked forward, ¡°You haven¡¯t seen the highs yet. So, if you ask me, if you¡¯ve only seen the crappy parts and haven¡¯t booted the opposite direction, then you have what it takes.¡± Expecting a negative response, and though it wasn¡¯t exactly reassuring, it was something positive, at least as light as words from Vandread could get. What I¡¯ve seen are the low points? And I¡¯ve yet to see the highs?¡­I guess that¡¯s true, he thought, then I can do this. ¡°If you need rest, now is your time to get it. We¡¯reing up on a clearing that stretches on, leading out of Tseurilia,¡± Vandread told him, ¡°It¡¯ll be safe through that.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± he nodded. Even if he wanted to act tough in front of the man, he knew how important it was to get any wink of sleep that he could. Chapter 122 The Ravine It was high above the two that rode quietly on the stallion; the enigmatic overseer of bnce watched as she walked on the sky itself as if the invisible air bore tforms beneath her heeled boots. Crescentia quietly hummed to herself as she spectated the slumbering Emilio from the sky, ¡°He grows with each encounter. If this continues, he may be a force of destruction soon enough. If that¡¯s the case, I will eliminate him without hesitation.¡± There was no falsehood embedded in those golden eyes that belonged to Crescentia; the woman of a youthful appearance spoke only the truth in those words. ¨C As he woke up with a yawn leaving his lips, he blinked a few times to find the light of day long gone, and the veil of the night recing it. More surprising to him was the absence of overbearing trees and foliage enclosing around him as he heard the monotonous trots of the stallion¡¯s march; the forest he found himself growing sick of was no longer around him. ¡°¡­We¡¯re out of Tseurilia?¡± He muttered. Vandread must¡¯ve heard him as he responded not a moment after, ¡°It¡¯s been an entire hour since we left it. You¡¯ve been snoring like a bear back there.¡± A small tinge of embarrassment came over his cheeks, ¡°I-I was?!¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± He let out in surprise and relief. The shock came from the anomalous instance in which the stoic, pragmatic man actually tried his hand at a joke. ¡°Good timing, though,¡± Vandread said. As the man uttered such, he pulled the reins to stop the stallion at the clearing they had ventured to. Inparison to the forest, which was cramped with endless trees, Emilio found himself in a vast, luscious in with a healthy stream running through it. Mountains stood off in the distance, as ancient as the countries themselves, if not more.. ¡°Guess it needs some rest, huh?¡± Emilio said, hopping off of the stallion¡¯s back. Vandread tied its lead to the nearby tree, securing it tightly, ¡°He¡¯s not like our old one. But, that¡¯s fine.¡± It seemed as though Vandread had a particr fondness for animals, or perhaps just horses; he watched as the dark-skinned man stroked the stallion¡¯s fur for a moment. There was a simple enough exnation he coulde to on his own, though he wouldn¡¯t ask it directly: it was likely due to the lonely nature of Vandread¡¯s adventuring that such beasts were his onlypanions. Maybe he¡¯s a bit human after all, he thought. ¨C ¡°How far out are we from the next town?¡± He asked. Vandread was quick to set up their temporary camp; a fire was made, though with the help of Emilio¡¯s magic, and the food supplies given to them by the Verma was put to use as the man grilled the meat over the me. While the meat was cooking, they split arge stick of bread, which made the young man¡¯s questione out with crumbs. Vandread answered, ¡°You see those mountains to the north?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± He looked over to where Vandread was pointing, having to squint due to the obscuring nature of the night to make out the position of the two, neighboring mountains. ¡°Yeah,¡± he said. ¡°Larundog is between those two mountains,¡± Vandread told him, ¡°It¡¯s farther than it looks, though. But once we¡¯re through there, it¡¯s not far before we reach Vasmoria.¡± ¡°We¡¯re almost there, then?¡± He said almost in relief. For a moment, it looked as if Vandread wanted to say something on the side of pessimism, but after looking at the blonde-haired boy, he simply agreed, ¡°Yeah.¡± The meat they were given from the Verma was tender, taken off of what was probably a well-fed, probably nurtured animal; it was also already seasoned, which made for a good, hearty meal. ¡°Mind going to the stream over there and refilling our canteens?¡± Vandread asked. ¡°Sure,¡± he nodded. He caught the two canteens tossed over to him before heading down after the meal; it wasn¡¯t a far walk, but it was enough to where he could feel the solitude of the starry night hanging over the valley once he¡¯d reached the stream. Swishhh. The crystal clear water flowed down its natural path as the moonlight reflected off of it. It was a rxing sight, enough for him to simply sit there for a minute as he took the time to rx and just take in the scenery. ¡°¨C¡± He watched the water. Reaching down, he swept his hand through the fresh aqua, feeling its cool touch against his fingertips. He didn¡¯t take it for granted; being able to be outside, breathing in the fresh air and doing things like this¨Cit was something he could only achieve in this life. After a few minutes, he remembered what he initially came down to the stream to do, filling up the canteens with fresh water, which were naturally filtered by the mystical items, before heading back to the campsite. ¡°Almost thought a goblin snatched you,¡± Vandread said. The deadpan way the scar-etched man spoke was as if he was simply speaking what was on his mind, which took a moment for Emilio to process as a joke before he sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve graduated from goblins, I¡¯ll have you know,¡± he replied. Vandread was sharpening one of his des, responding without looking up, ¡°Nobody graduates from goblins. Everybody can fall victim to those vermin.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± he exhaled. There was no point in trying to deny the wordsing from the man who had him beat in experience by a lightyear. It was no surprise that even somebody with the prowess of Vandread held goblins in such high-regard of their threat level; the man acted with supreme caution in the face of any enemy. ¡°Get some sleep,¡± Vandread told him, ¡°It¡¯ll be a long day tomorrow; we¡¯re sure to run into some nuisances before Larundog.¡± ¡°What about you? I already had some rest earlier, but you¡¯ve been awake this whole time,¡± he asked. Vandread leaned against the stone that sat behind him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I can go a lot longer than you without needing a wink.¡± ¡°If you say so¡­¡± The truth was, he was still tired; his body was incredibly sore and aching still, though he did his best to keep it to himself. After the battle against the chief, I must¡¯ve really worn my body out, he thought. Under the sparkle of the stars that hung in the abyssal sky above, in spite of the ufortable, natural bedding he found himselfying on in the in, he found himself being gently guided into slumber. Though the dreams he experienced were forgotten as quickly as they were felt, he did remember one recurring concept between them: a formless entity that always smiled at him and a woman with hair as pale as snow with eyes, regal and gold; icy and powerful. ¨C The next day came swiftly; Vandread didn¡¯t waste any daylight as he got the boy up and going at dawn. ¡°¡­Ahh¡­¡± Emilio yawned. It was on the stallion again, riding on its back while Vandread guided it through the quiet, luscious ins of Milligarde¡¯s valleys; this one in particr was known as ¡®Artems Emerald¡¯. Sometimes he failed to appreciate the beauty of it; amidst his impatience to reach his destination, he sometimes only looked forward, but not at what was around him. The ¡®Emerald¡¯ part of the region¡¯s name was obvious to him in how green and vibrant it was; the ins stretched on and even the distant mountains were covered in grass and trees. I¡¯m ready to see it all, he thought. He didn¡¯t realize what sort of scale came with venturing between the two mountains, but he soon came to realize it as they approached the colossal mounds of rock and grass; the ground sunk down, leading to what resembled a ravine-turned-trail. It looked as though it wasn¡¯t a natural urrence, however; more as if it was dug out by shovels and pickaxes. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen something like this¡­¡± He said, looking around. ¡°It¡¯s been like this,¡± Vandread said, ¡°It¡¯s the work of kobolds.¡± Simply, the grass pathway led downhill, lowering into a passageway low into the ground as if cut out by a mountain-sized shovel. It was mmy and dark in the ravine, but the sunlight did manage to reach down into it, somewhat. ¡°¡­Kobolds?¡± He repeated. Vandread nodded, ¡°They¡¯re not too different from goblins on the broader scope of things; small, aggressive, and dumb as rocks.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference, then?¡± He asked. Keeping the stallion calm in its pace, Vandread looked around carefully, ¡°Well, for starters, they¡¯re a lot more tricky; they can take the form of other objects. So, be on the lookout for anything that stands out¡ªlike an inanimate object moving.¡± The cautionary words from the dark-skinnedpanion of his only made him uneasy as he nodded and prepared himself, sliding his staff out from the hold on his back before keeping his eyes peeled. In the ustrophobic ravine, there seemed to be quite a few tunnels that led into dark caves, which were ominous in the howls of wind that emitted subtly from within. It seemed to grow darker the further they moved into the ravine; the way the rocks higher up jutted out and foliage grew, it blocked out the sunlight above. ¡°Anything else I should know?¡± He asked nervously. Vandread was quiet for a moment, ¡°I¡¯d say they¡¯re a lot more cowardly than goblins. Goblins are cowardly, but they¡¯re also recklessly stupid and violent. Kobolds will try more annoying maneuvers.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Just then, as he used his staff to manifest a small light in the form of a fire sphere, Vandread quickly spun around to look at him. ¡°Don¡¯t do that¨C!¡± Vandread yelled. ¡°Huh¨C¡± He was perplexed by what the man was warning him about, but he realized it the moment the light gave off from the me; unintelligible growls and murmurs echoed from all around. Chapter 123 Home of The Kobolds ¡°Don¡¯t do that¨C!¡± Vandread yelled. ¡°Huh¨C¡± He was perplexed by what the man was warning him about, but he realized it the moment the light gave off from the me; unintelligible growls and murmurs echoed from all around. It was out of the corner of his eye that he saw it; something like that was so otherworldly and unknown to him that it made him freeze as he failed to register what it was: a stone, like the endless amount in the ravine, sticking in the mud walls, shifted into the form of an unsightly creature. As the stone morphed, the creature¡¯splexion was the same as the gray, rigid stone for a moment before bing a dull, bleached red; its skin was covered with boils and scabs,yered with stringy hair that seemed to cover it from head-to-toe. It had an animal-like face with a snout and buck teeth, along with beady ck eyes, but a humanoid body of a simr size to a human child. Is this a kobold?! He realized. In its hand, it wielded a small weapon made out of sharpened stone, which it plunged towards the surprised young man. CLING. Before the sneak attack couldnd, the unrefined weapon was deflected by a dagger wielded by Vandread, who knocked the shapeshifting creature back. ¡°Focus!¡± Vandread yelled to him. He snapped back from the odd encounter, ¡°¨CRight!¡±. Though as Vandread lunged from the stallion¡¯s back in an attempt to stab into the kobold, the creature vanished, sinking into the stone as ugly chuckles echoed off of the mmy walls. ¡°¡­Annoying vermin,¡± Vandread mumbled. ¡°That was a kobold¡­?¡± He asked. Vandread sighed, getting back on the horse¡¯s back and only using one hand to hold onto the reins while wielding a de, ¡°Yes, and you brought it right to us.¡± ¡°I did?¡± ¡°Fire attracts them,¡± Vandread said, ¡°We¡¯ll move in the dark.¡± He was hesitant to travel in the shadows with such tricky, grotesque creatures lurking in the ravines. Their very presence made him continuously check over his shoulder as he clutched his staff tightly in his hands. ¡°They already know we¡¯re here, right? Is it a good idea to take away our sight?¡± He asked. ¡°I see your point, but that¡¯s not the problem. They knew we were here from the get-go,¡± Vandread answered, keeping watch, ¡°But fire attracts them like moths to a me; they¡¯ll grow confident and violent just like that one did.¡± ¡°I get it, then,¡± he sighed. Even so, it wasn¡¯t something he liked; beyond the continuous sounds of the stallion¡¯s hooves befalling the ground, he listened in closely to the subtle, but existing sounds that resounded within the dark ravine. The sound of light footsteps were heard, but as he looked behind him, he saw nothing but mud and stones that filled the ravine, alongside darkness. ¡°¡­Will they attack again?¡± He asked, ncing around. ¡°Hm,¡± Vandread thought about it before answering, ¡°Probably.¡± ¡°Probably¡­?!¡± He replied in a shocked whisper. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. They can be sneaky, but they¡¯re not hard to handle,¡± Vandread assured him. It was definitely more tense than he ever felt around goblins. In spite of the magical abilities he had cultivated through his studies, in a narrow ravine like the way he was in, he was much more limited than normal. Unleashing true firepower was out of the question in an enclosed space. In light of that, he decided to make a surprising choice: he sheathed his staff and instead drew his gifted sword: ¡°Silver Wing.¡± ¡°Good choice,¡± Vandread said, knowing what he did without looking, ¡°Any fights here will be close-quarters; it¡¯s best to rely on steel for this one.¡± There was still a long road ahead through the ravine; it stretched on, though its end couldn¡¯t be seen through the shadows. Tip-tap. Tip-tap. Tip-tap. It was abination of light, rapid footsteps that swiftly appeared in earshot and the slight rumbling of stones that alerted him. Multiple footsteps!¨CThey¡¯re attacking again! He thought. ¡°Get ready,¡± Vandread said, ¡°I¡¯ll watch our north; you cover our south.¡± There was no time for nning or hesitation as he immediately turned around to find one of the small-in-stature, hairy creatures rushing towards him with an abhorrent pickaxe reared back. He was ready this time; standing on the stallion¡¯s back, he faced the iing kobold as it leapt towards him. It was an unsightly creature when seen up close; mmy, unwashed skin and tangled hair with a thin tail sticking out from behind it. ¡°Reeegh¨C!¡± The kobold squealed. As it swung its pickaxe towards him, it was surprisingly swift, but instead of blocking it with his de, he somehow chose to stop it with his hand. It was a choice that seemed stupid once actually thinking about it, but for some reason it was what his instincts told him to do. ¡°Huh?¡± He was just as surprised as the kobold at the result of his actions; the pickaxe waspletely halted as he caught the arm of the creature. It waspletely stopped and unable to budge in the slightest while in his grip. It was a source of strength that felt unnatural and new, catching him by surprise as he felt it frighteningly easy topletely overpower the small creature. While it wasn¡¯t some grand feat to restrain a kobold, for one of his stature and usual physical capabilities, it was a surprise. While he was caught off-guard by this development, the buck-toothed, ravine-dwelling creature squealed out again before attempting to lunge at him with its mouth open. ¡°¨C!¡± In retaliation, he swept his de towards its size to stop it, and that he did. SQUELCH. Though he intended to cut it, the effect was unintended as hepletely bisected the creature; slicing it in half from its belly, its innards spilled out onto the muddy floor before he dropped it out of disgust. ¡°Agh¡­!¡± He fell back down on the stallion¡¯s back. Vandread had already swiftly taken out the two kobolds that had attacked him, ¡°You got it? Good work.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± He said, catching his breath in surprise. As he looked down at his hand that wielded his sword, he questioned what he just experienced, quickly realizing the source of his newfound strength. ¡°Draconic Constitution.¡± It must be that new skill I acquired, he thought. Only then did he realize how throughout his entire body, it felt as if it was fundamentally different; as if he wore made out of brittle wood before, now he was made out of stalwart steel. As he patted around his own body briefly, it did seem as if he gained some muscle mass, though it was condensed and toned, but didn¡¯t quite exin the increase in physical might. I¡¯d like to test this out a bit more. This is what I was missing; I knew how to wield a sword, but my physical finesse wasn¡¯t up to par before. But, that¡¯s different now, he thought. It didn¡¯t seem as though it would be long before he¡¯d have the chance to test his new abilities out since the rumbling of stone around the ravine sounded off again, causing the stallion to grow frightened. ¡°More areing,¡± Vandread warned calmly, reining the horse in. Sneakily, the creatures shifted along the walls, though they weren¡¯t invisible as they snickered and growled. It took longer than he expected, but his eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness, though it was still difficult to make out the kobolds as they blended with the mud and stone. ¡°I¡¯ve got my hands full here,¡± Vandread said, pulling on the reins as the stallion was frantic in the presence of the ravine dwellers, ¡°¨CYou¡¯ve got to handle this.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve got this,¡± he nodded. There were definitely more than before; at least half a dozen from what he could make out, though it was nearly impossible to tell if he was simply watching the same shadows dance across his vision. Against the devious kobolds, fighting in their hometurf, the temptation came to rely on magic, but he resisted, forcing himself to test his capabilities physically. Popping out from the wall to his side, a kobold spewed unintelligible speech before tossing a cluster of pebbles towards him with harsh velocity. ¡°Gh!¡± He winced. Though he instinctively flinched, as the violently thrown rocks hit his skin, he realized it didn¡¯t hurt. None of the projectiles managed to break his skin or scratch it, only bouncing off of him. ¡°Huh?¡± It seemed even the kobold was surprised by this, though that shock quickly turned into fear as it attempted to retreat into the stone, but he reached forward, extending his hand the furthest he could as he stood on the edge of the stallion. ¡°¨CYou¡¯re not going anywhere!¡± Just before its entire body vanished into the solid wall, he managed to grab onto its tail, yanking it out without any mercy. The stench of a kobold was strong, even if it wasn¡¯t directly in front of him; their odor was simr to that of a wet dog, only mixed in with rotten eggs and meat. Chapter 124 Tales and Reprieve ¡°¨CYou¡¯re not going anywhere!¡± Just before its entire body vanished into the solid wall, he managed to grab onto its tail, yanking it out without any mercy. The stench of a kobold was strong, even if it wasn¡¯t directly in front of him; their odor was simr to that of a wet dog, only mixed in with rotten eggs and meat. As he pulled it from the wall of mud, the creature growled and chucked another few rocks his way, but he brushed it off and used his other hand to guide his de through its chest. ¡°Grah!¡± The kobold cried out. He had to be quick to disengage from one and onto the other, as he slid the felled kobold off of his steel in preparation as another leapt towards him with a pickaxe being wildly swung. ¡°How¡¯re you holding up back there?¡± Vandread asked. ¡°¨CFine!¡± He replied. As he answered, he had to take a step back as the rabid kobold swung its pickaxe to-and-from with all of its might, continuing to speak unintelligible murmur as it spit out. Even with his newfound constitution, he wasn¡¯t quick to test himself against such an aggressive assault. Though a small gust of wind could easily give him an opening, he held back the instincts he had cultivated for years. Magic is off-limits right now¡­well, of course, unless I¡¯m really about to die, he thought. With that half-baked resolve, he managed to maneuver himself around the wild kobold¡¯s unorthodox fighting style, orck thereof; it utilized its small stature and nimble nature to slip through the walls, shooting out with frantic swings before disappearing back into the walls. It repeated this all while other kobolds closed in, forcing him to have to make a move sooner rather thanter. Carefully watching his surroundings, he noticed a pebble on the leftmost wall vibrate. Now! He thought. The rabid, salivating koboldunched out from the wall with a stoneplexion, wildly swinging, but the young man was prepared. He ducked down and countered, slicing upward with a clean retaliation as his ck-and-silver steel cut through the kobold like butter.. ¡°Phew,¡± he sighed out. Though that battle was over, he nearly lost his bnce as the stallion lost its cool further, forcing Vandread to strain himself as he tugged on the reins, trying to calm the steed. ¡°Damn, guess this one wasn¡¯t bred for battle¡­¡± Vandread exhaled, ¡°Emilio!¡± ¡°Yeah, I know!¡± He replied, already knowing he¡¯d have to fight again. Though instead of many kobolds approaching, only one confronted him as he stood on the stallion¡¯s back, watching its rear. One kobold would certainly be a wee battle in contrast to multiple, that is, unless the kobold in question possessed an unnatural stature itself. ¡°What the¡­¡± It was huge; likely near three meters in height, though standing shorter due to humpback. The light-red skinned, fur-covered creature was built with bulging muscle, wielding a massive pickaxe made for its size. ¡°Are kobolds supposed to grow that big?!¡± He questioned out loud. Vandread nced back, ¡°That¡¯s the defender of their n. It¡¯ll be simple; just don¡¯t let it hit you.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, great advice!¡± He replied sarcastically. Still, it was a nice feeling; the man who once treated him as a ¡®fragile package¡¯ now relied on him to be able to not only defend himself, but handle the entire fight itself. Technically, I should be in my thirties, mentally, at least¡­but damn, why does it feel so good not to be treated like a kid?! He thought. Against such arge foe, he knew fighting on the stallion would only put it in danger, so he hopped off of it momentarily to engage with the giant kobold, who was lumbering towards him while snarling. With something like this, I¡¯ll need a little magic. But, somethingplimentary to my swordy. I can¡¯t weaveplex spells without using my staff, but I can still manage! He surmised. Swinging towards him, the massive pickaxe sailed with immense strength, narrowly missing as he jumped back. It mmed into the stone crust of the wall, piercing and cracking it as pebbles and sparks alike sizzled in the air. ¡°Graaagh!¡± The kobold bellowed. The behemoth¡¯s pickaxe was lodged into the stone, which he noticed and took advantage of as he lunged forward, however¨C ¡°Ri! Ri! Ri!¡± The kobold chanted unknown words. ¡°Magic?!¡± Blocking his path, sharpened rocks rose from the ground, narrowly missing as he flipped back, surprised at his own agility. Holy¡­I feel so light now! He thought. Though he didn¡¯t have much time to be enamored with himself as the kobold burrowed through its own creation, mming its pickaxe through the stones as it charged towards the young man. It was swung towards him again with such heavy power; the rusty pickaxe neared his body. Again, his instincts allowed him to move in order to counter its swing with his own sword though he¡¯d trained himself to react with spells previously. CHNK. The pickaxe and his treasured sword shed; though it was a struggle, he managed to stop the pickaxe¡¯s momentumpletely. ¡°Grrh¡­¡± He strained. His fingers quivered around the handle of his sword, but he nted his feet down and remembered the ¡°Mountain God Style¡± fundamentals his father and Velda had drilled into him. Be as rigid¡­as a mountain of old! He told himself. Against all reason, the fifteen year-old boy of a slight build overcame the goliath kobold, knocking it back as the creature stumbled backward in surprise, blinking with its emotionless, ck eyes. Vandread watched, gaining control of the stallion while it was stopped in ce as he mumbled to himself, ¡°¡­Huh. Kids certainly grow fast these days, eh, Julius?¡± As he pushed forward with his sword being swung back, the kobold yelled out again: ¡°Ri! Ri-Ri! Ri!¡± It¡¯s casting again! He thought. As predicted, the walls around him rumbled before the stone shifted and extended out in the shape of hammers, swinging with their rigid, normally inflexible forms towards him. Though he didn¡¯t stop as he instead stomped his boot down, ¡°I¡¯ll show you magic!¡± Intercepting the path of the stone hammers that mmed towards him were many poles of rock that were manifested in such a way that they made it impossible for the bludgeoning stone to move further. ¡°Grugh¡­?!¡± The kobold let out. Now nothing was blocking him from the towering, cis-covered kobold, who tried to swing its weapon towards him again. Though the attack was easily negated by a swift st of wind that knocked the creature off bnce again. He jumped up, holding his de overheard before using all of his weight behind his downward sh, ¡°Hyaaah!¡± SQUELCH. Through its torso, his steel carved through, tearing the kobold nearly in two before it fell over. ¡°¡­Huff¡­¡± He caught his breath. After that encounter, he had a gauge of his new strength granted to him by his ¡°Draconic Constitution¡± skill. I¡¯d say it¡¯s roughly three-to-five times, he thought, As a boy who is¡­a few hairs into puberty, I¡¯m a good bit stronger than the average grown man, but nothing close to Vandread or Father. Returning to the stallion¡¯s back, Vandread pulled the reins to signal the majestic animal to begin its trot forward again. ¡°Nice work,¡± Vandread left a rarepliment, ¡°I know I said a sword was the better choice in this environment, but I didn¡¯t expect you to embrace that against a big guy like that.¡± ¡°Yeah, me neither,¡± he responded. In haste, they traversed the ravine, it took another couple hours of fending off kobolds, which eventually led back upward to normal ground level, returning the two of them to the surface where the sun greeted Emilio with its soft, orange rays. ¡°¡­I almost forgot it was still daytime,¡± he mumbled. They were now entering the space between the two mountains, which were colossal in scale, almost seeming boundless in their size as entire forests stretched over their scope. ¡°We¡¯re close now,¡± Vandread told him, ¡°¨Cto Larundog.¡± After being in the dank caverns, he weed any semnce of civilization away from the skulking kobolds. The first sign of nearing civilization again was that the dirt trail had shifted into a paved road; a wee sight for Emilio, who had longed for a stop in a city again since Elsia, which felt like an eternity ago. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything yet,¡± Emilio said, looking forward. Vandread replied, ¡°Be patient.¡± ¡°Right,¡± he nodded. Though it was hard to withdraw his anxiousness as he was ready to make up for what he didn¡¯t experience in Elsia; that is, spending his hard-earned coins in certain premiums that he missed out on before. ¡°What¡¯s Larundog like? You¡¯ve been there before, right?¡± He asked. ¡°There¡¯s nothing of note, really,¡± Vandread answered, ¡°I only go through it; I never stay there for any prolonged amount of time. Actually, I have heard about one special part of it, though I¡¯ve never bothered with it.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± He asked curiously. As he waited for an answer, the sound of the stallion¡¯s hooves trotting across the stone road met his ears. ¡°Larundog is said to have the best brothel in all of Milligarde¨Cwell, I¡¯ve heard some day its in contention for one of the best on the continent,¡± Vandread told him. ¡°What?!¡± Emilio let out. It seemed like a lost dream now set within his grasp again for the boy with aspirations far too big and perhaps lecherous for one of his tenure in this world. Vandread sighed, ¡°You¡¯re Julius¡¯ kid, alright.¡± ¡°Of course I am.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, I mean you two are practically identical in a lot of ways. If it wasn¡¯t for your mother¡¯s hair, I¡¯d be looking at the spitting image of that guy,¡± Vandread nced back at him. ¡°¨C¡± He looked at the man. There was still a lot he didn¡¯t know about Vandread; in fact, that was an understatement. Hardly anything at all was known about him besides the fact he was an old friend of his father¡¯s who owed a favor to him, and is somehow immortal. Such things only made Emilio more curious as to who Vandread truly was, though asking the man about anything was a futile endeavor. ¡°What was Father like back then?¡± He asked. Though he was interested in what kind of person his father was at a time long before his own, part of him knew asking in this fashion may also drag out some information on Vandread himself. The tinum-eyed man looked forward, ¡°You¡¯ve asked me this fourteen times exactly since we left Yullim.¡± ¡°And I¡¯ll keep asking until you answer,¡± he smiled innocently. ¡°You¡¯re a real pain,¡± Vandread kept his gaze forward, ¡°Well, for starters, Julius was a total lech. I mean, we couldn¡¯t walk ten steps without him harassing girls.¡± ¡°Ghh¡­¡± He winced at how unsurprising, but embarrassing it was, ¡°¡­That sounds like him. Chapter 125 Tactical Savages With the leisurely pace in which the steed moved, and the rxing scenery of the verdant, luscious mountains and the light mist of the rising noon that allowed the temperature to be brisk and slightly wet, the journey turned from tense tofortable. ¡°Julius thought he had all the game in the world. Though most girls did give him the time of day because of his status and looks, they realized pretty quickly that underneath all of that, he was nothing more than a perverted geezer in the body of a young man.¡± Well, that¡¯s one way to put it¡­Emilio thought. ¡°I wasn¡¯t any better, I guess. Back then, we had littlepetitions to see who could pick up more girls,¡± Vandread said. ¡°Wait¨Cyou?! You did that, too?!¡± He asked in shock. Vandread scratched his head, ¡°Ah¨Cwell, this was a long time ago. Things¡­change,¡± the man seemed gloomy as he said that. Though it was hard for him to see the man¡¯s expression from behind, he could see a glimpse of emotion, though sorrowful at that, in those shining eyes that belonged to the immortal man. ¡°¡­I¡¯d like to hear more, please,¡± he requested. It seemed Vandread was going to continue, but stopped as he pulled the stallion to a halt as well, ¡°We¡¯ll have to save the stories for another time.¡± ¡°Huh? Why?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got some nuisances blocking our path,¡± Vandread said, slowly drawing a de from a sleeve on his pants. As he looked forward, having to lean to the side to see past Vandread, he saw what the man was referring to: fiendish, small creatures were gathered on the road.. ¡°Goblins,¡± he mumbled, ¡°¡­But, they don¡¯t seem normal.¡± The unsightly creatures were different from the green-skinned ones he was used to; they had pale, yellowplexions like fall leaves. They seemed slightly taller, and dressed in leather armor. Vandread hopped off from horseback, dual-wielding a pair ofrge huntsman knives as the yellow-skinned goblins stayed their distance; the creatures let out gargles andughs, preparing to charge at any moment. ¡°Be careful. These goblins are on a higher level than the ones you¡¯re used to; they¡¯re mountain raiders,¡± Vandread warned, ¡°Stay by the horse and defend it; I¡¯ll handle this.¡± ¡°Right,¡± he nodded, taking his staff out. There was a good amount of the goblins, who, opposed to normal ones which resembled the build of a human child, were closer to Emilio¡¯s size. Still, Vandread didn¡¯t seem tock any confidence in engaging them. This is odd, Vandread thought, there shouldn¡¯t be goblins on the roads so close to Larundog. Looks like they got a hold of a cart of goods, too. What¡¯s going on? I need to get this over with and get to the city. The first few of the yellow-skinned goblins charged forward, wielding shortswords, daggers, or even ils. Though the foul creaturesunched the attack, the dark-skinned man of the Godless Style took the initiative straight from them as one of his knives was flung forward like a javelin, piercing through the skull of the foremost goblin. ¡°Gragh¡­!¡± The goblin let out before dying immediately. ¡°Ragh?!¡± The other two were caught by surprise. In that moment of confusion, Vandread swept in, retrieving his knife and spinning around in the same movement, cutting the throat of another goblin as its blood sprayed out. Emilio watched while staying near the horse, finding himself surprised at how efficiently the man handled the goblins. The Godless Style was quick, brutal, and efficient; Vandread aimed only for vitals with every attack he made, not wasting any movement. As a goblin attempted dashing towards him and striking him with its de, he grabbed its arm, twisting it around and stabbing the creature with its own weapon. At the same time he did this, he threw his knife again, killing an archer with pinpoint precision. He said these goblins were on another level¡­He¡¯s making them look like average uglies, Emilio thought. ¡°¨C!¡± Watching wasn¡¯t all he was allowed to do as he realized the presence of more mountain raider goblins upying the mountainsides; they stood on both sides of the road on the high ground, wielding bows pointed straight for him and the stallion. ¡°Nice try, but¡ª!¡± As he raised his staff, preparing to use a counter force of wind to negate the arrows¡¯ trajectory, he realized on closer inspection that something was different about the way the arrows were pulled back on their bows. It was a swish of wind; spiraling around the arrows, wind enchanted the projectiles before they shot out. They¡¯re using wind magic? Goblins like these can use magic!? He questioned. The small burst of air he was going to expand the area with wasn¡¯t going to work if the arrows themselves were blessed with wind. Instead, he acted quickly to formte another counter strategy. ¡°¡ª!¡± As the wind-swirled arrows wereunched by the tactical goblin archers, who numbered near a dozen, he summoned two walls of mud on his left and right. Manipting mud was a bit moreplex than simply conjuring a wall of dirt or rock; it was a swiftbination of the rock and water elements. More than that, maintaining a solid shape with mud, a loose, chaotic substance, was difficult. The arrows carried a hefty force behind them with the wind giving them superior speed and power, but they managed to get swallowed by the shields of mud. Though the shoddily-made arrows were stopped, they did manage to bore a good amount through the durable wall, which was frightening in its own right. They really are different¡­They¡¯re advanced! He thought. He was forced to maintain his concentration as another volley of the enchanted arrows sailed through the valley; the feathered projectiles hissed as the air was forcibly contorted around the objects. The stallion whined, anxiously tapping its hooves as goblins closed in around, continuing their onught of arrows that drilled against the walls of mud. ¡°¡­They¡¯re targeting the horse?¡± He mumbled to himself. Each time a wind-infused arrow drilled into one of his tall mud walls, it attacked his concentration directly, assaulting the stability of his magecraft and damaging the integrity of the wall. This caused him to have to relinquish the spell after the next set of arrows came, now finding himself having to deal with the archers directly. Luckily, they had moved in closer, making his task easier. Alright, let¡¯s do this, he thought. He summoned the newfound strength in his legs alongside a burst of wind at his heels to dash with optimal speed; this maneuver allowed him to cover the thirty-meter gap between him and his enemies within a second. The goblin archers looked up in surprise at this agility from the blonde-haired boy, having no time to readjust their attack. Got you! He thought. With his left hand, he quickly manifested imprisoning spheres of water to capture the five goblins to either side while with his right, he swung his sword towards the foes before him. CLANG. Though he swept his de towards the head of the yellow-skinned creature in front of him, it was stopped. It wasn¡¯t halted by the archer himself, but by one of its kind; a longsword-wielding goblin managed to intercept the attack. It¡­protected the other? He thought. Perhaps more perplexing than anything else he¡¯d witnessed so far with the heightened goblins was the act of camaraderie and teamwork between them. As he looked to the side after jumping back, he found the other goblins, who weren¡¯t ensnared in the water spheres, reaching in and pulling out theirrades. Not only are they more skilled, but also intelligent? He thought. Seeing them almost act ¡®human¡¯ caused him to hesitate for a moment as he witnessed their teamwork, but as one lunged towards him, any of that hesitation was wiped out. ¡­I can¡¯t hesitate! He thought. It naturally exuded from him; a massive burst of wind that he propelled from his hand. This highly-pressurized wind mmed into the goblin, mangling its body and shattering its bones, along with destroying its internal organs. ¡°¨C¡± He looked on in shock. Usually unleashing magic of such potency strained his body, which was why naturally he inclined not to do it as it was detrimental in a fight. However, it seemed his draconic constitution allowed him to cast higher strength spells now. ¡°Graaagh!¡± ¡°Raaagh!¡± The mountain raiders roared out their battlecries; archers readied their arrows and the warriors of the goblin n charged him with their weapons. As he nced back, he could see goblins approaching the horse, forcing him to act in haste now. When backed into a corner and forced to act, Emilio truly shined when manipting magic for lethal force; in abination of magecraft and steel, he swept the goblin¡¯s feet from under them with the use of wind before cutting them down while they fell. ¡°Graaah¨C!¡± One had closed in on him still,ing from his blindspot, but he managed to block its attack before deflecting it and countering with a release of me magic; the spell he chose was ¡®Fire Flower¡¯: a zing attack that blossomed into fearsome petals that exuded a skin-melting heat. After thatst spell, he winced and groaned out as a sharp pain traveled from his fingertips and to his shoulder. ¡°Gah¡­!¡± He let out. I¡¯m using a lot of mana. I need to be careful¡­I¡¯m still not fully recovered from my fight with the chief, he thought. Chapter 126 Weighing Possibilities It was a rare urrence for him to reach the limits of his personal mana reservoir, but it did happen at times; it was finite, and especially when casting more potent spells, it happened faster. Still, the incredible amount of mana he had used against the chief had still not recovered itself the past couple days. He jumped back, moving near the stallion again as the swift goblins gave chase. If I keep tossing magic around, I might end up hurting myself¡­if Ipromise myself in the middle of a fight, that could be it¡­! I¡¯ll have to rely on my sword for this! He nned. Luckily, Vandread was taking the brunt of the raiders; he made efficient use of the goblins¡¯ own weapons as projectiles to y approaching reinforcements. If this were apetition, Emilio would be losing sorely. While he ran a bit more to put space between him and the chasing goblins so he could get his bearings, throwing knives were tossed towards him, embedding into the stone tiles of the road by his feet. ¡°Gah!¡± He let out. Too close! He thought. Just as he turned around, anky, pale goblin leapt towards him, prompting him to counter with a desperate swing, A sess. The edge of his de swept through its gut, spilling the creature¡¯s life essence onto the ground as itnded behind him, deceased. To his surprise, the goblin that was with it began to contort its expression; its features sharpened with rage as tears welled up in its eyes. There was no doubting that fiery look as emotion swelled in its beady irises,. It was enraged; anguished. It¡¯s upset¡­because I killed itsrade? He realized, ncing back at the in goblin. Though looking back was a mistake as the sorrowful goblin charged towards him, shing rapidly as it left a gash across the young man¡¯s forearm. ¡°Ghh¡­!¡± He gritted his teeth to bear the pain. The sheer humanity that was presented by the raider was something that bothered him. Somehow, he found himself on the defensive as the goblin snarled and rapidly swung its sword, forcing him to block as he backed up. Sparks flew as steel collided with steel, but he nted his foot down and countered. A straight sh directly through its shoulder and down its torso; it was an instant-kill. [Level Up!] [Level Eleven Achieved.] ¡°¡­Huff¡­¡± He caught his breath. Once he¡¯d finished that one, it seemed Vandread had cleaned up the rest of the goblin raiding party as well. Vandread was as casual as ever, wiping his knives off as he returned to the stallion, ¡°Did you get hurt?¡± He nodded, holding his arm, ¡°Yeah. Nothing I can¡¯t heal though¡­¡± As he caressed his forearm, he focused healing magic around the gash on his limb; the wound slowly closed itself up as if magical stitches brought his flesh together seamlessly. Vandread grabbed the horse¡¯s lead, ¡°We¡¯ll walk the rest of the way. It seems we need to be ready for trouble.¡± ¡°You think this might happen again?¡± He asked. ¡°Goblins being this close to Larundog isn¡¯t normal,¡± Vandread told him, ¡°Usually local adventurers would have neighboring goblins handled. They would be too scared to approach the city, but it seems they¡¯re getting brave.¡± ¡°¡­I thought goblins like that wouldn¡¯t have any reservations about attacking. It seemed like they actually had tactics,¡± he said. Vandread nced back, ¡°I know what you mean, but goblins are goblins. Reckless, but pragmatic, in a way. They tend to have a good nose for finding what they can and can¡¯t handle.¡± As they moved forward, opting to walk and lead the stallion to stay ready for anything else that maye their way, Emilio nced around to find thrashed carriages and carts. Vandread stopped, giving him the lead to hold, ¡°Stay here a moment. I¡¯ll check on the carriages.¡± The tinum-eyed man carefully approached the tumbled, desecrated carriage, peeking around and lifting the veil to make sure there were no lurking goblins. What the man found in the interior of the toppled carriage was unpleasant; vases filled with oil, likely to be sold, had poured over onto the corpse of the merchant responsible for the cart. ¡°¨C¡± Vandread looked with his unmoved gaze. Something¡¯s going on here, Vandread thought. Emilio had trouble keeping the shaggy-haired stallion calm as it neighed and whipped its head around, moving its hooves anxiously. ¡°Hey, hey, give me a break¡­!¡± He said, keeping an iron grip on the lead. As he struggled to rein in the beastly horse, Emilio found the hand of Vandreading to his rescue, taking the lead from him as the stoic man took over again. ¡°¨CDid you find anything?¡± Emilio asked. Vandread stared at him for a moment before looking forward, beginning to walk with the horse following behind, ¡°Nothing important. Let¡¯s get to Larundog; I have a feeling staying out here in the valley isn¡¯t a good y.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­I was feeling that, too,¡± he agreed, looking around anxiously. The paranoia of more mountain goblins stuck in his mind as he constantly watched the trees that sat on the colossal mounds; the thick foliage and trees made it difficult to watch out for enemies. It was over an incline that it was finally seen: the city embedded between the mountains¨C¡±Larundog.¡± The sight of such a ce tucked away in an open valley between the two, enormous mountains was almost surreal; great walls of logs, reinforced with steel, stood high and mighty. As if standing as a secondary set of barriers, perfectly-lined, colossal trees surrounded the city. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± He asked. ¡°Yeah. A city like this, sitting straight in the road towards Vasmoria should have more traffic though,¡± Vandread said, ¡°Something is definitely up.¡± It was true; there wasn¡¯t a single moving carriage to be seen or anybodying in or out of the city gates. ¡°Nnnheh!¡± ¨CSuddenly, the stallion thrashed around, jerking its head as it slipped its lead straight from the man¡¯s grip; the yell that left it was one of intense fear as it immediately bolted in the opposite direction. It was far too sudden and swift for either of them, unprepared for this reaction, to catch the horse. Partly such abnormal behavior made Emilio not even want to stop it. ¡°Hey!¡­Damn,¡± Vandread scratched his head. Emilio watched as the horse quickly vanished into the distance past the treeline, ¡°¡­Isn¡¯t that a bad omen?¡± ¡°Something like that. Animals have a sixth sense for the abnormal¨Cat least, that¡¯s what they say,¡± Vandread sighed. It¡¯s only looking worse by the minute, Emilio thought, I just wonder¡­what could be going on? Vandread seems positive that something is wrong within the city. Absolute caution was kept now; Vandread moved slowly with his eyes peeled, keeping a knife drawn as he had Emilio stay behind him. Though the stoic man said this position was for the boy to watch his back, Emilio could sense that this was to protect him. ¡°What do you think it could be? Goblins?¡± Emilio asked. As he nced around, the only thing neighboring the road to the front gates were oak-brown trees that softly swayed in the passing breeze. Sunlight was blocked out by the tall, bristly cedar on the Larundog pathway. Vandread answered quietly without moving his gaze, ¡°No. That¡¯s not possible. Larundog is a city with its own local adventurers, and even traveling adventurers since it¡¯s amon stop for those going to Vasmoria and thoseing from. That¡¯s not to mention the city guard itself. Goblins wouldn¡¯t be able to invade a ce like this.¡± ¡°Then what¡­?¡± The front gates were close now, and it became more clear that something was wrong; carts were toppled over, cargo was lost on the roads and in the ditches, and no guards were stationed beyond the tall, wooden doors. ¡°There¡¯s three possibilities that I¡¯ve narrowed it down to,¡± Vandread said, raising three fingers, ¡°One, that a gue broke out within the city and they isted themselves, or died outpletely¨CI say it¡¯s a fair bet, considering theck of life outside. Two, Larundog was targeted by enemy forces¨Cmost likely, though. Three¡­a massacre-level threat entity has breached Larundog.¡± ¡°How likely is the third option?¡± He asked. Vandread noticed something that made him answer, ¡°¡­Highly likely.¡± Chapter 127 Dread Awaits What made this the obvious choice was what was found on the road, hidden behind one of the dested carriages on the road: a few men dressed in chainmail were lying on the paved road¨Cdead. They were mangled and eviscerated by inhuman means; their innards strewn out. ¡°This is¡­!¡± Emilio covered his mouth in shock and disgust. Vandread didn¡¯t bat an eye, only kneeling down to check the lion sigil that was on the guards¡¯ backs, ¡°These are the city guard for Larundog. We can cross out the idea of an illness or other men doing this; injuries like this are the result of something not human.¡± It was something different than what he was prepared for; the threat that loomed seemed inhuman beyond the depraved criminals he¡¯d faced or the savage warriors. This was something that sat on a new boundary. ¡°Should we go around?¡­If it¡¯s something dangerous¨C¡± Emilio asked. ¡°Going around Larundog now would be incredibly difficult. The city was built to act almost as a pre-border to Vasmoria. That means it was made so that looping around it would prove to be unfeasible,¡± Vandread exined, ¡°We¡¯d have to climb one of these mountains, which could take weeks, especially now that we¡¯re on our feet. Beyond that, our supplies won¡¯tst. I can survive without food, but you won¡¯t.¡± ¡°¨C¡± Emilio looked down. ¡°That being said, it¡¯s your choice,¡± Vandread looked back at him. ¡°What?¡± It was a surprising development for sure: the pragmatic man who seemed devoid of emotion leaving a life-staking choice to him. ¡°I¡¯d say your chances of surviving a detour could be just as low as entering the city. It¡¯s aplete gamble though; perhaps all of my guesses were wrong. Maybe it¡¯s fine and dandy in there, or maybe, something truly lethal is lurking in there,¡± Vandread said, ¡°I can¡¯t decide. It¡¯s your life, so I¡¯ll leave this one up to you. What¡¯ll it be, Emilio?¡± A choice like this felt too heavy; it was a burden mping down on his lungs as when he parted his lips, he found it difficult to sound out any answer. It was on him; a choice that could lead to life-or-death. Perhaps either way, he¡¯d live, or perhaps either way, he¡¯d die.. The idea of confronting an entity that could cause such death and destruction was frightening, but when he thought about it, he¡¯d faced such things before. Maybe it¡¯s on apletely different magnitude, but¡­I¡¯ve grown, Emilio thought, I¡¯m stronger now. Vandread is here, too. ¡°¡­Let¡¯s go into Larundog,¡± he finally answered quietly, looking up at the tall man. Vandread looked down at him, ¡°Are you positive? A massacre-level threat is something on the level of the Hunting Party. Though if it truly has taken over the city¨Cit¡¯s probably closer to a cataclysm.¡± He nodded slowly, ¡°I think this way¡­we have a better shot. Even if something is in there, we don¡¯t have to confront it.¡± ¡°True. That was my n, anyway,¡± Vandread looked at him, ¡°Though before we do anything, you need to sit down and eat something.¡± ¡°Huh?¡¯ He said in confusion. It was umon for Vandread to act with care, but it was more so the man¡¯s cautious and ever-dutiful nature that he aided Emilio; guiding him to sit down against a tree as he retrieved a pastry from their supplies. What was given to him was a circr, yellow-powdered pastry that looked surprisingly appetizing for something Vandread kept. ¡°This is Laja bread,¡± Vandread told him, ¡°I always keep a bit of it on me. It¡¯s dense and packed with energy. I can tell you¡¯re running low on mana, so that¡¯ll help you.¡± ¡°Thanks¡­¡± He epted it. It was soft and fluffy, like biting into a powdery cloud; of course, it was as sweet and tart as it looked, though there was a bitter aftertaste. As he ate the rejuvenating pastry, Vandread stayed close, keeping an eye out and inspecting the aftermath of whatever swept through the road to the gates. A half hour passed of Emilio allowing his body to recharge with the mystical nutrients of the pastry, washing it down with spring water while Vandread paced back and forth carefully. ¡°As I thought,¡± Vandread said, ¡°Nobody¡¯sing in or out.¡± As he started to get up, he noticed something hovering in the air, closing in as it pped its wings: a ck-feathered bird that made a gurgled croak. A raven¡­? He thought. Vandread looked up at the approaching creature, which lowered itself, hovering in front of him as it presented a stamped, rolled-up paper to him. The man epted it without a word before the raven took off, unraveling the paper and reading the document. To Emilio, he feltpletely left out of the loop as if this was some sort of normal urrence. ¡°¡­Urr, what was that all about? Did that bird just give you a letter?¡± He asked. Vandread exhaled slowly, ¡°It¡¯s a messenger raven. They¡¯re sent out from city guilds under duress, drawn to the nearest adventurer who bears an insignia.¡± It was a perplexing concept, but in a world of magic and monsters, he felt it to be an exercise in futility to question the logistics of it all. ¡°Oh¡­That¡¯s something¡­I¡¯ve never heard of that before,¡± he said, ¡°You¡¯re not really in the position for an impromptu quest, are you?¡± ¡°In this case, I am,¡± Vandread looked at him, rolling the letter up again. Leaves danced down from the trees as the sparse sunlight that seeped through the ceiling of leaves dimmed further on the deste road. ¡°How?¡± ¡°This is an S-rank emergency quest¨C¡¯Eliminate the threat within Larundog¡¯,¡± Vandread told him. This surprised him, but there was no falsehoodcing Vandread¡¯s words, but the confirmation from the quest, officializing the threat, made it all the more real. ¡°¡­An S-rank quest? So something dangerous really is past those gates,¡± he said, looking towards the ominous entrance to the city. ¡°It¡¯s worse than it sounds,¡± Vandread corrected him. ¡°How can it be any worse than it sounds? It¡¯s already looking bleak¡­¡± Vandread tucked the document away under his coat, ¡°The quest specified that civilians shouldn¡¯t be of concern. Also, the raven didn¡¯te from Larundog itself.¡± ¡°Huh? It didn¡¯t? But, then wait¨C¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Vandread finished for him, ¡°It came from the Guild Foundation itself. I¡¯m guessing an adventurer fled and informed them of whatever is in there right now. This means that whatever is in there has to be killed at any cost; we should consider Larundog lost.¡± Such bleak news was anything but helpful to his spirit, but it did temper his expectations; Emilio knew what was at stake now and what sort of caution would be necessary. The thought of the enigmatic entity existing in those walls, simply one-hundred meters away, made his hands shake. It was as if tangible fear itself was vibrating his palms as he looked down at them, gripping them to try and control his quivering. ¡°A change of ns,¡± Vandread suddenly said, drawing a knife. ¡°What? Wh-what¡¯re you talking about?¡± Vandread looked at him with his emotionless, tinum eyes, ¡°It¡¯s more dangerous than I thought. I¡¯ll go in alone. If I don¡¯t return in three hours, I¡¯ll somehow have been killed or ensnared by it. At that point, find your way back to the Verma. They¡¯ll help you.¡± As the man tasked as his escort said such, he began to walk away, but not before being stopped as Emilio picked himself up and rushed over, getting in front of him to block his way. ¡°¨C¡± Vandread looked at him silently. The young man stared back at him with a resolved gaze; though his emerald eyes shook slightly, the fear was mostly concealed. Finally, Vandread let out a sigh, ¡°¡­I knew you wouldn¡¯t ept that. It was worth a shot anyway.¡± ¡°You bet I¡¯m not just going to sit around!¡± Emilio replied. Though it seemed like the strict man was going to ept his rejection of the n, such was not the way of Vandread. ¡°I wasn¡¯t asking,¡± Vandread sternly told him. It was a sudden shift that he wasn¡¯t expecting, but before he could react, Vandread¡¯s fist already mmed itself into his stomach with a harsh force behind it. ¡°Pyuh¡­!¡± He spit out the air from his lungs. There was nothing held back in that blow; it made him keel over as his unrested body burned up at the core from the scolding pain. ¡°¨C¡± He couldn¡¯t speak as he had to focus on regaining his breath. Vandread moved past him, ¡°Stay put. If the sun sets before I¡¯m back, move in the opposite direction to the city¨Creturn to the Verma if you can.¡± There was nothing he could say as he simply held his stomach, sitting there on the ground as Vandread¡¯s footsteps became a distant rhythm. Perhaps he could stand up and insist on following the man further, but he received the message: this was Vandread¡¯s decision. ¡­I¡¯m still just a weak kid, aren¡¯t I? He thought, after what I¡¯ve done¡­I still can¡¯t be relied on? It was a spiteful predicament, but itsted only as long as the pain in his gut did; after a few minutes, he picked himself up, sitting properly as he breathed out. I understand what he¡¯s doing, he thought, he was given responsibility over me by my parents. At the very least, he wants to keep to that. Still¡­I¡¯m not a helpless child. Chapter 128 The Unknown The gates had already been opened by Vandread, who quietly slipped through, closing the metal-reinforced entrance behind him. Alone, he was left with his thoughts, worried about what Vandread could¡¯ve found within the bounds of Larundog. A nauseating wait ensued; he could only sit there against the tree, listening to the silence of the lifeless road while watching the front gates, hoping to see the abrasive man return from their threshold. He hugged his knees close to his chest as it began to cool down; the sun shifted, settling from daytime into dusk as the little sunlight that bled through the leaves had been whisked away. It was that time. ¡°¨C¡± He looked towards the gate. There was nothing. It was almost sanity scraping; watching those gates and expecting something to happen, for anybody toe through them. s, it was simply solitude; there was nobodying down the road oring back from within the city. ¡­Something happened, he thought, when Vandread gives himself a specified time like that¡­he won¡¯t miss it unless something is holding him from it. Remembering what was told to him by the man who was responsible for his well being, he looked the other way down the road, away from the city and back through the valley. The idea of walking away, alone, wandering the silent fields through the slumbering mountains, wasn¡¯t pleasant to him. It was just as frightening to him as the unknown within Larundog: the lonely, harsh retreat. As he brought himself to his feet, brushing des of grass from his knees, he looked down, conflicted with what the right call was.. If Vandread was somehow killed, despite his seemingly unkible body, then he hardly stood a chance of survival if he went in after him. At that point, it¡¯d be best to respect the man¡¯s wishes and run the opposite way. However, Emilio didn¡¯t feel that. This would mean putting a stop to his journey towards bing an adventurer; it meant erasing his aspiration born from abandoning his old life, it betrayed the person he wanted to be¨Cbetter than his spiteful, selfish self as ¡®Ethan.¡¯ A life was lived with a weak body as brittle as a twig, but that life was gone. With a strong, capable body, running away felt like a betrayal of everything he¡¯d suffered for in his previous lifetime. Simply, turning back towards the lonely nothingness, which perhaps could still lead to death, scared him more than going into the city. All it came down to was picking which potential danger to dive into, and the one through the gates was the only one that could somehow have a proper ¡®victory¡¯ beyond it. I¡¯m going in, he resolved. Approaching the front gates, the air grew noticeably more cold; the sight of bloodstains on the high-reaching walls didn¡¯t help to quell the rapid beating of his anxious heart as he kept his staff held in his hand tightly. Insurmountable possibilities; that¡¯s what he felt waited beyond the gates. While it seemed anything could be waiting, any scenery could be present, it still felt as though the main probability that existed was one thing: death. As he reached out towards the iron handle to the door to the side of the gate, meant to be used by the city guards, he found his fingertips just barely shy of grazing the material. His hand was quivering; it wasn¡¯t something he could overpower with will. Such fear was ingrained in his pores. I¡¯m shaking, he thought. It felt almost magical in nature; the sheer potency of the fear he felt and the coldness of the air, thin and brisk; though he eventually grasped the handle, pulling the door open. As it opened, it creaked with a drawn out whistle. All that was revealed on the other side was a passage through the wide walls. Not a single torch that sat within the interior of the guard room was lit; it was pitch-ck, only with another door sitting ominously on the other side. In this situation, the existence of darkness was not something he weed as he held his staff in front of him, conjuring a small me to act as a torch to disperse the shadows. ¡°¨C¡± He took a step forward. As his boot came down, a sloshing sound met his ears; he had stepped into a puddle that felt warm against the sole of his leather shoe. Bringing his gaze down with the makeshift torch supporting his sight, he found a crimson pool at his feet, which instantly made his stomach drop and his breath to be caught in his lungs. ¡°Ghh¡­!¡± He stumbled back. It was now visible to him: the dead bodies of Larundog guardsmen that littered the room. They were covered incerations, mangled, and disemboweled. The door he came through mmed shut behind him, and as he tried to open it, the handle didn¡¯t budge in the slightest; jiggling and yanking the handle did nothing. ¡°¡­Let me out!¡± He said under his uneven breath. Catching his breath and wiping the sweat from his forehead, he stepped back from the door, holding his catalyst forward before unleashing a fireball. It grew as he supplied it with his mana; the light-yellow hue shifted into a ferocious ray of orange before it exploded against the locked entrance. Of course, using such a spell in a closed-off room caused smoke to infiltrate his lungs as he coughed out. As he looked forward, using a soft cast of wind to dispel the smoke, he found the door wasn¡¯t budged in the slightest, nor did it even bear any burn marks. What the¡­? He thought. There was no doubting the fact that a st of fire magic should¡¯ve blown the door straight off of its hinges, let alone result in its beingpletely unscathed. Without a doubt, something wasn¡¯t right; the air had shifted, thick with enigma as an unnerving atmosphere surrounded him. Before he could test it again, something whispered into his ear: [What is it you fear most?] It was a distorted voice, both deep and light, but the meaning of its words were understood naturally. What I fear¡­? He thought. Directly after the question, he dropped to his knees as something began happening to his body: it heated up unnaturally,ing over with a sickly feeling. As he looked down at his hands, hisplexion became pale and his limbs grew; each of his fingers became bony as his arms were as thin as noodles. No, this is¡­! He realized. Summoning a sphere of water, he used its reflective form to look at himself, confirming his fears: he had shifted back into ¡®that¡¯ form: shaggy, jet-ck hair, bags under his lifeless eyes, and a frail,nky build on a neen-year-old body. This was Ethan Bellrose. The outfit he wore, vest, cape, and all had its fabric turned to a solemn gray. ¡°¡­Why¡­?¡± He asked. Emilio¡¯s voice was gone; it had be the raspier voice of Ethan. Though his voice was particrly deep, it was in contrast to the fifteen-year-old¡¯s body he should be possessing, but instead now held the body of the sickly adult. Seeing himself as the self he abandoned, he felt disgusted, but more so mortally perplexed by what caused this. ¡°¡­Why can¡¯t I just escape you¡­? Why do you have to follow me here? I gave it up, but you just can¡¯t stay dead, Ethan¡­¡± He painfully mumbled to himself as tears welled up in his eyes. All I heard was that question ¡®What do I fear the most?¡¯ then this¡­? This is my deepest fear? He thought. It wasn¡¯t just a change in appearance, either. He could feel it: that same frailty that persisted over his sensitive skin, brittle bones, andpromised immune system. The sensation of a fragile constitution was not one he missed; he began coughing out, keeling over on the floor. Swirling with repressed memories, his mind was overwhelmed by the sickening shift as he was lost in this unwee change. Though as he sat there on the ground, he caught himself before he caved in to the horror. [¡°The Mountain God Style isn¡¯t just about your skill with a sword. More than that, you¡¯re taught in any situation, you must be as stalwart as an ancient mountain. Steel your mind and analyze the situation.¡±] The advice from his father flowed into his mind almost as a natural response to the negativity flooding his thoughts. Could this be some sort of magecraft?¡­Is it from the entity inside the city? He questioned, why though? I didn¡¯t see anything happen. It was as if it triggered when I entered the bounds of the city. Though he was repulsed by this situation, he pulled the hood of his cape over his head before picking himself up from the floor. Whatever the case¡­I need to find Vandread. If something like this is happening, I doubt he managed to put down the entity, he thought, I¡¯ll just have to make do, as ¡®Ethan.¡¯ The unforeseen transformation made him momentarily forget the death that lingered in the dark room; puddles of blood and mangled corpses of guardsid silently as he held his staff, conjuring a small me once more. ¡°¡­Alright¡­¡± He muttered. I can still use magic. Good, he thought. Chapter 129 Endless Holes As he looked around, trying to gather as much information as he could before delving into the belly of the beast that was Larundog, the tant disy of death from those tasked to protect the city made it clear that whatever lurked within its walls was something extraordinarily lethal. ¡°Ghh¡­¡± There was a disorder felt secondary to the state of his body; a new magical signature was felt,pletely different from that just outside of the gates. It was dark, cold, and malignant. ¡­What is this? He thought, I need to see the city¡­something isn¡¯t about this sensation. As he moved towards the door on the opposing side of the interior of the gate, his fingertips grasped the handle before slowly prying it open. ¡°¨C¡° It was beyond any of his expectations; what met his eyes was a scenery that made him question whether or not he had stepped into a separate space. The sky was a soft orange representative of sunset before he had entered the gate, but the sky he saw now, hanging over the city, was simr to that of a total sr eclipse. It was crimson; clouds took the form of distorted faces that held anguished expressions, sailing over the city. ¡°¡­What is this¡­?¡± He questioned. Death was present on each corner of the city; bodiesid on the streets, blood painted houses and shops alike, and all the while, the human-face-shaped clouds groaned. This is an S-rank quest¡­? He questioned, No¡­if Vandread knew it would be like this, he wouldn¡¯t have done it. He¡¯s too careful.. Simply, it was a nightmare; a nightmare that was without a doubt, reality. There was no time to assess the hellscape as the sound of heavy stomps caused his gaze to spin around, finding an entity approaching from the west street. It was a lumbering giant, roughly twice his height; pale and built with thick limbs and an even thicker neck, though it seemed tock eyes and possessed a body covered in holes. A soft whistle emitted from its body as air passed through the many holes embedded in its flesh. ¡°What the¡­? Is that thing the entity responsible for this?¡± He mumbled, raising his staff. The sight of it was a stomach-churning endeavor; it groaned as it approached slowly, carrying a hatchet in its left hand. Fighting with the frail body of his past self wasn¡¯t an idea he was fond of, but it seemed that his ¡°Draconic Constitution¡± skill at least allowed him to function normally, albeit with the usual pain and demerits. ¡°I¡¯m not in a great mood, so I¡¯m going to be a bit rough,¡± he said as a quiet warning to the approaching, grotesque giant. With a wave of his wooden staff, the pale stone from the street was manipted to spawn quickly-rising spikes that honed in on the hole-filled figure. There was no attempt to dodge or counterattack from the sluggish giant of pale, snow-white skin as the spikes stabbed into its blubbery body. Fwoooo¡­ The sound of air passing through the dozens of holes across its body left a nauseating sound which made Emilio cover one of his ears, wincing. That noise¡­it¡¯s grating, he thought. The eyeless entity was silent itself before it began to move, or at least it tried to, though it was detained through the stone pikes that skewered it. From its natural holes, the whistle of air continued to pelt his ears with an unnatural melody that felt as though it was gnawing at his sanity. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll finish this¡­¡± He said, covering one of his ears still. Swiping his staff, he manipted the spikes to multiply in their form, causing more of the stone weapons to birth themselves from within the giant¡¯s body. It was an instantaneous kill; the spikes skewered it from the inside out. However, no blood left its newly-made wounds. ¡°¡­?¡± He looked on. It wasn¡¯t as swift a finish as he had hoped for; the grotesque mound of flesh that was the featureless giant, like a canvas of muscle not given a form, began vibrating. What is it doing¡­? He thought. Suddenly, it exploded: chunks of chalky flesh propelled in every direction like bullets. He quickly created a wall in front of himself to block the iing chunks, though its stability was degraded by the swift casting time. ¡°What the¡­?!¡± The flesh of the eyeless giant began to stretch itself over the wall of stone, seizing it and coalescing as the chunks gathered at the single location. It¡¯s taking over my wall?! He realized. Attempting to stop the assimtion of the stone, he used his staff to create spikes across the wall, but hismand over the object was null. ¡°Huh¨C?¡± There was no effect when he tried manipting the wall; it was nowpletely absorbed by the chalky flesh of the entity before it broke down, beginning to shape itself into a new form once again. What is this thing¡­?! Is it using the mana from the wall to sustain itself? He thought. Before he could decide on his next course of action, a coughing fit erupted as he clutched his chest, heaving from his strained throat. It felt as though there was little right with his body; it was hardly responsive and unable to keep up with most of his actions. This body, it¡¯s not used to this¡­He realized. Though his mana itself and knowledge on how to wield it was still there, it seemed the body of ¡®Ethan¡¯ wasn¡¯t adjusted to magecraft. Even so, there was no choice but to move as the creature that assimted the wall had reshaped itself into a new form, this time taking a morenky, humanoid shape with dozens of holes through its body, but this time with empty eye sockets. ¡­I need to retreat for now and prepare! He nned. As he turned the other way, he ran down the blood-painted street of Larundog, through the deste marketce and around the corner. Even with Draconic Constitution, running was difficult for his malnourished, sickly body as he was deprived of oxygen from the short-lived sprint. He was forced to duck into one of the empty shops, which luckily had its door just slightly open. ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± He breathed out after shutting the door behind him, finding himself in a wrecked shop full of mostly destroyed pottery. The floorboards creaked beneath each of his steps as the nks were rotting from some substance that had moistened the material. It really is destroyed, he thought, this whole city and its people. There was too much that was still unknown to him: why he had now taken the appearance of his previous self, the nature of the eclipse hanging over the city, but more importantly, the morphing creature. ¡­Part of me wants to turn tail and run, but¡­I know deep down, that¡¯s not possible. I know I should¡¯ve easily blown that door away earlier, but it didn¡¯t budge, he thought, the impervious door, thepletely different atmosphere¡­I¡¯m starting to think this city is a trapped space. Faced with the inevitability of having to fight in the hellscape of a city, he instead turned his thoughts towards how to surmount the monster lurking the street. He could hear its footsteps; they were lighter now, but denser in dread. Against the asphalt, its steps resounded like an augury of death. Skewering it didn¡¯t do anything¡­If anything, it gave it something to absorb into itself, he thought, does that mean all physical attacks are meaningless? I doubt wind would make much of a difference. Maybe water of fire though¡­ As he went through the possibilities in his head, hiding behind the counter of the destroyed store, which was absent of light and filled with clingy shadows, the footsteps ascended the steps to the store¡¯s porch. Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. It was eerily silent; everything except those steps. As they stopped, moments followed, absolutely deprived of noise before¨C SLAM. Something hit the door with a loud bang, hitting it a few more times, but not opening the door as the noises came to a stop. He stayed seated on the ground behind the counter, out of sight and clutching his staff. The urge to cough arose, but he clutched his own throat to stifle it, opting to try and make the entity leave. After the banging stop, a peculiar whistle sounded out. It wasn¡¯t any normal chime; air was sharpened, pointed into a tune that mimicked the utterances of vocal chords. ¡°¡­Help¡­me¡­¡± The voice that said such words sounded like a sharp wind, passing like a breeze, though it was haunting. ¡°¨C!¡± Emilio silently sat up to peek over the counter. Did it¡­talk? He realized. As he slowly peeked over the counter, which was dirtied with shards of broken ss, the screeching of flesh scraping against a window met his ears. It was a chilling sight; the humanoid, white-fleshed creature was standing behind the window, scraping its palm against the ss as it stared through with its absent eyes. ¡°¡­Please don¡¯t¡­help me¡­I¡¯ll do anything¡­¡± As the entity emitted words, it didn¡¯t produce the sound with its lips, but through the many holes throughout its body, which manipted the air that passed through its body, contracting the holes as if it were an instrument. Those words¡­is it mimicking¡­people it¡¯s killed? He realized. Chapter 130 Unexpected Ally Though itcked eyes, it was staring right at him; hollow and devoid of anything remotely ¡®human¡¯, though it continued emitting those words like a lure. ¡°Help me¡­please, please¡­anybody.¡± It was perplexing to him; though he knew its words were shallow recreations of what it had heard, the fact it was repeating them was an odd behavior that he hadn¡¯t yet experienced from a foe. Soon, its calls shifted, rising in pitch as the holes on its body expanded, ¡°¡­Help¡­me¡ª!!!¡± The air was amplified through the tunnels carved through its flesh, producing sound waves that shattered the windows, vibrating the entire shop as if an earthquake had gripped it. ¡°Ghhh¡­!¡± He clutched his own ears. The mimicked words dissolved into nothing that bore a resemnce to human speech,pletely shifting into an overpowering screech that vibrated and broke up the ss into powder, assaulting his ears and body alike. ¡°Argh¡­!¡± It was difficult for his body to withstand the force, even while staying behind the counter; his fingertips quivered greatly, aching in pain as the force of sound vibrated in the marrow of his bones. This made it an arduous task to grip his staff, and even more difficult to concentrate on weaving magecraft. Get¡­it¡­! He told himself. Just as he managed to wrap his pale fingers around his catalyst, it granted him the necessary focus to unleash a dome of air around himself, invoking the element in order to counteract the soundwaves. Blood trailed down from one of his nostrils as he forced himself to his feet, aiming the concentration of wind across the shop without any reservations now as his life was on the line. It swept through the building; the floorboards were carved up before the st managed to knock the hole-filled creature back.. Fortunately, this stopped the assault of the soundwaves, granting him a moment to catch his breath as his entire body ached in pain now. ¡°¡­Grgh¡­¡± That was rough. I can¡¯t let it do that again, he thought, I¡¯ll have to test my theory out¨Cnow! He moved swiftly, raising his staff andunching another burst of wind towards the sound-using entity, not with the idea it¡¯d harm it, but to keep it off bnce as he left the shop. Just as heunched it onto the street, he stationed himself on the building¡¯s porch, manifesting a swirl of mes in front of his staff. While summoning the sphere of fire, he coughed out from the smoky air that filled his lungs, still feeling the aftereffects of the sound waves. Still, he poured his concentration into weaving the spell. ¡­I don¡¯t need to be fancy about it, he thought, against a foe like this¡­total eradication is the way to go! There was no special, intricate spell weaved, only a cone of mes amplified by wind in order to generate a destructive onught that propelled towards the creature. ¡°Help¡­!!!¡± The mimicry sirened out like the cry of a banshee from the creature before distorting into high-pitched sound waves that shed directly against the cone of mes. ¡°Damn it¨C!¡± It was a counter that came unexpectedly quick as the sound waves managed to sway the mes, tunneling through them and dispersing them wildly. The wild inferno was blown back directly towards its caster, causing Emilio to quickly summon a dome of stone around himself. Damn it¨Cthose sound waves are more annoying than I thought! He realized. Though the barrier of pale stone managed to withstand the mes without fail, it was the abrasive assault of sound that challenged its integrity. Cracks began to form along the stalwart walls as it rumbled violently. ¡°Ghh¡­¡± He winced, holding his head. Even suppressed within the personal dome, the sound still shook him up as blood dripped down his nose. It¡¯s going to break the dome. Once that happens, I¡¯m going to be hit full-force with this sound, he thought, I can¡¯t counter, either¡­that¡¯ll require putting the barrier down. What do I do, then? While sediment rained down from above with the ground vibrating against the soles of his boots, he pondered his next move while cracks lengthened and spread along the dome. That¡¯s it¡­! He realized. As he knelt down, he pressed one of his palms against the ground, breathing in and out to steady himself. I can still manipte rock from here. The vibrations will guide me straight to it! He thought. Closing his eyes, he focused solely on the element of rock; it was difficult to fully connect with it, but he began to be able to sense the vibrations along the ground outside of his dome. As he locked onto the sensation, guiding down the trail of soundwaves, he found it. Got you¡­! He thought. Honing in on the hole-bearing entity, he pressed his palm against the ground, manifesting his chosen magecraft as the ground rumbled intensely and parted. The sound waves stoppedpletely, allowing him to now dissipate his dome barrier as he saw the result of his spell. ¡°¡­Good¡­¡± He mumbled, wiping the blood from his nose. Four thick, sturdy walls had closed in around the creature, entrapping it and managing to hold off the sound waves long enough for him to prepare his next attack. I have to win¨Cnow, he surmised. What was chosen was a high-level fire spell; an Ethereal-ss magecraft. Embers began to form in the air around the abandoned street, swaying in the wind before gathering in a spot directly above the four walls. The walls continued to be assaulted by the full-force of the destructive sound, causing them to crack and falter while the magecraft was formed. All of the embers coalesced into the shape of a bright-orange, five-pointed star, looking down above the stone box. ?[0)??? Just then, it shattered, and as it did, he unleashed the true nature of the ethereal-ss spell: ¡°Piety of The Fire King.¡± Blood trickled down from his nostril as he summoned the magecraft into existence, weaving the fiery winds into one location before the star illuminated into a fantastical heat, shining down on the creature with a pir of mes. It¡¯s as I thought¡­higher-end spells like this are a menace on this body, he realized. The aftermath of the condensed pir of mes left a perfect circle of charred stone in the middle of the street, and nothing to be seen left of the creature besides a strand of ckened flesh that soon carried off into ash. After finishing it off, he sat down on the wooden steps of the abandoned shop to gather his breath and rest his aching body for a moment. As he looked up, he found the crimson eclipse to still be persistent. ¡­So, that creature wasn¡¯t the one responsible for this? I figured as much, he thought, if it was my normal body, I¡¯d have been able to handle that one in a second. But¡­this body isn¡¯t meant forbat. As the adrenaline in his body cooled off, he was finally able to properly take in the scenery of Larundog; the old-fashioned buildings had personality to them: flowers sat in the front of some shops,zily written signs, and little decorations. For as empty as it seemed to be, there weren¡¯t many bodies visible besides a few¨Cwhich was something he was grateful for. Vandread, where are you¡­? He thought. Keeping his hood on, he stood up as he continued down the dreadful streets of the eclipse-trapped city, walking down the narrow paths that were neighbored by old, assaulted shops. It was undoubtedly eerie; subtle howlsced the air, and sometimes he swore whispers fell on his ears. Even footsteps were thought to be heard, but when he checked over his shoulder, there was nothing there. ¡°¨C¡± Emilio kept his guard up. Just as he was about to turn a corner, seeing the fountain-bearing clearing of the city up ahead, though it seemed to be painted in crimson more than any other section he¡¯d seen, his entire body was suddenly yanked to the side. ¡°Wha¨C¡± As he called out, his mouth was covered, being pulled into the dark alleyway. All of his instincts fired up as he prepared to unleash a propulsion of deadly wind; the air vibrated around him, whistling with a rising intensity before¨C ¡°Hey, I¡¯m a friend! A friend!¡± A masculine voice told him in a sharp whisper. He was let go as he found himself standing in front of a young man with spiky, silver hair and a ck headband, though his emerald eyes stood out the most. By the look of his outfit, with a vest of ck-leather armor and a sword at his hip, the man definitely wasn¡¯t a civilian. ¡°Sorry about that¡ªthere¡¯s something down that way that you definitely don¡¯t want to stumble into, so I snatched you,¡± the youthful man told him. Emilio furrowed his eyebrows, ¡°¡­So you did that? I was about to st you.¡± ¡°It was a split-second decision, gimme a break!¡± Ah¡ªanywho, I¡¯m Joel, an adventurer of Larundog. I haven¡¯t seen you around before, so I assume you¡¯re an adventurer sent from the Foundation?¡± The young man introduced himself with a worn smile. He didn¡¯t know exactly how to answer, but since he had the appearance of his neen-year-old previous self, he decided it would be fine to twist some truths. ¡°Yeah, something like that¡­¡± He wryly answered, ¡°I¡¯m, err¡­Ethan.¡± While he was trying to make up a false name, the name he seldom wanted to remember slipped out naturally. Joel extended his hand, which was covered by a ck glove, ¡°Let¡¯s work together then, Ethan!¡­God knows we¡¯ll need all the help we can get in this hell.¡± For better or worse, ¡®Emilio¡¯ was for the time being under a name identity, though it was hardly new, but only something brought back: ¡®Ethan.¡¯ Chapter 131 Run Ethan epted the man¡¯s hand before looking at him, ¡°Tell me¡ªwhat¡¯s really going on around here? It¡¯spletely different from outside¡ªI mean the sky, and well¡­everything.¡± ¡°You mean¡­the Foundation didn¡¯t tell you?¡± Joel asked. As he shook his head in response, he answered with a simple ¡°No.¡± This seemed to frustrate Joel, who was a hot-headed fellow by the looks of things. It was difficult to tell how reliable of a fighter Joel was, but from his age and demeanor, he didn¡¯t feel like ¡®Vandread¡¯ at all. He could see his adventurer badge; the dragon crest that bore a silver gem in the middle. So he¡¯s a B-rank adventurer?¡­That¡¯s not reassuring, he thought. ¡°How could they¡­? Blindly sending people into this?¡­Urgh. Anyway, you¡¯re right. This city ispletely different,¡± Joel told him. ¡°It is?¡± ¡°Everything inside the city walls is a separated space controlled by ¡®it¡¯¡ªand escaping seems impossible,¡± Joel exined. ¡°¡®It¡¯? Are you talking about the entity responsible for this?¡± He asked. The chipper attitude of the friendly, local adventurer seemed to dim with the topic of the unknown entity as Joel slowly nodded, sitting down on an old crate. ¡°It¡¯s an entity known as the ¡®Unending Nightmare¡¯: a Cataclysm-ss threat that, well, has power fitting for its name,¡± Joel said, ¡°¡ªIt seems to be able to manifest the inner fears and nightmares of everybody within the walls¡­And I¡¯m not talking illusions; the real smackin¡¯ deal here, my friend.¡± ¡°Something like that¡­? Is that even possible?¡± He said in quiet disbelief. Though he asked that, he knew it was likely the truth from what he¡¯d encountered thus far. There was simply no reason to doubt the words from the silver-jeweled adventurer. Joel nodded, ¡°Unfortunately, it¡¯s the truth. I¡¯ve just been ducking around and trying to do what I can¨Call I can manage are the small fry; the Unending Nightmare is way out of my paygrade.¡± ¡°So we¡¯re really stuck in here?¡± He leaned against the wall.. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, man,¡± Joel said with a look of guilt on his expression, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t wish this on my worst enemy. I¡¯ve seen¡­terrible things happen here. It¡¯s not a stretch to say we¡¯re in some sort of hell.¡± ¡°I can see that¡­¡± He said. As he looked up, the crimson sky swirled in its malignant design; the man-faced clouds, nebulous in their existence, stared back down at him, their groans making up the howls of the wind. ¡°¡­This is something else, isn¡¯t it?¡± He muttered. Joel looked up with him, ¡°You can say that again. That sky is driving me insane.¡± The emerald-eyed adventurer, though a seemingly optimistic and energetic man normally, looked tired; dark bags hung under his eyes and his emerald irises yearned for the nightmare to be over. There was a lot on his mind, but he hardly felt capable of managing all of his thoughts; too much was revealed to him at once, and too much was now worried about. ¡°I¡¯m assuming the only way to escape this is to find the ¡®Unending Nightmare¡¯ itself and kill it, right?¡± Ethan asked. ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s easier said than done,¡± Joel responded, sighing softly, ¡°It changes its form each time you see it. Honestly, it¡¯s hard to even know if what you¡¯re looking at is the Unending Nightmare or another fiend it manifested.¡± As expected, it wasn¡¯t a simple endeavor at all. Especially seeing the wear on Joel¡¯s expression, he knew that a strenuous time was ahead of him. In the dark alleyway, grimy and cluttered with abandoned crates and tossed-away goods, it was a paradise from the bloody streets. ¡°Still, I¡¯m d I found you!¡± Joel said, wearing a smile again. ¡°Yeah? Well, from the sounds of things, I¡¯m d, too,¡± he replied, ¡°Anyway¡­I¡¯ve been meaning to ask: is there anybody else left?¡± The question seemed to not be an easy one for the silver-haired adventurer, who looked down for a moment before answering. I¡¯m guessing not?¡­He thought. ¡°There are,¡± Joel told him. ¡°Oh? Really? That¡¯s good, then,¡± he said, letting out a sigh of relief. Joel slowly nodded, ¡°Well, I was with them, but¡­I¡¯ve been stuck on this side of Larundog the past day.¡± Before he could respond, he saw the anguished expression present on the young adventurer¡¯s face, who held his own stomach as if sickened by a thought. ¡°¡­Does this have to do with what you said you were keeping me from running into?¡± He asked, looking at the green-eyed adventurer. ¡°It¡¯s¡­something the Unending Nightmare manifested from me,¡± Joel said, ¡°¡­One of my fears, I guess. It¡¯s pretty troublesome. Lame, right?¡± Trying to brush off his gloomy outlook, Joelughed, but there was no looking past how worried he seemed about the entity lurking the nearest street. ¡°I¡¯ll help you take care of it,¡± Ethan told him. ¡°Yeah? That¡¯d be a big help,¡± Joel looked up at him, ¡°¡­Well, not to be rude, you don¡¯t look like much. Are you sick or something, man?¡± Of course, he couldn¡¯t me the man for such an astute observation: he looked like nothing more than skin and bones himself. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean that in a rude way¨C¡± Joel exined himself. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine, I get it,¡± he assured him, ¡°¨CThis¡­is the work of the Unending Nightmare thing, I think.¡± ¡°Huh? Really?¡± Joel looked at him. ¡°I guess my body being sickly like this is one of my fears. Kind of a pain, but I can handle it,¡± he said. It was a half-lie for sure, or only a half-truth, but the full truth wasn¡¯t necessary. At least, Joel seemed thankful for the presence of another adventurer¨Cthough that was only another half-truth he had given. ¡°Well, if you¡¯re up for it¡­let¡¯s do this,¡± Joel said. Just as Joel sat up, stretching his arms to ready himself for the encounter toe, the sound of a bell ringing echoed throughout the city. ¡°Huh?¡± Ethan looked around. It was an ominous sound; metal letting out a bellowing echo that reached throughout the hellish city. Though he had little clue what it meant, as he looked at Joel¡¯splexion pale at the dong of the bell, he began to realize it wasn¡¯t a relieving noise. ¡°¡­It¡¯s starting!¡± Joel said. ¡°What¡¯s starting¡­?¡± ¡°¡®The Dread Period¡¯!¡± Joel told him. There wasn¡¯t any time for a discussion as the walls of wood and stone that neighbored the alleyway began to shift; the pale wood dampened, dripping with a crimson liquid that engulfed it. It wasn¡¯t any different for the sky; the groaning clouds began to shift in expression, wailing out as blood-red rain began to pour down. ¡°We have to move¡­!¡± Joel said. ¡°Why?!¡± ¡°Just do it¨C!¡± Joel told him. Without wasting a further moment, they rushed out of the alleyway as sounds of the blood rain falling to the ground resounded; the walls around them shifted to crimson, shifting in a horrific sight. As they were running, Joel exined, ¡°¨CThe ¡®Dread Period¡¯ is what we named it! It happens every so often throughout the day! For a few minutes, all kinds of creatures start popping out!¡± Hearing this, he nced back to see the words of the silver-hairedpanion of his to be true; abhorrent fiends crawled out of the walls, manifesting from pools of crimson. Human-skinned spiders with arms made of intertwined limbs chased them, bearing mandibles made out of bones. Alongside the grotesque arachnids werenky, stitched-together humanoids that had torsos multiple times the length of the rest of their bodies. ¡°What the¨C?!¡± Ethan let out while looking back. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t stare too much if I were you¨Cunless you want to take a hit to your sanity!¡± Joel warned. They raced around the corner, cutting through another alleyway as the shrieks and growls of hellish creatures echoed alongside the bell¡¯s ring. ¡­Sanity?! I can see that! He thought. ¡°Where are we going?!¡± Ethan asked. The entire time, he was simply following behind Joel, who he knew had much more experience and knowledge when it came to theyout of Larundog, but it seemed as though they were running away without aim. ¡°¨CErr this way!¡± Joel answered. The green-eyed adventurer took a sharp turn to the left out of the cramped alley, forcing Ethan to follow suit but not before raising his catalyst and summoning a stone wall to block off the area they just came from. Though it blocked the grotesque, nightmarish creatures out, it clearly wasn¡¯t going to hold for long as he nced back to see the flesh-made arachnids crawling over it, and something else mming the wall from the other side. ¡°C¡¯mon! Let¡¯s get inside a building!¡± Joel yelled to him. ¡°Lead the way¨C!¡± It was pure chaos; the city turned to a hellscape of contorted monsters weaved from the darkest nightmares: centipedes made of human arms and torsos, knife-wielding puppets that moved on their own, and even faceless behemoths, wielding ymores. There was simply no end to it, helping him to realize the meaning of the ¡®Dread Period¡¯ and the bleak reality of the Unending Nightmare. As a de-carrying doll with ginger hair intercepted their path, Joel quickly drew his de, cutting it in half before pushing forward towards a nearby building. ¡°In here¨C!¡± Joel called out, kicking the door open. Looking back as he neared the door, which Joel held open for him, gesturing for him to quickly get in, heunched bullets of stone towards the nightmarish creatures, repelling them before arriving inside the building. The moment he crossed the threshold, Joel mmed the door shut, pushing a bookshelf over in front of it. ?[0)??? ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± Joel breathed out. ¡°Are we good?¡± Ethan asked, catching his breath as he looked around the room. It was an abandoned home, though it wasn¡¯t as in poor shape as the shop he¡¯d been in prior; the furniture was in order, except for a dark-wood table that had been toppled over. Joel scratched his head, ¡°Err, for the minute, yes¡­but, there¡¯s a reason I wasn¡¯t inside of a building when we met.¡± Chapter 132 Hairy Horror ¡°Are we good?¡± Ethan asked, catching his breath as he looked around the room. It was an abandoned home, though it wasn¡¯t as in poor shape as the shop he¡¯d been in prior; the furniture was in order, except for a dark-wood table that had been toppled over. Joel scratched his head, ¡°Err, for the minute, yes¡­but, there¡¯s a reason I wasn¡¯t inside of a building when we met.¡± ¡°What¡¯re you talking about?¡± He asked. ¡°Stuff can get kind of¡­weird when you¡¯re inside of somece for too long,¡± Joel told him. ¡°Quit being vague already,¡± Ethan said, narrowing his gaze. Before Joel could open his mouth to further rify, both of the young men jumped up as a creak echoed throughout the old home. ¡°What was that¡­?¡± Ethan muttered. Joel gulped, standing beside him, ¡°¡­Err, why don¡¯t you go check?¡± ¡°Me? You said I looked sickly, right? A healthy, strong fe like yourself should do it,¡± Ethan retorted nervously. They were both like frightened cats, listening to the creaks emit from the hallway devoid of any light,pletely drenched in shadows. It wasn¡¯t enough that the interior of the home was absent of illumination already, but the wailing of the man-faced clouds up above, muffled but still audible, never left him at ease. ¡°¡­Together?¡± Joel looked at him, wide-eyed. ¡°Yeah¡­sounds good,¡± he nodded in agreement. Though they opted to quietly move together to check the source of the ominous creaking on the other side of the home, he found himself leading the way as Joel stayed directly behind him, shivering like a puppy. Why¡¯d I get stuck with a guy like this¡­? He thought. Each step into the hall pressured the tender floorboards into drawn out groans; the deeper they moved into the corridor, lined with somber walls and weathered paintings, it felt like the darker and more eerie it became.. ¡­Did it get even darker? He questioned. THUD. He nearly jumped out of his skin as he spun around with his staff raised and readied, bringing his other hand near the handle of his sheathed de. It was Joel; the clumsy adventurer had identally broken through the rotten floorboards as one of his boots fell through. ¡°Ehe¡­my bad,¡± Joel quietly chuckled. A sigh of relief briefly left his lips as he turned back around, ¡°¡­Sheesh.¡± Just as he turned back around, his blood ran cold as he was face-to-face with ¡®something¡¯; that as all his frazzled brain could process it as in that moment. It had a face as pale as moonlight with sunken, abyssal eyes and a row of smiling teeth that werepletely ck, drenched in a liquid of that color. ¡°What¡¯re you standing like a statue for, Ethan?¡± Joel asked, bringing his boot out of the hole and bringing his gaze up, ¡°¨CEthan? Hey¨Cwhat the?!¡± Joel froze as well once seeing it; they were both like deer in headlights at the sight of the blood-chilling entity that stood at the end of the lightless hall. It was hunched over with a body wrapped in an all-ck cloth that blended with its floating, jet-ck hair that seemed to spread in every direction; stringy and flowing like threads of the abyss. The face it held was hardly human, like a mask attached to a bundle of malevolent energy. ¡°Gah¨Cmove!¡± Just as he was about to raise his catalyst to invoke magic, Ethan was suddenly tackled as Joel yelled out, bringing him into the room to the side of the hall as something had struck in the ce he just stood. ¡°¨CHuh?¡± Ethan looked up, having fallen to the floor in the next room. The stringy, abyssal hair the entity possessed was sharpened and honed like a spear, having jutted through the hall in an attempt to skewer the two men. Joel picked himself up to his feet, scrambling over and mming the door shut, ¡°¡­Help me seal this thing!¡± ¡°R-right!¡± Ethan said, getting up as well. Invoking his magecraft, he summoned the element of stone to reinforce the door, blocking off the edges and sealing it shut tightly. After the entrance to the room was firmly shut, the two didn¡¯t so much as let out a breath of relief as they carefully watched the door. ¡°¡­Seriously, what the hell is wrong with this city?¡± He said under his breath. Joel unsheathed his sword, holding it forward as he gulped, ¡°I told you, the ¡®Dread Period¡¯ is bad news¡­You can¡¯t rx for a minute!¡± As if cementing those words, a ck, stringy material began to slip through the small gaps in the wooden wall; it was the hair of the ghastly figure from the corridor. It slithered in, stretching out and gripping the material, beginning to tear open the wall as the seemingly endless hair took over the wall. ¡°Shit!¡­¡± Joel said. ¡°Stand back! I¡¯m going to st it with some fire!¡± Ethan stepped forward. There was no hesitance from the silver-haired, verdant adventurer, who stepped back and let the magic-wielding self-proimed adventurer take the initiative. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t the best idea to use fire magic in the confinements of the house, let alone the enclosed room, but driven by fear and desperation, it was the foremost n of action in his mind. Burn! He thought. Invoking the chaotic element, he spurred a spray of mes thatunched against the grotesque, hair-covered wall, which slithered and vibrated as if every strand was alive. ¡°Hot, hot, hot¡­!¡± Joel said, flinching. The sizzling sound of fabric being burnt whistled throughout the room following the end of the release of fire. ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± He breathed out. ¡°Didja get it¡­?¡± Joel asked, gulping as he looked forward anxiously. Smoke obscured their vision of the other side of the room; swaying and billowing as an entire portion of the quarters had its wood turned to a ckened state, though the fire itself was put out by the caster¡¯s will. ¡°Don¡¯t raise event gs like that, please¡­!¡± He responded. Of course, after staring at the smoke in suspense for seconds that dragged like minutes with the eerie silence that was left stagnant in the room, something lunged towards the two young men. Tendrils of hair; cast out like ropes meant to bind. ¡°Grgh! Crap!¡± Joel said. As the whips of abyssal hair tried to snatch the silver-haired man, Joel defended himself with swift strikes of his silver broadsword, effectively repelling it. Ethan summoned a shield of water in front of himself, managing to halt the hair as it was caught in the crystal-clear, strengthened liquid. ¡°Get behind me!¡± Ethan called out. ¡°¨CRight!¡± Joel nodded. Magic was invaluable against a supernatural foe like the one that lurked in the home. As the shield of water, wrapping around the two, sessfully safeguarded them from the ghastly tufts, the source of it lumbered in. The pitch-ck, white-faced entity with onyx teeth and sunken eyes entered; its mere presence began consuming the room in its deathly hair. ¡°It¡¯s here¡­!¡± ¡°I can see that!¡± Ethan responded. All semnce of light, whatever little was left, was snuffed out like the soft me of a candle with the presence of the tall, hunched-over entity as its mouth began to part. ck liquid poured from its maw, revealing somethinging out from the depths of its being. Hands. Arms stretched out from its mouth; snow-white limbs that cracked and contorted outward, stretching out from the horrific being¡¯s mouth. ¡°I¡¯m gonna hurl¡­¡± Joel muttered. ¡°Not next to me you aren¡¯t!¨CStay ready!¡± Ethan said. ¡°I should be saying that to you!¡± Joel retorted. Just then, from the ceiling, spikes of reinforced hair shot down in an attempt to pierce the frail-bodied mage, to which the silver-haired man stepped in, using his sword to slice the bundled hair in half. ¡°Nice save!¡± Ethan called out. ¡°Just focus on dealing with that freak!¡± Joel replied hastily. Contrary to the clumsy, easygoing nature that the silver-haired, youthful adventurer presented himself with, he proved himself to be a capable fighter as he moved with swift grace, easily cutting down any hair that tried to sneak them from above or below. Covering their front and sides, Ethan manipted the wall of mystical water around them that blocked any iing strands of the weaponized hair. It was only a short term countermeasure, however; the water didn¡¯t actually fully stop the hair, destroy it, or harm the ghastly entity itself. Only merely defending them, it was simple to realize he¡¯d need to shift his approach. A whip of the hair cut through swiftly, leaving a cut on Joel¡¯s cheek, who barely managed to turn what aimed for his throat into a small cut by ast moment dodge. ¡°C¡¯mon, bonesy! I¡¯m not going tost all day¨C!¡± Joel said, moving frantically to keep up with his repelling of the hair. The nickname caught him off-guard as he snapped back, ¡°¨CDon¡¯t call me that!¡­I mean, just give me a second!¡± It was beginning to break through; the overwhelming wave of hair that inteced itself with the rotting wood of the homeshed out from all angles. ¡°Gah!¡± Joel winced. ¡ªComing in from behind, a razor-sharp spear of hair cut through the leather trousers of the emerald-eyed fighter, leaving a gash on his thigh. Did fire actually work against it? It was hard to tell since it came in afterwards, seemingly unharmed, so I assumed it wasn¡¯t effective, but maybe¡­He pondered. As he considered his options, something stuck out to him when he saw strands of the supernatural hair suspended in the aquatic wall. It flipped a switch in his mind, seeing the magically-conjured barrier around them. That¡¯s it! He realized. Just then, a swift onught of the supernatural strands broke through the twoyered defense of de and water. ?[0)??? ¡°¡­Watch out!¡± Joel was only a split-secondte in cutting away the mystical, abyssal hair before it left a sh across Ethan¡¯s stomach. ¡°Ghh¡­!¡± Ethan gritted his teeth. ¡°Crap!¡± Joel said worriedly, looking at him. ¡°I¡¯m fine! Don¡¯t let up!¡± He assured Joel, holding his staff up, ¡°I¡¯ve figured out our path to victory! I¡¯ll need to lower the water barrier, so just buy me a few seconds!¡± Though they hadn¡¯t known each other long, Joel ced his trust in those words as he pressed on with more energy than before. ¡°I¡¯ve got your back, partner!¡± Joel assured him. Ethan would have smiled if not for the pressing horror of the intense situation, but he squeezed the smooth oak of his catalyst, disabling the protective aqua around them. A wave of hair swept in the moment it was let down, but Joel didn¡¯t shy away as he roared out, wildly cleaving away with his sword as if mowing overgrown weeds. You might be a bit obnoxious, but¡­I¡¯m d to have you by my side at a time like this, Joel! He thought. Chapter 133 Duality of Triumph The sheer volume of the de-like hairs made it impossible topletely defend against, resulting incerations being etched on the hot-headed adventurer¡¯s body, though he pressed on. ¡°Do it, Ethan¡­!¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Gathering his mana from the core of his being and spreading it throughout his body, he envisioned the stalwart nature of rock and the flowing element of water, mixing it together. The rich mana he produced manifested in the form of a wave of mud, unleashing from in front of Joel, saving him from the iing swarm of hair. It was propelled in all directions throughout the room, scaling its surface and mixing in with the ck hair. ¡°Mud¡­? Oh, I get it! Nice thinking, partner!¡± Joel smiled, wiping the sweat and blood from his chin. The hefty serving of mud reached the white-faced entity, soaking it and drowning it in mud. ¡°¡­Now for phase two!¡± Ethan announced. With a raise of his staff, the dense, liquid mud began to solidify, returning to its base element of stone as itsplexion lightened and tightened around the endless hair. As the mud shifted to a solid state, it ensnared the totality of the hair and the supernatural creature itself. ¡°Boom! How do ya like them apples!?¡± Joel gloated, pointing his sword towards the creature. ¡°Please don¡¯t say such cringe-worthy lines on my behalf,¡± Ethan muttered, strained by holding theplex, lofty spell.. Though weaving mud into reality wasn¡¯t exactly the shiest of spells, it was moreplicated than it seemed from the outside, and more taxing due to its mixed element nature, density, and volume. Thisbination, along with shifting it into solid rock, strained Ethan as he coughed out, spitting out droplets of blood onto his hand. ¡°You okay, man?¡± Joel asked worriedly, going to his side and patting his back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me¨Cit¡¯s not over yet! We have to kill it¨Cnow!¡± He said through his hoarse voice, wiping the blood from his lips. It seemed Joel assumed the battle was over as the emerald-eyed fighter looked over to see the ck-teethed entity that controlled the endless hair chattering its teeth, still encased in rock. Though the stone began vibrating all around the room as the hairs seemed to pulsate; moving at a high-frequency. ¡°What is it¡­?¡± Joel mumbled. ¡°It¡¯s trying to free itself! Finish it before it does that!¡± Ethan said, straightening himself out before breaking into a coughing fit again, ¡°¨CI won¡¯t be able to hold this spell for much longer!¡± ¡°How do I kill it?! It¡¯s all hair!¡± Joel asked, holding his sword up as he tried approaching the entity. Though it was true that ying a mass of sentient, ghostly hair seemed to be a task less than feasible, there was a clear weakness seen by his eyes: the pale face. It¡¯s like a mask¡­if I learned anything from ying games, that¡¯s a weak point! He thought. ¡°Attack its face!¡± Ethan said. Joel looked forward, holding his sword as he looked at the creature¡¯s face, ¡°¨COh! You¡¯re right!¡± Bursting forward, the silver-haired adventurer didn¡¯t waste a moment closing in on the hair-manipting fiend before spinning around to use a heavy sh across its living mask. Sliced in half, the creature¡¯s face was bisected, leaving it hissing out like a roaring kettle before the sea of hair dried up and withered up. ¡°I-it worked! Hah! We did it!¡± Joel celebrated before falling to a knee, wincing, ¡°¡­Ouch.¡± Ethan sighed out, falling onto his rear to catch his breath, ¡°We made it.¡± It seemed the ¡®Dread Period¡¯ had calmed for the time being, allowing the two to lick their wounds as Ethan recovered both of their wounds. Fortunately, nothing more than small cuts andcerations were left, allowing him to use basic healing before finally settling down and catching his breath. ¡°You¡¯re a real savant with magic, eh?¡± Joel said, looking at his body, surprised at theck of wounds. ¡°Something like that,¡± he replied, leaning against the wall, ¡°¡­This is really something else, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°You could say that again,¡± Joel said with an exhale, sitting beside him. After utilizing such magic, a dull ache resonated through the fibers of his muscle and the marrow of his bones. ¡­This body is troublesome. Still, I guess I managed somehow¡­for now, he thought. Even if the ¡®Dread Period¡¯ itself hade to an end for the moment, it didn¡¯t change the fact that he was still trapped in the nightmarish city. ?[0)??? ¡°Probably a pointless question¡­¡± He began to say. ¡°Shoot away,¡± Joel said. ¡°Well,¡± he looked over at the silver-haired man, ¡°Any clue where the ¡®Unending Nightmare¡¯ is?¡± It was an obvious question that should¡¯ve been asked from the get-go, but he already knew the futility of it. However, facing the twisted reality bound within the walls of Larundog, the quicker the better. Joel scratched the back of his neck, ¡°Sorry, best I can give ya is that it¡¯s probably within the city.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± He asked with a disappointed frown. ¡°That¡¯s it,¡± Joel confirmed, ¡°I¡¯ve only seen it a couple times, and though it has a different appearance each time¡­You can just tell. There¡¯s such a dense¡­¡¯evil¡¯ around it; it¡¯s like a mana steeped in endless curses.¡± There was little respite to be found within the walls of Larundog, from the grave sound of Joel¡¯s words. Little doubt was found in his mind when looking at Joel and seeing that he was normally a jovial, entric being, but right now, the wear and dread of the situation was visible on the young adventurer¡¯s face. Joel¡¯s eyes were tired; he was simply exhausted and afraid by the looks of it. Noticing this, he felt the situation settle in with unease through his pores, looking down at his pale, bony hands as a sense of disgust and sadness filled his veins. Seeing the form of ¡®Ethan¡¯ take tangible form after all these years was something he hadn¡¯t wished to see. ¡­Perhaps the silver lining is, I don¡¯t see how something like this could reside inside digital software, he thought, just what is ¡®Reincarnation Online¡¯? It doesn¡¯t make any sense. Still¡­I suppose there¡¯s a time and a ce for thoughts like these. As he sat up, he peeked outside of the window; though it was boarded up, he could see through the small gaps if he squinted. Of course, nothing changed about the sky; the eversting crimson that flowed like a sea of blood overhead with the wailing clouds shifting over Larundog. ¡°What¡¯s the n now?¡± He asked. ¡°A n? Ah¡­right, we should probably look for the other survivors,¡± Joel said, standing up as he leaned against the wall. The way the silver-haired man replied with drawn-out, tired words and a thousand-yard stare was different from the energetic self he¡¯d presented before. Though they just endured a taxing encounter, it didn¡¯t seem to be physical fatigue, but mental. ¡°Everything alright?¡± Ethan asked. Joel nced at him, ¡°¡­There¡¯s no way I can say ¡®yes¡¯ to that, ya know? There¡¯s hardly anything right about this city.¡± ¡°True¡­I just mean, how¡¯re you feeling? You don¡¯t look so good,¡± he pressed. It took a moment for the adventurer to answer as he held his own face in the palm of his hands for a moment, taking in a deep breath before exhaling slowly. Once his hands were moved away, Joel revealed a smile now, ¡°¡­I¡¯m still going strong. Don¡¯t worry about me.¡± A moment was taken to readjust themselves after the close encounter; Joel cleaned the straggling strands of hair from his silver de before tucking it back into its emerald-striped scabbard. ¡°Any clue where the other survivors are? Oh, wait, you said they were on the ¡®other side¡¯ of the city, right? A bit vague, though,¡± Ethan asked, brushing the dust off his cape. Joel looked down a bit, ¡°¡®Other side¡¯ is a bit of, well¡­a stretch.¡± ¡°Huh? What do you mean?¡± ¡°The ¡®other side¡¯ means a lot of things under the Unending Nightmare. It¡¯s like there¡¯s so many ovepping spaces, just in this one city¡­it¡¯s a maze,¡± Joel said, ¡°We should count ourselves lucky we didn¡¯t enter a new space when we walked through the front door.¡± ¡°Ovepping spaces? What¡¯re you talking about?¡± Ethan asked. It seemed there was still information that Joel had withheld, though it didn¡¯t seem to be for nefarious reasons; just the mention of such existences seemed to cause his emerald irises to quiver. ¡°¡­It¡¯s pretty confusing to exin,¡± Joel muttered. ¡°Try me.¡± Joel scratched his head, looking at him for a moment before slowly nodding, ¡°I really don¡¯t know what it really is, but ¡®ovepping spaces¡¯ was what one of the adventurers of the group called it. From what I¡¯ve gathered, the catalyst for slipping into these spaces is by crossing a doorway¨Cwell, an entrance of any kind, really. These spaces, they¡¯re¡­not right.¡± ¡°¨C¡± He looked at Joel. ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t go into it much¡­¡± Joel nced down. It wasn¡¯t difficult to discern that the experience in these ¡®ovepping spaces¡¯ were not fond memories to reminisce about. Though as he watched Joel nervously scratch his own forearm, he noticed the young man¡¯s forearms were covered in rashes and cuts, seemingly from how intensely he scratched away. Brushing that off for the time being, another point of interest popped into his head. ¡°I¡¯ve got a question,¡± Ethan said, folding his arms over his chest. Chapter 134 Sand Trap ¡°I¡¯ve got a question,¡± Ethan said, folding his arms over his chest. ¡°Y-yeah?¡± Joel looked over at him, hiding his arm. Ethan raised an eyebrow, ignoring hispanion¡¯s odd behavior, ¡°¡­Have you seen anybody with dark-brown skin and silver eyes? Wearing all-ck clothes and kind of a sour attitude?¡± ¡°Huh? No, sorry, that doesn¡¯t ring a bell,¡± Joel shook his head. ¡°Figured as much,¡± he sighed. ¡°Why? Is it somebody you knew?¡± Joel asked. ¡°¡®Knew¡¯?¡± ¡°Sorry, ¡®know,''¡± Joel wore a small smile. He stood by Joel, keeping his guard up for anything simr to the hair-manipting entity from before, ¡°Yeah. I initially came here with him, but he went ahead of me.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± Joel¡¯s smile faded, ¡°Sorry to hear that¨Cwell, I mean, I¡¯m sure we can find ¡¯em if we keep searching. It¡¯s not like we have anything else to do but keep moving and looking for a way out of this mess, right?¡± ¡°Right.¡± Still, this didn¡¯t mean it was optimal to head out right away. They were both exhausted from the previous encounter, and the umted stress of the Unending Nightmare¡¯s torment. They explored the house over the next few hours; brushing off dusty books from the broken-down bookshelf, ying with stained cards, and talking about themselves. ¡°¡­Yullim, huh? I¡¯ve always wanted to go there, actually,¡± Joel admitted, putting a card down. ¡°Really? I can¡¯t say I see the allure of it¡­there¡¯s not much there,¡± Ethan chuckled wryly. ¡°It¡¯s a whole lot quieter than Larundog¨Cespecially, well, these days¡­¡± Joel said somberly.. ¡°Guess that¡¯s true.¡± It was difficult to perceive what was ¡°day¡± and what was ¡°night¡± beneath the veil of the scarlet sky, though they treated it like night once the groaning clouds overshadowed their section of the city. ¨C The time came to set out again into the bowels of hell, which neither of them looked pleased about. Though it was seldom yearned for to step back into the ursed city, under the evesting watch of the crying, man-faced clouds, there was nothing to be gained from sitting around in the decrepit home. ¡°Sure you want to head out?¡± Joel asked, standing in front of the door. ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s the point of staying here? We¡¯re losing time,¡± Ethan said, adjusting his gloves. Joel leaned his forehead against the wooden door, ¡°¡­Indoors is about the safest we can be, minus the Dread Period. The ovepping spaces apply to the creatures within the city, too. So they don¡¯t usually try going through doors.¡± As he learned of this, the recent memories of his encounter with the hole-filled entity returned to his mind. That makes sense, he thought, it was banging on the door, but it wasn¡¯t opening it. So¡­that¡¯s why he doesn¡¯t want to leave. ¡°Even so, what good is it going to do for us to close ourselves off here?¡± Ethan asked, ¡°The Dread Period will return and we¡¯ll be getting nowhere.¡± There was a certain silence that hung in the room; they both were on edge with the lurking entities that left little hope in the despair-ridden city. ¡°I¡¯ve got a little sister, ya know?¡± Joel suddenly said. ¡°Huh?¡± Ethan was taken aback by this, ¡°¡­Oh. Is she¡­?¡± ¡°She¡¯s alive,¡± Joel said adamantly. For the first time since they met, there was a glow in the man¡¯s emerald eyes when he said that. It was a shine in his eyes of hope; absolute belief in those words. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to¡­¡± Ethan scratched his head. Joel wore a small smile, shaking his head, ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­when I think about her being alone in a ce like this, well, ya know? It just drives me insane. I¡¯m all she¡¯s had since she was born¨Cno parents, no other siblings¨Cjust the two of us, surviving.¡± ¡°¨C¡± Ethan looked at him. ¡°That¡¯s why I have to find her,¡± Joel told him, ¡°Thanks for lighting that fire beneath me again, man.¡± ¡°Yeah¨Cof course.¡± The two shared a fist bump that reignited some embers of hope, though faint, they still existed. ¨C As soon as the door opened, what was revealed to them wasn¡¯t the expected exterior, but another scenery entirely; the paved, stone streets were instead a deep-blue sand which seemed to stretch on for eternity; metal trees sprouted from mounds of sand, jutting out their silver branches. Looming above was a sky reced by a scarlet sea, hanging overhead with a vague sprinkle of orange stars. ¡°What the¡­?¡± Ethan looked up, walking out from the door. ¡°Wait¨C!¡± Joel shouted out from behind, trying to prevent the thinly young man from stepping past the threshold, but it was toote: they both left the building. The moment they both stepped over the threshold, it mmed shut. ¡°Huh¨C?¡± Spinning around, he found the door itself, along with the building in its entirety gone. All that was left was the forest of metal trees and the dunes of dim, blue sand. Joel was visibly shaken, ¡°¡­Shit. Shit! Shit¨C! It¡¯s what I told you: we entered a different space!¡± ¡°But you said it was only through crossing¡­thresholds? Oh¡­¡± As he nned to retort, he realized through his own words what had happened; he had assumed it was only a one-way concept, but it seemed from either side of a doorway, it could happen. ¡°¡­Is this bad?¡± Ethan asked. Joel was on guardpletely, already drawing his sword as he looked around, ¡°¡®Bad¡¯ is an understatement here¡­! Entities are way moremon in these spaces¨Cand more powerful!¡± ¡°How do we get out, then?¡­¡± He asked, holding his staff up and gulping. ¡°We have to find a doorway¡­¡± Joel said, ncing around as they watched each other¡¯s backs. ¡°Is that even possible in a ce like this?¡± ¡°It is,¡± Joel nodded, ¡°¡­There¡¯s always a doorway; it¡¯s the only ¡®fair¡¯ thing about this ce.¡± There was hardly anything ¡®normal¡¯ about the separate space; the air was thin and filled with microscopic grains of sand that irritated his throat and lungs. ¡°¨C¡± Ethan coughed out hoarsely. Joel pulled the cor of his shirt over his mouth and nose, ¡°Cover up. I don¡¯t trust this stuff.¡± ¡°Good idea,¡± he nodded, pulling the cor of his cape up. There was an ambience of metal creaking like gears grinding as the steel branches of the unnatural trees swayed. It was an unsettlingnd; nothing about it was normal, simply a deviation from the norm of reality. ¡°¡­Is this how all of these spaces are?¡± Ethan asked while slowly moving forward beside Joel. ¡°If you mean twisted like this, then yeah¡­but, no, they¡¯re all different. Somethin¡¯ like this? Tend not to forget it¡­¡± Joel replied. There was no keeping one¡¯s eyes averted from the sight above; the scarlet sea that swayed, suspended by nothing but a mystical force, was a sight to behold. ¡°Hey, look at that¡­¡± Joel said. They were both looking up at the sea-sky as the subtle, scarlet luminescence produced swaying shadows cast down by marine entities that swam through the unnatural body of water. By the shape of some of the airborne, aquatic entities, they resembled sharks in their nefarious fins. ¡°This is all really¡­something,¡± Ethan remarked. ¡°You can say that again,¡± Joel responded. After gazing upon the supernatural sky, they continued moving forward through the forest of sand and steel. As they walked across the azure sand, a quick tremor was felt for a split-second. ¡°What was¡ª¡± Just as Ethan muttered to himself, he spun around as a yell left from hispanion¡¯s lips. ¡°Aaaah¡ª!¡± Around Joel¡¯s ankles, hands had sprouted from the abnormal sea of sand, gripping tightly. They were inhuman; covered in bristly, silver fur but long digits and opposable thumbs. ¡°What the¡ª!?¡± Ethan let out. ¡°Ah¡ªhelp!¡± Joel yelled out as the hands around his ankles began to pull down, dragging him down into the blue sand, bringing him shin deep. Without a moment to waste, he rushed over and grabbed onto Joel¡¯s hand, taking hold of him and preventing the mysterious hands from pulling the man deeper. ¡°¡ªI¡¯ve got you!¡± The blue sand vibrated beneath the soles of his boots as the embedded creature continued to tug on Joel¡¯s legs. ¡°P-pull¡­!¡± Joel said, strained, ¡°I am¡ª!¡± Ethan gritted his teeth. Whatever was pulling on the silver-haired adventurer was strong, or at least strong inparison to Emilio¡¯s ¡®Ethan¡¯ form. Even with ¡®Draconic Constitution¡¯, his frail body struggled to summon adequate strength. ¡°Ethan¡­! It¡¯s doing something¡­! My legs¡­!¡± Joel said through pained words. Sweat was exuding from the pores of both men in the tug-of-war with the sand-dwelling entity. ¡°Grrgh¡­!¡± He further strained. As another powerful tug came from the creature in the sand, the sudden pull caused the two to part, prompting Ethan to stumble backward as Joel was further sucked into the ominous sand. This time, the silver-haired man was sunk down to his waist, leaving him little room to contest the pull of the sand-hiding creature. ¡°Ethan¡­!¡± Joel cried out for help, extending his hands again. The sand was vibrating aggressively, swirling around Joel like a vortex that made it difficult for Ethan to regain his footing, or maintain any semnce of bnce. Using magic was not much of an option, though he did consider it; the optionid in attempting to use it when it could result in friendly-fire. When frantic, control over magecraft is lessened; this was something he came to know well. With that in mind, he still grabbed his staff, but instead of conjuring a spell, he reached out with it, extending the other end to Joel. It only took a moment of looking at it with his wide, afraid eyes for Joel to grab on tightly. ¡°Hold on¨C!¡± Ethan yelled out. Chapter 135 Infliction of Despair ¡°Hold on¨C!¡± Ethan yelled out. It was impossible to maintain any stable footing to support his own strength in the life-or-death tug-of-war as the grains of blue sand continued to slip beneath his boots. So instead of utilizing magic to directly try andbat the issue engulfing Joel, he conjured stone footholds that shaped around his boots. These rocky molds were directly rooted in the sand, embedding deep and allowing him to maintain his bnce while knelt down, extending his arms and holding on with all of his strength. ¡°¡­It¡¯s doing something to me! Hurry, Ethan¨C!¡± Joel cried out. ¡°I¡¯m trying¡­!¡± Ethan yelled out. For some reason, there was an anxiety bubbling in his gut; an ominous feeling that made his fingertips cold and his head hot. In his mind, what he felt was: ¡°Something bad is going to happen.¡± It was a swirl of unease in his stomach; an unavoidable feeling of dread; inescapable, yet¨C The sand parted and rumbled, kicking up a cloud of blue sand as he managed to free hispanion from the hold of the enigmatic dune with one,st tug. ¡­Got him! Ethan thought. Though as Joel was freed from thatst pull, the dispersal of force caused Ethan to stumble back, falling on his rear as he winced. Still, he was relieved as he caught his breath, breathing in the coarse grains of sand into his lungs and coughing out. ¡°¡­Joel!¡± There was little time to be relieved as he continued coughing up, hacking up droplets of blood onto his glove before crawling to his feet, falling over again as he stumbled to where his silver-hairedpanion wasying.. ¡°Urgh¡­¡± Joel groaned. It was difficult to see in the veil of azure sand; like a mist of rough sediment, filling the air with an ufortableyer. Joel was facedown against the sand, groaning and spitting out grains that were caught in his lips. Despite the pressing situation and what had just happened, the adventurer was hardly moving, only gripping the sand with his fingers. As Ethan approached, kneeling down and gently shaking him by the shoulder for him to get up, he found his stomach sinking. Why do I feel like everything¡­is set to go wrong? He questioned. It was when the cloud of dust began to settle did his eyes catch onto it; a stream of scarlet, a trail of which lead from the closed dune and to the body of Joel. There were no legs attached to Joel¡¯s body; from the thighs down, only a trail of blood remained. ¡°Ngh¡­¡± Joel groaned more, bing noticeably pale. ¡°Joel¡­your legs¡­¡± Ethan mumbled quietly in shock. For a moment, he sat there on his knees in disbelief at the gruesome sight, but eventually snapped back into focus as he tended to the wounds. They were not clean cuts; strands of flesh hung from the wounds as if torn offpletely rather than cut. Shit, shit, shit¡­! Ethan thought. Joel was barely conscious, seeming to have his mind swirled by the blood loss. Such heavy wounds were not in Ethan¡¯s paygrade, but he tried his best nheless. ¡°Healing¡­!¡± Ethan invoked. The staff he held in his hands trembled so much that he had to do away with it altogether, instead doing it the old-fashioned way as he kept his palms close to the profusely bleeding wounds. Now more than ever, he could feel the mitigation of his magical abilities while in the form of frail, sickly Ethan. Even if he forced the mana to surge through his veins, heating up his body and causing blood to trail down from his nose, it felt like a water hose being squeezed. Simply, the body of Ethan didn¡¯t allow for arge amount of mana to be cast at once, let alone continuously for such high-level recovery magic. Why¡­!? Why does it have to be this body?! If I was ¡®Emilio¡¯, maybe¡­maybe I could save him! Hemented. ¡°¡­Ethan¡­¡± Joel called his name. ¡°Don¡¯t talk right now!¡­Save your strength! I need to focus!¡± Ethan told him. It was almost unreal how much arterial fluid was exuding from the wounds; it was no doubt a lethal wound and an uphill battle for his less-than-extraordinary abilities as a medic. Still, he fought tooth-and-nail as the continuous strain of the magecraft caused his body to undergo negative reactions. A stream of dark-red blood fell from one of his nostrils as his eyes ran bloodshot; veins pressed against his pale skin as he continued invoking recovery magic as the emerald illumination did its best to counteract the wounds with what little proficiency it had. ¡°¨C¡° After a few minutes that dragged on like a nail-biting eternity, he managed to stifle the bleeding somewhat. It was the best he could do as his body was drained; it ached and throbbed with a burning sensation that ignited beneath his skin, causing him to hack up blood onto his hand. ¡°¡­Ethan¡­¡± ¡°I already told you, stop¨C¡± Ethan began to say as he moved his mouth from his hand, but was interrupted. The look in Joel¡¯s eyes was faint, as if he was staring off into a distant respite, ¡°¡­Melisande. I see her. She¡¯s all alone¡­waiting for me¡­¡± Such words spoken in a tone detached from reality, falling from Joel¡¯s lips weakly, were telling Ethan of what state the man was in. ¡°Ethan¡­¡± Joel said weakly, stretching his hand out towards seemingly nothing, ¡°¡­She¡¯s alone. I have to be with her¨Cshe¡¯s scared, Ethan. She¡¯s waiting.¡± ¡°¡­Stop talking like that,¡± Ethan said quietly, wiping the blood from his nose. There was nothing that Joel¡¯s fingertips reached out for, at least nothing visible to Ethan¡¯s eyes, though the silver-haired man seemed so insistent that somebody was there, waiting for him just out of reach. ¡°¡­Melisande¡­¡± Joel said weakly. ¡°Joel¡­you¡¯re not in the right state of mind,¡± Ethan tried telling him, standing up and extending his hand down to him, ¡°¡­Come on, man. Let¡¯s find Melisande, okay?¡± ¡°Melisande¡­I¡¯m right here,¡± Joel said as if no longer hearing him. It was heartbreaking to see the state of the man. Lost in the unknown depths of intertwined nightmares, he felt alone when watching Joel¡¯s mental state deteriorate with the loss of blood. As he sat there on his knees, listening to murmurs from the hardly conscious adventurer, who repeated the name ¡®Melisande¡¯, he found himself at a loss on what to do. However, as the azure sand began vibrating, his hesitance was shaken up. Though he was unable to see into the depths of the mystical sand, he could give a good guess that it was likely the same creature from before. Crap¡­! He thought. Bringing himself back to his feet, he was hardly in the right state to handle such conflict; his body was worn, drained, and depleted of energy. As he brought himself to his feet, blood trailed down his nose, seeping over his lip as he coughed out. He keeled over, holding his stomach as it felt like a fireball was swirling in his gut. ¡­Shit¡­He thought, using that healing really took it out of me¡­ For a moment, he was able to think clearly once his forehead touched the brisk sand; it was surprisingly cold, as if a cold wave had swept through it and began to dry out. It was debilitating; throughout his body, the searing heat that bubbled in his core extended through him like visceral shards of ss pressing against his bones. Such pain would normally make it easy to stand up and run the other away, leaving hispanion behind, but¨C Ethan, or rather, Emilio, couldn¡¯t bear the thought of it. It would be giving in to what he feared; what he was: ¡®fragile, sickly, helpless, and useless Ethan Bellrose.¡¯ The fate of Ethan was the fate of Emilio; though he abandoned his first life, here it was, clinging to him like a phantom from the past. As he sat there with the sand rumbling, closing in, for the first time since Joel was set on the threshold of death, the man said his name: ¡°¡­Ethan¡­¡± It was so faint; a gentle word spoken as if hardly a proper breath could be gathered by the silver-haired man now. ¡°Huh?¡± He looked up, staring at hispanion in surprise. ¡°¡­Go¡­¡± Joel told him, ¡°¡­I¡¯m done for, Ethan.¡± As he opened his mouth to retort those words, seeking to reassure the adventurer, his lips were agape but he found himself unable to find any source of hope when looking at the state of Joel. The man¡¯splexion had be deathly pale and his emerald eyes had lost their glowpletely; he simply looked at Ethan with certain eyes. ¡°¡­I saw her, Ethan,¡± Joel said, ¡°¡­She¡¯s waiting for me.¡± He finally responded as he gripped Joel¡¯s forearm, ¡°Stop talking like that! I told you, you¡¯re not in the right state of¨C¡± ¡°Listen to me, Ethan!¡± Joel yelled sharply. It was surprising that enough strength was left in the man¡¯s body for him to yell with such volume, but it was more shocking that he exuded such clear, focused intent in his words. ¡°¨C¡± Ethan looked at him. The tears that had welled up in Joel¡¯s eyes began to trail down his cheeks, ¡°¡­I saw her. I saw her, Ethan. You know what I¡¯m saying, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°No. Joel, don¡¯t¨Cit doesn¡¯t mean anything,¡± he tried to assure him. Though it seemed Joel was adamant in what he had seen as he looked him dead in the eyes, gripping onto Ethan¡¯s sleeve, ¡°¨CListen to me. I failed, Ethan. Melisande¨Cshe¡­she¡¯s gone. Ethan¡­I couldn¡¯t save her. I couldn¡¯t. I tried¨CI-I did, but¡­I¡¯m weak.¡± ¡°Weak.¡±¨Cit was a word that stuck out to him, ingrained in his mind as he sat there, looking down at Joel who watched him with eyes that resigned to their fate. There were many definitions of weak; to him, he believed in the most straightforward exnation of weakness: ack of physical strength. However, fighting tooth-and-nail now, in a body he once deemed ¡®useless¡¯, he hadn¡¯t lost hope yet, somehow. Perhaps weakness was something else to him now; he began to realize. ¡°¡­Ethan¡­I¡¯m done for. I can¡¯t walk¡­¡± ¡°I can¨C¡± ¡°No,¡± Joel looked at him, slowly shaking his head with eyes full of tears, ¡°I don¡¯t have any reason to continue on. It¡¯s¡­hell. I don¡¯t want it anymore, Ethan. I just¡­want to rest.¡± I¡¯m not that same weak, helpless ¡®Ethan¡¯¡­he thought, I¡¯m Emilio Dragonheart¡­I¡¯m not afraid of a body that can¡¯t keep up. I can push it. I can do this. Even if I break down¡­I won¡¯t sumb to the confines of this body¨Cnot anymore. Chapter 136 The Meaning of Strength The rumbling was now greater than ever; what was onceing from deep below the sand as ifing from the trenches of an ocean, the vibrating approached quickly. As he rose to his feet, a look of relief washed over Joel¡¯s face as he closed his eyes,ying against the blue sand and relinquishing himself to whatever wasing. ¡­Melisande, I¡¯ll be joining you soon¡­Joel thought. Just as the azure grains of sand hummed with a frequency that tickled the back of the adventurer¡¯s neck, he was suddenly lifted. ¡°Huh¡­? What is¡­?¡± Joel said weakly. Just before the sand erupted, Joel was lifted, carried on Ethan¡¯s back who stumbled over, hardly able to even walk properly with the extra weight on his diminished body. ¡°¡­Even without your legs, you¡¯re so heavy¡­¡± Ethan said while straining himself to walk. Joel was in disbelief for a moment before his expression turned to frustration, ¡°Stop you, idiot!¡­I told you, didn¡¯t I?! Leave me! I-I want to die¡­!¡± ¡°Shut up,¡± Ethan said, marching forward through the forest of blue sand. ¡°Huh¨C?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t give me that,¡± Ethan said as he forced himself to move, ¡°¡­Melisande wouldn¡¯t want you to die a loser¡¯s death, right? There¡¯s nothing less cool than giving up and just going without a fight.¡± ¡°¨C¡± Joel fell silent. It was an arduous march; the azure sand sank with each step taken through it like soft snow, gripping onto Ethan¡¯s boots. Even worse, the sand-dwelling entity seemed to be sifting beneath the grains, pursuing them, though it was slow in its movements.. ¡°You¡¯re her cool, older brother, right?¡­Even if this is the end¡­just keep pushing; pray for a miracle¨Canything,¡± Ethan told him, ¡°Just don¡¯t give in when there¡¯s a fighting chance.¡± There was direct confirmation of those words to Joel¡¯s eyes as he watched Ethan¡¯s uneven, ragged breathing along with the periodic, bloody coughs. ¡°Why¡¯re you doing this for me¡­? We hardly know each other¨C¡± Joel asked. ¡°¨CI don¡¯t know, alright?¡± Ethan admitted with a small, weary smile, ¡°¡­Maybe I just take pity on people as weak as me. Maybe¡­we¡¯re friends, or something. At least, I think so¡­¡± It was a bit embarrassing to say, even in the tense moment, though on the border of life-and-death that they both teetered on, there was a moment of rity found in it when marching through the abnormal domain. A faint smile came over Joel¡¯s lips as he nodded, staying on his back, ¡°¡­Yeah, we are friends.¡± As Ethan nced back, he saw Joel¡¯s eyes close, striking a painful feeling in his heart at the sight of his newfoundpanion falling to his fate. ¡°Joel? Joel!?¡± ¡°Shaddup¡­I¡¯m getting some rest¡­¡± Joel said sleepily. Relief washed over him from that response as he carried on through the unnatural sands. It was only by some miracle that he managed to carry himself and Joel out of the sands, summiting a hill of silver grass that led to a clearing. Metal trees encircled a single, all-white door that sat alone in the field of tinum des of grass. ¡°¡­A doorway¡­¡± He muttered in shock. The sight of the door ignited the faint embers of hope that were swallowed in despair; it was a ray of light, shining in the middle of the clearing. ¡°Joel, we made it¡­!¡± Ethan said with a relieved, but tired smile. Though as he walked forward, stumbling over to the clearing, he tripped over a jutted-out root from the soil. ¡°Argh¡­my bad,¡± he apologized quietly. Joel had fallen right beside him, slowly parting his eyelids, though it seemed he could barely open them as if they were as heavy as lead. ¡°¡­Ethan¡­¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± He said, coughing out as he struggled to pick himself up. ¡°I fought¡­didn¡¯t I?¡± ¨CThe inexplicable question caused the young man¡¯s heart to skip a beat as he was devoid of breath in his lungs, looking over at his silver-haired friend, who wasying at his back, looking up at the sky devoid of stars. ¡°What¡¯re you¡­? You¡¯re still fighting¨Cthe fight isn¡¯t over. Just¡­a few more meters¨Cwe¡¯re almost out of here, Joel¡­¡± Ethan told him, sitting by his side. The howls and whistling of the entities inhabiting the secluded world sounded out, echoing off of the metallic forest, forcing him to look around anxiously. ¡°This is it, Ethan¡­sorry, man,¡± Joel apologized through ragged breaths, speaking quietly as heid there, ¡°¡­I can feel it¡­my eyelids are so¡­heavy. I¡¯m so sleepy.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s¡­!¡± Ethan tried tobat his friend¡¯s words. More than anything, he wanted to reject Joel¡¯s condition, but there was no denying the reality in front of him. ¡°It¡¯s a shame¡­¡± Joel said, staring up at the crimson sky with his faded, emerald irises, ¡°¡­It would¡¯ve been nice if¡­we¡¯d met sooner, huh? Man¡­thinking of things like that. I¡¯m really about to die, aren¡¯t I?¡± There was nothing he could say as his words were caught in his throat, yet he couldn¡¯t figure out what he would even say. The sound of malignant entities drawing closer, rustling through the silver hedges around the clearing, was heard clearly. ¡°Get out of here, Ethan¡­you can barely move yourself as is¡­I¡¯m done,¡± Joel told him. ¡°¨C¡± He looked down at him with tears welling. ¡°I was wrong about you,¡± Joel said, ¡°I thought a bag o¡¯ bones like you¡­would be weak. But, you¡¯re strong¨Cstronger than me. I¡¯m not talking about in a fight, either¡­You didn¡¯t let me give up. I gave up a long time ago, Ethan, but¡­you lit a fire under me. I¡¯m d I fought alongside you¡­if only for just a little bit longer. I can gloat just a little bit to Melisande¡­that her older brother fought ¡¯till the end.¡± It was those words aimed at him, truer and more honest than any,ing from the bottom of one¡¯s heart that wasn¡¯t long for this world, that the frail, self-loathing Ethan faded. Crumbling away, the perception of the useless past self he was was whisked away; his somber outfit returned to its colorful fabric as his green cape returned. The jet-ck hair of his fixed itself, returning to its blonde-and-ck shade; his eyes returned to their amethyst glow. The neen-year-old body of Ethan returned to the fifteen-year-old Emilio, atst. It was fear, or theck of it; Emilio no longer loathed ¡®Ethan¡¯, the man who Joel respected. Joel blinked slowly, looking at him through hazy vision, ¡°¡­Ah, so that¡¯s what you really look like, huh? You¡¯re a brat¡­about the same age as Melisande. Heh¡­You should be proud¡­you¡¯re a reliable guy, Ethan.¡± ¡°¡­It¡¯s Emilio,¡± he told him. ¡°¡®Emilio¡¯¡­?¡± Joel repeated. ¡°That¡¯s my real name. Sorry I lied¡­¡± Emilio said through, choking up. ¡°Emilio¡­You¡¯ve got your secrets, huh? I won¡¯t ring your ear about it¡­¡± Joel said once more, ¡°¡®Suppose it rolls off the tongue nicely. Well, Emilio, try¡­not to follow me where I¡¯m going, alright?¡± Emilio gulped as he tried to hold back his tears, opening his mouth to say something, but stopping as the silver-haired friend of his continued. ¡°I just wish I could¡¯ve gone out¡­seeing the stars again,¡± Joel yearned quietly, watching the scarlet sky. It was just then that thest flickers of life faded in those emerald eyes. The transition from life to death was seamless; swift and peaceful, almost. ¡°¡­Goodbye, Joel¡­¡± Emilio said quietly. All around the field of tinum grass, otherworldly creatures surrounded the boy who sat on his knees by his fallenpanion. Creatures covered in bristly, silver fur with no mouths and only lifeless, ck eyes surrounded him, bearing a maw on their torsos instead, presenting rows of sharp teeth on their chest that mped up-and-down repeatedly. ¡°¨C¡° His thoughts weren¡¯t on the pressing danger around him, but lingering on the experience he¡¯d just gone through. ¡°A friend.¡± It was something he seldom had, both in this life and thest; a precious concept that he hadn¡¯t much appreciated until experiencing its warmth. Yet, that warmth was as brief as an eclipse; a beauty onlysting for a mere few moments. For the young man who¡¯d scarcely experienced loss, the swelling of his heart, contorted with burning grief, was a pain unlike any other. An intangible wound, incurable by medicine, yet¨Che still gained something. It was brief, but the imprint of Joel was left on his soul. Years and years were spent alone in that room as Ethan; he¡¯d grown adjusted to his loneliness, adamantly telling himself that those that needed thepany of others were fragile themselves. That fragility is what he felt. It feels like my heart is made out of ss¡­I have to try so hard not to let it shatter right now, he thought. As the young man brought himself to his feet, there wasn¡¯t a single shred of fear hanging around him as he wiped the tears from his eyes. With his forearm moving away, the amethyst eyes of his were revealed to have taken an animalistic nt to his pupils. [Dragonheart System Activated.] It was a seamless activation of the draconic blood within him; his heart pumped the primordial blood through his veins as a look of malice sat in his eyes when viewing the creatures. I came to this world¡­I discarded what little I had as Ethan¡­for an escape, he thought, I wanted an easy path to happiness. A simple life would¡¯ve worked. So why is this life full of so much pain? The things I didn¡¯t have before¡­they¡¯re given and taken away from me before I can truly embrace them. ¡°¡­This is what it means to be an adventurer, right¡­?¡± He questioned to himself in a whisper. Chapter 137 Arachnid Anarchy ¡°¡­This is what it means to be an adventurer, right¡­?¡± He questioned to himself in a whisper. Just then, the silver-haired beasts made their move; shuffling through the treeline with unarthodox, zig-zag movements, they closed in on his position with swiftness. There wasn¡¯t a single droplet of fear that entered his bloodstream as he stood his ground, standing still as he waited for the beasts toe. They moved carefully, but with speed that made them blurs¨Cto normal eyes, that is. As one leapt towards him with its chest-mouth mping down, he lifted a single hand in response. Before its fangs could reach him, a release of azure mes pushed against the silver entity, engulfing it in the sublime heat of the Dragonheart. It was a controlled output; the majestic mes exuded in a condensed cone that targeted only the beast, swallowing it in the all-burning grasp of the draconic inferno before it dropped to the ground as a ckened husk. As he looked forward with his merciless, bestial eyes, the silver-furred entities seemed wary now; lurking around as their chest-mouths mmered. ¡°Come on, then¡­I¡¯m in a bad mood!¡± He yelled. Inviting the unnatural entities into a battle, it seemed his outburst of emotion drew them in a half dozen leapt towards him with their tongues stretching out to unnatural lengths. Still, there was no hesitance within him as the azure mes sparked around his left forearm as he pulled it back, gathering the heat before unleashing it forward in a tidal wave of destruction. Those that lunged towards him were burned away to the afterlife in a sh; the spectacle of the azure was witnessed by none but himself and the malignant entities in that moment. It¡¯s their fault it came to this, he reasoned.. As his temperament declined ever-so-slightly, so did his control over the draconic inferno as their azure burn stretched over the fields, igniting them as heat coalesced in the clearing. Still, the agility of the beasts was something harrowing as he watched them begin diving into the soil, swimming through it as if it were liquid. This is how they got through the sand? He thought. The ground began rumbling as the dozen beasts were quickly carving through the soil beneath him; unable to see them, it seemed unlikely tounch a counterattack. Though, ¡®unlikely¡¯ was all it was. As he clenched his fist, his heartbeat increased through his own tensing. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. [Physical capabilities increased.] Drawing forth the increased strength from his Dragonheart System, he stomped down, breaking the soil around him as it cracked and split, revealing the beady-eyed entities hiding beneath it. Amidst the silver-furred beasts, his eyesid on one that stood out to him: it had blood-soaked arms. Seeing that left little doubts in his mind as he found the object of his rage. All at once, he unleashed a massive swirl of azure mes that cascaded into the broken soil, burning through the sediment before burying the beasts in a crematory. ¡°¨C¡± He watched. As the burning of the azure mes came to an end, all of the malicious entities were handled without a single blemish beingid on his form. [Level Up!] [Level Twelve Achieved] It meant little to him that he leveled up, as the loss in return for the gain didn¡¯t make up for it in the slightest. With his vengeance finished, the draconic essence faded before he looked down. ¡°Sorry, Joel¡­¡± He apologized quietly. A slight ache resonated through his body as the Dragonheart blood quelled; it wasn¡¯t just that. In the end, a hefty amount of mana was used previously, and though he was in the more durable, stable body of his normal self, it was taxing. ¡°Ghh¡­¡± He groaned quietly. As he nced behind him at the body of his silver-haired friend, a small frown was present on his expression before he hoisted him up, cing him on his back. There was no doubt that it was an awkward maneuver to carry the adult man on his back, but it wasn¡¯t an arduous task with his increased strength. ¡°Let¡¯s get you out of here,¡± he said quietly. With his tired sights set on the lonesome door in the middle of the otherworldly zone, he slowly moved towards it before stopping in front of it. A slow twist of the doorknob released a small squeak of metal before it clicked, unlocking and opening itself to present the sight of Larundog once again. ¡°¡­I made it out?¡± He questioned almost in doubt. It was odd to him that he was relieved to find his way back into the hellscape that was in Larundog, but he was quick to act carefully as he carried Joel¡¯s body into an alleyway at the sound of heavy steps around the corner. ¡­It never ends, does it? He questioned. Hiding in the shadow-filled alley while listening to loud stomps traversing the deste streets of the city, he carefully lowered the body of his friend onto the ground. He knelt down, making sure Joel¡¯s body was sat up as tears stayed in his eyes. It¡¯s weird. He looks¡­peaceful, he thought. Difficulty came when looking at him, but a part of him was relieved to know that Joel was freed from the hell that ensnared them. ¡°¡­Bye, Joel. I¡¯ve got to go now¡­¡± He said quietly. As he brought himself to his feet, he buried his emotions the best he could as he wiped any residual tears from his eyes. Alone again, he found himself aimless and without direction on what his next move was. More than that, he knew that simply acting without any semnce of an idea was something that would earn him a quick death. He peeked around the corner, looking towards the source of the heavy footsteps. What his eyes found was a behemoth of a humanoid; it stood likely over four meters in height with broad shoulders and burly arms that hung down to the ground, walking like a gori. It was d in ivory skin that almost looked like knightly armor, lumbering around as it used its fists as front legs. ¡­I¡¯d rather avoid fighting that thing, he thought. As he waited for it to pass by the street, he swiftly and quietly sprinted from the tucked-away alley to the other side of the street to another secluded area. It was a small park, gated off, but he found a hole through the ck gates. It seemed a lot less dense with malignant nightmares than the stone roads of Larundog; the park waspact with trees that held dried, dead leaves that also littered the verdant grass below. ¡°Ghk¡­!¡± As he took a step forward, he winced and covered his mouth as he stepped in a puddle of blood that was left next to a contorted, mangled corpse. It was a blonde-haired, adult male, but any other features beyond that were impossible to discern by how broken and torn the body was. It¡¯s terrible¡­He thought. The stench of death hung thick around the park; a sickening, putrid smell of spoiled meat swirled in the air as he kept his nose and mouth covered with his cape before moving deeper. I have to find Vandread¡­or anybody else for that matter, he resolved. If anything, the park seemed to at least provide a good amount of cover, which felt invaluable in the fact that he wanted to avoid the lurking monstrosities entirely. Though part of him knew he¡¯d have to confront the source of the nightmarish city¨Cthe ¡®Unending Nightmare¡¯¨Cit was something he didn¡¯t want to face alone. Whether it was his own rationality of knowing it wasn¡¯t something he could defeat alone or simply innate fear, he sought to avoid it before finding others. As he moved on through the park, which had its treesyered in thick cobwebs that almost existed like a veil of fog, he looked around, finding more bodies strewn through the pathways and fields of grass. It wasn¡¯t just adults, clearly¨Cchildren weren¡¯t exempt from the horrific nature of the hellscape. As he moved forward, he found himself staring in horror at what awaited him when traveling to the heart of the town park: giant webs hung in abundance and sacks of cobweb in the shape of humans hung from trees. Bodies¡­? What is this? He questioned. Thergest tree in the park, which sat in the center of the horrific area, waspletely wrapped in white threads. As the bodies tied by webs swayed by a passing breeze, he backed away, tripping over something as he fell on his rear. Looking at what tripped him, he found his heart caught in his throat at the sight of a young girl¡¯s body, shriveled up and of a drainedplexion as if all of the fluids were taken from her body. ¡°Gah¡­!¡± He covered his mouth. As he sat on the grass in horror, he could feel the sticky essence of websyering even the grass. Before he could gather his frantic breaths, he was sent into further panic as a ticklish sensation made him look at his left hand, causing him to find dozens of tiny spiders crawling up his fingers and ascending his arm. ¡°No, no, no¡­!¡± He frantically swatted his arm in a panic, backing away and picking himself up before slipping right into a curtain of webs. ¡°Gah¡­!¡± Chapter 138 Futility of Struggling ¡°No, no, no¡­!¡± He frantically swatted his arm in a panic, backing away and picking himself up before slipping right into a curtain of webs. ¡°Gah¡­!¡± It certainly wasn¡¯t there before; the of webs that entangled him as he thrashed his limbs about. The cobweb was made out of scarily powerful threads; they were adhesive, sticking to his clothes and skin as his physical strength alone wasn¡¯t enough. In fact, it seemed the more he tussled, the more he was caught in the webs. As he got himself tangled in the colossal cobweb that stretched from the grass and between trees, fuzzy arachnids the size of his head began closing in on him. ¡°¡­Hell no!¡± He yelled. Finally resorting to the usage of magecraft, he unleashed a blind st of fire off of his position; it was unfocused and simply let out with the intent of burning the webs. Though he was freed, it seemed that the heat peeled the webs from him, but didn¡¯t burn them away as he stumbled away, swatting himself as an itchy sensation crawled all over his skin. As he pped himself to rid his body of the ¡®itchy crawlies¡¯, he looked back at the webs, perplexed by their durability. ¡­The mes didn¡¯t burn them away? What the hell are they made out of?! He questioned. Bringing his gaze up, he found himself meeting eye-to-¡®eyes¡¯ with an eight-legged horror that was hanging upside-down in front of him. It had a red belly and ck skin, covered in jet-ck fuz as it wriggled its abhorrent legs in front of his face. It had to have descended from a far-above branch, as he wasn¡¯t standing near any trees. It was roughly the size of his own head, and much past rge enough¡¯ to warrant a reaction that was less thanposed.. A girlish shriek left his mouth as he jumped back, pointing his staff forward as he unleashed a condensed stream of orange mes against the creepy-crawly. As the catalyst-born methrower quelled, he caught his frantic breath as he looked towards where the hanging arachnid was, finding nothing. The truth was, Emilio had an extremely high-level case of ¡®arachnophobia¡¯; after encountering the face-sized spider, he began to realize what was happening as it seemed unavoidable to run into more arachnid situations. ¡­It¡¯s the ¡®Unending Nightmare¡¯! It¡¯s as he said: it manifests your deepest fears! He realized. It was confirmed once again as when he turned around, he saw an army of dog-sized spiders crawling towards him from several meters away. ¡°Gah!¡± Without any hesitation, he bolted in the opposite direction, diverging from the path of the park and deeper into the trees. The further he delved into the sea of trees, the denser the webs came that carpeted the grass and d the cedar. In his aimless run, he once again found himself crashing right into an obstacle¨C ¡°Wah¡­!¡± A thread was suspended between two trees, serving as a tripwire that he ran straight into, causing him to flip over as it tangled itself around his ankles and hung him upside-down. The disorienting shift in motion caused him to drop his staff. What the¡­?! A trap?! He thought. His wooden catalyst was out of reach on the ground; he was suspended a good few meters above the cobwebyered field. As he subtly swung back-and-forth upside-down, he struggled to look up as he found the web around his ankles to be different from the others around the park: it was more silver than pale-white, like a pristine tinum. On the trees above him, which the tinum web was attached to, he could see spiders traversing the branches and closing in. ¡­I¡¯m not dealing with this! He thought. Just as he attempted to manifest a wild burst of me magic around himself¨Cnothing came. Instead, he felt a sudden rise of weakness throughout his body like a rapidly-spurring sickness that spawned from his gut. Wh-what is this¡­? He thought. Whatever the sudden sickness was, it made it feel impossible to control his mana as if it was distorted inside of him, swirling inside of him and unable to be condensed. As he strained himself to look up, he found the likely cause: the fangs of a pale-brown spider had sunk into his calf. When looking at the fiend in question, he could feel the enigmatic venom pumping into him as his veins became apparent in the ce of the injection. ¡°¡­I¡¯m off-limits!¡± He said through clenched teeth. Swatting his leg, he managed to make the spider jump away, but the deed was done; the venom took hold of his body as he was left dizzy and utterly dibobted. It flowed through his leg to his head like a seering dose of NyQuil; the venom birthed itself in a sensation that swapped his motor skills, making his movements mixed up. ¡­My body isn¡¯t responding! It feels like food poisoning¡­times one-hundred! He thought. While his foggied mind and disturbed body made magic usage improbable, he tried reaching to his hip for the handle of his sheathed de, but the absent strength in his fingertips wasn¡¯t enough before ¡®something¡¯ arrived. It was arge figure, whatever it was; a shadow loomed over him as the tree branches above creaked beneath its weight. Part of him was too afraid to open his eyes again to see whatever was hanging over him, but of course, reality must be faced. As he parted his eyelids, he found sweat exuding his pores in an anxious perspiration at the sight of it: it dwarfed him in size by at least three times. The firstparison in his mind was that to the size and broadness of a truck. It was an arachnid, mightier than any he¡¯d seen before. No doubt by the stillness of the other spiders in the web-covered domain of trees was this the ¡®boss¡¯ of the crawlers. Oh, shit¡­He thought. The beastly spider was all-ck with a coat of fuzzy, snow-white fur and a crimson streak running down its belly as its bulbous abdomen oozed out the tinum threads that were suspending him. Some sort of secretion dripped from its mandibles, which wererger than his own arms as they mped down repeatedly in hunger, flexing like muscles. Worse of all were its many, beady eyes that stared at him like a nighttime snack. The first instinct he called upon was me magic, but his feverish body didn¡¯t reply. It began to slowly close in on him, flexing its eight legs. Crap, crap, crap¡­! He thought. As blood rushed to his head while held upside down, he strained himself to reach for his treasured sword, though his fingertips were only able to gently graze the handle. In such a precarious position with the man-eating, colossal arachnid nearing him, and many other of its spawn waiting, he felt the coldness of death trickling against his skin as his mind wanted to panic. Remember what Father taught you¡­! As rigid as a mountain!¨CFocus! He told himself. As hard as he tried, the weakness that set through his veins was something that willpower simply couldn¡¯t ovee. The fresh, painful memories of loss floated to the surface of his mind as he recalled hispanions¡¯ fate, but also the future he needed to walk on: the path ahead of him, and the others he needed to return to. Just as the prickly sensation of the arachnid¡¯s fuzz met his body, he managed to exert the slightest breeze of air from his fingertips; it was magic that was simply inconsequential¨Cany other time except this exact moment, that is. It was just enough to jiggle Silver Wing from its scabbard, bringing the handle just a few inches lower, enabling him to grip it. ¡°Graaah!¡± In one motion, summoning everything from his body, he drew the de and swept it through the air, using the natural arch of gravity to his advantage as the sharp steel sliced right through the tinum threads. The swipe of the de caused the hungering arachnids to back away momentarily. ¡°Waah-!¡± Though he freed himself, he found himself staring down at the ground as he plummeted without the ability tond properly, instead having to brace himself for a less-thanfortable impact. ¡­Shit! Still¡­I made it! He thought. As he picked himself up, he breathed heavily, catching his breath into his aching lungs as he briefly looked back. The sight of the swarm of spiders, varying in size but not varying in horror, prompted him to begin running. Though ¡®running¡¯ was putting it highly as the fever-inducing venom flowing through his body made him move like a drunken man, finding himself bumping into trees as he hurried away. I won¡¯t make it like this¡­He thought. Even the sword felt like a boulder held in his fingertips; dragging himself along, he was short of breath as he heard the branches behind him being bent beneath the weight of the carnivorous spiders; their innumerable legs scattering over the wood. Through his sickly state, he didn¡¯t notice the tree root jutting out from the ground, resulting in him tripping over as his chin smacked against the soil harshly. ¡°Ghh¡­¡± He groaned. Part of him was so tired that he simply felt like sumbing to it all. But, that feeling was dissuaded as he gripped the soil, pulling himself forward as he tried to crawl away at a snail¡¯s pace. ¡°¡­I can¡¯t die¡­not yet¡­¡± He mumbled weakly. Chapter 139 The Red-Haired Adventurer ¡°¡­I can¡¯t die¡­not yet¡­¡± He mumbled weakly. It all felt futile; the shreels of arachnids echoed throughout the forest-like park, following behind him as he felt his body hardly responding to hismands anymore. ¡°¨CIs that so? Then stay down for a moment, wouldja?¡± The voice that spoke out to him was vaguely familiar; a masculine voice that was oddly optimistic for the situation. As he looked up, his blurry vision could only make out the silhouette of the man standing over him, who had a flowing, ck cape on his back and an arm that was gathering crimson mes. Vandread¡­? No¡­who are¡­? He questioned. Before he could make out the identity of the stranger, he passed out just as a massive wave of mes was unleashed at the swipe of his savior¡¯s arm,pletely engulfing the swarm of spiders in one move. The man standing over the unconscious young man had a scruffy, red beard and matching, unkempt hair with a look of confidence in his smiling eyes. He had a mixed-set of brown leather and silver-ted armor; it was that rag-tagbination along with the swaying ne of his that confirmed it: he was an adventurer. ¡°You did good, kid,¡± the man said. Who knew the brat from Yullim would be such a reliable guy? The red-haired man thought. A masterful amount of control was presented through the fact that only the spiders and the webs they had woven were burnt away, but not a single leaf suffered the heat of the adventurer¡¯s mes. ¡°Phew,¡± the man exhaled before looking down at the unconscious Emilio, ¡°¡­Well, let¡¯s get you out of here.¡± As he hoisted the light, fifteen-year-old up, an object slipped out from Emilio¡¯s coat, which the red-haired man caught with cat-like reflexes.. It was a coin; a unique one with a cross and a sword etched into its material. ¡°Oh?¡± The man looked at it as a warm smile formed across his lips. You held onto it this whole time, huh? The man thought. ¨C After an unknown amount of time, Emilio found himself waking up but his eyelids had yet to act in ordance as he had to manually open them, though they were quite heavy. ¡°Ngh¡­¡± As he sat up, he winced as he held his throbbing head, finding the subtlest light to cause him to flinch from the sudden migraine. It seemed he was sitting under the veil of a curtain; upon further inspection, it was a toppled over carriage, now used as a makeshift room. ¡°Ah, I¡¯d be careful if I were you. Those spiders got you good, it seems,¡± the voice of the man told him. Blinking a few times, he looked up with his adjusting vision, ¡°¡­Who are you? An adventurer?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t recognize me? That saddens me a bit.¡± Said yfully, the man knelt down in front of the boy, presenting himself to Emilio¡¯s eyes as his vision focused, finally able to see the red-haired man clearly, who looked to be in histe-twenties to early-thirties. ¡°You¡­! Wait, you¡¯re that guy from the guild¨Cin Yullim!¡± Emilio said, finally realizing. It was thest ce he expected to reunite with the stranger that left him with quite the impression. To confirm his realization, the man smiled and flipped the coin over to him, which he caught and smiled down at. ¡°Considering you still have that coin I gave you, it seems you¡¯re not an adventurer. But, if you¡¯re in Larundog, I¡¯m guessing you were on your way to Vasmoria to go to the Guild Foundation,¡± the man guessed. ¡°Yeah,¡± he nodded. He¡¯s perceptive, Emilio thought. The ck-caped adventurer with red hair extended his hand, which was d in a light-brown glove, ¡°The name¡¯s Roan. Most just call me ¡®Red-Hair¡¯, though.¡± ¡°Emilio,¡± he gave his name in return, shaking the man¡¯s hand. Inside the toppled-over carriage, which had a sparse amount of light seep in through the holes in the white curtain, Roan returned to his feet. ¡°This is a high-ranking quest; the ¡®Unending Nightmare¡¯ is certainly not something fit for standard adventurers to handle,¡± Roan exined, ¡°I don¡¯t know what the Foundation was thinking¨Cthey wasted a lot of lives¡­¡± ¡°¨C¡± He silently sat there before realizing, ¡°¨CAh, my staff!¡± ¡°Right here,¡± Roan said, tossing his wooden catalyst over. In surprise, he caught the object, but he was thankful more than anything as he gripped it, finding his way to his feet, though there was still some weariness in his body. ¡°I came here with somebody,¡± Emilio said, ¡°Err, he¡¯s an adventurer, too: Vandread. I don¡¯t know what rank he is, but he¡¯s pretty capable.¡± ¡°Vandread? Ah, I¡¯ve met him a couple times on the road,¡± Roan said, putting his glove to his chin, ¡°That¡¯s relieving to hear. In a situation like this, we need all hands on deck¨Cwell, reliable hands.¡± ¡°I remember before¡­didn¡¯t you have a group of people with you? Other adventurers?¡± He asked. The man with shaggy, red hair raised an eyebrow beforeughing, bashfully ruffling his own hair, ¡°Yeah, about that, I sort of went on ahead¨Calone. The Foundation mibeled this quest it seems. The ¡®Unending Nightmare¡¯ is a primordial monster; something like this would require one hero-rank swordsman, or a few tyrants, at least.¡± ¡°That much¡­?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve seen it yourself, no? This isn¡¯t a joke,¡± Roan said, ¡°Anyway, you know how this ce functions, right? Fears are manifested, and doorways can lead to even more freaky ces.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know that,¡± he nodded. Though as Roan asked him that question, he realized that the usage of the flipped-over carriage was for a hiding spot that didn¡¯t require a doorway. There wasn¡¯t any hesitance or time wasted by Roan, who had an air of experience around him. It was different from raw power; it was the aura of a veteran. He¡¯s good, he thought. ¡°What elements can you use? Are you up for casting?¡± Roan asked. ¡°Err, I can use all of them, and yeah, I think so,¡± he nodded. ¡°All? Looks like I put my faith in the right brat,¡± Roan smiled, ruffling Emilio¡¯s hair before getting serious again. Even more than experience, it was even more telling that Roan didn¡¯t treat him like a child, but a proper ally in the face of the daunting situation. ¡°How long have you been here?¡± Emilio asked. Roan folded his arms over his chest, ¡°I just got here right before I found you at the park. I tracked the mana signature I felt and it led me to you. Count yourself lucky it did.¡± ¡°Yeah, forgot to thank you for that¡­thanks,¡± he said. ¡°First things first,¡± Roan said, moving on, ¡°Let¡¯s try to find other survivors. It¡¯s our priority to secure the lives of civilians.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to hunt the source of this first? I mean, if we take out the Unending Nightmare, there won¡¯t be any risk for everybody else,¡± he suggested. ¡°Maybe, but that lends the question of how we even track it down: it changes its shape, controls the entire city, and can manipte spaces,¡± Roan told him, ¡°If we can¡¯t pin it down, we can¡¯t guarantee we¡¯ll eliminate it before it eliminates others.¡± ¡°I see,¡± he nodded. While he found himself woefully outmatched in knowledge, tactics, and experience with Roan, it wasn¡¯t something that made him feel pressured, but actually shined like an opportunity to learn from a seasoned adventurer. ¡°Still, if we find that bastard first, we¡¯ll attack,¡± Roan said. ¡°It¡¯s strong, can we take it¡­?¡± ¡°Trust me,¡± Roan smiled, ¡°I¡¯m pretty damn strong myself.¡± He found himself smiling as well, feeling some resurgence of hope under the wing of the red-haired adventurer. ¡°¨CSpeaking of which, we¡¯ve got some visitors,¡± Roan said, ncing back. All there was around them were the curtains of the flipped carriage, which confused Emilio, who didn¡¯t see or hear anything. ¡°We do?¡± Before he could get an answer, he watched as Roan held his left hand up, manifesting embers that swirled and coalesced around his hand before forming into the shape of a sword. It wasn¡¯t just simply reshapened mes, but a tangible, steel ymore that was etched with the pattern of mes across its length. What kind of magecraft is that¡­? He questioned. In one movement of the me-born ymore, which presented itself with a ck handle and an inferno-d silver, Roan cast away the curtain around the temporary base, burning it away to non-existence to reveal the scarlet sky once more. They were smackdab in the middle of a street, with the fallen carriage having fallen by what used to be a stable of horses used for othermercial coaches. ¡°You can sit back if you¡¯d like, but¡­I¡¯d rmend being ready for anything,¡± Roan suggested with a smile. ¡°Right,¡± he nodded, standing up with his staff held. Though he was ready to fight, he was more interested in how Roan handled himself; though they had only briefly met before, the adventurer had an imprint on his aspirations. To him, the seasoned adventurer was the very image of an ¡®adventurer.¡¯ Approaching them on the cobblestone streets were man-hogs; bulky humanoids with the heads of hogs, bearing blood-stained tusks and an inhuman bloodlust. ¡°I¡¯ll support you,¡± Emilio said, focusing up. Roan nodded, ¡°¡®Preciate it!¡± Chapter 140 Roans Way ¡°I¡¯ll support you,¡± Emilio said, focusing up. Roan nodded, ¡°¡®Preciate it!¡± Though it hardly seemed necessary to lend his aid as with swiftness like a bolt of lightning, the red-haired adventurer left the bounds of the carriage and broke the distance between himself and the hog-beasts. Though it wasn¡¯t that Roan simply moved like lightning; the man swung his magically-manifested ymore towards one of the tall beasts, cleaving through it with sharpened mes before flicking his fingers towards the other, expelling a bolt of crimson lightning that blew its torso apart. It wasn¡¯t just fire magic; what Roan wielded was fulmination itself¨Can element he¡¯d never seen in person: ¡®lightning.¡¯ Lightning magic¡­? I¡¯ve only read about it, but it¡¯s extremely rare to use! It¡¯s as rare as being able to utilize the four base elements! Emilio thought. Such a sight was fantastical in itself; Roan¡¯s dashed left a trail of red electricity against the cobblestone before he zipped by Emilio, bisecting a hog-man that had snuck behind him. ¡°¨CCareful,¡± Roan warned him. ¡°Thanks¡­!¡± He stammered out. Roan nced around, ¡°Looks like they weren¡¯t alone.¡± Swarming from around the corner, more of the hog-faced humanoids stomped onto the street, huffing out and running towards them. ¡°I¡¯ll leave the others to you,¡± Roan said, facing the iing group. ¡°¡®Others¡¯?!¡±. As he nced behind, he found that there were another dozen of the brown-hide, callused humanoids stomping towards their position, to which he raised his staff in preparation. Using the distance between himself and the hog-men to his advantage, he used the cobblestone street he stood on for resources, spinning pieces of stone into spears and propelling them towards the fiends. Who has a fear of pig-faced humans?! He questioned. Though the stone spears were lethal, not all were; some of the hogs managed to tank them and push on, beginning to close the distance as he was forced to fight more close-quarters. ¡°Ghh..!¡± Evading the m of one of their arms, he countered with a st of wind that knocked a few back as well. With one quick nce back, he realized if this were a race, he¡¯d have been left in the dust by Roan. The red-haired adventurer moved with amazing agility, using his lightning-infused physical might to run along the walls of the abandoned shops before unleashing a whirling spin of his ymore, cutting through the beasts with his reinforced mes. As one of the hogs tried totch onto Roan, the man vanished from his spot with only residual sparks of red lightning behind before reappearing and sending a bolt of crimson electricity stabbing through the beast and its kin. He¡¯s so strong, Emilio thought. There was no doubt about it: Roan was on an entirely different level than himself. As he looked forward again, there was a hog-man,rger than the others, swinging down towards him with both of its fists. ¡°..Gah!¡± He managed to dodge it by using a gust of wind to knock himself back before responding by drawing his sword and gripping it tightly. Alright¡­let¡¯s hope this works, he thought. As the horrific beast charged him with its head hung low to use its tusks likences, he focused, holding his ground before concentrating wind around the steel of his de. Just as it came within a meter of him, he swung his sword, enveloping its sharpness and carrying it forward with an imprint of wind that iid itself on the hide of the beastly nightmare. It squealed out as the slice of wind cut through its torso, felling it instantly through the deep cut. ¡°It worked¡­¡± He muttered in surprise. Again, he found himself feeling small in scale when it came to skill as the hiss of electricity met his ear before he saw a flesh of scarlet lightning traveling overhead. Roan had speared himself through the air with the form of scarlet lightning, momentarily foregoing his physical state topletely undergo a ¡®elemental morph¡¯ of sorts to travel without the limitations of matter before crashing down with an explosive swirl of fire and lightning. The impact instantly demolished the rest of the hog-men, scorching their flesh with the mes before the blood-red lightning turned their skeletons to ash. Roan¡¯s scarlet hair swayed in the air generated by his own magecraft as he nced back with a smile, brushing his gloves off, ¡°Nice work.¡± ¡°¡­Yeah,¡± he epted. The man seemed to notice the blonde-haired boy¡¯s inadequacy as he smiled, ¡°Seriously¨Cat your age, I was still figuring out how to stop shooting smoke instead of mes.¡± ¡°Really?¨CStill, lightning magic is something amazing. I¡¯ve never seen it used before,¡± he said, ¡°You must have a high affinity for fire and wind, right?¡± Roan looked at him, scratching his beard as he averted his gaze, ¡°Somethin¡¯ like that. Let¡¯s keep going.¡± ¡°¡­Right,¡± he nodded. It seemed the red-haired adventurer avoided his question, but there definitely didn¡¯t feel like there was any ill-intent from doing so. There were a lot of questions he wanted to ask, but time was of the essence, and though Roan seemed easygoing, there was definitely a sense of urgency in his movement. ¡°Luckily, we¡¯re notpletely in the dark when ites to the Unending Nightmare,¡± Roan talked while moving down the street. For a brief moment, he saw the adventurer insignia that Roan had as his ne swayed from his shirt: it had a pitch-ck gem in the center, contrary to the ruby ranks he¡¯d seen before. ¡­What rank is that? He thought. Snapping back into focus, he replied, ¡°¨CWe¡¯re not?¡± ¡°This thing has been messing with humanity for centuries,¡± Roan told him, ¡°¨CThis is the boldest it¡¯s ever been, though. As you already know, it manifests the fears of everybody caught in its ¡®zone¡¯, that zone right now being all of Larundog.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he nodded. ¡°If you can block out fear and hesitation from your mind totally, even if you have to fake it ¡¯till you make it, chances are none of its spawn wille for you,¡± Roan said, ¡°It feeds on fear. That being said, if it thinks the manifestations aren¡¯t good enough, it¡¯lle for you directly.¡± ¡°¡­Directly?¡± ¡°We can bring it to us, but it¡¯s a bit arbitrary¨CI mean, it¡¯s impossible to quantify fear,¡± Roan said, ¡°but, just clear your head and be ready. I¡¯m right here with ya.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± he nodded again. They were moving in haste, with him following behind the seasoned, red-haired adventurer who constantly scanned the streets with his eyes, looking for survivors. ¡°¡­You¡¯re not afraid?¡± He asked. It came out suddenly, but it was the question on his mind when watching how seamlessly Roan moved through the city and handled any monstrous opposition. The scruffy-bearded man nced back with a simple answer, ¡°No. After journeying the world as long as I have, you¡¯ll see a whole lot of frightening things. This is just another Tuesday for me.¡± There wasn¡¯t any lie about it; he could sense that Roan was as cool as a cucumber. It was thatck of fear and strength behind it that turned the tides in the situation, easing the despair and bringing in hope. ¡°If I had to guess, the Unending Nightmare itself is probably holed up somewhere in the center of the city,¡± Roan surmised, ¡°It might be a proactive entity, but it needs a ¡®base of operations¡¯, so to speak¨Csomewhere it can feast on the fear its gathered.¡± Still, somewhat felt uneasy as the deeper they went into the ursed city, the more it became distorted and twisted: blood painted the pale-gray cobblestone and flesh-like tendrils clung to the walls like nightmarish overgrowth. The hue of the scarlet sky that loomed over the entrapped city magnified and the man-faced clouds above groaned louder. ¡­We¡¯re approaching something, he thought. ¡°On your left,¡± Roan said. ¡°Huh¨C?¡± Before he could react, on the uing corner, something stomped in from the left pathway through the cobblestone streets. It was an amalgamation of a horse and a faceless man; like a centaur out of hell with pitch-ck skin and a size more fitting of an elephant. The sound of its hooves bouncing off the cobblestone was loud and overbearing with fear as it swooped in with its arms that ended in the shape of swords. As he was frozen by the sudden appearance of the hellish centaur, he was tackled by Roan, who moved with the essence of his scarlet lightning to move away from the path of the creature¡¯s attack. A single swipe of its sword-arm swept through the side of a brick-built building, sweeping a wave of dust through the street in the wake of its attack. That strength is¡­terrifying, he thought. Being let go by Roan, he looked up at the crimson-haired man, ¡°¡­Thanks.¡± ¡°We¡¯re getting closer,¡± Roanmented. ¡°How can you tell?¡± ¡°It might just be conjecture, but¡­that thing right there is a whole degree stronger than anything else I¡¯ve seen in the city,¡± Roan told him, ¡°and my guess is, the Unending Nightmare doesn¡¯t want us getting close to it¨Cso it¡¯s pulling out all stops now.¡± ¡°I see¡­that makes sense,¡± Emilio nodded, readying himself. Chapter 141 The Center of Fear The sight of the onyx-skinned, faceless centaur was daunting in its own right; the de-arms it possessed wererger than his entire body two times over; it easily trumped the size of the smaller buildings upying the street. ¡°Back me up with your magic,¡± Roan said, ¡°I can avoid getting hit, so try to focus on giving supporting fire.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Just like that, the seasoned adventurer was already setting off to engage the colossal beast as he sprinted in with a trail of lightning following his boots before he slid beneath a horizontal sh from the centaur. A quick snap of his fingers allowed Roan to manifest a spark of fulmination, sending the crimson bolt against the centaur¡¯s chest to momentarily stun it in the resulting impact. ¡­Now¡¯s my chance! Emilio thought. As he aimed his staff towards the giant entity, he manifested an onught of fireballs that shot out in consecutive sts, sailing through the air in a glorious glow of orange. ¡°Smander Breath,¡± it was a quick-release fire spell that allowed him to condense fireballs into faster-traveling projectiles that, once reaching their target¨Cleft a majestic explosion. The impact of the dozen fireballs engulfed the onyx centaur in a swirl of inferno, mixing with the electricity of Roan¡¯s creation as the man jumped back to avoid the heat. ¡°¡­Careful with that. Almost cooked me up,¡± Roan called out. ¡°Sorry,¡± he apologized quickly. As the ze dissipated, the onyx entity was revealed to harbor no wounds on its immacte, steel-like body, as if carved out of perfect metal. Not even a scratch¡­? Emilio thought. Roan narrowed his eyes before zapping back into action; the strands of lightning around him hissed as he maneuvered around the array of swings from the centaur¡¯s ded arms. The length of the street rumbled from each of the colossus¡¯ hooves moving about while it attempted to bisect the veteran adventurer. Still, Roan had the advantage in agility; the ability to move as scarlet lightning allowed him utter freedom in movement as he evaded the entity¡¯s attacks, countering with flicks of electricity.. ¡°Emilio!¡± Roan called out. The signal given almost left the boy dumbfounded on what was expected of him for a moment, but he got an idea of his own once realizing that Roan¡¯s lightning seemed to be mitigated by the centaur¡¯s sturdiness. ¡­Let¡¯s try this! He nned. At the raise of his catalyst, the moisture in the air expanded before droplets of water were suspended in the space around him, swiftly gathering into one spot before arge, clear sphere of aquatic essence was formed. ¡°Water Sphere!¡± The high-speed, condensed st of waterunched, crashing against the onyx-skinned centaur¡¯s body. It was soaked entirely, but left unphased by the impact itself, only looking towards the boy with its non-existence eyes. It began moving towards him now, readying its daunting arms as their edge was dragged along the cobblestone in a horrifying grating sound. C¡¯mon¡­! He thought. He stood his ground as the stomps of the centaur caused the ground to vibrate against his boots, filling his eardrums with the anxious pounding of his own heart before¨C ZAP. ¡°Blood Dragon Revolution,¡± Roan invoked. A scarlet sh momentarily blinded even Emilio before a release of the unique lightning took the form of a beast¡¯s jaws, mping down around the massive entity¡¯s form. Due to the water that drenched its body acting like a conductor for the electricity, the centaur waspletely immobilized by the disastrous shock as its body convulsed on the spot. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there! Hit it with all ya¡¯ got!¡± Roan yelled out. The red-haired adventurer was on the other side of the creature as he called out to Emilio, who quickly sprung into action. ¡­Everything I¡¯ve got? What¡¯s my best spell here? Something that specializes in firepower¡­He thought. With that in mind, he invoked the heat with himself, letting it bubble up in his core before guiding the inferno throughout his body, visualizing the mana within him as mes before it manifested into a tangible form in front of his staff. It was a disastrous spell that siphoned the strength from his body just to control it; the richness of mana required caused his muscles to cramp and the cobblestone around him to begin melting in the rising heat. ¡°Carve through fields of grass,kes of water, and towers of rock! Bestow your destruction onto my enemies! Grand Fire Cannon!¡± He summoned. A condensed beam of fire taken to its most potent heights was released in greater form than ever before used, matching the size needed to wipe out the humanoid torso attached to the top of the de-armed centaur. The sizzle of the beam filled the air as it burrowed straight through the centaur, taking only moments to do its job. ¡°¡­Huff¡­¡± He breathed out. Like a robot, the centaur¡¯s body shut-down with its arms dropping and what was left of its onyx torso leaning over as steam poured off of its form. [Level Up!] [Level Thirteen Achieved] Roan looked up in surprise, ¡°I¡¯m not even going to ask how a kid came into that kind of power.¡± ¡°¡­It¡¯s a good thing, right?¡± ¡°Right now? I¡¯d say so,¡± Roan scratched his beard before gesturing for him to follow, ¡°Alright¨Clet¡¯s keep moving. I don¡¯t want to wait around for the cavalry to arrive.¡± As they moved forward, the belly of the beast was found as any semnce of Larundog¡¯s normalcy was discarded by the grotesque sceneryying deep within the city¡¯s bounds. A thick veil acted like a border to the heart of Larundog, prompting the two to pause for a moment before entering. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you can feel it, but that malevolent mana is thickest right behind this fog,¡± Roan said. ¡°¡­Yeah¡­¡± He nodded. It wasn¡¯t just sensed; the aura was so potent that it burned the back of his throat as he inhaled the air, feeling his body run over with goosebumps. ¡°Be ready, kid, this seems to be the Unending Nightmare¡¯s domain¨CI bet if there are survivors, they were probably lured in here,¡± Roan warned him quietly, ¡°I might not be able to cover for you.¡± ¡°I can handle myself.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Roan replied. Into the veil of fog, he was immediately met with an entirely different sight; the cobblestone was covered in grime as if painted ck; buildings were decrepit and swallowed by mounds of flesh and gunk. Somehow, trees sprouted between the cracks in the stone roads, growing into wicked, twisted statues of hollow that had bodies hanging from them like abhorrent Christmas decorations. The air wasced with a putrid stench as the amount of corpses was denser than any other spot; ayer of fog hung over the sector of the city like a ceiling of dreadful clouds. ¡°¡­What is this¡­?¡± He questioned. More than that, as he looked to the side, there was no sign of Roan beside him. Out from beneath his feet, the safety and reliability of the strong, seasoned adventurer was gone as he was left alone in the hellscape that existed on a different scale of dread. Even worse, as he turned back to try and leave through the wall of fog, it rejected his attempt; the smooth mist reshaped itself into the frightening face of a demon with a contorted smile that knocked him back. What happened¡­? We got separated¡­? How? He thought. ¡°Roan¡­? Roan!¡± He called out. Nothing. It was eerily silent in the enclosed sector of the city; the heart of Larundog which evil embedded itself, seeded into the very roots of it. This was the ¡®endgame¡¯ of the Unending Nightmare; a weaving of his greatest fears into one. That was confirmed as he picked himself up, slowly walking closer to the tree of ckened bark as he recognized a body hanging from one of the branches. It was lifeless, hanging there with wounds that seemed to have dried out the blood within the body of the ck-haired, dark-skinned figure. ¡°¡­Vandread¡­?¡± Seeing the sight of his lifelesspanion caused his heart to begin beating like a drum in his chest¨C BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Emotions instantly skyrocketed as the Dragonheart blood pumped into his veins; this was further intensified as the other bodies hanging from the crooked tree revealed themselves to him. Julius. Treyna. Irene. Celly. Reno. The sight of them caused his heart to beat with such violent force that he felt his blood run through his veins like molten, beginning to emit a heat from his body that caused heat waves to propel off of him. Just before the Dragonheart took control, he clutched his chest, trying to stabilize his breathing as he sweated profusely. ¡­Calm down¡­it¡¯s just an illusion¨Ca trick! He told himself. As he convinced himself of this, the veil was pulled from his eyes as he looked up, finding the hanging corpses to be unrecognized strangers. It was still a horrific sight, but the rage burning inside of him quelled itself. Still, his chest was tight and filled with a sharp, visceral pain thatpromised him. This was worsened once he looked up, finding himself not alone from danger in the heart of the city¨C Something lurked in the sea of fog above; shadows of whale-like behemoths, swimming through the fog were seen. The call of a whale reverberated as one of the shadows loomed over him like a passing cloud, finding himself stunned by the size of the leviathan that lurked in the fog. ¡­Don¡¯t be afraid. Don¡¯t be scared. Control it¡­! He told himself. As he gripped his chest, he struggled to stifle the fear, feeling the ominous threat of the fog-lurking behemoth growing closer the more his heart thumped. It won¡¯te¡­it won¡¯t¡­! He assured himself. Forcing the fear from his heart through brute force, it seemed to work as once his heart rate descended, the shadow of the whale above turned away. A sigh of relief expelled itself, though he knew his trials were long from being over as stomps resonated through the streets. More entities¡­? He thought. Either way, he wasn¡¯t sticking around to find out as he moved quickly and quietly, ducking into an alleyway. Chapter 142 The Endless Factory Quelling his fear was only a temporary countermeasure as the very essence of the gloomy air seemed inteced with horror. He began seeing silhouettes out of the corner of his eye, hearing steps in addition to his own whenever he moved, causing him to look around constantly. Something was severely different in the center of the deste city; reality feltpletely twisted by the whim of the Unending Nightmare. I have to keep moving¡­I have to find Roan, or anybody, he thought. As he slowly moved through the alley, he jumped as a blood-curdling scream resonated through the city. It was a feminine scream, one of bloody milder, no doubt. It was likely a few blocks away, but as he nced back, the shadows of abhorrent entities racing towards the source of the scream prevented him from moving towards it himself. I can¡¯t¡­He thought. If it wasn¡¯t outright fear, it was total dread that took hold of his body; an empty cold that left him paranoid and overwhelmed with an ominous outlook as he treaded carefully. As he silently shuffled through the dark, cramped space between buildings, a draw out, inhuman groan forced him to look back. Something was stalking him; the darkness of the area made it difficult to make out its appearance past its silhouette. It was tall andnky, walking on all fours but with its torso facing upward and its limbs contorted backward. It wasn¡¯t a quadrupedal creature by the looks of it, but a bipedal humanoid forcing itself to walk in a horrific way. ¡°¡ª¡± He was frozen in fear. Each movement it made caused its bones to crack as its joints were twisted around.. As his heart pounded in tandem with his building fear, the mangled horror approached faster. With it finallying into view, seeing its deathly, lifelessplexion and eyelid-less eyes that stared at him through its hanging, ck hair, he finally forced himself to move in the opposite direction. Driving into his primal fears, he ran without even considering fighting back¨Cin ¡®fight or flight¡¯¨Che chose flight. Beelining for the first door he saw, attached to the side of the grimy, brick building, he mmed it open and entered without a second thought as the sounds of bones twisting and cracking from the entity¡¯s chase was heard behind him. But, he came to immediately regret his choice. As he entered through the doors, he didn¡¯t find himself in the interior of a ¡®normal¡¯ building, but a vast, fever dreamish factory that seemed to stretch upwards infinitely with the sound of heavy machinery pounding away. Steam blew out from pipes and gears turned; metal grating and mmed, filling his ears with an overpowering orchestra of the rustic, steel workshop. He was standing on a suspended bridge that hung over an abyss; all that was below seemed to be an infinitely expanding world of machinery. It was an unnatural sight in the medieval world of fantasy, but after a moment of being breathless in the sudden shift in scenery, he began to figure out what was going on. I entered a door¡­I wasn¡¯t even thinking! I entered an alternate space¨Cbut, this doesn¡¯t even make sense for this world, he thought, could it be pulling from my own experiences or something else entirely? Either way, he felt overwhelmed by the scale of the colossal factory before he began moving, only ncing back once to confirm the doorway he entered no longer existed. It seemed that the area was filled with a maze of bridges that ran alongside gargantuan, rustic pipes that periodically exuded steam. ¡­Just keep moving¡­He thought. The only reprieve for the moment was that it seemed the entity was unable to follow him through, and that for the time being, he was alone. He began walking across the bridge built of rusty, metal cage, keeping close to the rails as he found himself already sweating. The temperature inside of the otherworldly factory was high; it was like the inside of an oven, beating any summer day by a mile. I¡¯m so tired, he thought. It was thebination of the humidity within the infinite factory and the umted stress from the entire Larundog predicament that he found his body feeling heavy, though he continued marching on. Still, he found himself leaning on the rail as he went on, having to duck down to avoid the steam that blew out from the array of pipes every so often. Where could a doorway be¡­? This ce is huge, he thought. Coming across adder leading to a higher bridge, he sheathed his staff on his back before climbing up, though he immediately withdrew his hand once touching the steel hold. ¡°Gah¡­!¡± It was incredibly hot to the touch, though it wasn¡¯t anything terrible. After mentally preparing himself and looking side-to-side to find no other alternate paths in the infinite factory, he quickly climbed up, pulling himself onto the next bridge. Walking along the bridges was daunting; the loose, unrefined structure of the narrow tforms allowed for the chasm below to be seen beneath his boots; it seemed to stretch on forever downwards as the echo of heavy machinery bounced off the walls. ¡°¡­Huff¡­¡± The boiling temperature continued to wear him down, but as he came to a crossroads of bridges, not yet finding a doorway in the maze of pipes and steaming machinery, a loud, grating sound scraped against his ears. As he looked forward, he found himself no longer alone in the endless factory; something stood on the bridge directly to his north. It was a man, or at least had the body of a man; chiseled in muscle but covered in scars and dried blood, it was freakishly tall, likely around three meters in height. What put into question the humanity of the entity was its head: it wore a cube-shaped, metal box on its head that was bolted closed. There were no features on its oversized, cube helmet except for more stained blood. ¡°¨C¡± He looked forward, gulping. The cube-head was wielding a giant weapon that could hardly be called a sword, but rather a hunk of steel that it dragged behind it, continuing to emit the grating sound as it slowly approached. He wasn¡¯t waiting to figure out what the cube-head wanted, instead finding himself choosing the left bridge purely out of desperation. What is that¡­?! He questioned. As he nced back, he could see the tall, cube-headed man still walking slowly, dragging the massive de behind it as it was a good hundred meters back. He continued running as the metal bridge echoed beneath each step he made, finding himself nearing the end of the bridge. Though what he found at the end made his heart sink into the depths of his gut: it was simply a wall waiting at the end of the path he¡¯d chosen. As he looked at the wall, hoping his eyes would reveal to him something he didn¡¯t see initially, the squeal of metal dragging across metal resonated in his ears. ¡°No, no. no¡­!¡± He repeated, louder. There was no alternate path; jumping over the rails would only lead to a descent into the unknown depths of the endless factory. The only way as back where he came, but there was an obstacle in his path¨C Appearing in sight now, blocking his way, ¡®Cube Head¡¯, as he deemed it, was approaching. The freakish man wore no shoes, walking barefoot on the heated wire of the bridge, wordless in his malignant approach. ¡°Ghh¡­!¡± Though he was hesitant to expend more mana from his exhausted body, he wasn¡¯t left with a choice as he wielded his catalyst,unching multiple, high-speed fireballs at Cube Head. ¡°¡­What¡­?¡± The bleak word left his lips as he watched the spells heunched simply dissipate upon reaching Cube Head¡¯s body. Again, he tried another attack, this time using the opposing element: water. ¡°Water de.¡± The spell of reinforced, highly-pressurized water that he sent off as ded projectiles wasunched with full-intent to kill, but once again, his magecraft had no effect on the ever-approaching Cube Head. Nothing¡­? He thought. The futility of magic¨Cthat which he cultivated and relied on for years¨Cleft his veins full of despair as the rusted Cube Head was now within a meter of him. Put so close, the size of Cube Head was all too real; the being towered over Emilio two times over. ¡­Why didn¡¯t my magic do anything? Is it that strong? No. It has to be immune to magic, right?¡­He thought. Caught in his own rationalizations, he looked up as a shadow loomed over him, finding the apron-wearing, butcher-like Cube Head lifting its massive, rusted sword overhead, preparing to split him in half with it. ¡°Grgh¡­!¡± Forcing himself to move, he ducked and rolled forward just as the de crashed down, finding himself managing to dodge past Cube Head as the entire bridge trembled from the weight of the sword¡¯s impact. As he stumbled from the bridge¡¯s sway, he only looked back once before running with everything he had. With the cube-headed butcher on his tail, the sounds of machinery amplified, ring in his ears as he could no longer hear his own thoughts nor his breathing; it muffled out the sound of Cube Head¡¯s own steps behind him. As he nced back again, he found Cube Head walking at a faster pace, only a few meters behind as the bleak orchestra of machinery and whistle of steam grew louder once more. Shit¡­! He thought. Chapter 143 Truth of The Nightmare He waspletely enveloped in a sense of ¡®flight¡¯¨Csprinting down the suspended bridges, having to duck beneath a propulsion of steam at thest moment. The steam managed to graze his cheek, turning it red as it seared in a burning sensation, though the adrenaline pumping through his body made him hardly register the pain. Returning to the intersection of metal bridges, he took a turn to the left, going down the path that he initially found Cube Head on. Again, he looked back to find it gaining on him, to which he gave himself more space by using wind at his heels to propel himself forward. ¡°Ngh¡­!¡± He gritted his teeth. Racing forward, he found himself staring at a doorway up ahead; it was a sight of utter hope while dread nipped at his heels. It was just within ten meters now, not much further¨C SNAP. Suddenly, the bridge he was running across jumbled and shook as the sound of the suspensions snapping resounded in a harrowing echo. ¡°¡­Huh¡­?!¡± Before he could react, the path ahead dropped down, resulting in him beginning to slide down the slope, facing the abyss of rustic steel and machinery below. Though he managed to catch himself before falling, there was little strength in his fingers to hold himself as he desperately clung to the steel. ¡°Ghh¡­!¡± He struggled.. As he attempted to lift himself, the stomps of the Cube Head, along with the familiar grating of its massive de being dragged across the metal bridge invoked further dread and desperation in him. His legs dangled over the abyss of the endless factory, feeling the hot air tingle against his skin as he hung on. ¡­My strength isn¡¯t going tost! He thought. Even magic invocations became dulled by his exhaustion before the heavy stomps of the approaching fiend caused his grip to loosen before he began his descent. ¡°Argh¡­! Ghh-!!¡± Swallowed by the depths of the nightmarish factory, he fell downwards, falling pastworks of pipes, barely evading propulsions of skin-melting steam, all while finding himself staring at the pitch-ck darkness below that never seemed toe closer. ¡­I need to find the right moment! He told himself. There was little left in the tank when it came to mana; he was hardly given any opportunity to recuperate and he was already working off of an exhausted reservoir before entering the trapped city. As he descended rapidly with the winds tugging at his hair and his cape fluttering, he looked to the side, finding many tunnels embedded in the walls. It was impossible to say where they led, but it was infinitely better than being stuck in his perpetual descent, or worse, a descent with a gruesome end. With one of the tunnelsing into sight, hugging the left wall, he timed it perfectly¨C Now! He thought. Using a st of wind to charge his course, he knocked himself leftward,nding harshly on the threshold of the mysterious tunnel. ¡°¡­Hhf¡­¡± He caught his breath, coughing out. As he stood up, brushing himself off as a scab from the friction was left on his right knee, he looked down the shadow-filled tunnel that smelled of copper. This is how the Unending Nightmare took out Larundog, he thought, these endless spaces¡­just walking through a door traps you in ces forged from nightmares like this. I¡¯m barely getting by with magic¡­I can¡¯t imagine what it¡¯s like for others. It was hard to grasp the scope of such abstract magic; it was enough that the Unending Nightmarepletely enveloped Larundog into an inescapable hellscape, but the existence of other dimensions, connected yet so different, was something on another level. Such a concept made him feel tiny inparison, hoping not to be washed away by the malevolent forces. ¡­This is what adventurers go through all the time, right? Roan said as much, he thought, these sort of experiences¡­I never imagined I¡¯d face them in my wildest dreams. As he traversed the metallic tunnel, he found himself thinking about the fact he¡¯d yet to see the culprit responsible for this mess¨Cthe ¡®Unending Nightmare¡¯¨Can entity that seemed more like a concept; a coalescence of fear and despair itself. Yet, he¡¯d yet toy his eyes on it. After what it¡¯d taken from him, he wanted to face it. Despite his fears and reservations, that was the truth¨Che wanted to end the nightmare, but most of all, he wanted to face the outlet for hismentation. There was a feeling of powerlessness; ack of meaning in his own survival as he went on. Losing hispanions, he felt as if everything was slipping through his fingers. I¡¯ll kill it myself, he thought, a creature like that can¡¯t get away with this. With that promise in mind, his thoughts quickly vanished as every other sense went numb in the face of what happened next: the wall to his right, just behind him, suddenly exploded outward as steam from the shattered pipes cast out. He moved forward, raising his arms as the vapor momentarily burned him, but left nosting marks. What was that¡­? He questioned. Stepping out from the other side of the rusted walls was a sight he seldom wanted toy his eyes on: the apron-wearing, cube-headed entity began dragging its de across the ground once more. ¡°You again¡­!?¡± He reacted. He instinctively raised his staff in preparation to fling magic, but remembered the futility of it against Cube Head¡¯s impervious flesh before instead running down the tunnel. Again, the cranking of machinery grew loud, beating against his ears as Cube Head gave chase to him. Steam began exuding from pips on either side of the walls, forcing him to duck and bob his head as he rushed forward, doused in sweat and breathing heavily from the straining heat that enveloped him. ¡°¡­Hhhf¡­!¡± He found himself starved of breath as his blonde locks dropped from the sweat that poured off of himself. Continuing to race forward, he stumbled at the panic bubbling within, using his own two hands to crawl for a moment while Cube Head stalked away; the horrifying entity filled the width of the tunnel with hisrge build. Through the darkness, a door at the end of the tunnel came into view; it was a sight that reignited him as he pushed on before¨C HISSSS. A gasket blew off the wall, causing steam to shoot directly towards his face as he winced and continued forward, caressing his head the left side of his head bled from the momentary contact with the intangible heat. ¡­Just keep¡­going¡­! He thought to himself. There was something overwhelming about the unstoppable force that was Cube Head; it never stopped following him and seemed impossible to hold back. With that in mind, he rushed to the rustic door, finding it to be kept sealed by a weathered wheel. ¡°¡­Come on¡­!¡± As he gripped the wheel to turn it, he immediately withdrew his hands as he was meat with a scalding sensation; it was incredibly hot. Shit, shit, shit¡­! Why?! He thought. Every primal part of his brain that was wired to ignore something that caused such potent pain made his hands tremble as they neared the wheel again, but as he nced back to find the scar-covered, apron-wearing Cube Head gaining on him, he took the dive. Gripping onto the boiling wheel, he used all of his strength to begin turning it, ¡°Aargh¡­!¡± It wasn¡¯t enough that it was as if he had to grip mes themselves, but it was tightly sealed, forcing him topletely strain his exhausted body to slowly turn it. The overwhelming heat that flowed through the rusted material ate away at the skin of his fingers as it squeaked, sounding as if it hadn¡¯t been turned in decades. ¡°Open¡­!¡± As he finally turned it all the way around, with the heavy machinery and footsteps of Cube Head drawing closer, the thick door unlocked with a resounding click. Those few seconds in which he peeled his palms off of the boiling wheel and opened the door as Cube Head came within reach of him were agonizing; just as the massive sword was hoisted up, he ducked through the door¨Cescaping the terror. ¡°¡­Huff¡­¡± He fell to his knees, finding the ear-grating ambience of machinery nking and whirring to be gone as silence met as gratifying silence met his ears. Looking down at his hands, the skin was burnt off of his palms and fingers as a light coat of steam poured off, though with the adrenaline still pumping through his body, he didn¡¯t experience the pain that came with it. ¡°¡­I made it out¡­¡± ¨COr so he thought. As he looked down, he realized his knees were touching mmy soil. Slowly bringing his gaze up, he found the scenery before him to be a dark swamp, filled with towering trees that had blood-red leaves that resembled spider lilies blooming on their form. I¡¯m not back in the city¡­? What? He questioned. He began to realize the true terror of the situation as dread settled into the core of his being. This was the true nature of the ¡®Unending Nightmare¡¯¨Che was now trapped in a series of hellish worlds. Chapter 144 The Swamp That Reeks of Death Bringing himself to his feet, he was left with an unequivocal wave of dread that washed over his body as he looked around, finding himself surrounded by trees that bore the faces of men staring down at him. A subtle glow gave off of the blood-red spider lilies that bloomed from the many branches around, giving him a faint, but appreciated light. The enigmatic swamp seemed to stretch in every direction, existing under the permeance of night, or at least what seemed to be as the ceiling of spider lilies above blocked out any light. None of it was an illusion or crafted through a twisting of his perception; the air was thin and smelled of flowers and soil, the sensation of the loose soil beneath his boots, squishing, was real. ¡°¡­I¡¯m trapped,¡± he muttered under his breath in realization. It felt like every step forward only led to him being ced further from his destination. Every action he took led to further loneliness, inching him closer to his demise as he felt his body being worn down by stress. Move forward. Just keep moving one foot in front of the other, he told himself. Stepping into the swamp, he looked down to find the murky, pitch-ck water high enough to reach just shy of his knees. He was careful to begin walking through the enigmatic waters as he kept his eyes on the swamp, but it was futile as he couldn¡¯t make out anything within the liquid. Each step was taking slowly as the abyssal water was thick, seemingly dense with sediment as his boots sifted through mpy mud. As he looked forward, he had to brush vines that bloomed more crimson spider lilies away as he passed by one of the man-faced, elder trees, finding its pale bark to be aged and inscribed with unknown symbols. Door¡­find a door, he reminded himself. Though it was difficult to imagine a door being found in the swamp, devoid of architecture or seemingly anything man-made, for that matter.. It was bing more difficult to identify if his goal was truly to defeat the Unending Nightmare or simply to escape; the horrors that he faced made it more and more arduous a path to walk down. As he quietly sifted through the water, keeping his eyes peeled for any doorways, he stopped as a ¡®plop¡¯ met his ears, as if something dropped into the water near him. ¡°¡­Huh?¡± A quick look around found nothing, but he was hardly trusting of his own eyes when the murky waters were clouded and fallen logs obscured his vision along with crimson algae. Continuing on with further caution, he only moved a few more steps before stopping as the water rippled from in front of him; it was impossible for him to be the cause of it from such a direction. I¡¯m just about out of mana. I¡¯ll have to rely on swordy, he thought. Tucking his staff away, he drew his de from its scabbard while slowly walking, finding solid ground once again after passing under a low-hanging veil of spider lilies. To call it ¡®solid¡¯ was giving it a lot of credit as the grass and mud sank beneath his boots, but it was a far cry from the murky water. There was a sloshing sound up ahead as if somebody was walking on the moist mud as well, but it was difficult to see through the swamp¡¯s natural obstacles of vision. ¡­Be ready, Emilio, he warned himself. Tightening his hold on the handle of his sword, he slowly moved forward before finding an unexpected sight: a girl. There was a girl, who looked to be about his age, hiding in the hollowed base of a tree, hugging her knees and shivering. ¡°¡­A person?¡¯ He audibly said. The words he spoke were heard as the girl looked up at him with emerald eyes, etched with fright. She lifted her head, parting her lips to say something but struggled to get it out through a stammer. ¡°Are you alright?¡± He asked. As he approached, stepping into the clearing in the middle of the swamp on the isted patch ofnd amidst the murky, overfilled waters, he knelt down to meet her eye-to-eye. There was something vaguely familiar about her; she had long, flowing locks of a silver shade and those emerald eyes of hers had a certain nostalgia to them that he couldn¡¯t quite ce. But, none of that mattered once hearing what the girl had to say: ¡°¡­B-behind you¡­!¡± As he spun around, he was immediately struck by something with a harsh impact that knocked him back a good few meters. ¡°Ghh-!¡± He winced. What was that?! He questioned. Crashing into the swamp water, hended on his rear before looking up to find the assant rapidly approaching: it was a moss-furred gori that had spider lilies in ce of its eyes. The frightening stature of the rabid creature forced him to jump up and dodge to the right before the abnormal gori mmed its hammer-like fists into the spot he previously sat, causing a massive upheaval of water. A gori?! In the swamp¡­?! He questioned. Though he questioned the existence of the creature in this dimension, he found it futile to apply logic to the contorted realities of the Unending Nightmare¡¯s creation. It was a sizable creature; though he¡¯d never seen a primeape in person, he was sure they weren¡¯t supposed to be quite so tall and broad. Through a wave of rippled swamp water, the raging gori with fur reced by overgrowth, charged through with utmost aggression. It took him by surprise as he was left unprepared, only able to raise his arms as it shoulder-checked him, knocking him back as he mmed against one of the trees. ¡°Ngh¨C!¡± He let out in pain. The buttons to his shirt popped off, revealing his bruised torso as the cor to his gray shirt opened up. As he squeezed his left hand, he felt theck of a physical sensation from his sword, now realizing what happened when he was knocked back. I dropped it¡­! My sword! He realized. Looking down, his stomach dropped at the realization of what happened; it would be like finding a needle in a haystack as his sword was now sitting beneath the ck, swamp water. Even worse, the nt-skinned gori didn¡¯t seem willing to simply let him search for his dropped weapon. All he had at his disposal was his own innate strength, or what was little of it was left in his worn state. Against a beast of such mass and aggression, he felt hard-pressed to meet it hand-to-hand in a contest of strength. I need to find my sword¡­! He thought. Though there was no opportunity to start looking as he jumped to the side just as the muscle-bound beast charged towards him, mming straight into the base of the tree. The entire structure of oak shook from the impact as the spider lilies swayed. I can¡¯t let that hit me, he thought. It was a mindless beast; the gori seemed to operate solely with the intention of eliminating anything that moved, which was further proven as it rushed towards him again without any hesitation. Ripples constantly generated through the dark water as the gori roared out a distorted call, shuffling waves in its path as it continuously mmed its fists down towards the blonde-haired boy. Luckily his swordy training came in handy in sharpening his reflexes, allowing him to predict the savage movements of the beast and narrowly evade its bludgeoning blows. It wasn¡¯t a situation he¡¯d found himself in before; against a beastly foe, imposing in strength and stature, being deprived of both magic and de, he was pushed to respond with his fists. ¡­Use your body weight, swing and hit! He thought. Using what little knowledge he had about martial arts, or throwing a punch in general, from videos he¡¯d watched online a lifetime ago, he roared out before throwing his fist forward. There was hardly any expected result as his knuckles hit the burly chest of the mossy gori¨C THUD. ¨CBetraying his expectations in a shocking delight, the punch actually carried significant force behind it, allowing him to knock the gori out of its flurry and stun it momentarily. ¡­It worked? I hurt it? He questioned, looking at his fist. He was shocked at his own strength; though it wasn¡¯t a finishing blow of any variety, the hammer-fisted goliath was definitely affected by the blow as it drooled and shook it off. Does my ¡®Draconic Constitution¡¯ scale with my own level? He thought, if so¡­we might be working with something, then! With newfound confidence, he found himself willingly squaring off with the gori as the swamp water rippled around them from the subtlest movement. Beating its chest like a drum, the gori roared out in a war cry before charging forward, dragging its fists through the water before thrashing towards him. In a swift movement, rolled to the side before countering with a straight punch aimed at the gori¡¯s head, putting all of his body weight behind it. THUD. Again, a satisfying impact awaited the connection between his knuckles and his opponent, causing the violent goliath to stumble and slobber. Emilio couldn¡¯t help but smile at the ray of hope found within his own body; it was something he¡¯d never expect in thepromised form of ¡®Ethan¡¯: supernatural strength, enough tobat even the mightiest beasts of the jungle. I can do this! He resolved. Chapter 145 Remnants of What Was Lost It was a light flow, but there was a distinctive heat exclusive to the Dragonheart blood he possessed; perhaps it was through a direct usage of his physicality, but it seemed to awaken that slumbering bloodline. Still, he wasn¡¯t by any means ¡®experienced¡¯ in close-quartersbat with his fists as when he went in for another punch, he slipped up, disturbed by the ripples of water and his own anxiousness. ¡°Wah!¡± The flower-eyed gori took advantage of his slip-up, mming one of its fists against his cheek. At that moment, he saw stars as his entire body was flung back from the power behind the savage blow. Still, despite the shiness of the blow received, he was able to recover quickly, though with a reddened, throbbing cheek as he spit out blood from his mouth. That didn¡¯t knock me out. That¡¯s good news, he thought, if it wasn¡¯t for my draconic constitution, my brains would probably be spilling out from that hit. Keeping her distance, the silver-haired girl watched the peculiar bout while staying behind a fallen log, peering over. Somebody that size is able to fight that monster¡­? He¡¯s impressive¡­and he¡¯s my age, the girl thought. ¨C There was still a disparity in brute strength and aggression; the gori seemed to hardly register pain and moved without any thought of its own well-being. It was this factor that gave it the ability to pressure him, continuing to force him on the backfoot. If only I had my sword!¡­No! Just act! He told himself. Seeing an opportunity just as a wide swing came from the gori¡¯s giant arm, he jumped up and reached towards the hanging, crimson vines, pulling himself up and over the goliath¡¯s head. Giving himself an opportune angle, he fell on its back, trying to secure a chokehold.. Of course, the gori didn¡¯t like this. It began thrashing as he tried clinging to its back as if riding a rampaging bull, finding himself swirling around as he clung to its neck. ¡°Stop¡­moving!¡± He said through clenched teeth. Without any proper experience in securing a chokehold, he was promptly grabbed off of the gori¡¯s back before being swung around like a nunchuck. ¡°Grhh-!¡± Helpless to the inertia, he was flipped around by his leg, mmed repeatedly into the swamp water as his back smashed into the mud below the knee-deep water. It took the breath away from his lungs; the repeated ms left him gasping for air before he was lifted up again and thrown against a tree. ¡°¡­Hhhf¡­!¡± Attempting to suck oxygen into his lungs, he first spit out the repugnant swamp water, picking himself up and breathing in. My ribs¡­! He thought, wincing. There was little time to react as the flower-eyed gori was rushing him again, sifting through the shallow water as the glow of the surrounding spider lilies brought an ominous light to the abnormal space. Something was felt by his boot as he readied himself; a solid feeling that struck him as hopeful as he prepared himself to face the charging goliath. As it roared out with a war cry that caused the murky water to ripple, it raised its massive arms to m down against him before¨C SQUELCH. It stopped. ¡°¡­Huff¡­¡± He breathed. Sticking through the moss-furred gori¡¯s back was the ck-and-silver de of his trusted weapon, which was gripped between his fingers tightly as he held it through the beast. It was a miraculous oue; a miracle he felt in that moment as he caught his breath, feeling just how tightly his fingers wrapped around the handle of his de in fear of the goliath. ¡°¨C¡° The life was felt leaving the gori¡¯s body after a few moments before he slowly slid the de out, having to kick its body back onto the water. ¡­I did it. Though I would¡¯ve died if I didn¡¯t find my sword right there, he thought. Watching the body of the abnormal beast, he stepped back as spider lilies sprouted from beneath the water, surrounding the body of the beastpletely in a peculiar fashion. The subtle glow of the crimson flowers of death was something to behold in the mystical swamp. It¡¯s almost like a funeral ground, he thought. The spider lilies sprouted on the gori¡¯s body as well,pletely engulfing it into a bed of flowers before it seemed to turn into nothing more than a smallnd mass among the dreary waters. It was odd to him, but the nature of the alternate realities was something he was too tired to question. ¡°Oh, right¡­!¡± He remembered. The girl he¡¯d seen prior to the encounter with the goliath popped into his mind, prompting him to hurry over as he marched through the dense water, ascending the small ind amidst the swamp as he used his de to cut down vines in his way. He saw her sitting by a log, still hugging herself in fear. There was no doubt such a ce was a less thanforting environment, especially for somebody his age or hers. ¡°It¡¯s alright¡­It¡¯s gone now. I beat it,¡± he assured her. The state of his body, left bruised and bleeding from his mouth and nose, didn¡¯t quite make him the beacon of hope he tried to be. ¡°I may not look like much, but I can get us out of here¡­¡± He told her, ¡°¡­Well, I¡¯m not going to make any promises, okay?¡± ¡°Are you an adventurer¡­?¡± The girl asked quietly in response. It was clear to him that she¡¯d seen things that¡¯d likely left invisible scars; sights beyond reality or magic that could only be found through the Unending Nightmare; that much was obvious through the way she averted her emerald eyes. As he parted his lips to lie with a ¡°Yes¡± he stopped himself before slowly shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­I¡¯m just somebody trying to make it out of here, like you,¡± he told her honestly with a small smile, ¡°I¡¯m Emilio. What¡¯s your name?¡± Perhaps a lie would be helpful, temporarily, but after all he¡¯d been through in the nightmare, the truth felt moreforting. Truthfully, he didn¡¯t have the energy to hold the mantle of an ¡®adventurer¡¯, or rather, a ¡®savior¡¯; right now, he was simply a boy trying to survive. The pale-skinned girl was still shaking, clutching her dirty, olive-and-beige dress close to her body, though she quelled her trembling by holding her own hand before she finally looked up at him. He was taken aback by her charming looks; a cute, button nose and cheeks that looked squishable. It was a natural beauty, hardly harmed by the bleak atmosphere. ¡°Melisande,¡± she told him in a quiet voice. The moment he was given her name, his eyes widened as he was stricken by utter silence. It only took a moment for it all to connect together: the name, hair, and eyes of the girl. Though he¡¯d never met her before this moment, he already knew of her. ¡°¡­You¡­¡± ¡°Huh¡­?¡± Melisande peered up at him, still hugging her knees. Tears slowly welled up in his eyes as he found it difficult to push the words past his throat as he clenched his fist, ¡°You¡¯re Joel¡¯s sister¡­¡± The utterance of Joel¡¯s name also caused the girl to hold new light in her eyes as she immediately jumped to her feet, grabbing onto his vest. ¡°You know my brother?! Where is he?! Is he alright?¡­Please tell me he¡¯s alright,¡± Melisande said without any reservation in her tears. Seeing how much she cared about and missed her elder brother struck him with such visceral pain in his heart as he found himself struggling to answer, trying to formte whatever words he could as he slowly shook his head. Though he hadn¡¯t yet said a word, the anguished look on his face seemed to be telling enough as Melisande looked up at him with tears strolling down her cheeks, shaking her head in rejection of the unspoken truth. ¡°No, no, no¡­you¡¯re lying,¡± Melisande backed away, ¡°You¡¯re lying. You¡¯re lying. Brother said he¡¯d always be by my side. He promised. He was strong¨Che never lied!¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± He told her quietly. There was nothing he could think to say in an attempt to ease the situation, but there likely were no words that could dull the pain of the younger sister. ¡°I was with him¡­¡± As soon as he said that, the look he received from the girl was one that made him the catalyst of her grief as she tried shoving him, though it resulted in nothing as he stood there, allowing it. ¡°¨CYou were there?¡­You were there and you couldn¡¯t protect him? Why? Why did you let him die¡­?¡± Melisande grieved. After the girl stumbled back, holding her face in her hands as she exuded her fresh emotions, the amethyst-eyed boy sat down against one of the mossyered trees. ¡°Yeah¡­I couldn¡¯t save him,¡± hemented, looking down. ¡°¨C¡± Melisande remained quiet, sniffling. ¡°I didn¡¯t know him very long,¡± he told her, ¡°but when I met him¨Che was already trying to save me. He was all alone in that hell, but he was still kicking.¡± As he spoke what he felt, the sorrowful anger on the girl¡¯s expression softened to simply sadness as tears dripped from her verdant eyes. ¡°He was looking for you, Melisande¡­He never stopped looking,¡± he told her, ¡°¡­He didn¡¯t want you to be alone.¡± ¡°¡­If that¡¯s what he wanted, then why?¡­Why did he leave me? I waited and waited for him¡­but he never came,¡± Melisande said quietly. Bringing himself to his feet, he brushed the dirt from his pants before looking at his own hands, which were now callused and burned as the pale skin of his palms had been seared off. Still, he extended his hand down to Melisande, wearing the only smile he could muster as mncholy sat in his eyes. ¡°¡­?¡± Melisande looked up at him. ¡°I promise I¡¯ll get you out of here,¡± he told her in confidence, ¡°¡­I know that¡¯s what Joel would¡¯ve wanted me to do. You know better than anybody, right? An energetic guy like that fought as hard as he could for you¨Cand I¡¯ll keep that fight going.¡± Chapter 146 The Living Biome Further tears strolled from Melisande¡¯s eyes before she nodded with a face scrunched from holding back tears, epting his hand before standing. ¡°Alright,¡± he nodded in return with a smile, ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± ¡°¡­Is that even possible, though? I¡¯ve looked everywhere, but all I¡¯ve found are monsters¡­¡± Melisande asked. Now that they were standing together, her height was clear; the silver-haired girl was roughly a whole head shorter than the blonde-and-ck haired boy. ¡°It is. Joel taught me how to maneuver through this ce: we have to find a doorway,¡± he told her. ¡°A doorway? Here?¡± Melisande asked. Emilio nodded, beginning to walk slowly into the wends with Melisande following, ¡°¨CThere¡¯s always a doorway. It¡¯s the one, absolute truth in these twisted realities. If we find a door¡­¡± ¡°¡­We can escape?¡± Melisande interrupted. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not certain¡­¡± He told her, hesitant to give her the gloomy news, ¡°¡­There¡¯s a chance we¡¯ll end up in another distorted world¨Clike this swamp. That¡¯s how I found you. I was in a different ce than this before entering a doorway to this area.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Melisande replied. He made sure to continuously check on the girl while they both marched through the swamp. If there was one thing he was certain of, if he let his guard down, the Unending Nightmare would take advantage of that in a heartbeat. ¡°Listen, I¡¯m strong too, you know!¡± Melisande suddenly said. ¡°What? Oh¨Cyeah?¡± He replied, somewhat taken aback by her words. ¡°¨CMy brother taught me how to fight! I can handle myself if ites to it so¡­don¡¯t worry about me! Just take care of yourself if ites to it,¡± she told him, ¡°¡­If you ask nicely, I might even protect you.¡± He couldn¡¯t help but chuckle lightly, ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll keep that in mind, then.¡±. It seemed once peeling the frightening veil back, Melisande had a strong spirit, just like her older brother as a shine of resolve was etched into her emerald eyes. To his surprise, he felt his left hand, which was free of his sword, grabbed and held gently by Melisande. ¡°Huh¨C?¡± He let out, ncing back at the silver-haired girl. She was somewhat shy about it at first, but asserted her decision confidently, ¡°¨CW-we can¡¯t be separated, right?! That¡¯s why I¡¯m doing this¡­!¡± ¡°Oh¡­got it. Thanks,¡± he smiled. Though as he held her hand, tethering them to one another, he could feel her fingers trembling against his own. It must¡¯ve been frightening for her¨Call alone in a ce like this, he thought. With his sword being held in his right hand, he kept his eyes and ears peeled while traversing the crimson-flowered swamp with the girl following close behind. ¡°¡­Are you from Larundog?¡± Melisande asked. Keeping his eyes ahead, he answered, ¡°No. I wasing through¡­and well, to make a long story short, a lot¡¯s happened.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the same age as me, aren¡¯t you?¡­Dealing with something like this¡­¡± Melisande said. ¡°We¡¯re both in this¨Cbut we don¡¯t have to face it alone anymore,¡± he assured her with a small smile, looking back. Melisande looked at him in surprise before nodding her head, gently clenching his head, ¡°Right¡­¡¯ Still, as much as he tried to remain optimistic for the sake of the girl, he found himself doubting more and more of his own capabilities. My mana is shot and I¡¯m exhausted, he thought, at this rate, I don¡¯t know how much longer I can go. The stickiness of the wends made it difficult to move one foot in front of the other, having to lift his boots from the clingy mud below the shallow water with each step. It was a small obstacle, but repeatedly, it grew cumbersome on his tired body. As they walked, Melisande used her free hand to hold the bottom of her dress up, keeping it from touching the water, though it was already dirty from her time in the alternate reality. ¡°What¡¯s that¡­?¡± Melisande asked. For a moment, he didn¡¯t know what the silver-haired girl was referring to as he was tunnel visioned on what was in front of them, but once he looked up, he found himself bbergasted. There were what seemed to be human bodies, suspended on the trees with spider lilies sprouting from their eyes and mouths; their bodies werepletely overtaken by moss. It¡¯s just like that gori. Are these victims from Larundog¡­or previous attacks by the Unending Nightmare? He questioned. ¡°¡­Let¡¯s keep moving,¡± he told her. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Melisande agreed. The deeper they went into the swamp, scouting for any signs of a doorway, the more dense the spider lilies and other foliage became. Entire gardens of colorful flowers sprouted on the bodies of trees, though they weren¡¯t species of nts he recognized. ¡°I should¡¯ve asked this before, but¡­is there anything I should be looking out for? Anything like that beast from earlier?¡± He asked quietly. Melisande took a moment to respond, ¡°There are.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°I spent most of my time avoiding them, but some of the nts¡­they seem to move on their own,¡± Melisande told him, ¡°I¡¯m not sure of it¡­I think they might be able to kill¨C¡± Before the girl could properly exin what she¡¯d encountered, Emilio stopped in front of her, raising his sword as the sound of rapid movement through the shallow waters resounded. Ssh. Ssh. Ssh. Out from the dark depths of the crimson treeline, more surprising than a hellish entity was a man sprinting out. ¡°¨CA person?¡± He mumbled in surprise. It was a middle-aged man with a thick, ginger beard and left only in a pair of tattered trousers with a bodyyered in bruises and abnormal, fungal-like growths. ¡°Help me¨C! Help!¡± The man cried out, racing towards the two with bloodshot eyes. Melisande hid behind Emilio, clutching onto his cloak while he stood his ground, keeping his sword raised. ¡°Stay back-! Tell me what¡¯s going on!¡± He shouted. ¡°Help-! Help! Help!¡± The man continued to cry. Lunging towards him, the hysteric man attempted to grab onto his shirt, but he stepped back, bringing Melisande back with him as he avoided the grasp of the sickly stranger. What¡¯s wrong with him?! He questioned. ¡°¡­Why won¡¯t you help me?!¡± The man cried, ¡°I-It¡¯sing! It¡¯s going to get us all¨C! It¡¯s¨C¡± Right before the crazed man could finish spitting out his words, something stretched out from the depths of the wends: scarlet vines,yered in thorns, whipped out and wrapped around the man¡¯s body. ¡°No¨C!¡± The man cried out. ¡°Hold on¡­!¡± Before Emilio could try to cut away the bindings with his sword, the disembodied vines retreated, pulling the infected man back from where he came at a visceral speed. He and Melisandre were at a loss for words for a minute at what had just happened, but it left an ominous atmosphere hanging in the mystical swamp. ¡°¡­That¡¯s what I was trying to tell you¡­It feels like something is lurking¨Clike part of the swamp is alive,¡± Melisande told him. He didn¡¯t respond, only taking her hand as he kept his eyes on the direction of the murderous vines before heading in a different direction. This is bad. I can¡¯t handle something like that right now, he thought, I have to prioritize getting her and myself out of here. Further into the wends, leading the way, he found himself stepping onto a patchnd that was engulfed in colorful flowers. ¡°Try not to touch any of these,¡± he warned. ¡°Okay,¡± Melisande nodded quietly. He wasn¡¯t certain of it, but such vibrant aspects of nature usually led to the objects themselves being poisonous to some degree. If there was one thing he wanted to avoid, it was some otherworldly variation of poison ivy. The ground was mushy beneath his boots, prompting him to nce down, though he immediately regretted that decision. What the¡­? He thought. It was difficult to see unless looking carefully, but the mossy ground he treaded on wasn¡¯t simply of soil and flowers, but covered in stagnant faces which bloomed the otherworldly ntlife. Overtaken by the malignant nature of the wends, thendmass they walked on was built on a foundation of bodies, used as the basis of new life. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Emilio?¡­¡± Melisande asked from behind him. She must¡¯ve sensed his hesitation, or at least felt the slight squeeze he gave to her hand onceying his eyes on the horrific realization. Still, he opted to keep this discovery to himself before continuing to move, ¡°¡­Nothing.¡± Up ahead, it seemed theyout of the swamp was finally lending itself to a new shape: trees were lined perfectly together like walls, forming a corridor towards something unseen and unknown through the darkness. ¡°Do you think there¡¯s a door down there¡­?¡± Melisande asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. But, it¡¯s worth checking,¡± he replied. Together, the two moved through the knee-high, murky water, enclosed by the ustrophobic walls of trees that seemed to grow more narrow the further they traveled down. What was once a gap as wide as a street was now just enough for the width of his shoulders, which weren¡¯t particrly broad for his age. It¡¯s getting narrower¡­He thought. Soon enough, it got to the point to where they both needed to turn to the side, slowly maneuvering through the thin passage between the colossal, mossy trees. ¡°This isn¡¯t normal¡­¡± Melisande said. He wanted to respond with a snarky ¡®Nothing about this has been normal¡¯¨Cbut he was more focused on saving his breath as the ustrophobic environment weighed on his chest. To add even more to it, the water level grew higher along with the narrowness of the trees; it rose to being up to his stomach now, causing him to slow down. Though it grew to be an arduous path to traverse, he could now make out whatid at the end of the assembly of trees: an opening into a gargantuan tree, shrouded in spider lilies and azure flowers. ¡°Emilio¡­¡± Melisande said. ¡°I know,¡± he replied, breathing heavier as he kept moving, ¡°¡­We¡¯re almost out of here.¡± Chapter 147 Exuding Resolve The abyssal water was filled with sediment and algae, making it harder to move through, but he eventually shuffled through before hoisting himself up to the hole that led into the mysterious interior of the colossal tree. Before getting to look inside, he turned around, reaching down to lend a hand to Melisande, who seemed hesitant at first to ept his help, but obliged. ¡°Hyup,¡± Melisande made a small noise when brought up. Bringing himself to his feet, he looked around with Melisande at the inside of the hollow timber. The bark walls were lined with crimson growth, sprouting flowers into a colorful, but daunting bloom as after a closer look, they both realized what was attached to the walls. Bodies. Human bodies. Wrapped in green-and-red moss, blossoming flowers on their form, corpses wereced to the wall,pletely stagnant and devoid of movement like natural taxidermy. ¡°This is¡­¡± Melisande muttered quietly as her eyes trembled. There was an abnormal amount of bodies held in the swamp of the alternate reality; it wasn¡¯t just the walls, but some evenid on the ground, dposed and only kept frompletely rotting away by the crimson blossom. ¡­Just what is this? What¡¯s doing this? He questioned. An answer seemed toe as Melisande screamed out, prompting him to spin around as he witnessed crimson vines sprouting from the flesh of the tree, sprouting in abundance as they whipped around. ¡°Melisande¨C!¡± He yelled out. Before the thorny limbs couldtch onto the silver-haired girl, he dashed with all of his strength, grabbing her wrist and moving her away. As he nced back, he saw the red tendrils extending towards them still, forcing him to hold his ground as he kept the girl behind him, using his sword to sh at the vines to keep them away.. Slicing through a pair of the vines, he watched as a mysterious fluid leaked from the innards of the thick tendrils of nature, attempting to squirt onto his skin. ¡°¨CHuh?!¡± He jumped back to avoid the release of the fluid, though part of his verdant cape was hit by the amber liquid. What is this¡­? He thought. As he looked down at the cor of his cape, he watched the colorful fluid bubble up like acid, causing the green fabric to turn before fungal growth began to spread across it. ¡°Ghh¨C!¡± Acting quickly, he tore his cape away, tossing it to the ground as it was soon swallowed in fungus and crimson overgrowth. ¡°Emilio¡­! Look out-!¡± Melisande warned. Before he was given a chance to discern his own thoughts on what he witnessed, he was forced to move again as he took Melisande¡¯s hand, bringing her with him as a stream of the infectious liquid sprayed towards their position. Where did ite from¨C? He questioned. As he looked over while moving across the length of the tree¡¯s interior, he found the flower-infested corpses rising, moving with stiff limbs as the mysterious substance oozed from the crimson lilies that sprouted from their eyes and mouths in abundance. ¡°What do we do?¡­¡± Melisande asked, looking around. That was the very question running on repeat through the boy¡¯s head as he found the ¡®blossomed¡¯ corpsesing to life, or whatever the fungal sentience could be called. They awakened from every angle, surrounding thempletely. Even worse, the damage he sustained from his fight with the gori was felt more than ever; purple-and-yellow bruises were visible on his cheek, chin, and torso as even breathing came with some difficulty. I can spare a couple spells¡­at most. If I do that, I¡¯ll be even more exhausted though, he thought. ncing around, he looked for some sort of opening for an exit, but the way they came in through waspletely blocked by the blossomed corpses. ¡°Don¡¯t let that stuff they¡¯re oozing touch you¨CI¡¯m pretty positive it¡¯s how they got turned like that in the first ce,¡± he warned. ¡°I figured as much, but¡­got it,¡± she nodded. ¡°Just stay behind me,¡± he told her. ¡°I can handle¨C¡± ¡°Melisande. Please,¡± he nced back at her. There was a certain level of desperation in his amethyst eyes as if saying ¡®I can¡¯t do this if you won¡¯t go along¡¯; the prideful girl recognized that look in that moment, epting it as she slowly nodded. ¡°¡­Alright¡­but, don¡¯t push yourself for me,¡± Melisande told him. ¡°It¡¯s toote for that,¡± he mumbled. As the blossomed corpses closed in, staggering over with rigid movements, their backs were close to the wall. With the way things stood, he hardly had the strength to swing his sword with enough power behind it to cleave through the moss-covered bodies. I need strength, he thought, I¡¯ve never tried this before, but¡­work with me, heart. Pump some of that Dragonheart blood through my veins¨Cjust a bit¡­just enough to get us through this. Focusing on the beating of his own heart, the nerves and anxiety aided in raising his heart rate, allowing warmth to flow through his veins as he forced that internal strength to awaken. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. The tightness in his chest increased, causing him to wince quietly as he tightened his grip on the handle of his sword; heat flowed through his body as his blood boiled. His eyes shifted to their draconic nt, causing his veins to press against his forearms as it came forth just in time¨C [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: Dragon Newt | 1/10] It was a surge of adrenaline that was much appreciated in the daunting moment, giving him the strength needed to swing his de through one of the approaching, flower-covered corpses. As he bisected the corpse that was invisible to gender, the blood it spilled was the very liquid he feared to touch, forcing him to step back. Not good, he thought. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a suspicious bundle of vines that led up to what appeared to be a second floor of the colossal, hollow tree. Though as he looked up, he found something waiting on the higher floor of the fungal-infested timber. That¡¯s¡­! He realized. It was a doorway; a pale-white door, sticking out like a sore thumb just out of reach. ¡°Melisande, look up there¡­¡± He told the girl. As the emerald-eyed girl looked up, her eyes locked onto the existence of the door as well. It was a sight of hope in the dreadful environment as they found themselves surrounded by the blossomed corpses. ¡°A door?¡­How do we get up there though?¡± She asked. ¡°See those vines next to the wall, to your left? Use those,¡± he told her. ¡°But what about you¨C?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be right behind you,¡± he assured her, keeping his eyes forward. Melisande was clearly hesitant as the boy her age was adamant about holding the line with nothing but a sword in his hand, but as she hesitated, he yelled out sharply¨C ¡°Go! We don¡¯t have much time¡­!¡± He told her. ¡°Right¡­but, you better be right behind me!¡± Melisande said. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched, making sure the girl was able to ascend the vines, though she struggled, she was making her eyes. Attempting to halt her, the fungal-infested, zombie-like humans reached out to her, trying to grasp her legs, but he intervened with a swipe of his sharpened steel. ¡°Ngh!¡± He grunted, swinging his sword. There¡¯s too many, he thought. Though they were slow and predictable in their movements, a single touch was all it would take for him to meet his end. Their numbers never seemed to thin, with more blossomed corpses arriving, crawling out from between gaps in the wood. More¡­? He thought, looking around. As he nced at the vine, he saw that Melisande was no longer on it, having sessfully reached the higher floor of the hollow timber. A sense of relief washed over his body as he now was able to move without reservation, swinging swiftly as he aimed for the heads of the blossomed corpses, taking them down quickly and making sure to move before the liquid could touch his skin. As he began to back up towards the vine to follow Melisande¨Chis stomach dropped. He had identally backed right into one of the moss-skinned corpses, ncing back to meet ¡®eye-to-eye¡¯ with the malignant spider lilies that bloomed from their eyes. An empty groan left the absent lips of the corpse as he quickly pulled away, but even in his quick reaction¨Ca single drop of the liquid fell, hitting his forearm. ¡°Shit!¡­No!¡± He let out in anguish. There was no time to hesitate. As it stood, it was his life on the line, and he needed to make a decision right then and there without thinking. It wasn¡¯t guaranteed it¡¯d work, but he couldn¡¯t waste time on pondering it. Raising his de, he closed one eye and slid the visceral steel across his afflicted flesh, slicing off the piece of flesh that had been touched by the blossoming liquid. ¡°¡­Hfff¡­¡± He breathed out. Warmth oozed from his inner forearm, sliding down his limb as fresh crimson trickled down in a continuous flow. Still, he wasn¡¯t out of danger yet as more blossomed corpses approached, forcing him to expend what little mana he had left in one move. ¡­I¡¯ve got to do this now! He thought. Holding his hand forward, he summoned thest strength of his Dragonheart activation into one manifestation of azure me. Chapter 148 Nightmares Truth With dozens of the grotesque, fungal-infected undead closing in, he unleashed everything he had into a ze, swallowing everything in front of him in the draconic heat. As expected, the nature of the mmable creatures allowed the mes to eat away and spread between the undead, giving him ample time to begin ascending the vines. [Level Up!] [Level Fourteen Achieved] Despite the level up, he hardly felt rejuvenated, though the little bit of strength let him slowly ascend, lugging his body up as he tucked his sword into its sheath. My body¡­it¡¯s giving out, he thought. It was a struggle just to keep his fingers wrapped around the strained vines, feeling his eyelids flicker while the groans of the blossomed corpses below echoed. Crap¡­He thought. ¡°Emilio¡­!¡± Melisande called out from above, leaning down from the decaying wood of the higher floor. Just before he lost his strength, he looked up to find the silver-haired girl extending her hand down to him. ¡°¨CMelisande!?¡± He was shocked she didn¡¯t already go through the doorway, but in that moment, he was more relieved than anything that she was there. Without hesitation, he epted her hand, using the anchor to guide his strength upward before finally summiting the floor. ¡°¡­I made it¡­¡± He exhaled, catching his breath. ¡°You¡¯re reckless¡­seriously,¡± Melisande sighed out. He held his bleeding forearm, wincing a bit, ¡°¡­Still, we made it. We found it¡­¡± The words of his were pointed at the snow-white door, which sat there ominously, unknown what would be waiting on the other side.. A tearing sound met his ears as he looked over, finding Melisande ripping a piece of her dress off. ¡°Here,¡± Melisande said. ¡°Huh¨C?¡± To his surprise, the prideful girl presented first-aid prowess, using the verdant fabric from a piece of her dress to use as a bandage, wrapping it around his forearm. ¡°Thanks¡­¡± He said in gratitude, feeling the warmth from his wound stain the makeshift bandage. ¡°It¡¯s not much, but it¡¯ll help with the bleeding,¡± Melisande said, ¡°¡­Brother taught me how to treat basic wounds. He was reliable like that¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, he was,¡± he said with a mencholid smile. With the malignant nature of the swamp, he didn¡¯t waste any time returning to his feet as Melisande followed close to him; they both waited in front of the door as he slowly gripped onto the handle. ¡°Be ready for anything,¡± he warned, ¡°we could find Larundog, or¡­something else like this swamp.¡± ¡°I know. I¡¯m ready,¡± Melisande assured. ¡°Alright. Then¡­let¡¯s go,¡± he said. Slowly turning the ck-wood handle, the door quietly clicked before opening, presenting a veil of mist that prevented either of them from seeing whatid past its threshold. Could it be Larundog? He questioned. Melisande held onto his hand as he stepped through first, though she followed his step as they passed the threshold, entering into whatever reality awaited. ¡°Are we back in the city¡­?¡± Melisande asked, not yet opening her eyes from the fog. The scenery revealed itself to him as he found his boots standing on solid, firm ground; quartz tiles were paved neatly. ¡°Huh¡­?¡± He looked around without answering. It couldn¡¯t be further from the swamp, but it certainly wasn¡¯t the city. The new reality he found himself in was a single corridor with the wall to the right being made of pale-white stone, just like the floor, but the left wall was mostly absent, revealing nothing but clouds passing by. Melisande finally opened her eyes as well, letting out a small gasp, ¡°¡­What is this ce?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but¡­it feels kind offorting,¡± he said. There was a tranquil feel to the enigmatic corridor; its end couldn¡¯t be seen as it curved around. The sky itself didn¡¯t seem to be dawn or dusk, but a soft orange hue, sitting between both times of day perpetually while clouds grazed by. He led the way carefully, beginning to walk slowly as he watched the abundance of clouds float closely by, neighboring the high-altitude, lonesome corridor. ¡°Do you think there are more monsters here?¡± Melisande asked. ¡°I can¡¯t say. Let¡¯s hope not,¡± he answered. Taking a few more steps, he suddenly keeled over, wincing as he hugged his own body from a jolt of visceral pain. ¡°Ghh¡­!¡± He gritted his teeth. ¡°Emilio!¡± Melisande called out worriedly, kneeling by his side. Shit¡­I used all of my mana¡­my body ispletely exhausted and the toll from the Dragonheart System¡­I can¡¯t move like this, he thought. Though she didn¡¯t know the specifics, Melisande understood the severity of his condition as he helped him sit against the smooth wall of the corridor that could almost be mistaken as contemporary. ¡°You need to rest,¡± Melisande told him. ¡°No, it¡¯s too dangerous around here¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know that for sure. Even if it was¡­in your condition, you can¡¯t fight anyway,¡± Melisande told him, sitting beside him, ¡°I¡¯ll keep watch, alright?¡± He was hesitant to ept this as he was impatient to escape the abnormal realities and reunite with his lostpanions, but he obliged as there was little choice with his own body. ¡°¡­Alright¡­just a bit,¡± he said weakly, closing his eyes. As soon as his consciousness seemed to fade, he found himself in a ne of dreams that was far too vibrant; far too detailed. It was a sublime stretch of cosmos, expanding infinitely as nebe as colossal as stars stretched on through the ck mass of space. The cosmos¡­? This dream seems familiar, he thought. ¡°Wee back.¡± ¨CA voice spoke to him that was familiar yet unknown until he spun around, finding himself looking at a figure that was devoid of any features. The figure was humanoid in shape, butcked eyes, ears, or even a nose, simply having a mouth that it spoke from, sitting on the lonesome, wooden floorboards that floated in the sea of cosmos. ¡°You¡¯re¨C¡± All at once, the forgotten memories of a past dream resurfaced as he recalled his first meeting with the enigmatic entity. ¡°Sorry about that,¡± the entity said with a smile, ¡°Dreams are a fickle thing. You tend to let go of them the moment your eyes open.¡± ¡°No¡­something like this, there¡¯s no way I¡¯d forget it. Still, why¡¯re you back now¡­after all this time?¡± As he asked his question, the faceless entity looked at him, gesturing for him to sit. Though he was too anxious to want to sit, he obliged, seeking answers among the drifting cosmos. ¡°You should be thanking me,¡± the entity said. ¡°¡­For what?¡± The white figure raised his hand, ¡°The alternate reality you¡¯re resting in currently¨Cyou don¡¯t think such a peaceful space is something the Unending Nightmare led you to, do you?¡± It wasn¡¯t something he considered until just then, but it made sense. The quartz corridor among the lumbering, soft clouds certainly didn¡¯t feel nightmarish. ¡°Yeah¡­wait, you know about the Unending Nightmare? And what does it have to do with you? Who are you, anyway?¡± He asked. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of questions at once, besides¨Cwho I am doesn¡¯t matter. Just think of me as a supporter of yours,¡± the entity answered, ¡°¨Cbut, the Unending Nightmare is certainly something. You¡¯ve certainly drawn the short end of the stick by running straight into its territory. If I didn¡¯t know any better, I¡¯d say some higher power has it out for you.¡± It felt like a cruel joke posed when those words came from an entity that seemed transcendental in itself, but he ignored the crude words of the entity. ¡°What is the Unending Nightmare, anyway?¡­This sort of ability isn¡¯t just from a monster,¡± he asked. ¡°You¡¯re right. The ¡®Unending Nightmare¡¯ is normally just the aspect of something greater,¡± the faceless figure replied. ¡°Something greater¡­?¡± ¡°A ¡®primordial¡¯: abstract beings that exist beyond the realm of humans. They¡¯re as old as time¨Cwell, even time is one such primordial. I digress; the ¡®Unending Nightmare¡¯ is the avatar of the primordial ¡®Ktholl¡¯drulbh¡¯¨Can entity which feeds on fear,¡± the figure told him. Such a name was basically unintelligible to his ears, though the reality of the faceless figure¡¯s words were bleak to him. ¡°The Unending Nightmare is something that powerful¡­? How do I beat something like that?¡± He asked. The figure smiled, ¡°Luckily, all you need to do is kill its avatar. That¡¯s the only thing tethering it to the realm of mortals, anyhow. Easier said than done though; it¡¯s heart is residing in one of these alternate spaces.¡± ¡°But, it controls these spaces right¡­? I mean, it¡¯s created these alternate worlds, right?¡± He posed the question. The cosmos continued to swirl around the lonesome room; distant gxies shined and continued to spark on with endless creation while stars glittered across the void. ¡°You¡¯re somewhat correct. The Unending Nightmare has control over the gateways between alternate spaces, but it doesn¡¯t create them¨Cat least not all of them. They¡¯re ¡®iplete worlds¡¯¨Cspaces that hold little depth and nuance past one meaning,¡± the entity told him, ¡°the Unending Nightmare will try and keep you from reaching the space its resides in, but¡­I¡¯m going to pull some strings.¡± ¡°You will¡­? You can do that? Honestly, I just thought you might¡¯ve been a figment of my imagination¡­¡± He said. ¡°Ha-ha! You give yourself too much credit. You can consider me¡­a distant cousin to the primordials,¡± the entity told him, ¡°I can¡¯t guarantee you won¡¯t find yourself in more nightmarish worlds, but I¡¯ll lead you to where it¡¯s hiding. If I can, I¡¯ll try routing other survivors there as well to help you. You¡¯ll certainly need it. Just keep struggling on, Emilio.¡± ¡°Right¡­¡± He said before looking up, ¡°Hey, why¡¯re you helping¨C¡± Before he could get the question he wanted to ask out, everything faded before his eyelids suddenly parted. He was staring up directly at a quartz roof, finding himself with a sore body as he groaned, slowly sitting up. ¡°Ngh¡­how long was I out?¡± He mumbled, holding his head. Looking forward, the sight of the sea of clouds wasforting after awakening from his slumber, finding their slow, but tranquil drift through the sky to be rxing. Melisande yawned, seeming to have fallen asleep too, ¡°¡­You¡¯re finally up?¡± ¡°Err, you were asleep too,¡± he said. ¡°I was just sitting with my eyes closed,¡± Melisande affirmed. ¡°Sure,¡± he sighed. Chapter 149 Brutality and Lightning ¡°Ah¡­what the hell did I get myself into this time?¡± Scratching his head as he muttered to himself, Roan looked around, standing in the foggy depths of Larundog, surrounded by malignant entities. The red-haired man slid his hands out of his pockets as strands of crimson lightning coiled around his gloves; ncing around, he watched as the giant,nky humanoids approached with their spider-like limbs carrying them forward. I¡¯m not sure where the kid ended up, but I¡¯m sure he can handle himself, Roan thought, at least¡­I hope so. As one of the gray-skinned, humanoid arachnids approached him, lifting one of its spiky legs to thrust towards the man, he responded with a swift flick of his fingers. FWOOM. The air cracked as electricity crackled, manifesting a quick, condensed fulmination that extended and turned the grotesque entity into cinder upon impact. ¡°Ah¨C¡± Roan let out, noticing something. Just then, a small, doll-like creature with creaking joints leapt towards him from behind, wielding a butcher knife aimed at the back of the red-haired man¡¯s head. Before the crude de could reach Roan, a sharp projectilended straight through the stic cranium of the ursed doll, causing it to be flung away. ¡°¨CI was wondering where you were, Vandread,¡± Roan finished his thought, ncing to the side with a small smile.. Arriving from the shadows, the dark-skinned man, dressed in all-ck came out, flinging another pair of knives that went straight in Roan¡¯s direction. Though the red-haired adventurer didn¡¯t flinch or move a muscle as the throwing knives went straight past him, sinking into the doll that attempted to get up. ¡°From the way you¡¯re talking, it sounds like you knew I was in Larundog,¡± Vandread said, wiping his own blood from his cheek, ¡°¡­Which leads me to believe you¡¯ve run into the kid.¡± Roan squinted at him, noticing the worn-and-torn state of Vandread¡¯s clothes, though he¡¯d already healed, ¡°As sharp as ever. That¡¯s what I respect about you, Vandread¨Ca ¡®man on a mission.''¡± ¡°And that¡¯s what I hate about you, Roan. You¡¯re always half-assed, even if you act like you¡¯re trying,¡± Vandread responded. ¡°I see that sour attitude of yours hasn¡¯t changed,¡± Roanughed. For a moment, the two seasoned adventurers stared off before they both suddenly moved; Vandread threw a pair of knives to the left while Roan flicked a bolt of crimson lightning to the right. Each of their quick reflexes led to a swift execution of the lurking, knife-wielding dolls. ¡°Enough chit-chat. Even you understand the severity of the situation, don¡¯t you?¡± Vandread asked. The yful attitude of Roan¡¯s adjusted as he held a serious expression, ¡°Yeah, I do. The ¡®Unending Nightmare¡¯ has grown¨Cspeaking of which, have you encountered it yet?¡± ¡°Not yet,¡± Vandread replied, ¡°I doubt I¡¯d be able to handle it myself, though.¡± Roan yfully pped the man on the back with a smile, ¡°Count yourself lucky I¡¯m here then, buddy ol¡¯ pal!¡± ¡°¨C¡± Vandread squinted at him with a look of displeasure, ¡°¡­I need to know something.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°You met Emilio, right?¡­Before entering the city, right?¡± Vandread asked. Roan raised an eyebrow, ¡°Ah? Ah¡­I think I get it now. So, that¡¯s the problem. I found that brat in the city¨Cand well, before you give me that dirty look, the fog wall back there separated us. I was searching for him until you showed up.¡± A heavy sigh left Vandread¡¯s lips as he shook his head, muttering to himself, ¡°Dammit, Emilio¡­I have you one job.¡± After a few minutes of Vandread disying his primary emotion of ¡®annoyance¡¯ through grunting and mumbling to himself, the two seasoned adventurers discussed their next course of action. ¡°¡­As much as I hate to say it, it¡¯s best we stick together,¡± Vandread said, ¡°¡­I need to find the kid.¡± ¡°I never took you for a babysitter,¡± Roan teased. ¡°It¡¯s a favor for a friend,¡± Vandread gave him an annoyed look, ¡°¨CAnyway, you know more about the Unending Nightmare than I, don¡¯t you? What¡¯s your take on this?¡± Roan nced around, ¡°¨CAh, well, if I had to guess, the brat probably stepped into one of the iplete worlds¨Che¡¯s likely stuck between worlds right now. And, luckily for us, we can kill two birds with one stone.¡± ¡°How do you figure?¡± ¡°It¡¯s weird that the Unending Nightmare itself hasn¡¯t shown itself yet, right? Think about it¨Cwhere¡¯s the best ce to tuck away?¡± Roan asked. It only took a moment for Vandread to reach the same conclusion as he held his chin, ¡°¡­In the iplete worlds? Shit.¡± ¡°Bingo,¡± Roan pointed at him, ¡°That¡¯s where we¡¯re headed.¡± ¡°Only a fool would willingly enter that mess. Still¡­I think you¡¯re right. It¡¯s likely our best bet,¡± Vandread said. ¡°I don¡¯t like it anymore than you do, trust me. We have a job to do, though,¡± Roan said. ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth.¡± Arriving in front of a simple, wooden door amidst the hellish city, the red-haired adventurer and the tinum-eyed man readied themselves to delve into the bowels of the nightmare. ¡°Match my step,¡± Vandread said, moving in front of him, closer to the opened door. ¡°No, you match MY step,¡± Roan insisted, pushing in front of him. Vandread sighed, ¡°Don¡¯t be difficult¨Cit doesn¡¯t matter who leads the way, we just need to make sure we¡¯re in sync or we¡¯ll end up disced.¡± ¡°If it doesn¡¯t matter, then what¡¯s the problem with letting me lead?¡± Roan asked with a faux smile, ¡°Ya know, I have experience with leading. Unlike a certain, lonesome somebody¨C¡± ¡°Grrr¨Cfine, suit yourself,¡± Vandread gave in, having to stop himself from bursting a blood vessel. Stepping through the door with each of their boots crossing the threshold in unison, both of the men were transported as ckness faded in around them before shifting away to reveal the new reality around them. It was a vast domain with upside-down staircases and bookshelves suspended on all axises; steps led to sideways walls and the roof itself, which seemed to behave just like the floor. It was a mystical library of sorts that didn¡¯t follow the naturalws of Arcadius. ¡°¡­Just the type of ce I hate,¡± Vandread mumbled. ¡°On that, we agree,¡± Roan replied, Appearing from around corners, standing upside down above them and sideways on somber, gray walls were hooded entities, dressed in ck-and-silver cloaks. ¡°Let¡¯s do it like old times,¡± Roan said, ¡°Whoever kills more wins.¡± Vandread withdrew an arsenal of throwing knives, holding them between his fingers, ¡°This isn¡¯t a game,¡± he remained stoic, ¡°¡­besides, you¡¯d lose.¡± ¡°Is that right? If I recall, I won ourst contest,¡± Roan told him with a confident smile as lightning coiled around him. ¡°That was years ago,¡± Vandread replied. ¡°You¡¯re making me feel old,¡± Roanughed. ¡°We are,¡± Vandread said. In unison, they both countered the iing attacks from the robed figures, who tossed dark spheres in their direction. Not adhering to thews of the abnormal, twisted library, Roan shifted into crimson lightning, bolting over before summoning a me-born ymore into his grip to cleave through the mysterious attackers with. There wasn¡¯t any chance for the faceless, dark mages to counter as the middle-aged, red-haired adventurer swept through with electric agility. With pinpoint precision and wless execution, Vandread threw his knives, hitting each target between the eyes as the robed figures dropped dead. Roan was standing upside down on the ceiling, though for him it made it seem as though Vandread was standing upside down. ¡°That¡¯s five for me,¡± Roan said, spinning his ming weapon. Before replying, Vandread drew a long knife, turning around as he gutted a robbed assant that tried sneaking up on him, ¡°¨CSix.¡± Though even after thinning through the numbers of the contorted, physics-defying library of the robed schrs, it didn¡¯t seem to nearly be enough as dozens, if not hundreds more revealed themselves, appearing from the shadows. ¡°This is going to take awhile,¡± Roan huffed. ¡°Less talking, more fighting,¡± Vandread replied. Chapter 150 Vandread: Origin (One) [Seventeen Years Prior | ¡°The Heart of Untram¡±] ¡°As I was saying¡­there¡¯s no way your style is better than the Mountain God Style! Just no damn way!¡± Walking in front through the small clearing between the tall trees, the young man with pitch-ck hair and a fiery attitude spoke. Following closely behind with an annoyed look on his face, the dark-skinned, tinum-eyed adolescent followed. He wore a ck cloak, covering his leather armor beneath. There was a small scar here and there, but otherwise, Vandread had perfectly smooth skin. ¡°How many times do I have to say this, Julius?¡­I¡¯m not saying the Godless Style is strictly superior to your Mountain God Style, but it is better at quickly killing,¡± Vandread replied. ¡°And like I said¨C!¡± Before the young Julius could retort to his friend, he was interrupted by the sight revealed past the treeline, which caused Vandread to look up in awe as well. It was a massive temple, hidden deep within the forest and now covered in overgrowth, yet the many statues of knights and beasts stood strong on its edges. ¡°There it is¨C¡¯The Heart of Untram,''¡± Julius remarked. Vandread squinted, ¡°We¡¯re supposed to find an antique in an old ce like that?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I was thinking,¡± Julius scratched his head, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t count on anything of value being found in there¨CI mean, it¡¯s obviously been ransacked, right?¡± Suddenly, a figurended between them, falling out from a tree above them with a less-than-elegantnding. ¡°Oww¡­¡± The figure groaned. It was a young man, the same age as the other two with shaggy, blonde hair and a bandage over the bridge of his nose.. ¡®Victor¡¯, Vandread thought, he¡¯s the third of our rag-tag, little group. Clearly he¡¯s not¡­the most refined adventurer, but he¡¯s reliable. ¡°Seriously, Victor?¡­¡± Vandread sighed, looking down at the blonde-haired man. Juliusughed, extending his hand down to the blonde-haired man with the bow strapped to his back, helping him up to his feet. ¡°Ghh, that smarts¡­¡± Victor rubbed his back while wincing. Though the clumsy, green-cloak wearing archer had bruised his nose from the fall, it was already healed after just a few moments. ¡°I swear you¡¯d be dead a hundred times over if it wasn¡¯t for your healing ability,¡± Julius sighed. ¡°Did you catch sight of any enemies?¡± Vandread asked. Victor scrunched his nose before shaking his head, ¡°Nothing. It¡¯s been dead silent.¡± ¡°Weird,¡± Julius remarked. ¡°That¡¯s weird? I think it¡¯d be more weird if there were other people waiting in this forest,¡± Victor replied. Vandread shook his head, ¡°No, I agree with Julius. If the Heart of Untram really does valuable antiques inside, we¡¯re probably not the only ones after it. It¡¯s a recent discovery, after all.¡± After gathering themselves and getting ready, the three youthful adventurers headed towards the abandoned temple. Julius looked back with a raised eyebrow towards Victor, who was staying a good ten meters behind the two, ¡°You really oughta use a sword and lead the way instead. I mean, you don¡¯t have to worry about dying if you get sliced up!¡± A small chuckle came from Victor, who ruffled his own, messy locks, ¡°I¡¯ve told you a million times, I¡¯m terrible with swords.¡± ¡°Sounds to me like you¡¯re still being a chicken about getting hurt¨Cprettyme for an immortal,¡± Julius teased. ¡°Hey! I¡¯m not a chicken! Besides, I¡¯ve told you before¨CI¡¯m not immortal; I can be killed,¡± Victor huffed. While the two bantered, Vandread acted as the sensible member of the party, keeping his eyes peeled and moving ahead, making sure there were no lurking enemies around the entrance of the temple. ¡°Cut it out, you two. We¡¯re here,¡± Vandread said. As the natural ¡®cool-headed¡¯ member of the trio, Vandread¡¯s words caused both Julius and Victor to focus up once stopping at the mossy entrance of the old temple. The pathway leading up to it had no visible road, having been buried beneath soil and grass; even trees seemed to grow against the body of the structure. ¡°Alright¡­How about we make this quick so we can get back and have some of Bacho¡¯s steak?¡± Julius proposed with a confident smirk, cracking his neck side-to-side. ¡°Ahh, a steak sounds great right about now¡­¡± Victor said, closing his eyes as if picturing it. ¡°Let¡¯s get this done fast and right, then you can worry about filling your stomachs,¡± Vandread replied, equipping himself with a pair of knives. Naturally, Julius was the one who led the way as the three climbed the tall steps to the temple entrance. Though Vandread was more of the level-headed one, the natural charisma and adventurous spirit that Julius possessed gave him the natural inclination of a leader. There wasn¡¯t much caution in the way Julius nonchntly stepped past the threshold of the entrance, causing the steps of his boots to echo off of the archaic stone. The interior was quite vast, but there was hardly anything of note to be seen in the initial chamber besides grass and roots that had grown through the cracks between the stone. ¡°Looks pretty empty to me,¡± Julius remarked, ncing around. Vandread stood beside him, staying wary, ¡°Empty is good. As long as we find what we¡¯re here for and get out¨Cthat¡¯s a job well-done.¡± ¡°You¡¯re boring, ya know that?¡± Julius sighed, ¡°I mean, don¡¯t you want to test yourself against some worthy foes? Make a name for yourself? You get me, right, Victor?¡± Posed with the question from the entric, dark-haired adventurer, the archer chuckled and scratched his head nervously. ¡°Err, I¡¯m more on the side of ¡®peace¡¯,¡± Victorughed. Julius shook his head in disappointment, ¡°I should¡¯ve expected as much.¡± ¡°Can we get a move-on please?¡± Vandread said. ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Julius led the way. With his sword drawn, Julius nced around while moving through the abandoned corridors of the temple with Vandread covering his back and Victor watching their nk. It was their usual strategy, and it had never failed; though it was basic, it was solid. ¡°What is this ¡®antique¡¯ we¡¯re looking for again?¡± Julius asked. Vandread gave him an annoyed re, ¡°¡­You need to start reading up on the quests you ept.¡± ¡°Ha-ha, I just leave the details to you, Vanny,¡± Juliusughed. ¡°¨C¡± Vandread stared at him before sighing, ¡°It¡¯s apparently the relic of a warlock of old; it¡¯s a ruby chalice, but our client has left it at just that.¡± ¡°Ah, a secretive fellow, huh? Boring,¡± Julius yfully said. ¡°Just stay focused, please,¡± Vandread said. It seemed the only thing to worry about was the dingy, unstable state of the temple as tiles moved and slid at times under each step, nearly causing Victor to fall at one point. Navigating through the dingy corridors, the most troublesome obstacles the trio encountered were gaps in the flooring, having to jump over pits to cross to the next chamber. There were some traps discovered, though none of them got past Vandread¡¯s keen eye as he disarmed them for the other two. Finding themselves in a narrow corridor, Julius led the way with a confident march. ¡°Still, I can¡¯tin about the pay on an easy job like this,¡± Julius said, ¡°What¡¯re you two nning on using your money on? For me, well, I¡¯ve got to party while I¡¯m young.¡± ¡°des,¡± Vandread answered quickly and simply. Julius looked back, ¡°What about you, Victor?¡± The blonde-haired, young archer scratched his cheek with a nervous smile, ¡°Well, err¡­I¡¯d like to buy a cottage out in a small town. A quiet ce¨Cmaybe like Yullim.¡± ¡°Yullim?! I didn¡¯t expect that,¡± Julius replied in surprise. ¡°Just an example,¡± Victor smiled. ¡°Well, I hope you can¨C¡± As Julius spoke with a smile, the conversation between the three young-blooded adventurers was cut off as the entirety of the temple rumbled around them. ¡°What happened?!¡± Victor let out, looking around. ¡°Err¡­¡± Julius nced down, ¡°¡­My bad.¡± The energetic youth had identally stepped on a false tile that clicked beneath his boot, triggering some sort of contraption. ¡°Just great¨Cget ready!¡± Vandread announced. Julius was the first to notice it: a boulder came rolling from the direction the three were moving towards. It was massive enough to leave no space in the hall, causing the entirety of the old, pale-stone corridor to tremble as it approached. ¡°Run¨C!¡± Julius yelled. They all began moving, with Vandread taking the lead with his swiftness and Julius following behind, but Victor, being the slowest and least coordinated of the three, managed to fall behind. Before any of the three could reach the other end of the corridor, the weight of the trap boulder proved to be too much for the old temple to handle as the floor gave out from beneath. ¡°Wah!¡± Victor iled. ¡°Gh-!¡± Julius fell. ¡°¨C¡± Vandread remained focused, looking for something to hold onto. Though each of their reactions had little merit in their differences as, in the end, they all fell straight down the newly-formed hole together. After falling into the unknown pit that was dark and musty, dust filled it from the crash of debris. Coming to, Vandread blinked a few times,ying on his stomach as he groaned. ¡­We fell? How long have I been out? He questioned. In front of him, he watched Julius pick himself up, spitting out some dust. Besides a few cuts, Julius was practically unharmed as he brushed dust off of his limbs. ¡°All good?¡± Julius asked him. Vandread groaned a bit before nodding, ¡°¡­Think so.¡± ¡°Well, can¡¯t say we didn¡¯t walk right into that one,¡± Julius remarked, looking up. It was a long way back to the top, and little seemed to be present in the unknown depths of the temple besides darkness. Chapter 151 Vandread: Origin (Two) Victor picked himself up, holding his arm that was bent thepletely opposite way it should be with his forearm sticking out from his skin. ¡°Ghh¡­¡± Victor winced. Julius looked at him, ¡°Just tough it out for another second.¡± As predicted, the broken state of the blonde youth¡¯s arm was mended as ck tendrils extended from the point of affliction, fixing his bone and sealing his cut. Still, Victor scrunched his nose during the process and let out a long exhale once it was finished. ¡°¡­That never feels good,¡± Victor muttered. Julius looked over at Vandread, who was stillying down amidst the veil of dust that obscured all of their sight, ¡°How long do you n onying there?¡± Attempting to get up again, Vandread tried lifting his body, but found his legs to be unresponsive, ¡°¡­I can¡¯t get up.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t?¡± Victor looked over concerned. ¡°Hold on¡­¡± Julius squinted, moving closer. As the dust finally parted, they were able to see the situation that persisted in the dark, mmy depths: the boulder wasying on the dark-skinned adventurer¡¯s legs. ¡°Vandread, your legs¡­¡± Julius said in disbelief. ¡°¡­I thought as much,¡± Vandread calmly said, though there was obvious stress on his expression as sweat trailed down his forehead. Victor gasped, moving quickly to try and push the boulder, pressing his body up against it. ¡°Julius, help me¡­!¡± Victor said, pushing against the rock. It took a moment for Julius toe to as he jumped into action, stepping up and aiding with his strength, which was substantially more than what Victor possessed. Together, they began to move therge boulder, though it took an incredible amount of strain and effort as the two began to sweat beads.. ¡°Raaagh¡­!¡± Julius roared. Despite only being in his teens, Julius had the strength of an ox; thebination of his superb physicality and his strength technique stemming from the formidable Mountain God Style gave him enough push to move the boulder. Inparison, Victor was equivalent to moral support, but he still tried his best nheless. Vandread gritted his teeth, feeling the heavy weight roll off of his legs as sensation somewhat returned. ¡°¡­Can¡¯t hold it long! Move!¡± Julius grunted. Being told such, Vandread pulled himself across the ground, moving out of the way of the boulder just as Julius and Victor let it drop again, managing to sessfully free Vandread. Still, it didn¡¯t solve all their problems as the two turned to find Vandread sitting there with his legs stretched out. ¡°Shit¡­are they broken?¡± Julius asked, squatting beside him, Vandread winced a bit as sweat slid down his cheek, ¡°¡­No, don¡¯t think so. But my shin is definitely fractured. Both are bruised to hell, too.¡± The dark-skinned youth pointed out his worst leg, being his left as it was sensitive to the touch. Scratching his head, Julius fixed his leather gloves before reaching down and helping Vandread to his feet, giving him his shoulder. ¡°Say the word and we can turn right back around,¡± Julius said. Vandread sighed, looking up, ¡°Even if I wanted to, we can¡¯t exactly turn around, can we?¡± They all looked up, remembering the less-than-ideal situation they had fallen straight into, finding themselves faced only with moving forward through the dark corridor before them. ¡°Urk¡­Guess there¡¯s no road left but the one ahead,¡± Victor said. ¡°C¡¯mon,¡± Julius said, walking with Vandread at his side, ¡°Don¡¯t fall behind the guy with battered legs.¡± Victor promptly followed, ¡°¨CThat¡¯s not fair.¡± It was noticeably grimier in the lower portions of the temple; less overgrowth stuck through the gaps in stone, but more dustced the air and darkness crowded the width of the corridors. ¡°I didn¡¯t know it went this deep,¡± Juliusmented, keeping Vandread¡¯s arm slung over his shoulders. Vandread was breathing heavily, putting up with the searing pain flowing through his legs, ¡°If I had to guess¡­this is probably where we were supposed to go, anyway.¡± ¡°You think so?¡± Victor asked, ncing back nervously. There was something ominous about the maze of halls that inhabited the bottomyer of the abandoned temple; it was quiet and expansive in its enigma. Victor was already one that was easy to fright, so it didn¡¯t take much to put him on edge. ¡°Just a guess, nothing more¡­¡± Vandread replied, ¡°¡­Still, doesn¡¯t a grimy, creepy area like this sound like a ce a warlock would store his precious belongings?¡¯ Julius nced around, ¡°Now that you mention it¡­¡± ¡°¡­Definitely a warlock¡¯s kind of ce,¡± Victor finished. The slow pace they moved with Julius supporting Vandread made it easier to carefully scope out their surroundings for further traps. Just as Julius lifted his boot to take another step¨C ¡°Don¡¯t step there. Pressure te,¡± Vandread warned casually. Julius looked down, keeping his boot in the air before stepping over the loose tile of stone, ¡°Ah. Nice catch.¡± Walking by them withughter, Victor strutted forward, ¡°See, as clumsy as ever, Jul¨C¡± Before the blonde-haired, young adventurer could finish his sentence, a resounding ¡®click¡¯ sounded out, causing all three to pause for a second. ¡°Ah,¡± Victor looked down. ¡°You idiot¨C¡± Vandread said. On either side of the trio, multiple sections of the grimy, stone walls gave out, revealing hidden contraptions that swiftly shot out lethal arrows. The swiftness in which the trap activated from the moment the weight of Victor¡¯s step fell on the false tile and the arrowsunched was ruthless, leaving Victor no time to react. Oh, crap¡­! Victor thought. The sharp projectiles sailed close to him as he began to move, but it was toote. However¨C Acting with precision and speed that Victor failed to embody in that moment, both Julius and Vandread moved forward, using their des to slice the arrows out of the air. It took a moment for the young adventurer to realize that he was, in fact, not pierced by the arrows as he patted his own chest and head to make sure. ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± Victor sighed in relief. Julius furrowed his eyebrows, tucking his trusted sword into its scabbard, ¡°Who¡¯s the clutz?¡± ¡°I, err¡­¡± Victor chuckled embarrassedly. ¡°Gh¡­¡± Vandread winced. Nearly falling over, the tinum-eyed adventurer caught himself against the wall before being helped up by Julius. ¡°You alright?¡± Julius asked Vandread. The shaggy-haired youth nodded, ¡°Yeah, just¡­moved without thinking.¡± ¡°Ha-ha. I knew some bruised legs wouldn¡¯t be enough to stop ya¡¯,¡± Juliusughed. As they began moving again, Victor coughed into his hand nervously, scratching his cheek as he averted his gaze, ¡°¡­Thanks, you guys.¡± ¡°Huh? For what?¡± Julius looked at him with a raised eyebrow. ¡°You know¡­for saving me?¡± Victor rified. Julius exhaled with a smile, ¡°That? You¡¯d do the same for me¨Cdon¡¯t think about it!¡± ¡°Yeah. It goes without saying,¡± Vandread added. It was a relieving dynamic to have; though there were clear holes in their strengths and weaknesses, trust was the foundation of a good party. ¨C After enough stumbling around over traps, some of which spewed out venomous snakes and spiders, and some that led to pits of spikes and bones, atst, a promising chamber was found. ¡°Woah¡­check it out; totally giving me the jitters,¡± Julius remarked. It resembled a cathedral, lined with velvet carpet, but devoid of any divine grace as robed skeletons sat in the chairs¨Csilently and for eternity, all seeming to pray to the shrine that sat in the front of the ominous chamber. ¡°What¡¯s that¡­?¡± Victor asked, stepping closer. The shrine was the statue of a faceless man, wearing only a cloth around hishers with loose hair and horns protruding from his skull. At the base of the statue were melted candles and a bowl filled with crimson liquid; stagnant and lukewarm. ¡°Dunno, but it creeps me out,¡± Julius responded. Vandread nced around, ¡°¡­Either way, I¡¯ve got a feeling that our goblet is somewhere in here. Let¡¯s grab it and get out of here. I¡¯m sure none of us would like to spend any more time than we have to in this ce.¡± ¡°You can say that again¡­¡± Victor muttered. There was nothing normal about the underground chamber of worship; the torn-up, reverse-star gs that sat on the walls, the melted candles, and the array of skeletons that sat in the chairs like worshippers of the faceless statue. Perhaps weirdest of all was the still bowl of blood that sat at the statue¡¯s feet; something struck as odd to Victor. Julius and Vandread checked around the seats, looking beneath them and even around the robed corpses, but nothing was found there. Scoping out the walls for false tiles found nothing, either. ¡°Urghh¡­Are you sure it¡¯s here?¡± Julius scratched his head. ¡°I said it was just a feeling. If it¡¯s not here, we¡¯ll have to go back and scope the higher floors again,¡± Vandread said. ¡°Urghhh¡­¡± Julius groaned again. While the two were talking, something caught Victor¡¯s eye within the bowl of blood, causing him to focus intently on it. ¡°What¡¯re you staring at over there? Kind of creeping me out,¡± Julius asked Victor. ¡°Nothing, I¨C¡± Just as Victor was about to turn away, a small ¡®plop¡¯ sounded from the blood, causing him to look again as a ruby-forged goblet surfaced from within the bowl. The goblet¡­? He thought. Reaching in, he dunked his hand into the bowl, taking the goblet out without a second thought. A smile stretched across his lips as he felt himself proving his worth on the mission atst. However, he realized something else wastched onto the goblet as he retrieved it. Huh? He thought. Yanking the goblet from the bowl, he realized a skeletal hand resided in the bowl, extending from the bottom and gripping the jeweled cup before breaking away. What was that¡­? Victor questioned. Chapter 152 Vandread: Origin (Three) Yanking the goblet from the bowl, he realized a skeletal hand resided in the bowl, extending from the bottom and gripping the jeweled cup before breaking away. What was that¡­? Victor questioned. ¡°Oh? You found it? Great!¡± Julius said with a relieved smile. ¡°Hold on¡­What was that?¡± Vandread cautiously questioned. ¡°Huh? Don¡¯t be so paranoid, it¡¯s¨C¡± Julius replied. Though Vandread¡¯s instincts were vindicated the moment the chalice was freed from the skeletal grip, the robed corpses that sat still in the seats began moving, taking the youthful trio of adventurers by surprise. ¡°Gah¨C!¡± Vandread let out. One of the robed skeletons gripped onto the injured, tinum-eyed adolescent, yanking him away from Julius¡¯ support. ¡°Shit!¨CVandread!¡± Julius called out. Though there was no opportunity to aid hisrade as the robed corpses swarmed Julius, forcing him to back up against a wall and begin swinging his de. Victor was frozen for a moment, holding the chalice as he looked around frantically. What should I do?¡­Who do I help? Julius has more on him, but Vandread is injured!¡­He thought. Before he coulde up with an answer, he was given a new option: survive. The ck-robed undead surrounded him as well, forcing him to wield his bow and begin swiftly drawing arrows, shooting them towards the skeletal worshippers.. ¡°Get back¡­! Away!¨CI need to help him!¡± Victor grunted, gritting his teeth. Though he was clumsy at best in certain moments, when it came to his precision with his bow, he was like an entirely different person; it was second nature to him to sling the string back of his fine, wood-carved bow with an arrow pulled along its form before¨CFWOOSH. The process was swift, only taking a second for him to draw an arrow, pull the string back, and fire. Yet, it wasn¡¯t fast enough. Robed undead continued pressing him, forcing him to step back while continuing to draw from his quiver. ncing through the gaps of the undead, he saw hispanions struggling, fighting for their lives while he felt his own fears being undeserved. Why am I on the defense¡­? Victor thought. Despite his self-repairing body, he was still trembling with fear in the face of the enemy; his fingertips quivered as he drew another arrow. What am I scared of? Being hurt? He questioned. It was the truth; deep down inside, he knew it: what harm could the undead bring to his regenerating body? Yet, despite knowing this fact, he trembled from the natural cowardice that sprouted within his soul. Even watching his friends struggle, he found his heartbeat pounding against his ear drums, ring out all other sound before¨C ¡°Aggh¨C!¡± An agonized scream filled the ursed cathedral, prompting him to focus again as he looked around, having to shoot down another few skeletal cultists to see what the meaning of the cry was for. ¡°¡­Vandread¡­¡± Victor mumbled in shock. The tinum-eyed adolescent was across the room, being wed and torn into by the robed undead. It was a harrowing, brutal sight; their jagged fingers possessed monstrous strength despite their fragile-seeming builds, allowing them to carve into flesh. ¡°Vandread¨C!!!¡± Julius roared out. Though as much as Julius tried, he could only swing his de so much while being swarmed by the undead, who seeped in from the outside halls. It was difficult to tell what state Vandread was in as the undead surrounded him, but his blood curdling screams of pain were more than enough to discern. How did this happen¡­? Is it because I was too scared to help? Why? Victor questioned. Between moments of fleeting regret and anxiety, it was as though Victor¡¯s life shed before his eyes¨C [As long as I can remember, I¡¯ve had this undying body. I was born without parents. From what my grandmother told me, my birth was entirely cursed. I died the moment I was brought into this world, apparently due to a defect with my heart, and my mother was soon to pass fromplications with my birth. There was nothing right about it. My father was posed with two options: his wife or his newborn son. He chose me. It was he that possessed it: the ¡®Undying Blood¡¯; bestowing his immortality from himself to me, I was saved, but he ended up passing alongside my mother. My father was a great adventurer; regarded as a hero, even. ¡®The Impervious Borealis¡¯ is what they called him. He was still young¡­there was so much he could¡¯ve done. All my life the sacrifice both my mother and father made has felt wasted. ¡®I¡¯m not worthy¡¯, ¡®You both should have lived instead¡¯¨Cthese thoughts are always on my mind. Everyday I feel as though I was never meant to be born. By all ounts, I was fated to die the day I was brought into this world, but¡­my parents rejected that fate. Why? What did they see in me? I wish I could ask them.] When recalling this, for some reason, a memory, buried so deep within his mind, it must¡¯ve been from the very day he was born. This is¡­? He thought. The sight of a man with shaggy, blonde hair smiling down at him, holding him while a woman with hazel hair also watched him with a warm smile, caressing his cheek. They were both pale and nearing death, yet looked at him so warmly. Mother? Father? He realized. From a hazy memory, he atst realized what his own two parents looked like. For some reason, that sight of them smiling, sure of their decision, moved him in such a way that he cast away his fears. ¨C ¡°¡­Dammit!¡± Julius yelled in frustration, backed against a corner and fending off the undead. ¡°Ngh¡­! Argh!¡± Vandread¡¯s agonized yells echoed from across the room. These sounds snapped Victor into focus as he suddenly rushed forward, sprinting directly towards the mass of undead without any second thoughts. They weren¡¯t scared for a second when they gave you life! You have no reason to be shaking! Victor thought to himself. ¡°Raaagh!¡± He roared out to give himself resolve. As he tried barging through the wall of robed skeletons, he was held back as they gripped onto him, trying to tear into him and hold him down, though he nted his feet down and continued pressing forward with all of his strength. I¡¯ming¡­Vandread! He thought. Though their rotten fingers squeezed onto him, carving through chunks of his flesh on his sides, back, and arms, he gritted his teeth and managed to break through. He stumbled forward, nearly fallingpletely before he caught himself. The path to Vandread was now clear, leaving only a few undead between him and his friend as he wielded his bow once again. ¡°Get away¨C!¡± Victor shouted. Rapidly drawing and firing arrows from his quiver, he took down a half dozen of the decrepit guardians of the cathedral before reaching again to his leather quiver, only to find nothing left for him to use. I¡¯m out¡­? He thought. For a brief moment, that cowardice etched into his soul resurfaced as hisck of arrows made him want to shrink away and flee, but he pushed forward through sheer reckless abandon. As he raced forward, tossing his bow to the side with tears flooding his eyes, he swiftly retrieved a single arrow from the skull of an undead, now using it as a close-quarters weapon. ¡°Graaaaaagh¨C!¡± Roaring out, he was gripped onto and torn into by the undead as he rapidly stabbed the arrowhead into their skulls; with the adrenaline surging through his veins, he ignored the pain. As much as they tried tearing off chunks of his flesh, cutting into him with their sharp nails, his body repaired itself. Through his wild efforts, it seemed the robed fiends assaulting Vandread now focused on him. Good!¡­Keep your eyes on me! He thought. Vandread was lying on the ground, soaked in his own blood, ¡°¡­Vic¡­tor?¡± It was a sight to see; the once clumsy, cowardly adventurer was now fighting without any reservations, almost like a savage beast as he wildly used his single arrow as a knife. Still, Victor found it arduous to get to his friend with the swarm of undead around, and even more difficult to do what he had to do. Shit¡­I can¡¯t do it like this! I need to keep them off me! He thought. ¡°Julius¨C!¡± Victor shouted. The entric adolescent shouted back from beyond a group of undead, still fighting, ¡°¨CI can¡¯t get through! Give me a second!¡± Though Victor knew time was of the essence with the rate Vandread was bleeding out, forcing him to act as he rushed over, leaping like a mad man as he aided Julius, thrusting his arrowhead through the skulls of all the skeletons he found in his way. Somehow, Julius and Victor managed to surmount the wall of undead, finding one another through the mess of bones. ¡°Come on¡­! I need you to keep them off of me while I save him!¡± Victor shouted. It was new for the blonde-haired youth to be so forward and adamant in his words, which took Julius by surprise for a moment before he nodded, trying to figure out what he meant by ¡®saving.¡¯ As he swiftly returned over to Vandread¡¯s position with Julius following behind him, fending off the seemingly endless number of skeletons within the temple, he dropped to his knees by hisrade¡¯s side. ¡°¡­Vandread¡­¡± Victor said with tears in his eyes. Chapter 153 Vandread: Origin (Four) ¡°¡­Vandread¡­¡± Victor said with tears in his eyes. The sight of his friend was something heart-wrenching; the dark-skinned adventurer¡¯s entire stomach had been torn open, causing a puddle of deep crimson to flood the stone tiles while his entrails were on disy. Various tears were left on his flesh, from his face to his legs, from the ws of the undead. ¡°¡­Vic¡­¡± Vandread could hardly speak, looking towards the ceiling with barely any light left in his tinum eyes. Julius shouted from close by, swinging his sword frantically, ¡°¨CWhatever you¡¯re nning on doing, make it quick! I can¡¯t hold them off long like this! They want him!¡± Those words cemented the choice Victor made as he nodded and wiped his tears, drawing a long breath between his lips and into his lungs as he prepared himself. [Maybe this is why I was born, or rather why I was chosen to live. I was never destined to be a great hero. Something like this¡­I believe this is the right call. I can say that without any regrets.] As he gulped down his fears, he took one of Vandread¡¯s fallen des from the ground, gripping it tightly as he looked at it, turning the de to face himself. A single tear strolled down his cheek at the reality of his choice, but without further hesitation, he plunged the de into his own chest. ¡°Ghh¡­!¡± Victor winced. The unorthodox action was noticed even by the half-dead friend of hisying in front of him, who weakly tried reaching up to stop him, but was unable. Victor held a worn smile as reassurance, ¡°¡­Don¡¯t worry. It doesn¡¯t hurt at all¡­¡± As if certifying those words, he closed his eyes and pulled the de up, cutting through his own chest as crimson fluid seeped out. Thanks for showing me how to do this, Father¡­now I can pass the torch, just as you did, Victor thought. Dragging the de up enough, he pulled it out once arge enough incision was left, but he was still forced to pull another breath into his lungs to prepare himself for the next step. He had to be quick as the ck threads inherent to his Undying Blood tried to stitch his wound together as fast as he created it. In an act that was painful through even his resolve and adrenaline, he slid his own hand into his chest, wincing out as his vision grew hazy. Julius was fighting with all he had, racing from one spot to the next to make sure not a single undead came between Victor¡¯s act. The sword-wielding adventurer already surmised this was the choice made, and respected it as he did his part. ¡°¡­Ghh¡­!¡± Victor gritted his teeth. With a brutal tug, he ripped his own heart out, nearly copsing forward as he held his still-beating heart in his hand. ¡­I guess I¡¯m not as strong as you were, Father. You did this like it was easy, he thought. Still, he picked himself up, breathing heavily as he then crushed his own heart, causing blood to seep from his lips, ears, nose, and mouth from the act. ¡°¡­I¡¯m now passing this on from myself to you¡­It might feel like a curse, but maybe one day you¡¯ll understand, it¡¯s a blessing¡­¡± Victor told him through faint breaths. The words he spoke lightly met the ears of the half-dead Vandread, whoid there trying to stop his friend, though he could hardly move his fingertips by this point. Staring at his own heart for a moment, Victor breathed as weakness filled his body, his undying nature fleeting. Still, he took the pitch-ck blood exuding from his heart and let it fall into Vandread¡¯s barely parted lips. ¡°¡­With that, it¡¯s done¡­¡± Victor said weakly. As soon as the act wasplete, he copsed onto his back, lying directly beside Vandread. The Undying Blood took effect immediately; Vandread¡¯s veins pressed against his skin before ck threads sprouted from his wounds, beginning to mend his broken body. Devoid of his life-sustaining blood, Victorid there as sound drowned out from his ears, simply watching the ceiling as his breathing became more and more faint. [It was my destiny.] [My destiny was to make the ultimate sacrifice.] [Still¡­] [I just wish I could¡¯ve had a family of my own, if only just for a little while.] ¡¢ As his eyelids grew heavy, beginning to flicker, they closed for the final time with his job beingplete. ¨C After some time, Vandread parted his eyelids, having to blink a few times to do away with the blur before sitting up, holding his throbbing head as he groaned. ¡°¡­What happened?¡­¡± He muttered. As he looked up, he found a pile of fallen undead and Julius sitting alone amidst the corpses with multiple wounds on his body, but nothing pressing. Still, despite the seeming triumph, Julius sat there with a gloomy expression. It was unusual for the confident, and at times abrasive friend of his to be so quiet and dreary. ¡°Julius, what¡­?¡± Vandread began to say. Though as he felt the warmth of liquid beneath his hands, he looked down at the puddle of blood, raising his blood-soaked palms in front of his eyes. As he looked down at his tattered, ck garments, he realized a lot of the blood was his own. My blood?¡­How am I alive? He questioned. As Vandread looked over, his heart sank as he saw the blonde-haired young manying beside him as if peacefully sleeping. ¡°Victor?¡­What did you do?¡± Vandread muttered in disbelief. There was no answer, at least not from the one he sought them from. Julius stood up, slowly walking over as he hoisted Victor¡¯s body up, tossing the chalice into Vandread¡¯s hands at the same time. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Julius said quietly. Though at first Julius seemed almost uncaring in his cold approach, it was clear to Vandread just how much he was going through it; Julius was the sort to try and hide his tears as he thought it was unbing for a man to cry in front of others. Still, he didn¡¯t hide it well. ¡°¡­Nngh¡­¡± Julius quietly cried, facing the other way. It took a good minute for Vandread to adjust to his new reality, looking down at his body as he saw traces of the ck threads that stitched his body together. [This only happened because I was reckless. Somebody¨Cno, a friend died because I wasn¡¯t strong enough. I wasn¡¯t diligent. I was unprepared. It won¡¯t happen again.] Chapter 154 Unequaled Shadows [The Tranquil Space | Emilio & Melisande] It seemed to stretch on for quite some ways, curving around the enigmatic wall of quartz; the cloud-neighboring corridor. Emilio led the way, keeping his sword held in front of him. Despite what the faceless entity had told him about the safety of the tranquil space, he wasn¡¯t going to fully invest his trust in those words. ¡°How are you feeling now?¡± Melisande asked from behind. He nced back, ¡°¡­Ah, well, pretty sure. But otherwise, I¡¯m fine.¡± There were still bruises left on his body and though he¡¯d recovered a good amount of mana, he was beginning to understand that tending to every wound was the wrong move. I guess I¡¯m finally learning the limits of my own mana, he thought, I¡¯d heal even a scratch in a heartbeat before, but now¡­I¡¯ve got to be more frugal. ¡°This hall sure goes on and on, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Melisande remarked, looking around as she rubbed her own arms. ¡°I was thinking the same thing¨C¡± Just as he replied, it seemed the end of the corridor was finally reached, though it didn¡¯t lead to a closed doorway, but to an entrance into a peculiar chamber. ¡°Stay close,¡± he said quietly, holding his sword up. Melisande only quietly nodded before following behind Emilio as they both entered the room, finding a single pathway of quartz continuing on, though with overgrowth and roses sticking through the cracks of the floor now. Neighboring the walkway was crystal-clear water, flowing from pipes embedded in the walls as the sound of aqua flowing out met his ears kindly. Doesn¡¯t seem like anything bad is here, he thought. Finally rxing his tensed shoulders, he slid his sword into its sheath, letting out a sigh as he watched the water flow for a moment. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Melisande asked, peering up at him. ¡°Nothing. Let¡¯s keep going,¡± he said with a small smile. In such a tense, otherworldly situation, there wasn¡¯t much room for conversation, nor much of a desire for it beforehand, but the tranquil space seemed to naturally promote it as they walked along the quartz pathway. ¡°You said you weren¡¯t an adventurer, right? You¡¯re still pretty strong for somebody my age,¡± Melisande said with a curious look, ¡°¡­Are you nning on bing an adventurer?¡± ¡°I am,¡± he nodded. ¡°Even after something like this?¡­¡± She asked quietly. It was clear what she meant, and he didn¡¯t me her at all for that observation. Simply, the Unending Nightmare was a wakeup call for the uninitiated. ¡°At first, all of this did make me question if I still wanted to pursue the life of an adventurer, but¡­it doesn¡¯t change anything. I still want to see the world and all it has to offer, and have all of my questions answered,¡± he told her. ¡°¨C¡± Melisande looked at him, ¡°I see. Well, I hope you can do it. I know it¡¯s tough to be a certified adventurer.¡± ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯m ready for it,¡± he assured her with a smile, ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°Me?¡± Melisande tilted her head as her pristine, silver hair cascaded down her shoulders. Leaving through the otherside of the chamber, the pathway returned to a bridge that was neighbored by the clouds with only simple railings preventing a potential fall through the fluffy formations in the sky. ¡°I mean what do you want to do?¡± He asked. Melisande scrunched her nose as if not expecting the question, ¡°¨CMaybe I¡¯ll be an adventurer, too.¡± ¡°Huh? I dunno about that one,¡± he said, raising an eyebrow as he folded his arms over his chest. ¡°Why not?!¡± Melisande seemed offended. ¡°First off¡­I doubt you know the first thing about magic or swordsmanship, which is kind of mandatory,¡± he said. ¡°So?! I¡¯m still tough¨Cmy brother always said I have a mean punch!¡± Melisande affirmed. ¡°Err, right¡­¡± ¡¢ ¡°I¡¯m not kidding around,¡± Melisande looked up at him pouting before looking down, ¡°Besides¡­what¡¯s left here in Larundog? Brother is gone, the city is destroyed, everybody is¡­¡± As the girlmented the tragedy of the city, he felt bad for what he said, but what he spoke was only the truth: it was a dangerous path of life for those unprepared and untrained. ¡°¡­If we get out of here, maybe I¡¯ll teach you a thing or two about magic, alright?¡± He promised her. ¡°Really!?¡± Melisande lit up with excitement. What did I just promise her? He thought in regret. Still, he double-downed, ¡°If you¡¯re not half-bad, then I¡¯m sure you can be an adventurer, too.¡± ¡°Heh. I¡¯ll blow you away,¡± Melisande had a smug expression, following alongside him. If there was any benefit to his promise, he felt satisfied with the fact that the gloomy atmosphere seemed to have been diminished, at least for the time being, and the grief felt by the girl was at least not present in her mind. Walking down the quiet pathway, it became slightly more narrow and the rails disappeared, leaving only the quartz bridge, suspended by nothing amidst the clouds. ¡°Be careful,¡± he warned. ¡°¡­Yeah,¡± Melisande replied. There was a gentle breeze that came in; it was subtle, but enough to make one question their bnce when cing one foot in front of the other on the high-ced bridge. Though they were slow and fluffy, there was something unnerving with being kept so close to the ever-drifting clouds. Perhaps what was more concerning was the fact that the clouds were not from the world he was familiar with, and that the sky they belonged to was unknown and perhaps unending in nature. ¡°Up ahead¨Cdo you see that?¡± Melisande pointed out. ¡°Huh?¡± He looked forward, squinting, ¡°¨COh.¡± Sitting at the end of the slightly-curving pathway was a pitch-ck door, etched into the sky itself. It was usually a relief to find a doorway amidst the iplete worlds, but it was different this time. Maybe it was the calm nature of the current space, or perhaps the eeriness that fell on the distant, but inevitable door, but he found himself having to mentally prepare himself. Before, at least I expected horrors on the other side of the door, he thought, but knowing it could either be something peaceful like this, or a nightmare¡­I¡¯m anxious. The closer the thin bridge got to the ominous door, the more verdant des of grass and bleached roses seemed to upy the gaps between the tiles. Just a few meters away from the door, he stopped as Melisande halted as well. Looking up, he found arge cloud drifting over the bridge, casting an all-epassing shadow over the rose-infested tiles. ¡°I doubt we¡¯re going to find Larundog on the other side of this door,¡± he said while staring at the pitch-ck entrance. Melisande looked up at him, ¡°How¡¯re you so sure of that? You haven¡¯t opened it yet¨C¡± ¡°¨CIt¡¯s just a hunch,¡± he told her, not knowing how to speak of what he truly knew. From what the faceless entity had spoken to him of, it seemed there wouldn¡¯t be any chance to return to Larundog, at least not before confronting the Unending Nightmare¡¯s core. There wouldn¡¯t be any point in going back to the city before then, anyway. Though a part of him believed it¡¯d be safer to have Melisande wait in Larundog, that thought process was swiftly dissipated by recent memories. Nowhere is safe right now¨Cnot until the Unending Nightmare is dealt with, he resolved. Approaching the ck door, he had to squint to find the handle that blended in with the rest of the vantack material, taking hold of it as he gulped. ¡°Ready?¡± He asked. ¡°Mhm,¡± Melisande answered, sticking closely. With that answer, he turned the handle, finding stale air breathing out from between the widening gaps of the door before total darkness awaited past the opened doorway. It was a haunting, silent abyss that sat past the entrance. Slowly, he entered the threshold, stepping past it as he stood in total darkness, surrounded by nothing but quiet shadows. Is this the next world?¡­It¡¯s just darkness, he thought. For a moment, he stared at nothingness as a droplet of sweat fell from his chin. A nce back from where he came only found further darkness; the doorway was already gone. Though expected, it was frightening nheless. ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± Melisande assured him, holding onto his hand. It was a thoughtfulness he didn¡¯t expect, but he weed it as even a few moments of loneliness in the sensory absent abyss was far too long. ¡°¡­So this is another world? All I see is darkness here,¡± Melisande remarked. ¡°Yeah¡­It¡¯s going to be a pain to find a door in this ce,¡± he replied. Only through their hands being held were they able to recognize each other¡¯s presence; even just a foot away from one another at most, they couldn¡¯t be seen through the veil of absolute darkness. Beneath his boots, the ground felt slightly moist and fuzzy as if it was lined with carpet, though he had no way of confirming it. ¡°Hold on, let me try something,¡± he said. ¡°Huh? What is it?¡± Holding his free hand up, he focused a small me to the tip of his finger, ¡°Just a little fire.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see anything though¡­I feel some heat, that¡¯s it,¡± Melisande remarked. It was true; though there was a me born above his finger, there was nothing to be seen besides the thick veil of shadows that existed all around. ¡°Yeah. It was worth a try, I guess,¡± he sighed, excusing the me before beginning to walk again. ¡°Not even fire can light this ce up?¡­Creepy,¡± Melisande shivered. ¡°You can say that again,¡± he mumbled. Chapter 155 Mysterious Realms Moving with a tight hold on the girl¡¯s hand, he had to walk carefully as his sense of bnce was challenged by the fact he could see where he was going or watch his own step. Suddenly, something began rumbling; the ground vibrated beneath his boots as he nced around, though it was a futile act. Something ising¡­? He thought. ¡°Emilio!¡­I hear something,¡± Melisande told him. ¡°I know, but what is it?¡­¡± He replied. Though there was no real way to discern anything by appearance, and no time to wait around as the rumbling became clear as footsteps with a distorted howl sounding out from behind the two. ¡°¨CCrap! Let¡¯s go!¡± He said. ¡°Where?!¡± Melisande asked. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter! Just move!¡± He yelled. Melisande squeezed his hand as an anchor while running blindly through the void while the howls filled the chasm of darkness with its volume of horror. As he nced back in a vain attempt to see their pursuer, he found nothing again before¨C THWAM. ¨CStraight into a solid object, he mmed into, stunned by the impact before holding the size of his head. The sudden stop made Melisande bump into his back as she winced, ¡°Ah¨Cwhy¡¯d you stop?!¡± He didn¡¯t answer as he was puzzled by what he had just run into, looking forward before running his hands against the solid surface. Wait¡­is this a door?! He realized. ¡°I found a door!¡± He yelled. ¡°What?¨COpen it! Hurry! It¡¯sing-!¡± Melisande told him. There was no need for her to tell him as the howls were continuing to close in, but he couldn¡¯t see the handle belonging to the door, forcing him to run his hands along its surface blindly in an attempt to find it. ¡°Hurry, Emilio!¡± Melisande called out again as the howls were closer than ever. C¡¯mon¡­C¡¯mon!¨CGotcha! He thought. Finding the metal handle, he quickly turned it, revealing a door obscured by enigmatic fog before jumping in, towing Melisande in behind him by her hand. ¡°Wah¨C!¡± Melisande let out from the sudden yank. Just as they both fell through the door, the deprivation of senses was gone as a new scenery surrounded them. He looked around, blinking slowly as he found himself standing on what looked like snow-white sand, ¡°Huh?¡± Melisande brushed herself off before standing beside him, taking in the new appearance of the iplete world. The world was deprived of life; the ground was covered in a white sheet of chalk, as if bleached by something that epassed every inch of the unknownnd. It only took him a moment to ce what he was looking at into his mind, recalling such scenery. This is¡­this is what I saw in those visions when I was affected by the ¡®Soul Strain¡¯¨Cthe bleached world, he thought. This realization deprived him of words as he looked on in terror that such a space actually existed, though its true nature was something he didn¡¯t quite understand. Melisande seemed to notice his fear as she looked up at him with a concerned look in her emerald eyes, ¡°Emilio? Is everything alright?¡± It took a moment for him to snap back into reality before looking at the girl, ¡°Y-yeah. I¡¯m fine. Let¡¯s keep moving¡­looks like the door is just over there.¡± Fortunately, the door was close by and in in sight; a bleached door waiting in the middle of the dried-out, desecrated field, overlooked by hollow mountains in the silent world. There was an unsettling nature to the bleached world; the sky was purely white like vani, devoid of clouds and absent of a sun. Silence inhabited the stretch of nothingness, yet it felt as though something was always watching. ¡°I just wish I could go back home¡­¡± Melisandemented. ¡°I¡¯m feeling the same way right about now,¡± he muttered in agreement. An odd smell persisted on the surface of the deste reality; it resembled chlorine, being almost acidic to his nose as he breathed it in. ¡°Eek¨C!¡± Melisande let out. The reaction from the girl immediately made him draw his sword and move to her aid, though as he looked to where she was facing, he saw what caused the reaction. It was the shape of a person with their features hazy by the nature of the salt-like crystallizations that made up the figure. A statue¡­? He thought. The statuesque figure was standing upright with their arms held up as if desperately reaching out for something with their mouth agape, as if silently screaming out. Upon a closer look, he realized it was far too real for that, ¡°¡­It¡¯s a person.¡± ¡°A person?¡­¡± Melisande said. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened, but I¡¯m not hoping to find out. Come on,¡± he said, moving on. While traversing the abnormal stretch ofnd, more bleached humans were found, and even some bleached elves, demi-humans, and dwarves. Whatever it was, it seemed not to be something that affected the Unending Nightmare of Larundog. The bleached door was reached, standing in the middle of the all-white, saltyered field. Surprisingly, nothing harmful was found, but he still didn¡¯t want to stick around any longer. ¡°Alright¡­next up,¡± he mumbled, opening the door. , Just as he opened the door, it blew open from a powerful wind, immediately sucking both of them in. ¡°Wah!¡± He yelled out. ¡°Aaaah¨C!!¡± Melisande screamed out. As Emilio was sucked through the other side of the door, his sense of everything waspletely flipped on its head as he found himself falling downward as opposed to the normal angle at which he initially crossed through, passing by wooden beams as he came close to hitting them. It was unlike any other space as the doorway dropped them from the tippity-top of a reality, causing both of them to rapidly fall through thework of wooden beams. What is this ce¡­?! He questioned. It was impossible to discern mid fall as all he could see were the wooden beams while not being able to yet see the ground. ¡°Waaaaah-!¡± Melisande was still screaming. Turning around with his back facing the ground far below, he found his hair being pulled in the winds while looking up towards Melisande, equipping his staff in his hand and extending it towards her. ¡°Grab on¡­!¡± He yelled out. Melisande tried reaching towards the tip of the wooden catalyst, but it was just out of reach. Even gritting her teeth as her silver locks of hair flowed in the falling wind, she still couldn¡¯t grasp it. Pushing himself upward with a small burst of wind at his back, Emilio circumvented the minuscule space between them, allowing Melisande to grab on before he pulled her close. Without any question, he held the girl in one of his arms, holding her close as a small blush came over her cheeks even in the intense descent. ¡°I¡¯ll break our fall¨C! Just trust me!¡± He yelled out, having to speak louder than the wind that filled his ears. ¡°R-right!¡± Melisande obliged. The ground floor of the unknown space amongst the iplete worlds finally revealed itself; it was a small room of stained-yellow, carpeted floors and walls with faded, yellow wallpaper. Not much past it could be seen through the existence of the wooden poles obscuring their vision. All he could focus on was timing the burst of wind at the proper moment, reaching closer and closer as Melisande shut her eyes tightly in anticipation before¨C FWOOSH. He unleashed the stopgap of wind, resetting their momentum before they fell with only a slight impact. ¡°Puh!¡± He exhaled sharply as Melisandended directly on top of him. For a moment, they both caught their breath before the silver-haired girl of his age looked up, blinking at him a few times as if perplexed by their position before suddenly jumping off and scooting away with a blush. ¡°I¨Cerr, thanks¡­¡± Melisande said, bashfully twirling her hair. He slowly sat up, exhaling, ¡°Yeah, no problem.¡± As he looked around, he found them sitting in a small,pact room with carpet floors and walls that resembled modern wallpaper in their design. ¡°How weird¡­I¡¯ve never seen a room like this,¡± Melisande remarked. For him, it wasn¡¯t particrly odd, but it was weird in the fact that its design existed in the scope of Aracius, a world steeped in medieval creation. It carried with it a slightly stale, moldy smell before he brought himself to his feet with Melisande doing the same. The exit to the room, of course, wasn¡¯t bridged by a door, but simply an entrance to what looked like more of the same architecture. Perhaps what stood out the most was one thing that confirmed the modern aspects of the iplete reality: fluorescent lights that were embedded in the ceiling, giving off a constant hum. ¡°Hmm? Some sort of light runes?¡± Melisande said when looking up at the lights. ¡°Err, yeah¡­¡± He replied. As he prepared to head deeper into the depths of the unknown, office-like reality, he was stopped by Melisande¨C ¡°Hey!¡± Melisande said from directly behind him Her sudden way of calling out to him made him jump as he turned out, putting a finger to his lips, ¡°Keep it down, would you? We don¡¯t know what¡¯s lurking here.¡± ¡°Ah, my bad¨Cbut, wait! That¡¯s what I wanted to talk about,¡± Melisande told him. ¡°What?¡± ¡°If we¡¯re going to run into more enemies, I should be able to fight, too. It can¡¯t just be you protecting me,¡± Melisande said. For a moment, he didn¡¯t understand what she was referring to, almost thinking she was asking to use his sword, but the short-in-stature, but fiery, silver-haired girl rified: ¡°Teach me how to use magic! It doesn¡¯t have to be anythingplex, but just good enough to help you fight with,¡± Melisande asked. Chapter 156 Stranger In The Dark ¡°Err, you want me to teach you now¡­? We¡¯re sorta in¨C¡± ¡°If not now, then when else?!¡± Melisande interrupted him, ¡°Besides, I can tell you¡¯re tired! You¡¯ve been pushing yourself too hard for my sake. And don¡¯t try to lie to act tough! I can see your bruises and those bags under your eyes¨Cso¡­let me help you!¡± Part of him wanted to argue with those words, but it was clearly the truth: he was exhausted. It was an uphill battle he was fighting alone, and he knew it. Even more so, Melisande had pride of her own and was her own person; it wasn¡¯t as if he was protecting some child, either¨Cthey were the same age. Though they already discussed him guiding her in magecraft, he assumed this would be something saved for a time when they weren¡¯t engulfed in alternate realities of horrific consequence. Still, he could see by the pouty look on her face and the adamant gleam in her eyes that Melisande wasn¡¯t looking to ept ¡®no¡¯ for an answer. He slowly sighed out, scratching his head, ¡°Alright, just something simple, okay?¡± ¡°Yay! I mean¨Calright,¡± Melisande adjusted herself with a cough. Though it was a less than ideal environment for learning magic, he did understand the significance of giving the girl something to protect herself with, though he didn¡¯t want it toe to that. I can¡¯t ignore reality though, he thought. Holding his hand in front of her with his palm facing upward, he looked at her, ¡°This should be something even a newbie like you should be able to aplish, alright?¡± p?(??)? ?o??l ¡°N-newbie? I know a little bit about mana, you know? Brother taught me that much. He never got around to teaching me spells though because¨Che¡­¡± Melisande¡¯s excitement gloomed over as she looked down. It seemed easy for the girl to dampen her mood, so he tried his best to sway the conversation back into magecraft. ¡°Ah¡­well, that saves us some time, then. If you know the basics of feeling out your own internal mana, then just follow these steps,¡± he guided her. Melisande nodded, holding her hand out as well to follow his instruction. ¡°Focus on the sensation of mana in your stomach and guide it up your chest and through your arms, gathering it to your hand,¡± he taught her, ¡°imagine the sensation of wind, spinning above your hand. From there, use this invocation: ¡®Born of wind and lord of the skies, Sylph, howl and tear through: Wind st!¡± The full invocation of the spell caused a burst of wind to go upward, causing Melisande to stumble from the residual release itself. ¡°Ah¡­¡± Melisande looked up at the aftermath of the incantation, ¡°Woah!¡± ¡°Your turn,¡± he said. Melisande nodded before trying it for herself, pointing her palm towards the wall, ¡°Born of wind and lord of the skies, Sylph, howl and tear through: Wind st!¡± In a powerful release, a cone of wind mmed against the wall, causing the room to rumble violently. ¡°¨CI did it!¡± Melisande smiled brightly in surprise. ¡°Good job¡­¡± He said with a worried smile. She¡¯s got dangerous talent! He thought. Adjusting theces on her stained, beige boots, Melisande seemed to have regained herself through acquiring something to fight with as she stood up, spunky and ready to go as the light-brownces on the neat, fluffed cor of her shirt bounced. Moving out of the room, Melisande followed close by him with a bubbly confidence as if looking for a fight, though he remained cautious as ever. ¡°Stay alert,¡± he told her. Melisande settled down, ¡°¡­I am. I¡¯m just relieved now¨CI can finally do something.¡± ¡°Well, don¡¯t go looking for a fight, okay? Our only goal is just to get out of here,¡± Emilio reminded her. ¡°I know that¡­¡± Melisande replied. Entering the depths of the unknown space, he looked around to find the slightly-moist, moldy-smelling carpet stretching on through what seemed like far too many pathways through corridors lined with the faded, yellow wallpaper. What a weird ce¡­He thought. The hum of the fluorescent lights quickly grew to be headache-inducing as he wandered through the expansive space. While nothing malicious had yet to reveal itself, the unnerving nature of the office-likebyrinth made him want to find a doorway as soon as possible. ¡°Ah!¡± The jarring sound that left Melisande¡¯s lips caused him to jump as he spun around, ready to engage in battle, only to see the silver-haired girl looking towards something else. ¡°¡­What was that? Please don¡¯t make random noises like that¡­¡± He sighed out. Melisande pointed towards a table in the middle of one of the rooms to the left, which led to further nd carpet and tired wallpaper. ¡°Look, it¡¯s cake,¡± Melisande pointed out. He squinted, seeing that there was indeed a perfectly round, frosted dessert sitting on the in, wooden furniture, ¡°Cake?¡­¡± It was so perplexing; the dessert sat on the table, alone in the middle of the next room with no other furniture or decorations to be seen¨Cjust simply, cake. ¡°Why¡¯s there cake here?¡± He questioned with a hand to his chin. Melisande approached the table, ¡°I don¡¯t know, but doesn¡¯t it look good?¡± ¡°Sure, but¡­I¡¯m not exactly hungry. I don¡¯t think hunger even exists in this realm. What about you?¡± He asked. ¡°Hmm¡­I haven¡¯t felt hungry, but this looks good,¡± Melisande said. There was something suspicious about the cake, beyond the simple fact that it sat there without any trace of a baker or other lifeforms in thebyrinth. It was the allure it brought; for some reason, when looking at its soft, fluffy form and the sweet aroma it gave off, it did entice one¡¯s stomach. ¡°¡­It does sound delicious,¡± he said. It was as though the thought itself of consuming the cake was enough to drag his feet towards it as he and Melisande approached it. Just as Melisande started to reach out towards the cake, Emilio snapped himself into focus, drawing his sword and unleashing a swift sh, bringing it down topletely bisect the perfect circle of a cake. ¡°Ahh¨C! Emilio, what¡¯d you do that for?!¡± Melisande whined, almost in horror at the loss of the desert. ¡°It¡¯s a trap!¡± He told her. It was almost too much to believe that mere cake could have such malicious intent, but that much was proven to them both as once split in half, the cake shriveled up, relinquishing its form to a small, insectoid creature with wriggling limbs. The true shape of it had a gray exoskeleton, oozing verdant blood in ce of what would¡¯ve been sweet filling. ¡°¡­The cake¡­¡± Melisande sulked quietly. ¡°We need to be more vignt,¡± he said, exhaling slowly. There was genuine disappointment from Melisande with the fact that the cake was, indeed, a lie. Though it was an understandable feeling for him; one of thergest factors of the Unending Nightmare¡¯s danger sat in its ability to continuously gnaw away at one¡¯s psyche. Bleakness, despair, fear, exhaustion¨Call of these worked in tandem to drive them into a corner, so the concept of a sweet dessert, a reprieve from the horrors, was enticing but if only for a moment. Nheless, they moved on with him holding true to his resolve of utter caution; he kept his eyes and ears peeled, trusting nothing within the dullbyrinth of faded wallpaper. ¡°This ce is huge¡­¡± Melisande remarked. ¡°Yeah, but at least it doesn¡¯t seem all too aggressive,¡± he replied. It wasn¡¯t just a singr format that the rooms took; the perplexing, iplete world didn¡¯t adhere to normal architecture as some rooms were slightly nted, and some were vast, filled with far too many pirs for no apparent reason. If it wasn¡¯t malicious entities that were the pressing danger of the liminal space, it was the sanity-gnawing atmosphere it had. What felt like a few hours was spent with the two wandering aimlessly, passing into room after room without finding a single doorway to speak of. Eventually, they found themselves turning into another corridor from an empty room that held a giant pool without any water. Besides the fluorescent lights¡¯ unending hum, their footsteps scraping against the carpet was the only source of sound. ¡°¡­Are you sure there¡¯s a doorway? We haven¡¯t found one yet,¡± Melisande asked worriedly. ¡°I¡¯m sure of it. We just need to keep loo¨C¡± He came to aplete still as he sensed a mana signature unlike anything else; it was cold, chilling to the marrow of his bone as the air itself seemed to burn the back of his throat. What¡­is this? It¡¯s so dark, he thought. ¡°Emilio? What is it?¡­¡± Melisande asked. Of course, the girl who was untaught in the ways of magic couldn¡¯t sense it like he did, but it was something terrifying. He stood there, reflexively guarding the girl from whatever the malignant aura belonged to, holding his sword tightly between his fingertips that trembled and exuded sweat already. Then, he finally saw ¡®it¡¯¨Cthe source of the aura of such boundless darkness. Most surprising of all, it was a man; standing there in the hall with his hands slid into the pockets of his exuberant, all-ck pants. He wasnky; noticeably tall with flowing, gray hair but a patchwork face as if he was held together by stitches. Chapter 157 Shammoth He stood there, reflexively guarding the girl from whatever the malignant aura belonged to, holding his sword tightly between his fingertips that trembled and exuded sweat already. Then, he finally saw ¡®it¡¯¨Cthe source of the aura of such boundless darkness. Most surprising of all, it was a man; standing there in the hall with his hands slid into the pockets of his exuberant, all-ck pants. He wasnky; noticeably tall with flowing, gray hair but a patchwork face as if he was held together by stitches. There was nothing normal about his appearance, though he was definitely human in shape, the malicious aura he possessed and oddities were something strange. He possessed one azure eye and one gold, holding a carefree smile as he noticed the two atst. ¡°Oh? I didn¡¯t expect to bump into anybody else during my assessment of Ktholl¡¯drulbh,¡± the man spoke with a smile. Hearing that gargled name spoken immediately made things go from bad to worse for Emilio as his eyes widened and his heartbeat increased. ¡®Ktholl¡¯drulbh¡¯? How does he know that name?¡­¡¯Assess¡¯? What does he mean? It couldn¡¯t be¡­He questioned. ¡°Who the hell are you?! What do you have to do with all of this?!¡± Emilio forced himself to ask, yelling from the anxiety skyrocketing in his body. The stitch-faced man seemed slightly amused by his question, but obliged as he removed the cigarette from his mouth, exhaling smoke that blended in with the darkness around him. ¡°It¡¯smon courtesy to give one¡¯s name and title when asked, right?¡­I guess humans are like that, after all,¡± the man said with a smile before cing his hand on his chest, ¡°I am the Viscount of Farmaya, Shammoth¨Cat your service.¡± Viscount of Farmaya? Shammoth?¡­What does that mean? He immediately questioned. He kept his guard raised, ¡°¡­Tell me this: what do you have to do with the Unending Nightmare? You used its true name, didn¡¯t you? Then you must know how dangerous it is!¡­How many people it¡¯s already killed?!¡± Emilio¡¯s words reached the girl behind him, who grew teary-eyed at the thought of those who passed, remembering the losses she had incurred. Though the repugnant answer that spewed from the lips of the well-dressed, patchwork-faced man was anything but pleasing: ¡°I led it to Larundog, yes. What of it? ughter was the goal. So many maggots crawling around; what does it matter if I squash some?¡± Shammoth smiled, puffing out a breath of smoke as he moved the cigarette from his lips, letting it turn to ash, ¡°¡­Humans are so hypocritical. You don¡¯t pay any mind to the ants you step on or the cattle you y, do you? So don¡¯t look at me with those eyes, child.¡± Emilio squeezed the handle of his sword, whispering to the girl behind him, ¡°¡­Get back.¡± ¡°Huh?¡­What¡¯re you going to do? Emilio?¡± Melisande asked. ¡°Just get back!¡± He yelled. Disying conviction in his words, it was enough to convince the silver-haired girl to nod and back away, giving him space just as the malevolent aura around the mysterious culprit intensified. Viscount of Farmaya¡­He¡¯s affiliated with some sort of group or organization. I don¡¯t know what it is yet, but right now¡­I have to take him down, he thought, if he brought the Unending Nightmare to this city, he might be able to take it away¨CI¡¯ll stop just shy of killing him so he can do just that. It seemed his intentions were painted clear as day on his face as Shammoth smiled, casually sliding his hands out of his pockets as he looked at the boy with his mix-colored eyes. ¡°If you¡¯re thinking you can stop the Unending Nightmare by using me, you¡¯repletely off your mark there,¡± Shammoth dissuaded the notion, ¡°¨CIt¡¯s grown to this extent. Besides, I don¡¯t like brats, so I¡¯ll be killing you, anyway.¡± There was something inhuman in the way the Viscount of Farmaya spoke, possessing such little regard for human life that surpassed just apathy. More mysterious was the sigil engraved on his forehead that was only revealed slightly when his gray bangs parted; it resembled a blooming flower, etched onto his patchwork skin. Just as the intent to kill was felt from Shammoth, who began to raise his hand with darkness gathering at his fingertips¨CEmilio was the first one to move. Utter contempt flowing through his veins in that moment; before, the Unending Nightmare was more akin to a natural disaster than a person to me for the travesties that urred. It would be as effective as taking one¡¯s rage out on the knife that a killer used. However, he had found an outlet for his anger; the smiling, irredeemable stranger who held the me for the death of his friend and the suffering of those within the city. I¡¯ll kill him, he swore. Honing those emotions, his mind flowed in a concise state, coalescing to one option that allowed him to invoke grand magecraft without the necessity of words. That spell was¨C ¡°Dragon Hurricane.¡± Manifesting from nothing more than a scream he unleashed,manding the moisture in the air around him to spiral into multiple vortexes and spin into the shape of dragon heads, the spell was born, immediately sending the group of draconic heads through the corridor. ,c-o-m ¡°Ah, you used this spell knowing that it¡¯d leave me no choice but to meet it head-on, didn¡¯t you?¡± Shammoth smiled, preparing himself. The truth was, that much thought didn¡¯t go into it; Emilio simply spawned the first spell that came to mind with the goal of ¡®annihting his enemy.¡¯ Carving through the wallpaper and tearing through the carpet, the roaring beasts forged of water neared Shammoth, who maintained his icy-coolposure with a smile, waiting until thest moment to finally raise a single arm. Without exnation, the enigmatic man¡¯s left arm swelled, multiplying in size from three times asrge to six times, bulging with unnatural muscrity as his own skin seemed to struggle to contain the shift in mass. What kind of magic is that¡­? Emilio questioned. Shammoth smiled as he used his gigantified arm, encasing his knuckles in what seemed to be reinforced bone before thrusting his weaponized fist forward, directly shing against the Dragon Hurricane. There was no logic to it, yet it was the reality before his eyes; with brute force spawned of inexplicable ability, the stranger overpowered the draconic aqua, causing a ssh of water to spray through the corridor. He beat it¡­? With a punch? Emilio thought. ¡°They always assume I¡¯m some sneaky, ¡®con-artist¡¯ type fighter because of my appearance,¡± Shammoth said with a smile as his straight, gray hair flowed behind his back, ¡°¡­Their reaction is always priceless; you¡¯ll be dead before you know it if you try and apply logic to me. I¡¯ve always believed the best way to win a fight is by utterly crushing your opponent¡¯s spirit. Perhaps it¡¯d be more efficient to end the fight in one blow, but it¡¯s undeniably a joy to witness,¡± Shammoth said with a wicked smile. ¡°Has anybody ever told you that you talk too much?!¡± Emilio said, quickly grabbing his staff from his back and pointing it forward. ¡°Over and over again,¡± Shammoth said with aughing smile, shifting his arm back to its normal state. Chapter 158 Foe Steeped In Darkness With pure intent to kill, Emilio focused a condensed conjuration of fire in front of his staff, unleashing it into a tight methrower that extended through the length of the corridor, roaring out towards the entric stranger. Shammothughed as the glow of the orange mes stretched through the halls, utilizing another contortion of his body as he held his arms out in front of him, causing them to morph into the shape of a shield of flesh before being further reinforced by protruded bone. ¡°Come on, show me your heat,¡± Shammoth challenged. He can freely manipte his body, and even his bones? I¡¯ve never seen magic like this, Emilio thought, he¡¯s probably right¨CI can¡¯t apply logic to him. I just have to fight vigntly! It didn¡¯t take long before the wave of mes shed against the organic shield held by the Viscount of Farmaya, causing the heated air to whip through the corridor into an intense breeze. ¡°Ghh¨C!¡± Emilio focused as his blonde-and-ck locks were brushed. Melisande kept her distance, having to hold her arms in front of herself from the iing heated winds. He nced back to make sure the girl was a safe distance away from the dangerous sh of forces, only to look forward to witness another unorthodox feat. ¡°¨C?!¡± Sprouting from the depths of the mes, flesh-colored spikes extended throughout the hall, stabbing into the walls and carpet, jutting out in an attempt to skewer him as he jumped back, having to relinquish his hold on the methrower spell. That was too close¡­! He thought. As the mes vanished, leaving smoke and embers, Shammoth¡¯sughter rang out as the shape he¡¯d taken was revealed; his shield-turned arms, held together in a broad, stalwart shape, had also extended into fleshynces. There were only light burn marks left, and even those quickly faded as the abnormal flesh belonging to the stitched-bodied man rebuilt itself quickly. He healed all of that¡­? He¡¯s just like Vandread, he thought. Thinking there was a moment to catch his breath, he was proven wrong as the spiked shield of transformed flesh and bone seemed to grow closer and closer, causing the corridor to rumble. He¡¯s charging?! He realized. There was no space left in the width of the hall with Shammoth running down it, attempting to skewer himpletely. He turned around, running down the hall as he quickly grabbed Melisande and jumped into the previous chamber just before the spikes mmed into the back of the hall. ¡°Grhh¨C!¡± Though he was sessful in evading being stabbed, an unpleasantnding was met as he fell into the vast pool devoid of water,nding on his back so that Melisande was free from the impact. ¡°Emilio¡­!¡± Melisande called his name out worriedly. As he groaned, looking up, he was given no time to respond to the girl as a blur came into his vision, forcing him to act quickly as he held Melisande and rolled to the side. Thest-moment dodge saved him from being pierced violently as Shammothnded on the spot he moved from, stabbing into the fiberss with an arm transformed into a grotesquence. ¡°¨CYou¡¯re quick for a brat,¡± Shammothughed. He didn¡¯t reply as he jumped to his feet, forcing Melisande behind him as he held both his sword and his staff, watching as the unorthodox figure that straddled the line between human and something malevolent plucked his limb from the ground of the dry pool. ¡°What kind of magic is that?¡­What are you?¡± Emilio asked, catching his breath. Though his question was half a ploy to buy time for Melisande to get out of the crossfire and to buy him time to think, he was also curious as to what the nature of Shammoth¡¯s power was. The stranger smiled, rolling the sleeve on his left arm up to reveal stitches that ran vertically up his forearm. Alongside the stitches were tattoos of hieroglyphics, holding known meaning. ¡°Curious, are we?¡­Would you like to witness the ¡®Abyss¡¯, child?¡± Shammoth asked with a malignant smile. As he asked this, the Viscount of Farmaya pinched the end of the stitches, pulling as it began to unravel, causing his forearm to open up, revealing a darkness contained in his flesh. What is this¡­? Emilio questioned. What was released was an abyssal mana, dense with evil and sublime in its potency; the darkness manifested itself around the opened arm of Shammoth, taking a tangible form and solidifying like an armor. A transformation? He thought. ¡°Fire, water, rock, and wind¡­those are the four elements you may be familiar with, but darkness exists everywhere,¡± Shammoth told him with a small smile, presenting his new arm. It was like his entire limb had been reced by a hide of sleek, onyx steel, giving it twice the size and oozing a primordial strength. ¡°¨C¡± He remained quiet, trying to focus on his next move. The truth was, he wasn¡¯t blessed with an exorbitant amount of mana at the moment, especially after the Dragon Hurricane he had just used. I could keep throwing random spells at him, hoping one will stick, but what¡¯s more likely is he¡¯ll just brute force through them like earlier¡­He thought, my best bet will be to fight him head-on until I find an opening for one, big spell. Going for a fakeout, he pointed his staff forward without any hesitation, causing Shammoth to raise his arm as a shield. Though no spell came; instead, he sheathed his staff on his back and dashed forward with Silver Wing in his hand, taking advantage of the brief moment he bought. ¡°A frontal assault? I didn¡¯t expect that from a brat your size,¡± Shammoth said with a smile, ¡°By all means,e tr¨C¡± ¡°¨CWind st!¡± Before Shammoth could finish his antagonizing speech, he was interrupted as a st of wind pelted against his back, nearly knocking him forward as he faltered momentarily. ncing back, the Viscount of Farmaya saw the silver-haired girl standing a fair distance away with her hand held forward, huffing. The girl? Shammoth thought with a twisted smile forming, guess I¡¯ll handle her, too. Though the patchwork man found himself surprised again as he returned his gaze forward, finding the blonde-and-ck haired boy already in front of him, midway through a sh. Quite speedy, are you? Shammoth thought with surprised delight. ¡°Graaagh-!¡± Emilio roared out. Utilizing magical reinforcement, his strength was amplified, allowing his sh toe faster and with more strength behind it as the steel of his de etched itself across the man¡¯s vest, cutting through it and into his abnormal flesh. It was an odd feeling; the skin belonging to Shammoth and the flesh beneath felt far too light. Rather than pain being experienced, Shammoth seemed to be simply surprised as he jumped back before the sword could fully be dragged across his chest. The mysterious stranger held his shed chest for a moment as ck blood seeped out from his wound, holding a smile. ¡°You¡¯re definitely a strange one. Wielding magic and possessing such strength, yet a child¨Cstrange, very strange,¡± Shammoth noted. Again, the wounds possessed by the mansted no more than a few moments before stitches appeared on his skin, sewing his wound shut without fail. There¡¯s that healing again. I¡¯ll need a lot of firepower in one attack to bring him down, Emilio thought. ¡°My turn,¡± Shammoth said, holding his abyssal-armored arm in front of him. ¡°¨C?!¡± Emilio¡¯s eyes widened. A pulsation of darkness propelled from the palm of the stranger¡¯s d palm, stretching out like a malevolent shock wave that caused the fiberss of the pool ground to crack, shatter, and lift before pelting against the young man¡¯s body. ¡°Grgh¡­.!¡± Emilio gritted his teeth. ¡°Emilio!¡± Melisande yelled out worriedly. It was a perplexing sensation caused by the powerful shock wave of shadows; it caused his skin to ripple and a sickness to swirl in his stomach as unintelligible, rapid whispers flowed into his ear as the voice of the darkness. Am I dying?¡­He questioned. Atst, the pulsation came to an end, causing him to suck in air through his empty lungs and fall to his knees, coughing out. Shammoth lowered his hand with a small smile, ¡°That¡¯s the natural essence of the Abyss. That¡¯s the air I breathe, the weather I storm, and the songs I listen to. But for a brat like you, it¡¯s death.¡± Blood seeped from the boy¡¯s ears as his ears were left in agony, still hearing faint whispers that were like an itch in the canals of his ears. Beginning to rush over to his side, Melisande tried approaching Emilio, but the boy rejected any help, raising his hand as he used wind magic to guide her away from the battle, gently pushing her into the next room. ¡°Emilio¨C?!¡± Melisande let out in confusion. ¨C It was just the two of them now, leaving the boy picking himself up to his feet as his equilibrium seemedpromised with his knees quivering just from standing. Shammoth watched almost as if taking joy in it all, ¡°Smart move. I was about to kill the girl.¡± A single one of the man¡¯s fingers had turned into an elongated de, but returned to its normal shape afterward. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. The adrenaline pumping through his veins worked in synergy with his desperate desire to win, flooding through his body with fiery blood. Veins pressed against his skin as his pupils shifted to their bestial shape; even dark-blue scales began to armor his forearms and portions of skin. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: Dragon Son | 2/10] Chapter 159 Tactical Retreat Shammoth¡¯s eyes widened in surprise while his ever-present smile stretched, ¡°It seems my little outing has led me to discover quite the special one. Curious¡­¡± Before another word could be exchanged, the draconic boy disappeared like a blur, bursting forward with new speed as Shammoth was forced to react. ¡°That¡¯s more like it. Come at me with everything you¡¯ve got, if you truly n to live!¡± Shammoth told him. panda nOvel.cO,m Shifting his right forearm into a greatsword that was hardened by reinforced bone, the Viscount of Farmaya shed against the sword wielded by Emilio. ¡°Oh, quite some strength you¡¯re packing there¡­¡± Shammoth whispered to him amidst their sh. ¡°Nrgh¡­!¡± Emilio roared out. As he pressed his foot down against the ground, the tiles of the pool began cracking before shattering beneath his step, exuding azure embers from his position before he managed to break through. Shammoth slipped through the aggressive, wide shes aimed for him, holding a smile the entire time before transforming his sword-turned arm into a giant whip of flesh that stretched out into the size of a tree. ¡°¨C!¡± The speed it came out cracked the air, mming against Emilio¡¯s body with thunderous force that took the wind straight out of his lungs. Sent flying back, he mmed straight into the walls of the vast pool, breaking the material as crumbled fiberss rained down. ¡°You¡¯ve got talent, but you¡¯re sorelycking in experience,¡± Shammoth told him, ¡°Do you know what the most important talent of a mage is? It¡¯s creativity.¡± Both of the Viscount¡¯s arms began to morph as he said as much to the Dragonheart boy, who was coughing up and slowly picking himself up from the harsh impact. ¡°Let me show you,¡± Shammoth insisted. One of the man¡¯s arms shifted into multiple segments that expanded and stretched out, taking the form of chattering mouths that repeatedly mped their teeth. The other arm of his turned into an array of spiked, ck chains that were connected like a. Emilio came to, groggy from the blow as he looked up, finding the faceless mouths stretching out towards him with the mping of teeth sounding out, forcing him to jump up. He narrowly avoided beingtched onto by the dozen of mping mouths, but one still grazed him as it shot by his shoulder, taking a lightyer of flesh off in the process. ¡°Ghh¨C!¡± As he sprinted around the perimeter around the pool while the transmogrified limbs of Shammoth chased him with their rapid mping of teeth, he found another problem arising¨C A shadow loomed over him as he looked up, finding the spiky of chains closing in over him. There was no time to react; he was caught in a pincer attack by the mouths and the, walking straight into the trap. ¡°¨CYou¡¯ll have to be more creative than that, child!¡± Shammoth yelled with a smile. The ensnared him before shrinking down to hold him tightly, causing the spikes to dig into him and pierce his flesh. ¡°Argh¡­!¡± Emilio let out in pain. Before he could try to overpower it, Shammoth whipped his limb back, causing the to be flung across the room before releasing, mming the boy into the wall on the other side of the vast chamber. Blood sttered onto the faded, yellow wallpaper from the dozens of small holes poked into his flesh upon collision with the solid surface. ¡°¡­Ngh¡­¡± Emilio groaned, sitting against the wall as crimson liquid seeped over his skin. To the surprise of both the stranger and Melisande who was about to approach, Emilio picked himself up to his feet despite his wounds, holding himself upright with unknown vigor. ¡°Oh?¡± Shammoth watched. In the head of the young man, he was hardly conscious by this point; through the blood loss and repeated trauma, he was hardly holding on, yet one singr desire drove the forefront of his mind: ¡°Kill the man in front of you.¡± It was mostly out of necessity to survive and protect by this point; he knew what his own death represented and that it must not happen. Due to this resolve, a new spell was born, forged from the azure mes that he continued to ovep and heat up, bringing them to greater heights as he etched them together with the essence of another spell. It was inspiration; the ringing belittlement of Shammoth echoed in his ears. What was born from his hazed mind was a counter to the stranger¡¯s taunts as if saying ¡°Here is your creativity.¡± The temperature in the room skyrocketed, taking Shammoth by surprise as he watched in curious delight as heat waves gave off from the boy¡¯s position, causing the wallpaper to peel and melt. Azure embers manifested around him, gathering and coalescing as sparks dazzled before forming into goliaths of me, shaping into a particr form. Soon enough, their true form was clear; forged of bright-blue inferno, dragon heads, asrge as boulders, surrounded Emilio. ¡°Dragonheart Hurricane.¡± Shammoth seemed more delighted than frightened, but that joy only persisted for a moment as shock projected itself on his face¨C The enormous dragon heads also manifested around the malignant stranger, breathing out all-burning mes that filled the pool in a bath of hell. Though Shammoth managed to leap out from the sea of mes with some burns, he was quickly caught again: ¡°Count me surprised¨C¡± Before the man could utter his depraved words, Emilio coldly gestured, signaling more dragon heads to appear around Shammoth, dousing him with the mystical inferno once more. The brightness of the azure mes spread throughout the chamber, filling it with a light-blue hue as the roars of the chaotic element were heard. This time, Shammothnded on the ground with severe burn marks, still having azure mes eating away at his outfit as he stood there with a smile nheless. ¡°I see now. That¡¯s who you are¨Cthere¡¯s no mistaking the heat of those mes,¡± Shammoth said mysteriously, ¡°¨CYou¡¯re quite the handful, Dragonheart boy.¡± Chapter 160 Unknown Visitor To Madness ¡°I see now. That¡¯s who you are¨Cthere¡¯s no mistaking the heat of those mes,¡± Shammoth said mysteriously, ¡°¨CYou¡¯re quite the handful, Dragonheart boy.¡± Those words brought Emilio back into focus as he stepped forward, ¡°Wait, how do you¨C¡± ¡°Until we meet again, Dragonheart. It may not be tomorrow or the next day, but that time will surelye. When it does, let¡¯s chat,¡± Shammoth said with a mischievous grin. Before he could get an answer, Shammoth tipped the hat on his head before vanishing into nothing more than smoke and darkness. At the same moment, he relinquished his hold on the Dragonheart Hurricane, causing the mes to dissipate as he fell to his knees, coughing up blood. ¡°Emilio!¡± Melisande raced over, checking on him as she was shocked by the amount of wounds present on his body. ¡°You¡¯re hurt!¡­It¡¯s bad!¡± Melisande said. ¡°¡­I¡¯m fine¡­¡± Emilio assured her weakly. By the look in his eyes, he was still focused on the enigmatic encounter, though the fight in his body left him as the draconic essence settled, causing the scales to disappear and his eyes to return. ¡°You¡¯re bleeding¡­there¡¯s too much blood¨Cat this rate¡­!¡± Melisande panicked. He was almost too exhausted to even care about the state of his body at that moment, but he grabbed onto the girl¡¯s hand, taking her by surprise. ¡°Emilio?¡± She looked at him. ¡°I don¡¯t have enough mana to heal all of this, but I can heal if I use some of yours,¡± he told her, looking her in the eyes. ¡°Go ahead¡­! Hurry!¡± Melisande answered. Though the girl at times had a proud exterior, there was nothing she wanted less to lose anymore than she already did, allowing the young man to utilize her mana through their held hands as he cast ¡®Healing¡¯ on himself. It took a good few minutes, but in the end he opted not to fully recover his wounds and left them as scratches to not strain the girl so much. ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± Melisande breathed out, sweating. ¡°Thanks,¡± Emilio smiled, ¡°¡­and, sorry for earlier.¡± Though he still believed it was the right choice, he knew that forcing the girl out of the fight was going against her desires, and directly hurting her own pride. Still, Melisande gently hit his arm before looking away, ¡°Don¡¯t apologize. You¡­made the right call. Just that one time, though.¡± ¡°Guess so,¡± he chuckled. After an exhausting battle, Melisande practically forced him to rest as he sat against the wall for what felt like an eternity in the dull environment of the endless office spaces. What was that about? He thought, ¡®Viscount of Farmaya¡¯? What did he have to do with the Unending Nightmare? Why unleash it on Larundog? ¡°¡­What do you think that person wanted? Why did he want to hurt you?¡± Melisande asked. ¡°He wanted to hurt us both. I¡¯m not sure why though¡­still, it doesn¡¯t change anything. We need to get out of here,¡± he said, bringing himself to his feet. ¨C Through the dull, nd corridors of the mold-smelling office space, a monotonous search resumed before atst, another door was found. ¡°There it is,¡± he said. ¡°Do you think it¡¯ll finally be Larundog?¡± Melisande asked. He had to shield her from the truth again, ¡°Dunno. We won¡¯t know until we open it.¡± As always, there was an ominous feeling when approaching a door; it was the endless possibilities of nightmares that could await. While the current floor was on the lighter side of horror, there was still nothing good about it or the state it left his mind in. Only this time, he could hope he¡¯de closer to the end of it all by stepping through the next door. ¨C [Scarlet Sand Realm | ???] ¡°Woah! It really does seem like I¡¯m quite lost!¡± Standing in the hellscape of an alternate world, a bright-eyed, youthful man, no older than his early-twenties, looked around with a smile. He was built with a toned physique, having tan skin and shaggy, ck-and-silver hair that ended in a ponytail. By the gray cloak that cascaded down his back and his light, ck leather armor that protected his chest, legs, and hands, he was unmistakably an adventurer. Walking behind him, struggling to climb up the hill of chalky, red dirt, a woman, simr in age to the man, with standout, circr-rimmed sses and neat, ginger hair in a bowl cut, let out a sigh. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t see how you¡¯re still so energetic. We¡¯ve been trapped in these nightmares for days now,¡± the woman said, adjusting her sses. The energetic man leaned forward, peering down towards the crimson valley that was filled with malignant entities, ¡°Are you kidding? Why would I NOT be excited? There was nothing like this on Earth! I mean, maybe in video games andics, but never in a million years did I expect to see this for real!¡± The woman sighed again, adjusting her all-ck wizard hat, ¡°There you go again spouting words that make no sense. How did I get stuck with an oddball like you, Kintoki Braveheart?¡± As the wizard-dressed woman opened her eyes after sighing, she realized the energetic man was no longer in front of her. ¡°Huh?¨CNot again¡­¡± She slowly shook her head. Dropping from the cliff and plummeting towards the red sands that were inhabited by the necrotic swordsman and beastly humanoids, Kintoki smiled wide. ¡°Let¡¯s get this party started!¡± Kintoki yelled out, letting his voice be carried through the bleak realm. Despite the overwhelming horrors present in the iplete world, the man¡¯s smile did not fade as hended with an impact that kicked up a cloud of crimson dust. He waspletely surrounded, but the ginger-hairedpanion of his simply watched with an annoyed expression as if this was an everyday thing with the entric man. ¡°Sit this one back, Sumera! I¡¯ve got this!¡± Kintoki called out with a bright smile. The woman adjusted her sses, mumbling to herself, ¡°I didn¡¯t n on helping anyway.¡± Clicking their tongues, the hellish fiends of patch, onyx skin and devoid of eyes found the man through echolocation, swiftly charging at him. ¡°¨CAll at once? That¡¯s fine with me!¡± Kintoki yelled with a smile. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. The thumping of his heart, beating rapidly with excitement at the prospect of a thrilling battle awakened something innately ingrained in his being: [Braveheart System Activated.] That wild percussion of his heart manifested into a tangible force as the air pressure shifted around the man; his muscles tightened and bulked-up, causing his golden pupils to change to a powerful radiance. With a stomp of his foot, Kintoki sent a tremor through the chalky ground, stunning the iing entities. A diabolical smile appeared across the man¡¯s lips as he eyes down the droves of monsters before him,ing in all shapes and sizes amidst the crimson cavern. In a burst of speed, he unsheathed the massive, wide de from his back, slicing through a dozen horrors in a moment. A trail of minced monster meat was left with bloodcing the air while the bulkened, energetic man continued sweeping forward. ¡°Ha-ha!¡± Kintoki roared with delightedughter. He was an unstoppable force of violence; the fiends attempted to counterattack with ded limbs and projectile spit that soared like acid, but Kintoki was simply too fast and too aggressive. The de he wielded hardly adhered to the natural form of a sword; the steel was wider than his own body and the length matched his own height. A blood-red fabric was loosely tied around the handle, matching the fresh liquid that stained its edge. Sumera spectated with a bored expression, as if having watched this very scenario multiple times. Of course it was my luck to get stuck with a handful like Kintoki, Sumera thought, still¡­it was him that took me into his party when nobody else would. The bloodshed of the nightmarish entities continued as they closed in around the golden-eyed men; four-armed, abyssal entities surrounded him, stretching their limbs out to grasp him. In response, without losing his fiery smile, Kintoki spun his behemoth of a sword above his head, gathering an intense rotation before obliterating the outstretched limbs. ¡®Kintoki Braveheart¡¯¨Can outcast of the Guild Foundation, just like myself, Sumera thought, nobody knows where he came from, his heritage, or what the source of his strength is. It¡¯s made a lot of people fear him; that monstrous power living inside him. It doesn¡¯t help that he¡¯s a¡­unique personality, to say the least. With a massive swing of his sword, the raw power behind Kintoki¡¯s attack was extended through the sheer wind pressure left from the swing, causing the iing, tar-skinned monster to be sliced into a dozen pieces. Still¡­Sumera thought, past all of those entricities, Kintoki is a gentle spirit; a man who might just embody the essence of a hero. After being lost in her own thoughts, the woman in the ck-and-azure mage uniform of a length robe with a silver-decorated mantle looked down, finding the entirety of the fiends present in the realm cleared out. Kintoki stood triumphant, surrounded by diced-up monsters and blood-soaked sand, holding a smile as his muscles returned to their normal size and looking back at his partner, ¡°Didja see that, Sumara? I think that¡¯s a new record for me!¡± ¡°Huh? I wasn¡¯t paying attention,¡± Sumera casually answered. ¡°What?! You were supposed to be keeping count!¡± Kintoki gasped. The orange-haired mage hopped down from the cliff, returning to the man¡¯s side as she kept her arms folded over her chest, ¡°Ignoring that¡­How about we move on? I¡¯m getting tired of this realm¨Cit has quite the dull scenery.¡± ¡°Yeah? Guess you¡¯re right,¡± Kintoki said, looking around as he scratched his head. Chapter 161 Realm of The Hunter Grabbing onto the handle of the flimsy, blue door, he turned it and opened, anxiously watching whatid behind it. Of course, the other side was unable to be seen before entering, but this time it was hidden behind a velvet veil of luxurious fabric. Huh? He thought. Melisande stood next to him, ¡°This time, you better let me help you.¡± ¡°That goes both ways,¡± he told her. Gathering a breath into his lungs as he felt a stream of exhaustion and soreness through his body, he pushed it down and stepped forward, pushing through the fabric veil alongside Melisande. A bright light caused him to squint immediately upon entering, adjusting to it over the course of a few seconds to realize it was a chandelier. Though it definitely was not a normal chandelier in the slightest: it was enormous. ¡°¡­What is this ce? It¡¯s throwing me off¡­¡± Melisande muttered. As he looked around, it was disorientating; they were now in avish mansion with dark-wooden walls and floors, oftentimes covered with rich rugs and stands that carried pottery and antiques. However, there was just one thing wrong with this scenery: it was allpletely massive. In the scope of the mansion,pared to the structure of it, Melisand and himself were norger than mice. As he turned around, making sure the doorway was gone, he found himself to be even shorter than the baseboard of the wall. ¡°We¡¯re tiny?¡­¡± Melisande realized. ¡°No, this ce is massive!¡± He responded. There were chairs present at tables that were the size of buildings, looming over him and Melisande. The scale of every object was astonishing; nothing seemed reachable, leaving them slowly wandering around the floor which was like a street for the two. ¡°Weird. Really weird,¡± Melisande remarked. ¡°Let¡¯s just find a doorway¡­Wait,¡± he said. ¡°Huh? What is it?¡± She looked at him. The pause from Emilio came from him reaching the end of the enormous hall, seeing into the next room which was filled with colossal closets filled with encased skeletons that looked miniature on the shelves, but were definitely the size of humans. But, that wasn¡¯t what caught his attention. There was a door, but like everything else in the mysterious mansion, it was massive. ¡°It¡¯s a door, but¡­how do we open one that big?¡± Melisande questioned. ¡°Good question¡­¡± He replied. What was just as pressing to him were the human skeletons encased in the shelf like souvenirs of sort; there were at least a couple dozen of them. Melisande seemed to notice them as well as she tugged on his sleeve. ¡°What do you think that¡¯s about? It¡¯s making my skin crawl¡­¡± Melisande asked. ¡°I¡¯d rather not find out¨C¡± As if jinxing himself, he was interrupted by the entire floor rumbling from what sounded like massive footstepsing from somewhere close by in the mansion. ¡°Something¡¯sing! Hide!¡± The silver-haired girl urged. It was the girl that tugged on his sleeve before grabbing his wrist, guiding him to follow her as they moved throughout the enormous room like a couple of mice, trying to find somewhere to hide from whatever enormous was approaching. By some fortune, there was an olive-fabric couch set against one of the walls, looming over them and stretching far-and-wide, though it had a gap between the bottom and the floor, allowing them to hide underneath. ¡°This should work!¡± Melisande said. He almost wanted to tell her to keep her voice down, but he wasn¡¯t sure their voices carried very far in the muchrger space, ¡°¡­Hopefully.¡± STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. The thunderous stomps came closer, vibrating the floorboards beneath them before finally, a figure entered into the room slowly. It was difficult to see, but his curiosity led him to take a peek from beneath the couch. It was massive; dressed in the attire of an aristocrat with an oak-brown suit and walking with a cane the size of a skyscraper, the entity was nothing close to human, however. The colossal being had smooth, snow-white skin and length fingers that had an unnatural pointiness to them; its head was thin, yet long, possessing one, scarlet eyes with a pupil that darted around the room. It¡¯s huge¡­I don¡¯t know if any of my magic can handle something that big, he thought. A sniffing sound filled the room as the most subtle noise emitting from something thatrge was ear-filling; it sniffed with a nose made only of nostrils on its snow-white head. ¡°¡­I smell humans. Tiny, feeble humans¡­Always scattering about in my home¡­¡± The creature spoke with a raspy voice. It was jarring to see a living being of such stature move with normal fluidity, almost as existing separate to the naturalws that all adhered to, but he remembered that was the very nature of the iplete worlds. Still, something felt different about this realm. It¡¯s a mansion, belonging to¡­a skyscraper-tall, wealthy monster? Are there more? Either way¡­I need to find a way to open that door, he thought. Just looking at the being made him queasy; the minuscule feeling it set upon him washed over his body as he froze while watching the single-eyed giant. Scooting further under the enormous couch, he stood by Melisande¡¯s side, who was just as awestruck and horrified at the scale of the mansion owner. ¡°¡­Little prey¡­You may hide for now, but my nose will find you¡­¡± The snow-skinned giant bellowed through his low, raspy tone. Its all-epassing footsteps thundered throughout the grand mansion, rumbling the floorboards beneath them. The inhuman being scoured the room, sniffing as if sucking the pores in the air through its nostrils intently before stopping. ¡°¡­Ah, I¡¯ve found you¡­¡± Those words were haunting, immediately bringing Melisande to gasp as the colossal entity faced the couch they were hiding beneath, slowly beginning to march over. Its foot alone was a dozen timesrger than them, at least, approaching with a looming dread. Shit¡­Am I really going to have to fight something like this?! He questioned. Chapter 162 The Jaeger and The Brave As he began to step forward to leave the bounds of the hiding spot, Melisande grabbed onto his arm, though the look he gave her was that of saying ¡®There¡¯s no other way.¡¯ Stepping out from the spot of hiding, he gulped as he looked up, meeting eye-to-eye with the scarlet orb that was like a looming moon up above, locking onto him with inhuman malice. Just before he set out to use a spell, something else happened¨C ¡°Eyes on me¨C!¡± A voice rang out; it was unrefined and energetic¨Cthe voice of a reckless man. Right after the yell, an impactnded against the ankle of the colossus, causing it to falter for a moment as it spun around in anger. ¡°¡­Who dares assault the Jaeger?!¡­¡± The entity growled. That question was something Emilio wanted to know as well, and he got his answer as he saw another human standing on the ground, wielding a massive sword with ck-and-silver hair that ended in a ponytail. ¡°I guess I should¡¯ve said ¡®eye on me¡¯, but it doesn¡¯t really roll off the tongue as well,¡± the stranger said after seeing the giant, ¡°¡­Anyway, the name¡¯s Kintoki! You better remember that, because I¡¯m the one who¡¯s going to hunt you!¡± Kintoki? Another person here? An adventurer? He questioned. There was somebody else beside the entric, gray-cape wearing man; a woman dressed in wizard robes with orange hair. ¡°That waspletely reckless. The door was right there. We could¡¯ve let this one focus on that boy while we went through the door,¡± the mage said. Kintoki raised an eyebrow, ¡°Huh?! What¡¯s the point in that when I¡¯m trying to give them a hand, Sumera? Ya really don¡¯t think things through, do you?¡± Thepanion of the man looked on the verge of bursting a blood vessel, ¡°¡­I don¡¯t want to hear that from you. Anyway, there¡¯s no point in weighing on what¡¯s already been done. I suppose there¡¯s no choice but to fight now.¡± ¡°Damn right!¡± Kintoki said, pointing his sword upward towards the Jaeger. The snow-skinned, one-eyed colossus seemed perplexed by the attitude of the tiny humans, raising back up as its scarlet eyes trembled with rage. ¡°Arrogant prey¡­You are nothing but sustenance; prizes to line my shelves. Your steel will not rend my flesh, but my fingers will tear you limb from limb,¡± the colossus rasped. With its focus shifting to the loud-mouthed adventurer and hispanion, Emilio watched, still in disbelief as Melisande came to his side, witnessing the perplexing situation as well. ¡°Who are they?¡± Melisande asked. ¡°Dunno, but I¡¯m d they¡¯re here,¡± he replied. Kintoki seemed to notice his stillness, pointing him out whilepletely ignoring the giant between them, ¡°¨CYou! Yeah, you! I¡¯ll hold this big guy off, so you just focus on getting that giant ass door open!¡± Nodding his head, Emilio set his sights on the massive, wooden door, ¡°Right! C¡¯mon, Melisande!¡± The Jaeger didn¡¯t take kindly to being ignored, much less allowing its prey to escape as it hunched over, extending its pale-white arm towards the two that ran towards the door, casting arge shadow over them with its sharp-fingered hands. ¡°You think I¡¯ll allow that¡­?¡± The Jaeger bellowed. Melisande looked back, feeling her stomach drop at the sight of everything above her being reced by the sight of the dreadful hand. ¡°Ahh¨C¡± Melisande let out. Before it could grab the two, Kintoki leapt up with increased bulkiness, shing his de right against the cheek of the Jaeger with an explosive impact. ¡°Grrgh¡­!¡± The Jaeger winced, being interrupted. Kintoki held a wide smile, ¡°I¡¯m allowing it!¡± In that moment, Emilio was relieved to have such a reckless stranger as an ally as he continued running forward before finding himself directly in front of the door. Melisande followed behind him, huffing from the intense run before looking up at the oversized doorway. ¡°¡­How do we open something like this?¡± Melisande asked. That was the question of the hour; it stretched high up, almost difficult to even perceive the highest point from the threshold. Emilio caught his breath, ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea¨Cmaybe.¡± ¡°You do?¡± ¡°I do,¡± he responded, sping his hands together as he slowly exhaled, ¡°¡­It¡¯s going to take a lot of focus though. So, err¡­¡± ¡°Want me to shut up?¡± Melisande asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Please,¡± he insisted. As he held his hands together, he had to gain a deeper understanding of the space around him, the scale of the floors, walls, and the door and where they stood inparison to one another. This was all needed in order to conjure a long-range spell which; extending his mana to such lengths was an arduous task, and one that required an almost zen state as he shut his eyes and controlled his breathing. ¨C Amidst the young man¡¯s unknown n to open the colossal door, Kintoki and Sumera continued keeping the Jaeger at bay. ¡°me Wall,¡± Sumera invoked. It was a defensive barrier of mes, conjured between Kintoki and the giant, expanded to a size that even the colossus felt a sting as his hand met it. ¡°Gragh¨C!¡± The Jaeger winced, retreating his hand. This gave time for the golden-eyed man to bolster himself as his veins pressed against his skin and a colorless aura manifested around him as if the air was contorting around his form. [Braveheart System Activated.] The unknown ability awakened through Kintoki, granting him increased muscrity, but beyond that, the Jaeger didn¡¯t know what else. That was until the snow-white colossus attempted to crush the human with his palm, swinging it downward before¨Cit waspletely stopped. Sumera lifted her ivory, blue-orbed staff as if about to aid herpanion, but stopped as she sighed out, ¡°¡­What¡¯s the point? When you¡¯re like this, I¡¯d only get in the way.¡± ¡°Hrm?¡± The Jaeger grumbled. Suddenly, a physical force revealed itself, equal enough to cause the colossus to stumble back as his hand was repelled. Standing there with his hand in the air, Kintoki was smiling as veins pressed against his bulging muscles, ¡°I¡¯m feelin¡¯ pumped up!¡± BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. It was something Sumera was aware of on a vague level, but didn¡¯t understand in its origins or specifics: Kintoki¡¯s unknown reservoir of strength. However, the golden-eyed man himself was well aware of what it was. [The ¡°Braveheart System¡±: pumped through his veins is the blood of a reincarnating hero, one that has materialized once more through the potency and heat of his blood, granting him the ¡°Braveheart System¡±¨Ca unique ability that allows Kintoki to manifest different abilities based off the severity of the situation and the bravery he disys in facing it.] Kintoki¡¯s height was increased by a few inches and his frame seemed to grow, not just his muscles, giving him the stature of a temple of muscle. ¡°The prey rejects its predator?¡­Uneptable!¡± The Jaeger howled. Chapter 163 Return To The Astral As the colossus stomped towards Kintoki, lifting its foot to smash him beneath its gargantuan shape, Kintoki reared his fist back with a wild smile before thrusting it upward with an air-piercing uppercut. THWOOOM. The powerful blow nearly made the Jaeger fall backward as its step was rejected, though it caught itself, now enraged as its long fingers stretched out like spikes, trying to stab through Kintoki or ensnare him. Though Kintoki used his massive sword to deflect the elongated fingers, he was unable to pierce the sturdy flesh of the Jaeger, causing some of the skin-crawling digits to stretch around and aim for his back. ¡°¨CRed Shower!¡± Sumera invoked. A barrage of small, but exploding spheres of mesunched against the snow-white fingers, momentarily stopping them before Kintoki spun around, batting them away with his dense, inhuman sword. ¡°Nice save, Sumera!¡± Kintoki yelled out with a smile. Sumera huffed, ¡°Just pay attention!¡± There seemed to be little worry present on Kintoki¡¯s mind, though it was unknown whether that was confidence in himself or simply his childlike excitement as he raced across the vast, wooden floorboards, dodging the elongated fingers of the Jaeger that repeatedly tried thrusting through him. The Jaeger howled, ¡°I am a Jaeger! A hunter that feasts on those who trespass in my domain! Dragging dirt into my home, breathing my air¨CI will rip each strand of flesh from your bones with great delight!¡± ¡°Try me, Snow White!¡± Kintoki retorted with a smile before leaping forward. It wasn¡¯t just raw strength; the Braveheart System granted the man incredible agility, allowing him tond on the colossus¡¯ arm, beginning to sprint up its length. ¡°Grgh¨C?!¡± The Jaeger reacted. Dragging his de across the fabric of the Jaeger¡¯s clothing, he left an incision through it, reaching the skin as it sounded as though steel was grating against further metal, causing sparks to fly out. This thing¡¯s tough! Kintoki briefly thought. Before he could reach the giant¡¯s shoulder, he was promptly grabbed by the elongated fingers of the Jaeger¡¯s other hand, which wrapped around the much smaller in scope human, squeezing like living bindings. ¡°Grrgh¨C!¡± Kintoki winced, trying to resist. Though the man possessed fantastical strength, there was simply a disparity that couldn¡¯t be made up when the natural physiology of his enemy was hundreds of times his size, possessing supernatural abilities of its own. The singr, blood-red eye of the Jaeger honed in on Kintoki as the man was brought closer to his gaze. ¡°Puny creature¡­Your resistance is merely entertainment. The ¡®Hunt¡¯ is the height of life; it is the sole machine of operation of all living things. Resistance only diverts one from this reality momentarily¡­¡± The Jaeger bellowed. After speaking, the Jaeger parted his mouth, which wasn¡¯t visible until being opened, revealing dozens of rows of razor-sharp teeth like a valley of sharpened mountains with an eerie, pitch-ck tongue stretching out. ¡°Urggh¡­disgusting!¡± Kintoki averted his gaze, looking down at the magepanion of his, ¡°¡­A little help, Sumera!¡± The orange-haired woman adjusted her round-rimmed sses, narrowing her ruby gaze on the man held by the colossus, ¡°I thought you had this under control.¡± ¡°Clearly not¨C!¡± Kintoki yelled out as the tongue creeped closer to him. ¡°Perhaps a favorable request would sway me to take action,¡± Sumera replied calmly. With the slimy tongue nearly grazing his skin, feeling the densely heated breaths brush against him, the entric man finally caved in: ¡°Fine! Please lend me a hand, Sumera!¡± Finally, the woman raised her exuberant staff with an invocation following: ¡°Pollen of Spirits is born between dusk and dawn, sway and manifest: Forest Awakening!¡± The spell gave light to emerald pollen hanging in the air around the Jaeger¡¯s mouth, suddenly growing from small twigs to lengthy, twisting limbs of trees, wrapping around the colossus¡¯ tongue and wrist with a tight squeeze. ¡°Ngh¨C?¡± The Jaeger let out a displeased scowl. Given the opportune moment to free himself, Kintoki overpowered the Jaeger¡¯s bound grip, summoning his full-strength as he pushed the being¡¯s fingers away before jumping down. ¨C Finding it difficult to fully concentrate with the constant rumbling and yelling from Kintoki¡¯s scuffle with the giant, Emilio was finally able to center his focus on the enormous door handle, keeping his palms pressed together as his elemental maniption came to fruition. It was a ring of water, shaping itself like a five-fingered grip around the copper handle before being reinforced with stone to give it solid weight, tightening and pulling. ¡°You¡¯re doing it!¡± Melisande remarked. Emilio kept his eyes closed, ¡°¡­Quiet, please!¡± ¡°Oh¨Cright,¡± Melisande covered her lips. Noticing the creaking sound of the doorway being unsealed, the crimson-eyed hunter roared, shifting its gaze and its focus entirely to Emilio now as he began stomping towards them. ¡°No! Trespassing vermin!¡­¡± The Jaeger howled. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. For Melisande, the sight she witnessed was the pinnacle of stomach-dropping dread; the snow-skinned, man-hunting entity taller than any tree she¡¯d seen or any castle moved swiftly with utmost aggression. It was only halted by abination of fireballs and massive sword swings from Sumera and Kintoki, and even then, the Jaeger didn¡¯t stop fully. Noticing this, Sumera yelled out, ¡°I don¡¯t mean to rush you, kid, but we don¡¯t have the privilege of time anymore! We can¡¯t stop this thing!¡± ¡°Hate to admit it, but my partner is right!¡± Kintoki agreed, running alongside her as they opted to group with Emilio and Melisande, ¡°¨CI can¡¯t cut through his skin! He¡¯s on another level!¡± At that moment, Emilio felt like yelling out in contempt for having his utmost focus interrupted, but he cooled himself and focused, straining every fiber of his body toplete the unorthodox ¡®door-opener¡¯ spell. It required careful concentration alongside a continuous, steady flow of mana with a spell meant to be able to withstand the weight of pulling such a door. Still, it was happening¨Cit finally began to open as a gap in the doorway was revealed, showing nothing but a void behind it. Melisande yelled out to the two adventurers who were being chased by the approaching Jaeger, ¡°Come on! It¡¯s open!¡± He had to hold the spell steady while the rumbling of the gargantuan entity was heard from behind. Just as Kintoki and Sumera finally reached the door, they moved in without a second thought, but Melisande hesitated. ¡°Emilio! Hurry!¡± Melisande yelled to him. ¡°I¡¯ming! Just go through¨C! It¡¯ll begin closing once I move!¡± He responded. Though it was unnerving to move on while the colossus was but perhaps a dozen seconds behind, Melisande nodded, cing her trust in the young man before jumping through the door. Just as she did, he finally moved, having to relinquish the spell as the giant door began closing. As he raced towards the gap, he looked back, seeing the scarlet-eye of the cyclopean monster looking down at him from a distance not far enough, he jumped forward instantly¨Cjust barely making it through the doorway before it shut. Throwing himself through the door, he found himself floating in a void, devoid of physical matter, simply drifting as his consciousness flickered. ¨C What is this? Is this the next realm? He questioned. It felt as though he was dreaming; the state of reality and illusion mixed and swirled into one, causing him to blink one moment, finding himself in the void and parting his eyes again to find himself now standing in a familiar reality. ¡°¡­This is¡­¡± He mumbled. Beneath his boots was loose, lifeless soil that harbored no life but twisted trees that presented spiraling branches. The sky was pitch-ck, though a single swirl existed like a moon; a spiral of unquestionable enigma that subtly howled through the night. Colossuses of different shapes and sizes lumbered through the mystical world with small, colorful orbs floating like pollen¨C¡¯lesser spirits¡¯¨Che recognized. ¡­It¡¯s the Astral Realm? But why? He questioned. It didn¡¯t make much sense to him that he now found himself in the realm of spirits, and more concerning was the solitude away from his allies. Through the utter perplexity that the Unending Nightmare birthed, he couldn¡¯t be sure if this was another illusion or fabricated world. Still, there was no mistaking the atmosphere of the Astral Realm; the thin air and feeling of otherworldly mystique that left him devoid of words. As he moved forward, he found himself trying to figure out what would¡¯ve led to this unexpected return to the Astral Realm. ¡­Last time, I had to create a very specific ritual in order to pass into this ce, he thought, this time, I just walked through that door and ended up here. Wait¡­if this is a ce for spirits¨C ¡°Did I die?!¡± He questioned out loud. identally shouting his words out, he was unexpectedly met with a response by the world itself as the soil rumbled beneath his boots, causing him to sway his arms for bnce. It was the same as his previous time in the realm of spirits, he called¨Cthe ground gave in from beneath him, causing him to plummet downwards into a dark cave. ¡°Waaah¨C!¡± He yelled out. Chapter 164 The Soulbound Spirits ¡°Waaah¨C!¡± He yelled out. Though as he fell, again he recollected what happenedst time as he was given afortablending from a bed of violet flowers, which had a silky, almost cloud-like softness to them. ¡°Oh¡­right, thanks again, flowers,¡± he quietly showed his gratitude before picking himself up. If this is ying out the exact same way asst time, then what should be down here is that statue¡­He thought. As he looked up, he predicted as much as he found himself staring at the eye-shaped statue that was somewhat hidden by vines: the ¡°Origin Altar.¡± When seeing that enigmatic, statuesque eye, a shiver ran down his spine as he remembered what happened thest time he came into contact with it. ¡°You¡¯re not worthy¨Cyet¡±¨Cthat¡¯s what I was told before being kicked out without a second word. I wonder¡­am I worthy now? At least give me the requirements before sending me packing, he thought. Slowly approaching the Eye of Origin, he hesitated to ce his hand against it out of fear of being rejected once more, but realized there was no other choice but to face reality and get it over with. If this works¡­what happens, then? Will I actually find my Soulbound Spirit? He questioned. There was no other way to find out but to simply go forward. He did as much as he slowly pressed his bare palm against the cold stone of the Origin Alter. Almost immediately, he felt the overwhelming sensation of his own soul being present in his body as if it gained its own nerve endings. It caused his entire body to freeze up as if turned to stone, forced to stand there like a statue as though his soul, buried deep within the core of his being, was the only animate part of himself. A few seconds passed, and no such whisper of rejection grazed his ear as he found a small hope resting in that reality. Is it working this time¡­? He thought. ¡°You¡­are worthy.¡± An enigmatic voice of a woman slipped into the canals of his ear, sending a chill over his body as goosebumps came and his hair stuck up, but at the same time, it was an exciting feeling. While remaining frozen with his fingertips pressed against the Eye of Origin, the scenery around him crumbled away as the shadowy cavern shifted into a spiraling chamber, inscribed with primordial knowledge that rested in the cosmic-shaded stone that created it. What is this?¡­He questioned. Suddenly, the Eye of Origin slid backward, moving away from his touch as he regained autonomy, taking inrge inhales of air as he was finally able to control his lungs again. Coughing out, he found himself sweating, struggling for air as it was sparse in the enigmatic space. The density of mana¡­It¡¯s different than on Arcadius, he thought. Bringing his gaze up, he nearly fell over backwards as he was met face-to-face with a figure dressed in ck-and-silver, wearing a hood that made them seem faceless, though it was impossible to tell if it was simply shadows hiding their appearance or not. They wore a silver ring on each of their fingers, covered by jet-ck gloves. ¡°Do not be frightened, young one,¡± a surprisingly kind, masculine voice emitted from the mysterious figure. ¡°¡­Who are you?¡± He asked. ¡°I¡¯m the Courier,¡± the figure exined, cing a hand over his chest, ¡°I guide one¡¯s ¡®Soulbound Spirit¡¯ to them if they¡¯re proven worthy by the Eye of Origin. Now, please, hold out your hand.¡± Though he was utterly perplexed, still hardly knowing why he ended up in the Astral Realm to begin with, he only hesitated for a second before extending his hand with his palm facing downward. The Courier gently took his hand, turning it so his palm faced the abyssal sky before running his index finger over the skin of his palm lightly, creating a slight ticklish sensation. What¡¯s he doing¡­.? He questioned. As he watched the Courier guide his finger around his palm, he realized a seal was being inscribed on his skin: it was a six-pointed star, etched of darkness. ¡°All done. This seal acts as the bond between you and your soulbound spirit; simply focus your mana onto your palm and call upon your familiar with full intent,¡± the Courier exined, ¡°But first, you should meet your soulbound spirit.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­I was going to ask about that. But, I have another question, err, Mr. Courier?¡± He said, looking at the new seal on his hand as he squeezed his fist a few times. The hooded figure looked at him, ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Why was I brought here?¡­And why was I ¡®worthy¡¯ this time?¡± He asked. ¡°Ah. Those are questions I cannot answer, young one,¡± the Courier exined, ¡°You will perhaps understand with time. However, I can tell you that if one has an affinity for spirits, it is most likely that one will gain worthiness in times of desperation. In cases like this, it may be that your Soulbound Spirit cut some corners with the intent to aid you. Now then, I will leave you two to meet¡­¡± ¡°You ¡®two¡¯?¡± He repeated. For a moment, he forgot about the fact he was about to meet his ¡®Soulbound Spirit¡¯¨Csomething he didn¡¯t know what to expect from in the slightest. Before he could even get further details from the Courier, the all-ck figure vanished almost as if blending into the darkness seamlessly. ¡°One question answered, two more raised¡­¡± He mumbled to himself. ¡°Hey.¡± He nearly jumped from the sudden sound, spinning around as he looked for the source of the childlike, but jaded tone. As he lowered his gaze, he found a small girl, dressed in an all-ck, gothic dress looking up at him with unique eyes that had ¡°X¡±-shaped, silver pupils, matching her tinum hair that was kept in prominent pigtails. A little girl? He thought. ¡°You just called me a ¡®little girl¡¯, didn¡¯t you?¡± The girl said, furrowing her eyebrows with her hands on her hips. ¡°¨CNo? I didn¡¯t say anything¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯m not little. Say that again and I¡¯ll st¨C¡± Before the tinum-haired girl could finish, she vanished, and in ce of her stood an adult male, dressed in a well-adjusted suit with long, scarlet hair. ¡°Forgive Hextrice,¡± the scarlet-haired man said with a smile, ¡°She¡¯s always been temperamental¨Cshe¡¯s just excited to meet you. I¡¯m Gavill, by the way.¡± What the hell is going on? He thought. epting the extended hand from the mysterious man, he shook it slowly before letting out the question he held, ¡°¡­Sorry, but what¡¯s going on? Which one of you is my Soulbound Spirit? The little¨CI mean, Hextrice, or you?¡± The man looked at him with his eyes mostly hidden by his bright-red bangs, ¡°Both.¡± Chapter 165 The Lair epting the extended hand from the mysterious man, he shook it slowly before letting out the question he held, ¡°¡­Sorry, but what¡¯s going on? Which one of you is my Soulbound Spirit? The little¨CI mean, Hextrice, or you?¡± The man looked at him with his eyes mostly hidden by his bright-red bangs, ¡°Both.¡± ¡°Both¡­?¡± ¡°You have six Soulbound Spirits, Master Emilio,¡± Gavill told him. ¡°Six¡­? Six?!¡± He repeated in surprise. Now that he looked at the six-pointed star he had on his palm, it started to piece together what was happening, though of course, it was too good to be true from what Gavill exined next: ¡°It¡¯s extremely rare. Though, unfortunately¡­you¡¯ll only be able to manifest one of us at a time right now. And more so¡­¡± Gavill scratched his head. While he stood there, he felt a numbness oveing his limbs before a prickly sensation ran across his skin. It was a jarring feeling, but he ignored it for the moment. ¡°More so?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t be able to choose who you summon. This is simply the reality of the matter; you¡¯re not experienced in ¡®Spirit Arts¡¯ quite yet, but you will surely grow to be¨Cjust have faith in yourself and us,¡± Gavill exined. That put a wrench in it all as he found himself not liking an element of randomness in a power that he would likely have to rely on with his life at some point. Still, he knew this was a positive either way. Gavill breathed out, ¡°Apologies, I¡¯d really like to talk more, but it seems like your soul is being rejected here. If you stay any longer, you¡¯ll get the ¡®Soul Strain¡¯¨Cjust remember, all of us will be ready to aid you when you need it, Master Emilio.¡± That much was confirmed through his own body as he felt total numbness ovee him with the feeling of needles pressing against his skin bing potent. Before he could get another word in, he was ovee with an intense feeling of whish as his soul was taken straight from the Astral Realm and flung back into reality. ¨C ¡°¡­Huff¡­¡± Catching his breath, he found himself kneeling on ck-stained steel, looking up to find a vast, empty realm with walls forged ofbined, metallic cubes surrounding him in an enigmatic fashion. He looked at his palm, finding the six-pointed star seal inscribed on his hand. So it wasn¡¯t an illusion, then, he thought, if what the Courier said is true, then it seems I was able to enter the Astral Realm because my Soulbound spirits wanted to help me. If that¡¯s the case¡­thank you. As he clenched his hand that bore the seal, he finally focused on what was around him. It seemed to be a singr chamber, devoid of anything else but the scent of grime, leading to a mysterious hallway of unknown prospects. The next realm, huh¡­? I wonder¡­could this be the Unending Nightmare¡¯s heart finally? He thought. He found a hand extended down to him, looking up to find it belonging to the ck-and-silver haired adventurer from before. ¡°The name¡¯s Kintoki,¡± the man finally introduced himself. For a moment, he looked at his callused hands that were missing pieces of skin, burnt away from earlier, before epting. ¡°Emilio,¡± he replied, taking his hand before being helped up. From the fact that nobody questioned why he was gone for as long as he was, it seemed time operated differently between the two realms. Kintoki smiled, ¡°Didn¡¯t expect to find anybody else still alive and kickin¡¯ in here. Much less a kid with some seriously kickass magic. Oh, right, this here is mypanion, Sumera,¡± the man leaned closer, speaking to his ear, ¡°Between you and mean, she¡¯s kind of a bi¨C¡± A kick to the back caused Kintoki to stumble forward as Sumera shot him a dirty re, ¡°I¡¯m the level-headed one between the two, as opposed to whatever he was trying to say.¡± Melisande stepped in as well, ¡°I¡¯m Melisande. Thanks for the help back there.¡± ¡°Yeah, no problem,¡± Kintoki smiled. Though it was relieving to have more allies, the truth was that the realm Emilio found himself in was inexplicably nerverecking. ¡°We should be careful moving forward. I have a bad feeling about what¡¯s past that corridor¡­¡± Sumera advised. ¡°I was going to say the same thing,¡± Emilio said, ¡°Something is down there.¡± Melisande seemed to feel the same way as she held a concerned look in her eyes, ¡°It feels like my stomach is in knots¡­¡± ¡°Well, if you all are feeling queasy, leave it to me! I¡¯ll lead the way!¡± Kintoki said with a brave smile. Though he was a bit loud, Kintoki was somebody that Emilio found himself d to have as an ally in these bleak times; the unquestionable optimism from the man served to lighten the gloom. As promised, Kintoki led the way as the others followed; Emilio stayed at the back, making sure to guard their nk as he held little trust in the nature of the iplete worlds. ¡­I don¡¯t know what it is about this ce. It almost reminds me of the Astral Realm; the air is thin, yet heavy¡­It¡¯s dense with a malevolence. It¡¯s hard to pinpoint this sensation exactly, but each breath sends a chill over my body, he thought. It was eerily quiet; the four of them slowly marched down the corridor that stretched on, remaining narrow with the steel walls neighboring them in darkness. While cautiously moving down the corridor shrouded in shadows and malevolence, crawling in mystery, there was an unexpected slope forged of steep steps. ¡°Huh? Alright, then. Up we go,¡± Kintoki remarked. They ascended the sharp-angled steps, with him being thest one to ascend them. It was closer to adder than a staircase in how steep it truly was; the sleek steel made it difficult for his boots to grip onto anything as he moved upward. As he reached the top after a few minutes of climbing, he hoisted himself up, looking up to find the others frozen in ce. ¡°What¡¯re¨C¡± Before being able to question what had caused them all to freeze, he witnessed it himself: the entity sitting in the center of the vast, dark chamber of steel. There were gray-and-ck, intestine-like bindings that connected to the being, anchoring it to the chamber as it sat there in a humanoid shape with pale-gray skin and stringy, ck hair that hung over its face. Move, he told himself, hardly able to wiggle his fingertips. It has fingernails that curved like ws and unknown symbols etched into its flesh. Even though it was sitting, it was clear it possessed arge stature. Hanging from the ceiling were inanimate, headless bodies shrouded in abyssal veils, suspended by the intestine-like ropes that originated from the entity¡¯s position. The unequivocal dread that overcame him whenying his eyes on the silent entity that sat there was unmistakable; what he looked at was the very embodiment of fear itself. ¡°The Unending Nightmare.¡± As it rose to its feet, he began trembling uncontroble; it was the same for the others. The malignant being stood unnaturally as its joints reconfigured, bending and snapping as it possessed unnaturally long legs and arms, giving it an almost primal physicality as it stood with a height well over double his own. Its unkempt, jet-ck hair still veiled its face, hiding its expression as the unknown nature of it exemplified his fear. Move¡­! Move! He told himself. A word couldn¡¯t even leave his lips as his teeth chattered; the air of dread infiltrated his pores in the form of unmatched fear. The Unending Nightmare reached behind its own back, bending its elbow unnaturally as it snapped for flexibility, piercing its fingertips into its own flesh before grabbing its own spine. With a grotesque tug, it seamlessly removed its own spine, though it wasn¡¯t affected in the least as it wielded its own spine, covered in ck, gunky blood that solidified around the bone base, creating an abyssal, unrefined de. It¡¯spletely unorthodox¡­! He thought. As it approached, slowly lumbering towards the frozen four, they all tried fighting in order to ovee the monstrous fear that encapsted them all. However¨C ¡°Raaagh¨C!¡± Breaking out of the petrifying aura of dread was Kintoki, who seemed to literally flex out of it as his muscles bulged, screaming out to bolster himself. It was that boisterous nature of the man that led the others to follow, finally breaking free from the hold of fear as Sumera readied her staff with Emilio doing the same. ¡°That¡¯s our guy, isn¡¯t it?!¡± Kintoki yelled out. ¡°I believe so! There¡¯s no mistaking this feeling¨Cthis is the source of it!¡± Sumera answered. ¡°¨CLet¡¯s end it here!¡± Emilio called. ¡°Hell yeah!¡± Kintoki roared, leading the assault. ¨CHowever, such bold, brash hope was swept away like dust to the wind as they all found themselves vastly unprepared for the foe before them. In a stroke of lightning-like speed, the pale-skinned, tall figure appeared between the four. It¡¯s here already¡­? I didn¡¯t even see it move, Emilio thought. Chapter 166 The Unending Nightmare As he looked forward with fear quaking in his pupils, he watched as the messy, ck hair parted just enough from the nightmare to make eye contact with it; it possessed eyes unlike anything else. They were stitched open, but empty eye sockets that were filled with an abyssal ooze that slipped down its cheeks. Still, there were ¡®eyes¡¯ it possessed; staring deep enough, long enough, there was a darkness that stared back at him before¨Csomething triggered. A jolt went through his body as he felt the air change around him, witnessing the humanoid nightmare¡¯s form begin to change as limbs tore through the flesh on its back, sprouting into lengthy spider legs made of intertwined, held hands. What just happened¡­? It¡¯s like it just peered into my heart, Emilio thought. While distracted by the unequivocal sense of dread, he was taken by surprise as the silent embodiment of fear lunged towards him, attempting to stab through him with one of its newly grown, arachnid limbs. Before he could be stabbed, he was pushed aside before the burly figure of Kintoki appeared in front of him, blocking the attack with his wide sword. ¡°Get your head in the game!¡± It took him a moment to recover from the mind-hazing exchange with the nightmare that took ce over a single second, yet left an unsettling feeling etched into his skin. ¡°Swift re!¡± Sumera unleashed the invocation without any hesitation, assisting Kintoki with a quick fire-spell that exploded against the side of the Unending Nightmare into a sh of embers. For a moment, Emilio found himself questioning the idea of ¡®friendly-fire¡¯ when seeing how close in proximity that spell was to Kintoki, but from the way the golden-eyed man still stood firm, it was clear he was simply unfamiliar with their level of coordination. Still, through the smoke, the muscle-bound abhorrence presented no harm taken as it pushed Kintoki back by using all of its spinal de. ¡°Woah¨C!¡± Kintoki let out in surprise of being overpowered. Following up, the Avatar of Fear itself pressed forward with its hulking body, exchanging eye contact with Kintoki before more alterations came to its form. The rtively human-like shape it possessed was lessened as it grew in size, developing hulking muscrity as its pitch-ck hair grew in tandem, still veiling its face. It was now a colossus of raw power, closing in on the Braveheart. ¡°What the¡­!?¡± Kintoki remarked. Finally entering himself into the battle, Emilio stepped up, holding his catalyst up as he invoked a spell inspired from one he was once on the receiving end of. [¡°Fist of The Golem¡±] The spell that used the sturdy nature of rock, reinforcing it and shaping it into the very first weapon utilized by mortals: their fists, was crafted from thin-air within a moment of waving his staff. It matched the exact shape of the Unending Nightmare¡¯s colossal fist, mming knuckle-to-knuckle with it before it could smash Kintoki. ¡°¡­Nice!¡± Kintoki yelled out as his hair was tugged by the wind. ¡°So strong¡­!¡± Melisande remarked, holding her arms up from the residual effect of the sh. A shock wave emitted through the dungeon that reeked of death and mold, echoing off the hollow metal as not a single sound left the lips of the nightmare. In its other hand, the embodiment of fear wielded its spine honed from its own torn-out spine that had grown in size with it, opting to swing it towards Emilio to end the deadlock. ¡°Ghh¨C!¡± Emilio flinched. To his surprise, the bone-forged weapon didn¡¯t rip through him as he looked to the side, finding Kintoki holding it back as he ced his entire body weight behind his sword. ¡°I¡¯ve got your back!¡± Kintoki assured him. ¡°¡­Right!¡± He nodded. With a freed consciousness, he focused further, squeezing his wooden catalyst as he pushed the bulkened nightmare back, allowing the giant, stone fist to m straight into the Unending Nightmare¡¯s face. Inded it! Emilio celebrated in his mind. That brief moment of triumph was quickly overshadowed as when the Unending Nightmare¡¯s physical form was knocked back by the blow, its flesh rippled like a gtinous form, being knocked back against the wall before stting into an abyssal gunk. ¡°Err¡­Damn, you hit him with everything you had, didn¡¯t ya?¡± Kintoki whistled. Though Emilio himself knew that wasn¡¯t the truth; something wasn¡¯t right. That much was proven as the abyssal puddle of sentient fear reshaped itself, building into a new form quickly. ¡°¡­I should¡¯ve known! Sun Spear!¡± Sumera said, taking the initiative and invoking a spear of mes tounch toward the shaping mass. Emilio cast alongside the orange-haired mage, using amplifying air to feed into Sumera¡¯s mes, doubling its size and potency. This kid isn¡¯t bad, Sumera thought. As the ming spear neared the abyssal mass, a mouth opened up, consuming the zing projectile as it exploded within the enigmatic substance with a suppressed sh. ¡°It¡­ate it?¡± Sumera let out in surprise. No way, Emilio thought. Without further interruption, the Unending Nightmare rebuilt itself into a new form as the metallic dungeon they were in crumbled apart, revealing an entirely new scenery: it was a vast room with floors and walls made out of flesh that lightly pulsated. ¡°Urgh! What is this?!¡± Kintoki looked around. Melisande covered her mouth, ¡°¡­It smells!¡± The new form the Unending Nightmare took was a skinless humanoid, bearing a sculpture of living anatomy, devoid of eyes and possessing legs with reversed knees, simr to a kangaroo. It continued morphing as it approached the group of humans, lunging towards Kintoki as it shifted its right arm into the shape of a jagged de of steel. ¡°Ngh!¡± Kintoki shed against it. Attempting tounch another exploding re towards its back, Sumera¡¯s spell was negated as the nightmare¡¯s other arm morphed into a giant mouth, parting its salivating lips before consuming the fire once more. ¡°Tsk! Again?!¡± Sumerained. Emilio opted to disregard magic in order to throw off the instincts of the embodiment of nightmares, drawing Silver Wing from its sheath as he reinforced his body with mana. As Kintoki kept it in ce with their equalized sh of strength, the blonde-haired boy dashed in, thrusting the tip of his sword towards its side. The skinless head, disying raw flesh and bone, of the Unending Nightmare spun around unnaturally to catch his surprise attack, quickly shifting its form once more as the sound of flesh squelching echoed,pletelypressing itself before morphing into a skinless hound, possessing a colossal size. ¡°¨C?!¡± Emilio looked on in surprise. Due to the change in shape and size, the spot he stuck his de through was merely the lip of the nightmarish hound, leaving him right before its jaws. Just as those jaws parted to reveal dozens of smaller mouths on the hound¡¯s freakish tongue, he tossed himself backward with a gust of wind, avoiding being ensnared in the entity¡¯s maw. Too close¡­He thought. Again, the scenery shifted jarringly as the ground rumbled from beneath his feet; sprouting from the walls of flesh were saplings, growing into colorful trees before soil flooded through the pores on the ground. Soon, a vibrant rainforest enveloped the four before the hound grew a pitch-ck hide with hundreds of jotting eyeballs inhabiting its body. While Sumera and Kintoki didn¡¯t waste any time engaging the formless entity, shing with might and magic, Emilio found himself hesitating to leave Melisande¡¯s side in the chaotic nature of the realm. ¡­What do I do? We can¡¯t win if I¡¯m pausing like this, but if I leave her alone¡­He thought. ¡°Emilio,¡± Melisande called him by his name, ¡°¡­I can tell: you¡¯re worrying about me.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°I get it,¡± Melisande continued, ¡°¨CBut, still¡­I¡¯m not helpless. I can protect myself! Just trust me, like I trust you.¡± It took him a second to ept those words, but left with little choice, he honed in on the resolve in her emerald eyes. Looking at those shining eyes, he saw the spitting image of Joel. ¡°Right,¡± he nodded. Just as Sumera unleashed a volley of exploding fireballs against the ck-hided hound, a shock wave of heat released before the beast charged through the smoke. The scathing explosions had burnt the skin from its body, leaving it roaring out with its muscle fibers on disy. ¡°¨C!¡± Sumera¡¯s eyes widened. Such wild aggression without any regard for the damage sustained led the nightmare to catch her off-guard, leaving Sumera helpless as its massive jaws spread around her. Before those teeth snapped down on her form, Kintoki jumped in with reckless abandon, summoning all of his might as he used his sword to keep the hound¡¯s jaws at bay. ¡°¡­I gotcha!¡± Kintoki yelled. ¡°Really?! It doesn¡¯t seem like you jumped in with a follow-up in mind, did you?!¡± Sumera replied. ¡°Follow-ups aren¡¯t my style!¡± Kintoki retorted. ¡°Living is my style¨C!¡± While the twopanions were stuck between the hound¡¯s supernatural jaws, it was suddenly sted back as a massive steam of fire crashed against its side. I made it in time! Emilio thought. Kintoki took a moment to process the fact he wasn¡¯t enclosed by the hound¡¯s salivating mouth anymore, giving the boy a quick thumbs-up, ¡°I owe you one!¡± ¡°Save it!¡± Sumera and Emilio yelled in unison. Chapter 167 Morphing Horror Being bathed in mes, the hound writhed momentarily as it crashed through the twisted trees of the constantly-altering realm before the bright inferno was siphoned by an explosive change in mass and shape. ¡°It¡¯s changing forms again!¡± Kintoki remarked. ¡°Nothing surprising there¨Cthis one is tricky,¡± Sumera noted, adjusting her sses with a quick breath. The threebatants stood side-by-side as the Unending Nightmare melded into its new form,pressing the colossal length of its hound form into something vaguely humanoid, d in a dark-brown exoskeleton. Antennae sprouted from its head as it took to a bulky, butpressed form, possessing arge stature of a sturdy insect. ¡°A cockroach,¡± Emilio deduced. ¡°A wha¨C?¡± Before Kintoki could ask, the nightmare sprung forward with its fresh form, throwing its fist forward straight into the golden-eyed warrior¡¯s stomach. ¡°Pyuh!¡± Kintoki spit out. The force behind the blow sent Kintoki crashing back through the trees and foliage of the unnatural rainforest, leaving Emilio and Sumera standing right before the silent, monstrous cockroach. It¡¯s constantly taking new forms! Is it adapting to our attacks? How do we pin it down?! He questioned. Though his thoughts were better saved forter as he relied on miraculous instinct to duck down just as the exoskeleton-d knuckles of the nightmare nearly bashed his skull in. In response, he swiftly drew his sword again, forced to dual wield both staff and de as he swiped the sharp steel towards its gut¨C CHNK. There was no effect as the steel simply bounced off of the remarkably durable exoskeleton, causing the nightmare insect not even to flinch as it went for a front kick towards him. Shit! He thought. Fortunately, Sumera¡¯s experience was vastly reliable, allowing her to intercept the iing kick with a swift invocation, ¡°Vines of Wrath!¡± Sprouting from the ground, reinforced vines caught the humanoid cockroach¡¯s leg, sweeping it off the ground and tossing it away, perhaps buying a few pivotal moments. ¡°Thanks¡­¡± He caught his breath, surprised he was still alive. Sumera pushed her sses up as her sophisticated robes adjusted, ¡°Hold off on the gratitude until we get out of her in one piece, hopefully.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got a point¡­¡± Jumping back into the clearing, Kintokinded in front of them, looking as though his muscles grew even tighter and more lively as he rushed forward as if having something to improve. ¡°Idiot!¨CMove together!¡± Sumera clicked her tongue. Though it seemed it didn¡¯t matter as Kintoki was quickly met halfway by the cockroach form of the Unending Nightmare, which presented its springlike ability to its legs as it bolted back into the fray without a scratch on its natural armor. With its fists alone, it matched blows with swings of Kintoki¡¯s heavy sword, only enduring small fractures on its knuckles in the process. Damn, this thing is tough¡­! Kintoki thought. The close-quarters sh didn¡¯t give much room for magic to be flung, though Sumera certainly was trying as she aimed her exuberant staff forward, waiting for the perfect opportunity, but failing to find it in the swift exchange of blows. Heading in, Emilio tucked his staff in the sheat on his back, two-handing his sword as he dashed in. ¡°Kid, wait¨C! Urg, does nobody listen?!¡± Sumera mumbled, ¡°¡­If it¡¯s pressing Kintoki, there¡¯s no way you¡¯ll be able to change anything in a physical fight.¡± Still, Emilio headed in anyway, but he understood the limits of his own physical prowess as he instead aimed for a different result, rushing in from behind the nightmare¡¯s perception. As he swung his sword towards its neck, the cockroach¡¯s antennae twitched before it began to swing one of its arms back to counter, however¨CEmilio¡¯s attack was a fakeout. He dropped down, reinforced the swing of Silver Wind with the element to match its name, using thepressed slice of wind and steel to fracture its ankle. ¡°You¡­! Nice going!¡± Kintoki let out in surprise with a fiery smile. It was enough of an opportunity as the cockroach¡¯s bnce faltered for a pivotal second. [Bravery: SURGE] The concept given tangible power began flowing in further potency through Kintoki as his muscles tightened,pressing into a smaller build, but packing more strength in as he finally broke through the cockroach monster¡¯s shell with a mighty m of his de. He managed to cut through its torso, shattering its exoskeleton and causing its innards to fall out in a repugnant fashion. Gotcha! Kintoki thought. As the cockroach stumbled back, it suddenly shifted its form, taking the shape of a youthful man with golden eyes and shaggy, ck hair. Despite changing forms again, the Unending Nightmare opted not to mend its wounds, standing there as he held his split torso with an eerily human expression of fear. Kintoki was visibly shaken by the person he saw as his eyes went wide and all of that fiery passion evaporated, ¡°¡­No, why? Why¡¯re you here?¡± ¡°¡­Kintoki¡­Why?¡± A quivering voice left the figure¡¯s lips, ¡°¡­After everything. After all I¡¯ve done for you¡­this is how you repay me?¡± Shakiness overtook Kintoki as he looked at his sword, finding blood staining its steel as he seemed disgusted by the sight of it now. ¡°No¡­I didn¡¯t¡ªI didn¡¯t¡­!¡± Kintoki stammered. Though Emilio had no clue who the person that the Unending Nightmare stole its current appearance from, it was clear that they bore some connection to his recently-foundpanion. Sumera seemed to have some insight as she hurried over, getting in front of Kintoki, who was frozen in disbelief, ¡°Get it together!¡± As Kintoki raised his gaze, the sight of the man familiar to him was twisted as the known face had lunged towards him with a dagger made of bone, only stopped by Emilio intercepting with his sword. ¡°Ngh¡­!¡± Emilio struggled. Even with his draconic constitution and reinforcement to boot, it felt as though as he was having to hold back a great beast, not a male of average build like he saw before him. ¡°Emilio¨C?¡± Kintoki said, finallying back into focus. ¡°Back? Then swing your sword!¡± Sumera shouted, aiding Emilio with an uprising of vines that attempted to ensnare the disemboweled, false human. Jumping back, the embodiment of fear relinquished his traumatic form as his skin melted into something anew, speaking with a distorted voice, ¡°¡­Aw, what a shame. So close¡­¡± Turning into the form of a seemingly innocent boy no older than nine, it feigned innocence with a gentle smile, though it only fooled thebatants for a second. As all threeunched their assault, Sumera leading with constricting vines that tried to ensnare the nightmare¡¯s smaller form, Emilio and Kintoki rushed in with their des honed towards the child. None of the Unending Nightmare¡¯s physical ability was diminished in its much less imposing shape as it moved swiftly, back pedaling and ducking past their uncoordinated sword swings. ¡°A no-go?¡± The blue-eyed child said with a smile. Blossoming in a horrific fashion was the sentience of the primordial horror, which now held the facade of a human unmistakably. As Emilio swung his sword, only hitting air through his rapid attacks, the small figure danced around the attacks, though was led directly into Kintoki¡¯s overhead swing. That¡¯s what we were nning all along! Emilio thought proudly. Though Kintoki had theplete ability to bring his giant de downward, he hesitated, gritting his teeth as his eyes met with the false child¡¯s, who simply stared up at him. ¡°Kintoki?!¡± Emilio let out. Sumera hardly seemed surprised as she shook her head, gripping her mystical staff, ¡°¡­He¡¯s always been too much of a softie for his own good. I¡¯ll do it!¡± Even with that resolve pinned, before Sumera could unleash her spell fully, the fake boy expanded as he reshaped like fleshy mold, taking the form of a genderless, adult human with translucent, unkempt hair before bashing his shoulder against Kintoki. ¡°Hey! What the¨Curgh!¡± Kintoki let out. Though it didn¡¯t do much to truly harm Kintoki, it did interrupt Sumera¡¯s intended strategy as Kintoki was knocked into her desired path. ¡°Tsk¡­dammit,¡± Sumera mumbled angrily. Pushing Kintoki aside, the colorless-haired, false human sprinted towards Sumera with frightening agility. Sumera gathered herself, not hesitating to unleash her magecraft, ¡°Belly of Snder!¡± The fire-based magecraft took the shape of an imprisoning cube of fire around the nightmare, trapping the genderless enigma as its skin began to bubble up from the temperature. ¡°Nice¡­!¡± Emilio said. ¡°No! It¡¯s¨C!¡± Before Sumera could finish, the translucent-haired malevolence opened its mouth, unleashing from its boundless innards a torrent of tendrils that resembled intestines, spewing out with such strength that they broke through the prison of fire. The experienced mage attempted to reroute a new spell, but the nightmare was too fast, weaving past an attempted strike from behind by Kintoki and evading an unrefined fireball from Emilio before reaching Sumera. The nightmare invoked a ¡®human¡¯ expression, a smile worn by amusement of its inflicted torment before it ensnared the woman in its mouth-born tentacles, mming her against a tree before plunging her into the ground. ¡°Sumera¨C!¡± Kintoki yelled. A gash opened on her head as blood trailed down the mage¡¯s forehead from the brutal assault, though before the nightmare could continue, Kintoki rushed in, cleaving through the wriggling tendrils in one go. Chapter 168 The Face of A Parent Swallowing the mutted limbs, the translucent-haired false humanoid held an uneven smile as if not knowing how to properly animate its face before mming his palms together. The gesture once more invoked a total shift in scenery as the rainforest decayed; grass dissipated to dust as trees rotted and leaves wilted, causing it to all be swept away by a breeze. ¡°Again¡­!?¡± Emilio said. He looked back, finding Melisande was still safe, having to keep herself tucked away from the nightmare¡¯s view. Kintoki was more focused on his strickenpanion, who he helped stand as Sumera held her head, groaning, ¡°¡­Did I hit my head too hard or is the realm changing again?¡± ¡°It¡¯s definitely changing,¡± Kintoki assured her. What reced the glimpse of nature was a vast tform of ivory material, suspended in the clouds that overlooked a deste world, taken by darkness. Once more, the form of the Unending Nightmare altered itself, losing its humanoid resemnce as theplexion of its skin became translucent, having glitter-like particles on its see-through skin as its colorful organs could be seen. ¡°Urg¡­¡± Emilio let out at the sight of the perplexing form of the entity. The clouds took the shape of smiling, human faces, etched with intricate detail despite being made of fluffy clouds, spectating as the nightmare took the initiative. ¡°¨CHere ites!¡± Kintoki said. Of course, the muscle-bound Braveheart was the first to jump back into the mix, getting between the boy and the mage woman in order to block the iing leap from the translucent nightmare. Though as Kintoki used the width of his de like a shield, expecting a physical blow, what came was a surprise as the nightmare instead held its palm forward, unleashing a shock wave of frost. ¡°Ghh¨C!¡± Kintoki winced. It caused the golden-eyed man to stumble back before ayer of ice began to grow on his skin, attempting to freeze him in ce as the nightmare sessfully subverted his guard, attempting to finish him with a quick stab of its fingers. ¡°Watch out!¡± A hefty amount of recklessness of his own was needed for Emilio to jump in front of the man, relying on his own swordy to repel the unhuman, formless entity as it warped its body like y to dodge the edge of his de. It seemed impossible to hit as when he went for a sh towards its side, it simplypressed its midriff, avoiding his sword altogether before countering with a wild thrust of its palm. ¡°¨C!¡± He prepared himself. To his surprise, it was a fakeout; the nightmare jumped right past him and instead threw its palm towards Kintoki, who barely deflected it with his sword. ¡°What¡¯s this thing¡¯s weakness?!¡± Sumera said, ¡°Roots of Nature!¡± Attempting to bind the entity with roots aimed around its ankles while it shed with Kintoki, Sumera¡¯s spell waspletely negated as though it caught onto the creature¡¯s ankles, it simply reshaped its feet momentarily to escape them. It seemed dead set on handling Kintoki first, which was a harrowing surprise to Emilio. Does it know Kintoki is the biggest threat? He thought. Just then, they all fell in shock as Melisande gasped as well, witnessing the nightmare contort its arm into a lengthy, whip-like extension, honing its own translucent skin into a fine edge before whipping it around, leaving an evisceration across the man¡¯s chest. ¡°Argh¡­!¡± Kintoki let out, being knocked back by the visceral blow. Blood sprayed out from the dreadful cut, resulting in Sumera desperately rushing over, lobbing wild, unrefined fireablls at the nightmare to force it back as she came to Kintoki¡¯s side. ¡°Kintoki! Kintoki, are you alright?!¡± Sumera asked. ¡°Ngh¡­¡± Kintoki winced, sweating. A quick look at the wound from Sumera¡¯s experienced eyes brought a miserable reality as she realized something: the wound was bleeding much more than it should, and even when she applied pressure to it, the bleeding only seemed to grow stronger as the fountain of warm, crimson liquid poured. He¡¯s going to bleed out at this rate¡­! Sumera realized. ¡°Emilio, forgive me but I¡¯ll need you to hold it off by yourself for a bit!¡± Sumera asked desperately, ¡°I need to tend to Kintoki¡¯s wound or he¡¯ll die! I wouldn¡¯t ask this of you, but¡­I don¡¯t have any other options!¡± Though it was seldom something he wanted to do¨Cface the nightmare alone, that is¨Che was able to deduce that this was probably the only possibility in which they could win, or at least not lose guaranteed. ¡­We need Kintoki. I guess I have to step up, he thought. ¡°Alright!¡± Emilio agreed. A surprised look came over the orange-haired woman¡¯s face for just a moment as it softened up from its usual tense, proud look as tears lined her eyes, ¡°¡­Thank you.¡± Just as Sumera began utilizing her healing magic on Kintoki, the translucent humanoid rushed over to try and halt the process, but was intercepted as Emilio dashed in with a burst of wind, cutting it off from its intended destination with a sh of his sword. ¡°Not happening!¡± Emilio yelled. Though a mistake was made in the heat of the moment: he identally looked into the empy eye sockets of the entity for not by a split-second. That stifling sensation like a jolt of electricity coursing through his body was felt as though it had peered directly into not just his mind, but the core of his soul. Again¡­?! Shit, what a newbie mistake! Hemented. Without fail, the Unending Nightmare began to change its shape again, though sticking to a humanoid form as it grew ck fabric around its body, honed into a light-green tunic with tactical gear. The familiarity of the figure brought pause to Emilio as he saw the sight of the man with shaggy, ck hair and a scruffy beard that was never properly shaven. It was more dreadful than ever when he saw that ck-and-silver broadsword in the figure¡¯s hand. ¡°Father¡­?¡± Emilio muttered in disbelief. It was unmistakably the form of Julius, utilizing the natural, stalwart stance of the Mountain God Style that he¡¯d suffered through experiencing time and time again through swordsmanship training. There was a natural hesitancy on two fronts; on one hand, he was nervous, knowing all too well what kind of skill and strength his father possessed, but more than that, having to face one bearing the face of his parent in a life-or-death battle was a challenge on its own. Of course, he knew it wasn¡¯t Julius, but that didn¡¯t stop the sight of his dearly missed parent from dulling his movements as the false Julius dashed towards him. Here ites! He thought. Already forced on the backfoot, he held his de up, blocking the overhead strike that mmed down, silver-to-silver. The amount of force behind the blow surprised him as he felt it ring through his bones like the chime of a bell. This strength¡­! He thought. Still, he gritted his teeth and honed his reinforcement, bolstering his physical capabilities as he managed to repel the false Julius¡¯ attack, stepping in as he went for a counterattack. ¡°Good job, Emilio.¡± Said with a warm smile across his lips, thepliment left the false father¡¯s mouth as Emilio was midway through a swing towards his neck. For just a moment, the ck sclera possessed by the nightmare using the face of his father had changed to a normal white, bearing an unmistakable resemnce to his father more than ever. Huh? He paused. The parental patronage he yearned for, and the parent he missed spoke to him with the same level of affection the original Julius had, causing him to hesitate for a moment. ¡°Emilio! No! Don¡¯t fall for it!¡± Melisande yelled out. Though Melisande didn¡¯t fullyprehend who it was that Emilio was facing off against, she could at least deduce that it was somebody the boy knew by the look in his eyes. The warning from Melisande snapped him back into focus, but it was toote to follow through on his attack as a swift, but heavy blow came his way in the form of the Mountain God Style. ¡°Valley Carver.¡± It was a sword technique he recognized; a horizontal sh meant to bisect foe¡¯s even dressed in heavy armor. Knowing the power behind such an attack, he knew it wasn¡¯t something he could risk blocking directly. With a burst of wind, he unelegantly knocked himself to the side, avoiding the powerful blow as the wind pressure from the false Julius¡¯ de cut straight into the tform. ¡­I hate to admit it, but it¡¯s copied him perfectly. I can tell; Father, you never missed an opportunity to try and drill swordsmanship into my body, he thought, no matter how inept I was for it at times, no matter how much Iined¡­You didn¡¯t give up on me. That¡¯s what I needed as ¡®Ethan¡¯¨CI needed somebody to push me; force me further even if it killed me. Bringing himself to his feet, held his sword up, this time copying the impervious stance of the Mountain God Style, keeping his feet spread apart and his stance broad, holding his sword at a diagonal angle, ready to adapt to whatever came. Maybe it¡¯s fate, but I¡¯ve found the perfect catalyst to hone what you taught me, Father, he thought. Chapter 169 The Mountain God Style Maybe it¡¯s fate, but I¡¯ve found the perfect catalyst to hone what you taught me, Father, he thought. This realization came to his mind as he squared off against the nightmare bearing the appearance of his father; the exact replication of the Mountain God Style along with the mannerisms of his parent was almost a benefit for him. He knew them well, and with his body that had undergone physical changes, he was ready to finally inherit those skills. ¨C While the sh between ¡®false¡¯ father and son came to its next stage, Sumera struggled to absolve the wound on Kintoki¡¯s chest. ¡°Come on, you big oaf¡­¡± Sumera said with tears in her eyes, ¡°You aren¡¯t dying like this. Not from a small cut; it was your dream to eat in everynd, wasn¡¯t it? Even in the demon continent, even among elves¡­It¡¯s your dream to experience all of it, right? What good is it if you die here?¡± Though she tried to appeal to him, the words of the scarlet-eyed woman didn¡¯t reach the man, who was unconscious, stained in his own arterial fluid. ¡°I know what that dream really is, even if you try to hide that gentle side of yourself¡­You know I¡¯m a demon; you¡¯ve seen how I¡¯m ridiculed¡­how people look at me. That¡¯s why I hide my horns under my mat,¡± Sumera said, reaching up as she removed therge wizard hat from atop her head, revealing a pair of onyx horns, ¡°¡­But, not anymore. It¡¯s your dream to wash away the animosity between species in this world. More than anything, a man too kind for his own good like yourself hates unfairness.¡± As much as she poured her true feelings into her words, it didn¡¯t bolster her healing proficiency as the verdant glow of the rejuvenating magecraft flickered, beginning to falter as she strained herself to continue. Please, Kintoki¡­I can¡¯t do this alone, Sumera pleaded. There were hard set limits on mages; mana was the most clear point of limitation. As much as she tried, she couldn¡¯t ovee her natural barriers as her mana fizzled away. Just as the spell began to dissipate, causing what progress was made on stifling the bleeding toe undone, Sumera found the silver-haired girl arriving by her side. ¡°Melisande, was it¡­? What¡¯re you doing? You need to stay back from this battle¨C¡± ¡°Let me help,¡± Melisande offered, extending her hand. Though she wanted to remain strict with not letting a young girl like Melisande get intertwined in the conflict, Sumera was desperate, quickly understanding just what it was that the emerald-eyed girl was offering. ¡°¡­Thank you,¡± Sumera epted, gently holding her hand. Melisande smiled warmly, ¡°It¡¯s all I can do right now, so take as much as you need.¡± This time, with a new source of rich mana, Sumera manifested ¡®Healing¡¯ once again, this time with surprising potency as the verdant light softly enveloped the space. Sumera was surprised by the efficiency this time, and not just the quantity of mana. This girl¡­she possessed extraordinary potent mana, Sumera thought. ¨C In order to keep the recovery of Kintoki steady, Emilio shed against the spitting image of his father. He was able to read the technique that was going to be used by the Unending Nightmare as he watched the familiar figure dashed to him. He¡¯s going for an overhead sh again! I¡¯ll brace myself and focus my reinforcement in my legs and shoulders! He nned. Furthering his own mastery of reinforcement, he bolstered himself just in time as he felt the timing of his father¡¯s attacks ingrained in his body through years of grueling training, swinging his de upward just before the false Julius attacked. It was as he predicted; an overhead sh meant for shing even through the sturdiest helms. A perfect parry; Emilio managed to deflect the attack with a technique taught to him by his father, but only just nowing into use through his furthered skills: ¡°Steady Verdant.¡± It was the first time such a result ever came from a sh with his father, even if it was merely an entity posing as his parent, it was by all means a defining achievement to the young man as he found himself smiling amidst the dreadful situation. Though he wanted to let out a triumphant yell from the deepest depths of his being, there was no time as the false Julius was quick to rebound from being knocked off bnce by the counter, going in for another strike. I can¡¯t let up for a second. Full-throttle; give it everything you¡¯ve got, he thought to himself. With that in mind, what came next was seamless, almost natural to his innermost intentions as his heart thumped in his chest, releasing the inherited blood of the Dragonheart through his veins as his eyes shifted, intenisying. [Dragonheart System Awakened] [Current Stage: 2/10 | Dragon Son] The two shed steel-to-steel as sparks danced in the air. With the increased physical abilities granted by the Dragonheart System, he wasn¡¯t shaken to the bone this time by the imposing strength that belonged to his familiar foe. Remain as stalwart as a mountain! He reminded himself. nting his feet down firmly, he went for a powerful sh utilizing the fundamentals of the Mountain God Style that prioritized a strong stance and unsh, but powerful blows. Even as the ck-eyed, false replica of his father guarded the blow with his own de, it caused the nightmare¡¯s boots to slide back against the tform a good meter. There was a slight look of surprise on the silent nightmare¡¯s scruffy face as though not expecting what had just happened. Capitalizing on the opening, he dashed forward, utilizing the signature move of his father before the nightmare could replicate the defensive techniques of the Mountain God Style. ¡°Valley Carver.¡± It was something he failed to ever use effectively years ago as hecked the proper body to unleash such hefty blows, but this time as he dragged the de bestowed to him as a gift by his parents through the air, he felt strength coursing through his veins before rending the false flesh of his opponent. ck blood squirted from the wound etched across the being¡¯s torso, leaving it stunned further by this unounted for possibility. Emilio looked forward towards the entity with resolve embedded in his sharp, amethyst eyes, ¡°Not ording to n, is it? You looked into my own memories, seeing that I always failed to match Father, didn¡¯t you? I bet you¡¯re reeling from that one right about now.¡± Again, by ident, his eyes met with the nightmare¡¯s own, though it was odd to be punished for looking into the eyes of his father, even be it a mere copy. That same jolt happened as his memories were scanned in a heartbeat, allowing the nightmare to mend its own flesh before shifting its stance. Before he could discern the change that overcame the nightmare version of his father, he found himself having to backpedal as the false Julius closed in on him within the blink of an eye. ¡°Ghh!¡± He let out in shock. Going on theplete defensive, he had to focus entirely on watching the sword of his opponent blur through the air, using everything he had to block each strike as both speed and power was honed to a further level. That¡­It read further into my mind? This isn¡¯t the way Father sparred against me; did it read my memories of his fight against the Chaos God Style swordsman?! He realized. There was something deeply bleak about being attacked with such honed bloodlust by one bearing the appearance of a parent; it was a feeling as if your very existence was being rejected, fighting your own creator. Though such feelings were knowingly unced as he steeled himself, making up for the gap in swordy by using a sudden bludgeon of water to crash into the side of the false Julius, knocking him away and disrupting his bnce with the flow of mystical aqua. That¡¯s right! Even if I¡¯m not the best at swordy, I can make up for it with my magic! He thought. It wasn¡¯t so simple, though; the Ten Divine Styles of swordy weren¡¯t just to counter other swordsmen, but tobat magic as well. This much was disyed as the false Julius struck the fake manifestation of his sword down, invoking a strong propulsion of physical force that dispelled the binding water. Crap! He thought. Again, he found himself having to extend himself to the fullest just to keep up, shing des repeatedly through swings that felt as though they were going to tear his arms off through the strain required. As another sh came his way, he was outmaneuvered as the steel wielded by the entity wearing the appearance of his father broke through his guard, leaving a sh across his side. ¡°Ngh!¡± He winced. Blood dripped from the fresh wound, bubbling up with a warm, stinging sensation that was quickly dulled by his own adrenaline as he gripped his de tightly with both hands, responding in kind as he didn¡¯t shy away now. As stalwart¡­as a mountain! He reminded himself. This time, he bathed his steel in the azure mes inherent to his draconic blood, fueling his swing with the exuberant heat before sending the condensed ze straight against the Unending Nightmare. The bright-blue mes enveloped the false Julius, swirling around him as the mystical heat shrouded the figure in a violent essence, burning away his form and turning it to darkness. I did it, Father, he thought, holding his shed side. Chapter 170 Unstoppable Fear I did it, Father, he thought, holding his shed side. Still, he knew it wasn¡¯t over¨Cnot by a long shot as the Unending Nightmare borrowed another form, expanding its gunky essence in order to rid itself of the mes before redefining the shape and size of its limbs into another figure. It was an appearance that made him shiver as memories he¡¯d rather not remember came to be recalled; unkempt, ginger hair and a verdant cloak like a ranger, a youthful glow that would be mistaken as benevolent, though that smile he held was a fragile facade when seeing that star-shaped iris and jester tattoo on his right hand. ¡°¡­Rubert¡­¡± He recalled. The ¡®Chaos God Style¡¯ user that was beyond simply malice; a force of evil that felt inhuman, yet he unmistakably was, however, this time, there was no doubt that he faced a monstrous entity. I can do this. I¡¯m stronger now, he thought. ¨CIn an instant, the Unending Nightmare boring Rubert¡¯s likeness disappeared with untraceable speed, causing Emilio to pause for a moment before a cold breeze swept across his left side, making him spin around to that direction before blocking instinctively. ¡°¨C!¡± Emilio watched in surprise. He managed to react by pure reflex as the silver sword of the false Rubert¡¯s shed against his own with sparks dancing in the air, lightening up the jester¡¯s smile. The air subtly howled around the false Rubert before he vanished again with silence in his step like a feline, forcing Emilio to spin around to find the swift swordsman. Behind! He realized. Spinning around, he managed to duck down while countering at the same time, dragging the sharp edge of his de across the false Rubert¡¯s stomach. It was somewhat surprising to him, but it put into perspective in that moment how he¡¯d grown. Still, a simple disembowelment that would kill a normal man was hardly a scratch for the primordial avatar of fear. I can feel it¡­every bit of damage inflicted, it¡¯s mana dwindles¨Cit¡¯s a small amount, but it¡¯s something. We can win, he thought. As he turned to face it once more, he found its stomach mending itself as half of its head altered its appearance, manifesting a familiar, ck-steel de in its other hand. Half of its head of hair was ginger, and the other was jet-ck; one hazel eye and one with a cross-shaped pupil. ¡°What¡­?¡± Emilio let out. It was a horrific development; a half-and-half,bination form taken by the Unending Nightmare who dual-wielded des, equipping two styles. ¡°Mountain God Style (Julius Dragonheart) plus Chaos God Style (Rubert)¡­I¡¯d say thisbination is something intriguing,¡± the Unending Nightmare spoke with his half-and-half face. Such a unison simply went against what should be possible, yet it was unmistakably the truth when wielded in the hands of the nightmare that could reshape reality to its whim, bringing the internal fears of those around into reality. As he nced back, he became fully aware he was still in this alone for the moment; Sumera and Melisande were working together to close the nasty wound inflicted on Kintoki, which reminded him of the sh on his side. It doesn¡¯t seem to be affecting me as badly. I¡¯ve been focusing a concentration of healing magic on it, though¨Cit¡¯s not closed yet, but the bleeding is slowed, he thought. Due to the benefits of his Dragonheart System, it wasn¡¯t just his physical prowess that was enhanced, but his magical abilities as well, allowing for such feats. Though he was forced to continue fighting with the open wound as the amalgamation of Julius and Rubertunched towards him. ¡°¨C!¡± The agility possessed by the pussyfooted swordsman was always surprising, more so when he used the air itself as a tform tounch towards Emilio like a projectile, shing both des towards him. He managed to duck down, narrowly avoiding having his head lobbed off his shoulder as he attempted to counter with a sh across the gut, but the amalgamation of swordsmen simply bounced off an unseen tform again to avoid his de. As he looked up around, he found the scenery shifting again as the tform expanded swiftly to a field of boundless, pale-blue grass under a night sky, surrounded by vacant mountains in a lonesome valley. Sumera and the other two were still there, though noticeably confused. Alright, they¡¯re still good, he thought. Though he had to worry about himself as his instincts fired off from his draconic senses, prompting him to jump to the side just as one of the swords wielded by the amalgamate nightmare was thrown like a spear towards him. Mountain God Style?! He discerned. It wasn¡¯t just that; the orange-and-ck haired inhuman dashed in, catching the tossed de by the handle right between his teeth while wielding the other sword between the back of one of his knees. This was the embodiment of the ¡®Chaos God Style¡¯; an art of swordy shunned for its unequivocal absurdity, yet its effectiveness in it. The user of the fused Divine Styles bobbed his head as he struck with the sword in his mouth, forcing Emilio on the backfoot as he guarded to the best of his ability, though was taken by surprise once the nightmarish swordsman flipped around, leaving a cut on his left leg from the sword wielded between his knees. ¡°Gah-!¡± Emilio let out in pain. As he winced, he pushed through the pain and held his hand out, unleashing a wave of azure mes in the direction of the unorthodox foe, only for the entity to swiftly leap from the reach of the inferno by his mysterious air steps. He¡¯s too fast now¡­! He thought. The dual-wielder of his fears sprung downwards with both des readied, spinning towards him with a twisted smile. Just unleash it! He told himself. In preparation, he unleashed the draconic mes from his position, igniting the heat from the pits of his stomach before unleashing a massive propulsion of the ze upwards in a bright-blue sh of burning light. The nearby grass was turned ck, burning to cinder from the residual heat before the heat swallowed the midair figure, enveloping him in the draconic mes. Yes! I got him! He thought. Though as he felt triumphant for just a moment, his internal fears came to pass as even as the azure glow faded, the figure still descended with more than half of its body burnt to a char, yet still smiling and dual-wielding its swords with strands of ck-and-orange hair swaying. ¡°Show me more of your deepest fears!¡± The amalgamation of swordsmen yelled. Just before the figure could descend on him, he swiftly cast a counterspell: ¡°Dragon Hurricane!¡± The dragons forged of mystical water sprouted from the air around him, roaring out and closing in on the charred figure. ¡°Ha-ha-ha!¡± The Unending Nightmareughed as it bounced around on its unseen tforms, now summoning a mystical element of its own as ck blood poured from its body, shaping around its des like a malignant element before shing through the water dragons. Still, this is what Emilio had nned as he witnessed the figure close in from above. It was only when faced with the spitting image of his father, pushed into a corner, that he was able to evolve, refining what was taught and deeply ingrained in him. He embodied the image of his father, bolstering himself as he raised his beloved sword to the sky before stomping down as hit boot broke through the ground below, unleashing a picture-perfect overhead strike just as the falsebination of his father and Rubert came within reach¨C ¡°Mountain God Style: The Vale.¡± It wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d be able to replicate normally, but with the heightened physical prowess of his Dragonheart System, he was able to mimic the technique as a wind pressure was unleashed from the strength and refinement of the clean strike. You may be able to mimic him, but you¡¯re not my father, he thought, the Mountain God Style is a way of thinking¡­You can¡¯t replicate it just by swinging your sword the same way. Through the soil it carved, burrowing forward before leaving a perfect slice straight down the middle of the entity, splitting it into perfect halves as the essence of the ¡®Mountain God Style¡¯ was separated from the ¡®Chaos God Style.¡¯ ¡°¡­I did it¡­¡± He exhaled, sweating from the strain. [Level Up!] [Level Fifteen Achieved.] [¡°Scale Armor¡± Acquired. ¡°Dragon Strike¡± Acquired.] A level up was more than wee as it recovered a good portion of his lost mana, but still couldn¡¯tpletely absolve him of his tired body. Scale Armor and Dragon Strike, huh? He remarked. The immacte bisection caused the entity to fall into two halves behind him as he slowly turned around, expecting a conclusion to this mess. Though, of course, no such respite was found as the two halves got up separately. It didn¡¯t stop there. dding itself in pitch-ck armor that was unrefined, spiky, and malignant in nature, the Unending Nightmare¡¯s stature increased before it split into more parts. There were a half dozen of the abyssal-armored knights, wielding massive greatswords that resembled the fangs of great beasts. The sky wentpletely ck as if ¡®shutting off¡¯, leaving the grass to turn to a pale gray as all hope was siphoned from the alternate realm belonging to the entity. What is this¡­? You¡¯ve got to be kidding? He thought. Three of the figures surrounded the exhausted young man while the other three surrounded Sumera, Kintoki, and Melisande. Chapter 171 Deathly Miasma ¡°Sumera! Melisande!¡± He yelled out. Though he tried to break through to help them, he was shoved back by one of the Unending Nightmare¡¯s avatars. Shit! He thought. It was the worst-case scenario; he could sense it¨Cthese nightmarish knights, looking as if they crawled from the depths of a void, were powerful, oozing off an abyssal aura from their form. Still, he was prepared to fight, raising his sword again as the deathly sentinels closed in. ¡°I¡¯m not done yet¡­I can still¨C¡± Before he finished, the sound of a door opening sounded out, forcing him to look up, along with even the Unending Nightmare¡¯s split forms as it seemed ignorant to what just happened. ¡°¡­That meddling jester¡­¡± ¡°¡­Trespassing my realm¡­¡± ¡°¡­I shall confront himter¡­¡± ¡°¡­For now¡­¡± ¡°¡­We feast¡­¡± ¨CFinishing each other¡¯s words, the separated forms of the Unending Nightmare spoke in a distorted tone as if the words were gargled from their throats. ¡°Finally! Looks like we made it to the party!¡± A familiar voice called out from above as two figures dropped from a wooden door that manifested in the sky above. ¡°I¡¯d hesitate to call this a party. Either way, you¡¯re right¨Cwe made it.¡± The enthusiastic voice was unmistakable to Emilio, and cemented as he saw both of the figures drop onto the ground in fresh form. ¡°Vandread! Roan! You¡¯re both okay!¡± Emilio called out in relief. The dark-skinned man seemed surprised to see the boy, but showed his own relief in the softening of his gaze. ¡°Emilio, I¨C¡± Vandread began to say before stopping himself. In the man¡¯s mind, he wanted to reprimand the boy for disobeying his orders, but in this moment, seeing him wounded, but still fighting on and surviving, he simply felt proud. ¡°¡­You did good,¡± Vandread told him. Emilio had to stop himself from crying just hearing such praise, but sniffled as heposed himself, ¡°That¡¯s right!¨CThis thing can manifest your fears and change its form! Watch out¨Ctry not to look in its eyes!¡± ¡°Got it,¡± Vandread said. ¡°Gotcha,¡± Roan added. The sentinels dressed in ck armor approached Sumera, attempting to interrupt the healing process with an abrasive strike, though were stopped by a sh of red sparks shooting by. The red-haired adventurer swooped in, repelling the entities with strands of his scarlet electricity. Red lightning¡­? Could it be? Sumera deduced. ¡°You¡­! You¡¯re Roan, aren¡¯t you?¡± Sumera recognized. Roan looked back with a smile, ¡°Guess I¡¯m famous. Just leave it to me; focus on getting the big guy there back in fighting shape.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Sumera nodded. Meanwhile, as Emilio found himself cornered, he prepared himself to sh with the centermost of the abyssal knights, only to find himself saved from facing that one as something struck it in the back of its head. As it dropped forward, turning to ck gunk, Vandread appeared, standing back-to-back with him. ¡°Looks like you¡¯ve improved,¡± Vandread remarked. ¡°Just a bit,¡± Emilio replied. Though what Vandread thought was much more than the simple words he gave, though he wasn¡¯t one to speak outwardly of his thoughts. If only Julius could see right now how his son has grown in such a short time, Vandread thought. Without a word needing to be said, they both fought alongside one another as the abyssal knights carved from nightmares attacked. Vandread took two on at once, though he was forced on the backfoot, having to weave through theirbined assault with his remarkable swiftness. Even still, it was arduous even for the seasoned adventurer as the ck-d sentinels wielded a mystical force, allowing the one with a single horn on its helm and a silver glow in the grooves of its armor to conjure ck ice that sprouted from the ground like spikes, stabbing into Vandread¡¯s foot. ¡°¨C¡± Vandread didn¡¯t react to the pain, jumping back. Just as he did, the other of the sentinels followed through, having two horns and a slimmer build, instead having a yellow luminescence between its armor, shing his de towards the dark-skinned man. Though Vandread managed to stay out of reach of the sharp steel, contorted skulls manifested from dark energyunched towards him, biting into his shoulder and leg before knocking him back. ¡°Tsk¡­¡± Vandread clicked his tongue as his wounds mended themselves. More trouble than I thought. So this is the Unending Nightmare, huh? Vandread thought. ¨C Emilio faced trouble himself as he had already relinquished his Dragonheart form through exhaustion, being ced on the defensive as he had to jump back just to not be caught beneath the being¡¯s strikes. There was an unnatural ability possessed by the sentinel with three horns on its helm; it moved with almost a ¡®blinking¡¯ swiftness, moving without stepping, leaving afterimages before following with gargantuan blows that sank into the deathly soil. It took everything he had just to dodge, having to repeatedly manipte the flow of air around him and his opponent, as well as having to conjure walls of rock to momentarily halt his foe. One hit from that and I¡¯m dead¡­! Emilio thought. ¡°We are Knightmare,¡± the entity spoke to him, shing des against him. There was quite an amount of strength stemming from the being dressed in spiky, barbed armor, watching him through a shadowy helm that continuously altered its face into different shapes. ¡°Didn¡¯t ask¨C!¡± Mostly out of instinct, he countered with an unexpected switch into martial arts, rather than dework as he stepped forward, focusing an innate strength into his knuckles. It was something etched into his mind and soul as if it was always there: the knowledge on how to conjure the draconic force within him. As he shot his fist forward, sinking it into the gut of the Knightmare, unleashing a brief sh of azure light before causing the air to howl, sending the Knightmare flying back several meters. This was¨C ¡°Dragon Strike.¡± Woah, he thought. He looked at his fist in surprise as residual steam emitted from his knuckles, surprised at the potency of the new ability. It definitely used a chunk of mana, though it was a reasonable amount considering the result. Though as he was caught in curiosity with this new skill, he was taken by surprise as the three-horned Knightmare of ck and glowing, verdant armor flickered over with its unnatural, horrific speed, causing him to flinch as he raised his arms in a guard. Of course, this was the wrong move as he should¡¯ve blocked with his sword, however¨C As the heavy de mmed against his forearms, he was surprised to find they weren¡¯t cut off immediately. There was only a partial cut left on his limbs, only skin deep, which left him dumbfound. His instincts saved him as the other unlocked ability manifested itself: ¡°Scale Armor.¡± There were azure scales on his forearms that had protected him from the attack, though they shattered immediately as the Knightmare withdrew its de. ¡°Hm,¡± the Knightmare simply raised its sword again. This time, he had the proper capabilities to dodge as he jumped back just as the heavy de of darkness crashed into the ground. As he looked up, he found the form of the Knightmare momentarily altering as its helm morphed into an animated skull, gued with wriggling worms before a breath of miasma exuded from its maw. ¡°¡ª!?¡± It was a ck gue that was breathed out by the Knightmare¡¯s pestilential head that morphed back to its enigmatic helm. The dark essence, bearing unknown curses and diseases hung around the figure, keeping Emilio a safe distance away, I can¡¯t breathe that in. No way, he thought. He was forced to keep backpedaling as the Knightmare marched towards him, dragging the winds of gue with it. The fact that it was clearly visible proved to be a double-edged sword; it meant he could actively avoid its range, but it also seemed to spell of its potency that the miasma was able to be seen. Though with the Knightmare approaching, he knew he¡¯d have to think of a countermeasure for the miasma in the inevitable confrontation. With that, he drew his catalyst, holding it forward as he summoned a mighty conjuration of wind. I¡¯ll dispel it and send it away! He resolved. Though he found himself to be utterly mistaken as the moment he summoned the wind around himself before pushing it outward, the ominous gue overtook his own mystical wind, extending itself aggressively like a disease to the air. ¡°¨C?!¡± What?!¡­It¡¯s a trap for wind users?! He realized. He was enveloped in the miasma, dropping to his knees as he clutched at his own throat, heaving and gasping for air as the gue set in immediately. There was no amount of magical reinforcement or self-healing that could counteract the primordial entity¡¯s miasma. What is this? I can¡¯t breathe. Everything hurts. It burns. It itches. It hurts, he thought. All he could do was hyperventte, almost wing at his own throat as it became as dry as a desert; hisplexion began to pale as sweat left his pores with an immense fever setting in. Vandread noticed this amidst his own fight, yelling out, ¡°Emilio¨C!¡± Though he tried, pushing himself to his utmost, it was improbable for Vandread to break through both of the Knightmares as they seemed to be intentionally holding him off from Emilio. ¡°Shit!¡­Out of my way!¡± Vandread yelled, shing de-to-de with both Knigthmares while avoiding thebination of ck ice and howling skulls. Chapter 172 The Torch of The Immortal Emilio found his consciousness flickering, as if encumbered by a weight too much for his mind to handle; the pain was too much to focus on as he held his own throat, gasping for air as his lungs seemed to be shutting down. ck spots appeared as blots on his paleplexion with the hellish gue destroying his body at a cellr level. ¡­Is it happening like this? My second life, ending before I even got to see the world. There¡¯s still so much I want to do¡­Why is life unfair like this? Even in my reincarnation¡­I still fall behind the rest. As these thoughts flooded his mind with his eyelids growing heavy, he could only watch through brief glimpses through his flickering eyelids as the Knightmare responsible for his condition approached with its sword in hand. Sorry, it seems I left for nothing¡­He thought. Just as the de hovered over his head, being dragged down¨CCLANG. Suddenly standing between him and the Knightmare was a muscr, tall figure with prominent, ck hair with silver streaks running through his locks. Kintoki¡­? He thought. Though as he tried to speak through his tightened throat, all that came out was: ¡°¡­Khh¡­?¡± Still, Kintoki seemed to understand well as he repelled the Knightmare, drenched in sweat of his own as he was clearly straining himself, ¡°I¡¯m here, my friend!¡± There was a genuineness to the way Kintoki held himself and approached others; the wound the man bore had not fully healed, though it was ¡®good¡¯ enough as deemed by Kintoki as only a slight trail of blood leaked from his chest. Sumera didn¡¯t seem to give him the go-ahead for his reckless jump into action, but she epted it with a sigh, though was unable to stand to her feet as she tried. ¡°Ghh¡­¡± Sumera exhaled, holding her head. Melisande helped her stand, ¡°Are you okay? You used a lot of mana helping him, didn¡¯t you? You should stay put¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re one to talk¡­I took a heaping amount of mana from you, and you hardly seem phased. Anyway, aren¡¯t you worried? That boy¡­he¡¯s in grave danger right now,¡± Sumera asked. ¡°I am, but¡­all we can do now is trust in them,¡± Melisande answered. Stillbating the three Knightmares alone, though it was just down to two now, Roan evaded tendrils of darkness that sprouted from a four-horned sentinel, zipping by in his lighting form before countering with a powerful blow to its chest, breaking through and sending a discharge powerful enough to blow it to smithereens. ¡°Two down,¡± Roan said, turning to face thest. ¡ª Kintoki was desperate, not for his own safety but for the boy he already saw as a true friend andrade despite their minuscule tenure knowing one another. It may be a simple mindset, but that was simply the way the man behaved; carried by the wind in whichever direction life took him, and loyal to a fault to those he respected. He shed swords against the Knigthmare, summoning his innate strength as he swiftly spun his wide de around, repelling the fiendish entity. ¡°Just hold on, my friend! I¡¯m not letting you die here!¡± Kintoki promised. Though such words seemed hardly of substance to Emilio as he was keeled over on the ground, struggling just for the faintest scraps of oxygen as his lungs ached and his throat tightened. He managed to roll over into his back, looking up towards the void above as he felt his consciousness being held on by only a withering string. I get what you meant now, Joel. If I¡¯m going to die¡­I¡¯d at least like to go out seeing the stars again, he thought. In the state he was in, he didn¡¯t register the fact that Sumera and Melisande hade to his side, but by now, his own hearing was absent as he could see Melisande calling out to him with tears strolling down her cheeks. Do I look that bad¡­? Sorry, didn¡¯t mean to make you cry, he thought. It was painful just to remain conscious; he wanted to just close his eyes and sleep, especially with how exhausted he felt. Yet, when he saw the silver-haired girl crying for him, he felt embers slowly reigniting in him as if thest sparks of life, of his will, burned once more with that simple catalyst. He felt her tears drop onto his cheek, though he was paralyzed by the sickness at this point, only able toy there and breathe inadequate air, he tried his best. Steady your breathing. Don¡¯t give in. Be¡­as stalwart as a mountain, he told himself. Still, sheer willpower wasn¡¯t enough even as Sumera pushed herself past her limits to try and heal his mystical illness, he felt his consciousness fading against his will. ¨C ¡°¡­Ngh¡­It¡¯s not working!¡± Sumera said, gritting her teeth as she focused her recovery magecraft. Melisande extended her hand to the adventurer, ¡°Use my mana, too!¡± ¡°But, you¡¯ll¨C¡± ¡°Please!¡± Melisande insisted. There was no choice for Sumera but to ept as she took Melisande¡¯s hand, using both of their mana to further the healing spell, though even with thatbination, it was a fruitless endeavor. Kintoki pushed himself to his limits,bating the Knightmare with his worn body, though stalling was good enough for him. I¡¯ll hold you here until he¡¯s back up!¡­That¡¯s all I need to do! I can do that much, can¡¯t I?! Kintoki thought. ¨C Just as Sumera caught her breath, about to go in for another attempt at healing, she was stopped¨C ¡°That won¡¯t work.¡± Walking in, covered in blood both his and not, the dark-skinned, tinum-eyed man left a pair of Knightmare bodies behind, limping over before his body mended itself with ck threads. Sumera witnessed the act that defied the natural limitations of mortals, ¡°¡­I have to try.¡± ¡°It¡¯s pointless,¡± Vandreas assured her. Melisande seemed on the brink of breaking down when hearing those cold words, and Kintoki only seemed to push himself harder, angered by hearing such pessimism as he took it out on the Knightmare. Still, Sumera retorted, ¡°Do you have a better idea, then¨C!?¡± ¡°I do,¡± Vandread calmly answered. It was a surprising response as Sumera went quiet, watching the immortal man kneel at Emilio¡¯s side. There was a mncholic look present in the jaded man¡¯s eyes as he looked down at the boy, holding a faint smile as he ced his hand beneath Emilio¡¯s head. The boy¡¯s breaths were as faint as a whisper though he was trying his hardest to bring in deep, fulfilling breaths that his body simply refused to take in. ¡°What¡¯re you nning to do?¡­¡± Sumera asked, seeming to have guesses of her own already. Vandread replied without looking at her, ¡°Something that I¡¯ll need you to assure this brat was a choice I was willing to make.¡± From that much, the woman, experienced in the ways of the world, could deduce what the man was nning to do. Melisande didn¡¯t seem as privy to this unspoken n as she watched, hoping just for whatever the man was nning to do to save the boy. Vandread inhaled slowly before breathing out, holding a single de in his hand, ¡°This isn¡¯t going to be pretty. Cover the little miss¡¯ eyes for me, would you?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Sumera said, turning to Melisande as she held her close, hiding her face in her chest. ¡°Sumera¡­?¡± Melisande said. ¡°Emilio is going to be okay,¡± Sumera assured her. Though she didn¡¯t know the details, Melisande was able to pick up that whatever the process was for the recovery of Emilio wasn¡¯t something free of cost, but she nodded slowly, closing her eyes. Vandread sat there for a moment on his knees amidst the darkness, not flinching as a scarlet strand of electricity appeared behind him before Roan conjured fully. ¡°It¡¯se to that?¡± Roan asked without any semnce of jest in his tone. ¡°It has,¡± Vandread replied, looking down at Emilio, who already fell unconscious. Roan had a look ofment in his eyes, ¡°I¡¯ll keep ¡¯em busy then.¡± The Knigthmares were rebuilding, altering and seeming to adapt their forms as they rebuilt themselves, though seeming to be worn down somewhat. ¡°Thanks,¡± Vandread said. Just like that, Roan was gone, taking on the five returned Knightmares alone, leaving Vandread open to do what he nned. The scar-covered man raised his de, flipping it around as he aimed the tip towards his own chest. Never thought I¡¯d be doing the same thing you did, Victor, Vandread thought, isn¡¯t it funny how things work? I wonder what Julius would say right now. Would he be mad at himself? Probably. He¡¯s always been irrational. I was always the rational one¡­that¡¯s why I know what I have to do. Without any hesitation and restraint for his own wellbeing, he plunged the de into his own chest, spitting out blood before pulling it downward as his flesh squelched. Dropping his soaked de, he didn¡¯t waste any time plunging his own hand into his chest, searching for his heart as he knew well that time was limited. ¡°¡­Ngh¡­¡± With a tug that caused Sumera to close her eyes just from imagining the painful process, Vandread plucked his own, still beating heart from his chest. As he held it in his hand, he could already feel his strength leaving his body, prompting him to act with the usual pragmatic nature of his as he crushed it without wasting a moment. ¡°Rrgh¡­!¡± For the first time in over a decade, Vandread felt true pain surge throughout his body as he willingly parted with the Undying Blood, feeling it unravel itself through his body. As he let it pour onto Emilio¡¯s lips, letting the ck blood that carried the undying essence slip into his system, he then fell down with his body shutting down quicker than expected. ¡°¡­I guess the deed is done, then¡­¡± Vandread mumbled, looking towards the ck sky. Turning his head to the side, he looked at the boy whoid beside him, hearing his breathing steadily climb to a stable rhythm as the undying blood activated immediately, mending his body andbating the gue. Seeing the boy, a part of him regretted not taking the time to share nicer moments with him, though Vandread found himself amused by the fact even somebody as cold as him experienced such tender thoughts. I wonder why I¡¯m just now remembering what you told me that day, Victor, Vandread thought, You told me¡­there¡¯de a time when I¡¯d realize this ¡®curse¡¯ is a blessing. I think I get it now¡­Is this what you meant? As he came to realize this with his body relinquishing thest embers of its strength, he weekly extended his hand, brushing his fingers through the boy¡¯s blonde-and-ck hair just once as a genuine smile was etched across his lips. It was with that expression of satisfaction in his final act that the once immortal man closed his eyes for thest time. ¡°Emilio, you¡¯ve got it from here.¡± Chapter 173 New Blood The moment the final remnants of life left Vandread, the boy¡¯s eyes shot open as he exhaled sharply, sitting up in a jarring fashion as he clutched his chest. What happened? I¡¯m alive¨Cwhat is this feeling? My body¡­I feel¡­perfect? There¡¯s no pain¨Cnothing, he questioned. Patting his own body, he realized even the injuries he endured in the battle were gone, witnessing a small, ck thread finish closing one suchceration as a harrowing realization came to his mind. Sumera called out to him as Melisande embraced him, but his mind was wandering to what his main theory was for the unrecognized feeling within his body. Slowly looking to the side, he found the answer for himself, seeing the man he once thought as cold and heartless,ying by his side, lifeless but with a smile of unmistakable happiness worn. ¡°¡­Vandread¡­Why?¡± He asked, choked up as reality set in. It was simply unreasonable to him; none of it made sense. To him, there was no way the ultimate act of selflessness woulde from that man, but as he sat there, seeing that final smile, he found himself epting that kindness was there all along. I¡¯m¡­not somebody worth dying for. Why? He questioned. Bringing himself to his feet, he was stunned by this development, cing his hand over his heart as he felt it beating, pumping with a new essence to his own blood. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. ¡°Emilio¡­?¡± Melisande called his name softly. Though Sumera seemed to recognize that it was probably best to give him a moment alone, giving Melisande a subtle shake of her head. Kintoki was still struggling with the Knightmare, worn down by his own exhaustion and sustained injuries as he stumbled back after blocking a powerful strike. ¡°Ghh¡­!¡± Kintoki winced. Right now, beyond the pale of confusion, Emilio found himself focusing on one feeling above all as his heart rate increased and in tandem, the heat welling inside of him. Grief. Grief that manifested itself in anger. I¡¯ll let everything out, Emilio thought, I¡¯ll unleash everything. That¡¯s what you¡¯d do, right, Vandread? Before Kintoki could react to a powerful, overhead strike, a figure swept in front of him, countering the blow without any self regard. ¡°Emilio¨C?¡± Kintoki looked on in surprise. Though there was something different about the boy; a shell of scales had stretched across his body like ayer of azure armor,plete with natural grooves. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: Dragon Sentinel | 5/10] In this form,pletely obscured in an armor of draconic scales, possessing ws of his own, his stature was changed by the living armor; creating an imposing presence of its own as azure mes exuded naturally as his own breath. It would be impossible to tell it was Emilio within the husk of reinforced scales; though it wasn¡¯t simple scales, but also a durable hide of silver. They all witnessed this development, unknowing of what this form was, most not having a semnce of a clue of Emilio¡¯s Dragonheart heritage. ¡°Where¡¯d he get that armor?¡­¡± Sumera questioned. ¡°That¡¯s Emilio?¡± Melisande questioned. Though the form taken by Emilio was daunting in its own right; the form that resembled a living, humanoid dragon-like armor and the low growls that emitted from it made Emilio almost seem savage in nature. It wasn¡¯t far from the truth; inside the shell of scales, swirling with draconic force, Emilio struggled to maintain himself, being flooded with almost feral-like instinct as rage boiled in his blood. Roan saw it briefly whilebating the five Knightmares around him, though his reaction was more to the sacrifice his old friend had made. Just what kind of monstrous kid did you give up your life for, Vandread?¡­Well, I have a pretty good idea myself. I did bet on his sess, after all, Roan thought. ¨C The Knightmare paused for a moment before reshaping its helm into a skull, attempting to exhale the gue once again but being stifled as its entire skull was gripped in the hand of the Dragon Sentinel, piloted by Emilio who spoke not a single word in this state. It was an overwhelming amount of strength coursing through his body; such a transformative state was only able to be sustained through his durable body constantly rebuilding itself as his bones cracked and his muscles tore, healing as fast as the process happened. The state he was in was unequivocal to the previous one¡¯s he experienced; the strength was intoxicating, fueling the anguish he felt as the ruthlessness inherent to the rulers of the skies surged through his body. ¡°I knew you had it in ya,¡± Kintoki said, wearing a smile as he fell to his rear, taking a breather as he left it to Emilio, ¡°¡­Let it all out.¡± Without a further moment to waste, the Dragonheart crushed the head of the Knightmare with his scale-d hand, this time reeling a reaction from the Unending Nightmare as dark gunk oozed from the ground, forming into a new form. The Knightmares that Roan fought and culled were pulled into the mass of darkness as the Unending Nightmare rebuilt itself into a new, singr entity. ¡°Combining again? Seems like it¡¯s getting desperate,¡± Kintoki remarked, readying himself. ¡°No,¡± Roan corrected him, ¡°It¡¯s getting serious.¡± They all stood side-by-side, though there was some wariness when taking to the side of the Dragonheart, who seemed like an entirely different person in his current state, it was clear he was still on their side, be it as it may that he was less than ¡®vocal.¡¯ The Dragonheart stood there, breathing heavily as an azure glow emitted from the cracks in his scale armor, watching as the Unending Nightmare swirled and morphed all of its abyssal mass. Though there was no coherent shape to the mass of darkness, it suddenly sprouted eyes darker than ck for a split-second, catching all of their gazes at once. ¡°¨C!¡± Roan, Kintoki, Sumera, and Melisande were all caught in that momentary eye contact, though Emilio was protected by it from the visor of draconic armor on his face. ¡°Shit!¡± Roan clicked his tongue, gathering a charge of scarlet lightning around his arm. Though there was hardly any time for a preemptive strike now as the Unending Nightmare condensed its unholy mass of primordial fear into a new shape, bing a humanoid figure that possessed a mighty stature. It wore all-ck armor that bore the shape of a malignant demon¡¯s face on its breastte, possessing six, angelic wings of pitch-ck feathers that wereyered in grotesque eyes. Though it had no eyes present on its own face, the monstrous form it took presented an eye on each of its palms. ¡°What is that?!¡± Melisande questioned. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it ain¡¯t pretty!¡± Kintoki replied. The form of the Unending Nightmare resembled an angel that¡¯d fallen to the deepest depths of Hell, bathed in depravity as chains wrapped around its limbs, though it was unbound as it held a vicious, lipless grin. Again, the scenery shifted as the ground rumbled, causing the group to form a circle as they watched each other¡¯s backs, finding the dark field changing into an endless pasture, sitting beneath a sky made up of suspended bodies. ¡°What the¡­?¡± Kintoki muttered when looking up. In this realm, the Unending Nightmare manifested a massive cleaver into its right hand and a chain rope in its other before leaping towards the group. ¡°Heads up!¡± Roan called out. Though no call was needed as Emilio met the nightmare halfway, leaping up with his physical abilities maximized by his Dragonheart System as he wordlessly shed against the entity. As he shot his fist forward, it mmed against the entity¡¯s chest, managing to knock it back harshly with a roaring force. ¡°Nice!¡± Kintokimented before following up. It was a massive amount of power in one blow; that was the true benefit of reaching this stage of his Dragonheart System: every blow was a ¡®Dragon Strike.¡¯ Though it seemed the advantage was had, it was all a ruse as amidst its fall, the Unending Nightmare mended its form, shifting into the clown-like man of the Chaos God Style: Lawrence. Still wielding the chain, the clown-faced entity tossed it with mystical precision, wrapping it around the Dragonheart¡¯s wrist before yanking him down. ¡°Emilio!¡± Melisande called out. Though Emilio was wordless in his savage, yet concentrated state as he was pulled directly towards the nightmare, allowing him toe down in an azure glory as he mmed into the false form of Lawrence with an explosion of azure mes. Still, the Unending Nightmare leapt out from the bath of mes with augh, ¡°So passionate!¡± Though the primordial entity had mostly healed, some burn marks were left on it, which was noticed by Roan¡¯s keen eyes as he swept in, tossing bolts of scarlet lightning against the Unending Nightmare¡¯s pale flesh. Upon impact, the bright-red electricity stunned the entity, allowing Kintoki to close in with a massive swing of his de. ¡°Oh no!¡± The Unending Nightmare said almost sarcastically with a wide smile. The de cut straight through the midsection of the false clown, splitting the nightmare in two though it only seemed to seamlessly morph from there as its own innards expanded along with its split body. ¡°Urgh! What the?!¡± Kintokimented. Before a gigantified intestine could whip over with sound barrier-breaking speed towards Kintoki, the man was saved as Roan zipped by in his lightning form, moving him out of the way. ¡°Woah¨Cthanks,¡± Kintoki said, making sure he was still standing from the jarring speed. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Just keep your eyes up,¡± Roan ordered. Chapter 174 Bittersweet Trails From a humanoid form toplete monstrosity, the Unending Nightmare turned into a ball of flesh with limbs and blood orbiting its spherical form as multiple grinning, frowning, andughing mouths appeared on its floating, ball shape. Eyes sprouted along its shape, blinking and ever-watching as it boasted a daunting size, emitting a gravitational force that crushed anything directly near it. ¡°Don¡¯t get close to it!¡± Roan shouted to the rest of the group. Sumera held her staff forward, ¡°That¡¯s perfectly fine with me! zing Sphere!¡± A massive fireball wasunched towards the miniature moon of flesh that the Unending Nightmare became, nearly reaching it before the me fizzled out the closer it got. ¡°What?!¡± Sumera reacted. Roan attempted an attack of his own, snapping his fingers as he sent a powerful bolt of lightning towards the ball of meat, though it only curved around the invisible aura around its spherical shape, not reaching it. ¡°..Hm,¡± Roan was puzzled. It only got closer, crushing the ground around it as it emitted hauntingughter of all pitches in its ominous approach towards the survivors. ¡°Can nothing stop it¡­?!¡± Melisande questioned. ¡°Of course something can stop it. We just have to figure out what,¡± Sumera assured her. Scratching his head, Kintoki huffed before looking over at the dragon-armored figure, ¡°Hey, Emilio! How about we do this the old-fashioned way, huh!? How ¡¯bout it?!¡± In his current state of instinct, Emilio was unable to answer vocally, but replied as he stood by Kintoki¡¯s side, dressed in his durable hide of scales and draconic steel before nodding. A smile etched itself across Kintoki¡¯s lips, ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s go!¡± Unbeknownst to the others was the reckless ¡®n¡¯ forged by Kintoki that was merely broken down to ¡®if magic doesn¡¯t work, then hit it really hard¡¯¨Cwhich was good enough for Emilio. Together, they dashed in with reckless abandon, side-by-side as the Dragonheart reared his left fist back, condensing draconic force into his knuckles as the Braveheart swung his gargantuan sword back, flexing all of his might. ¡°You idiots!¡­You¡¯ll get yourselves killed!¡± Sumera yelled. Roan huffed, scratching his scruffy beard, ¡°Damn, why didn¡¯t I think of that?¡± It was a surprising utterance from the experienced adventurer of renown as Sumera was perplexed by how it even seemed remotely effective. Within range of the massive sphere of flesh that was the Unending Nightmare in all of its grotesque glory, the two felt the full brunt of its immense pressure as blood squirted from Kintoki¡¯s nostrils, sliding down his ears while Emilio¡¯s draconic armor began to crack. Still, they followed through with everything they had, leaping in together as the Dragonheart¡¯s fist shot forward and the Braveheart¡¯s de mmed forth. ¡°Yeah¨C!¡± Kintoki roared out from the unison attack. The impact resulted in an explosive impact, causing the sphere of flesh to explode, losing its form as theughter emitting harrowingly from it was stifled. The air howled from the sheer force parting the winds, brushing through the iplete realm. It was surprisingly effective, though Kintoki didn¡¯t doubt it for a second as he smiled despite blood leaking from his nose, ears, and mouth. ¡°They did it?!¡± Sumera said. Roan smiled, ¡°Seems like they finally reached it.¡± It was only a hunch that I didn¡¯t get the chance to tell them, but standing as it is, the Unending Nightmare¡¯s seemingly ¡®unfair¡¯ regeneration has a caveat: there¡¯s a core in its body, Roan thought, It seems they destroyed it with thatst attack. As Kintoki and Emilionded, it seemed thebined attack took everything out of them as the Braveheart¡¯s muscles downsized to their normal state and the draconic armor bolstering the Dragonheart finally crumbled. ¡°Grgh¡­¡± Emilio winced. [Level Up!] [Level Sixteen Achieved.] Before he could even realize what had happened from his trance, Emilio fell over, unconscious. Kintoki looked over, ¡°Emilio?! Hey, are you good?! We won!¡± Melisande was the first to Emilio¡¯s side with worry embedded in her eyes, though Sumera followed soon after, falling by his side and checking on his pulse. ¡°Is he¡­?¡± The silver-haired girl asked, gulping. Sumera looked up at her with a soft smile, ¡°He¡¯s alive. Just tired, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°Phew¡­I¡¯m d,¡± Melisande breathed out. Though the entric man seemed even more relieved as he fell back, sighing out in relief, ¡°Man, he¡¯s tough!¡± Despite the seeming victory, there was one among them who didn¡¯t celebrate yet: the red-haired adventurer warily warped in front of the others, holding his arm out. ¡°Roan? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Sumera looked up at the man. The red-haired man kept his gaze forward, ¡°It¡¯s not over yet.¡± ¡°What¨C?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Roan assured them all with a small smile, ¡°I¡¯ve got it from here. Just keep the bratfortable.¡± It was first apparent to the veteran adventurer that it wasn¡¯t over by the fact that they were all still held in the realm of suspended bodies. Once more, the Unending Nightmare rose from chunks of discarded flesh, mending into a form of skeletal mass; it was a humanoid skeleton with a cow skull, dressed in a constantly-swaying, ck robe as it approached with orbiting arms. Before it could reach the exhausted survivors, Roan swept through the air as a versatile bolt, zipping from left-to-right to throw the entity off before flicking powerful bolts against it. It was ast-ditch form by the Unending Nightmare, clear in its inability to adapt before Roan manifested his me-born ymore, propelling directly towards the ominous giant and cleaving it into many sections, split by visceral mes. ¡°Mission aplished,¡± Roan muttered. Just as those words left, the iplete realm began crumbling away, leaving the survivors back in the center of what was left of Larundog. The fiends roaming the deste city turned to ash, fading away as the barrier around thend vanished, once more allowing a pale blue sky to cast down on it. ¡°¡­We¡¯re back¡­¡± Melisande said in awe, looking up. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s finally over,¡± Sumera replied. ¨C It wasn¡¯t until a few hourster that Emilio opened his eyes, finding himselfying in the back of a wooden carriage, looking up towards a ceiling of pale-white fabric. ¡°Ngh¡­¡± He groaned. Where am I¡­? Is it over? He questioned. As he sat up, he could see that outside of the carriage, the city of Larundog was still growing more and more distant. I¡¯m moving¡­? Huh? He thought. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re finally awake.¡± To his surprise, he looked over to find the silver-haired girl sitting in the back of the carriage with him, though he was still clueless as to what was going on. ¡°Melisande?¡­Did we make it out?¡± He asked. A small nod came from the girl who held a mncholic smile, ¡°We did¨Cthanks to everybody¡¯s effort.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± He remembered atst what happened with Vandread, looking down at his own hands as he could almost feel the undying blood flowing through his veins. That really happened then¡­He thought. ¡°Where are we going?¡± He asked. ¡°Roan decided to escort us to Vasmoria¨Cor specifically, the Guild Foundation,¡± Melisande said excitedly. ¡°Wait, hold on¡­Roan is taking us? Why? And¡­You¡¯reing along? Listen, you¡¯ve seen what type of stuff adventurers have to endure now, right? It¡¯s not pleasant¡­¡± He asked, sitting against the carriage. Melisande twiddled her thumbs, ¡°¡­There¡¯s nothing left for me in Larundog. Still, it feels like this opportunity is something my brother left for me¨CI¡¯m sure this is the path he would¡¯ve wanted for me. I know you¡¯re just thinking of my safety, but please don¡¯t treat me like I¡¯m baggage.¡± ¡°I¡¯m no¨C¡± as he opened his mouth to try and deny her words, he stopped himself before fixing his approach, ¡°¡­Yeah. Sorry.¡± A small smile came across Melisande¡¯s lips, ¡°Thanks, Emilio. You¡¯re a great person. I can see why my brother became friends with you¨Che likes¡­liked earnest people,¡± the girl said with tears in her eyes, reminiscing, ¡°I¡¯m just d to know¡­he wasn¡¯t alone at that time. Just imagining that makes my heart feel like it¡¯s all twisted up¡­I don¡¯t know how to exin it.¡± On the topic of Joel, it was difficult for him to respond as he looked towards outside the carriage, finding the sight of the clear skies and fields of luscious grass, grazed by deer and other wildlife, to be utterly therapeutic. ¡°Roan said he was already on his way to the Guild Foundation anyway to give his report, so he offered to escort us in ce of well¡­nevermind. Kintoki and Sumera decided to stick back in Larundog to look for survivors,¡± Melisande exined. ¡°Is that so?¡­¡± He said quietly. From up front, guiding the horses, Roan yelled out, ¡°Finally awake, kid? Well, I expected you to sleep a lot longer. We¡¯ve got some ways until we reach the Guild Foundation, so feel free to rest up some more.¡± ¡°Right,¡± he mumbled. It wasn¡¯t how he expected it to go at all, but now, he was in the final stretch towards his journey, though he felt grief in his heart through the loss of Vandread, finding it easy to pin the me on himself when feeling that familiar blood coursing through his veins. If only he wasn¡¯t forced to be my guide, he thought. Chapter 175 The Land of Vasmoria As he looked at his own body, he only found scars on his side and thigh from before he obtained the undying blood. Though there were cuts left past his ck vest and gray tunic beneath, which he wasn¡¯t worried about. I¡¯m immortal now, then?¡­I should be happy about this, but¡­I¡¯m not. I¡¯d give it up for him toe back. Besides¡­I hardly think I¡¯m immortal; Vandread mentioned it before that enough injuries would get to him, he thought. A sigh left his lips as he fiddled with the fabric ring on his finger and the dragon-symboled ne he wore, reminded of those he¡¯d encountered on this arduous journey. It¡¯ll be over soon. I¡¯m almost there¨Cthe Guild Foundation, he thought. ¨C What followed was a much needed time of quiet leisure through the calm valleys of Milligarde; brief stops were taken by crystal-clear springs to collect water, and Roan swiftly hunted wildlife for them to sustain themselves with. A few nights were taken to camp out, though to Emilio, he hardly remembered such times as he was preupied with his own thoughts, constantly thinking as though there was a better way to have gone through the predicament in Larundog. Sitting in front of a campfire on a starry night in a quiet valley, upied only by herds of trees and timid forest critters, he sat across from Roan while Melisande was already fast asleep, lightly snoring. He silently removed an object from his pocket, holding the special coin he carried as he fiddled with it while holding an absent look in his eyes. ¡°I was surprised you still had that,¡± Roan said, sipping from a canteen. ¡°Yeah,¡± he replied. Roan seemed to understand well what was brewing in the boy¡¯s mind through that disconnected look in his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re beating yourself up about Vandread, aren¡¯t you?¡± Roan asked. ¡°¨C¡± Emilio was silent, flipping the coin in his hand. ¡°We all end up thinking adventuring is filled with joy and triumph, but people hardly hear the bards sing of the gloomy parts, right?¡± Roan said with a small smile, ¡°If anybody knew what adventuring entailed, it was Vandread. He understood his life was on the line with every mission¨C¡± ¡°That still doesn¡¯t mean he should¡¯ve died just because I was weak!¡± Emilio burst out, ¡°¡­This only happened because I couldn¡¯t handle myself. He¡­told me, no¨Cforced me to stay outside the city because he knew I was too weak for what was in there. What did I do?¡­I didn¡¯t listen. I thought I was strong enough. I was wrong. It was because I didn¡¯t listen that he¡¯s dead now.¡± There were already tears in his tears as a single tear strolled down his cheek after letting out what he had been holding in. Roan stared at him for a minute as if making sure he was done talking before calmly continuing, using a stick to move the firewood around to bolster the warm mes, ¡°If you want to me yourself, go ahead.¡± ¡°¨C¡± Emilio looked at him, confused by that direct response. ¡°I¡¯ve experienced that same anger at yourself that you¡¯re experiencing right now¨Cthat deep, dark pit of self-deprecation; it led to me growing. I med myself for what happened ¡®that day¡¯ and forced myself to get stronger. Sure, it was an effective motivator, but¡­at some point I realized all I was doing was trying to distract myself, and not face the truth of it,¡± Roan spoke to him softly. ¡°The truth?¡­¡± Roan looked at him, ¡°It happens. It¡¯s that simple. Right now you¡¯re still inexperienced, young, and with a bright future ahead of you. Mistakes are bound to happen.¡± ¡°Mistakes?¡­Mistakes aren¡¯t causing somebody to die¨C¡± ¡°That¡¯s where you¡¯ve got it wrong,¡± Roan interrupted him. ¡°¡­Wrong?¡± Ren looked at him. ¡°Vandread was the kind of man who only acted when he was certain of what he was doing; he was cautious and always aware of many possibilities. Most of our peers always mistakenly thought he was the way he was because he feared death, but that¡¯s wrong: he simply wanted to make sure no lives were unnecessarily lost,¡± Roan told him, ¡°What I¡¯m saying is¡­If Vandread gave his life in exchange for yours, it was a choice he made with a lot of thought into it. It means he arrived at the conclusion that he valued your life more than his own. Are you saying that doesn¡¯t mean anything, Emilio?¡± ¡°But¡­How would he¡­?¡± Emilio was hardly able to form the words in his throat as he was left perplexed by Roan¡¯s words. Somehow, though it cooled his own self-deprecating anger, it made his heart ache even more. ¡°Even if you made mistakes, in the end, he decided it was you that needed to live. That was his choice. The question is, will you ept that?¡± The red-haired adventurer asked. Pondering it, Emilio didn¡¯t answer, though he already knew deep down inside, feeling the blood gifted to him flowing through his veins, that this was the truth. When it¡¯s all said and done, I don¡¯t have a choice, do I? He thought. ¨C Over the course of the next few days, he made it his mission to ept the gift of life given to him, and to strive to improve, though it was difficult as he still felt an immense guilt emanating from within. ¡°We¡¯re here¨Cthis is Vasmoria,¡± Roan told the two from the front. Both Melisande and himself looked out from the carriage, finding the wooden transport rolling over a bridge that passed by a massive canyon, separating the two countries as the clear fields of Milligarde now led into a densely packed forest that was the entrance to Vasmoria¨Cthe ¡®Kingdom of Magic.¡± The trees of the forest were colossal, bearing sapphire leaves that sprinkled a calm pollen down onto the natural grounds; critters of the foreignnd had colorful coats of fur, one such species resembling a red-furred squirrel, though the size of a dog. ¡°This is Vasmoria¡­?¡± Melisande said in awe, ¡°It¡¯s beautiful.¡± Roan spoke from the coach seat, guiding the horses that drove the carriage, ¡°This is Magul Forest¨Cit¡¯s a backway entrance, so to speak, used by adventurers for ease-of-ess since it can be a hassle to get through the border sometimes.¡± In all rights, it was captivating; sunlight was hardly able to pierce through the ceiling of sapphire leaves, allowing the main source of light to be the slightly-glowing pollen that fell from the trees unique to thisnd. ¡­This is it. I finally made it, Emilio thought. Compared to Milligarde, which had fantastical creatures no doubt, the standard critters seemed to be much more ¡®magical¡¯ in nature as he witnessed a crystal-scaled, white lizard catch a yellow-feathered avian with a breath of ice pouring from its mouth. ¡°¡­Huh¡­¡± He let out. It was somewhat frightening to know that the standard inhabitants of Magul Forest possessed such abilities, though Roan didn¡¯t seem troubled at all, and Melisande seemed as giddy as a kid on Christmas morning. ¡°You can stop right there.¡± A feminine voice called out, stern and demanding from up ahead. Of course, in response the carriage came to a stop as both Melisande and Emilio leaned out of the window of the wooden carriage to see who issued the sternmand. ¡°State your name and intentions now.¡± Dressed in avish, white-and-azure uniform with a flowing cape, a woman likely in her mid-twenties stood firmly in the middle of the forest road, keeping her hand by a sheathed sword. She had blonde hair, kept in a ponytail and sharp, bright-blue eyes that stood out. Who is she? Emilio thought. Roan scratched his head, ¡°How about you state your name and intentions first.¡± ¡°Huh? What? But I asked you first!¡± The woman contested. ¡°It¡¯s only good manners to state your business first if you n on asking,¡± Roan replied. The red-haired man¡¯s deadpan rejection of the blonde-haired woman¡¯s words seemed to fluster her as she didn¡¯t expect the response, but she caved. She ced her hand on her chest, ¡°I am Aife, a knight of the Vasmoria Kingdom. I got lost¨CI mean, I am on patrol in this sector of Magul Forest. Now, I believe it is your turn.¡± Ah, she¡¯s totally not fooling anybody¡­Emilio thought. Though it seemed obvious now that the golden-haired woman was a knight by her luxurious outfit with slim, ivory ting on her forearms, shins, and chest, though it seemed ¡®minimal¡¯ as if prioritizing mobility and flexibility rather thanplete protection. ¡°I¡¯m Roan, an adventurer from Milli¨C¡± ¡°R-roan?! The ¡®Crimson Bolt¡¯?!¡± Aife called out in surprise beforeposing herself, coughing into her glove, ¡°¡­I mean, you im to be a famed adventurer, but where¡¯s your proof?¡± Without missing a beat, Roan casually slipped his ne from beneath the cor of his light-brown shirt, holding the pitch-ck insignia up for the knight¡¯s eyes. ¡°That¡¯s¡­! I see, so you are who you im to be,¡± Aife feignedposure. ¡°Then can I pass? Great,¡± Roan said, lifting the reins that guided the steed. Before the carriage could set off again, Aife waved her hands, standing in the way of the hazel-furred steed, ¡°Wait, wait, wait!¡± ¡°Huh? What is it? Now you¡¯re impeding an urgent report of an adventurer of the Guild Foundation, Knight of Vasmoria,¡± Roan said pragmatically, ¡°What will your superiors think of this?¡± ¡°I¨Cerr¡­¡± Aife averted her gaze, fiddling with her fingers, ¡°¡­It happens that I lost my horse during my patrol. I¡­lost it during a skirmish with a great beast¨Cthat¡¯s it. So, if you¡¯d please¡­¡± ¡°Need a ride?¡± Roan asked. ¡°¡­Yes, please,¡± Aife finally admitted. Chapter 176 Interception of Travel ¡°Need a ride?¡± Roan asked. ¡°¡­Yes, please,¡± Aife finally admitted. Though he wasn¡¯t exactly against the idea, Emilio was a bit perplexed by Roan, a man of experience in the ways of the world himself, being so quick to take a stranger along. He walked up to the window to the coach¡¯s seat, whispering to the red-haired man¡¯s ear, ¡°Are you sure about this? I mean, is it even necessary?¡± ¡°You may not realize it, but Vasmoria can be quite troublesome. Milligarde has the lowest poption of adventurers, mostly because native adventurers travel to Vasmoria for work,¡± Roan exined to him, ¡°It¡¯s because of the ¡®Magi Golems¡¯ that inhabit Vasmoria.¡± ¡°¡®Magi Golems¡¯?¡± He repeated. It wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d read about in books, but he also didn¡¯t go into too much detail with each country, but if there was clear danger in the wilnds of Vasmoria, he didn¡¯t contest the idea of taking the knight along with them. ¡ª And with that, the atmosphere in the back of the carriage stiffened as Emilio and Melisande now found themselves in thepany of the clumsy knight. It seemed the blonde-haired knight herself wasn¡¯t much of a sociable genius as she repeatedly coughed and fidgeted to break the nonexistent tension before finally speaking up, clearing her throat. ¡°I am Aife Spina. It¡¯s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,¡± the knightly woman introduced herself. ¡°I heard you before,¡± Emilio replied, ¡°I¡¯m Emilio Dragonheart.¡± The silver-haired girl gave her name as well, ¡°Melisande Tareund.¡± ¡°So¡­are you two of Sir Roan¡¯s younger siblings? Or maybe¡­his children¨C¡± Aife asked. ¡°No,¡± Emilio inly denied the notion. Melisande answered more gracefully, ¡°We¡¯re both on our way to the Guild Foundation¨CMr. Roan is escorting us there.¡± ¡°Oh, I see!¡± Aife realized with a smile, ¡°young, aspiring adventurers, then? Ah, the joy of youth¡­Well, I¡¯m rooting for you two.¡± ¡°Thanks!¡± Melisande smiled. For a brief moment, Emilio found himself making eye contact with Aife¡¯s pearly blues, feeling as though he was ¡®read¡¯ on some level before the Vasmorian knight spoke. ¡°Hmm¡­You seem capable enough already, Emilio. Though, Melisande, if you don¡¯t mind me saying¡­It seems as though you aren¡¯t quite adept yet,¡± Aife said. ¡°Huh? Oh¡­I know. I¡¯m going to improve, though,¡± Melisande assured the knight. ¡°I trust that you will,¡± Aife smiled softly. Though the conversation was earnest and light-hearted, Emilio found himself curious of the weird look Aife gave him and how she was able to instantly discern their differing capabilities. I wonder¡­does she have some sort of ability to analyze other¡¯s strengths? He thought. Aife spoke while taking her gauntlets off to let her hands breathe, ¡°Knights and adventurers are two sides of the same coin, you know? It¡¯s best that we sustain a friendly rtionship with one another, as our kingdoms rely on us to maintain the peace. While we knights protect the order, adventurers strive out and prune dangers before they reach our cities.¡± ¡°I never thought about it like that,¡± Emilio replied with a small smile. For now at least, he chose to trust the pretty-faced knight, as she was more than affable and easygoing. ¡°But of course,¡± Aife held a gentle smile, ¡°There are many threats to peace in this world, so I would never decline the aspirations ofing adventurers or knights alike.¡± ¡°What¡¯s it like being a knight? I¡¯ve¡­never met a girl knight before,¡± Melisande asked curiously. The entire time, there was a sparkly look in the girl¡¯s bright-green eyes as she looked at Aife like a living idol. ¡°Ah, I believe I understand what you¡¯re asking: Vasmoria is a matriarchal kingdom, so it¡¯s not too far from the norm for women to join the ranks of knights¨Cit¡¯s quite weed, actually,¡± Aife exined, ¡°If you mean what it¡¯s like to serve my kingdom, then all I can tell you is that it¡¯s hard, but¡­at the end of the day, it¡¯s splendid; I wouldn¡¯t trade it for anything.¡± An expression of genuine happiness present on Aife¡¯s beautiful canvas seemed to mark her words as the truth, pleasing Melisande as it seemed to fuel her desire further to be an adventurer. ¡°That sounds amazing. I hope I can find that, too,¡± Melisande smiled. ¡°I am certain you will¨Cboth of you,¡± Aife replied, ¡°I have a knack for understanding people by a nce; from just a glimpse into your eyes, I can tell the me of passion and youth burns in you. Never let that go,¡± the knight said, cing her hand over her heart. ¡°me of passion and youth?¡­¡± Melisande repeated before copying the knight¡¯s gesture. Though Emilio still had his reservations about his passed friend¡¯s younger sister joining him on his less-than-peaceful path, he couldn¡¯t help but smile when seeing the infectious optimism she had. The carriage wheels rolled over the uneven ground of the forest trail, having to push through low-hanging branches of sapphire leaves at times that made for a bumpy ride. ¡°Emilio!¡± Melisande was suddenly in his face. ¡°Y-yeah?¡± He replied, having to lean back as the girl got a bit too close. ¡°You need to teach me more about magic! Please!¡± Melisande asked. ¡°Oh, err¡­¡± It was something he was actually just thinking about, though it wasn¡¯t as if he was a savant when it came to teaching; most of what he knew came naturally. Celly, what do I do¡­? You were amazing at guiding me. I want to do the same, but¡­can I? He thought. ¡°Oh, a young expert in the ways of magic?¡± Aife said with a cheeky smile, ¡°I see a de at your hip, though. I take it you¡¯re a ¡®spellde¡¯?¡± He never really put that much thought into it, but he shrugged his shoulders and nodded, ¡°Guess you can say that.¡± Aife drew her longsword from her snow-white scabbard, decorated with azure jewels, revealing a de free of blemishes as she disyed its beautiful state. ¡°I have dedicated myself fully to the art of swordy; I have no need for spellflinging,¡± Aife proudly stated before tucking her prized sword back into its sheath. ¡°Cool¡­¡± He replied, not caring much for it. Is she really bragging to a kid? He thought. The concept of a woman knight, especially one who seemed beautiful and at least somewhat capable, to Emilio¡¯s jaded eyes, was something that definitely excited Melisande who was in the midst of forging her own path. When thinking about it, Emilio realized this was probably a good opportunity for the girl, and though he initially had reservations on her bing an adventurer alongside him, he chose to support her. ¡°What¡¯s Vasmoria like?¡± Melisande asked, hugging her knees close to her chest with a curious smile, ¡°Is it all forest-y like this? Is it like Milligarde? I¡¯ve always heard they¡¯re kind of simr.¡± ¡°Oh? You¡¯ve never been here before?¡± Aife replied. The silver-haired girl shook her head to answer. Though it seemed like a game of ¡®twenty questions¡¯ in which Emilio found himself wondering when the knight would reach her limit, he was also curious about the finer details of Vasmoria, wanting to hear of it from the mouth of a local. ¡°I¡¯ve been to Milligarde a few times, so I believe I may be able to provide some insight on their differences; for one, Vasmoria is ruled by Queen Yurania, a distant cousin to Milligarde¡¯s king, in fact,¡± Aife exined. ¡°Oh, I knew that,¡± Melisande replied. ¡°Yeah, same here,¡± Emilio added. Aife raised an eyebrow, seeming slightly miffed that what she said was alreadymon knowledge to the youngsters, ¡°A couple of bright ones? That¡¯s good. It should be known by both of you then that Vasmoria is often regarded as the ¡®Capital of Magic¡¯ within the continent of humans. It is not just a superficial name, there are illustrious academies of mages in every city and¨C¡± FWOOM. Before the blonde-haired knight could continue her loving spiel of her homnd, which she seemed prideful to speak of, what sounded like an explosion setting off in front of the carriage snatched away any conversation. Dust and dirt were kicked up from whatever force hadnded on the path ahead, blinding them to whatever persisted in front of the transport. The carriage suddenly came to a grinding halt as Roan tugged on the reins. ¡°What was that¡­.?¡± Melisande asked. As if flipping a switch, the clumsy knight acted swiftly as she jumped out of the carriage to find out what the cause of the shocking impact in the forest road was. ¡°Hey!¨CCrap¡­¡± He yelled. Emilio tried calling out to the knight, but she didn¡¯t listen to him as she rushed to the front, to which he begrudgingly followed, jumping out from the back of the carriage. What¡¯s even going on¡­? It sounded like a missile dropped from the sky, he thought. As he reached the front, he could see that the steed were noticeably frightened by the abrasive force, yelling out and trying to run, but Roan held onto the reins tightly. Finally setting his eyes forward, he stood beside the knight, who had her sword in hand while he wielded his staff, seeing what had crashed down to intercept their path. At first, he couldn¡¯t tell what it was as it had a humanoid silhouette in the dust, but as it settled, he found himself looking at an entity with a body made out of steel-reinforced wood, inscribed with magical seals on its form. A machine? He thought. Chapter 177 Magi-Golem ¡°A Magi-Golem¡­I didn¡¯t expect to find one here,¡± Aife said. ¡°A golem?¡± He repeated. From what he experienced thus far, a ¡®golem¡¯ tended to be a creature made out of natural elements, gifted a base level of sentience in order to aid its creator. However, what he saw before him more-so resembled an archaic machine; its body made of finely carved woon and tuned steel, possessing exposed gears that turned. ¡°Remnants of the ¡®Golem King¡¯s¡¯ kingdom. Some still roam the outskirts of Vasmoria, like this one here,¡± Aife exined briefly. Again, there was information he wasn¡¯t privy to, finding himself perplexed but curious, though it was hardly the time for further questioning. A vaguely humanoid shape seemed to be what it was modeled after, though it was over twice the height of the female knight, who was of average stature for a woman her age. Worn on its shoulders was a tattered, verdant cape that flowed down its back. It looked at the humans with a singr ¡®eye¡¯: a glowing, yellow crystal embedded in its head. Something like it seemed too advanced for the medieval world, though with the inclusion of magic, nothing seemed too far-fetched to him. ¡°I¡¯d suggest stepping back. Allow me to handle this,¡± Aife stood in front of him with her silver-and-ivory de held. ¡°I can handle myself,¡± he retorted. ¡°I am aware of your capabilities, however, as a knight, I cannot allow a civilian to be in the range of danger,¡± Aife said with a serious tone, ¡°You may be an aspiring adventurer, but as of right now, you¡¯re still just a boy.¡± ¡°¨C¡± Emilio furrowed his eyebrows. Technically, the knightly woman wasn¡¯t false in her words, though it did perturb Emilio. There wasn¡¯t much of a chance for him to say anything else though as the Magi Golem moved with the sound of gears turning within its shell sounded out before a pale-blue light gathered at the core in its chest. The glowing core was only revealed by wooden panels opening on its torso, revealing the inner mechanisms that were abined effort of gears, empowered by runs and magic inscriptions. That¡¯s some high-level stuff¡­I can¡¯t even imagine creating a golem of this caliber, he thought. Roan was busy making sure the steed didn¡¯t cut loose and run off, leaving Aife to be the one to act with pinpoint precision as a condensed beam of frosted energy shot forward from the golem¡¯s chest towards the carriage. ¡°¨C!¡± With her immacte de, Aife shed forward, managing to cut through the release of ice, causing it to split its course as a trail of frost was left on the outskirts of the road. Ice magic¡­? I¡¯ve never seen it used before up close, Emilio thought. Though more than the usage of ice itself, he was more awe-stricken by the feat performed by the once-thought clumsy knight. She cut through that with just her de. Is that a special sword or does she have some sort of unique skill? He questioned. After splitting the beam of concentrated frost, the golden-haired knight of Vasmoria sprinted forward, moving swiftly as the Magi Golem held its hands up, revealing cores in its palms with both sharing a fiery hue. Like methrowers, the golem¡¯s palms exuded streams of fire that aimed towards the knight, though Aife moved nimbly, closing the distance while pivoting around to avoid the heat. To adjust its aim, the gears of the advanced golem spun around, allowing its wrists to shift to any needed angle in an instant while it spun only its upper-body in aplete three-sixty rotation, chasing the knight with the spewed mes, though they failed to catch the swift woman. She¡¯s good¨Creally good, Emilio thought. Melisande watched as well, in awe at Aife¡¯s elegant stride forward as she used swift, precise shes of her de to deflect small projectiles of ice that shot from the golem¡¯s opened chest cavity. Atst, she managed to close in, ducking just below a direct stream of fire as it soared mere inches above her illustrious hair, allowing her golden locks to dance behind her back before she spun around, unleashing an array of strikes against the archaid machine¡¯s body. ¡°That¡¯s a knight¡­¡± Melisande remarked. ¡°Yeah,¡± he nodded. It wasn¡¯t just speed; there was formidable strength possessed by the knight as she cut through the reinforced shell of the Magi Golem, managing to damage its internalponents as sparks hissed and smoke billowed, causing the golem to stumble back. Aife slowly exhaled, holding an elegant stance with her de held up as if iming victory. Though this proved to be a fatal error for the youthful knight as she looked up sharply once hearing the distinct ¡®hum¡¯ of magical energy gathering in the Magi Golem¡¯s core. ¡°What¡­?¡± Aife mumbled in surprise. I was sure I split its main core!¡­Wait! Aife realized. She saw it up close now: the main, icy core embedded in the golem¡¯s chest was still intact, split down the center but still ¡®one piece¡¯ as the dysfunctional gears forced themselves to turn as the medieval machine gathered an immense amount of frost mana from its core. ¡°¨C?!¡± Aife attempted to move back, but the cold winds emitting from the golem caused frost to form on the ground around it, locking her in ce as ice held her pale boots. ¡°She¡¯s stuck¡­!¡± Melisande noticed. Crap! Emilio thought. Faced with the problem that couldn¡¯t be solved in the split-second she had left, Aife gritted her teeth, preparing to at least split the core as herst move. Maybe I can still prevent it from harming the young ones! Aife resolved. There wasn¡¯t a second thought that came into it; just as the immense concentration of frost was expelled by the element-wielding, rogue golem, the knight found herself saved¨C ¡°Born of wind and lord of the skies, Sylph, howl and tear through: Wind st!¡± Melisande invoked. The propulsion of wind managed to stun the golem for just a second, knocking it off its bnce as it adjusted itself by shifting its gear-based joints, but it was enough time as it was halted by a sphere of water that manifested around the tall foe of wood-and-runes. The result of this ball of water engulfing the golem caused the frost essence pouring from it to freeze the aqua around it,pletely petrifying it within seconds. ¡°Huh¡­? Magic?¡± Aife muttered. As the woman looked behind her, she saw the blonde-haired boy holding his wooden catalyst forward, controlling the prison of water, now turned to frost that held the golem. ¡°¡­Phew¡­I made it in time,¡± Emilio muttered. ¡°That was some quick thinking,¡± Melisande said, impressed. ¡°Yeah, well, I just got lucky it worked out as intended¡­¡± He said. Moving over, he carefully used a small manifestation of fire to melt the frost around Aife¡¯s boots, setting her free as the knight looked at him, still in surprise that she was saved in that pivotal moment. Though some level of pride was expected, Emilio and Melisande were taken aback as the ditzy, yet elegant knight knelt in front of the two much younger, lesser-ranked people, cing her gauntlet over her heart. ¡°I am in your debt, Sir Emilio, Miss Melisande¡± Aife told them, closing her eyes in respect. It seemed he made an early, false judgment of the woman; seeing her take to a knee with a warm ray of soft, orange sunlight cascading down on her, causing her blonde hair to shine and her fair skin to gleam, he found himself left speechless. She was a true knight; paramount of honor, bravery, strength, yet still beautiful and retaining her womanly charm. I misread her; that ¡®clumsiness¡¯ is just ack of an ego, isn¡¯t it? Despite being a capable knight, she¡¯s able to let her guard down around us. I wonder if that¡¯s truly a good thing, though¡­? This world isn¡¯t kind enough for that, he thought. He didn¡¯t know how to respond as he bashfully ruffled his own air, ¡°It¡¯s no problem, really. You would¡¯ve done the same, right? Besides, that was a pretty strong enemy¨Cyou just got unlucky. I saw it.¡± ¡°Yeah, it was just the normal thing to do,¡± Melisande said proudly with her hands on her side. She¡¯s not good at hiding her smugness, Emilio thought. Aife looked up in surprise at their words, returning to her feet as she smiled at Emilio, ¡°You¡¯re too kind. Seeing your prowess firsthand, I must ask: are you the child of one of the noble families? I ask because such knowledge of magic at your age could onlye from rigorous tutge.¡± ¡°No, I just¡­I just read a lot, really,¡± he answered, shaking his head with an awkward smile. Though he was trying to answer humbly, it seemed to have the inverse result as Aife seemed even more shocked at his abilities. ¡°That¡¯s¡­truly respectable, Sir Emilio. I am even more sure now that you two will make fabulous adventurers,¡± Aife smiled. She¡¯s humble, but the truth is¡­It really was just a small blunder. If that cut was just a hair deeper, or she didn¡¯t get stuck, she would¡¯ve wlessly handled it¡­Talk about bad luck, he thought. ¡°Is it alright to just leave it there?¡± Melisande asked, looking at the Magi Golem entrapped in ice. Aife looked at it, gently tapping her glove against it, ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. The Magi Golem expended all of its energy from its core in thatst attack, so not only has it frozen itself quite deeply, it¡¯s going to be powered down for a long time, I¡¯d say. Still, I¡¯ll inform the ¡®researchers¡¯ about this one.¡± ¡°Sounds good enough for me,¡± Emilio replied. Chapter 178 A New Stop Though it was a short-lived conflict, the sides of the forest road of soil and flowers had been encased in frost and sections of the grass were charred ck from the archaic machine¡¯s destructive nature. It was a daunting thought to think it was simply one of many such entities that weremonce. ¡°Let us just count ourselves lucky we encountered merely a grunt; Magi Golem¡¯s can be quite moreplex and troublesome,¡± Aife said in a passing remark. The entire prospect of suchplex, sentient golems was intriguing to Emilio, who of course was deeply curious of all things magic, however, the reality of how aggressive the Magi Golems seemed to have left any semnce of wanting to explore them further off the table. ¨C Roan hardly seemed phased by the entire encounter as they moved on once more, now making the trip in the back of the creaking carriage a lot more anxious with the prospect of element-wielding golems on the prowl. It¡¯s just one thing after another in this world, isn¡¯t it? He thought. As the wheels of the carriage rolled monotonously through the sapphire forest, passing gently flowing streams and habitants of mystical beasts, Emilio found himself pondering as always, thinking of the golem they encountered,menting mistakes of the past, and curious of the knight sharing in their journey. Magul Forest was quiterge, creating a journey through the wilderness thatsted over a week, forcing them to camp out multiple nights. During one such nightfall with the glitter of stars briefly seen between the sapphire leaves that loomed above, they sat around a fire, snacking on grilled rabbit while Roan ventured out alone to refill their water supply. ¡°¡­Why¡¯d you be a knight? If you don¡¯t mind me asking,¡± Emilio posed the question quite abruptly. Aife seemed to be taken by surprise by the question before smiling, ¡°I do not mind being asked that, Emilio. Still¡­It¡¯s quite an embarrassing story, I¡¯m afraid.¡± ¡°That only makes me want to hear it more,¡± he cheekily said. ¡°Me too,¡± Melisande added. ¡°Quite devilish youths I find myself traveling with¡­¡± Aife joked with a smile, ¡°Well, as a child, I wasn¡¯t as you see my now: I was a dy¡¯¨Cthrough and through, or at least, I yearned to be. Wearing flowery dresses, pampered by my parents and maids, and always dreaming of the day I found my Prince Charming.¡± As she spoke of her childhood, a gentle look was embedded in Aife¡¯s pale-blue eyes as she looked up, as if reminiscing on images unseen by the listening two. ¡°I thought you¡¯d have been a tomboy,¡± Emilio said, leaning against a toppled log. ¡°That¡¯s normally the case, isn¡¯t it? I guess I¡¯m an exception in that regard,¡± Aife replied. ¡°So what changed? It sounded like you wanted to live a normal life,¡± Melisande asked. After pondering it for a few moments, it seemed the knight wasn¡¯t quite ready to speak of such a past, though it was clear to Emilio by the soft sparkle of restrained tears in her eyes that Aife was holding something painful, yet dear. ¡°Well, it¡¯s a long story¡­I¡¯ll save it for another time, alright?¡± ¡°Aww¡­No fair,¡± Melisande pouted. Aifeughed quietly, stroking the girl¡¯s silver hair, ¡°How about this? Let¡¯s make a promise: once you two be adventurers, I¡¯ll indulge you in every little detail¨Cdown to the nitty-gritty; I¡¯ll talk your ears off all-day and night.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a bit extreme, isn¡¯t it?¡± Emilio smiled. ¡°A knight keeps their promises,¡± Aife replied. ¡°You¡¯ve got a deal,¡± Melisande epted. ¡°Oh? And the young Dragonheart?¡± Aife looked over at the boy. ¡°I guess you can count me in¨CI¡¯m a bit curious now,¡± Emilio scratched his head, entering the deal. Thinking to himself for a moment, he realized there was quite a lot of pressure ced on him bing an adventurer; multiple promises were forged on that very prospect. Aife smiled warmly, ¡°For now, I can say¡­what changed for me was the boundless optimism of the man I love.¡± ¡°You¡¯re married? I thoughts knights weren¡¯t allowed to¨C¡± Before he could fully pose the question, a quick nce at the tears held back firmly by the knight, though she held a gentle smile, told him that his question was misced. ¡°¡­You¡¯re correct, Emilio. I¡¯m not engaged, though¡­my heart is bound to one,¡± Aife said, cing her hand on her chest. There was a part of him that didn¡¯t want to follow through on such a promise if it meant digging up painful memories from the kind knight¡¯s mind, though at the same time, he found himself interested in what kind of experiences led to the existence of the humble, beautiful knight of Vasmoria. ¡°Still, it¡¯ll hardly be long before you both meet that criteria, I have no doubt,¡± Aife encouraged. Melisande twiddled with her thumbs, ¡°I hope I can be as good of an adventurer as you are of a knight.¡± ¡°Huh? Ah¡­¡± Aife had a bashful tint to her cheeks at those words, ¡°I haveplete faith that you will surpass me; I¡¯m not extraordinary, after all.¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s not true. I think you¡¯re amazing!¡± Melisande assured her. ¡°Ah? Really? Well, thank you very much,¡± Aife epted thepliment with a beaming smile. It was heartwarming for Emilio to witness the bond growing before his very eyes, and seeing the girl have her grief distracted in the face of new inspiration. ¡°What¡¯re you all getting all mushy about without me?¡± Roan¡¯s voice came out of nowhere, causing Melisande to jump from surprise before the red-haired man held a cheeky smile, disying the filled canteens of water he acquired. ¡°You were right, there was a nice stream down there,¡± Roan said, looking at Aife. ¡°It is only natural a knight of her homnd would know its ins-and-outs,¡± Aife said while elegantly biting down on the grilled rabbit, only topletely falter her royal image as it burned her tongue, causing her to gasp out. They allughed at the sight of the knight¡¯s failed attempt at maintaining a knightly image, though Aife herself couldn¡¯t help but join in. ¨C Atst, the carriage found its way outside of the dense forest, prompting Emilio to lean out as Melisande squeezed by to gaze alongside him, seeing the first city encountered in the foreignnd. Walls made of smooth, light-blue steel stood tall, iid with runes that seemed to perpetuate a barrier to protect the city in times of danger. It was of a scale unseen; tall buildings of fine, gray-and-red brick stretched high, connected by bridges in the sky that acted almost as a secondaryyer to the vast city. Some such architecture was made using the same metal for the walls, creating awe-inspiring skyscrapers that were more than ingenious for a world steeped in medieval culture. ¡°It seems we¡¯ve reached Indasia,¡± Aife remarked. ¡°Indasia? That¡¯s where you said you¡¯re stationed, right?¡± Emilio asked. The knight nodded, ¡°Indeed. This will be my stop.¡± Carriages now rumbled past them as they approached the gates of the illustrious city, flowing in as its prosperous nature couldn¡¯t be any more clear. Though this proved to be a problem as the amount of carriages, transporting external goods to be traded by merchants, created a long line before the front gates. ¡°Err¡­I hatein¡¯ through here in a carriage, it¡¯s always such a long wait,¡± Roan muttered from upfront. For Emilio, it was a picture-perfect image of modern day traffic that urred back on Earth, only this time the gas-spewing cars were reced by horse-towed carriage. Still, it was essentially the same. So, this is traffic in Arcadius, huh? Emilio thought. ¡°No need to rush things,¡± Aife said, wiping her sword with a rag, ¡°Detours are the essence of life¡¯s journey, they say.¡± Roan scoffed from up front, ¡°Easy for you to say¨Cthese damn horses are giving me a headache with all their yanking.¡± It took an entire hour for the line of carriages to finally move enough for them to arrive at the front gates, stopped by the citywatch who were dressed in dark-blue, steel armor and ck capes. ¡°Present your identification,¡± the guard said. Roan shed his adventurer insignia, which seemed to shock both of the guards by the ck-jewel embedded in it. ¡°Coming through to rest for a couple days. Is that alright?¡± Roan asked, tucking his ne beneath his cor. ¡°Of course! Please,e through,¡± the Indasia guard said. Allowed through the front gates of the immacte walls of Indasia, Emilio and Melisande both peered out through the windows of the carriage, seeing thendscape of the foreign city in all of its glory. The width of the streets were bustling, upied by street merchants and passing adventurers, along with arge poption of mages, identified by their robes and staffs. Above their heads, shadows were cast down by the skyhigh bridges that connected the colossal towers of Indasia, which too, were upied by many denizens of the Vasmoria. ¡°Wow! It¡¯s nothing like Larundog,¡± Melisande remarked, ¡°It¡¯s so huge!¡± ¡°Right?¡­It¡¯s kind of overwhelming¨Cbut exciting,¡± Emilio replied. A unique trait noticed by him of the establishments were buildings that held a variety of unaffiliated shops, simr to malls on Earth; one particr one he noticed had a tailor store on the ground floor, a restaurant on the second, and an inn on the third story. Chapter 179 Peaceful Stroll Roan wasn¡¯t much of a fan for driving a carriage, especially when having to navigate through the popted city, so the carriage was left in the care of apany of drivers for the time being. ¡°Nngh¡­agh,¡± Emilio sighed out while stretching his limbs. It was always a great feeling to be back on his feet after having to sit in a carriage for hours on end, especially now being surrounded by a swathe of alluring aromas of Indasia¡¯s enticing restaurants. ¡°We¡¯re going to hunker down for a couple days¨Ckids needs some rest, I bet, and I need to stock up on a few things,¡± Roan said, speaking to the knight, ¡°I take it this is where we part ways, Miss Knight?¡± Aife looked at the red-haired man for a moment, ncing at Melisande before smiling, ¡°Well, I am not urgently needed. For the time being, how about I repay your kindness by taking you all out for a meal at one of Indasia¡¯s greatest establishments?¡± All of them shared the same thought process as the past few days had been filled with less-than-savory meals, so the offer was like music to Roan¡¯s ears as he was thinking with his stomach. ¡°Say less,¡± Roan yfully said. ¨C Aife led the way through Indasia, which seemed almost impossible to navigate with just how popted it was and how intricate theyout of the city was, with multipleyers that went up above the ground level. There were people dressed differently than in Milligarde; wearing colorful robes that looked silken, with multipleyerspared to the light attire those in his homnd wore. Though he came to his own assumption as to why there was a difference in attire between the two sibling countries: Vasmoria was noticeably more brisk in weather than Milligarde; the air was somewhat humid, but it remained cool. ¡°It¡¯s been awhile since I¡¯ve actually stopped in Indasia,¡± Roan remarked, ¡°This city is always so lively, it makes me want to have a beer!¡± Aifeughed, ¡°I don¡¯t see the corrtion there, but if that¡¯s how you choose to celebrate, I can respect that. It¡¯s a lively city indeed, though. Some say it is the ¡®City That Never Sleeps¡¯¨CI think that is an apt nickname.¡± Emilio didn¡¯t have much to say as he was engrossed in the new cityscape, looking around as he saw multiple stores that seemed to sell grimoires, catalysts, and such likemon household necessities. It took every ounce of his willpower not to run off from the group and explore the magical products of Vasmoria, though fortunately, it seemed they reached their destination as the blonde-haired knight came to a stop. ¡°This is it,¡± Aife said, looking up towards the establishment¡¯s sign, ¡°¨C¡®Helfaffle¡¯s Diner¡¯.¡± There was an alluring aroma that smelled like seasoned pork that greeted the group, which prompted Roan to walk in first while chuckling to himself. ¡°I wonder if they gave booze¡­¡± Roan muttered with a smile. Even in the face of the enticing restaurant, Emilio found himself gawking at the droves of students from mage academies, finding himself missing his tutor while also impatient to explore such an avenue of life for himself. Looking at Emilio, Melisande lightly tugged his sleeve, ¡°C¡¯mon, let¡¯s try it out.¡± ¡°Y-yeah,¡± he nodded, having been distracted by the sights of the city. Following the adults inside, Melisande and Emilio entered the premises of the diner as the brisk temperature changed to a steamy heat as the sight of the chef preparing dishes on a me-stoked pan was seen from the very moment they walked through the front door. ¡°Wee, wee! Take a seat, anywhere you¡¯d like!¡± The chef dressed in verdant robes with his sleeves rolled up to reveal hairy arms was not what he expected: the jovial, tubby man was quite short in stature¨Cmore than was normal. By his long, bristly beard and hair that matched in length, it was clear to Emilio what the chef was: A dwarf! Emilio realized. As they seated themselves at a table, they waited patiently, though with growling stomachs that were teased by the saliva-inducing scents exuding from the chef¡¯s corner, who prepared seasoned dishes like an art. What was served was fulfilling, hearty dishes thatbated all of the impromptu dishes he¡¯d been eating on the road. Apparently a signature style of dwarven dishes was the incredibly fat pieces of meat used as well as savory, thick gravy that added a sublime texture and vor. A meal like this almost makes it all worth it¡­He thought jokingly. ¡°I take it that you like it?!¡± Standing by the table, the bristly-bearded dwarf asked with a voice that definitely couldn¡¯t be considered an ¡®inside voice¡¯. Of course, there was only resounding praise for the greasy, yet meticulously made dish as they all nodded their heads, mostly trying to cope with how full their stomachs were. ¡°Delicious as always, Mr. Helfaffle,¡± Aife said, elegantly patting the sauce from her cheek with a napkin. Roan tapped his stomach without any grace of his own, leaning back as he burped out with a sigh of relief following that drew a disgusted look from the knight seated beside him. ¡°Hoh! I take that sort of stance as apliment, Sir Adventurer!¡± Helfaffleughed boisterously as Roan leaned back. ¡°I¡¯ll sing the praises of the dwarf in Indasia who whips up the best damn dish around,¡± Roan said with his eyes closed. ¡°Urgh¡­¡± Melisande leaned her head down on the table, ¡°So full¡­¡± After such a meal that could cover an entire week¡¯s necessity for energy, which Aife insisted on paying for, and that Roan didn¡¯t even attempt to decline, the group headed out as the bright blue sky began to dim with the arrival of dusk looming overhead. Aife looked up with a smile before turning to face the others, ¡°¡­Well, I suppose this is where we part ways.¡± Though Melisande was visibly sleepy from what Emilio dubbed a ¡®fooda¡¯, the silver-haired girl seemed displeased of Aife¡¯s departure, but understanding. The city had grown noticeably more quiet, though it was still flourishing with people as the cobblestone streets of the restaurant-focused sector of the city were mostly filled with tourists and adventurers. ¡°Yeah, guess so,¡± Roan responded with a smile, patting his hand against the top of Melisande¡¯s head, ¡°Thanks for the grub.¡± The knight slowly shook her head as her silken, gold ponytail gently swayed, ¡°The gratitude is mine, Sir Roan. You graciously weed me onto your carriage and fed me. For that, I will always be in your debt, and an ally.¡± cing her hand over her heart, Aife held a soft smile as she looked at the three with an unmatched smile of kindness. There was no doubt that she was the person she acted as and her words represented; a rare feat in this world. She¡¯s so serious¨Cthat¡¯s a knight for you. It¡¯s odd finding somebody so¡­earnest, Emilio thought, but¡­it¡¯s nice. ¡°Will I be able to see you again¨C?¡± Melisande asked, looking up at the knight. Aife stroked the girl¡¯s hair for a moment, ¡°Undoubtedly. That I am sure of, Melisande. The same goes for you, Emilio. With the certainty that you will both be adventurers, there will no doubt be a time in which our paths cross again, as one day the stars will deem it.¡± Those reassuring words were enough for a smile to stretch across Melisande¡¯s lips, and Emilio¡¯s in subsequence before the knight, atst, took her leave. After a minute of standing there to see the kind knight off, the two looked to Roan, who scratched his chin, looking around. ¡°Alright¡­It¡¯s about time we checked in,¡± Roan said, ¡°I think we can all agree some sleep is needed after a meal like that.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Melisande nodded. ¡°Agreed,¡± Emilio added. While they strolled through the calm, brisk city that soon became looked over by a gentle night sky and unveiled stars, sparkling far above, though seeming to neighbor the colossal structures of the advanced city, Roan constantly chit-chatted and waved to passing adventurers. ¡°Hey, Red Hair!¡± A grizzly man with an eyepatch called out with a smile. ¡°Didn¡¯t know ya were in town, Red Hair!¡± A frizzy-haired demi-human woman waved, hopping up as her cat ears and tail bounced. The sight of a demi-human girl, specifically a ¡®cat girl¡¯, for Emilio was a neuron-activating sight as he had kept himself calm, clenching his fist. Patience, Emilio, he told himself, soon enough, you will find a cat girl brothel¡­! Roan simply waved leisurely as he always tended to beckadaisical, in contrast to Emilio¡¯s perception of him in crisis situations, which Roan was as reliable as could be. Compared to that, the red-haired man he walked alongside seemed like a totally different person, but much more approachable. After briefly greeting the adventurers that all seemed to revere him, Roan nced over at the blonde-haired young man, seeing a small smile on his face as he chatted with the silver-haired girl beside him. I¡¯m d you can get your minds off things for a bit, kid, Roan thought, I know I said all that before, but Vandread didn¡¯t stick you with an easy burden. I just hope you can ept it sooner rather thanter¨Che was a good man, but he was encumbered by the past. Chapter 180 Tossing and Turning There was a specific inn that Roan had picked out, inhabiting the section of the city that seemed to be primarily upied by passing and staying adventures alike with equipment shops and guilds being a frequent sight. As they arrived at the establishment, there was a wooden porch leading up to the entrance, which Roan led the way, prompting the two to follow behind him. ¡°This is it?¡± Emilio asked, looking up at the building. ¡°It seems a little¡­¡± Melisande began to say, looking down at the cracked, wooden floorboards she stepped on. Seemingly experienced with the establishment, Roan scratched his head with his dark, leather glove, ncing back as he opened the door that jingled, ¡°C¡¯mon, I¡¯m the one paying for our rooms. Trust me, it¡¯s afortable ce.¡± ¡°¡­Sure,¡± Emilio nodded. He exchanged a doubtful nce with the emerald-eyed girl before following the man into the rundown inn, finding the lobby to be partly a ¡®lounge space¡¯ as well with an entire tavern upying the left half of the first floor. ¡°Woo-hoo!¡± ¡°Another! Another!¡± ¡°Go! Go! Go!¡± All gathered around one table, adventurers of all shapes and sizes, races and ranks, cheered on a muscr, dwarven woman with bright-red, braided hair and a burly elven man with light-green hair that were engaged in a duel of booze drinking. There was no doubt that they were adventurers without even seeing their insignia, as the attire they wore was telling enough: leather armor, strapped with steel shoulder pads, ck-belted uniforms, and a menagerie of pouches on their belts. ¡°A tavern?¡± Melisande remarked. ¡°Guess so. Can¡¯t say I¡¯ve seen thisbination before,¡± Emilio responded. It was certainly rowdy for what was supposed to be a ce meant for rest, though it was weing in its own way. Roan was already sliding a few coins over to the freckled, elven woman at the reception desk. ¡°Wee back, Roan! Who are these two adorable guests with you?¡± The receptionist asked, holding her hands in front of her as she leaned forward to get a look at the two. As the woman moved, her remarkable bust bounced in full view of Emilio¡¯s tired, but lecherous eyes as he gulped, shaking his head to avert his gaze. In his mind, all he could think about was how only a single button was keeping her verdant vest from popping open to reveal her bosom. Though Melisande seemed to have some sort of sixth sense for the young man¡¯s less-than-pristine mind as she shot him a re that caused him to cough, focusing himself. ¡°I¡¯m Emilio Dragonheart,¡± he introduced himself with a smile, giving a good impression, ¡°I¡¯m on my way to bing an adventurer, so I hope we can have a fruitful rtionship from here on.¡± The receptionist was taken aback by his manners, now recognizing his adventurer-like getup with the sword at the boy¡¯s hip and a staff holstered on his back, ¡°Oh! What a delightful young man you are. And you, littledy?¡± ¡°Melisande Tareund,¡± she gave her name, ¡°I¡¯ll be an adventurer soon, too.¡± Bringing her hands together, the blonde-haired, freckled-faced elf seemed delighted with their youthful aspirations before handing the two keys to Roan, ¡°How fabulous! I am Serenity, I dope hope we in fact have a longsting rtionship. The ¡®Sword and Shield Inn¡¯ wees all adventurers with open arms. I¡¯ll be praying for safety in your journeys!¡± The neighboring rooms Roan had purchased to cover their stay in Indasia were on the second floor, upying the very end of the olive-walled corridor. ¡°Alright, don¡¯t get into any ¡®antics¡¯ you two,¡± Roan said. It was expected as there were only two beds in a room so two rooms were needed, but the idea of sharing a private room with the silver-haired girl made Emilio¡¯s introverted self tremble. ¡°Huh?¡± Melisande tiled her head at his words. The red-haired adventurer rified, ¡°I mean I better not hear anything from Serenity about stains¨C¡± ¡°Enough, enough, we¡¯ve got it!¡± Emilio interrupted the man with flushed cheeks, snatching the key. Through his flustered state, he had to fiddle with the key, trying to fit it into the lock with frantic hands before finally inserting it, turning it as the door clicked, allowing Melisande and himself into the room. The wooden floorboards were partly decorated by a fluffy, olive rug that matched the wallpaper. It was somewhat basic, simply housing two beds, a nightstand with fragrant flowers, and a bathroom, but it was enough. Without hesitation, the two flopped into their respective beds. This is where Emilio learned the true merit of the Sword and Shield inn: the beds were cloudlike, as if the mattresses were filled with fluff carved straight from the skies. ¡°¡­Oh, wow¡­¡± Emilio sighed out in rxation. ¡°¡­This is way better than the carriage¡­¡± Melisande sighed out as well. Afterying on the bed in silence with his arms and legs spread out as if trying to create a snow angel, he finally sat up. ¡°I wonder what we should do tomorrow. Roan said we¡¯ll be here a couple days, so I was thinking¨C¡± Emilio cut himself off as he looked over, finding that Melisande was already fast asleep, curled up on the other bed. He was surprised at how quickly she fell into slumber, but then again, he felt that same exhaustion himself as he smiled softly. Getting up, he took the nket on the girl¡¯s bed, gently pulling it over the girl so that she didn¡¯t grow cold. Looking at the girl who slept soundly, hugging into the pillow by her side, that silver hair of hers and face resembled his lost friend enough that he found his smile slightly fading. As he went back to his bed, he sat on it, removing his vest. As he looked at his own body, rolling up his sleeves, he found that the blemishes and minuscule scars he umted throughout his journey thus far had not faded. It still feels like just yesterday I was trapped in that hell, he thought. The ¡°Undying Blood¡± flowed through him, that much was felt as the blood running through his veins felt more alive; it was an inexplicable feeling, one that was more akin to a spiritual resonance within him. Clenching his fist, he felt the blood pump through his veins before releasing, holding a somber look in his amethyst eyes. Vandread, you¡¯re here, aren¡¯t you? This is the same blood you had¡­I feel it now¨Cwhat you went through, he thought. While looking at his hand, he found the sight of the six-pointed star etched onto his palm, reminded of the other questionable event that had urred. That¡¯s right¡­that little girl with the tinum hair and an attitude, Hextrice, I think? And the well-mannered man with crimson hair¡­Gavill? My familiars, he recalled, I still feel like I¡¯m not ready for something of this level yet. I just feel like¡­my spirit needs to recover. As gued as his mind was with many thoughts, he decided to call it a night, setting his staff and sword at his bedside beforeying down. Laying there, he found himself hesitant to sleep; this was a recurring problem he faced since experiencing the dreadful cataclysm that shook Larundog. Part of him was scared of what nightmares awaited him once closing his eyes, but s, his eyes closed on their own after some time. The dreams he was ensnared in were hardly coherent; jumbled connections of frightening visuals and invocations of anguish, dread, andmentation. It was a prison inside his own mind; shadowy figures swirled around him, taunting and cornering him as he trembled in the nightmarish dreamscape, all alone. A sight of hope surfaced in the familiar figure of his silver-haired friend, though as he reached out, that person he yearned for turned around, looking at him with wide, frightened eyes. ¡°¡­Joel¡­!¡± Stretching his hand out, he reached for him, and Joel met him halfway, though just as their fingertips met, the figure was torn into shreds by disembodied, dark hands. ¡°¡­No, no, no¡­¡± The isted world of nightmares shifted around him, returning to a field beneath the gaze of corpses, bringing him to a sight he didn¡¯t wish to see. It was the death of Vandread; devoid of a heart, the man was ruthlessly impaled by giggling figures. Over and over, these nightmarish scenes repeated as he wished to escape, curling up in a fetal position as his teeth chattered. ¡°¡­Help¡­¡± It was at his lowest point, truly regressing to the mindset of a child, that he found himself greeted by a familiar figure. A man with long, crimson hair knelt beside him, giving him a hand, ¡°It¡¯s alright now, Master.¡± ¡°¡­You are¡­¡± Emilio looked up with teary eyes, recalling the figure. It wasn¡¯t a single person¨Cthere were six in total; the sight of them caused the six-pointed star on his palm to tingle with a slight heat. They varied in size from a little girl to arge, burly man, though he could hardly make them out through the dark world of nightmares around him. ¡°Gavill¡­?¡± He recalled the name of the spirit he was contracted with. ¡°Rest easy now, Master. Leave it to us,¡± Gavill warmly assured him. Those words, along with the presence of the six spirits, tore away the gue of nightmares on his mind, soothing Emilio¡¯s mind into a proper, peaceful slumber. Chapter 181 Unknown Establishment Peeking through the curtains, gentle, orange rays of sunlight befell his eyelids, causing him to blink slowly as he was naturally guided from his rest. He sat up, realizing he was tightly holding onto his pillow before letting out a morning yawn. I actually got some decent sleep for once¡­He thought. As he looked around, rubbing one of his eyes groggily, he found that he was alone in the room. Though by the sunny day that persisted beyond the windows of the inn, he realized it was likely closer to noon than morning. ¡°¡­I¡¯m thest one awake, huh?¡± He said to himself with a yawn. A quick bath was had as he tossed his clothes off, scrubbing his body clean with a bar of soap, getting into every nook-and-cranny as he took advantage of being able to fully clean himself amidst the lengthy journey. ¡°Hmm..¡± He¡¯d been wearing the same outfit for some time now, since he hadn¡¯t given much thought to a change of clothes with how he could simply wash them with a bit of water and healing magicbined. Before tossing his clothes on, he decided to make a change as he swapped into a long-sleeved, light-red tunic with ck trousers, slipping brown boots on as he allowed his main outfit to get some time off. ncing at his sword and staff that were at his bedside, he was hesitant to bring his equipment along as he yearned for a peaceful day of a break withoutbat on his mind. Still, it was better safe than sorry as he tucked his scabbard to his belt and brought his staff along. ¡°Alright¡­¡± He mumbled to himself, tightening theces on his boots before heading out of the room. What should I get done today? If Melisande is with Roan today, maybe I can finally look for a brothel, heh¡­Emilio thought. As he walked down the corridor with this in mind, he nodded a few times to himself, he soon found himself standing in the streets of Indasia, exiting the inn as he immediately stepped back as a carriage pulled through. ¡°Woah¡­close,¡± he mumbled. Moving onto the street, he looked up, using his arm as a visor from the sunlight as he saw the interconnected bridges above filled with numerous people as well. I¡¯d like to go up there, but¡­I doubt it¡¯s avable for those not in academia, he thought. upying the streets were pop-up vendors; merchants selling fresh fruit of colorful shades, jewels iming to be far more special than they truly were, and misceneous souvenirs. They weren¡¯t there the previous day, so it seemed to him to be only a concept allowed during the early half of the day. There were a variety of things he wanted to do, but first on the agenda was satisfying his famished stomach. He stopped by one of the vendors, exchanging a single crown and a copper for a fresh sandwich. At least, it seemed to be a sandwich, though the bread was pale and powdered lightly with what seemed to be salt. The main ingredient was egg and cheese between both slices of bread. It proved to be a good purchase as the first bite was enjoyable, leading to him quickly finishing it as he leisurely walked along the streets of the foreign city. In Indasia, the alleyways stuck out differently to him as they seemed more like narrower, interconnected streets with vendors upying them and star-designed veils blocking out the sun above. There was a heavy existence of incense in the alleys; the smoky, but sweet scent provided an alluring atmosphere of its own. ¡°Lapis! Ruby! Sapphire! The most precious gems in Indasia can be found herea€¡°! Come,e!¡± A boisterous merchant advertised his wares, waving his arms around that were decorated in sparkling bracelets. Jewelry wasn¡¯t much of his thing as he nced for a moment before continuing, not finding much of anything that caught his eye. ¡°Lad! Yes, you,d! You have quite the peculiar existence, don¡¯t you?¡± Called out specifically, he looked over towards one of the street side vendors, finding an older gentleman sitting on a rug with a crystal ball in front of him, running his palms over the nebulous sphere. ¡°Me?¡± Emilio pointed at himself. ¡°Yes, yes,¡± the old fortune teller said. Though he was hesitant, there wasn¡¯t much else upying his time, and he was at least curious, so he gave the wrinkled, closed-eye man a minute of his time. I¡¯m not expecting anything as this is the quintessential scam, but¡­If magic exists, why not fortune telling? Emilio rationalized. ¡°Let us see¡­Oh, what¡¯s this?¡­¡± The fortune teller said, conjuring a flickering tempest within the bounds of his sphere. While he waited for his fortune, he watched as the old man, who was missing half his teeth, continued making weird ¡°Ooo~¡± noises while waving his hands around as if casting a non-existent spell. Alright, I¡¯m out of here¡­Emilio thought. Just as he turned around to continue on his way, he was stopped as the fortune teller stuttered out, as if speaking in such a way to keep him there. ¡°O-o-oh! Here it is! I see¡­I see a woman in your future!¡± The fortune teller said, ¡°A beauty with hair like snow and eyes of the divinea€¡°a stalwart soul¡­this is a meeting of doom.¡± ¡°Doom¡­?¡± Emilio repeated. It was perplexing and ominous, to say the least, but he didn¡¯t put much stock into it, flipping a few crowns to the fortune teller who was patiently waiting for his toll. ¡°Ah, thank you, kind patron! Let fortune be on your side, as people are much more fickle,¡± the old man told him. As he inspected his pouch of coins, he realized it had grown quite emptya€¡°direly, in fact. It wasn¡¯t as though he was constantly buying things without second thought, at least not that he remembered. Wait, did I lose money in Larundog?¡­Was that one of my fears?! There¡¯s no way I can afford a brothel like thisa€¡°no, not just that. Any supplies I need! He realized. He was quick to be on his way, wanting to get his mind off the abnormal encounter as he instead set his sights on a new avenue of the city once leaving the maze of alleyways: it was a street paved with pale-blue stone, surrounded by skyhigh, intertwining buildings that thrived with mysticism. This is¡­Emilio thought. There was a sign on the entrance of the base of theplex structure that was frequently entered and exited by adventurers and academic mages all the same: ¡°Tower of Iron Magi¡±. Chapter 182 Fairytale Spoken; Reality [???] Frost stretched itself over countless valleys, gripping mountains in sheets of white as snow flowed through the harsh, howling winds. It was and secluded from all other kingdoms; an empire that upied the infertile continent of cold. [¡°From an outsider¡¯s perspective, thend of Farmay may seem like a fairytale; a kingdom built from frost, secluded within mighty walls of ice that stretch towards the clouds as if trying to escape to the heavens.¡±] Sitting at a desk in a cold, lonely office lined with bookshelves and a carpet from a pale-furred bear, a stern-faced man inscribed on a paper, wielding his quill with elegance. He looked outside of the window momentarily, watching the perpetual snowfall that shared the sameplexion as his well-groomed beard. In the distance, colossal walls of brilliant frost stood firm, reflecting the moonlight like an azure kaleidoscope. [¡°However, this is not the case. Farmay is a prison; an eternal sentence given to those who followed Her Majesty, such loyalty was rewarded with being exiled to thisnd, uninhabited by humans and inhabited by great beasts and hazards around every corner. It was only because of Her Majesty¡¯s benevolence that these walls were raised and we were given habitablends. That was three-hundred years ago; she used up so much of her strength that she remains bedridden until this day, but has yet to age a day past her early youth. Though it is a title used as an insult, the ¡®Perpetual Princess¡¯ lives up to such a name.¡±] A quiet sigh left the lips of the man as he raised his hand, resting his chin atop his knuckles as he looked down towards a map of Milligarde that was used as a tactician¡¯s map, having figurines representing soldiers on it. He reached over, lifting one of the figures as he inspected it. [¡°While it has improved from the certain death it was meant to be, Farmay will notst in this deste frost. There is no progress to be made here; sunlight cannot pierce the veil of frost that hangs above, nor does life reach the infertile soil. Her Majesty¡¯s power is the only thing keeping it habitable, and her strength is finite. That is why we must retake Milligarde at all costs, and ce Her Majesty on her rightful throne.¡±] As if angered by the thought of Milligarde royalty, he mmed the piece down on the spot of the map representing Milligarde¡¯s capital. ¨C Amidst the storm of ice, a castle surrounded by trees d in ice stood firm. Within it, a council of those of power within this forgotten, exiled kingdom met for perhaps the first time in years. Ten figures gathered in the exuberant, but cold, gloomy room, decorated with faded gs that held a symbol of a butterfly. ¡°My, how long has it been since we¡¯ve all been in one ce together?¡± A beautiful woman, small in stature with curly, hazel locks asked with a gentle smile, guarded by three,rge men d in ivory armor. She wore a fluffed dress, reinforced by a thick, white scarf tobat the ever-present winter. [The Tenth Viscount, Head of Weapon Development, Marnge] ¡°It has been quite some time, hasn¡¯t it? Though time passes swiftly while one is deeply invested in the truths of this world,¡± a pale man with a silver tongue spoke, swaying a vial containing a mysterious substance. He had well-kempt, blonde hair and keen, scarlet eyes that watched the liquid sway in the ss with a small smile. Inparison to the others present, he worevish attire, though covered with a protective coat. [The Second Viscount, Head of Alchemy, Laurent] ¡°We ¡®Viscounts¡¯ meet here today in preparation of our Majesty¡¯s will; the will of all of the Farmayan people,¡± a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard and shaggy, burgundy hair spoke, resting his hands atop a cane. [The Third Viscount, Head of Lesser Folk Affairs, Reed] ¡°Speaking of which¡­Shammoth, what of your task with the Unending Nightmare?¡± Posing the question was a man dpletely in all-ck armor, wearing a faceless helm with a fur-lined, silver cloak hanging from his shoulders. Though his face was unseen, ck-and-white hair that came from the back of his lion-shaped, onyx helm was visible, though often mistaken as a fleece. [The Seventh Viscount, Head of Military, Amine] Leaning against one of the pirs that held the chamber up, the smiling, patchwork man raised his hat as his mix-colored eyes gleamed from the shadows. ¡°Ah¡­Unfortunately, some nuisances got in the way. Though Larundog has been all but wiped out in its entirety,¡± Shammoth replied. [The Ninth Viscount, Head of External Reconnaissance, Shammoth] Hitting one of the walls with enough strength to rumble the building, a woman with short, white hair that matched her snow-white uniform, paired with a fluffy, ck cape showed her disdain for Shammoth¡¯s answer. ¡°Weren¡¯t you responsible for making sure the Nightmare made sure to reach all of Milligarde¡¯s high-priority cities? If you let that yful nature of yours hinder the Majesty¡¯s will, I will personally handle your execution, Shammoth,¡± the ck-eyed woman promised. [The Fourth Viscount, Head of Vanguard, Elda] Shammothughed, raising his hands as if submitting, ¡°I gave it my all, truthfully¨C¡± A castle-quaking aura of contempt rose from Elda as she narrowed her eyes on the Ninth Viscount, though was stopped as a man stepped between them. He was dressed in jet-ck attire with a crow-feathered cape around his shoulders, wearing a silver ne that hung over his scarf. A singr earring in the shape of a frosten crystal was attached to his left ear. ¡°Now, now¡­This is not the time to fight amongst one another; it will surely sadden her Majesty. Why don¡¯t we settle this formally over a peaceful discussion? Perhaps a reprimanding in the form of a toll should be in question.¡± There was a smile that hardly veiled the man¡¯s true self as he adjusted his sses with a simple press of his fingertips, d in dark, silken gloves. Lavish rings, embroidered with precious jewels were worn on each of his fingers. [The Fifth Viscount, Head of Mary Affairs, Montmirail] A certain sordid air gave off from Montmirail¡¯s ss smile, holding a gentle expression that hid the true corruption sitting behind the sses of the youthful man¡¯s face. Only briefly did his eyes part, revealing his snakey, amber irises. ¡°Is money all that¡¯s on your mind, Montmirail? Delegates should stay out of personal matters¨Cthis is about loyalty,¡± Elda said bitterly. Chuckling to himself while still swaying his precious vial, the Head of Alchemy seemed amused by the animosity between the Viscounts. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± Elda asked, turning to look at the blonde-haired man of science. Laurent tucked his vial away beneath his pale coat, ¡°Oh, nothing. I was just reminiscing about when you were once a timid, new recruit to the Order, dear Elda.¡± ¡°You¨C¡± Elda gritted her teeth in embarrassment. ¡°A fight? I wanna watch! My money is on Elda!¡± A feminine boy cheered, watching with a delighted, bubbly smile as he rested his chin on his hands. Despite the cold nature of thend, the boy with curly, ginger locks wore shorts, supplemented by only knee-high, ck socks as he tapped his shoes against the rich tile. Still, despite his seeming childlike nature, there was a wisdom past his apparent years iid in his cross-shaped, amethyst irises. [The Sixth Viscount, Head of Spiritual Alliances, Floraison] Flipping a coin in his hand, a man with a scar etched across his left eye, holding emerald irises, responded as his golden ponytail swayed behind his rich, ck cape, ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll bet on Shammoth. It¡¯s natural to favor family, isn¡¯t it? One must have faith in his younger siblings; that much is a given by the bond of blood.¡± Though Shammoth seemed somewhat annoyed to be referred to as simply a ¡®younger sibling¡¯ by the scar-faced gambler. [The Eighth Viscount, Head of The Hunting Party, Amariah] ¡°You aren¡¯t fooling anybody, Amariah,¡± Montmirail said, holding his hands together, ¡°If we have anything inmon, it¡¯s that we both value the importance of wealth above all else. ¡®Family¡¯ has no sway over that.¡± Amariahughed, ¡°Read like a book? Well, perhaps not all of us are as cold and ruthless as you, Montmirail, ¡®The Blood Broker.''¡± ¡°It simplyes with the job, I¡¯m afraid. In the world of blood and trade, one must leave their emotions at the doorstep,¡± Montimrail adjusted his sses with a soft smile, ¡°With that being said, my own mission has been going smoothly; I¡¯ve established firm business rtions with Transluvia and Bellmisa.¡± ¡°It seems we¡¯re not the only ones who wish to see Milligarde crumble¨Chow intriguing. What a blessing it is to be able to witness the times toe,¡± Laurent remarked. Arriving from beyond the heavy, steel doors that were caked in a lightyer of frost, a stalwart man with no semnce of leeway on his expression silenced the conversations between the Viscounts with his imposing steps. ¡°Enough of your theatrics. I will not tolerate any bickering amongst each other, nor will any ¡®executions¡¯ be permitted¨Cif you must die, do it while furthering Her Majesty¡¯s will,¡± the man spoke with a deep voice thatmanded respect. Exemplifying his seniority was his snow-white beard and matching locks that fell on the shoulders of his silver cloak, possessing a singr, icy-blue eye while the other was covered by a jeweled eyepatch. He wore the butterfly symbols of Farmay on his coat, which had cobalt strings hanging on its expertly-tailored fabric. [The First Viscount, Leader of Her Majesty¡¯s Viscounts, Hiver] They all gathered around the snow-white table that was etched with the symbol of a frosted butterfly; the entric lords of Farmay stood in silence while the First Viscount was present. ¡°After countless sacrifices and biding our time in the cold, the time has finallye to enact our n now that Milligarde has been properly weakened,¡± Hiver said, ¡°¡­The strength of Her Majesty¡¯s Viscount will not fail. If there is one shared connection between all of us, it is ourmitment to Her Majesty and her dream: We will retake our home, away from this frosted coffin, and eliminate the self-proimed ¡®God In The Sky¡¯¨Cthe Element King, Aelor.¡± It was with those words that all of the Viscount closed their eyes in agreement of this wish, nodding their heads in silence. Hiver took the chess piece from the wartime table, moving the ¡®Queen¡¯ forward, ¡°No longer will we be anchored by past betrayal. ¡®The Perpetual Princess¡¯¨Clet us erase that belittling name given to Her Majesty in history books; let the betrayal of her brothers and sisters, who rule Milligarde with brittle im,e full circle. Let us give back to Her Majesty the lusciousnd she was promised.¡± It was a promise made between the outcasts of the world; a covenant made with the forever youthful empress of the Farmay Empire. Stemming from and forgotten by time, burned from scriptures, and hidden, known only by the royalty responsible for the creation of the exiled kingdom. This was the ¡®Bond of Frost¡¯¨Cmarking the beginning of a war toe that would reshape Aracius forevermore. [¡°Her Majesty will have her rightful kingdom, even if it shall be burnt and rebuilt from the ashes anew; an empire forged of ice and blood will be the ¡®new order¡¯, free from the gods¡¯ authority.¡±] Chapter 183 The Tower of Iron Magi Seeing as it wasn¡¯t a private area, he hesitantly walked into the ¡°Tower of Iron Magi¡± with curiosity bolstering his step as he entered past the threshold. ¡°Wooo¨C!¡± ¡°Get him!¡± There were cheers that echoed throughout the corridor, originating from a vast space deeper within the colossal building. What¡¯s this ce¡­? He questioned. Passing by adventurers who were exchanging coins, some being paid from receptionists after ¡°winning¡± something, he reached the end of the corridor. ¡°¨C¡± Emilio was stunned. His ears were overwhelmed by the resounding cheers of the audience that inhabited the arena within the Tower of Iron Magi, numbering in the thousands, as they overlooked an octagon-shaped arena in the center of the stadium. In the arena, twobatants faced off while mages stood around the perimeter, maintaining a barrier to protect the spectators. ying a long-ranged game, a mage dressed in scarlet robes and long, ck hair with pointed ears dual-wielded wands, flinging high-speed projectiles of water towards his opponent. The opponent of the unorthodox mage was a hazel-haired woman dressed in steel-and-leather armor with light-brown trousers, sprinting with feline-like agility with a broadsword in her hand. ¡°¡­A tournament¡­?¡± Emilio realized. While the water magic wielded by the elven mage was deflected by the adventurer woman¡¯s de, though managing to pass by her guard as a bolt of aqua struck her in the abdomen, the crowd went wild in response. It was a spectacr bout; even faced against swarms of high-velocity arrows of water, the woman showcased profound skill in swordy and physical might to match as she swept her de through the mystical aqua. ¡°Grgh¡­!¡± The elven man gritted his teeth, witnessing the futility of his magic now. ¨C They¡¯re strong, Emilio thought. ¡°Sorry, kid, but bets are closed for this match. The winner is already clear.¡± Speaking to him was a short-of-stature man who he didn¡¯t even notice until just then; he was an elderly fellow, dressed in an exuberant, aristocrat suit with jewelry worn in the form of dazzling rings. Though he was clearly not human¨Cthat much was clear by his stature and pointy ears: a dwarf. It caught him off-guard, taking his attention from the intense match going on in the arena. ¡°Bet? Oh, I wasn¡¯t looking to do that,¡± Emilio responded. ¡°Oh? Hm¡­¡± The amber-eyed, silver-haired dwarf inspected him, ¡°A sword and a catalyst, hm? I take it you¡¯re not just a mere spectator, then? Or at least, you don¡¯t want to be.¡± ¡°Err, what do you mean? I don¡¯t follow¨C¡± As ifpletely ignoring his words, the wealthy dwarf cut him off with a smile, ¡°I have an eye for this, you know? I can tell¨Cyou¡¯ve got potential.¡± ¡°Potential?¡± ¡°To win. To make money,¡± the dwarven man told him, ¡°Good money. How does one-hundred crowns for one fight sound?¡± Just the allure of those words alone caused Emilio to gulp as the emptiness of his coin pouch made him all the more attentive to the smooth words of the man. ¡°O-one-hundred crowns?¡± Emilio repeated. ¡°It seems I have your attention. I¡¯m Alfobromli Merryfoot¨Ca sponsor of the Tower of Iron Magi,¡± the dwarf told him, extending his hand, ¡°Come with me to my backstage¨Cwe can discuss this further.¡± ¡°Emilio,¡± he gave his name in return. He knew it was something Roan and Melisande alike would give him an earful for, but the temptation of coin and the allure of establishing himself to some capacity in the capital of mages was too much for him to reject. Shaking the sponsor¡¯s hand, he followed him to the back of the illustrious arena into a private quarters exclusively for Alfobromli. ¡°Take a seat and treat yourself to whatever you¡¯d like,¡± Alfobromli told him. The room was exuberant; there were high-end leather furniture with rich gifts of chocte signed by names of those who seemed to be other sponsors. While he checked out the room, trying out one of the pieces of chocte, he sat down, watching as the silver-haired dwarf fiddled through papers before finding a specific document. ¡°Aha, here it is,¡± Alfobromli said to himself. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Your contract,¡± Alfobromli told him, straightening out the paper before setting it in front of him, cing a pen-and-quill beside the document for him as well. He already began questioning his decision to indulge the offer by the arena sponsor as he looked up with a raised eyebrow, ¡°I¡¯m not a dumb kid, you know.¡± ¡°Huh? Ah, a sharp one, eh?¡± Alfobromli said. ¡°I¡¯m not just going to sign whatever you hand me with the promise of coins¨Cyou haven¡¯t even told me what the Tower of Iron Magi really is yet,¡± Emilio said, ¡°¡­It says right here that I¡¯m signing this because there¡¯s a chance I could die in the arena. I¡¯m not participating in some ¡®death battle¡¯.¡± The elderly dwarf looked at him before adjusting his monocle, strutting around the room as he cleared his throat. ¡°Inplete honesty, I believed you already understood what it was,¡± Alfobromli said, ¡°That was ack of judgment on my part. Emilio, yes? Do not worry¨Cthe Tower of Iron Magi is not some savage brawl to the death,¡± the dwarf continued, standing across from him, ¡°That¡¯s only part of the contract as¡­idents can ur. That¡¯s all.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯re the rules, then?¡± Emilio asked. ¡°It¡¯s simple, really. This is not the stale tournament you see in lesser cities¨Cno, no, no,¡± Alfobromli waved his finger, ¡°The Tower of Iron Magi is an organization of talented warriors of varying talents¨Cmagic, swordsmanship, and such, put under the management of a sponsor, like myself, to set up bouts against other fighters. That¡¯s the beauty of it; there¡¯s nomitment¨Cyou¡¯re free to do a single fight, if that¡¯s what you want. However, if you¡¯re sessful¡­there¡¯s a bright future ahead of you, lined with crowns and thrones alike.¡± It was all too alluring as the money-loving dwarf spoke right to the heart of his dusty wallet, though it didn¡¯t sound bad, either. Emilio sat there for a minute to ponder whether or not he¡¯d sign up to participate in a fight or two for some quick cash. I was initially thinking I¡¯d have to sit through a whole tournament, but if it¡¯s just one or two fights¡­I can get this done without Roan or Melisande knowing, Emilio thought. ¡°If I sign this, when¡¯s the soonest I can fight?¡± Emilio asked seriously. Alfobromli seemed pleased with his question, stroking his silver beard with a smile, ¡°A motivated one, hm? It just so happens there¡¯s a slot open in the next ten minutes.¡± ¡°Ten minutes? Really?¡± Emilio looked in surprise. ¡°Yes, yes, it¡¯s unfortunate, really, but the fighter I had ready for this bout was¡­too sick to participate today,¡± Alfobromli said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry¨Cnobody will be upset that you¡¯re taking their ce; the crowd loves surprises.¡± There it was: the obvious reason why the wealthy dwarf was so impatient to contract an impromptu person like himself to fight: there was no other choice for Alfobromli. ¡­And here I thought I was finally being estimated correctly, Emilio thought. Though he felt like he was walking into something above the paygrade of somebody his age, he grabbed the pen and ced his signature. Just as he inscribed his name in ink, the dwarf¡¯s expression lit up with joy. ¡°A fabulous decision! I like a fighter that shares my passion for sess!¡± Alfobromliughed. ¡°So¡­who am I fighting?¡± He asked. ¨C As those ten minutes arrived, he now found himself walking down the corridor exclusive for Tower fighters, left only with a vague description from his sponsor: ¡°A rough fellow named Ikar; be wary of his fists.¡± Those not-so-reassuring words from Alfobromli led him to nervously walk down the steel corridor, hearing the cheers of anticipation from the crowd. Prompting him to move quicker was the loud yell from the announcer of the Tower of Iron Magi, who bolstered his voice with a runic device that acted like a microphone: ¡°Due to unfortunate circumstances, fighter Roy will not be participating today, however! We¡¯ve got an even better surprise for you, folks! He may be young, but don¡¯t count him out! Giiiiiive it up for Emilio Dragonheart!¡± The announcer boomed. Following the announcer¡¯s words was a thunderous response from the crowd, building further anticipation for his debut. Alright¡­just one or two fights and you¡¯ll have more than enough money to make up what you lost. Keep it cool¡­You¡¯re strong, he told himself. Still, the introverted part of himself was queasy at the thought of performing in front of so many people, pausing before the arena entrance before finally walking in. ¡°THERE HE IS!¡± ¡°WOO!¡± ¡°A KID?!¡± ¡°GOOD LUCK, BOY! TRY NOT TO DIE!¡± He gulped, feeling pressure now as a droplet of sweat dripped down his cheek, looking up from his side of the arena to find thousands of people watching him, cheering with enough volume to lightly shake the sand floor of the battleground. ¡°¡­Thanks¡­¡± Emilio quietly muttered with a nervous chuckle. As he held his wooden staff in his left hand, he felt a small breeze sweep through the isted arena, tugging on his long-sleeved, scarlet tunic before finding the announcer¡¯s voice booming again as the blonde-haired, leather-armored man shouted from his podium atop the arena. ¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯m counting out the star of today¡¯s bout! His record is fifteen-to-zero, currently undefeated and rising the ranks, it¡¯s the ¡°Brawler of Dimonia¡±¨CIkar!¡± The announcer shouted. An even more booming encore of cheers, roars, and apuse came from the audience at the weing of his opponent, only further cementing his feeling of being an underdog in this bout. Alright¡­Focus up, he thought. Chapter 184 Ruthless and Soon, Toothless A figure arrived from the opposing hall, soon entering the arena in the form of a man that more-so resembled a temple of muscle and savagery; he stood well over two meters with ck hair kept in dreadlocks and two horns protruding from his forehead. He held a fiery smirk as his sharp, scarlet eyes set on Emilio, tightening the ck-steel, studded gauntlets that were worn on his fists. Emilio recognized those features, though never seeing them in person before, he had read about them in books: ¡°The Demon Race.¡± Despite such a name, Ikar mostly resembled a human, save for his horns and violent eyes. The crowd went wild at the man¡¯s appearance, beginning to chant: ¡°IKAR! IKAR! IKAR!¡± Ikar didn¡¯t wear a shirt, presenting his chiseled torso that was present with scars of war though seeming to be in his early twenties, holding a perplexed look as he finally seemed to register the stature of his opponent. ¡°A kid? Give me a break,¡± Ikar sighed, ¡°I¡¯ll earn shit for points by beating on a brat¨CI¡¯ll make this quick.¡± Emilio gulped his hesitation down, reading his catalyst as his opponent readied his stance across from him, a good twenty meters away. The announcer swiped his hand through the air, ¡°BEGIN!¡± Just like that, the crowd went wild as Ikar immediately set off in a dash towards the young man with a fiery smile on his face. He¡¯s fast! Emilio thought. Still, he was ready as he maneuvered with wind at his heels, able to dodge out of the way as Ikar mmed his fist forward, missing his target and instead hitting the barrier. THUD. The impact echoed off of the barriers, rippling the sand as a gust of wind brushed Emilio¡¯s blonde-and-ck tufts as he stood there in awe at the raw power held by the demon. ¡°¡­You¡¯re not half bad,¡± Ikar said with a smile, pulling his fist away from the cracked barrier. Emilio held a nervous smirk himself, ¡°Same to you.¡± The man hailing from the demon continent seemed to like that response as he smiled, setting off in a dash towards Emilio again. Through sheer agility and the might of his steps, Ikar parted sediment into brief sandstorms in his wake. Emilio intercepted the aggressive approach as he moved his staff, summoning a sturdy, rock wall between him and Ikar. A single thrust of his opponent¡¯s fist caused the wall to split into dozens of pieces as the man broke through with a smile. ¡°C¡¯mon! I¡¯m used to pummeling mages like yourself with my bare hands! You¡¯ll have to do better than that!¡± Ikar roared as his shaggy, dark hair flowed. ¨CThis was as expected by Emilio, who only used the rock wall as a momentary diversion to give himself time to invoke his next spell. ¡°Huh¨C?¡± Ikar looked forward. A powerful swirl of wind was held in Emilio¡¯s hand, causing a sandstorm to spiral in a cone in front of him before unleashing towards the brawler. ¡°Tempest Wind.¡± The wind howled as it engulfed the man in its tunnel of roaring might, knocking him back harshly against the opposing wall of the arena as sand was scattered throughout the battleground. In the face of the upsetting reversal of the battle, the crowd went silent in the aftermath of the st of wind as a veil of kicked-up sand persisted. ¡°¨C¡± Emilio stood his ground. ¡°What a turn of events, folks! Despite his youth, Emilio Dragonheart is a force to be reckoned with himself!¡± The announcer shouted, ¡°But¡­that won¡¯t be enough to take down Ikar!¡± Just then, the young man¡¯s instincts fired off as he knocked himself to the side with a gust of wind to move swiftly, finding himself narrowly avoiding a brutal clotheslining from Ikar, who had dashed across the length of the arena in a single moment. ¡­I didn¡¯t even see himing! Emilio thought. There was no time for further thoughts as Ikar approached him relentlessly, dragging his hands though the sand before knocking it up. He¡¯s trying to throw off my vision! He realized. As he ced wind beneath his boots to levitate upward for a better view, he immediately found his ankle being grabbed onto the moment he went up. ¡°Gh-!¡± Emilio let out. ¡°Got you!¡± Ikar smiled wide. Before he could conjure a spell, the ruthless warrior dragged him through the air in a circr pull before mming him down against the sand harshly¨CTHUD. ¡°Argh¨C!¡± Emilio gasped out as the air left his lungs. There was no mercy presented by the foreign warrior, who held a vicious smile in delight of the battle as he didn¡¯t let up, picking Emilio up and mming him into the ground again. This time, the impact of his chest smacking against the ground caused Emilio to spit out blood. ¡­Hurts¡­Emilio thought. ¡°Ha-ha-ha!¡± Ikarughed. Nheless, the crowd still cheered on, though some of those cheers were ced not for the favoredbatant: ¡°Go, Ikar! Put that newbie in his ce!¡± ¡°Hang in there, new guy! You¡¯ve got this!¡± Still, such motivational words from the strangers in the audience weren¡¯t enough for him to magically pick himself out of his current predicament as once he tried picking himself up from, a stomp was delivered to his back as a disgusting crack resounded. After such a brutal blow, delivering what could be lethal damage to the young man¡¯s spine, Emilio went limp, face down against the sand. Ikar held a surprised look at the consequence of his own strength,ing out of his stupor for battle for a moment as guilt came across his expression, ¡°Oh, shit¡­Are you alright? Dammit¡­I did it again.¡± ¡°Err¡­I think that¡¯s it, folks¡­It¡¯s never a happy sight to see, but the winner¨C¡± As the announcer spoke, he was cut-off as the crowd went silent as well. The Undying Blood flowed through his veins; the cracks and imperfections in the integrity of his spine were mended by internal threads of darkness. As his body recovered, the young man began to lift himself from the ground, picking Ikar¡¯s foot from his back in a surprising show of strength. ¡°What the¡­?¡± Ikar raised an eyebrow before stumbling back. Picking himself up from the ground, Emilio held an annoyed look embedded in his sharpened, amethyst eyes as he spit a mixture of sand and blood from his lips. [Dragonheart System Activated.] ¡°I don¡¯t know how, but it looks like you¡¯re raring to go now,¡± Ikat said with a ming smile, pping his own chest, ¡°C¡¯mon, let¡¯s get this sta¨C¡± Prevented from finishing his words, the young man¡¯s knuckles mmed against the demon continent warrior¡¯s cheek with a mighty impact, stifling the man¡¯s words as the brawler stumbled back. ¡°Grh¡­¡± For a moment, Ikar winced as a bit of blood dripped from his lip before the scar-covered brawler straightened himself out, facing towards Emilio again with a smile brighter than ever. ¡°¡­That¡¯s the stuff! I was disappointed when I saw my opponent was a spell-flinger, but this is much better!¡± Ikar howled withughter. ¡°¨C¡± Emilio watched him before sighing, sheathing his staff and unsheathing his gifted sword, ¡°¡­Don¡¯t me me for what happens next.¡± ¡°Not in a million years, friend!¡± Ikarughed. Without any further exchange in words, uninterrupted by the audience that was roaring in anticipation of theing sh, bothbatants set out towards one another. What ensued was a sh of physical might; the irond fists of the battle-loving warrior from the continent of demons, and the immacte sword of the aspiring adventurer from the continent of humans. Through the Dragonheart state he was in, he was able to contend with Ikar¡¯s frightening speed, matching him in an aggressive sh that resulted in continuous footwork as they both continuously switched who had the initiative. CLING. CLANG. CLING. As he embodied the principles of the Mountain God Style, Emilio used broad strokes of his sword, using a nted stance to increase the strength of each strike, though Ikar managed to block the steel with his sturdy gauntlets. ¡°¨C!¡± Ikar¡¯s scarlet eyes widened at the sight of an opening. Through a swift stomp forward and a clean thrust of his fist, Ikar broke through the barrage of shes, managing to m his massive gauntlet straight into Emilio¡¯s abdomen. The force couldn¡¯t be understated; it rattled through the young man¡¯s entire skeleton as the impact made it feel as though his stomach was set aze. ¡°Grrgh¡­!¡± Emilio gritted his teeth before tightening his grip on Silver Wing, nting his boots down to prevent himself from sliding back. Still, through his draconic endurance and the undying blood mending all damage done to him in an instant, he recovered with unexpected speed, countering with a vertical sh across Ikar¡¯s chest. SQUELCH. A spray of blood befell the sand as a new scar was etched onto the brawler¡¯s chest, leaving Ikar stunned at the endurance of his opponent, though he smiled again with further ferocity, excited beyond his limits. Even though the demon himself possessed no such regeneration of his own, he pushed through with the same reckless abandon as Emilio, mming his gauntlet against the young man¡¯s nose. WHAM. In the aftermath of such a blow, bolstered by Ikar¡¯s might, the wind cracked as the sand swirled around the point of impact. For a moment, everything went nk in Emilio¡¯s mind after being rocked by such a mighty blow, seeing stars as he stumbled for a moment. ¡­Ah¡­He thought. Chapter 185 Love and War Blood poured from his nostrils as his nose waspletely bent to the right, bruising immediately before he caught himself from falling backward, leaning back unnaturally before he grabbed his nose. Crack. With a simple tug, he snapped it back into proper position as the bruising subsided alongside his momentary concussion, bringing him back into the fight just as he looked up, finding Ikar leaping towards him. ¡°You¡¯re great!¡± Ikar said in earnest delight. Emilio flipped backward to avoid beingnded on as Ikar mmed his gauntlet into the ground uponnding, causing the entire arena to tremble beneath his savage might. As Ikar looked up with his dreadlocks swaying in the wind caused by his own might, he burst forward as Emilio was already doing the same, resulting in a sh of sword against fist. Needless thoughts ceased as the triumphant instincts of the dragon set in, guiding his sword forward as through his heightened focus in the heat of battle, he ducked beneath one of Ikar¡¯s blows, delivering a spinning sh against his abdomen in a clean counter. ¡°Gh¨C!¡± Ikar winced. Despitending a direct strike, it was only a skin-deep cut as the muscles held by the demon were as stiff as steel, though Emilio followed up as he spun back around, catching Ikar off-guard with his relentlessbination. As he went for a sh with his ck-and-silver de, Ikar flexed his muscles in preparation, though found the attack to be shifted into another entirely as Emilio lowered his sword, instead throwing his fist forward. ¡°What¨C?!¡± Ikar witnessed. It was a faint; swelling in the knuckles of the draconic young man was the destructive might exclusive to him in the form of the draconic force. Striking against the stiffened, already injured abdomen of his opponent, Emilio¡¯s fist released a supernatural force in its impact, blowing therge man back as he shot against the barrier with a devastating impact. ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± Emilio breathed out, catching his breath as he stayed in his readied stance. As the sand settled, it revealed to him and the anticipating audience alike the state of Ikar: the brawler was slumped over against the farthest wall, unconscious. ¡°WINNER: EMILIO DRAGONHEART!¡± The announcer yelled out. The decided result of the match caused a massive roar from the audience as cheers cascaded from the stands and down to the victory, who stood there in surprise. With the battle finished, the Dragonheart System deactivated, leaving him to bask in triumph for a minute as he smiled brightly, waving his hands to the crowd. As he returned to the private area of the Tower, exclusive forbatants, staff, and sponsors, he was cheerfully greeted by his sponsor the moment he entered the room, being hugged repeatedly by the dwarf. ¡°Emilio, my boy! You did it! You actually did it!¡± Alfobromli said with an excited smile, letting go of him, ¡°I mean, I believed in you the entire time, obviously!¡± ¡°Thanks¡­¡± He wryly chuckled. From the look he gave Mr. Merryfoot, the small man seemed to understand what he was waiting for as he waddled over to the desk, grabbing a bag filled with coins before handing it over to Emilio. Holding the bag of coins, Emilio felt his heart warm up as he nuzzled his cheek against it, thinking of all the cat girls he could indulge in with such funds. ¡°One-hundred-and-twenty crowns,¡± Alfobromli told him, ¡°Twenty extra came from the overwhelming victory you presented! I mean, it¡¯s unheard of to walk out of a bout unscathed like you did!¡¯ ¡°¨C¡± Emilio¡¯s eyes were locked on the bag of coins, immediately tucking it safely in his pocket. Before he could get a chance to consider what to do with his newfound funds, Alfobromli approached him, rubbing his hands together as if seeing him in a new light. ¡°That right there is just the start of it, Emilio-boy,¡± Alfobromli told him, ¡°You¡¯re the talk of the hour now¨Cpeople want to see you fight, they want to see your limits. Do you know what that means?¡± ¡°They¡¯ll buy in?¡± Emilio answered. ¡°Yes, yes! A perceptived, too! So, how about it? I can schedule you another fightter today, even! If you¡¯re up for it, that is,¡± the dwarven man asked him, ¡°No pressure, though.¡± Though the coins he had were certainly enough to make up for what he nned to do within the city, the prospect of even more money was certainly alluring as it opened up more opportunities. Beyond that, he found this to be a beneficial experience as well, getting to sharpen his newer, unrefined skills. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Emilio pondered. ¡°What¡¯ll it be? I¡¯ll need an answer sooner rather thanter,¡± Alfobromli persisted. ¡°Alright, alright¡­one more,¡± Emilio answered, raising a single finger. Alfobromli¡¯s expression lit up as he smiled brightly, adjusting his monocle, ¡°A wise and profitable choice, Emilio-boy! Now, rest up¨CI¡¯ll fetch you when your fight is ready!¡± Before the wealthy man could leave the VIP room of the Tower, Emilio stopped him as a question came to mind. ¡°Hey, Alfo, err, old man,¡± Emilio called out. ¡°Yes, what is it? Don¡¯t hesitate to ask for anything you need,¡± Alfobromli asked. Emilio smiled as he finally found the solution to his search, ¡°¨CCan you point me to the nearest brothel? With demi-humans, preferably.¡± Alfobromli looked stunned for a moment before answering, adjusting his monocle, ¡°Oh, that¡¯s what you want to know?¡­¡± ¨C Given directions to a brothel and a special token given him by his dwarven sponsor that he was told would get him anything he wanted, free of charge, he whistled cheerfully as he exited the room. Today, a boy will be a man, Emilio thought. With his eyes closed and humming to himself in a sing-song tune, he unexpectedly bumped into what felt like a wall of steel. ¡°Gah¨C¡± Opening his eyes, he saw a toned six-pack in front of him, spurring confusion in him as he tilted his head for a moment before looking up, finding his eyesying on the familiar, unexpected sight of the tan-skinned demon. ¡°Ikar¨C?¡± Emilio said in surprise. Is he here for revenge? Crap¡­I left my gear in the room, Emilio thought. The horned man towered over him, looking down at the young man for a moment before a cheerful smile came across his lips, suddenly lifting Emilio up into a bearhug. ¡°You were awesome, man! Let¡¯s do that again sometime!¡± Ikar said, holding him whileughing. ¡°¨CHuh?¡± Emilio was caughtpletely off-guard. To his shock, the intimidating man was as affable as could be, outside the arena, that is. After tapping the man¡¯s rock-solid bicep repeatedly to be let down, he was finally freed from the tight embrace, catching his breeze. ¡°If I didn¡¯t know any better¡­I¡¯d say you were trying to squeeze the life outta me,¡± Emilio said, catching his breath. ¡°Ha-ha! Give yourself some credit, you¡¯re as tough as the valleys of Marjuar!¡± Ikarughed, pping him on the back. Though the man was treating him fondly, there was still an abrasive nature to his ¡®kind¡¯ gestures as the brawler wasn¡¯t exactly aware of his own strength. Despite the difference in stature and their love for fighting, he found himself intrigued by Ikar nheless. ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve got a question,¡± he said, looking up at therge man. ¡°Yeah?¡± Ikar looked at him. ¡°You¡¯re a demon, right? The continent of demons¨Cerr, Ennage, is a long way out from Vasmoria, isn¡¯t it?¡± Emilio asked. Ikar seemed perplexed by his question as if it wasn¡¯t much of a mystery as the man scratched his scruffy beard, beginning to walk down the corridors of the private sector of the Tower alongside the young man. ¡°I take it you¡¯ve never met a demon before?¡± Ikar asked before answering the prior question. The youthful mage shook his head in response, prompting a short-lived, boomingugh from the man. ¡°Ha-ha! I bet you expected a big, scary monster then, didn¡¯t you? That¡¯s what those in the human kingdom seem to think all of us demonkin are, anyway,¡± Ikar said. ¡°Err, no¡­well, sorta,¡± Emilio admitted. ¡°I¡¯m just messin¡¯ with ya¡¯. The truth is, there are a lot of different demonkin¨Cthose like me, handsome warriors, ha-ha! Then there are some truly monstrous types like the Garana or the Yunam. Count yourself lucky that they¡¯d never step foot off our home continent,¡± Ikar exined, ¡°So, why¡¯d I leave? That¡¯s what you want to know?¡± ¡°Yeah, please,¡± Emilio insisted. As they walked down the hall, passing members of the Iron Magi had to squeeze by as Ikarcked any manners or consideration for others, not moving out of the way as he strutted down the middle of the narrow corridor. ¡°Truth is, I was on the run! Ha-ha!¡± Ikarughed. ¡°On the run?¡­Like, a criminal?¡± ¡°Exactly! I¡¯m always lookin¡¯ for strong guys to fight¨Cdoesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s a kid, adult, woman, man, or beast! If they¡¯re strong, I¡¯ll fight ¡¯em!¡± Ikar told him, punching the air as his dreadlocks swayed, ¡°¡­So, when one of those pesky Shadowlords got in my way, I socked him, well n¡¯ good!¡± ¡®Shadowlord¡¯? Emilio thought. Though there was no chance to ask as Ikar continued with his story like an excited child, ¡°Well, I thought I knocked him good, but he was barely phased! Ha-ha! Still, those Shadowlords think of themselves too ¡®high and mighty¡¯ for a good ol¡¯ fight, so he stuck me on a wanted list! I hightailed it off of Ennage and jumped on a ship. That¡¯s how I ended up here in Vasmoria.¡± ¡°¡­I see,¡± Emilio wryly chuckled. This guy is nuts! He thought. Chapter 186 Hot Springs After walking and talking for a good bit, mainly Ikar going on about memorable fights he¡¯d been in with goliaths and beasts exclusive to the demon continent called ¡®Devil Hide Worms¡¯, Emilio found himself at an exit of the Tower. ¡­That¡¯s right¨Cthe brothel! He remembered. Emilio interrupted Ikar mid-conversation, taking his leave as he waved, ¡°¨CI just remembered I have something to do! I¡¯ll see youter! Bye! Good luck!¡± ¡°Right back atcha! I¡¯ll win next time we fight!¡± Ikar grinned. ¨C Back beneath the rich sunlight that cast down on the affluent city of Indasia, Emilio found himself renewed with a pocket lined with coins and an abundance of things to do. Even better, he pulled the special token he had from Mr. Merryfoot, flipping it as he felt like he held a ¡®cheat code¡¯ in his hand. It¡¯s time to splurge a little, he thought. Air went to his head after proving himself as a valuable warrior, earning not just lofty praise and recognition, but mary gain for his efforts. This wasn¡¯t far from what he expected being an adventurer was like, but the instant gratification of it was something else, especially for the young man who was hardly a mature mind. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± Emilio mumbled to himself, looking around. There was a caveat to the sponsor token he held in his hand: it didn¡¯t allow him to obtain free products from merchants or shops, but instead experience free services¨Cwhich included what his eyes firstid on. Amidst the busy streets of Indasia, he looked up to find arge building made of fine pine, which was different from the usual stone and steel used for the architecture of the advanced medieval city. Steam exuded from the top of the building with enticing aromas of fruity soap emitting from the premises. It was something he always wanted to try: ¡°Magi Hot Springs¡±. ¡°¡­That¡¯ll do¡­¡± He said. From what he¡¯d heard, though never experiencing for himself, was that spas and hot springs had an almost ¡®magical¡¯ way of healing one¡¯s exhausted body. Heading inside, he found the interior to be nostalgic in a way, reminiscent of his own home from the humble, wooden architecture to the paintings on the wall and the animal rug of a brown-furred bear in the lobby. ¡°Wee, sir!¡± The receptionist greeted him, ¡°Are you here for the hot springs?¡± It always tickled his fancy to be referred to as ¡®sir¡¯ with some modicum of respect, being as he was an older mind living in the body of a youth. As such, a bubbly smile drew across his lips in his already good mood. ¡°Yup!¡± He nodded. ¡°Alright, that¡¯ll be two crowns,¡± the receptionist smiled. She had freckled cheeks and light-brown hair, kept in a ponytail that went well with her brown-and-verdant maid-like uniform. The woman didn¡¯t exactly strike him as somebody from Vasmoria, as her features struck him more as a Milligardian. ¡°Oh, I have this,¡± he said, rummaging through his pocket. Retrieving the sponsor coin lended to him by Mr. Merryfoot, he ced it on the woman¡¯s hand, who looked at it in total surprise. ¡°O-oh! You¡¯re an honorary Magi! Please, go on ahead!¡± The woman said, almost nervously but more shocked. Taking the coin back, he slowly nodded, not realizing what sort of status the special coin lent him as he moved on. Guess Alfobromli gave me something pretty useful. Now I feel obligated to repay the favor and help him out with another match or two, he thought. Finding himself in what was essentially a locker room with small, wooden cubbies, he knew it was time to undress and change into just a towel. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± He nced around quickly, making sure there were no eyes on him, though luckily it seemed to not be particrly busy, or at least nobody was in the changing room, as he tossed his clothes off. ¡°Brr¡­¡± He felt the cold air against his bare skin. Not allowing fate to grant him an embarrassing moment, he wrapped the beige towel around his waist, tying it neatly before heading out to the hot springs themselves. As soon as he entered the next room, he found the temperature shooting up with humid air persisting inside. To his surprise, the hot springs were as he imagined: a pool of warm water with a rocky bed, surrounded by fresh-scented trees for a rxing atmosphere. There were a few men in the hot springs bath itself already, though they kept to themselves, allowing him to quietly enter before seating himself. ¡°¡­Ahhh¡­¡± He couldn¡¯t avoid audibly letting out the satisfying sensation of the heated, natural water enveloping him up to his chest, soothing his exhausted body as it felt like the water massages his pores with a gentle heat. There was no doubt an age disparity between himself and the others upying the bath of rxation, though it seemed the very concept of the hot springs tore away any judgment or prejudice. A bristly-bearded, hairy dwarf had his eyes closed, lounging in therge, fresh bath, periodically sipping from a cup of mead; a pale-white, blonde elf sat not too far from the dwarf; a demi-human man with wolf ears and crimson hair with a body etched in scars rxed as his tail wagged behind him. A dwarf, elf, and demi-human? Sometimes it¡¯s hard to believe this is the world I live in, Emilio thought. In the soothing hot springs, he felt his entire body rx, closing his eyes as hepletely allowed thefort of the bath to take him in. Opening his eyes again, he found himself identally spending more time than anticipated there, jumping up out of shock as he forgot where he was for a moment after briefly slipping into slumber. ¡°Are ya alright there,ddy?¡± The rough, unrefined tone inteced with a heavy ent that resembled that of a Scotsman to him, came from the dwarf he saw in the bath, now standing outside of it. ¡°Err¡­Did I fall asleep?¡± He asked with augh. ¡°Ya sure did,¡± the dwarven manughed heartily, pping his own stomach, ¡°Happens to the best o¡¯ us! ¡®Specially with a belly o¡¯ mead!¡± Bringing himself out of the hot springs, he embarrassedlyughed before thanking the man for waking him up, heading back into the changing room. After spending time letting his body rest in the soothing waters, he found himself feeling light and rejuvenated as he dropped his towel and began dressing himself in his clothes again. ¡°Phew¡­¡± He sighed out, satisfied. ¡°It¡¯s quite rare to find an appreciator of the hot springs so young.¡± ¡°Ack¨C¡± Catching him off-guard as he was still shirtless with just his dragon-designed ne around his neck, was the elven man he saw earlier in the springs. Seeing him again, the pale elf¡¯s skin almost glistened from the water¡¯s moisture, free of any blemishes and smoother than even his own, as a teenager. It felt almost unfair, though he was caught off-guard by something else entirely. ¡°Err, yeah¡­¡± Emilio replied, finding his eyes lingering on something that shouldn¡¯t be on full disy in the first ce. That is, the elf was holding his towel on his arm and not around his waist in the current moment, holding no shame in letting his manhood hang. What the hell?! Show-off much?! Emilio thought. Though it was likely a cultural difference, and people in this era and world seemed a lot less ¡®shameful¡¯, it still wasn¡¯t exactly normal to so casually strut your privates to strangers, even in a bathhouse, or at least that was the impression he had. ¡°Hot springs are truly the greatest thing humans have brought to this world. That¡¯s not to say they haven¡¯t done other great things, but¡­the warmth of the divine water is truly sublime,¡± the elven man was almost in tears as he reminisced the hot springs he was in just minutes prior. ¡°I guess so¡­It was pretty nice,¡± Emilio said, averting his eyes as he slipped his shirt back in. He immediately regretted agreeing with the elven man¡¯s sentiment as the tall, fair-faced man approached him with a look of surprise. ¡°So, you agree?! Truly terrific! The beauty of the hot springs reached another soul¨C¡± As the man had stepped forward, the young man stepped back in response, wanting nothing to do with the drooping appendage that the elf didn¡¯t seem to even notice was out. ¡°Cut it out, would ya, Veril? Yer frightenin¡¯ the poord!¡± Coming to his rescue was the dwarven man from earlier, reprimanding the entric elf. To Emilio¡¯s surprise, the two seemed to be friends, despite his pop culture knowledge from his previous life telling him elves and dwarves weren¡¯t usually on the best of terms. ¡°Ah¡­¡± The elven man, Veril, seemed to realize how he was acting, ¡°¡­My apologies. The water of the hot springs gets to my head sometimes.¡± The blonde-haired elf was like an entirely different person once calmed; elegant andposed as he bowed in apology with his hand over his heart. ¡°¡­It¡¯s alright, don¡¯t worry,¡± Emilio wryly chuckled. I just want to get out of here! He thought. Chapter 187 The Tinkerer Huffing to himself, the bristly-bearded dwarf extended his hand to Emilio, which was calloused and rough, ¡°Sorry ¡¯bout that,ddy! Name¡¯s Whurful Dimbuckle! This here is a member of my adventurin¡¯ party: Veril. He¡¯s a good, feliable fellow most of the time, but¡­an excitable one! Ha-ha!¡± ¡°Yes, yes, I apologized already,¡± Veril said, shaking Emilio¡¯s hand as well. He was pleasantly surprised to find out the two were adventurers, though it seemed like arge chunk of the poption in each city was, at least for the passing crowd. ¡°Emilio,¡± he gave his name, ¡°¡­I¡¯m on my way to the Guild Foundation to be an adventurer myself, actually.¡± ¡°Is that so?! Well, good luck to ya,ddy!¡± Whurful told him earnestly. ¡°Indeed, may fortune be in your favor, though I believe you will not need it,¡± Veril said to him kindly. ¡°Thanks!¡± ¨C Finally leaving the premises of the bathhouse with a renewed figure, he stretched his arms up, now setting his sights on what he was truly after, flipping his sponsor coin in his hand: the brothel that Mr. Merryfoot gave him directions to. There was a certain sense of freedom on his mind when not having to carry his equipment with him, able to leisurely stroll the city without his mind lingering on threats. I¡¯m d I left my things in Alfobromli¡¯s room. I didn¡¯t realize how stiff my shoulders were from carrying all of that for so long anyway, he thought. While strolling down the street, he heard the scream of a woman, looking ahead as he paused, seeing that the crowd of people on the street were parting in the way of somebody sprinting. It was a man with a scarred eyebrow and thin, stringy hair of a dark-blue shade, wearing loose, ck garments with a scarf that covered his mouth. He was left confused for a moment before seeing in the distance, a fancily-dressed, golden-haired woman reaching out, yelling, ¡°¨CSomebody stop him! Guards! He¡¯s got my ring!¡± A thief? He realized. Just then, he noticed the shiny, likely expensive, piece of jewelry the man held as he raced forward, slipping by the passing adventurers on the street who tried to apprehend him. ¡°Grh!¡± A bald-headed adventurer in full-metal armor tried reaching out, only to trip over his own feet from the slippery footwork of the nimble thief. As he looked around, he scouted the sunny streets to look for guards, finding there to be none on the scene yet as he was now thest one directly in the path of the fleeing robber. Just my luck¡­I¡¯ve got a talent for running into this sort of thing, he thought, I was hoping to have some time to chill out, but I guess I¡¯m never that lucky. A sigh left his lips just as the ring-stealer came within distance of him, attempting to dash right past him before Emilio casually swept his hand, conjuring a gust of wind that swept the man¡¯s feet from under him. ¡°Grgh¨C?!¡± The thief reacted. Expecting that to settle the situation, he was surprised to find that the pale, scarfed man didn¡¯t facent against the paved stone of the road, instead catching himself on his hands before flipping up. ¡°Huh¨C?¡± To his shock, in a swift movement, the thief recovered from his fall, flipping up and drawing a curved dagger in a singr motion, swiping it towards the young man¡¯s eyes. Raising his hand out of reflex, he instinctively armored his left hand with his ¡°Scale Armor¡±, causing the dagger to bounce off of his hand. ¡°What?!¡± The thief hissed. It wasn¡¯t a perfect defense, however, as Emilio winced, finding the sharp de of the thief to heavily damage the dark-blue scales as they cracked. Still, the unexpected counter to the robber¡¯s ¡°eye sh¡± gave Emilio an opportunity to focus a swirl of wind in his fist before mming it into the man¡¯s gut, unleashing a pinpoint burst of wind that knocked him across the street. ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± Emilio sighed out, looking at his hand as the scales vanished. As he bent down to retrieve the ring from the knocked-out thief, he saw a peculiar tattoo inked onto the man¡¯s neck: a hooded figure within a circr ring. Odd, he thought. Standing back up with the ring in hand, he found the woman it belonged to racing over, having to hold her long, fluffed dress up as her heels tapped against the stone. ¡°¡­I will take that back now,¡± the woman said, catching her breath. She was a natural beauty, looking to be in her mid tote twenties with fair skin and dazzling, azure eyes that worked together with her curly, gold curtains of hair that cascaded down her slender shoulders. ¡°Here you go,¡± Emilio handed it over with a smile. epting it, the woman looked at the young man for a moment, ¡°Is there something you want?¡± ¡°No?¡± Emilio responded. His answer seemed to take the woman aback as she expected him to request something in return, though before she could say anything, she was approached by an older gentleman that was dressed in a ck butler suit. ¡°Mrs. Lureina! Are you alright?!¡± The silver-haired gentleman inquired. ¡°I am quite alright, Sylvo,¡± the clearly wealthy woman said, ¡°Let¡¯s be on our way.¡± Soon after the highborn woman took her leave with her butler at her side, the city guards arrived, taking the thief into custody, though he was still unconscious as they hauled him away. Maybe I hit him a bit too hard? Emilio pondered, no¡­He definitely tried to kill me, or at least blind me. He was surprisingly fast. ¡°You have my thanks for acting swiftly, young man,¡± one of the guards said to him, clearly a high-ranking member by his shy, fluffed cape that strolled down his shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s no problem,¡± Emilio assured him. After settling that, he looked around to find many eyes on him before suddenly¨Cthe crowd began pping, cheering him on for his actions in stopping the thief. It was a surprising amount of attention, an amount of which he didn¡¯t know how to receive as he bashfully smiled and waved before moving on. I guess it was worth it¡­Earning a name for myself is never a bad thing, right? He thought. As he went on his way, a shop along the street caught his eye, standing out among the other stores that either sold tailored outfits, food, or standard essories: ¡°The Magista Lot¡±. What made him double-take it as he passed by were the customers that went in-and-out of the shop, solely being adventurers and robed mages, easily discerned as academy students in Vasmoria. A magic shop? Well, I do have a lot of spare cash now, he thought. Heading inside, he expected a simple inventory of catalysts and basic equipment, but he was caught off-guard by the array of magical items on disy, ranging from potions to mystical devices. Such items ranged from a bracelet that was described by the note next to it as ¡°repelling nearby creatures from attacking¡± or a perfume that imed to ¡°make the wearer irresistible to the opposing gender¡¯. ¡°Woah¡­¡± Emilio let out, browsing the selection. There was nothing like it in Milligarde, despite the two nations being neighbors; such a potent selection of magical itemspletely ensnared his attention. While browsing, he identally bumped into somebody else, turning around to see a gray-haired young man juggling a potion that he was holding with a desperate look. ¡°Wh-wh-whoa!¡± The shaggy-haired man let out, finally dropping the bottle. Before it could fall, Emilio acted quickly, conjuring a gentle swirl of wind beneath the vial that held the mystical liquid, managing to catch it. ¡°Phew,¡± Emilio let out a sigh of relief, handing the saved potion over to the person, ¡°Sorry for bumping into you like that.¡± The youthful figure, likely a couple years older than him at most, adjusted his round-rimmed sses before holding a gentle smile, taking the potion back, ¡°No, it¡¯s alright¨CI¡¯m always clumsy like that. I probably was standing in your way.¡± There was no doubt that the figure was a mage, going by the academic, ck robes he wore with a white-dress shirt beneath and a scarlet tie. ¡°I¡¯m Jeane, by the way,¡± the gray-haired mage introduced himself, ¡°I work here.¡± ¡°Emilio,¡± he responded in kind, ¡°So, you work here? Then, do you have any rmendations?¡± ¡°Hmm, rmendations?¡± Jeane put his hand to his chin. ¡°Yeah¡­I¡¯m not from Vasmoria, so I¡¯m not really used to magic items like this,¡± Emilioughed. ¡°Well, magi tools can fit a lot of needs, hmm¡­¡± Jeane pondered. There was an awkward silence between them as Jeane seemed to be an even bigger introvert than him, sweating and fiddling with his sses. Before he could try to continue their conversation, opting to ask about the magical items in the shop¨C ¡°Mr. Dragonheart!¡± A voice called out to him, causing him to turn around to see a man dressed in dark-blue leather standing at the shop¡¯s entrance. ¡°Err, that¡¯s me,¡± Emilio said. ¡°Lord Merryfoot has sent me to fetch you,¡± the man said, ¡°I am Ains, Lord Merryfoot¡¯s loyal servant; it¡¯s time.¡± The stoic figure had slicked-back, silver hair and bushy eyebrows, looking forward with stalwart, amber eyes. ¡°Already?¡­Alright, alright,¡± Emilio sighed, ruffling his mix-colored tufts. As he took his leave from the store, he looked back, waving at the mage he had just met, which he received a meek wave in return. ¡°I¡¯ll be back here in a bit! If you¡¯re still here, show me around! I¡¯m interested,¡± Emilio said. Jeane looked surprised before smiling, nodding in return. Chapter 188 An Unexpected Opponent It didn¡¯t feel like much time had passed for him before it was time for his next bout in the Tower of Iron Magi, which he speedily followed Ains, who moved swiftly through the street before they reached the tower once more. I guess I slept in the springs for longer than I thought¡­Crap, I missed my chance at the brothel again! Maybeter? Emilio thought. ¡°Did you rest well enough, Sir Dragonheart?¡± Ains asked, ncing back. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m good,¡± he replied, ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear; I am sure the lord will be pleased to know that,¡± Ains responded. There was only enough time to stop by the VIP room again to fetch his trusty sword and staff before having to do the anxious walk down the hall. It seemed through Mr. Merryfoot¡¯s impatient avarice, Emilio was scheduled for the nearest possible fight. Greedy old fart¡­Well, if I finish this quickly, I can get back into the city, Emilio thought, and with extra cash in my pocket. ¡°IT SEEMS HE¡¯S RARING TO GO AGAIN! THE ¡°RISING YOUNGSTER¡±, EMILIO DRAGONHEART IS BACK FOR MORE!¡± The announcer signaled for him to enter the arena. Into the sandy colosseum again, he found himself greeted by much more cheers and support, likely due to the local fame he¡¯d grown from his surprising upset against Ikar. ¡°I¡¯m betting on ya¡¯, Dragonheart!¡± ¡°Give ¡¯em the fangs of the Dragon!¡± ¡­I guess it¡¯s not so bad having some positive attention, he bashfully thought. Though what the announcer said next took him for a spin as the audience¡¯s loud cheers were drowned out: ¡°It¡¯s a treat for you, folks! It¡¯s magic-versus-magic in this bout! Come on up, ¡°Weaver of Pain¡±, Jeane!¡± The announcer weed. Stepping into the arena from the opposing side was the familiar, but shocking sight of the gray-haired mage he¡¯d met in the shop. What?¡­Emilio thought. ¡°BEGIN-!¡± The announcer signaled the start of the bout. There was little time given for him to adjust to the surprise opponent as the crowd cheered on in anticipation of the battle. ¡°You wanted to know more about magic tools, right?¡± Jeane asked, adjusting his sses. There was a different air around the gray-haired man as he revealed a stone gauntlet worn on his right hand, fixed with what appeared to be four runes of a red, blue, green, and brown shade. ¡°¨C¡± Emilio stayed quiet, preparing himself. Calmly, Jean held his gauntlet up as a wind of magical energy swirled around up, swirling the sand and kicking his academic robes up, revealing an arsenal of magical tools strapped beneath, ¡°I¡¯ll teach you all about them¨Cright now.¡± At the clear promation of battle from the person unrecognizable from the meek, clumsy person he met earlier, Emilio didn¡¯t hesitate to prepare himself, about to take the initiative deciding otherwise as his opponent spoke¨C ¡°Set, ze,¡± Jeane said. The words said smoothly by the man seemed to be amand given to the gauntlet as the crimson rune gleamed, causing a ripple of fire to shoot out as Jeane pointed the gauntlet in Emilio¡¯s direction. Holding his ground, Emilio swiped his catalyst, conjuring a stone defense in the shape of a durable shield just as the fiery rings crashed forward. That gauntlet¡­Emilio thought. Managing to sessfully block the mes, he crumbled his own wall to regain his field of vision, to which Jeane seemed mildly perturbed before reaching for something under his cloak. He¡¯s grabbing something¡­? He thought. Trying to secure the initiative, he drew his sword and rushed forward, dashing across the length of the arena, though he was unable to close the distance before the tool-user retrieved what he sought: a vial of neon-green liquid. A potion¨C? Emilio realized. Jeane threw the bottle directly towards him, prompting Emilio to deflect it with his sword, breaking the ss, though that proved to be a mistake as the unknown substance manipted itself in midair. ¡°¨C?!¡± Emilio looked forward in surprise. The bright-green liquid reshaped itself, moving like sentient tendrils that wrapped around his body to bind him in an instant. What is this¡­!? He questioned. As he tried to resist it, the glowing substance seemed to drain his strength, making it difficult for him to fight against its hold. ¡°Ngh-!¡± Emilio struggled. The crowd watched in anticipation, with cheers and boos all the same resounding through the interior stadium. Jeane adjusted his round sses, ¡°That¡¯s a concoction I brewed myself; it responds to aggressive magical auras and siphons it once in contact with you.¡± ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± As he drew in a breath to rx himself, inhaling and exhaling, Jean watched with a raised eyebrow before a burst of mes manifested from Emilio¡¯s body, dissolving the mana-siphoning concoction. ¡°What?¡­¡± Jeane said. Emilio huffed, wiping the sparse remnants of the liquid away from his shoulder, ¡°That was amazing. I could see a lot of use in that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mock me¨C!¡± Jean yelled. Though his words were earnest, they were met with contempt from the gray-haired mage as he retrieved another tool from his arsenal: a wooden, mechanic ball that he tossed towards Emilio. That¡¯s¡­? Emilio wondered. In an instant, it exploded outward into copies of itself before releasing into an array of shrapnel explosions around Emilio. Jean huffed, ¡°Did that do it?¡­Maybe I overdid¨C¡± The smoke was cleared from a powerful burst of wind, revealing the amethyst-eyed young man to be unharmed, visible through the barrier of water he used to protect himself. ¡°You¡­¡± Jean muttered angrily. ¡°Seriously, those tools are awesome,¡± Emilio said, looking around at the destruction left in the arena. ¡°Shut up!¡± Jeanshed out, holding his gauntlet forward, ¡°¨CYou¡¯re just like all of the others at the academy! Blessed with such talent, yet you don¡¯t appreciate the art magecraft at all¡­! Set: Tera!¡± Invoking the gleam of the earthy rune, the tool-using mage used his gauntlet to manifest spears of rock thatunched towards Emilio, piercing through the wind at high speeds. ¡°What? You¡¯re totally misunderstanding me¨C!¡± Emilio replied, using his agility to dodge around the iing stone. Compared to Ikar, he found himself much more in control of the fight, easily dashing through the ranged projectiles before closing in on Jean. ¡°Ek¨C!¡± Jean flinched with his opponent in range. Though Emilio had his sword in hand, able to finish the battle right then and there, he withheld, instead throwing his fist against the man¡¯s stomach, knocking him back. Jean was blown back several meters by the natural draconic strength possessed by the young Dragonheart,nding harshly on the sand as he rolled across the arena. ¡°Pyuh¡­!¡± Jean spat out sand, groaning as he picked himself up, ¡°¡­Dammit!¡± The announcer chimed in amidst the vocal reactions from the crowd, ¡°It wasn¡¯t a fluke! Emilio Dragonheart is just as dominant as he established! Can Jeane back from this?!¡± Keeping his distance, Emilio let him get up, sheathing his sword as he found himself only weighed down in it with a fight he didn¡¯t n on resorting to it with. ¡°You¡¯re strong¡­I envy you,¡± Jean said, picking himself up. ¡°So are you¨C¡± ¡°Don¡¯t patronize me,¡± Jean shot him a re, retrieving a vial from beneath his cloak, ¡°I¡¯ve spent my life in the shadow of people like you: those born with blessed blood, bestowed with magical talent, weaving spells without dedicating themself to the craft. I¡¯ve fought an uphill battle, struggling and grasping at nothing but dust my whole life¡­But, with my tools, I can endure.¡± ¡°Wait, what¡¯re you¨C?¡± ¡°I joined the Tower of Iron Magi not only to fund my research and development, but to showcase that, against the beliefs of the close-minded nobles of the world, that the ingenuity of mankind can ovee hereditary gifts,¡± Jeane imed, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. It was then that Emilio realized what the man was nning, witnessing Jean pop the cork off of the potion before chugging the glowing, azure substance. As it slid down the gray-haired man¡¯s throat, Jean¡¯s veins pressed against his pale skin, glowing the same color as the liquid itself. ¡°This is unlike anything we¡¯ve seen from the ¡®Weaver of Pain¡¯ before! Instead of using his special devices on his opponent, he used it on himself?!¡± The announcer remarked. There was an immediate effect, though it wasn¡¯t clear whether that was strictly positive or a demerit on its own as the one who consumed the concoction was overwhelmed from the physical alterations it made. I didn¡¯t want to hurt his pride, but¡­maybe letting him do that was a bad idea, Emilio thought. As Jean seemed to regain hisposure, oveing the side-effects of the self-made concoction, his veins remained prominent and bright-blue, with his irises now holding the same, gleaming shade. ¡°If I defeat you here, my product will gain recognition not just in Indasia, but all of Vasmoria,¡± Jeane told him, ¡°¨CThen kids like me, devoid of talent, can be unrestrained by their blood.¡± ¡°I told you already, I¡¯m not out to get you¨C¡± Though Emilio found that it was useless to try and talk as Jeane was lost in his own contempt that went beyond just this sh, bursting forward with unexpected speed. This speed¨Che avoided close-quarters before¡­Did that potion increase his physical abilities? Emilio thought. Still, he was able to react in time to this newfound agility from his opponent, bobbing his head through the wild haymakers thrown in his destruction from Jeane. From the way the air whistled against his ear each time a fist passed by, he could tell there was serious strength behind them. ¡°Ghh¨C!¡± Jeane gritted his teeth. Chapter 189 One-Sided Gift Despite the increase in physical abilities, it didn¡¯t seem to magically improve Jeane¡¯s fundamentalck of basics when it came to hand-to-handbat, as Emilio countered with a jab to his nose. ¡°Argh-!¡± Jeane winced. The impact shattered the man¡¯s sses, causing them to crumble apart and fall into the sand. As blood spewed from Jeane¡¯s nostrils, he realized he might¡¯ve put too much strength behind his punch. To him, Jeane was still somebody with the potential of being a friend¨Che wanted to maintain that. ¡°Ah¡­my bad,¡± Emilio apologized, though regretted it immediately as he knew it would only be seen as an insult. Though as he looked at Jeane, whose muscles cramped up with his eyes running bloodshot, Emilio realized the nosebleed wasn¡¯t his fault, or at least not entirely: it was the side-effect of the concoction. ¡°I¡¯m not done¨C!¡± Jeane roared. Dashing forward, the gray-haired alchemist caught Emilio off-guard this time, mming his knuckles against the young mage¡¯s nose and sending him rolling across the arena. ¡°Umpf¨C!¡± Emilio winced. Catching himself, he regained his momentum, rolling back onto his feet as he found a light amount of blood trickling from his nose. That stung, he thought. Due to his ever-evolving draconic constitution, his physical capabilities had increased more than his thought, making such a blow feel like nothing more than a casual p more than a harmful blow. As he rose to his feet, wiping the sparse amount of blood from his nose, Jeane was further disgruntled by his unshaken attitude after receiving the attack. ¡°If you¡¯re so desperate to prove yourself to the world, I¡¯ll give you what you¡¯re asking for!¡± Emilio told him, conjuring a hefty amount of mana. Through a single squeeze of his catalyst and a condesement of his focused thoughts, he manifested particles of water in the air that quickly swirled into strands of aqua, coalescing into the heads of dragons. ¡°Dragon Hurricane.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­!¡± Jeane was in fearful awe. Before the alchemist could attempt to counter, trying to fiddle through his cloak to retrieve a tool, Emilio sent the aquatic dragons forward as the audience watched in suspense from the grandiose spell. It was a force of terror; the hurricane iming the form of the beast that ruled the skies caused the air to vibrate in its presence. Sweeping through the sandy arena, the draconic heads rammed into Jeane, lifting him into the air and mming him back down into the sand with a resounding impact. ¡°Grghh¡­!¡± Jeane coughed out. Such a devastating blow knocked the wind out of the gray-haired young man as heid on the sand for a minute, wincing while the amplified state he was in seemed to wear off soon after. ¡°WINNER, EMILIO DRAGONHEART!¡± In a bout that went by quickly, it was packed enough with high-octane shes of alchemy and magic that the ground cheered nheless. Jeane simplyid there on the sand, staring up with a painful look in his eyes at his own failure. ¡°¡­Like I was saying,¡± Emilio breathed out, walking over, ¡°I¡¯m not your enemy.¡± As a hand from Emilio was extended down to the man, Jeane looked down, not knowing whether to ept that hand or not. ¡°Since the day I was born, I¡¯ve had this weak body¡­Even the simplest tasks ofbor were strenuous for more,¡± Jeane told him, ¡°¡­Time and time again, I injured myself just helping around the house. My father believed me to be a ¡®defect¡¯¨Ca child to be discarded.¡± ¡°¨C¡± Emilio was silent. Looking at Jeane, he recognized that look of contempt in his eyes; a spitefulness born of his own misfortune, pointed towards others. It was an envy that grew like a weed, closing his heart off to others and their own hardships. ¡°I was tossed away like garbage, but¡­Teacher took me in¨Che gave me alchemy,¡± Jeane told him, reminiscing, ¡°¡­magecraft, that art, boundless in its possibilities and nuance, is more beautiful than anything else in this world. I want others like me to realize that they too can reach their dreams, even if it¡¯s said to be impossible.¡± The honest, heartfelt words spoken from the young man only came forward when he was at his lowest; Emilio recognized it all too well, though it helped him understand. He insisted on helping Jeane up, grabbing his hand and hoisting him to his feet. ¡°Hey¨Cwhat¡¯re you¨C!¡± Jeane said, surprised at being brought up. Emilio smiled at him, ¡°You¡¯ve got an unbeatable talent of your own, right? I think you just showed that to me.¡± ¡°What?¡­No, I don¡¯t have anything like that,¡± Jeane averted his gaze, almost as if ashamed. ¡°You do. It¡¯s a talent for persistence; even with the shackles on your body, you persevered,¡± Emilio told him, ¡°You didn¡¯t run away. You faced it head-on and countered it. That¡¯s amazing.¡± A look of surprise came over Jeane as he looked at the person who was his opponent just minutes prior. ¡°Besides, those tools really are amazing¡­Magic is fleeting; it¡¯s something you witness for moments¨Cbut those tools, it makes magic an evesting thing, doesn¡¯t it? That¡¯s awesome,¡± Emilio told him with a bright smile. Jeane was taken aback, ¡°¡­You like tools that much? Despite not needing them?¡± ¡°Of course! I love everything magical¨Cit¡¯s just all so interesting,¡± Emilio assured him. In Jeane¡¯s mind, his loss to him signified what he feared: that those in the audience would look down on him as a magic trinket user. Though to the young mage¡¯s surprise, the crowd cheered, supporting both of them. ¡°Nice fight, Jeane!¡± ¡°You held in there!¡± ¡°I¡¯m totally going to buy some trinkets from his shopter!¡± ¨C ¡°Well¡­¡± Jeane said, ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry, Emilio.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be. I get it,¡± Emilio assured him. ¡°How can you¨C?¡± Though before Jeane could try and respond back with those words born from his own life of pain, one look into those soft, amethyst eyes belonging to the Dragonheart told him that he did indeed know. Jeane sighed out, ¡°When ites to magecraft, I tend to lose my cool. I be a different person¡­I¡¯ll make it up to you, how about it?¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Meet me at the shopter,¡± Jeane told him, ¡°I¡¯ll give you a gift, in honor of your victory today.¡± ¡ª With that promise in ce, Emilio swung by Mr. Merryfoot¡¯s room, receiving his lofty prize money¨Can entire one-hundred and fifty crowns, before heading out of the Tower, though Mr. Merryfoot tried to stop him to invite him to dinner. More than that, Emilio was excited to return to the shop filled with magical tools and trinkets. As he returned to the bustling square of Indasia that housed the mystical shop, he entered its door as it jingled. Surprisingly, it was much more quiet at this time, with many less customers. I don¡¯t see Jeane, he thought. As he scanned his eyes around the store, finding a caged, snow-feathered owl of mystique, a sword that was said to be able to talk, and a constantly-spinningpass, he found himself looking at an older gentleman wiping down the shelves. ¡­The owner? He questioned. Approaching the wizened man, who was slightly hunched over, but well-dressed with a long-sleeved, white shirt and an oak vest, the man seemed to expect his arrival as he looked at him with an audible ¡°Ah¡±. ¡°You must be the one that Young Jeane mentioned. It¡¯s hard to mistake a fellow with hair like yours,¡± the old manughed. ¡°Err, yeah¡­where is he?¡± Emilio asked. ¡°Oh, pardon me, I¡¯m us, the owner of this shop,¡± the old man introduced himself, ¡°Now, I already know who you are, Young Emilio.¡± ¡°Then¨C?¡± ¡°Go through the back; he¡¯s waiting in the workshop,¡± us told him. ¡°Thanks!¡± As he passed by the wizened shop owner, he passed by shelves of nebulous trinkets before finding himself in the workshop, kept to the back of the establishment. It was arge room filled with bookshelves and tables, messy with books, scattered pages, and test vials filled with unknown substances. Sitting at one such workshop table, Jean was tinkering with his stone gauntlet, polishing it and the runes embedded in it. ¡°Yo,¡± Emilio greeted him. With how focused Jeane looked when fiddling with the gauntlet, using precision tools to work on it delicately, he almost felt bad for taking that concentration away. Though, Jeane looked up at him with a smile, dissuading that notion entirely. ¡°Hey. Thanks foring,¡± Jeane said, taking the magnifying sses he wore off. Emilio nced around at the workshop; there were a wide assortment of tools and loose pieces of unbuilt mechanisms, as well as what looked to be less-than-safe runes that had yet to be used to craft their own magical tools. ¡°This ce is amazing,¡± Emilio remarked, ¡°I¡¯ve never met anybody capable of making magic trinkets.¡± ¡°Well, being able to use magic is a much more appreciated skill, but¡­thank you,¡± Jeane smiled, learning to ept thepliment, ¡°Anyway, I have something for you.¡± Moving closer, Emilio stood by the young tinkerer¡¯s desk, seeing that there was a small journal on his desk, filled with messy, uneven pages. Jeane picked it up, looking at the leather-covered book fondly, ¡°My teacher told me that tinkering was thought to be a dying art, but he believed otherwise¨C¡±as long as there are curious learners like you¡¯, he told me. This journal contains generations of knowledge on tinkering and magecraft itself¨Cwith enough patience and elbow grease, you can start creating your own tools. He gave me this book with the idea that someday, I¡¯d pass it along to somebody else.¡± Chapter 190 Champions Arrival ¡°Wait¡­I can¡¯t ept that¨C¡± Emilio shook his head. ¡°Please,¡± Jeane told him with a genuine smile, handing it over, ¡°I¡¯m just a first year student, but in Indasia Academy, my alchemy is looked at as just an inferior tool by the other mage students. But you¡­you showed a genuine interest and appreciation for my trinkets. You¡¯ve spent a lot of time developing your magecraft, right?¡± Emilio slowly nodded, ¡°¡­Yeah.¡± ¡°Then I believe I¡¯m right in giving this to you,¡± Jeane said. Given no other choice, he epted the tinkerer¡¯s journal, feeling the weight of generations of knowledge in his hands now. ¡°Anyway, want to see what I¡¯ve been working on?¡± Jeane asked. ¡°Do I,¡± Emilio happily obliged. It was like delving into another world, sitting beside Jeane, who held an earnest smile like that of a curious child when talking about the trinkets he developed and those made by other masters. ¡°Most trinkets we sell are just novelty items¨Clike love potions and truth cors. Normal people tend to really like this, but the main demand for magical tools arerge orders fromrge adventurer expeditions or countries¡¯ armies,¡± Jeane exined. ¡°¡­I didn¡¯t think about that. I guess having readily avable magic for normal soldiers would be a huge advantage,¡± Emilio replied. ¡°Mhm, though I don¡¯t like it,¡± Jeane said, adjusting his sses as he fiddled with a mechanical ball, ¡°¡­Magic isn¡¯t something that should be abused like that.¡± There was no doubt that the art of magecraft was something that Jeane held dearly to his heart, if it wasn¡¯t apparent by the countless time he seemed to sink in developing trinkets. Before he realized it, Emilio had been sitting there for hours, only pulled away from it as the loyal servant of Mr. Merryfoot suddenly arrived. ¡°It¡¯s time for your next match, Sir Dragonheart,¡± Ains said, standing in the doorway. ¡°¨CWha? I don¡¯t remember agreeing to a third match,¡± Emilio raised an eyebrow. ¡°The contract you signed had a minimum of three matches agreed,¡± Ains told him. Emilio sighed out, ¡°¡­Crap, that¡¯s what I get for not reading the fine print.¡± As he got up, Jeane was still tinkering with his gauntlet, fixing the runes inside of it before looking up at Emilio. ¡°Be careful,¡± Jeane told him, ¡°I don¡¯t say that lightly¨CI know how strong you are, but¡­the third match of an undefeated newbie¡¯s career like yourself is something terrible.¡± ¡°Huh? What¡¯re you talking about?¡± Emilio asked. ¡°They call it the ¡®Rising Star¡¯s Hazing¡¯¨Cjust watch out,¡± Jeane warned him, ¡°Either way though, good luck, I¡¯ll be rooting for you.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Emilio said with a smile. The two exchanged a handshake before parting ways. ¡ª There was little time left of daylight, bringing him to his third match of the day within the tower, which he didn¡¯t remember explicitly agreeing to, but Mr. Merryfoot won him over with the allure of three-hundred crowns if he won the next bout. ¡°Good luck out there, Young Emilio,¡± Alfobromli grinned, seeing him out as he left towards the arena. I have a bad feeling about this, he thought. However, what he didn¡¯t know was what he was walking into; something Jeane warned him about¨Cthe ¡°Rising Star¡¯s Hazing¡±¨Ca tradition of the tower in which a rising newbie, undefeated and confident like himself, would be ced against one of the ¡°Top Rankers¡±. What did I walk into¡­? It¡¯s even more packed than before, he thought. As he looked around, the stadium waspletely filled; even the space between the seats were overflowing with people who cheered, though mainly not for him. ¡°Feiyu,¡±¨Cthat name was repeatedly screamed by the anticipating crowd. It was a name that didn¡¯t sound native to Vasmoria nor Milligarde, though he was able to confirm it was not as his opponent entered the arena. ¡°The undefeated reigning champion of the Tower of Iron Magi! It¡¯s Feiyu¨C¡¯The Impervious Stone¡¯¨Chailing from the distant, mystical kingdom of Danxia, he¡¯s returned to greet our rising star!¡± Entering the sandy battleground was a fair-faced man with well-kempt, dark-brown hair with silver streaks, wearing attire that half resembled a suit and a leather-armored outfit, adjusting his ck gloves over his hands. Danxia?¡­I recall only reading briefly about it. If I remember¡­the Danxian people use a unique style of magecraft for battle. They¡¯re said to be masters of reinforcement, Emilio recalled. There was an air around Feiyu; a stern serenity, not something he wanted to provoke, though there was no choice as the announcer signaled the battle to start¨C ¡°BEGIN!¡± This time, Emilio instantly took the initiative, raising his staff as he conjured spiraling projectiles of water, shooting them out with increased velocity that pierced through the air. Though they were born of aqua, the projectiles were reinforced, making them as hard as rock with the piercing power of drills. It only took a fraction of a second for the half-dozen drills of water to reach Feiyu, who had yet to take a single step. The man with golden irises finished adjusting his gloves before suddenly¨Che vanished. ¡°What¨C?¡± Emilio let out. Each of the castings of water mmed against the barrier around the barrier,pletely missing their mark as the foreign fighter was now directly in front of him. He¡¯s fast! Way too fast! Emilio thought. Still, he was able to react in time, ducking down from the picture-perfect high kick that Feiyu deployed, which cut through the air like a fine de. Even dodging it, he felt the wind pressure change from the sharp kick as his hair was brushed slightly. He immediately countered, summoning moisture into the air as a massive sphere of water coalesced on Feiyu¡¯s position. Feiyu nced to the side, noticing the spell being formed before flipping backward to dodge it despite it forming within milliseconds. ¡°Tch,¡± Emilio clicked his tongue. Using the water he summoned for ¡°Water Prison¡±, he converted it into tiny, see-through sharks of water, sending them towards the Tower Champion¡¯s position. It was a recently-developed, lesser version of ¡°Dragon Hurricane¡±, in which Emilio dubbed it: ¡°Shark Tornado.¡± In response, Feiyu didn¡¯t counter with a spell of his own, but instead casually but elegantly struck each of the iing water predators with his fists, dispersing them with the powerful impacts. You¡¯re kidding me¨Cjust how hard are that guy¡¯s fists? Emilio questioned. Though destroying a condensed form of water would normally not be an unorthodox feat, the caster was left stunned, for one good reason: each of the water sharks were reinforced to be as tough as steel. Again, the golden-eyed, Danxian warrior vanished from before his eyes, moving at untraceable speeds before¨C WHAM. An unseen blow struck his cheek, though he didn¡¯t see it e before another came. ¡°Gyuh¨C!¡± He spit the air from his lungs. Straight into his gut, a blownded before he could so much as tighten his core in preparation, resulting in the oxygen being pounded from his lungs. He was lifted a good several meters into the air from the blow,unching up before tumbling down. As his lungs didn¡¯t respond to him in the moment of shock for his body, receiving a blow powerful enough to make his stomach feel as though it was burning despite his draconic durability, heid on the sand for a moment, heaving. Who is this guy?¡­He¡¯s this strong with just his fists, Emilio thought. Though he nned on taking things somewhat casually within the Tower of Iron Magi, a sense of desperation came over him in the face of such an overwhelming foe as he picked himself up. ¡°Hah!¡± cing his hand close to his mouth, he conjured wind in order to reset his throbbing lungs, providing himself with air before he wiped the mixture of blood and saliva from his lips. Raising his staff, heat gathered in front of it with the temperature rapidly rising in front of him, prompting Feiyu, who was reactive in the fight, to raise his guard. ¡°Inferno Salvo.¡± In an instant, the air red out, causing the sand to part and the audience to cover their ears as a vtile me, rising to ludicrous degrees of heat, spewed across the battleground, chasing after Feiyu. ¡°¨C¡± Feiyu remained stoic, speeding around the perimeter of the battlefield. As the destructive casting of fire touched the barrier, it resulted in multiple explosions, attempting topletely envelop the battlefield. It was a ¡®scorched earth¡¯ n formed by Emilio; if his opponent was faster than him, he needed to cover enough ground to make that a non-factor. I¡¯m not done, Emilio thought. Raising his staff to the air amidst the continuous streaks of mes and explosions that filled the arena, causing the announcer to go silent as he feared for his own safety along with the audience, Emilio conjured wind tobine with the territory of fire he had created. It was the unison of two elements, creating a hellish environment in which life could not flourish: ¡°Gehenna¡¯s Breeze.¡± Rapid winds encircled the perimeter of the arena, sweeping the sands up and condensing a storm to the battleground, guiding the mes along with it as crimson heat filled it. Feiyu began sweating, wiping droplets from his cheek as he set his eyes on the caster. Small tornadoes of fire were born amidst the spell that reshaped the weather; though it wasn¡¯tpletely advantageous for Emilio, either. He was forced to use his scale armor, giving himself some level of heat resistance, though his breathing became heavier and sweat dripped down his chin. I¡¯ve got you now, Emilio thought. Chapter 191 Onwards; One Step Closer Summoning massive formations of stone in the air, he shaped them intonces the size of trees before flinging them towards his opponent. Atst, Feiyu revealed his magecraft as his hands became enveloped in sleek, dark-brown stone that resembled steel in its seamless integrity, wless in its form. Utilizing his reinforced gauntlets made of his own ability, Feiyu swiftly struck the iing stone, shattering them apart. ¡°What¨C?!¡± Emilio was left surprised. Before he could counter with another spell amidst the hellish storm in the arena, Feiyu disappeared again with that blinding speed of his, taking Emilio by surprise before¨C A clean hit straight to the chin knocked the consciousness from his eyes before it all went ck. I¡­lost? Emilio thought. ¡ª Coming to after an unknown amount of time, he found himself sitting outside of the tower itself, leaning against the wall. ¡°Huh¡­?¡± ¡°You¡¯re awake¨Cthat¡¯s a relief.¡± The softly spoken words were familiar to him as he looked up, having to blink a few times to clear his blurry vision before finding that the gray-haired tinkerer was standing over him. ¡°Jean?¡­¡± Emilio said, ¡°Did I lose¡­?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah¡­pretty badly,¡± Jeane chuckled, ¡°Your sponsor left you your coins. He also said that your contract is fulfilled now.¡± As he was told that, Emilio looked down, finding a bag of coins on hisp that felt more like reparations for the unfair pounding he got in the arena. Emilio rubbed his sore chin, wincing slightly, ¡°Ouch¡­You weren¡¯t kidding. They totally set me up for defeat.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the way it goes,¡± Jeane said, sitting beside him, ¡°The spectators love a rising star, but what they love more is to see a rising star get torn down. Not to mention a lot of bets went in your favor from your previous matches, but those betting on the champion already were certain of the oue.¡± ¡°So, I was used, huh?¡± Emilio sighed, stuffing the coins in his pocket. ¡°Bitter?¡± Jeane smiled. ¡°Sorta, but the heavy bag of coins helps,¡± he replied with a chuckle. It was an eventful day, and one that ended with a nice spoonful of humbling for the young mage; as the blue sky shifted to a warm orange with the sun beginning its goodbyes for the day, he stood up with onest thing on the agenda for the day: I¡¯m going to reach that brothel, he thought. ¡°Well, it¡¯s about time I head back,¡± Jeane said, standing up as well, ¡°You were just staying in Indasia briefly, right? This is probably goodbye then.¡± ¡°Not forever,¡± Emilio assured him with a smile. ¡°Of course. I expect you to show me a few trinkets of your own next time we see each other,¡± Jeane smiled in return. As they sped hands onest time, the two youths with lofty dreams went their separate ways. Stretching his sore limbs, Emilio rolled his stiff shoulder a few times before putting his finger against his bruised chin. To his surprise, once again, the wounds had already healed before he could tend to them. It was jarring at times to be reminded of his ¡®undying¡¯ nature granted to him. That Feiyu guy was super strong. I can tell he was taking it easy, too. Wakeup calls are never pleasant, I guess. I¡¯ve got a long way to go, he thought. Though he deted his swollen cheek and bruised chin, he could still feel the shame of his loss throbbing in his face as he shuffled through the street, just wanting to find respite in the bosom of a cat girl. In a fantasy world of limitless potential, this was one of Emilio¡¯s ¡®top ten wishes¡¯ he had. Though he didn¡¯t find himself so lucky as while he was caressing his own cheek, checking his pocket with his gaze down, he bumped into another person. ¡°¨CAh, my bad,¡± Emilio quietly apologized, looking up. Bringing his gaze up, he found it to be no ident; looking down at him was the red-haired, senior adventurer that he definitely didn¡¯t want to bump into amidst his mission to find a brothel. ¡°Irk¡­¡± Emilio winced. ¡°Been busy, haventcha?¡± Roan smirked. ¡°How did you¡­?¡± Emilio began to ask. Roan sighed, shaking his head, ¡°It¡¯s impossible not to hear about the ¡®Dragonheart¡¯ making the rounds in the Tower of Iron Magi. Heard you got walloped pretty good though¨Csort of wish I could¡¯ve seen it.¡± ¡°Cut it out!¡± he said, turning away as Roan tried to get a look at his face. It was definitely embarrassing to have his swift loss known to the man he held in high regard, though Roan was more yful than anything, not holding it against him as the man nudged Emilio with his elbow. ¡°I¡¯m just messing with ya, brat. I heard you got two pretty solid wins¨Cthe ¡®Tower¡¯ is no joke, so good job,¡± Roan told him. ¡°Really? Is it that great?¡± Emilio asked. ¡°Well, I¡¯d sweep through it, but if you¡¯re able to hang around those guys, you¡¯ll have no problem passing the Guild Foundation¡¯s trial,¡± Roan assured him. ¡°¡­The trial. What is it, anyway?¡± Emilio asked. Though as he posed the question to the talkative, scruffy-bearded man, he found no answer but silence to return. ¡°Can¡¯t say,¡± Roan finally told him. ¡°Huh? Why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m holding out on ya, kid. World-ss adventurers are under an oath not to speak of the trial,¡± Roan said, ¡°Keeping it fair for allpetitors, you know?¡± ¡°¡­Annoying,¡± Emilio mumbled. Before he couldment the loss of vital information, he received a gentle p on the back from Roan, pushing him along the same direction he was heading. ¡°Anyway, c¡¯mon¨Cwe¡¯re leaving,¡± Roan told him. ¡°What?! Already? You said we were going to be here for a few days, though,¡± Emilio contested. Pointing up towards the sky, Roan¡¯s tone became more serious, ¡°There¡¯s a storm approaching. It¡¯s going to intercept our road to the Guild Foundation¨Cit¡¯s a real nasty one, too. We need to get a head start on it, lest you want to be a tin man in a lightning storm.¡± ¡°Fair point¡­¡± Emilio begrudgingly agreed. There was no questioning the knowledge and experience wielded by Roan, who seemed to be on another level from any adventurer he¡¯d met or seen on the streets, both in fame and power. Still, as he climbed into the back of the carriage, sitting across from Melisande, who had bought herself a new, snow-white blouse and azure dress, which she unted happily, Emilio sulked to himself. Again, the illustrious brothel evades me¡­Emilio thought. There truly wasn¡¯t any time wasted as Roan loaded up the carriage with their supplies for the road before setting out, soon supplying the sound of the carriage wheels and horse hooves trotting over the streets of Indasia. ¡°How do I look?¡± Melisande asked with a bubbly smile, fluffing up her silken, silver locks. It wasn¡¯t just a new outfit she wore, which seemed to be half practical for flexibility and half superficial for beauty, but her hair was done and her skin seemed to glisten in the sunlight. ¡°Huh?¡­Oh, you look nice,¡± Emilio told her. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Melisande crossed her arms at his lukewarm response. It didn¡¯t take long before they left the bounds of Indasia, out into the opennd of Vasmoria once more with grand forests awaiting. As the journey began once more, closing in on the Guild Foundation atst, Emilio reconciled at the remembrance of what he obtained in his time in Indasia: the tinkerer¡¯s journal. Since there would be a lot of downtime ahead of time, he delved into the book in hopes of learning. To his surprise, he found the book to be on another level from what he was prepared for; in contrast to the philosophical nature of magecraft grimoires, the tinkerer¡¯s journal felt like a calculus textbook from hell, melding mystical elements with math. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Melisande asked, staring at the scrappy journal. Emilio tucked the page he was on before closing it, ¡°A really¡­difficult book.¡± ¡°Even for you? Don¡¯t you study a lot?¡± Melisande responded. ¡°Yeah¡­this is abnormallyplex,¡± Emilio told her. After learning theplexity of the book, Melisande¡¯s interest in it seemed to wane, leaving Emilio to concentrate on it again, though even the slight bumps in the road made it difficult to concentrate on the high-level concepts described in the journal. ¡°Mm¡­¡± He mumbled to himself, scratching his head while reading. Trying to discern it for a few hours, he found himself hardly getting anywhere before he set the journal down, breathing out dramatically. How did you make this look so easy, Jeane? Emilio questioned. ¡°Where are we now?¡± Emilio asked, sitting up as he peered out of the carriage. It was a far cry from the dense forest at the border of Vasmoria; the carriage rolled over a valley of hills, causing them to go up-and-down like a tranquil roller coaster. Though a stretch of luscious fields went on back to Indasia, the path ahead seemed to be set on a darker, more somber territory in the near future. Melisande had a copy of a Vasmoria map for the southern region, straightening it out on herp as she ran her finger along it to find where they were at,¡±¡­Aha! Here we are¡­¡¯Illya Road¡¯, apparently it¡¯s one of the most peaceful sections of wilnd in Vasmoria, with only slimes upying it.¡± Chapter 192 Styx High Swamps ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound too bad then,¡± Emilio replied, leaning on the back of the carriage as he took in the fresh wind. ¡°Well, err¡­¡± Melisande added. ¡°What?¡± Emilio nced back. Melisande looked up at him, ¡°It says that Illya road is often nicknamed the ¡®Rest Before Death¡¯ by adventurers since one of the areas it leads to is the ¡®Styx High Swamps¡¯. Apparently there¡¯s over a thousand deaths per year in that area¡­It¡¯snd is difficult to traverse and there¡¯re lethal beasts that inhabit it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just one of the areas though, right? Nothing to worry about,¡± Emilios said with a wry smile. Though such hope between the two youths was casually diminished as the man guiding the horses up front chimed in: ¡°That¡¯s exactly where we¡¯re headed,¡± Roan said, taking a bite out of a loaf of bread. ¡°Wait, what¨C? That¡¯s not the normal route, isn¡¯t it?¡± Emilio asked, moving up to the front of the carriage. Roan scratched his beard with a casual expression, ¡°It¡¯s the fastest route and we¡¯ve wasted enough time. Did you forget the information that needs to be passed to the Foundation? It could prevent another tragedy like Larundog.¡± Those serious words shut Emilio down as he went quiet, ncing back to see Melisande hugging her knees when reminiscing the terrible memories of the event. ¡°¡­You¡¯re right, but it¡¯s still dangerous, isn¡¯t it?¡± He asked. ¡°Nothing we can¡¯t handle,¡± Roan assured him, ¡°Don¡¯t forget¨CI¡¯m here. As long as I¡¯m with you, don¡¯t worry your little heads¨Cnot even a dragon will touch a hair on your heads, kiddos.¡± Though they were somewhat belittling, such words were reassuringing from the renowned ¡°Red Hair¡± adventurer. As he peered ahead, in the far distance he could see the ominous region they were set to pass through; the mountains were shrouded in gloomy clouds as if iid with curses. ¡°Well, you better stick true to that¡­¡± Emilio epted. ¡°Find some reassurance in the fact that after the swamp, the Guild Foundation is only half a day past it,¡± Roan told him. It was eye-opening hearing that; after so long, after such an arduous trail, it was finally in reach for him¨Cthe path of an adventurer, unshackled and free to explore the world of Arcadius. ¨C For the time being, as there was nothing else to do besides chat with Melisande, who talked about the wonderful assortment of dresses she found in Indasia,menting not buying them all, he opened the journal again. It waspletely different from studying magic; the stark difference in philosophy between the weaving of spells and the creation of mystical trinkets required him to look at things in an entirely new, foreign light. ¡°Gah!¡± Emilio let out in frustration, leaning his head against the carriage interior. ¡°Don¡¯t force yourself, jeez,¡± Melisande told him. Telling him that, the silver-haired girl rummaged through one of the sacks, retrieving a half block of cheese and a hefty serving of bread, promptly setting it on Emilio¡¯s hands. ¡°There,¡± Melisande said, huffing, ¡°If you¡¯re going to tire yourself out studying the whole time, then make sure to keep your body energized!¡± Emilio was taken aback before smiling, epting the food with a smile, ¡°¡­Thank you. You¡¯re right.¡± Eating the soft bread made in Vasmoria, it was surprisingly sweet, which seemed to be a staple of the nation; it wasn¡¯t quite sweet enough to constitute it being a dessert, but it was a weing taste. ¨C Along the way through Illya road, the carriage came to a stop to rest for the night while the weather was still suitable. Through the naked hills and valleys of green, the only area Roan found to hunker down in was beneath a patch of trees by a riverbank. While Roan refilled their canteens of water, Emilio watched over Melisande as she practiced her magic against one of the slimes upying the spot by the riverbank. The translucent, light-blue ball of sentient jell slowly bounced towards the girl, though Melisande backed away. ¡°Uegh, it¡¯s so¡­slimy,¡± Melisande said in disgust. ¡°That¡¯s kind of the name of the game here¡­concentrate, Melisande,¡± Emilio reminded her, ¡°Remember what I taught you.¡± ¡°Right¡­¡± Melisande said, drawing in a concentrating breath as she held her hand forward. It took a minute for the girl to focus her desired spell, struggling to generate gusts of wind, having to back up again for space before finally, she seemed to flip the switch: ¡°From calm winds to storms of terror, Sylph, pierce forward through the sky! Wind Bore!¡± Melisande invoked. A bullet of wind spiraled, contorting forward through the air just as the blue slime jumped up right in the path of the spell. The gtinous creature had its squishy body twisted by the spiraling wind, being wrung of its form before being drilled through, sttered into a hundred pieces. ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± Melisande breathed out. ¡°Good job,¡± Emilioplimented her with a smile. As he approached, he held his hand up for a congrattory high-five, which took the young woman a moment to recognize before she pped her hand against his with a smile. ¡°Thanks!¡± Melisande beamed, wiping the sweat from her cheek. She¡¯s getting there. At her current level, I¡¯d say she can handle herself against creatures like slimes and goblins, he thought. With the dark veil of night hanging in the sky, Roan kept a fire going, sitting outside to keep watch for troublesome little fiends while Melisande slept in the back of the carriage. Sitting across from Roan by the warmth of the stoked me, Emilio kept the journal on hisp, still doing his best to decipher its teachings. ¡°What have you been tormenting your brain over there with? You¡¯re a pretty bright kid, so it must be something pretty high level in that book, I¡¯m guessing,¡± Roan asked, biting into a juicy, red apple. As it was already difficult enough to jumble the pieces of the puzzle that were the bits of scribbled information in the tinkerer¡¯s journal together, Emilio wasn¡¯t exactly looking for a conversation, but he took it as a good point for a break. ¡°It¡¯s a gift I got in Indasia,¡± Emilio told him, ¡°It¡¯s the learnings gathered from multiple generations of magic tinkerers¨C¡± ¡°Hold on,¡± Roan stopped him with a surprised look on his face. ¡°Err, what?¡± He raised an eyebrow. ¡°That¡¯s a journal with teachings from tool crafters?¡± Roan asked for rification, pointing to the raggedy, light-brown journal. For some reason, Roan was surprisingly taken aback by what the book seemed to be, looking as though he just stumbled on stifling news as he had a cheekful of apple while talking. ¡°It is, yeah,¡± Emilio nodded. The red-haired, high-ranked adventurer sighed, ruffling his own tufts, ¡°You don¡¯t even realize how valuable that book you¡¯re holding is, do you?¡± ¡°Valuable? This scrappy thing?¡± He rified. ¡°You bet. Tinkerers are a tight-lipped bunch¨Cthey treat the knowledge they¡¯ve gathered like a precious bloodline. If the know-how to create magic trinkets became public knowledge, there¡¯d be no end to the wrong hands it could fall into,¡± Roan told him, ¡°¨CThat¡¯s why a journal like that is worth its weight in thrones. You¡¯d better keep a good handle on that.¡± ¡°I was nning on it,¡± Emilio assured him. Amidst the night by the riverbank on the peaceful roads of Illya, even an ¡®inside voice¡¯ so to speak felt as though they were yelling, which made Emilio somewhat nervous as he didn¡¯t want to unexpectedly find a slime jumping on his head. ¡­Father once told me about a slime melting half the hair from his head. I¡¯d never live that down, Emilio thought. Only a half night¡¯s amount of rest was taken before Roan had them set out in the middle of the pitch-ck darkness, opting to get ahead of whatever storm was looming over the region. ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s safe to travel when it¡¯s this dark?¡± Emilio asked quietly. The reason for his soft speaking voice at that moment was the fact that Melisande was still soundly sleeping just a few feet away from him in the bumpy, but surprisinglyfortable carriage. ¡°Don¡¯t worry¨CI¡¯ve got eyes like a bat,¡± Roan proudly answered, guiding the reins that steered the horses. Emilio¡¯s expression turned, ¡°¡­That¡¯s definitely not uplifting.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that response for? Bats are known for operating at night, right? They¡¯ve got good vision in the dark, then¨Cjust like I do,¡± Roan spoke. It was unnerving to ride through the carriage under the veil of night; it waspletely ck outside of the carriage, with only the horse¡¯s hooves and the carriage wheels supplying any sound amidst the silence. Still, he did manage to fall asleep, mostly through tiring his brain in trying to study Jeane¡¯s journal. ¨C He didn¡¯t awake naturally to a serene morning, instead finding an putrid smell invading his nose. The stench caused him to sit up, coughing out as he looked around, confused from what was causing the smell. ¡°Urgh¡­what is that?¡± He mumbled, covering his nose with his sleeve. Still, Melisande was sound asleep as she was the type to sleep until woken up. As he moved towards the back of the carriage, he peeled back the curtain to look outside of it, finding the smell to infiltrate harsher through the rolling carriage. ¡°Uegh!¡± The scenery that met his eyes was decrepit; it was a valley tucked between mountains d in dark-purple grass with a fog veiling the area. A putrid swamp inhabited thend with crooked, drooping trees overlooking the mushy path of clumpy soil that the horses towed the carriage over. It was a jarring shift from the tranquil, verdant valleys of Illya, now in the dark, trash-smelling swamps where frogs croaked and bugs buzzed. ¡°This is¡­?¡± Emilio put it together. Roan seemed to notice he had awoken, ¡°Wee to the Styx High Swamps¨Cthe worst smelling ce in Vasmoria.¡± Chapter 193 The Storm Approaches The source of the awful smell that inhabited the swamps could be seen all around as he peered out of the carriage; bloated corpses floated in the shallow waters, along with discarded skeletons of fallen adventurers. It wasn¡¯t just adventurers, either. There were desecrated merchant wagons, sunken into the ground with the very merchants being caught in the deathly grip of the valley. What is this ce?¡­I knew it was bad, but this is something else entirely, Emilio thought. Giant frogs,rger than fully grown men, sat in the reeking waters, possessing bubbly, purple-and-ck, mucus-moist skin as their vocal sacs expanded before using their tongues to clean up the bodies littering the swamp. Just covering his nose wasn¡¯t enough as the smell was overpowering, bolstered by the abhorrent stench he¨C ¡°Bleeegh!¡± Leaning over the back of the carriage, he spewed the bile from his stomach. ¡°Just make sure to point that outside, please, this is a rental,¡± Roan called out from upfront. This was the stark difference in experience between himself and a veteran adventurer like Roan, which Emilio realized; despite what he¡¯d witnessed, death and shocking sights like this stirred him up, throwing him off. However, on the other end, Roan didn¡¯t bat an eye¨Chis heart was stone to such realities. ¡°¡­A ce like this is just¡­¡± Emilio groaned. It wasn¡¯t a pleasant ride in the slightest, though he kept it on his mind that this was thest bridge between himself and the Guild Foundation. An hour into the abrasive, foggy morning of the deathly swamp secluded between the ominous mountaintops, Melisande finally woke up. The bright, beginner mage yawned, stretching her arms up before freezing. Melisande quickly covered her mouth and nose at the awful stench, looking around with tears in her eyes. ¡°¡­One, two, three, and¨C¡± Emilio counted, watching her. On the dot, the silver-haired girl leaned over the back of the coach, spewing out her own disgust in liquid form. ¡°What the heck is this?!¡± Melisande asked. Aiding the girl by holding her hair behind her shoulders, he gave herforting pats on the back as she threw up over the back of the carriage. ¡°The ¡®Styx High Swamps¡¯¨Ccourtesy of our driver,¡± Emilio sarcastically said, not pleased either. ¡°It smells like spoiled meat¡­¡± Melisande groaned, wiping her mouth. There was no desire to eat breakfast for either of them, with their appetitespletely annihted by the natural ¡®reek¡¯ that swirled in the isted swamp. Meanwhile, Roan casually munched on a piece of bread while guiding the horses. While he sat there, doing his best to try to read with teary eyes and his nose covered by the cor of his shirt, with Melisande fiddling with wind magic, suddenly¨Cthe air went quiet. Rather than total silence urring, the wind pressure had changed so suddenly that Emilio found his ears popping, causing him to look up just as¨C ZAP. Before he could react, a streak of crimson lightning ran across his vision, tugging him and tossing him out of the carriage. It wasn¡¯t just him, Melisande was also suddenly thrown out of the back of the carriage as the bolt of lightning revealed itself to be the river. ¡°Wha¨C?!¡± Melisande let out. Catching himself before a harshnding, he used a burst of wind to regain his momentum, sliding on his boots across the moist mud. ¡°Melisande!¡± Emilio called out, racing over. Grabbing onto her outstretched hand, he managed to grab her before she could plummet into the dark swamps. As Roannded between them, looking forward, they found themselvespletely perplexed as to what happened. ¡°Why did you¨C¡± There was no chance for him to pose the question as an unseen force drilled through the carriage and the horses towing it, leaving not a shred of flesh as a red vapor was left hanging in the air. ¡°¡­What? What did that? What¡¯s going on?¡± Melisande asked in shock. Roan had a dead-serious expression as crimson lightning coiled his fingertips, making sure to stand in front of the two youths, ¡°We¡¯ve got bottom-of-the-barrel luck, that¡¯s what happened. Stand back. I don¡¯t care what you think, don¡¯t try and back me up. This is out of your league¨Cboth of you.¡± There was still the question of what malignant force obliterated the carriage and steed, but that answer revealed itself in the form of a mass of bones, coalescing as skeletons and corpses d in rotten sh mended together through a supernatural force. ¡°What is that?¡­¡± Emilio asked, drawing his staff and sword both. ¡°A lich,¡± Roan answered. The harrowing figure was massive; a giant formation of death in the shape of a skeleton, d in the corpses of fallen adventurers with a cloak formed of their stitched-together outfits. As it formedpletely, a force emitted from its position that wilted the deathly trees, decaying them as the soil it stood on turned gray like stone. ¡°Lich?¡­I¡¯ve heard of those in bedtime stories, but¡­they¡¯re real?¡± Melisande replied. ¡°Unfortunately so,¡± Roan responded, stepping forward as the lightning emanating from him electrically charged the nearby swamp water, ¡°¡­A lich will rise where abundant death urs. We just so happen to be standing in quite the graveyard. Usually they send somebody specifically out to deal with this when it happens, but it seems¨C¡± Before the man could finish, he suddenly stopped speaking. Droplets of rain began plummeting to the ground. ¡°Roan?¡± Emilio called the man¡¯s name worriedly. For some inexplicable reason, amidst the dreadful situation that rivaled the animosity spewed from the Unending Nightmare itself, there was a half-cocked smile worn on Roan¡¯s face as the rainfall dampened his red tufts. ¡°Did he lose it? What is there to be smiling about?!¡± Melisande questioned, growing anxious as the lich slowly approached. There was nowhere to run; only a narrow trail of mud existed between the depths of the deathly swamps, filled with diseases and man-eating creatures alike. Roan looked up, ¡°¨CAs if this day couldn¡¯t get any more damn annoying, he chooses to show up.¡± ¡°¡®He¡¯? Who¡¯re you talking about¡­?¡± Emilio asked. Turning his gaze upward as well, the young mage found himself staring at a formation of storming clouds that weren¡¯t there before, closing in on the valley with shes of sapphire thunder isted within the rainclouds. As the ominous lich approached, turning the life nearest to it to death as the giant frogs dropped dead along with the grotesque fish upying the swamp, everything went silent for a split-second¨C Shooting down from the heavens, a bolt of cerulean cut through the valley, curving down from the storming clouds and into the ursed swamps. It didn¡¯t just raze the diseased waters, but parted thend, bisecting it with a colossal strand of lightning that cut through the area like a de. As the lightning sliced through the lich, curving through its entire body in a sublime smiting, the bolt crashed against the ground with a blinding sh, revealing a figure born from the fulmination before¨C CRACK. A thunderp rang through the ears of the aspiring adventurers, causing Melisande to cover her ears, wincing as Emilio stood there in disbelief at the feat of power onlyparable to divinity. Standing there with a de that looked to be eastern made with its steel d in cerulean lightning, a man dressed in all-ck tucked his white-handled de back into its sheath, guiding it in with his pitch-ck glove. In contrast to his dark attire, the figure responsible for the valley-rending lightning had silver hair that stood up as if gelled, sparked by the lightning he controlled. ¡°¨CLooks like I got here just in time,¡± the man said. Just as he sheathed his de, another thunderp emitted; the statuesque lich was destroyed in absolution as the cut that had been etched through its physical form and soul alike, returned it to dust. Who the hell is this guy?! Emilio thought. As if reading his mind, Roan spoke, ¡°That there is a royal pain in my ass: Faust Omnisul.¡± Thatst name stuck into his mind as his brain went into overload, putting it together within a moment past the shock he was experiencing. ¡°Omnisul?¡­¡± Emilio slowly repeated, ¡°¡­My family?¡± Approaching them after the bombastic showing of power, the mysterious figure bearing the surname in rtion to Emilio, recognized Roan. ¡°Ah, Red Hair, so you were here? Perhaps I didn¡¯t need to worry,¡± Faust said, ¡°Though missions like these do motivate me.¡± ¡°Leave it to the Nihilum Core,¡± Roan replied, ¡°Always diligently working to protect the Guild Foundation.¡± ¡°If I didn¡¯t know any better, I¡¯d say you¡¯re trying to provoke me, Red Hair,¡± Faust said, ¡°You had your chance to join the Nihilum Core¨Cyou could¡¯ve made a real difference. Still, you choose toze your way around to sess.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t say it hasn¡¯t failed me,¡± Roanckadaisical responded. It almost seemed like fate that the two grown men, who seemed to both be veteran adventurers, though Emilio didn¡¯t know what the ¡®Nihilum Core¡¯ referred to, were rivals; it was red lightning versus blue thunder. ¡°That was amazing¡­seriously,¡± Melisande told the man. Faust smirked, ¡°Worry not, young maiden, the Nihilum Core will always be there in times of great peril. That is our motivation.¡± This guy is rted to me?¡­He seems kind of¡­immature? Actually¡­that makes even more sense, Emilio thought. Though he wanted to ask him directly, Emilio didn¡¯t know exactly how to bring up the topic of familial ties, especially with a man he¡¯d never seen before the prior minute, and unknowing if the Omnisuls and Dragonhearts were on ¡®good standing¡¯. Before he could ask, Roan seemed to handle it for him, ¡°Oh, hey, Faust, this is your nephew. Faust Omnisul, meet Emilio Dragonheart.¡± Chapter 194 Urgent Departure Before he could ask, Roan seemed to handle it for him, ¡°Oh, hey, Faust, this is your nephew. Faust Omnisul, meet Emilio Dragonheart.¡± ¡°Wha¨C¡± Both Faust and Emilio reacted in unison. Even Melisande found herself shocked by this sudden revtion told abrasively by the red-haired adventurer. Faust swooped in, leaning down and inspecting Emilio closely, which proved to be ufortable for the youthful Dragonheart as he stood like a statue while the man looked him up and down. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Faust hummed. From the sounds of it, the Omnisuls and Dragonhearts didn¡¯t seem like they were on good terms when Father exined it all¨Cthere¡¯s no way I¡¯d survive if this guy wants me dead! Emilio thought. As Faust stood up straight again, he looked down at Emilio with his adamant, sapphire eyes before suddenly¨Ca smile perched itself across Faust¡¯s lips as Emilio found his hair being gently ruffled by the man¡¯s hand. ¡°You¡¯re a Dragonheart, there¡¯s no doubt about that,¡± Faust said, ¡°So, you¡¯re Julius¡¯ runt then, I take it?¡± ¡°¡­Yeah, I¡¯m his son,¡± Emilio said, fixing his hair embarrassedly. Faust seemed amused by this development, but there was no animosity from him, ¡°What a peculiar day this is. Meeting my own nephew, and he¡¯s traveling alongside my fated rival. Quite motivating.¡± ¡°We¡¯re both on our way to the Guild Foundation,¡± Roan exined, ¡°Emilio and Melisande n on taking the world-ss trial. I¡¯ve got some vital information that the Heads will want.¡± Mention of ¡®vital information¡¯ for the ¡®Heads¡¯ piqued Faust¡¯s interest as he raised an eyebrow, ¡°Oh? If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll bring you to the Guild Foundation right away.¡± ¡°Seeing as our carriage got destroyed by the lich you were supposed to have killed¡­I¡¯d say that¡¯s fair,¡± Roan joked. ¡°Don¡¯t push it,¡± Faust replied. Pushing his palms together as the ck leather of his gloves squeaked, Faust invoked a high-level spell that manifested in a soil amidst the putrid soil, surrounding all four of them in a blue light. ¡°Ars Temporus,¡± Faust invoked. Emilio was still stunned by the grandiose power wielded by the man rted to him, ncing up at Roan. ¡°¡­Just who is he anyway? I mean, I feel like I should¡¯ve known if my Uncle was a big shot like this, but well¡­I guess that¡¯s another thing they would¡¯ve kept from me,¡± Emilio asked in a whisper. Roan responded, ¡°Faust is a member of the Nihilum Core¨Cerr, just think of them like a secret force working directly under the Heads of the Guild Foundation. You¡¯re right in thinking he¡¯s a ¡®big shot¡¯¨Cevery Nihilum member has to be at least a ¡®Void Ranked¡¯ adventurer¨Clike so.¡± Disying what he meant, Roan briefly showed Emilio his pitch-ck adventure insignia, which finally helped him realize just the intensity of that rank. ¡°Oh¨C¡± Before Emilio could even discern what sort of magecraft was being used, the humming light shed, blinding him momentarily as a weightless feeling swept over him. As his vision returned, he found himself, along with the others, no longer in the bounds of the deathly swamp, but faced with a new scenery: A colossal domain in the shape of an ivory cube upied a space the size of a city; castles that looked fun-size inparison clung to its sides. There was a moat between the structure and the pale-pink grass of the mysterious territory, to which a bridge suspended by tall beams connected thend to the otherworldly building. ¡°Is this¡­?¡± Melisande muttered out. Faust nced back, ¡°Wee to the Guild Foundation.¡± It wasn¡¯t just the stupendous, city-sized cube, but the region itself; isted behind trees that reached to the skies, bearing bright-pink and violet leaves that danced down. These colorful trees were stuck closely together in a perimeter around the region, creating a sort of wall that secluded the Guild Foundation. ¡°This is it¡­¡± Emilio mumbled, ¡°¡­I¡¯m finally here.¡± Vandread¡­I made it, he thought. [Guild Foundation: Reached.] All that was left was to cross the bridge, which was an experience in itself in its grand size as he followed both Roan and Faust as they moved with a certain sense of urgency. ¡°Are you excited?¡± Melisande asked. He didn¡¯t know how to respond right away as there were many thoughts running through his mind, especially when looking at the nebulous structure ahead, but he smiled, nodding his head, ¡°I am. This is the beginning of a new path in life.¡± ¡°It is,¡± Melisande nodded, smiling as she watched the building alongside him, journeying across the rain-slick bridge. Surprisingly, there were no guards stationed outside of the building as he found himself crossing a courtyard decorated with subtly-glowing, amber trees. It was all mystical, feeling as though he entered a new world entirely. They came to a stop as Faust did, cing his hand against the outline of a door, though it didn¡¯t appear to be a conventional one. Once recognizing his presence, a magical glow emitted from the grooves in the etched entrance, causing the ivory material to part into a doorway. This is it¨Cthis is really it, he thought. Entering into the Guild Foundation, he found himself in a vast lobby, already enamored by the marble floors and rows of floors that stretched high. Staircases led to dozens of visible floors, in which workers at the foundation moved through. There were reception desks that seemed to handle high-priority quests, handed to adventurers who by a single look, were a step above him in every caliber. ¡°¨CI feel out of depth here,¡± Melisande said, sticking close to his side. ¡°Me too¡­¡± Roan and Faust were talking to each other, seeming stressed about the information they needed to pass to the Heads, in which Roan turned back to face them. ¡°This is where we part ways,¡± Roan told the two youths. ¡°What¨C? But¨C¡± Emilio stepped forward. Roan stopped him, pointing to a desk across the marble-floored, busy lobby, ¡°That¡¯s where you¡¯re going to want to apply. Just a heads up¡­be ready the moment you apply.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t stay?¡± Melisande asked. The red-haired adventurer shook his head, ¡°Sorry, but even if I didn¡¯t have urgent business, it¡¯s not my ce. This is up to you two now¨Cit¡¯s time to forge your own destinies. Good luck.¡± Chapter 195 Exploring The Guild Foundation As the two veteran adventurers left, a motivational thumbs-up was given from Faust to Emilio before the youths were left on their own now. ¡°Well¡­¡± Emilio said. ¡°I guess we should sign up?¡± Melisande suggested. ¡°Yeah,¡± Emilio breathed in, preparing himself. The interior of the Guild Foundation was almost modern in its structure and atmosphere; it was kept brightly lit by runes used simrly to lights that he experienced on Earth. There was certainly truth to feeling ¡®out of depth¡¯; though he¡¯d been traveling alongside adventurers and meeting them on asion, it was entirely different when at the center of it all, or more like the summit. While looking around in awe, he nearly bumped into an adventurer passing by; a man in exuberant, ck armor with a crimson greatsword strapped to his back, wearing a diamond insignia. ¡°Ah¨Cmy bad,¡± he apologized. There was no response from the stern-faced, ck-haired man who moved along with heavy footsteps, ensnaring more of the young man¡¯s awe before moving on. ¡°Scary,¡± Melisande said, ¡°¨CWell, not that I was scared, but I imagine others would be.¡± ¡°Yeah, totally,¡± he responded quietly. Arriving at the receptionist desk that wasbeled ¡°World-ss Recruit¡±, he found himself stopping before a furnished desk of fine wood, covered partly with a velvet cloth. Standing behind it was a receptionist: a fair-faced man of clear elven descent by his pointy ears and perfect skin, wearing a verdant-and-gold vest atop white attire. ¡°Wee, travelers,¡± the sses-wearing receptionist greeted the two with a kind voice, ¡°What may I help you with today?¡± ncing at Melisande, he realized it was up to him to do all the talking as he stepped forward, ¡°We¡¯d like to apply to be World-ss adventurers, please.¡± There was slight surprise in the elven man¡¯s emerald irises, though his expression didn¡¯t change as he remained silent for a moment. ¡°Are you sure that is what you desire? I must warn you, it is a formidable trial ahead of you if you choose to pursue this,¡± the receptionist said calmly, ¡°It is not umon for ones of your age to apply, but¡­it is umon for them to survive the test.¡± It was a disturbing development for the two as their faces went pale. Up until then, he had little clue as to what the nature of the ¡®trial¡¯ was to be a world-ss adventurer, but death being on the table changed things. Though death was apanion to him on this journey; it wasn¡¯t as though he grew out of fearing it, but he was callused to its dread. However, what he feared was what this meant for the one he was entering the trial alongside. ¡°Melisande¡­¡± He nced back. ¡°I can ept that,¡± Melisande affirmed. ¡°¨CWhat?¡± Emilio looked at her in surprise. The silver-haired girl smiled confidently, though there was clearly fear hidden in her lips, ¡°I knew what I was getting into when I chose to go with you. The kind of courage to face something like this¡­that¡¯s what Joel taught me most of all. Besides, I can handle myself¨Cdon¡¯t worry. Besides, I remembered what my brother wanted to do¡­¡± ¡°What Joel wanted to do¡­?¡± Emilio looked at her. Melisande looked at him with her glistening eyes, nodding, ¡°He wanted to be a world-ss adventurer, but he chose not to so he could look after me¡­The reason he wanted to be able to venture the world was to find our father.¡± ¡°Your father? I thought¨Cwell¡­¡± He withdrew what he was going to say. ¡°Don¡¯t worry¡­Honestly, I¡¯ve epted for a long time that he¡¯s probably gone. But, Joel idolized him¡­Father is a world-ss adventurer himself, he¡¯s the entire reason Joel became one, and I guess¡­that extends to me, too,¡± Melisande told him, ¡°So, I¡¯ll carry on that will¨CI¡¯ll find my father.¡± It was difficult for him to swallow, though he knew he had little right in denying the way she felt as he slowly nodded with a smile, facing the receptionist again. ¡°We¡¯d like to apply,¡± Emilio told the elven man. Hesitant for a moment, a small, gentle smile was held by the man as he held out his hand, ¡°Alright, then, young travelers, the fee is two thrones.¡± As he was about to rummage through his pouch of coins to retrieve the fee, he remembered the peculiar coin gifted to him by the red-haired adventurer, instead retrieving it and setting it on the man¡¯s hand. ¡°Will this work?¡± Emilio asked. The elven man was surprised, adjusting his sses as he studied the sword-etched coin, ¡°This is more than enough¨Cfor the two of you, actually. Are you sure you¡¯d like to pay with this?¡± He was surprised to find it covered the cost of both, but happily nodded, finally following through with the investment the man made, ¡°Yes!¡± After paying the fee, Emilio and Melisande were given contracts to sign; it required their names, ages, birthces, skills, and aspirations. At the very bottom, a magic-enforced waver needed to be signed in the event of death through the trial. ¡°Alright¡­this is it,¡± Emilio said, finishing signing, ¡°After we turn these papers in¡­there¡¯s no going back.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Melisande agreed, feeling the weight of it. As they slowly turned the signed documents into the receptionist, the elven man read them over before reaching behind his desk, retrieving two separate keys. What¡¯s that? Emilio thought. Leaning over the desk, the kind receptionist pointed to a hall to the left, third from the right and between multiple, busy questboards, ¡°Rooms two-zero-eight and two-zero-nine; that is where you will stay for the night. You¡¯re free to eat as you¡¯d like, but first thing in the morning, you two will be fetched along with the other recruits for the trial. Best of luck, young travelers. May the winds carry you forth.¡± For some reason, he expected the trial to begin right after signing up, though he preferred it this way after an eventful day. ¡°Thank you,¡± Emilio told the man with a smile. ¨C Passing by hole-in-the-wall barsid out for adventurers who cooled down from their arduous adventurers, the two who aspired to be like those who lingered in their worn armor went into the lengthy corridor of rooms to search for their temporary lodging. ¡°Guess we should rest up for the big day tomorrow,¡± he said. ¡°Yeah, we should,¡± Melisande responded. Their rooms were directly across from another, with him taking the key to ¡°208¡± and Melisande taking the key to ¡°209¡±. ¡°Hey, err¨C¡± he stopped the girl. ¡°Hm?¡± Melisande nced back with the key still in the door. ¡°Want to see what they¡¯ve got for dinner? You know, after a bath¡­I think one is called for after being in those swamps,¡± Emilio shuffered. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re definitely right on that¡­¡± Melisande wryly chuckled, ¡°but sure!¡± ¡°Alright,¡± he smiled. As they parted ways for the time being, he entered his designated room, finding it surprisinglyfortable-looking for a ce meant to be lodging for adventurers. At least, there was a cozy-seeming bed and a window that peered out to the mystical scenery. Okay¡­operation: bathtime, he thought. Just traveling through the Styx High Swamps was like walking through the repent of a skunk, prompting him to hop into the bath and soak himself in soap. ¡°¡­That¡¯s the stuff¡­¡± He said, sinking into the warm water as he rxed. After nearly falling asleep and drowning as water infiltrated his nostrils, he took that as a kind enough signal to get out and dry off. Scrubbing his body down with a towel, he realized that he no longer had a change of clothes¨Cjust the clothes he arrived in, his journal, sword, and staff as his belongings. Great¡­I forgot the lich tore through the carriage, he thought. Tossing his clothes on, he let out a sigh as he finally sat down on the bed, rxing for a moment as he took in where he finally was. It was thest step, or the calm before that final, daunting step, at least. Sitting on that bed within the illustrious Guild Foundation, he found himself reminiscing of what it took to get there. ¡­It¡¯s been a long few months, but I¡¯m almost there, he thought. After making sure he no longer smelled like the stomach-churning mildew of the swamps, he left his room to meet with Melisande for dinner. ¡°I¡¯m totally sore¡­scrub, scrub, scrub¡­¡± Melisande groaned. Moving down the hall together, they passed by open rooms, allowing Emilio to see various adventurers training in their rooms¨Cswinging swords, reading grimoires, or cleaning their armor. Though the cities had a high density of adventurers, it was new to see a ce mainly upied to them to such an extent. I guess I didn¡¯t really understand what this ce was, he thought, the ¡®Guild Foundation¡¯ is like a giant hub for adventurers and quest activity? I didn¡¯t think there¡¯d be lodging for adventurers, though. ¡°Let¡¯s just hope there¡¯s something good to eat here,¡± Emilio sighed, ¡°If we¡¯re heading into danger tomorrow, I¡¯d at least like a final supper.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t talk like that¨Cnegativity brings negative results,¡± Melisande reprimanded him. ¡°Right, right,¡± he replied. Heading into the lobby, there were multiple outlets for dinner through separate establishments settled into the Guild Foundation itself. There was a courtyard within the massive interior, set specifically as a hub for meals. It¡¯s sorta like a mall, he thought. As was the nature of adventures,ing from around the world, there was something for everyone; the savory,rge portions of meat and gravy that were of Milligarde, health-conscious sds and pastries from Vasmoria, and what Emilio recognized as chinese cuisine that was supposedly native to Danxia. Though these were only the types of food he could recognize, as the other restaurants were out of his scope of knowledge with other kingdoms in mind. Chapter 196 The Trial Begins It only took a moment for the silver-haired girl to choose what she wanted to eat as the allure of potatoes and savory smells came from one of the Milligarde outlets. ¡°Well, you can grab whatever you want, but I really want mashed potatoes in Milligarde style!¡± Melisande said with a smile, pping her hands together. Still, he wasn¡¯t so quick to decide, but as he roamed around, he found himself entranced by the Danxian restaurant, which had steam exuding from its kitchen with a rich smell oozing from it that rumbled his stomach. Danxia, huh?¡­That¡¯s where Feiyu was from, right? If it¡¯s anything like China on Earth, then the food here must be just as good, he thought. ¡°Hmm¡­I guess I¡¯ll try a Danxian dish,¡± he said. As he read the menu, which was fortunately inmonnguage, he found a lot of dishes seeming unfamiliar, though a few stuck out within his scope of knowledge. ¡°Err, I¡¯ll have shrimp dumplings and¡­let¡¯s try ¡®Dragon¡¯s Ma Po Tofu¡¯,¡± he ordered. ¡°Oh! Nice choice! Coming right up!¡± The chef epted his request. The chef who took his order was an energetic man hailing from Danxia, with tan-brown skin and fuzzy, dark-brown hair. Though he wore a crimson chef¡¯s uniform and was manning the kitchen, he wore a cobalt adventurer¡¯s insignia. He¡¯s an adventurer, too? Is everybody here one? Emilio thought. As he sat down at the table, meeting back up with Melisande, the lithe, emerald-eyed girl swayed her legs happily as she dug into herrge serving of fluffy mashed potatoes. ¡°Yum!¡± Melisande cheerfully said. Emilio wasn¡¯t as delighted as he was still waiting for his meal, feeling his stomach grumble while having to endure the enticing aroma of the potatoes. Finally, his meal arrived as the Danxian chef set it on the table: a te of steaming dumplings, paired with a dark sauce, as well as a bowl of tofu, covered in vegetables and spicy sauce. ¡°Enjoy!¡± The Danxian chef said. As he was left with his meal, he found himself slightly salivating at the mixtures of scents that greeted his nose, quickly trying one of the shrimp dumplings. ¡°Mm!¡± Emilio hummed in delight. Melisande looked over, looking slightly jealous at his moreplex meal, but continuing to enjoy her hefty serving of mashed potatoes. After swiping through the dumplings like a fiending carnivore, he found himself left with the intimidating te of piping hot tofu; even without tasting it, he could smell just how spicy it was. A dragon dish for a Dragonheart, right? He thought. Taking a spoonful of it, he inspected it for a minute before finally taking the plunge, guiding it into his mouth. ¡°¨C!¡± Hisplexion immediately reddened as he froze for a moment before slowly swallowing the spoonful of spicy tofu. As he kept it down, sweat left his pores as Melisande looked over worriedly. ¡°¡­Are you alright?¡± Melisande asked. ¡°Never better,¡± Emilio responded. Spicy dishes were few and far between in Milligarde, as most dishes he had at home were meat-based and not veryplex, though that wasn¡¯t a bad thing. Still, this new experience was something he actually weed, expanding his palette. After a surprisingly eventful meal which helped clear his sinuses, heplimented the chef before heading back to the lodging section with Melisande. ¡°Ugh¡­maybe I ate a bit too much,¡± Melisande said, holding her stomach. ¡°That did look like a huge bowl of potatoes¡­anyway,¡± he said, stopping as they arrived at their rooms, ¡°¨CSee you in the morning, I guess.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­tomorrow is the big day,¡± Melisande replied. ¨C Settling in for the night, Emilio took his boots off while sitting on the bed, noticing the pink glow that kept the room lit in the darkness as he kept the runic lighting off. Walking over to the window that made up most of the wall, he looked towards the scenery of colossal pink-leaved trees that resembled sakura. ¡°This is it,¡± he mumbled to himself, ¡°If I want to see all that this world has to offer, I¡¯ll have to make it through what¡¯sing next.¡± Spending some time gazing out of the window, seeing parties of adventurers taking their leaves for exciting journeys no doubt, he finally checked into bed, somehow managing to fall asleep amidst his anxious heart. It happened again. Falling into slumber, the dreamscape that awaited him was that lonely room that floated in the cosmos, finding the faceless entity sitting on the wooden floor with swirls of neb and the gxies being born in its midst behind it. ¡°¡­This again? Not to be rude, but I¡¯d really like a normal night of sleep¨CI¡¯ve got a big day tomorrow, you know?¡± Emilio said, sighing out. The faceless entity seemed amused by hisment, ¡°Is that so? I¡¯ll make it quick then. Here¡¯s a word of advice for the trialing tomorrow.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Emilio¡¯s attention was caught. The next words to fall from the enigmatic figure¡¯s lips were ominous, to say the least: ¡°Be prepared for the worst.¡± With that, the meeting with the entity came to a close as everything went ck, causing an unknown amount of time to pass in his rest before¨C BANG. BANG. BANG. He was abrasively pulled from his slumber, jumping up from the pounding on the door with a perplexed expression. ¡°Recruit number twenty-five, Emilio Dragonheart, it is time to go! Get up and get ready¨Cnow!¡± A stern voicemanded from behind the door. As he looked to the side, it was hardly morning yet beyond the window, as darkness still clung to the sky, but he didn¡¯t waste any time questioning it as he scrambled to slip his boots on. What is this, boot camp?! He thought. Attaching his sheath to his belt and strapping his staff to his back, he opened the door to find a man with salt-and-pepper hair waiting; wearing an all-ck, military-esque uniform with a grizzled expression and a left eye scarred over. ¡°Hm,¡± the middle-aged man looked down at him, ¡°I am Instructor Halfheim. Your group is under my watch for the trial.¡± ¡°Group?¡­¡± Emilio repeated. ¡°Save your questions,¡± Halfheim told him, ¡°Follow me¨Cthe others are waiting. There I will exin everything.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± It seemed he was thest one on the list of applicants, seeing as he was thest to be brought to the area in question as he followed the stern instructor of the Guild Foundation down the halls, turning through corners before exiting the premises. There was arge carriage waiting, drawn by a colossal lizard, in which he was signaled by the instructor to get in. ¡°Enough gawking! Time is of the essence, Dragonheart!¡± Halfheim barked. ¡°R-right!¡± As he jumped into the back of the carriage, he found the interior of it to be filled with unfamiliar faces of his fellow recruits. Where¡¯s Melisande? He thought. ¡°Hey, where¡¯s¨C¡± With Halfheim entering behind him, as he was about to pose his question, he was shoved aside, naturally falling onto a seat beside two other applying adventurers. Wait¡­he said groups¨Care we in separate groups? He thought. As Halfheim pped his hands together, the driver of the carriage was signaled to take off, causing it to begin moving on its route as the scarred instructor faced the perplexed recruits. ¡°Alright! Now that you¡¯re all together, let me exin to you the trial set for those who wish to be a ¡®world-ss¡¯ adventurer!¡± Halfheim called their attention. Settling in, he looked side-to-side: to his left, a man in his early-twenties with a red scarf and leather armor said, twiddling with his golden tufts. To his right, a nervous man fiddled with his sses and wooden staff, sweating bullets. There wasn¡¯t anybody who dared speak a word amidst the instructor¡¯s own time of talking. ¡°We¡¯re heading to the ¡®Valley of Parmesus¡¯. This is a top-secret region in which its location is only known to the highest ranked members of the Guild Foundation. It is upied by highly-lethal creatures, most of which are specifically sealed there. As such, when I am done giving instruction, you will all fall unconscious,¡± Halfheim announced, ¡°When you awaken, you will be alone, separated from your fellow recruits, in the Valley of Parmesus. You will need to survive a week in this environment¨Cevading creatures,bating them, and finding resources for sustenance.¡± It was a lot to take in at once, and by the expressions worn on the other recruits¡¯ expressions, he could tell this was dire news to many ears. ¡°Any questions?¡± Halfheim asked. ¡°How are we going to¨C?!¡± ¡°None? Good! Best of luck to you, recruits, you¡¯ll need it!¡± Halfheim pped his hands together. In that single gesture, before anybody could pose a question or react, a spell was put in ce that swiftly put everyone in the group into slumber once more. Emilio found his eyelids growing heavy, feeling his body be dense before slowly¨Cit all faded. Just¡­great, he thought. The dreams that awaited him were ones he experienced every so often; painful, but precious to him: scenes of him at home, as Ethan, with his mother. Though these were once times he spited, after epting himself, he reminisced fondly of the one, sole thing he had in life as Ethan Bellrose. I¡¯m sorry¡­I have to go now, he thought. It was foggy, though the warmth of unconditional love was something unmistakable to him, though he soon faded to darkness once more. ¨C Parting his eyelids, he slowly groaned out, finding himselfying on his back, looking up towards a ceiling of leaves overhead. I¡­was asleep? Where am I? He thought. Sitting up, he nced around while rubbing his head, finding himself in a densely-packed forest. It took a minute for him to remember what happened, putting it together as he quickly scrambled to his feet at the sound of monstrous calls, echoing through the mysteriousnd. That¡¯s right! The ¡®Valley of Parmesus¡¯! That guy said this was essentially ¡®monsternd¡¯! He recalled. Chapter 197 First Triumph! Hearing thunderous footsteps quaking through thend nearby, he moved out of the clearing as his boots stomped over the muddy ground, ducking into a patch of bushes to hide himself. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. Peering through the bushes, he watched while crouched down, quieting his breathing, as a behemoth d in pitch-ck, spiky scales stomped through the spot he was justying. It was asrge as an elephant, emitting breath in the form of steam from its pores as it moved through. It had a bulbous tail that thwacked against the trees it passed by, taking chunks out of the trunks casually. The tank-like beast left massive footprints that caved the mud in deep, moving slowly before it finally left the area. What is that?¡­If I didn¡¯t wake up when I did, I¡¯d be dead meat, he thought. As it escaped from his view, Emilio finally let out a breath of relief, able to breathe properly as his heart throbbed in his chest. Carefully moving around through the forest ground, finding odd nts such as giant, four-petaled flowers that glowed, or crystalized blooms, he chose to avoid touching them. ¡°Ngh¡­I¡¯ve got to find Melisande,¡± he mumbled to himself, rubbing his throbbing head. Sitting down momentarily on a rock, the warm sensation of rays of the sun made him look up, realizing no such thing peered over the isted valley. ¡°What the¡­¡± The sky above was not a pale-blue, filled with a sea of clouds, but a mirror of the forest itself; colossal trees existed upside down. It seemed to be a closed-offnd, steeped in mysticism beyond hisprehension. As for the source of light he felt and saw, it stemmed from a colossal, amber crystal embedded in the ¡®sky forest¡¯, shining down. I can feel it; the air is densely packed with mana. It really is like I¡¯m standing inside some sort of massive seal¡­He thought. While getting his bearings, the sound of rustling from behind startled him as he jumped up, ncing back¨C ¡°Raaaargh¨C!!!¡± ¡°Ah!¡± Right in his face, a silver-furred lion that was three times the size of a grizzly, at least, roared out as the smell of flesh and blood emitted from its maw. Holy shit! Emilio thought. Unprepared, he jumped back, tossing a quick slice of water in its direction. The eviscerating water shed the carnivore¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Yes!¡± He celebrated. Though it was short lived as the massive carnivore didn¡¯t seem to sustain any damage from the magic, prompting it to roar again before it rushed forward. ¡°¨CCrap!¡± After failing his initial attack, he began running, trying to run through his mind what his next course of action would be. Just my luck I¡¯d run into some sort of damn devil cat! He thought. As he nced back, he found the colossal lion to be even faster than expected as it leapt forward with a whistle of wind curving around it. Flowing from its tinum mane, wind shot out to increase the speed in which it pierced forward. ¡°Gh¨C!¡± Before he could manifest a shield in front of him, the lion swept past him, nicking his corbone with its dagger-like w. Wind magic? No, is it some sort of inherent ability it has¨C? He thought. Holding hiscerated cor, he looked down to realize the wound had already closed itself; it was still a factor he wasn¡¯t used to. ¡°¨COh, right,¡± he mumbled. There wasn¡¯t time to be surprised as the mystical beast rushed in again, carving up the soil in its path as it roared out. Tossing a volley of wind shes in its direction, the cuts of air only seemed to ruffle up its immacte coat of fur. Next, he tried a stream of fire, engulfing the beast, only for it to rush forward without the fire doing anything to its fur, prompting him to jump back. It managed to catch up to him through its ferocious pursuit, lunging with its maw that epassed his entire torso, though he managed to roll back to evade its jaws. As he swiftly ducked back, the beast mmed its paw down, catching his calf with its razor-sharp ws that carved out his flesh by the spoonful. ¡°Ngh!¡± Just as quickly as he was wounded, as he jumped back up to his feet, the flesh in his calf was returned as the ck threads stitched it back together as if no damage was ever inflicted. It was apparent to him now just how potent the Undying Blood bestowed to him by Vandread was, though it wasn¡¯t something he liked to rely on. Magic is ineffective? I¡¯ve read about beasts like this¡­¡¯tinum Deaths¡¯¨CIf I recall correctly, they¡¯re native to Vasmoria; beasts that evolved to resist magic due to being hunted by it for so long, he deduced. Though remembering that hardly made his mission any easier as without magic, it would be a physical confrontation with a lion that was over five times his size. Still, readied himself, drawing in a breath. Alright, I¡¯m ready now¡­He thought. As he watched closely, squinting, he witnessed its mane vibrate before once more, a burst of wind curved around it like a propulsion device. Just as itunched forward, he responded in kind, using a burst of wind at his feet to jump upward. He managed to hover directly over its head, taking the silver-furred beast by surprise as he drew his sword. It was through the usage of magical reinforcement and his innate strength that he garnered the strength to swing his silver edge downward, managing to cut through the thick nape of the beast. The tinum lion¡¯s neck was the same thickness of a grown man¡¯s body, and even tougher than normal flesh, yet with his amplified strength, he swept through it like butter. SQUELCH. Landing on his feet again, he let out a small breath before sheathing his sword, looking down at the colossal beast he felled. [Level Up!] [Level Seventeen Achieved.] Seeing the size of it, it was obvious to him just how far he¡¯de from his days of struggling against goblins. Alright¡­I think I get what I¡¯m up against now, he thought. Chapter 198 Mesmerizing Land of Fantastical Elements Lurking in the Valley of Parmesus was not just the threat of beasts, but something far more sinister. Sealed within the contorted valley were not just mindless beasts, but monsters a ss above them in true evil: humans. [¡°Within the Valley of Parmesus, stains on the Guild Foundation¡¯s record live; S-rank criminals that were deemed ¡®likely impossible¡¯ to kill, three in total, dubbed ¡®The Three Devils of Parmesus¡¯.¡±] Stepping out from a moss-covered cave, a tall man with abnormally long, muscr limbs wore the pelt of a beast on his back, sniffing the air as a smile stretched across his scarred lips. He was nearing three meters in height, with a mane of stringy, jet-ck hair cascading down his bulbous trapezius muscles. [¡°Fleisch¡± | S-Rank Criminal | A animalistic man who possesses little intellect, though he wields a body that¡¯s as if it were carved from the flesh of god | 500+ victims] ¨C Chopping blocks of wood with an ax, a bald-headed, tan-skinned man stood near a cabin inhabiting the mysterious valley. Blood ran slick down his arms as he held a vicious smile of inhuman wickedness, ncing back at the victims he¡¯d already imed: a pair of adventurers were strung up likeundry between trees. ¡°It¡¯s that season again¨Cthe hunt begins,¡± he spoke in a deep, twisted tone. [¡°Collector¡± | S-Rank Criminal | A yer of beasts and men alike, finding Parmesus to be his paradise | 500+ Victims] ¨C Lastly, a silent man stood, wearing armor made of the bone of beasts, wielding a rusty, steel cleaver in one hand. ¡°Who the hell are you!?¡± ¡°Stay back!¡± A couple adventurers, one, a brown-haired man wielding a greatsword, and another, a young, female mage holding a staff up, yelled out to the abhorrent figure who peered at them with eyes tucked behind his mask of bone. [¡°The Butcher¡± | S-Rank Criminal | A silent force of evil, theorized to be an apostle of one of the sinister deities | 1000+ victims] As the grotesque man took a single step forward, the girl mage yelled out: ¡°Burn my foe to ash, Fire st!¡± With a fireball soaring straight towards the man, itnded, exploding into a ball of embers. ¡°¡­I did it,¡± the girl sighed. ¡°What a creep,¡± the brown-haired swordsman breathed out, ¡°¨CWait!¡± Through the smoke and mes, the butcherer rushed forward as his burnt flesh rebuilt itself, though still scarred and imperfect. ¡°How¨C?!¡± The orange-haired girl cried out. Before any further words could be said, the silent butcherer swept his de forward, dragging the jagged steel across the girl¡¯s midsection. In a gut-wrenching squelch, the mage was disemboweled, leaving her in shock as she looked down, giving the imprisoned criminal a window to seamlessly stab his de straight through her neck. ¡°Yuna¡­!¡± The swordsman screamed out. Driven by rage, shock, and grief, the leather-armored recruit roared out with tears, rushing forward with his de in hand. As he swung his de down overhead, the skin-wearing butcher was unstopped; the sinister figure shed his stained de forward, cutting through the man¡¯s de before slicing through his neck all the same. [¡°For decades, the ¡®Three Devils¡¯ have remained in the Valley of Parmesus, eternally imprisoned within the scope of the region. To the Heads of the Guild Foundation, they¡¯re nothing more than beasts; obstacles within the trial itself. Though it¡¯s clear as day that their brutality simply exists on a different spectrum.¡±] ¨C However, the only threats were not those sealed within the valley. Wickedness is indifferent to where it manifests, even amongst the ranks of the recruits. A clearing of the magical region, upied by a serene, flowing river that connected to the ceiling of trees above, had its clear water dyed in crimson. Amidst a bloodbath that stained the area, multiple corpses of recruits were strewn across the gravelly ground. A bald-headed man had his innards strewn out, disemboweled by what had to be a sharp de; a youthful mage had his head severed from his shoulders; a woman was reduced to multiple pieces, scattered across the ground. It was the aftermath of an attack unlike an animal; calcted and intentionally brutal. Only a single person remained living, unscathed with only his ck gloves drenched in blood, inspected the remnants of those in on the trial grounds. Handling the flesh of the deceased as if it were an ordinary urrence, he hummed to himself. ¡°As I suspected; boring people, boring shades of red,¡± the man sighed, ¡°¨CPerhaps I came here with expectations a tad too high. Ah, well, I still have my mission¡­Where is the ¡®Dread¡¯?¡± Wearing an all-ck uniform with a matching cloak descending from his shoulders, the man, seeming to be in his early twenties, had shaggy, jet-ck hair and onyx eyes, devoid of life orpassion, which stood in contrast to his smile. ¡°That¡¯s right¡­remember your mission,¡± the man reminded himself, ¡°You¡¯re here to eliminate the ¡®Three Devils¡¯. It is an important duty for our cause. Control yourself, control yourself. Shackle the urge to rip apart. Suppress it. Suppress it. Suppress it.¡± It took a minute of repeating to himself in a whisper, rapidly and aggressively with his fingers trembling, but the man seemed to lock it down. After cleaning his des, the figure heard rustling, prompting the man-ughterer to stand up as a look of malicious intent filled his eyes. ¡°Grgh!¡± The grunt of a young girl sounded out from behind the treeline. Approaching through the treeline with steps as silent as the whispers of the wind, the darkly-dressed man found himself watching a silver-haired, lithe girlbatting a red-furred bear. The young mage tossed a bore of wind at the goliath bear¡¯s chest, exploding out and revealing its rib cage before the beast healed again, swiping towards her. ¡°Grgh!¡± The youthful recruit dodged. A mage? Ah, is that a fragrant, fresh mana I feel? The man thought, I¡¯ll change my approach¡­to more of a slow-burn, this time. Holding his silver daggers in a reverse grip, the dead-eyed man leaned down before bursting forward, intercepting the bear¡¯s assault on the young mage as he used a swirling cut to part itsrge head from its body. ¡°Wha¨C?¡± The young girl witnessed. This time, the beast didn¡¯t heal as it dropped down with a resounding thud throughout the forest floor. After struggling to etch anysting damage into the beast, the young mage found herself in shock of how easily the fair-faced man dispatched it. Swiping his des of the predator¡¯s blood, the ck-caped man smiled, sheathing his daggers before extending his hand. ¡°That was a Gehenna Bear, they¡¯re native to the continent of demons¨Cfearsome foes, unless you know their weakness,¡± he exined, ¡°¨CYou need to behead them to bypass their regeneration. I¡¯m Amon, by the way.¡± epting the man¡¯s hand, the silver-haired girl was surprised, holding a smile, ¡°Melisande.¡± Amon smiled, ¡°Well, Melisande, I think we can both agree that in a ce like this, our chances of survival are better in numbers, right? Ha-ha.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right¨CI¡¯m looking for somebody, actually,¡± Melisande told him. ¡°Oh? I¡¯ll help you find them, then,¡± Amon assured her with a false smile. ¡°Really? Thanks,¡± she epted. Though there was some level of caution that Melisande held, the act of being saved without a question by the figure eased her paranoia. ¡ª After wandering for hours, avoiding gnarly beasts and just about anything that made inhuman sounds, Emilio found himself unable to locate hispanion. Where is she?¡­I can¡¯t leave her alone in a ce like this, he thought. As he marched through the mystical forest, he was stopped as his stomach audibly growled. Through the continuous marching and fighting, he realized that he had not eaten anything that day. ¡°¡­Crap¡­I forgot about that¨Cwhat am I going to do for food?¡­¡± He mumbled. Though all that was on his mind was regrouping with Melisande, it would be a much more arduous task if he didn¡¯t find something to fill his belly for the time being. As he inspected the array of shrubs, he found colorful berries and odd-shaped fruits growing on the nts. Despite how delicious some looked, he knew it was an unwise decision to blindly trust what was grown in the wilnds. Seeming normal enough, he plucked a vine of orb-like, purple-skinned fruits that resembled grapes. ¡°This could do it, right?¡­¡± He muttered. Sniffing it, there was nothing that stood out as ¡®bad¡¯ about the fruit, prompting him to pluck one from the vine before popping it into his mouth. Like a grape, it released sweet juice directly into his mouth, also helping to satiate his thirst, leaving him pleasantly surprised. It was a careful first consumption, but after making sure it didn¡¯t immediately manifest a disease in him, he popped more of the grape-like fruits into his mouth. Lucky, he thought. After giving himself some sustenance, he moved on, carefully marching through the densely-packed forest while scouting for his lostpanion. The atmosphere of the sealed valley was ominous, yet tranquil in some parts; at times, it felt utterly lonely, so vastly alien to what he was used to that he found himself ensnared by its mystique, but at the same time, scared. There was always something wrong with the scenery he looked at; trees hung from the sky, rivers flowed upward, and patches of ground were suspended in midair, stagnating. Critters scampered as he moved; he found himself watching cyclopian deer run, or bunnies with horns hop away. It was simply a mesmerizing fever dream of and. Chapter 199 Dance With The Devil Soon, night crawled over as a result of the sun-like crystal in the air dimming, releasing pollen-like particles that danced through the isted air, resembling stars. Nightfall?¡­Can¡¯t say I¡¯m excited for that, he thought. It was devastatingly dark; the glistening pollen above hardly provided any light, forcing him to move through the ominous forest of death. The sound of weightful footsteps crunching twigs and leaves caused him to duck into a bush again, opting to avoid a fight if he could. ¡°¨C¡± He suppressed his breathing. What he found marching through the sea of trees was a humanoid figure, though clearly not; its flesh was of rotting bark, each step it took sounded as if wood was creaking. There were vines hanging from its body and flowers blossoming, yet wilting. What is that¡­? He questioned. There was no part of him that wanted to find a specific answer as he watched the humanoid tree groan and march past. If it was a version of him from perhaps a few months or even weeks prior, he might have found himself confronting the entity out of confidence. Though it was likely in his mind he could handle it, that wasn¡¯t the problem. He learned of his own limits in his time in Larundog; if a fight could be avoided without consequence, it was the best course¨Cespecially when there would no doubt be unavoidable conflict in the future. Pressing his back against a tree, he was unable to watch it directly, only listening to it shuffle through the leaf-covered ground while it groaned out as if anguished. As its footsteps became distant, he let out a sigh of relief, picking himself up as he moved in a different direction than where the tree lifeform went. This ce is too much. Please¡­be alright, Melisande, he thought. Into his night-crept search, rain began to fall, though that too was contorted by the ways of the valley; rather than plummeting downwards from non-existent clouds, it came sideways, both left and right. It was a surreal sight as he held his hand out, watching the droplets of rainnd against his hand from the unorthodox directions. Sometimes it¡¯s easy to forget just what kind of world I¡¯m living in¡­I¡¯ve been here for fifteen years now, but it all feels so magical still at times like this, he thought. While he was entranced by the logic-defying rain, a rustle of the bushes to his left pulled him out of his distraction just as something caught the corner of his eye. It was a humanoid figure, of yellow skin and pointed ears, lunging towards him with a knife: A goblin? He realized. Though it came to him with a surprise attack, he was far above the league of the cowardly monster, ducking beneath the iing de and countering with a straight punch into its gut. Filled with riveting intent, the draconic force swirling in his blood bolstered the blow with enough force to ripple the goblin¡¯s insides. In the heat of the moment, nothing restrained him as he was able to conjure the might of a dragon in his knuckles, sending it flying back as it mmed against the tree. The entire bulk of the tree shook as leaves fell with the yellow-skinned goblin seeping blood from its pores, felled in one blow. For a moment, he was still surprised at his own strength, though there was no time to be as more rustling met his ears, bringing him to spin around, finding that there was undoubtedly an entire group of the fiends surrounding him. ¡°¨CWhere there¡¯s one, there¡¯s a dozen¡­Father taught me that much,¡± he mumbled to himself. He could barely see the short, conniving creature behind the veil of the foliage. Emilio¡¯s first instinct was to grab the staff strapped to his back, but stopping to think for a moment, he realized it¡¯d be entirely a waste of mana to use spells on goblins. Instead, he unsheathed the sword gifted to him by his parents. From beyond a bush, an arrow shot towards him, testing his reflexes. Though he was prepared for this, able to counter it with a swing of his sword, snapping the arrow in two before rushing forward. Found you! He thought. It seemed his act of superhuman capabilities stunned the bow-wielding goblin as it froze in his approach. Before it could draw another arrow, he dashed through with reinforcement amplifying his legs. With a strong sh, he cleanly bisected the bush while cleaving through the creature using it as protection, shing through the goblin¡¯s chest. Just as he finished the ranged fiend, he sensed the air twisting behind him, jumping to the side just as a rock, resembling a cannonball in appearance and usage, shot past him. As it missed, it bore right through the eviscerated bow-wielder, leaving a hole in the goblin¡¯s chest. Stone magic? He realized. ncing to where it came from, he saw a goblin shaman wielding a skull-affixed staff, swinging it around as it seemed to be preparing another usage. ¡°Raagh!¡± The goblin responsible for the spell yelled out. Before it could ready another, the young Dragonheart dashed forward with the wind whistling by his ears. ¡°Rarrrgh-!¡± The shaman shrieked. What came next was a familiar sight: the magic-wielding goblin arose a barrier of stone between them, but this was something that Emilio knew well the limits of. More, he thought. It took further concentration; flexing his muscles, tightening them as they coiled, he supplemented them with magical reinforcement before using his physical strength to swing his de. Through the thick stone, he cleaved, leaving the shaman stunned before the young man jumped forward, stabbing the de through its head. ¡°¡­Huff¡­¡± He breathed out. Pulling the de out, he was prepared to face the other goblins, though he heard them scampering away through the nightly foliage of the forest. Abandoning a fight?¡­Usually goblins are too stupid to do that, he thought. As he tucked his sword into its sheath, he went on his way, finding at least one benefit of the encounter to be it made him wide awake in his search. ¡°Aaagh¡ª!!!¡± A bloodcurdling scream caused him to jump, finding it startlingly familiar in the voice it belonged to. ¡°Melisande?!¡± He realized. Rushing towards where he heard it, he leapt over fallen legs and ducked under low-hanging branches before entering a clearing. There she was¨Cflinging a snake off of her leg as she screamed again in horror of the slippery reptile. ¡°Gross, gross, gross!¡± Melisande said. A sigh of relief left his lips as he found the silver-haired girl, safe and sound, though before he could call her name, he saw that there was another person with her: a man dressed in all-ck, standing behind her with a dagger nearing the back of her neck. Though he had a kind face, etched with a charismatic smile that entuated his alluring looks, there was no doubt an air of malevolence around the youthful man. ¡°What¡­?¡± It took a moment for him to realize what was going on before, out of reflex and necessity, he used the maximum amount of reinforcement he could handle on his legs, springing forward with speed that caused the air to part and drawing his sword in one go. CLANG. Before the man¡¯s de could graze the unknowing girl¡¯s neck, it was intercepted by Emilio¡¯s sword. ¡°¨CHuh?¡± Melisande turned around, blinking, ¡°Emilio? You¡¯re here! Wait¡­Amon? Why¡¯re you guys¡­?¡± Amon had a wicked smile on his lips, holding his dagger against the young man¡¯s de, ¡°It seems Lady Luck still despises me after all¨Cwhat awful timing. Oh well¡­¡± ¡°Melisande, stay back! This guy is a problem! He was going to kill you!¡± Emilio warned. It was all sudden; before the eyes of the silver-haired girl, she witnessed the two sh des through swiftbat. ¡°You¡¯re good,¡± Amon smiled, setting his lifeless, ck eyes on the young man, ¡°Unlike the other disappointments.¡± There was a frightening elegance to Amon¡¯s swordy; the reach of his daggers wasn¡¯t a present issue through his swiftness and ability to continuously keep Emilio locked into close distance with himself. It resembled the Chaos God Style in some ways, through the way Amon unorthodoxically spun his des around for unnatural strikes, but it had a methodology to it. Like a phantom of the night, Amon vanished and reappeared repeatedly. Each vanish, the young man found himself having to react at his utmost as Amon continuously attacked his blindspots. He¡¯s good¨Cit¡¯s so natural to him¨CI can feel it in each strike, Emilio thought, he¡¯s used to killing others. ¡°What?¡­Amon, you were¨C? You!¡± Melisande angrily realized. In aid of Emilio amidst the sh of steel, a spell managed to manifest without the need of words, using the girl¡¯s anger and intent as a catalyst, a st of wind shot directly against Amon¡¯s back. ¡°Ah! That was surprising,¡± Amon smiled, ncing back. Melisande was stunned, ¡°¡­It did nothing?¡± Though it provided Emilio with an opening; he rushed forward and managed to break through the malicious man¡¯s guard, leaving him wide-open for the follow-up. ¡°Raagh!¡± Emilio yelled, swinging his sword without restraint. ¡°Ah, this is no good,¡± Amon remarked with a smile. Before the steel could carve through the flesh of the murderous stranger, Amon vanished before Emilio¡¯s eyes, leaving the young man¡¯s sword only to swipe through shadows. ¡°What¨C?¡± Emilio let out. ¡°Behind you!¡± Melisande warned. Though he was given the warning, he didn¡¯t have time to turn around before a whisper sank into his ear from the wicked man: ¡°This was fun,¡± Amon said smoothly, ¡°¡­Let¡¯s do this again.¡± As he spun around with a sh, once again, he only cut the wind. The figure was gone without a trace, leaving just the two alone in the clearing. ¡°¡­He¡¯s gone,¡± Melisande said. ¡°Who the hell was that?¡± Emilio huffed. ¡°He saved me earlier, but¡­I didn¡¯t think he was like that,¡± Melisande said, standing beside him, ¡°Thanks¡­I needed your help again.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say that,¡± he sighed, keeping his sword out cautiously, ¡°I¡¯m just d I made it in time. We need each other if we¡¯re going to survive this trial.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Melisande nodded with a small smile. Chapter 200 Hunting Rabbits After reuniting, it was finally time to settle in for the night, which after some searching, the two managed to find a small, tucked away cave that was well-hidden behind bushes. ¡°This¡¯ll work,¡± Emilio remarked. ¡°Yeah. I doubt we¡¯ll get found here,¡± she replied. The usage of ¡®doubt¡¯ stuck out to Emilio as he knew there was truly no certainty of safety in such a ce, especially not with the type of beasts or men that lurk thend. It was eerily dark and quiet through the forest, save for the sounds of critters and other unsightly beings rummaging through its scope, leaving the two to sit there in quiet, ready for whatever maye. While they sat there in silence, the sound of a stomach growling was as noisy as could be, prompting Emilio to look towards the girl. ¡°Err¡­¡± Melisande covered her stomach embarrassedly. A small smile formed as the dreadful silence was broken, prompting him to sit up, ¡°We¡¯re not making it through this trial with empty stomachs, that¡¯s for sure.¡± ¡°Are you going out? I¡¯ll¨C¡± Melisande started to get up. Emilio quickly stopped her, ¡°Just leave it to me, alright? Here, I¡¯ll leave you with this.¡± From a simple utterance of ¡®Gnome¡¯, he manifested the lesser spirit of rock, guiding the sentient spirit over to the girl. ¡°If anything approaches this cave that isn¡¯t me, block it up, alright?¡± Emilio spoke to the spirit. Seeming to respond, the brown sphere of magica energy blinked a few times, giving Emilio the answer he wanted as he headed out. There wasn¡¯t arge part of him that wanted to step out from that cave and back into the dark, ominous depths of the sealed forest, but his own stomach felt quite empty at this time as well. I wonder if it¡¯d be a good idea to use a me?¡­I can hardly see a thing, but also¡­¡¯things¡¯ would see me too if I used one, he thought. With the thought of being spotted by who-knows-what in the darkness, he decided to take things slow and steady without the guidance of a me¡¯s light. This time, fruit from a nt wasn¡¯t what he was looking for; after walking around all day and getting into battle, he was looking for true, hearty sustenance: meat. Quiet now¡­He thought. Lurking through the forest, he crouched behind bushes at the sound of a small critter rummaging through the leaves. A bunny, of some sort, at least; it had fluffy, bright-red fur with white rings decorating its body, having a single, tiny horn protruding from its head. It was sitting in the middle of a small clearing, munching on what looked to be des of grass. ¡°Hm¡­¡± There were a multitude of ways to go about hunting the unsuspecting bunny, though it was a question of what was more efficient. While he did consider lobbing a fireball at the fluffy critter, that also came with the likely possibility that it would attract unwanted visitors and waste mana with an overkill. I¡¯ll take a page out of your book, Vandread, he decided. While he didn¡¯t have the arsenal of des on him like Vandread did, and not a single expendable projectile at that, he was able to create one above the palm of his hand with stone magic. It was chiseled upon creation; a sharpened stone that resembled a throwing knife. A little reinforcement to strengthen it, and¡­He readied himself. Just as he was preparing to throw the sharpened stone with a wave of his finger, he stopped as he finally saw what it was that the horned bunny was munching on: not grass, but the carcass of a fox. ¡°Huh?¡± While hidden in the bush, the slightest movement made out of surprise caused the foliage to rustle, prompting the carnivorous bunny to spin around, looking straight towards him with blood-red eyes. What the hell is this?! A demon bunny?! He thought. It shrieked at him with its blood-soaked mouth before rushing over with frightening agility. He immediately jumped to his feet, tossing the projectile towards it. With a swift hop, it evaded the projectile, leaping towards him with its buck teeth honed on his neck. ¡°Oh, no you don¡¯t! I am not dying to a killer bunny!¡± Emilio said. Before its teeth could reach his skin, he swiped his hand, sending a burst of wind forward to repel the rabid critter back. As it mmed against a tree, he expected that to be the end of the palm-sized animal, though to his shock and dismay, it fell to the ground only for a moment before bursting back up with even further aggression. Did the Guild Foundation really seal a bunny in here?! He thought. With it racing towards him while squealing out like a high-pitched warcry, he drew his sword, swiping it just in time as it leapt towards his throat again¨Ccutting cleanly through the bunny¡¯s body. ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± He sighed out. There was a certain sense of shame for having to act so cautiously in the face of a creature that would normally be seen as adorable and passive, though he knew the truth of it. Never again, he thought. After sheathing his sword again, he bent down to check the carcass of the hellish bunny, finding it to still be somewhat intact, though its two halves were bound together loosely. ¡°Well¡­beggars can¡¯t be choosers, right?¡± He mumbled to himself. Taking the hunt with him, he ventured back, climbing over fallen logs and through dense foliage to find his way to the cave. It took him a solid minute to actually spot the entrance to the shallow cave in the darkness, having to push through vines before stepping into the entrance and¨C A rock shot right past his head, barely missing as he was left stunned, looking forward at the culprit: the lesser spirit of stone, Gnome. ¡°¡­Really?¡± Emilio said with a raised eyebrow. Melisande looked about ready to st him with wind before realizing it was him, letting out a sigh of relief. Though it didn¡¯t have an expression of its own, it was clear by the dimming of the sphere that the spirit felt guilty, returning to Emilio¡¯s side before vanishing. ¡°What¡¯d you find?¡± Melisande asked, looking at what he was holding. Emilio lifted up his not-so-prideful spoils of the hunt, ¡°Err, well¡­a feisty bunny.¡± ¡°Oh¡­well, I¡¯m notining. I¡¯m starving,¡± Melisande said with a small sigh. ¡°Same here,¡± he replied. Chapter 201 The Savage Stranger Sitting down, he put into practice what he learned from watching Vandread during the length of their journey together¨Cskinning the rabbit and bringing it to a cookable state before conjuring a steady me. Magic truly is convenient, he thought. It brought back memories for him of when his parents would have him help around the house with magic, whether it was warming the bath with fire or washing Julius¡¯ stained clothes with water. To him, it felt like so much time had passed since he was home, but at the same time, it all felt like yesterday to him. I wonder how Julius and Treyna are doing right now? Irene, too. After I get through this trial¡­I should go back and visit, he thought. ¡°Hey, I think you might be cooking it a bit too much!¡± Melisande sharply said. He snapped back into focus, looking down to find a portion of the meat beginning to char from the me he conjured above his palm. Taking the me away, the meat was prepared, or perhaps a tad overprepared. ¡°Ah¨Cerr, I¡¯ll call this piece then,¡± he said. Neither of the two looked particrly excited for their meal; there was no seasoning, salt, or anything to go with it but the bitterness of the bunny itself. Even for such a tiny creature, its meat was rather tough, leaving the two youths to reluctantly eat it with scrunched noses. ¡°¡­I could go for one of Helfaffle¡¯s dishes right now,¡± Emilio said. ¡°Uegh, don¡¯t mention that please¡­I¡¯d kill for one of his dishes,¡± Melisande groaned. After a less-than-satisfying meal, it was time call it a night as Melisandeid down, trying to make herself asfortable as possible despiteying on cold, smooth stone. Though he felt tired himself, Emilio stayed up, sitting by the entrance of the cave as he watched the dark forest, listening to the abnormal rain as it pattered against the leaves. It¡¯s a little too quiet, he thought. There was difficulty in seeing through the night and even more trouble hearing anything beyond the sound of rain droplets. After sitting there for an hour, he finally decided to call it a night for himself. As he got asfortable as he could, still sitting upright, he quietly muttered out ¡°Smander¡±. The fiery lesser spirit manifested, hovering above his palm to hismand. There was a part of him that wanted to finally try summoning one of his soulbound spirits to keep watch, but he still felt it would pose too much of a risk to rely on an ability he didn¡¯t understand yet. ¡°Keep watch for me, okay?¡± He whispered to the lesser spirit. No audible response came, but Smander replied with a few brief blinks, giving him the go-ahead to finally close his eyes for the night. That¡¯s one day down¡­six more to go, he thought. It only took a minute after he closed his eyes for his mind to sink into slumber, findingfort even in the mmy cave. [Day One Result: Twenty of Fifty Recruits Deceased.] ¨C As the morning rose once more, or whatever time it was meant to be within the isted valley, dictated by the colossal crystal, the soft rays of light seeping into the cave caused him to slowly part his eyelids. ¡°¡­Ngh¡­¡± He let out before yawning properly. What immediately met his senses was a smoky smell,ing from extremely close by as he nced around. It seemed his yawn had just woken up Melisande, who sat up, rubbing her eyes tiredly. ¡°Morning,¡± he said. ¡°¡­Mornin¡¯¡­¡± Melisande yawned, ¡°What¡¯s that ¡®burning¡¯ smell?¡­¡± ¡°I was wondering that too,¡± he replied. As he looked outside of the small cave, he found small piles of smoke, approaching them as Melisande quietly followed. ¡°What the?¡­¡± Emilio mumbled. ¡°Are those¡­lizards?¡± Melisande asked. Left charred and smoked in the forest were indeed small reptiles that were turned to a ckened form. ¡°What could¡¯ve done this? I mean, if something burned them, it had to be close to us,¡± Melisande posed. Though the answer became obvious as Emilio looked by his shoulder, finding his eyesying on the guilty-looking lesser spirit he summoned. ¡°Smander¡­¡± He quietly sighed. Still, he could hardly be upset with the fire spirit as it did its job, though perhaps a little too diligently. Melisande poked at the charred lizards with a stick, holding a grossed out, but curious look on her face, ¡°You think these are still edible?¡± ¡°Err, doubt it¡­Smander did a number on them,¡± he answered. Through an odd awakening, the two moved through the forest in search of something to quench their thirst, which led to Emilio following a narrow stream of water in hopes of finding arger source. ¡°Do you know what you¡¯re doing? We¡¯re not just getting lost?¡± Melisande asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s such a thing as getting ¡®lost¡¯¡­I mean, we¡¯re stuck in here,¡± he answered, ¡°but yeah, I think so.¡± ¡°You think?¡± Melisande pressed. ¡°If you¡¯ve got any better ideas, I¡¯m all ears,¡± he breathed out. Stepping over fallen leaves, he found himself exiting the tree line, finding an actual, vast stream flowing through the stoney clearing. ¡°There we go,¡± he said with a smile. ¡°Nice!¡± Melisande said. As the silver-haired girl immediately knelt down to drink from the clear stream, she was pulled away harshly by Emilio. ¡°Hey¨Cwhat was that for?!¡± Melisande looked up at him. There was a ghostly expression on his face as he was caught looking towards the left, prompting the girl to turn her gaze the same direction. Immediately, the girl covered her mouth out of shock at the scene: mutted bodies of recruits were strewn across the rocky clearing around the stream. ¡°What happened?!¡­¡± Melisande let out. Emilio was already standing in front of her, holding his sword out as he scanned the area, looking side-to-side in case the culprit was still nearby. This is bad. There¡¯s no way it¡¯s supposed to be like this, right?¡­How? He questioned. It was a nauseating sight; blood flowed into the stream and disembodied limbs decayed, already imed by the insects of the forest. Who did this?¡­This wasn¡¯t a beast. The wounds¨Cthey¡¯re done by a de, he thought. While he was stunned by the abhorrent sight, he was suddenly ripped from his frozen state as the forest rumbled, originating from the north. What?¡­He questioned. ¡°Emilio¡­we shouldn¡¯t stay here,¡± Melisande told him. The rumbling became clear; something was rushing through the trees, barging through like a savage beast and it wasing straight towards the area he upied. Something¡¯sing, he thought. He began stepping back, ¡°Hide¡­Hide!¡± Yelling this to the girl behind him, they both ran back as there was hardly enough time topletely leave the area, instead ducking into the tall foliage surrounding the deathly zone. It was just as they delved into the obscuring bushes did the figure that stampeded through the trees reveal itself¨Ca man. Though it could barely qualify as a man or human; the being was monstrously tall with unnaturally long limbs with arms that hung down to his knees and stringy, unwashed hair that cascaded down his face. Who is that?¡­That¡¯s definitely not a recruit. Is he the one who did this? He thought. There was something unsettling about the massive neanderthal-like man, who walked forward while sniffing the air, stomping over to the corpses left in the clearing. ¡°¡­No¡­¡± Melisande quietly said in disgust, knowing what was about to happen. All Emilio could do was cover the girl¡¯s mouth, not risking being seen by the imposing figure. As predicted, the caveman-esque being reached down, picking up one of the legs of the fallen recruits before¨Ccrunch. ¡°Agh!¡± The sight of it mixed with the abhorrent noise that followed caused Melisande to involuntarily react. Even the brief, suppressed noise was caught by the cannibalistic man, who immediately looked up towards their direction. Without hesitation, Emilio took the initiative, stepping out from the bush with his staff held forward, unleashing a volley of sword-shaped projectiles of fire. ¡­I didn¡¯t want to go this route, but I don¡¯t have a choice now! He thought. It seemed his quick action paid off as the being hardly reacted to the sudden attack, standing there as the mes crashed into its body. ¡°You got him!¡± Melisande said in surprise. ¡°¡­I did, but¡­¡± Emilio quietly said. I don¡¯t have a good feeling about this, he thought. As the smoke cleared, the man-eating giant was still standing there without a scratch left on his body. It was a dismaying sight to both of them, reminding the young man of the magic-immune figure he encountered in the Unending Nightmare¡¯s depths. Still, this felt distinctly different to him; the magic did take effect, yet it yielded no results. There was a simple conclusion toe to from this: the enemy before him was monstrously tough, as simple as that. ¡°Melisande,¡± he whispered, keeping his eyes forward as he drew his sword, ¡°Run.¡± ¡°But¨C¡± ¡°Just run! Trust me¨CI¡¯ll be right behind you!¡± Emilio yelled. There was an established understanding between the two: if Melisande was to undergo the trial, then she had to trust him when it came to life-threatening encounters. Hesitantly, Melisande nodded before running in the other direction, which instantly caused the beast-like man to burst forward in reaction. ¡°No you don¡¯t¨C!¡± Emilio called. Intercepting the figure, he bolstered himself with reinforcement, swinging his steel forward as the man-eating goliath evaded with a quick flip backward. He¡¯s agile! He thought. Chapter 202 An Unstoppable Force ¡°Rrrgh!¡± The savage man growled. Even without a sword of his own, the barbaric figure lunged forward, swiping with his hands as he utilized his sharpened nails like des. Emilio used his sword to block, deflecting the attacks, though the raw strength behind the being¡¯s swipes were monstrous as well. At the very least, he found that there was at least some inclination for the savage man to evade his strikes. He¡¯s notpletely immune then. I can hurt him! He thought. Though the figure was quick and aggressive, Emilio found himself at an advantage in skill and finesse, gaining a sense of how the beastly figure was attacking through his predictable swipes and ms of his knuckles. ¨CThere! He thought, finding an opening. Using his sword to cut into the figure¡¯s forearm, he halted the wild haymaker as he reared his own fist back, focusing and amplifying the draconic force within before letting it explode forth through his knuckles, mming his fist straight into the chiseled twelve-pack of the beast-man. He knew there was no reason to use anything but lethal force, unleashing everything he had into the Dragon Strike as the forest-dwelling human gasped out before being sted back. ¡°¡­You¡¯re kidding me¡­¡± Emilio said in tired disbelief. The st that should¡¯ve thrown the man across the clearing only slid him back a good few meters, leaving a steaming bruise on his abdomen, but nothing beyond that. Showing his sharpened teeth, the long-limbed savage almost seemed to mock him through a gravellyugh. That would¡¯ve annihted the insides of a normal person. Is this guy made out of steel? He thought. SQUELCH. In the midst of his thoughts, before he could react, the figure dashed by like a blur, taking him by surprise as a warmth flooded through his side. ¡°¨CNgh?¡± As he looked down, an entire chunk was taken from his side, exposing his ribcage as he nced back in horror, seeing the savage man holding his flesh in his hand. ¡­Alright, that settles it. He has to die, he thought. The ck threads of his undying blood mended his wound, though it didn¡¯t stifle the pain as he turned to face the cannibalistic fiend. When watching the anomalous figure sniff the air, likely in search of Melisande, with his fingers dripping with blood, a certain sense of anger came over Emilio; pride wounded by the injuries healed and contempt for the monstrous force. This manifested itself in the form of a fireball he manifested not with his staff, but with his hand, holding it towards the beastly man. Melisande went in the opposite direction so¡­this should be fine, he thought. Swirling oxygen manifested through wind magic, he fed it directly to the orange me, causing it to flow and ripple with heat waves as its color shifted from yellow, green, blue, then finally to a gleaming purple. ¡°Raagh¨C?¡± The savage man looked confused by the rise in temperature. The stream itself began to steam, evaporating from the presence of such heat before Emilio clenched his palm with a look of bloodlust in his eyes, unleashing the ungodly me forward in all of its destructive might. Roaring out, it ravaged the clearing, sweeping through it and engulfing the unnatural man in its heat, unimpeded in its wrath as it dug through the forest itself. ¨C Above the Valley of Parmesus, the proctors of the trial spectated from an unseen observation room. ¡°That boy¨Cthe young Dragonheart, was it? He wields a fantastic reservoir of mana,¡± a gray-bearded higher-up of the Foundation spoke, witnessing the purple mes ravage the section of the forest below, ¡°I wonder if Fleisch has found his match.¡± ¡°I doubt it. That man is one of the ¡®Three Devils¡¯ for a reason: he possesses a nearly unbreakable body,¡± another man responded, ¡°Especially when ites to magic¨Cit will not destroy that devilish physiology of his.¡± ¨C After allowing the howling mes to desecrate the trees, leaving them charred and devoid of life, ripping up and melting the grass in the path of the wave of heat, Emilio closed the spell, breathing out as he looked towards the wake of destruction ahead. It was a unique creation of his own, using his knowledge from the modern world to manipte heat; a spell he used as ast resort as its capacity of annihtion was uncontroble, though he found his stomach dropping at the sight in front of him. In the smoke, the silhouette of the abnormallyrge, muscr man of savagery stood, revealed to be only partially burnt, perhaps only superficially. ¡°¡­No way,¡± he mumbled. Fleisch stood there, unscratched and breathing out smoke with his canines on disy and his muscles bulging as if flexing; the otherworldly muscrity of the figure coiled, preparing tounch a counterattack. It was a rare thought, but this time, Emilio found himself relying on a different strategy: I¡¯ve got to get out of here! He thought. Bolting in the other direction, he used reinforcement to increase his agility to create space between himself and the figure. He jumped over a fallen log, sprinting into the tree line as he delved into the depths of the mystical forest. Though he carried himself further, guided and unimpeded by wind, he nced back to see the monstrous figure giving chase to him, gaining on him despite him using everything at his disposal to increase his speed. ¡°Ghh¨C!¡± He let out. Knowing he was inevitably going to be caught, he used one of the branches to swiftly flip around, subverting the brute that bouldered past him without any elegance. After swinging around, he used the momentum to flip through the air,nding on a higher branch just as the savage man turned around, sniffing him out. ¡°Right here!¡± As he yelled out, he summoned massive fist-shaped formations of reinforced rock around him, sending them towards the massive figure. Possessing an enormous size, the stone hands swept through the forest grounds, surrounding the confused, beastly man who was on-guard. Emilio guided the fists with his staff, causing one of them to m into the man¡¯s side, knocking him against the tree before immediately grasping him in therge grip of another stone limb. If I can restrain him¡­I should be able to get out of here and regroup with her! He thought. With that n in mind, he used the golem-like fist to carry the savage man back, restraining his movements by keeping his arms held in the stone grip of the limb before mming the man against a boulder. He could feel it through the stone he created: the savage berserker was resisting with strength that began cracking the strengthened rock even through simple struggling. I¡¯ve got to bind him¨Cnow! He thought. Chapter 203 The Prospects of The Trial While the beastly foe was held in the grip of the stone hand, he used the other conjured appendage to double-up the hold before taking in a breath, having to focus further as he turned the soil around the figure into mud. Ensnaring the man-eating savage¡¯s feet in the quicksand-like mud, he then manipted the natural biome around to summon sturdy vines, wrapping them around the gripped figure for further safety. Using multiple spells and shifting elements required a level of concentration that was difficult to maintain in a stressful situation, causing a momentarypse in his strengthening in the stone. It was that single break in concentration that allowed the berserker to flex through the stone fingers, shattering them before roaring out. ¡°Raaaagh¨C!¡± The man¡¯s yell echoed through the forest. Shit! He thought. In the span of a second, the enraged savage was already charging towards him, stomping through the forest as it rumbled, quaking beneath his powerful steps as the tree branch the young mage stood on wobbled. Just what is this guy?! He wondered. Losing his footing, he tripped backward, waving his arms around as he found himself plummeting straight into the path of the human tank charging forward with saliva trailing behind him. Not good! He thought. ¡°Halt, heinous beast!¡± ¨CFrom seemingly nowhere, a boisterous, masculine voice echoed out as Emilio found a figure intercepting the savage man. It was arge man himself, d in heavy-duty silver armor, holding a thick shield in front of him that reflected the berserker¡¯s charge. Emilio flipped around, catching himself on his feet as he looked forward in confusion at his unknown savior. Another recruit? Emilio wondered. ¡°Worry not, friend! I am here!¡± The boisterous man in armor called. Before the berserker could retaliate, the armored recruit stomped forward with force that whipped up the lying leaves, causing the shield he held in front of him to momentarily burst with an emerald glow from the jewel embedded in its center. The result was knocking the savage man back, allowing Emilio to join up with the shield-holding stranger. Surprisingly, despite the difference in stature between the two, he found the armord stranger to be in a simr age range as him by his youthful glow and expression with energetic, sky-blue eyes and a smile that was missing a tooth. ¡°Err, thanks,¡± Emilio looked up at the figure, ¡°That big guy there is tough¨Cnothing seems to hurt him.¡± There were clear chinks in the burly shielder¡¯s armor, covered inelegantly by leather straps or rags, though it seemed he polished it daily as the silver reflected the amber light above. ¡°Is that so? Well, I happen to be pretty sturdy myself! That is my fate bestowed to me by my name itself¨C¡¯Everett Shieldholder¡¯!¡± The ginger-haired, helm-wearing youth proimed. A little on the nose there, no?¡­Emilio thought. There was hardly time to do so, but he felt it appropriate to give his name, if for no other reason than an easy way for the two tomunicate, ¡°I¡¯m Emilio!¡± ¡°Alright, Emilio! Let¡¯s win to live another day!¡± Everett energetically proimed, rushing forward. It was confusing to encounter somebody so standup and righteous in the valley of death; as jaded as Emilio was, he found himself d to have some assistance against the seemingly unstoppable force of savagery. ¡°Raaagh-!¡± ¡°Aaagh-!¡± The savage man and the armord shielder shed, with their collision resounding through the dense forest. It was the beastly foe that mmed his palms against the shield, as if unfamiliar with the weapon itself as he wed at it and gripped, trying to get to the person behind it. ¡°Now, Emilio!¡± Everett called out. Already on it, Emilio summoned a massive force of intertwined vines, wrapping it around the berserker¡¯s ankles and hoisting him into the air. ¡°Ngh!¡± Emilio gritted his teeth, guiding the veins. The limb of verdant nature that sprouted from the soil swung around, mming the berserker through trees and against the ground as he was helpless to the inertia. ¡°Is it working?!¡± Everett watched. Though even after being sent through wood and stone alike, the berserker was uninjured, finally managing to reach around and use his monstrous grip strength to peel the vines from his legs, leaping free. ¡°¨C!¡± As the massive, cannibalistic man neared the young mage, the shielder intercepted once more, using his wall-like blockade to m it straight against the savage¡¯s nose. Circling around while Everett held him at bay, Emilio sent cuts of wind towards the bristly-haired berserker, though it proved to, once again, be a futile gesture as the skin of the brute was unlike anything he¡¯d seen. ¡°Look out!¡± Just as Everett called out, Emilio found himself having to flip to the side as the beastly human rushed him. The course of the savage led him to crash straight into a tree, bashing against its trunk with his burly shoulder, snapping it in half easily. d I didn¡¯t get hit by that, Emilio thought. ¡°Hooorah!¡± Leaping in with unsuspecting flexibility, Everettnded, using his shield as a bludgeoning weapon as he smacked it against the berserker¡¯s head. The impact echoed, though the beastly foe was unfazed as he knocked the shielder back with a wield kick. ¡°Hey¨Ccrap!¡± Emilio yelled. ¡­Well, if I can¡¯t hurt him, it¡¯s time to get risky! He decided. As he was the prime target in the eyes of the animalistic man-eater, he quickly cast his desired magecraft as moisture conjured in the air, swiftly forming into a sphere that entrapped the savage man. Caught within it, the berserker iled his limbs around, making it difficult for Emilio to hold its stable form as he held his palm directly against it. ¡°Alright¡­let¡¯s hope this works,¡± he mumbled. Closing his eyes, he concentrated fully, keeping his hand pressed against the exterior of the water prison as he felt its temperature begin to drop slowly. What was slow then became rapid as before he knew it, what he touched wasn¡¯t liquid, but a frosted solid. As he opened his eyes again, he found himself relieved, ¡°¨CYes!¡± Everett coughed out, picking himself up as he witnessed the result of the young mage¡¯s solution, ¡°You¡­froze him solid?! Nice thinking!¡± Shocked it worked, Emilio looked at the savage encased in ice for a moment, feeling as though it wasn¡¯t a permanent solution, but only a bandaid fix. ¡°¡­Yeah, well, I don¡¯t know about you, but I don¡¯t like the idea of sticking around here,¡± he said. Everett seemed to share the same idea, ¡°Yeah, even frozen, that goliath is giving me chills.¡± Before moving away, Emilio opted to double-down on keeping the impervious berserker sealed, creating a hole in the ground that perfectly buried the cube of solid ice within it. ¡°Not taking any chances, are ya?¡± Everett asked, watching. Emilio shook his head, brushing his hands, ¡°Against something like that guy? Not in a million years.¡± After the man-eating savage was buried adequately, a simultaneous sigh of relief left both of the recruits¡¯ lips before they faced each other. Though there was a part of him that was cautious, Emilio put that aside as the youthful smile of the armord shielder put his suspicions at ease. Holding a relieved smile, he extended his hand to Everett. ¡°Thanks for the help¨Cyou saved me,¡± Emilio said with gratitude coating his expression. Everettughed bashfully, taking his gauntlet off before epting his hand, ¡°Don¡¯t mention it! That¡¯s why we¡¯re here to be adventurers, aren¡¯t we? We¡¯ve got to look out for each other, and help out when we can. That¡¯s what it¡¯s all about!¡± ¡°Yeah¡­you¡¯re right,¡± Emilio agreed. It was rare to find somebody so open and friendly, though he felt lucky to encounter somebody like Everett rather than a lurking evil like Amon. ¡°So, I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re not part of a group?¡± Emilio asked. ¡°Nope! I was hand fishin¡¯ down by the river until I heard some rumbling in the trees¨Cthen I found ya¡¯ being chased by that goliath,¡± Everett told him. ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°What about you?¡± Everett asked. That question brought to the forefront of his mind what he was worried about in the moment as he nced around. Melisande, he thought. ¡°Actually, I am with somebody, but we got separated when that guy attacked,¡± Emilio told him. ¡°Oh, need some help then?¡± Everett offered with a smile. ¡°¡­Really? I mean, you don¡¯t have to,¡± he was surprised by the generous offer. Everettughed, sliding his gauntlet back on as he strapped his shield to his back, ¡°Of course! To tell you the truth, I¡¯ve got nothing better to do. It¡¯s quite dull waiting around in the forest, after all.¡± ¡°True enough,¡± Emilio sighed with a smile, ¡°Then, let¡¯s get going.¡± ¡°Lead the way!¡± Everett jovially said. Heading into the depths of the forest, Emilio led the search as he tried to recall the direction the silver-haired girl went off to. ¨C [¡°The Charred Lands¡± | The Valley of Parmesus] In the shut-off region of wilnds, a stretch of the valley was burned; ckened by mes, it was a ce no other beasts dared to step foot on, as one, mighty entity ruled the territory. [¡°Among the world-ss applicants, there tend to be exceptional recruits. However, exceptions of the exception exist.¡±] Sprouting from a colossal cave was the very ruler of the charrednd: an onyx-skinned hydra, roaring out with a cry that shook the valley. It awakened the moment the fool who dared step into its borders arrived. Nheless, the recruit held a look devoid of worry. [¡°Of all the recruits, there is one man who stands above the rest. Coming all the way from the continent of demons, he possesses the potential to be a void rank.¡±] Stopping as the massive hydra stomped through the charred valley, the man, wearing a ck t-shirt and matching pants, slowly unsheathed the dark-handled ymore from his back. [¡°His name is Asher Devilheart.¡±] The unsheathing of the de gave way to a mountain of nebulous energy, oozing off of the man¡¯s position in such volume that even the tyrannical goliath halted. [Devilheart System Awakened.] [Current Stage: 3/10 | Hell Walker] It was a perfectly controlled transformation; the young man condensed it, allowing his arms to be d in organic gauntlets of a ck, hellish hide with horns sprouting from his forehead. The heads of the ckfire hydra roared out, swaying high like trees in a storm as their cries shook the charred valley. ¡°Come on.¡± With the challenge quietly issued, the onyx hydra called out before breathing out ck mes that swept through the burnt section of the valley, moving towards the enigmatic man. Before any mes could graze his body, Asher vanished, moving fast enough topletely subvert the beams of ck fire, rushing forward with his de in hand. The heat was enough to peel the stone ground, causing it to bubble up and melt further yet the Devilheart moved unimpeded by this temperature. [¡°In every sense, the ck hydra that ruled the charrednds was a disastrous force in itself; a roaming natural disaster that rivaled dragons in their might. An S-rank monster that leveled multiple viges, reducing thousands of people to ash. Many adventurers failed to put it down, resulting in it ultimately being transported into the Valley of Parmesus by the ¡®Porters¡¯.¡±] Despite its renown as a terrifying creature, in all but a minute, the dark-d recruit reached it, shing his de with an etching of darkness that beheaded all six heads of the beast. [¡°It was a promation. Asher Devilheart was well aware that through his own capabilities, he¡¯d no doubt secure a high rank after the trial. Nheless, he chose the most troublesome creature right at the beginning and dispatched it. I suppose we should just count ourselves lucky he¡¯s on the side of humanity.¡±] Chapter 204 Sword and Shield To the surprise of both Emilio and Everett, thendscape of the mystical forest shifted as they reached a new sector: the green-leaves trees were now holding bright-red leaves like a fiery autumn, creating an atmosphere of a scarlet hue. ¡°Woah¡­¡± Everett remarked. ¡°This ce just gets weirder and weirder¡­¡± Emilio mumbled. There was a sweet smell that filled the air, crossing between a natural nectar and a strong aroma resembling syrup. ¡°Are you sure this is the right way?¡± Everett asked, momentarily taking his helmet off to scratch his shaggy hair. ¡°Pretty sure,¡± Emilio responded. It wasn¡¯t just the overwhelming existence of the red leaves that clung to each tree, acting as a ceiling above them and the matching grass, but the perplexing geological structure of thend; it continuously caved in to provide steep, shallow ravines and provided steep hills. All in all, the crimson biome was simply a strange ce. Nheless, the two moved into it in search of Melisande. ¡°Melisande!¡± Emilio called out, cupping his hands around his mouth. ¡°Melisande¨C!¡± Everett helped. Though the young mage didn¡¯t know how helpful it¡¯d be to have an unfamiliar voice chip in to call out, even if Everett had more ¡®boom¡¯ to his voice. As the two descended a steep hill that went down into a section of tall, bright-red grass that stood as high as Emilio, the young mage stopped as a sudden yelp escaped from his newfoundpanion¡¯s lips: ¡°Aaaagh-!¡± Emilio instantly spun around, turning to witness the armord shielder be hoisted straight into the air by the grip of crimson vines that wrapped around his shin. ¡°It seems¡­I require a bit of assistance!¡± Everett shouted, being hung upside down by the sentient nt life. ¡°What the¨Chold on!¡± Emilio assured him. Raising his wooden staff, he closed one eye as he aimed it upward, trying to focus as the thick bundle of violent vines swayed around far too much. ¡°Aaagh¨C! Please hurry, friend!¡± Everett called out. The youthful shielder was being swung around in the air in a disorientating fashion before the vine whipped around, aiming to m the figure into one of the sturdy trees. ¡°¨CGive me a second, and¡­gotcha!¡± Emilio called. Finally finding his opportunity, he unleashed a precise cut of wind that traveled upward swiftly, bisecting the vines and freeing Everett from their hold, buting with its own price as the armord young man began falling downward. ¡°Ahhhhhh¨C! Oh¡­¡± Before Everett could face-nt into the ground, he was stopped gently by a bed of wind that caught up. ¡°Nice catch¨C¡± Just as the cheery shielderplimented the young mage, the wind was relinquished, causing Everett to gently face-nt the grass. ¡°Urgh¡­¡± Everett released a muffled groan. Emilio didn¡¯t bat an eye as his focus was forward, witnessing the bundle of violent vines reform itself, shaping into a humanoid form made of intertwined vines and d in leaves. ¡°Get up! We¡¯re not home-free yet,¡± Emilio said. Without a singleint, the recruit, suited up in heavy armor that was likely half his weight, promptly got up to his feet, holding his trusty shield on his arm like a sleeve. ¡°This ce is really full of neat stuff, isn¡¯t it?!¡± Everett excitedly remarked. In that moment, Emilio felt if the shielder had a tail, it¡¯d be wagging as he had the same vigor as an energetic dog. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know if neat is the word I¡¯d use to describe this¨Cmore like ¡®creepy¡¯,¡± Emilio replied. Though their conversation was interrupted as the figure made of nt life extended its arm forward as a bundle of wriggling vines. This time, however, Emilio found himselfing to a jarring stop as he bolted to the side, looking down to find his left leg bound in the sturdy, crimson vines of the sentient nt. ¡°Oh, crap,¡± he mumbled in an exhale. Before he could say anything further, he felt his stomach flip inside of his body as he was flung upward into the air, spinning around in a nauseating fashion. ¡°Aaah-!¡± The catalyst he held in his hands fell from his grip in the brutal drag into the air, reaching towards it only for his fingertips to graze it before he found himself flung by a flick of the violent nt¡¯s arm below, being sent into the trees. ¡°Ghh-!¡± He winced. As he prepared to catch himself with a bed of wind at his back, he was surprised to find himself caught in the arms of something else, turning around to find the jovial smile of Everett greeting him. ¡°I gotcha,¡± Everett told him with a thumbs-up. Emilio immediately jumped out of the burly recruit¡¯s arms, ¡°Focus!¡± ¡°Right!¡± Racing through the trees, the crimson lifeform swung through the cedar, using its vine limbs to swiftly fling towards the two. ¡°Get back,¡± Emilio warned, ¡°I¡¯m going to torch it.¡± ¡°Oh! Alright, gettem!¡± Everett supported him, hiding behind the much smaller mage. As the bundle of vines and leavesunched towards them, whipping its arm around in a violent crack of wind, Emilio countered by unleashing a bright-orange fireball that soared between the trees. The sudden burst of heat caused the leaves clinging to the trees to brush aside before the fireball crashed against the ntlife¡¯s body, swallowing it in an explosion of mes. ¡°Are ya¡¯ trying to bring the whole forest down?!¡± Everett called. ¡°Would anybodyin if this ce was wiped off the map?¡± Emilio huffed. After an undeniable direct hit with the element that existed as the bane of nts, the two looked forward in certainty that the creature was dealt with, only to find the mes siphoned, condensing into the form of the crimson, humanoid nt. It¡¯s absorbing the mes?¡­Emilio thought. ¡°Hey! I¡¯m no farmer, but don¡¯t nts totally die from fire?!¡± Everett asked. ¡°You¡¯re right, but it seems like we¡¯re not dealing with normal nts¡­look around,¡± Emilio pointed out. As the shielder nced around, he figured out what the young mage was pointing to: despite the existence of mes, none of the trees nor foliage were burned in the slightest. ¡°Woah¡­¡± Everett let out. ¡°I think this crimson forest operates how it looks: fire is sustenance for the nts here,¡± Emilio exined, ¡°¨Cand that means¡­!¡± Pointing that out, the young mage came to a realization as he watched chaotic heat building up within the violent ntlife with smoke billowing from the gaps in its humanoid shape. ¡°Behind me!¡± Everett called seriously. Without wasting a moment, Emilio rolled behind hispanion, ducking behind therge shield that protected them both just as a massive release of condensed mes shot out from the nt¡¯s body. The impact of the retaliated mes against the sturdy shield resulted in a roar of heat, propelling outward and brushing through the treeline. ¡°Magic is great and all, but sometimes, good ol¡¯ steel beats all!¡± Everett said with a smile, nting the shield down as the mes roared against it. ¡°Yeah, well, this isn¡¯t really the time!¡± Emilio shouted in response. Heat built up quickly as it flowed against the thick shield nted against the soil by Everett, who buckled down in order to keep himself from sliding back. ¡°How much fire does it have stored in there?!¡± Everett yelled. ¡°My bad! I might have overfed it!¡± Emilio replied. Feeling as though this was a battle of attrition that would only wear the shielder down, Emilio took things into his own hands while the nt-menace was focused on channeling the fiery wrath against the shield. Alright¡­I¡¯ve got an idea! He thought. Using wind beneath his boots tounch upward, he soared past the trees, using bands of water like vines to swing from tree-to-tree, taking a page out of the nt¡¯s notebook as he felt like a certain arachnidic book hero he recalled from Earth. He used the ropes of water,tching onto each tree as he wrapped around to the fire-absorbing vegetation¡¯s nk. If it gains sustenance from fire, I¡¯m willing to bet going by the dryness of this red forest¡­Water is the bane of these nts, he thought. As he arrived at the me-shooting nt¡¯s nk, he stood on air before pointing his staff forward, just then gaining the figure¡¯s attention as it began to bubble-up another channel of fire towards the young mage. ¡°Try feeding on this!¡± He shouted. A massive coalescence of water condensed to the end of his catalyst, rippling as the azure aqua shot forward with extreme pressure, mming against the nt in a beam of highly-pressurized water. As the crimson nt-humanoid was mmed to the ground,pletely drowned in water, the immediate area of the bright-red, dense forest of a mystical autumn was drenched as well. ¡°¡­Woah, look at that¡­¡± Everett said, looking past his shield. The crimson nts began wilting in the presence of water, losing their glow as the red grass itself decayed. As the beam of water fizzled out, Emilionded on the ground, looking towards the sentient nt life that was now shriveled up, shrinking down as it decayed from being engulfed in high doses of water. ¡°Looks like I was right,¡± Emilio mumbled. Everett slung his arm around the young man¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Nice one, again! You¡¯re amazing! Seriously¨CI¡¯ve never met a smart guy like you before! Not many mages in my hometown.¡± Taken aback by the close camaraderie, Emilio bashfully scratched his cheek, ¡°¡­It¡¯s nothing. I just got lucky. Anyway, we¡¯re not done yet.¡± ¡°Oh, right¡­Your friend is still out here. Hmm¡­¡± Everett got serious, looking around. Chapter 205 Through The Vines Melisande found herself wandering in the crimson section of the Valley of Parmesus, carefully walking past tall nts that breathed embers. ¡°Uegh¡­Where did I end up?¡± She mumbled to herself. It was embarrassing for the silver-haired girl to admit to herself, but her feet carried her far out of fear. Once she began running, taking in the serious words of Emilio, the fear of the savage man caused her to sprint away without remembering a single step of the path she took. Due to this, she now found herself in the bright-red forest within the valley, a stunning contrast to the verdant section she was just in. I hope you¡¯re alright, Emilio¡­She thought. Though she found herself thinking that her worries might be better saved for herself as she looked around nervously at the scarlet and crimson nts that upied the dry forest, watching as embers lightly spewed from their cores. What¡¯s this ce?¡­It¡¯s so dry¨Cmy lips feel all dry, too, she thought. As she felt her lips, they were definitely chapped from theck of moisture in the air, leaving her feeling dehydrated by its suffocating atmosphere. The first thing that came to her mind was that she needed to find her way out of the red-hot forest, but that was a tall task in itself as she stopped and spun around, finding herselfpletely devoid of direction. ¡°Urgh¡­What do I do now?¡­¡± She mumbled. Adjusting her skirt, she sat down for a moment to get her bearings, trying to see if any part of the tree line or its various directions seemed familiar to her. A sigh left her lips as she dropped her head. Nope¡­none of it looks right. I¡¯m totally lost, she thought. Just as she was holding her own cheeks in her hands, the sound of something rustling through the foliage caused her to look up. ¡°¨C?¡± ncing around, she didn¡¯t see anything in front of her, though as a sharp ¡®hissss¡¯ emitted from a source behind her, she jumped up, spinning around in a fight to face the stealthy critter. Though ¡®critter¡¯ could hardly be used to describe the creature. To Melisande, that term felt more appropriate for small animals¨Cusually cute, tiny bunnies or mischievous foxes. Definitely not for a massive, red-scaled, ck striped snake that towered over her, hissing out with a malignant look in its beady eyes. ¡°Eep¨C¡± Its body was as thick as the trees it slithered past, coiling its tail around one of the trunks as it stretched itself forward, inching closer to the silver-haired meal that reflected off of its predatory eyes. A snake? I totally, seriously, really do not like snakes¨Cat all! She thought. Watching its body contract and expand as it tugged itself along the crimson grass, pulsating with its scales gleaming off the natural light of the red forest, she felt her skin crawling over with a sickening sensation as she backed up. It wasrger than any snake she¡¯d seen, though that wasn¡¯t much of a point ofparison as Larundog only saw tiny garden snakes at the worst of timespared to that, what she faced was a world serpent in itself. At least, that¡¯s what it felt like to the girl who had a certain fear of the slippery reptiles. ¡­I wish Emilio was here right now¨Cshe thought. Backing up as the red-scaled snake inched closer, hissing and swaying its head, the thought that crossed her mind in the frightened moment stood out to her. Wait¡­what am I thinking? I¡¯m not some helpless little girl anymore¨Cat least¡­that¡¯s not who I want to be, she thought, I get it¡­I¡¯m not nearly as talented as Emilio; he could handle a snake like this in a second. But, I want to be there right by his side when journeying this world¨CI don¡¯t want to be stuck cowering behind him. As these thoughts flooded to the forefront of her mind, as she took another step back, she found her back bumping against the trunk of a tree, solidly obscuring her path of retreat from the ominous reptile. With nowhere to run, the emerald-eyed girl breathed in to steady her racing heart, holding her hand forward as the massive snake bared its lethal fangs to her. I¡¯m not going to rely on anybody else¨Cif I want to be an adventurer like my brother, I have to be strong! A totally tiny, not huge, not freaky snake like this is nothing! She thought. ¡°From calm winds to storms of terror, Sylph, pierce forward through the sky! Wind Bore!¡± Melisande invoked. Even with such resolve manifested, as she manipted the wind in front of her hand, spinning it and shooting it forward towards the crimson-scaled snake, it proved to be nastily swift as it swayed to the side, avoiding the prating wind. ¡°Wh-what?!¡± The unnerving evasion of her attack took the newbie mage by surprise, but having her spell miss was the least of her worries as the serpentine lunged towards her. ¡°Gh-!¡± Jumping to the side, she used the fundamentals that Emilio had guided her through during their trip together, using her momentum to roll, though she was far from elegant in her execution as she fought for her bnce. Still, she managed to evade the fangs of the red-scaled snake as it instead ended up biting into the tree, which presented a new horror in itself: its fangs dug deep into the bark, crushing it and taking out a chunk of the pir of nature. I would¡¯ve been dead if it caught me¡­! She thought. The frightening disy of jaw strength shook her to her core as she watched the snake pull away, taking arge portion of the tree¡¯s flesh with it before it faced her, slithering closer. Acidic venom dripped from its fangs, falling to the grass and melting through it, sizzling as it bored even into the soil below. She found herself backing away once more, instantlying to a stop and standing her ground as she realized, once again, she betrayed her own resolve. ¡°No!¡± At her core, there was pride that burned in her stomach; a passion to prove herself and a drive to follow the path she set herself on. Melisande was not a child that needed nurturing; in her emerald eyes gleamed the same bravery that shone in Joel¡¯s own. Faced with a lethal enemy before her, that pride awakened as the silver-haired girl forced a smile across her lips, emting those she looked up to. It was through this burning desire and a clear-cut will in her mind not to defend herself from pain, but to decimate her enemy, she held her hand forward¨C ¡°Wind st!¡± A massive release of wind propelled outward from her outstretched hand, conjuring a momentary condensement of a storm¡¯s breath as it swept through the clearing in front of her, digging up patches of coil, uprooting trees, and mming into the serpent. The simple spell was honed to perfection, amplified by her naturally rich mana to create an aspect of magic in which even an experienced mage would find themselves surpassed in. What usually manifested as a concussion force of wind that pushed things back harshly also birthed a visceral nature as it sliced up the crimson-scaled serpentine, causing the reptile to hiss out in pain as its purple blood spilled on the soil below. ¡°¡­I did it¡­¡± Melisande muttered in surprise, catching her breath. Still holding her hand in front of her out of disbelief of what just urred, she looked towards the aftermath of the emotion-driven spell; the immediate area waspletely disheveled as branches were torn from trees and lines of dirt carved out from the ground. I didn¡¯t use an incantation¡­It¡¯s like Emilio said¡­I perfectly envisioned it¨CI felt the wind at my fingertips and every part of me willed it, she thought. There was a dull pain aching through the arm used to manifest the spell, but overall, the adrenaline of victory flooding through her body mitigated any pain as a triumphant smile stretched across her lips. ¡°I can do this!¡± It was a small victory in the grand scope of things, but for Melisande, it was tangible proof that she belonged on the path she walked. Still, after seeping in the joys of a win, she found herself still faced with the same problem: I¡¯m totally lost, she thought. ¨C Trudging through the dry, hot forest of fire, Emilio could hear heavy breathing from the armord man behind him. As he nced back, he could see Everett was sweating bullets and breathing like a dog with his mouth open and tongue out. ¡°¡­Do you want to take a break?¡± Emilio asked. Everett breathed heavily, catching his breath before responding, ¡°No¡­I¡¯m¡­good¡­¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± The man,pletely enveloped in heavy armor which likely multiplied the strain of the high-temperature area, plopped down on his back, breathing out, ¡°¡­Just a minute or two.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I thought,¡± Emilio sighed before sitting down against a tree. Though the shield-wielding,rge-build recruit imed to only need to rest for a couple minutes, as Emilio watched the tree line for any nefarious critters or ill-willed people, snoring met his ears. As he looked back, there Everett was with his mouth wide open, snoring like a bear while nestling against the crimson grass as if it were a proper, cushioned bed. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me¡­¡± He breathed out, shaking his head. Chapter 206 Frantic Shielder There was only so much ¡®sunlight¡¯ avable, and he wished to make proper use of it so as not to go the night being separated from Melisande. This seemed to be a far-off desire as hispanion was clearly in a deep, unimpeded slumber. ¡­I¡¯d be making a serious mistake if I left her alone for any longer than I have to in this ce, he thought. Though there was a part of him that felt that his thought process was wed, perhaps not wrong from a pragmatic standpoint, but he remembered the times in which the girl had to reassure him of her own capabilities, time and time again. Many times he found himself being reprimanded by Melisande for looming over her with his protective nature too often and in the process, wounding her independence and self-worth. As he sat there, listening to the snores of his newfound friend, he fiddled with the dragon-designed ne he was gifted by Irene. Should I be worrying about her? If she ns on bing a world-ss adventurer¡­this is something she has to ovee, he thought, if I stand in front of her too much¡­I¡¯ll be doing more harm than good. He was conflicted on how he should act, but in his current situation, he decided to wait things out while Everett rested. As his stomach lightly rumbled, he found a necessity to find food, and that it would likely be needed anyway for whenever the bear-like man woke up from his loud slumber. Alright¡­Well, I can¡¯t just leave him out like this, he thought. Looking at Everett, who waspletely defenseless, snuggling up against the grass, Emilio took a measure to protect him in his brief absence, creating a small dome of stone to act as a cover for the sleeping recruit. That should work, he thought. As he ventured into the crimson forest, he scanned his surroundings for anything that looked edible. The definition of ¡®edible¡¯ had to be changed as he looked around, finding berries that oozed spicy-smelling juices and spiked berries that were attached to mean-looking shrubs. It was anything but a peaceful cut of nature, seeming more like a garden straight out of theher. ¡­I do not trust anything growing on these nts, he shuttered. What was truly getting to him was the severe dryness, finding his lips bing dry and the moisture in his mouth bing non-existent, though he knew finding a source of water would be far-fetched. Instead, he put his magic to use, tilting his head back and holding his hand above his opened mouth before conjuring a stream of fresh water straight into his mouth. At times like this, magic is seriously the best, he thought, gulping it down. Still, after hydrating himself, the temperature still got to him as he rolled up his sleeves and loosened his cor. As he hunted for some sort of caloric sustenance, he finally found a critter lurking the forest ground, prompting him to duck behind a tree before it spotted him. It was the size of arge dog with a broad girth and long, ck fur that had a patch of bright-red colored fur running down its back. While it was somewhat cute in appearance at first, he changed his mind on this perception once noticing its vicious ws, which it was using to dig up soil as if hunting prey itself. Though as he stared at it, he realized what it seemed to be rted to from his earthly knowledge: A honey badger? He thought. It was a lotrger than the ones he saw online in his previous life, built with clear muscle. Still, he was hardly fearful of it when he had magic and a sword at his side. ¡­Quick and easy, quick and easy, he thought to himself. As he pointed a finger towards the red-striped badger, he concentrated to create a small, condensed spiral of wind that acted like a bullet. ¡­Easy does it. And¡­He thought. Getting a lock on his prey, he released the wind bullet as it bored forward, only taking a split-second to traverse the dozen of meters before mming straight into the creature. It was a direct-hit. ¡°Gotcha,¡± he mumbled. As he revealed himself from his hiding spot behind the tree, he approached the badger that wasying on its back. ¡°Sorry, little guy¨C¡± Apologizing for iming its life, as he got close enough to be able to bend down and retrieve it, he found himself shocked to find that the spot in which the wind bulletnded was not drilled through. ¡°What¡­?¡± He muttered, perplexed. Just as he put two-and-two together, he stood up straight and held his staff forward as the badger jumped up, growling as it showed its razor sharp teeth to the young mage. You¡¯ve got to be kidding me! What is it with the cutesy animals in this valley!? He questioned, I know badgers have a thick hide, but a wind bullet should¡¯ve gone straight through it! It was clear he wasn¡¯t dealing with a normal badger by any means as he backed up, witnessing the creature charge him swiftly as its long ws carved up the soil in its path. Though it was much smaller than himself, it feltrger than its own stature as it kicked up a cloud of sediment in its rabid rush towards him. ¡°No¨C!¡± Before it could leap towards him with those weaponized fangs and ws, he jumped up with a boost of air beneath him, hovering several meters high as the fiery badger jumped up, only barely failing totch onto his leg. Too close! He thought. Preparing to finish it with a more powerful st of magic, he couldn¡¯t pinpoint it as it rapidly ascended a tree, climbing up it in a spiral that made it difficult to track. What are they feeding these animals?! He questioned. It required a heavy amount of concentration to maintain a perfect slow and spread of air beneath his boots while making precise movements to dodge the leaps of the beaver as it used the tree to gain height. ¡°I¡¯m trying to give you a quick death, you know?! Don¡¯t make this harder than it needs to be!¡± He gritted his teeth. Through his experience with wind, he was able to move smoothly through the air by manipting the air at his feet like propellers, evading the rabid leaps and swipes that the monstrous mammal took towards him. The main issue he had with this method of movement is the continuous usage of mana it required, prompting him to speed up the process as he spun around while levitating, finally catching the badger as it gained momentum for another leap. ¡°Gotcha!¡± Through a squeeze of his catalyst, he turned the soil it ran on into softened mud, causing it to be caught in the sticky substance. As hended back on the ground, he was about to finish the red-striped carnivore off with a reinforced bullet of stone, he was surprised to find that even the mud wasn¡¯t enough to hold the aggressive creature as its fur red up. Fire?! He realized. From its fur, the badger hissed out as embers sparked like fireworks before a ze emitted from its body, sweeping away the mud that held it. It kept him froming closer, giving the badger an opportunity to sprint forward before the young Dragonheart found himself tired of fighting a small creature. ¡°¨CAlright! Enough!¡± Stomping down, he took matters into his own hands as he sheathed his staff and instead drew Silver Wing from its sheath, dashing forward as the badger leapt towards him. In a sh all too climactic for Emilio¡¯s liking, he used reinforcement to increase the speed and force of his sword thrust, stabbing straight through the feral creature¡¯s body. ¡°¡­Gotcha¡­¡± Emilio huffed. As the creature growled for a bit, it twitched before finally sumbing to its lethal injury, allowing the blonde-and-ck haired Dragonheart to slide it off of his steel de, scruffing it as he inspected it to make sure it was dead. I will take this encounter to the grave with me. I have had enough intense battles with forest critters for a lifetime, he thought. Taking his prize back with him, he found his way back easily through his own tracks in the soil, which he purposefully stepped with more weight to create visible imprints. Just as he arrived back at the small, circr clearing between a boulder and trees where he left the protective dome of rock around Everett, a scream resounded from within the structure. ¡°Huh¨C?¡± A yell boomed from the one trapped in the dome, ¡°Get me outta here¨C!!!¡± Absolutely confused by what was going on, Emilio waved his staff to deconstruct the stone dome he had initially summoned to protect Everett, but now it seemed to have the opposite effect. ¡°What¡¯s going on¨C?¡± As he asked this, the answer came to his vision as the structure crumbled, revealing the armored youth thrashing about as what looked like fluffy moles were clinging to his steel equipment. ¡°Get off! Get off!¡± It wasedic for Emilio to watch therge man il around, tossing his arms side to side and stomping his feet in the presence of rtively small, forest critters. Still, it did seem as though the moles weren¡¯t exactly harmless as they used their ws totch onto Everett¡¯s armor, trying to reach the flesh beneath. ¡°A little help, please-!¡± Everett pleaded amidst his iling. ¡°¡­Alright,ing right up,¡± Emilio said. Chapter 207 Tales of Whats Ahead A mischievous idea came to the young mage¡¯s mind as he held his staff forward, issuing a quick burst of water that sshed against Everett, knocking the moles off of his armor and causing them to flee by digging into the ground. ¡°Agh¡­ugh¡­¡± Everett caught his breath, trying to wipe the water from his face. ¡°Your wee,¡± Emilio stepped over, carrying the badger. Everett looked up with a disgruntled expression, parting his drenched, blond bangs, ¡°¡­Thanks.¡± As quickly as the shielder¡¯s annoyance was present, it was swept away as a giddy, curious smile stretched across his lips as he noticed the carcass held in Emilio¡¯s hand. ¡°Oh! What¡¯s that?¡± Everett asked. Emilio hoisted therge, red-striped badger up with a proud smile, ¡°Dinner.¡± ¡°Woohoo! I¡¯m starvin¡¯!¡± Everett pumped his fist in the air. In return for catching their meal for the night, Everett gathered firewood, which wasn¡¯t difficult to find as he returned after a bit, dumping the mmable material on the ground. ¡°Alright¡­let¡¯s get this thing cooking,¡± Emilio said. Crafting a usable structure in which to cook the badger, he then skinned it and set it up above the me. The two waited for it to cook, sitting next to one another as the daytime glow of the trial grounds dimmed to night. It was once again another unsavory meal as the two each took their portions of the cooked badger, which was a dark, stringy meat that hardly looked appetizing, even for their empty stomachs. ¡°¡­Bon appetit,¡± Emilio mumbled before taking the first bite. They both bit into the cooked meat at the same time, taking hesitant bites of the unappealing meal, knowing it was necessary for sustenance. ¡°First thing I¡¯m doing when I¡¯m out of here is going to a nice restaurant and feeling my stomach with good food,¡± Emilio sighed, imagining his own desire. Everett sighed out, ¡°I¡¯m right there with ya, man. There¡¯s this ce in my hometown¡­Grubby¡¯s. It has the best chicken in the whole region. Right now, I¡¯d do anything for a te of that.¡± ¡°Just five more days¡­five long days,¡± Emilio breathed out. As they sat there, slowly eating the stringy, hard-to-chew meat in the darkness of the valley¡¯s night, the subtle sound of the campfire swaying filled the silence. ¡°Are you from Milligarde?¡± Everett suddenly asked. Emilio was taken aback by how he so casually guessed that, nodding his head as he wiped a stray piece of meat from the corner of his mouth, ¡°Yeah. Are you?¡± ¡°Born and raised!¡± Everett proudly answered, putting his hand over his heart, ¡°¡®Course us Milligardians would find each other in this trial¨Cwe¡¯ve got a bond of blood!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s how that works¡­¡± Emilio lightly chuckled. After a few more minutes of silence over the campfire, he looked over, seeing Everett without his helmet on as his shaggy, blonde hair cascaded down over his kind, blue eyes. For some reason, he feltpelled to make small talk, perhaps finding himself warming up to the aloof shielder, ¡°So, why do you want to be a world-ss adventurer? It¡¯s a pretty big deal, it sounds¡­It seems just being a local adventurer would be a whole lot easier than this.¡± Everett was silent for a moment while smiling almost in mncholy, watching the me as the orange embers reflected off of his gentle eyes. The armord young man finally responded, polishing his helmet with a dirty rag, ¡°To be honest, adventuring wasn¡¯t my first choice.¡± ¡°Really? You seem pretty enthusiastic about it all,¡± Emilio responded. Everett nodded, ¡°In truth, I¡¯ve always wanted to be a knight since I was a kid. As a boy, I¡¯d see them gantly marching through my town like heroes¨Cbeloved by everybody and praised by all.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you?¡± Bashfully chuckling to hide hising embarrassment, Everett scratched his cheek, ¡°I wasn¡¯t born into much. In fact, I fended for myself as a kid. So, getting into the knights off of name alone wasn¡¯t happening. Still, if I was good enough with a sword, it¡¯d be possible¡­but, as it turns out, I¡¯m a total klutz with a sword.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Emilio smiled. Everett nodded, setting his helmet between his legs as he brushed his intrusive bangs back, ¡°I¡¯m not big on hurting others, either. I know it sounds stupid, but when I¡¯m holding a sword in my hands¡­my knees get all shaky and my mind gets hazy when I think about using it on somebody else.¡± ¡°I get it, don¡¯t worry,¡± the young mage assured him. ¡°Bing a knight was impossible for me, at least in the conventional way,¡± Everett exined with a smile, ¡°I was born with a strong body though! I took up a shield and set out to be a world-ss adventurer so that I can be a knight around the world¨Cshielding people everywhere.¡± Emilio found himself surprised by the admirable resolve held by his newfound friend, especially inparison to his own motivations which he felt were a lot more self-serving. ¡°Enough about me!¡± Everettughed, ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°It feels kind of cheap after hearing your reason¡­¡± Emilio averted his gaze. ¡°Aw, c¡¯mon! I told you my reason! Any motivation is respectable¨CI mean, you¡¯re here, arentcha? That speaks enough of your will alone,¡± Everett assured him. Perhaps it was the cozy, home-like atmosphere provided by the warm campfire and the crackling of embers amidst the quiet forest that he feltpelled to talk, but Emilio found himself coaxed by Everett¡¯s good-natured self. ¡°Alright, alright¡­¡± Emilio sighed with a small smile. Everett quieted down and looked at him with a curious smile, waiting for his follow-up to their campfire discussion. ¡°I want to see everything this world has to offer, and experience it all. I¡¯ve just always had this insatiable curiosity inside of me. Whenever I sit still, inside of my stomach it just feels like that curiosity is itching away to discover new things¡­When I think about going to the ces I¡¯ve read about in books¨Clike the elven kingdoms or thend of demons, I can¡¯t stop smiling and my hands tremble,¡± he exined, looking down at his shaking hands. Chapter 208 The Bees Knees Stopping for a moment, he nced over to see Everett listening and watching him intently, scratching his flushed cheek out of embarrassment. ¡°I know, it¡¯s a prettyme reason¨C¡± ¡°No, I totally get it!¡± Everett interrupted him, ¡°Isn¡¯t the world just amazing?! I¡¯m right there with ya¨CI wanna see it all, too!¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t want to say it, but¡­¡± Everett coughed into his hand, ¡°¡­Another reason for bing a world-ss adventurer is, I want to try all the tasty food from around the world.¡± The childish, but genuine reason that the shielder gave spurred a moment of silence at the campfire before they both broke intoughter. Perplexing to him, after they finished sharing in augh, he looked over to find Everett extending his hand to him with a kind smile. ¡°Let¡¯s make our dreams a reality,¡± Everett said with a bright expression. Emilio looked at hispanion¡¯s hand for a moment before epting it, grasping it tightly, ¡°Yeah.¡± After reaffirming their resolve and filling their bellies with simply ¡®adequate¡¯ meat, it was time to call it a day as it was simply too dark to traverse the crimson forest further. Everett offered to stay up to keep watch as he already had some rest, but Emilio declined as he hardly felt capable of sleeping anyway. Sitting against a tree, holding his catalyst close to his body, Emilio gazed up towards the ceiling of bright-red leaves that had their subtle glow amplified in the darkness. ¡­You better be hanging in there, Melisande. Joel will never let me hear the end of it, he thought. He found himself still indecisive about whether or not to continue looking for Melisande, even in the night, but with Everett snoring and defenseless, he was forced to sit still. With that in mind, a new idea came to mind as he was about to begin studying the tinkerer¡¯s journal again, feeling as though a lightbulb shined over his head. ¡°¡­Hold on¡­¡± He mumbled. This might work, he thought. ¡°Smander. Undyne. Gnome. Sylph,¡± he invoked in a whisper, holding his hand out. Manifesting to his quiet call, the four lesser spirits arrived above his hand, swaying slowly in their gentle glow. ¡°Alright¡­can you guys do me a favor?¡± He asked quietly. As he held the spherical spirits close, they each blinked in different frequencies, though he felt innately that their answer was ¡®yes¡¯. A small smile appeared on his lips, ¡°I need you each to search the forest for Melisande, okay? If you find her,e back to me immediately and show me where you saw her. Can you all do that?¡± The non-verbal spirits blinked once more before they each scattered in four different directions, beginning their search through the crimson forest. He was surprised that the lesser spirits actually followed such orders and were able to separate from him, but Emilio found it reasonable after allowing the spirits to protect others in previous times. Alright¡­Maybe I should summon my soulbound spirit as well, he thought. Looking at the six-pointed seal on his hand, he considered finally attempting to summon his contracted spirit, but found himself hesitant. There was something unnerving about the thought of conjuring a spirit from the astral realm; whenever he began to build up the resolve to do so, a sickening feeling akin to the ¡®soul strain¡¯ he once was afflicted by resonated through his body. I don¡¯t get it, but it feels like there¡¯s¡­interference? Whenever I think about summoning, it feels like my body, mind, and soul rejects it, he thought. While the four elemental spirits were out searching through the ember forest, he unintentionally ended up falling asleep against the tree as his eyelids grew heavy, prompting him to slip into slumber. In the short time it felt he slept before finding himself conscious again, having yet to part his eyelids, he briefly recalled the presence of the ¡®faceless entity¡¯ he repeatedly met in his dreams¨Cthough he didn¡¯t remember what the meeting he just had was. All there was as some loose proof of having encountered the mysterious entity was an odd sensation coursing through his body as goosebumps stood on his arms; a familiar feeling to the presence of the cosmic figure. ¡­Did it tamper with my memory again? Why? He questioned. As he opened his eyes, he found out what it was that woke him up, finding the small, red spirit hovering in front of his face. ¡°¡­Smander?¡± He asked tiredly. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes and yawned, still finding the sealed valley to be drenched in an artificial night. ¡°Wha¨C¡± His eyes widened as his tiredness was washed away, realizing now why the lesser spirit woke him up: there were insects reminiscent of moths, having bright-orange forms as they fluttered through the wind. There was a swarm of them sweeping through the trees, leaving trails of embers and me in their path. ¡°Did you bring them here¨C?¡± Emilio asked the lesser spirit, jumping to his feet. Smander blinked a few times in a guilty fashion, prompting Emilio to look over at Everett, who was still fast asleep and snoring. Crap¨Cthese things seem like trouble. They¡¯re leaving a path of fire behind them and burning everything they see¨Cwhat the hell is wrong with this ce?! He questioned, I wonder if Smander attracted them¡­it¡¯s practically a bundle of fire. He recalled Smander in hopes of deterring the approaching army of fire-born moths, though it didn¡¯t seem to change their trajectory as he rushed over to Everett¡¯s side, shaking him awake. ¡°¡­Five more mins¡­¡± Everett sleepily said. ¡°Wake up!¡± Emilio shook him harder. As the hick shielder snored in response to his shaking, Emilio found himself annoyed and pressed for time, resulting in him pointing his staff towards Everett¡¯s goofy sleeping face before spraying him with a dose of water. SPLASH ¡°Gaaah-!¡± Everett jumped up and coughed, ¡°What was that for?! I was having a perfectly nice dream ¡¯bout Grubby¡¯s!¡± As soon as the shielder stood up and shook his head like a dog shaking the water from his fur, Everett got the answer to his question as a small fireball singed his ear lobe, causing him to jump and wince. ¡°Ah-! What the?!¡± Everett turned back, seeing the swarm of glowing moths that were fluttering in. Emilio was already beginning to move in the opposite direction, ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why! Let¡¯s go!¡± Now, Everett didn¡¯tin or waste a moment following behind Emilio as they rushed away. The young Dragonheart found his lesser spirits returning, with Undyne giving him a few glows that internally told him ¡®I found the girl¡¯. ¡°Lead the way!¡± Emilio said with a smile while running. Returning the other spirits, he left the water spirit to lead the way as the two ran from the fire-spewing moths. ¡°Go! Go! Go!¡± Everett called out. Even though the shielder frantically yelled such, he was the onegging behind as Emilio had to suppress his pace so as to not totally leave hispanion behind. Though it was understandable when considering the heavy armor and shield that the backwoods recruit was lugging. ¡°Gah!¡± Everett let out a girly scream as a small fireball hit his rear, producing a heat felt even through his armor as his pace increased with further motivation. That¡¯s gotta sting, Emilio thought. As Emilio led the way with Undyne¡¯s guidance, the two were led to a ravine that split the forest in two halves, leading down to an unpleasant drop. ¡°Get ready to jump!¡± Emilio yelled behind him. ¡°Jump?!¡± There was no time for Everett to prepare himself as in front of him, he watched Emilio leap over the gap without a hitch. Emilio turned back, waiting for hispanion, ¡°Come on! They¡¯re gaining on you!¡± The fiery moths left a trail of fire, spewing out dozens of small fireballs that sparked against Everett¡¯s armor, forcing him to choose between two poisons before he finally sucked in his fears and rushed towards the gap. ¡°Aaaaah-!¡± Closing his eyes, Everett made the jump,nding on the other side with a heavy thud before Emilio helped him to his feet, allowing the two to continue on. While Emilio raced forward, the water spirit hovered in front of him, blinking rapidly as if coaxing him to look ahead as he saw it¨C ¡°Aaaaaaah¡ª!¡± A feminine scream all too familiar to his ears was heard as he saw a head of silver hair rushing out from behind foliage, screaming out from something unknown. ¡°Melisande-?!¡± Emilio called out. Everett was surprised,ing to a stop as he equipped his shield, preparing for the moths¡¯ arrival, ¡°¨CIs that your friend?!¡± In total surprise at the unexpected reuniting, Melisande¡¯s eyes widened before she glomped the young Dragonheart, hugging him tightly, which was a wee surprise to Emilio himself. ¡°Err, d you¡¯re okay,¡± Emilio awkwardly said, returning the embrace. Melisande was more panicked though, looking up at him, ¡°Th-they¡¯reing! I was fighting them off, but there are a lot of them!¡± ¡°What¡¯sing?¡± Emilio asked. ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s?! We¡¯ve got our hands full already with these buzzers!¡± Everett said, nting his shield down in preparation of the ming moths. Pointing to the direction she came from, Melisande rified, ¡°Bees!¡± Chapter 209 The Bottom of The Food Chain Pointing to the direction she came from, Melisande rified, ¡°Bees!¡± Just then, the skin-crawling buzz of bees could be heard as Emilio faced towards the same direction as Melisande, standing back-to-back with Everett. Revealing themselves from beyond the foliage were not just any bees, butrge, round variants with bright-orange fur. ¡°I¡¯m so done with this forest!¡± Everettined, clearly reeling from the sting to the rear he took. As a mini fireball hurled right past Emilio¡¯s cheek, lightly scraping against it with a slight burn, he gritted his teeth out of frustration, mostly stemming from hisck of sleep. ¡°Okay, we¡¯re getting the hell out of this forest! I¡¯m sick of everything shooting fire at me!¡± Emilio said. Following his own words, he grabbed Melisande¡¯s wrist, sprinting to the side with her as Everett was a second slow to follow up, using his shield to block the mini fireballs that were shot in their direction from the swarm of moths and bees. ¡°Wha¨Chey!¡± Melisande said as she was tugged alone. Emilio let go, ¡°Sorry, but we need to move quick!¡± Running beside him, Melisande couldn¡¯t help butugh from the ridiculous situation and the adrenaline of it, feeling relieved to have reunited with her friend. Emilio was confused by her disy of joy, but he found himself smiling as well, feeling as though this was the true essence of an ¡®adventure¡¯¨Csomething he yearned for. However, Everett was alone in his feelings of frustration as he held his shield while running, having to endure continuous sts of fire, ¡°I hope you know where you¡¯re going! I don¡¯t want to end up in circles in this forest!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got it!¡± Emilio responded, telling a white lie. It was as if the crimson forest had a sentience of its own, trying to drive out the invasive humans by the conjured will of fire as the insects chased their heels with sparks and embers. As he sprinted forward, ncing to his side to make sure Melisande was keeping up and that Everett didn¡¯t copse from his encumbrance, Emilio looked ahead of him, past the clearing of fiery trees to find a massive crater separating the two sections of the mystical valley. A gap?! He realized. Melisande saw it as well, sputtering out, ¡°What¡¯re we supposed to do about that?! I can¡¯t jump that!¡± As they all ended up at the edge of the crater which led downwards deep enough that the bottom was simply an unseen abyss, a sinking feeling swirled in Emilio¡¯s stomach at the thought of plummeting down. It was at least a ten meter gap, and there wasn¡¯t anywhere else to go now that the fiery critters of the ursed forest were closing in on them from behind. ¡°What do we do?¡­No way am I making a jump like that!¡± Everett breathed out, catching his breath as he huffed. Though Emilio knew he could clear the gap easily with wind, he couldn¡¯t say the same for the others nor his ability to safely guide others along with air. ¡­Alright! I¡¯ve got to get creative and a bit reckless here! He thought. It was something he¡¯d never done before, but it was now or never: putting his bare palms against the edge of the crater, emitting his mana signature through the soil and into the rock below, manipting the natural element. ¡°W-woah!¡± Everett stumbled as the ground began to rumble. ¡°¨CDid you think of something?¡± Melisande asked in a hurry. Emilio responded, maintaining his focus, ¡°Something like that!¡± Stretching out from the edge was an unrefined bridge of rock, stretching across the gap and connecting to the other edge, cementing itself, though seeming unsteady in its form. It was quite arge structure he had to make on the fly and integrity was something questionable in his hasty method. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Emilio called out. He ushered for the others to move ahead of him, which Everett and Melisande hesitated for a moment but epted as the fire-spewing insects closed in. There were thousands of the heated, orange-glowing critters, proving to be a force far too numerous to take head-on. At the very least, I need to keep the bridge stable until they cross¡­! He thought. Keeping himself knelt with his hands against the ground, he stabilized the rocky bridge while the heavy shielder and lithe rookie ran across its length while hundreds of tiny fireballs soared through the air. With the sheer number of fiery spheres moving in his direction, inevitably they began to hit,nding against his body with small, but painful explosions of embers. ¡°Ghh¡­!¡± He winced, clenching his teeth to maintain the bridge. ¡°Emilio!¡± Melisande looked back worriedly. Though Everett knew better, taking the girl¡¯s arm and forcing her to hurry across the bridge, ¡°Come on!¡± ¡°But he¡¯s¨C!¡± Melisande tried to contest. ¡°He¡¯ll be fine!¡± Everett wholeheartedly said, believing in his own words. Arge number of burns appeared across his body as he stayed knelt; his cheeks burnt and his flesh bubbled from thepact heat. Though his undying bloodbated the injuries he sustained, fire seemed to be the bane of his limited regeneration as the more it burned, the slower the healing became. As the two crossed the bridge, Melisande didn¡¯t waste a moment signaling their arrival, ¡°Emilio! Come on!¡± Finally, the young Dragonheart was able to rise to his feet, faltering for a moment as the tiny fireballs continued to hit him, causing him to nearly stumble as he stepped onto the bridge. ¡°Grgh-!¡± As he raced across the magically-made structure, racing over the chasm, he summoned a barrier of water behind him to absorb the fiery blows that shot towards him from the crimson critters. Reaching the other side, he nearly fell over onto his knees from the overwhelming pain of the mes, though Everett caught him. ¡°I¡¯ve gotcha, pal!¡± Everett assured. Melisande checked his body worriedly, though the wounds began closing up slowly, ¡°¡­Are you alright? That was seriously reckless!¡± ¡°Yeah¡­I know,¡± Emilio caught his breath. Chapter 210 A Much Needed Calm After enduring the mes, though his major injuries healed, he looked at his hands, finding small sores left from the aftermath as a limit was found in his undying blood. Vandread mentioned it before, but it really isn¡¯t some sort of ¡®immortality¡¯¡­It has its limits, and they¡¯re clear, he thought. Catching his breath, he was helped to his feet by his twopanions, which Everett worriedly looked back to see the ming insects refusing to cross the chasm. ¡°Guess they¡¯re staying in their territory,¡± Everett remarked. ¡°¡­Yeah. Good for us,¡± Emilio said quietly. Melisande looked crossed between worried for the young man and mad at him for the risks he took, but sighed and wore a smile, ¡°That was really something.¡± ¡°You can say that again,¡± Emilio agreed. ¨C The territory that awaited them was once again an alternate sector of the nebulous Valley of Parmesus; an incredibly dense jungle, packed full of trees, interconnecting branches, and veins that sometimes wound up being serpents. ¡°Uegh¡­¡± Melisande shuttered, sticking close to Emilio. Everett didn¡¯t have any issue with critters, even poking at the snakes that rested on branches, ¡°Aw, what a cute little guy!¡± ¡°D-don¡¯t make it mad!¡± Melisande barked. ¡°Huh?¡± Everett nced at her, ¡°It¡¯s not going to bite. Rx! Ha-ha!¡± Though he didn¡¯t have quite the same phobia of limbless reptiles as the silver-haired girl, Emilio also didn¡¯t care much for poking at them and unintentionally catching a heaping serving of venom in his veins. ¡°Let¡¯s just find somewhere to camp out for the time being¨Cpreferably somewhere not littered with snakes,¡± Emilio said. He used his sword to cut through the thick grass that stood as tall as his neck and the vines that drooped down annoyingly. Each time he swept his de through the abundant, tall grass, he found bugs jumping out, sometimesnding on his skin, causing him to swipe them off. Though he wasn¡¯t particrly freaked out by bugs, unless they were arachnids, the same couldn¡¯t be said for Melisande, who evaded them like the gue, continuously mumbling ¡®Gross¡¯ or ¡®Disgusting¡¯. As a small piece ofnd in the midst of the jungle biome was found, clear of the troublesome tall grass, the three decided it was good enough for the time being. Everett didn¡¯t waste a moment dropping onto his behind, letting out a hefty sigh before loosening his armor for rxation. They were all clearly tired, transparent enough through the yawn Melisande let out before sitting down with her back pressed against a tree, keeping her knees close to her chest forfort. ¡°¡­If a snake drops down on me, I¡¯ll scream¡­¡± Melisande mumbled. Before sitting down, Emilio looked around, figuring that he had enough of campsites being disturbed as he pped his hands together. Alright, let¡¯s secure this ce, he thought. Following his internal invocation, he erected a perimeter of mud walls that closed off the resting stop, extending a roof of the natural element over their heads to protect from any airborne nuisances. ¡°Good thinkin¡¯,¡± Everett said, looking up. Melisande let out a breath of relief, ¡°No snakes.¡± Being free from the pesky insects and lurking inhabitants of the jungle, they were able to finally rx. ¡°¡­What a day¡­¡± Emilio sighed. ¡°Yeah,¡± Melisande replied. Taking his helmet off and shaking his head to loosen his hair up, Everettughed out, ¡°They really aren¡¯t makin¡¯ this easy on us, are they?¡± It wasn¡¯t long before they began falling asleep one-by-one, leaving only Emilio to be awake as he briefly read through his gifted journal. This impromptu study didn¡¯tst long, however, as reading soothed his mind into slumber. There was surprisingly a level offort found sleeping on the grass, though it likely stemmed from his own exhaustion, taking anything he could as a bed. Soon enough, soft droplets of rain befell the ceiling of the mud dome before picking up into heavy rainfall, flowing against the walls in their sideway travel. Still, he was left cold as his shirt was nothing more than tatters at this point, charred and providing nothing offort to him, which he outright discarded whileying there amidst the night. ¡°Brr¡­¡± He shivered, hugging himself. Damn fire bugs¡­I should¡¯ve wiped them out, hemented. While holding himself to retain some warmth, in the middle of the cold slumber, he found warmthing to him. Sitting close to him, Everett rested with his back against the mud structure, bringing his own body heat. The same came with Melisande, who sat on Emilio¡¯s right, sat right beside him. Though he was woken by this kind gesture, he kept his eyes closed, though he couldn¡¯t do much to hide the smile he had. Thanks, he thought. As they rested closely under the ambience of the rain, the nebulous night within the valley¡¯s trial passed. The gentle sound of rainfall guided him to sleep, soothing his tired body and restoring the reservoir of mana within him as he could feel the undying blood flowing through his veins restoring what was lost. As the next day arrived, he slowly opened his eyes, finding Everett and Melisande soundly asleep at either side of him, who both seemed to inadvertently get snug beside him. ¡°¡­I appreciate it, but¡­¡± He muttered. The problem was, Everett and Melisande were both somewhat squishing him, making it difficult for him to get up. He did his best to gently move them, though it was a struggle to use ¡®light force¡¯ in moving somebody as heavy and dense as Everett. Standing to his feet, he stretched his arms out and yawned, looking down at his bare chest to find only his ne worn alongside a few scars. Alright¡­day three, here we go, he thought. Somehow, the small base forged of mud managed to hold throughout the night despite the assault of rain. As he pointed forward, he created a doorway on the wall mud, opening it to the jungle that was still soaked from rainfall, though only a light sprinkle was persistent. ¡°¡­Still cold¡­¡± He mumbled. Standing outside of the mud base, he closed the door with a snap of his fingers, leaving his sleepingpanions in there as he scouted the area. Of course, what was on his mind was finding food. Anytime he uses a considerable amount of mana, a toll was taken on the caloric reservoir of his body. The result was his stomach growling out as it yearned for more than just the serving of badger meat fromst night. ¡°Well, it should be hard to find something¡­¡± He nced around. This time around, he made it a personal mission to not get into any deadly confrontation with what should be easy prey, trudging through the nearby area as he cut down the vines in his path, Swiping his sword through a thick bunch of grass, he found a bearing luscious fruit; orange-skinned spheres that resembled peaches. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± There was enough incentive not to trust random fruit grown on the nts in the malignant valley, though he was hungry enough to be the guinea pig for the others. Plucking one of the fruits from the bush, he bounced it in his palm, feeling its light fuzz against his fingertips before giving it a cautious sniff. Worstes to worst, the undying blood should ovee any poison¡­should, he thought. Sitting down for a minute, he took arge bite from the surprisingly juicy fruit as the sweet nectar squirted against his tongue. ¡°Oh!¡± It was delightful; an unexpected delicacy in the harsh wilderness. The sweet tanginess of the fruit prompted him to continue eating it, finding himself indulging in it like a fine dessert. There were a few memories that yed in his mind when sitting there and being able to snack on fruit; the carefree days spent with his parents were clear as day in his head. He remembered how diligently Treyna would take care of the apple trees they grew on theirnd, and how often Julius would receive a scathing re from her each time he yanked them from the branches prematurely. A single tear strolled down his cheek recalling those blissful days of peace; sometimes amidst the exhrating adventures, he forgot how much he missed his home and those waiting for him. I¡¯ll be back soon¡­Then I¡¯ll tell you guys about the wild journey I¡¯ve had, he thought. After finishing off the lovely, tangerine-esque fruit he¡¯d found that had just a little kick of sourness to it, he picked off as many as he could hold in his arms before heading back. As the light sprinkle of rain cascaded down his bare torso, he felt a sense of vigor reflowing in his body, cooled by the rich morning breakfast. Arriving at the temporary camp, he entered the mud-forged base to find Melisande awake, though it looked like it was a recent urrence as she was in the middle of yawning and adjusting her hair. ¡°Mornin¡¯¡­¡± Melisande yawned. ¡°Morning,¡± he smiled. Sitting down beside the girl, he plopped down the fruits he acquired, which brought a sparkle to Melisande¡¯s eyes as she grabbed one, picking it up. ¡°You picked these?¡­Are they safe?¡± She asked. He took a bite out of one, swallowing it down with a satisfied smile, ¡°They¡¯re delicious.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a yes then,¡± sheughed, indulging in a sweet breakfast. Chapter 211 Clash At First Sight After they each finished off abined six of the nicknamed ¡®dessert fruits¡¯, they both sat there, watching the light coat of rain befall the jungle through the doorway of the sturdy, mud igloo while subject to Everett¡¯s boarish snores. ¡°¡­This is a whole lot tougher than I thought it¡¯d be,¡± Emilio said. ¡°Yeah,¡± Melisande responded. ¡°I expected some sort of physical exam and a written one, but this¡­well, it¡¯s kind of obvious now that I¡¯m here,¡± he said, ¡°We¡¯ll make it, though.¡± The silver-haired girl held a slight smile, nodding, ¡°Of course we will. I may not look like it, but I¡¯m pretty tough now¨Cthanks to you.¡± As if showing that im off, Melisande flexed her arm, though it was a bit too thin to have any imposing strength, prompting Emilio to burst outughing. ¡°Wh-what?¡± Melisande blushed as a bacsh of her own joke. ¡°Nothing,¡± heughed. It seemed hisughter was enough to wake up the burly shielder as the snoring finally was stifled with the blonde-haired, armord country bumpkin slowly sitting up. ¡°Morning,¡± Emilio greeted him. Everett let out a bear-like yawn, ¡°¡­Mornin¡¯¡­¡± To help the shielder wake up, Emilio lightly tossed a dessert fruit against his cheek, which Everett let roll for a moment before taking a bite from it. ¡°Hey, this ain¡¯t half bad,¡± Everett said, waking up quickly. ¨C While it would certainly be a respectable strategy to camp out in the mud base all day and wait out the week of the survival test, the three decided it would be best to search for a better residence as it was cramped and in a snake-heavy environment. ¡°My feet are killing me,¡± Everett groaned, walking at the back of the group. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to toughen through it, sorry,¡± Emilio said from upfront. It was a simple strategic order they decided on: Emilio led from the front, cutting down vines and foliage in their way while keeping an eye out for what was up ahead. Melisande stayed in the middle, watching their surroundings, and Everett stayed at the back, keeping their nk guarded with his shield strapped behind him. Though he didn¡¯t say it out loud, he was wary of the mysterious attacker met on the first night¨C¡¯Amon¡¯. ncing back, he could see Melisande was determined, but enjoying the trial in its exhrating challenge. I don¡¯t want to cause any unnecessary paranoia¡­I mean, this valley is huge, right? Even if we do run into him¡­we¡¯re prepared now, he thought. There were quite a few fantastical sights in the thick section of nature of the isted valley: colorful caterpirs that were the size of his arm, crawling up trees and making Melisande shutter at the sight of them. On the other hand, Everett was like a kid, gawking at the sight of all of the creatures foreign to his homnd. ¡°Get it away! Get it away!¡± Melisande screamed out. Holding a wiggling, bright-blue millipede near the girl was the shielder, whoughed out giddily, ¡°Look at the size of this thing! We don¡¯t have ones like this back home!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care, just get it away¡ª!¡± Melisande yelled. It seemed like the girl was one moment away from sting both the insect and Everett with wind magic as she held her hand forward, which Emilio was preparing to intercept, though the situation was saved by another: Swooping in from the sky, a white-feathered hawk snatched the millipede straight from Everett¡¯s grip with its imposing talons. ¡°Woah-!¡± Everett stepped back. A sigh left Emilio¡¯s lips though he couldn¡¯t help but smile, ¡°¡­Let¡¯s try not to get snatched by giant birds, okay?¡± It was a code-word for Everett, saying: ¡®Please stop picking up every random insect you find¡¯. As they moved on through the thick jungle, evading territorial snakes and lurking predators that growled and howled, an intriguing discovery met Emilio¡¯s eyes. It was difficult to see through the veil of tall grass and swaying vines, but he could make out what looked to be a camp. ¡°¡­Hey, guys, you¡¯re going to want to check this out,¡± he quietly called, approaching the campsite. ¡°Huh? What is it?¡± Everett snapped into focus after fiddling with a giant grasshopper. Pushing through the wall of dense shrubs and grass, they indeed discovered a camp; a makeshift tent was erected from sticks and walls made of intertwined leaves with a put-out fire that was still smoking. The absent fire is what took Emilio¡¯s attention as he knelt by it, checking it out while the first thing on Everett¡¯s agenda was to look for food as he rummaged around the misceneous goods. Melisande checked out the tent, looking inside of it, likely to check for any bedding she could use for herself. ¡°You think the person who made this is nearby? Or¡­still around, at all?¡± Melisande asked while looking inside the tent. Fiddling with the burnt firewood, Emilio responded, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯d say the likely answer is¡­¡± Completely interrupting him, the blonde-haired bumpkin let out a triumphant call as he discovered a bowl of soup sitting out, still warm and ready. ¡°Fresh grub! Lucky!¡± Everett celebrated. Emilio mumbled, ¡°¡­They¡¯re still around.¡± Just then as the young mage looked up towards the shielder, who marched over to the rock where the bowl rested, about to grab it before¨Cthe leaves he stepped on moved aside, revealing a rope trap. ¡°W-waaaaah¨C!¡± Everett let out. Hoisted up from the rope around his ankle, the himbo was yoinked up, yanking the branch above from his not-so-light weight. ¡°Everett! What did you do?!¡± Melisande asked, getting out of the tent. ¡°Nothing! All I did was reach for that bowl¡­! Swear!¡± Everett said, hanging upside down as he iled his arms, ¡°¡­A little help!¡± As the silver-haired girl huffed, beginning to move towards the tree where the rope mechanism was set up, a chill ran over Emilio¡¯s spine as he felt another presence swiftly, but silently approaching. They¡¯re¡­! He thought. Without being able to finish a thought, he drew his staff and shot a st of wind directly towards Melisande. ¡°Agh¨C!¡± Melisande yelled, being tossed back, ¡°¡­What was that for?!¡± Though it became clear why such an abnormal action was taken as where the girl was just previously standing, a figure stood, wielding a dagger in their hand. ¡°You¡­?¡± Melisande said quietly in surprise. It was a thin figure; shrouded in dark, sleek clothes with a ck hood obscuring their appearance. Though what stood out to Emilio, beyond the burgundy tail that swayed behind their back, was the method of attack they used. I recognize this, he thought. ¡°We¡¯re not here to start trouble,¡± Emilio said, holding his staff up. The hooded figure looked towards him, only their deep-purple, feline pupils seen beyond the mask they wore, ¡°Poking around somebody else¡¯s belongings says otherwise.¡± It was a feminine voice, though cold and apathetic in tone; somewhat deep, yet smooth likevender. ¡°Hey! We didn¡¯t know it was still upied!¡± Everett said, still hanging upside down. The upant of the camp hardly seemed much for words or in the mood for discourse as they kept their eyes on Emilio, caught in a stand-off. Emilio knew this wouldn¡¯t be easy to solve with just words, ncing over to Everett and Melisande, who was staying still as even the slightest crunch of leaves caused the hooded woman¡¯s fingers to twitch. Alright¡­They¡¯re the type to listen once they realize they¡¯re outmatched, then, he decided. The moment he took a step, the demi-human woman dashed forward, holding her dagger in a reverse grip as she went for a swipe towards him. To the surprise of the masked woman, the young mage didn¡¯t intend to sh with her, instead sliding directly beneath her attack and sting a slice of wind straight at the rope that suspended Everett. ¡°Wah¨C!¡± Everett fell a good few meters, though picked himself up, ¡°¨CThanks!¡± There was no time for an exchange of words as Emilio spun around, drawing his sword at the same time as he defended against a sh of the feline woman¡¯s dagger. Despite the light build the mysterious woman had, there was an undeniable surplus of strength felt as their des shed, forcing Emilio to press forward to push her back. ¡°¨C!¡± The purple-eyed demi-human was clearly shocked by the young man¡¯s show of strength and prowess. ¡°Raaaagh!¡± Rushing in without any elegance, Everett charged with his shield in front of him, swinging it forward in an attempt to fling the woman back. Though, the attack was cleanly subverted as the woman presented her cat-like agility as she jumped on the shield and used it as a foothold to kick the bumpkin in the head before jumping back. Everett was hardly fazed by the attack, shaking it off in a second as he smiled, ¡°You¡¯re good!¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± the woman quietly responded before dashing in again. It seemed as though she was experienced in the field ofbat as she ignored Everett altogether, spinning past his defense and going straight for Emilio. Aiming for the mage first? She¡¯s good¨Cthis pragmatic style, it really reminds me of¡­! He thought. Chapter 212 Newfound Partner Preparing for another sh of his sword against her dagger, he was caught off-guard as the woman changed her method of attack on the fly, drawing a tiny needle from her pocket before flicking it directly towards his eye. Emilio watched it approach, nearing his eyeball before unleashing a swirl of wind around his entire body in a panicked effort, managing to st the small projectile back. As he breathed out, nearly avoiding the painful assault, there was no mercy in the cat demi-human¡¯s attack as she went for a swipe of her dagger straight towards his neck. It was difficult to track her if not directly observing her, as every step the woman took, no matter how swift, waspletely silent like the lull of the night. This time, before he could respond in his own way, a powerful breath of air swept up the soil and woman alike, sting her to the side. ¡°Nice one,¡± Emilio breathed out, looking to the side towards Melisande. The silver-haired girl seemed happy with the result, nodding, ¡°Mhm¨Cto your right!¡± Just then, he was forced to turn back as the recovery time of the agile dagger-wielder was astounding, forcing him to sh des with her in a swift exchange before Everett rushed over again. The dance of des was intercepted as the burly man mmed his shield down, though was evaded again. However, this was a misight by the hooded woman as she leapt back, finding the young mage pointing his hand towards her with a spell manifesting in that split-second. ¡°¨C!¡± Launching forth was a higher-level manifestation of wind magic, a spell known as ¡®Storm Seal¡¯, which was superbly effective for opponents in midair, able topletely envelop them in the nature of wind. The result of the spell was a cylinder of wind in a small perimeter, keeping the woman stuck in the air from a constant gale. ¡°Uegh¡­!¡± The hooded woman let out. ¡°Nice one!¡± Everett high-fived him. Though Emilio was more focused on what was revealed by the wind as it knocked the woman¡¯s hood off, revealing a tan-skinned beauty with flowing, burgundy hair and most of all, two, twitching cat ears. It was one of his most fundamental dreams in this new life: meeting a cat girl. Now that the woman was left harmless in the trap of wind, stuck several meters above ground with her hair flowing in the breeze, Emilio made sure to present him and the others as non-aggressors. ¡°Like I said before, we aren¡¯t here to cause trouble. We saw a camp and assumed it was abandoned. You know how this trial is¨Cit¡¯s life or death, and for most, it¡¯s death,¡± Emilio exined. The feline woman looked annoyed, holding back her frustration before giving in with a sigh, ¡°¡­I see that now. You aren¡¯t like them.¡± ¡®Them¡¯? He thought. Still, he took this as enough of a sign of peace, biased to the woman¡¯s cat ears and tail, ¡°So, are we fine?¡± ¡°Fine,¡¯ the woman coldly affirmed. As he nced over to the others, Everett nodded in affirmation of his decision and Melisande shrugged, prompting him to flick his fingers to dispel the seal of wind. The woman fell, thoughnded silently on her feet, ring at the group as they stood off for a minute before finally, the demi-human¡¯s dagger was sheathed. ¡°I¡¯m Emilio,¡± he introduced himself. ¡°Everett! But you can call me Big Ev¡¯!¡± Everett boisterously added. ¡°Melisande,¡± the silver-haired girl introduced, folding her arms over her chest. Impartial to conversation, the woman, slightly taller than Emilio but a head shorter than Everett, put her hands on her hips, brushing her cloak aside to reveal an arsenal of des beneath, varying in sizes, ¡°Just call me Yuna. I doubt we¡¯ll be knowing each other for long.¡± I knew it¡­that fighting style and her weapons¨Cshe uses the same style as Vandread, doesn¡¯t she? He thought. ¡°¡­Look, alright, I¡¯m just on edge recently,¡± Yuna exined, seeing the looks from Melisande as they all stood there, ¡°Just a bit ago, I was attacked.¡± ¡°Attacked? Like, by a beast?¡± Everett asked. Yuna shook her head as her tail flicked behind her, ¡°A person¨Ca recruit, like us.¡± ¡°Wait¡­was he wearing all ck, and wielding two des?¡± Emilio asked. A look of surprise came in Yuna¡¯s eyes then suspicion as she narrowed them on the young man, ¡°¡­Yeah, how do you know that?¡± Melisande stepped forward, ¡°We ran into him too¡­Amon. He tried attacking me, but Emilio stopped him.¡± This was a revtion to Everett, who seemed ignorant to the fact that there were such events urring between the recruits themselves. Emilio saw this as an opportunity to lessen the abrasive coldness between the two parties, ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t we work together? You¡¯re alone, right? It¡¯d be a whole lot safer in a group.¡± This offer was an unspoken agreement between the three as they all knew well the dangers of the Valley of Parmesus, though it was difficult to predict if the feline rogue would be open to such a thing. ¡°¨C¡± Yuna looked at them silently, beginning to turn away. As Emilio was about to try and win her over with further words, it was Melisande who stepped forward. ¡°It was scary, wasn¡¯t it? Being all alone here¡­Even if you act tough, I know. Never being able to get a full night¡¯s sleep, having to look over your shoulder¡­Even if you¡¯re strong, having others with you is a good thing. We can look out for each other.¡± It was spoken straight from the heart, said confidently, though with reflected experience as the silver-haired, rookie mage ced her hand over her heart. Good going, Melisande, Emilio genuinely thought. This mutual experience seemed to open up the lock on Yuna¡¯s heart just slightly, ¡°I can take care of myself¡­.but, I suppose it¡¯d be a bit less of a hassle if I had other eyes watching out.¡± The decision didn¡¯t seem to be made out of the benefit of herself as Yuna moved her mask down, adjusting her dark-red scarf as she looked away. It was difficult to read the woman, but it seemed Melisande¡¯s words dug up something in Yuna. ¡°Great!¡± Emilio smiled. Just like that, the young Dragonheart found himself one step closer to his dream of getting close to a real cat girl. It was convenient enough as Yuna already had a workable camp built, leaving Emilio free to build protective walls around it, which took some convincing for the cautious demi-human to agree to. ¡°You¡¯re from Ygsdra? Is that far from here?¡± Everett asked, taking a spoonful of the vegetable and rabbit stew that Yuna had made. There was certainly ack of general etiquette in Everett¡¯s hometown as he spoke while chewing, causing droplets of food to spit it. Yuna didn¡¯t seem too keen on sharing, specifically with one with a clearlyrge appetite like the shielder, though shook her head while sharpening her dagger, ¡°It¡¯s a direct neighbor to Vasmoria, but they¡¯re separated by a dangerous stretch of water, so there¡¯s not much travel between them.¡± ¡°¡®The Foul Sea¡¯, right?¡± Emilio asked. The kingdom of Ygsdra was one that stood out to them among the civilizations he read about: thend of demi-humans, abundant in many tribes of humans mixed with beast traits, said to house grand beasts that would be considered high-end threats if upying the maind. ¡°That¡¯s right. You know your stuff,¡± Yuna confirmed, ¡°It¡¯s said to be where an old river god died, cursing its waters and the life within it¡­most boats that try to pass through those waters are capsized or outright wiped off the map. They say that the dead god still lurks in the depths.¡± Looking over at the girlish ¡®eep¡¯ that sounded out from the story that sounded fitting for a campfire talk, Emilio found Melisande to be sitting there quietly and curious to the story, leaving the one responsible for the noise to be Everett, who hugged his knees. Really, man¡­Emilio thought. ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask¡­¡± Yuna turned her sharp eyes over to Emilio. He looked up nervously, ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Why¡¯re you shirtless?¡± ¡°Oh, err¡­well,¡± He scratched his neck with an embarrassed chuckle, ¡°It got burned off.¡± Yuna looked at him silently for a moment before going back to cleaning her weapon, ¡°Ah. I see.¡± The cat woman stood up without a word, moving over to a bundle of leaves she had gathered previously, for a reason unknown to him, before beginning to fiddle with them. ¡°What¡¯re you doing?¡± Melisande asked curiously, watching. ¡°Making a cloak,¡± Yuna answered without looking back. ¡°A cloak?¡­With leaves?¡± Melisande tilted her head. While Everett was too busy stuffing his face with the hearty stew, Emilio moved over as well, watching as the demi-human woman swiftly crafted the cloak, presenting an actual, serviceable cloak of leaves, which she handed over to the young Dragonheart. ¡°For me?¡± He asked, epting it. Yuna stood up, ¡°¡­Don¡¯t take it as an act of kindness. If we¡¯re going to be working together, it¡¯ll be troublesome if you¡¯re encumbered by the weather.¡± Even though she said that, they all saw it as an act of kindness as Emilio threw it around his shoulders, allowing the neatly-connected leaves to cascade down his shoulders in a natural cloak. ¡°Thanks,¡± he said, looking down at his new covering. Yuna didn¡¯t respond, simply pulling her scarf over her mouth as if keeping her emotions up her sleeve. Chapter 213 The Grand Plan There was certainly a lot he was curious about when it came to the cat woman who he had found as a newpanion, especially in regards to the style that very closely resembled the ruthless ¡®Godless Style¡¯ that Vandread wielded. Yet, he knew asking directly would hardly get him anywhere close past that stone-cold exterior of Yuna¡¯s. If I¡¯m nosy, I might find that dagger pressed against my neck¡­I¡¯ve had enough of that for a lifetime, he thought. ¡°So, what now?¡± Everett asked after sessfully shoveling down arge portion of the stew, ¡°I mean, you guys were talking about there being some bad guys lurking ¡¯round here, right? I say we find ¡¯em and take ¡¯em out.¡± ¡°That¡¯s easier said than done, though,¡± Melisande responded. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right about that,¡± Everett breathed out. There was merit to taking the initiative, at least that¡¯s what Emilio thought, as it was tangible how on edge they all were with the looming threat of murderous recruits around. Still, he found it might be better to avoid Amon altogether. ¡°¡­This valley is huge and somebody like Amon seems to be experienced in moving quietly and unseen,¡± Emilio said, ¡°I think tracking him down before he finds us would be difficult, unless¡­¡± ¡°Unless?¡± Everett looked at him. The young mage looked over at Yuna, who was still wiping down her dagger before ncing back at him. ¡°Unless we had somebody who was just as capable as Amon¨Csomebody great at stealthiness themselves,¡± Emilio said in regards to the demi-human. Yuna pulled her hood down as her cat ears flicked, ¡°That¡¯s what you¡¯re getting at, then? What do you have in mind, exactly?¡± Emilio grabbed a stick, beginning to draw figures to represent the group in the dirt, ¡°Well, when ites to stealth and reconnaissance, I think I can safely say we would just slow you down, Yuna. So, we¡¯ll move in two separate groups, with you staying hidden and on our nk.¡± Drawing the representation of this into the dirt, it was made clear for Everett, who wasn¡¯t particrly the best at grasping the words leaving Emilio¡¯s mouth. ¡°I see. So, you want me to get the drop on Amon when he gets the drop on you?¡± Yuna asked, ¡°How does that help us find him?¡± Answering the pragmatic rogue¡¯s question, Emilio raised his hand, uttering a soft incantation of ¡°Smander. Undyne. Gnome. Sylph.¡± Above his hand, the four elemental lesser spirits manifested, bouncing in the air slightly as they blinked. ¡°Spirits?¡± Yuna raised an eyebrow. The young mage nodded, ¡°They can cover arge amount of ground. Once they spot Amon, two will return to our group, and two will go to you¨Cboth will alert us.¡± Melisande watched, leaning closer, ¡°¡­I¡¯ve got a question.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± Emilio looked over at her, stopping his inscriptions on the dirt. ¡°How is Amon going to be lured over once the spirits see him?¡± Melisande asked. A smile crept on Emilio¡¯s lips as he found the question leading to the core of his impromptu n, chuckling to himself as if he were some sort of mad scientist. ¡°Once the spirits find Amon, they¡¯ll attack him and immediately flee. We want Amon to be wary, make him explore¨Cthat way, he¡¯ll surely find us, however¡­¡± Emilio led his words. ¡°However?¡± Yuna squinted at him. Emilio was looking straight at her, ¡°Earlier you showed some proficiency at creating traps. I¡¯m sure Everett can attest to that.¡± The bumpkin shielder scratched his head out of shame, ¡°Yeah, yeah. I guess that was pretty crafty¨CI won¡¯t fall for that again, though!¡± It was starting toe together as Melisande and Yuna both scooted in closer to the drawing that Emilio made in the dirt, though Everett seemed to be a step behind. ¡°Trapsid around the campsite? I can do that. I was already nning on setting up new traps, seeing as how easily you all infiltrated,¡± Yuna said, folding her arms over her chest. ¡°So, we lure him towards the camp then get him trapped, then we¡­?¡± Melisande lingered her question. They all knew what she was implying, and there were clear differences in opinion right off the bat between the shielder and the rogue. ¡°We give him a good poundin¡¯ then tie him up,¡± Everett said. ¡°We eliminate him,¡± Yuna said. The difference in approaches caused the two to immediately look at each other as Everett¡¯s tone shifted, ¡°Killin¡¯ ain¡¯t the solution.¡± ¡°We¡¯re dealing with somebody who has killed by the dozen,¡± Yuna told him, ¡°It¡¯s us or him. I think you know the obvious answer to that.¡± Emilio already knew going in that there would be a simr reaction from Everett. After all, there was no doubt that the shielder had a heart of gold and a kind soul, though in this environment and path, the young Dragonheart knew that such things could only lead to pain. ¡°I ain¡¯t a killer,¡± Everett adamantly said. ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Yuna replied, ¡°I¡¯ll handle that part.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­!¡± Everett stood up. Immediately getting up to step between the two before anything escted, Emilio found the intensity to be tangible with therge-built man clenching his fist and the swift Chapter 214 Unknown Darkness It was a nerve wracking time, waiting around a campfire while his spirits scouted the surrounding area. Melisande and Everett hardly talked, obviously tense from the looming threat that they were intentionally provoking. Only briefly could he see the demi-human rogue in the shadows around the trees, slinging ropes over branches and assembling traps around the perimeter. I¡¯ve got to be prepared. This was my idea¡­Dragging a dangerous killer like Amon straight to the group. One wrong move, and somebody can die, he thought. ¡°So¡­nice night, isn¡¯t it?¡± Everett nervously made conversation. ¡°Not for long,¡± Melisande replied. ¡°Hey! I mean¡­you¡¯re probably not wrong, but stay positive!¡± Everett said. It was relieving to see that the bumpkin shielder was still as energetic as ever, though it onlysted so long as he saw a twinkle of blue light approaching in the distance. At first, he didn¡¯t quite understand what he was looking at, as he leaned forward from the log he was sitting on, looking directly past Melisande, who blushed slightly at the misunderstood stare. ¡°Wh-what is it?¡± Melisande asked. Emilio didn¡¯t answer until he figured it out, ¡°¡­It¡¯s Undyne.¡± They all turned back now, watching as the lesser spirit of water hovered past the shrubs and trees, passing by the others and stopping in front of Emilio. ¡°Did you find him? Did you lure him?¡± Emilio quietly asked. A few blinks came from the spirit in confirmation, prompting him to look up at the expressions of the others, who now held serious expressions, ready for what wasing. ¡°Alright, good job¡­¡± He quietly said. Through an internal call of his mana, the other of the lesser elemental spirits returned to him, which he kept on hisp to keep them hidden from the sight of Amon. ¡°Get ready,¡± Emilio said. ¡°Don¡¯t have to tell me¨CI¡¯m ready to go whenever,¡± Everett responded. ¡°I¡¯m ready too,¡± Melisande assured him. Getting confirmation of their preparedness, he nodded and looked towards the trees in the near distance, seeing Yuna stationed stealthily high up on the branches, exchanging a nod with her for further confirmation. He¡¯sing¡­I still don¡¯t know what style of swordy he was using, but it definitely was at a high-level¨Cstill, I¡¯m not alone, he thought. An eerily silent few minutes passed, crawling on slowly as they sat quietly, tense and ready to move at any moment. It felt as though the entire jungle was watching him; every de of grass, each piece of bark attached to the trunks of trees, and every breath of air, befalling the back of his neck. It was the loudest silence he¡¯d heard; keeping his staff held tightly in his hand as he looked forward. Everett was the same, having his shield ready in front of him while Melisande held her hand in such a way as though constantly envisioning a spell at her fingertips. The gnawing silence was finally interrupted as a rustling of bushes was heard, startling them all as Emilio immediately looked towards where it wasing from. Is it time? He questioned. As he got ready to fight, he found himself utterly confused by what happened next: all at once, every trapid around the perimeter of the campsite went off. Ropes flung up, smacking against branches in a frightening orchestra. The sound of steel shing resounded through the silent forest, prompting them all to be alert. Yuna jumped from the obscurance of the trees, holding two daggers as she breathed heavily, facing towards the forest. ¡°What happened?!¡± Melisande got up. Before any answer coulde, Emilio saw it: the figure dressed in all ck, with ck hair, and eyes just as dark, dashing in like a shadow of the night with his des aimed towards the silver-haired girl¡¯s neck. He¡¯s here¡­! Emilio thought. Raising his staff, he intercepted the lethal assault with a quickly released bullet of wind, shooting towards Amon, who easily evaded it with a swift flip to the side. ¡°Good reaction,¡± Amon smiled, ¡°A nice little trap you set up, though it didn¡¯t work out as nned, did it?¡± The bloodthirsty recruit held his twin daggers, flipping them rapidly before bursting forward again without a further word. This time, the group was prepared as Everett charged foremost with explosive strength, pushing his shield forward through the soil. ¡°Raaaaaagh-!¡± Everett roared out a warcry. Amon jumped out of the way of the blunt attack, ¡°Quite boorish, no?¡± Though the evasion didn¡¯t get the ck-dressed killer free from harm as a st of wind shot towards him, knocking against the man and redirecting his movement. ¡°Oh¨C¡± Amon reacted in surprise, catching himself on his feet, ¡°Not bad, Melisande.¡± The spell hade from the beginner mage¡¯s hand, though she felt disgusted to have her name used by the dead-eyed man. No harm befell the agile man from the spell, though it allowed Yuna to get in close, who used a swiftbination of shes aimed for Amon¡¯s neck, though not a single cutnded as the man proved to be apetent user of daggers himself. There was a constant smile on his lips with an unchanging void of emotion in his eyes as he nonchntly countered each of the demi-human¡¯s strikes. ¡°The Godless Style, yes?¡± Amon asked, ¡°Respectable, but you¡¯re not quite there yet.¡± Yuna ignored him, but was visibly annoyed as she tried ducking low, going for an evisceration on his abdominal region, though her steel only dragged through shadows. ¡°¨C!¡± The dagger-wielding woman was left in shock at the mystical evasion, looking up to find Amon directly above her with his dark boots pressed against the tree, rearing his daggers back for an attack of his own. ¡°Jump back!¡± Emilio called out. Yuna didn¡¯t hesitate to listen to the callout from the young Dragonheart as she leapt back, allowing Emilio to unleash a spear forged of water straight towards Amon¡¯s position. As it sailed through the air, traveling alongside Everett who intended to lock down the man with his shield, both the aquatic spear and Everett¡¯s shield were evaded as Amon dashed forward with unnatural swiftness. ¡°You¡¯ll never hit me with obvious attacks like that, big man,¡± Amon taunted. What they were fighting felt like a natural disaster; a sweeping tide of death that moved impeded forward, bringing death in its wake with a smile on his face. It was as if the dual dagger-wielding man had shifted into the very essence of shadows themselves, moving quietly and through the darkness as he dashed through the air,unching directly towards Emilio and Melisande. ¡­Fast! What the hell is this ability of his?! Emilio thought. Just before Amon got within range of the two, the young mage conjured a wall of stone between them, reinforcing it though it mattered little. The clean slice that Amon unleashed proved that he wasn¡¯t just swift, but packed power as well, emitting a darkness from the edge of his daggers that cleanly bisected the wall of stone. Emilio was ready though, stomping down as he summoned a geyser of water directly beneath Amon: ¡°Pir of The Ocean¡¯s Depth.¡± It took Amon by surprise; the water seemed to m against him with pressure equal to the deepest level of the ocean. ¡°Did you get him?!¡± Melisande asked. ¡°Don¡¯t jinx it¨C!¡± Emilio responded. Toote was it for such a callout as he noticed that he in fact failed tond a direct blow once again, finding it necessary to draw his sword now as the shadow of Amon swept through the water directly towards him. CLANG. The daggers wielded by the man shed against his sword, prompting Emilio to dig his boots down and summon his internal strength as he pushed back. ¡°You¡¯re a troublesome one,¡± Amon smiled. In a movement like a snake lunging forward, the ck-dressed killer managed to slip right through his guard, nearing the edge of his dagger towards Emilio¡¯s neck. ¡°Ghh¡­!¡± Before it could decapitate him, he summoned his scale armor, condensing it to his throat as Amon¡¯s de bounced off. ¡°Oh?¡± Amon reacted in surprise. The scales crumbled from the blow, leaving no evidence, though Emilio, feeling the true danger of the enemy before him now, dashed forward with reinforcement bolstering his speed, mming his fist forward. It wasn¡¯t an ordinary blow, instead summoning the draconic strength within into Dragon Strike, attempting to use blunt force against Amon, though that was insufficient as the man spun around the punch, causing them to meet de-to-de again. ¡°Very interesting,¡± Amon said, ¡°As I thought¨Cit really is fun fighting you!¡± Though before their sh could go further, the cold-blooded man of little mercy was forced to evade through the shadows once more as Yuna swiped at him from behind and Melisande used a st of wind. It felt impossible tond a blow on the elusive killer; he moved as the shadows themselves, racing across the open clearing between the trees as traces of darkness. ¡°What kind of magic is this?¡­I¡¯ve never seen something like it. Have you?¡± Melisande asked, catching her breath. Emilio wiped the sweat from his chin, ¡°¡­No. It looks like he¡¯s using darkness itself.¡± Maybe this is one of those special affinities that Roan mentioned¡­He thought. Chapter 215 The Dragonheart Awakens Once More There wasn¡¯t much time to think as Amon proved to be capable of holding the initiative even against the four, fading in-and-out from his shadow form while Everett continuously swung and mmed his shield towards him. ¡°¨CC¡¯mon, faster now,¡± Amon teased, ¡°Maybe you¡¯ll hit me, someday.¡± ¡°Raaagh! Shut it, wouldja?!¡± Everett roared. As Amon backpedaled while being chased by the shielder, Emilio attempted to turn the soil in his path to mud, though even without looking, the recruit killer seemed to possess a sixth sense as he jumped over it. Though the result of this was Everett instead slipping on the mud, falling to a knee, ¡°Gragh¡­!¡± ¡°Crap-!¡± Emilio gritted his teeth, feeling at fault. This provided an opening for Amon, who had a malevolent glint in his eyes as he dashed in, going for the kill before¨C Amon stopped, flipping one of his des behind him to deflect the iing needles that wereunched towards him,ing from the demi-human user of the Godless Style. Nice save, Yuna! Emilio thought. Though as Yuna tried to jump down from a tree to get the jump on Amon, she was read like a book: Amon used a precise kick straight to the woman¡¯s gut, causing her to spit out the air from her lungs before being flung back. ¡°Yuna!¡± Emilio was fast to summon a bed of gentle vines to soften Yuna¡¯snding, catching her in it. As Everett brought himself back to his feet, he charged forward again, attempting to bludgeon the foe with his shielder, only to bepletely reversed by Amon sweeping past him as a shadow. SQUELCH. A spray of blood came from Everett¡¯s side as Amon managed to cut through the leather weak point in his armor altogether, leaving a sh on his hip. ¡°Ghh-!¡± Everett winced, though pushed on. Amon held a smile as he wielded his blood-painted dagger, about to counter the enraged shielder¡¯s retaliation with a cut to his neck, only to be stopped as a rope of fire reached towards him. He¡¯s too elusive¡­! Emilio thought. The young Dragonheartmanded the rope made of mes, manipting it to try and ensnare Amon, though the recruit killer easily raced around the perimeter, attempting to go for a nk on the two mages before being intercepted by Yuna. CLANG. Sparks danced through the night air as the two rogue¡¯s shed in swift, repeated strikes. In the midst of the two¡¯s engagement, Emilio pondered on whether to tend to his friend¡¯s wound or aid Yuna in her attack, though the answer came from Everett himself, seeming to notice the young man¡¯s hesitation. ¡°Go, Emilio! I¡¯m fine!¡± Everett said, holding his side. Emilio hesitated a second longer, but nodded as he summoned the draconic force within him, gripping his sword handle tightly. If flinging raw spells are too slow to hit him, I need to y this differently! He thought. [Dragonheart System Activated.] [Current Stage: Dragon Son | 2/10] Amplifying himself with the burning blood of the Dragonheart, he dashed forward, though Amon noticed this, kicking Yuna back before blocking the iing strike from Emilio. The impact cracked the air as Amon suddenly found himself shrinking behind the unexpected jump in strength from the blonde-and-ck haired recruit. ¡°Woah!¡± Amon looked in surprise, smiling as sweat dripped down his cheek, ¡°¡­Where¡¯d thise from?¡± Using the [Dragonheart System] made the fire in him ignite; his mind was tampered by rage, amplified and exemplified through his words, ¡°I don¡¯t answer to murderers.¡± Emilio managed to overpower Amon, pressing forward and igniting a ze of azure mes that prompted the elusive murderer to jump back. ¡°That¡¯s hot!¡± Amon yfully said. Creating space between them, a new approach was taken by the recruit killer who momentarily stuck his des into the soil, pressing his palms together. A spell? Emilio sensed. Amon smiled as an aura of darkness swirled around him, emitting as an augury of death itself, ¡°Hold of The Abyss.¡± Something sparked Emilio to jump up as a shiver ran up his spine, using wind at his feet tounch upward. It seemed to be the right call by his instincts as he watched a wave of shadows outstretched from Amon¡¯s position, running over the grass and swallowing it in darkness in an instant. What is this? Emilio questioned. As he nced back to check on the others, his stomach dropped as he witnessed Melisande and Everett be caught in the shadows. ¡°The hell is this?! Get off of me!¡± Everett struggled. ¡°Ngh¡­! I can¡¯t move!¡± Melisande said. The darkness started from their feet and worked up, swallowing them before Emilio could do anything to aid them: they werepletely encapsted in darkness, brought to a still as the shadowspletely covered them. Yuna had the same instinct as him, managing to jump up in time to evade the swallowing darkness. ¡°I was hoping to capture you all with that, but oh well,¡± Amon said. The shadows stretching across the ground vanished, leaving only the statues of darkness that were now Melisande and Everett as the two untouched by Amon¡¯s nefarious magded back down. ¡°What the hell did you do to them!?¡± Emilio yelled out as azure embers poured off of him. Amon noticed his anger, smirking, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they¡¯re not dead¨Cyet.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that¡­?¡± ¡°I mean, they¡¯re alive for now, but not for long,¡± Amon raised five fingers, ¡°Five minutes: after that, the abyss will consume them.¡± It was a daunting revtion, but one that promoted a spark of hope as hispanions weren¡¯t quite lost yet, bringing him further gripping his de. Yuna stood beside him, speaking quietly, ¡°Don¡¯t let yourself be moved by emotion. You need to keep a clear head right now, or he¡¯ll win.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Emilio responded. Still, the blood running through his veins boiled, appearing in their ckened state as they pressed against his pale skin. If I kill him, they will be freed from the spell, he decided. ¡°I¡¯ll follow your lead,¡± Yuna said. It seemed that throughout the battle, the demi-human woman came to realize the strength wielded by Emilio, who wholeheartedly epted this. ¡°Alright.¡± Without any further conversation, he led the initiative, bursting forward with wind at his heel as Amon met him halfway with a smile, dashing with shadows cascading down his cloak. It was what Emilio wanted, stomping down and revealing that his rush was a faint as he instead swiped his hand, unleashing a blue ze towards Amon. ¡°¨C!¡± The dead eyes of Amon sparked for a moment as the draconic mes swept towards him. Though the recruit killer evaded the azure inferno, it seemed to have reached him momentarily as he ditched his top entirely, having small burn marks on him. ¡°This is what I was looking for!¡± Amon excitedly said, ¡°¨CSomebody worth killing! Come now!¡± ¡°Are you forgetting somebody?¡± Whispered into Amon¡¯s ear, Yuna appeared without her movements leaving a trace, causing the burned killer to have to swing around before blocking her shes, though an attack got through his guard. A cut etched itself across Amon¡¯s bare chest before he was kicked across the clearing. Amon caught himself, flipping over onto his feet andughed. ¡°Ha-ha! This is it! More!¡± Amon smiled brightly. More came as he was rushed by Emilio, who swung with strength amplified by his Dragonheart awakening, catching Amon by surprise as when the man tried deflecting a blow, his dagger was flung from his grip altogether. When it came to the life of hisrades, Emilio felt no such shackles on his heart regarding mercy, gripping the handle of his sword so tightly he feared it may crumble beneath his fingers. As he reared his sword back for another strike, he summoned azure mes along the length of his de, zing in a rage as he stomped forward with a look of utter contempt buried in his draconic eyes. In a whisper, Amon invoked a spell in his position that would surely be death, ¡°¨CAbyss Mirage.¡± Just as Emilio swept his de forward with such intent that the sh cut through the soil and burned forward through the clearing, it cut only through a shadow bearing the appearance of Amon. A fake?! Emilio realized. It was a trap; cutting the shadow triggered a dormant effect of the spell as the darkness bubbled up before exploding directly in Emilio¡¯s face. ¡°Emilio!¡± Yuna called out. Though the Dragonheart managed to endure the underhanded spell, flung back but caught himself. The explosive of ck mes pressed against his skin, pelting him with a scathing pain that shredded his skin and the nerves below with gruesome efficiency. One of his arms waspletely twisted around, his left ear was blown off, and chunks of his body werepletely charred, but surprising to both Yuna and the recruit killer, the young man¡¯s body mended itself with ck threads. He¡¯s recovering? From that? Yuna thought. Amon seemed delighted, ¡°Now, that is something special. I¡¯ve lucked outing here!¡± However, that joy was soon turned over as the burning rage of the Dragon pushed onward with time ticking, prompting a further increase from Emilio as the azure scales stretched over the rest of his body turning into an armor. [Current Stage: Dragon Warrior | 3/10] In an instant, Emiliounched forward, closing the distance between himself and Amon before the man could so much as blink. What¡­? Amon thought. Chapter 216 A Dull Victory Through the folly of shadows, the ck-eyed man vanished as the Dragonheart¡¯s fist prated the air with ferocious force, unleashing a st of draconic force that carved through the soil before him. The strike itself caused the wind to crack like the bellowing roar of a winged beast, coalescing fallen leaves into a spiral. Amon warped behind the scale-d Dragonheart, emerging from the shadows cast on the ground as he swung his daggers towards the neck of his opponent. CLANG. For the first time, the recruit killer found his own blood running could as his killing strike failedpletely with his sturdy, steel des bouncing right off of the Dragonheart¡¯s scales. Unlike before, hardly a scratch was etched into the scales, digging perhaps not even an inch deep as if attempting to slice a te of steel with a butterknife. ¡°That¡¯s concerning,¡± Amon said with a small smile. In a swift spin, the Dragonheart spun around with a kick delivered to Amon¡¯s side, who countered by conjuring a shadowy spell: ¡°Abyss Tendril.¡± From his palm, Amon summoned a binding of darkness, ducking beneath the iing kick and wrapping the rope of shadows around the Dragonheart¡¯s leg. ¡°Got you,¡± Amon smirked. Though that confidence was immediately stolen as Yuna leaped in, using her de to cut the nebulous rope in half. ¡°¨C!¡± The recruit killer reacted troublesomely. Before the man could react further, the silent Dragonheart used his monstrou speed tounch forward, taking Amon by surprise as he cocked his fist back, boiling it in the draconic essence that thrived in his blood. Finally, a solid blow connected as he sank his fist straight into Amon¡¯s gut, unleashing the full might of the Dragon Strike as azure embers sparked and cracked. In that moment directly before the impact, Amon managed to summon a small piece of abyssal armor on his abdomen, mitigating the blow but still feeling it greatly before he was knocked away. ¡°Pyuh-!¡± Amon spit blood out before crashing against a tree. This time, a serious look embedded itself in the killer¡¯s eyes as his smile faded, bing half-shifted into shadows before stepping to the side and¨Cvanishing. Yunapletely lost track of Amon, who circled around the two before suddenly, shes of shadows were sent their way, prompting Yuna to begin dodging. However, the Dragonheart didn¡¯t evade, instead simply deflecting the rangeless cuts of darkness with his scale-armored forearms. This time, Yuna engaged Amon, though there was little the nimble demi-human could do as the man repeatedly warped in-and-out of the shadows, able to attack in unorthodox ways as he spun his des, gathering shadows that exploded, knocking her back. It was only through a stream of draconic fire that Amon was forced to jump back into the shadows, saving Yuna by a hair. Appearing again, using the shadows cast on the trees to move around swiftly, Amon propelled towards the Dragonheart, aimed solely on him as he used another spell: ¡°Abyss Grasp.¡± Limbs of darkness reached out from the soil, gripping onto the Dragonheart to pin him down, tightening their somber grip on his body. Though as Amon came within range of the Dragonheart, a burst of azure mes emitted from the Dragonheart¡¯s position with a brutal shock wave, mming Amon back. There was no mercy for the recruit killer as he coughed out blood, picking himself up to find the Dragonheart already before him, wielding his sword in a zing glory that sizzled with its very own augury of death. It was a fresh sensation for the battle-loving murderer, feeling chills run over his body at the sight of such inhuman strength before him; the heat of the azure scales gave off as an exudence of the Dragonheart¡¯s burning will. ¡°¨CMagnificent,¡± Amon said quietly with a satisfied smile. The sh that was unleashed from the Dragonheart¡¯s swung sword carved through the space in front of him, tearing through the slumbering trees with the wind pressure and burning, blue mes. It was a destructive blow, catching Yuna off-guard as she witnessed the destion of the area directly in front of the sword swing. The air itself was sliced, howling out as a gust blew back, moving even Yuna¡¯s burgundy hair as she withstood the wind pressure. There was no doubt such an impact would kill Amon, though after the trees crumbled and the foliage was burnt away, Amon revealed himself¨Cbearing arge gash across his chest and spitting out blood. ¡­I would¡¯ve died if I didn¡¯t use mirage again. Still, it blew up and he didn¡¯t even flinch this time? What a monster. Still, I have a mission of my own, Amon thought. In those hollow irises belonging to the recruit killer, new life shined; excitement beyond his wildest dreams, though he restrained himself. ¡°I am sorry to say, but I¡¯ll be taking my leave now,¡± Amon told them. ¡°No, you¨C!¡± Yuna began to say. Amon interrupted, putting his hands together, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I appreciate the entertaining battle, so I¡¯ll let your friends go as a good gesture. Though, I won¡¯t be so kind next time we meet.¡± Following the recruit killer¡¯s words, they proved true as the shadows that ensnared the others shattered, causing both Melisande and Everett to gasp out before falling to their knees. [Level Up!] [Level Eighteen Achieved.] [¡°Heat Resistance¡± Acquired.] Surprising to him in that brief moment, he not only acquired experience but leveled up entirely despite not ying his opponent. ¡°So long,¡± Amon said. Before Yuna could try to follow, the shadow-user vanished without a trace, leaving the burgundy-haired demi-human annoyed as she clicked her tongue. ¡°Damn¡­!¡± Yuna let out. Though Emilio wasn¡¯t focused on that as he allowed the scale armor to crumble away, coughing out from the strain pushed onto him from the third stage before rushing over to hisrades. ¡°Are you alright¡­?¡± He asked. Melisande slowly nodded, though her eyes widened as she looked over at Everett, ¡°I am, but he¡¯s not! He got cut badly!¡± ¡°Oh, right¡­!¡± Emilio remembered. Though Everett tried acting tough and iming it was only a ¡®scratch¡¯, none of them listened as Emilio forcefully cast healing magic on the shielder¡¯s shed side. ¡°Damn¡­he got me good,¡± Everett said, ruffling his own hair with the sound of wounded pride in his voice. ¡°Really, what was that?¡­All I saw was darkness then¡­It was like I was trapped in my own mind,¡± Melisande said, holding her head. Yuna kept an eye out, staying on guard with her arms folded over her chest, ¡°He didn¡¯t use anything like that when I encountered him. What about you? Have any ideas, mage?¡± The cold-eyed demi-human was obviously referring to Emilio with his question. He finished off closing Everett¡¯s wound, though there was a scar left in his side. Emilio wiped the blood from his hands before standing up, shaking his head, ¡°Not a clue. I¡¯ve never heard of ¡®dark¡¯ magic like that¨Cnot in any text or from other mages. Either it¡¯s something inherent to him, or there¡¯s secrets out there.¡± ¡°I see¡­well, at least we have more knowledge,¡± Yuna said. That didn¡¯t seem to leave Emilio satisfied as he clenched his fists, ¡°But he¡¯s still out there. It¡¯s my fault¡­If I just followed through with thatst swing¡­¡± Yuna tapped his shoulder, ¡°Don¡¯t beat yourself up over it. This was a team effort, wasn¡¯t it? Besides, he¡¯s not striking anytime soon. Don¡¯t forget, you left him pretty badly messed up.¡± It was somewhat relieving, though it was unnerving that such a nebulous foe was still prowling the valley. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true,¡± he epted. Calling it a night, they set up camp in a different location, once more prompting Yuna to build new tents and Emilio to raise new walls while Melisande and Everett got to work on a campfire. It was quiet between them; Yuna sat atop a tree branch, keeping watch while the others sat around the campfire, cooking a boar that Melisande and Everett somehow managed to catch. Though going by the tear in the silver-haired girl¡¯s skirt, it didn¡¯t seem to go wlessly. ¡°Sorry,¡± Emilio said out of the blue. It was pointed towards the mannerless shielder, who raised an eyebrow while chewing boar meat, swallowing it down before responding, ¡°Sorry? For what?¡± ¡°I caused you to trip during the battle,¡± Emilio scratched his arm, ¡°You could¡¯ve died¨Cthat¡¯s my fault.¡± Everett was quiet for a moment beforeughing, ¡°Is that it? That¡¯s not on you! I¡¯m just clumsy is all, really!¡± It was always reassuring to speak to the bright-eyed, energetic recruit who unquestionably had a big heart, feeling to Emilio like an older brother he never had despite their short tenure together. ¡°¡­Thanks,¡± Emilio smiled. Melisande slowly chewed the tough, cooked meat, ¡°Err¡­Emilio.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± She looked straight at him with her emerald irises, ¡°¡­I know you¡¯re probably tired, but after this, do you think you can teach me some more? It¡¯s just¡­¡± ¡°I get it,¡± he said, nodding, ¡°Sure, I¡¯m up for it.¡± It was an answer that was a pleasant surprise to the girl¡¯s ears as she smiled, ¡°Really?! Thanks!¡± Chapter 217 Chat Over The Campfire Boar meat was something he was used to, seeing as Yullim was heavily popted by them and something Julius hunted quite often, being prepared by Treyna from tough meat into a savory meal. However, when simply cooked over a me without any seasoning or sauce, it was a far cry from what he was used to from Treyna¡¯s cooking, though he didn¡¯t mind. I can¡¯t wait to have Mother¡¯s cooking again¡­He thought. After he finished his meal, he began giving Melisande lessons, helping her expand her arsenal of magic from simple wind sts to more versatile forms. ¡°Persistent through breaths of the skies, cover and seal, Gentle Gale!¡± Melisande invoked. Manifesting from the invocation was a perpetual wind thattched onto the stone meant as her target, entrapping it in midair. It was a spell meant to encapste the desired target, ensnaring it in the spot of impact with a swirl of constant wind to lock the object down. ¡°You did it. Good job,¡± he told her with a smile, standing aside to watch. A smile formed on her lips, though she returned back to her serious expression, ¡°Alright¡­Alright!¡± Though Emilio wasn¡¯t the biggest advocate for sticking to a single element, Melisande didn¡¯t have that privilege, neither in time nor the adequate affinity for the other natural elements. Still, her talent for wind left him surprised each time. She catches on quickly. Even without a grimoire in front of her and my half-baked lessons, she¡¯s able to use it, he thought. It wasn¡¯t mastered quite yet, as ¡°Gentle Gale¡± at a beginner level could only work to hold light objects or heavier objects for a brief time, but from there, she could practice on her own. Next, Emilio guided her on a defensive usage of wind, which he knew was going to be a steeper learning curve. ¡°Alright, pay attention¨CI¡¯ll show you the incantation and break it down for you,¡± he said, stepping forward. Melisande nodded, watching intently, ¡°Got it.¡± Standing firmly, he held his hand out in front of him, invoking the necessary words, ¡°Firm and unbreakable is Sylph¡¯s gale. Stand strong and defend: Storm Wall!¡± The air in front of him momentarilypressed then expanded, generating a breeze that spun des of grass and leaves alike around him before bing tangible in front of him. It took the form of an incorporeal shield in front of him, forged from winds that resembled fog. ¡°¡­A shield? I didn¡¯t know you could make that with wind,¡± Melisande said in awe. Emilio looked at her while holding the spell, ¡°When using this, I imagine a strong shield in front of me. You can¡¯t shy away from whatever ising towards you. With everything you have, you need to trust that nothing can reach you¨Cembody the sturdy essence of the spell and stand strong.¡± ¡°Alright¡­I think I¡¯ve got it,¡± Melisande nodded. Though once the girl tried it for herself, repeating the incantation, most of what she summoned were small walls of wind barely the size of her palm, orrge barriers that protected her from nothing. After trying it out a dozen times, Melisande gasped out, catching her breath, ¡°This one is so much harder¡­!¡± ¡°I know,¡± Emilio chuckled, ¡°How about we call it a night?¡± Melisande shook her head, wiping the sweat from her chin, ¡°You can, but I need to get this.¡± Though he was hesitant to encourage the girl to push herself so hard, he chose to respect her resolve and nodded, giving her a thumbs-up before heading into the tent of leaves designated for him. I understand that drive well, he thought. Inside of the tent, he didn¡¯t go to sleep right away, instead pulling out his tinkerer¡¯s journal to begin studying again. It wasn¡¯t just the two practitioners of magic; Yuna cleaned her daggers and stood on the branch, practicing her footwork as if training against an imagination of Amon. Bolstering his strength, Everettmitted to doing hundreds of push-ups throughout the night, d in sweat while wearing his armor. Even if the fight wasn¡¯t won, it prompted them all to sharpen their fangs, readying for the next encounter with Amon or any beast that crossed their paths. [Day Four of Seven] The morning that came was unwee for him as he stayed up all night, though there was little choice as he received a light impact to his leg. ¡°Wha¨C¡± His eyes opened, blinking tiredly. Standing outside of the leaf-made tent, the darkly-dressed demi-human had her arms crossed, ¡°It¡¯s morning already. Get up.¡± Though it was a rude awakening, he appreciated the fact he was woken up at all as he responded, picking himself up with a yawn, ¡°Alright, alright.¡± Patting down his body and stretching, he was relieved to find he wasn¡¯t incredibly sore from using stage three of his Dragonheart transformation. I didn¡¯t think about it before, but the Undying Blood really allows me to push myself, even with the strain of the Dragonheart¡­Maybe I¡¯ll be able to conquer stage three soon, he thought. It seemed Melisande woke up before him, or by the looks of it, was woken up by Yuna as she tiredly rubbed her eyes, sitting by the campfire where fish was being grilled. ¡°Morning,¡± he said, sitting beside her. ¡°Mornin¡¯¡­¡± Melisande yawned. Thest to be woken up was Everett, who after not stifling his snores from a light kick, received a sharp boot to the side, jolting the man awake as he jumped to his feet. ¡°Who¨C? Wha¨C?! Where¨C?!¡± Everett looked around, on guard before seeing Yuna ring down at him, ¡°¡­Oh, it¡¯s just you.¡± As the shielder was about toy back down, he sniffed the air, smelling the cooking fish before snapping awake with a smile. ¡°Breakfast?¡± Everett walked over, rubbing his hands together hungrily. Though as he was about to pluck one of the fishes off of the stick above the me, his hand was pped swiftly by Yuna. ¡°Ow¨Cwhat the heck was that for?!¡± Everett looked over. The demi-human didn¡¯t bother looking at him as her tail flicked behind her, twirling the sticks above the fire to properly cook the grilled fish, ¡°It¡¯s not done yet. You can eat when it¡¯s ready.¡± ¡°Sheesh¡­Talk about cold-blooded,¡± the bumpkin muttered. After the fish finished cooking and they all took their portions, Emilio watched as Yuna ate, nibbling on the fish like a cat while her tail swayed behind her. It was surprisingly adorableing from the sharp-eyed woman with an even sharper arsenal of des. She really is like a cat. So cute, he thought. ¡°What¡¯re you thinking, Emilio? You¡¯ve got that weird look on your face again,¡± Melisande asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Ah¡­nothing,¡± he chuckled, focusing on the fish. As they sat around the campfire, finishing up their fishy breakfast, Emilio noticed the cat woman staring at him quite frequently, and not shying away from it. Finally, he gave in, ¡°Is there something you want to say?¡± Yuna looked at him a moment longer before nodding, ¡°You don¡¯t need to answer me, but I¡¯d like to know just what that wasst night. I¡¯m not a mage myself, but I don¡¯t believe spells exist that cover you in scales and grant you such strength.¡± It wasn¡¯t as though he was trying to hide it, but the Dragonheart System wasn¡¯t something he quite knew how to exin, but there was no point in trying to avoid it, especially as Everett looked like a giddy child on this topic. ¡°It¡¯s¡­well, not really a spell, per se. Let¡¯s just say it¡¯s a power unique to my bloodline, alright?¡± Emilio said, taking another bite of fish, ¡°It¡¯s my dragonblood¨Cit gives me the abilities of a dragon.¡± ¡°Really?! You did somethin¡¯ like that?! Man, that¡¯s awesome!¡± Everett said happily. Exining it sounded embarrassing, like making up a yground ability, though it lightened him up to see the shielder so enthralled by the nebulous ability he possessed. ¡°Yeah, it seems to evolve as I fight¡­recently, I learned to do this,¡± Emilio said. Showcasing the skill he was referring to, he raised his arm, manifesting a gauntlet of azure scales around his forearm for the others to see. Again, Everett had sparkles in his eyes as he poked and touched the draconic scales like a child, murmuring about how he wished he had a skill like that, though decided his armor was better. ¡°Hey, howe you never told me this much?¡± Melisande pouted. ¡°You never asked,¡± he chuckled. Yuna put her hand to her chin, nodding, ¡°I see. That¡¯s quite something. I¡¯ve heard of some abilities like that¨Cunique powers that evolve as the wielder¡¯s fight.¡± ¡°Really? I¡¯ve never met anybody else with a power like mine,¡± Emilio asked, leaning forward curiously. It was true; in all the years he spent on Arcadius, he was still surprised he had yet to find another System wielder, or even another reincarnated person such as himself. Though he didn¡¯t intentionally look, it was still shocking. Yuna nodded to confirm, ¡°I should add that it¡¯s all just rumors, though. It¡¯s undoubtedly a very rare talent. That means you should be careful¨Crarity means value, and value means drawing the avarice of those with less than good intentions.¡± ¡°Thanks, but I already figured that out a long time ago¡­¡± Emilio smiled wryly. Chapter 218 Yearning For Tomorrow After finishing their breakfast, there was finally a moment of calm found in the world-ss trial as the sound of birds chirping filled the jungle sector of the valley. The early portions of the day were spent by him getting more reading time in, delving into further sections of the journal while Melisande continued practicing the spells she was taught. He sat on a log just outside of his tent with his journal in his hands and his staff between his arms, periodically looking over to make sure Melisande was practicing properly and seeing Yuna sharpening her arsenal of des. Everett picked his shield up, ¡°Alright, how¡¯s about I take care of lunch n¡¯ dinner for today?¡± ¡°Sure, need help?¡± Emilio looked up. The shielder shook his head, ¡°I¡¯ve got this! You all just rest up and leave it to me!¡± It was difficult to imagine how one would efficiently hunt meals with a shield, especially carrying such burdensome armor, though Emilio chose to not to question it before he simply nodded. Melisande and Yuna didn¡¯t have any qualms with this either, seeing as they were busy with their own activities, leaving Everett to happily march out to hunt. I hope he can catch a hog. I can go for some bacon, Emilio thought. Since it was dangerous within the valley, the deal was between the group that if anybody was to travel alone, it¡¯d be only a short perimeter from the camp. Still, Emilio hardly felt as though somebody as tough as Everett would need babysitting. While he continued reading his journal in peace over the next few minutes, he was quickly proven wrong by his assumption on Everett as the sound of the man yelling and rapid footsteps quickly approached the camp. Everybody was on their feet, preparing for a fight as the armord man rushed back into the camp, stumbling and nearly tripping as he breathed heavily. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?!¡± Emilio asked, stuffing his journal away. ¡°Th-they¡¯reing!¡± Everett said. ¡°Who¡¯sing¨C?¡± Yuna pressed him for information. It was hard to dig an answer out of the frantic bumpkin as he was out of breath, seemingly having to run all the way back. ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s¡­!¡± Everett tried to exin. Though before the shaggy-haired shielder could get it out, ¡°what¡± was approaching became known, both in sound and appearance as Melisande noticed first. ¡°Err, you all¡­Are those monkeys?¡± The silver-haired girl pointed out. As Emilio looked towards the direction Everett ran in from, his stomach dropped at the sight of dozens, if not a hundred strong, abnormallyrge monkeys swinging through the trees, howling and shrieking with their teeth bared. Killer monkeys?! He realized. ¡°Run!¡± Emilio called out. It hardly needed to be said as they began racing in the opposite direction together, abandoning their camp. Yuna briefly turned around, flinging throwing knives to the trees to try and lessen the apes¡¯ numbers, though she quickly realized the futility of it as the swarm continued sweeping through the trees above. ¡°Tch,¡± the sharp-eyed woman clicked her tongue before continuing to run. Itpletely filled the jungle; the apes¡¯ war cries and the sound of them jumping from tree-to-tree, using vines to swing while some raced across the jungle soil. ¡°¡­I-I¡¯m outta breath here!¡± Everett huffed out,gging behind. Emilio nced back, noticing the shielder was breathing hard and moving slower than the rest, undoubtedly going to get caught by the ape swarm. ¡°He¡¯s not going to make it¡­!¡± Melisande said, looking over at Emilio. It was clear that he needed to do something, but what that something was still posed a question to him as he had little time to decide. ¡­C¡¯mon! He thought. Pointing his hand back towards Everett, he manifested his intent of sturdy rock through the formation of a giant hand forged of soil and stone, scooping the shielder up who yelled out at first before realizing what was happening. It took an immense amount of focus to keep the stone hand conjured while having it constantly hover forward while carrying dense baggage. ¡°Oh¨C! ¡®Preciate it!¡± Everett called out. ¡°Save your breath! I¡¯m not holding your heavy ass forever!¡± Emilio responded. What made running from the flood of rabid apes even more troublesome was the geography; curtains of verdant tendrils hung from trees, fallen logs obscured the path, and constant dips made it difficult to traverse the terrain in a hurry. ¡°Ah¨C!¡± While running, Melisande tripped over a jutted-out rock, falling down, which was certainly a death sentence in the current situation. Emilio was too far to the side to make it in time to help her, though he was about to try, only stopping as another went to aid the girl. ¡°Ngh¡­!¡± Melisande winced, looking back. To the girl¡¯s surprise, she received a helping hand from Yuna. It was unexpected to her, thinking the demi-human rogue was only in it for herself, but she epted the cat woman¡¯s hand gratefully. ¡°Thanks,¡± Melisande nodded after being helped up. ¡°Come on¨Cwe¡¯ve got to move!¡± Yuna told her. The shrieks and cries of the teeth-bearing apes continued echoing behind them as pebbles were tossed. ¡°Are you good now?!¡± Emilio asked, ncing over. Everett was still resting on the hovering stone hand, seeming to growfortable on it but nodding as he hopped off, ¡°Yeah! Thanks!¡± Not a second was wasted by Emilio after the man hopped off from the rock appendage, making use of it by rocketing it towards the swarm of apes, knocking a group of them back harshly. ¡°Hah! Serves you right!¡± Everett called out, pointing back at the monkeys. ¡°Eyes forward, man!¡± Emilio yelled. ¡°Right!¡± The shielder nodded, focusing on running. It was a long stretch of running without stopping, causing the group to have to slide down a hill of flowers, push through dense foliage, and cross a river before crossing the boundary from the jungle back to a familiar biome. After leaving the jungle, the howling monkeys seemed to stop at the edge of the territory, finally leaving them a moment to rest. ¡°¡­Hah..!¡± Melisande dropped down, catching her breath. Everett did the same, plopping down on a patch of gravel as he let out a heavy breath, sweating profusely. ¡°I never would¡¯ve thought this trial would¡­include getting chased by monkeys¡­¡± Everett said between breaths. ¡°That makes two of us,¡± Emilio added, sitting down to regain himself as well. Yuna wasn¡¯t hard of breath or fatigued in the least, standing and leaning against a tree as she kept watch quietly. ncing around, Emilio wiped the sweat from his chin, ¡°Back to the forest, huh?¡± ¡°Kinda missed it,¡± Everett chuckled, breathing out. It was difficult for him to disagree with Everett¡¯s words while sitting there, seeing in the distance that the horde of apes quietly watched them from the territorial line of the jungle. There was no part of him that wanted to return to the jungle biome with the killer monkeys sharing the ce. Yeah, I think I prefer this part of the valley, thank you, he thought. Minutes were spent solely on Everett catching his breath before the group moved on as a whole, moving into the tall woods while they still had the light of the artificial daytime on their backs. ¡°Do you think Amon came back here, too?¡­¡± Melisande asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it¡¯s not worth being worried about,¡± Emilio answers, using his staff as a walking stick, ¡°Though the image of him being chased out by those monkeys is pretty funny¡­¡± ¡°He-he, that is,¡± Everett chuckled. The most noticeable change from the jungle sector to the forest was theck of oversized insects and frequent snakes, which seemed to be much to Melisande¡¯s relief as she no longer had to walk around waving her arms and dodging falling bugs. ¡°I was thinking¡­we¡¯re halfway through now,¡± Melisande remarked. ¡°Yeah,¡± Everett responded. ¡°It feels like we¡¯ve been here forever¡­I guess these have just been really long days,¡± Melisande noted. Emilio felt the same, missing the outside world from the isted valley that was much kinder than the malignant creatures stored here, ¡°After we get our world-ss insignia, we can go anywhere we want. Where do you want to go first?¡± The question was posed to the others in the group, prompting them all to think before the first one to answer quite quickly was Everett. ¡°My first stop is Ennage!¡± The shielder imed with vigor. ¡°Ennage? That¡¯s the continent of demons, right?¡± Emilio asked for rification. Everett nodded, ¡°Yeah! I heard they¡¯ve got the wildest food you can imagine¨Ccolossal serpent meat, minotaur marrow¨Call of it!¡± ¡°Food is all that¡¯s on your mind, isn¡¯t it?¡± Yuna sighed. The Milligardian bumpkin seemed offended by the tone of the demi-human¡¯s words, ¡°Oh yeah? Then what¡¯s your first ce?¡± It took Yuna a moment to respond as she seemed reserved in her motivations, moving with silent steps over a small stream, hiding her mouth with her scarf before answering, ¡°¡­I¡¯d like to see Bellmisa.¡± ¡°Bellmia? Why¡¯s that?¡± Emilio asked. It wasn¡¯t a country he¡¯d read much about, though it was treated as a ¡®neutral¡¯ force by all kingdoms on the human continent; thend where the ¡®Grand Church¡¯ rules as the supreme governmental force. ¡°Well¡­I¡¯m told it¡¯s a beautiful ce,¡± Yuna nced away. Clear enough to him was that the red-haired rogue wasn¡¯t exactly happy to continue rifying, so he instead looked beside him to Melisande. ¡°What about you?¡± Melisande looked at him, ¡°Err, well¡­¡± ¡°What is it?¡± He looked at her. ¡°I was going to save this for after we made it through the trial, but¡­¡± Melisande fiddled with her silver tufts, ¡°¡­I think I¡¯m going to stay in Vasmoria after this.¡± Chapter 219 Ensnaring Fog ¡°I was going to save this for after we made it through the trial, but¡­¡± Melisande fiddled with her silver tufts, ¡°¡­I think I¡¯m going to stay in Vasmoria after this.¡± ¡°Huh? Really?¡± Emilio looked surprised. It was the first he¡¯d heard of this, and it was clear that Melisande knew the impact of such news as she looked down, only briefly meeting his eyes. ¡°I saw it when we were in Indasia. The mage academies in Vasmoria are famous around the world¨Cand with the money I¡¯ll earn working as an adventurer, I¡¯ll be able to attend sses,¡± Melisande exined. ¡°You¡¯ve been putting a lot of thought into this haven¡¯t you?¡­¡± Emilio asked, holding a mncholic smile. Everett added in, ¡°One of my ol¡¯ friends went to Vasmoria to learn magic! He¡¯s pretty sessful now as a tutor, though¡­he doesn¡¯t respond to my letters anymore.¡± Brushing the bumpking¡¯s words aside, Emilio continued, ¡°I guess I¡¯m not a very good teacher, am I?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that! You¡¯re a great teacher¨Creally, Emilio!¡± Melisande rified. ¡°Then?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s just¡­after the battlest night, I realized as I am right now, I¡¯m just holding you back,¡± Melisande exined, ¡°It¡¯s not just that one time¨Cit¡¯s been like this. I understand I¡¯m inexperienced, but if I do this, you won¡¯t have to coddle me anymore.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind¨C¡± Emilio tried to reason. Melisande stopped him, ¡°Emilio, please. This is what I¡¯ve decided is best for me.¡± It took him a moment to ept it as he opened his mouth, about to try and reason otherwise, but nodded, ¡°Alright then. But, you better send me letters about how it¡¯s going¨CI can¡¯t have you flunking and making me look bad,¡± he yfully said. The silver-haired girlughed, pridefully cing her hands on her hips, ¡°I¡¯ll ace everything they throw at me, don¡¯t worry about me.¡± After that unexpected revtion, they continued moving on before the quiet demi-human who kept a quicker pace, staying ahead of the rest, spoke out. ¡°What about you, blondie?¡± Yuna said. ¡°Huh?¡± Emilio looked ahead. Yuna rified, ¡°Where¡¯s the first ce you want to go?¡± ¡°Oh,¡± he let out, putting his hand to his chin, ¡°Err¡­¡± Though he initially posed the question, he hadn¡¯t put much thought into it himself yet as the others looked at him, awaiting his answer. Pondering it, when he truly questioned where he wanted to go, he found himself only with one answer as a natural smile appeared across his lips. ¡°I think I¡¯ll go pay my folks a visit,¡± Emilio said. The genuine, wholesome answer drew a smile from the others as well, though Yuna¡¯s was questionable as she kept her mouth hidden with the fabric of her scarf. ¡°Home, huh? Not a bad idea,¡± Everett said. ¡°Yeah, I think I¡¯ve worried them enough by now,¡± Emilioughed. ¨C Trekking through the forest, none of it was recognizable to the parts he explored when first arriving in the valley, though the group found themselves now hiding together behind a mossy boulder. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. Passing through was a behemoth with mossy and small shrubs growing on its rocky hide, stomping through with a size that produced tremors with each stop. ¡°Imagine how much meat he¡¯d bring¡­¡± Everett whispered, almost salivating. ¡°Imagine how t we¡¯d be if he stepped on us,¡± Emilio retorted. Such beasts were equal parts aweing and terrifying; grand in size and appearance, though something he hardly felt like being noticed by. After the heavyset beast passed by, the four moved on, delving deeper into the woods while keeping an eye out for malicious critters and people alike. ¡°I¡¯m just going to say it,¡± Everett dered, ¡°I think we should¡¯ve taken out that rock beast.¡± ¡°¡­And why¡¯s that?¡± Melisande asked. Yuna stopped her, ¡°You already know that. There¡¯s only one thing that motivates that man.¡± ¡°Right¡­food,¡± Melisande sighed. There was no denial from the shielder, only doubling down as he marched onward, ¡°Food is the source of life, and that thing had a helluva lot of it, I¡¯m telling ya¡¯!¡± ¡°I think you¡¯ve had enough food for a lifetime,¡± Yuna calmly responded. Such a response stifled Everett for a moment as his brain processed what she meant, ¡°Hey! What¡¯s that supposed to mean?!¡± The boisterous remarks from Everett and the scathing rebuttals from Yuna that tended to follow left Emilio only hoping he didn¡¯t conjure a headache amidst the already troublesome situation they found themselves stuck in for the next few days. Though something finally of intrigue was found as he led the way, pushing past a tall shrub to find a surprising sight: a quiet lodge sitting in the middle of the forest. ¡°¡­A lodge? Here?¡± He remarked. Following behind him, Yuna stopped as well, ¡°Hmm¡­That¡¯s not conspicuous at all.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know, right?¡± Emilio agreed, ¡°I mean¡­who¡¯d be living out here, anyway?¡± Though some caution was taken, it waspletely irrelevant to Everett, who brazenly strolled into the perimeter of the mysterious lodge. ¡°Looks like we just found our new camp,¡± Everett smiled. ¡°Hey, watch out! We don¡¯t know who might be here,¡± Emilio warned. Melisande added, ¡°Emilio is right¨Cwe need to be careful.¡± It was like reeling in an unorderly child as the Milligarde bumpkin seemed like a dog drawn by curiosity, though Everett begrudgingly listened. ¡°Alright, alright¡­¡± Everett sighed, ¡°I just think maybe you¡¯re all getting all tied up too much! For once, maybe somethin¡¯ is just going our way.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, I wouldn¡¯t count on that,¡± Yuna coldly said. The lodge itself was built in a small clearing in the woods, tucked away behind trees that were abnormally close together, almost as if forming a wall itself to hide it away from the rest of the valley. ¡°So, what, are we just not going to check it out?¡± Everett asked, looking at the others. ¡°I think we should just¡­we can¡¯t blindly barge in, you know?¡± Emilio said. ¡°Right, right¡­yeah, I get it¨CIt just feels like forever since I slept in an actual home with walls and a roof!¡± Everett sighed out. ¡°I get it,¡± Emilioughed. ¨C In the bowels of a dark room, a bald-headed, tan man held a smile, looking up as he sensed the arrival of trespassers, though weed it. Held in his grip was a splitting maul, using its blunt side to strike a nail engraved in the floor that was etched with mystical inscriptions. ¡°¡­I hope you enjoy your stay, my new toys,¡± the man held a malignant smile. ¨C There wasn¡¯t a lot of inspection to do, other than the presence of chopped wood in front of the lodge, the windows werepletely sealed, allowing no nce to its interior. ¡°Anybody home?¡± Everett asked, knocking on the boarded window. Melisande circled the lodge, checking for any windows or cracks in the wood, though it was surprisingly well-maintained. Joining her in this check-up, Emilio noticed the state of the singr lodge as well, ¡°¡­Are you getting the same idea I am?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Melisande nodded, ¡°¡­It seems like this ce is upied, or at least recently was.¡± While they investigated the state of the structure, their attention was called by Yuna who shouted for them: ¡°Hey! Something¡¯s going on here,¡± Yuna remarked. As Emilio and Melisande turned their eyes from the wooden lodge, with Everett doing the same, they looked around to find a wall of fog nowpletely surrounding the sector of the woods. ¡°Huh? Wasn¡¯t it clear just a minute or two ago?¡± Everett scratched his head. They met up at the front of the lodge, stepping towards the mysterious fog that enclosed around the building. This doesn¡¯t feel normal. I can sense it¨Cthere¡¯s manaced in this mist, Emilio thought. Sticking his hand out to touch it, Everett¡¯s armored fingertips lightly met the white mass of vapor before a spark hissed out, causing the man to stumble back, ¡°Gah-!¡± ¡°Are you okay?!¡± Melisande asked. ¡°What happened?¡­¡± Emilio wondered. Upon closer inspection, there was no damage inflicted on Everett, only a brief pain described by the man¡¯s yell. ¡°¡­Huh, nothing?¡± Everett looked at his hand, surprised it wasn¡¯t wounded. Yuna didn¡¯t turn her attention from the thick barrier of fog, picking up a de of grass and slowly bringing it near the wall while the others watched intently. Just as the grass touched the barrier¡ªZAP. It was rejected and blown back, though kept intact. ¡°It didn¡¯t burn the grass?¡± Melisande asked in surprise. Holding up the verdant sliver of grass, Yuna disyed that it waspletely unscathed, ¡°Seems like it.¡± Enacting another test, the others stood back while Emilio began to conjure a spell, able to carefully concentrate as he brought his hands together to manifest a powerful force. He momentarily activated the first stage of his Dragonheart System, essing the azure mes before using them to bolster a fire spell of his: ¡°Volley of Ifrit.¡± A half dozen streams of azure mes roared out, curving around through the air before crashing against the fog wall in unison, resulting in an explosive wave of bright-blue mes that swirled and exploded continuously. ¡°Woah¡­!¡± Everett reacted to the heat. Despite all of the shiness, after the mes dissipated and Emilio breathed out, there wasn¡¯t any damage dealt to the nebulous barrier. Chapter 220 Nebulous Cabin ¡°Even that didn¡¯t work¡­?¡± Melisandre questioned. ¡°I think I understand what¡¯s going on,¡± Emilio said, holding his hand to his chin. ¡°Yeah? I¡¯m all ears,¡± Everett said, waving his hand from the sparks of pain. Looking at the colossal seal of fog around the area, Emilio exined what he¡¯de to understand, ¡°I¡¯m not experienced in this, but I read about it in my journal recently¡­this is a barrier spell¡ªspecifically something made from runes or inscriptions.¡± ¡°I could¡¯ve told ya that much,¡± Everett added. ¡°That¡¯s not just it,¡± Emilio continued, ¡°Spells like this can be altered and have their properties altered to strengthen in some ways and weaken in others. It¡¯s a sort ofw of equivalent exchange.¡± ¡°Is that why it doesn¡¯t actually harm us when we touch it?¡± Melisandre asked. ¡°Exactly,¡± the young mage nodded, ¡°Whoever cast this barrier made it so that it can reject us from leaving it, but it can¡¯t actually do anything to hurt us. Still¡­it¡¯s powerful. A barrier this strong needs more restrictions.¡± ¡°So, is it even breakable?¡± Yuna asked. ¡°I was thinking¡­but, you all might not like this answer,¡± Emilio said. As he looked around, he could tell they were arriving at the idea he was lingering on, which became unsavory now that the situation became mysterious, ¡°What is it?¡± Everett scratched his hair. ¡°If this barrier is unbreakable, it needs an ¡°anchor point¡±¡ªand to truly empower a barrier, the best restriction would be putting that anchor within its walls,¡± Emilio exined. ¡°Let me guess: this ¡®anchor¡¯ is somewhere in the cabin?¡± Yuna asked as her tail flicked. ¡°¡­Precisely,¡± Emilio nodded. They all had the same question in their minds now, turning to look at the lodge that now sat there more ominously than ever: who wanted them to be trapped there?¡± ¡°Whoever is responsible for this is getting a pair of knuckles to the mouth,¡± Everett smiled, hitting his own palm. ¡°Easy there, tiger,¡± Yuna said, ¡°We¡¯re in enemy territory now¡ªwe need to keep a cool head.¡± It felt like just one thing after another within the world-ss trial, wearing them all down slowly, though Emilio knew the only choice was to push on¨Cespecially in the troublesome situation they found themselves in now. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be a bad thing, right?¡± Melisande asked. ¡°How do ya figure?¡± Everett raised an eyebrow. ¡°Maybe somebody knew we wereing and lowered the barrier for us, then put it back up¡­like inviting us in?¡± Melisande posed the question. Though there was some logic to it, ultimately, they all knew it was simply something that sounded too good to be true. ¡°I¡¯d like to believe that, but going off of what we¡¯ve encountered here so far¡­¡± Emilio told her. ¡°Yeah, I know¡­I¡¯m just trying to think positively,¡± Melisande nodded. Approaching the front of the lodge, they all stopped before the ominous door that remained closed. In contrast to the boarded windows, it was left sparkling clean with a shiny, copper handle awaiting. Just as Everett was about to grasp the handle, he was stopped as Emilio stepped in front of therger shielder. ¡°One second,¡± Emilio said. Kneeling down, he summoned a ball of air into his hand, swirling into verdant mana before cing it against the ground. ¡°Rift of Extension.¡± It was a technical usage of wind magic that didn¡¯t tear through flesh or crush bone, instead using the gentle, far-reaching nature of the element to slowly sweep across the floor, slipping beneath the door and scouring the interior of the lodge. He had to keep his eyes closed and maintain focus in order to concentrate on the ¡®sixth sense¡¯ through the wind he extended. ¡°¡­Hmm,¡± Emilio thought. ¡°Anything?¡± Melisande asked. After finishing his scouting spell, he stood back to his feet with a droplet of sweat sliding down his cheek. ¡°Well¡­something,¡± he said. ¡°What is it?¡± Yuna looked at him with her feline eyes, folding her arms over her chest. ¡°I didn¡¯t feel anything at first, but after I got halfway through the room¡­It just stopped. I couldn¡¯t press any further,¡± Emilio exined, looking at his hand. ¡°I don¡¯t know magic humbo-jumbo, but that sounds eerie,¡± Everett said. It didn¡¯t bring much optimism to the group, but there was undoubtedly no other path ahead of them but the mysterious door sitting mere inches away. He nced back at Everett, seeing if the shielder would lead the way, but after no volunteer, he decided to take the vanguard, ¡°¡­Here goes.¡± Grasping the cold handle, he twisted it slowly before opening the door that let out a drawn out groan of old wood. They were each on guard, ready for something to jump in and attack, though what was found beyond the door was frighteningly normal: a small room awaited, holding a couch, washed-out paintings, and wooden floorboards. ¡°Huh? There¡¯s nothing,¡± Everett lowered his shield, stepping in after Emilio. Yuna kept her daggers in her hands, walking in, ¡°Don¡¯t let your guard down either way.¡± The floorboards creaked beneath every step they each took, though after Melisande stepped in, the door mmed shut behind them. While Everett jumped like a frightened cat, Yuna was ready to strike, though there was nothing behind them. Emilio kept his staff raised, easing his shoulders though paranoid as he nced around the minimal room, ¡°¡­This ce is giving me the creeps.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­is it just me or is it oddly clean?¡± Melisande asked. ¡°That¡¯s what I was thinking. It¡¯s like there¡¯s a maid living here,¡± Everett remarked. As they carefully looked around, Emilio began moving towards the red door situated at the back of the room before turning around at the distinct sound of a ¡°CLICK¡±. ¡°What was that¡­?¡± Melisande asked. They each looked over to the source of the noise: Everett was frozen, looking down at a false floorboard he had stepped onto. ¡°¡­Uh, that doesn¡¯t mean something bad is about to happen, right?¡± Everett nervously asked. Before any of them could make a move or respond, the walls themselves clicked before ck gas began to spew out from unknown sources. Poison?! Emilio guessed. ¡°Argh! What is this?!¡± Everett said, covering his nose, ¡°It stinks like death!¡± Yuna seemed disgusted by it the most, though dealt with it silently by pulling her scarf over her nose. ¡°I¡¯ll dispel it! Hold on!¡± Emilio shouted. As he lifted his staff to begin conjuring wind, he felt a wobbliness throughout his body when trying to focus his mana. Wh-what¡­? I feel so lightheaded all of a sudden, he thought. It was exemplified when he tried invoking magic, finding the sickness growing to such intensity that he nearly gagged when attempting to force the spell out. ¡°Ngh¡­!¡± He held his head. ¡°Emilio! Hey! Are you alright?!¡± Everett called out worriedly. From what he noticed, the others weren¡¯t subject to the same symptoms as he was, prompting him to yell out as he noticed Melisande about to try the same idea he had. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­! There¡¯s something tampering with our¨C¡± Just as he figured out what the nature of the ck gas was, his warning was interrupted as the false flooring beneath each person opened up into separate holes. ¡°Waaaah-!¡± They each fell, split-up and and dropping into unknown tunnels leading directly downward into unknown depths. What is this?! I¡¯d fly out, but¡­I can¡¯t focus my mana at all! That gas is still in my body! He thought. He found himself plummeting down an unlit tunnel of smoothed stone, sliding down it as it curved around into a jarring path, making the sickly feeling inside of him amplified. ¡­Gas that sickens magic users? Is this like what those vers used? He recalled. Though the nature of it was hardly at the top of his problems as he focused on his destination that he couldn¡¯t prevent himself from falling to, trying to grab onto anything to try and stop, but helpless to inertia now. Shit¡­! He thought. What he feared was arge fall at the bottom of the swerving tunnel, though what awaited him once reaching the bottom, feeling his stomach sink from the sudden feeling of being thrown into air, was an unlit room with a pool of liquid below. With a ssh, hended in the pool of liquid that was too thick to be water, able to be discerned as dark in color and smelling of putrid copper. ¡°Gak¨C!¡± He coughed out. It was up to his waist, though he felt his boots stepping on something squishy beneath that led him to begin puzzling together what he was swimming through. What is this¡­? He questioned. After a few moments, it became clear what it was that he was walking waist-high in: old, lukewarm blood. ¡°Ueghhh¡­!¡± The immediate reaction from him was gagging, though he covered his mouth before gagging turned to spilling bile, doing his best topose himself, given the horrific scenery he found himself in. What kind of ce is this¡­? This is under the lodge? He thought. Fumes of the ck gas were still in his body, but he was able to at least summon a small me for light, casting away the shadows that swallowed the rancid room in darkness. Chapter 221 Strange Notes As he looked around, he found himself in a wide, secluded room with a pool of blood upying most of it, though ahead of him, he saw steps leading up to a stone floor and wooden door. ¡­I have to find the others. In a ce like this¡­we can¡¯t be separated from one another, he resolved. Sifting through the unsavory pool, he found himself unnerved by its very existence, unknowing of where or what the blood came from. He was forced to walk slowly through the pool, though finding himself pausing at an inexplicable sound¨C¡±PLOP¡±. Something dropped into the water, causing him to spin around to see where, only to find a ripple to his far left in the crimson liquid. Did something¡­? His thoughts lingered. For the moment, he tried to ignore it, pushing on in hopes of reaching the other end of the room swiftly, though again, he froze as a noise joined him in the blood pool¨C¡±SWISH¡±. As he quickly turned around, he found the liquid rippling in a line as if something was swimming beneath the surface, heading straight towards him. ¡°What?!¡± He began moving back. The mana-attacking sickness left him feeling naked in the face of danger, prompting him to holster his staff and draw his sword as he readied himself for whatever creature was swimming straight towards him. It came closer and closer, swiftly as it got within distance of him, prompting him to raise his sword to attempt to stab it through the blood, though just as he stabbed downward¡ª ¡°Waaagh-!¡± ¨CHe found his leg grabbed from under him, causing him to fall to his back before being aggressively tugged through the pool of blood. It seemed he misjudged the size of the creature, though as he was being pulled beneath the surface, he tried looking at the creature to decipher what his enemy was, but failed: the thickness and dark shade of the blood prevented him from seeing anything. Even worse, he couldn¡¯t swing his sword as the density of the crimson fluid made it impossible to generate any meaningful force, finding himself being suffocated in the repugnant liquid. Whatever wastched onto his leg was powerful itself, at least above the level of a normal human, as the force at which it continuously dragged him through the pool, was disorientating to say the least. Enough¡­! He thought. Through the utilization of his own emotions and intent for violence, he summoned the unique blood embedded in the deepest depths of his heart. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Each pump of his heart flooded the draconic blood through his veins like molten through the grooves of a volcano. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: Dragon Newt | 1/10] Summoning the draconic strength within him, he swung his sword, empowering his own movements with the hidden force itself in an impromptu usage of Dragon Strike. It was difficult to guess where the creature¡¯s arm was, though as it was holding onto his leg, he could estimate, using that information to swing his sharp de and cut straight through its arm. He knew it collided with the flesh of the unseen foe of his as he stopped being dragged, allowing him to finally return to the surface. ¡°Gah¨C!¡± He gasped out, spitting out foreign blood. From the heat given off from the expulsion of draconic force, steam exuded atop the blood pool. It wasn¡¯t until moments after regaining his breath did whatever was lurking in the abhorrent pond surfaced as well. ¡°¡­What the hell is that?¡± He mumbled. It was somewhat humanoid in its bone structure, functioning as a bipedal, though it resembled a fish with gills and blood-red scales, standing two meters tall with a now missing arm. If he had to give it a name, it¡¯d be a ¡°fish man¡±¨Csimple, but it was what came to his mind at that moment. ¡°Grlrlrlrl!¡± It released a yell that was more like a gargle. ¡°Yeah, well,e on then!¡± He challenged. The fish beast was clearly angered by its loss of an arm, prompting it to rush through the blood water with swiftness unimpeded by the essense of the liquid. It swam like an olympic champion, looking towards him with its bulging, pure-white eyes that possessed no irises. I still can¡¯t focus my mana well at all, so¡­I¡¯ll just have to do this the old-fashioned way, pops! He thought. Preparing himself for the encounter, he stood his ground in preparation of the frontal assault before the marine beast suddenly dived into the blood right before finding him. ¡°What¨C?!¡± Emilio looked in surprise. It was surprising that the fish-brained creature had anything resembling a tactical mind, though it was undoubtedly true as it faked him out, swimming around him beforeunching back up as he spun around. Give me a break, he thought. Just as he turned to face it, the fish-headed beast opened its mouth before spraying out boiling water towards him. Though he acted to evade it, part of it touched his left arm, causing his skin to bubble and boil at the touch. ¡°Argh!¡± He let out in pain. It was scathing; burning through his skin then his flesh within moments, though settling down and leaving his arm to heal as he found the creature gone from his vision again. Dammit, I looked away for one second! He thought. Blood rippled around him,ing from a different angle each time as he turned side-to-side, looking for the boil-spitting lifeform. After suffering from the burns that now healed, he found himself impatient, wanting to reunite with hispanions and finish this as he gripped the handle of his de tightly, causing the ck veins of the Dragonheart blood to press against his skin. In that moment, his senses were heightened like that of a predatorial beast, listening in to the subtlest echoes of force through the blood around him. There, he predicted. Just then, the gilled beast emerged from the crimson flood, attempting to lunge straight towards him but Emilio was already midway through swinging his sword. SQUELCH. In a brutal, but efficient action, the silver-and-ck de he wielded easily carved across the creature¡¯s neck, flinging its head from its shoulders. ¡°¡­Done,¡± he quietly said. Finishing it off, he relinquished the Dragonheart state as his veins settled and his eyes returned to their normal shade. A sigh left his lips after the obnoxious and frightening encounter, watching as the fish-man¡¯s limp body fell into the pool of blood. That sight prompted him to take his leave as he trudged through the pool, stepping onto the stone tform on the other side of the room. ¡°¡­Huff¡­¡± Looking down, his outfit was entirely soaked in the blood, dripping from him as his nose scrunched from the rancid nature of it. It took a moment ofplete concentration, though with the effects of the ck gas dwindling, he was able to conjure a spiral of wind around himself. WHOOSH. The summoning of wind allowed him to dry himself off the best he could, huffing out before moving towards the mysterious door. ¡°¡­Alright. Let¡¯s get going,¡± he mumbled. Opening the door, what he found beyond it was simply a dark corridor, bringing him to carefully begin moving down its length with caution keeping him on his toes. The dreary atmosphere of the corridor didn¡¯t help to ease his mind in any shape or form, though he soon found himself in the next room. ¡°What¡­?¡± He found himself uttering in reaction to what inhabited the room. There were dozens of cages, all in various shapes in sizes, though what was inside of them is what made him freeze: inhuman creatures sat behind metal bars; deformed goblins, kobolds, orcs, and even a minotaur like creature, sitting quietly but salivating at the sight of the young human. ¡­A monster prison? What the hell? Is this part of the Guild Foundation? No¡­they¡¯d just kill these, right? He questioned. Slowly passing by the cages, the goblins banged on the bars, rabid and violent, forcing him to keep a safe distance from the reptilian beasts that tried spitting acid at him. Walking through the monster prison, he found tables containing jars of scales, teeth, and appendages kept from dposing, all taken from the monsters. On these tables, he stumbled across papersid out, drawing his curiosity as he picked them up. [¡°Day 320: It¡¯s not so bad here. Actually, it¡¯s better than ever. They believe they¡¯ve locked me in this valley as a prison¨Coh no, no, no; this is my paradise. Here, I have ultimate freedom and limitless subjects, toys of my choosing. I do find the name they¡¯ve given me to be quite fitting¡­the ¡®Collector¡¯. I like it.¡±] He found himself uneased by what he was reading, holding the papers that were faded and stained in unknown fluids. ¡°¡®Collector¡¯? Who¡¯s that¡­?¡± He mumbled to himself, continuing to read. [¡°Day 1040: It¡¯sing together. I¡¯ve done it. After years of meddling with the flesh of my toys, discarding them into the Crimson Bath, it¡¯se together: my masterpiece.¡±] [¡°Day 1118: Today, I made my first adjustments to the ¡®Masterpiece¡¯¨Cwhen it gained consciousness, it seemed tock the function to perceive, unable to garner any of its natural senses. I will fix this.¡±] [¡°Day 1320: I allowed the Masterpiece to walk freely around theboratory. Perhaps I was a bit impatient¡­It tore me to pieces multiple times, and ripped apart dozens of my toys. For now, I am keeping him locked away. I have figured out that sight is what triggers him: for now, I will keep a cloth over his cage. That seems to keep him stable.¡±] Chapter 222 Mess with the bull, you get the... Chapter 222 Mess with the bull, you get the... After reading these harrowing notes that took ce over the span of many years, the young Dragonheart brought his eyes up, looking past the gallery of monster-holding cages to see one ominously in the back of the room,rger than the rest and covered in a blood-stained cloth. Is that this ¡®Masterpiece¡¯ the Collector is talking about?¡­Well, I¡¯m not going near that, he thought. nning to evacuate the unsettling chamber, just as set the papers down, the sound of footsteps echoing off of the stone flooring brought his gaze up. ¡°Wee, wee!¡± Standing on an elevated tform that led to the corridor he initially nned on going, a bald-headed man with tan, callused skin looked down at him with an abnormal gaze. The unknown man¡¯s eyes werepletely ck with white irises staring down at the young man. ¡°¡­Who are you?¡± Emilio asked, ¡°Are you the one who set up that barrier outside?¡± The bald man held an unnerving smile, wearing a ck apron above rusty chainmail, with matching gloves and boots, ¡°Usually it¡¯s the guest who should give his name first, but I happen to have manners. I am called Collector.¡± Hearing that name immediately brought Emilio to raise his guard, holding the handle of his sword tightly in preparation of a fight. Noticing the intensity in the young man¡¯s amethyst eyes, Collector waved his hand, ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not here to fight you. Actually, I¡¯m after those you came here with.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Emilio gritted his teeth. ¡°You see, I¡¯m just overstocked with male subjects. But, I was watching from afar, you know? Two females¡­well, those are valuable bodies. I¡¯ll go fetch them myself, in the meantime¨C¡± ¡°I won¡¯t let you!¡± Emilio stepped forward. After being interrupted, the Collector simply smiled, crushing an opulent rune in his hand before walking away, whispering before disappearing down the hall, ¡°¡­I¡¯ll feed you to my toys.¡± The rune that was reduced to sediment seemed to trigger a chain reaction as the hieroglyph-etched locks on a number of the cages exploded, opening the doors of the monster cells around the young Dragonheart. They¡¯re opening?! This isn¡¯t good! He thought. Attempting to bypass the horde of imprisoned monsters altogether, he dashed forward in to give chase to Collector, only to find himself impeded by a one-eyed orc leaping in front of him. SLAM. Itnded with weight that caused the stone beneath to crack, built of scarred, light-red hide with its left arm being reced altogether by arger limb of silver scales and ws. ¡°Graaagh¡­¡± The monstrosity of an orc growled, salivating. Finding himself in a hurry, Emilio attempted to summon a stream of mes to annihte the brute, though forgetting the ailment he suffered as he coughed out. Shit!¡­The ck gas is still¡­! He thought. Before he could even finish a thought, he was forced to jump back as the scale-armed orc swiped at him with its ws, narrowly avoiding it. ¡°¨C!¡± ncing back after dodging, he wasn¡¯t given a moment to breath as a disfigured goblin lunged at him from behind, forcing him to block its attempted bite with its sword. Is it rabid?! What kind of goblin is this?! He questioned. It gnawed on his de, salivating and growling like a feral beast as he heard the orc approaching from behind. There was no part of him that wanted to touch the grotesque goblin that had boils over its green skin and a head covered in growths, but he was forced to act quickly. While it bit onto his de, he clenched his fist before mming against the fiend¡¯s abdomen with draconic force. ¡°Graaa¡ª!¡± The deformed goblin lost its breath. The impact crushed the internal organs of the creature, flinging the goblin back in one blow, though it was only quick enough to barely give Emilio time to roll as the orc behind stomped down. ¡°Ghh!¡± Emilio winced. He ducked beneath the tables, quickling beneath each subsequent table as the scale-stitched orc roared out savagely, breaking through the furniture with swings and ms of its fists. A path of destruction was left in his wake as he rapidly crawled, scampering as wood and stone was flung around with the orc stomping behind him. As he finally reached the end of the tables, he rolled over and jumped to his feet just as the stitched orc tossed a half of a stand towards him. ¡°¨C!¡± Emilio rolled forward to dodge, though this brought him face-to-face with the orc, getting a frontal kick to the gut that siphoned the air from his lungs. ¡°Pyuh-!¡± Spitting out the air from within, he was knocked back against the bars of one of the cages, being bitten by a patchy, tiger-like beast from behind the bars before elbowing it to get free. Damnit! Without being able to use spells, this is going to be a pain¡­! He thought. Just as he freed himself from the tiger¡¯s jaws with blood momentarily squirting from the bite marks on his shoulder, the orc rushed him again, stomping forth and throwing its fist towards his head. The scale-armored arm of the maddened orc was empowered by different physiology from the salivating fiend, punching through the air with such strength that Emilio knew it would likely blow straight through his head. As he ducked down, in the absence of spells, he instead called upon the dragon blood within as his veins bulged with their ckened state and azure scaled appeared on his forearms. [Dragonheart System Activated.] [Current Stage: Dragon Son | 2/10] In a swift counter to the punch that missed his skull, he swiped his de up, lobbing the orc¡¯s entire scaled forearm from its body. ¡°Graaagh¨C!¡± The frankensteined monster stumbled back as purple blood spewed from its amputated limb. ¡°¨CSorry, but I¡¯m short on time!¡± Emilio mumbled, holding his hand forward. The azure mes that he manifested weren¡¯t born of mana, but ignited by the draconic force born from his heart, roaring forth in a cerulean ze that engulfed the orc, charring it within moments of contact. Still, this wasn¡¯t the end of the encounter, but just the beginning as with the fall of the burnt orc, more goblins and fish-men charged towards him, grabbing shattered table legs to use as weapons. ¡°Come on, then!¡± Emilio shouted with draconic might intecing his words. In his heightened state, each swing of his sword was as though he was carving a knife through butter, rending the flesh of the experimental goblins. He paced around the chamber of cages as the abhorrent experiments dashed towards him over the stained stone, using the cages as leverage to leap towards him. Some of these deformed goblins attempted to spit acidic liquid at him, while some had their arms reced by swords, though it didn¡¯t matter in the end as he was able to counter their attacks, swiftly cutting through them. A goblin leapt towards him with its teeth bared, though he dashed directly past it, shing through its midsection before stabbing through the head of a fish beast that was approaching from the side. Finishing off the horde of goblins and fish men, the forefront cage finally broke open, freeing the minotaur that was quietly imprisoned within it. It slowly walked out, stomping down with onyx hooves as it revealed itself from the darkness of the cage, having the clear body of an orc by its muscr structure and prominent green skin, but the head of a stone-skinned bull stitched on its shoulders. [Level Up!] [Level Neen Achieved.] The well-timed level ascension raised his physical capabilities and mana limits, giving a sense of vigor throughout his body as he conjured his mana as a test: there was no longer any sickness. ¡°Just what I needed,¡± he said, wiping the blood of a goblin from his cheek, looking up at the grotesque minotaur, ¡°¨CI think I¡¯ll need magic against the likes of you.¡± The orc-bull hybrid roared out, not wasting any time before rushing towards the young man with its head down and its curved, ck horns pointed forward. Grabbing his wooden catalyst swiftly, he wielded it, summoning a sphere of water around the minotaur to imprison it before¨C SPLASH. It charged straight through the bundle of reinforced water, causing it to explode in a st of water before continuing its charge towards Emilio, unimpeded. ¡­That didn¡¯t work as I expected, he thought. Instead of trying to grab a bull by the horns, he opted to simply evade, jumping high with wind at his boots, causing the minotaur to misspletely as it rammed into one of the walls. As he was falling back down, he conjured bands of water, gripping them tightly beforessoing them around the stitched-up, horned beast. Landing on the ground, having aplete hold on the beast with his bands of reinforced aqua, he began to summon his inner strength, pushing the second stage of his Dragonheart system to its limits. It was a contest of strength, though the more the minotaur pulled, dragging its hooves across the stone and exuding steam from its scarred nostrils, Emilio¡¯s Dragonheart blood pumped harder topensate. ¡°Rrrrgh!¡± The minotaur growled like an engine. ¡°¨CNngrah!¡± Emilio gritted his teeth. Chapter 223 Clash of Strength Chapter 223 sh of Strength Overpowering the minotaur¡¯s own pull, he sessfully swung it into the air with his aquatic bindings, whipping it around before throwing it across the chamber, mming into metallic cages. Though the impact of the m-and-toss broke through several cages and caved the back wall in partially, the minotaur grumbled, beginning to pick itself up. Emilio expected this, using the dazed state of the beast to formte his next attack, drawing in a focusing breath. If I use fire, it might be able to charge straight through it and shrug it off before I can fully burn it. That hide of its is tough¨Cit must¡¯ve been enhanced in some capacity. I¡¯ll take this another route, he nned. As the minotaur returned to its feet, it howled out, scraping its hoof against the stone tile in preparation to rush. With a flick of his staff, Emilio summoned ropes of water around the beast, tethering the other ends to the cages and pirs, binding the minotaur with dozens of these water-made bindings. ¡°Aquatic Bind,¡± was bing one of his favorite spells in its versatility, shapeless as water. Alright¡­that won¡¯t hold long, so let¡¯s get cooking, he nned. Fire would only serve to vaporize the water he was using to restrain the beast, instead putting his hand against the ground as he weaved the stone itself into protrusions of spears. He sharpened them and caused them to spin rapidly, acting like piercing javelins that built up momentum. Abination of wind and rock magic was used, using the wind to create a propelling force for the stone-forged javelins: ¡°Terra Javelins.¡± ¡°Nnnngh!¡± The minotaur roared, tugging on the blue, see-through bindings as the cages began grinding against the floor. As the restraints were beginning to thin from the orc-bull¡¯s strength, Emilio finished giving rotation to the Terra Javelins,unching them just as the minotaur broke free and rushed straight at him with harrowing speed. There were three in total thatunched; the first collided with the minotaur¡¯s horns, breaking the left one off but being deflected in the aftermath; the second javelin went through the beast¡¯s shoulder, but did nothing to impede it. ¨CAnd the third¡­ SQUELCH. Just before the beast could pierce its horns through the body of the young Dragonheart, it was stopped in its tracks, inches shy of collision, as thest Terra Javelinunched from the ceiling, piercing through its neck and stabbing into the ground below, locking it down. ¡°¡­.Grraaagh¡­¡± The minotaur lowly growled, twitching as blood poured from its wounds. As blood leaked from its mouth, the unsightly beast convulsed for a few moments more before bingpletely still. Emilio watched it to make sure it waspletely dead before letting out a sigh of relief, ¡°That went much smoother than I expect¨C¡± Interrupting him and turning his blood to ice in his veins was a bellowing roar that was distorted between multiple animals¡¯ howls, emitting from the cage in the back. That¡¯sing from¡­the veiled cage?¡­He thought. It was still covered in a cloth, though in his battle against the failed experiments, he forgot about the presence of the so-called ¡°Masterpiece¡±. Before he could move an inch, all of the murmurs and growls of the creatures still in their cages wentpletely silent in the aftermath of the ¡°Masterpiece¡¯s¡± call. Just as he let out a breath, metal bars exploded outward from the cage stationed at the very back, flinging across the chamber as the sound of arge creature stomping onto the stone was heard. He was unable to see the beast lurking in the chamber as there were rows of cages blocking his vision, though he could hear its heavy, ragged breaths as it marched closer and closer. What is it?¡­Should I make a run for it? Can I? He questioned. For a moment, the steps disappeared, leaving the repugnant chamber silent as he held his breath. It was only when he thought the threat might¡¯ve been false did it leap atop the cage in front of him, looming over him in its unsightly glory: the ¡°Masterpiece¡±. It had a body like that of a bipedal dragon, covered in pitch-ck scales with the tail of a serpent hissing behind its back and three heads of its own like a disgusting rendition of a hydra: the left, a bear; the middle, a tiger; the right, a wolf. What the hell is this thing?! He thought. The amalgamation of beasts roared out, though finally prompting Emilio to react as the glow of mes shone from the three heads. ¡°¨C!¡± In a quick reflex, he deployed a wall of stone in front of himself just as orange mes spewed from the mouths of the Masterpiece. To his dismay, the heat vomited from the mouths of the grotesque chimera were elevated from normal mes, melting through the wall of stone and breaking through it. ¡°¨C!¡± He was forced to cross his arms, summoning his azure scales as protective armor just as the Masterpiece¡¯s inferno reached him. ¡°Nngh¡­¡± The newly acquired ability¨C¡±Heat Resistance¡±¨Cwas on full disy in its debut for him, enduring the bath of mes as his scales managed tobat their flesh-eating nature. Still, it didn¡¯tpletely mitigate the pain, though it was bearable as he stood his ground. ¡­Stand¡­firm! He thought. Though as he nted himself down to withstand the onught of mes, the roar of the Masterpiece only condensed further; the heat amplified, concentrating from a wild, orange mass to a stream of bright-blue mes. It¡¯s still going¡­?! He thought. At its minimum state, the resistance to heat he naturally had wasn¡¯t enough topletely shield him from the mes, finally breaking through his guard as the roar of fire engulfed him. It wasn¡¯t just heat; there was concussive force behind the breath, knocking him back as an explosion of mes expanded in the chamber. ¡°Aaagh!¡± He yelled out. Sitting on his knees within a cloud of smoke, he coughed up blood that began evaporating immediatly through the heat all around and within him. The entire front of his body was burned, turning his cloak of leaves to cinders and peeling the skin from his arms and chest. ¡­It hurts, it hurts, he thought. The Undying Blood¡¯s limits seemed to be smaller and smaller, making even this quantity of wounds heal slowly, leaving him with tiny wounds even after recovering. ¡°¡­Huff¡­¡± He understood the gravity of the situation well now; there was no way he could rely on the Undying Blood to save him, as its limits were reached. I have to do this right. If I don¡¯t, then¨Che thought. Though his thinking was paused as the cloud of ck smoke around him was blown away as he found the towering figure of the Masterpiece arriving directly in front of him, roaring out as it whipped around with its tail as a striking weapon. ¡°¨C!¡± Raising his arms, he summoned his scales to protect his forearms, though the snake tail of the chimera cracked the wind before whipping against his arms with force that cracked his armor. ¡°Ngh!¡± He was flung back, mming against the back wall as blood slipped from his lips again, only enduring the impact somewhat due to his Dragonheart stage. It¡¯s strong. I need to lock it down, he thought. As the Masterpiece roared out, beginning to approach again, Emilio stayed leaning against the wall while regaining his breath, pressing his palm against the stone as he invoked stone magecraft. Around the chimera, a dome of reinforced rock was formed, encapsting it and beingyered multiple times. It wasn¡¯t just the dome; he concentrated further, filling the inside of it with water, having to focus on the unseen interior of the rock imprisonment. More¡­! He thought. Just abination of water and rock wasn¡¯t used, but also fire as he manifested heat around the undersides of the dome, causing the water to bubble up and boil with the chimera caught inside of it. It was an all-out, brutal attempt to kill; whether by drowning or boiling it alive, he used this impromptu magecraft from the desperate backends of his brain: ¡°Wizard¡¯s Hot Pot.¡± While the colossal, makeshift boiling pot was in action, he stumbled from the crater in the wall, coughing out as he regained himself, feeling multiple ribs fractured inside of him, if not broken, and his pinky finger on his right handpletely twisted around. I¡¯m not healing anymore¡­I¡¯m sure Vandread sustained more than this before¨Cis the Undying Blood getting weaker? He questioned. As he posed this question to himself while catching his breath, he looked up towards the rock dome that was steaming now, though a worrisome feeling swirled in his gut as he saw embers escaping through the small cracks in its structure. ¡°¡­You¡¯ve got to be kidding¡­¡± He mumbled. In a quick reaction, he raised his arms just as the entire prison of boiling rock exploded, causing heated pebbles to fling in every direction, pelting him as the incredibly hot water ran over the stone tile, evaporating. The cause of this was a massive breath of mes unleashed by the Masterpiece, roared out and overpowering the impromptu prison entirely. Even that wasn¡¯t enough¡­? Fine! He thought. Neglecting to use his staff, he abandoned control in the moment as he summoned the draconic mes of his Dragonheart, amplifying them further by feeding it wind before a small sphere of mes above his hand became a massive orb of azure destion. He held it above his head, looking towards the three-headed chimera that roared out towards him, beginning to summon its own internal fire as well. ¡°¨CLet¡¯s see if you like this, then!¡± Emilio shouted. Chapter 224 The Masterpiece Chapter 224 The Masterpiece ¡°¨CLet¡¯s see if you like this, then!¡± Emilio shouted. Tossing the gargantuan fireball forward, it melted the stone in its path before the Masterpiece shot three beams of hyper-condensed mes out, turning it into aser-like beam that shed against the empowered fireball. The collision of both sources of mes caused a surgence of heat throughout the grimy chamber,cing the air with embers and heat waves that melted the steel bars of the cages. Controlling the fireball and pushing it forward with his will, he could feel the savage strength of the so-called Masterpiece through its mighty breath; it was as though he was trying to stop a bullet train from moving forward, having to strain himself, pushing his body further as he began to make progress. ¡°Nrgh¡­!¡± The dragon blood in him boiled, thriving in the contest of strength and fire, causing his heart to pump with excitement, surging through his veins the blood empowering him. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. As he continued to slowly push forward, the heat became more and more apparent, feeling stratifications of wind that were purely mes grazing his body. The towering, draconic chimera poured forth a further burst of mes, causing a ripple of heat throughout the room. Push it¡­! He urged. Even against the stream of feral power pushed against him, Emilio¡¯s body pushed itself further¡ªhis muscles strained and his bones experienced a lofty pressure, though he proved his own might with another yell and one more push forward. ¡°Burn¡ª!¡± Atst, through the sh of mes, he pressed the fireball through the bright heat, casting it against the scale-d body of his foe with a roaring impact. Azure fire spread in a sh, stretching through the somber depths of the chamber as it exploded against the body of the foul creation of the Collector. ¡°¡­Phew,¡± he breathed out, sweating. The aftermath left the ck chamber covered in blue mes with a swirling cloud of smoke waving through the area. Just as he relinquished his Dragonheart state, feeling overwhelmed by the heat it produced in his body, he regretted it as the monstrous figure revealed itself from the smoke and mes. ¡°¡­That¡¯s a problem,¡± he mumbled tiredly. Stomping out, the Masterpiece was only partially burnt by the powerful mes; its onyx scales reflected off the heat, unscathed and almost seeming to thrive in the fire. Knowing the fight wasn¡¯t over, he rushed forward in an attempt to finish the chimera off, throwing his fist against its body with full-force, unleashing the inner strength within him into a picture-perfect Dragon Strike. ¡ªNo effect. The beast didn¡¯t budge or flinch, nor did its scales near any damage from the mighty blow. It was a beast of man-made destruction and horror; an armor of scales that didn¡¯t crack beneath draconic mes or powerful forces, and strength that overwhelmed in every capacity. This was felt true more than ever as Emilio found the beast dashing straight towards him with the swiftness of a tiger, using its ws to sh across his chest in an instant. ¡°Nrgh-!¡± Blood sprayed from the three w marks etched onto his chest before he was knocked back, but not before being caught by the serpent tail, being bitten into his side and held in the air. ¡°Aaagh-!¡± He yelled in pain. The fangs of the snake dug deep into his side, injecting venom straight into his body before the beast¡¯s tail flicked down, mming Emilio against the stone. As heid there, gasping for air as his body throbbed and ached from the brutal beatdown, he felt blood running down his chest and a warmth flooding through his side. It wasn¡¯t healing. The Undying Blood slowed down more than he had predicted; leaving him wounded and inflicted with an agonizing pain as the venom traveled through his body, ¡°Nnngh¡­aghh¡ª!¡± A louder yell came as the Masterpiece stomped down on his back, pressing its weight that surpassed toms down on the young Dragonheart. As it continued to press its weight down in almost a sadistic fashion, it was reaching an inevitable point in which the young man¡¯s back would sumb to the pressure and snap. ¡°Aghh¡­!¡± He continued to yell. Scraping the stone tiles with bloodstained hands, he tried escaping, though he knew there was no overturning this satiation¡ªin his current state, that was. Seeing no other option, he looked deep within him amidst his agonized torment, looking to the pits of negative emotions buried within him. Memories that ignited his blood, filling him with anger, but more importantly, motivation. Come on¡­it¡¯s just like visualizing magic! Embrace that anger¡ªthat destructive rage! He told himself. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. It was his first time feeling himself able to dig deep enough; feeling the blood begin to pump through his veins like a raging river through thend. What he wanted wasn¡¯t just the first stage nor the second; he needed more. Fueling himself, what naturally came to mind in his troublesome situation with the beast pressing against his back were recent memories: the bitter death of Joel, and the passing of Vandread. These memories that stuck in his memory as faults of his own, deep down inside, ignited within him in this moment of desperation. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. You didn¡¯t die just so I could fall like this. Even if it¡¯s an ugly struggle, I¡¯ll keep fighting on, he thought, You owe it to them. You owe it to yourself. This is your life, your fight¨Cso get up and win! Inside of his chest, his heart thumped wildly, emitting a heat through his body as mystical, light-blue embers danced around him. The three-headed beast that stomped down on him stopped, perplexed by the rising heat that shifted from simple embers to a born me, giving off from the young man. Azure scales formed along his body, rising into an armor thatpletely d itself on his body and head, reinforcing itself with a durable hide. Through his body, a majestic power flowed with the intent to destroy and a lust for victory; the very essence of a dragon was born through him, flooding his mind with this resolve. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: Dragon Warrior | 3/10] d in the dragon¡¯s embrace, he began to pick himself up, pushing up from against the ground as he overpowered the weight on his back. The heat that burned within himpletely sizzled out the foreign venom, eradicating its regretful nature and expelling it from his body. ¡°Graagh¨C?!¡± The Masterpiece let out at the iprehensible situation. Without a word, the young man it was once crushing now fought against its own strength¨Cand was winning. Now, get the hell off of me, he thought. Pushing up with all of his strength, a burst of azure mes emitted from his draconic armor, finally repelling the weight of the Masterpiece as the scaled amalgamation stumbled backward. Unrestrained, he rose to his feet as embers cascaded from his organic armor, clenching his fists as he felt the inexplicable power flowing through him. I¡¯ve never been this conscious while in stage three. It¡¯s¡­amazing. This kind of power¨CI feel like I can do just about anything, he thought. As he looked at his own fists, seeing through the helm of dragon hide that protected his head, the three-headed monstrosity appeared in front of him with a resounding roar, going for arge swipe against him. Without seeming to budge an inch, he disappeared before the ws of the Masterpiece made contact, throwing the beast for a loop before reappearing behind it. ¡°Dragon Strike.¡± It was through the third stage,pletely enveloped in the magnificent power, that he was able to pull from deeper depths of the draconic force within, expelling it in much greater quantity as he mmed his fist against the creature¡¯s back. WHOOSH. A shock wave emitted throughout the grimy chamber, ringing the bars of the ck cages before cracking the sturdy, pitch-ck scales of the Masterpiece, flinging the massive creature across theboratory. Witnessing the beast that effortlessly stomped through him previously now be manhandled by his power was satisfying beyond words for the Dragonheart. It¡¯s nothing now. I can do this, he thought, squeezing his fist. As he relished in his newfound strength, unlocked by his own intent this time, the Masterpiece picked itself up, roaring out in a rage before rushing across the room. It no longer ran like a bipedal creature; engulfed in rabid anger, it ran on all fours, eviscerating the stone tiles in its way as it salivated, lunging towards the Dragonheart who weed it. Come on, he thought. Though he was taken aback by an increase in speed from the Masterpiece, which bursted forward, tackling him across the room. ¡°¨C!¡± It roared directly in his face with all three-heads, building up a new extreme of heat in its mouths as it intended to release its full-throttle mes point nk. ¡°¨COff!¡± He yelled. With a sharp kick to its body, he knocked it off of him before flipping to his feet, witnessing the creature change right before his eyes. As it was knocked upward, the Masterpiece¡¯s body reacted, as if evolving in real time in ordance to its current situation: hawk-like wings sprouted from its back after bones rippled beneath its scales. ¡­That¡¯s disgusting, he thought. Chapter 225 The Shielders View Chapter 225 The Shielder''s View It dived through the air of the chamber of cells, pping its wings as it howled out. As it neared him, he retaliated by raising his arms, summoning a wall of azure mes of a greater heat than previously. As he moved his arms, he guided the mes quickly, condescending them into a spiral and mming their draconic heat directly against the flying amalgamation. An explosion of azure embers stretched out, repelling the beast, but not before it flipped around and had its body ripple across again. ¡°¡­What now?¡± He mumbled. Protruding through its scales, dozens of serpents were born from within the Masterpiece¡¯s body, stretching out with unnatural length from all angles, with their fangs bared and lunging towards the Dragonheart. He chose to confront the source directly rather than dancing around the jaws of the many snakes, dashing forward while flipping around to avoid each strike before reaching the Masterpiece itself. As he readied another Dragon Strike, tucking his fist close to his side, he was caught off-guard as the giant monstrosity suddenly bulked up, reinforcing itself with unknown vigor before countering his own attack with a monstrous tail whip. ¡°¨C!¡± It was a surprising amount of speed and force as the serpent tail whipped against his chest, knocking him back as his scale armor cracked. It increased its own strength¡­? Is it using mana to reinforce itself? That¡¯s impossible, right? He questioned. That didn¡¯t seem to be the case as he caught himself, looking towards the beast as its body bulked up considerably, though there was an unknown, bright-green substance oozing from between its scales, providing the same color through its bulging veins. Before he knew it, the beast was in front of him once more with speed that caused the wind to ring against his ears. Some kind of experimental power?¡­Is this what the Collector did to it? He deduced. As it swiped its ws towards him, he leaned back, avoiding their titanium-like durability before countering with a supreme kick to its thigh. ¡°Grrrgh-!¡± The Masterpiece growled, though it didn¡¯t tumble. There was something different about it; jumping up and mming its hands down like a berserker as it cratered the stone beneath, rippling a force through the chamber that scattered the stagnate documents. As it charged him, he was able to meet it halfway with a dash of his own, bashing his shoulder against the tiger head in the middle, causing blood to spill from the beast¡¯s nostrils. ¡°Not much of a ¡®masterpiece¡¯, are you?¡± Emilio said. As the amalgamation attempted to outstretch its own neck to an abnormal length to chomp him, he guarded with his arm as the beast¡¯s teeth failed to prate his sturdy scales. They were more stalwart than steel; scales that of a dragon, worm as his unique armor as the Masterpiece attempted to bite down harder, only to shatter its own fangs. ¡°Roogh¡ª!?¡± The monstrosity howled in pain. ¡°Doesn¡¯t feel good does it?¡± The Dragonheart asked. He drove his knee against its sternum, cracking the Masterpiece¡¯s false scales, proving the superior durability of his own. Before the three-headed monster was knocked back, spitting acidic blood out that was easily avoided, it used its serpentine tail to bite onto the Dragonheart. ¡°Nope.¡± Before the venom-producing fangs could reach him, he snatched the tail with pinpoint reflexes, squeezing it tightly as the onyx-skinned snake hissed before¡ªPOP. The Masterpiece roared out in agony as the head of its tail was destroyed, resulting in a spray of clotted blood. As it tried to retaliate with a breath of fire, Emilio utilized his amplified strength, using the tail as a rope to lift the colossal monstrosity into the air before flinging it across the room. Again, it howled and roared, thrashing about as it returned to its feet. It didn¡¯t matter; either way, he prepared to finish this fight in the next encounter. Desperate on time, he was impatient to move on to intercept the Collector. As the Masterpiece roared out with intensity that shook the foundation of the chamber, it lunged through the air without any elegance, rapidly running across the room with its ws carving up the stone in its path. Calmly, he cocked his fist back, flexing his entire body as his muscles coiled with the strength of the dragon within, building up the draconic force to such an extent it manifested itself in a subtle glow around his body. He readied himself with a single intent: ¡°destroy it with this blow¡±. Part of what fueled him was that prideful blood of the dragon that roared through his veins; in response to a physical challenge, he was forced to respond in kind, summoning everything he had from the fibers of his muscles, the marrow of his bones, and the throttle of his heart. Standing there, ready to strike, the Masterpiece leapt towards him with saliva trailing through the air and its wings overshadowing him, but he simply thrusted his fist forward, releasing the built-up force all at once. It all came out at once. Cataclysmic power condensed and honed into the scale-armored knuckles of the Dragonheart shot out like a cannon, piercing and flooding forward with unreserved, pure power. The entire room shook as dust cascaded from the roof; the air cracked and parted as the wind pressure from the strike alone pierced through the body of the monstrosity, tearing its internal organs apart and crushing its form. From the crack of the air, the dormantyers of dust were brushed off of the grime-slick stone, brushing the corpses of the fallen experiments aside as puddles of blood rippled. ¡°¨C¡° In one blow, it was finished, representing the total might of the third stage before he allowed his scale armor to crumble away. [Level Up!] [Level Twenty Achieved] [New Skill(s) Acquired: Lesser me Consumption] After the Dragonheart transformation came to an end, he nearly fell to a knee, though caught himself, huffing as he knew it wasn¡¯t over yet. As he moved onward towards the corridor the mysterious man went down, another document caught his eye that had a big, red ¡°S¡± inscribed at the top. [¡°Collector¡± | Birth name: Unknown | Criminal Rank: S | ¡°A wicked soul, this one. He was an alchemist working in Turun, Vasmoria¨Cbut, that was only a front. By the time the guards were tipped off on his misdeeds, there were already dozens of victims found in his boratory¡±, subject to grotesque experiments. Though the death sentence was given, due to his anomalous ability, he was unable to be killed by means of de, magic, or even hanging. We agreed the best solution was to keep him sealed in the Valley of Parmesus.¡±] Reading further, he found something even more daunting¨C [¡°¨CHe has a tendency, no¨Can innate avarice for iming everything and anything as part of his collection, hence his name. He uses living creatures as ¡°material¡± for his hellish experiments. Human or beast, he does not discriminate. It is a fate worse than death to be caught by this devil wearing the skin of a man.¡±] It was a horrifying read, finding the origins of the man lurking in the underground chambers, though finding the information to only create a further air of mystery around the malignant figure. I need to find the others¡­before the Collector does, he thought. ¨C Wandering through the grimy depths beneath the lodge in his lonesome, the blonde-haired, fully-armored bumpkin carefully ventured through dark corridors. Theyout he found himself in was a series of rooms, though the corridors were linear, forcing him down a straight line to the room before him. ¡°Emilio? Melisande?¡­Yuna? Anybody there?¡± Everett called out quietly, though nothing came in response. As if wary of anything jumping out from around the corner at any moment, the country-born man held his shield in front of him, ncing around it. Though he prided himself on his ability to jump in front of danger and take the aggression of enemies for hisrades, there was something Everett rarely admitted to others: he had aplete and utter fear of the dark and the ghosts. ¡°Err¡­anybody?¡± He quietly called out. What made him so meek when moving through the rooms was what was in them: blood-stained tables, scattered bones, and every now and then, he heard ss vials knocked off shelves and scampering feet, but as he turned around to check¨Cnothing. ¡°Uegh¡­¡± He shuttered. The air was thin and chilly; breezes of sharp cold periodically brushed against him, spurring goosebumps beneath his armor. Where he found himself currently was a room that caused him to quietly gasp: shelves were stocked with jars, filled with liquid and unknown body parts of inhuman creatures. The shielder stopped, looking at one of the circr jars that contained a shrunken creature with six eyes and massive teeth. ¡°¡­The hell kind of voodoo is goin¡¯ on down here?¡± Everett whispered. There were drains embedded in the smooth flooring, which had sparse streams of perplexing liquid flowing down into it, though there was a red substance clearly resembling blood that stained the floor. ¡°This ce is no good¡­Where are the others?¡± He mumbled. Chapter 226 Reuniting Forces Chapter 226 Reuniting Forces ¡°This ce is no good¡­Where are the others?¡± He mumbled. The burly bumpkin froze as the sound of something dropping behind him in the silent, eerie room was heard. Everett slowly turned his neck, afraid to discover what made the noise behind him as he gulped. No ghosts¡­no ghosts, he hoped. What he found behind him wasn¡¯t a ghost, or at least, not a hovering, astral being, but perhaps something worse: it resembled a slime in the shape of a human with a gtinous, blood-like body with its internal organs visible through its translucent form. ¡°Eeep-!¡± Everett let out. The gtinous humanoid groaned, taking a slimy step forward as it reached out towards the shielder, ¡°Graaaagh¡­¡± ¡°Stay back, you! Back! Back!¡± Everett said. Walking backward without any stability of mind, he waved his shielder around frantically while repeating himself, though his words didn¡¯t seem to reach the grotesque figure as it continued slowly approaching. The room was narrow; shelves full of rancid jars lined the walls, leaving no option for the frightened,rge man than to continue backing away with his shield held firmly in front of him. ¡°Stay back!¡­¡± It was roughly half his size, the blood-like, slime humanoid, though the obvious threat came in the constitution of its body: the crimson guck dripped from its as it walked, falling down onto the stone and melting through it. It¡¯ll be bad news if that touches my skin¡­! He thought. ncing back, he checked how far he was from the next door, which was a few meters away, though as he approached it, the country bumpkin found a problem of its own: it was locked by a wooden beam. It¡¯s locked?! Crap! Do I got time for that?! He questioned. There wasn¡¯t any chance to think about it, looking forward again to see the groaning, melting gtin gaining closer, prompting him to swallow his fear all at once. ¡­Knights aren¡¯t scared of anything! Get it together! He told himself. As he held his shield firmly in front of himself, he rushed forward with a roar, ¡°Raaaagh!¡± Using the special rune embedded in the front of his shield just as he mmed it against the gooey figure, it released a concussive force that blew the enigmatic creation back. SQUELCH. It was a stomach-churning sound as the bloody slime was knocked across the room, spilling its acidic flesh on the walls and floor as the stone hissed from its melting essence. ¡°Alright!¡± He said in triumph. Though it was bludgeoned into dozens of pieces, the humanoid slime was still clearly alive, or as close to ¡®living¡¯ was for an abomination such as itself as it continued groaning, left as just a torso sttered across the room, beginning to rebuild itself. That didn¡¯t put it down ¡®fer good, but it should give me enough time! He thought. Rushing over to the door at the end of the chamber, Everett set his shield for as he gripped the thick, wooden beam that was used to keep the heavy-steel door shut. ¡°Hoooo-raaaah!¡± Everett summoned his strength. It was a hefty stock of dense wood, though through the adrenaline pumping through his veins, it was nothing for the Milligardian bumpking. This is nothin¡¯ ¡®fer me! I did hardbor ever since I could walk on two legs! He thought. Tossing the beam aside, he picked hisrge shield up with one arm before opening the door with a m of his shoulder, barging in without a second thought. ¡°¡­Phew¡­Close ¡®un,¡± Everett breathed out. After catching his breath, he finally realized the room he had walked into, looking up. It was a chamber worse than thest in every capacity; there were skeletons hanging from chains hooked to the ceiling with the corpses of beasts strewn across the floor. ¡°Gimme a break-!¡± Heined. In response to his yell, something arrived in response as footsteps rapidly approached from the left corridor attached to the room. Again!? He thought. He readied himself, holding his shield up firmly in preparation of whatever horror was rushing in his direction. ¡°Everett!?¡± The surprisingly familiar voice struck Everett by surprise as he looked past his wide barrier, seeing a girl with silver hair running into the room. ¡°¡ªMelisandre!? You¡¯re alright!?¡± Everett smiled at finding another person. ¡°We can talkter! Right now¡ªit¡¯sing!¡± Melisande huffed. As the girl reunited with the bumpkin shielder, she caught her breath, standing beside him as they faced the path Melisande had arrived from. ¡°What¡¯sin¡¯?! A hint would be nice right ¡¯bout now!¡± Everett asked. ¡°It¡¯s err¡­hard to describe! Just be ready for something ugly!¡± Melisande answered, ¡°and really, really freaky!¡± After what was already encountered by the man, there wasn¡¯t much Everett felt could surprise him, but that notion was quickly thrown to the wayside as the shielder watched the shadow-filled hallway. What slithered in was a monstrous anaconda, covered in dark-ck scales, possessing a length that seemed to stretch on for a dozen meters. ¡°A snake?!¡± Everett let out. ¡°Yeah¡­!¡± Melisande was clearly experiencing a lofty serving of fear as the prime example of her fear of snakes slithered into the chamber with its eerie, abnormally long body. It had stitches throughout the length of its body with beady eyes that looked down at the humans as it slipped its tongue out as if preparing for a meal. As it slowly brought its head back, it was taken as a telltale sign of a lunge, which the shielder read perfectly as he stood firmly in front of the silver-haired girl, nting his massive shield in front of himself, strapping it to his forearm for stability. WHAM. It was as though a giant maller had mmed against the otherside of the shield as the snake snapped forward with its fangs, shing against the durable object as if steel had just shed with steel. It¡¯s tough¡­and strong! He thought. The impact caused his metal boots to scrape across the stone tile a few centimeters, though he nted down, holding his ground. ¡°Do something¡­!¡± Melisande shouted. ¡°The hell do ya want me to do about this?!¡± Everett yelled, holding his shield up, ¡°Listen up! I¡¯m a shielder¨CI¡¯ll make sure ya never get hit¨Cnot in a million damn years!¡± ¡°¨C¡± Melisande looked up. The entire time, she had been trembling with fear from the oversized serpentine; her skin crawling at the mere sight of it and further from the ominous hisses it released. Everett stood firmly, gritting his teeth as the snake whipped around, attempting to get to them, but being blocked each time, ¡°¨CBut¡­! I¡¯m a shielder! I can¡¯t attack for ya! That¡¯s why I need ya to do! We¡¯re a team! I¡¯ve got yer¡¯ back, so you get mine!¡± It wasn¡¯t as though he knew the girl all that well or was trying to directly speak to her insecurities, though he made a perfect shot as those words reached the silver-haired recruit deeply. Spoken to on equal footing, not coddled, Melisande couldn¡¯t deny the responsibility given to her, stepping up as she raised her gaze, almost instantly closing her eyes at the sight of the monstrous serpent. Every time I see it, I wanna hide in a corner and just shrink away¡­! I¡¯ve always been paralyzed by snakes, even though my brother was fearless¨Che always rushed to my side and tossed them away, but¡­Joel isn¡¯t here anymore. I can¡¯t be that little girl who needs protection! She thought. ¡°Ghh¨C!¡± Everett grunted. There was no rejecting the reality in front of her, however, as the shielder continued to react swiftly, dashing around and guarding each speedy strike from the stitched-together anaconda. This time, the ck-scaled anaconda changed its approach after being repeatedly rejected by the sturdy shield as it lunged forward,tching onto the steel barrier with its fangs. ¡°What the¨C?! Hey, get off!¡± Everett said. Attempting to wiggle the snake off by shaking the shield, it was a no-go as its jaw strength waspletely monstrous. ¡°Wind Bore!¡± Passing by Everett¡¯s ear was a howl of wind, condensed and sharpened before it mmed against the serpent¡¯s body, knocking it off of the shield. No longer hiding behind the wall-like object that Everett wielded, Melisande stood tall, though her fingers trembled, she didn¡¯t let her emerald gaze shy away from the beast. ¡°Nice!¡± Everett gave a thumbs-up. Melisande nodded, giving a thumbs-up in return with a smile in surprise of herself. Not a fan of the camaraderie between the two, the serpent hissed out with its skin-crawling, scratchy call before shaking off the st of wind. ¡°Here ites! Get ready!¡± Everett shouted. ¡°Right!¡± Though he was frequently seen as clumsy by the group, Melisande found herself in awe of the sheermitment and explosiveness of Everett¡¯s ¡°shielding¡± fighting style: even with his burly body and armor that must¡¯ve weighed a ton, he moved in quick bursts, blocking each attempt the monstrous beast made to attack. All the while, Melisande gathered her mana, focusing her intent into a short incantation as wind swirled around her in the grimy, blood-stained room. Everett nced back, seeing that the young woman was ready to attack as he gave a nod before repelling the serpent¡¯s lunge once more. ¡°¨CHave at ¡¯em!¡± Everett shouted. Without further ado, Melisande fully conjured the spiral of wind in front of her, sharpening and reinforcing it before letting it out, pointing it towards the anaconda¡¯s head, ¡°Wind Bore!¡± It was a spell that greatly benefited from concentration and mana poured into it, allowing it to prate the space in front of the caster in an instant. ¡°Hisssss¡ª!¡± Just as the massive snake let out its cry, it was silenced as the verdant wind, honed into a prating force, swept through its head in an small explosion of ck blood. ¡°¡­Got it!¡± Melisande squeezed her fist with a small. ¡°Ya did it!¡± Everett jumped up, thrusting his fist into the air. After reuniting, the two shared a high-five that resonated through the dreadful ce,batting its darkness before heading deeper into it together. Chapter 227 The Collector Chapter 227 The Collector After reuniting, the two shared a high-five that resonated through the dreadful ce,batting its darkness before heading deeper into it together. ¡°Emilio and Yuna are doin¡¯ fine, no doubt about it,¡± Everett suddenly stated as they traversed the corridor. Melisande was taken aback by the random words, though realized that the bumpkin was likely just trying to reassure her as she nodded, ¡°Of course. They¡¯re both strong.¡± ¨C SQUELCH. Slicing through the burned and stitched together flesh of deformed beasts, the red-haired demi-human fought alone in a colosseum of tunnels, which were home to the grotesque creations. ¡°¨C¡° Yuna was dead calm as she swept her daggers through the hissing goblin that rushed her, cutting its neck before it could even thrust its makeshift spear. Rushing towards her now was a hound covered in spiky quills, salivating as it leapt towards her with its jaws parted. She kicked the eviscerated goblin back, knocking it against the spiked hound to throw it off before rushing forward. In a swift, silent dash, the feline demi-human dragged her dagger across the belly of the beast before it could even respond in kind. ¡°Rooorgh¡ª!¡± The monstrous hound howled before dropping to the ground. Shoddy spears were thrown towards her from the higher tunnels in the underground chamber,unched by foul goblins that yelled and hissed unintelligible speech. It was easy for the woman as nimble and swift as a cat to evade them, flipping around and catching one of the spears before throwing it back with fearsome precision. ¡°Grah! Gra¡ªl¡± One of the spear-throwing goblins was silenced as the returned projectile shot straight into its left eye socket, piercing through its head. Deformed goblins rode on the spiked hounds, using saddles to guide the savage beasts as they came at Yuna from every angle. Four targets. Alright, she thought. In an instant, the sharp-eyed woman deciphered the actions needed to be taken, picking up one of the daggers from a felled goblin and sharply tossing it towards the rider approaching from the left. A perfect hit. Straight into the skull, the dagger embedded itself into the goblin rider, knocking it off and causing the hound to stumble¡ªa perfect chance for Yuna to dash in and shred its neck. The true nature of the Godless Style was such: the unequivocal versatility with any weapon the user found in their fingertips. ¡°¡­I hope that¡¯s all,¡± Yuna mumbled. Around the woman were the bodies of the fallen experiments; she let out a breath before pulling her scarf back over her mouth. Footsteps echoed through the vast, interior colosseum, bringing Yuna¡¯s guard up as she looked towards the east corridor, witnessing a mysterious figure approaching. ¡°Disappointing. They were all failures anyway, but¡­they were still my failures,¡± the approaching man said with a deranged smile. He was bald with tan, calloused skin, holding an ax in his left hand as he stopped just as a thrown de shot past his head, slicing through his ear lobe. ¡°Oh?¡± The man smiled, ¡°Merciless. I like that.¡± ¡°I can tell just by looking at you: you¡¯re a cold-blooded killer and you embrace that. You¡¯re the one responsible for this mess, so¡ªdo me a favor and die,¡± Yuna said. There was no hesitation from the demi-human rogue as she wielded an array of small throwing knives from her pockets, tossing them towards the man. In a surprising bout of finesse, the bald-headed man leaned back an unnatural amount, avoiding the knives with augh. ¡°I like you! I think I¡¯ll add you to my collection!¡± The man imed as he leaned back up. Yuna was already soundlessly in front of the man, unleashing a clean, ruthless slice across the figure¡¯s throat. ¡°Gkk¡ª¡± Blood sprayed out from the lethal wound as the man¡¯s pitch-ck sclera went nk for a moment before¡ª ¡°¡ª!¡± The rogue found herself shocked as she had to block a powerful strike of the ax with her daggers, being knocked back by the tremendous force. ¡°¡ªYou¡¯re not dead?¡± Yuna questioned. Even though the man¡¯s neck was split, heughed out before running his finger across his wound, conjuring stitches that closed the killing blow seamlessly. ¡°The name¡¯s Collector, by the way,¡± the man introduced, ¡°I¡¯m unkible.¡± ¡°No such thing,¡± Yuna responded coldly, readying herself. ¡°Ha-ha! Let¡¯s experiment, then!¡± There was an almost feral way to the Collector¡¯s movements as he howled with joyousughter while wildly swinging his ax without any regard for his own safety. Even though Yuna was able to find various, small openings to unleash deep cuts on the madman¡¯s body, it did nothing to so much as make Collector flinch as he continued his mindless rush. ¡°¡ªWoohoo!¡± Collector called out. A wild kickunched itself against the rogue¡¯s side, hitting the nimble woman with incredible strength that knocked Yuna to the side. Just as quickly as she was knocked off her feet, shended smoothly with a slight wince. ¡­He¡¯s strong. Fighting somebody without any restraints for their own safety¡ªthere¡¯s nothing more annoying, she thought. Collector stopped for a moment,ughing out as he rested his ax on his shoulder, ¡°I¡¯ve been trapped in this valley for countless years now! Sorry, but a beauty like you really gets me going!¡± ¡°Foul,¡± she muttered in disgust. In a movement that would surpass the perception of the naked eye, Yuna drew a needle from her cloak and threw it forth, sailing directly towards the entric criminal¡¯s left eye. As it neared the man¡¯s iris amidst his wicked smile, it was evaded at thest moment as Collector lowered his stance like a beast before dashing forward. ¡°I¡¯ll turn you into my next Masterpiece! How about it!?¡± Collector yelled. ¡°No thanks.¡± Through swift footwork, Yuna weaves through the ax swings that hissed through the air. Right as the Godless Style using cat woman went for a riposte through a nimble flick, kicking the man¡¯s wrist, Collector broke through with his mindless aggression. Using the hammer-side of his ax, the man bludgeoned the woman¡¯s abdomen. ¡°Gyah¡ª!¡± Yuna spit out. ¡°Ha-ha!¡± Collector howled out. It was like fighting a relentless machine; Collector halted for no blow or wound, pushing past any technique or counter and ruthlessly continuing his offense. Sliding across the smooth, stone flooring of the underground colosseum, Yuna struggled to get back up as the blow left her without breath. ¡°Nngh¡­¡± I¡¯m rusty¡­I knew it was a bad idea taking this trial right now. Oh well¡­If I was too weak to win, then that¡¯s just the way things are, she epted. As sheid there, gasping for air as her stomach bruised over from the blunt wound, she epted her fate as the maddened criminal approached. ¡°Don¡¯t worry¡ªdeath is not the end for my toys. My special ability¡ª¡¯Life Stitch¡¯¡ªis what made me an S-rank criminal. They even designated me as one of the ¡®Three Devils of Parmesus¡¯, pretty big deal, right?¡± Collector spouted, ¡°With my power, I can stitch together my toys and create unique, one-of-a-mind toys.¡± As the bald-headed man spoke, Yuna felt herself gaining breath again, though each inhale and exhale came with its own pain. My ribs are bruised. It¡¯ll be difficult, but maybe¡­I have to try, she resolved. ¡°¡­Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not a sadist¡ªthe process will only hurt for a few weeks,¡± Collector said, Just as the man raised his ax above his head, the window of opportunity was found as Yuna slid, lunging her dagger forward as she stabbed it straight into the man¡¯s ankle. ¡°Oh!? That stings!¡± Collector smiled. ¡°Tch¡­¡± Yuna winced. It was to be expected, though it was a hopeless feeling as the man onlyughed at the flesh wound. ¡°Enough ytime¡ªlet¡¯s end this,¡± Collector said. Out of moves in that moment in her precarious position, Yuna didn¡¯t close her eyes, looking up as the bald-headed man began to swing his ax downward. CLANG. Sparks flew and steel shed as Yuna found herself not felled just yet, looking up to find a familiar, shirtless young man with unmistakable blonde and ck hair shing des against Collector. ¡°You¡ª!?¡± Collector looked surprised for once. ¡°Yeah¡ªme,¡± Emilio said, holding a strained smile as he struggled against the man¡¯s ax, ¡°Sorry, but that precious Masterpiece of yours wasn¡¯t all that.¡± Amidst their sh, a burst of mes was short forth from Emilio, repelling the maddened Collector who leaped back. ¡°Ha-ha! I see! I see! That¡¯s great!¡± Collectorughed. ¡°Great¡­?¡± Emilio raised an eyebrow. ¡°Of course! I¡¯ve found subjects even greater today!¡± Collector imed. While there was space between them, the young man extended his hand to the demi-human woman, who epted it before being helped to her feet. ¡°You alright?¡± Emilio asked. ¡°¡­Fine. Just stay focused on the enemy,¡± Yuna said with her usual coldness. ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell me that,¡± he breathed out. Swiping his hand forward, he unleashed a wave of mes forth, cutting off the experimenter as he attempted to rush in, cutting Collector off as he flipped upward. ¡°A mage of respectable skill!¡± Collectormended. ¡°Save it.¡± Emilio used a burst of air from above to knock Collector down to the ground with lethal force, causing the criminal to m down on his own head. Without missing a beat, Collector jumped back up with a kick of his legs,ughing as an open wound on his head spilled out arterial fluid. ¡°Spicy!¡± Collector grinned. Chapter 228 High-Octane Clash Yuna was already engaging the man, who casually leaned side-to-side and backward to avoid her daggers, before responding with an unforeseen development¡ª ¡°Let¡¯s push this further!¡± Collector said as his free arm began to convulse. In an instant, while evading dagger strikes and stone shards thrown by Emilio, Collector¡¯s left arm grew twice in size, bing bright-red with glowing, green veins before punching forward. ¡°¡ª!¡± The blow caught Yuna off-guard as the monstrous arm of Collector sailed towards her head, only being saved by ast moment wall of water that caught the fist. ¡°Oh!?¡± Collector smiled. Though it stopped the man¡¯s powerful blow, the barrier of aqua morphed itself, wrapping around his amplified limb and binding it. During that moment of free time, Yuna leapt back, catching her breath as she stood near the mage. ¡°¡­Thanks,¡± Yuna said. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it,¡± Emilio smiled. Still, there was definitely something concerning in regards to the partial transformation undertaken by the entric criminal, who had his erged, powerful arm held in chains formed of water. ¡°What do you think that¡¯s about?¡± Yuna asked. ¡°Don¡¯t know, but it¡¯s not good. I encountered a fair share of that guy¡¯s ¡®creations¡¯¡ªthere¡¯s definitely a secret to it,¡± he replied. ¡°He said he had a special ability. I think he called it the ¡®Life Stitch¡¯,¡± Yuna told him. ¡°Life Stitch?¡± There was no further time for conversation as they both looked forward as the man flexed his monstrous arm as his glowing veins bulged, snapping free from the magical bindings. ¡°Alright¡­I¡¯m turning him to ash,¡± Emilio imed, conjuring a sphere of fire in front of his staff. ¡°Please do,¡± Yuna said. Laughing out, the ax-wielding man didn¡¯t seem to respect the ferocity of the fire magic wielded by the young Dragonheart as his legs grew in size momentarily as he squatted down before leaping forward. ¡°Ha-ha-ha!¡± Collectorughed out in joy, ¡°¡ªBurn!¡± Emilio shouted. As the invocation of the spell, he pointed it upward as a massive stream of condensed, crimson mes that shot against the unnatural body of the sealed criminal. There was an undeniable sense of collision, certain that the sharp methrower spell engulfed Collector, though as it came to an end, the figurended on his feet. Covered in heavy burns, Collectorughed out, puffing smoke from his lungs as he swayed from side to side with charred skin, though clearly not down for the count yet. ¡°¡­Tough bastard,¡± Yuna mumbled. ¡°Seriously, what is that guy made out of?¡± Emilio said, Just as Yuna was about to dash in for the finishing blow, she was stopped as the young man grabbed her wrist. ¡°What¡¯re you doing¡ª?!¡± She sharply asked. ¡°Look! He¡¯s up to something,¡± he exined. As they both looked forward, the charred man¡¯s torso had a bright stitch stretching down from his neck to his bellybutton. Emilio meant to conjure a spell, though found himself grossly curious as to what he was looking at as the mystical stitches on the man¡¯s chest opened. Fingers came through the opening stitches, parting the figure¡¯s chest as his body became shriveled and empty like a jacket of skin. ¡°What am I looking at¡­?¡± He mumbled. Crawling out from Collector¡¯s torso was a brand new, unscathed version of the entric criminal, holding a smile as he was reborn from his discarded body. ¡°He¡­came out of himself?¡± Emilio questioned. ¡°I¡¯ve stopped questioning this man,¡± Yuna said, raising her daggers. Raising his ax, Collector smiled brightly as he presented his new-and-uninjured body. ¡°Fresh and better than ever!¡± Collector smiled, back to one-hundred percent. This time, the bald-headed madman didn¡¯t waste anytime activating the dormant genes within him as bright-green veins pressed against his body, shifting hisplexion as an aura of strength exuded from him. ¡°I¡¯ll cover you,¡± Emilio said, raising his catalyst. ¡°Got it,¡± Yuna lowered her stance. ¡ªAs the two sides prepared to sh, the second round was interrupted as an unounted for figure jumped in with a roar. ¡°Hoooooo-raaaaa!¡± mming down, the surprise support mmed their shield down against Collector, though they found themselves stopped as the criminal blocked the smashing blow with his bulky arm. ¡°Another!? A great day!¡± Collector grinned. ¡°Everett!?¡± Emilio realized. It was the Milligardian bumpkin who shed against the S-rank criminal, repelled by the monstrous force residing in Collector beforending on his feet. ¡°Get ¡¯em!¡± Everett gave a signal. ¡°¡ªWind st!¡± Hitting Collector from behind with a howl of wind was an invocation unleashed by a feminine call. Standing from the same ce the shielder arrived was the girl with silver hair, smiling as the spellnded with a solid impact. ¡°Melisande? Nice!¡± Emilio smiled. Relief flowed through the young man¡¯s mind as hispanions were all present and seemingly unharmed. Though Collector hardly seemed fazed yet as his entire body rippled, his flesh contorting as his bones seemed to expand with his entire skeletal structure altering in the moment. ¡°That¡¯s nasty!¡± Everett called out in disgust. ¡°Uegh¡­¡± Melisande witnessed. Already knowing the threat of the madman, both Yuna and Emilio rushed forward together with the young Dragonheart opting out of his staff for his broadsword. We need to take him out before he unleashes whatever he¡¯s building up! Emilio thought. It¡¯s time to end this! Yuna thought. Leaping to the man¡¯s left, Yuna raised her dual-wielded daggers with visceral violence embedded in her purple, beastly eyes. From the right, Emilio jumped in with his sword gripped tightly in both hands, summoning his internal strength as his heart thumped in his chest. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: Dragon Newt | 1/10] Though as they both swung their weapons with Yuna aiming for Collector¡¯s neck and Emilio aiming to cut through his midsection, both sets of des were stopped as the man¡¯s entire body grew double in size. As if his entire body was bruised, the S-rank criminal¡¯splexion changed to a deep purple with his body bing unnaturally d in muscle like a man-made beast. Using his monstro-sized arms, Collector blocked each sharp edge with a wicked smile, drooling the bright-green liquid that flowed through his veins. What the¨C?! His body¨Cit¡¯s so tough! Emilio thought. Even trying to press with further strength, from that angle, he was unable to dig the edge of his trusted de any further than the surface level of the monstrous biceps. ¡°I¡¯min¡¯¨C!¡± Everett shouted, rushing in. ¡°Everett, no¨C!¡± Emilio yelled. Just then, Collector¡¯s entire body glowed as the neon-green fluid in his veins shined before he flexed his entire body, releasing a shock wave from his position that harshly knocked back all three of the aggressors. ¡°Gyah¨C!¡± Yuna winced. As she was already injured from the bruising of her ribs, the demi-human rogue found herselfpromised by the stone-cracking shock wave. ¡°Hey! I¡¯ve gotcha!¡± Diving in, Everett managed to catch the woman before she fell down, snatching her up in his arms with a smile. ¡°¨C¡± Yuna looked up at him in surprise before pushing away. ¡°Err, yer¡¯ wee?¡± Everett raised an eyebrow. After being knocked back, Emilionded on his feet, though momentarily deprived of breath as it was knocked out of his lungs. ¡°Are you alright?!¡± Melisande rushed over to his side. ¡°Just peachy¡­This guy is a problem,¡± Emilio exined. ¡°I can tell,¡± Melisande responded. The young Dragonheart lightly shook his head, ¡°No, it¡¯s not just that¡­he seems practically immortal. We¡¯ve got him and burned him, but he¡¯s able toe back from seemingly anything.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­Well, we have to try, right?¡± Melisande looked at him with a small smile. ¡°Yeah. Of course,¡± Emilio smiled as well, readying himself. From both sides, the group stood off against the monstrous criminal who stood like a fantastical beast himself as veins throbbed atop his bald head, seeping bright-green liquid from his ears. ¡°I feel great! Better than ever! Ha-ha!¡± Collector shouted, his distorted voice booming throughout the underground colosseum. It was difficult to even perceive the monsterfied man taking a step; a single flex of his body sent him forward like a blur as he appeared in front of Melisande, who had yet to even realize the figure had begun moving. The brutal ax was already midway through being swung, aimed and honed with intent to kill as the green-blooded man smiled. ¡°Melisande!¡± Emilio yelled. Crap! I¡¯m too far! He thought. CLANG. In a burst of explosive speed himself, Everett managed to intercept the killer swing, deflecting the ax off of his mighty shield as he gritted his teeth. ¡°Grrrrh¨C!¡± Everett winced. The power behind the blow was unlike anything else as the blonde-haired country born recruit found himself sliding back even afterpletely bracing himself for the impact. Damn! I can feel the impact ringin¡¯ through my bones! Is this guy a monster?! Everett thought. ¡°¡­Thanks!¡± Melisande said, realizing how close to death she came. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it!¡± Everett shouted from upfront. Collectorughed with his distorted voice, flipping his ax between his fingers as if it were a light tool now, ¡°Don¡¯t celebrate too soon!¡± Before any attack could beunched, the morphed man was interrupted in his violence as his bnce was snatched away from beneath him. ¡°¨C!¡± Collector¡¯s eyes widened. Pulled back and tripped over, the criminal was flung upward by a rope of water attached to his ankle before being mmed down harshly. Emilio stood at the opposing end of the blood-stained colosseum, guiding the lengthy rope of aqua with his staff, ¡°Go!¡± Chapter 229 Reinforcements of The Wicked Emilio stood at the opposing end of the blood-stained colosseum, guiding the lengthy rope of aqua with his staff, ¡°Go!¡± There were no further words needed as Yuna dashed in with her speed, carried by the wind that Emilio supplemented her with as she zipped by just as the hulking goliath of a man picked himself up. SQUELCH. A half-dozen shes were etched into the S-rank criminal¡¯s flesh in that singr dash by Yuna, cutting into Collector¡¯s knees and ankles in an attempt to slow down his movements. ¡°Gentle Gale!¡± Melisande invoked. The unseen box of wind ensnared the downed criminal, who was encumbered by his sliced tendons, locking him down as Yuna went in for further eviscerations. Nice one, Melisande! Emilio thought. Still, it wasn¡¯t quite enough to halt the crazed man as he grinned, flexing his way out of the unmastered prison of wind, moving with uncontroble bursts of speed just as Everett attempted to bash him with his massive shield, rushing by and getting behind the shielder before grabbing him by his ankle. ¡°¨CLet¡¯s see how you fly, big guy!¡± Collectorughed. Snatching the burly recruit with superhuman strength, Collector hauled Everett off of his feet and tossed him across the chamber. ¡°Wooooaaagh¨C!¡± Everett yelled out, being tossed towards the back wall. ¨CCrap! Emilio thought. Providing an impromptu cushion for his ally, the young mage turned the stone where the shielder was flung towards into soft, mushy mud. ¡°¨CAaagh! Oh¡­nice save!¡± Everett said,nding softly against the wall. Though casting the supporting magecraft left Emilio wide-open as a chill ran up his spine, swiftly spinning around to find the speedy criminal directly behind him, towering over him three times over. ¡°Peek-a-boo!¡± Collector grinned. The maddened experimenter was already swinging his lethal ax towards Emilio¡¯s head, opting to split it open like a melon, though in that moment, the young mage recalled the very first lesson he learned against melee opponents: ¡°¨C!¡± With a wordless usage of wind, he swiped his hand to invoke a strong gust that came at an upward angle against the silver ax, throwing off the swing entirely and interrupting the attack. ¡°Huh¨C?!¡± Collector reacted. Gotcha! Emilio thought. In that opened window, he rushed forward with a burst of reinforcement to his legs, throwing his fist forward with utmost strength as he unleashed a full-power Dragon Strike against the man¡¯s purple-toned cheek. WHAM. The impactnded with a crack, causing Collector¡¯s neck to strain back before the erged figure stumbled back from the wind-cracking blow. Catching up atst, Everett and Yuna swooped in at the same time whilst the malignant figure was still reeling from the strike. ¡°Hoooo-rah!¡± The heavy shield was mmed against the top of Collector¡¯s head, echoing with a resounding thud that didn¡¯t sound pleasant in the least. He¡¯s definitely seeing stars after that, Emilio thought. While Collector stumbled around after being knocked directly against the skull, Yuna went in for the killing blow, jumping onto the man¡¯s shoulders and plunging each of her daggers into his head. ¡°You did it!¡± Melisande smiled in relief, catching up. Though even with the des fully submerged in the head of Collector, Yuna didn¡¯t seem confident in the lethality of the attack as the criminal¡¯s body had yet to go limp. ¡°That¡­really hurt!¡± Collect growled out. Rather than plucking the daggers out of his head outright, the brute of supernatural silence grabbed onto Yuna¡¯s legs, preventing the woman from escaping before he mmed her against the ground. ¡°Gyah¨C!¡± Yuna spit out. ¡°Yuna!¡± Everett rushed in. There was a crazed look in the pitch-ck eyes of the man as his irises became maddened swirls, looking straight at the shielder with an aura of pure strength that resonated even with the daggers stuck in his head. Is he a zombie?! It¡¯s not just the ability to heal his wounds¨Csomething has fundamentally changed with his body! Emilio thought. Everett wildly swung his heavy shield around, causing gusts of wind to blow in response to the dense swings, though the green-blooded goliath easily avoided his uncoordinated assault before knocking him back with a kick. ¡°Ghh-!¡± Everett winced. Collector followed through with his assault, gripping the bumpkin¡¯s head with both of hisrge hands, beginning to squeeze. ¡°Aaaagh¡­!¡± Everett let out in pain. ¡°Pop! Pop! Pop!¡± Collector grinned. ¡°Everett!¡± Just as Emilio and Melisande were about to conjure magic to aid theirpanion, a surprise came as the swift demi-human once again jumped on the criminal¡¯s shoulders, grabbing onto the daggers stuck in Collector¡¯s head and ripping them out in a brutal slice. ¡°¡ªGraaagh¡­!¡± Collector was finally swayed as blood squirted from his head, stumbling back. Before the beastly figure could grab onto the nimble cat woman¡¯s legs again, she hopped away, learning from her past mistakes. Holding his hand in front of him, Collector grinded his teeth in frustration, presenting the unique ring on his index finger that had an onyx gem that began shining with a cosmic radiance. ¡°¡­I was hoping to settle this without having to use any more of my toys, but you¡¯re all quite annoying, really! Come, pieces of my collection!¡± Collector shouted. The mystical ring he wore hummed before three,rge portals that held a dark, ominous swirl opened around Collector. ¡°Gateways¡­?¡± Yuna questioned. ¡°It¡¯s always somethin¡¯ new with this freak!¡± Everett huffed. Coming through the portals were the abominations made by Collector; deformed orcs, chimeras, and even crimson gtins that oozed acidic material. ¡°Lotta ugliesin¡¯!¡± Everett shouted, wielding his shield. ¡°I can see that!¡± Melisande responded. Emilio found himself fascinated by the ring worn by the criminal that spurred such an effect. ¡­Something like that could be handy. I bet it¡¯s a high-end trinket¡ªJeane would be totally enthralled if he saw this. Argh¡­enough about that! Think about winning first! He thought. ¡°I¡¯ll handle the big guy!¡± Emilio shouted. ¡°Are you sure¡ª?¡± Everett nced over. Emilio nodded, ¡°Trust me.¡± ¡°But¡ª¡± Everett was about to respond. ¡°Go ahead. We¡¯ve got your back,¡± Yuna said, giving a nod. As the horde of monstrosities swept in, the united front of Everett, Melisande, and Yuna shed against them, holding them off as Emilio stared down at Collector. ¡°Bravery or sheer arrogance, Imend you nheless, boy!¡± The goliath-turned man said to him. ¡°Save it,¡± Emilio replied. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Once more, he dug deep into his being, dragging out the dormant wrath embedded into his very soul as the blood rushing through his veins began to heat up. It was a precise method; like tossing a fishing line into the depths of his soul, having to hook in the burning destruction inside. Scales stretched over his body, armoring him from head-to-toe in knight-like equipment, obscuring any resemnce of Emilio himself. [Current Stage: Dragon Son | 3/10] ¡°Oh? Very intriguing! I knew to trust my eyes! You¡¯ll make for a Masterpiece above any other iteration¡ªmy magnum opus!¡± Collector readied himself as his green veins shined. As a pair of towering orcs attempted to assault the Dragonheart, he stood still until the moment they struck, countering in the blink of an eye, snatching both of their heads off. It was a seamless action, nearly taking the Dragonheart himself by surprise at his own physical capabilities as the headless bodies of the scaled orcs dropped over, limp. I¡¯ve got it. I¡¯m getting the hang of this now. Use that anger¡ªpoint that resolve to live and protect, and destroy your enemies, he thought. As he dashed forward, fully utilizing the monstrous physical enhancements with his draconic armor as he broke the sound barrier, Collector flinched, using his spatial ring to bring a shield of goblins in front of himself. That won¡¯t stop me, Emilio thought. With a single thrust of his fist, he emitted a burst of azure mes against the grouping of deformed goblins, sting them to bits as he rushed in close to Collector. ¡°¨CSo strong! Great, great!¡± Collector smiled, surging with the bright-green serum in his veins. As the two came within striking distance of one another, Emilio struck forward again with his right fist while Collector responded in kind, causing his left arm to bulk up momentarily before throwing a wild haymaker in return. WHAM. The air cracked around them as a shock wave howled out, cracking the stone around them as their knuckles shed. Still, the draconic force emitted from the Dragonheart¡¯s fist proved to overpower any enhanced physical prowess that Collector had, repelling his strike as his arm harshly rippled back. ¡°Ghh¨C!¡± Collector winced. Even after losing the sh of strength, the smile wasn¡¯t wiped from the madman¡¯s lips as he rushed forward with animalistic aggression, catching Emilio off-guard with his tenacity as he swept in within an instant¨C ¡°Nnh¡­!¡± Emilio let out. The massive knee belonging to Collector struck upward against his sr plexus, dragging upward before knocking Emilio directly into the air of the underground colosseum. As he was flung up, he looked down, watching the battlefield as hispanions fought with their utmost: ¡°Hooo-rah!¡± Everett roared out. The shielder swept through smaller goblins, knocking them back with his shielder and speedily defending Melisande as she cast her magic, defending her from the blows of a violent orc. ¡°Thanks!¡± Melisande called out. It was a split-second from a stone-armed orc bludgeoning the silver-haired girl from behind, but Everett managed to intercept and bash his dense shield against the fiend¡¯s face. ¡°¡ªNo problem! Leave the defense to me!¡± Everett shouted. Chapter 230 Comradery In Battle ¡°¡ªNo problem! Leave the defense to me!¡± Everett shouted. Meanwhile, Yuna helped thin out the numbers that swarmed around the other two, using her nimbleness paired with the incredible skill for quick assassinations to swiftly dispatch the monstrosities around her. ¡ª As he watched hisrades, the Dragonheart caught himself, spinning around and pressing his feet against the ceiling as he coiled up, setting his sights on the man below. Summon it. Hold none of it back¡­He thought to himself. Collector smiled up towards him, pointing his palm upward as his flesh parted to give way to a hose of the bright-green liquid that shot out like a beam of highly-pressurized liquid. He immediately kicked off of the ceiling, cracking the stone and causing the colosseum to rumble as he dived down, avoiding the spray of acidic ooze as he gathered a heaping force of draconic power in his fist. Azure mes swirled around his cocked back hand, emitting head waves as he neared Collector with full-intent to destroy. ¡°¡ªErk,¡± Collector¡¯s constant smile shifted in an instant once the Dragonheart swept past his acid. As he threw his fist forward like a cannon sparking with destructive might, he unleashed a roar of power that surged forth, sparking with azure embers before the shock wave collided directly against Collector. ¡°Brrrrrr¨C!¡± Collector groaned. The powerful shock wave, infused with draconic mes, ripples the skin on the criminal¡¯s body before flinging him back harshly as if bludgeoned by the mallet of a giant. An aftershock of the devastating blow burrowed through the stone in front of the Dragonheart¡¯s knuckles, carving it up with the sigh of the inner dragon. ¡°¡­Oh, that smarts¡­that really, really, smarts¡­!¡± Collectorughed hoarsely. The monstro-fied man was leaning against the caved-in wall as rubble rained down on him, bouncing off of his head as heughed quietly, coughing up blood. It was inhuman that the figure even survived the monstrous blow as his stomach was caved in and his fleshe eviscerated from the sharp winds. Emilio stood tall as spiked hounds rushed him from every angle, only needing a single swipe of his hand to unleash a wave of azure mes from his position. In an instant, the spike-armored hounds whimpered as the flesh-eating fire swirled around the young Dragonheart, enveloping the beasts in the lethal embrace of heat as their hides melted and their flesh was breathed away, leaving not even their bones. ¡°And they call me a monster!¡± Collector slowly stood up, cackling, ¡°¨CLook at you, boy. You¡¯re quite the scary creature yourself.¡± ¡°¨C¡± Emilio didn¡¯t respond. ¡°¨CStill, I don¡¯t deny what I am! I¡¯m a monster! A demon! The devil himself! The worst-of-the-worst! I deny none of it!¡± Collector grinned. Just then, the Dragonheart realized what the purple-skinned, maddened man was up to as he ran his finger down his chest, summoning another ominous set of stitches. No! I won¡¯t let you! He thought. As he dashed forward, bringing his sword into his hand with the guidance of wind, he reached the figure within seconds, going in for a measured swing of his de before¨C ¡°¨CYou¡¯re toote!¡± Collector provoked with a smile before his body went limp, losing its substance in an instant as the stitches on its chest opened as a new, fresh body for Collector popped out, dodging the sword swing that bisected the discarded flesh. ¡°¨CTch!¡± Emilio clicked his tongue. The S-rank criminal giggled as he rolled out, opening his mouth as he breathed out toxic fumes towards the Dragonheart. Reacting quickly, Emilio waved his sword to summon a gust of wind, knocking the lethal gas back towards the man who breathed it out, though Collector onlyughed. ¡°I¡¯m immune to it, but nice try!¡± ¡°Do you ever shut up?¡± Emilio asked. ¡°Ha-ha! Sorry, but I¡¯m quite the talkative¨C¡± Before the annoyance that was the Collector could finish talking, Emilio swiped his hand up, summoning walls of stone that enclosed around the entric goliath. Just as he did so, a two-headed orc stomped over to him from behind, dual-wielding giant clubs as it murmured out slurred words. ¡°Sssmath¡­!¡± The two-headed orc bellowed. As it attempted to m its clubs down on the Dragonheart, Emilio¡¯s sharpened reflexes kicked in without a moment¡¯s hesitation as he dropped down to his hands and kicked upward behind him, using both feet to crack the orc¡¯s chin and knock it back brutally. Facing forward again, there was no chance to follow up on the second half of the spell he cast around Collector as the massive man shattered the stone that encapsted him: ¡°¨CRude! I was talking!¡± Collector smiled, punching through the rock easily. Another abnormal morph came over the man¡¯s body as he increased the bulk of his legs three times over, using the enhanced, bulging muscrity tounch himself forward in a surprising dash towards the Dragonheart. ¡°¡ª!¡± Coming into reach, Collector swung his arm back, causing it to gigantify by a factor of five times as massive, bright-green veins shined. Activating his [Scale Armor] while already naturally d in a suit of draconic armor further increased the durability of those scales, focusing this effect into his arms as he shielded himself from the massive blow. WHAM The impact was stronger than expected, leaving cracks in the Dragoheart¡¯s exterior protection as his feet slid across the stone. He somehow ended up back-to-back against Everett, who was breathing heavily with his shield raised to rabid orcs. ¡°Ya good, buddy? We can swap out if you want!¡± Everett offered with a smallugh. ¡°I¡¯ve got it handled,¡± Emilio responded, breathing out as he watched steam exude from the impact left on his arms. ¡°Alright! Good to hear! I really didn¡¯t want to fight that crazy head anyway!¡± Everett said. Springing back into action, they went their separate ways as Emilio zed towards Collector, swiping his me-breathing sword towards the figure who dodged with smiling swiftness. ¡ª Everett charged back into the grouping of orcs, intercepting their movement towards Melisande as he knocked into them, yelling out, ¡°Hoooo-rah!¡± ¡°Thanks!¡± Melisande said. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it!¡± The shielder responded. Chapter 231 Death Departure The silver-haired newbie was pushing boundaries unexplored previously in her mana efficiency,unching wind after wind. Sharp bursts of air shredded the thick skinned orcs, handling them after the shielder concussed them. Combatting a slim, tall goblin that wielded ded forearms, Yuna shed against the shockingly fast fiend. It had its mouthpletely stitched closed, silent and speedy as it spun around to utilize its sharp forearms. A skilled goblin. It¡¯s physical abilities are respectable as well¡ª a far cry from the norm of its kind, Yuna thought. She was able to evade the edge of its des, though finding an opening for an attack was a challenge in its agile aggression. Sparks fluttered in the air as metal slid against metal, daggers smacking against flesh-infused des. Though she didn¡¯t speak of it, the dagger-wielding demi-human had pride of her own, especially when being challenged by a goblin¡ªa being often thought of as the lowest of the low vermin. ¡°Tch,¡± Yuna clicked her tongue. Changing her approach, she leaned back to avoid a wide sh before falling backward purposefully, flipping around into a sweep of the goblin¡¯s leg. Even agile maneuvers like that weren¡¯t quite enough as the tall goblin leapt up. ¡°¡ª!¡± Yuna¡¯s cat reflexes tingled, autonomously blocking an unexpected strike: from the bottom of the goblin¡¯s foot, a sharp de protruded for an unseen counter. It was a close call, but she repelled it, lunging forward after the skilled goblin leapt back, rushing forth and using an array of swift shes paired with superb footwork to bypass its agility. An onught of eviscerations found their way on the goblin¡¯s body. It¡¯s skin is tough¡ªa half-baked sh won¡¯t reach deep enough. In that case¡­she thought. Not deep enough or seeming to faze the pain-immune fiend, it silently lunged forward to go for a prative thrust. As it aimed for her heart, Yuna dropped back, wrapping her legs around her opponent¡¯s arm and snapping its elbow with a violent crack. After breaking its joint harshly, she used her legs to contort its limb, causing the de stuck to the goblin¡¯s forearm to stab into its forehead with a bloody squelch. ¡°Not a sweat,¡± Yuna said. ¡ª Amidst a high-octane sh, Emilio found his body heating up through his extended usage of the third stage; each breath felt like he was breathing fire as he rushed through Collector¡¯s acid sprays. It sttered through the air like dozens of flesh-melting bullets, hailing towards the Dragonheart. ¡°¡ªThat won¡¯t work,¡± Emilio mumbled. As he chased towards the murderous criminal, he swiped his beloved sword forward, unleashing a heat wave that repelled and vaporized the droplets of acid in his path. ¡°Scary! Scary!¡± Collector smiled. Before Emilio could close the distancepletely, Collector activated the mystical ring on his hand as it shined. Two portals opened in front of the transformed man, releasing a pair of serpent-headed, massive beasts that leaped and hissed towards the Dragonheart. ¡°Cannon fodder won¡¯t save you!¡± Emilio yelled. Beginning to feel the heat bearing down on him, desperation and anger surged as the young Dragonheart found himself bing reckless, swinging his de forward with a massive release of power following. I¡¯ve got to finish this now¡ªback-to-back transformations isn¡¯t exactly easy on my body! He thought. FWOOOOSH A burst of wind propelled forward, infused with a swirl of azure mes, swept through the beasts, spinning the Collector as it threw the man off his bnce and mmed him into a fiery explosion. The massive release of explosive mes roared outward, rumbling the entire area before dispersing, revealing the state of Collector who wobbled onto his feet. ¡°¡­Burns¡­.Burns!¡± Collector anguished as blood seeped from his mouth. Most of the skin had been burnt offpletely from Collector¡¯s body, revealing his tainted flesh below as his skull was left exposed. Pointing towards his own chest, the grotesque criminal began to conjure his special stitches.m ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter!¡­I¡¯m unkible! I¡¯m the greatest! I¡¯m¡ª¡± Spieling on as he began to lengthen the stitches on his chest for another rebirth, Collector was interrupted as he spit out blood, seeing the world upside down. ¡°Wh-what?¡­¡± Collector gasped. ¡°I won¡¯t make the same mistake.¡± Emilio stood there with his de already swung as the head belonging to his foe bounced off the ground, leaving the monstrous body decapitated and inanimate. There were no second chances taken; no half-measures would be left to give the tenacious, devil of a man a chance to continue living like a cockroach through nuclear winter. With that resolve in mind, he held his hand forward, emitting a massive heat wave that left the body of Collector dested. Finishing the job, not a second longer as taken in stage three as the young mage relinquished his transformation, allowing his azure scales to crumble and fall from his body. ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± Emilio breathed out, covered in sweat. By the end of Collector¡¯s tenacious life, the others finished their foes as well, taking out thest few abominations. ¡°And that¡¯s¡­that!¡± Everett grunted out as he bashed thest of the goblins¡¯ head, seeming to gross himself out from the grotesque st on the ground. Melisande stood there, panting after frequent castings of spells as she leaned down with her hands on her knees, sweating, though smiling to herself. It was an achievement for her; feeling the mana in her body strained as her muscles ached and throbbed, knowing she pushed herself to new limits in this fight. ¡°Nice work!¡± Everett said, raising his hand. The shielder offered a celebratory high-dive to Melisande, who looked up at the man¡¯s hand for a moment, too exhausted to respond in kind before catching her breath a moment more, pping his hand. ¡°Yeah,¡± she huffed out with a smile. ncing around, Yuna made sure that they well and truly did finish off the abominable forces of Collector before easing her guard, wiping her daggers off before sheathing them. After gathering themselves, the three looked over at Emilio, who was across the room, knelt by Collector¡¯s headless body. ¡°¨C¡± Emilio was silent. There was hesitation when it came to touching the grotesque, purple-skinned body of the felled criminal, though he had little choice if he meant to retrieve the unique ring worn on the figure¡¯s finger. ¡­I hate to loot somebody like this, but¡­what¡¯s fair is fair, he thought. Luckily enough, he was a bit too exhausted to put much stock into what was ¡®gross¡¯ as he tugged on the ring before it finally slid off of the fallen Collector¡¯s finger, relinquishing itself into Emilio¡¯s possession. ¡°There we go,¡± he whispered, inspecting it. The ring was made of a ck metal with a dark gem in the center, bearing theplexion of the cosmos in its dark te, filled with the faint glitter of stars and periodic glows ofary bodies. ¡­Fascinating. I guess somebody called ¡°Collector¡± would have something valuable like this. At least, I¡¯m assuming a magical piece of jewelry like this is pretty high-end, he thought. ¡°Hey! Emilio! Are you good?!¡± Running over, Everett yelled, checking up on the young mage as the other two followed behind him. Emilio nced back, sliding the ring onto the index finger of his right hand before nodding with a small smile, ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m fine.¡± Besides a few scratches and bruises, most of which were endured by the sturdy shielder, they came out of the hectic battle mostly unscathed, though the real infliction was suffering the grotesque injury and smells inhabiting the undergroundir. ¡°¡­Can we get out of here? Now that we stopped fighting, the smell of this ce is kicking back in¡­¡± Melisande said, covering her mouth and nose. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m right there with you¡­¡± Emilio nodded, scrunching his nose. ¨C After some scouting, Yuna managed to find a proper passage for the group to travel down, leading to a wide tunnel that was surprisingly, and weingly, devoid of abominable contraptions and experiments. Marching at the back with his shield strapped to his back, the blonde-haired bumpkin looked back at the cat woman, ¡°What about you? Demi-humans have pretty strong noses, right? I bet this must be the worst for you! Ha-ha!¡± Yuna crossed her arms, sticking her nose up while keeping a straight face, ¡°While that may be true, I¡¯ve trained myself to handle such environments without a problem. I am a professional, after all.¡± Though she said as much, Emilio looked back, noticing that Yuna¡¯s straight face was hardly enduring the rancid stench inhabiting the tunnel they walked down as her dark-red tail swayed rapidly. Yeah¡­no way you can train yourself to get used to a smell like this, Emilio thought. After passing through the tunnel, it seemed to be a secret area that Collector used for quick travel, leading the group to finding the very thing they went into the ursed lodge in the first ce for: the anchor. ¡°Bingo,¡± Emilio knelt down. It was a single nail driven into the ground, inscribed with runes and emanating a malignant aura of the tainted mana used to activate it. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Yuna asked. ¡°Kinda small, ain¡¯t it? Something like that is making the barrier out there invincible?¡± Everett scratched his head. After inspecting the anchorpoint of the barrier for a moment more, poking it and standing back up, Emilio nodded, ¡°Yeah, this is it. An anchor doesn¡¯t need to be anything special¨Cit¡¯s just a catalyst for the magecraft¡¯s set limitations. Now¡­¡± ¡°Time to bust it up?¡± Everett smiled. ¡°¡­Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re nning on bashing it with your shield?¡± Melisande asked. ¡°Huh? So what if I am?! It¡¯ll get the job done!¡± Everett looked over in surprise at the questioning of his methods. After some arguing, mostly with Everett wanting to break the nail serving as the anchor like an impatient child, it was done by Emilio with a simple, unceremonious fireball that shattered it to pieces. VRRRRR The ground rumbled as the sound of the barrier above ground, surrounding the perimeter, perished at the destruction of the spell¡¯s anchor. ¡°There,¡± Emilio said. ¡°Wha¨C?! That was totally¨Curgh, fine,¡± Everett huffed. Without a word, Yuna began climbing thedder that was positioned by the wall, leading upward towards atch on the small portion of the ceiling upward. As they climbed out, one by one, following one after the other, the hatch above was reached by Yuna, who smacked it with her hand, knocking it up to reveal a much yearned for sight after spending time in the unsavoryir: the outside world. ¡°There we go! Ha-ha! Sunlight!¡± Everett smiled. Though it wasn¡¯t exactly the light of the sun that shined down through the Valley of Parmesus, Emilio didn¡¯t feel like correcting him as he felt relief as well through the sight, surprised he¡¯d ever feel happy to see the deadly valley. As they resurfaced from the Collector¡¯sir, they left the trapdoor built into the soil itself, ncing back at the wooden lodge without any positive feelings. ¡°¡­Alright, how about some breakfast?¡± Emilio asked. ¡°Now you¡¯re speaking mynguage!¡± Everett smiled wide. ¡°I could go for something to eat,¡± Melisande ced her hand on her stomach. Though not outwardly excited, Yuna pulled her scarf over her mouth as if hiding her emotion, ¡°I guess I could use some nutrients.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get going then,¡± Emilio smiled. ¨C Another day was survived in the harsh trial for the recruits of the illustrious ¡°World-ss¡± rank for new adventurers, oveing a long, stressful day. A period of peace came as they found a new ce to camp out in the woonds, swapping watch times and hunting duties, making it through the time needed before finally¨Cthe final day of the trial arrived. [The Last Day of The Trial] Chapter 232 The Nomad and The Divine I [¡°Oh? You¡¯d like to know about ¡°him¡±? Well, that¡¯s a long story with many twists and turns, though I do not mind talking about it. After all, I doubt there are more than a handful of beings throughout history with a more fantastical life than him. There are many tales of him told throughout Arcadius. Fables, documents, songs sung by bards, and even sages far too old for any to take their words as anything but weathered lunacy. However, though he may be known by many names: ¡°Godyer¡±, ¡°Bedrue¡±, ¡°Khan¡±, ¡°Benjamin¡±¨Call names acquired by hundreds of years of renowned feats, it all refers to one man.¡±] Atop a mountain that surpassed the height of clouds, there was a colossal, stone bridge that stretched from the daunting summit to the next of a neighboring mountain. It was steeped in the primordial breath of the world¡¯s past cloak, a ce in which a mere man would find their end in trying to climb the impossibly tall, arduousndmark. Yet, across the bridge that looked down on the silent clouds, a man walked. He wore a tattered, dirtied cloak that was once white, now old and worn to a dark brown as it fluttered in the high-altitude winds. ¡°¨C¡± The figure was silent as he trudged forward. It wasn¡¯t natural weather that urred throughout the length of the cracked, swaying bridge of arhaic stone, but a supernatural barrier in itself, meant to wane those who dared cross its path and thin out visitors. This wind howled like a bellowing warning, rumbling the stone steps that the man walked on and violently swingers the bridge itself side-to-side, though none of it made the enigmatic man flinch. The further he traversed the lengthy bridge, which stretched on for leagues across the roaring skies, the more intense the weather became as soon clouds began to swirl around the structure. Not a single step the man took was disturbed; on his path, he was unimpeded as he traversed the roaring thunder and bolts of lightning that nipped at the bridge. To the man who crossed the mythical bridge, it was nothing more than theatrics; the barking of a dog that would not bite. ¡°¨C¡° Stopping at the end of the stone bridge, the summit of the ominous mountain was reached: gates of quartz stood before a valley carved atop the colossal structure of natural rock, gated by clouds. In the center of the valley atop the mountain¡¯s summit, a swirl of cloud and winds served as adder, leading upward towards a fortress levitating in the sky with a divine presence. As he stepped onto the rock valley, the man immediately found himselfing to a stop¨C ¡°Halt. You¡¯re trespassing on the domain of Lord Aelor.¡± Amanding voice spoke sternly from above, bringing the cloaked nomad¡¯s gaze upward towards a man dressed in a spotless, white uniform with silver hair that subtly flowed in the wind. ¡°State your name, ounder,¡± the light-dressed figure demanded with his hands behind his back, hovering above the visitor. [¡°¡®The Sentinels of Aelor¡¯¨CI doubt anybody in this world knows of their origin besides Aelor himself. While they may look human at a nce, through a prolonged look, you may find yourself instead looking upon a divine being. In some scripture, they¡¯re called ¡®angels¡¯, and in some ¡®executioners¡¯¨Cwhile they¡¯re often thought to be myth due to their uninvolvement with the world, if a Sentinel does happen to be seen¡­it is an augury of destruction, no doubt.¡±] The figure stopped, removing his hood as his shaggy, dark-brown hair was tugged by the roaring wind along with his scruffy beard. He looked to be no older than his early thirties, though his pale-blue eyes held a different truth of his age in them. ¡°I am Bastian. I arrived here to visit your lord. I have matters that take immediate priority with him,¡± the bearded nomad said, ¡°That is, I know of the hostilities he¡¯s taken towards the ¡®Otherworld Hearts¡¯.¡± The name given caused the silver-haired Sentinel¡¯s eyebrow to twitch as his chromatic irises widened slightly, ¡°Bastian?¡­I see. Otherworlders are a threat to Arcadius¡¯ bnce. You are foreign aspects that do not factor into the natural ecosystem of power.¡± From the tone taken by the Sentinel of the illustrious fortress in the sky, the man sighed to himself, reaching beneath his cloak as he gripped onto a sheathed handle beneath. ¡°So, that¡¯s how it is, then? It seems I have more to discuss with Aelor than I initially thought,¡± Bastian mumbled to himself. Just as Bastian unsheathed the longsword sheathed at his hip, he swiped it forward as the silver-haired Sentinel before him already unleashed a st of sparkling light towards his position. In that instant, the de wielded in Bastian¡¯s grip,cking in special mor, shined with a golden radiance for a moment, slicing through the assault of light. ¡°You¡¯re Dorado, right? I¡¯ve met you before. You know I am not an enemy of your lord¨Cstand down,¡± Bastian demanded, holding his sword to the side as its golden glow vanished. The pale-skinned, chromatic eyed man lowered from his levitating state as hended on the ground across from Bastian, narrowing his gaze on the visitor. ¡°I know well who you are, Seraphheart. It is because of that, I must eliminate you¨Chere and now, as you have been deemed a threat to bnce,¡± Dorado said, summoning an ethereal de into his grip. Bastian sighed as his expression remained unfazed, ¡°¡­Then so be it. I was hoping things would go smoothly, but this wasn¡¯t exactly unounted for, either. You lot tend to be difficult.¡± Manifesting from a brief sh of golden light, bringing forth a divine warmth, Bastian conjured gold-and-silver gauntlets around his arms, etched withvish grooves. Though it only covered from his hands to his forearms, the gauntlets provided a powerful aura felt through a sublime warmth, radiating around the bearded nomad. [Seraphheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 1/10 | Holy Soldier] Just as he set his focused gaze forward, the silver-haired Sentinel vanished in a blur before instantaneously reappearing before the man, alreadyshing his light-forged de forward. It was all perceived by Bastian, who blocked the strike and repelled the Sentinel, initiating a sh of mystical des as the bright, white light wielded by Dorado collided with the golden-d sword in Bastian¡¯s grip. As Dorado flipped back, he swiped his light-formed weapon through the air, summoning countless arrays of oppressive energy that cleanly burned through the air into a maze ofsers, surrounding Bastian in an instant. Chapter 233 The Nomad and The Divine II Eachser moved as light itself, intersecting with others and creating an impossible to dodge formation. Plunging his de into the ground, Bastian reacted just as the attack came, summoning forth a wall of illustrious shields around himself in a phnx formation. Born of radiant aura, the sturdy shields withstood the array of light, shing with sparkling explosions that shook the mountaintop valley itself. ¡­He really is going for the kill. In that case, I won¡¯t mess around, Bastian thought. After enduring the burnt of theser arrays, a shock wave of majestic mana propelled from within the dome of shields,pletely eradicating the entrapment of light and kicking up waves of dust. Dorada raised his arm to shield himself from the dust, looking forward with his chromatic eyes towards the Seraphheart. [Current Stage: 5/10 | Divine Sentinel] Standing beneath a lofty light of holy aura, Bastian was d in a full-set of gold-and-silver armor with pauldrons on his shoulders forged to resemble roaring lions and a long, flowing cape of illustrious tinum. On his head, a helmet formed from the light of his Serappheart, forged of holiness with the wings of an avian sculpted onto the sides. ¡°Hm,¡± Dorado looked forward, ¡°This is the Seraphheart?¡± There was no fear or adrenaline that gave off from the Sentinel of the mythicalpound; Dorado¡¯s inhuman eyes simply discerned what was in front of him before he lowered his stance and bursting forward as a sh of light. It would be entirely imperceptible by normal means: the shift into light that the silver-haired Sentinel took made even a single step traverse distances in equal time, surpassing the mortal concept of speed as shock wave throttled with every movement made. Nheless, Bastian¡¯s eyes looked side-to-side, up-and-down, able to track the movements that shed around him before he summoned a chain forged of golden light, swinging it to his right andssoing the right arm of Dorado, snatching him from his trail of light. ¡°¨C¡± Dorado seemed surprised to be caught, though it wasn¡¯t worn on his stoic expression. In an instant, the Sentinel was ripped from the spot he stood by a pull of Bastian¡¯s arm, tossing Dorado over and whipping him around in the air. Just as Bastian opted to m his foe into the gravelly ground below, Dorado spun around as cosmic light reinforced his legs, kicking through the golden chain like a hot knife through butter. A small smirk crept on the corner of Dorado¡¯s lips as the battle finally began,nding on his feet as a cosmic aura reinforced his body, giving an aura of the swirl of nebe and the sparkle of stars around the figure. [¡°The Supreme Mana¡±, not much is known about it outside of the Founders¡¯ own knowledge, but it¡¯s the core of the Sentinel¡¯s power: an alternate, transcendent mana that gives them ess to magic outside of perceived boundaries.¡±] ¡°I¡¯ll say it one more time: I¡¯m just here to have a talk with Aelor. I don¡¯t know what you believe, but I¡¯m not here for a fight¨Cnor am I an enemy of your beloved ¡®bnce¡¯,¡± Bastian said. Dorado sighed, slipping his fingers through his hair, ¡°Talk is moot. Aelor¡¯s judgment is absolute. Do not fool yourself into thinking your centuries of history have slipped beneath my lord¡¯s brow.¡± ¡°¨C¡± Bastian stood there, silent. ¡°I know of your destructive past, Serappheart. That¡¯s why you wander the world, alone and aimless, forever a nomad, eternally without a ce to call home: everywhere you go, destruction follows,¡± Dorado said. Finishing his words, the Sentinel raised his hand, summoning bands of light that encircled his outstretched arm, manifesting ultimately into a sphere of imposing power in front of his palm. It only took a moment for the attack to charge, unleashing in a beam of light that caused pebbles to vibrate and levitate, burning away in the immediate area of the sh as it shot towards the Seraphheart. Golden wings manifested on the back of Bastian¡¯s armor, allowing him to leap up and take flight as he avoided the beam, though Dorado followed instantaneously as he warped into the air as well. ¡°I will enact my lord¡¯s will,¡± Dorado said. An array of lights danced through the cloud-filled skies as the Sentinel moved with transcendent speed, shing around and spinning into a kick that emitted with a sky-cracking shock wave. CLANG. Bastion didn¡¯t budge, blocking the kick with his armored forearm as he nced over at the silver-haired man, ¡°As I said, I am not here to fi¡ª¡± The Sentinel wasn¡¯t reciprocating the conversation as he interrupted the divine d man with a burst of scathing light. Its essence was of an ascendant mana; the cosmic light worked to shatter constructs both physical and ethereal through an assault of hyper-powerful rays. The low blow was sessful in shattering part of Bastian¡¯s armor, though the man himself was unharmed, now clearly annoyed as he summoned an onught of golden chains from various angles in the sky. ¡°So be it. If this is how you¡¯re acting, it seems my talk with Aelor is more important than I believed,¡± Bastian said. Before Dorado could attempt to evade as he shifted to light, the heavenly chains shot out from every angle, chasing the Sentinel and ensnaring his limbs swiftly. ¡°Nnrgh¡­!¡± Dorado struggled. Though the subordinate of Aelor attempted to summon his cosmic radiance, only sparse particles came in response. Bastian held the end of the chains, ¡°Don¡¯t waste your energy. My ¡®Seraph Chains¡¯ suppress the mana of whoever is grasped in them. I¡¯ve got a tight hold of you, so sit tight.¡± There was a surprisingck of worry on the Sentinel¡¯s expression as his chromatic irises stared confidently at the Serappheart, despite his precarious position. ¡°¨CHm?¡± Just as Bastian realized what was going on, the chain he used to bind Dorado was severed swiftly by an arrow of light, severing the golden material in a blink. Another, Bastian thought. Looking up, he confirmed it with his own eyes: another figure with silver hair, though long and kept neatly in a ponytail, wearing a simr, all-white uniform to Dorado. The man hovered above the battleground, standing on air with a bow of cosmic light held in his hand. ¡°Dorado,¡± the newly-arrived Sentinel said, ¡°Try not to get captured by the enemy, alright? I¡¯d have to report something like this to our lord.¡± Breaking free from the hold of the mana-suppressing chains, Dorado huffed, leaping back and manifesting his sword madepletely of transcendent mana. ¡°I was perfectly fine, Orion!¡­Let¡¯s deal with this,¡± Dorado said. Standing there and analyzing the battlefield before him, Bastian Serappheart nced at the bowman hovering in the air and the sword-wielder standing across from him, knowing it was a less-than-optimal situation. Two Sentinels is troublesome, even more so when it¡¯s a range and close-quartersbination. I¡¯ll need to take this a stage further, he thought. With a hum of divine radiance, the illustrious force within Bastian shined outward, rumbling the valley as the air spiraled around him, reforging his current armor and upgrading it through denser ting and ck streaks, manifesting a lion-faced shield in his right arm and a massive, golden greatsword in his left. [Current Stage: 6/10 | Divine Tyrant] An immediate usage of the shield was needed as he looked upward, finding the sky pitched in darkness before brightened by hundreds, if not thousands of twinkling stars that rapidly approached. It wasn¡¯t stars that descended, but the destructive, majestic arrows summoned by a pull of the ethereal bow that Orion wielded. The sky itself became blinding in the overwhelming shine that inhabited it; the endless arrows pierced through the clouds, dispersing them in the way of the Sentinel¡¯s wish. ¡°Fall and pierce my target, Star Shower,¡± Orion said. The supremacy of the attack was indescribable by one even as experienced as Bastian; in an instant, thousands of light arrows befell the battlefield, causing Dorado to shield himself with light. Bastian knelt down, lifting his heavy shield over his head before the downpour of ascendent arrows began, pelting the valley around him and the shield itself in a vtile glory. It was a weight unlike anything else; not ¡®heavy¡¯ in the traditional sense, but a gravity of supreme power, raining down from above with constant, multiplying explosions that kept Bastian knelt. ¡°You will be dealt with,¡± Orion whispered, ¡°For Lord Aelor.¡± While the downpour of celestial arrows befell the valley and the lion-faced shield, cracking the ground which the Serappheart knelt and pressuring him, Orion conjured a colossal arrow, pulling it behind the ethereal string of his bow. Though this was just the moment that Bastian waited for as he watched from beneath his cover, mming his gauntlet against the ground as golden light manifested through the cracks in the summit¡¯snd. ¡°¨C!¡± Orion and Dorado witnessed the unknown retaliation. The bright,vish light rippled through thend, beginning to repel the endless arrows as the golden shine built upon itself from just a glow into something tangible, of physical shape, rising from the ground and surrounding Bastian himself. [¡°Divine Fortress of The Impervious Protector¡±] Chapter 234 The Nomad and The Divine III [¡°Divine Fortress of The Impervious Protector¡±] A fortress was deployed within moments; the golden light reinforced itself into a stalwart set of walls and barricades thatpletely negated the arrows now. It wasrge and vast in scope, forcing the two Sentinels to move back as it conjured in its full glory. ¡°A castle?!¡± Dorado muttered. ¡°Lord Aelor¡¯s words were the truth,¡± Orion realized, ¡°Bastian Serappheart may truly be a god amongst men.¡± It wasn¡¯t just the barricades that arrived as the Divine Fortress¡¯ beneficial nature as Bastian returned to his feet, standing in the center of the intricate barrier, but soldiers made of golden light lined the walls, aiming arrows and javelins towards the Sentinels. ¡°Fire,¡± Bastian whispered hismand. In a counterattack, the golden figures atop the walls, numbering in the dozens, fired off their arrows, though lesser in number than Orion¡¯s, each arrow possessed the [Seraphic] attribute unique to the Seraphheart; the divine essence allowed the arrows to curve and track onto the Sentinels. ¡°You¡¯re challenging me with arrows?¡± Orion said with a smile, raising his bow, ¡°If I didn¡¯t have respect for you, Serappheart, I would beughing.¡± ¡°How about you talk less and use that bow?!¡± Dorado said, shing through the sky, avoiding golden arrows and deflecting them with his light sword, though finding it to be an arduous task. As a dozen arrows aimed towards Orion as the Sentinel¡¯s silver ponytail flowed in the winds of the mountain-trembling battle, the bowman simply smiled in confidence as he gently flicked his finger against the string of his bow. The simple gesture caused a ripple of cosmic wind, propelling outward from his position as a sigh of the divine skies, taking the form of tens of thousands of incredibly small, precise arrows that sought out and destroyed the projectiled that aimed at Orion. ¡°¨CI think it¡¯d be in your best interest not to challenge a bird in a contest of flight,¡± Orion said with a smile. Bastian watched from his fortress, having endured the totality of the ¡°Star Shower¡±, which ended after thousands of arrows had descended. Without responding, the Serappheart relinquished the fortress around himself, conjuring his seraphic wings as he burst into the air, sailing towards Orion as he gripped the heavenly sword in his hand. ¡°¨C!¡± Before he could reach the bowman, he raised his sturdy shield as it was Dorado that intercepted, shing at his shield with his light sword. Though he sessfully blocked it, Bastian felt the distinct level of power behind Dorado¡¯s sword of magnificent light; it vibrated with a cutting intensity, even without being swung, as it was pressed against the lion-faced shield, it constantly thundered against it with tremendous strength. [¡°Roar of The Maned King¡±] Activating the regal shield he held forward, Bastian caused a bellowing roar to emit from the lion¡¯s mouth, sessfully repelling Dorado¡¯s de. ¡°¨CTch!¡± Dorado flinched. Though as the Seraphheart moved in, he was immediately forced to raise his shield again as a surprising offensive approach was taken by Orion. The ponytailed Sentinel shed at the man¡¯s shield with his ethereal bow, using its spine like a de and summoning an arrow into his own hand, using it like a spear. ¡°Did you think I was solely a ranged fighter? You shouldn¡¯t limit your expectations of us so much¨Cyou¡¯re not the only one who has lived hundreds of years, Bastian Serappheart,¡± Orion smiled. There was undeniably a stark contrast between Dorado and Orion, though Bastian was already aware of this: Orion was the other¡¯s superior and senior by centuries¨Cthe oldest of the Sentinels and the one touted as ¡°Number One¡± amongst their ranks. Orion dashed through the air, walking on it as naturally as if it were the ground, moving with dexterity that outpaced Bastian as he continued his dual-wielding of his melee bow and arrow, who was limited by the limitations of wings. While Bastian was on the backfoot, trying to adjust to the ferocity and finesse of Orion¡¯s unorthodox fighting style that resembled fencing and acrobatics in the skies itself, the man felt Dorado sh in behind him. Front and back? Nice try, Bastian thought. Through his immortal lifespan, forged by lifetimes of experience on the battlefield, Bastian instantly analyzed his situation and his appropriate response as he bashed his shield forward, knocking Orion back who flipped away. In that same instant, Bastian spun back, ducking below the vibrating sword of cosmic hue, thrusting his majestic greatsword straight towards Dorado¡¯s abdomen. ¡°¨C!¡± Dorado¡¯s eyes widened. There was a heat that bubbled up around the aureated de, causing a ripple of the space around it as it neared the Sentinel¡¯s spotless, white uniform. As the tip of Bastian¡¯s sword came close to Dorado¡¯s stomach, the fabric of the transcendent uniform burned away in a perfect circle, revealing the man¡¯s abdominals beneath before the radiant de had yet to make contact. Yet even in thispromised amount of fractionated time, Dorado was able to react and shift as his tangible body shed into light, turning into bright energy itself that curved around and spun out of the way of the sword thrust. ¡°¨C¡± Bastian witnessed this as well. In that instant, Dorado countered by shifting into light, turning back to his normal state as he was midway through a kick aimed at the Seraphheart¡¯s helm, engulfed in cosmic energy that burned through the space between the two. The entire exchange took ce within fractions of a millisecond, between breaths of air, blinks of eyes, and even the spread of light. Before the Sentinel¡¯s shin could m into his helm, Bastian condensed his wings and rolled to the side, avoiding the strike that mmed against the air like a tornado, sweeping by. [0.0000001 second(s) psed] After evading, a stream of arrows posed as beams of light that by as a sparkle of the cosmos; a couple were avoided, but one mmed into Bastian, sending him plummeting down as it burned through one of his astral wings. ¡°¨C¡± Bastian remained steady,nding on his feet. In the air, Orion looked down at him, being responsible for the attack as he readied his bow once more, with Dorado readying himself as well, summoning a de of light into each hand. ¡­Fine then. I wanted to take it easy since I respect Aelor, but¡­sometimes people need to be listen through force, not words, Bastian thought. Chapter 235 The Nomad and The Divine V ¡°What brought this conclusion?¡± ¡°Crescentia has kept me frequently updated with what the Dragonheart boy has been up to. To say the least, he¡¯s been growing rapidly,¡± Aelor stroked his beard, ¡°While it¡¯s true he could be a beneficial ally in the war toe, he has also lost control on multiple asions. He¡¯s a prime target for that faceless gue.¡± ¡°Control? You call him a boy, that¡¯s a perfectly adequate reason for him tock control¨Cnot due to the Faceless God¡¯s influence,¡± Bastian stepped forward, ¡°Leave him to me.¡± ¡°¡­Mm? Are you suggesting you¡¯ll take the Dragonheart boy under your wing, Bastian Serappheart?¡± Aelor asked, looking at the man with one eye open. This suggestion struck Aelor by surprise as the tinum-bearded elder looked towards the visitor to his domain with his hand on his chin, awaiting his answer. ¡°I am,¡± Bastian nodded. ¡°Hm. I admit you¡¯re best suited for the task, seeing as none have more experience than you when ites to these ¡®Systems¡¯, but the Dragonheart is another beast entirely. Quite literally, in fact,¡± Aelor said, ¡°The might and wrath of the dragon housed within that boy¡¯s heart is something truly frightening¡ªif he reaches the level you have, he could be an apocalyptic force. And if he fell to the Faceless One¡¯s hands¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll kill him if ites to that,¡± Bastian imed. Once more, the gloomy clouds returned to the perimeter of the mountaintop valley, swirling around the summit as thunder began to return. This caught Bastian¡¯s caution as he nced around before setting his eyes on Aelor, who became reinforced in transcendent mana, hovering slowly upward as pebbles levitated. ¡°If I¡¯m to trust you with the well-being of this world, Bastian Seraphheart, I must test if you¡¯re as capable as your words im,¡± Aelor said. The Element King¡¯s words were power incarnate as each syble was matched by strands of lightning giving off of his colossal aura, and thunder booming to echo his supremacy. ¡°You¡¯re quite the merciless old man,¡± Bastian yfully muttered. Bastian readied himself, shifting his armor once more as it became sleek and all-white, losing its bulk to undergo a more swift, condensed form. [Current Stage: 9/10 | Divine Cmity] Lowering his stance, a hum of golden light built up around Bastian before heunched upward in speed that broke through the sound barrier many times over, leaving even lightgging behind. Even with such swiftness befit for the title of ¡®divine¡¯, the paramount mage was ready, raising a single hand. ¡°Too obvious.¡± Aelor spoke in absolute certainty as he wordlessly invoked a spell the moment prior, summoning a massive cone of thundering clouds in front of himself, catching the Seraphheart in its hold. [¡°Catastrophic Storm of Rejection¡±] The swirl or dark clouds infused with bellowing thunder unleashed a thunderp with tremendous force unlike any other, causing the entirety of the mountain below to rumble before Bastian was knocked backpletely. Swatted like an ant by the mighty wind, Bastian flipped back dozens of times rapidly, flying through the wind before finally catching himself with a manifestation of his astral wings. Just as he caught himself, the air around him was vibrating, building up with a supreme heat as he looked towards the now distant Element King. The godly figure was shrouded in a crimson light, surrounded by enormous constructs of scarlet mes that took the shape of wingless dragons. ¡°If you seek to tame a dragon, then let¡¯s see how you respond to this,¡± Aelor calmly said. Without any word or gesture, the Element Kingmanded the half dozen constructs to fly forward towards the Seraphheart, each possessing a length that could rival a small mountain in itself. Bastian stood there, manifesting twin, golden des into his grip as he witnessed the colossal dragons born of me roaring and soaring towards him. The clouds parted for the constructs of Aelor; ripples of small mes cascaded in the sky, shifting the nearby clouds into orange, fluffy flotations. As the me constructs of beasts neared him, Bastian felt their imposing size all the more as the fiery light shined down on him with a heat that made him sweat beneath his sleek armor. Just as one unleashed a massive fireball from its mouth, Bastian evaded it through a swift burst of speed, passing by the ball of mes that exploded with enough destructive might to level a small city in one-go. The tales do not do him justice. Aelor is truly the man closest to god in this world, Bastian thought. Utilizing his massive increase in speed,bined with the flight gifted by his wings, he sprinted across the length of the first dragon, leaving trails of golden eviscerations along its intangible form. It was a majestic scene amongst the clouds; the scarlet dragons roared, unleashing fireworks into the air that spread the sky and shook the heavens, all whilst the Seraphheart himselfbatted them with his divine des, cutting through their elemental forms. Bursting through thest of the colossal constructs, Bastian was unimpeded now, propelling towards the Element King, who remained unmoved from his spot in the sky the entire time. ¡°Hm,¡± Aelor watched with an unfazed expression. While moving through the sky at heavenly speeds, Bastian summoned enormous weapons with sizes that would be meant for ying thergest of giants. In response, Aelor raised a single hand, ¡°Gnome.¡± Right then, everything began to rumble. For Bastian, it felt as though the sky itself was quivering, vibrating against his armor with a disorientating hum. It was difficult to tell where it wasing from, but he looked up as the clouds began to disperse beneath something that emerged from beyond them,ing from above Aelor. ¡°¨C¡± Bastian watched in awe. ¡­Isn¡¯t this overdoing it, Aelor? He thought. What came from beyond the dark, thundering clouds above was a figure forged of rock and sediment, possessing a size that surpassed such terms as ¡®colossal¡¯ or ¡®enormous¡¯¨Cdwarfing the mountain below as it remained hovering in the sky, partially submerged in the clouds. It reached down towards Bastian with one arm, its entire hand casting a shadow down on the valley that caused it to rumble more violently. ¡°¨C!¡± Bastian felt an inexplicable pressure pushing down on him from the hand that slowly moved downward. Conjuring such a figure went past godhood and stood on the threshold of madness altogether as Aelor stroked his beard, spectating the scene without any guard raised. Returning to the summit of the mountain, Bastian¡¯s boots me the gravel once more as he looked up towards the kingdom-sized golem¡¯s hand that came down like an inevitable doom. Bolstering himself with divine aura, Bastian ced both of his hands up, stopping the gargantuan palm just as it reached the valley. Beneath the man¡¯s boots, the mountain itself began to whimper, cracking from the overbearing weight and pressure as he held back what felt like the weight of the entire world attempting to squash him. [¡°Surge of The Seraphim¡±] A massive build-up of divine energy poured from Bastian, lending him the strength to finally repel the colossus¡¯ hand, causing it to crack. The disy of gargantuan physical force caused the air to crack in such a way that the ears of those in the vicinity popped, bringing silence for a moment. Just as the stone golem of unequivocal size had its hand lifted from the summit, the Serappheartunched upward with the speed of the divine, conjuring regal gauntlets over his fist that exuded destructive power with each blow. He left these fearsome attacks rapidly while ascending the limb of the golem, leaving a shower of stone befalling the valley below. Aelor stood, having yet to move in his spot in the sky as he moved a single finger, ¡°As impressive as the legends speak of, Bastian Serphheart, but a mage is never as obvious as you may believe.¡± Like that, the country-sized form of the golem shifted as massive strings of boulders began plummeting from its position behind the clouds, shifting the chains of stone into serpents of rock that hissed and lunged down towards Bastian. Each serpent was massive, possessing different elements as some hissed with fiery ferocity and some spewed lightning from their stone mouths. It would be a dreadful sight for beings subject to normalcy; a storm of stone serpents, each wielding shattering power and the wrath of elements, though for Bastian, they were merely obstacles in his way. [¡°Divine Spark¡±] The strength of the Seraphheart could not be overstated; he summoned golden lightning to amplify his movements and attacks alike, bolting through the air, striking from serpent-to-serpent with potency in his strikes that turned the durable fiends into thousands of pebbles. The falling serpents attempted to bind the man with their rocky tails, bathing him in mes spewed from their mouths and shrieks of lightning hissed out, though Bastian broke out with a flex of his armor. ¡°¡­Hm, how troublesome,¡± Aelor mumbled, witnessing from above. There was not a single scratch on the pearly-white armor worn by Bastian, unscathed and unimpeded as he continued towards Aelor, who repeatedly ced obstacles born from the country-sized golem in his way. A simple exnation stood for why Bastian seemed impervious in this encounter, and it was an answer that Aelor was already well aware of: ¡°The Serappheart Armor.¡± Chapter 236 The Nomad and The Divine VI [¡°Though many forms exist of the divine armor worn by Bastian Serappheart, they all possess the same essence in their very origin: an absolute rejection of magical phenomena. Magecraft itself is mitigated vastly, causing even splendid spells of cataclysmic power to hardly harm the armor. It works both ways however, as supportive magic cannot enhance the armor¨Cthough, it is a more than wee exchange.¡±] This was proven true as even when Aelor further tried to send the winged figure down with a massive coalescence of stone, gathered from the broken pieces of the golem that rained down, merged into the maw of a great beast, theing hail of lightning-infused fire did nothing to stop Bastian. Even as it swept against the sleek armor, the man continued flying forth, escaping the breath of wrath and rising up, summoning a javelin of light into his hand and pointing it down at the Element King. The javelin rattled with energy, giving offvish sparks as it throttled with divine glory before beingunched forth with a burning wind swirling around it. Aelor had only a moment to react to the javelin being formed and it being thrown, having to choose in that small fraction of a second what his counter would be, though from his long-lived life, he was well prepared. [¡°Age of Iron: Lock Trap¡±] What was born was a masterful disy of rock magic raised to such a level that it likened itself to true perfection, manifesting not as stone, but refined, reinforced steel that was invoked into a defensive mechanism. Three massive circlets of steel were lined up in the path of the golden javelin, ensnaring it in the fraction-of-a-faction of a second that it propelled through before locking it down with steel pirs. It was perfectly timed and executed by Aelor, who clenched his fist to signal the sealing steel to close off,pletely shutting down the trajectory of the projectile altogether. ¡°I knew it wouldn¡¯t be that easy,¡± Bastian muttered. A wall of unequivocal mastery over magic was before him; a man that not only possessed a peerless knowledge over the elements but also a monstrous reservoir of mana to supplement it. This was the ¡®Element King¡¯; a foe that simply seemed immeasurable to face. Still, Bastian himself was a being ascended from the realm of normalcy, unflinching to the masterful magecraft before him as he wasted no time summoning an onught of golden chains around Aelor. ¡°¨C¡± Aelor nced side-to-side. The ethereal chains swept in from glowing anchor points in the sky, shooting towards the tinum-bearded figure with swiftness, though the Element King was not taken by surprise. ¡°Seeking to seal my mana entirely? Amendable strategy, however¡­¡± Aelor said quietly. With a single movement of his hand, he summoned in a manifestation of abnormal water, altering its fundamental properties as it instantaneouslyyered itself on the approaching chains, covering it in slick aqua before lowering the temperature to absolute zero. [¡°sh Freeze¡±] It happened so quickly that there was simply no counter or any way of escaping it, leaving the golden chainspletely frozen in the air by the simple, yet effective spell. Guess that¡¯s a no-go then. Old man has faster reflexes than you¡¯d think, Bastian thought. This time, he altered his approach, raising his snow-white gauntlet to the air as a massive build-up of divine energy birthed itself in the sky above. It was a mountainous cloud of energy itself, sharpened to Bastian¡¯s will before taking a physical form. At the wave of a hand, an angelic sword that surpassed the gargantuan mountains below was born, possessing a size that parted the clouds around it as an unequaled mass of violence. ¡°¡­I sense that this is what they call ¡®irony¡¯, no?¡± Aelor said in response to the manifestation of the massive sword. Bastian moved his hand,manding the object above to fling towards his foe, sitting below its all-epassing shadow as the sky rumbled amongst the weight of the projectile. As it headed straight for Aelor, the tinum-bearded king of elements watched it, ncing back as he saw it was on trajectory for his skyborne fortress. I didn¡¯t take you for the type to y dirty, Bastian Seraphheart. Though if you didn¡¯t, I¡¯d be even more hesitant about this deal¨Ceither way, let us exchange our might, Aelor thought. There was nothing moderate about the sh of titans; Aelor summoned his internal mana, summoning forth the transcendent essence that revealed itself as a cosmic shine around his position, enveloping him in the heat of creation and an aura of destruction, simultaneously. What makes a mage proper is not the ability to invoke utter destion on your foes; it is not the talent to destroy nor the power to summon forth more mana than your opponent, Aelor thought, the true caliber of a mage is their ability to adapt. For any situation, any obstacle, any trial, they must be able to find a solution¨Cfind the right spell; the key that fits the lock. That¡¯s what stands above all. ¡°Sylph. Undyne. Gnome.¡± Calling upon the names of the three Great Spirits, Aelor pointed his hand forward towards the iing mountain-sized sword that continued rattling the skies themselves. Arriving first was a massive shift in the winds, reversing the tug entirely on the sword, maximizing the wind drag and pushing against it with a condensed storm itself to mitigate the movement of the object as much as possible. ¡°Gnome.¡± Forging from sediment born from nothing, rocks coalesced and linked together in a colossal chain, wrapping itself around the divine steel many times over, constricting and binding it while the storm continued pushing against it. Bastian pushed his hand forward to propel the de, filling it with further seraphic energy to empower it, though it was easier said than done with Aelor¡¯s magic gripping it tightly. It wasn¡¯t simply the nature of rock itself that made the binding so sturdy; through the heightened reinforcement that Aelor could provide, making even a de of grass able to surpass the durability of the toughest of metals, the restrictive stone became immeasurably dense and rigid. ¡°Come forth, Undyne.¡± Once the wind and stone had sessfully mitigated the movement of the monstrous sword, ake¡¯s worth of water conjured into the sky as a giant blob, enveloping the de and containing it in a shell of aqua. What a pain in the ass¡­It¡¯s like this old man has a response for anything and everything I do. He¡¯s a monster, Bastian thought. [¡°Oceanic Cab¡±] Compressing smaller and smaller, the aquatic hold around the sword shrunk down, making the gargantuan object within its grasp shrink down as well, continuing to tighten andpress further before bing nothing more than a droplet of water. Aelor held the droplet above his index finger, looking towards the Serappheart with his wizened gaze, ¡°You¡¯ve strained this old man. That¡¯s a first in recent decades.¡± ¡°Count me honored,¡± Bastian half-sarcastically responded. Though what was before Bastian was ¡°merely¡± a test, a trial given by the Element King was a cataclysmic event in itself, only able to be survived if one stood on the same threshold of godhood as himself. ¡°Let¡¯s finish this,¡± Aelor said, ¡°¨CI¡¯d like to return in time for my evening cup of tea.¡± Saying such, the Element King waved his hand, casually summoning an onught of giant fireballs that shot down from the clouds above like a shower of meteors, sailing down towards Bastian. ¡°Sure thing,¡± Bastian responded. Just then, a sh of light so divine and dense in power exuded, blinding even the Element King and filling the valley with the light of a secondary star¨Cbrighter than the moon in full. [Current Stage: 10/10 | Seraph King | 1/5 ] It was difficult to see behind the veil of golden light, but the Serappheart was dressed in armor of unequaled majesty, bursting forth with a trail of exploding light that quaked the air. Only a mere moment was shown to the world, but the tenth stage of the Seraphheart was a world apart from even the ninth; untouched by me and malice, it repelled all magic that even felt its aura. Within a moment, Bastian broke the distance between himself and Aelor, stopping his fist just shy of the figure¡¯s face. ¡°¡­Impressive,¡± Aelor said. Bastian withdrew his fist, relinquishing the vibrant armor as his cloak returned and the light settled, ¡°Sorry about that, but against you, I realized nothing but the best would be meaningless.¡± ¡°Hoh, you needn¡¯t patronize this old man,¡± Aelor stroked his beard, ¡°It¡¯s been decades since I¡¯ve even had a sparring match¨CI¡¯m about as rusty as can be, I¡¯m afraid. Nheless, I can safely say it: you¡¯re capable of handling this, Bastian Seraphheart.¡± ¡°Thank you, Aelor,¡± Bastian nodded. A handshake was met as the two epted the truce, stopping the observation of the Dragonheart and allowing the Serappheart to now begin his travels, seeking out the young mage holding the draconic lineage. This was their agreement. Chapter 237 Earth [Earth] Running on a treadmill, a man in his early twenties worked up a sweat, though had a perfectly athletic body, having been keeping up his fast pace for well over an hour on the exercise machine. In front of him was an immacte view through tall panes of ss, having the spectacle of the entire affluent city below him, overlooking skyscrapers and countless digital billboards. One such billboard has his own face on it along with the name of thepany he was the CEO of: ¡°ICARUS Robotics: Join The Future Now!¡± It was what he looked at the entire time while getting his cardio in, holding a smile as his pure-white, slicked back hair becameden with sweat. He pressed the digital pad of the advanced treadmill, causing the conveyor toe to a stop as the youthful CEO grabbed his bottle of water, taking arge gulp of it before stepping off. That¡¯s right. I¡¯m the best. I¡¯ve be the youngest trillionaire in history. Still¡­what¡¯s left for me to do? I¡¯ve aplished it all, he thought. It wasn¡¯t just the billboard, as the white-haired man threw a cold rag around his neck and checked his phone, his name was everywhere in articles: [¡°Youngest trillionaire, Vincent Icarus, sees a fifty-percent growth in ICARUS Robotics over weekend.¡±] [¡°Vincent Icarus seen with actress, Julie Reverie, on New York streets¨Ca new couple?!¡±] [¡°BIG NEWS: Vincent Icarus invests $10 billion dors into SAMSARA Studios, forming a coborative business between the two tech goliaths. What does this mean for the future?¡±] Though it was once exciting for the blue-eyed young man, it all became stale to him, looking around at hisvish suite atop his ownpany¡¯s illustrious skyscraper. It was fitted with thetest technology as robots cleaned the tile floors and took his bottle for him once he finished, taking it to the recycle bin. ¡°That reminds me¡­¡± Vincent mumbled. Before he could ponder what came to mind, the automatic doors opened as a youthful woman with short, red hair walked in, adjusting her sses. ¡°Mr. Icarus?¡± The woman said. ¡°ine,¡± Vincent sighed, ¡°How many times do I have to tell you to ring in? This is my personal quarters, you know.¡± ¡°S-sorry, sir¡­but, it¡¯s just¨Cyou told me to treat this very urgently for you!¡± ine said, adjusting her round-rimmed sses frantically, holding a box in her hands. The box that the assistant held caught Vincent¡¯s eyes as he began to realize what it was, taking it out of ine¡¯s hands before she could exin. ¡°Th-that¡¯s¨C!¡± ine tried to tell him. ¡°It¡¯s my gift from SAMSARA,¡± Vincent smiled, already knowing. All of his attention was focused on the heavily-protected box, which was reinforced by steel with a digital lock keeping it shut. The bored look on the young CEO¡¯s expression was washed away as he held the box in his hands like an early morning Christmas gift, carrying it to his sleek, ss desk. ¡°Err¡­Mr. Icarus? About your meetings today¨C¡± ine meekly asked. ¡°Cancel them.¡± Vincent responded without missing a beat, only briefly looking up from the box with a smile as he kept his hands on the box. ¡°¡­All?¡± ¡°All of them,¡± Victor rified. The assistant was taken aback by the shift in priority from her boss, though she didn¡¯t question the entric trillionaire. ¡°Why don¡¯t you take the day off, ine?¡± Victor said, noticing her lingering in the spacious room. ¡°But I¨C¡± ¡°Take a vacation, all expenses paid,¡± Victor offered. The young assistant¡¯s face lit up with gratitude as she nodded multiple times, adjusting her sses, ¡°Th-thank you, Sir!¡± With that, the woman left the room, prompting Victor to tap the digital pad on his ss desk, locking the doors to his immacte quarters atop the cityscape. There was a giddiness inside of him that he had lost over the years, a tingling sensation in his fingertips as he ran them over the box with thebel of ¡°SAMSARA¡±. It took you long enough, Haru, he thought with a smile. It was a custom-built product just for the CEO of ICARUS Robotics, leading to the package being heavily secured, though all it required was a fingerprint from the recipient as Victor pressed his thumb against the digital, light-blue screen on the front of the box. As it scanned his fingerprint for authenticity, the internal mechanisms securing the precious package were unlocked, causing the metallic clips to ring as it opened slightly for him. ¡°¡­Now, let¡¯s see it,¡± Victor said with excitement to himself. Lifting the lid of the heavy-duty box, he opened it, revealing the device within, kept securely wrapped in cushioned material, which he promptly tossed aside. Compared to the usual, all-white model that was bulky and somewhat clunky, the headset sitting within the box was of a sleek, vanta-ck, fit to be slimmer. The ¡°SAMSARA¡±pany name was inscribed on it with the model number of ¡°001¡±, specifically for Victor. ¡°There it is,¡± Victor held it up with a smile. Though as he lifted it, the youthful CEO was surprised as he found a paper slipping out from the headset, catching it after it glided down onto his desk. ¡°This is¡­?¡± He mumbled. It was a letter, with the front of the folded paper simply having the initials ¡°H.T.¡±¨Csomething he recognized instantly. Haru, Victor thought. As he opened the personalized note, he read the cursive handwriting left for him by the founder of SAMSARA studios himself: [¡°My dear friend, Vincent, I hope this finds you well. There were a few bumps in the road getting this prototype ready, but after a grueling effort, it¡¯s been done. This is a special privilege, only for the likes of you¨Can esteemed partner of SAMSARA and a friend of mine: this headset will allow you to log-in and out as you please, and as requested, you can enter any of the three established worlds. However, I must exemplify this: never stay in for longer than a week within Arcadius. I cannot provide you the details, but if you overstay your wee there, there¡¯s a certain¡­force that will prevent you from leaving. I doubt this will be an issue for a busy man like yourself, though. Please, enjoy it¨Cwhat awaits you are worlds beyond our own, and each will wee you with new lives paved for greatness.¡±] Reading the letter only served to further stoke the me of excitement burning within Vincent as he caressed the paper before setting it down, setting his eyes once again on the special headset. Before trying it out himself, he opted to check something out before diving in: ¡°On.¡± The singrmand caused the digital hologram of hisputer monitor to blink on, to which he used the search engine with just his words: ¡°Search ¡®Reincarnation Online¡¯,¡± Vincent said. Within a second, hundreds of millions of results came up, allowing Vincent to read up on the software, though he was already well informed on it, only now wanting to see the reception with it. It was overwhelmingly positive, though it was hardly surprising. You¡¯d think it would be impossible for reviews to be made for a product where the consumer never returns, but Haru is a genius¨Che¡¯s thought of everything, Vincent thought with a smile. [¡°Shin Tsuma¡± 5/5 stars | ¡°Simply amazing. My brother was paralyzed from the neck down after a car crash¡­I did my best to support him, but I knew he wasn¡¯t happy with his life. After discovering Reincarnation Online, we both agreed this would be best for him. The reports have shown me how amazing his life is now¨Che¡¯s amander of an entire space battalion! Amazing!¡±] [¡°Juliana Bellrose¡± 3/5 stars | ¡°¡­I didn¡¯t know much about this product as I¡¯m not as techy as I¡¯d like to believe I am, but I knew something like this would pique my son¡¯s interest. Ethan Bellrose was his name¡­He tried his best for me, but deep down¡­I knew he hated living in his own body. I knew how painful daily life was for him, but¡­the day he chose to enter Reincarnation Online, I felt as though I failed as a mother. Still, ording to these reports¡­he¡¯s happy. He¡¯s living in a healthy body now¡­I just hope he hasn¡¯t forgotten me. ¡®Emilio Dragonheart¡¯ is his new name¡­how wonderful; I hope it is a beautiful world you¡¯re in now, Emilio.¡±] The reviews came from the family members and close acquaintances of those who used the software to reincarnate; though in essence losing their loved ones was a painful experience, it was eased by a new product that SAMSARAunched: ¡°Otherworld Status Reports.¡± Through paying for a subscription, those who sign-up for the product receive bi-annual reports on the status of their loved ones within Reincarnation Online, able to see their general mood and happiness, along with a vague outline of the developments they¡¯ve made in their new lives. However, nobody else besides the highest developers within SAMSARA are actually allowed to monitor what goes on in these connected worlds. Chapter 238 The Privilege of The Richest ¡°It¡¯s as I already thought: SAMSARA is the future of entertainment¨Cno, that¡¯s looking at it on the surface level. This is the future of mankind; a retreat for those done for this ne of reality,¡± Vincent spoke to himself. As he stood back up, he brought the device with him into another room, which was already prepared with medical devices, such as tubes which would feed him nutrients and keep him hydrated during his time in stasis. Heid on thefortable bed, hooking up the sleek, all-ck prototype before also hooking himself up to the necessary machinery to retain his health. I¡¯ve been waiting for this for three years now. I¡¯m not the only person funneling money into SAMSARA, either. But, I am thergest stakeholder now¡ªICARUS and SAMSARA will be the future of this world. Perhaps ironic, considering¡­Heh, Vincent thought. There was no need for assistance as Vincent had already be well acquainted with what precautions needed to be taken, already having his own training in the medical field. He checked his heartbeat, finding it at a steady and healthy eighty before he hooked himself up to the machines around him, sliding the cords into the SAMSARA prototype as a neon hue of cyan light hummed from the grooves in its build. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± cing the headgear over his head, heid back, closing his eyes as the visor sat over his face. ¡°On.¡± The singlemand caused the device to boot up with beeps sounding out, causing the visor to light up. [Wee, user. [Vincent Icarus]. Your profile data has already been pre-registered by SAMSARA. Would you like to begin the initiation process?] There was a moment of simplyying there as Vincent remained silent, though it wasn¡¯t out of indecisiveness orst minute regret: he was taking in the new experience. ¡°Yes,¡± he answered with a confident smile. The process of transferring his consciousness was faster and much more seamless than for normal versions of the device, causing him to shift from the darkness of his closed eyes to whatever awaited him in the great beyond. [¡­Booting Up¡­] What awaited the entric CEO was a space of total darkness, one in which he possessed a temporary, digital body. In front of him was a small, feminine robot that greeted him, ¡°User [Vincent Icarus], due to your special privileges granted to you by SAMSARA, you are able toe and go from each preset reality as you see fit. Would you like to see your options?¡¯ For a moment, the white-haired man ignored the words of the robotic A.I., looking at his own arm, surprised by the sheer realism of the digital construction, though he knew it was only a temporary host for his consciousness. I feel light, he thought. ¡°Show me,¡± Vincent finally responded. As requested, the steel-made female greeter nodded before vanishing, being reced along with the dark void of a scenery of the cosmos themselves, vast and endless in scope. Filling what would be the emptiness of the grand scene of space were spaceships,ing in all shapes and sizes, roaming past the stars with gargantuan forms that swept past the gaze of the thrilled man. It wasn¡¯t just idle travel through the cosmos as he was teleported to different points in the endless space, witnessing the sight of colorfuls filled with sentient lifeforms, space colonies, but most importantly: conflict. Agile ships soared through space, exchanging volleys ofsers that produced powerful impacts, colliding against energy barriers in thunderous battle. Amazing, Haru. Look what you¡¯ve created¨Cwell, that¡¯s not exactly right is it? I know the limits of technology in our era. This is simply light years ahead of it. What this is¡­well, it¡¯s a link to another world, isn¡¯t it? Vincent thought, You never told me directly, but I gathered it myself. How frightening¡­just what kind of devil did you make a bargain with? The robotic A.I. spoke to him again, ¡°Would you like to preview the¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try this one out,¡± Vincent confidently decided. As he interrupted the assistant intelligence, his decision was recognized as once more, everything went dark with his consciousness flickering into a transient state. [After you wake up, you will find yourself reborn not from square one, but due to your inherent privileges, you will wake as the emperor of a grand fleet: The ¡°Scarlet Caravan¡±. You will be bestowed with high-ss usage of this reality¡¯s unique power set: The ¡°Glow¡±] [Enjoy your stay, Vincent Icarus.] Due to his unique circumstances as a VIP among the SAMSARA software, he retained his identity and was able to be given a start unlike any other¨Cbeginning leagues ahead of normal reincarnation. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Vincent grinned. ¨C Like sparks flickering, his consciousness began to return from the first-time process of transferring his entire self into the likes of the intergctic realm. ¡°¨C¡° Vincent opened his eyes to realize as he sat on amanding seat, cushioned and set like a mighty throne, forged of an onyx metal that matched the sleek interior of the room he found himself in. It took him a moment to adjust, moving his fingertips as he nced down, finding himself wearing an all-white uniform with a long, fur-lined coat of beige feathers that gave him a regal appearance. From what he could gather, he was in the same body he had always been in, though there was one,rge difference: As he moved his arms, he felt his arms coiling with strength beyond previous, feeling augmentations to his physiology that brought a smile to his face. ¡°I see. Is this the ¡°Glow¡±? A physical amplification. Interesting,¡± Vincent muttered. Standing up from his seat, he found himself in a dock of a ship with arge, clear window before him, seeing beyond the pane and into the majestic stars that awaited. ¡­It¡¯s not just my consciousness being transferred is it, Haru? I can feel it deep down inside¨Cmy entire being is transported into this realm. I knew it was worth investing in this¨Cexperiencing it firsthand, it¡¯s unveiling itself to me, Vincent thought, We¡¯ve always had a rivalry in our creative endeavors and engineering developments. A battle of technological development that flung the world centuries into the future. But, I can confirm it now¡­you didn¡¯t win on the front of technological capabilities¨Cwhat you did is tap into a power unfathomable by any man made creation. Though it resembled reality in almost every way, he could sense the smallest imperfections over time as he moved around, investigating both the space vessel and his own physical form. As he moved his arm rapidly, the feedback was dyed by the tiniest inth, something that wouldn¡¯t be noticeable by any normal being, but Vincent was acutely aware of this. I am still digital. I can feel it. Manipting the intricacies of my mind won¡¯t deceive me. This isn¡¯t what I was looking for¨Cbut, I already knew this. If my guess is right, this reality and the world of cybeics are merely a front¨Ca ¡°gift¡± or more likely a bonus given by the entity that helped you build all of this, Haru, Vincent thought. Stepping closer to the deck to gaze beyond the pane, he already found his desire to explore the stars dwindled, having already experienced space for himself back in reality. It¡¯s ¡°Arcadius¡±¨Cthe world of fantasy and magic, that is a true, alternate world. That is the conclusion I¡¯vee to. I wanted to check this option first to confirm it myself, but¡­it¡¯s quite clear. I saw it that day when you briefly allowed me to see the development room: Arcadius couldn¡¯t be monitored. Those ¡°reports¡± areing from something else, Vincent concluded. Though the brilliant man¡¯s mind fired off with these sharp thoughts, he stopped himself, chuckling as he realized a briefpse in judgment. ¡°I need to be more cautious,¡± he spoke to himself. In this space, SAMSARA can monitor me. Whether they can witness my specific thoughts, I don¡¯t know¨Chowever, I shouldn¡¯t risk it until I have my desired answers. I think my next stop will be Arcadius, he thought. For the time being, however, Vincent chose to indulge in the grace of the reality of the vast cosmos, testing it out as he swiped his hand with a natural instinct, causing a digital pad to appear. This was the culmination of his unique status as a SAMSARA entrant, possessing a tangible ¡°U.I.¡± for himself, allowing him to log-out or adjust his own benefits within the current world. Let¡¯s see¡­He thought, ¡°Ship controls¡±¨Cah, there we go. Within the menu of the scarlet hud were detailed buttons that gave himpletely control over the gargantuan space vessel he possessed. There was a hologram hovering above the U.I. of a scaled down version of the ship he upied, disying itsrge, all-ck build with a triangr shape to it that produced a menacing image. Though, to make things simpler, there was an option to control the ship by voicemand, which he pressed therge, ck button on the hud to activate: ¡°To the nearest with life,¡± Vincentmanded. Chapter 239 Unrestrained Evil ¡°To the nearest with life,¡± Vincentmanded. Just as themand left the lips of the ICARUS CEO, the sight of the stagnant stars and ckness of space was reced by a blur of rapid light, producing a reality-shaking hum before in a singr instant, the ship reappeared in front of aary body. It was a world that appeared mostly blue from the outside, bringing the ship down to andmass covered in azure grass and nts of varying shades of blue. He was able to leave the ship from a tform that descended beneath his boots, speaking of the advanced nature of the ship to allow itself to be utilized in flexible ways, finding himself lowering down as he entered the foreign world. ¡°Interesting,¡± Vincent watched as he descended, ¡°Procedural generation, I assume.¡± The man looked around, watching the abnormal grass being brushed by subtle winds. nts of unorthodox origin stood in the bumpy fields, swaying beneath thepis sky. As he began walking around to explore the unknown world, one of the tall nts reacted to his presence, attempting to bite him with a mouth full of oozing thorns. ¡°Hm.¡± With a single swipe of his fist and swift reflexes, he casually blew through the nt before it could try turning him into a meal. It was relinquished to a mushy mess of purple liquid and scattered mass. Vincent looked at his fist, finding it dirtied by the nt¡¯s blood that had an acidic nature to it, though it wasn¡¯t strong enough to harm his skin. ¡°I see. Reincarnation is no paradise¡ªwhat you¡¯ve left is a life just as full as hardship for those who arrive,¡± Vincent mumbled. It was a quiet world with nothing more than the wind providing an ambience to his ears as he explored its bumpy geography. There wasn¡¯t much interest he found besides malicious nts and scurrying insects. As he stepped through a biome of flurry, azure foliage, something squelched beneath the clean, white boot he wore. Looking down, he raised his foot to see the smashed paste of arge insect, reduced to a st of oozing, green blood left twitching on the soil. ¡°Disgusting,¡± Vincent said. Moving on from the crushed insect, he continued exploring the generated world, walking amidst what resembled a jungle full of curving trees, anchored by dark-blue vines that entangled the entirety of the region. As he entered the jungle, sticking out like a sore thumb with his regal, clean-white attire, the U.I. beeped in front of his vision: [WARNING: Hostile entities nearby] This signal brought him to a pause for a moment as he stood alone in the jungle, surrounded by azure moss and a distinct smell that resembled gasoline. ¡°¨C¡± Vincent nced around. It seemed it wasn¡¯t just the strength of his body that had been amplified, but his senses were elevated as well, allowing him to hear the subtle scurrying of whatever was lurking in the blue jungle in an attempt to get the jump on him. There were multiple sources of noise, though there was one closer than the rest, and approaching him directly. East, he calmly thought. As he stood there silently, keeping his eyes closed to further hone in on his enhanced hearing, something crashed through the bushes to his east, jumping towards him with a screeching hiss. ncing over with reflexes already well aware of the entity¡¯s existence, he found it to be a grotesque, human-sized spider with a light-gray exoskeleton, looking at him with dozens of purple eyes. In a natural movement, he raised his hand towards the malicious creature, summoning a digital construction into his hand that instantly formed into a sleek, ck gun. As he pulled the trigger, a miniature shock wave propelled against the creature, rippling its flesh and destroying it in its entirety with a singr action. ¡°¡­I see,¡± Vincent said, looking at the weapon in his hand. Looking down at the stter of insect blood painted onto the soil and moss, he brought his gaze back up before pointing the futuristic weapon towards a boulder sitting in front of a curving tree. The trigger itself was light and easy to pull, but could only be activated through the registration of Vincent¡¯s identity by the weapon recognizing him. As he pulled it again to test its power, the shock wave traveled at frightening speed, instantaneously turning therge boulder into a powder that fell onto the soil. It¡¯s difficult to tell if this technology is born from code or an existence supplemented by whatever means SAMSARA used to create these worlds. Whatever it is, it¡¯s intriguing¨Cweapons like this, if existing on Earth, would create wars so fundamentally rotten that it¡¯d be the end of humanity, Vincent thought. In the mind of the sessful CEO, even in his youth his mind had already been wired to think a certain way, imagining the profitary possibilities of such technology existing on Earth and under the control of ICARUS. If we controlled the supply of an unequivocal weapon, especially one of such ease of use and low maintenance cost, we could set the price. I wonder¡­perhaps it¡¯s not truly impossible to replicate, Vincent thought. As he inspected the weapon he held, he felt the desire to take it apart and investigate every nook and cranny of its functionality, though held himself back as he received another warning from his U.I.: [WARNING: Large number of hostels approaching!] Hearing many scurrying insects now, Vincent decided it¡¯d be least troublesome to head back to his ship as he did just that. He didn¡¯t travel very far, leaving him only to summit a steep hill before walking down the clearing of abnormal, blue grass to where his ominous ship was left hovering. ¡°¡­Hm,¡± he nced back. As he headed towards his space-faring vessel, an orchestra of inhuman screeches resounded from behind him, finding himself being rushed by dozens of the gargantuan arachnids. There was aplete calm exhibited by Vincent, even in the realm essed by reincarnation that was anything but a game, if not a match of constant life or death; he raised his hand to summon the controls of his ship while eyeing down the purple-eyed insects. Undoubtedly, there was a threat possessed by the great arachnids, at least to normal beings; their massive, spiked legs were spears in themselves and their agility was great, likely possessing strength just asmendable. However, Vincent Icarus possessed something greater: [DEPLOY [HAIL] TURRETS?] With a tap of the prompt, Vincent looked forward as his ship hovered up ever so slightly beforerge, tinum turrets deployed from its underbelly, unleashing a storm of high-velocity bullets that rained down on the horde of arachnids. High-pitched hisses released from the malicious spider-like lifeforms each time a bullet pierced through their forms, filling the area with a unison of their cries and the spinning of the turrets. The white-haired man watched with a slight smile as the ring gunfire ughtered the giant insects mercilessly, causing their entire bodies to relinquish to liquid from the power of each shot. After a minute, the gunfire stopped, leaving the area silent as the azure fields had been carved up by the mass of bullets, dyed in the rancid blood of the insects. ¡°Hah,¡± Vincent couldn¡¯t help but let out a smallugh, ¡°You really gave me quite the VIP experience, didn¡¯t you, Haru?¡± Returning to the circr tform left on the ground, he stood on it as it levitated back up towards the empty hatch in the ship. As it brought him back to the main observation deck of his ship, he watched through the window, overlooking the insect-inhabited world before bringing up the voicemand once more: ¡°Find the nearest cluster of ships,¡± Vincentmanded. In an instant, with a hum ring suddenly, the space vesselunched upward before propelling through space with speed that surpassed light altogether, warping forth towards the desired location while Vincent stood. ¡­Let¡¯s see how other users are faring, he thought. After the hyperspace travel came to an end, his ship was left in a wide space in the cosmos, surrounded by other spaceships, most of which were much smaller than his and seemingly less advanced. There was a constant show of lights as ships exchanged volleys ofsers, with smaller vessels having to swiftly maneuver through space to evade therger structures that opposed them. It was war. Vincent spectated, watching from his observation deck as lights of differing colors shed; shes of bright-green and azure lights danced in the dark cosmos. Though watching as all he nned to do in the moment, an impact rattled his ship, activating the previously unseen shields of his vessel as he nced over. ¡°¨C¡± Vincent squinted. [WARNING: Hostile ships in the vicinity] A small, circr ship was responsible for the unprovoked attack, spinning around and unleashing more sts that rattled the protective shield. Though he was taken aback for a moment, a small smile crept across the man¡¯s lips as he stood there with his hands behind his back. ¡°Open fire on the attacking ship,¡± Vincentmanded. The words given directly to the system controlling his vessel were heard as the massiveser-bearing cannons on the exterior of his ship were revealed, unleashing a st of scarlet energy that vaporized the ship in front of him. As he watched the metal scraps of the much smaller ship float off in space as nothing more than burning debris, a question came to mind, needing to be confirmed: ¡°Was that a person? A reincarnator, I mean,¡± Vincent asked. [ANSWER: Yes.] For a moment, he didn¡¯t quite know how to fill, though after a minute, exhration took over as the prospect of the strength bestowed to him flooded over. ¡°¡­Before I take my leave, I¡¯ll leave them with a small gift,¡± Vincent said, raising his hand, ¡°Release a full-power bombardment on all ships in the vicinity.¡± Chapter 240 Solo Player ¡°¡­Before I take my leave, I¡¯ll leave them with a small gift,¡± Vincent said, raising his hand, ¡°Release a full-power bombardment on all ships in the vicinity.¡± At hismand, with many of the ships now facing towards his own after the disy of his presence through the initial destruction, all of his vessel¡¯s weapons revealed themselves, unleashing a ring rain of energy sts that sailed through the open cosmos. What was left was a wrathful fit of fireworks as explosions expanded throughout the star-filled void, unleashing utter decimation among the surrounding ships. [WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!] Thinking the battle was over in one fell swoop, Vincent was taken aback as an rm system red out within the scope of his ship. [THE VESSEL HAS BEEN INFILTRATED! ENEMIES HAVE BOARDED THE VESSEL!] ¡°What¨C?¡± Vincent reacted in surprise. There was still arge gap in knowledge he held when it came to the natural order of things worked within the Intergctic Open-Realm, believing the shields on his ship to be used to prevent such events. Bringing up a digital screen that monitored the exterior of his ship, he saw a smaller, shoddy ship that looked built by scrap metal, attached to his own by an anchor, entered through an emergency entrance on the top of the vessel. I see. I can see the appeal of a life like this¨Ctaking things for yourself with your own two hands, working your way up through good old-fashioned conquering by might. Hah¡­Come and try it, Vincent thought. As he turned to face the steel doors that led to his observatory quarters, he could hear rapid footsteps and cheers of the bandits that found their way into his ship. ¡°We hit the jackpot today!¡± One of the infiltrators cheered. ¡°Let¡¯s get it!¡± ¡°This beast will sell for big bucks!¡± Another chimed in. He could hear their voices from beyond the thick door due to his enhanced hearing, standing with his hands behind his back with a small smile in preparation. Without having to confirm it with the system, he could already tell: these bandits were people using Reincarnation Online, too. For them, this was their life; starting anew and choosing to plunder ships throughout the gxy. Though for Vincent, this was merely a passtime. An explosion released from the otherside of the steel doors, causing them to blow apart as smoke led in, allowing the ragtag bandits to ess the room. ¡°It¡¯s just one guy!¡± The first bandit to enter said, sporting a ck mohawk, wearing stained, leather gear. Though as the pierced-lipped bandit said so with relief and a big smile as though the presence of one man aboard the ship was a ¡®free victory¡¯, this was quickly turned aside as the mohawked space pirate found the white-haired figure in front of him in an instant. ¡°What the¨C?!¡± The mohawked bandit let out. As the man pointed hisser-emitting, humming rifle forward that seemed low-quality by the smoke and heavy ¡®thunking¡¯ sound made when it revved up, he was countered by a quick fist to the nose. WHAM. Vincent mmed his fist against the bandit¡¯s face, pressing down and crashing the figure down against the metallic flooring with a loud thud echoing out. In one blow, he caved the raider¡¯s face in, leaving it nothing more than a broken, bloodied mess as a line of crimson fluid connected from the raider¡¯s nose and shattered mouth to Vincent¡¯s knuckles. Vincent looked at his bloodied fist, not paying any mind to the group of raiders that rushed into the room, some of them wielding guns and some holding melee weapons that ranged from electric bats toser-etched chainsaws. Amazing. It seems my physical form is transcendent from these gutter rats, Vincent thought. ¡°He did this!?¡± ¡°Get him!¡± One thing he failed to consider when looking towards the invaders was the diversity in reincarnation that the intergctic realm brought: the leftmost raider was a species of humanoid stone, built like a strongman made of rock with a shotgun ster in his hands. ¡°Freeze¡ª!¡± The rockman yelled. As the trigger of the shotgun was pulled, an array of smallersers shot out, though not a single one met their target as the white-haired man closed the distance in an instant, arriving behind the trio of bandits. As the burly rockman spun around, opting to use his weaponry as a blunt object, he was countered by a sharp backhand from Vincent. Despite the seeming disparity in size, the resulting blow shattered the body of the stone-borne figure, sting him apart into pebbles. ¡°Is that all?¡± Vincent asked without a worry. Fear stood in the eyes of the other two infiltrators within the room as the tattoo-skinned, one-eyed bandit to the right stumbled back. ¡°Y-you¡¯re one of them! Fuck! If I would¡¯ve known, I never would¡¯ve stepped foot on this ship!¡± The cyclops bandit said. The other bandit in the room, a human with shark-like teeth, held the same look of fear when staring at the owner of the space vessel, ¡°One of them¡­? He¡¯s a Starborne!¡± Though Vincent wasn¡¯t familiar with the term, he could feel it was a title both of reverence and fear, smiling to himself as he faced the two. ¡°Well then,e at me,¡± Vincent challenged. It was a false invitation as the very instant the cyclopian figure built the courage to flex a single muscle, Vincent blitzed him with speed like a thunderbolt, dodging the bandit¡¯s attack and thrusting his hand through the figure¡¯s abdomen. ¡°Guh¡ª!¡± The cyclopian bandit spit out blood. In a brutal instant, without any mercy, the ICARUS CEO ripped his hand from the figure¡¯s body, removing his spine in the same motion before turning around and using the spine as a spiked whip to smack the other bandit against the jaw as he tried to attack him from behind. CRACK The quick whip snapped the bandit¡¯s neck, leaving Vincent tossing the bloodied spine to the ground as he straightened himself out, adjusting his fur-lined cape as more footsteps came down the corridor. Chapter 241 System Plague A floor of bright-redser bullets traveled down the hall of the ship, prompting Vincent to raise his hand to activate the personal shield stemming from his wristwatch. ¡°Primitive,¡± Vincent mocked. The spherical shield of light-yellow energy absorbed the impact of the non-solid bullets. It was as his consciousness finally began adjusting to the new digital body he inhabited in his visit to the intergctic realm did he find himself naturally adjusting to the mechanics of it as well. ¡°Shift: Reflect.¡± While the bandits continued spraying their bullets desperately, the white-haired man altered the properties of his shield, causing it to deflect the impacts back to the invaders. ¡°Argh!¡± ¡°Gah¡ª!¡± The varying species of the invasive space pirates were blown with holes, burning through them in the deflective counter. All of the figures upying the hall were taken down by their own sts,id out and gasping for air. Vincent slowly walked over, looking down at them with eyes of indifference before stopping, staring down at a blue-skinned figure. ¡°¡­Mom. Mom¡­I want to go home,¡± the figure gasped as tears strolled down their cheeks, spewing arterial fluid from the hole in their chest. ¡°Seriously, you gave up your lives just to end up like this in a new one? Talk about a meaningless effort,¡± Vincent taunted. Inside the reincarnation gateway, he found himself feeling more excited than he had been in years, understanding better the benefits of the new worlds at his fingertips. ¡­What can stop me from doing what I want? SAMSARA is at my beck and call. I¡¯m a ¡®Starborne¡¯¨Cwhatever that is, all I know is it means I have superiority over the masses. I can do whatever the hell I want, Vincent thought. As he raised his boot, he then ced it back down on the neck of the whimpering bandit, slowly increasing the pressure as he looked down, watching carefully as the light began to fade from the choking figure¡¯s eyes. ¡°¨C!¡± FWOOSH A force mmed against his body, taking him by total surprise as the howling shock wave knocked him off his feet, flinging him back down the hall and into the observation chamber. What in the¨C?! Vincent thought. It wasn¡¯t anything physical that had touched him; an unseen force that was felt both on his body and inside of him, causing his bones to ache as he crashed into his desk. ¡°¡­Ngh,¡± Vincent groaned, picking himself up. Raising his gaze, he found a sole figure standing in the hall, not seeing them before. They werepletely human, by the looks of it, youthful and with shaggy, beige hair and wearing the same ragtag outfit as the bandits. ¡°You killed them¡­¡± The young man said with an angered tone. Vincent straightened himself out, still perplexed by what had hit him, though he had a slight idea going by the stance held by thest bandit: the youthful man was holding his hand forward, as if having already attacked. ¡°In case you weren¡¯t aware, you came to my ship,¡± Vincent said calmly, brushing the dust off of his coat. Though logic didn¡¯t seem to suffice as when those words left the white-haired CEO¡¯s lips, he found his heightened reflexes going into overdrive, finding the enraged youth leaping towards him with inhuman physical prowess. He too is¡­? Vincent thought. In that split-second, his instincts forced him to roll to the side, dodging at thest moment as the beige-haired boy plunged the electric-charged sword he wielded into the floor of the ship. The metallic ground caved in beneath the de, crinkling beneath the startling strength of thest surviving bandit. Vincent witnessed this in surprise, picking himself up as an air of caution surrounded him for the first time since entering this world. I can¡¯t be careless. Though I can logout¡­Haru didn¡¯t mention anything about death being temporary within this. I¡¯d rather not let my life hang in the heart of the cards, Vincent thought. Preparing himself, he summoned the disintegration pistol to his hand, though as quick as he summoned it, he was unable to fire it off before the swift boy dashed in, cutting the weapon in two with his lightning-infused weapon. ¡°Ghh¨C!¡± Vincent gritted his teeth in frustration, ¡°¡­If that¡¯s how you want it!¡± Dropping the broken gun, he opted for close-quartersbat, utilizing his enhanced physiology to spin around and kick the empowered bandit with his full-strength. Despite the young man managing to guard against it, the impact was strong enough to hurt him, causing the youth to slide across the floor. ¡°What¡¯s got you so worked up? Correct me if I¡¯m wrong, but I thought this was all fair game,¡± Vincent shrugged. ¡°You¡¯re wrong!¡± ¡°¨C!¡± Once again, the newly-entered user found himself surprised as the beige-haired youth yelled back in an angered response, summoning that unseen force once again that mmed against Vincent¡¯s body. This time, it was focused, hitting the man directly in his stomach as he spit out a mixture of saliva and oxygen. This¡­again! It¡¯s some kind of power of his?! Vincent thought. With each hit received, the ICARUS CEO further immersed himself in the invisible data of the intergctic realm. It¡¯s thin. I can feel it. I can see it. Though this reality may very well be authentic, SAMSARA has integrated a ¡®system¡¯ that exists like a naturalw of this universe. Just a bit more and I can touch it¡­! Vincent thought. ¡°I know what you are! A Starborne like you doesn¡¯t belong here!¡± The passionate young man yelled, ¡°¨CThis is our lives! We abandoned everything to start anew here! Everything! Yet people like you¡­you pay your way to an easy life, then trample all over ours!¡± Vincent coughed out, picking himself up after having momentarily fallen to a knee, ¡°¡­You seem to be forgetting that you attacked me first, brat!¡± Rushing forward with a swift dash, Vincent summoned a new weapon to his grip, digitally constructing it to reveal a de made of a crimsonser, shing it against his foe¡¯s electric sword. ¡°The name¡¯s Gero, not ¡®brat¡¯! And do you know why we attacked your ship?!¡± The beige-haired bandit said, ¡°¨CYouid waste to hundreds of others in this star system! My people had a policy¨Cwe never touched those who were innocent, only those whomitted atrocities¨Clike you!¡± Before Vincent could do anything, he found himself being pushed back by what felt like a clingy gust, pulling on him and giving Gero the upperhand in their sh. ¡­This force¨Cjust what the hell is it? Is this the ¡®Glow¡¯? Then¡­in that case¡­if I try hard enough, I can¡­Vincent thought. Amidst the collision of des, Vincent Icarus nted his boots down, breathing in slowly as he focused on the internal forceying dormant within him, plucking it out and awakening it as a smile etched across his lips. [¡°Vincent Icarus is no ordinary man. Of course, his position as the world¡¯s youngest trillionaire, leading the world¡¯s advances in the field of robotics, might be enough to speak of that. However, the youthful CEO boasts an I.Q. of over two-hundred. It is due to his unique ¡®eye¡¯ for the algorithms and methods of code that he is able to perceive the digital space in a way unlike any other.¡±] Dismay came across Gero¡¯s expression as he felt the pressure shift in the room as the unseen collision of both Glows met. [¡°A fatal mistake was made on the part of SAMSARA by allowing an existence like Vincent Icarus to reincarnate. He has grasped it now¨Clike a virus infiltrating software, reality itself is felt at his fingertips.¡±] The appearance of the space around Vincent shifted as he could now see the code running in a dimension tucked away from the naked eye, witnessing it all and able to tangibly feel it for himself. ¡°¡­I think I¡¯ve got it now!¡± Vincent proimed. Stepping forward, he confidently pushed the younger figure back as the invisible force shredded the metallic flooring, carving a path in front of him. ¡°Ghh¨C!¡± Gero winced, being mmed against the wall by the power. Vincentughed, looking at his hands as he felt the vibrations of the ¡®Glow¡¯ around his body, seeing the air around him distort, ¡°Amazing!¡­If it¡¯s like this, I can¡¯t imagine Arcadius! I want to experience true magic!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not letting you go¡­anywhere!¡± With a rapid recovery, Gero propelled through the air, using the Glow in new ways to Vincent¡¯s curious eyes as it was utilized like a propulsion force, causing the young man to close the distance in a moment without being restricted to bipedal movement. Though as Gero attempted to cut the Starborne down, Vincent easily managed to block the attack with his humming, crimson de. ¡°You¡¯re still caught up in all of that? Please. It¡¯s the name of the game¨Call¡¯s fair in life and death; you wouldn¡¯t take your anger out on a natural disaster sweeping through and killing your friends, would you?¡± Vincent asked. ¡°Shut up!¡­¡± Gero yelled back. As the beige-haired bandit attempted to raise his other hand to unleash a Glow st, Vincent countered by ducking beneath it, enhancing his free fist with the ¡®Glow¡¯ in an experimental usage before mming it against Gero¡¯s abdomen. ¡°Gyuh-!¡± Gero spit out. The force rippled through the young man¡¯s organs, echoing through the marrow of his bones before he was mmed against the dense walls of the ship. A bright-scarlet aura d the fist Vincent used to strike, catching the man¡¯s intrigue as he looked at it for a moment, ¡°I suppose that¡¯s why they call it the ¡®Glow¡¯. I am assuming it only possesses a color once maturing¨Cwell, that would mean yours is sorelycking, brat.¡± ¡°¡­Shut it¡­¡± Gero spit out, stumbling forward, still gripping his sword. Vincent smirked, squeezing his fists as he summoned the scarlet Glow around himself in a disy of his frightening power. ¡°I¡¯ll have to thank you for showing me the ropes,¡± Vincent pointed to the side of his head, tapping it, ¡°You¡¯ve helped me understand quite a bit about this ¡®Glow¡¯ and the systems of SAMSARA itself. I don¡¯t intend on sticking around in this particr outlet of Reincarnation Online very long, but who knows¡­if I decide to return, maybe I¡¯ll make all of it mine.¡± This time, as the groggy, injured talent among the bandits lunged forward for an attack, the Starborne nonchntly flicked his wrist, using the unseen power of the Glow to swipe Gero away like a fly, knocking him across the room before continuing his spiel to himself with open arms: ¡°¡­Perhaps I¡¯ll take over each of Reincarnation Online¡¯s worlds. This realm, the cyberpunk world, and Arcadius alike¨Cfilled with boundless resources and potential, upied by so many people, all ripe for the taking. The deep histories, the tenure of those living there¨CI¡¯ll conquer theirnds, subjugate their people, and make their women my own,¡± Vincent lost himself in the newfound power in his hands, ¡°I, Vincent Icarus, will be the god of these new worlds.¡± [¡°Understanding the rules of the Intergctic realm didn¡¯t grant the man omnipotence, however, by witnessing the answers untold, he gained an understanding unlike any other living within the realm. If he were to step into Arcadius, the ¡®System¡¯ he¡¯d be granted would be at the mercy of his fingertips¨Can oue none desire to witness.¡±] After finishing Gero off by twisting his body into a pulp with the Glow, Vincent brought up his digital HUD, tapping away before bringing himself to the [Transport] screen. [Enter [ARCADIUS] and begin anew?] [Yes][No] Though there was no hesitation in Vincent tapping ¡°Yes¡±, as soon as he pressed it, an error message popped up in front of his vision: [ACCESS DENIED.] [REASON: ADMINISTRATOR HAS BANNED USER VINCENT ICARUS FROM ACCESSING ARCADIUS.] It was a surprise to Vincent for a moment as he read the prompt, clenching his fist before mming it against the digital screen in an act of frustration. ¡°¡­How perceptive you are, SAMSARA; ever watchful. Or perhaps¡­You knew I¡¯d be a handful, Haru,¡± Vincent slowly smiled, ¡°¡­No problem. It doesn¡¯t have to be today or tomorrow¨Cjust know, one day, I¡¯ll find my way into Arcadius¡­your precious masterpiece, Haru Takeshiro. I don¡¯t know how you built it, but I¡¯ll take it for myself¡­¡± [¡°However, unbeknownst to Vincent Icarus was the true nature of Arcadius: the world did not border on authentic and artificial. Through and through¡­it was a real world. Though that begs the question¡­what is the rtionship between Reincarnation Online and Arcadius?¡±] ¨C Sitting alone in the vast stream of cosmos, realities away from any other, a faceless being chuckled to himself on a disembodied set of wooden floorboards. ¡°¡­How interesting. Little Haru, I wonder how long you can keep the charade up¡­It doesn¡¯t matter to me. A deal¡¯s a deal¡­as long as you keep bringing me new children, you can pretend as though Arcadius is a creation of your own; the matters of ¡®Earth¡¯ are nothing to me,¡± the faceless being spoke to himself. [¡°¡­To put it simply, that little ¡°Intergctic realm¡± and ¡°cyberpunk world¡± are just artificial realities. Arcadius isn¡¯t rted to them at all. If you think you can conquer Arcadius just because you have a bit of talent in the Intergctic realm, well, you¡¯re not going to like the way reality hits you. Arcadius is just as real as Earth¨Cwell, I¡¯d say it¡¯s even more real, in my opinion. Where¡¯s your magic, Earth?¡±] Chapter 242 Campfire Reprieve As the morning rose with the shine of the high-ced gem shone down through the trees, the young Dragonheart found himself yawning, already long awake. Though there wasn¡¯t much joy in his tired eyes as he sat there on a fallen tree log in front of the stoked mes. It was his guard duty this time, however, he was given a much unexpected schedule¨Cthat is, he ended up staying there through most of the night. The bear-like snores of Everett filled the camp grounds as the shielder was sprawled out on his back, resting on a pile of leaves. Seriously¡­I should¡¯ve kicked him hours ago, he thought. There was only one reason he was sitting there, not asleep through dawn as he should be: Everett never woke up for his shift on watch. A yawn left his lips as he looked up towards the upside down portion of the forest, finding the scenery to hardly be any less disorientating even after nearly an entire week. At the very least, the warmth and crackles of the campfire along with theplicated journal he read kept him awake, though he was feeling famished right about now. ¡°Morning.¡± Causing him to jump slightly as he caught his journal from his hands, he looked up to find Yuna sitting across from him, having taken him by surprise with herpletely silent movements. ¡°¡­Morning,¡± he responded. The demi-human rogue stretched her arms over her head before leaning back, rxing and allowing her body to wake up as she looked over at the young Dragonheart. ¡°Looks like you didn¡¯t get much sleep,¡± Yuna said. ¡°Yeah, well, me the snorer over there¡­¡± He sighed, ncing over at Everett, who was still snoring like a bear. There was an expected silence when sitting by Yuna, who wasn¡¯t much for words or social interaction entirely, for that matter. Still, the wordless sitting gnawed at his tired mind, finding himself unable to even concentrate on the shoddy handwriting he was trying to read as he decided to try and make conversation. ¡°So¡­are you going to wake them up? Would¡¯ve thought you¡¯d do that first thing,¡± Emilio asked. Yuna looked at the campfire, ¡°In a bit.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t expect leniency from you of all people,¡± he chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s just as important to be lenient at times as it is to be strict,¡± Yuna told him, ¡°This trial has been a difficult one for us all¨Cthose two are different from us.¡± ¡°How do you figure?¡± He asked with a raised eyebrow. Yuna rified, ¡°You don¡¯t look like much, but I figured it out quickly after our first encounter. Well, I had an idea about it¨Cbut our encounter with Amon and the battle against Collector proved it: you¡¯re a warrior¨Cthrough and through. You¡¯ve been through the mes of this world and have endured its hardships.¡± The wordsing from the demi-human woman were one-hundred percent the truth, though the poker face she naturally held would make lies indecipherable from sincerity. ¡°I think that¡¯s apliment so thanks, but¡­You don¡¯t think they have? At least Everett?¡± He asked. ¡°They¡¯re getting there. This trial is making sure of that, anyway. I¡¯m not disparaging them, I¡¯m simply stating the truth; this path isn¡¯t something they¡¯re adjusted to yet,¡± Yuna said. ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is, you¡¯re taking it easy on the newbies?¡± Emilio asked. ¡°Essentially,¡± the woman nodded. As the red-haired demi-human held a cup in her hands, empty and looking towards him, Emilio let out a small sigh before casting a spell of water, filling it up with fresh aqua. For some reason, this particr usage of magic felt demeaning, but he knew it was necessary. Seriously, am I a water boy now? He questioned. Even though he felt that way, he did the same for himself afterward, filling up a canteen and drinking from it as he felt the smooth, refreshing liquid rejuvenate his dry throat. ¡°Aaahh¡­¡± A feminine yawn, that Emilio found almost too adorable in the brutal trial, was heard as he nced over, seeing Melisande getting up and tiredly rubbing her eyes. ¡°Did you sleep well?¡± He asked with a smile. Melisande groggily nodded before sitting by him around the campfire, adjusting her skirt as she sat, ¡°¡­I had nightmares about those geckos from yesterday. So many geckos¡­¡± It had happened the day before whilst the group was wandering through the forest to search for proper grounds and resources: a group of aggressive geckos chased them, possessing far-stretching tongues that provided a disgusting weapon to the reptiles. ¡°Yeah, I hear ya¡¯¡­¡± Emilio agreed. ¡°I got rid of most of them,¡± Yuna said. Providing evidence for such, the cat woman revealed the preserved bodies ofrge, yellow-skinned geckos to the other two. ¡°Ah¨Cwhen did you do that?¡± Emilio wryly chuckled. ¡°Gross¡­¡± Melisande mumbled. Yuna began to ce them above the fire, using a stick above to keep the hunted geckos steady, ¡°Well, we need nutrients, don¡¯t we? Even if it isn¡¯t exactly gourmet quality, in this trial, it might as well be.¡± The two young mages were hesitant about it, though there was undeniably a necessity for a meal, whether it was monstrous lizards or not. While Melisande fully woke up, she watched as Yuna carefully spun the geckos over the me, allowing them to cook properly. Emilio nodded off for a few minutes, getting some rest in before being rudely awoken by the boisterous morning call of another¨C ¡°What smells so good?¡± Getting up from his nket of leaves, the bumpkin shielder asked with a boorish yawn, plopping down beside the campfire. Once more finding his sleep ruined by Everett, the young Dragonheart shot a nasty re at the man before deciding it wasn¡¯t worth being upset about. After the lizards had finished being properly cooked, through-and-through, eradicating any parasites or diseases held in the meat of the prey, Yuna cut it up and divided portions to the group. ¡­I just need to be happy we¡¯re all making it, he thought. Perhaps not the most savory seeming dish of all, with arge lizard leg being served on a stick like a kebab out of hell, as they each tried it out, they were all pleasantly surprised by what they found meeting their mouths. Emilio chewed, finding the texture to be tender and the meat to have its own natural vor to it. ¡°Hey, this ain¡¯t bad at all!¡± Everett said. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right¡­this is actually kind of nice,¡± Emilio noted. Though as he said that, agreeing with the burly man who likely would eat anything so long as it wasn¡¯t poison itself, he found himself wondering if his tastes had simply adjusted over thest week. ¡°¡­It¡¯s still gross but it is tasty,¡± Melisande admitted. Yuna didn¡¯t have any remarks, not seeming to care one way or another, so long as she got the bare necessity calories she needed to function. Chapter 243 Lurking Danger ¡°It¡¯s thest day,¡± he said, speaking his mind. The words were somewhat blurted on, though it seemed to be vocalizing exactly what the others were thinking as well. ¡°Yeah, it is,¡± Everett said, ¡°Can¡¯t believe it¡¯s only been less than a week since I met all of ya¡¯. If¨Cno, when we make it through this, we¡¯rerades for life, got that?¡± Everett¡¯s words were as genuine as could be as the country-born youth put his fist over his own chest with a big smile. ¡°Of course,¡± Emilio said with a smile. ¡°Yeah, this was a team effort¡­I doubt any of us could make it alone through what¡¯s happened,¡± Melisande said. Taking a moment to respond, Yuna was as quiet as she normally was, though the looks from the others prompted the silent rogue to speak as she averted her gaze, ¡°¡­I suppose you¡¯re all capable enough. It¡¯s nice not having to watch my own back throughout every hour of the day.¡± What sounded like nothing more than a neutralment at best normally was a dazzlingpliment from the stone-faced demi-human, bringing delighted smiles on the faces of those in the group. Seeing their reaction, a small tinge of pink came to Yuna¡¯s cheeks in a slight fluster, finding herself averting her gaze again, ¡°¡­What¡¯s with those looks? I didn¡¯t say anything weird.¡± ¡°No, you didn¡¯t,¡± Everettughed. ¡°Thanks, Yuna. You¡¯re pretty reliable, too,¡± Emilio said. After they finished their hearty breakfast of lizard meat, the group sat around the camp during the morning hours, finding no reason to venture out on thest day as it would only further the risk of failure. However, this n wouldn¡¯tst forever¨Cor hardly past dawn, for that matter. Catching some rest with his back against a bulky bedding of leaves and grass, Emilio napped whilst Melisande practiced magecraft and Yuna found herself sitting on Everett¡¯s back at request of the shielder, providing weight for his pushups. ¡°Twenty-one¡­twenty-two¡­!¡± Everett grunted. ¡°I¡¯m not that heavy. Stop struggling,¡± Yuna said coldly. It was a surprising moment of peace, though it only stood as the calm before the storm while Emilio napped, finding himself in a blissful dream: surrounded by his family, at home with a warm meal,ughing alongside his father and mother. ¡°Aaaaah¡ª!¡± A bloodcurdling scream that filled the area caused the young Dragonheart¡¯s eyes to shoot open as he jumped up, looking around. ¡°What was¡­?¡± He mumbled. The others were looking around as well, taken aback by the sudden scream that came from none there. Whatever it was, the scream was masculine and of sheer terror, prompting the group to get up and look towards the trees around them. ¡°¡­What do ya think that was?¡± Everett asked. ¡°Nothing good,¡± Yuna replied. ¡°I hate to have to agree with that¡­¡± Emilio added. He already drew his staff, holding it up as he nced to the side, looking where Melisande was watching. Being proactive, he whispered the name of a lesser elemental spirit: ¡°Smander.¡± The fiery red spirit manifested above his hand, awaiting hismand as it hovered in the air. ¡°Look around the area for anybody¡ªright around the tree line,¡± Emilio told the spirit. It wordlessly listened before floating off quickly to scout the area at hismand. Though it wasn¡¯t much needed as not even a momentter, a figure rushed through the bushes to the north, where Everett and Emilio faced, into the camp, frantic and stumbling over. ¡°¨CA recruit?¡± Emilio muttered. A young man with spiky, hazel hair and equipped with a mixture of leather armor, steel tes, and a red cloak rushed in, huffing and breathing heavily. ¡°Help!¡­Ya¡¯ gotta help me!¡± The recruit spat out, coughing up blood as he fell down. The first to approach him were Melisande and Everett, kneeling beside the injured recruit as he groaned in pain. There were clear injuries on his body, all of which were sharp cuts, varying in size from scratches on his cheek to a full gash on his stomach and thigh. Yuna was wary, keeping an eye out with her daggers raised, not keeping her back to any direction for a moment. It wasn¡¯t far off for Emilio either, who while not believing that this was an ambush, was cautious of whatever did this to the spiky-haired recruit. ¡°Uugnh¡­¡± The man gritted his teeth. Everett stayed by his side, looking at him worriedly, ¡°Are ya¡¯ alright, man?! What did this to you?!¡± ¡°Emilio! He needs aid,¡± Melisande said, ¡°¨CIt¡¯s not good.¡± After looking around with his guard raised for a moment, the young Dragonheart realized his assistance was direly needed when seeing a heaping amount of blood leak from the stranger¡¯s wounds, rushing over. He dropped down and began invoking ¡°Healing¡± on the figure¡¯s wounds, doing his best to use his highest output to help the man recover quickly. ¡°How did this happen?¡± Melisande asked. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Everett added in. The bandana-wearing recruit seemed overwhelmed as he stammered out, watching Emilio tend to his wounds, ¡°I-I¡­I¡­¡± Yuna stayed on her feet, keeping an eye out and remaining calm, ¡°Take a breath. You¡¯re alright now¨Cso long as you aren¡¯t an enemy.¡± ¡°Yuna!¡­¡± Melisande looked up at the demi-human rogue. The half-feline woman seemed to recognize her approach might¡¯ve been a bit too jaded, adjusting her scarf as she looked down at the man, ¡°Alright. Can you tell us your name?¡± ¡°I-It¡¯s¡­Johannes,¡± the young man answered, seeming to be no older than histe teens, ¡°¡­It happened so quickly¨CI¡­they¡¯re all dead!¡± The panic and fear turned partly to anger as Johannes mmed his fist down, interrupting the healing magic invoked as the others backed away. ¡°Hey¨Ccalm it down, I¡¯m not done healing your wounds¨C¡± Emilio said. Though the wounded man hardly seemed steady of mind as tears trailed down his blood-stained face, keeping his knuckles pressed against the soil while the group watched. ¡°I couldn¡¯t do a damn thing! That freak did this! It wasn¡¯t a monster, but he wasn¡¯t human either¡­! No human could do that!¡± Johannes spit out in a rage, ¡°He was a demon¨Cno, a dev¨C!¡± Just as the injured man went on his rage-filled tirade that left them perplexed and hardly gaining any valuable information, Johanne¡¯s words were cut off as a chain shot through the woods,ing in with frightening precision as ittched around his ankle. ¡°Wha¨C¡± Johannes looked back at his leg. It was such an inexplicable action that for a pivotal few seconds, the group found themselves stunned at what just happened. ¡°I-It¡¯s him¡­!¡± Johannes¡¯ expression returned to sheer horror. ¡°Hey! I¡¯ve got you¨C!¡± Lunging forward, Emilio called out with his hand outstretched, prompting Johannes to reach out towards him as well with the others following behind, however¨Cit was a moment toote. A powerful tug came from deep within the forest, to which Yuna threw a throwing knife in the direction of the chain, only prompting it to be pulled with further vigor. ¡°¡ª-Aaaaagh!¡± Johannes was flung back, being pulled across the dirt and withdrawn past the bushes and trees in an instant with his blood-curdling screams trailing off. ¡°What the hell was that¨C?!¡± Emilio asked. ¡°We have to follow him!¡± Everett said. ¡°Yeah!¡± Melisande added. Though there was some hesitance deep in his heart, Emilio knew it was the right thing to do, especially when hisrades were already moving, calling the fiery red spirit back to his side as they raced through the woods. ¡°Yuna! Did you see something?!¡± Emilio asked. While they were sprinting through the woods in the direction where the recruit was pulled away into, Yuna was hopping from tree-to-tree. ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± Yuna said, narrowing her gaze forward, ¡°Whoever is doing this is slippery.¡± Just as the rogue answered, Emilio found himself questioning the nature of the lurking enemy, questioning it in his mind before being interrupted by a sudden shift¨C Could it be Amon? No, this isn¡¯t like¨Che thought. The interruption to his thoughts came from a sudden yelp of pain from Melisande, causing him toe to a screeching halt in his chase as he nced back. ¡°Melisande?!¡± He called out. It was a bear trap, though unrefined and rusty, mping down on the silver-haired girl¡¯s left leg. ¡°Nngh¡­!¡± Melisande winced sharply, falling down. The chase was suspended in that moment as the other two stopped as well, though Emilio was the first over by a long shot, driven by desperation at the girl¡¯s injury as he moved with a burst of reinforcement. A trap?!¡­Right here of all ces?! He questioned. ¡°Damn!¡± Everett ran over, dropping to a knee, ¡°Here, let me! I¡¯ll¨C¡± As the burly shielder was about to offer his assistance, Everett and Yuna realized there was no need as they witnessed the internal strength buried within Emilio¡¯s rtively average frame. Without any hesitation, Emilio grasped onto the teeth of the trap, letting it stab into his hands as he began pulling it apart with sheer strength. ¡°Emilio¡­?!¡± Melisande said his name through pained groans, worried for his own safety. It didn¡¯t take more than a few seconds for him to pull the trap apart, freeing Melisande¡¯s leg as a rush of blood left the newly-formed wounds in her calf and chin. ¡°You two, keep an eye out,¡± Emilio said without any room for discussion. ¡°Alright, you¡¯ve got it,¡± Everett nodded. Chapter 244 Ever-Nightmarish Goal While Yuna and Everett kept watch, the young Dragonheart used healing once more, keeping the staff pointed close to Melisande¡¯s leg as the wounds began to close up. ¡°¡­Thanks,¡± Melisande said with a scrunched nose, still feeling some level of pain. After the recovery magic was finished, Emilio stood up, lending his hand to the girl to help her stand, though she limped a bit. It wasn¡¯t a speedy process, taking a good few minutes even when trying to act in haste. ¡°Ngh¡­¡± Melisande winced. ¡°Sorry about that, but¡­healing magic isn¡¯t perfect¨Cat least, mine isn¡¯t,¡± he said with a small frown. ¡°No, it¡¯s alright¡­this is my fault anyway¨Cif I was watching where I was going¡­¡± Melisande said, looking towards where they were initially going, ¡°¡­Is it toote now?¡± The look of concern she gave as she looked over at Emilio wasn¡¯t met with a reassuring answer before she looked over at Everett and Yuna as well, who didn¡¯t have too much optimism worn on their expressions. ¡°¡­They got away,¡± Yuna said. ¡°Hnnn¡­it¡¯s just one thing after another in this damn ce! Can¡¯t we just have some quiet time for one day?!¡± Everett yelled out. In frustration, the Milligardian shielder picked up a stone and tossed it into the depths of the forest, causing a few critters to scamper out. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s my fault¡­¡± Melisande looked down. ¡°Hey now, it¡¯s not on you! If I was running in that exact spot, it would¡¯ve been my leg that got chomped!¡± Everett assured her. Emilio looked down at the shoddy bear trap, picking it up as he inspected it, ¡°This wasn¡¯t some ident. I doubt there¡¯s hunters living in Parmesus.¡± ¡°We walked straight into this unknown person¡¯s trap,¡± Yuna said, looking at the bear trap as well, ¡°If I had to guess, the person responsible for attacking that man is another like that man from the underground dungeon.¡± ¡°Collector,¡± Melisande mumbled. The memories of trudging through the abominable ¡®research¡¯ facility belonging to the freakish experimenter was something that none of them wanted to recall, bringing silence for a moment as they stood in the center of dense foliage, overlooked by tall, emerald trees. Though the conclusion that Yuna came to sparked Emilio¡¯s interest as he set the trap down, looking at the red-tailed woman, ¡°¡­How do you figure from that bit of information?¡± Yuna was quiet for a moment before answering, ¡°Collector referred to himself as one of the ¡®Three Devils of Parmesus¡¯¨Cwhatever that means, all I can conclude is that with the existence of other humans kept imprisoned in thisnd, it refers to criminals of his caliber.¡± ¡°More people like Collector? I don¡¯t even want to think about that,¡± Melisande shuddered. ¡°Well, if that¡¯s the case¡­we¡¯ll need to stay cautious,¡± Emilio said. Before they continued to move on, agreeing that it would be best to abandon their camp as the enigmatic killer knew of their location, Emilio decided it¡¯d be best to keep more eyes out to protect their backs: ¡°Undyne. Smander. Gnome. Sylph.¡± The four lesser spirits of elemental power manifested, hovering around the group of four as they began walking through the densely-packed forest of quiet trees and foraging critters. ¡°These things are really handy,¡± Everett said with a curious look. As the blonde-haired bumpking poked at the verdant sphere, Sylph blinked in response and used a small gust of wind against Everett¡¯s face, causing the shielder to flinch and back away. ¡°Ah! Hey! What was that for?!¡± Everett raised his fist at the lesser spirit. The frequent blinks and jittering that Sylph did was almost as though it was quietlyughing, swirling around in satisfaction. ¡°Keep it down, would you?¡± Yuna looked back. ¡°Oh, right¡­well, if that criminales here, that just makes our lives easier. We can give him the good ol¡¯ one-two!¡± Everett said, punching the air. ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­just stay ready,¡± Emilio said. An eerie atmosphereid thick as he moved forward through the forest, periodically checking around him to see that the expressions and fidgeting of hispanions meant they felt the same. It was a different sensation than what was faced previously: in contrast to the mindless savage he faced initially and the relentless maniac that was Collector, the silence and elusiveness of this new enemy was something more unnerving. ¨C ¡°¡­Does it feel a bit chilly to anybody else now?¡± Everett asked, breathing out. There had been utter silence for the past half hour they walked through the forest, somehow leading to apse in focus as they all came to a stop at the shielder¡¯s question. ¡°Cold?¡­¡± Emilio muttered. It was when that notion came to his mind that he watched a breath of frost escape his lips. As he turned around, facing the others in the group, they seemed as surprised as him that they were now breathing out cold air. What was perhaps more startling wasn¡¯t the frost they breathed but the state of the environment itself; the oak trees were d in ayer of ice and the luscious, green grass was frosted to a snow-white. ¡°What happened? It was normal just a second ago¡­right?¡± Melisande asked, ¡°Yuna?¡± The scarf-wearing rogue looked perplexed, holding her hand out as a snowke trickled down onto her glove, ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know. I can¡¯t remember thest hour that well.¡± ¡°That¡¯s weird¡­me too,¡± Everett said, rubbing his own head, ¡°All I can remember is just walking.¡± This was a concerning development, stepping from a normal, spring environment one moment and into a frosted forest the next. However, what was more questionable to Emilio was thepse in memory and what this all meant. I doubt we randomly walked into a new area¡­I think there¡¯s a more likely possibility, he thought. ¡°This might be magecraft,¡± Emilio guessed. It was merely conjecture, though with the evidence at hand, it was what stood as most probable to him as he watched droplets of snow trickle down from the branches above. ¡°Magecraft? Are ya saying¡­somebody did this?¡± Everett asked. ¡°I can¡¯t say that for sure. This is a trial after all¨Cthere could be runic contraptions left throughout the valley, but¡­¡± Emilio nced around. ¡°But?¡± Melisande looked at him as the snow blended in with her silver tufts. As he thought about it, with the eyes of hispanions on him, he looked around, trying to gauge the situation and if there were any apparent runes he could sense, but there wasn¡¯t. ¡°From what I can tell, the ones running this trial have been ¡®hands-off¡¯ so far, so¡­I doubt they¡¯d start now,¡± Emilio said. Chapter 245 Depths of Snow ¡°From what I can tell, the ones running this trial have been ¡®hands-off¡¯ so far, so¡­I doubt they¡¯d start now,¡± Emilio said. ¡°I agree with that. This valley is enough of a challenge as is, any more and they¡¯d be senselessly killing recruits who are barely getting by,¡± Yuna added. ¡°I don¡¯t know ¡¯bout that,¡± Everett scratched his head, ¡°Whoever is runnin¡¯ this trial is cruel in my eyes¡­I mean, look at what we¡¯ve gone through so far. Do ya¡¯ really think nting traps is beneath them?¡± A surprise to be sure, but Everett had a good point that made them think about what they were experiencing at the moment. There was no denying their current situation, surrounded by frosted trees and iceyered foliage, stretching as far as they could see. ¡°I get what you¡¯re saying, but going off the fact we¡¯ve been following this person¡¯s trail¡­I¡¯d say it¡¯s the same person trying to stop us, or at least slow us down,¡± Emilio said. ¡°Even if this was something set by the Guild Foundation, it wouldn¡¯t matter. There¡¯s nothing we can do against that¨Chowever, if this is the one responsible for earlier, then it matters greatly,¡± Yuna added. ¡°Yeah, I get that,¡± Everett folded his arms over his chest. For a minute, they stood there in the same clearing amongst the whiteyered trees, feeling the cold only increase. Emilio had a heat inside of him thatbated the cold, not making it an issue for him, but as he looked around, he could see Melisande¡¯s fingertips bing red and Yuna¡¯s nose turning red as well. ¡°¡­So what should we do now?¡± Melisande asked. ¡°It might be best to head back,¡± Yuna said, ¡°In this environment, the enemy has theplete advantage if it¡¯s something he set up himself.¡± ¡°Head back?! With a freak like that guy watching us? I wouldn¡¯t be able to sit still for a moment,¡± Everett argued. Though as they discussed it, Emilio stood there quietly, looking side-to-side as he made a nauseating discovery, finding his stomach in knots as he checked every direction. ¡°Emilio?¡­What¡¯s wrong? You have that look on your face¡­¡± Melisande asked. As the silver-haired girl posed her question, fidgeting and having to hold herself due to her outfit not being prepared for the frost in the least, the bickering two looked over as well. Emilio looked at the others, breathing out an air of frost, ¡°¡­We¡¯repletely aimless.¡± ¡°What?¡± Everett asked, turning back as he opted to point behind him, ¡°No, we came from over¡­.there?¡± When the blonde-haired bumpkin tried to find where they originally came from, he found himself corrected as he realized he didn¡¯t recognize the direction behind him at all. ¡°Whatever it was, it seems like the spell messed with our sense of focus¨Cwe were just wandering around until we snapped back in,¡± Emilio said, ¡°I don¡¯t know how deep in this we are, but it¡¯s safe to say¡­it isn¡¯t as easy as just ¡®going back¡¯.¡± ¡°Then what do you rmend we do?¡± Yuna asked. In all things rting to magic, it seemed the others put their stock into his opinion above anything else, though he wasn¡¯t ignorant as to why¨Che made it arge part of his own arsenal of knowledge. Rubbing his chin for a moment, he looked up, ¡°For now¡­we¡¯ll just have to keep moving forward. But, at the very least, we can stay warm and protected.¡± ¡°Really? Please do,¡± Melisande said as her teeth chattered, rubbing her own arms. At the wave of his wood-made staff, he gave full-manifestation to the lesser spirits with quiet calls: ¡°Undyne. Gnome. Sylph. Smander.¡± Even though they remained lost in the frost-coated forest amidst the trial¡¯s final day, it didn¡¯t have to bepletely aimless: Emilio gave the duty of keeping watch to three of the lesser elementals, but kept Smander near the group. ¡°Ah, Smander is the best¡­¡± Melisande said, staying near the floating, crimson spirit. ¡°Totally agree,¡± Everett nodded, staying near it as well. Smander blinked a few times in satisfaction of its praises, keeping up its heat-emitting properties for the others. ¡°Yuna, aren¡¯t you cold?¡± Melisande asked, looking over at the quiet demi-human. The Milligardian bumpking nced over as well, ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s like a moving campfire! You¡¯re skinny, so you¡¯ll get a cold easily out here!¡± Yuna only looked over for a second, keeping her scarf over half of her face as she ignored their offer, ¡°Don¡¯t project your own weaknesses onto me. I¡¯m used to harsh environments. That¡¯s the bare minimum for a world-ss adventurer.¡± ¡°She has a point,¡± Emilio said with a chuckle, looking back at the others. Though he found his own input to surely not be needed as the two who relied on the warmth of Smander gave him a look of betrayal at his words. ¡°Err, I mean¡­it¡¯s just going to be cold in different ces around the world. Gotta be prepared for that,¡± Emilio rified. ¡°Is that so?¡± Melisande replied, breathing out cold air. Everett pped his own chest, ¡°I¡¯m more than ready for that! I¡¯ve got thick skin! The cold has got nothin¡¯ on me!¡± ¨C Such boasts were made, but after the four found themselves traversing the unknown region of frost within the valley, it didn¡¯t hold up. ¡°ACHOO¨C!¡± Everett sneezed out. ¡°Ugh!¡± Melisande backed away as she was hit in the crossfire of the sneeze. It wasn¡¯t looking good; Emilio nced back, seeing that the nose and ears of the others were reddened and soon enough, there would surely be sickness to worry about, or worse. What¡¯s with this cold?¡­It¡¯s getting worse, he thought. After a while of monotonous marching, aimlessly going through the cold woods with even the lesser spirits finding nothing of note, Emilio found his steps bing morebored as he looked down, finding an entire bedding of snow at his boots. ¡°Snow¡­?¡± He mumbled. ¡°When did this get here?¡± Melisande asked, confused by the same thing. ¡°¨CACHOO!¡± Again, a loud sneeze from the shielder. What was a mystifying urrence was now bing a more daunting ordeal as the snow seemed to pile higher with each step and the cold only became more taxing on the bodies of hispanions. ¡°Smander, can you turn up the heat some more?¡± Emilio asked, stopping for a moment as he checked on the lesser spirit of fire. The few blinks he received as a response essentially said ¡°If you¡¯ve got the mana to pay for it¡±, which the young Dragonheart obliged with a nod before the spirit increased the output of heat. ¡°There we go¡­!¡± Everett said, standing close to it as he took in the heat. ¡°I love you, Smander¡­¡± Melisande said with a sigh of relief. By this point, even Yuna stood near the heat-emitting spirit, though kept her relief to herself as they trudged forward together. Emilio led the way, though he only found himself praying to find an exit from the overbearing frost, only to find himself in an even more dauntingnd: ¡°¡­Where did all of thise from?¡± He mumbled. Coming to a stop with the others soon following behind him, he exited the tree line to find a vast clearing ahead,pletely filled with snow and colossal trees that had been encased in ice. It was the same for the upside forest above; trees of frost curved downward, sprinkling down snowkes. ¡°Seriously, are we losin¡¯ our heads or somethin¡¯? It was perfectly normal weather just earlier, wasn¡¯t it?!¡± Everett asked. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Emilio confirmed, looking up towards the twirling snowkes, ¡°¡­This is something unnatural. Or maybe, it¡¯s natural to this ce¡­¡± Yuna stood beside the young mage, watching the snowfall grow and grow before her eyes, ¡°This valley is a strange ce. I wouldn¡¯t put it past it to have a sh freeze like this¨Cthough this is another definition entirely.¡± ¡°On thest day¡­do you think this is happening across the entire valley?¡± Melisande asked, hugging herself for warmth. It was a question Emilio found himself wondering, though he couldn¡¯t put a finger on it himself besides a simple guess from looking at how abundantly white the region had be, coated in absolute frost as if in the bowels of winter itself. ¡°If I had to take a wild guess, I¡¯d say it is,¡± he answered, ¡°¡­Though, the timing of it happened when we were pursuing our enemy¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s suspicious to say the least, though I think it¡¯s best to go with the easiest exnation for now: that the weather of Parmesus is mystical in its own right,¡± Yuna said. ¡°I agree,¡± Emilio nodded. The thought of the mysterious killer who abducted the recruit before their eyes was still left in mind, but Emilio ced higher on his list of priorities to create a survivable space from the overwhelming cold. ¡°What should we do then?¡± Everett asked as his teeth chattered, ¡°I don¡¯t know about you, but it¡¯s only getting colder¨CACHOO!¡± A slimy booger dropped from the blonde-haired bumpkin¡¯s nostril after he sneezed, which disgusted Melisande to the point as she scrunched her nose, seeming tempted to st it with wind. ¡°For now¡­if this is really the weather everywhere in the valley, then I¡¯ll create a base for us,¡± Emilio said, ¡°Stand back.¡± Chapter 246 Unwelcome Guest ¡°For now¡­if this is really the weather everywhere in the valley, then I¡¯ll create a base for us,¡± Emilio said, ¡°Stand back.¡± The three seemed eager for the young Dragonheart¡¯s offer as they dly stood back and watched as Emilio put his magic mastery to use, able to utilize the vast clearing ahead as he manipted the natural material around. A square-shaped cottage was made from abination of reinforced dirt and stone, using the frost itself to stick it together and harden it. ¡°Awesome!¡± Everett bumped his fist into the air. As they all went inside, the lesser spirits were kept manifested, with Smander creating a campfire in the middle of the closed-off base of dirt to create another source of heat. In unison, sighs of relief left their mouths as each of them sat around the fire; Emilio sat next to Melisande and Everett sat alone, with Yuna staying near a corner quietly to herself. ¡°¡­Phew¡­¡± Emilio leaned his head back against the wall. ¡°Augh¡­my toes were starting to go numb!¡± Everett said. Without any shame, the shielder had his boots off, massaging his own feet as he wiggled his toes to bring them back to life, though this only kept the others even further from him. ¡°Good to know,¡± Emilio sarcastically said. ¡°¡­Gross. It smells sour in here now¡­¡± Melisande held her nose. Everett¡¯s cheeks went red with embarrassment, ¡°Hey! It ain¡¯t exactly easy to get a bath in during this trial, okay?!¡± Though right after the shielder yelled out in embarrassment with his boots still off and his cheeks flustered, the red-haired rogue was suddenly on her feet with her tail swaying. There was silence for a moment from this unexpected stance taken by the demi-human as her eyes were on the wall behind Everett. ¡°Wh-what? Ya got somethin¡¯ to say, too¨C?!¡± Everett asked. Just then, Emilio yelled out, ¡°Gnome! Undyne!¡± The entire wall of reinforced dirt crumbled from a sudden burst of physical force behind the shielder, taking the group by surprise as a goliath of a figure crashed in. ¡°What¨C?!¡± Melisande let out, still sitting. Just as the unknown intruder broke through the wall, the two lesser spirits called by the young Dragonheart acted, with Gnome summoning a pir from the ground that smacked into the figure¡¯s chest, and Undyne unleashing multiple arrows of water towards it. Before it was even properly seen, the bestial intruder was knocked back, giving them time to properly react. ¡°The hell was that?!¡± Everett asked, quickly putting his boots on before standing, shaking the dirt off his shoulders. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it¡¯s angry!¡± Emilio said. He and Yuna were the first ones out of the base, stepping back into the field of open snow to confront the unwee entity as it picked itself up, roaring out as its coat of snow-white fur vibrated. Is that¡­a yeti? He questioned. It wasn¡¯t something he had read about in books on Arcadius, but a concept he recognized from fairy tales on Earth when looking upon the tall, burly creature that was built like a mix between a bear and a gori. ¡°Do you know what this thing is?!¡± He asked. Yuna nodded her head, drawing her daggers, ¡°It¡¯s a Snow Granga!¨CI¡¯ve seen normal Granga in my homnd, but none were this big!¡± What made little sense at first to Emilio was why the beast that was clearly adapted to cold weather appeared now with the sh of winter, even though it should¡¯ve been spring weather just an hour prior. ¡­Do seasons change weekly? Was it hibernating? That has to be it, I¡¯m guessing, he concluded. Thoughts had to be ceased as the Snow Granga charged forward with a roar that rippled through the snow, rushing across the clearing of frost as it used its massive fists like a second pair of legs. ¡°Get ready!¡± Yuna warned. Just as Emilio was preparing to meet it openly with a heaping summoning of mes, he found the beast intercepted just as it lunged towards him¨C ¡°Hoo-raaaah!¡± As brazen as ever, Everett bashed his shield against the wild beast, knocking it back as its feet slid across the sea of white. ¡°Ha-ha! It¡¯s not so¨C¡± After boasting, the shielder found himself quickly silenced as the frost-inhabiting granga leapt over, mming its fists against the man¡¯s shield with such force that the echo shifted the snow wildly. ¡°Here!¡± Emilio yelled out before summoning arge javelin made of mes, shooting it towards the beast as it sizzled through the rain of snowkes. As the beast roared and continued thrashing against Everett¡¯s shield, it was knocked back by the impact of the me javelin, resulting in a small explosion. ¡°Gah!¡± Everett slid back from the shock wave. Even though it was a direct-hit, the granga rolled over momentarily with a burnt patch of skin on its side before jumping back up, salivating with another warcry leaving its mouth. As it thumped its own chest in a disy of power, Yuna tossed a few needles against it, stabbing into its arm, though only seeming to invoke the beast¡¯s wrath. ¡°¨C!¡± Yuna¡¯s eyes widened. The agile cat-woman flipped back as the snow granga dashed with relentless speed, attempting to grab onto her with its mighty hands, though missing entirely. ¡°Wind st!¡± Interrupting its charge, a propulsion of wind smacked right against the gray-skinned monster¡¯s face, causing it to scrunch its nose and shake its head, stopping in its path. Melisande stood there with her hands pointing forward, huffing out as she realized the futility of the attack, ¡°Uh-oh¨C¡± ¡°Get back!¡± Yuna called out. As the beast rushed towards the silver-haired girl, who didn¡¯t have any time to weave another skill into reality, Emilio was forced to intercept its rush as he pointed his staff forward in a desperate extension: ¡­Come on! He thought. At the distance he was at and with snow being a foreign element to him, the uracy of the spell of wind he desired to cast was lessened, though he pulled through just as the granga raised its fist to smash the girl below it. ¡°Orbital Storm.¡± The spell was simple and vast in potency as it caused a rift of wind directly beneath the beast in a condensed explosion of wind, knocking it upward harshly. FWOOOOOOOOOSH. Everybody looked up in awe at the result as therge, muscle-bound monster was nowunched upwards, iling wildly as it soared higher than the tallest trees before mming into the upside down region of the valley above. ¡°Holy damn¡­!¡± Everett reacted, watching from below. Though the effect didn¡¯tst long as the raging beast broke out of the soil it was caved into, letting out a bestial roar before leaping downward once more. Chapter 247 Aid From The Snow-White Frost ¡°It hasn¡¯t had enough yet?!¡± Everett called out. ¡°Guess not¡­!¡± Emilio readied himself, conjuring a fireball in front of his staff. As they grouped together, they faced down the beast as itnded back down onto the field of snow, crashing down with an impact that stirred up clouds of frost. While Yuna and Everett sprinted forth through the stretch of cold white to confront the thrashing beast, the young Dragonheart unleashed a burst of high-speed fireballs that flew over the snow, burning roads through it before mming against the hide of the granga. BOOM. ¨CThe firstnded with a wave of snow propelled outward from the expansion of heat. BOOM. BOOM. ¨CThe second and third hit, causing subsequent explosions of heat that noticeably caused the monster to stumble back as parts of its fur were burnt away and small wounds were left on its form. Still, the fur-d monster was mostly unfazed as it had no issue confronting the two that challenged it in close-range, jumping up and mming down with both of its fists as Everett quickly raised his shield in front of the rogue. THUD. Yuna stopped for a moment, exchanging a quick nce and nod with the shielder before using the opportunity to slide beneath the gap of the bottom of the thick, steel-made barrier and the snow. In her swift slide, moving between the legs of the burly beast, she left a quick set of shes on its ankles, though not cutting as deep as she had hoped. The problem came in its skin that felt akin to the shining armor worn by a knight, resisting the edge of her sharpened de and triggering a deeper fit of rage from the beast. As it lifted its mighty foot to try and stop the rogue as she had yet to fully jump to her feet, an aquatic rope wrapped around the beast¡¯s ankle. ¡°¨CGotcha!¡± Emilio had a half-cocked, strained smile, holding onto the original end of the water-made binding as he prevented the granga from stamping out the demi-human woman. Though it was clear to Yuna this wasn¡¯t an easy effort as she leapt up and jumped back, giving the young Dragonheart full freedom in his attempt to trip the monster. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 1/10 | Dragon Newt] Summoning his internal strength, he yed tug-o-war with the beastpletely made of muscle as it pulled its leg back, salivating and growling at the young man¡¯s attempts to bring it to the ground. ¡°Nnngh¡­!¡± Emilio pulled. Just as the granga managed to gain the upperhand in the contest of strength, it was interrupted as Everett jumped in, smacking it against the head with his shield as the echo of steel crashing against its skull sounded out. ¡°Graah¨C¡± The beast was momentarily stunned. ¡°Gettem, Emilio!¡± Everett shouted. In that pivotal opening, the young mage summoned another band of water with his other hand, tossing it out and wrapping it around the snow-furred granga¡¯s throat as he restrained it. ¡°Yuna!¡± Emilio yelled. Even with it being choked out and held by the powerful, reinforced water, made to be flexible in its constriction, the granga thrashed out, preventing the rogue from getting a clear opening to finish it. ¡°¨CWind Bore!¡± From behind, Melisande set up an unforeseen attack, catching the wild beast of winter off-guard as the drilling shot of air knocked against the back of its neck, stunning itpletely for an entire second. ¡°Now!¡± Melisande said. With the path fully cleared for the hulking beast¡¯s head, the red-tailed woman dashed in with her hood swaying in the snowy winds, leaping up and stabbing down with both of her daggers. ¡°Hyah!¡± Yuna let out. Both des stabbed into either side of the granga¡¯s head, piercing through its armor of skin and into its skull, finishing it off in a merciful blow. ¡°¡­And that does it,¡± Everett breathed out, resting against his shield. After Yuna withdrew her des and jumped off of the beast, it slowly fell over,nding face-first into the tall pile of snow. ¡°These things aremon in your homnd?¡± Emilio asked, looking over at the demi-human woman as he caught his breath. Yuna wiped her daggers clean while speaking through her scarf, ¡°Asmon as a bear in your homnd, to put it.¡± ¡°Remind me to never go to Ygsdra,¡± Everett joked. As they moved on, the prospect of keeping a single base up felt improbable as the roars of more granga and other winter-thriving beasts echoed throughout the valley, prompting them to continue walking through the frozennd. After the battle against the beast and the wear of the cold, Emilio found hispanions to be tirefully marching forward, with Everett and Melisandegging behind noticeably. ¡°Alright, maybe we should re¨C¡± Emilio began to say. Just then, something plummeted into the snow in front of him, causing a rumble in the white field as waves of frost rolled out, causing the rain of snowkes to pelt against the group. ¡°Ngh!¡± Melisande raised her arms. ¡°¨CWhat?!¡± Emilio muttered. A shadow loomed over the group of recruits, releasing a bellowing growl that sounded like the churning of heavy machinery. As Emilio looked up, holding his arm in front of his face to guard against the pelting snow, he found himself staring up at a colossal beast, d in fur that matched the snow, yet was stained in blood. By itsrge paws, snout, and circr ears, he recognized what kind of predator it was, though its size was in another realm than what he was used to. A pr bear?! It¡¯s five times¨Cno, ten times as big as it should be! He thought. ¡°Ya gotta be kiddin¡¯ me right about now!¡± Everett yelled out. Though there was truly no room forining as even though none of them wanted this fight, they all knew what was required as they stood side-by-side in the raging snow as a team, facing off against the colossal bear that had dropped down from what looked to be the looming mountain within the valley. ¡°Alright, shieldy! Let¡¯s show those big ws what we¡¯re made of!¡± Everett pumped himself up, rushing forward with his shield. Leading the charge as the stalwart essence of defense within the group, the bumpkin roared out as he drove through the snow with his shield in front of him. Just as the great white beast drew its hand back, which was the size of the shielder himself, something happened. This is¡­? Emilio sensed. It was impossible to pinpoint in that moment what it was that the young Dragonheart felt; like a six sense that caused goosebumps to rise on his arms as he felt what wasing a split-second before it happened: The massive bear stopped in its tracks as lines of pitch-ck mana cut through its body in multiple sections, amputating its paw that it intended to swing beforepletely chopping it apart. ¡°What¨C?!¡± Melisande called out at the vicious, inexplicable sight. Before their eyes, the building-sized predator was cut down by an unknown force, sliced apart before falling into the snow as disembodied chunks. Emilio stood there, focused on the shadowy energy that clung to the bear¡¯s wounds, ¡°¨C¡° ¡°Who the hell are ya?!¡± Everett yelled out. It seemed the country-born shielder was the first to recognize whoever was responsible, bringing Emilio¡¯s eyes up to see a figure standing in the snow where the minced bear once stood. A young man wearing ck trousers, a ck t-shirt, and ck hair, holding a ck de with his ck nails, stood, looking towards the group with eyes that, yes, were ck. Everything about him had a feeling that could only be described as ¡°the density of darkness¡±. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be saying thanks?¡± The unknown figure said. Emilio stepped forward, using his staff as a cane to traverse the snow, ¡°You¡¯ll have all the thanks you want when we know you¡¯re not our enemy.¡± ¡°¨C¡± The ck-eyed man met with the young Dragonheart¡¯s eyes. After a moment, the pale-skinned figure withdrew his ck-handled ymore, sheathing it behind his back. ¡°You can thank me by telling me if you¡¯ve seen who I¡¯m looking for,¡± the ck-dressed recruit stepped forward. ¡°And who would that be?¡± Yuna asked, standing beside Emilio. Even though the stranger¡¯s de was sheathed, there was undoubtedly still an air of caution for the one who nonchntly put down the colossal predator. ¡°¡­A man with two ck daggers,¡± the stranger said. The simple description couldn¡¯t be any more telling for the group as their surprised expressions instantly gave away to the stranger that they indeed held some information. ¡°So?¡± The pale-skinned, lean man pressed. ¡°Yeah, we know who you¡¯re talking about¨Che¡¯s a bloodthirsty one, isn¡¯t he? Amon,¡± Emilio asked, ¡°Is he a friend of yours?¡­¡± That question was the crux of the tension as the four all set their eyes on the unnamed stranger, who, though quiet, seemed more than capable of understanding what it was that they felt. ¡°Not at all. I¡¯m trying to stop him, actually,¡± the stranger admitted, ¡°The name¡¯s Asher. I¡¯m not an enemy, you can rest easy. In fact¨CI¡¯m trying to save everybody in this valley.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Melisande raised an eyebrow. ¡°Yeah, what¡¯re ya¡¯ talkin¡¯ about?¡± Everett asked. There was still something Emilio couldn¡¯t quite pinpoint about Asher; the mana that naturally oozed from the figure was dark and had a smell like charcoal, though he put it aside. He¡¯s not cold? He¡¯s not even wearing a jacket, Emilio thought. Asher didn¡¯t seem much for conversation, and not much on time either, but exined, ¡°Amon is after something called ¡®Dread¡¯¨Cit¡¯s an entity sealed within this valley. If it¡¯s released, it¡¯ll mean death for everything within it¨Canimals, nts, and humans alike.¡± Chapter 248 Aspirations of Tomorrow Asher didn¡¯t seem much for conversation, and not much on time either, but exined, ¡°Amon is after something called ¡®Dread¡¯¨Cit¡¯s an entity sealed within this valley. If it¡¯s released, it¡¯ll mean death for everything within it¨Canimals, nts, and humans alike.¡± ¡°The ¡®Dread¡¯?¡± Yuna said quietly. ¡°Something like that is sealed here? Why would they keep that where they do the trial¡­¡± Melisande questioned. ¡°I¡¯ve been asking myself that a lot¨CI don¡¯t think it¡¯s too crazy to believe,¡± Emilio said, looking over at Melisande. Still, Everett scratched his head at this, ¡°Why should we believe you? We hardly met ya¡¯.¡± ¡°It might sound far fetched, but that¡¯s the truth¨Cfortunately, that man doesn¡¯t know how to keep his mouth shut when he thinks he¡¯s all but won. That¡¯s all I can exin right now¡­I¡¯m short on time, so¨C¡± Asher rified. ¡°We¡¯ll go with you,¡± Emilio said. ¡°Wha¨C¡± The impromptu decision caught the others off-guard, but as the chance of a death-invoking entity being released was on the horizon, it seemed like the right choice. ¡°¡­Well, if he¡¯s tellin¡¯ the truth,¡± Everett muttered. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about this, but¡­it sounds like it affects all of us,¡± Melisande said. Yuna added in, ¡°It¡¯s in our best interest to pin Amon down anyway. I¡¯d say this is a golden opportunity. I¡¯m in.¡± ¡°I knew he was up to something bigger¡­He was a wild card for sure, but¡­It¡¯s as Yuna said: this was already in our cards to confront Amon, one way or another. This is our opportunity to meet him on our terms,¡± Emilio exined. ¡°Yeah¡­I think I¡¯ll sleep a whole lot easier knowin¡¯ that sicko is taken care of,¡± Everett said. Yuna nudged her elbow against the armored man, looking up at him, ¡°Are you saying you¡¯re fine with him being put down for good?¡± For a moment, the shielder didn¡¯t know how to answer before he breathed out, ¡°I may be a softie at times, but¡­if it¡¯s the lives of my friends or a cold-blooded killer, I can make the choice¡­It ain¡¯t a pretty choice, but I¡¯ll manage.¡± It seemed to be the unanimous decision after some thinking, given an opportunity to perhaps finally lock down the elusive killer once and for all. Standing in the raging snow, they looked upon the back of the mysterious, ymore-wielding recruit who slowly turned around. Asher looked at Emilio, ¡°¡­Are you strong?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d like to think so,¡± Emilio nodded.¡± ¡°Alright. You cane along, but you need to keep up,¡± Asher told them all. Though that seemed to be expected, those words put the others to the test as the ck-dressed man took off in a sprint. ¡°Woah¨C! Wait up!¡± Everett stumbled forward, following behind. Yuna clearly had no trouble keeping up, using the branches to jump from ce-to-ce swiftly, and neither did the young Dragonheart as he kept himself bolstered by magical reinforcement. Though as he looked back, it wasn¡¯t exactly the same for Melisande and Everett, though he understood why. ¡­I never thought I¡¯d see the day where I wasn¡¯t the one with physical disadvantages. Look at me now, Ethan Bellrose, he thought. To give some help, Emilio brought Sylph to his hand whispering to the lesser spirit, ¡°Give them some help, okay?¡± Of course, the orb of verdant wind blinked willingly before heading back to the twogging behind, giving them a small boost of wind that aided their movement. It wasn¡¯t as though Melisande was slow, but through the sheer cold, her newbie-level reinforcement wasn¡¯t nearly enough to keep up without Sylph¡¯s assistance. For Everett, though he possessed a body like an ox, that was just the issue; his endurance wasn¡¯t all too spectacr in the realm of cardio. ¡°One, two! One, two!¡± Everett repeated. ¡°Nn-!¡± Melisande stayed focused. It wasn¡¯t an easy task for any normal person; Asher moved with relentless swiftness, clearly amplified by his own reinforcement as he led them through the forest of frost. ¡°¨CHow do you know where you¡¯re going? I mean, you were asking us for directions, right?¡± Emilio asked, keeping up. Asher seemed somewhat surprised that the younger figure could match his movement, looking over before setting his gaze forward again, ¡°I know where the ¡®Dread¡¯ is being kept¨Cso I know where Amon is heading.¡± ¡°You would¡¯ve preferred to stop him before getting close to its location, I¡¯m assuming.¡± Adding in from above, the red-tailed cat woman spoke while hopping from tree-to-tree directly above both of the mens¡¯ heads. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Asher said, ¡°This isn¡¯t how I wanted to do it, but it¡¯s the only way now. At least, I have assistance.¡± Pushing forward to join in the conversation, the blonde-haired bumpking let out a warcry as he managed to somewhat catch up,gging behind a good few meters, stomping through the thick snow. ¡°You fought with Amon, right?¡± Everett asked, doing his best to keep up, though he spoke through heavy breaths, ¡°You must be pretty strong, then! He gave us all trouble and well¨Cthere¡¯s four of us!¡± ¡°I managed. I failed to bring him down though,¡± Asher calmly responded. Emilio was curious about those words, seeing the small tinge of regret in those onyx eyes as he knew the same feeling, though there was a sense of redemption now in their pursuit of Amon. ¡°We¡¯ll get him,¡± Emilio assured his newfound ally. ¡°Yeah,¡± Asher nodded, looking at him for a moment. Fortunately, it seemed being forced to move at a fast pace got the bodies warm of those struggling in the cold, though Smander did its part to help out Everett and Melisande, who certainly found their own personal banes in the heavy snow. ¡­I can¡¯t me them. The only reason I¡¯m managing as well as I am is my Dragonheart System. Without it, a skinny kid like me would be down for the count! Emilio thought. It was almost herculean that Everett was managing to keep up at all, considering his bulky build and even bulkier armor, paired with the enormous shield he kept strapped to his back. Emilio found himself impressed with just how much natural strength the messy-haired bumpking really had. Chapter 249 Devilheart Still, he found himself more curious about the figure he was running beside as he looked over at Asher, ¡°You¡¯re a recruit, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. I thought that was obvious,¡± Asher replied, hopping over a jutted-out root in the snow. It was a bit frustrating trying to build rapport with the stranger as he seemed even more locked off than the dagger-wielding demi-human, though the perplexing sense Emilio had about Asher pushed him to continue talking. ¡°What¡¯s yourst name?¡± Emilio asked. ¡°You¡¯re asking me that and you haven¡¯t even given your own name yet?¡± Asher nced at him. ¡°Ack¨C¡± Though Asher¡¯s way with words wasn¡¯t subtle to say the least, Emilio did find himself feeling mannerless when realizing he did in fact neglect to give so much as his own name. ¡°Emilio Dragonheart,¡± he introduced himself while keeping pace. ¡°¨C¡± Asher stared at him intently for a moment. ¡°What¡­?¡± Emilio asked, noticing the young man¡¯s stare. It seemed they were the only ones capable of holding a conversation amidst their race across the snowy forest, going by the heavy breaths of Everette behind and Melisande¡¯s periodic grunts as she pushed herself to keep up. Asher looked forward again, ¡°Asher Devilheart. That¡¯s my full name.¡± ¡°Devilheart?¡­¡± Emilio repeated. The first thought that came to the amethyst-eyed young man¡¯s mind was just how ridiculous, but also immensely cool such a surname was, though past that, he found himself stuck on something else. Our surnames¡­aren¡¯t they really simr? What¡¯s with that? He wondered. ¡°Hey¡­I¡¯ve got another question, but it might sound a little crazy so don¡¯t judge me, alright?¡± Emilio asked. Even while the sets of footsteps of the group raced across the snow and frosty breaths emitted past the trees, Emilio found himself dazed in a quiet moment,ing to a startling realization as he pieced it together in his mind. ¡°I can¡¯t promise anything,¡± Asher responded. ¡°Right, well¡­here goes nothing,¡± Emilio gulped, preparing to pose the question before pushing the words past his lips in words privy only to the Devilheart, ¡°Are you from Earth? Like me?¡± Asher looked at him for a moment before slowly nodding, ¡°Yeah. I am.¡± The confirmation was surreal to him as Emilio stared at Asher for a moment, feeling a lightness throughout his body, not knowing how to process what he just heard. Another person like me¡­? After fifteen years¨CI finally met another person from Earth? He thought. Though there were endless questions that he felt brewing inside of his mind, wanting to spill them all out, there was no time as Asher came to a sudden stop in front of him as they arrived at the end of the wall of frosted trees. ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Asher said. ¡°¨CThis is¡­?¡± Emilio stopped, looking forward. Beyond his gaze was an ominous fortress tucked away in the bowels of the mystical valley; the spot they stood was the top of a steep incline, leading down to the ck-stone structure in the center that was obscured by trees that curved around to hide its existence. Yuna, Melisande, and Everett arrived moments after them, looking down at the mysterious structure that was oozing with a malignant aura, surrounded by the bones of beasts and men alike which were partially buried in the gloomy soil. ¡°This is where the ¡®Dread¡¯ is sealed,¡± Asher rified. It wasn¡¯t a weing ce in the slightest; a spiral of somber clouds and obsidian dust swirled like a natural veil around the vicinity, encircling the chained-down fortress. Only a single trail led down to it, littered with rusted swords and spears plucked into the soil, to which Asher began descending. ¡°What¡¯s it anyway? The ¡®Dread¡¯?¡± Melisande asked, ncing around. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve been wonderin¡¯ the same,¡± Everett chipped in. While Asher seemed to prefer allotting his focus to staying alert on the prowling enemy, it was clear it was best not to leave them in the dark, ¡°It¡¯s a foul thing¡­originating from Ennage.¡± ¡°That¡¯s thend of demons, right?¡± Yuna asked, keeping towards the back as she stayed ready for an encounter. ¡°You¡¯re correct. The ¡®Dread¡¯ is a creature older than any civilization in thatnd. A primordial force of violence that was born from thebined malice and death of Ennage¡¯s brutal wars,¡± Asher exined. These words sounded simr to another concept that the young Dragonheart was freshly made aware of, ncing over at the girl with luscious, silver hair who seemed to have the same idea as him. ¡°This ¡®Dread¡¯ sounds like a lich,¡± Emilio said. ¡°I¡¯m familiar with liches, and I understand the connection¨Cbut this is something entirely different,¡± Asher nced back at him, ¡°The ¡®Dread¡¯ is a unique existence. It¡¯s a one-of-a-kind monster that should remain sealed. It should never see the light of day.¡± ¡°¡­If it¡¯s that bad, then what does Amon want with it? Why free it?¡± Melisande asked. ¡°Yeah, sounds like a real stupid move, if ya ask me,¡± Everett carefully stepped down the steep hill of gloomy soil. It was a surprisingly long path down to the sealed structure of ckened stone, though it was a destination that none felt impatient to arrive to, though each step Emilio took, he could feel the soil beneath, damp with an evil aura. Not only was it flooded with a dark air, but the others found themselves enduring a rancid stench that swayed through the vicinity, originating from the decrepit skeletons left in the dirt. ¡°I doubt there¡¯s any logic we can follow¡­That guy is hardly human,¡± Emilio noted. ¡°You¡¯re right¨Cit¡¯s not logical at all,¡± Asher confirmed, ¡°What Amon seeks is simply chaos. He wants to destroy as much as he can. At least, that¡¯s what he told me. From what I gathered¡­he¡¯s likely part of somethingrger.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± Emilio asked. Asher shrugged, ¡°Don¡¯t know. All I know is if he removes the seal on the ¡®Dread¡¯, we¡¯re goners. Not just us, either. It won¡¯t be able to be stopped easily¨Cit¡¯ll get far, carving its way through viges and cities before finally being sealed again¡­if it can be.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve been wonderin¡¯¡­¡± Everett chimed in. As the blonde-haired shielder pushed his way into the conversation, walking a bit closer as they were soon to reach the entrance of the sealed structure, Asher looked back to listen. ¡°You know a lot about this ¡®Dread¡¯ thing, howe?¡± Everett asked. ¡°Oh, that? I¡¯m a demon,¡± Asher casually answered. ¡°Ah,¡± Everett epted the answer. ¡°Oh,¡± Melisande looked somewhat surprised. Emilio chuckled, ¡°¡­I couldn¡¯t tell.¡± ¡°I knew. Demons have a unique scent about them¨Clike ripe cherries,¡± Yuna said, almost in a gloating fashion. The day was never thought to be seen for Emilio where the existence of a demon would be a normal urrence, though it was mostly due to his own preconceived notions on what constituted a ¡®demon¡¯¨Cwhich waspletely different within the world of Arcadius. Besides¡­Asher isn¡¯t exactly a ¡®demon¡¯¡­I mean, he¡¯s originally a human from Earth, like me, Emilio thought. ¡°It¡¯s because of my demon blood that I have a sort of loose connection with the ¡®Dread¡¯¡­I can sense it throughout the entire perimeter of the valley,¡± Asher exined. ¡°What¡¯s it feel like?¡± Melisande curiously asked with her hands behind her back. ¡°¡­If I had to exin, it¡¯s like a cold, bitter wind, brushing against my skin like sandpaper when I try to sense it. It¡¯s evil beyond anything else I¡¯ve ever felt¨Ca force of sadism and destruction,¡± Asher answered, looking at his own hand. As those ominous words left his lips, leaving a horrifying impression of whatever was kept bound within the walls of the abandoned fortress, the group stopped as they reached the front entrance to the unweing destination. The doorway waspletely bound in chains, wrapped in pieces of fabric that were inscribed with runes, keeping sealing spells activated at all times. Onceing closer, Emilio looked at the chains, which were covered in ck mold, subtly rumbling from whatever forceid inside. ¡­I can feel it, Emilio thought, something terrible is in there. This feeling¡­it reminds me of the Nightmare. Looking over with that thought in mind, he saw Melisande shivering as her fingers trembled, though she tried to hand it. He stood beside her, offering her his hand for support as she looked at him in surprise, hesitant to ept it for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m a bit scared myself, you know? So, if you don¡¯t mind¡­¡± Emilio told her with a small smile. It was a white lie, though he knew the prideful girl would be quicker to help him than to ept help herself as Melisande nodded, epting his hand. At least, the young Dragonheart thought he was telling a simple lie, but he found the girl¡¯s hand providing a level offort he didn¡¯t know he needed when staring up at the ominous gate. ¡°Man, I¡¯ve got goosebumps just lookin¡¯ at this door¡­¡± Everett held an anxious smile, looking up. Emilio looked up, ¡°¡­I was thinking, why is this thing in Vasmoria anyway? It originates from Ennage, right? Shouldn¡¯t it be there?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not as though Ennage forces were unable to contain it. Actually, it was the Shadow Lords that sealed it in the first ce¨Cbut they had to make a deal with the Guild Foundation to keep it in this valley,¡± Asher exined, ¡°¡­It feeds off of malice, and even more so, it¡¯s empowered further by it in Ennage; its homnd.¡± ¡°I see¡­this sounds like trouble,¡± Emilio said. Chapter 250 Wielder of Blood-Stained Blades There were a few silent minutes spent standing before the front gates, though there was no reason to go inside, at least not yet, ording to what Asher told them. After some inspection, Asher and Emilio both found there to be no visible damage done to the integrity of the exterior chains. ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like Amon has been here yet,¡± Emilio noted. ¡°That¡¯s a relief¡­¡± Melisande breathed out. Still, the darkly-dressed man wasn¡¯t all too convinced as he stood up straight after kneeling to check the lower chains on the gate. Asher turned around to face the others, ¡°That¡¯s unlikely.¡± ¡°How do ya figure?¡± Everett raised an eyebrow. ¡°When I encountered Amon, it was in front of these gates¨Cthat¡¯s why we fought. I managed to repel him and gave him chase, but¡­I imagine he¡¯s going to show up soon,¡± Asher said. Sitting down on arge stone by the sealed entrance, the red-haired, hooded woman crossed her arms, ¡°It¡¯s thest day that we recruits are in Parmesus, so he¡¯ll be forced to make his move sooner rather thanter.¡± ¡°Urgh, I didn¡¯t think of that,¡± Everett sighed, ¡°So, we¡¯re really set up for a fight?¡± It seemed an encounter with the cold-blooded recruit hunter was an inevitability as all factors led to Amon¡¯s arrival, leaving the group of five sitting quietly in the ominous atmosphere surrounding the Dread¡¯s seal. What stood as most troublesome was the nature of the surrounding area; frosted trees stood as a veil around the steep hills leading down to the embedded structure. Though untouched by the cold itself, the gloomy area was filled with its own chilly existence. ¡°Sylph. Smander. Gnome. Undyne.¡± Holding his hand out, Emilio gathered the four lesser elemental spirits to his palm, lifting his arm to send them to each corner of the area to keep watch. Even with their own five eyes observing the quiet area, nothing was ¡®too careful¡¯ when it came to life-or-death, and even further so when considering the malicious n of Amon. ¡°That should be good enough,¡± Emilio brushed his hands off, watching the spirits scatter. ¡°Handy,¡± Asher remarked, watching as well. ¡°You can¡¯t use magic?¡± Emilio asked. The demonkin shook his head, standing beside the young Dragonheart in front of the gate while the others stood ready, ¡°Magic is different in Ennage. Besides, with my System, magic isn¡¯t necessary.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got one of those, too? Can I see it?¡± Emilio asked curiously. ¡°It¡¯s not a toy¡­¡± Asher raised an eyebrow to him. ¡°Right, right¡­¡± Emilio chuckled. There was one thing that still stuck out to him though as he looked at Asher: the fellow reincarnator was clearly older than him¨Cin height and the mature appearance he had with a light scruff on his chin. ¡­Maybe demons just mature faster? He looks like he¡¯s maybe in his early twenties, but Reincarnation Online was brand new when I got it¡­He wouldn¡¯t have that much more time in it than me, right? Emilio thought. Before their quiet conversation could continue, a subtle sensation caused those with the sharpest senses to react¨CEmilio, Asher, and Yuna all suddenly swung their gaze around, scoping the tree line around the sealed structure. ¡°Did you feel that?¡± Yuna asked. ¡°Yeah,¡± Emilio and Asher responded in unison with a nod. Everett scratched his head, looking at the others who were alert, ¡°Feel what? I mean, it is a bit musty around here, but¡­¡± ¡°Not that. It¡¯s that bloodlust again,¡± Emilio held his staff tightly. ¡°Bloodlust? You mean¨C?¡± Melisande began to ask. Asher answered, drawing his ymore from the scabbard strapped to his back, ¡°It¡¯s Amon. He¡¯s here.¡± They each grouped up, readying themselves and covering each other¡¯s backs without a word needing to be exchanged. Asher saw this, ncing around in surprise at the natural coordination of the group. ¡°Let¡¯s settle this! I¡¯m not lettin¡¯ that creepy bastard get his way!¡± Everett said, mming the bottom of his shield against the soil. In that moment, a chill flushed through the air, spiking the senses of those standing there as in an unforeseen arrival, the ominous figure appeared between the circled-up recruits. There he was, crouched as if just havingnded in the small opening between the surprised recruits: Amon. The ck-haired man held his pitch-ck des in both hands, oozing a pure, unrestrained bloodlust from his pores. ¡°Settle this? On that, we¡¯ll agree.¡± ¡°¡ª!¡± Reacting immediately, Asher, Emilio, and Yuna lunged in for abined strike, though their des only met the soil as the figure faded as quickly as they acted. This speed¡­! He¡¯s different, Emilio thought. As he spun around after failing tond a hit on the entric killer, he faced Amon down, who stood atop the dreary hill, looking down upon the group. ¡°I should¡¯ve known the sheep would stick together¡­¡± Amon spoke, holding a faint smile. The recruit hunter was devoid of a shirt, running his fingers over his chest to reveal a peculiar magical seal that was inscribed over his heart. ¡°¡­Still, it only makes the ughter that much more fulfilling.¡± As Amon spoke, he pressed his fingertips against the humming, ck seal on his chest, revealing a ¡®lock¡¯ that he turned like a gear to activate the dormant spell etched into his body. It was as though Amon was unlocking the limiters on his own body, as he turned the moving seal on his body, the more his aura spiked. ¡°What is that!?¡± Melisande asked. ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know, but I doubt it¡¯s any good!¡± Emilio responded. Just as Emilio chose to fling high-speed fireballs in the direction of the killer whilst Asher and Yuna dashed to close in on the still target, Amon¡¯s body shifted. The air vibrated around the recruit hunter as he fully turned the magic-made seal on his chest, causing it to unravel and spread across his skin like flowing, ck tattoos. Amon¡¯s muscles bulked, then tightened,pressing and causing his veins to bulge against his paleplexion as his body moved like a blur, forcing his hair to stand up as if electrified. ¡°¡ªThis is it! I¡¯ll use it all! For my mission!¡± Amon announced. [¡°Chaos Throttle¡±] The young Dragonheart recognized the sensationing from Amon, though it was on an entirely different level than what he was used to, looking upon the cold-blooded killer whose body twitched like a blur with the slightest movements. This is¡­reinforcement!? Just what kind of spell was inscribed on his chest? It¡¯s like an adrenaline rush of mana! Emilio thought. Chapter 251 Dragonheart and Devilheart Just as Asher leapt in on Amon¡¯s right, midway through swinging his ymore which was infused with a dark force, and Yuna jumped to Amon¡¯s left with her daggers primed on his neck¡ªAmon vanished. ¡°¡ª!¡± With speed that was imperceptible in the moment, Amon reappeared, mming both his fists into the two attackers¡¯ guts. It was almost a surreal sight; Amon¡¯s existence was like a blur, his entire body vibrating at a high frequency as he repelled Asher and Yuna. ¡°I¡¯ve got you!¡± Emilio yelled, waving his staff. As the two were flung back, the young mage conjured walls of water to catch Asher and Yuna, cushioning them and allowing them to recover quickly. ¡°Thanks,¡± Asher said, jumping up without missing a beat. ¡°Yeah, thanks!¡± Yuna dashed back in. This time, Everett joined the two in their direct assault on Amon, though it was difficult to see how they¡¯d hold up against the recruit killer as Amon blurred through the battlefield, attacking the three separately seemingly within the same instance. ¡°Ghh¡ª! Damn this speed!¡± Everett kept his shield up. It was difficult to keep up at all with how Amon moved; there was no linear movement, only distorted vanishing and reappearing before attacking. ¡°Wind Bore!¡± Melisande tossed a bullet of wind forth in an attempt to catch Amon, though the vibrating figure vanished before it could touch his skin. ¡°Dammit¡­!¡± Melisande let out in frustration. ¡°Stay focused! He¡¯s hard to hit, but it¡¯s not impossible! Just pressure him!¡± Emilio guided her. ¡°Right¡­!¡± Melisande nodded, While the three close-ranged fighters had to y on the defensive, blocking the instantaneous attacks from Amon, Emilio supported them with a constant flow of spells to press the recruit killer: manipting the soil, sprouting thrashing vines and tossing arrows of water to seek Amon. Asher huffed, flipping back as he sprouted horns from his head and a thin, ck tail from his back. [Devilheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 2/10 | Nether Son] Witnessing the shift in appearance and mana pressure, Emilio found himself curious by the fellow reincarnator¡¯s transformation as Asher managed to dash forward and catch Amon amidst his blurred movement. ¡°Oh? You¡¯re finally getting serious,¡± Amon smiled. ¡°I¡¯m not even sweating yet,¡± Asher responded. Even the amplification of the Devilheart hadn¡¯t closed the gap quite yet as Amon vanished again from in front of Asher¡¯s ymore, simultaneously evading an attempted strike from behind made by the silent-stepping rogue. ¡°Tch!¡± Yuna clicked her tongue. Rushing in, Everett reared his shield back, waving it in the general direction where Amon shed around in as he attempted to bash the elusive figure. VRRRRR The sh of the killer¡¯s daggers violently vibrated the air, producing an impact that throttled the shielder with unexpected force. Everett nted himself down after stumbling briefly, enduring the humming shes as each impact of Amon¡¯s des felt like they were hitting dozens of times in a single sh. While Amon pressured Everett, Emilio circled around, summoning vines from around the vibrating killer as he attempted to ensnare him, though each of the verdant nt lives were cut down in a blurred counter. ¡°So slow,¡± Amon taunted. While Emilio grew frustrated, he knew spells that spread across arge area would be more effective in catching the speedy enemy, though it was out of the question with the others around. I¡¯ll need to adapt! Emilio thought. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 2/10 | Dragon Son] Even without drawing his sword, the young Dragonheart rushed in while the high-frequency man shed des against Yuna and Asher, repelling them and flipping away from an attempted bash by Everett. As Emilio got close, he ducked down after feeling a chill run down his back, managing to avoid an unseen sh before countering with a st of wind emitted from the tip of his catalyst. The quick-release spell was pointed straight at Amon¡¯s gut, forcibly twisting the air and pushing against the man¡¯s abdomen with full-force. ¡°Ngh¡ª!¡± Amon grunted, still smiling. I got him! Emilio thought. The first direct blow felt like a tremendous win in itself, though victory was a far stretch away as Amon flipped around in a distorted movement, evading arge, sweeping strike of Asher¡¯s dark-infused ymore. There was no doubt in Emilio¡¯s mind that Asher had the strength to cut through Amon as the darkness he wielded had a potent sensation, though hitting the figure was an issue in itself. Amon presented acrobatic movement, matching even Yuna in her flexible movements as he jumped up in response to a strike towards his neck, wrapping his legs around the demi-human¡¯s arm before spinning around and tossing her into Everett. ¡°Woah¡ª!¡± Everett fell back as Yuna crashed into him. As the bloodthirsty man blurred across the gloomy soil, sts of wind came from Melisande, missing as the figure flipped around before being intercepted by the Devilheart. ¡°¡ªAh!¡± Amon reacted with a grin, having his ankle caught in Asher¡¯s grip. Finally getting a hold of the slippery figure, Asher summoned a burst of demonic energy before mming Amon into the ground with a vtile reaction of the dark force. ¡°Did he get him?!¡± Melisande asked. Emilio didn¡¯t answer, not wasting a moment to follow up with a stream of fire sent in the direction of the ck smoke to follow up, though it was quickly revealed Amon wasn¡¯t down so easily as he blitzed by, sending an unseen kick against Asher¡¯s guard. ¡°Let¡¯s turn up the heat! Get ready for your living funeral!¡± Amon shouted as his voice became amplified by the distortion in his body increasing. The reckless reinforcement kicked up further as a ck-and-red mana coiled around the figure like a veil of vibrating lightning, allowing Amon to burst forward as he arrived in front of Emilio, already halfway through a spinning kick. Emilio¡¯s reflexes brought his arm up as a defense, though as Amon¡¯s leg kicked forward with speed that caused the air to howl, the impact shattered the young man¡¯s arm with a violent crack, snapping it and kicking into Emilio¡¯s chest nheless. ¡°Ghh¡ª!¡± Emilio spit out blood. The boot of the distorted killer caved the young Dragonheart¡¯s chest in, shattering his rib cage and flinging him back. ¡°Emilio!¡± Melisande screamed out. Before the young mage could crash against a tree harshly, Everett intercepted and caught him, ¡°¡ªI¡¯ve gotcha, bud!¡± Coughing out, Emilio groaned as his arm and chest mended themselves, allowing him to jump back to his feet as he wiped the blood from his lips. ¡°Be careful! He¡¯s even faster now!¡± Emilio warned the others. A warning seemed unnecessary once seeing a flicker of what could only be assumed to be Amon zooming past Yuna, tossing her back and leaving a couple shes on her thigh and shoulder. ¡°Ngh¡­!¡± Yuna winced. Emilio was quick to summon a wall of mud between Amon and Yuna, blocking the killer from following up as Asher closed in on him from behind. The lengthy ymore failed to meet the pale figure¡¯s midsection as Amom blurred away, confronting Emilio directly as he etched a harsh sh through the young Dragonheart¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Agh¡ª¡± Emilio winced from the unexpected sh. ¡°Where¡¯s that power of yours fromst time?! That was amazing! You won¡¯t stand a chance without it!¡± Amon taunted. There was no chance for Emilio to get his sword out and begin defending himself, resulting in him failing to intercept the daggers with his broadsword before Amom shed his body multiple times. Blood fell onto the soil as Emilio stumbled back, catching himself as he felt a swirl of heat inside of him, beginning to push his Dragonheart to the next stage before being interrupted by another push by Amon. I can¡¯t ess the third stage yet¡­! He¡¯s too aggressive! Emilio thought. Aiding him, Yuna slid in and kicked at Amon¡¯s ankles, causing the man to stumble before he blurred away as Everett tried tackling him and Melisande attempted ensnaring him with wind. ¡°Gah! He¡¯s so slippery!¡± Everett huffed, stomping down. ¡°Focus!¡± Emilio yelled. There was no downtime as Amon bolted through the battlefield, rolling down the hill swiftly and lunging towards them. ¡°Emilio!¡± Asher yelled out. As the two exchanged a look, with just that stare, Emilio seemed to understand what Asher was suggesting as they shared a nod. ¡­I get it. I need to go higher¨Cbut there¡¯s no time to do it! I was wrong to call this an ¡®adrenaline rush¡¯¨Cwhat Amon is doing is more like supercharging his entire mana pool¨Csomething like this would be suicide for a normal person! Emilio thought. Amidst the high-octanebat in which Amon continued outpacing everybody, all at once, the speedy figure kicked Everett back before arriving in front of Melisande. ¡°Gah-!¡± Melisande flinched. A brutal knee came, sinking into the gut of the silver-haired girl before she was flung back intensely. ¡°Melisande¨C!!!¡± Emilio yelled. Though she managed to be caught by Yuna, who wasn¡¯t in good shape herself, a burning rage ignited in the veins of the young Dragonheart. There was no buildup needed; the scales sprouted over his skin into a full-set of draconic armor as azure mes roared around him. No greater ignition supplemented the Dragonheart force than rage itself, burning up from a steady temperature to unstable degrees in an instant. [Current stage: 3/10 | Dragon Warrior] At the same time, Asher allowed demonic, ck skin that armored him with living gauntlets and boots, growing his horns further and thickening his tail as the pitch-ck aura amplified with a shriek from Hell. [Current stage: 3/10 | Hell Walker] On both sides of the full-throttle recruit hunter, the Dragonheart and the Devilheart surrounded Amon, who stood there with a smile both nervous and wee to the challenge. ¡°Well, well¡­looks like things are finally getting interesting,¡± Amon said. Chapter 252 Chaos Throttle There were no words needed by the others for them to figure out it was best to stay put for the time being, knowing there would only be a risk of crossfire if they interfered with the transformed states of the two in theirbat against Amon. ¡°¡­It¡¯s always scary seein¡¯ that form, but damn does it feel good knowin¡¯ that¡¯s on our team!¡± Everett said with a smirk, standing aside. Yuna held Melisande close, staying by the treeline as the silver-haired girl groaned, feeling her abdomen bruising from the knee received. ¡°You¡¯re lucky you managed to activate some level of reinforcement before that attacknded, it seems,¡± Yuna said, ¡°Good job.¡± ¡°Nngh¡­Emilio,¡± Melisande sat up a bit, watching. Both the Dragonheart and the Devilheart slowly circled around Amon, gauging their opponent as the recruit killer did the same, standing still with his unnaturally blurry body. The moment a twig fell from a tree, both the Devilheart and Dragonheart vanished, moving with speed imperceivable to the eyes of those watching the confrontation. Amon disappeared at the very same moment. ¡°So fast¨C!¡± Everett gasped. Within a fraction of a second, they reappeared, with both Asher and Emilio swinging their des from either side of Amon, though blocked as the full-throttled killer blocked both with his dual des. ¡°Nnngh¨C!¡± Amon smiled, though clearly struggling to repel their monstrous strength. A painful roar was unleashed from the bowels of the recruit killer as his veins pressed against his skin and his muscles bulked for just a moment, managing to knock the two back before moving as a vanishing blur once again. ¡­He¡¯s strong, but I know he¡¯s killing himself to use this kind of power! We might just have to oust him, Asher! You know that though, don¡¯t you?! Emilio thought. Though it was easier said than done to simply ¡®oust¡¯ his opponent as [Chaos Throttle], pushed to even greater heights, allowed Amon to pressure him with dozens of shes that urred in a second, forcing the Dragonheart to sh des against him. I¡¯m stronger now¨C! You won¡¯t overwhelm me! Emilio thought. As always, even though he gained control of the third stage, the rage that burned inside of him when encased in the draconic scales that acted as his armor fueled him to stomp forward, swinging his sword in retaliation with an azure glow extending from it. ¡°¨CNgh!¡± Amon¡¯s eyes widened. Vanishing from the path of the condensed evisceration of mes, Amon flipped back, though his shoulder was charred. ¡°Don¡¯t forget about me.¡± Taking Amon¡¯s back to catch the man off-guard, Asher appeared, using his controlled usage of his third stage as his pitch-ck eyes honed in on the recruit hunter. With his back to Asher, Amon found himself in apromised position in that split-second, not possessing the sufficient strength to block the iing strike and not enough time to swing around to properly position himself. However, the nimble recruit hunter was far from out of options. Just as Asher infused the edge of his ymore with demonic energy, about to swing it, he found himself witnessing a perplexing response by Amon, who dropped down onto his hands, pping the soil before kicking up like a mule. ¡°¨C!¡± Asher blocked the kick with his de, though as he went for another sh, the recruit hunter spun around while on his hands, using a spinning kick to force the Devilheart back before the ymore could reach first. ¡°Tch,¡± Asher clicked his tongue. There was a small shock left from the impact, like a secondary, smaller blow that Asher felt as he nced at his left bicep that had been kicked, seeing small strands of ck-and-red electricity. That aura of his is annoying. I¡¯d prefer to end this with arge attack, but I¡¯d end up hitting the others too, most likely, Asher thought. As Amon bolted past Asher with an air inteced with his ominous electricity, he went for a pincer sh with both of his daggers, attempting to behead the Devilheart. Emilio realized this just as it happened, dashing forward, ¡°¨CWatch out!¡± Though just as Amon went for the attack, his hands were stopped, bringing the vibrating figure to a pause as he looked down at his wrists. ¡°What¡­?¡± Amon muttered. Wrapped tightly around the man¡¯s wrists was the lengthy, demonic tail sprouting from Asher¡¯s back, squeezing even more as the Devilheart nced back with his pitch-ck sclera. ¡°You should be more cautious,¡± Asher said. Before Amon could do anything, the tail whipped up, mming the man down against the ground with enough force to cause the soil to break up. ¡°Emilio!¡± Asher yelled. ¡°I know¨C!¡± Emilio responded. Leaping in, the Dragonheart flipped his precious broadsword around, facing the tip downward as he plunged down, aiming it towards theid-out figure¡¯s body. ¡°Nngh-! I¡¯m not done¡­yet¨C!¡± Amon screamed out. The recruit killer¡¯s body convulsed momentarily as his muscles coiled and tightened, causing the vibrating running over his skin to increase further as he vanished with even further swiftness. What¨C?! Even more?! Emilio thought. As Emilionded, plunging his sword only into dirt as he missed his target, he swept his gaze around, as the others who were staying free from the zone ofbat did too. Where is he¨C?! Emilio questioned. Yuna pointed with a desperate yell, ¡°You two! He¡¯s heading for the seal!¡± Both Asher and Emilio spun around, initially believing that the type of bloodlusted fighter like Amon would surely be focused on them, though they saw it¨Cthe blurred figure dashed down the ckened soil, heading straight for the chained gates. ¡°No you don¡¯t!¡± Asher yelled. A propulsion of demonic energy allowed the Devilheart to burst over with a small explosion at his heels, closing the gap as he summoned a vtile force of darkness around his de, mming it down towards Amon. Before it could connect, the recruit killer managed to block the explosive swing with both of his ck-steel daggers, though the force rippled across his body as crimson fluid leaked from his nose and ears. ¡°¨CI¡¯d like to y, but I¡¯m out of time! I have a mission¡­!¡± Amon yelled as blood lined his lips. Emilio noticed the state of Amon¡¯s body, which was leaking blood so profusely that it began rushing out with a darkplexion. He¡¯s sumbing to the effects of that ability¡­! Emilio thought. Chapter 253 Resolve of An Adventurer The Dragonheart turned back to the others, who were still on the sidelines to avoid the catastrophic conflict, ¡°¡­He¡¯s weakened! Now¡¯s our chance!¡± This revtion brought Everett and Yuna forward without hesitation, and even Melisande joined in despite her bruised abdomen, closing in on Amon who was being held at bay by Asher¡¯s dark ymore. As the group closed in on all angles, leaving the recruit killer no chance for escape or a counterattack, the blood-spilling, sanity-dry man had his smile finally fade inpletion as the air around him changed. ¡­I have a mission of my own. A mission more important than my life. A purpose I must fulfill¡­so in that case, I¡¯ll use it all, Amon thought. Together, Everett, Emilio, Yuna, and Melisande attacked from all sides of Amon, with Asher pressing with more strength to keep Amon locked in their sh. Though as they neared him, time seemed to crawl to a still solely for the vibrating figure as he slowly exhaled. ¡°Absolute release,¡± Amon whispered. The ck tattoos stretching across the recruit hunter¡¯s body expanded, covering his entire body, leaving only the white of his eyes and teeth as he covered himself in darkness. [Chaos Throttle: Requiem Overdrive] In that moment, with des, a shield, and wind magic mere inches from his skin, Amon¡¯s eyes opened before¨Che vanished. ¡°¨C!¡± Each member of the group missed their attacks, causing Yuna and Emilio to bump shoulder-to-shoulder, and the silver haired girl¡¯s wind st to knock against Everett, nearly knocking the blonde-haired shielder to the side. ¡°Sorry!¡± Melisande called out. Everett caught himself, ¡°¨CIt¡¯s fine! No worries!¡± ¡°We missed¡­?¡± Emilio questioned. ¡°How? I felt it¨Cwe were right there,¡± Yuna said. Asher was just as shocked, feeling his de locked against Amon¡¯s just the moment prior, ¡°¡­What did he do?¡± Suddenly, Emilio felt his instincts go haywire, noticing Yuna¡¯s red tail standing up before in the next moment¨C ¡°Pyuh!¡± The Dragonheart spit out. It wasn¡¯t just him, either; Asher and Yuna, the closest to him, had the breath knocked out of them as they each received a blow to the gut. I got hit¡­? I couldn¡¯t see anything¡­He thought. As he felt his feet momentarily leave the ground from the force of the blow, which managed to prate even his sturdy armor of azure scales, he saw it for just a split-second, so faint that it almost seemed like an illusion: a subtle blur. It was roughly the shape of Amon; a high-frequency blur that moved so fast that it didn¡¯t settle for even a second. Asher was the first to recover from the blow, enduring it without missing a beat, ¡°Did you see that? It was him.¡± ¡°I saw¡­!¡± Emilio responded, momentarily recalling the scales that acted as a helmet. ¡°I didn¡¯t see it, but I felt him¡­if he just attacked us then,¡± Yuna quickly turned around, ¡°You two! Guard!¡± Everett and Melisande didn¡¯t know what to expect from that callout, seeing nothing before the shielder finally got the jist of it, dashing over as he stood in front of the silver-haired rookie, nting his shield down before¨C WHAM. A secondter, and the blow would¡¯ve hit Melisande, though it knocked heavily against Everett¡¯s shield. ¡°Damn! It feels like a behemoth rammed against it!¡± Everett grunted. Again, Emilio witnessed it that time, having a clearer view of Amon just for a moment when he had attacked: faint lines of the blurred being. The sort of speed the Dragonheart witnessed left even his heightened reflexes working in overdrive just to attempt to follow where the blurred figure went, having to constantly spin around along with the others as they stood back-to-back, watching all angles. ¡°How can anybody even be this fast¡­?! I mean,e on¨C!¡± Everettined. ¡°Shut up and stay focused!¡± Yuna yelled. ¡°I am!¡± Everett huffed. Paranoia took over for some when standing around in wait, only able to somewhat sense and perhaps, if lucky, see remnants of the blurred killer zoom by. SQUELCH. Before even being able to react to what hade, Emilio looked down as heat condensed on his abdomen, finding the scales covering his stomach cut through with his belly being sliced open. ¡°Emilio¡­!¡± Melisande screamed. ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­!¡± Emilio assured the girl. The ck strands of his Undying blood stitched him up, but his worries stood with what this speed meant for the others around him. After all, he could recover from heinous wounds, but the same could not be said for the others. With that in mind, he took things into his own hands, choosing to use his naturally healing body to put himself forward. ¡°Emilio! What¡¯re you doing?!¡± Asher asked. ¡°I¡¯ll pin him down!¡± ¡°But you¡¯ll be killed in a second if you leave the circle!¡± Everett yelled. The Dragonheart looked back, allowing the scale helm to cover his head once more, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I don¡¯t die easily.¡± It was a simple n that would be suicide for anybody else, and perhaps it still was: Emilio stood alone in the clearing, hearing faint, tauntingughs and gusts of wind as the blurred killer encircled him. ¡°I thought you were serious? Stop ying around,¡± Emilio said. The challenge he led with his words was immediately met as a massive sh ripped through his shoulder, cutting deep into it as a stripe of crimson painted the soil. ¡°Emilio¡­!¡± Melisande called out again. ¡°Dammit! He¡¯s being reckless!¡± Everett gritted his teeth, feeling his natural instincts as a protector being challenged. Yuna and Asher knew well that this n was as good as it got for them though, having the same pragmatic mind to look past the visceral pain and injuries being inflicted on theirrade. ¡°Calm down, he¡¯s got this,¡± Asher said, watching with his ymore readied in his hand. ¡°You barely know ¡®im! How can you say that?!¡± Everett contested. Asher kept his eyes forward, ¡°I know a lot more than you might think.¡± ¨C Once Emilio felt the presence of the unseen figure encircling him, finding another evisceration cutting through his scales, shattering the protectiveyer on his side as his blood sprayed into the wind, he pped his hands together. Got you! Emilio thought. From around him, he summoned walls of stone that swiftly sprouted from the soil, trapping himself and Amon in the close-quarters vicinity. ¡°So that was his n¡­!¡± Everett said. Though it wasn¡¯t as smooth as it seemed as once Amon waspletely sealed in the stone room with Emilio, a set of blitzing shes cut through the Dragonheart. ¡°Grgh!¡± It seemed as though trapping the blurred killer in close-quarters was a double-edged sword as the rate at which attacks came increased. ¡°You think you trapped me? All you did is expedite your death! I¡¯ll rip you apart and then do the same to your friends!¡± Amon¡¯s voice was distortedpletely by this point, warped by the speed he moved and the electricity emitting from his overdriven mana. As Emilio swung his sword to try and catch the blur, he was dodged and instead left with multiple shes cutting through his chest. ¡°Ghh¡ª!¡± Blood seeped from between the scales of his living armor, healing at a slower pace as he was repeatedly eviscerated by the enemy. Through the adrenaline pumping through his body, the pain was dulled, reced by a heat resembling molten as his blood poured with an immense pressure with fingers being lobbed off and deep cuts severing his flesh from his body. ¡°Nnnrgh¡­!¡± He gritted his teeth. It felt impossible toprehend the speed that simply surpassed reason. Even then, Emilio knew why it felt unfair: it inherently was. He could feel it through each attack: the killing intent and desperation from the opponent unseen as shes buried the shes of steel past his neck, even attempting to remove his head. ¡­He¡¯s exchanged his life for this power. Of course¡­resolve like that is something else entirely. Even if I think I¡¯m trying, what he¡¯s doing is inherently different from ¡®fighting for your life¡¯¨Che¡¯s fighting with his life. He¡¯s promised it¨Cthere¡¯s no going back now, Emilio thought. With that thought, he found himself stumbling back, pressed against the back of the stone room as his body was covered in gashes, unable to heal faster than they were being created as the wind continuously howled by his ears. Still¡­! I have my own resolve to win, a resolve that goes past my own life, too! Emilio though, I¡¯m tired of it. I¡¯m sick and tired of losing people¨Cothers getting hurt because I was too weak! Just as the blur came forward again, the bleeding Dragonhearted swept his sword forward, summoning not a strike of his steel but manifesting a magical force beyond it. From all around him, filling the small space within the walls of stone, bands of water summoned, whipping around in over a dozen forms. Though there was no way for him to discern where exactly Amon stood, as the man stood as just a blur, the number of water-made ropes made it impossible to miss in the small space. As they made contact, the binding lines of water wrapped around and bound their target, revealing the recruit killer once more as he was held to a stop. ¡°¡­Grh¡­¡± Amon gritted his teeth, resisting. By this point, the recruit killer was clearly on borrowed time as his ckened skin was stained in his own blood, spilling from his eyes as well, along with most of his pores. The life of an adventurer is one with triumph and loss. It¡¯s a messy path of gray that is filled with horror and mystery; a world ahead that I can¡¯t even hope to fathom¡­Yet I want to see it all. To do that, I have to win¨Cright here, right now, he thought. Chapter 254 A Glitch In The System "...Do you want to know why I chose this n?" Emilio asked, holding onto the origin of the water bindings. Amon continued to pull at them, attempting to escape by increasing the vibrational force on his arms, though as the water broke its form, it only reformed just as quickly. "Don''t bother. As it stands, you can''t break from that with physical might alone," Emilio told him. "What is it?..." Amon huffed as blood leaked from his mouth, huffing, "Is it because this is the only way you could catch me?..." "No. To tell you the truth, there are more ways than I could count that I could''ve defeated you out there," Emilio told him. "...Lie¡­" Amon hissed, still resisting. "It''s not," the young Dragonheart assured him, relinquishing the scales on his head as he met eye-to-eye with the man, "Every method would''ve either involved hurting my friends in the crossfire, or letting them see just how much of a monster I can be. Truth be told, I didn''t want to do this in front of her¡­" He stopped speaking for a moment as his amethyst eyes settled on Amon, watching the killer with a look of gloom inhabiting his irises, though this only served to ignite a rage within Amon as he thrashed around. "What''re you talking about?!...Just finish this already! I don''t want to hear it!" Amon spit out, "If I''m going to die, kill me with passion! Enjoy it! Don''t look at me with that pitiful look in your eyes, Emilio!" For some reason, Amon snapped his fingers as small flickers of darknessshed out, catching Emilio off-guard, though nothing happened. "Huh¡­?" Emilio looked. Still, it wasn''t a settled deal yet as Amon leaped forward, choosing to move towards the anchor of the water bindings as he lunged towards the Dragonheart with his mouth open. Forgoing all of the elegance in style he once had, Amon moved and fought like a feral beast, salivating as he went for Emilio''s throat. Though hindered, the speed of the recruit killer was still there, forcing Emilio to dodge with his utmost reflexes. "Don''t insult me! You hardly have the resolve to kill me, and you think you can win?! I''ve already exchanged my life, Emilio Dragonheart!" Amon screamed, dashing around the small room, jumping from wall-to-wall, "--I fear nothing but failing my own mission! My pain is nothing! My dreams are nothing! My life is nothing¨C! Can you say that you have this level of resolve?!" Little by little, the speed of the recruit killer increased again, returning to its original, unimpeded state as the water that bound his limbs began to evaporate. Emilio noticed this whilst evading the attempted use of teeth from Amon, who darted around the close-quarters room, finding steam beginning to fill the space. The water¡­I said physical might won''t break those bindings¨Cdid he figure it out? No¡­it''s just a coincidence¨Cthat vibration and speed of his, it''s raising his own temperature so high that he''s evaporating the water! Emilio realized. It wasn''t though it was a simple oversight; the heat being raised was something dangerous for Amon himself as the skin on his limbs peeled and melted, revealing the flesh on his forearms and legs, even burning his neck in the process. ¡­He really is forsaking everything¨Che''s insane, Emilio realized. Breaking free from the hold of the water chains, Amon blitzed by as a blur, regaining his des as a pair of eviscerations cut through the Dragonheart''s side. "You miscalcted," Amon spoke calmly. The brutal attack caused Emilio to falter, brought down to a knee as his armor of scales crumbled, leaving him gasping as the stone walls broke down, crumbling into pebbles. "Emilio?! He''s¡­!" Melisande shouted. "Dammit, he''s hurt!" Everett realized, rushing in. Seeing the state of theirrade, the others were on the move, but after realizing the strength wielded by Amon closer and more personal than before, Emilio turned around, screaming and reaching out¨C "Stay back-!!!" Emilio warned, holding his bleeding side. Before he could do anything, encumbered by the wound that refused to heal through his exhausted body, all he could do was watch as the maniacal man on a mission vanished as a blur, sweeping by hisrades who all looked at him with worried eyes. ¡­No, they can''t¨C! Emilio thought. It all happened too quickly. Within a split-second, blood sprayed onto the soil as the life swiftly vanished from those eyes looking towards him. Everett was the first to be cut down, having his neck slit as he used his own body as a shield in front of Yuna. Next was the cat woman herself, who just as she raised her daggers, had her heart pierced by the blurred killer''s daggers. Asher summoned a massive reservoir of darkness from within himself, seeming to begin ascending to a further stage of his Devilheart System, but before he could¨CAmon was faster. Both daggers were used to slice the throat of the Devilheart. As they all fell, taken out within fractions of a moment together, Melisande looked desperately towards Emilio, reaching out as the young Dragonheart did as well. "Emilio!" "I''m here¡­! I''ve got you! I''ve you¨C" Simply, Amon was too fast; a sweeping natural disaster that struck all hope down, invoking only despair. Before the amethyst eyes of the Dragonheart, he watched the girl he ced the trust of himself into, watching as she, too, was cut down by the killer. In that moment, his heart sank as his stomach was left in knots, seeing shes of Joel in his mind, feeling the utmost failure he had just provoked. "...No¡­!" Emilio said through a strained gargle of tears. It had all urred within a few seconds, leaving Amon returning as a bloodied, vibrating figure of death and malice. As he mmed his fist against the ground, the soil cracked and cratered, causing the surrounding area to rumble as Emilio continued repeating to himself: "No¡­no¡­no! I''ll kill you! I''ll kill you! I''ll destroy¨C!" Even the cold-hearted killer found himself shaken by the aura he sensed, looking back towards the anguished young man to find something ominous taking form. Scales stretched across Emilio''s body,yering into thick, dark-ck scales before his entire body was covered, then the process amplified¨Cincreasing in size as his hands were equipped with draconic ws. A massive tail sprouted from behind him, whipping back as it swept through trees. All of his senses went haywire as he continued muttering "Death" and "Destruction", losing himself as nothing but static met his ears with a monotonous hum. [Dragonheart System Activated?/%?] [//?Alternate Path Unlocked?!/&^] [Current Stage 7/?? | Draconis Monster] Chapter 255 Draconis Monster A distortion of the natural System was birthed from the unequivocal emotion surging through the young Dragonheart, encasing him inside a newly-formed body, enveloping him in a four-meter beast of destruction itself: a wingless dragon of ck scales and a slim form, somewhat humanoid in shape. What was born in that valley was a disaster in itself; an unnatural existence of destruction, sorrowful and anguished, whipping its ck tail around with enough force to cause the surroundingnd to tremble. This was the monstrous side of the Dragonheart; an unrestrained force of nature. ¨C "...It worked, just as nned," Amonughed before coughing out blood. Unbeknownst to the berserk Dragonheart was the reality that was veiled to him before as Amon snapped his fingers, disabling the dark magic he had employed. A false illusion of reality was set, triggered while Amon was initially restrained by the water bindings the young mage had deployed. ¨C "That''s Emilio¡­?" Everett muttered, "What the hell happened to ''im?!" "It''s safe to say he''s not exactly seeing sides at this point," Yuna added, evading a sweeping tail strike. Though as the group was forced to evade the simple crossfire of being in the vicinity of the raging Dragonheart, the silver-haired girl recognized the sensation giving off from the beast-turned figure. Emilio¡­She thought. "Something like this happened before¡­" Melisande said. "Really?!" Everett nced back. The bumpkin raised his shield as the others hid behind him, using the heavy-duty shield to defend from an explosion of azure mes that unleashed from the Dragonheart''s mouth. Melisande nodded, "It was when he lost somebody close to him¡­After that, he lost control and became something like this¨Cbut, this¡­it''s different from before. He was on our side at that time, but now¡­He''s lost it." "Seems like it¡­that freakin'' killer seems pleased though! Grrgh!" Everett gritted his teeth. Amon was across thend around the sealed fortress,ughing with his injured body as he hopped from ce-to-ce, guiding the raging Dragonheart around, getting closer to the closed-off castle. "He''s lost control of his system," Asher said. "System?...Wait, didn''t Emilio mention somethin'' like that before?" Everett asked. "It''s how he uses the power of a dragon," Yuna reminded him. "Right! So¡­he lost his handle on it, that''s what? Why now, though?" Everett asked. Asher watched the battlefield carefully, though the others noticed a growth in the darkness around the mysterious young man as he began to be armored in the shadows as they solidified around him. "Amon used a spell to trick him. If I had to guess, he likely showed Emilio a scene in which we all fell, and he lost it," Asher told them. "Why would Amon do that? This is bad for him, too!" Melisande asked. "The seal," Asher told them, "Once Amon realized he wasn''t going to be able to get through all of us, he recognized Emilio''stent power and decided to draw it out¨Cthat''s what. He''s willing to die." Everett gritted his teeth, "What a maniac¡­I hate those kinds!" Amidst the destruction beingid on the forest through the repeated breaths of azure mes from the berserk Dragonheart, Asher willingly walked into the hellish sight. "Hey! What''re you doing?! It''s suicide¡­!" Melisande yelled out. "Yeah! You''ll get yourself killed, idiot!" Everett added. Asher became enveloped in an armor of demonic hide, having a helm that resembled a pitch-ck skull with horns growing in length and a tail swaying behind him. Strands of ck electricity zapped around the newly-formed armor, hissing from the surge of summoned strength from the Devilheart. [Current Stage: 5/10 | Hell Sentinel] "I''ll stop Emilio before he destroys the seal and us," Asher said calmly. After taking a moment to control his breathing while stabilizing the form he had taken, Asher revealed a stable aura of shifting darkness that stuck around his body, humming with a reassuring strength. "He''s just like Emilio, ain''t he¡­? This guy¡­" Everett muttered in awe. It was then that Melisande, along with the others finally noticed what wasid dormant within Asher himself; a simr sensation to Emilio, but starkly different in one regard: This person¡­He''s¡­even stronger than Emilio? Melisande realized. Only minutes after the birth of the distorted Dragonheart, the hills of ck soil were burning, covered in the rain of bright-blue mes. "Yes¡­Destroy it all. I''ve fulfilled it¡­You''ll help me do that, Emilio Dragonheart¡­" Amon said. The man dropped to his knees, coughing up blood as the ck tattoos disappeared from his body, revealing his heavily bruised and bloodied body as he looked up towards the colossus Dragonheart, who dwarfed him by several meters, standing tall like a pir of destruction. "...What I showed you may have been an illusion, but I believe it is a glimpse into the future¨Conce you destroy that seal, your friends will die, you''ll die¨Cand the Children of Chaos will be victorious on this day," Amon smiled. As the exhausted figure looked up, there was no fear in his eyes as the humanoid dragon roared out with a valley-shaking force, mming its massive fist downward. "He''s¡­!" Melisande held her face. A merciless m of the Dragonheart''s scaled fist released a squelch throughout the valley, followed by a thunderous impact as Amon was squashed into paste on the soil. [Level up!] [Level Twenty-Three Achieved.] Tucked deep inside the draconic hide and living flesh of destructive impulses, Emilio remained in a dreamlike state, swallowed by thoughts of darkness, "...Destroy. Destroy. Destroy¡­" As Asher arrived behind the Dragonheart as his tail thumped against the ground, the draconic berserker recognized his presence, turning to face him as azure embers fell from his mouth. "You''ve lost control, Emilio," Asher calmly said, holding his ymore in his right hand. The Dragonheart stood many heads taller than the Devilheart, looming over him with vacant eyes forged only by the mes burning within him, breathing heavily as the ground quaked from the sh of mana signatures. A roar unleashed from the Dragonheart, ripping through the surrounding soil and rattling the mystical chains that kept the Dread sealed, prompting the Devilheart to ready himself. The mere existence of the berserk Dragonheart was a danger to the integrity of the Dread''s seal as the fortress walls began to crack and the chains rustled. "I''m not the type to make promises, but¡­seeing as we''re kindred souls, I feel obligated to save you, even if it''d be easier to kill you," Asher said, "but, if ites to it, I''ll end you. The Dread can''t be freed." I know what you''re experiencing, Asher thought, I''ve gone through it myself before. Regaining control of yourself is near impossible¡­Right now, all I can do is beat it out of you. I don''t want to have to kill you¡­After all, there aren''t many reincarnators like us left. ¨C "We should probably get back¡­" Melisande nervously suggested, feeling the soil vibrate beneath her shoes. "Are ya'' kiddin''?! We got front row seats to a sh between two monsters!" Everett said, "Agh¨C" A yelp escaped the blonde-haired bumpkin''s lips as his ear was pinched by the demi-human rogue, who had no patience for his childish curiosity. "We''re taking cover," Yuna ordered. "Alright, alright¡­! Just let go of my ears! Yer'' nails are sharp!" Everett winced, following the two behind the treeline atop the hill. ¨C Without any warning, the onyx-scaled Dragonheart unleashed a massive stream of azure mes that swept forth, crackling the air and forcing Asher to leap up to evade the burst of heat. In response, the Devilheart swung his ymore, sending a slice of darkness directly against the berserker''s body, exploding in a mass of demonic energy against his scales. "Rraaaagh¡­" The Dragonheart stepped back, but hardly budged from the blow. As Ashernded on his feet again, he looked up, finding the multiyered, ck-and-silver scales of the monstrous, humanoid dragon barely cracked. "...This will take some effort," Asher mumbled. Bursting forth, the Devilheart presented an unforeseen speed, leaving a ze of demonic energy in his wake as he circled the battlefield many times over within a second, luring the berserk Dragonheart to spin around. The monstrous draconic force of destruction stomped around, whipping his heavy tail through thend and mming his fists in an attempt to catch Asher, who seamlessly evaded his blows. Each wild attack from the Dragonheart stirred up aftershocks through the forest, dredging up roots of stagnant trees and tearing up the surrounding area while Asher swept by, leaving shes of darkness on the berserker''s scales. Despite the disparity in size, the blows of the Devilheart clearly had an effect on the enraged dracon, though nosting damage had been inflicted past the monstrous scales of the being. "Hmf." As Asher raced across the ground with purple-and-ck energy swirling around his enhanced state to further amplify his speed, he summoned a vtile force of darkness around his ymore. Just as the Dragonheart jumped up with nimbleness frightening for his size, spinning around to whip its lengthy tail towards Asher, the ymore-wielding man flipped around it before countering with a massive sh of his weapon. FWOOM An explosion of ck-and-violet energy howled out, directly impacting the hide of the berserk beast as the entirety of the surrounding area rumbled. "---Raaagh¡­!" The Dragonheart roared in pain. Even just witnessing the spectacr sh was in itself a battle; thend shook as the soil vibrated and cracked beneath the pressure of thebatting forces. Everett stood as the stalwart shield in thispromised area, nting himself down with his reliable shield forward whilst Melisande and Yuna stayed behind it. Chapter 256 Shattered Seal "This is insane¡­!" Everett called out. "At this rate, the seal is going to be broken by their battle," Yuna recognized. Though the silver-haired girl found herself more concerned in the moment about the Dragonheart himself, taken aback by the monstrous form he had taken. "...Emilio¡­" She quietly mumbled, watching worriedly from afar. ¨C Yet, even after the explosive darkness had been unleashed against his scales, the Dragonheart endured with his cracked armor, taking the Devilheart by surprise, who watched as a massive swipe of the berserker''s hand reached out from the fuming smoke. "--!" Asher reacted. Raising his arms, Asher managed to guard against the thrust of the Dragonheart''s fist, which was the size of the Devilheart''s body, knocking him back. In response, a hiss of darkness rose around Asher as an ominous aura emitted from his demonic armor. "You''re not making this easy on me," Asher muttered. Stomping toward him with azure mes breathing out of his maw, the Dragonheart roared out before Asher dashed across the battlefield of charred soil, thrusting his arm forward as it took to an abnormal property: The Devilheart''s limb extended, stretching out as the flesh of the demon acted unlike normal muscle, extending and expanding in size before Asher mmed his armored knuckles against the Dragonheart''s head. With such an unorthodox blow that took the enraged beast by surprise, the Dragonheart stumbled back as its scales cracked and shattered on parts of its head, revealing the hide beneath. As a result of the blow, the demonic shadows etched themselves onto the scales like a sickness. This was fully nned by Asher, who had continuously been allowing his "Devil Force" to infect the Drafonheart''s scales. My ''Devil Force'' has the ability to weaken anything it touches, and will continue lowering the sturdiness and power of anything it infects¨Cas long as I keep applying it, Asher thought. "He''s damaged him¡­!" Everett yelled out. In that moment of opportunity, the Devilheart didn''t let up as he jumped high to the sky, spinning around as his left leg extended as well with an unnatural, dark bonciness before flinging forward like a rubber band. The air cracked as the Devilheart''s leg whipped against the raging colossus, once more stunning the berserker. ¨C Witnessing this perplexing form of attack, the others watched in curious horror of the powerful sh, with each blow felt by the gusts of wind expanding throughout the trees. "Is he some kinda circus freak?!" Everett asked. "I doubt that''s it," Yuna quietly responded. It wasn''t just those three that felt it; other recruits within the Valley of Parmesus, even far out from where the battle took ce, could feel the aftershocks of the colossal collision of force. In retaliation, fuming further with a zing rage, the Dragonheart threw his head side-to-side, sending a far-reaching beam of azure mes that swept through thend, carving up the soil and cutting through trees. "--Calm down, Emilio!" Asher yelled out. Interrupting the aimless mes that left bright-blue mes eating away at the nature around them, Asher expanded his hands, enveloping his ymore in a pitch-ck energy then magnifying its size dozens of times over. "...He''ll kill him with that¡­!" Melisande yelled out worriedly. Just as the silver-haired newbie tried to run in to interrupt the conflict, she was stopped as Everett grabbed her arm. "Let me go¨C!" Melisande said. "And let you die?! There''s nothing we can do in a battle between those two!" Everett yelled. The hard-hitting truth brought Melisande to silence as she gritted her teeth, looking back as the Devilheart loomed the colossal, demonic ymore over the raging Dragonheart. "We''ve gotta trust Asher," Everett said, "He''s out there fightin'' for Emilio, too." "--" Melisande looked down. "For once, that guy is right. All we can do now is trust that Asher will follow through with his word," Yuna added. "For once?!" Everett repeated. Though it was hard to swallow, the rookie mage knew it was her only option to stay on the sidelines and watch, clutching her chest anxiously as she witnessed the mighty confrontation. ¡­Please, get a hold of yourself, Emilio, Melisande wished. ¨C As Asher infused his weapon with vtile energy of demonic origin, its very existence caused ck sparks to run across the soil, creating a vibrating force of darkness in the air before he swung it downward. Even in his blind rage, the monstrous Dragonheart reacted in kind to this attack, summoning such plentiful heat that an azure glow manifested between its scales, empowering him with a tremendous force of mes. Unleashing upward towards the Devilheart that embedded himself in the sky, the berserk draconic beast breathed out a beam of mes so heated, so condensed, that it became a valley-shaking spell of destruction itself, causing the air to ripple and expand from the sudden heat with steam filling the surroundingnd. Even while weakened by the Devil Force, the Dragonheart didn''t fail to release such devastating power. Asher looked down towards the quickly-approaching mes of eradication before finally swinging his magnified de down. It was not a simple slice; the edge of steel, wrapped in absolute shadows cut through space itself, contorting the air as it bypassed all defenses. ["Pinnacle Demonic Front"] The magnificent, but horrifying sh moved as an ethereal force, passing through the draconic mes and reaching the Dragonheart, though at the same time, the azure glow reached the Devilheart, resulting in a catastrophic impact¨C BOOOOOOM A heat that turned the verdant leaves hanging on the closest trees ck and to ash expanded violently, ripping through the region as the azure mes expelled in an explosion and the permack sh tore a new ravine into thend. Everett was forced to nt himself down with all of his might, yelling out for the other two beside him to hunker down, "Hold¡ª!!!" It felt as though everything was crumbling apart; the pressure of the shing mana weighed down on those witnessing the sh like an amplified gravity, pressing them against the soil as the ground rumbled and groaned. After what felt like an eternity, it finally settled as droplets of ck, like a gloomy snowfall, rained down on the desecrated area. "...Holy¡­" Everett slowly let out, moving his shield out of the way. It was difficult to recognize thend from the moment prior as trees were felled, or burned away entirely, leaving the steep valley around the sealed fortress carved up with a newly-made crater that reached deep. What Melisande looked for the most, and subsequently the others, was the result of the sh of powers. "There¡­!" Melisande pointed. In the center of it all, Asher stood on the ground with his ymore, returned to its normal size, still d in his demonic hide as he breathed out. "...Huff¡­" Asher exhaled after unleashing the majestic sh. Before the Devilheart stood the monstrous Dragonheart, though stagnant as a massive gash cut down through its shoulder and into its center, leaving a mass of ck blood spilling onto the soil below. "Emilio¡­!" Melisande yelled. Though before the emerald-eyed girl could relinquish herself to negative emotions, she witnessed an unexpected result of the scenery before her. Suddenly, the colossal dragon humanoid crumbled away, turning to azure dust as falling from within it was Emilio himself, wearing rags and unconscious as he dropped down. Dashing in, Asher managed to catch the exhausted Dragonheart before he fell harshly, dropping to a knee as he kept him up. "...I''ve got you, friend," Asher quietly said, allowing his Devilheart armor to dissolve as he revealed a tiresome smile. The others rushed in happily, delighted at the return of their friend in normal capacity as they surrounded the unconscious young mage. "Emilio!" Melisande smiled. "Ya really pulled it off!" Everett told Asher, giving him a p on the shoulder and augh. As they began to celebrate, it was all cut short as a sudden sensation brought them all to a statuesque pause, feeling an existence that went beyond any description of ''malicious''. It stirred goosebumps over their bodies as the air turned cold even in the battlefield once baked by mes. Asher slowly brought his gaze over, checking the sealed fortress as he confirmed his worst fears: the chains on the front gate, keeping the Dread locked up, were burned away and shattered. ¡­I was too careless. In that final sh, the aftershock was enough to reach the seal! Asher realized. Jumping to his feet, Asher slung Emilio''s arm around his shoulder, guiding the unconscious figure up as he yelled to the others, "Run¡­!" There was no time left. Before any of the others could react, all eyes befell the ominous gates before as a whisper of evil trailed out as a foul wind, brushing past the gates. It was a bone-chilling sensation, whatever existed behind those gates before suddenly, with violent force, the once sealed gates were thrown open by a dark force within. Asher was the only one able to break free from the shackles of the cold, gripping fear as he hoisted the unconscious Dragonheart up and ced him in Everett''s arms. "¡ªWhat?" Everett snapped into focus just then as Emilio was ced on his arms. Asher yelled out, snapping them all out of their frozen fear, "Get out of here! I''ll hold it off!" "You¡­what about you?!" Melisande called out. The Devilheart bolstered himself with his demonic armor once more, dding himself in its nefarious, yet selfless sheen, standing with his back to them. "I''ll be alright! Just get out of here!" Asher told them, "I don''t n on dying here, if that''s what you''re worried about!" Though it was a hard pill to swallow, leaving the ymore-wielding recruit alone in the face of the unsealed horror within the ominous, ck walls, the others knew it was best for Emilio, and them. It was easy to tell even for the likes of Everett, who had no experience in the art of magecraft, feeling the density of the evil emanating from the broken seal. ¡­That right there is pure evil. Somethin'' like that¡­I can feel it; I don''t stand a chance. My fingers are quiverin''. Right now, the best I can do is get this guy safely out of here, Everett thought. Chapter 257 The Dread "C''mon!" Everett called, beginning to move in the opposite direction with the unconscious Dragonheart in his arms, waving for Yuna and Melisande to follow. There was clear hesitance in Melisande as she looked towards Asher, but deep down inside, she knew her stay would only prove to be a demerit to the one willing to risk his life, opting to swallow her pride and turn the other way. "You better not die¨C!" Melisande called out. As the three ran in the opposite way, ducking behind the treeline, for once, a smile crept on Asher''s lips as he looked down at the hand that gripped around the handle of his weapon. They were trembling; his fingertips were uneasy, though it was something obvious to him¨Can inevitability in the face of what he stood tall against. It felt like there would never have been enough time to prepare himself as he watched ''it'' begin to walk out from the broken seal, stepping out slowly. The closer it got, the more dense and abhorrent the air of malevolence became, weighing down on the atmosphere before it finally revealed itself to the light of day, stepping from the shadows: It had the appearance of an old, decrepit man with pale skin and a long, unkempt beard. Nothing but skin and bones with thin arms and its rib cage prominently shown, it hardly looked like something housing such terrifying power. Still, Asher knew well what he was looking at¨Cit was a ''vessel'', housing the malignant entity as the old man''s eyes were absent, housing only pitch-ck eye sockets that housed the evil within: The Dread. Flies buzzed around the decaying vessel, surrounding the being that was merely of callused skin and brittle bones. "...So, that''s the body you''ve been trapped in all these years? It''s been rotting away¨Ctoo bad for you, there won''t be another for you to move to," Asher told the entity. Though it didn''t respond, seeming to not even validate his presence as the Dread moved its arms, causing its old, worn joints to crack and creak as it took in the light outside its old seal, lifting its right hand. "--!" Just as the ominous, wizened figure raised its bony hand, Asher felt a distinct malice rise from the being in an instant, prompting him to raise his guard before¨Cthe Dread moved its hand. That single movement of its limb incurred destruction, spurring unseen slices that ignored the concept of range and embedded themselves throughout the valley. "Down¨C!" Yuna sensed, grabbing the two beside her and pushing them to the ground with her. All at once, these colossal cuts soared across the region, sweeping through the forests and jungles, annihting all in their path as these invisible des felled countless creatures and unsuspecting recruits. In an instant, most of the Valley of Parmesus had been wiped out; the trees that cluttered the ground and sky were felled, mountains were cleaved into pieces as rocks rained onto the ground, and the uneven hills were evened out with the ground the Dread stood on. Asher breathed out, sweating as he looked around at the immeasurable destruction caused by nothing more than whim of the entity before him. He had conjured a shield forged of demonic material in front of his arms, though it only served to mitigate the damage as a shallow cut was left across his chest, managing to prate his Devilheart armor. It destroyed¡­everything? It''s still this powerful? Even in that vessel? Asher thought. Fortunately, the three that guarded the unconscious Dragonheart were left unscratched, having hugged the ground and avoided the unseen bisection of the region. After witnessing what level of destructive power the malignant entity possessed, Asher dashed forward, yelling out as he engulfed his ymore in ominous energy¨C "Gyah!" Asher spit out. It waspletely unseen by him: the speed of the Dread, which had surmounted his own reflexes and held its hand forward. The being did not directly touch him, but instead held its palm facing his abdominal region, emitting a pressure forward that pressed against the Devilheart''s stomach. The force was felt against his organs, causing him to spit up a mixture of blood, spit, and oxygen before being mmed back. Since when did I be so soft¡­? Asher thought, my entire life¡­throughout this second life, I''ve looked out for only myself¨Cthat was the way of life I decided to stick with after what I went through before. When Asherid there, feeling his internal organs screaming at him in agony from the insufferable blow taken, for some reason, memories of the very end of the life he abandoned resurfaced. ¨C BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. Day-in, day-out, the monotonous beeping yed in his ears. Sitting in the bed of a clean, white hospital, was a boy, no older than a sophomore in high school, attached to tubes and heavy machinery within the establishment of medicine. By his bedside, he could see his parents sobbing, though his father spoke with an unknown business man. Mom?...Dad? What''s wrong? He thought. He was groggy, unable to hear what those in the same room as him were saying as his visionid blurred. "As the doctor said, your son only has days¨Ca week, at most. It''s a terrible thing¡­brain tumors at such a young age. You truly have my condolences," the man in the ck suit said, nodding his head, "However, we at SAMSARA can offer your son a new life. A world where he will be healthy and free." ? As heid there in the bed, he could see his mom continuing to sob, holding his hand while his father nodded to whatever was said by the stranger, signing a document. After the papers were signed, the unknown man opened a box, revealing a headset within it before hooking it up by the ill boy''s bed. ¡­What''s this? What''s going on? The boy thought. He was hardly conscious by this point, only able to look at his parents as the headgear was ced over his head before being powered on by a single press of a button. As the headset booted up, the boy felt his consciousness sway and flicker, hearing only a fewst words from his parents¨C "We love you, Asher." [...Booting Up¡­] Before he could say anything in response, parting his lips, it all went ck for him. [Wee to Reincarnation Online.] Though what awaited him was a new life, he swore to carry on the name given to him by his parents, opting to live the life he was robbed of in his first. ¨C Remembering thest moments he spent on Earth, Asher picked himself up, tightening his hold on his ymore. I won''t die. I''ve survived this far¨CI''ve fought adversity my entire life¡­Today is just another day for me! Asher thought. Just then, the Devil Force within him skyrocketed as a stygian aura surfaced, causing the soil he stood on to rumble before his demonic hide reformed itself, causing the horns protruding from his forehead to curve back and his tail to lengthen. That desperation birthed itself in a resolve that ignored the pain coursing through his body, forcing his bruised organs to work in overtime as he pushed his body past its own limits, confronting the wickedness that stood silent before him. Life is¡­a precious thing. That''s what I''ve always felt. That''s what I''ve learned, time and time again¡ªin spite of everything I''ve faced, I''ve never once regretted living! I''ve cherished what was given to me! And I''ll cherish the lives of others, and annihte those who take that away! Asher resolved. The Devilheart seemed to grow in height whilst encased in the pitch-ck, refined armor of demonic origin, embedded and shaped with skulls throughout his exoskeleton. A cape formed of tattered shadows was attached to his shoulders, flowing down his back like the souls of the damned. [Current Stage: 6/10 | Nefarious Demon Lord] Enveloped in the evolved armor, the Devilheart dashed forward as aet of darkness, prompting a simple, effortless counter from the Dread, who simply swiped his hand forward to unleash a wave of unseen slices that mutted the soil and wind in its path. This time, Asher was quick enough to evade it, kicking off of the air and leaping upwards before flinging downward with his ymore bursting with the nefarious force he had imbued it with. The Dread simply looked up towards him with its emotionless face before being crashed down upon, swung into by the empowered ymore that unleashed a cut sweeping through the soil and fortress behind the Dread. "Hyah!" Asher unleashed. Through the decrepit vessel, the slice carved through, cutting through the Dread''s shoulder and deep into its torso as rotten flesh spilled out. What would be a fatal blow to any normal being only left the Dread unfazed as it held the same, unmoved look in its nonexistent eyes, allowing its shoulder to hang off of its torso as a dark force crept out from inside its body. "--Tch!" Asher leapt back just as a wave of unseen malice emitted from the Dread, cutting through thend around it and decaying it, rotting the soil to lifeless, dry crumbs. Even in the face of the terrifying might of the wordless entity of violence, Asher found himself with embers of hope burning within him as he looked upon its mutted form, finding it not mending itself. ¡­It can''t heal its injured vessel. From what I know, the vessel of the Dread is usually empowered by it, increasing its sturdiness to hold the Dread, but¡­I believe since it''s been sealed for so long, forced to stay in that body without ess to its entire strength, it couldn''t maintain that body. It''s weak now¨Cbrittle¡­brittle and beatable, Asher thought. Chapter 258 Reawakening With the Dread''s rotten vessel in mind, he decided to thrust his hand forward, sending a wave of the Devil Force within him towards the being, sending the demonic curse against its body in the form of a ck wind. As it brushed against the Dread''s body, it stopped for a moment, looking down at itself. This gave an opportunity to the Devilheart, who sprinted the length of thend between them in an instant as his cape of shadows fluttered behind his back. There was no hesitation in Asher''s body as he spun around to gain momentum, swirling demonic energy around the length of his de as it left a trail of darkness around him before swinging it through the midsection of the Dread. ¨CI''ve got you, Asher thought. Cutting the Dread in half as its rotten organs began to spill, the emotionless figure moved its hand forward in a retaliatory action, catching Asher off-guard as it unleashed that inexplicable pressure directly against his head. "--!" Before he could react, the ungodly force caused the wind to ripple and vibrate with a shock wave before it caused his demonic hide to crack and part while being crushed, sending him flying back as he felt his skull being throttled violently. "Nnrgh¡­!" Even after being thrown back, bouncing against the ground beforeing to a stop, Asher still felt the effects of the Dread''s attack as he was keeled over, holding his head as the helm of his demonic armor broke. Blood dripped from his assaulted ears and his nose, which had been broken by the direct impact of the attack. It was like a scream of a banshee, silent until the force met him, ringing through his ears with such volume that his ear drums were battered, causing a burning pain as the marrow of his bones was attacked by the insane sound waves. He managed to tough through it, bringing himself back to his feet as it began to slowly whittle away, looking over as he found the Dread on the ground, chopped into two pieces. "...I''ve got you¡­You''re not going anywhere now¡­" Asher slowly said, regaining his breath before coughing out more blood. As he walked over to finish it off, he came to realize something that perplexed him for a moment: the old, decrepit upper half of the Dread had crawled over to a spot on the region of ck soil, reaching out towards something there. "What¡­?" Asher slowly said. Squinting his eyes, he realized what it was that the Dread had reached out for: the broken body of recruit killer, Amon. Even after being crushed by the berserk Dragonheart, the man was still breathing lightly and ruggedly, coughing up blood as his limbs were twisted around. ¡­I thought he was dead! Asher thought, it intends to switch vessels¡­! I won''t let it¨C! As Asher rushed forward, ready to obliterate the halved Dread, the being swiped its hand, unleashing a st of invisible shes that knocked Asher back, leaving him with shallow cuts across his body. "---No!!!" Asher screamed out, still attempting to rush over. It was toote. The wrinkly, bony hand of the Dread gripped onto the lips of the barely alive recruit killer before pulling itself closer, forcing Amon''s jaw to part. In a grotesque fashion, the Dread''s rotten vessel had its mouth shoot open, its jaw unhinging like a serpent before a pitch-ck, foul force poured out, moving from it into the mouth of Amon. Amon''s body contorted and convulsed as the ck, gaseous entity infiltrated his own body; the hellish transfer caused the ground to vibrate as Asher found himself falling to a knee, still feeling the effects of the shock waves against his skull. "Nnngh¡­Dammit, this is the worst case scenario¡­!" Asher muttered. ¡­It''s gone from the weakest possible vessel to the body of a strong warrior¨Ceven half-dead, the Dread can fix Amon¡­! Asher thought. As the transfer of vesselspleted, the previous body became even more shriveled, falling over as a pile of skin as absent as bones before Amon''sid down body suddenly levitated upward, stayingpletely still. Slowly, a smile stretched across the lips of who used to be Amon before he levitated upward, positioning himself straight before spreading his arms out, now possessingpletely ckened eyes. "A suitable vessel, atst," the Dread, Amon, spoke. ["The worst-of-the worst of possibilities had befallen those who tried to prevent the Dread''s unsealing. In the face of utmost violence, what awaited those who resisted the nefarious figure was a battle longer and more daunting than any other in their lives. What awaited was a war against a single being."] ["Death is not a possibility; it is a likelihood."] ¨C The proctors of the exam were in panic at the release of the Dread, scrambling around as the man overseeing it watched from above, turning to face one of his subordinates. "Sir, what do we do¡­?! If the Dread is unleashed, then¡­!" The subordinate said in a panic. The man with the silver mustache remainedposed, watching from his above spot as he looked down upon the valley from the unseen room, "It''s not just the recruits that will die, but many others¨Cincluding us." "Then?..." The younger man asked. "It''s time to send in the Nihilum Core," the head of the trial said, "Who is avable in the region, currently?" Standing beside the silver mustached gentleman, a woman wearing sses adjusted them, answering his question, "Right now¡­It seems that there are just two members of the Nihilum Core close by." "Who?" "Scarlet and Briggs," the hazel-haired woman answered. Stroking his mustache, the wizened man nodded, "Summon for them." ¨C There was noparison; between the initial vessel and the new one it found itself in, the presence the Dread gave off was suffocating, contorting the atmosphere around the valley into one of horror as it darkened. Bursting upward, Asher summoned a wing of darkness around his de, swiping it upward towards the newly-born Dread, unleashing an array of abyssal feathers that shot up towards the figure. Before any couldnd¨C "Ghh¨C!" Asher found his throat gripped by the Dread, who didn''t even look at him, still holding that malignant smile as he levitated above the ground. "I can feel the blood coursing through your veins, rushing in desperation¨Cyou''re from Ennage. Perhaps you''d serve as a greater vessel," Dread said. Just as the grip on his throat tightened, the Devilheart sharply raised his knee against the Dread''s chin, freeing himself from the grip, but just as he went to fall back down¨Cthe demonic-armored man found an overwhelming force mming into his stomach. "Getting ahead of yourself, are we?" Dread whispered. The brutal blow knocked Asher back into the ground with a thunderous impact, causing him to vomit up blood as his insides throbbed. It was undeniable now, Asher experienced it firsthand as he looked up, wincing as he saw the figure hovering just a few inches from the ground, as if too high and mighty to walk on the same soil: the Dread had reached the point of no return. ¡­My fight with Dragonheart took a lot out of me¡­No, even still¡­I doubt it''d change anything, Asher thought, as it is now¡­the Dread is too strong. As the Dread hovered there, it flexed its new body, causing an emission of ominous energy that unleashed a wind-breaking shock wave throughout the region, rustling the tattered bushes in the disy of overwhelming strength. "He''s not going to make it¡­!" Melisande called out. "That damn thing¡­Urgh, I didn''t think it would be this strong!" Everett gritted his teeth, "It doesn''t matter! At this rate, even if I die doing it, I have to help him¨C!" Though as Everett jumped to his feet, he realized something as he looked down at his arms, realizing he was holding nothing. "Err¡­" Everett let out. Yuna looked up at him, ducking beneath a tree trunk still, "What is it? Wait¨C" The cat woman''s eyes widened in unison with the shielder''s as they both realized what was going on, and soon Melisande realized as well. "Where''s Emilio¡­?" Melisande asked, perplexed. "Hold on¡­what the hell?" Everett said, looking towards the battlefield. They all looked in the same direction, stunned by what they saw, brought to a still by the unexpected development. As Asher managed to pick himself up to his knees with his entire body trembling from the aftershock of the harsh blow he''d received to his already worn body, he could feel the animosity of the Dread building up. This is it? This is as far as I go? Well, at the very least¡­I can take it down with me, or at least hinder it enough for them to escape¡­Asher resolved. Taking in a breath, the Devilheart prepared himself as he condensed the devilish force within him, summoning a refined darkness, birthed in destruction and eradication. ["The Seven Layers¨C"] Before he could fully manifest the ultimate manifestation of his resolve, Asher was brought to a pause as he found a familiar figure in front of him, unseen previously and unfelt. "...Emilio?" Asher said. Standing between the Devilheart and the Dread was the one who should''ve been unconscious, and unable to move so nimbly, at that. Though there was something different about Emilio as he stood there; he was silent and held a look in his eyes that remained unmoving on the enemy ahead. He''s¡­Asher realized, unconscious? No, that''s not quite it¡­ Something else had urred within the young Dragonheart; a development born from within, spurred on from the threat of death and the necessity to survive. ["The Zone"] Chapter 259 The Zone, Destruction Incarnate ["The Zone"] ¨COnce more, the state of utmost instinct, maximized reflexes, and ultimate freedom had been reached. The young man''s brain went into overdrive, connecting disconnected threads, unlocking like seals on a boundless reservoir of thought, freed from the shackles of inhibition. The Dread looked towards the newly-emerged warrior, though didn''t waste any further time before warping forward with monstrous speed, attempting to spear his hand through the Dragonheart before¨C FWOOSH An emergence of condensed, azure mes shot forward, spiraling andbining into a destructive breath that swept through thend, forcing the Dread to evade it by levitating upward. The st of fire shaped itself into the heads of ethereal dragons, roaring through the air. It was a split-second release; a reflex by the young Dragonheart that in its short time to create, carved arge chunk ofnd in front of the swirling mass of mes. Asher was surprised by this power, but as he looked upon the back of Emilio, he noticed the ck-and-azure scales that began to armor his body, though kept stabilized to his arms, torso, and legs. There were naturally-forming tattoos running across Emilio''s body, bringing upon scale-like patterns that originated from a bright-blue glow beneath his chest. This sight, along with the familiar sensation of power spurred a revtion from the Devilheart: ¡­He''s controlling it. That monstrous state I had to stop him in¨Che''s using it right now, without transforming? Asher realized. Perhaps most different of all were his eyes; Emilio looked forward with the emerald glow gone from his eyes, now holding a sapphire shine as he looked at the Dread silently. [Level Up?!//@%] [Level Twenty-Six Achieved.] [New Skill(s) Acquired: Dragon Burst] [Dragonheart System Awakened | Alternate] [Current Stage: 7/??? | Draconis Monster | CONDENSED] With a single step, he was already multiple meters forward in an instant, prompting the Dread to wave its hand in response, conjuring a wave of invisible shes towards the Dragonheart. How will he dodge that?! He''s as good as dead with that muching towards him! Asher thought. Though the potency and freedom of creativity of the ''Zone'' was witnessed as a seamless usage of magecraft was used, with Emilio hollowing the ground out from beneath him and burrowing beneath the surface as the unseen cleaving swept past. "Oh?" Dread reacted. After the invisible des passed by, the ground rumbled momentarily before Dread looked down just as a hole opened in the soil, revealing the young Dragonheart as he jumped up. "--!" A vicious uppercutnded against Dread''s chin, cracking against the body that once belonged to Amon with an echoing impact. "Hended a blow¡­!?" Asher called out. Though Dread wasn''t hurt, simply surprised at the unconventional nature of the young man''s attack as he fixed himself with an instantaneous readjustment of his next before summoning an ungodly storm around himself. Sensing the oing danger, Emilio flipped back just as a hurricane of darkness shrouded Dread, spiraling with roars originating from the souls of the damned, howling out. The entirety of the valley rumbled, subject to the storm of death that erupted as the remnants of foliage took to the winds before finally¨Cit settled. Dread condensed the airs of darkness into his hand before holding it forward with a single word leaving his foul lips: "Hunt." Numerous shapes of darkness sprouted from Dread''s word, scattering around the battlefield in the forms of astral spirits, forged of nefarious spirits that held horns resembling demons. "What''re those¨C?!" Everett yelled out. "I don''t like it¡­" Melisande added. The three ran out, stopping beside Asher to help the injured man out, aiding him to his feet as he winced, holding his bruised abdomen. "Are you alright?" Melisande asked. Asher ignored her question, keeping his focus forward as they too were approached by the astral entities, some of which towered over them, wielding weapons made of ck crystallizations, "These are¡­the souls of Ennage''s past wars¨Cthose that fell in battle." "Demons?..." Yuna realized. Though there wasn''t much time to question the origin of the entities as there was clearly a fight brewing around them, prompting Yuna to unsheath her daggers as Everett and Melisande stood around Asher. "What''re you¡­?" Asher asked, huffing. "Ain''t it obvious? We''re protecting the weak!" Everett smiled confidently, "--So just sit there and catch your breath!" ¨C Emilio was targeted by many of the spirits of fallen demons, flipping around with instinct guiding his movements as the nimble of the bunch shed towards him with short swords and the burliest of them mmed their clubs towards him. They were undeniably powerful; the viciousness of the warriors was felt even beyond the time in which they were of living flesh, producing craters in the soil with each missed strike of their clubs. Even so, Emilio felt peerless in the moment; no thoughts or doubts flowed in his mind as he was simply geared into the battle itself, thinking of nothing else as he seamlessly countered the two iing spirits with a burst of wind sweeping their feet from beneath them. As the spirits fell, he pointed a single forward to summon two pirs of pointed stone from the ground, impaling the astral warriors. "--" While he dealt with those two as their forms dissipated to particles of spiritual energy, a goliath of a muscle-bound demon leapt towards him from behind. Before it could reach him, Emilio countered by pointing his hand back, summoning the head of a dragon, made by bright-blue mes that snapped its jaws, ensnaring the astral brute. With a squeeze of his fist, the young Dragonheartmanded the magic-born head to crush its jaws, splitting the spirit in two as it faded away. As Emilio set his sights on the Dread himself, he stepped forward, not allowing himself to be impeded by the rush of nefarious spirits as he raised his hand, invoking a newly-created spell: ["New Era Great Blue"] Embers sparked around him, spreading out before a me was born, contorting and shaping itself through a line that spread across each of the warrior spirits that enclosed him. All at once, the line of azure fire burst itself into the full form of a wingless, whiskered dragon of bright-blue heat, taking the form of a Chinese beast of the skies. Once shrouded in darkness, the dimmed atmosphere created by the Dread''s unwanted presence was brightened by the azure glow. The instantaneous summoning of the me-born dragon swallowed the long-since dead warriors of the demon continent in its burning wrath, returning them to the afterlife as Emilio faced down the Dread. "You''re a one-man army, it seems," Dreadmented, spectating the battle without a worry. With a single kick, Emilio dashed in with incredible speed, swinging his sword rapidly with strength and precision that repeatedly caused the air pressure to hiss sharply, though Dread simply weaved through each blow. Emilio subconsciously enhanced himself with reinforcement and the aspect of wind, bolstering his swiftness and allowing him to redirect his own movements without any need to position himself. Each swing began emitting slices of wind, though Dread remained unscathed and unmoving from the spot he stood, using a single finger to deflect each attack. Dread''s dark eyesid on Emilio before stopping the swift assault by mming his palm against the Dragonheart''s chest, "Die." A single touch arrived, feeling like an eternity as Emilio could feel the eerie spirit of Dread reaching out into his body, caressing his still-beating heart before gripping it tightly, crushing down as it exploded within the young man''s chest. "Blergh¨C!" Emilio vomited up ck blood from the internal attack, falling to a knee as his inner fluid poured from his mouth, hacking up. "Emilio!" Melisande yelled out. As the silver-haired girl attempted to rush to the young man''s aid, she was impeded by an astral warrior, forced back as she tossed a st of wind at it. "Get out of my way¡­!" Melisande angrily shouted. ¨C [The Valley of Parmesus | Away From The Dread''s Seal] Sitting on a tree branch, a young man with spiky, dark-blue hair had a spear resting against his arm with a straw between his lips, boredly watching over the forest. It''s the final day¡­I wouldn''t call it a cake walk, but those quests I tagged along with pops for came in handy, he thought, I''ll pass this trial and mark my name across thend: "Joseph, the Cobalt Hero"! That''s a nice ring to it, I think. The young man got carried away in his own dreams, smiling to himself as he swayed side-to-side, imagining his name being chanted in the streets of illustrious cities, wearingvish armor and being praised as a hero. RUMBLE. "W-woah¨C!" Joseph snapped into focus as he began falling back from a sudden quake that echoed throughout thend, catching himself at thest moment as he flipped back,nding on the ground below with a slight stumble. "...What was that?" Joseph mumbled. It sounded as if a war had suddenly spurred as trees groaned and trembled before he ducked down just as the air around him shifted. "--Huh?!" As soon as he ducked, he witnessed what looked to be des of darkness sweep through the sea of trees, bisecting them and casting branches aside. "What the, what the, what the!" Joseph repeated, watching the ethereal whips of darknesssh out from unknown origin, ripping through thend. The youthful recruit stumbled a bit from the rumbling, identally kicking against a tree log as he fell over with his chin smacking against the ground below. "Ngh¨C!" Joseph winced. ["To the recruits just trying to survive in the already cruel trial, the unleashed Dread was a natural disaster unlike any other."] Chapter 260 Stupor Of Power The chaos that embedded itself through the isted valley didn''t disturb just the recruits surviving within it, but the creatures inhabiting it as well: the ground rumbled all around Joseph as he witnessed forest inhabitants fleeing, all running away directly in the direction he stood. "--Hey, hey, hey!" Joseph realized he was right in the stampede''s way. The variety in creatures was overwhelming in itself; tiny critters scampered and behemoths trampled everything in their path, yet all ran in fear of the darkness that cleaved through the valley all the same. The youthful recruit raised his spear, preparing tobat the armor-hided beasts that trampled through the foliage towards him, but to his surprise, they charged right past him, simply prioritizing their own lives. Great beasts of stone skin, fire-breathing bears, and even ice-coated lions; all ran in the same direction, away from a united enemy. After realizing the monstrous beasts inhabiting thend wanted nothing to do with him, likely not even registering the existence of the short-in-stature recruit, Joseph was left stunned at the sighting from the distance. The darkness swallowed thend; trees keeled over, fields split, and it all rumbled. It was a sight horrifying, yet beautiful in its otherworldly scale; an existence that dwarfed those who witnessed it, sweeping through as a natural disaster that breathed cataclysm into thend. "...What the hell is going on here?" Joseph muttered. At first, the recruit spected it might''ve been some sort of "ending test" thrown into the already grueling trial, though the scale of the destruction was something on too high of a threshold to be such. Still, he wasn''t aware of what he was witnessing, having no clear idea of its origins or what was responsible for the indifferent destion. Though as he stood there, gawking at the waves of darkness that felled trees and hills alike, he found it growing closer, like a sweeping tide of death itself flowing across the soil. I''ve got to move¡­! Joseph realized. Turning the other way, he went off in a dash, running alongside the creatures dwelling in the valley as he could feel the ominous vibrations of the enigmatic darkness nipping at his heels. As he nced back, he found his stomach sink as he witnessed what the pitch-ck force did to living creatures as it swept over a gray-furred squirrel, decaying its flesh in an instant and leaving only bones. If that touches me¡­I''m a goner! He realized. Joseph wasn''t particrly talented in either magic or physicalbat, scoring average-among-average for recruits, in fact, it was a miracle he had even survived the trial thus far. The only thing he was above the curve on were his survival skills¨Cboth in his ability to hunt and gather, but his natural instincts for avoiding conflict out of his scope. So, a threat of this scale was something immeasurably overwhelming for him. A massive tremor caused him to momentarily stop and look back, witnessing a beam of darkness tear through the forest from afar, forcing him to duck as it sailed right over his head, cleaving through trees like nothing. The oak of the bisected cedar turned rotten from the contact with the unknown shadows, decaying in an instant as the skin of the trees peeled like a fruit. This is crazy! Seriously, crazy! Just what kind of trial is this, anyway?! Why am I getting caught up in this?! Joseph questioned. ¨C Dread began to move past the blood-spewing mage, setting his sights on the others that were still battling the remnants of the astral warriors. Just as the embodiment of violence raised its hand, beginning to whip up an attack ofrge-scale destruction¨C FWOOSH "--Mm?!" Dread reacted. A burst of azure mes mmed against the being''s back, exploding into a violent array of fire and sparks, causing the being to stumble forward before looking back. To Dread, it was as though a corpse had just risen from its grave: Emilio returned to his feet, not bothering to wipe his chin as it was soaked in blood, simply keeping his eyes on his opponent. "How''re you alive¡­?" Dread mumbled, "It matters not." As Dread raised his hand again to invoke another deadly attack, Emilio had already conjured a spell, whipping up a spiral of wind that quickly formed into a condensed tornado that roared, spinning around Dread. Just as the wind was born, the Dragonheart imbued it with his draconic mes, creating a bright-blue natural disaster that imprisoned Dread in its burning fury. "Enough." With a pulse of primordial malice, Dread spoke sternly as he negated the magecraft with his own will, holding his arms spread out as burns were left on his arms and hands. "You''re a problem. I''ll have to¨C" As Dread spoke, the words were stifled from his throat as Emilio raised his hand, cutting away his ability to speak. The ruthless, precise use of magic was utilized to remove the air from Dread''s lungs, then rapidly filling it with air conjured by Emilio''s own mana, using it to then pop holes into the malignant being''s lungs. Dread didn''t register pain, though recognized the lethal assault as he felt the shift inside of him before looking up again, only able to speak hoarsely, "...You¡­" The Zone was pushed to its maximum as Emilio reacted to the unrestrained malice of Dread, witnessing the being wielding the body of a dead man, shattering the soil at its feet as it lunged at him with killing intent. To impede it, Emilio mmed his palm against the ground, using a lofty serving of mana to bend and manipte the world at his feet, parting the soil and giving rise to colossal formations of rock from beneath the surface. These thick, gigantic bs of stone loomed over like the walls of a city, only serving as means to ''slow'' Dread down as the figure mmed his knuckles against the sky-reaching, thick barriers of stone. One blow was enough to crack the walls,promising their sturdiness as the next blow was more than enough to shatter it to countless pieces, leaving Dread jumping forward to the next. "Everything is moving¡­!" Everett said, wobbling around to maintain bnce as the ground shook violently. "It''s Emilio!" Melisande realized. Yuna huffed, maintaining her footing as she shed apart one of the astral warriors, "--I didn''t know the kid had it in him. Well, I think anybody had this in them." The scale of the sh rose as Emilio held no inhibitions in his usage of magecraft, terraforming the valley at his will, giving no thought but to the concept of victory as he began weaving weapons forged of water and mes around Dread as the entity continued mming through mountainous walls. Any trees left standing were toppled as their roots were dredged out by the Dragonheart''s terraforming, relentlessly shaping the valley to his need as multipleyers of stone barriers rose in an instant, breaking apart the healthy soil. It was the sight of a cataclysm, woven by Emilio''s will as he carved stone and metal from the soil below, stirring up the dirt as well into storms of sediment whilst allowingnd to hover in the air, gathering it intorge spheres to throw. As the projectiles of reinforced water, made shapeless and bendable, able to seamlessly change form, and of fire, able to explode and burn away, crashed towards Dread, the being reached the end of his patience as he howled out. Following the primordial yell of the conceptual monster, the multiple, mountain-sized shields of stone were cleaved through by cleaving darkness, unleashed by a single swipe of Dread''s hand. "...Let''s see how you handle this," Emilio quietly said. Just as Dread ripped apart the mountainous barriers, the meteors of rock, dirt, and material ingrained in Parmesus'' soil rained down on the violent entity. Nature, Wind, and Fire werebined; Nature manipted the base material, wind brought it together in the air, and fire brought propulsion and destructive power to the objects, creating a spell forged by the Dragonheart''s Zone: ["Skyfall Obliteration"] A smile stretched across the foul being''s lips as it happily raised its arms, moving them as if coordinating an orchestra as it countered the falling objects with sts of unseen pressure, causing them to split into smaller, more plentiful chunks. The result of this collision of power caused a violent, destructive hail to batter the valley below, leaving no fields untouched. "Under me! Under me!" Everett called out. Holding his shield above his head, the tall, burly bumpkin acted as a life-or-death umbre for the other three as ming rock fell from the sky, crashing down around them. Pieces of stonended on the ground with fiery impacts, embedding thend in further destruction. "...Emilio is doing all of this?" Melisande looked around, keeping her hands on her chest. "Asher," Yuna looked over, "You seem familiar with Emilio''s abilities. Do you know what this is?" The Devilheart was still reeling from his earlier confrontation, catching his breath as he stood beneath therge shield, "...I have an idea of it." "You do?" Melisande looked over at him. Asher nodded, "I felt it when he first came to¡­That same sensation as when he took the form of a raging dragon." "Then that means¡­?" Melisande began to say. "He''s utilizing it in his normal form. More than that¡­there''s something different about him¨Cit''s like he''s in a trance," Asher exined. Chapter 261 Dreadful Clash ["The source of the Dragonheart''s fantastic magical abilities that greatly surpassed any previous spells he''d used was the very blood that ran through his veins, awakening now in a new form: The Draconis Monster. With superbly amplified mana and a mind so honed and unshackled to wield it, the result was something leagues ahead of what Emilio would ever normally be capable of."] ¨CHowever, this transformation in the heat of battle wasn''t without cost; Emilio could sense it deep within: the turmoil within his body as the tremendous power tore at his muscles and his organs worked in overdrive, along with his brain surpassing its limits with synapses firing off like fireworks of new perception. Once the sapphire glow in his eyes faded, he knew well there would be a price to pay Until then, he chose to fight with everything he had, stomping down as he summoned a weight like that of the monstrous dragon within him as the soil parted and caved, bolstering himself before he summoned enormous, fiery projections of dragons. "Do me a favor and turn to ash," Emilio said. Dozens of these constructs of majestic mes roared out, soaring through the air and carving through the tumbled soil, zing forth as Dread raised a single hand to invoke his own response to this spell. As the mes swept forth, they came to a screeching halt as Dread manifested an ethereal wall of colossal skulls as a barrier, outright stopping the attack. "Tch," Emilio clicked his tongue. Dread held his unworried smile as the mes dissipated, witnessing the Dragonheart burst forward, changing his approach from long-range to close-quarters once more. "...A question, dragon boy," the Dread spoke, "Would you like to hear of my origins? I''ve always wished for bards to sing of my story and books to be read of my existence. It''s quite a fascinating concept you mortals circte." "I could care less," Emilio responded. The Dread smirked, snapping his fingers towards the Dragonheart, "Too bad. I''m in a ''sharing'' mood today." A spell was issued forward instantaneously, sending the desired memories from the Dread straight into the mind of the Dragonheart. All in a singr fraction of a second, the following information was processed by Emilio: ¨C [A Lost Time, Many Centuries Ago | Ennage, the Continent of Demons] A barrennd stood as a battleground, painted in blood and littered with corpses; trees of stone sprouted from the spilled blood and beasts fed on the fallen. ["This is the "War of Reshaping"--the most infamous in all of Ennage. This is the conception of violence¡­This war shaped Ennage into what it is today; a battle between two different factions: the ''Followers of the Sovereign'', which consisted of ns of demons that closely resembled humans, and the ''Ancient Bloods''; demons that thrive off chaos, unwilling to conform to the governmental aspirations of the Sovereign."] On the ground devoid of life, two forces opposed one another, shing violently as blood sttered in the height of the eventful night: one side wasprised of demonkin dressed in uniform armor of silver with flowing, dark capes, lined and using proper tactics to the battle. However, the other side was unorganized, yet devastating in their numbers and relentless aggression: bullmen with horns, demonkin snakes, and even beasts tamed by the ''Ancient Bloods'' drove through the Followers of the Sovereign''s meticulously crafted formations. ["The Sovereign wished to unite Ennage, a shattered continent of dozens of isted kingdoms, though the war-loving ns did not take kindly to the ways of the humans that the Sovereign wished to bring to Ennage."] Spells were flung by the mages stationed as the back of the Sovereign''s forces, manifesting in a volley of fireballs that exploded against the hide of the demon mammoths being rode into battle by the savage Ancient Bloods. The bright-orange mes brought shes of light to the valley amidst the night as the painful bellows of the mammoths echoed through thend. In response, spears were thrown by the physically mighty "Taurus n"--minotaur demons that had the strongest bodies amongst all demokin,unching their jet-ck spears that were as thick as trees and just as long. The sound barrier was broken by the projectiles,unching forward with devastating might as they pierced right through the shields of the Sovereign''s vanguard. ["It was fantastic; a sight of boundless beauty and tragedy¡­A delectable event. It took ce in an uninhabitednd, the "Crimson Stretch"--now famous throughout Ennage for its ursed nature, painted red in the blood of the fallen."] "Aaagh¨C!" Terrified screams of the Sovereign soldiers filled the valley as the projectiled pierced through the lined shield-holders like a skewer. Rushing forward was one of the Sovereign forces'' elites; a knight decorated in blood-red armor with a flowing, ck-and-gold cape, managing to easily evade the fast-moving spears as they propelled by. ["It was said that the Sovereign, a ruler whose true name has been lost to time, studied the cultures of many kingdoms across the world, voyaging Arcadius before returning to the shattered continent of demons to unite it. The soldiers that the Sovereign trained personally were the ''Death Oaths''--singr beings said to be one-man armies themselves; truly spectacr."] The elite knight moved with grace as their long, burgundy hair flowed as they spun around, weaving between the wild swingsing from a pair of pig-faced demons, slicing through them in an instant. ¨C The skull barrier was relinquished, having siphoned life from the torn soil before Dread met Emilio in openbat, meeting him halfway as the Dragonheart swept his de forth with lethal precision. Despite the overwhelming speed and uracy disyed by the Dragonheart, Dread''s own reflexes and monstrous agility allowed him to lean back to avoid the cutting wind unleashed by Silver Wing''s edge. "Dragon Strike" was used with each slice, amplifying the strength of his de''s edge with his draconic might behind it. To counter, Dread enveloped his right fist in an overwhelming sleeve of darkness, shaping and solidifying it into a tangible form before mming it forward. "--!" Emilio managed to react to it, allowing his body to move instinctively as he flipped to the side to evade the iing blow. As Dread''s armored fist missed its intended target, the dark-d knuckles of the monstrous entity pounded the vacant space, cracking the wind and unleashing a shock wave that burrowed forth through the valley. The exchange between the two was a frightening spectacle, keeping those who witnessed it in awe, yet terrified second-by-second. Asher began to pick himself up, huffing, "...I need to get back in. He won''t win like this." "Hey, now! Are you crazy?!" Everett said. Stopping the Devilheart from jumping back into the fray, the bumpkin shielder ced his hands in his shoulders, seeing clear as day that Asher was still suffering from ragged breaths and a bruised core. "Ngh¡­! It''s¡­nothing!" Even as the Devilheart tried to assure the others of such, he failed to convince them with anything past words as he coughed out blood, holding his gut as he fell to a knee. "See?! You need to stay put!" Melisande said. Asher hardly seemed willing, though he knew better, "...Grgh¡­I know it seems like your friend there has be impossibly strong, but¡­the Dread is even more so¡­!" ¨C Such words were shown as Dread smiled, spreading his arms out as the ground around him began to split, being cleaved into as the air itself was sliced, forcing Emilio to leap back as his enhanced instincts kicked into further overdrive. "Violence is my domain! I thrive onbat! I live on it!--Come on and keep me engrossed, young warrior!" Dread called out with a smile before cocking his arms back. Unleashed by the monstrous entity, a barrage of dark eviscerations swept forth, varying from horizontal to vertical, some spinning, all cutting through the soul and rending the air as they sailed towards the Dragonheart. "--" Emilio remained focused, using the downhill momentum as he chased towards the Dread to alter his movement: beneath his feet, he summoned a flow of water, etching it across thend as he began to surf the steep hill. The wind hissed as it was parted by the Dread''s ominous des, prompting Emilio to lean side-to-side to alter his course as he surfed downward with his water-made board, barely avoiding the violent cleaves. Laughs echoed from Dread as he heightened the destructive capabilities of the shadow-born arcs, cleaving through thend as chunks of the tall hill were ripped away, flinging upward as Emilio was forced to maneuver masterfully. "I can''t watch this¡­!" Everett said anxiously. "Emilio!" Melisande yelled out in support. After the unsessful attempts to catch the Dragonheart with the eviscerations, Dread''sughter exploded as he sped his hands together, causing a vtile darkness to bubble up before the surrounding sky itself cracked. As the violent figure spread his arms, he smiled, "--Let''s see how you handle something a tad more serious." Emilio''s instincts red up just as the Dread''s next assault was born: darkness emitted from the figure''s hand, instantly stretching out from his position and throughout arge scope of the valley. "--!" The Dragonheart leapt up from the hill just as the sh of malevolence swept up through the hill, hearing a distorted howl emitting as the cry of darkness, witnessing the hill below bepletely enveloped in death as the grass dried up and crumbled away. Even the soil was turned to dark clumps before drying up and turning to a stone-like material; when squinting, Emilio could lightly see it: the essence of the Dread''s attack took the form of endless hands forged of shadows, gripping onto thend and taking its life away. "--Too bad!" Dread yelled out with augh. Chapter 262 Arrival Unbeknownst to Emilio as he was still in the air as a result of his leap from the enormous hill, he was right in the sights of the malignant entity, who was already halfway through following up his previous attack. He could feel it; what wasing was another sound-barrier shattering slice of darkness, prompting him to press his hand to his left as he used a burst of wind to propel himself to the right. Though just as he did, something sprouted from the ground below him¨C "--?!" Emilio looked down. An enormous limb made of intertwined, shadowy limbs reached him, gripping onto his left leg as he was halted in midair,pletely open to Dread''s attack. "Emilio!" Melisande shouted. There was nothing that could be done in that moment, even as Emilio began to summon another wall of stone to attempt to block the attack, the speed at which Dread unleashed the arcs of violence were far too swift. In an instant from once Dread moved his finger, the visceral darkness appeared on the Dragonheart''s body, cutting into his torso as a spray of ck blood released. "Ngh!" Emilio winced. As the limb of morphed hands released his leg, he began to fall downward with his eyes looking up towards the sky, seeing his own blood raining down as it continued pouring out. It was failing to heal; the wound refused to close, feeling as if the opposite was taking effect: the opened wound was forcing his blood out. "...Emilio!" The silver-haired girl shouted, moving forward with the intent of helping. "Damn it¡­! I''m really gonna die if I do this, but¨CI''m not the kinda'' guy who watches his friend die!" Everett shouted, about to follow Melisande. However, Asher stopped them as he raised his arm, still reeling from the injuries sustained in his sh with the violent entity. "What?! Didn''t you just want to go in a minute ago?!" Everett shouted. "...He''s right. Why''re you stopping now?" Yuna added. Asher breathed out, "If you move any closer, you''ll die." "Huh?!" Everett raised an eyebrow. "Emilio is¡­about to let it loose," Asher breathed out. ¨C As the Dragonheart plummeted towards the ground, with half of his own body now drenched in blood from his sliced-open chest, something flickered within him. In that moment, he saw it, perhaps a snapshot of the life he''d lived, he felt an inexplicable desire to stop Dread¨Cno matter the cost. ["Thank you, Emilio."] The voice that spoke to him in that moment of lost consciousness was painful to hear, yet at the same time it filled his heart with delightful emotion. He could hardly see who spoke to him as heid there in a puddle of his own blood, only seeing a familiar bandana and silver hair. ["...I really thought I lost her. You found her though¨Cit was you that saved her from that nightmare. As her big brother, that''s more than I could ever ask. You''re still not done though, are you, Emilio? Or, do you prefer Ethan?"] "...Joel¡­?" Emilio ced it together. Though in that instant as he briefly saw the emerald-eyed man, he opened his eyes to find himself back in the desecrated valley, jumping to his feet with a surged figure as he nted himself down. "You''re still¨C" As Dread held a smile with his words, they were cut short as the wind whistled in a sudden sh of heat that flooded through the surrounding area, causing heat waves to ripple as the soil around the Dragonheart''s feet sizzled and melted. Azure mes swirled around Emilio as he guided them, enhancing their heat and intensity beyond previous limitations. ¡­Everything. Right now, I need to use it all¨Ceven if I fall here, it needs to be for something, he thought. The inferno that was once wild and unstable began to condense, following the will of the Dragonheart as he shaped it, bringing multiple spheres of bright-blue light in the air around him that anchored the draconic mes. Using the spheres around him, he held his hand forward, invoking their internal heat as a bright, almost divine white mass of mes formed not just in front of the Dragonheart, but spread out around him. The Dread finally began to move in to form a counter, but stopped as the fruition of the Dragonheart''s all-out attack was revealed: It was a colossal head of a dragon, summoned in front of Emilio, forged from the azure mes that had been amplified to a heat so vast theirplexion heightened to an almost blinding white. ¡­This is it! Emilio thought. ["Dragonheart: Breath of Bestial Catastrophe] From the maw of the incorporeal dragon, a roar unleashed in the form of a smooth, refined ze, casting forward in a restrained path that swept across to the Dread in an instant. It was built forplete annihtion; mes that gave no room for life to flourish, and never again¨Cthe seeds imnted in the soil were erased, and all capabilities of life being born in the fields before the Dragonheart were ceased forevermore. This was the conceptual manifestation of the Dragonheart''s power: the azure mes it wielded¨Cthe Dragon Flow: the ability to erase, beyond healing, and surpassing all recovery. Even distances away, the heat could be felt as if it was right there; the group watched while sweating bullets. "...Damn hot!" Everett gasped out. The shielder breathed heavily, soaking from beneath his armor as the others struggled to bear the temperature as well. "...Emilio, do it¡­!" Asher grunted out. It was a majestic sight; the seraphic white heat zed through the desecrated forest from the mouth of the me-born dragon, swirling and dancing like a melody of destruction, natural to the other of creation. Everything was ced into it; the intent to destroy, unhindered, uninhibited by the Dragonheart''s mercy¨Can act of resolve, ced firmly forward even if it came with the price of death. ["I just wish I could''ve gone out¡­seeing the stars again."] ["Emilio, you''ve got it from here."] ¨CThe words that came from the very end of the life of two he held dearly to his heart flooded his ears as he stood there, pushing his body past its limits as his muscles tore themselves just to strain more strength out, pouring the mes forth from his weakening body. As it came to an end, Emilio stumbled forward, relinquishing the mes as blood continued leaking from the gash on his chest. "Emilio¡­! He''s bleeding out!" Melisande said. Rushing over to the side of their friend, Emilio stumbled, falling straight into the arms of Everett and Yuna, who caught him. "Hang in there, buddy¡­!" Everett yelled out. Though Asher stood ready now, wielding his ymore once more as he stood in front of the others, facing the direction of the blue-and-white smoke. "Asher? What''s¨C" Everett looked over. The sight caused stomachs to drop and breaths to halt as the figure revealed to them was haunting in all meaning: there he stood, the Dread, unmoved from his spot with his hand forward. A barrier of darkness melted away, revealing the left arm of Dread to be severely burned; it was an unhealing wound, causing the limb belonging to the once sealed entity to tremble. Dread''s expression had taken a turn to what looked to be a cross between surprise and rage at the state of its own arm, letting it drop down by its side. "He survived that¡­?" Melisande asked in horror. "It looks like he''s hurt though¡­! Emilio did a number on ''im!" Everett called out. "Tch!" Asher clicked his tongue. As the Dread moved towards them, it walked with a small limp, beginning to speak to nobody specifically, "I am violence incarnate. I am war. All I know is destruction. In the womb of creation, I fed on death. It was the way of mortals that nurtured me; their darkest thoughts, their gravest sins, and their unspeakable history¨Cthat is who I am." "What''s he talkin'' about¡­?" Everett muttered. "I don''t know, but it''s creepy," Yuna replied. Continuing on, the Dread spoke without any care for an audience, lumbering forward as darkness oozed from every pore of his ursed body. "...The Children of Chaos¡­the man who sought to free me, Amon¡­his mission¡­I see it now that I possess his memories," the Dread spoke, "What a beautiful aspiration. To delve the world into chaos, set it ame, tear it all down and build it anew for whateveres next¨Cit doesn''t matter what it is, who does it¨Cwhat matters is that this world is reset. I see¡­I shall use this aimless thirst for violence and point it in the direction you desire, Amon¡­I suppose that''s only fair." [Devilheart System Awakened¨C] Suddenly, the sky itself seemed to shift as a hole opened up in the ceiling of the upside down forest of the valley, revealing the outside world that had been hidden from those within the mystical valley the entire week. "What the¡­?" Everett looked up. It was as if seeing the falsity of the uninhabitable valley for the first time; the illusion shattered before their eyes once seeing the ceiling be opened like a tile above them. "...Emilio, he!" Melisande called out. "What¨C?" Asher looked back. "His bleeding¡­it''s stopped! He''s starting to heal again¡­!" Melisande happily called out, looking up with a smile of relief. The truth of this im was revealed to their eyes as the young Dragonheart''s lethal wound began to close itself with the ck threads of his unique blooding out to recover, stitching him together seamlessly. "...Why now, though?" Asher muttered. "You can thank me for that." The response came from an unknown party, causing Asher to spin around with his sword stopped not by the demonic man''s own intent, but by a single finger of the stranger that had appeared seemingly out of thin air. "Careful now, I''m not your enemy." Speaking to Asher with a smile was a youthful man with a pair of blood-red horns protruding from his head, brushing through his unkempt, fluffy tufts of hazel hair. The stranger had tan skin, wearing a ck uniform that resembled a suit with silver engravings along itsvish cloth; on his fingers, he wore exuberant rings and piercings on his ears. "You''re¡­" Asher mumbled, staring at the horns on the man''s head. "The name''s Scarlet¨CI''m from the Nihilum Core," the figure finally introduced himself, "We''vee to clean up this mess. That tends to be our job, anyway¨Cthough it seems like this takes the cake for a ''mess''." Chapter 263 The Nihilum Core Dances "The name''s Scarlet¨CI''m from the Nihilum Core," the figure finally introduced himself, "We''vee to clean up this mess. That tends to be our job, anyway¨Cthough it seems like this takes the cake for a ''mess''." The mention of the term ''Nihilum Core'' stood out to Melisande, who overheard an exnation of it beforehand, though it took a moment for her rattled mind to recall where as she stood there. The Nihilum Core¡­that''s what Faust was a part of! Roan mentioned it to Emilio¡­It''s the highest group of elites among the Guild Foundation! Melisande recalled. "''We''?" Yuna repeated. Scarlet held irises with the shine of sapphire jewels, looking forward, "--That''s Briggs over there." As the perplexed group looked over, they finally saw the other figure in question, wearing a matching uniform to Scarlet, though with massive, lion-headed gauntlets worn on his arms and a tinum helm worn over his head. The burly, helmed figure mmed his fist down towards Dread, forcing the malignant figure back. Even while missing, Briggs'' attack caused the ground to rumble and cave in from the point of impact, exploding as if an bomb had went off. "...Ngh!" Melisande held her arms up from the residual force of the distance attack. Asher was still focused on Scarlet, "You said we had you to thank for saving him¡­What did you do, exactly?" The question in mind was significant to Asher, seeing as Emilio was on a sure path to death previously, now in an unconscious state, clearly writhing in pain, but surviving in the arms of Everett. "Well, the Dread has the ability to cause any wound it inflicts to never stop bleeding¨Cthat is, unless I choose to stop that bleeding," Scarlet said, raising his hand. The Nihilum Core member''s disy revealed itself as the blood left on the ground peeled from the soil, rising into droplets above Scarlet''s hand. "He''s¡­controlling the blood?!" Everett let out. "Wait, then you''re¡­You''re a member of the Malediction n, aren''t you?" Asher asked, "--I thought that n of demons were extinct." Scarlet swiped his hand, dispelling the blood as he held his casual smile, "You thought wrong. Anyway, we''ve got it from here¨Cso right now, I''d focus on stabilizing your friend there." "What? I thought you already did that?!" Everett called out. "I''m not a medic," Scarlet rified, "I merely stopped his bleeding. That''s not the half of that kid''s problems, though. He managed to hold his own against the Dread, it seems, so¡­I''d prefer not to lose a reliable guy like that." It was only apparent then that Emilio''s body was in a worse state than first realized: his muscles spasmed and he groaned as steam left his skin. "He''s burnin''...! Hot!" Everett said. Fortunately, the heat was mitigated by the armor the shielder wore, still holding the young Dragonheart as the others looked worriedly. "What''s going on with him¡­?" Yuna asked. "...Emilio has some sort of healing ability, doesn''t he? I''ve noticed it," Asher asked. "Yeah. Why?" Melisande looked up. Asher squinted before sighing, "What he just used against the Dread¨Cthat sort of power didn''te naturally. He forced his body to unlock it without going through the proper path of making that strength his own. In turn, he ''overheated'' himself¨Cso much so that he is struggling even to properly recover." "Will he¡­?" Melisande quietly asked with trembling eyes. "He won''t die. However¡­I doubt he''ll be back in action for a while¨Che''ll need a long recovery," Asher said. ¨C It was just then that the wind howled, prompting them to look over as ance of darkness was thrown in their direction. Before it couldnd, it was stopped in its path as the Nihilum Core member near them raised his hand, manifesting a mist of red that formed into blood, creating a crimson wall between them and the spear. FWOOSH The nefarious spear crashed against the barrier of blood with an explosiveness that mimicked a colossal skull, though was sessfully held off by the surprisingly sturdy blood. "Wow¡­" Melisande let out. "I-I coulda'' done that, too!" Everett called out. Scarlet only gave a thumbs-up to those behind him before joining hisrade of the Nihilum Core in battle against the Dread. Briggs mmed his gauntlet forward, purposefully smashing his armored knuckles against the air as the Dread found itself being pulled forward by an unseen force. The helm-wearing man in the suit cocked his arm back as Dread was flung forward towards him, preparing a follow-up. SWISH Bullets of blood prated the wind, shooting forth in the dozens as they crashed against Dread''s body, who raised his guard in response as the crimson projectiles pelted him. "Hey!" Briggs called out, having a deep, explosive voice, "--That was my attack!" "If he''s open, he''s open¨CI''m not going to wait just because you''re too slow," Scarlet responded with a nonchnt smile, standing beside hisrade. Briggs grunted before facing forward, readying himself as he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Scarlet, who conjured strands of blood around himself. "You''re always a pain in the ass to work with!" Briggs said. "The feeling is mutual," Scarlet responded. It was at that moment that a startling spike in aura came from the Dread, who stood alone under a pir of his nefarious mana, oozing darkness from every pore of his body. "This sensation, it''s¡­" Melisande began to realize. "...He''s using ''that'' body, so it''s no surprise he can use that then. Still¡­this isn''t good," Asher said. The change was unknown to the two Nihilum Core members, but known well by those around Emilio, looking upon the body of Dread, who used Amon as a vessel: a seal over his heart revealed itself, stretching ck tattoos over his body. Soon, the being''s pale skin was inked in a pitch-ck veil as he began vibrating at a high frequency with the thumping of his heart resonating like an ominous drum. [Chaos Throttle: Requiem Overdrive] "The hell is that?" Scarlet raised an eyebrow. "Don''t know, but it doesn''t change the n!" Briggs rushed forward. "What''s your n? Punching him hard?" Scarlet sarcastically asked, dashing in beside hisrade. Increasing his own physical capabilities to match, Scarlet manifested ayer of blood under his suit, seen under the cor of his shirt and in the blood-red armor on his hands. Furthermore, he was capable of manipting his own blood flow, kicking it higher to manually trigger a form of adrenaline and his own reflexes. [Arterous Armor] However, as the two approached the vibrating figure¨Cit disappeared as a blur right before theirbination attack of a de of blood and a m of Brigg''s massive gauntlets came forth. It was speed unlike anything before; the nature of Dread allowed [Chaos Throttle] to be pushed beyond any limits touched by Amon,bining both qualities of the vessel and evil spirit into something much more horrific. "Hrah!" The blur appeared as a sh, knocking both Briggs and Scarlet back with blows that rumbled the sound barrier with such intensity that the likes of Melisande, Yuna, Everett, and Asher found themselves covering their ears from the ring sound. Still, despite such a shattering blow, both Scarlet and Briggsnded on their feet, though with a few coughs following. Scarlet brushed himself off, having to suck in another breath as a small smile of excitement appeared across his lips, "...Alright. It looks like this is something worth getting serious about. Whaddya say, Briggs?!" "I''d say my n has changed," Briggs yelled out, mming the knuckles of his mighty, exuberant gauntlets together as a small shock wave emitted, "--I''m going to punch him REALLY hard!" It was a race across the desecrated valley; through the torn fields of decayed grass and felled trees, the Nihilum Core duo moved, dodging and countering a force almost invisible to the naked eye. Though it was impossible even for Asher to spectate the movements of the blurred Dread, somehow Scarlet managed to toss out ropes of blood, manipting their movements before catching the unseen force of swiftness. "Gotcha!" Scarlet smirked. It only managed to stick for a second as the frequency of Dread''s vibrations along with the visceral darkness he had d himself in repelled the blood bindings, however¨C "Hyraaaah-!" Briggs charged in like a bull, squeezing his fist shut as the opulent runes embedded in his gauntlet shined bright before mming it against the fiend. The impact created a sh of light before an impact burrowed forward like a ray of howling energy, knocking Dread back. "Hey, are you sure you shouldn''t make your n to hit him REALLY, REALLY hard?! Looks like he''s still in one piece to me!" Scarlet called out. "Shut it! Let''s see you¨C" As Briggs went for a retort, the helmed, muscle-bound elite adventurer was interrupted as the blurred figure reappeared, summoning a colossal projection of darkness that took the shape of a hammer, mming it down atop the deep-voiced man. "Briggs!" Scarlet called out. The size of the blunt weapon of darkness mimicked that of an entire building, amplified by the density of boundless shadows, causing the soil to shatter and break apart as the roots beneath sprang out, however¨C "Raaaagh! I was¡­talking, you rude bastard!" Standing beneath the t side of the crushing projection, Briggs held the colossal hammer up, preventing himself from being squished as his knees bent and his gauntlets pressed up, disying the monstrous strength that allowed his muscles to coil with such steel-like sturdiness. "A little help, Scarlet!..." Briggs huffed. Scarlet snapped into focus, "Oh, right¡­! I''ve gotcha!" Rubbing his palms together, the blood-manipting man of demonic descent conjured spheres of blood before tossing them down into the general vicinity of Dread. "...You''re a slippery one, but even this ought to reach you," Scarlet whispered to himself. As the crimson spheresnded on the ground, numbering near a dozen, the elite adventurer clenched his fists shut, triggering the forms of the circr objects to dissolve before exploding into mists of blood. It wasn''t any normal blood; each droplet was razor sharp and infused with diseases purposefully ced into them by the maniptor of the element. The blur of Dread was barely seen, but the figure jumped back, forced to relinquish the colossal hammer that pressed down against Briggs. "Gh-!" Briggs stumbled forward once freed from the immense pressure. "You can thank me with a mug of the good stuff after this," Scarlet said,nding beside his partner. Briggsughed briefly, rotating his shoulder to ready himself, "--If we make it out of this, sure!" Chapter 264 Chaotic Chaos The first to make his move as Scarlet, utilizing such speed that the scenery before his view seemed to contort, seeing everything around him as a blur as he pushed his physical capabilities high enough to match the seemingly unapproachable swiftness of the Dread. Blood heated, flowing faster as Scarlet kept pace with the shadow-skinned being as the white of his eyes reddened in that moment in which he drove past the limits of his body. ["Blood-Red Dance"] The Dread clearly did not expect anybody toe close to its own speed, to which the experienced member of the Nihilum Core used this to his advantage: Scarlet summoned a sword forged of blood before swinging it forth. A result of the sword sh came as a scathing wind pressure infused with a cut of blood that allowed the range of the attack to sh far and wide through the valley, further turning the trees beyond into firewood as the Dread raised a split-second defense. Though the intertwined skulls that acted as a sturdy barrier mitigated the colossal sh of blood, eviscerations were left on the Dread''s body. "Tch," Scarlet clicked his tongue. In response to the half-sessful attack, Dread''s vibrations intensified as it shifted forward with speed that caused the wind to contort, lunging its hand towards the face of the blood-manipting demon. Crap¡­! Scarlet thought. As the hand of the Dread neared the Nihilum Core member''s face, he could feel the pressure of utter bloodlust oozing from that ckened palm, knowing full well that what wasing wasing quickly with the intention of death. The aspect of death itself was imprinted on the skin of the Dread; a single direct touch of that malignant aura would provide the unfortunate soul with a one-way ticket to the afterlife. "Hyraaaah-!" Charging in just before the Dread could make contact, the helmed, suite-wearing adventurer that epassed brute strength mmed one of his gauntlets towards the Dread. ''--!" The light that followed thevish gauntlets prompted even the Dread to act with caution as he pulled away, seeing those knuckles soar towards his head. "--Phew!" Scarlet let out a breath of relief. "You can thank me by buying me a beer after this," Briggs said. "...After that, you can have all the damn beer you want¨Cwe''re going to drive that bar out of stock!" Scarlet smirked, empowering himself with blood. "Now you''re speaking mynguage!" Briggs said, mming his gauntlets together. Even after the fruitless assaults so far, both of the Nihilum Core members stood tall, shoulder-to-shoulder with unwavering resolve, revealing their true strength atst. "Hate to admit it, but this guy is nothing to scoff at. It''s not going to take anything less than everything we''ve got, Briggs," Scarlet spoke with a more serious air about him. Briggs nodded, "Yeah. I already figured that out myself. It''s time to earn our pay." A crimson material stretched across Scarlet''s body, ovepping his attire in a refined armor of blood that possessed an opalescent sheen. In both of his hands, he forged blood sprouted from his own mana into twin des, holding them in a reverse grip. ["Arterial Armor: Blood Edge"] Briggs readied himself as he mmed both of his lion-faced gauntlets into the ground, embedding them multiple inches deep into the soil as he lowered his stance like a bull preparing to charge. An aura of rumbling light emitted from his form as his clothes began to tear off from his bulging muscles, which increased in size to reveal his dark-brown skin beneath, pressed with increased veins. ["Juggernaut of Light"] In response to the two''s all-out awakening, the Dread lifted a single finger before swiping it forward with a malediction of death: ["Augury of Evil"] That whisper invoked a rapidly multiplying slice of darkness that spread itself out, crisscrossing and intersecting many times as it began cleaving through the surrounding area with merciless destruction. Even as stone was chopped into perfect, tiny cubes around them, the two managed to hold their own¨Ceven flourishing in their response to the attack: Scarlet jumped up, spinning around with his des creating a stream of sharp blood that repelled the cutting shadows. Briggs dashed forward, moving as a construct of light as the image of a seraphic, white bull surrounded him as he blitzed through the array of shadows. It was a fight that none could step in to aid with; the array of dark lines would turn any fighter into mincemeat, so long as they didn''t possess extraordinary talent of their own. The battle surpassed anything that the group had witnessed; a sh of such a high-level that it felt as though a single second spent near it would result in death. "Briggs!" Scarlet yelled out. As the youthful, horned man in blood armor yelled out, he slid across the ground, avoiding a humming slice of darkness as he closed the distance between himself and the Dread. In that moment of life-or-death evasiveness, he reached under his coat before drawing a vial, throwing it towards the Dread. "--?" The Dread looked at the vial. Just as the malignant entity raised its hand to destroy the projectile storing blood, the vial shattered as the dark blood within it exploded, taking the form of many bindings before wrapping around the Dread. Though the violent figure tried snapping out of the crimson bindings with sheer strength alone, it failed to replicate the feat it once did with blood¨Cfinding the current arterial fluid around itself holding on with a herculean tightness. Scarlet held a serious expression, "--That''s special blood there¨Cstraight from a Death Crusher, don''t think you can snap out of it so easily!" As the Dread gritted his teeth, trying harder to snap free from the tight hold of the unique blood, a massive glow came straight to his abdomen. Therge figure of Briggs stood in front of the Dread now, having appeared with that light-like speed as his glowing gauntlet was pressed into the stomach of the evil being. "Gotcha," Briggs whispered. ck blood spit out from the Dread''s mouth as the vibrating entity was flung back, having no trees still standing to break its momentum. "Don''t let up¨C!" Scarlet yelled out to hispanion as he dashed forward with a subtle stream of red light trailing behind him in his unfathomable speed. ? The blood-maniptor followed the knocked-back Dread, bringing both of his hands together as hebined both of his blood-forged swords into arger, more daunting greatsword of crimson essence. This is our chance¡­we need to finish it, now! Scarlet thought. As he met up with the flung-back Dread, he went in for a strike towards its neck to behead the malevolent figure, though just as he swung his blood-made de forward, the vibrating entity contorted its body around. "--!" Scarlet''s eyes widened. In that moment between moments, there was no pulling back as the Dread reversed its own momentum, raising its left arm as it flexed it with darkness reinforcing its toughness¨CSQUELCH. It endured the sword strike, catching the crimson sword in its forearm, stopping it from going any further. Before Scarlet could pull awaypletely, it was toote to avoid the volley of dark arrows unleashed at lightning-like speed forth. One pierced straight through Scarlet''s left shoulder, boring a clean hole as another went through his side. "Scarlet!" Briggs called out, catching up to the fight. Still, the Nihilum Core member didn''t so much as falter to a knee as he gritted his teeth, staying standing as he was knocked back several meters. "Push¡­Don''t stop!" Scarlet screamed out. Of course, they were veterans; trained to be elites among elites, of the highest caliber: Briggs swallowed his worry, pushing on without restraint as he mmed his knuckles together with a shock wave emitted from his position. ["Behemoth of Light"] This time, a construct of light in the form of a behemoth surrounded Briggs as he dashed forward, roaring straight towards the Dread without a bone of fear in his body. The warriors in this time¡­are amazing! The Dread thought with a vicious smile, So brave! So brazen! This reckless abandon¨Cthey are without a doubt, the greatest! The Dread amplified himself with a massive aura of darkness before pushing both of his hands forward as Briggs neared him, unleashing a burst of far-epassing shadows that shrieked outward. "--!" Briggs raised his gauntlets like a shield in front of his body. In an instant, the shriek of darkness unleashed by the Dread reached the span of the entire forest, further erasing the existence of thend of nature from the region. ¨C Meanwhile, the others kept watch of Emilio, who was in a state that could hardly be passed as "survivable" as the young Dragonheart continued groaning, periodically letting out sharp yells of pain. "Emilio¡­!" Melisande worriedly called his name. "Tch¡­! I want to help him, but I don''t know the first thing about magic!" Everett said. The ground rumbled beneath them as Yuna and Asher looked over, witnessing the burst of darkness the Dread had unleashed, filling the false sky was a majestic array of ck-and-purple light. "...It''s not getting any better out there," Yuna said. "Still¡­we''ve got to help Emilio somehow!" Everett said, "He really stuck his neck out there for us earlier! Right, Melisande?!" Melisande didn''t respond for a moment as her focus was on the agonized young man, gripping onto his hand to provide support before she finally nodded, "...Yeah. Yeah! He needs us¡­!" Asher looked at them, "Right now, the best we can do is¡­supply him with mana." Reaching over, the injured Devilheart ced his hand on Emilio''s chest, gifting portions of his mana to the unconscious Dragonheart. "Wait, but¡­you''re hardly in any better shape than him!" The red-haired demi-human called out. "I''m fine¡­I''ll manage," Asher said, wincing. Seeing the injured man give his own mana, the others were prompted to chip in as well, cing their hands on Emilio''s body as they aided him with much needed energy. Chapter 265 Fight On, Nihilum Core! Amidst the chaotic sh, the nefarious smoke dispersed as Briggs revealed himself to be still standing, though his muscle-d body was covered in small wounds as he huffed. "Impressive," The Dreadplimented him. "Save it," Briggs responded. Just as the Dread raised his hand to go for another attack, having a clear shot on Briggs, who was clearly left exhausted after enduring the enormous swarm of darkness, ''something'' made the Dread pause as he looked to the side sharply. ¨CHowever, what set the Dread''s instincts off came from the other side: Scarlet reappeared, taking the Dread''s left by surprise as he used his crimson greatsword. "Hyraaaah¡­!" Scarlet roared out. In a vicious sh, the man sliced the right hand of the Dread straight off of its wrist, halting any attack. There was no agony present on the Dread''s expression as the concept of pain was foreign to the entity, however, a look ofplete shock took over from the unexpected attack. "Nraaaah!" A primal scream echoed from the horrendous depths of the Dread''s being, rumbling the desecratednd not with a pained cry but an angered war cry. Just after the hand of the entity was lobbed off, Scarlet didn''t have enough to move out of the way of the vicious retaliation, slowed by the holes pierced through his body. "Nngh¡­!" A mouth of darkness snapped onto Scarlet''s body, carrying him upward and past the height of trees. "Scarlet! Grrrh¡­!" Briggs yelled out, charging forward to get back into the fight. Being carried through the false sky by the bestial mouth of shadows, Scarlet was mmed into the reverse forest in the sky. "--Ghh! Crap!" Scarlet coughed out as his back was pressed into the upside down forest, looking down at the ground below. Even though Briggs embodied an explosive speed that allowed him to move as a sh of light, there was a fatal w in the ability possessed by the man, one that the Dread had perceived: Briggs could only move in a single direction, unable to change his course once he began his dash. "--Gk!" As the helm-wearing, dark-skinned man charged by, attempting to bash one of his gauntlets through the malevolent entity, he missed in a startling fashion, instead tearing through the hill in front of him with the wind pressure of his blow. Appearing at the man''s side, the Dread moved with nonchnt swiftness; stepping as though unimpressed by the prowess of his opponent as he jabbed a single finger against Briggs'' side. "Too simple," the Dread quietly said. ? Before Briggs could react, a nefarious force emitted from the being''s fingertip, stabbing into the burly adventurer''s side with knives forged of malicious shadows. Though blood spilled from the helm that hid Briggs'' face, he flexed his body as veins pressed against his skin, taking even the primordial Dread by surprise as he lifted one of his arms with a loud grunt. Moving past the pain, even as the knives dug into his flesh, Briggs swept his dense gauntlet to the side, knocking it against the left cheek of the Dread with a loud ''crack'' emitting through the battlefield. Though even such a blow by the mighty Briggs didn''t move the Dread from his step as he caressed his own cheek with a small smile, thriving from violence. "What a warrior you are," the Dread spoke in an almost a sarcastic tone. "--You talk a lot for a ghost!" Briggs yelled out as he lunged forward, causing the jewels embedded in his gauntlet to shine once more, this time inhabiting the thunderous might of the sky as bright-yellow lightning bolts coiled around his arms. Even as blood squirted from the wounds in his side, Briggs threw his lightning-infused fists forward as if there were no shackles of mortality on his body; the Dread weaved through the blows, summoning shields of darkness on its forearms to block every now and then. It was clear when witnessing the movements of the Dread; the entity was continuously growing stronger and more adept with the vessel it inhabited, growing more skilled and sentient. As another massive haymaker came from Briggs, piercing through the air with a shriek of lightning, the Dread ducked below it, extending its hand forth with a single utterance: "Death¨C" Though before the invocation of malevolence could manifest, Briggs countered it with an unseen knee straight to the entity''s chin, cracking it and knocking the Dread up. "You may have all the power you need, but you''re no warrior¡­!" Briggs roared. "Grk¨C" Having bit his tongue, the Dread leaked ck blood from its mouth before adjusting to the blow, fixing his stance as his body vibrated at a high-frequency once more. "Fine," the Dread muttered, "--I wanted to enjoy my awakening, but I''ll have to destroy you¨Cright here and now." That resolve of manughter was felt by Briggs as the Dread vanished right before his eyes with that blurred speed, prompting the veteran adventurer to spin around just as the vibrating figure reappeared. Shit¡­! Briggs thought. "Gates of Hell." The primordial magecraft utilized by the Dread came in the form of long, spiked rods resembling those that made up a nefarious gate, surrounding Briggs and spearing towards him. SQUELCH Through Briggs'' right bicep, left thigh, and into one of his shoulders, the malignant rods pierced the temple of muscle that was Briggs'' body. "Grrhhh¡­!" Briggs winced, gritting his teeth. They weren''t forged of any mortal material; the impalements etched a ''binding'' effect into Briggs, injecting his flesh with a decaying factor as he was slowly killed from the inside. The Dread looked at him, "It was a fun dance, warrior. Now, I''ll tend to your friend¨C" However, just as the primordial entity began to turn around, a herculean feat that shouldn''t have been possible was witnessed as even when stuck through by the hellish rods, Briggs brought one foot up, stepping over before lunging at the figure. "How¨C" In that split-second, the Dread stepped back: in the soul of the force of evil, a certain fear was felt in the seemingly unstoppable resolve of the human man before him. "---Grkk¡­!" Briggs'' inexplicable charge came to a halt, however, as the Dread''s quick reflexes summoned one more spear, thrusting it through the abdomen of the muscle-bound figure as it perfectly pierced his bellybutton. Blood spilled in heavy abundance from the mouth of the Nihilum Core member, leaking from his helm as he came to a halt, spitting it up as it sshed onto the torso of the Dread. "--" The Dread stood there for a moment, as if not knowing whether once more, the man would ovee his own flesh for a reckless charge. Just as the malevolent being''s guard rxed, a figure dropped down beside him with absolute killing intent. Scarlet had a glow in his sapphire irises, crouched down afternding from a fall down from the sky as he moved his hand up. ¨CI forgot about the other! The Dread thought. "...I''ll put that blood you spilled to good use, my friend," Scarlet said. It was just then that the primordial figure noticed a fatal w in his own judgment, ncing down to see the burly one''s blood painted on his body. I''ll make sure the opening you gave me wasn''t in vain. Even if I have to die to do it! Scarlet thought. "Raaaaagh¨C!" A primordial roar left the maw of the Dread, who at once unleashed everything it had, distorting its own image with darkness as it lunged at the blood-maniptor in desperation. With a single clench of his hand, Scarlet controlled the fluid spilled by Briggs that had stained the Dread''s vessel, causing it to vibrate before turning the liquid into a reinforced form, shaping it into spikes that pierced through the Dread''s body many times over. Even yet, the Dread moved like a feral animal¨Cset on attacking even at the cost of its own body as the entity forced its limb to stretch and contort, gripping onto Scarlet''s side with fingers forcibly made into ws. "Nnngh!" Scarlet winced as his side was clenched, being stabbed into by the Dread''s desperate hold. To the Dread''s dismay, the horned man still held strength in his sapphire eyes, not letting up as he stood his ground. There was no risk taken in Scarlet''s move: he infiltrated the being''s stolen body with the blood, forcing it to rapidly spread out and stretch into spikes, skewering the entity''s body from the inside out. "...Grrh¨C!!" The Dread vomited up ckened blood from its mouth. Any blood spilled from the Dread was immediately used without any mercy as even the fluid that leaked from its mouth was used by Scarlet, who gritted his teeth, bearing through his own pain as he skewered the tongue of the Dread, tearing through his cheeks with the figure''s own arterial fluid. ¡­I need to finish it! Right here! Right now! This is it¨C! This is our shot! Scarlet thought. The Dread''s body was covered in eviscerations and small holes, opened from the inside as ck fluid leaked from its wounds, growling with a monstrous reverberation as it tightened its hold on the man''s side, tearing into it as the flesh began to peel away from Scarlet''s side. "Arggh¡­!" Scarlet yelled out, beginning to loosen his hold on the foreign blood. Chapter 266 Everett, The Shield That Protects Others It was only by a single thread that Scarlet remained on his feet, conscious at that, holding his trembling hand forward as agony soared through his body. Sweat dripped down his chin and blood leaked from his wounds, at his wits end as the tenacious entity of violence continued to tear into his side. Just as Scarlet felt his resolve nearing its end, having to sustain himself second-by-second¨C SQUELCH The outstretched, contorted limb of the Dread was cut off in a clean sh from an unexpected reentrant into the battle. Asher had leapt in, already armored in his stage five Devilheart hide as his ymore hit the soil after cutting through the Dread''s arm. "Grrrgh¨C!" The Dread hissed, looking over. Scarlet was relieved at that moment, but it was instantly reced by worry, "--Move!" It was enough of a callout as Asher spun around just as the Dread smacked him with its other limb, possessing such strength that a shock wave broke out once the Devilheart was blown back. For just that moment, Scarlet''s focus faltered¨Cbut that singr moment was enough of an opportunity for the desperate entity as its entire body vibrated at a frequency beyond any conceivable limits, causing the ground to rumble rapidly before all of the blood around it was dispelled by the high-frequency movement. "...No!" Scarlet yelled out. The moment the Dread was freed from the countless des of blood, there was no sense of yfulness from it anymore as it lunged forward with unmatched speed, catching Scarlet before the man could raise his guard. A roar emitted from the Dread''s lips, past the point of feigning humanity as it swiped its palm against the Nihilum Core member''s chest, unleashing a shredding explosion of darkness that sted Scarlet away, knocking the consciousness out of the man in one, fell swoop. As Briggs was held in the bindings of the "Gates of Hell" and Scarlet was left with torn flesh, burned and unconscious, the Dread stood, leaking ck blood with a missing arm¨Cbut there it stood, as the victor. All of thebatants capable of fighting the Dread were wiped out; the valley was left in a hollow state from the various rounds of the battle, torn, cleaved through, and unstable for life. The group that had been by Emilio''s side all this time felt fear unlike any other; a bleakness unmatched by anything else. After a few moments, the Dread looked over at them, emitting a bloodlust that made any knee-deep bravery turn into cowardice. However, even with shaky knees, the bumpkin shielder stood tall, holding his shield up as he stood between the Dread and hispanions behind him. "...Everett¡­" Melisande quietly said, still holding Emilio''s hand. The silver-haired girl tasked herself with keeping a steady flow of mana transferring into the young Dragonheart, which seemed to help him rx somewhat from his agonized sleep. "Nhhgh¡­" Emilio quietly groaned. Everett held a half-cocked smile that trembled, "Stay behind me. I''ll hold the line!" Hope was in by the presence of the Dread; a being that lived up to the name bestowed upon it. Seeing even the revered members of the Nihilum Core fail to bring it down, the recruits felt as though they were merely pebbles before a moving mountain. "...This is it¡­" Everett mumbled quietly through uneven breaths. Everythin'' in my life¡­It''s alle down ''ta this, Everett stood tall, steadying his breathing as his bright-blue eyes held his strength within them, Growin'' up in that small vige¨Clittle me would''ve never imagined this! That''s right¡­! I''vee this far! I''ve got my armor, I''ve got my shield¨CI''ve got my body and my courage! "Everett, you don''t have to¨C" Melisande began to say. Though before the frightened, silver-haired girl could finish her words, they were interrupted by the tall, boisterous figure that stood high and strong. "Standin'' bravely in the face of insurmountable odds is what knights are all about!" Everett yelled out, mming his shield down in front of him a few times. Just then, the Dread unleashed a wave of darkness towards the group, sweeping through the battered fields as the malignant air siphoned the life from any nts. Everett made sure he waspletely shielding those behind him, nting his massive shield down just as the destructive tsunami reached their position, crashing against his shield with a mighty weight. "Nngh¡­!" Everett nted himself firmly down. The nefarious mysticism wielded by the violent force shrieked, howling with the souls trapped within its essence; all around the group, parted by the enduring shield, the winds of shadows carved through the ground. "Stay behind me¡­! Don''t move¡­an inch, ya hear?!" Everett called out. It was an unordinary amount of power; the weight of it was like a sea of mercury, pushing and continuously battering his shield, and subsequently, his body. A tremendous heat emitted against the shield, rattling his armor as he could feel his arms going numb. "Ghhh¡­!" As just a single scrape of the darkness touched his left cheek, it melted a small bit of flesh, though with the constant force weighing down on his bones and feeling as though his muscles were tearing whilst holding down firmly, Everett hardly acknowledged it. I''m not¡­lettin'' go! Everett resolved. It became all-epassing; the tidal wave of flesh-melting darkness howled and screamed, voiding out the scenery around the group as nothing could be seen but the terrifying force. The strain left on the shielder''s body became clear as day to those witnessing the sturdy man as the sound of his muscles tearing from beneath his armor and his bones cracking became nauseatingly loud. Soon, blood began dripping from between the grooves of his ragtag armor, instantly blending with the darkness as it fell to the wind. "Everett¡­! You can''t keep this up!" Yuna yelled. The brave man dressed in the enduring armor didn''t respond, keeping his teeth clenched and his boots nted against the quaking ground. Melisande sat there on her knees beside the unconscious Dragonheart, keeping his hand held tightly as she looked upon the back of the shielder, "...Emilio, please wake up¡­" It was a relentless assault from the monstrosity left standing in the destroyed valley; the nefarious storm tore thend apart at the seams, focusing it in a brutal attack aimed towards the shielder. The intensity heightened as the shrieking of the soul-filled darkness turned into a bellowing roar, causing Everett''s boots to slide back a good meter before he stopped himself. "...Nrgh¡­!" Everett gritted his teeth. It was like a million unseen des cutting forth at once, chopping away at his sturdy shield, cleaving through even its tough material. I''ve gotta hold out¡­''till Emilio wakes up! Everett thought. CRACK "--Huh?!" Hope sank as the precious shield, the lifeline of Everett, began to be filled with cracks from the overwhelming pressure beforepletely shattering. "Everett¨C!" Yuna and Melisande both yelled out. As the singr line of defense between them all and the lethal darkness was destroyed, there was no longer anything preventing what seemed to simply be inevitable. However¨C "--!" The darkness did not yet reach Melisande or Yuna, surprising the silver-haired girl as she hugged the unconscious Dragonheart, choosing in that moment to use her body to shield his own. As Melisande slowly looked up, she found a site that stood beyond miraculous¨Cit simply defied all logic. Everett remained standing strong, no longer wielding a shield but having caught the emerald jewel that was once embedded in the shattered barrier, holding it in front of him as he stabilized the rune-wielding hand with his left. "Everett¡­?! How?" Melisande asked in shock. It possessed a special attribute, able to reflect all malicious force, at least to some degree. As it was only a ''minor rune''--all Everett could afford with his meager savings, it was far from perfect. However, in this pivotal moment of life-and-death, the shielder stood strong with a new lifeline held tightly in his bleeding hands. Finally, Everett spoke amidst the storm of darkness, "Fightin'' somethin'' like this¨Cright now, aren''t we the real deal?...Standin'' up to evil to protect my friends¨Cno, the whole damn world! This¡­is what I''ve always dreamed of!" With a fearsome smile perched on his lips, the resolve hadn''t wavered a single inch within the spirit of the shielder; though Everett''s body was whittled down, battered and beaten by the deathly storm, nothing had changed¨Che still smiled while keeping his sapphire eyes forward. The armor worn by the bright-eyed bumpkin began to crack as well, being broken apart little-by-little as the gauntlet protecting the rune-wielding hand was the first to go. "Grgghh-!" Everett winced. Immediately, tears formed along the stalwart man''s muscr arm; the darkness was only mitigated against his own body, however, this allowed those behind him to remain unharmed. "He''s going to kill himself at this rate¡­! No, it''s a surprise he''s not dead already!" Yuna said worriedly, grabbing her daggers. Melisande looked at the demi-human rogue, "--What''re you nning to do?! What good is running out there going to do for us now?!" Yuna struggled to find a response, though it was clear that she loathed being kept to simply sit and wait as the shielder tore himself apart for her. "...Dammit! If you die, I''ll kill you!" Yuna shouted to Everett. Augh left the man''s lips as his golden locks werebed back by the intense winds, holding the repulsion jewel forward as only scraps of his armor were left on his body. Still, it wasn''t getting any easier; eviscerations swept across his arm, causing a chunk of his own flesh to be flung by the wind and smack against his own cheek. shes began to reach his chest periodically, bypassing the deterring effect of the jewel as it began to sumb to its lifespan. ¡­I don''t have any grand reasons why I fight. There''s no call of fate keepin'' me standin'' here. This is what I want, Everett thought, I don''t think anybody needsa'' excuse to protect others! Chapter 267 Push With Everything Between the man''s trembling fingertips, the emerald rune rapidly cracked over before shattering into particles, leaving him utterly defenseless as only bits and pieces of his trusty armor still hang loosely to his exhausted body. "Everett¡­!" Melisande yelled out. "Get out of the way, you''ll¡­!" Yuna called. ¨CYet, the shielder did not move a single step. It was a promise made not just to those behind him, but to himself: the stake of his life and integrity as a defender, a pact he set on his own soul: Not a single hair¡­not a single hair on their heads will be harmed! Everett resolved. It was an act that supplied both fear and hope, so drastic and inexplicable in theck of self-preservation needed: spreading his arms out, Everett stood firmly as he stood between the nefarious storm and hisrades behind him. Immediately, a spill of blood was seen as the violent shadows began eviscerating the man''s body, cutting into him on his entire frontal side, but he did not allow himself to give even a single inch. "...If I don''t have my shield, I have my armor! If I don''t have my armor, I have my body!...And even if my body starts to give, I have my will!" Everett shouted from the top of his lungs up to the heavens. The man stood as an immovable mountain amidst the world''s wrath, enduring it all as he yelled out to supplement his own fleeting strength. "...Everett!" Yuna yelled. ¨CAfter what felt like an eternity, the malignant storm came to an end as pebbles stopped rattling on the ground and the shadowy winds calmed, settling down. "...Huff¡­" The Dread held an unchanging look on his face, though it was clear that the result before the evil being''s eyes were unexpected. "Well, that was quite a showing," The Dread spoke. Still on his feet with trembling knees and a quivering body, Everett still stood, dripping with blood from seemingly every inch of his body as his golden locks became dyed in the dark-red essence of his own life-supplying liquid. Even as enough blood to form a puddle at his feet grew, Everett couldn''t help but still wear a half-cocked smile as he looked straight at the Dread. "...I see. On the brink of death, you must not feel much fear now," The Dread spoke. "That''s not it¡­" Everett slowly shook his head. "Hm?" The Dread watched him from afar. The man drenched in blood smiled, straightening himself up once more as he faced down the violent entity, "We''re not in too different shape now, that''s it! If I''m feelin'' it right now¡­you must be reelin'' yourself!" It was those confident words of the one who stood as a ''mere human'' to the Dread that ignited a level of anger in the primordial being who was missing an arm himself with a bodyyered in eviscerations. "...You think just because my vessel is damaged, we''re on a simr level now?" The Dread quietly asked. "--!" "Everett!" Not given much of a chance to react, the shieldless defender''s eyes widened as the Dread suddenly appeared in front of him with that blurred speed, bringing with him a mountain of bloodlust. "--How about I show you how wrong you are?!" The Dread posed. Crap¡­I''m dead! Everett thought. Yuna was nimble enough to react to the iing strike, though even with a dash with her cat-like prowess, she wasn''t close enough to intercept the iing swipe of a dark-forged de held in the Dread''s hand. "Ngh!" "What¨C?!" The Dread let out, stopped in his path. A hand armored in demonic hide had wrapped around the mutted Dread''s ankle, gripping onto it tightly before all eyes followed its source: a dozen meters back, the Devilheart was huffing, on his feet as he used the unorthodox nature of his armor to stretch his limb. "You¨C" The Dread scowled. "Me," Asher responded in a quiet, determined breath. Though before a retaliation could be made, Asher withdrew his hand, causing the Dread to trip before being flung into the air. "Nnnghraaah!" Asher yelled out. There was nothing held back as in his other hand, the Devilheart prepared a condensement of the Devil Force he wielded, bringing the Dread up before mming him back down through the tainted winds of the destroyed region. "What''re ya doin''--?!" Everett looked over at Melisande and Yuna. Specifically, Melisande was attempting to use the basic usage of healing magic she had ess to, but was denied by the injured man. "Huh¨C?" Melisande looked up at him. Yuna was perplexed too in that moment, looking at the man who had one foot in the grave, "What''s your problem?--You''re on death''s door, you know?!" "This is our chance!" Everett screamed as blood dripped from his lips, "...Don''t let up now! Look at him! He''s fightin'' still! We can''t lose this opportunity¡­!" It was a tough pill to swallow when looking at the trembling, mutted form of Everett, but just as the enemy in question was mmed into the ground by the Devilheart, there was no need for hesitation. "C''mon!" Yuna said, dashing in. "Right¡­!" Melisande readied herself forbat, breathing in. Asher didn''t let up for a moment, engulfing his ymore in a hefty swarm of his demonic energy as he rushed towards where the Dread had been embedded. It was clear the Devilheart wasn''t running at full-power himself, yet among the others, he by far possessed the most physical prowess as each step he took left a trail of cracking, demonic energy. Resembling ck lightning, it coiled around Asher''s ankles as he sped through the crumbling field, dragging his engulfed ymore through thend as it carved into it before finally shing it towards theid out Dread. "--Don''t lose your edge thinking I''m out of this." The vile voice of the Dread spoke out just before Asher reached him, witnessing the air vibrate before the figure shifted out of the ground as a blur, moving at a heightened frequency once more as the air hummed around him. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. It was kicked up to a higher degree; like a mighty drum being rapidly beat, the heart of the Dread''s vessel thumped wildly as the augmentation of its body increased. Just as Asher raised a spiraling, ck shield of energy in front of himself, the Dread blitzed forward with speed that howled like a bolt from the sky, mming his fist down against the barrier. "Ngh-!" Asher endured. Though the swirling shield held for the initial impact, the vibrating knuckles belonging to the Dread''s sole arm produced a continuous force that shattered it a second after. As the fist sailed down towards the skull-helm covering Asher''s head, the Devilheart ducked down to avoid the swift blow. FWOOSH The wind contorted from the failed connection of the Dread''s blow, though Asher knew it was only a split-second miracle he managed to evade it as he spun around to counter with a kick. A turn of the Dread''s hips allowed it to vanish from the path of the kick, growing a limb of darkness from its amputated arm. "--!" Asher watched ite closer in that fraction of a second. "Wind Bore!" A st of wind came with miraculous precision, hitting the elbow of the Dread and knocking the attack ever-so-slightly to the side, merely grazing the Devilheart''s head as half of the demonic armor was flung off in the process. It was a battle of milliseconds; a reflex, a twitch, a reaction just a moment too soon would be a loss¨CAsher kenw this as he didn''t waste a moment rushing forward after his foe missed their attack, lunging forth with his ymore held forward. "Hraaaagh-!" Asher yelled out. Thrusting the ymore forward with a spiral of demonic force around the steel, the Devilheart used it like a knight jousting with ance, pointing it towards the audibly beating heart of the Dread. "--No!" The Dread spit out as blood leaked from his lips. The malevolent being managed to catch the de just as the tip stopped before its chest, clenching it as it tore at the vibrating fiend. "Grrgh¡­!" Asher struggled, trying to push it forward. "You won''t¡­!" The Dread spewed out. The ground rumbled between the two as they exerted their aura, pushing their physical strengths against one another as pebbles levitated and sparks spread across the cracked soil. In a contest of strength, even the Devilheart struggled with both hands on the handle as the Dread began pushing it away from its chest. If I can just push it¡­a bit farther!...A bit more, and this will be over! Asher thought. Drawing further power from the depths of his being, the reincarnated young man summoned a cape of pitch-ck skulls, cascading down his back as [Stage Five] entered full-throttle. Due to the tattered state of the Dread''s vessel, Asher was able to begin to slowly move his de closer. "Nnngh¡­!" Asher struggled. Chapter 268 Unstoppable Force "Nnngh¡­!" Asher struggled. As the Dread continued to contest him, seething and drooling blood as all form of calm was swept away from the arrogant entity, it was taken by surprise from an unexpected third party¨C SQUELCH A pair of eviscerations swept across the unguarded back of the Dread,ing the dual-dagger wielding demi-human who didn''t stick around any longer than she had to, avoiding a retaliatory re from the Dread. Even with just a stare, the being of utter violence managed to summon a small-scale explosion of darkness, to which Yuna barely flipped past to avoid. ¡­Yes! Asher thought. That small distraction was enough to give him a tiny push, piercing through theyer of sable skin of the Dread as the tip of his ymore neared the entity''s heart. "...I have a purpose¡­! I am a necessity of this world!" The Dread spat out, "--I''ve seen it through the ones of the one originally wielding this body! This world is diseased! It is foul! Beyond saving! I will wipe it all out, and give it a new chance¡­! A better world wille from those who learned!" "Shut up!" Asher yelled, "This world¡­isn''t yours to decide anything for!" Bolstering himself in the Devil Force that empowered his entire being, Asher stomped his foot down as he summoned all of his strength for one more push, inching the de deeper into the Dread''s foul vessel. "...No! I will¡­not fall!" As the Dread howled with a primordial echo to his bellowing voice, distorted by rage, he raised his absent arm, once more summoning a projection of darkness like an ethereal armor. "--!" Before Asher could pierce the being''s fragile, thumping heart, feeling it resonate against the steel of his de, the Dread now gripped onto the ymore with both hands, beginning to pull it out. Not like this¡­! I was so close! Asher thought. "Nnnngrah!" The Dread howled out, inching the steel out. As Asher felt himself being overpowered, with his muscles cramping and his body screaming at him as it far since reached its limit in the fantastical contest of strength, an inexplicable shadow loomed over. "--What?!" The Dread nced back. From behind, a burly figure wrapped his arms under the Dread''s shoulders, getting him into a full-nelson lock. "Everett?!" Asher called out. The half-dead bumpkin coughed out, holding the figure in the lock as blood squirted from his numerous wounds, "Hurry¡­! I can''t hold ''im long!" "Unhand me¡­!" The Dread hissed. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. As the drums of horror thumped once more, the Dread''s body began to violently vibrate, reeling in a yell of agony from Everett as the vibrations agonized his wounds. A single stumble came from Everett, though to the surprise and dismay of the Dread, the figure did not cease his hold. "...How?! What''re you made of?!" The Dread asked. Everett wryly chuckled, "I''m just¡­a good ol'' fashioned human!" Though hesitation kept Asher''s de still as he stood there, perplexed as his helm crumbled away, staring straight at Everett. "What''re ya'' waitin'' for?!" Everett yelled. "I can''t do this without hitting you, too!" Asher exined. Everett winced as the vibrations continued terrorizing his body, "I¡­I already was prepared for that! Just¡­do it! I can''t hold ''im much longer than this!" The act of selflessness took hold of those witnessing the scene; Yuna and Melisande both were frozen in the moment, but Asher, holding that ymore in his hands and knowing the danger of the Dread, knew well what he had to do. "...You''re a good man, Everett," Asher said. Everett smiled, "--Ya canpliment me after that sword is through this sucker''s heart!" The exchange of resolve was a soulbound agreement between Asher and Everett; both understood what needed to be done, even if it came at a sacrifice of life. It was a hard choice, and one that needed to be made in a split-second; Asher knew he would have to thrust that de forward without regrets¨Chowever, there was no fear of making the wrong move as he could feel the impervious courage of Everett before him. "Do it!" Everett yelled. "Nnnngraah-!" The Dread screamed a primordial echo, rippling the soil around itself as the shock wave fought against the bumpkin''s hold. Without taking any second chances, the Devilheart raised his ymore as a spike of demonic energy spiraled around him, reinforcing the armor that spawned around his body and empowering himself to the highest degree possible. "What''s your family name?" Asher asked. It was a question of respect; the Devilheart sent this question as a final way of honoring the man, or more aptly, to gain a means of honoring him by remembering his full name. Everett strained himself, flexing his muscles with all of his might as he kept the thrashing Dread anchored to the one spot, "...Everett! Everett Shieldholder!" The name was surprising, but at the same time, it was hardly surprising¨Cfitting for the man who embodied the concept of a ''shield'' to the very end. "I''ll make sure all know of the brave knight¨CEverett Shieldholder," Asher said. A small chuckle left the country born recruit''s lips while the Dread continued howling out, witnessing the empowered Devilheart point his illustrious de forward, gathering it in a veil of demonic force. ¡­And I''ll make sure you''re put down for good, Dread, Asher thought. Just as Asher lunged forward, spearing his ymore forward as it crackled against the sky with bolts of nefarious energy, the strength of Everett faltered only the slightest¨Chowever, that slight loosening of the hold was enough. The Dread flexed its torn body, propelling a massive shock wave from himself, "--Hraaaah!" "Ngh¨C?!" Asher felt himself being knocked back. It was a desperate release; the shock wave rippled across the fields, knocking over eviscerated trees and flinging both of the recruits back as the Dread freed itself from the bumpkin''s hold. "...No! Grrrh¡­dammit!" Everett coughed out. The Milligarde-born shielder dropped to his knees, having spent his body as it was pushed far beyond its limits, unable to stand properly before Yuna extended a hand to him after appearing by his side. Everett looked at the woman''s hand, "...We were so close." "You''re still alive, so that counts for something," Yuna told him. It was written all over Everett''s bruised and cut face that he was unhappy with how it all happened, but he epted the demi-human''s hand by smacking and sping it, being helped to his feet. "What now?" Yuna asked. Everett breathed out, "...Pray for a damn miracle." Just as the man said that, his consciousness finally gave out, slumping over before being caught in Yuna''s arms. "...Reckless idiot," Yuna said. Even as the Dread''s own vessel was mutted, missing an army and soaked in ckened blood, dripping like a fish out of water, the potency of its primordial bloodlust had not faded as the entity stood there. Melisande had her hands pointed towards the Dread, standing a good dozen meters away, but even with a clear shot and ample time to cast a spell, she could feel herself unable to draw a proper amount of breath from her anxious lungs. ¡­I can''t focus. Looking at it¡­having to fight it now¡­how did any of them do it?! Even the air itself is tightening! Melisande thought. As the Dread raised its head with blood-soaked, jet-ck tufts of hair befalling its face, a single re from its eye to the silver-haired girl froze herpletely in the grips of terror. For some reason, the Dread chose her direction to begin moving towards, but it was clear that the unholy figure had his sights set past her. ¡­Me? No¡­It wants him, Melisande realized. As she nced back, Emilio was stillying on the ground, groaning in deep slumber from his strained body. The Dread marched forward, lugging its wounded body as a trail of dark blood was left in its wake, keeping those malignant eyes on the slumbering Dragonheart. "I won''t let you¡­!" Melisande said, "--Wind Bore!" A ball of wind waspressed in front of the rookie mage''s hands, swirled around to gain torque before being shot like a cannonball forward, piercing the air and aimed for the Dread''s chest. FWOOSH It mmed against the ckened being, halting it for a moment but leaving no visible wound¨Cnot so much as a scratch before the Dread silently continued marching towards Melisande. Nothing¡­? She thought. An immovable wall it was; the Dread was unimpeded and unaffected by the girl''s magic¨Ceven after multiple usages of the piercing wind were shot forth, it did nothing to slow down the march of the malicious figure. "...The boy¡­I need him¨CI can feel it," the Dread spoke as if Melisande did not exist, "...He is connected to ''that one'', just as I. A good soldier must not be wasted, not in the war toe." Though it sounded as crazed spiels left the lips of the bleeding figure, Melisande couldn''t help but feel an ominous meaning arriving from the Dread''s mouth. "I won''t let you¨CI won''t," Melisande shook her head, standing firmly. She was left face-to-face with the terrifying presence of the Dread, who looked down at her with exhausted eyes as pitch-ck blood dripped down onto the soil below. ¡­The airing off of it¨Cit''s rotten. Just being this close to him, it''s burning the back of my throat, Melisande thought. Chapter 269 Coffin For The Living The Dread raised a single hand, looking down at the girl with impunity, not budging in the least even as desperate spells of wind were flung against his body. I can''t do anything¡­Even after how hard I''ve tried, am I still too weak to even make the enemy acknowledge me?! Melisande thought. To the surprise of the young girl as she flinched from the Dread''s hand being cocked back, she opened her eyes again to see the figure paused in front of her. He stopped¡­? Melisande questioned. Suddenly, the blood-soaked figure spun around, using the back of his hand to smack against the face of the one who attempted to attack the Dread from behind¨C "Gh¨C!" Asher winced. The Devilheart''s nose spurted out blood from the abrasive counter, though Asher didn''t let it stop him as he dropped down, attempting to sweep the leg of the Dread. THUD Not even a slight budge came of the Dread as the exhausted figure watched the Devilheart with its stygian eyes, "...Desperation like this is unsightly." It seemed like a fruitless effort; they were all beyond tired, even Asher only had small horns protruding from his forehead, unable to conjure further evolutions of his system. With only the first stage essed by Asher, there was no hope in harming the Dread. Everett is down for the count¡­I don''t know if he''s over there asleep or dead, Asher thought. Yuna is guarding his body, and Melisande is watching Emilio''s body¨Ceither way, those two wouldn''t be able to do anything against a foe like this. As it stands¡­I need to weave a miracle with my own two hands. "You''re afraid, aren''t you?" Asher said weakly as he straightened himself, breathing ruggedly. The Dread faced him, lowering his face with a raised eyebrow, "Fear is not a concept I am familiar with." "Yet¡­you''re targeting an unconscious boy," Asher held a half-smile, "I wonder why? I think we both know¨Cyou know that if he wakes up again, he''ll kill you. Emilio Dragonheart¡­he possesses the potential to be more dreadful than you." A slight fidget came of the Dread''s fingers as he momentarily nced back at the knocked-out Dragonheart on the ground. ¨CRight at that moment, Asher dashed in with his sword in hand, swinging it with the meager strength left in his arms. "Nice try¡­!" The Dread spun back around. With nothing but his raw limb, the entity born of violence blocked the edge of Asher''s de, letting it m against his blood-painted forearm as it cut into the Dread''s skin. Though it managed to prate the monstrous figure''s skin, the ymore failed to dig any deeper as Asher''s fingers trembled around the handle, being knocked back as the Dread pushed his arm. "You''re nothing. Do you know why you''re still alive?" The Dread asked, "--Whim. You don''t pose a threat to me. You''re weak; a toy for me to y with. But if you wish to push your luck¡­I''ll break you apart." The Devilheart stumbled back, coughing up as his bruised ribs ached just from the simple movements made. Do it, you damned devil inside me, Asher thought, I''m giving you permission¡­so feast. [Devilheart System | Altered] [Deal With The Devil | Stage 3/5] Once more, demonic armor scaled the ck-haired man''s body, crawling over his skin like jet-ck insects that intertwined into a sturdy armor of skulls. However, this armor was different, as from within it, spikes pointed inward, piercing into Asher''s flesh as a groan escaped his lips. The devilish armor was sentient, oozing with a denser aura of ominous energy as death itself seemed to emanate from Asher; the armor drank his blood, restraining him in the painful armor with the impalements. "Interesting," the Dread spoke, "So you had that much left in you, then?" As the figure stood still, the confident Dread was taken aback as the Devilheart surpassed his expected perception of speed; like aet of death through the air, Asher mmed his knuckles towards the Dread. Knuckles met bone, tearing through the skin and muscle of the Dread''s singr left arm as the strength behind Asher''s blow came as a shock, rippling through the organic material with shreds of demonic force. Though the Dread had guarded the attack, it wasn''t a simple feat as the torn limb trembled. Blood dripped from between the grooves of Asher''s double-edged sword of armor, catching the Dread''s eye. "I see. You''re using your own body as fuel for this strength," the Dread remarked as a wicked smile stretched across his lips, "--Do it then, Devilheart! Kill yourself and fail to aplish anything! Let me see you struggle in vain like a worm in the mud!" In response, Asher pulled away before driving his fist into the Dread''s stomach, causing the figure to slide backward, however, at a cost¨C SQUELCH The spikes from the armor dug deeper into the wielder''s flesh, causing Asher''s stance to falter for a moment as he spit out blood within his helm. Damn, this armor¡­! Give it an inch and it takes a mile! He thought. A revitalized tenacity flourished from the Dread, able to move even with its tattered vessel as blood seeped from seemingly every pore of his body, dashing forward and sprouting a limb of darkness from his lost arm. Pressed by the aggression and speed that backed it up by the blood-soaked figure, Asher''s armor reacted by digging into his flesh further, absorbing more blood as his metallic, living armor of ck-and-red material reinforced itself. In exchange for his own self, the armor granted him the strength needed to keep up with the Dread, reacting to the fast-paced blows that swept in his direction. "...Huff," Asher breathed out, feeling his entire body throbbing. The entity of violence fought without any regard for what was around it, swiping its dark-forged limb around as thend was carved up, forcing Asher to counter with swings of his ymore. Even with enhanced prowess, the Devilheart''s body wasn''t made any more durable as pain soared through his body when having to make extreme movements, causing the spikes impaling him to skewer his flesh further. "Gkk¨C" Asher winced. In the midst of his own assault taken on the Dread, dashing in and juking him with a faint strike, he cocked his ymore back, aiming at the being''s back before the spikes ripped into him once more. Willpower wasn''t enough; the amount of damage being done to himself prevented Asher from following up in any meaningful capacity. As the Dread spun around, the malignant figure drove its foot into the Devilheart''s gut, releasing a powerful kick that knocked the impaled man back. "Is this the power you''ve gained for killing yourself?" The Dread asked, "It isn''t all that impressive." The taunts weren''t lies; Asher knew full well that the strength he had wasn''t enough to stop the Dread. At best, he felt he was only buying mere seconds. However, the beaten, reincarnated man also knew exactly why this was the reason: he was anchored by fear. There was more he could draw from himself, more he could sacrifice, but that fear buried deep within him restrained it froming to fruition. ¡­I knew it, Asher thought, I''m still scared of death. I came so close to experiencing that evesting nothingness all those years ago, sitting in that hospital bed¡­Did I ept it then? It''s frightening. I''m afraid of it. Laying on the ground, feeling his own body soaked in blood kept beneath his armor as the demonic spikes prodded his flesh, the sounds of the Dread''s footsteps drew closer as Asher remained silent. It''s simple though. If I don''t do it, I''ll die anyway, Asher thought, They''ll die, too. When I think about it like that, it''s easy¡­There''s only one thing left to do. The Dread approached, turning the darkness it used as a recement limb into an unsightly de, "I''ll make use of you, don''t worry. After the number you''ve all done on my vessel, I suppose I''ll need a new one." Those words were met with what began as a quiet chuckle then shifted into outrightughter,ing unexpectedly from the usually stoic Devilheart. "...What? Has madness reached you in this dire state?" The Dread looked down with a raised eyebrow. Asher brought himself to his feet with trembling hands, barely able to stand as he wobbled while attempting to straighten himself. A piece of the demonic-hide helm crumbled, revealing a singr, sable eye of Asher''s that looked at the Dread. "Sorry, but my body isn''t going to be in any better shape than yours soon," Asher smiled. "What¨C?" Before the Dread could react to what was about toe, the Devilheart gave himself away to something within himself; the greedy devil living in his pitch-ck soul. [Deal With The Devil | Stage 5/5] [Styx Coffin] The sound of flesh squelching and bones being cracked and prated was heard throughout the area as the armorpletely dug its ws into Asher, stabbing into him from every angle. "Nnngh¡­!" Asher let out in pain. The Dread witnessed a massive awakening of mana from the Devilheart''s position, momentarily stunned by the unexpected second wind, "Just what did you do, boy¡­?!" Chapter 270 Merciless Darkness "Asher¡­?!" Melisande called out, feeling a frightening shift in mana signature give off from the man. "...Melisande!" Asher yelled out. "Huh? What is it¡­?" Melisande responded from a distance, staying by the unconscious Dragonheart''s side still. Standing amidst the geyser of demonic energy, rippling and fuming with a burning power, Asher groaned in pain as the skewers within his armor continued prating his body. "When Emilio wakes up, I need you to tell him something for me¡­when this is all over," Asher said, grunting through the agony. "Why don''t you tell him yourself?...Asher?" Melisande asked worriedly. "I won''t be able to¡­" Asher huffed, barely able to speak, "...There was no other choice." "But¨C" "Listen to me, Melisande!" Asher yelled out as his voice echoed, carried by the distortion of mana leaking from him. There was no longer any room for doubt from the silver-haired girl, having to listen to what seemed to be the final request of the Devilheart. Melisande gave a slow nod, forcing herself to ept what wasing. "...Good. Tell him to look for a man named ''Excelsor'' in Ennage¡­He''ll find the answers to his questions there," Asher told her, "Do you got that?" Melisande nodded again, "Asher, please¨C" "It''s toote for bargaining. What''s done is¡­done," Asher breathed out. The mping of the impalements within the armor sounded out again with a gut-wrenching mixture of bone crunching and flesh being ripped into, nearly causing Asher to copse onto his knees before he caught himself in an unorthodox way. "...I''ll end this renewed life now¡­" Asher whispered to himself. My second life here was more than I could''ve ever dreamed of¡­I am fulfilled. I couldn''t ask for more¨Cafter all, I was supposed to die two decades ago. I got to experience more than I was ever going to. This time, I chose my own destiny. I forged my own path; there was no god in the sky dictating my life¨CI chose how to die, Asher thought, this was my own choice¨CI would make it again, each and every time. Briefly, with his fading vision, Asher looked at the slumbering Dragonheart, feeling an unspoken bond that ran deep between two reincarnaters. Emilio Dragonheart, you left a life behind toe here, too, Asher thought, I don''t know your circumstances, however¡­I know that ahead of you is a life of both turmoil and glory. Happiness cannot be made in this world without obstacles. "Fight on, Dragonheart." ¨CWith thosest words emitted from the lips of Asher, the armor plunged the final spikes into his body, finishing off the remaining life left within him. "Beautiful. This is the kind of majestic sight I can appreciate¨Chow lovely!" The Dread spread his arms. The violent figure recognized immediately what the true nature of Asher''s final gambit was, though Melisande didn''t quite figure it out as she looked towards the skull-helmed armor, to which there wasn''t so much as a groan left escaping Asher''s lips. ["The final stage of the ''Deal With The Devil'' armor is one that can only be used once, and cannot be returned from. In the face of an impossible wall of death, Asher Devilheart chose this option as ast resort; the devilish armor took hold of his body from within, killing him and housing his corpse within the armor. However¨Cthis sacrifice has awakened thetent power within the Devilheart, now piloted by the armor even after leaving the mortal nte."] As the Dread raised his hands, arrays of invisible shes cut through thend, sweeping forward as the ground was split apart, though to the surprise of the primordial entity, the silent, corpse-bearing armor moved faster than the cuts could move. Before the horrific entity could respond to the mad dash from the silent Devilheart, a sh came from that dastardly ymore, cutting across the Dread''s chest with viciousness. "--Ungh?!" The Dread reacted in surprise. There was a considerable amount of speed and strength gained from Asher''s sacrifice to his own armor as the silent remnants of his will flipped back as the Dread went for a retaliatory propulsion of a dark shock wave. It emitted outward, eradicating the sediment around him and cracking the wind, but still missing the Devilheart armor. Not a single breath was taken by the now sentient armor as it flipped onto its feet, seamlessly executing a dash forward again to confront the Dread. "Back." The Dread pointed his hand forward, emitting a crushing wave of shadows that propelled against the Devilheart armor, repelling the aggressive assault, but only for a moment¨C "--What?" The Dread looked around. Even after being sted back by the skin-melting darkness wielded by the entity, the Devilheart armor flipped around to regain momentum, using a fallen tree as footing before leaping back towards its enemy. ¨C Amidst the sh, Melisande watched with her lips parted and trembling, knowing what the sight before her eyes meant, seeing the Devilheart, or more aptly, the remnants of the Devilheart''s resolve, managing to push the Dread. ¡­He''s gone. Asher is dead¡­Why? Melisande thought, This was thest day of the trial¨Cjust one more day, and he could''ve moved on. His entire life was ahead of him¡­so why? "...Koff¡­!" Causing the disheveled girl to jump slightly, she looked down at the young man whose hand she held, hearing him cough out for the first time. By the way Emilio''s closed eyes seemed to move beneath his eyelids and his wincing, it appeared he wasing closer to waking up. "Emilio¡­! Please, get up!" Melisande said. Like a relentless bat out of hell, the Devilheart armor flung itself towards the Dread with a contortion of wind, wildly shing the ymore around without any form or grace¨Csimply seeking to annihte the enemy before it. Even as the Dread unleashed an array of thrashing tendrils of darkness that battered the armor, it pushed forth even as its material cracked, lunging through the broken soil and swiping its ymore forth¨C "--You!" The Dread let out. The edge of the Devilheart''s ymore reached the shoulder of its enemy, digging in and leaving a bleeding gash. Still, such attacks were only a small distance gained in a journey in the battle against the unstoppable Dread, who repelled the Devilheart armor with a barrage of shadowy shes that mmed against its durable form. "...How futile! Even after death, you choose to be a nuisance?!" The Dread boomed out, summoning a valley-shaking reservoir of darkness around itself. It was like an immutable fortress of death that epassed the Dread, surrounding its torn vessel as even in its wounded state, the malevolent entity remained as terrifying as ever. ["There was one truth that eachbatant began to realize about the Dread. A factor that changed the entire tide of the battle, for better or worse: the power wielded by the Dread was heavily restrained, all in order to keep its vessel from breaking down any further."] However¨C In a fit of ming rage, burning like the evesting embers at the lowest depths of hell, the Dread howled out before beams of darkness condensed, shooting out into nefarious arrays across the valley. Sputtering out, they wiped through thend, sweeping by in an attempt to catch the nimble Devilheart, who used a propulsion of the devil force at his feet to move forth. "Ghh¡­!" Melisande kept her head down, leaning over Emilio to shield him as the dark beams swept overhead. Yuna did the same, dropping down beside the knocked-out bumpkin as the colossal rays of destruction flung around the air. The armor, moving as thest resolve of Asher, embodied the memories and skills used by the man, even borrowing skills witnessed before as it flew forward, soon reaching the Dread before¨C BOOM A movement of the Dread''s finger summoned a massive slice of darkness born from the threads of nothingness in the space in front of it,batting the sword strike unleashed by the Devilheart armor. Darkness shed against darkness in an evesting collision of violence. Even though the battle seemed to be of equally cataclysmic powers, it was clear that the Dread held the advantage as the more and more they shed, the Dread gained the upper hand on the Devilheart armor, repelling it with massive unleashings of darkness. "...It won''tst much longer!" Melisande witnessed before looking down at the young Dragonheart, "Emilio, please¡­I know it''s asking a lot, but you have to wake up!" Everything was crumbling away; the valley was shattered again and again by the reckless disys of power, mostly stemming from the Dread itself as it howled out, lobbing spheres of darkness into looming mountains, decimating them and causing avnches of stone. "You''re through." ¨CAfter managing to hold the entity at bay for amendable amount of time, the bleak moment came to pass as the Dread shattered the Devilheart armor''s defenses, catching it off-guard as he sliced through the demonic exterior. "No¨C!!!" Melisande screamed. Though the death of Asher had already long sincee as what was within the armor was nothing more than a hole-ridden corpse, cut through brutally by the Dread''s sword of the void. A single exhale left the Dread''s lips as the blood-soaked entity looked down at the split armor of the Devilheart, watching as a hand reached out for the ymore before¨C "Die." Chapter 271 Let It All Out "Die." Without any mercy lining that single word, the Dread brought his foot down, crushing the skull of the Devilheart as he squashed the final embers of Asher''s resolve. ["Fight on, Dragonheart."] Though unspoken, those wordsst thought by the Devilheart reached the soul of the unconscious Dragonheart at that exact moment, dragging Emilio from his slumberous state as his eyes shot open, left bloodshot. Melisande didn''t notice his awakening, having her eyes drawn to the horrific sight of the Devilheart''s undoing as tears strolled down her cheeks. It wasn''t a moment after that the Dread returned its attention in their direction, walking towards them. "...Stay back¡­" Melisande stood up, holding her hands in front of her as she conjured mana of wind. The Dread didn''t heed any such warning, merely moving without anything stopping it now. Even as Melisande called out an invocation¨C"Wind Bore"--nothing came from it as it simply dispersed on the entity''s chest. "Stop this futile iling," The Dread spoke quietly, looking down at the girl with eyes filled with pity. Melisande felt a hopelessness gripping her heart, unable to react as the Dread raised its hand before bringing it down, serving it across her cheek. "--Eek." It was a surprising action taken; it wasn''t the death she had expected, but something horrible in its own right: humiliation. As if the Dread, a being that embodied violence itself, found it difficult to derive pleasure in fighting her. Even though it was a small p of minimal effort, if not nothing more than batting a fly from near it, Melisande felt her cheek redden before a cut appeared, feeling an acute pain blending with her humiliation. ¨C How long was I out? Emilio questioned, I don''t really¡­remember much. But, what''s this feeling? This sadness in my heart¨Cit''s aching, gripped by a heat that makes me want to cry. Asher, you said something to me, didn''t you?... Laying there, Emilio looked up, only hearing the confrontation near him as though it were leagues away, yet damning all the same. As he yearned to get up, his body refused to listen. It was a herculean task in itself just to wiggle his fingertips, hardly feeling anything resembling control in his aching body. "...Nngh¡­" He groaned quietly. ["Fight on, Dragonheart"] Again, those words resonated inside of him, this time bing more potent as he could feel their meaning and what they came from. "...Asher¡­" He whispered to himself. Though he had not seen it for himself yet, the Dragonheart already knew; it was through a connection, a natural bond that transcended the logic of Arcadius, one that originated from Earth itself between the two reincarnation. At that moment, Emilio knew the sacrifice that had been made. You idiot¡­Emilio thought as tears welled up, there was so much I wanted to talk to you about¡­Your favorite movies, what bands you liked, and what sort of celebrities you had a crush on¨Cin this entire world, you were the only one I could talk to about that. Dammit¡­ It was as though he had lost his very own kin, causing the young man''s heart to swell with emotion, ovee with a burning resolve, yet his body was broken and devoid of mana. ¡­Melisande is there. The Dread is right there, too. I need to fight, Emilio thought, I have to fight. They''ve been giving it their all¡­I have to get up, but I''m¡­! My body isn''t listening! [Burn.] In the deepest depths of his soul, it was the system that spoke to him¨Ca voice not often heard, like something out of a dream, resonating through his entire being. [Burn. If you wish to fight, then burn.] Though cryptic at first, Emilio understood what was being told to him as he looked up towards the sky with an expression of realization. I see. Thank you, he thought. ¨C As Melisande stood there, enduring pitiful ps from the Dread, who held no expression of joy, she kept herself between the monstrous figure and Emilio. "I won''t you¨C" Melisande weakly uttered. Another p came, harder this time as the air gave off a small crack as the girl spit out a mixture of saliva and spit, stumbling a bit before fixing herself. The Dread looked down at her with that bored stare, "Won''t let me what? You may have the wrong impression here, girl. You''re no wall. You''re but a pretty little flower, waiting to be crushed beneath my foot. For now, I am simply grazing your petals." Just as the figure, painted in ck blood, raised his hand again, he was stopped, along with everything else as an unknown heat was born. A sh of seraphic white blossomed,ing from an aura of mes that cascaded off a figure briefly seen by the Dread when looking past Melisande. The silver-haired girl was perplexed, turning back, "Emilio¨C?" Though just as Melisande looked back, the figure vanished, instead reappearing in front of the Dread as the malignant entity went for a vicious strike to the girl''s neck, catching him by the wrist. "So, you''ve awakened, Dragonheart? You should be in a long slumber after what you''ve put your body through¡­so what obscenities have you put your body through now?" The Dread spoke. Steam came off of Emilio''s body as a white heat emitted from his skin; the blonde of his hair faded out before shifting to a snow-white as if the life was squeezed from each strand. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. At a more rapid rate than ever, his heart pounded against his chest, fueling his veins with the draconic blood within. Burn everything, Emilio thought, my body waspletely spent¨Cmy mana, too. In that case¡­I did the one thing I could: I burned my body. I''m directly converting the calories in my body, my muscles, everything, all into mana. It was ast-ditch move amongst-ditch actions; Emilio knew well the consequences of what he was doing as he allowed his own body to wither as he supplied himself with an abundance of newfound mana, awakening a desperate evolution of his Dragonheart System¨C This is my ''Burnout'', he thought. ["Fight on, Dragonheart."] Emilio could see the fallen Devilheart across the torn field, feeling his heart ache though he already expected such a site. ¡­Asher¡­I''m sorry. It seems we''re both going to get reckless with our lives here, he thought. What the young Dragonheart embraced was an aspect of his past that he seldom wished to return to; foregoing the constitution he''d yearned for, discarding the strength of his body as he burnt through it like fuel to stoke the mes in his heart. The white mes cascading off of his withering body were just that:--the essence of Emilio Dragonheart; the very core of his being. This is everything I have, Emilio thought, this is it. There''s no more chances. Right now¡­I have to finish this. With a single wave of his hand, he sent a wave of the pure, white mes forth as they rippled as a majestic curtain of heat towards the Dread. In the usual, stoic confidence held by the primordial being, it raised its hand, countering with a loftier sum of darkness than the pure mes, however, the Dread quickly realized the error in his thinking. "I''ll kill you," Emilio promised, unblinking as his eyes turned to a deep bloodshot from the strain. Even the mighty, dense shadows forged of centuries of violence wielded by the being were torn away in an instant by the mes, which were unimpeded in their beautiful stride forward. "--?" The Dread looked perplexed. Just before the bright, white fire could reach the Dread, having prated the burst of darkness effortlessly, he jumped up to avoid the searing heat. Even distanced from it, the Dread could feel the signature of the snowy mes, though they burned to such a high heat it felt almost like a brisk cold, searing to such lengths that it surpassed the boundaries of temperature altogether. The air rippled as heat waves contorted the area, throwing the Dread off as Emilio propelled towards him with frightening speed. "--Ungh!" The Dread was forced to wave his hand to summon a barrier of intertwined darkness just as the Dragonheart swept into the air, using propulsions of white mes at his foot to move in. It was usually wind that Emilio used to move like such, but the fire provided further firepower to his movements, allowing him to spin around into a searing kick that shattered the Dread''s barrier with the pure-white embers. "How¨C? What''re these mes?" The Dread questioned. As the darkness shattered like fogged ss, the violent entity felt a small shock wave of heat break through as the Dragonheart swept in, approaching him swiftly as one of his legs was already midway through a quick, propelled by those heavenly mes guiding him. "I didn''t lie. I''m going to kill you," Emilio solidified. Before the Dread could raise any sort of guard, the shin of the Dragonheart mmed against the entity''s nose with a resounding crack, backed by the velocity of the mes boosting him at the soles of his feet. As ckened blood spilled from the crushed nose of the Dread, the figure slumped over while hovering in the air, exhaling as darkness crawled out of every bleeding pore of his body. "...Fine. I''m tired of trying to maintain this fragile body...I need to kill you. That''s that," the Dread spoke. Chapter 272 Burnout Nothing was restrained anymore in that moment; the unseen chains holding the Dread''s power crumbled away as a darkness so heavy unleashed from it, cracking the wind as the skin on the torn vessel began peeling away. The Dread stood there, unrecognizable as ''human'', even in the body it inhabited as all of its skin peeled away to reveal the tainted muscle beneath, ckened like rotten meat. "I invite you to kill me, Dragonheart. I wee such violence. Fill the world with that rage and so long as you continue fighting, I''ll never die," the Dread spoke in maledictions. Bloodlust was met with equal bloodlust; killing intent soared and became palpable in the air between the twobatants. In an instant, Emilio bursted towards the entity with ming speed, subverting the initial head-on approach he took to take his opponent''s back, however¨Cbefore he could reach the Dread''s back, the entity countered with circr rims of darkness that expanded around it. The rims spun around like metallic discs, cutting through anything in their way and leaving a path of decay through whatever they touched, forcing the Dragonheart to keep his distance. Even as Emilio attempted throwing serene, white fireballs at the figure past the rotating rings, they were dispersed by a continuous emission of darkness that acted like a crushing force. "You can''t touch me!" The Dread howled, losing any semnce of Amon''s voice as it became rough and gravelly. In response, Emilio touched down on the ground, lowering himself into a runner''s stance as he pressed his hands against the soil, allowing an emission of the snow-white inferno to magnify around himself. Condensing the mes he summoned, it became a blur of steam and outright heat, building up before the Dragonheartunched himself towards the Dread in the sky with such force it shattered the ground he stood on. For a moment, it all seemed to fade to darkness; the Dragonheart elerated to such heights that his physical form itself diminished, shiftingpletely into the bright-white mes as physical matter itself was discarded in that second between seconds. In that propulsion, he surpassed the speed of light, reaching a threshold that could only be referred to as "the speed of fire". The Dread had yet to so much as blink, not witnessing the Dragonheart even move from the ground before the figure had already pierced through the being''s so-called "unbreakable" barrier. Without being able to react to the unmatched speed, the Dread received a tremendous blow straight to its skinless face, shattering the rings that surrounded it with theing shock wave. Still, the tenacious entity caught itself, whipping around and shifting its own limb into an extended form of a whip, striking it against the Dragonheart in an unexpectedly quick counter. "--Tch!" Emilio clicked his tongue as he raised one of his arms. ? The ck-limb whip cracked against the Dragonheart''s forearm,pletely piercing through his skin as a bleeding, red mark was left. It was a blow felt in the marrow of his bones for Emilio, doing his best to hide how badly the whip-strike affected him as he rapidly charged forward with a ming boost, sending his knee towards the Dread''s gut. Before it couldnd, the Dread evaded by shifting into the form of shadows. For the brief moment they parted, Emilio looked at his bleeding forearm, watching it tremble before he forced it to stay still. It''s happening faster than I thought¡­the Undying Blood is being pushed to its limits already, he thought. The exchange for the overwhelmingly potent mes was the withering of his own body; as his muscles burned away, the sturdiness of his own body plummeted, leaving him frail andcking defense. ¨CHowever, this only increased the aggressiveness of the Dragonheart as he propelled forth with his unequaled mes, causing a ripple of leaf-melting heat waves to expand as he swept past the Dread. He engulfed his hand in the white fire, swiping it towards the Dread, who evaded the attack, however the being found himself grazed just barely, yet a single ember of the immacte inferno was enough to melt through a small portion of his flesh. "Raaagh!" The Dread roared out before reaching over, extending a limb of darkness that sprouted like a hellish cedar,tching onto the passing Dragonheart before mming him to the ground with an explosive release of the malevolent energy. Being thrown into the ground took the breath straight from his lungs as the rocky, lifeless ground cracked beneath his back, but it wasn''t over yet as the vtile darkness aimed to destroy him. "--Nnh!" Emilio raised his guard. The shadows took the form of countless limbs, reaching from the depths of an ursed realm,tching onto the Dragonheart and holding him against the ground. It was a nauseating experience; the feel of the deathly fingertips brushing against his skin left a supernatural sense of disgust and dizziness, preventing him from summoning the strength needed to shatter the hands'' hold. While he was held, the monstrous figure above, hovering in the air, raised his hand to conjure a sphere of destructive malevolence. Just before the sphere was thrown downward atop the Dragonheart, a dagger sailed in, causing the air to whistle from the precise projectile before it hit its target¨C SQUELCH Straight into the Dread''s ckened eye, it stabbed, halting the figure as the violent entity gritted his teeth not in pain, but rage, looking over. Yuna breathed out, having thrown the de to aid the ming Dragonheart, though just being in proximity of the shing auras felt draining to the feline demi-human. "You¨C" The Dread scowled. Though there was no opportunity for petty revenge on the Dread''s front as an immense awakening of white mes sprouted. "Get¡­off¡­!" Emilio yelled. Flexing his body and increasing the quantity of mes as steam emitted from his body like a burning shock wave, the Dragonheart burnt the disembodied hands away. Shooting up with a burst of snow-white mes, Emilio spun around with the propulsions of fire at his feet, allowing him to empower his kicks as he mmed his shin against the Dread''s side. "Nrrgh!" The Dread growled. "--Die!" Emilio shouted. Spinning around again with blurred lines of inferno following his tracks, the Dragonheart unleashed a kick that was followed by a sea of white mes, roaring out through the wind as the Dread miraculously dodged at thest moment by dropping down. The power wielded by Emilio, fleeting as it was as his own flesh burned beneath his skin as it was fuel for the mes, was something on an entirely new threshold. It wasn''t something he felt impressed by or proud of; it was a necessity for the survival of himself and the others¨Che knew well what price woulde of forcing such devastating power from the depths of his body. The Dread wasn''t getting any weaker; in fact, the newfound desperation in its cornering forced the primordial evil to lunge forth as darkness rippled behind its massive speed, ripping the soil apart at the seams. "I will not die! I am eternal! I am the manifestation of violence! Violence is eternal!" The Dread howled, tossing its hand forward as colossal shes etched forward towards the Dragonheart. Using his ming propulsions, Emilio speedily guided himself away from the eviscerations, shooting forward like a rocket before tossing a cottage-sized fireball towards the entity. There was no choice for the Dread but to move its body out of the path of the mes; nothing was able to intercept the immacte heat they emitted. "--Your mes burn with hatred! Do you hate me?! Would you hate a storm that swept through your home?!" As the Dread howled out his words after leaping up to avoid the fireball, cocking his arm back to summon his own attack, the figure was intercepted as a sh of heat came in just as the knuckles of the Dragonheart mmed against its face. "I would, you bastard!" Emilio screamed out, pushing his fist forward as he flung the entity back through felled trees. That single punch had the rage of a lifetime and the heat of the sun behind it, sending a wave of heat against the Dread''s face that charred its rotten flesh. After crashing through a dozen trees, the dark-born figure picked himself up, hacking up ckened blood before the bones inside of his body readjusted themselves. "Then you have only yourself to me for shortening your life by chasing storms," the Dread spoke without an ounce of yfulness in his bellowing tone. ¨CThe bloodlust of the figure spiked for a split-second before Emilio found himself failing to react to a surprising burst of speed taken from the Dread, whom he thought was too injured to pull off such a dash. Without having been seen moving a single step forward, the Dread appeared in front of the Dragonheart, sinking his fist into his stomach harshly. After burning through so much of himself, Emilio was left a couple dozen pounds lighter; his frail, forcibly malnourished form left him unprotected against the powerful blows of the Dread, causing the punch to his gut rippling through his internal self. Chapter 273 Use It All "Ghhh¨C!" Emilio vomited up blood that left his lips already steaming from his inner temperature, though he bounced back, flexing his weakened body as he exuded the white mes from his body to repel the entity. "--!" The Dread wasted no time jumping back. After releasing the expulsion of mes, Emilio coughed out as blood dripped from his chin, breathing heavily as he could feel his internal organs aching from the blow. It felt as though a hammer had reached inside his body, bludgeoning his guts without any mercy; a feeling that was difficult to fight at full capacity with, but he prepared himself nheless. As he looked down, he saw a circle form beneath him of ck-and-violet mana, perplexed for a moment but quickly flipping back just as a pir of eradication burst upward. What¨C? He questioned. It came from the Dread''s call, he clenched his fist to summon the ranged summoning of darkness. The monstrous entity which had shed its skin, losing any semnce of its human form it had,unched forward with a twisted grin before bulking up momentarily, mming its fist down upon the Dragonheart. Only a thousandth of a fraction of a second was given for Emilio to react before he propelled himself away with his mes just before the hammer of darkness struck, driving into the ground harshly. Seeing the destructive aggression still held by the Dread, he realized that at the rate the battle was heading, he''d be at a disadvantage¨Cthis thought stirred the reckless abandon thriving in the Dragonheart''s body. I need¡­more! Emilio thought. There was nothing left of his muscles, leaving only a thin, frail frame, though even as he returned to the unsightly physique he was once all too familiar with in his past life, he pushed it further. Even the calories left in his body, even the strands of flesh beneath his skin, perhaps even his skeleton itself¨Che chose to use it all as fuel. An ungodly ignition came as the wind cracked and a shock wave howled out from his position with the birth of splendid, heavenly fire from his body. Just as this further advancement was witnessed by the demonic fiend, the Dragonheart had alreadyunched forward with speed that scorched the wind, swiping his hand forward to unleash a wall of pure-white ze. "---Rrah!" The Dread barely moved out of the way, though its shoulder was still touched by the unrivaled mes, resulting in its flesh being erased just from momentary contact. As the fiend experienced its shoulder being charred away, it was given no time to react as Emilio continued his dash in before jumping up, propelling himself with a knee to the chest that surpassed the speed of physical matter. The ground around them cracked and was forcibly shoveled up by the impact as the Dread had its chest caved in by the vicious flying knee. "Rrrgh-!" The Dread gritted its teeth. Emilio held a look of rage that burned with vibrance in his amethyst eyes, sending the entity sliding back. Mercy was a far gone concept as the Dragonheart poured out a sea of white mes, casting them forth in a sweeping tide that intended to erase the Dread, though the murderous figure was still able to fling himself upward to avoid them. Fortunately, in their sh, they had moved away from the others, allowing the destructive force of the white mes to take effect without risk of burning away hisrades. There was already little left of the field left in the swept away forest, lined only by fallen trees and crumbled hills, left desecrated by the war against the singr entity. "Die! Die! Die!" The Dread unleashed a spectacle of the void as a volley of matter-annihting spheres were shot in every direction in a maddened attempt to take the white-haired young man out. As Emilio dodged the sts, he set his eyes on the hovering Dread, driving the intent burning in his veins as once more it manifested into an elemental shift¨Can ability exclusive only to masters among masters, allowing him to turn his physical form into the snow-white mes for a split-second. In that moment that stood between frozen seconds, the Dragonheartunched up as a humanoid wrath of mes, bypassing the array of spheres before sting the Dread directly in the chest. BOOM The direct-hit was something even the Dread didn''t foresee in its violence-fueled stupor, able to do nothing to defend against the all-burning mes. Snow-white embers danced in the smoky sky, raining down beside particles of darkness over the tumbled valley. What was below hardly resembled a region that held sectioned-off forests and jungles as they were split and left decaying to the Dread''s spreading darkness like a poison infecting thend itself. "You¡­!" The Dread gritted its teeth. As the two figures hovered in the air, the impact of thest attack was clear as the Dread stood on the air with a steaming hole through its chest, still etched with the lingering mes of the draconic recruit. "...Not bad," the Dread said, leaving surprising words. Emilio was taken aback by those utterances, but didn''t have any desire to conversate with the malignant being. By this point, the Dread hardly resembled anything human, devoid of skin and covered in pitch-ck flesh, scaled in nightmarish aura. "I have no ill will towards you, Dragonheart. I simply seek violence. Violence is my meaning," the Dread told him with a twisted smirk, present without lips, "--So, your disy of violence is something I savor." "Just shut up and rot in Hell already," Emilio quietly said. Augh escaped the Dread''s lips, cackling like a clown with a scratchy throat, "Hah! Hell would wee me with open arms! I''d be a king there¨Cno, it''s too soon for me to grace them with my presence! First, I''ll send you and everybody else in this world there before I arrive!" The spielsing from the entity weren''t anything from a human; Emilio knew that. It was the mad dribbel of something beyond depravity¨Csomething akin to the nightmare he once faced. As he hovered in the sky beside the Dread with the warmth of the mes born of his own sacrifice beneath him, he could see down in the distance,ying on the sulliednd, the fallen Devilheart. "...Asher¡­" He quietly said. Death was something he was forcibly having to be used to. Yet, even as it kept happening, as those he valued slipped through his fingers, the pain inside his heart didn''t dull. Joel, Vandread, and now you¡­Asher, he thought, you were like me¡­Somebody that escaped here because, for better or worse, our lives weren''t kind to us. You''re braver than I am. That''s why¨CI can''t stand that something as disgusting as this guy is what took you away¡­! As tears left the Dragonheart''s eyes, they instantly evaporated, joining the steam that exuded from his body as his limbs trembled and his lip quivered, feeling himself break down from within as the snow-white mes ate away. The Dread bolstered itself with the ancient darkness housed within itself, bulking out as its tangible vessel could hardly contain the ludicrous quantity of mana. "I''ve had my fill with you lot, though. I''ll destroy this valley and be done with it¨CI have greater wars ahead of me," the Dread spoke, spreading its arms as it conjured a nasty summoning of darkness around itself, "...This is my deration of war, on the world!" Such a grandiose im met on deaf ears as the Dragonheart stood there, looking at his own hands as they had be bony and thin, callused by the battle. I thought it''d hurt to see myself like this again¨Clike "Ethan", he thought, but¡­right now, I see strength. It''s because of the state I''m in now that I could fight. Right now, I''ll finish this and put an end to this destruction. The final ze was lit as the Dragonheart held nothing back, igniting his own veins as the blood pumping through his body rose to an immacte heat, engulfing himself in a shining aura. "Come, Dragonheart! Show me your highest violence!" The Dread requested as its moral vessel shed away even faster with the build up of mana around itself. It was a request that was indulged as Emilio raised his hands, pointing them towards his enemy as the pale-white inferno roared out, spreading out in each direction to either side of himself like wings. Right here, right now¨CI''ll take it all back. All of the hope you''ve ripped from us, all the despair you drowned us in, Emilio thought, right now¨CI''ll burn it away and give way for triumph! As he stood there, seeing and feeling firsthand the amount those around him have sacrificed, not just in this battle, but throughout his journey, he questioned if he was truly giving it his all at this moment. It was the climax of his adventure; the tail end of it, now at the finish line, only with one hurdle left¨Cwith that in mind, standing only because of the sacrifices made, he held nothing back. Chapter 274 From Ash, To Ash He clenched his entire body, driving mes from every pore of his already strained body as his heart rate skyrocketed. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. "Set your heart aze, and fight on, Dragonheart." Everything was used as a catalyst for his own suicidal power; even the heart pumping inside of his chest was ignited, thumping wildly as the mes resonated with each beat, exuding shock waves of heat. The skin he wore on his body burned away, cast away by the mes as his body stood halfway between tangible and ethereal, standing there as a living, humanoid me of seraphic glow. It was an impossible feeling for him to describe; a weightlessness unlike any other, but he was dense with unimaginable heat, swirling around his soul that stood as the anchor for his very existence now. This is it, he thought, everything. As he looked at his own hands, all he saw were mes that resembled human hands, unable to feel anything besides the scorching inferno. "You''re all in¡­That makes two of us, dragon boy," the Dread spoke with a smile, surrounded by violent darkness. One minute. That was all that was left; a single minute left until the mes would vanish, for thest time, perhaps forevermore. Yet, a minute was more than enough; it was an era for the two beings whose perception was elevated from that of normal mortals¨Ca singr minute was a century to them. Not a single soul present in the desecrated valley could perceive the beginning of the final sh as white embers danced forth as streams of darkness spiraled forward like a spinning drill. The Dragonheart wasn''t restrained to a one, true form, able topletely shape his body now that he existed as mes,pressing himself to fit through a small gap of the Dread''s constant assault of darkness before bursting forth as a spear, piercing through the barriers of sound, lightning, and light all at once. Such power was the result of casting everything away; life, dreams, and all. "How is it?! How does true freedom feel like?! To exist past the need for flesh!--Wait, I think you may need a body to persist, still! Ha-ha!" The Dread''sughter boomed. The words and cackles of the malignant entity were ignored as the Dragonheart cocked his me-forged fists back as massive meteors of darkness neared him. In a barrage of blows, sending a thousand fists forward in an instant without the restriction of his body to hold him back, he sent a construct of his fist forth, erged and emboldened by the seraphic mes, punching through the darkness. It was a "once-in-a-lifetime experience"--though it felt like a misleading term when it came at the cost of one''s very own future. Such power was thrilling, flooding through the consciousness of the Dragonheart with an adrenaline like any other as he soared through the sky alongside his foe, speeding through the clouds and bursting from the false sky of the valley itself. "Violence is incredible, isn''t it?" The Dread asked with a giddy smile. Emilio didn''t respond, though the vigor in the strike he sent was more than enough of an eptable response for the war-born entity. It was the threshold of godhood; encroaching on the heavens beyond where any should step. The two shed with a constant flux of explosions spreading out in the sky, mixing between shes of white and shadows of darkness. If I don''t finish this in thisst minute, I won''t even have a body to shift back to¡­! He thought. An easier task said than done was finishing the Dread however, as the entity unleashed its full strength without any limit, waving its body around before conjuring colossal constructs of darkness forth through the sky, taking the forms of monstrous, airborne creatures. The Dragonheart was attacked from every angle as the shadow-born beasts, that loomed over even clouds, began lunging towards him. "Are you too scared to face me yourself?!" Emilio yelled out. In response to the Dread''s attack, the fleeting, but all-powerful ze inside Emilio was throttled and spread throughout his entire form, exuding it in an expanding heat wave around him that gained such pressure it acted as an immutable shock wave. As the veil of fire propelled outward, it disintegrated the shadow beasts, exploding outward with a shock wave that dispersed the stagnant clouds around. [Used as inspiration for thisrge-scale, destructive ''defense'' was a weapon viewed as the ultimate power back on Earth: the nuclear bomb. In that moment, he turned himself into a living nuke, expelling the unequaled heat from himself in an all-erasing deterrent.] "Spectacr! I can feel the heat from here!" The Dreadplimented. ¨CDirectly after such words, the violent, decaying entity flew forward at breakneck speed, instantly reengaging the Dragonheart. It was an unorthodox and downright wed method of attack, considering the devastating defense that Emilio had just presented, however, the Dread didn''t abide by any such logic. It was like a wild, but somehow skillful beast; the Dread twisted around, avoiding a quick volley of fireballs before doing a cartwheel in the air, causing a re of darkness from its foot before mming it against the half-tangible body of the Dragonheart. "Ghh¨C!" Even a simple blow like that was executed by the Dread without any regard for ''restraint'', blowing away any clouds around and recing them with remnants of its shadows. Before he could be flung down by the overwhelming force of the blow, Emilio shifted his arm into a fiery hammer, mming it against his foe''s chest in retaliation, spurring a blood-driven smile from the Dread. A mountain of darkness exuded from the Dread as it darkened the sky with its disy of power, weaving into existence a spell that was nothing less than terrifying in its might. Emilio saw a chance atst; an opportunity to finish this battle, once and for all, with this next attack. There was no better stage for the final sh than the azure skies themselves as Emilio released the entirety of his heat, unrestrained, casting snow-white embers far and wide like burning snowkes, shining through the horizon. I''m not scared, he thought, I wonder if this is all how they all felt¨Cwhen I''m putting my life on the line for something besides myself¡­I don''t feel any sort of fear. Right now, all I want is to defeat him. With the quantity of mes and their potent nature, the possibilities of what he could forge with the inferno he masterfully controlled were endless, however, one such image stuck in his mind with the prospect of his entire journey. Bringing his hands together, he reeled the ze in, weaving it into a colossal shape. All around him was the chalky inferno, exuding at a constant rate before he began the first stage of his attack just as the Dread unleashed its own¨C "This is everything¨Cfor you, Dragonheart! If you fail to stop this, all of those left in that valley will be consumed in the st as well!" The Dread smiled wickedly. What wasunched towards Emilio was a skull-faced sphere of darkness, as broad as a mountain as it left a shadow over the sky. However, the stroke of darkness wasbated as splendid fireballs shot upward like fireworks, exploding into shining sparks from the Dragonheart''s position. "That won''t stop it! Even your mes can''t erase something of this magnitude with pitiful attempts!--" The Dread antagonized. Though the Dragonheart''s expression held steady as he looked up, holding the source of his mes in the palm of his hand, "I wasn''t trying to stop it with those. Though, this''ll get the job done." "What¨C?!" The Dread watched. As the meteor of destructive darkness descended, quickly dropping down towards the Dragonheart''s position, Emilio finally gave full form to the newly-woven spell, casting it upward as it shaped itself: A phoenix born of the shining, snowy mes pped its mighty wings, boasting a size that rivaled the mountainous meteor. It burrowed through the sea of clouds in its path, brushing them away and creating dazzling arrays of seraphic embers that flooded the sky like noon stars. It contained everyst ounce of heat left within the Dragonheart, ascending with the finality of his will and resolve to im triumph and reim hope from the Dread. [Dragonheart: From Ash, To Ash] The auspicious phoenix left a trail of the shining ze through the sky, leaving a remarkable sight for those below that foretold the yearned-for sess of the Dragonheart, who held his fist high to guide the mythical creature forged of his own essence. "Go!" He yelled upward. ¨C Yuna could see the colossal avian p its wings with enough force to part the skies, heading straight for the gargantuan sphere of destruction tossed down by the thread. It was a word-thieving sight; mystical and frightening all at the same time. The half-dead shielder slowly parted his eyelids,id out on his back as he could see the dazzling embers raining down like snowkes from the high skies of the shattered veil above the valley. Even the Nihilum Core was left only to watch; Scarlet sat up, huffing with arge gash on his chest as he watched the climactic exchange near its finality. "Emilio¡­" Melisande muttered. There was nothing they could do to help but, only cing their hopes in the strength of Emilio Dragonheart. Heat constantly multiplied, skyrocketing with the phoenix itself as the velocity continuously rose, moving at an imperceivable speed to gather enough force to confront the mountainous sphere summoned by the Dread. The phoenix spun itself around, torpeding forth before finally making contact with the ominous sphere¨C VROOOOOOM It felt as though the entire world shook from the collision of the two forces; the impact alone caused a cascading shock wave that rippled through the skies, eradicating the fluffy clouds in the way. "Nngh¡­!" Emilio felt the bacsh, holding his arm up to guide the colossal phoenix. Two cataclysms fought against one another; the malignant energy poured from the entirety of the Dread''s being, so dense in its darkness that it cast the shade of the night even in the face of the phoenix, resisted the white mes by constantly replenishing itself. It was the one difference he couldn''t make up, a limitation set beyond simply willing himself higher: the Dread had much more mana at its disposal than he did. However¨C "I won''t let you¡­!" Emilio yelled out. A re emitted from the colossal phoenix, pushing up as the perfect sphere of darkness began to cave in, being pushed into by the gargantuan construct of fire. The advantage held by the Dragonheart was in his nigh unstoppable mes; even the primordial shadows could not defend against their heat, no matter what quantity was poured into their form. "Raaaagh¨C!" The Dread strained. It all fell still in the moment of the exchange; the valley fell quiet and the eyes of those yearning for victory watched. The embers of the white mes began to spark, fizzling out as steam exuded from the Dragonheart''s body in greater proportion, though he held his hand up, pushing harder as he pressed the phoenix against the sphere with even more force. "I won''t¡­! I won''t lose! Not again¡­! Nothing¨Cnothing has changed!" The Dread''s voice boomed, amplifying the sphere as its size multiplied, "I am violence! I am war! I am the embodiment of endless fighting! So¨C!" Before the Dread could finish his desperate words, the phoenix that pushed against the destructive sphere from below brightened, unleashing a blinding sh as the heat it gave off was pushed to higher limits, shattering the boundaries of perceived limitations. "--So there''s no way I''m going to let you live! Not after what you''ve taken!" Emilio shouted, intercepting the entity''s words, "Life isn''t so meager that you can just tear it away at your leisure! All of it! Every life you''ve taken¨Cthis is them getting back at you! This is youreuppance¨C!" Soaring with the words of the one who conjured it, the phoenix pped its wings, emitting a wave of mes as it pushed upward, causing the sphere to be condensed before it finally pierced straight through the mountainous orb. "What¨C?!" The Dread let out in disbelief. At the speed the phoenix soared, it was impossible for the malevolent figure to evade the seraphic avian as it came in through the expelled darkness, overriding the shadows with its overwhelming brightness. Past the phoenix, the Dread could focus only on one thing in that moment between moments, honing in as time seemed to slow before the inevitable end: he could see that sharp, amethyst re of the Dragonheart, fueled by rage and triumph. ¡­The war is yours, Dragonheart, the Dread thought. As the phoenix reached the depraved entity, an explosion of bright-white mes filled the skies like a supernova, stretching across the azure with a resounding boom that momentarily deafened everybody in the valley below. With the dissipation of the fire, only the ashes left of the Dread were seen before a gust of wind brushed the veryst remnants of the war-loving entity away. [Level Up!] [Level Thirty Achieved.] [New Skill(s) Acquired: Draconic Might, Greater Scales, me Hardening] Good riddance, he thought. Emilio stayed there in the skies for a moment, looking down at his body that was halfway turned into fire itself, "...I did it. Thanks for the assist, Asher." Below he could see the spherical barrier that was kept around the Valley of Parmesus, resembling a false sky that had a floating fortress above it. Though he questioned what the mysterious structure was, there was no strength left for him to even permit simple thought as the ze finally gave out, returning him to his physical form. The body he was left with was skin and bones, covered in burn marks and bruises as blood seeped from his nose, coughing up more of the fluid. I knew it woulde to this, he thought, but still¡­I feel like there''s still so much I want to do. I don''t want to die¡­not yet. It''s a bit toote for thoughts like that though, right?... He began plummeting down from the sky, falling down from hundreds of meters high as the wind red against his ringing eardrums. BA-DUMP¡­BA-DUMP¡­BA-DUMP. All he could do was listen to the faint resonance of his own heart, feeling it grow more distant by the moment as he fell through the sky. It was surprising to him just how high he had gone, finding himself still plummeting from the great heights of the azure with the wind at his back, brushing his unkempt tufts as they maintained their lifeless, white shade. ¡­I was fine with it before, so why am I remembering all of this? Why am I thinking about all the things I want to do now? He questioned, I really did it this time. I''m sorry Mom, Dad, and¡­yeah, you too, first mom. I couldn''t make the most of this life, could I? Though regrets stood in his fading heart, he still believed as though this life was not a mistake, and the choices he made were ones he''d make again. Slowly, his eyelids grew dense like lead, fluttering as he watched the sky above him. Soon, even the ring wind became quiet before silence befell him, leaving all sensation in his body loss as everything went dark around him. I''ll be seeing you soon, Joel, Vandread, Asher¡­Hopefully I''m praised and not reprimanded, he thought. [At the end of the long, arduous war against the vicious entity known as the Dread, there were three deaths reported. The brave soldier of the Nihilum Core, Briggs Sejuh, had fallen. A courageous recruit, Asher Devilheart, fell in battle...And, another recruit, Emilio Dragonheart, fell after sessfully defeating the Dread.] Chapter 275 A Sliver Of Hope Those still within the valley witnessed the conclusion of the devastating war against a singr figure, filled with returned hope. "He did it¡­! Emilio won!" Melisande remarked. It was a shock to those few left on the battlefield as all eyes were drawn to the sky. The surviving member of the Nihilum Core duo stood to his feet with his mouth agape. "The brat actually beat it¡­What the hell," Scarlet said in disbelief. Despite the condition of his body, Everett picked himself up, even though Yuna and Melisande both clearly advised him not to push his body. "Everett!" "What''re you doing, you oaf?!" Yuna called out. Though even in the state his body was in, Everett ran forward while looking up, covered in his own dried blood as his body was swarmed in cuts from the battle. "--Somebody needs to catch ''im, right?!" Everett shouted. It was an undeniable point made by the bumpkin shielder, stifling the protests of the two behind him as he rushed forward, moving towards the spot where Emilio was plummeting down to. Even with his body left worn and torn, Everett moved one foot in front of another while clenching his teeth past his own pain, setting his sights on catching his friend. "Hold on, ''Milio, I''ve gotcha!" Everett shouted out. Though as he raced forth, the wounded shielder found himselfgging as his body didn''t move as hard as he had hoped, only able to watch as the Dragonheart rapidly descended and he only became slower. "C''mon¡­Move, body!" Everett harshly mumbled to himself. Further and further, faster and faster, Emilio plummeted, only a mere few moments fromnding at such a velocity that the impact would result in an unsightly stter of crimson. "--C''mon!" Everett shouted. Reaching his arms out as he raced forward, the injured shielder was no more than a few meters where he should be in order to catch his friend, however¨C "--Oopf!" Everett kicked a pebble, which didn''t immediately trip him, but it flipped the lever in his aching body, causing him to copse just short of catching the Dragonheart. No¡­! Everett thought. Yuna and Melisande were too far behind as well, exhausted from the arduous war, only able to watch what felt like in slow motion as Emilio plummeting, nearing the ground. Just before the impact came, with all three desperately reaching out, ropes of what looked to be blood suddenlyshed out,tching onto Emilio and snatching him from the air. "Huh¨C?" Melisande let out. As they all looked over, they witnessed the Dragonheart be plucked from his fall, brought into the arms of the Nihilum Core member¨CScarlet. "I''ve got him," Scarlet breathed out, not looking in great condition himself. A sigh of relief simultaneously left from each of the three; Everett struggled to pick himself up, being helped up by the demi-human rogue and the rookie mage as they moved over to Scarlet. "Helluva thing he pulled off. I thought we were all goners for sure," Scarlet said, "...Well, not all of us were so lucky." Though the words of the Nihilum Core man were meant for hisrade, who was impaled multiple times and left fallen on the battlefield, they stuck out to the others as they recalled the sacrifice of Asher. "Yeah," Everett quietly said. Melisande looked at Emilio, who was held in Scarlet''s arms, looking as though he was peacefully slumbering. "Is he alright¡­?" She asked. "Good question, let me check," Scarlet nodded, "He''s definitely going to need to see a healer though. The Guild Foundation should be sending in forces soon enough, don''t worry¨Cthey''ll get all of you patched up, too." Through some unknown method of blood maniption, the horned man used shapes of blood like a stethoscope, checking the young man''s pulse. "Hey? How is he?" Yuna pressed for an answer. There was a pale look on the wounded man''s face as his crimson irises seemed to dim with a light lost even after triumph. "What is it?..." Melisande looked at the man. Scarlet opened his mouth, "...He''s already dead." Those words were haunting to them all, seeming surreal at first as the young man looked as though he was merely taking a stroll in thend of dreams. "Dead?...No. That''s a lie," Melisande said faintly, shaking her head. Everett, once again, showed vigor unlike any other as he marched forward without any assistance, "The hell are ya talking about, huh?!" "Hey, don''t¨C!" Though Yuna tried to grab onto the shielder''s shoulder to stop him, he brushed her off, getting right in Scarlet''s face, who didn''t shy away from Everett''s intense re. "Check again," Everett sternly said. "Do you think I want the hero who saves our sorry asses to be dead?" Scarlet responded, "Check for yourself, if you want. But, I''m telling you the facts here: it''s a tragedy, I know, but¨Ca battle like this wasn''t going toe without loss." "Loss?!" Everett shouted, gripping onto Scarlet''s shirt, "Haven''t we lost enough?!" The adamant look in the eyes of the elite adventurer didn''t vanish, "Against the Dread, I''d say we got lucky with these losses." "You¨Chow can ya say that?!" Everett cocked his fist back. As the grieving bumpking threw his fist forward, Scarlet didn''t budge, not attempting to move out of the way, block, or counter¨Cseeming to ept it. Though before the knuckles of the shielder could reach Scarlet''s nose, his arm was caught by Yuna. "What''re ya doin''?!" Everett sharply asked. "I could say the same to you!...Look around you! Is this really the time to act like a raging idiot?!" Yuna yelled. Though anger filled the veins of the man, as he was about to tug his arm away, he looked back to see tears streaming down Melisande''s cheeks, who remained silent, having fallen to her knees. It didn''t feel real. Even if victory was gained, it didn''t surmount the loss that had been left in its wake. "...No, you can''t leave me¡­Not you too¡­" Melisande said as tears left her eyes. Everett''s anger left as he calmed down, kneeling down as he reached his hand out to pat the girl''s head of silver hair before stopping himself, instead giving her aforting hug. "It ain''t fair¡­It''s because of him that I''m even alive," Everett said. The sobs of the young girl were heartbreaking to hear, but she slowly looked up with her bottom lip trembling, nodding as well, "He was there¡­when I was all alone¨Che was the light in that darkness¡­So why? Why did he leave?" "He didn''t leave ya''. He did this for ya''," Everett told her. It was a bittersweet win as the destroyed valley was left with imprints of death and grieving recruits. Yuna was quiet, though the hardened woman didn''t shed any tears, a look of sadness was present on her face as she pulled her scarf up, "...It always ends like this." After a few more minutes of the fresh grief being bitterly felt, the air shook from an unknown source, producing a slight whistle that traversed the wind. Scarlet looked up, "Took you long enough." It became too much to ignore as the others looked up; Yuna found herself staring up at what looked to be enclosed ships made of steel, though they swam through the sky instead of the sea, hoisted by tinum balloons that bore the sword-and-shield emblem of a familiar organization. There were a dozen of the colossal, airborne vehicles, emitting steam through pipes that seemed to keep them afloat, though mystical as they were to witness. "...That''s¡­" Everett began to say. "The Guild Foundation," Scarlet said, "If they bring ''him'' in, there might be hope for your friend." "What?!" Everett''s expression lit up. Even Melisande was drawn away from her tears, looking up towards Scarlet as words of hope left his lips. "Listen, don''t get your hopes up," Scarlet told them, "It''s a one-in-a-hundred chance¨Cno, one-in-a-thousand, more likely, but¡­I take it by the looks on your faces that anything above zero might as well be a one-hundred percent chance." There was a smile etched across Everett''s lips as he nodded, clenching his fist tightly, "Yer'' damn right! If there''s a way, he''ll find it! Ain''t that right, Melisande?!" It took a moment for the silver-haired girl to even find her voice as she parted her lips, stifled by these faint embers of belief given before she nodded, "That''s right!" "Who is this person you''re referring to anyway? Somebody that can bring back the dead¡­" Yuna asked. Scarlet watched the metallic ships descend upon the valley, "Well, it''s not exactly that. Let''s just say that this guy can make the impossible possible for the dead." "How do you know he''sing? I mean¡­you can''t know for sure, right?" Melisande asked, trying not to get her own hopes crushed once more. The Nihilum Core member let out a sigh, ruffling his own hair, "They''ll send him¨CI''m positive of that. He''s a special associate of the Foundation: he''s the only person that can make sure the Dread doesn''t reincarnate." As one of the flying ships of the Guild Foundationnded, a tform extended from the hull of the vessel, allowing the first within it to greet the eyes of those waiting on the deserted battlefield. What stepped out first was an unexpected figure; towering over three meters tall, wearing a ck cloak and arge hat that hid their face, was a person shrouded in enigma. "That''s him," Scarlet said, "--Grimsol." There was a specific presence given off by the one named "Grimsol"--an inhuman feeling from the silent, towering figure that approached with audible steps. "Hey!" Scarlet called out to the figure, "Before you get started on the Dread, help this one out! He''s the one that defeated the Dread¨Che died in the process, but his soul is probably still in his body, right?!" No response came from Grimsol as he was yelled at by Scarlet, though the figure changed his course, slowly walking over to the group. A hand was extended to the fallen Dragonheart as Grimsol ced his ck fingertip against the young man''s chest. "Emilio Dragonheart¡­" Grimsol spoke in a breathy, deep voice, "It would be unwise to let one with his talents perish; only more death woulde of his absence." It was unnerving that the figure already knew of the young man''s name, though nobody was able to emit words in the presence of the deathly man. "Can you save him?" Scarlet asked, putting forth the question the others had in mind. Grimsol stopped for a moment, "I do not make such promises¡­I am not a healer nor a savior. However¡­I can give him the chance to save himself." "Save himself¡­? How?" Melisande managed to utter out. The enigmatic figure ced his hand upon the Dragonheart''s chest, emitting a cold, unnerving aura that seemed to trigger a response from the fallen boy''s body. After the unknown action was taken, a bright-white, glowing sphere could be seen in Emilio''s chest. "The soul¡­I will have a piece of it stay, leaving an anchor for the rest of his soul that is in the After¡­" Grimsol exined, "...With that, he will be able to resist the After. However¡­It is merely up to his own strength and will if he is to escape the After and return to his body. Prepare his vessel¡­" Without any other word, Grimsol pulled away, moving on as he seemed to search for the remnants of the Dread while members of the Guild Foundation left in the dozens, scattering throughout the valley in the aftermath of the battle. "Prepare his vessel? What''s that mean?" Everett asked. Scarlet handed the body of the Dragonheart over to Everett, wincing at the wound still present on his chest, "...Tch. Get him to a medic¨Cif he manages to escape the After, then he''ll be returning to his body. It won''t do him any good to return to a body that can''t even support life." "The ''After''?" Melisande repeated. "Stop asking questions and go!" Scarlet barked. "Right!" All three of the others said in unison. Chapter 276 Within Death [???] "...Nngh¡­" It was total darkness. For a moment, he believed his eyes were shut as all he could see as heid on his back was nothing but ckness. Where am I?...Last I remember, I was fighting Dread¡­I was falling through the sky, I think, he thought. Against his back he felt the rough texture of what felt like wood, scratching his back as he wiggled his shoulders, unknown if he even had a body to move until that moment. There was a subtle noise meeting his ears, like soft ripples of water, gently bouncing against the object heid on. "Nn¡­" He quietly groaned. As he sat up, holding his face in his hand as he felt as though he had just woken from aatose state as his body felt sluggish and his mind was still adjusting to consciousness, he began to remember. Wait a minute¡­He thought, I think¡­I died, right? Well, maybe not, considering I''m even conscious. Though that thought process brought him to move his hand away from his face as he looked around, still finding nothing but darkness around him. It was clear he was "somewhere", considering he could hear whatever he was sitting on sifting through unseen waters. It''s dark, he thought. As he raised his hand, he conjured a small, orange me above his palm, bringing light into the shadow-filled, unknown area as he finally saw just where he was. "Huh¡­?" It only raised more questions than answers for him, seeing what was around him: he was sitting on a shifty raft that slowly crept through a seemingly boundless stretch of pitch-ck waters. The sable sea was unnerving in its quiet calmness, an eerie sight, unable to see anything past the surface. In that same regard, there was no sky that he could see; only the darkness of a silent void. "Where am I?" He mumbled. The first thought that came to mind with such an inhumanndscape was the Astral Realm itself, however, he had already been there on multiple asions¨Cthis was not it. Still, that initial guess did bring him onto a line of thinking that frightened him, sending a shiver over his body as he stood on the raft, looking around at the quiet, dark sea. ¡­I might be dead. Is this¡­the afterlife? He thought. There was no way for him to certify whether he was right or wrong, but there was something else that caught his attention: in the far distance, nothing more than a speck as it was leagues away, was a tiny light. It seemed to be exactly where his slow-moving raft was heading, leaving him only to sit down and wait it out. I don''t care if this really is the afterlife¨CI''m getting out of here and back to the others, one way or another, he decided. Hope wasn''t easy to keep lit in his heart as he sat there on the thin, ufortable object made of spruced-together logs, traversing the abyssal sea. It was all too unknown for him; a foreign experience in which he was left mostly unaware. It was cold; he was left without a shirt, only wearing the tattered pants he wasst left in. Even the small me he held in his hand didn''t do much tobat the temperature as it felt something supernaturally imposed on himself. He could feel it while drifting over the pitch-ck sea, staring at the void around him: this wasn''t a ce that existed on Arcadius, or at least, not something meant to be normally essed. If I really died¡­Well, can I get back? That would mean this is the afterlife¨Cor something like that, I think, he pondered to himself, is it¡­really over? No. There''s got to be a way, right? Something¡­There''s always something. I''ll get back¡­I will. There was something about the atmosphere that challenged his own resolve; the loneliness of it all. The scope of the darkness made him feel small and insignificant, as if he''d be a mere nkton challenging the tides of the sea. The resolve in his heart was challenged as he watched a wave of the ck water rise in the distance, crashing down as the surface rippled, causing his raft to shake before it continued moving on. For some reason, this made him realize the weight of what was going on; there was no doubt in his mind now. I really am dead, he thought. That assurance in his mind brought him to a still for a few minutes before tears slowly trailed down his cheeks, finding them to be bitter and cold as he held his face in his hands. Alone on that raft, drifting through the cold, deste void, he cried. All he could think about were his family and friends, missing their warmth and kindness, questioning if he''d ever see them again as he felt immeasurably distanced from everything he once knew. I lost it. Even after leaving everything behind for this life, I lost it too, he thought, what was the point of it¨C? I miss them. I want to see them. Laying on the lonesome raft, he hugged his own body, shivering as the coldness grew with the increasing intensity of the ck waves, having to simply pray they wouldn''t swallow the singr lifeline he had in this unknown realm. I don''t want to die. I don''t want to die. I don''t want to die, he repeatedly thought. The lonely, deste atmosphere of the void whittled away at his will; the quietness left room for doubt and endless thinking, leaving him only to soak in the terrible situation he found himself in. It was supernatural, in a sense; the natural air of the realm led to such bleak thoughts swirling in one''s mind. I don''t wanna. I don''t wanna. I don''t wanna. I don''t wanna¨C...He continued thinking. ¨CAs he found himself trapped in this line of thinking for hours on end of what seemed to be an endless voyage through darkness, the raft suddenly bumped into something solid, causing the young man to jolt up, ripped away from his dangerous thoughts. "I¡­What was that?" He mumbled, holding his own head. It felt as though he had just woken up from being possessed by his own thoughts, even though he knew he was conscious, it didn''t feelpletely like himself. As he looked up, he found the dingy raft stopped in front of a piece of solid ground; a surprise to him. He was able to see it due to a lonesome, wooden post that held antern producing a small me that was vibrant in the abyssal sea. Land¡­? He thought. Crawling off of the raft, he stepped onto the ind before him, finding the soil to be chilled and slightly damp, producing squishy steps as he stepped onto the trail before him. There was a single sign etched with only two words: "Go forth." ncing around, it didn''t seem like he was up for options, ncing back to see the boundless stretch of the ck sea before looking forward again. Well, there''s it''s either that or back into those dark waters¡­He thought. Neighboring the enigmatic trail were deathly weeds, grown taller than the perplexed Dragonheart and bearing a gray shade, devoid of any life. He kept a small me above his hand for light, though it didn''t do much to ease the eerie sensation tickling his spine as he walked forth, guided only by the sounds of his own feet stepping through the soil. There wasn''t any wind that glided by his ears; no whistling of nature or even the nightly crickets of critters in the grass¨Conly silence and the dirt trail ahead of him. ¡­It''s hard to believe it, but I really must''ve died, he thought, well, I guess it''s not much of a stretch after what I did. He tried to distract himself with thoughts, though it was impossible to shake the nket of anxiety wrapped around him as he slowly moved along the gloomy trail. It wasn''t clear to him where he was being led by the trail, or if it truly led anywhere; all he knew was that he had to follow it. This trail was the only semnce of direction he had in this unknown ce. The trail was as straight as an arrow, unchanging except for the lifeless, hollow-gray weeds that seemed to only get taller as he walked forward. It wasn''t something he noticed until he stopped, looking around to find the dead grass to be towering over him now. "Was it always this tall?..." He mumbled. He already knew that likely wasn''t the case, but he continued on anyway, keeping the light-bearing me close to himself tobat the natural chill of the realm. It wasn''t more than a dozen steps forward that the path finally came to an end, however, it didn''t leave him at a destination he had hoped for. "...What?" Before him was a field of the tall, gray grass, looming over him like a deste, fickle wall. Though it wasn''t something he wanted to ept, it was clear this was the only way forward, leading him to step into what resembled a hellish corn maze. Chapter 277 Through The Azure As he stepped forward, he entered the maze of tall grass, feeling the dry foliage brush against his body. The moment he took a single stride into the towering des of grass, he felt an unsettling air sp his skin, causing him to backpedal to leave. Though he took a few steps back, he found himself still backing through the colossal weeds, forcing him to turn around. As far as he could see, it stretched out behind him; in every direction, it seemed boundless. What is this? I took one step in, he thought. In his chest, he felt his heart begin to thump with a rising anxiety, finding himself trapped within the supernatural maze. It didn''t ur to him until a few strides into venturing through the ominous field, but his me didn''t attach to any of the length strands of grass. "...Weird¡­" He muttered. Holding the small, orange fire against one of the pieces of dried foliage, there was no reaction between itself and the me. Yet, it was the least of the oddities he found himself in as he continued forth, moving without any sense of where he was heading as all vision was obscured by the tall grass. Periodically, he heard rustlinging from around him¨Csometimes distant, other times closer. Each time, he readied himself, though he felt like a fish out of water as he was left without his staff or his sword. ¡­I hate this, he thought. It became difficult to tell whether the noises he heard were real or simply his own mind ying tricks on him, but no matter how quickly he reacted, he couldn''t find anything around him. Am I making any progress here? He questioned. After a good while of moving forward, he found himself feeling as though he was continuing down a monotonous, never ending cycle, growing frustrated before an idea popped into his head. I''ve got magic! Why am I ying by this ce''s rules?! He realized. Spawning a gust of wind at his feet, he propelled himself upward to escape the walls of dead grass, shooting upward as he found himself delighted his n worked, however¨C "What¡­?" That single word was all he could let out as he was left breathless at the sight around him: the fields of colossal, lifeless grass extended for what seemed to be an infinity. This¡­isn''t right. Where''s the ck sea? I didn''t go that far in, right? He thought. As perplexing as it was, he knew what this likely meant as he dropped back down onto the soil, brought into the depths of the maze once more: he wasn''t meant to "bypass" it. Whatever it is, this ce wants me to y its little games¨Cfine then, he epted. Filling himself with what he dubbed "Everett-ism", embodying the reckless, somewhat stupid, but mostly brave method of his bumpkin friend, he yelled out and closed his eyes before sprinting forward. It was a fool proof n of "what I can''t see can''t hurt me"--the thought process of a child now being utilized in the depths of the deathly, unknown realm as Emilio rushed forward, pushing past the walls of grass. "--How about that?!" Aftering to a stop to catch his breath, he opened his eyes, expecting to find himself surrounded by the deathly tall grass, however, that was not the case. He was standing in a small clearing just before a steep cliff that seemed to lead down into an abyss that was far too dark to make anything out of. "That worked?" He mumbled. Though he questioned if he was in any better of a position now as he found himself at the edge of the cliff above a chasm of unknown depths, greeted only by a rickety, woodendder. "Adder¡­" He looked down. Standing at the edge of the cliff, he overlooked the chasm as a few, loose pebbles fell down the vast opening in the realm, watching as they descended for what seemed an eternity, leaving no noise to meet his ears. Though he despised it, there was no clearer sign that he was meant to descend the ominousdder. Dreadful it was; the sight of the chasm made his stomach sink just looking at it, mimicking the grander of the Grand Canyon he once remembered in a past life, however embodyingplete fear and enigma in its existence, holding only darkness in its bowels. It felt as though he was being led somewhere, but where to was the question at hand; against his better judgment, he decided to climb down the far-stretchingdder. An encouraging breath was drawn into his lungs before he lowered himself, wrapping his fingers carefully around the rough wood of the handhold. Sitting there for a moment with his hands gripping the wood and his feet pressed nervously against the next step, he could feel his back to the void beyond him. Somehow, even with my magic, I have this feeling in my gut¡­That even if I tried to, I wouldn''t be able to survive a fall down this chasm, he thought. Slowly, he moved down one step at a time, feeling his fingertips tremble against the handholds and his feet struggle to stay steady, even as he kept calming breaths flowing in-and-out of his lungs. I hope wherever this ce is leading me gives me some answers, he thought. ¨C [Back In The Valley of Parmesus] The recruits that had survived the length of the trial were all gathered by the Guild Foundation forces in an immediate evacuation of the area. It was a sight to behold for those that endured the battle against the Dread; metal ships that should''ve been faring the sea instead traversed the air with massive balloons guiding them. Each shipnded in various zones throughout the valley, acting as transportation vehicles for those within thepromised trial grounds to escape into. "Alright, time to head out." The horned Nihilum Core, Scarlet, said with a tired sigh, slicking his hair back, whether by ident or not with his own blood. Those close to the young Dragonheart were still left stunned by the entire ordeal, but at the very least, there was hope now. Melisande stood there for a moment, spacing out with a worried look embedded in her emerald irises. A hand befell her shoulder, patting it in an act offort and reassurance; it came from Everett, who was thoroughly wrapped in emergency bandages by the medical staff of the Guild Foundation that arrived on the scene. "He''ll make it," Everett assured her with a smile. Melisande paused for a moment before nodding, putting on a smile of her own, "You''re right. I know he will. We just have to trust in him now. Right?..." "That''s all we can do," Yuna chimed in, taking a sip of water from a canteen supplied by the Foundation. There were dozens of staff investigating the scene, and some official adventurers of seeming renown aiding them as well in this time of need. They had to watch as a pair of medical staff, in their ck uniforms of the Guild Foundation, carried off the unmoving body of Emilio Dragonheart on a stretcher and into the parked ship. "We should get goin''," Everett suggested. "Yeah," Melisande nodded." Boarding therge, metallic ship, the three followed onto the same one that Scarlet and Emilio''s body were inhabiting as well. "Let''s get this moving! Time is of the essence!" Scarlet tookmand quickly, pping his hands together. It was a surprisingly spacious interior that awaited; mages of the Foundation sat in special seats, pooling their mana into the engines of the ship to allow it to lift off once more. "Take a seat and rx. You''re all okay now." Greeting them was a woman with dark-ck hair kept in a ponytail with strong, azure eyes. Going by her outfit that was equipped with a belt of pouches, a leather sheath strapped to her back, and the general air around her, she was an adventurer. If that wasn''t enough, a ruby-gemmed ne was worn around her neck¨Cthe insignia of an adventurer. "I''m Astra. Heard you all survived against a battle with the Dread¨Cgood job," the woman introduced herself, "You''ll make fine adventurers." "...Thanks," Melisande quietly responded, not quite in the mood for conversation. After such a tiresome encounter, those that left the battlefield of Dread, somehow with their lives intact, all fell asleep only a few minutes into the ride aboard the ship. Flying through the gargantuan, cloud-neighboring mountains that walled in the desecrated Valley of Parmesus, the ship headed towards the Guild Foundation Headquarters on a wee calm amidst the skies. ¨C "This kid really put it down? The Dread?" Asking the question was another ck-suit wearing colleague of Scarlet, upying the front of the flying boat with a curious look. It was a woman with short, gray hair and an eyepatch worn on her left, looking down at the body of Emilio Dragonheart. "Yeah. It was a helluva sight¨CI hope Biggs got to see it," Scarlet said. As the horned man nced over, the body of hisrade that had fallen on the battlefield was also present, but covered up unlike the Dragonheart. "Too bad he''s dead, then. Somebody with that sort of strength would''ve been useful to the Foundation. We''re spread thin as it istely," the eyepatch-wearing woman remarked. "Don''t count him out just yet," Scarlet corrected her. "Right, well, forgive me for keeping my expectations in check, but how many people have actually escaped the After?" She asked. ? Scarlet was sitting with one leg propped up on his seat with a tired look in his eyes, peering out of one of the circr windows towards the clouds, "Not many, but how many people can fight something like the Dread?" "Touche," the woman responded. "I''m sick of seeing kids die," Scarlet said quietly. "Yeah. Let''s hope that''s not the case here, right?" She asked. Scarlet took a moment to respond, clearly lost in his own thoughts, "Yeah." Though victory was found against the Dread, there was hardly a sense of triumph felt aboard the ship; it was a somber, mncholic flight to the Foundation, fueled by a bittersweet win. Chapter 278 Ominous Temple A few hours were taken traversing the skies before the ship descended once more, prompting those that had fallen asleep to wake up by the jarring "thud" that resounded from the touchdown of the flying vessel. "Wha¨C" Melisande snapped awake. Though her and Yuna had already awoken, snores were still leaving the bandaged bumpkin who didn''t seem phased by anything. At least, a quick p on the head from the demi-human woman woke Everett up. "--Ow!" Everett let out. "We''re here," Yuna told him. "...Oh, right," the tired man said. As the rail for the ship extended, the three found themselves surrounded in the isted scenery of colossal trees that acted as a veil around the enormous Guild Foundation Headquarters itself. Walking past them, Scarlet was followed by staff that were separately carrying the body of Briggs and the young Dragonheart. "--" Melisande couldn''t look as tears immediately formed in her eyes upon seeing his body. They were all silent when seeing what only looked to be a slumbering state of their friend, though knowing that was far from the truth. Scarlet noticed their reaction, stopping beside them as the staff left the ship, along with the others that hadnded soon after, "Emilio''s body will be in special care. Don''t worry¨Cwe''re not giving up on him." "Really?..." Melisande asked. "That''s great!" Everett excitedly reacted. The front entrance to the Foundation Headquarters was flowing in-and-out with people; the hectic state was clearly in response to the situation with the Valley of Parmesus. "Now,e on," Scarlet led the way, looking back at the three, "It won''t exactly be ceremonious, but you three will officially be recognized as world-ss adventurers." ¨C [??? | Unknown Realm | Emilio] After a few minutes, he was a good dozen meters down, continuously climbing lower and lower as he looked up, finding the top of the cliff to now be a distant sight as the darkness of the abyss surrounded him. "...Huff¡­Huff¡­" It was noticeably more chilly in the depths of the chasm; the dark winds at his back caressed his body with an ominous sensation that raised goosebumps on his body. Clear to the young Dragonheart was that the darkness he found himself descending into was anything but standard shadows; it was an old, nefarious void, housing something in it that, for better or worse, he was going to find. I need answers. I won''t be able to do anything until I have them, he thought. Lower and lower he descended, seeming to hardly make progress on reaching the bottom of the ominous chasm as he looked up, now unable to even see the top of the cliff as the darkness swallowed his view. A nce down brought only a gaze into darkness, seeing the woodendder stretch far past the shadows. It was an unnerving sight, but he hade too far to consider going back up¨Ceither way, he didn''t have any other choice but to indulge the path set before him. More time passed; it felt as though hours were crawling by as he descended, feeling the strength in his arms falter as his fingertips trembled, growing anxious as he clung onto the handholds. He clutched his body close to thedder, resting for a moment as he caught his breath. ¡­The air¡­it feels so dense down here, he thought, it''s like I''m breathing smoke. He had grown lightheaded while staying in the chasm, beginning to question if it''d be better to attempt his descent without the aid of thedder and instead with the usage of magecraft, but again, something in his gut yelled at him that it was a terrible idea. At some point, he realized he was now swallowed inplete darkness; so ck and devoid of light that he could hardly make out his own hands that were directly in front of him, desperately clutching onto thedder. It was reminiscent of the darkness he felt from the Dread, but distinctly different; it was archaic; as old as time, yet it wasn''t evil¨Cit was beyond good and evil, something that transcended human scope. Whatever he was going to find at the bottom of the chasm, it wasn''t human. ¡­Come on. I can do this, he told himself. Continuing his descent, his arms and legs wobbled from the hours of climbing, feeling the shadows tracing his skin as he shivered, but continued along as whispers of the darkness infiltrated his ears. It yed with his sense of bnce, sometimes disorientating his vision as it swirled around. "--Ngh!" Whilst the darkness fiddled with his mind, he found himself believing he was already falling, but it was just an illusion¨Chowever, it made him momentarily let go, causing him to actually begin falling backward before he reached forward. Just before he fell into the abyss, he grabbed onto thedder embedded in the sable cliff, catching himself as he was left devoid of breath in his lungs for a moment. That was close¡­He thought. Though catching himself only served to further tire him out as he properly positioned himself on thedder again, breathing out. After a struggle, keeping his eyes forward, never daring to look down, he was surprised as when lowering his foot to the next hold, it instead met the solid sensation of ground. "...Huh?" Looking down, he realized he had somehow reached the bottom of the chasm, looking up to only find an imprable veil of darkness above his gaze. What he stepped on wasn''t gray or even emerald grass, but a field of snow-white meadow, almost tinum as each de seemedvish in nature. It was a perplexing beauty, yet it was somewhat terrifying in the depths of the abyss. This is¡­? He questioned. Pirs of quartz stood tall, holding up nothing but the ceiling of darkness above that overlooked the enigmatic field of vani grass. It was difficult to see more than a few meters clearly in front of himself, but he found stones periodically ced in a path before him, leading him forward. Farther into the quiet meadow of white grass, he stopped for a moment as the darkness cleared somewhat, allowing him to gaze upon the sight before him: There were people, though drained of life and hollow of ambition, bowing down the grass with their foreheads pressed against the field, holding their hands in prayer towards one thing¨Cruins stationed beyond a climb of steps. "What''s going on?" He whispered to himself. He carefully walked passed the silent worshippers, though he knelt down to get a closer look at one person, seeing that one was a woman with brte hair, crying as she quietly chanted pleas: "Oh please, I beg of thee, grant me salvation¡­Grant me salvation from this eternity¡­Great Primordial, I beg of thee¡­" The woman whispered against the grass. Emilio was stunned at the maddening repetition of those words, cing his hand on the woman''s shoulder, "Hey¡­What''s going on here? Hey! Where are we?" Though he spoke directly to the woman in the white gown, he didn''t receive any sort of response, though the chanting stopped for a moment before he received a re from her. It was the same for the others knelt on the grass, praying and begging for "salvation" from an unseen figure. ¡­This is creepy, he thought. There were dozens of these worshippers, some notpletely human; some elves or demi-humans, even. It felt as though he was throwing himself into the middle of somewhere he didn''t belong, moving along the stepping stones through the grass as he quietly walked past the worshippers. The temple ahead felt as though it was calling for him; a destination that seemed as though to be the source of what was guiding him along thus far. I hope I can find my answers here, he hoped. By the way the hollow worshippers stayed on the grass with their faces down and their hands held together in reverence, it felt as though ascending the stone steps would be trespassing on sacred grounds. As he took a single step to begin ascending the ck-stone steps, he looked back, finding the chants to have stopped, but the worshippers had not moved an inch. It was an unnerving silence, though he managed to bring himself to continue traversing the steps that reached a dozen meters high. Each step felt as though he was entrenching himself further in the ominous air, lifting one foot in front of the air as he passed by archaic columns of dark stone. ? As he reached the top, he found himself on a tform before the entrance to the enigmatic temple, seeing a dial at the top with what resembled a "vitruvian man" carved into the stone. This is it¡­But, what is it? He questioned. Sure as he was that he was the only one present on the elevated tform, there was an overwhelming feeling as though he was being watched. The ck temple wasn''tvish in the traditional sense, bearing no exuberant decorations, yet it was grandiose in a sense; exuding a presence unlike anything else amidst the meadow of white grass. "I''ll get my answers here," he told himself. Chapter 279 Perplexing Trial The tiles of the stygian stone were cold, feeling chilly beneath his uncovered feet as he approached the tall, metal doors of the solemn temple. Approaching the entrance, his lungs filled with the nebulous air cascading down the structure, finding himself peering at it, unknowing of what he will find beyond the doors before him as he stared at the symbol hanging above. The stone-carving of a four-armed, four-legged man didn''t help him to feel at ease, though he knew there was only one way to get past the skin-crawling anxiety building up within him. I have to push forward, he thought. cing his bare palm against the steel doors, he felt the smoothness of the sleek, sable entrance before beginning to push. To his surprise, the colossal gates parted to his slight push, as if wanting to open for him as they spread apart with a rumble echoing beneath his feet. It didn''t take much strength to cause the tall doors to fully open, revealing the interior of the mysterious structure to his eyes. "...Hmm." Squinting a bit, he stepped into the opening corridor, finding himself in darkness before suddenly, the entrance mmed shut behind him. "--Hey!" He spun around, but just then, the darkness left as torches hanging on both sides of the walls were born with pale-silver mes, granting light inside the sealed-off hall. "What''s the deal here¡­?" He muttered, staying on guard. Lining the walls of ck stone were paintings, though bleached and devoid of color or any semnce of art; simply nk and lifeless. The only paintings that bore any art on them were even more unsettling: portraits of people without any features to speak of¨Cfaceless and inhuman. It was unnatural; as he walked through the dark corridor, alit only by pale fire, he felt as though the decorations tried to mimic human culture, though it was vapid and devoid of expression. As if it couldn''t get any weirder¨Cjust what is this ce? He questioned. Stepping deeper into the corridor, it seemed unnaturally long as after having his attention siphoned by the faux art, he realized he''d been slowly walking for a good bit of time. Just as he became aware of this, the hallway rapidly shortened itself before his eyes, pulling in the stretch of space before him as he stumbled back, unsure of what was happening in that moment. "--What the?!" He let out. As the walls of grime-colored stone stopped stretching, a single door was left in front of the frazzled Dragonheart. It was pitch-ck; the door was of a vantack shade, darker than anything else, almost as a shadow itself with a reflective, silver handle being clear as day. "Guess I''ve got no choice¡­I really don''t want to, but¡­" He mumbled, reaching his hand out to grasp the door handle. Turning the handle, the door was pulled open to reveal a perplexing room beyond it: there were four, different colored doors of varying material; three were on the leftmost, rightmost, and forwardmost walls, while thest of which was attached to the ceiling. ¡­What is all of this? He thought. The floor changed from stone to dark-brown floorboards; walls remained as stone, with nk paintings hanging from them all the same. As he walked in, he found a ss stand that held up a peculiar, ck cube. Though it was ominous at best, he decided to pick it up, inspecting it carefully as he ran his fingers along its smooth shape. Odd¡­He thought. There were four holes on each side of the cube, each resembling a "lock" that required a specific key. Clearly, hecked such keys, though he didn''t know if it was necessary, considering he had no idea of what the function of the cube was. However, knowing how he was led here thus far, it was a safe bet to assume he needed whatever the cube possessed. I''m sick of these games, but¡­I guess I''ll have to y, he thought. Standing there for a minute, he inspected the room, finding that there were no cabs or storage spaces that could hold keys, though he dide to another conclusion: Four keyholes, four doors¡­If I''m right, I''m about to be led on quite the goose chase, he thought. For now, he left the cube on the ss stand, weighing his options on which door to check first. The leftmost one caught his eye immediately; it was made out of a bright-red, chalky material. As there was no way of knowing what each doorway led to, it was as good of a start as any as he moved towards it, turning the copper handle before opening it. A passageway introduced itself; a corridor built of the same, chalky, red material that the door was made out of. It smelled dusty with a very light, but noticeable scent of cinnamon that came off of the walls. Stepping into the ominous hall, he found himself wary of its nature; the red walls seemed to slightly curve in an unnatural fashion¡ªtricking him into almost believing his own senses were thrown off. "¡­Give me a break," he muttered. It left him having to walk carefully, finding the corridor naturally moving in a spiral the deeper he went; slightly elevated pieces of the chalky, crimson floor nearly made him trip. Finding his way to the other side of the corridor, the door that was stationed on the end of it revealed itself to be much smaller than he initially saw it as. Actually, it didn''t even seem like a doorway made for a human, as it was only up to his waist in height. "What is it, a door for mice?" He whispered to himself. Kneeling down, he checked out the suspicious, wooden door before grasping the circr handle, spinning it as a "click" resounded with the opening of the small-scale entryway. All he could get was a small peek inside while on his hands and knees, peering into the tiny entrance as he could make out some details of the room beyond. "...You''re kidding me¡­" He let out tiredly. It was the same scale as the tiny door; the following room was proportional for a toddler, maybe. Yet, it didn''tck in teensy paintings and antiques that seemed as brittle as a cracker. Though something caught his eye as he looked around: a tiny, humanoid creature with a rat-like face. It was a peculiar figure, perhaps only asrge as his hand, but it held something much more important¨Ca key, held in its arms. The pitch-ck key it held was unmistakable for one of the four he needed, prompting him to reach his arm in, catching the attention of the abnormally small humanoid within. "I could use that, so hand it over please¡­" He reasoned. Though just before his fingertips could so much as graze the cold material of the key, the rat-faced humanoid ran in the opposing direction, scurrying off as fast as its little feet could take it. "Hey! I need that!" He called out. It was just as he yelled to the figure that he realized he wasn''t going to make any sort of progress by reasoning with it, knowing a chase was in order, though that came with problems of its own; everything was far too cramped and ustrophobic. Still, he decided to burrow forward if it meant he''de one step closer to getting answers, and perhaps out of the mysterious realm he found himself in. Fine, then¡­! He thought. Crawling on his hands and knees, he kept his stomach almost touching the chalky floor below as he moved through the tiny room beyond him. It was ufortable to say the least, but an idea came to mind¨Cone he didn''t know why he didn''t think of sooner as his elbows scraped against the dusty ground. That''s right! I''ll just use a spell to snatch it! He decided. Stopping for a moment, he outstretched his hand, focusing on the key that was asrge as a greatsword in the arms of the tiny, rat-like humanoid. He took extra care to focus the spell of wind, making sure not to bring harm to the seemingly frightened individual¨C ¨CThere! He found his opening. As he called upon the element of wind to take the key from the fleeing creature, the sensation of mana leaving his fingertips and evolving into maniption of the air itself, was absent. "--Huh?" He let out. Nothing came from his hand; not even a small gust of wind breathed out. It was like a natural function of his own human anatomy had been disabled; something as crucial and natural as breathing had been cut away. My magic¡­isn''t working? He thought. Though there was no interference felt with his mana or anyck of said resource; it seemed as if magic itself wasn''t permitted in the tiny space. Perplexing as it was, there was no way he could just sit there and question why this was happening as if he had all the time in the world¨Cthe tiny humanoid was still fleeing all the same. "Hey¡­!" He yelled out. Again, he started crawling on his elbows and knees, further and further into the ustrophobic space. Chapter 280 Cat And Mouse It was odd crawling by miniature furniture¨Ccouches, tables, and even paintings decorated the walls of the minusculeir, though all scaled down to be proportional to the rodent humanoid. As he pushed onward, watching the tiny creature scamper away, he felt a portion of the floor he crawled over "push in" beneath his elbow. "--Huh?" A "click" met his ears, causing him to pause momentarily before something caught the corner of his eye,ing from his right: a false portion of the crimson wall to his right opened up, revealing a swinging ax that sailed right towards his head. "What the¨C?!" As he reacted in surprise, he raised his hand out of pure reflex, shielding his face but instead causing the knife-sized ax to smack against his palm, cutting into his skin as blood dripped down his hand. "Ghh¨C!" He winced. It was a shock to him that such a tiny, almost cute ce housed brutal traps, but it only served to take away any restraint he had as he realized the danger of the scaled-down area now. If that''s how you want to y, then¡­! He thought. Clenching his fist shut as crimson fluid painted his own palm, he pushed past the pain and quickly crawled forward, taking the rodent-like humanoid by surprise as it had stopped to watch the young Dragonheart. In his fast-paced chase, or as fast as anybody could go while having to use their elbows to pull their body forward in a cramped space, he once more found himself encountering a false ting on the floor, this time, triggered by his knee. Crap¡­! He realized. Within that split-second, he nced around, having to figure out where the dormant trap had been slumbering. He was limited in his ability to look around; mostly set to just what was in front of him and his peripherals as turning wasn''t exactly an easy task in the cramped corridor. Another "click" mets his ears, finding the source of the trap to originate from a spot on the wall to his left. There! He found it. Just then, tiny arrows shot out, numbering a half dozen as they aimed for his left eye. There was nothing to truly shield himself with, though it was better to avoid having his eye impaled than anything, so he used his own forearm to take the minuscule arrows. It hurt, but it was nothing he couldn''t brush off as he now moved with a certain frustration guiding him, rapidly crawling through the small space in chase of the key-carrying dwarf. "Give me that damn key!" He yelled out. There was no longer any care taken for the wellbeing of the lengthy home he crawled through, smashing the tiny tables and crushing the furniture inside the doll-like manor. He embodied a destructive beast, rampaging through the miniature area like a monster as he gave chase to the creature. "Give it¡­here!" Emilio strained. As he reached out again, he nearly managed to grab onto the fleeing creature, though again, he felt his arm hit a trap tile¨Ccausing him to pause as he nced up towards the ceiling his head was already practically pressing up against. Again¡­?! He realized. This time, a false portion of the ceiling slid away before pebbles that would be considered boulders for the rodent dropped down, smacking against the young Dragonheart. "Ow, ow, ow¡­!" It was annoying, at best, though it did cause him to instinctively shield himself against the fast-rolling rocks. The rapid, small bursts of pain prompted him to lunge forward out of anger, crawling faster as he closed in on the key-holding rat. "--I''m done asking nicely!" He yelled. Thrusting his hand forward, he watched the minuscule humanoid nce back as fear grew in its eyes, reaching towards the creature before snatching its entire body into his grip. "Gotcha!" Sessfully catching the weirdly-shaped creature, he brought it closer to his face, getting a look at the tiny humanoid. "Just what the heck even are you?" He asked in a mutter. It had rat-like teeth and was heavily d in gray fur, though it had a human shape to its body with long, curved ws. A rat? A human? A demi-human?...I don''t think so, he thought. Just as he reached for the key from the trembling creature, which wore raggedy, leather garments, he found himself rejected by the small, but sharp ws of the creature. It swept at his index finger and thumb, leaving a set of tiny eviscerations on his skin. "Gah¨C!" Though he nearly dropped the fiendish creature, he kept his grip around it, snatching the key before tossing the tiny thing across the room. "Little bastard!" Emilio huffed. After retrieving the ck key, he looked at his two afflicted fingers, finding a small, acute pain from the cuts, though it was nothing that was going to impede him. Alright, time for the hard part¡­He thought. Unfortunately, there didn''t seem to be an exit waiting at the end of the small-scale corridor, instead leaving him to awkwardly crawl backwards through the cramped space. While he wasn''t in a rush to catch a critter this time, he took extra care not to trigger any dormant boobytraps, lest he wanted to find himself covered in more cuts. After a few minutes, he managed to crawl back out through the miniature door, leading him into the crimson-chalk corridor before he rose back to his feet. "...Phew¡­" He exhaled, finding his body relieved at being able to fully stretch out after being stuck in the ustrophobic area. Standing there for a moment, he regained his breath before heading through the spiraling corridor, returning to the room with many doors. The thin, slender stand of clear ss still held the all-ck cube, to which he took the key and carefully slid it into the leftmost keyhole on the object. "Alright, here goes¡­one of four," he muttered. It naturally fit into the lock, sliding in not just partway, but allowing the entire shape of the ck key to be slid into the cube. To his surprise, the enigmatic object took the key from his own grip,pletely bringing it into the lock into a perfect fit as an internal mechanism within the cube triggered. "Okay¡­three to go," he said, watching the object for a moment. For a moment, he looked around at the other three doors that likely led to the remaining needed keys, deciding which way to go next¨Conce again, he chose to follow whim. The next room he decided to confront had a metal door serving as its entryway; it was made of a thick tinum with a reflective sleekness to its material. Next keye on, he readied himself. It took a strenuous effort to open the heavy-duty door, having to pry the handle to the other side, though he realized why he was having an issue with it: the blood that ran through his veins didn''t feel as hot as usual. My Dragonheart System¨Cis it suppressed down here? He questioned Usually, normal locks wouldn''t be any more difficult than prying open a jar of pickles, though he had to sweat to open the titanium door. It''s worrying, but¡­if all of these rooms are a simr difficulty to that first one, I guess I won''t have to worry, he thought. After exhaling, he finally opened the dense door, finding a peculiar passage awaiting him: unlike a normal corridor, it had a steep, sharp decline with walls and flooring made of smooth, reflective metal. It wasn''t something that could be marched down, even carefully; it was steep enough to be used as a chute, or otherwise known to the young Dragonheart: A¡­slide? He realized. There was no way to tell where it led, as it went deep enough to allow shadows to linger. Even as reckless as he could be at times, he didn''t like the idea of the mysterious slide, however, it seemed fate had other ns for his cautious self¨C FWOOSH "Wh-wha¨C!" An inexplicable force of wind manifested itself as his back like a pair of hands pressing forth, causing him to stumble forward. Before he could grasp onto anything, he slipped forward,nding on his rear before rapidly descending the metallic slide. It was disorientating; quickly he was plunged into darkness, seeing nothing but feeling himself descend quickly down the slippery slope. It swerved, causing him to sharply turn in directions, though he couldn''t see this at all, only feeling it as the high-velocity winds brushed past his ears while descending. "Ghh¨C!" He gritted his teeth. He was fearful of whatever abrupt drop might await him at the end, though there was no way of predicting what that woulde before suddenly, he felt himself slide down a small ramp beforeunching from the bottom of the enigmatic chute. Without any prior warning, he found himself dumped into an unknown chamber. He iled momentarily, left like a fish out of water without the magic he''d grown so used to relying on. "Nngh¡­!" Dropping onto the ground, he winced as his entire body then ached from the high-speed fall. For a minute, heid there on his back, catching his breath as he felt his bones shing with pain. This isn''t¡­normal, he thought. Chapter 281 No Rest For The Wicked As he raised his hand above his view, he could see the small cuts left from the rodent humanoid earlier still present on his fingers. This wasn''t the usual way things had gone, at least in recent times. My Undying Blood¡­It''s not working, he thought, Is it suppressed down here like my magic and system? Is it gone? Is this not my normal body? I still don''t know anything. I need answers¨Cand now. Finally deciding to get back up, he found himself in a peculiar room, kept barely illuminated by a single candlestick on the ground, harboring a flickering, orange me and a note beside it. A note? He noticed. The metallic flooring wasn''t present in the roomy chamber, instead reced by grimy, cracked stone that was left with lifeless overgrowth of a ck shade. As he knelt down by the note left in the center of the room, he found three other objects beside it: a rusty dagger, a flimsy bow, and a quiver holding a dozen arrows. Weapons¡­? I don''t like the implications here, he thought. Finally picking up the note, he read the straightforward note left for him: "Kill or be killed, Dragonheart. Best of luck." For a moment, he was left still while knelt, taken aback by the specific usage of his surname by the unknown author of the note. "¡­''Kill or be killed''?" He repeated to himself, reading off the ominous note. While in a sense it was vague, it also couldn''t be much clearer than that for the young man: he knew what it meant¨Ca fight wasing. Though what struck him as odd were the tools to aplish a victory in battle supplied to him: a dagger and bow. These two weapons were ones he had zero experience with, and without the assistance of magic, felt like a tall order to sessfully use in battle without any training. "Guess I''ll have to make do with this," he said to himself. Keeping the dagger and bow close to himself, he kept the quiver slung on his back before looking around the room for any potential "enemy"ing. It was apletely closed off chamber, about asrge as a colosseum with multiple, differing size pirs of metal throughout its space. There was no way out from what he could see, as the chute''s exit was too high, but there were barred off exits on the sides of the chamber. "¡­Come on already," he mumbled. The silence was gnawing; as the warning on the note was in his mind, he could hardly sit still with the suspense in the air. As he walked over to the other side of the chamber, he tugged on the steel bars of one of the exits, doing nothing to budge it in the slightest. All he could see into the corridor beyond the bars were shadows. Crap. Am I trapped here? He thought. It didn''t seem like there was any way back out, at least not the way he came in, but he could only assume he was not meant to leave the chamber quite yet. Left in silence and the emptiness of the room, he held the flimsy bow left for him, trying to get a feel for it as he ran his fingertips against the thin spine of the weapon. "¡­Julius never really liked archers. He always went on about how ''bows made people into cowards'' and that ''swords were manlier and more reliable''," He reminisced to himself. The close-minded beliefs of his father when it came to the art ofbat was much of the reason he was solely experienced with a broadsword and nothing else. In fact, he couldn''t recall ever even holding a bow in his hands, as it felt foreign wielding the projectile-flinging tool between his fingers. If a fight wasing though, he wanted to at least be somewhat capable of utilizing the bow, even if only at the most novice level. "Let''s see¡­Is this right?" He mumbled. Grabbing an arrow and drawing the string back, he focused up as he held the arrow in ce with the tip facing towards one of the metallic pirs in the room. It was difficult for him to maintain the draw length, unknowing if his grip was proper or not. As he released his hold of the string, he let the arrow fly towards the pir, aiming for the tiny notch in the reflective metal. Sailing forth, the projectile did not follow his aim at all, instead flying off to the right in apletely unpredictable direction. "Ah¡­That''s not good," he remarked to himself with a sigh. Without the all-epassing aid of magic at his fingertips, he felt it necessary to garner any tools he could, trying his best to be at least adequate with the bow, but it didn''t seem that he would be able to self-teach himself very well. He adjusted his grip and the amount he drew the string back, but his aim didn''t improve much, leaving him having to collect the arrows multiple times as the arrowheads began to dull from the repeated misses. What felt like a couple hours passed and there had yet toe any change in the room or the arrival of the insinuated enemy, leaving the young man bored and on edge. What''s going on here? Am I supposed to figure a way out or what? He questioned, I already checked¨CI can''t get out of this room unless those barse down first. It wasn''t as though hecked patience, but the paranoia of constantly waiting, having to sit in the room like a meal waiting for whatever unknown predator was awaiting him, forced him to not ease up for a moment. He paced around the room, checking every nook-and-cranny for hints or clues to progress further, but found nothing capable of aiding him. What made it especially frustrating for the young Dragonheart, grating his knowledgeable soul like steel wool against his pride, was the fact he knew that with his spells, he''d be able to trump such a room. Yet, there was no benefit to dwelling on such information as he dropped down, sitting against the wall as he kept the bow resting by his side and the rusty dagger held in his right hand. I''ll just have to sit here and wait it out then¡­I can do that, right? He thought. Sitting there in the mysterious temple, within the unknown realm, in concealed circumstances, he found a thousand questions swirling in his mind as he looked down at his own two hands. I died. I''m pretty sure of that much at least, he thought, still¡­I don''t feel dead. I feel out of ce in this realm¨Cthat''s the feeling I''m going to hold onto. Hours passed by as he sat there in stagnation, awaiting the note''s warning, but s, nothing had yet toe. Those hours soon crawled into a countless amount of time, imperceivable without the concept of night and day to guide him¨Cperhaps only a few more hours had traversed his existence, or perhaps an entire day had leapt. It was impossible to know, however, what he did know is that he was bing maddened by the boredom: there was nothing to inspect in the minimalistic chamber, nothing to do, and nothing to upy himself with besides the countless theories he had of his own circumstances in the mysterious realm. Somehow, despite being so on edge, he managed to nod off against his better judgment, slipping into a state of unconsciousness. A buzzing met his ears, like a fly circling his head, growing close to his ears, bing ring at some point. What¡­is this? He questioned. It was nothing like normal slumber; he found himself entrenched in a thick darkness, as if trapped in a swamp of ursed waters, clung onto by leaves that gripped onto him like hands. Suffocating it was; air was reced by smoke, filling his lungs as he struggled, having to choose to drown in the abyssal waters or choke on the void of smoke. Yet, spending what felt like torturous hours in this nightmarish space, constantly iling his limbs as disembodied hands reached from the darkkes to pull him down, he didn''t die. It was a constant state of "dying"; there wasn''t a second where he could properly breath, constantly hyperventting for hours on end. Eventually, he woke up¨C "Huuuu¨C!" He startled awake, covered in sweat as he immediately sucked a deep breath into his lungs, having to calm himself after realizing it truly was a dream. His lungs burned, as if he truly had been straining them during the duration of his sleep, having to take calming breaths as he realized his hands were quivering. What was that¡­? It was terrible, he questioned. A bitter cold was left on his body in the aftermath of the horrid dream, forcing him to forgo sleep as he sat there, gathering himself as he attempted to ce those experiences in the back of his mind. Chapter 282 Fight To Survive More time crawled by at a snail''s pace as he sat there in utter stagnation, awaiting anything to give him sensation as his stomach growled, reminding him of the very concept of his mortality. Ipletely forgot about food¡­I''m so hungry, he thought. As he questioned where and if he could find a meal, he was startled at the jarring sound of metal rattling. It was confusing at first; foreign amidst the continuous silence that persisted until that moment. Frozen for a moment in this perplexion, he jumped to his feet, grabbing the bow beside him and making sure the rusty dagger was still tucked in his pocket. ¡­Is it finally happening? Now? Right here? He questioned. Anxiety bubbled in his heart as he ran into the center of the minimalist, but pir-filled room, finding the leftmost and rightmost gates of sturdy bars being relinquished. What left him worried was the fact that both previously closed gates were now opened. It wasn''t something he put much thought into, but he naturally expected there to be one enemy awaiting him in the metal colosseum. He held his ground, drawing an arrow from the quiver strapped to his bare back before pulling it back alongside the string of his bow. "...Phew¡­" He slowly exhaled, calming his thumping heart as he focused up. Without knowing which direction he should set his sights on, he was given a perfect cue at what sounded like a wet footstep pping against the flooring down the left gate. There, he thought. Drenched steps continued echoing against the acoustic flooring, filling the once deafening silence with gnawing anticipation for the young Dragonheart. He aimed the drawn arrow down the shadow-filled corridor to the left, though the footsteps suddenly cut outpletely. "Ribbit." ¨CThe sole sound met Emilio''s ears inplete doubt for the young man who questioned what he just heard, "...Ribbit?" As he repeated the sound with his lips, he was given no time to question it as the air suddenly shifted, causing goosebumps to rise on his arms as the instincts inhabiting his body forced him to roll to the side. "Ghh¨C!" The air was prated by something diving in with sharp speed, propelling right past the spot the young man just stood. For a moment, nothing filled his mind but fog; it all shifted too suddenly from sensory deprivation now to an overload as adrenaline flourished in his veins. What was that¡­? He questioned. He hadnded on a knee after sessfully evading the swift attack, turning around to witness a sight that left him with more questions than answers: it was a tall, bulbous humanoid with green skin, slimy skin. While it mostly pertained to human physique, its head waspletely devoid of normalcy, instead resembling that of a frog with arge mouth, croaking and expanding its vocal soak to unleash a bellowing call. A frog¡­? No, not quite¨Ca frog demi-human? He realized. It had webbed hands and feet, unveiling a long, grotesque tongue as it parted its mouth, whipping its tongue out directly towards the young Dragonheart. "Nngh¨C!" He rolled again, taking cover behind one of the pirs as the saliva-covered appendage of the frog freak smacked against its metallic form. How am I supposed to fight something like this¡­? He questioned, no magic, and my Dragonheart System isn''t active at all¨Chow?! Rattled and left feeling naked without any spells to aid him, he was hardly able to react as the green-skinned, humanoid amphibian dashed around the pir, confronting him. "--!" Emilio''s eyes widened. His body didn''t move in tandem with his own reflexes, unable to be bolstered by magical reinforcement as he raised his arms. The powerful legs of the frog demi-human dropkicked against his forearms, causing the young man to be brutally flung back. As his back mmed against one of the metal walls, the air was knocked from his lungs. "Pyuh¡­!" He gasped out. Looking at his own arms, they instantly became swollen and bruised to a purple like bulbous grapes; the two limbs quivered, shaking tremendously as the impact rattled his bones. This was a deathmatch, if such a thing truly existed in the afterlife; however, despite the overwhelmingly one-sided odds stacked against his powerless self, he felt a fire burning within him¨Cinvisible to others, but bubbling within himself. It wasn''t the blood of the Dragonheart pumping through him, even as his heart resonated with an ignited will. This was his pure, unfiltered resolve¨Cthe strength of Emilio Dragonheart; of Ethan Bellrose. "Fine. I''ll win without any special abilities. I''ll show you the strength of a human¨Cno gimmicks, nothing¨Cright down to the marrow of my bones, I''m just a normal human, but I''ll still im victory," Emilio promised out loud. It was unclear to him what level of intelligence the frog humanoid possessed as there was no verbal response to his words, only a lifeless look in its deep, yellow eyes. "Come on, then. Let''s do this," he provoked quietly. Without any further invitation needed, the beastly, bipedal frog lowered its stance as its green-skinned thighs bulked up, bulging with veins as it empowered its legs. He could almost hear the creature''s muscles coiling with inhuman strength. Here ites! Emilio watched. There was no doubt a hefty amount of strength in those legs belonging to the unorthodox beast, building up before it leapt forward like a spring of great tension being released. The air whistled from the foe thatunched itself like a cannonball, hurling towards the young man who rolled to the side only a split-second before being caught in the path of the amphibian warrior. ¨CIt''s so fast! That was pure luck¨Cnothing else, he admitted. It was on a direct course for mming into the wall, though to the dismay of the Dragonheart, the frog beast caught itself before crashing into the metal barrier, insteadnding with its sticky, webbed feettching onto the material. There was hardly any time to get his bearings as he lifted his head, witnessing the beastly, slimy foe''s legs bulk up against as itpressed itself against the wall before¨CFWOOM. Again, it sprang forth like a cannonball piercing the air, causing the wind to howl by the young man''s ears as he threw himself to the side at thest moment. I have to catch it¡­! He thought. Knelt on one knee, he steadied his bow and drew the arrow he held between his fingers along the string, taking aim in the direction of the giant amphibian. Of course, theck of experience meant this entire process took him too long, resulting in, once more, being one step behind the spring-like antics of the frog demi-human. The air sted again in the path of the beastly warrior''s speed, interrupting him from releasing the arrow as the wind pressure alone caused him to stumble to the side despite the frog missing itsunch. "Ghh¨C!" Emilio let out. He felt it in a new light; the strength of the monstrous frog was something that normally wouldn''t have been all too special¨Cit fell short of many opponents he''s fought. However, devoid of the grace of mana in this moment, it felt like a true monster stood before him. As he spun around to face the creature, it was already midway throughunching a one-legged kick towards him. There was no chance for him to dodge, only reluctantly raising his arms to block the kick, though it was a regrettable choice as his already bruised and swollen forearms were smashed into again by the powerful limb of the frog warrior. "Nngh¡­!" He could swear he heard his bones cracking, feeling them ring with a sharp pain throughout his arms as the blocked blow caused him to slide back a good couple feet. The moment he rxed his arms somewhat, they flopped down, nearly causing him to drop the bow that was as light as a feather, as even holding such meager weight became painful for him. Shit. It''s strong. I can''t stop on the defense¨Cevading its attacks is mostly a matter of luck and guarding against it is just going to get me more and more broken, he thought. He used the opportunity with the frog standing there, croaking, to run back to the otherside of the room, putting more distance between himself and his enemy. Briefly, he hid himself behind a pir, leaning his shoulder against it as he caught his breath; sweat dripped down from his chin as he breathed out. ¡­Alright. Let''s do this, he readied himself. An arrow was retrieved from the leather quiver on his back before he pulled it back along the string, showing himself from the pir again as he took aim towards the amphibian beast. It was painful just drawing the string back; the few pounds of pressure felt as if it was tearing at his swollen forearms¨Cstill, he pushed through it as he closed one eye to aid his aim. There! He found it. Pointing the arrowhead towards the green-skinned humanoid that stood in the center of the room, he released his hold of the string just as it ran towards him. Chapter 283 Inspiration For Murder It was frightening; the swiftness of the humanoid frog as it lunged forward, heading for a head-on collision with the arrow. At thest moment, as it seemed the arrowhead was set for a perfect hit, the monstrous creature swerved to the side, though not fully evading the projectile. "--Huh?!" Emilio witnessed it: the arrow that should''ve pierced the side of the frog''s head instead only grazed it, not even leaving a wound as it seemed to be reflected by the natural slime oozing from its pores. He immediately had to drop the bow, beginning to reach for the small de kept in his pocket, but pausing for a second. A decision had to be made in that moment while he was being rushed by the enemy upon realization of something: the dagger''s reach was far too short than what he was used to, and what would likely be effective against such a fast opponent. ¡­An arrow has more reach, but I doubt it''ll be able to inflict any significant wound being used for melee, he thought. In that split-second, he made his decision just as the bow smacked against the ground: he reached behind his back and grabbed an arrow by its thin, wooden body, using it like a spear just as the amphibian fighter drew near. "Hyrah!" He lunged forward with reckless abandon exuding from himself, knowing full well if this impromptu n failed that he''d be kicked with the force of a storm. Still, hemitted, meeting the frog head-on as he thrusted the arrow forward, aiming it between the creature''s eyes. Being brought too close to the intense creature, he felt small and insignificant; though these were intrusive feelings, it was the truth at its core¨Che had only the body of a fifteen-year-old, attempting to fight something that surpassed human limits in its own ways. These feelings were pushed past as he pierced his arm through the veil of fear to guide the arrow. ¨CIt leapt back. Though the arrowhead didn''t embed itself in the frog''s head, this was the desired oue; Emilio merely wished to repel the enemy for that moment. Just as it had jumped back with its powerful legs, Emilio quickly reached down and retrieved his dropped bow. Was it just a fluke before? A bad shot?--I don''t have time to think about that, just shoot! He thought. Being stationary while reading his shot was an incorrect move¨Che realized that; circling around the room, he pulled another arrow out and aimed once more for the frog, who scanned the room with its feral gaze in search of him. It was a more difficult action than he thought, aiming a bow; in the midst of battle, against a foe that could kill him with one, well-ced blow, that anxiety and overwhelming pressure from a stronger enemy led him to feel hesitant to even be in view of the creature. The environment was both advantageous and disadvantageous for him; a double-edged sword. It was filled with tall pirs of immovable titanium, thick and giving him good cover¨Chowever, it also made it difficult to line up a shot on the moving amphibian. Only brief shes of the green-skinned demi-human were seen as it flipped through the pirs, moving in an unorthodox mix of hops and dashes towards him as its wet feet pped against the flooring. ¡­Steady. Now! He concentrated. He pulled the string back as far as he could, adding as much strength behind the arrow as he could with the slipperyyer around his enemy in mind. Another release of the string came; the arrow sailed through the stagnant wind, heading straight for the beast with uracy surprising even to the impromptu archer. Expectating a straight-on headshot, Emilio found his hopes crushed as the abnormally long tongue of the humanoid frogshed out, swiping downward as the slimy organ split the iing projectile in half. It destroyed it in midair¨C?! He questioned. After failing tond a shot once more, he crouched down and quietly circled around the metallic pirs for cover, trying to stay out of view of the beast. Missing his attempts at a counterattack so far, that anxiety bubbling beneath his skin began to surface through uneven breaths and the trembling of his fingertips. Trapped in the unknown realm, left without answers and the abilities he dedicated years into developing, he felt overwhelmed. ¡­It''s unfair. Still¡­What''s ever fair in this world? He thought, All you can do is try as hard as you can¨Ceven if it''s sometimes fruitless, even if you look stupid doing it, it''s the best you can manage in a world like this. That''s what being human is all about¨Cwe have to crawl out of whatever rock bottom we fall to. There were undeniably few factors going in his favor: he was hungry, tired, confused, and stressed enough that his mind was left foggy. It was a herculean task to draw the string of his bow back with his trembling fingers, and even harder to imagine swinging the dagger he had with bruised, fractured forearms. Yet, he sucked it up and took the dagger out of his pocket, gripping the handle tight enough to overpower his own quivering. There was one factor he had, one that he held onto dearly, clutching it close to his heart that throbbed with a hunger to survive: the will to live. Born from that resolve was something else, a philosophy adapted from the fighting style of his fallen protector. The Godless Style¡­Vandread, you told me once that it''s all about making do with what you have in any given situation. It''s about being able to adapt to anything, anyone, and with any weapon at your disposal¨Ceven if it''s just a feather, he thought. Just then, he heard the swampish steps of the non-verbal demi-human drawing near, prompting him to swallow his doubts and put into practice what were merely recreations of his own memory from watching Vandread fight. I''m lucky in one regard¨Cmy opponent is stupid! I''m practically fighting a bird-brained animal¡­I can take advantage of that, he realized. "Raaagh!" A warcry was needed to fuel himself with the headspace needed tomit to his reckless "n" as he jumped out from behind the wide pir, catching the frog off-guard as he tossed the bow in his hand forward. Simply, it was a purely illogical move, but that was the beauty of it: the wooden bow smacked the amphibian in the face, causing it to flinch. This was the opportunity needed for the young man as he raced forward, nearly tripping over from the sheer desperation of this life-and-death gambit. His footsteps echoed against the metallic flooring, calling out each step he took as they rang through his ears. "Ribbit¨C" Just as the plump-cheeked frog opened its eyes again, the desperate Dragonheart lunged forward with his dagger raised high, jumping in without any restraints holding him back frommitting to the brutality of his assault. He plunged the rusty dagger towards the amphibian''srge head, stabbing right through its cheek as it bobbed its head slightly, throwing off what would''ve been a lethal blow. Shit! He thought. Still, the attack was sessful in harming the creature greatly as it groaned out,shing out as the young man quickly drew his dagger from the demi-human''s cheek. Dark-blue blood spilled from the frog''s wound and seeped from its lips as it let out pained sounds. The window of opportunity was once more wide-open, letting in an air of hope as he decided to rush in while the amphibian warrior was distracted by its profusely bleeding wound. I can do this! I can! He told himself. He could feel his entire body burning up; aching as he found exhaustion hitting him hard without mana to aid him. There was no choice but to push on, though he found the razzled foe of his whipping its tongue out towards him. I want to live! He thought. "Ngh¨C!" At thest second, he slid across the ground, managing to duck beneath the tongue but finding his recovery to be a moment too slow, as once he stood up, the frogunched a kick against his stomach. "Pyuuh¨C!" The air was forced from his lungs, but this time, the attack was noticeably weaker; itcked the explosiveness of the ones he suffered before. It still rattled his internal organs all the same, likely bruising them as the force hammered his ribs, causing blood to be coughed out. There''s others waiting for me. I can''t be stuck down here! I won''t be kept down¡­I''m not ready to die! He thought. He was able to nt himself down, locking himself from being knocked back as he squeezed the handle of his dagger once more. "...Nnnrah!" He yelled out. As the azure blood of the beast painted the sleek, silver flooring, the young man pushed forward like a wild animal himself, jumping up and plunging his de through the head of the amphibian. He didn''t relent; repeatedly, he stabbed the frog¨Cthree times, a half dozen, into over a dozen stabs, all until he was sure his opponent had fallen. "...Huff¡­" He breathed out. It was a far cry from the refined dance of killing that the scar-facedpanion of his had possessed, but it was all he had with him now: "The Art of Impromptu Killing." Chapter 284 Twisted & Wicked As he rose to his feet, ragged breaths left his lips as crimson blood dripped from his chin. He stood straight with his purple, swollen arms hanging down, huffing out as his teeth were shown to be drenched in his own blood. I''m greedy. Even after living two different lives, I still want more. There''s still so many things I want to see¨Cthe great cities of the elven continent, the fantastic beasts roaming Ygsdra and its endless cultures, and even the blessed and ursednd of Jubra. All of it. I want to make so many friends that I struggle to remember their names. I want to experience enough adventures that I''ll have to be reminded of them by singing bards. Life is boundless in its joys. I can''t get enough of it¨CIt''s amazing. This is what I missed in my first life¡­Even here, stuck in the afterlife, I feel more alive than ever. I won''t ept death until I''m satisfied, he thought. Despite everything, victory was his. Maybe it''s childish to believe I can ovee death, but isn''t that the point of being human? He questioned, Striving for things that seem impossible? Pushing further each and every day?...Besides, for some reason, I just feel like it''s not my time yet. There''s still so much I have to do¨Cso much I want to do. A gargled cough from the presumably dead foe of his immediately made him raise his guard again, ready to plunge his blood-soaked dagger back into it, but it didn''t seem the amphibian fighter was getting back up. "...Ri¡­bbit¡­" With thatst expulsion of noise from its body, the frog coughed up something from inside out it, spitting out a slime-covered object. Though he was exhausted, he was able to make out what the tiny object was while it was still in midair, prompting him to dash forward with his tired body and snatch it out of the air. "...Got you," he said. In his palm, the second of the ck keys needed for the cube presented itself, though covered in a less-than-savory fluid. ncing down at the in foe of his, the young man could feel a certain sense of vindication, not for him, but for the doting father he wished to see again, "I guess I''ll have to thank you for toughening me up¨Cmagic can''t always be there to save me." Though as he stuffed the ck key in his pocket and began to head towards the rightmost corridor, the opposite direction where the frog beast did note from, he felt a stiffening air brush against him. It was an unmistakable feeling: the sensation of not being alone. This feeling was magnified when he faced the right corridor where metal bars once blocked the way; through the absence of light that allowed shadows to upy the hall, he felt something there. This feeling¡­There''s no way, right? He thought. It didn''t make much sense to him why there would be another figure in the chamber, especially after not showing themselves throughout the duration of the deathmatch with the wild amphibian. Still, he wasn''t about to doubt his own instincts. He recalled the thoughts he had just prior to the fight against the frog¨Cthe idea of there being multiple opponents awaiting him. I already have the key though¡­but, it''s true that I don''t know how to get out of this room yet, he thought, I wonder¨Cis that corridor where I have to go? Footsteps made themselves known as the young man stood there, begrudgingly wielding his dagger once more. A fight wasn''t high on the list of things he wanted to delve back into, not directly after barely scraping by in the battle against the frog demi-human. He could feel his arms throbbing and each breath he took in through his lungs drew in a sh of pain. As he stood his ground, listening to footsteps echo out throughout the shadow-filled corridor, he found the steps sounding as if they entered the same room as him, though he could see nothing. What? He thought. There wasn''t any doubt to him: the steps were definitely in the metallic chamber with him, sounding just meters away now, yet he couldn''t see any figure which they would belong to. While he was left perplexed by the audible footsteps of an unseen entity, he suddenly felt his reflexes fire off before something came sailing through the air. What felt like a heavy, armored limb whipped against his chest, knocking him back. "--!" It took the breath from his lungs, but it wasn''t on par with the powerful kicks suffered by the fallen amphibian, allowing him to catch himself before falling to the ground. Though it wasn''t on the same level of the explosive kicks before, it didn''t mean they were unfelt¨Cnot by a longshot. More blood was hacked up by the young man as he felt his insides scream at him after suffering the unseen blow, though with the adrenaline pumping through his body, he was already locked into the mindset of a fighter. "...Here we go again," he breathed out. As he looked up at the sound of footsteps and light breathing meeting his ears, he still found nothing meeting his gaze. This led to a theory rising from the young Dragonheart as he held his dagger up, readying himself. It''s not something I''m excited about, but I might be up against an invisible opponent, he thought, I''ve never heard of a spell for invisibility, but I wouldn''t be surprised if it existed, either. Yet, I don''t think it''s magecraft. With the idea in his head of fighting an enemy without a seen form, he had to sharpen his senses despite his exhausted, injured state; he opened his ears, listening to the most minuscule noises and where they came from in rtion to himself. For the time being, he was stuck on the defense, pacing backward as he tried to get between a row of pirs for cover. TAP. TAP. TAP. Fast-paced steps approached him, prompting him to react, though he didn''t instinctively know what to do in response to an invisible attacker, not knowing if a kick, punch, or perhaps another tail strike wasing his way. What''sing¨C?! He questioned. Without knowing what sort of attack was arriving, he decided to take a gamble and duck down just as he felt the presence of the unseen foe arrive within striking distance of himself. It seemed to be a good guess as he could feel a force swipe over his head, instead smacking against a neighboring pir with an echoing "thud". In response, he swiped his dagger across whatever was in front of him, looking to feel some sort of resistance¨Cand that he did. It was only a scrape, by the feel of it, but he managed tond a counterattack, briefly feeling the scaly hide of whatever his foe was. Gotcha! He thought. Just as a sense of small triumph flooded him, he was hit square in the nose, being knocked back as he fell onto his back from his crouched position, but not before quickly rolling back, using the momentum to stand back up. I''m not getting out of this room till it''s dead¨Cwhich means I''m not getting out of this hellhole till it''s dead either, which means¨CI have to kill, he realized. A smile that bordered on fright and excitement stretched across his lips, revealing his blood-painted teeth as he found concrete evidence of his invisible opponent. I can do this! He resolved. As he spit out blood from his mouth without much thought put into it, he noticed it didn''t travel very far before seeming to be stuck in the air. It was confusing at first, but as the loogy of blood seemed to get closer to him, he realized what had happened. It was another revtion¨Canother edge given to him in the deathmatch: My blood¨Cit''s on it! I can see it¨Cat least, I know where it is now! He realized. Only a small amount of blood managed to stick onto the invisible fighter, though it was a tide-shifting evolution of the battle, now giving him much more information than nearly nothing. Though, now being able to somewhat track the movements of his opponent, he realized just how unorthodox they were¨C "--!" The Dragonheart''s eyes widened as he witnessed the unseen figure rise higher before the footsteps sounded as if they were racing across one of the metallic pirs. Is it¡­running on the pir?! He guessed. It seemed ridiculous, but after what he came to face thus far, it wasn''t out of the question as he jumped back as the footsteps came closer to him, sounding as if a jump came from the invisible fiend. WHAM Smacking against the spot he previously stood the moment prior, a vicious m came, echoing off of the metallic flooring and sounding as if a fatal injury would''vee from being in the way of the downward blow. ¨CHow about this?! He thought. Knowing his opponent was vaguely in front of him, he reared his head back before swirling the abundant blood left in his mouth before lunging forward while spitting out a st of crimson fluid straight towards the unseen figure. Chapter 285 Instinct Triumphs A wicked smile stretched across his lips as he found his nefarious, unrefined n bearing fruit as the blood painted the body of his foe, giving a rough idea of its height, physique, and inhuman features. It was slender and tall, with a lengthy, thick tail stretching from its back; likely a demi-human, a beastly, savage one at like, just like his previous foe. Invisible¡­a tail¡­rough scales¨CI''m fighting a reptile demi-human of some sort, he racked his brain in thought, I think I''ve got it¡­ "You''re a chameleon, aren''t you?" He asked audibly with a bloody smirk. Of course, there was no verbal response, but he already knew he was correct in his assumption as there weren''t an abundance of animals with the ability to camouge themselves. For better or worse, the aching of his internal organs and throbbing of hispromised bones was dulled as the adrenaline surging through his veins only seemed to increase in the midst of the second deathmatch, causing that smile that lusted for victory to persist on the young man''s lips. Despite being inferior both in physical prowess and abilities at this time, there was a reason for Emilio Dragonheart''s performance that seemed to rise despite him bing more hurt and exhausted: ["The Zone"] That state in which his entire mind honed itself towards surviving, thriving, and winning once more found itself surfacing in the face of a life-or-death battle. Instincts sharpened, reflexes kicked into overdrive, and the adaptability of the mind awakened to the highest level. The fear of death drew everything from himself¨Call thoughts, all energy, all will¨Cstraight into oveing the obstacle before him. The switch in his mind had flipped; it was kill-or-be-killed. All shackles were off and all doubts had vanished. As footsteps rapidly approached from the invisible figure, he was able to see the direction it came from the blood that painted a portion of its animalistic form. This time, he chose to meet his foe halfway with weaponized reckless abandon, leaping in as he sucked in another breath before spitting out another spray of blood in the direction of the chameleon demi-human. "Puh-!" He happily spit out. The st of blood managed to directly ssh against the reptile''s face, revealing part of its inhuman face to the young Dragonheart while also causing the creature to flinch. "Gotcha!" He eximed with a wild smile. Use anything as a weapon¨Cthat applies to blood, too! He thought. He swung his dagger downward, leaving a cut that stretched from the scalp of the scaly reptile down to its lip, causing it to yell out in pain. Though not a lethal blow, missing just short of having dug into the reptile''s skull, it was a significant advancement, one nned by the Dragonheart as he smiled wide: purple blood spewed from the gash on the chameleon humanoid''s face. "--!" Using the dagger with such unrefined technique caused the rusty de to break before bouncing out of the young man''s grip, leaving him devoid of a weapon. The spray of blood from the wound was a continuous signal, screaming out from the invisible fiend''s position "Hey, I''m right here!"--it practically did away with the transparency entirely. Even weaponless, the Dragonheart couldn''t help but smile as he exhaled, catching his breath as his opponent, once untouchable by the sense of sight being deprived, was now before him. It was something he had seldom done, always relying on his de or magic: he cocked his fist back, readying it as he amped it with everything he had, swinging his fist with all of his body weight behind it. "--This is for you!" He yelled out as a taunt. Even with a measly body of a teenager, he was able to output the entirety of his strength through the adrenaline surging through him, mming his knuckles against the chameleon''s face with a "crack'' sounding out. It wasn''t clear if it was just the creature''s scales breaking, its bones cracking, or both. As a result of the reckless blow, his knuckles busted open, squirting blood out, though this didn''t stop him from continuing as he threw his fists relentlessly against his opponent. Each time his knuckles crashed against the head of the reptilian warrior, the skin on his fists became blistered and bloody, scraping away and bing swollen as the flesh beneath was visible. "Come on! Come one!" Emilio taunted. A mix of violet blood from the chameleon and crimson liquid from his fists trickled in the air, sshing against them both as he didn''t relent in his continuous blows. ¨CIntercepting his maddened barrage of fists, the bloodied and bruised reptile spuna round, whipping its solid, sharp tail against him. It was both a bludgeoning blow and a cut, slicing his cheek partly and cutting across his chest diagonally down from his right shoulder to his left pectoral. "Ghh¨C!" He briefly winced. Before the beast could retreat from its sessful counterattack, the young man grabbed onto its tail with both hands, stopping it in its tracks as he squeezed with every ounce of strength in his body. As it hissed out, attempting to swipe at him with its ws, he yanked on the humanoid reptile''s tail, causing it to trip and fall with a heavy thud against the sleek, silver flooring. What was once clean, metal tiles now became stained in the mix of human and chameleon blood. "I''m going to live! I won''t stay dead¨CIt''s not my time yet!" He yelled out. Almost as if justifying his actions, those words left in heated passion as blood spit from his mouth as each word left his lips. He dropped down onto the tail-sporting, beastly demi-human''s back as it tried to get up, wrapping his legs around its sides and his arms around its throat, squeezing with everything he had. "--It''s nothing personal, but I need to live! I need to get out of here¨Cso die!" He yelled. With adrenaline pumping through his veins like an exhrating caffeine of life-or-death, he squeezed his bicep against the throat of the reptile, pressing his skin against its rough scales as it coughed out, gasping. It was a new feeling; he could grasp the fleeting life of the sentient creature¨Cit struggled, iling against him as he stayed attached to its back, only tightening his hold on its neck as it fought back. Each passing moment, the gargles became more rough as it choked on its own saliva, having its throat crushed as the strength it resisted with weakened. I! Will! Win! He decided. He squeezed so hard he thought his muscles might burst right out of his skin, pushing them to his limit as hisplexion shifted to a red from the strain he put himself in through overpowering the ravenous reptilian. "Nnnraaah¨C!" Emilio let out. "Grrrk¨C!" The chameleon spewed out in a struggle. After a painful struggle with the camouging lizard wing at his arms, leaving deep, bleeding cuts in them and thrashing at him with its tail, he finally managed to put the figure to sleep, but he didn''t stop there. There was no choice of mercy for him; zero room was left to be merciful when his own body was on the verge of shutting down. Even as he held the chameleon''s neck in his arms, squeezing like a serpent, he could feel his own consciousness flickering. "¡­Come on¡­!" He struggled. It was difficult summoning his own strength, especially enough for what he nned to do as he squeezed the creature''s neck, listening to its own heartbeat growing more faint as he held on. More and more quiet the resonance of the reptile''s life became before even the struggled breaths that left its lips stopped, "¡­Hff¡­" Emilio slowly exhaled, having finished off his opponent atst as he could no longer feel any signs of life with his arms pressed against its neck. For a minute, heid there after unwrapping his arms from the creature''s neck, letting its limp body roll over lifelessly. His biceps aches after forcing so much strength from them, stinging from the strain. As he finally decided to pick himself up, he exhaled as his exhausted lungs felt as though they were exuding embers. He set his sights on the corridor left open from where the chameleon hade from, which he already nned on going down beforehand. "¡­Alright, time to get out of here," he muttered, wiping blood from his chin. The young Dragonheart limped his way through the blood-stained room, each of his weakened footsteps echoing through the now lifeless chamber. His own crimson fluid of life leaked from his multiple wounds, dripping dome onto the floor as he shuffled into the dark corridor. Nearly stumbling over from the fleeting strength in his body, evaporating from his pores like a past rain, he leaned his shoulder against the left wall of the metal hallway for support. I''m not in good shape¡­Gotta find somewhere to rest soon, he thought. It felt more like he was pulling each of his legs forward rather than taking steps, leaving a slippery tail of blood behind him as he finally found the door at the end of the hall. There was hardly any part of his body that wasn''t aching or caught in visceral pain. "¡­Nngh¡­" He groaned. Chapter 286 Second Lock He nearly fell over against the door once reaching it, catching himself with his hand against the shiny, silver door. What was troublesome before him was that the door was kept shut by multiple handles around the threshold. It was a problem due to his absent stamina, forcing him to lean against the door and slowly pry the handles from the exit. "Come on¡­" He weakly mumbled. Each time he squeezed one of the rocky handles, having to twist them to unblock the door, he felt his muscles ignite as if being torn and burnt. Finally, he utched the final handle,pletely unsealing the door as a "pop" sounded out, causing the exit to slowly creak open. Atst, he was free from the deathly chamber of titanium, finding a peculiar room waiting beyond. "¡­This is¡­" He said out loud. It was a singr room with another door at the back, but what caught his attention was what existed in the center of the room: an ominous fountain made of opulent, ck crystal. There was a shape to it; a faceless angel of crystal stood over the fountain. What''s this¡­? He questioned. There was something mystical about it; a vapor rose from the water within the fountain, flowing from the statue''s hands which were held together. The chamber wasn''t metallic like thest, but instead built of snow-white, smooth tiles of stone. It was the gentle vapor that rose up from the fountain that produced a refreshing aroma; like warm flowers in spring, the sweet smell brought the wounded Dragonheart closer. The water was crystal clear; as he swept his hand through the liquid, it felt brisk and refreshing just by the touch. Weird¡­It feels so "lively"¡ªI can feel a distinct mana within it; kind and benevolent, he thought. Parched with a dry mouth and throat, he leaned down to take a sip of the brisk water, though he overestimated his own stamina as he slipped forward¡ª "Wah!" ¡ªStraight into the fountain, he fell, sinking into the mystical water as he became engulfed in it. It didn''t take long for him to sink deep into the bowels of the fountain, embraced in its refreshing nature. This is¡­nice? He thought, the water¡­it feels like the pain and fatigue in my body is washing away. It was surprising to him just how vast the fountain was; how deep it stretched down in order to fit him as if an entire pool existed beneath the circr bowl of water. He didn''t attempt to resist sinking down, not feeling any anxiousness from his own lungs as breathing didn''t seem like a problem. In fact, it felt as though there was no urgency for oxygen in the depths of the mystical fountain; he didn''t feel the need to breathe, yet was perfectly fine persisting within the water. ¡­Nice¡­this is nice¡­He tiredly thought. The deep-purple coloration of bruises washed away like stains from his body, having the pain aching in his limbs wrung out by the benevolent aqua. It made him greatly drowsy, however, as his eyelids grew heavier as heid in the depths of the mystical fountain. I guess I''ll sleep¡­for a second, he decided. There was hardly any choice in the matter; the gentle pool of water, continuing to pour down from the angelic statue''s hands, granted him afort like a nice, warm bed set at his own home. Drifting off into the world of dreams, he didn''t experience the same torturous nightmare as prior, instead feeling a reinvigorating sensation of calm flow through his body. "--" As he parted his eyelids again, he found himself re-emerging from the fountain, gasping for air, though he was perfectly capable of remaining breathless beforehand¨Cthough, he didn''t know why. Pulling himself out of the fountain, he grabbed onto the edge of the stone rim storing the water and statue,ing out soaked, but refreshed and filled with newfound vigor. "...How long was I out?" He mumbled. As he looked down at his own body, still slick with the mystical water, he found the wounds he sustained in battle to be gonepletely; not even a single scar or blemish was left. It was simply perplexing; though he could guess it was the odd fountain''s doing, what left him confused was simply why. A creepy ce like this giving me mercy?...Forgive me for not buying it for a single second, he thought, still¡­I don''t know if I would''ve made it otherwise. Perhaps even more dumbfounding was what he foundid out before him after waking from his slumber within the fountain: a dark-red cloak was left on the floor, and beside it was a ck-handled broadsword and another note. "This wasn''t here when I came in, I''m pretty sure of that¡­" He noted under his breath. As questionable as the circumstances around the items were, in the current situation he was in, he gratefully epted it as he tied the cloak around his shoulders, embraced by the soft, heat-retaining fabric of the lengthy wearing. He attached the minimal scabbard holding the broadsword to his belt before finally retrieving the pale-white note and unraveling it carefully. The following was written: "Dragonheart; you may yet live to see another day¨Cthat is, if you have the proper strength and resolve to leave this lifeless realm. Continue to the next chamber." For a moment, he forgot to draw in the next bit of air through his lips as his entire body froze once reading the note. It was direly needed confirmation of the one thing he strove for in this unknownnd, sifting through mysteries. He now had something to go off¨Cno matter how small or vague it may have been, it was something. ¡­I can get out of here. It''s possible, he thought. Squeezing the note in his fist, it supplied him with a reignition to his already sturdy resolve, stuffing it in his pocket before he moved towards the door stationed at the end of the fountain-bearing chamber. It was made of bleached stone and decorated with gray-and-ck flowers along its edges, embedded in the threshold and around it by solemn vines. "Life blooming in the afterlife, huh? Well, I guess these don''t exactly look alive¡­" Emilio muttered, momentarily poking at the dark roses by the door. What confused him was how such a door would lead back to the quarters that held the entryways to the keyrooms, but he decided there was no point in questioning it as it was his only way forward. As he grabbed the handle, he winced and withdrew his hand after finding a sharp prick against his fingers¨C "Yowch!" He let out. Shaking his hand a bit with a confused look, he stared closer at the stone handle of the door, finding it secretly enveloped in thorns, which were snuggled against the material with clingy vines. "Come on, give me a break," he exhaled. It was a simple annoyance, though hard to work around as he tried to yank the vines away from the handle, but they didn''t budge. "Fine then." He was forced to grasp the handle, twisting it as the thorns stabbed at his hand as an unavoidable sh of pain. "Ghh¡ª" In a quick motion, he yanked the handle to swing the door open, stumbling past the threshold right away as he found himself in a new corridor. "¡­Hm." The walls were made of a sort of ss, holding back ck water that surrounded him, only held inches away by the seemingly fragile, see-through material. It was like an aquarium he found himself walking through; he looked around as he slowly marched forward, looking at the sable water. There was nothing that could be seen in the ominous depths of the aqua; a somewhat unnerving truth as he kept moving through the corridor. Still, he swore he could hear something swimming through the dark aquarium, though there was no way to confirm it with his eyes. Is anything about this ce normal? He thought. It wasn''t more than a couple minutes of slow steps before he found himself at the door at the end of the hall¡ªwooden with silver decorations etched into the material. As he grabbed the handle and turned it, opening the door, he walked through to find himself surprised by the fact it led him straight back into the room with the locked cube. "Huh?" It didn''t make any sense. From the way he entered, he came through the same way he initially discovered the room, yet he hade through an entirely different corridor this time. There wasn''t much sense in trying to apply the logic he was familiar with to the nebulous realm; he knew that. He fidgeted a bit as he walked through the room, feeling a bit on edge after realizing there were indeed malicious fiends to look out for, though he settled down once reaching the sable cubeid on the ss stand. "Alright, here''s the second one," he mumbled. Holding the ck key between his fingers, he lifted the locked cube in his left hand before sliding the key he fought tooth-and-nail for into the lock on one of the four sides. Once again, the mechanism seemed to pull the key into itself, twisting it and settling it into its formpletely. Two days, two to go. ¡­Well, there''s nothing else to do but go to the next room, I suppose, he thought. Chapter 287 A Nectar For The Heart There were now very limited options for him to move forward to: the door sitting at the opposing end of the room, and the abnormal door, made of dark-brown wood that was embedded into the ceiling. As he looked up towards the ominous door that was attached to the ceiling above his head, he felt a reluctance to venture down that path. I''ll save that one forst¨Cseems like trouble, he thought. What that left was the door directly north of the locked cube, leading him to a door frame forged of continuously blooming flowers, yet they decayed and crumbled to nothingness within moments; it was a perpetual cycle that persisted right before his eyes as if watching time speed up solely for the nts. It was a mesmerizing sight; the nts clung to the threshold of the door, growing from mere, thin vines to flourishing flowers, then breaking down and repeating the process over, and over, and over. Everything here just brings more questions¨CI''d like some answers soon, he thought. Taking his focus back from the peculiar, time-elerated nts around the door, he grasped the handle that had flowers blossoming from the cracks in the handle. The moment he opened it, the door was pulled open to reveal a blinding sh; his senses were distorted as his entire perception was attacked by whatever existed beyond the threshold. "Nngh¨C" It was so bright, as if staring directly into the sun, it made him squint before the overwhelming shine before finally closing his eyelids. A sense of imbnce came as he found himself swaying, though he did not fall; whether it was due to his own sense of footwork or purely luck, he did not know. What¡­is this? He questioned. The ring light persisted along with a loud hum that filled his ears, invading his sensespletely before suddenly¨Cit all perished. With silence now peacefullyying upon his ears and the bright light sparing his eyes, he slowly parted his eyelids. "--" As he opened his eyes, he found himself in a new room; one that was deeply familiar to his very core, yet one he had not seen in a time that felt simply like "forever". It wouldn''t be wrong to say it was a sight he had not seen in a lifetime. "...This is¡­" He muttered in disbelief. It was an average-sized room with wooden floorboards and shelves decorated with figurines of pop culture¨Cnamely ones with "anime girls" or mecha builds on disy. "My room¡­but how?" He asked in a mumble of disbelief. The hum of hisputer met his ears, causing him to look over to see the desk he had sat at for countless hours, day-and-night. Seeing the digital light of theputer monitor felt oddly nostalgic after spending so long in a medieval world; the unkempt books stacked on the wooden desk were far too familiar as well. For a few minutes, he was left in awe, standing there and taking in the nostalgic sight of his past life. He felt different; his perspective was shifted, prompting him to walk over to his closet door as he opened it, revealing a mirror attached to the inner side of the door. ¡­No way, he thought. It was confirmed with the reflection he found in the mirror: deathly pale, skin and bones, and lifeless, white hair that was left unkempt and shaggy¨Che wasn''t in the body of Emilio Dragonheart, but instead Ethan Bellrose. ? I''m back here, but why¡­? It''s weird¡­Everything feels so hazy, he thought. The more he tried to remember anything, even just using simple reasoning to try and figure out what was going on, he found himself overwhelmed by the sense of nostalgia flooding him. It was as if he was peering into something he should not; tapping into a life forgotten, trudging on what should''ve long since been epted as lost. Still, there was a feeling of relief in his heart as he found this opportunity before him. "Ethan, honey?" ¨CThe voice was far too familiar; it was feminine and gentle¨Ckind unlike any other and deeply engraved in the very being of Ethan. Just hearing it brought tears to the edge of his eyes as he found himself devoid of breath for a moment, only able to mutter out one word: "...Mom?" "Yeah, of course it''s me, silly. It''s the afternoon already¨Cyou shouldn''t stay cooped up all day. Let''s watch a movie," the voice of his mother traveled to his ears like silk. Having it confirmed for him, cemented in his mind, something deep down in his heart shattered, or mended¨Cit was impossible to tell, but it caused tears to instantly leave his eyes before he copsed to his knees. It all flooded out: emotions repressed and locked deep into his mind came as the tears flowed down his cheeks, leaving him on his knees as he watched the droplets of his nostalgia fall to the wooden floorboards beneath. "Ethan? Are you alright, honey?" He failed to respond right away, at a loss for words as he listened to the voice he never thought he''d hear again. It wasn''t sadness or grief. This was joy. "I''m home." As he said that, a warm smile was on his lips before his door was finally opened, creaking open as the sight of his maternal figure met his eyes for the first time in over fifteen years: the curly, light hazel hair she had was not something he inherited, or his poor health simply couldn''t sustain such luscious locks. "...Of course you''re home, silly," the woman said with a smile, cing her hands on her hips, "What''s with you today¨Cwait, are you crying? What''s wrong?!" Of course, the worry of a mother was natural as the hazel-haired woman rushed over, kneeling beside him and wiping the steam of tears from his cheeks before giving him a quick inspection as if checking for wounds. "I''m not hurt, Mom," he chuckled. Spending so much time away from home, even if it wasn''t his home in Milligarde, he found another in thefort of his ce of origin. In an action that took his mother by surprise, he embraced her tightly, wrapping his thin, pale arms around her and squeezing as if it had been years since theirst meeting¨Cwhich to him, it had been. "--Ethan?" Though she initially questioned the surprising hug, she returned it with a gentle smile, stroking the young man''s head of snow-white hair. It was afort he didn''t know how badly he needed, sinking into his mother''s touch as he closed his eyes, epting thefort provided. "It''s been hard, hasn''t it?" She asked with a soft smile. "Yeah." "You''ve been doing your best though, right?" She asked kindly, continuing to caress his head. "Yeah." Each response was simple and quiet as he was held in his mother''s embrace, taking it in as he didn''t know if there would ever be another chance to experience it. Still, it wasn''t quite what it seemed. At least, he was aware of that much; though the warmth felt as real as a campfire in the winter, he knew it was but an illusion. When applying an ounce of logic to it, the reality of the situation was clear, that there was no such "reality" around him, only a fabrication of his own memories. That''s right¡­something like this couldn''t be real¨Cbut, I don''t really mind, he thought. It would be nearly impossible to discern the difference between reality and illusion when it all felt so real; even to the scent of pine from the floorboards and thevender fragrance his mother always cleaned the house with. The only thing that even made it known to him that it wasn''t real was the very fact it was an impossibility; still, his heart ached, knowing the finality of this experience. I miss her. I can admit that¨Cbut, that doesn''t mean I regret leaving, either, he thought. After an embrace thatsted minutes that felt like an awaited eternity, nourishing for the young man''s heart, he finally moved away, looking at the only figure that shined a light into his life as Ethan Bellrose. "I have to go now¡­" He exined with a sad look, "...I think this is it. After this, I won''t see you again." "I know," she replied with a knowing smile. He was at a loss for words at that moment, not knowing what to say or make of thest moments he''d spend with the woman before him. "It''s not a joke. I really won''t see you again," he rified. "I know." "--I''m leaving you again, I''m¨C!" He began to say with tears in his eyes. Though he was stopped by that gentle, knowing smile from his mother of origin that seemed to read him better than he knew himself. "It''s alright, Emilio," she said. "Emilio¡­?" He repeated in shock, not expecting that name to leave the hazel-haired woman''s lips. A nod came from his mother, who held her hands together with her own teary-eyed smile, "That''s your name now, isn''t it? You have a whole new life ahead of you¨Cone where you''re strong and able to do anything you want, right? That''s amazing. I''m proud of you." "Well, I don''t know how that''s turned out¡­" He said, averting his gaze momentarily. It felt shameful that he now found himself dead; tossing his life away that he tossed another away for initially. In that regard, he felt as though he failed. Chapter 288 An Ominous Task "I know it''ll turn out just fine," she assured him. "How do you¨C" Before he could try and question the words of the maternal figure before him, he stopped himself as he already knew. "Right¡­Yeah, it''ll be fine," he nodded, returning his own smile to his lips, "I''ll do my best to make sure of that, so don''t worry about me." "Now, that''s a bit too much to ask of your mother, don''t you think?" She chuckled. "Yeah, probably," he smiled. Standing up alongside his mother, he looked down at the bony hands of his previous body, which were held by his parent''s own. For some reason, his own hands which he had grown to despise so much in their sickly appearance, no longer seemed as bad. I have to do this. I can''t stay here¨CI have to go, he thought. "Well¡­I have to go now," he said. "Mhm," his mother nodded knowingly with a small smile. Seeing that kindness that naturally exuded from her, intertwined with a love that came with no strings attached, he felt himself pause for a split-second, feeling tears well up again before he forced himself to swallow those feelings. "Thank you, Mom. Putting up with a troublesome son like me¡­I''m sure I was a handful," he said. A small shake of his mother''s head dissuaded that notion before she responded with gentle words, "Mothers don''t do it for thanks. There''s no reason¨Cno matter how easy or difficult our children may be, of course a mother will always take care of them." "...I appreciate that. I know I never told you that, but I always have. It''s because of you that I had any life at all," he said. "Don''t thank me for that. Just¡­take care of yourself, okay?" She held her hands together as if requesting such with a smile. "Sure, Mom. I''ll do that," he nodded with a smile. ¨CJust like that, the reuniting of the two was over as he found himself once more alone in his room after the door was closed again. It was quiet; the whirl of the ceiling fan above him monotonously spun over his head, the hum of hisputer filled his ears. Part of it was natural; the purpose of the room he found himself in. Though it initially overwhelmed him, it didn''t take long for him to realize the truth of it¨Cthe existence of the third room wasn''t malicious at all. ¡­Something like this¡­It''s not something I could buy with any amount of money or achieve with my own strength. It''s a gift I couldn''t have received in any possible way¨Cso whoever gave this to me: thank you. I needed it, he thought. The value of "closure" was something he didn''t fully realize until just then, finding a hole in his heart filled as he sat down on his old bed. It was softer than he remembered; broken into his body and as warm as if he used it just the day before. Still, this isn''t my life anymore. I belong somewhere else, he thought. As he looked down, he saw the box stationed by his bed that changed it all; a product that would forever alter the course of his existence, inscribed with thepany''s name on the side: "SAMSARA". Despite all of the pain and hardship, despite what and who I''ve lost¡­I don''t regret being Emilio Dragonheart, he resolved, I''ve made so many friends, I''ve done things I never could''ve dreamed of with a weak body¡­I have proper dreams now. That doesn''t mean I''ll forget my past life, either. Thank you, Mom. Bringing the white headset out of the box, he slowly plugged it in, taking in each moment as he knew the finality of the nostalgic view around him. Despite going through these actions over fifteen years prior, it still felt natural to him, as if he was following a thread of his past actions, going through them all again as heid down on the bed. He held the headset on his chest for a minute, grasping it between his hands as he ran his fingertips against the sleek material. This is what brought me to Arcadius; a catalyst to bring people from one world to another, he thought, still¡­I wish I could know how SAMSARA came to ess something like this. I know for a fact they didn''t create Arcadius. Such thoughts were suited for another time as he opted to slide the headset over his head, bringing the visor over his eyes before he slowly drew a breath into his lungs. With a simple tap, the device, almost mystical in nature, powered on as his consciousness instantly flickered. Goodbye, Earth, he thought. [Wee to Reincarnation Online] As everything seemed to fade away, he suddenly shot open his eyelids to find himself standing in the room with the locked cube, surrounded by the closed doors and left stunned for a moment. "...I''m back here¡­" He mumbled. ncing down, he found the red cloak around his body and with it, the body he was adjusted to¨Che was no longer in the malnourished form of Ethan Bellrose. "Huh." In his hand, he found that he was already holding the third key needed, though he didn''t remember ever finding it. I guess I passed the test, then, he thought. Once more, he picked up the dark-ck cube from its transparent stand, turning it to a locked side before sliding the key into the designated section. Click Three-fourths of the cube were now unlocked as he ced it back on the ss bowl of the stand, leaving only one key to go. As he brought his gaze directly up, he looked at the final door awaiting him, etched into the ceiling in an ominous fashion. Last room, he thought. It was a bit of a stretch to reach up, but he managed to stand on his tippy-toes, grasping the handle and twisting it to pop the door above his head open. He was hesitant to do it, but he jumped up, grabbing onto the thresholds as he hoisted himself up with a bit of a struggle. "...Hhfff¡­!" Without the aid of his Dragonheart System or magical reinforcement, he was left with only the reasonably above average physique of a teenager¨Cit wasn''t all that much. As he gripped onto the sides of the threshold like a rock climber ascending a steep mountainside, he kicked his lower half up, smacking his feet against the overhead door to swing it open. Using that momentum, he hoisted himself up through the ceiling door with onest struggle, climbing through and onto a new floor. "Phew¡­" He let out. A moment was taken to catch his breath as he sat there before standing up, looking around at the room he found himself in. It resembled a church to him, yet corrupted by walls painted in tar and aged. There were no pearly white walls, only dark and grimy. All he knew was that it wasn''t a weing atmosphere in the slightest; dustid thick in the air, as if crawling into a long-since sealed area. The mold clinging to the walls didn''t make breathing any easier, either. I already don''t like this, he thought. He made sure to keep note of the sword at his hip as he walked forward through the decaying chamber towards the tall, ted doors of ck-steel at the other end. Waiting a moment, he kept his hands pressed against the twin doors before pushing his palms against their cold exterior, forcing them open. As he slowly pushed forward, having to use his body weight to slowly spread the doors before him, he stumbled into the room beyond. It was a small room, but dense with eye-catching items: weapons lined the walls, varying greatly. "...What is this?" He mumbled. Swords of all sizes; daggers, shortswords, broadswords, and even ymores lined the walls. There were spears, some jagged, and some double-sided, even axes, hammers, ils, and bows. Shields, wooden, circr, or rectangr, some made of steel, sat in the armory as well. There were dozens of weapons, leaving no clear space on the walls, though it didn''t seem to be a good sign for him. Something like this can only mean¡­they''re preparing me for a big fight, aren''t they? He thought. It wasn''t until he took a few steps into the room that he noticed the podium in the center of the room, extending a limb of wood shaped like a hand that held another note. What he found was a note with much more words than before, abandoning the supremely annoying vagueness from before: ["Emilio Dragonheart, you will have seven attempts to find the key once you exit the door beyond this note. It is abyrinth, tricky and deceitful, but only one enemy will be after you."] ¨CAs he continued reading, he found his stomach sinking and his heart skipping a beat at the grand meaning of the words inscribed with ink: ["You have encountered the "Dread", an aspect of a greater Primordial that embodies violence. However, that is only one iteration of the "Dread"--whatys beyond those doors, lurking thebyrinth, is a version of "Dread" from a fallen world; it was born amidst a worldwide war, and ended up annihting humanity inpletion. This is not "Dread", but "War"--perhaps an inferior entity, but nheless vastly superior to your current self. This is not a battle you''re expected to win; find the key and escape. Good luck, Emilio Dragonheart."] Chapter 289 Labyrinth Of Enigma The Dread¡­? He thought. It was difficult to piece together exactly what was being told to him through the note, but it immediately sent a chill down his spine. Standing in that room, all he could do now was stare at the doors ahead of him: pitch-ck steel, holding no discernable features and almost blending into the wall as if it shouldn''t even be considered an entrance in the first ce. It was a ce nobody should enter; he could sense that. Whatid beyond those doors was an evil so dense, an entity so drenched in malevolence, that the air itself was thin by way of the acknowledgement of its existence. ¡­Can I do this? He questioned. Doubt flooded his mind, but after a few moments, he squeezed his fist to reel himself back in, dissipating those intrusive thoughts of anxiety. It doesn''t matter if I can or can''t. I don''t have any choice but to try, he thought. There were too many factors still left ambiguous, such as what the "seven tries" meant, and the true nature of the entity lurking in thebyrinth beyond the pitch-ck doors. Still, he knew waiting around wasn''t going to get him anywhere, beginning to look around the room at the arsenal of medieval weaponry in search of anything that could be of use to him. I''d just like my magic back, or at least my Dragonheart system¡­but I guess that''s asking too much, he thought. Greatswords and ymores weren''t going to help him with his current level of physical ability, and a standard bow wasn''t all too effective in his hands. Although, a crossbow leaning against the wall did strike him as potentially a fine tool to use. ¡­Let''s give it a shot. Limiting myself solely to close-quartersbat is a quick route to failure, he decided. Picking up the crossbow made of ck metal on the floor, he slid the strap over his shoulder, letting it hang over his back before also picking up the quiver of bolts for it. "Alright, what else?" He mumbled. With a sword at his hip and a crossbow on his back, he now set his sights on something that he could defend himself with: a shield. There were quite a few options, ranging from monstrous, gate-like shields akin to what Everett might wield, but that simply wasn''t a choice for him. What caught his eye was a rtively small, but light shield of wood, ted with ayer of steel. It had a handle on the back that allowed him to slip his left arm through, keeping it attached to his left forearm without the need to hold it. "This''ll work," he said, moving his arm to verify that its weight was fine. What equipment he had didn''t feel like enough, but after being so closely intertwined with magic for years, he knew he''d always feel naked without his spells at his disposal. For the time being, this was the best he''d be able to do. Alright¡­I guess there''s no road left but the one ahead, he thought. Slowly, he stepped towards the shadow-like doors, stopping before their towering, ominous form. As he pressed one of his hands against the twin doors, he paused for a moment, slowly sucking air into his lungs as he readied himself. "War" is beyond these doors¨CI don''t know if it''s waiting right there for me or not, but I should prepare myself as if it is, he thought, if it''s an entity like Dread¡­then I really don''t stand a chance in the slightest as I am right now. I might as well be an ant trying to fight a tank. Finally, he decided to go through it despite the nervous thumping of his heart and his trembling fingers, pushing his hand forward as he parted the nebulous doors, releasing dormant dust that infiltrated his lungs. Just as the doors opened, he raised the small shield attached to his left arm before moving in, hiding behind it for a moment as if expecting an attack. ¨CNothing. He waspletely on edge, having to debate with himself just to inch the shield from his face as he gazed at the area he now found himself in after exiting the parted doors. It was a vast space, with extremely tall walls that seemed to stretch upward for eternity into a nketed void; the floors were made of ck steel that echoed with the smallest of steps. "Okay¡­Nothing so far," he mumbled under his breath, somewhat rxing his guard as he looked around. There was a distinct smell of tar and mold, like a repugnant mildew invading his nose as he gazed around the abyssalbyrinth; rusted chains clung to walls and bones were scattered along the chamber. What he found quickly were the three different pathways he could go: forward, left, or right¨Cthere was no discernable difference between any path as only darkness could be seen down the corridors. It really is abyrinth¡­I have to find a single, tiny key here? He questioned. With no coin to flip, he could only settle on whim to decide which direction to go; to him, "forward", or north, felt too obvious¨Cthough there was nothing really deeper than superficial guessing to supply him with a direction to go. "...Left it is," he decided. Choosing the leftmost hallway, he was surprised to find it quite spacious in its width, though there were chains hanging down from an unseen ceiling, veiling his path like vines hanging from trees. He had to brush these chains out of his way, causing them to smack into each other with noisy "clinks" sounding out through the quietbyrinth. The loneliness was something else, though that wasn''t quite it; what he experienced was the ambiguity of it¡ªunsure if he was truly alone, or if something was waiting in the depths of the maze. This uncertainty crawled over his skin like a sheet of ice, causing him to be alert of the smallest noises, jumping at the slightest touch of even a chain brushing against his body. It was a gnawing anxiety; one he could not pray to find his way out of any faster. I just need to find the key then get out of here, he thought, there''s nothing else to it, right? In-and-out. Simple. He reasoned with himself, knowing that whatever possibly lived in the grimybyrinth was something better left dormant and away from him. Still, he couldn''t shake the feeling of dread creeping up on his body. As he reached the end of the chain-littered corridor, he found himself in a new room. "Huh¡­?" What he found in the room resembled that of a museum, as if a snapshot of a city had been built in that one, enclosed room; there were brick buildings and stone-paved streets. The chamber was asrge as a standard house, with no ceiling but darkness still, yet there was a faint amount of life from an orange fire burning on the stone walkway. It was perplexing; though a quick look around found three more corridors to venture down. As he peeked into one of the windows of the superficial buildings that seemed iplete and halfway cutoff by the restrictive size of the room, he found a disturbing sight: skeletons sat at tables, sitting in such a way they seemed to be chatting. They were inanimate, yet there was a disturbing feeling that emitted from the sight. "What the¡­" He mumbled. Sure of it that none of the dustden skeletons within the cut-off buildings were moving, he still couldn''t shake the unnerving feeling produced by their existence. The interior of the shattered building looked different from the standard of architecture in Arcadius; beyond that, the furniture, decoration, and items inside seemed quite different as well. Odd, he thought. Though part of him was hesitant to, he decided to open the door as the small chime of a bell atop the threshold met his ears, as if it was a normal customer entering an establishment. The reason he decided to check out the partial building was simple: he wasn''t going to cut corners in finding the key. It''s already like trying to find a needle in a haystack¡­If I skip over anything, I''ll be here for an eternity, he thought. Stepping into the abandoned establishment, he felt an odd atmosphere around him as he slowly moved past the skeletons that were sitting at the tables with their bony jaws agape as if in the middle of unheard conversations. ¡­I wasn''t sure of it before, but I am now¨Cthis building doesn''t fit at all with the era Arcadius is in, he thought, really, what is this? It might be difficult to tell at first, but through the structure of the quarter-built building and the existence of an old school register and kitchen utensilsid out by the counter that were definitely not of a medieval time, he found the existence of the random building to be mysterious. Something like this is just randomly sitting in this darkbyrinth¡­Is it some sort of junkyard? A museum? Ruins? I don''t know, he thought. Chapter 290 Pierced And Bloodied There was a lot he still didn''t know about the afterlife he found himself in, other than it didn''t resemble any sort of realm after death that he had imagined; it was lonely, dark, and full of mystery. He had to be careful with each step he took around what looked to be a cafe, going off the empty, moldy mugs that were either sitting on the dusty tables or held in the skeletons'' hands. "Hold on¡­Isn''t this not right?" He mumbled. It struck him as odd as he looked at the inanimate pile of bones that upied the building, finding their existence to be questionable. If this is the afterlife, why''re there skeletons here¡­? I guess I was already acting as if it was possible, but you can really die here¡­? He questioned. Either way, he didn''t n on finding out. Instead, he continued scoping out the deste building, though only finding shattered porcin and dusty bones instead of the key he needed. I knew it wouldn''t be that easy, he thought with a sigh. Leaving the half-built building, he was back in the chamber with four pathways, though one corridor would only result in backtracking. Before he went down another passageway, he stopped for a moment when considering what he could be leading himself into. ¡­Hold on a second, he thought, if I just carelessly go through these halls, I''ll get lost for sure. Even if I find the key, what does it matter if I can''t even find my way back? With that in mind, he didn''t actually know how he would keep track of the corridors he traversed. There was no material to work with, especially not the sort of "rope" he was used to seeing used in situations like this, but he chose to instead follow a different method before going west to a new hallway. He drew his sword from its leather scabbard, scraping it against the corner of the ck-stone hall, marking a spot in it. There. That should do, he thought. As he walked through the hall, he found it much shorter than thest as he reached the other end within just a minute of walking carefully. Just as he stepped into the chamber that awaited, finding it to be pitch-ck, a noise met his ears¨C It was a visceral sound of metal, revving up with an intensity behind it that made him freeze in ce. What''s that¨C? He questioned. What sounded like an engine revving up met his ears; metal roared out like the grinding of machinery, thumping like a wild, erratic heartbeat that could be felt in his bones. It was only for a moment did he then feel another presence nearby, one so suffocating in its grandiose evil that the air in his lungs was vacated in an instant, bringing him to a halt after taking a single step into the room. BANG ¨CBefore he could even react, a sh of light came from sparks propelling a bullet forth at ludicrous speeds, piercing his head with perfect precision, right between his eyes. There wasn''t enough time to even wrap his fingers around the handle of his sword once more, not enough time to process the ring sound that had rang against his ears. In an instant, he was taken out; his consciousness fell ck without any dramatic alleviation from life. The young man''s body went limp before falling face first into the ground. Just as his body made an impact against the muk-covered stone tiles beneath, his entire form relinquished into a puddle of ck goo as if a raindrop of tar had fallen. ["One of Seven Attempts, failed. Six more left. Try again, Emilio Dragonheart."] ¨CJust then, the emptiness shrouding his consciousness dissipated, returning his sight as not even a moment seemed to pass for him as he finished his movement of drawing his sword to ready himself forbat. "What¨C?" He let out. He wasn''t in the dark room anymore, but back in the armory, standing there with his sword drawn and sweat exuding from his skin. What happened¡­? I entered that room then it all went ck¡­That voice, it said I "failed" one of attempts, he thought, did I die? How? I didn''t even see anything. It took a few minutes for him to calm his heart as it was still thumping as though he were still in the lion''s den of danger; he couldn''t shake whatever it was he encountered before his untimely "restart". Alright¡­Let''s try this again, he thought. As he left the armory with his crossbow, shield, and sword still with him, he moved noticeably slower and with more carefulness, trying to be quiet as to not draw whatever it was that ended him before. This time, he chose to go north from the starting area, venturing down a much more narrow corridor before finding himself in a messy, ck room with three more pathways and dark curtains hung everywhere in the chamber. It was difficult to see much of anything, brushing past the curtains as he looked around the peculiar room for a sign of a key. A bellowing breath that sounded something between an animal''s growl and the hum of heavy machinery echoed off the walls, causing him to freeze. It wasn''t a violent roar, but a harrowing emission; like the breath of something far more imposing than any beast he''d encountered. It didn''t sound too far, but it was impossible to tell. "...Hff¡­" A quiet breath left his lips as he stood there, frozen in the dark chamber without any clue as to where the noise wasing from, or if whatever the ominous noise was knew he was there. The sound of something "scraping" against the floor unpleasantly met his ears; it was as if a metallic object was being dragged across the floor,ing from a direction left vague by the continuous echoes. What is that? Is it what got me before? He thought. Trying to prepare himself and figure out where the noise wasing from, he only found himself bing more perplexed, finding it bing harder to pinpoint where the awful scraping and mechanical thuds echoed. "Where¡­?" As he mumbled beneath his breath, the rumbling suddenly became jarring and close; it was far too near, in fact. His ears were filled with the repetitive drumming of steel, prompting him to dash forward without any choice of direction. ¨CIs it here?! He questioned. ncing back as he entered one of the corridors, he failed to see anything through the veil of shadows behind him. Still, the rumbling couldn''t be ignored; it pounded his eardrums, repeating with an aggressive chorus as the weight of whatever was upying the halls was felt gravely. There wasn''t any part of him, no matter how deep down he looked, that actually wanted to confront the entity that inhabited thebyrinth. With that in mind, he continued racing down the corridor. Move! Move! Move! He told himself. Still, curiosity was impossible to resist as he looked back again, this time briefly seeing a sh from some sort of sparks flicking out of whatever was following him. That''s¨Che briefly thought. A bang filled his ears, nearly making him trip over his own feet before something prated the dark air behind him. There was no time to react with any meaningful response besides trying to lift his measly shield up in response to whatever it was that quickly bore its way towards him. It was a small projectile, though fearsome; piercing towards him, he watched whatever it was bounce off one of the narrow walls of the corridor, richoting repeatedly. What''s this¨C?! A bullet?! Here?! He questioned. There was no way for him to perceive it without being able to reinforce his own reflexes, leaving him gazing at nothing but sparks for that second before¨C The projectile ricocheted from the grimy wall to his right, piercing at a downward angle as it pierced straight through his calf. "Ngh¨C!" Past his flesh, it prated, leaving a clean hole through his leg before the projectile smashed into the leftmost wall. What the¡­?! He thought. As he winced in pain, feeling blood squirt from his pierced leg, he looked down at the steaming object that had shot through his calf, finding it to in fact be a grotesque iteration of a bullet of sorts: a ck caliber, with vein-like protrusions running along its shell. Though he felt a heat bubbling in his injured leg, he was quickly reminded that he was still being chased as he heard the drumming of machinery and heavy steel in the near distance, forcing him to continue moving. "Nnh¡­!" A limp was left in his attempt to run now, having to slightly drag his leg with each movement forward he took. THUD-THUD. THUD-THUD. THUD-THUD. Shit, shit, shit¡­! He thought. Adrenaline flooded through his veins as he moved faster in response to the jarring, ear-thumping sounds of grating metal and mming that quickly approached from behind. Another bang released, causing a brief light to sh in the shadow-filled corridor of thebyrinth as once more, a projectile shot towards the young Dragonheart. "Gah¨C" As he ran with desperation, the supernatural bullet cleanly pierced through his shoulder, moving with such velocity that the force caused him to be flung forward several meters, flipping around uncontrobly. Chapter 291 War Landing on his back into a new room in the frightening maze of grime and steel, he instinctively caressed his shoulder. "--Ngh!" A flood of hot liquid pressed against his hand as he lifted it, finding his palm stained in fresh crimson; there was a monstrous hole bored through his left shoulder. There was no doubt it was impossible to even utilize that arm now with any efficiency. THUD-THUD. THUD-THUD. THUD-THUD. Picking himself up weakly and with a pained groan, he briefly gazed down the hall with the loud grating of whatever was chasing him, still unable to get a clear look at whatever it was, though from brief urrences of sparks flying, he could tell it wasrge. I can''t run like this¡­! I have to hide! He decided. Fortunately, the chamber he had stumbled into was simr to the initial one he had found, in that there were multiple "partial buildings" upying the area, allowing him to pick himself up and rush past one of the establishment doors. "...Hff¡­" Shutting the door that let out a small chime from the attached bell, he looked into the dusty building to find skeletons sitting silently; inanimate, yet as creepy as ever. Drip. Drip. Drip. Even though he did his best to quiet his heavy breathing, he was still spilling blood from the two holes shot through him, prompting him to drag himself away from the door to hide deeper in the random building. Shit¡­This is the entity that the note warmed me about? I couldn''t see it, but¡­if it''s using bullets, it can''t be from Arcadius, he thought. There wasn''t a moment where his ears weren''t being pelted by the orchestra of heavy machinery approaching, causing him to move as swiftly as he could with his wounded body. Like a broken faucet, blood squirted from the clean holes drilled in his shoulder and leg, causing him to fall directly behind a torn, cobweb-covered couch in the building. "Ngh¡­" Even with the adrenaline that was pumping in his veins with a desperate vigor, the pain was hardly dulled as he sat there withbored breathing and winces each time a squirt of crimson fluid came from his wounds. Shit¡­This is bad. I''m going to bleed out quickly at this rate¡­! He thought. The fast-paced rumbling settled down atst, causing the debris sitting on the floor beside him to stop vibrating. For a few moments, sitting in near silence, he contemted sitting up to scope beyond the couch he hid behind for a chance to see what was happening. ¡­Just a small look, he decided. Each small breath that left his lips filled his ears in the now jarring atmosphere devoid of noise, making sure to move at a slow crawl so as not to spur any tiny sound. He stood just enough to gaze over the torn furniture, squinting so he could see across the establishment and beyond the window that showed the chamber outside. For a split-second, he saw the outline of the figure before his eyes adjusted to the darkness; as soon as he finally saw it, his stomach dropped. It had a towering height, likely standing three meters tall with an imposing appearance of steel, yet it breathed and bore semnces of flesh beneath the bolted tes stuck to its body. That''s¡­He thought. On its arms were grotesque disfigurements that somewhat resembled guns from an era older than the one he lived in on Earth; its face was a ck-steel helm, painted in blood and tar, though had a mouth filled with tall, titanium teeth of bestial sharpness. Each tooth was jagged and varied; like random bolts and drills hammered into its fleshy jaw. A machine of ughter, forged of flesh and steel, like a tank given a humanoid shape, dyed ck in the blood of millions, yet still bound by an insatiable thirst for mayhem. The breath that exuded from its mouth released as steam; its heartbeat thumped like heavy machinery, forging the steam that seemed to constantly flow from the small pipes protruding from its body. ¡­War, he realized. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Just seeing it and existing under the suffocating veil of its monstrous presence spurred his own heartbeat to increase. The rise in his own blood pressure seemed to be sensed by the titan of flesh, steel, and murder as it breathed out steam once more before spinning around to face his direction. "--!" He quickly ducked, though he knew it was likely toote. As he hid behind the couch with sweat leaving his pores, he nearly felt his heart leap from his throat as the entire wall beyond the furniture was busted from the other side as if a bomb had exploded against it. The brain-aching orchestra of churning gears met his ears as heavy footsteps mmed down into the partial building. Rubble was crushed to dust beneath the dense feet of War; it stepped into the room with the hiss of flowing steam pushing out of its pipes. Instantly, a new smell greeted the young Dragonheart''s nose as he remained hidden behind the couch; the closer the killing machine of flesh-and-steel in the same room as him, the stronger it became: it smelled as though the flesh beneath its rugged, steel skin was constantly being burned and cooked, rotten and aged. ¡­At this point, can I actually avoid being found? He thought, it knows I''m here, doesn''t it?...Or am I still hidden? If it knew I was here, I''d already be dead, wouldn''t I? With his back pressed against the weathered couch, sitting in the darkness as the room filled with the steam exuding from the frightening entity''s body, Emilio pulled his sword from its sheath and clutched it tightly with both hands. He watched as blood trickled down his shoulder, flowing down his arm and condensing at his fingertips as he painted the handle of the sword in deep crimson. Can I do anything¡­? I''m helpless as I am right now, he thought. Hiding there, he felt like prey tucked away from the sights of a predator; perhaps worse, he felt a simr feeling to those times he spent in his past life, unable to do anything for himself and powerless to change anything. It was then, perhaps at his weakest and most lost, filled with desperation, a memory returned to the forefront of his mind for a reason inexplicable to him. ¨C What he recalled was a day that was like any other back at home; training in the lush fields outside of his house alongside his father, who was smacking a tree alongside him with wooden training swords for strength training. Birds chipped and the sun shined with a graceful warmth, providing sustenance to the fields of vibrant, emerald grass. It was merely a week out from when he would have to leave for his own journey to the Guild Foundation, and doubts were brewing in the young man''s mind. "You know, Emilio, there''s something my pops told me before. It was when I was still a runt like you and wet behind the ears. I was scared of having to go on my first adventure without him," Julius said, seeming to notice his son''s worry. Stopping the continuous strikes against the scarred tree, Emilio took a break for a moment to get a breather, crouching down as he let his callused hands cool off as well. "I can''t imagine you being scared. Mom says you''ve always been a reckless ox," Emilio responded. Juliusughed, "Well, of course I never let her see that side of me! Anyway, what my old man told me was this: ''the blood of the Dragonheart doesn''t pump in the heart of a coward''--for some reason, when he told me that, all of my doubts washed away. From that day on, I became the badass pops you have now." While it didn''t have much of an impact on him at that moment, those words passed from his grandfather, to his father, then down to him, etched themselves into his memory. ¨C Remembering those words, they were more potent than any grand speech; they resonated with his very soul, finding resolve in the very fact of who he was: a Dragonheart; the Dragonheart. ["The blood of the Dragonheart doesn''t pump in the heart of a coward."] Perhaps when pushed into the corner he was, his father is who he looked to for guidance. Whatever it was, it was enough of a catalyst to spark the life in him again; even if it was beyond reckless, being able to take action was infinitely better than being kept frozen by indecision. ¡­I have to fight. If I don''t, I''ll die. If I do, I''ll probably die¡­but those are better odds! He decided. With that in mind, he didn''t think twice or hesitate, jumping to his feet while gritting his teeth, spinning around to face the monstrous entity that upied the same room as him. Even with reckless abandon fueling his veins, he found his heart skipping a beat as he met face-to-face with "War": the humanoid, monstrous tank was facing his direction, standing tall enough that it had to hunch over to fit beneath the ceiling. It was hard to even fully grasp the appearance of the malevolent being; there were spikes and des sticking out from its hide of steel and steaming flesh, yet it began morphing at the sight of the young man. This is "War"--an entity like Dread and the Unending Nightmare?...I can''t deny it, he thought, the feeling is undeniably something akin to them; my fingers can''t stop trembling and my heart is mming against my chest. Chapter 292 System Return In a quick movement before the entity that embodied "War" of another realm, he drew his crossbow, which was already loaded with a bolt, and aimed it straight for the center-mass of the armored brute. "Gh-!" Shooting the heavy-duty crossbow came with its own kickback, firing the bolt straight for the entity''s chest before¨CCLANG. In a disheartening collision, the crossbow bolt merely bounced off of the terrifyingly durable ted chest of War. Still, he didn''t let himself be dissuaded, sucking in a refueling breath of bravado into his lungs before tossing his crossbow to the side and instead wielding his sword. At that moment, he remembered another piece of advice his father had told him, flooding into his mind when he needed it the most: "When you''re drowning in fear, and your knees are buckling up and your arms are trembling, do the opposite of whatever your body is telling you. If it says to run, well¡­You charge forward like a bull with fire chasing its ass." There was no part of his body that wanted to confront the massive, hulking frame of mayhem and bloodshed, but he did so anyway with a warcry forced from the depths of his being to drown out his own doubt¨C "Aaaaaah¨C!!!" Whether the steam-breathing entity was perplexed by the young man''s irrational charge or it simply didn''t feel the need to act in haste against his weak self, War had yet to move, but the young Dragonheart weed this advantage. With an all-too dramatic leap using the dusty table as footing, he jumped in the air with a downward swing of his sword primed and readied for the metallic helm that was War''s head. In that moment he locked "eyes", if the scarlet glow behind the barred outlines in the steel head of War could be called so, before following through with the sword swing using all of his might. "Raaagh¨C!" Empowering the swing with a yell, he swiped the sharp de of silverplexion downward before¨CKLING. Against the durable head of War, the sword snapped in half; the top half was deflected from the force, flinging back in the young man''s direction as it cut his cheek. "Ngh¨C!" As hended on his feet, the despair was at its strongest as he looked up, standing barely at the humanoid tank''s waist as not even the slightest scratch was left on its head. Part of him, for a split-second, was prepared to ept his failure; the fingertips of his right hand that held onto the sword began to loosen to drop the broken sword, but stopped just as it began sliding from his grip. He wrapped his fingers tightly around the handle once more, gritting his teeth as he almost felt like crying from the sheer density of War''s terrifying aura. I''m not going down without a fight¡­! He resolved. As he rushed forward with his dulled and shattered sword, War finally let out a distorted roar that rang like scratched metal; steam shot out from the pipes in its body. "Nngh¡­!" The steam pelted the young man''s body, but he didn''t stop; feeling his flesh burn, he dashed by with a quick sword sh, only to be deflected by the durable armor of the entity once more. He dashed straight past War after leaving an ineffective sh against its side, jumping out of the hole busted through the side of the building and into the more open space of thebyrinth''s chamber. "...Hfff¡­" Breathing out, his entire body was engulfed in pain from head-to-toe after enduring the entity''s steam for only a brief moment. While there wasn''t any lethal damage done, he was left with his skin slightly reddened, caked in sweat, and with lungs that burned with each breath. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. Heavy steps followed as War casually exited the building to pursue the young man without any haste, as if taking some sort of joy in the hunt. Debris rained down on its steel shoulders as it opened up a further hole in the stone structure. Certain death loomed over him. That much was certain. Or, so it seemed¨C BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. ["The blood of the Dragonheart doesn''t pump in the heart of a coward."] That sublime heat returned to his body; not the scalding steam that attacked his skin, but an internal me that was born with the thumping of his heart. It was like a mighty drum signaling the reawakening of the blood that hadid dormant in his heart since his arrival in the deathly realm; in his ears, his heart drummed louder-and-louder. A refined breath slid past his lips as he weed this flow of vigor in his veins, tossing his broken sword to the side as he looked up at the approaching entity with a changed look in his eyes. [Dragonheart System Awakened] [Current Stage: 1/10 | Dragon Newt] Strength flowed through the fibers of his muscles as he clenched his fists, feeling the draconic force flowing through his body like an unstoppable river once more. [Level up!] [Level Thirty Achieved] All at once, the levels he had garnered over the years for his system also returned, and with it, his skills and increased physical abilities were reimed. Suddenly, War raised one of its massive arms as the des sticking out from its limb morphed into grotesque spinning instruments of cutting that resembled chainsaws before mming it down towards the young Dragonheart. "--!" He managed to flip back in time, evading the lethal blow as he found himself naturally returning to form with the supernatural strength of his Dragonheart System awakening. Yet, even with his reimed power, he knew there was still a fraction of a chance in putting down a monstrosity of this level; even worse, he was only able to tap into the first stage of his system, it seemed. Alright¡­I have my System, but what about my magic? I can sense it, faintly¡­it''s in there, but I still can''t seem to ess it, he thought. After having missed its strike, the behemoth of steel and steam sprouted barrels from its own body that pointed towards the young man. "What¨C" It was a surprising, yet expected development as he was given only a split-second to react before sparks shed and his ears were filled with consecutive "bangs" as projectiles shot from War''s transfigured weapons. "--Ngh!" He could do nothing but jump back and raise his arms, evading only two bullets as one pierced straight through one of his forearms and another grazed his side, taking a chunk of flesh with it. "You¨C!" He gritted out. Desperate, he manifested the azure mes of the Dragonheart into the palms of his hands, readying himself for a counterattack. In a burst fueled by his potent emotion and reckless form, he sent a wave of the bright-blue mes forth, crashing them against the behemoth''s body. The inferno exploded in a fantastical collision, though was instantly rejected as War released a partly metallic, partly organic roar that unleashed a shock wave capable of repelling the heat. He brushed even that off¨C?! He questioned. Not letting himself be disheartened, he dashed in with a burst of mes at his feet to boost his speed,unching a powerful kick against War''s head¨C THUD. The impact only had the opposite effect desired as he felt his shin crack and no damage be embedded on the seemingly impervious helm of the entity. "Agh-!" He let out. CLICK. War morphed once more, shifting one of its arms into a hulking tool of massacre; a dozen barrels were embedded in its ck-steel arm before it began spinning, releasing a spray of bullets. It was nearly impossible to tell, but by his estimate in that fleeting moment, there were likely a hundred bullets that shot out in that singr second. "Ah¨C" Before he could even summon [Scale Armor] to protect himself, the high-caliber, deathly bullets shot through him dozens of times, piercing holes through his entire body before he was reduced to nothing more than red mist within that same moment. Darkness. Silence. And most of all, failure. ¨C "Haaaaah¡­!" Once more, his eyes shot open to the familiar setting of the armory, screaming out as the death he faced felt like a seamless second ago. ["One of Seven Attempts, failed. Five more left. Closer, but not close enough, Emilio Dragonheart."] It was that same voice again, ringing through his head as he caught his breath, patting his own body to make sure he wasn''t still full of holes, but to his fortune, he was in perfect health. I died again, he realized, it killed me in an instant once it tried¡­even with my Dragonheart System back, would it even be enough with higher stages? Despite the reality of failure, there was a flipside that brought on a reluctant smile to his lips as he squeezed his fist, holding it in front of him. "I can do this." The strength of the Dragonheart was still there in his veins, he was certain of it through the mightiness felt in his body. It was with that power he had faced and ovee adversity countless times already with that he ced hope in. Next step, let''s get my magic back¡ªI''ll take it all back, including my life, he resolved. Chapter 293 The Screaming Walls This time, stripped of his equipment in hisst encounter, he looked around the armory with a different perspective. After witnessing the ineffectiveness of conventional weapons against the seemingly impervious form of War, he was careful in what he chose. Though this time, the options seemed to be different than the ones he was presented with before. In fact, nothing even seemed to be the same at all. "...Huh, what''s all of this?" He questioned in a mumble. What were basic, standard-issue weapons before now had some unique traits to them; a broadsword with a ck-and-gold handle and a crimson jewel embedded in its center; a bow that seemed to be made out of a snow-white, curly wood with a string that softly glowed. There was a way to test the true nature of the weapons, or at least, what their existence meant; though his ability to hone in on mana was still vastly suppressed by unknown means, he held his hand forward and drew a calm breath through his lips. Feel it like the wind at your fingertips; the natural flow of energy through the world¨Cthe leylines and roots of life; sense the mana, he thought. Easing himself into a state where he could once more gain a sixth sense for mana, he was able to begin sensing it, though faintly; what he found was that, indeed, there were traces of magical energy left in the unique weapons now upying the armory. So these are enchanted weapons of some sort, then? He thought, why did these show up now, though? And how?...Well, I guess nothing should surprise me anymore. This ce is all kinds of weird. Even if he knew they were enchanted with some sort of mystical abilities, likely each possessing their own unique traits, he had no way of knowing what exactly the tools were capable of. "Hmm¡­" He pondered. Of course, he was most ustomed to swordy, leading him to pick up the red-jeweled broadsword that was disyed on the wall like a grand heirloom. It came with a scabbard ofvish, ck leather with silver-and-scarlet decorations running along its length, seeming expensive to his untrained eye. Hopefully this helps more than thest sword¨Cthough I can hardly imagine much of anything cutting past that armor of its, he thought. While a shield was something that he would like to keep on hand to defend himself with, it was questionable to him if any such shield would be effective in the face of the killing power of the entity lurking in thebyrinth. I''m not much like Everett¡­Unless it''s with a spell, shielding isn''t my forte. If I let it get to the point that I need to block, well, I''m probably already mincemeat, he thought, best thing I can do is try to avoid being in that position in the first ce. This time, he found himself only picking up the sword and attaching it to his belt with the intention of keeping a light load held so that he could attempt to maintain some level of stealth and swiftness. Once more, he set out from the armory and back out into the depths of the dauntingbyrinth of ck. This time, the air felt thinner andced with a gnawing anxiety; knowing what sort of enemy prowled the halls dug deep into him the severity of the situation. If I can, I should get an idea where it is and n around that, he thought. With a new attempt at exploring the maze-like dungeon, he went through a new pathway, taking the rightmost corridor. "What the¡­" He mumbled. Quickly, he found this path to wield its own unique trait as his boots stepped down with a "squelch" as if stepping into goo. Somehow he didn''t notice it until he was already a good few steps into the dark corridor, but it seemed to be the entirety of the floor; a swamp of the dark-ck substance. The problem was, it wasn''t exactly lukewarm; the ck sludge he had found himself walking into was steaming hot. "C''mon¡­" He muttered impatiently. It was incredibly sticky, clinging to the soles of his boots like glue, making it a Herculean task to lift his feet from the floor of steaming goo. He wasn''t aware there would be additional obstacles in thebyrinth, but when thinking of the abstract, nefarious nature of the realm, it wasn''t surprising. THUD. THUD. THUD. It was loud, but distant: the unmistakable weight of the massacre machine''s steps drumming through the halls. The sudden existence of this noise brought Emilio to a momentary pause as his breath went silent for a moment. Right after he regained focus, he hastened his attempts to march through the sticky, hot goo, as troublesome as it was. No! This is bad! Really, really bad! He thought. Even with enhanced strength granted to him by the reemergence of his system, it required a strenuous, tiring effort to yank his boots from the goo for each step. Still, nothing was a greater motivator for his legs than the heartbeat of machinery that served as a precursor for death itself. Move! Move! He told himself. There was no doubt it wasing closer, though the lessened rapidity of the metallic steps led him to believe that War was not aware of his location; at the very least, that is what he had hoped dearly for. Nearly to the end of the corridor, he didn''t notice it until getting close enough, but there was an oval passageway connecting to the next room, or rather, leading into what looked to be another corridor of sorts. "Nnngh¨C!" THUD. THUD. THUD. Too close. Far too close; too sudden. He could directly feel the weight of those thunderous steps, grating his nerves and erupting his heart in a desperate thump. Sensing those stomps bing more rapid, now able to hear the hiss of steam and low, distorted growls and groans of the flesh-forged machine of death, he forced himself to move with haste. "Nnnh¨C!" In order to break free from the ooze, he ditched his boots entirely before leaping the final meter into the oval doorway,nding in a peculiar pathway. The walls were a deep, dark red and unnaturally wavy; it looked as though he was traversing colossal intestines as there was a substance that secreted from the walls. "...What is this¡­?" He mumbled under his breath. It had stopped. The moment he entered this abnormal hallway, the sound of the entity''s footsteps had gone silent. That''s all there was now around him; silence and mystery. Beneath his feet, he could feel the slippery substance thatid slick on the abnormal ground, which itself was covered in small ridges that made movement awkward. It''s always just one thing after another in this ce¡­I''d say "give me a break", but then I feel like I''d just be jinxing it, he thought. Feeling a level of frustration in the perplexing, troublesome environment of the isted hall he trudged through, he moved on nheless with the final key driving each step forth. It was a twisty path; the corridor was disfigured and somewhat spiraling in its shape, forcing him to walk at an almost sideways angle at points. Supplemented by the slippery substance that lined the walls and floors, it made for a troublesome walk. "...Everything just has to be trouble here¡­" He muttered under his breath. With every step further, he found the corridor to be progressively more challenging in its structure; it got more narrow and the liquid secretion from the walls became more plentiful. It had a funky smell to it; like a mix of corn and expired milk, it met his nose unpleasantly, but that was the least of his concerns. "Urgh¡­" He let out. By this point, after moving through the red-lined corridor for a few minutes, he was forced to hunch over and do his best to avoid bumping against the slippery walls. Again came a decrease in the size of the hall, causing the young Dragonheart to be ced on his hands-and-knees, crawling through the wavy passageway. What the hell is this¡­? Where is this leading me, anyway? He thought. There was no avoiding the substance now, as he crawled along the floor, constantly having to touch the walls, he felt an odd sensation running through the body. It was as if the odd liquid was invading his pores, causing a spike of coldness to rush through his veins before his vision came to sway. "Wh¡­wha¡­" He let out. A total loss of bnce came as he found himself unable to properly order his thoughts, as if a fog had appeared in his brain, intercepting his train of thought entirely. Ringing filled his ears as his vision distorted in totality; the walls morphed around him, growing mouths that taunted him withughter. "Gya-ha-ha-ha!" "Foolish, boy! Foolish, boy!" "Never escaping! Never escaping!" It was nauseating to listen to, driving him mad as theughter prated his ears and rang his skull, forcing him to put his head down and cover it with his arms. "No, no, no¡­shut up!" He yelled out. Maddening, it was; there was no covering his ears from the head-swirlingughter as it resonated inside of his head, taunting him the more he tried to escape it: "Stupid, boy! Stupid, boy!" "Dragon whelp got too big for his britches!" "Never aping! Never escaping!" Chapter 294 Let It Surge After sitting there for a minute, trying to oust the taunts from the walls that suddenly grew mouths, he found the annoyance not to dull, bringing him to sit up again. ¡­It''s not real. Of course. Walls don''t talk andugh! Obviously! He told himself. With that in mind, he drew in arge breath of air into his lungs before pping his own cheeks in an attempt to correct his diluted perception. "Gya-ha-ha!" "Foolish, boy! Foolish, boy!" ¨CIt did not help; in fact, the taunts from the walls only seemed to grow worse as a result of his failure to drag himself out of these delusions. Merely epting the fact that what surrounded him with belittlingughter were illusions forged of whatever substance he had touched didn''t much help to dwindle how incredibly gnawing it was. Worse, it only amplified as he crawled through the narrow, ustrophobic corridor, forced to continue touching the mysterious substance. Just keep going, he told himself, push past it. No amount of straightforwardness and logical thinking could ovee the fact that his senses were still haywire; even crawling on his hands-and-knees was challenging; the swirling of the walls made him nauseous to his stomach. Still, to the young man that had traversed the embodiment of nightmares and dread itself, he found such feelings only to be hindrances and nothing more. The exit of the troublesome corridor was finally in sight now, prompting him to pick up his pace. "...Try harder next time," he groggily said. Managing to pick himself up, despite a bit of wobbliness, those words that left his lips were a direct callout to the malicious ways of thebyrinth. The door at the end of the twisted path was kept sealed by a star-shaped handle; the exit itself was made out of a blood-red, steel door covered in scratches and bolts. There were also burn marks, but this didn''t stop the young Dragonheart from reaching towards the handle without any hesitation. Onest look back, he found the mouths that appeared all over the walls to now be eerily shut; they were sewn closed, silent yet still existing. "Freaky," he muttered under his breath. It led him to be more wary of the door he was about to go through, finding himself somewhat hesitant as he wrapped his fingers around the star-shaped handle. There was nothing that could be heard; not behind him, and not beyond the blood-red entryway. Well, nothing is worse than having to turn back. I imagine that big hunk of metal would just be waiting for me if I did, he thought. He had to grip the handle quite tightly, using more strength than the norm in order to spin that which kept the door shut; there were multiple clicks as he turned it, finally unlocking the door as it popped open. "--" He stayed ready, waiting by the threshold to see whaty beyond the area that was quite the struggle to traverse. There was no way to be certain of what he''d find; perhaps a graveyard of skeletons, a chamber of thebyrinth filled with obscure, half-built buildings, or War itself, waiting for him beyond the door. Uncertainty was the very essence of it all; that truth among untruths made him wary. "...Huh?" With his hand readied by his sword and his body more than ready to invoke the power of the Dragonheart System, he was surprised to find a rather unnatural atmosphere to the next chamber of the deathly maze: The stone walls were caked in dirt, of which there was a luscious mixture of moss and grass that had sprouted from the soil; it was an unnatural spring of life in the realm which housed death. It wasn''t just that; there was also a mess of resourcesying across the ground: chunks of stone, dirt, wood, and even unknown powders. The room itself was somewhat spacious, yet felt cramped because of its dirty nature. What''s all of this? He questioned. Compared to the rest of thebyrinth, it was messy beyondpare and chaotic in itsponents; chimes hung from a ceiling forged of a of intertwined threads, releasing noise as he walked in. ¨CJust then, with the very first set of steps taken into the odd room, a tile "clicked" beneath his step. It was a familiar, stomach-sinking sensation, one that he had grown adjusted to. A trap¨C? He realized. Knowing something wasing from the identally set-off booby trap, he readied himself without knowing what wasing and where, instead summoning the innate abilities of his System: ["Greater Scales"] Holding his arms in front of him like a barrier, he manifested incredibly sturdy, azure scales that armored his limbs. FWOOSH Swinging down from the ceiling, crashing through a portion of the above, a giant log of stone came in with swiftness and lethal velocity. It mmed directly against the young Dragonheart''s forearms. "--Ghh!" He slid back from the weight of the heavy pir of stone, though his armor of scales came through,pletely blocking the damage of the blow. "Phew¡­" He breathed out, putting his hand forward to keep the trapped pir still. It was his first time truly testing the capabilities of [Greater Scales], considering it was an ability he unlocked just before his fall against Dread, though he was pleasantly surprised by the defensive benefits of the new-and-improved scale armor. Who the hell isying traps?...I doubt War is the kind to do meticulous, crafty work like this, he thought, could it be it''s not just War living in thisbyrinth? I really don''t want any more on my te as is. There was a new objective for the time being, in addition to locating the final key: find whoever was responsible forying the traps. With the possible existence of another figure in the dark, ominous maze-like structure, the unorderly nature of the room he was in made more sense. Oddly enough, he found there to be a painting sitting on the wall to his left. In the grimy, decayedbyrinth, it was a surprising touch¨Cone too human for a ce inhabited by the murderous entity of War. It depicted a man falling through the sky; a shadowy figure, lonely amidst an azure sea. Even more weird to him was the fact the painting was kept clean; there wasn''t a speck of dust or wear on it. Leaning closer for a better look, he pressed his hand against the wall, only for the portion he touched to slide in to release another "click". "Give me a break," he breathed out. This time, he hardly reacted to the fact he had, once again, fallen for a dormant booby trap. As a log of wood dropped down from the ceiling, suspended by ropes, it descended upon his head. Before it could crash into his skull, the young Dragonheart summoned the draconic force that generated in the depths of his soul, focusing it into his fist as he threw his fist upward. The [Dragon Strike] mmed against the falling log, causing it to burst into countless scraps of natural wood that rained down above him. I''m really sick of traps. Maybe it''s my father''s blood in me, but¡­Is it so hard to just fight head-on? He thought. Residual steam exuded from his knuckles after manifesting the draconic power straight through his fist, leaving him to breathe out directly onto his hand to cool it down. After having turned the log into wood chips with a single blow, a noise met his ears from behind, like a heavy, stone tile being dragged across the ground. As he turned around, he looked to find one of the tiles in the floor for the odd chamber had been removed, and crawling out of it, was an unknown figure. Huh? He thought. There wasn''t much time to react; without any warning or callout, the figure that hade out of the false floor was pointing something at him: by the way it was held, it was a crossbow or a ranged weapon of sorts. In that split-second, he didn''t even register who or what was about to attack him, instead flexing his body to invoke the [Greater Scales] as armor just as the ambiguous weapon wielded by the figure "clicked" with a trigger being pulled. BOOM A sh of sparks and a breath of smoke came out of the barrel of the weapon, releasing orange, burning chunks of stone that shot in a wide-ranged st. The bright-orange projectiles pelted his scale armor that protected his arms and chest, though burned and pierced through his cloak without any stop. A gun¨C? These aren''t bullets though¨CI feel a mana signature from them, he thought. Though he was able to sessfully endure the st of burning pellets, it did leave a slight-and-brief glimpse of pain, like momentarily touching a hot coal. This only served to set aze the anger in the on-edge young man as he invoked another skill he had acquired just before his untimely journey to the realm of death: ["Draconic Might"] Even though he had never activated it before, the essence of it was imprinted onto his mind and soul, allowing him to trigger it like the twitch of a muscle. It wasn''t known what the effects were until that moment, though it activated in response to what it is he wished to do in that moment: "seize the enemy." Chapter 295 Draconic Might It flowed through his veins like a wildfire; that sublime, azure heat. Running across his skin like a tattoo of fiery ink, that shining-blue essence was reflected in the shift of his amethyst irises, which altered to a momentary sapphire. [Draconic Might] In the course of a half-second, it activated in full, birthing a natural light that emitted from the Dragonheart''s tattoos as his body was imbued with a bestial strength, allowing him to dash forward with monstrous speed. It was a state of monstrous power, granted briefly, yet bestowing him with strength without needing to undergo Dragonheart transformations. The stone beneath his bare feet cracked just from pressing forth, tossing himself forward like a bullet itself. "--!" Whoever they were, the person who had shot at him flinched at the unexpected burst of speed, unable to get another shot off as their weapon of wood-and-steel began to glow, only for the young Dragonheart to m his hand forward. No, you don''t! He thought. With a single thrust forward of his palm, the draconic strength shattered the malicious tool, breaking through it and mming against the figure''s chest, dragging him across the room before pushing them against the wall. RUMBLE "Grgh¡­!" The figure winced, having their back mmed against the mossy stone. The usage of [Draconic Might] filled his mind with the rage of a burning me, causing him to blindly pull his fist back as he prepared to unleash a mighty blow upon the unknown figure before¨C "I yield, I yield!" Hearing those words spoken, he was dragged out of his moment of destruction as he blinked, finally getting a look at the person who had their hands up in a surrender. It was a young man with shaggy, golden-blonde hair and pointy ears, wearing goggles. He wasn''t wearing much of anything else, with nothing but a leather pouch worn on his chest without a shirt, and baggy, dirty pants with lots of pockets. "Why''d you shoot me¨C? Who are you?!" Emilio asked. "Err, well, I kinda thought you were the big guy out there," the youthful man answered with a shrug, now realizing he likely wasn''t going to have his head bashed in, "Name''s Blimpo, though! Nice to meet another rational, well-adjusted person! Right?..." Emilio raised an eyebrow, looking at the goggle-wearing stranger for a moment before realizing they didn''t have any malicious intent, and understanding the stakes in thebyrinth. He released his hold of Blimpo, stepping back as the azure tattoos settled from his skin. "Emilio. That''s my name," he gave his own. The pointy-eared man coughed out, letting out a strained sigh as he stretched side-to-side, "Talk about monster strength! You almost snapped me like a twig, you did! You''re not much bigger than me¨Cwhat''s the deal with that power? Got muscles denser than a mountain, there?" Brushing thements of Blimpo aside, he had questions of his own, looking down at the shattered pieces of the weapon he was originally shot with, "What was that? I mean, what you shot at me with?" Blimpo seemed eager to answer, bashfully rubbing his upper lip with a smile, "Oh, that? That''s what I call a "Rune Cannon"! Invented it myself. Not much else to do down here in the After." "The ''After''?" Emilio repeated. "Err, yeah? Wait, you don''t know where you are? You must be new here!" Blimpo said in surprise, "The After is, well, a bit self-exnatory, innit? It''s the afterlife, friend!" It was confirmation for what he already suspected, but having it solidified made it settle in for the young man, knowing well-and-truly that he was now deep down in the realm of the dead. "You don''t seem too surprised," Blimpo remarked. "I already assumed so, but still¡­What''s the deal with all of this, anyway? I mean, thisbyrinth and that thing out there¨CWar," he said, letting out a sigh as he crossed his arms over his chest before looking directly at the goggle-wearing figure, "What I want to know right now though is, what''s your deal?" "Mine? Ah, I''m not that interesting, hate to break it to you!" Blimpoughed, "I came to this temple with the same goal as any other reckless fool like myself: to meet the Progenitor!" "The Progenitor?" Emilio repeated. Blimpo didn''t answer, instead staying silent for a moment with a smile before moving over to the hole in the ground he originally crawled out of, "Ah¨Clet''s not talk out here, ''kay? This room is a hard ce for that big fe out there to get into, but if he hears us babbling on, well¡­You don''t want to see what happens! C''mon!" It was sketchy, to say the least, as he watched the entric figure drop down onto the secretyer of thebyrinth beneath the floor, though as he looked over, he saw that it was quite spacious; Blimpo was able to stand uppletely after dropping down. "Whacha waiting for?" Blimpo looked up. "...Nothing." Swallowing his hesitation in ce of looking for answers, he followed the goggle-wearing figure down into the hole. As he dropped down, he found himself in a linear tunnel of dirt and stone. "Did you make this?" Emilio asked, ncing around. Blimpo answered while leading the way, "There''s nothing but time here in the After! You see, I ran out of my seven attempts at thebyrinth pretty quickly! I''m outta lives¨Cone more, and I''m probably going to end up in a region of this ce that''s Hell itself. So, in that case, I decided to bide my time and build this underground portion¨CI''ll find that key and meet the Progenitor!" "...I see. How long have you been up to this?" He asked. "Err, well¡­I haven''t kept track, but probably a year now," Blimpo responded. "A year?!" "Ha-ha!" Blimpoughed at his shock before turning back to look at him, "Still, I''m curious about that strength of yours¨Cit''s really somethin''!" He brushed off the curiosity of the pointy-eared man before following him to whatid at the end of the carved-out tunnel beneath thebyrinth, finding arge room reinforced with wood and stone. "This is my workshop¡­and home, at least for the time being," Blimpo presented, extending one of his arms to wee him in. There were scraps of metal and other materialsying around, and half-crafted and even finished mechanisms sprawled out in a disorderly fashion. Before thoughtlessly walking in, the prospect of traps and not fully knowing the stranger was still on mind, leading to the young man watching Blimpo himself before entering fully. "What''s wrong? I''m totally harmless¨Ctrust!" Blimpo said, noticing his hesitation. "You know the first thing you did was shoot me, right?" He asked. "You''re still holding onto that? The past is the past!" Blimpo brushed off. Either way, it was impressive the sort of contraptions and devices that the pointy-eared, youthful figure was working on, especially considering the location he was secluded to and the resources avable. "Feel free to look around! Don''t be scared of breaking anything¨Chappens a lot, actually!" Blimpoughed. Even with his reservations about the entric fellow, he couldn''t deny the quality and sheer impressiveness of the items; there were quite a few that resembled guns, but made of either stone, wood, or scrap metal found around thebyrinth. Though instead of bullets, they seemed to utilize magical runes¨Cwhich, there were quite a few left in the secret base. "You''ve got a lot of runes¡­Are those easy toe by here?" He asked, lifting a shining, azure rune. Blimpo chuckled, picking up a me-shaded one and flipping it over his hand, "Not a chance! You could search far-and-wide throughout the After and you''d never find one of these babies." "Then¡­?" He looked over at the tinkerer. "I made them myself. I''ve got nothing but time down here," Blimpo said, "I''m not exactly the most mana-rich person, but I''m no mage, so I''ve got no other use for it! Each of these runes takes about a week worth of condensing." It was an impressive aplishment to the young Dragonheart, knowing the value of magic runes in the realm of the living. "What about these weapons? There''s nothing like those in Arcadius," he asked. There was already an idea of how and why Blimpo was making the rune-powered weapons, but he wanted to hear it for himself. Blimpo set the orange rune down with a smile, lifting his goggles from his eyes to reveal bright-blue irises that were in a cross pattern, "I developed these bad boys with a little inspiration from the big guy out there¨Cbows, crossbows, cannons¨Cnone of thosee close to what it can produce. With that in mind, I adapted¨C''tis the time to fight fire with fire!" It was hard to imagine a normal, sane, even, person being able to maintain their sanity in the face of the ominousbyrinth and the horrific embodiment of war itself, especially somebody who didn''t seem imbued with any physical gifts like the elven man before him. "You''re crazy," he couldn''t help but say with a smile, astonished at the man''s passion for crafting. "Hah! A little crazy is needed if you''re going to dedicate day-and-night to this! Like I said, I''ve got all the time in the world down here," Blimpo told him, "No rush." Lifting up one of the newly-invented guns, which was made with a base of stone and in the shape of a pistol with arge, thick barrel and infused with a bright-blue magical rune, Emilio looked over at Blimpo after inspecting the weapon: "I''ve got a lot of questions. But, if you''re looking to get out of here, then I say we''ve got amon goal," Emilio said. Chapter 296 The Elfs Life "I''ve got a lot of questions. But, if you''re looking to get out of here, then I say we''ve got amon goal," Emilio said. A smile etched itself across the blue-eyed elf''s lips as he jabbed his thumb against his own chest, "Ask away, friend! I know only what I know, but what I know is your knowledge all the same!" Without a doubt, the first question he had pertained to the nature of the realm he found himself in now; even if it was clear it was that which came after death, it didn''t fit the bill of a traditional afterlife to him. "The After is interesting, isn''t it?" Blimpo said, "I''ve been dead for a solid¡­hmm, ten years now? In my time here, I''ve run into my fair share of trouble, but for the most part, it''s not too bad down here! From what I''ve heard, asking around, the After isn''t just the afterlife for Arcadius¡­" The tone that the elven tinkerer took was a lot more low, with a smile engulfed in curiosity as he looked at the young Dragonheart as if waiting for the same feeling, which he found. It was a suspicion that Emilio already held close to his heart with the existence of the gun-toting War, but now he felt it more solidified in reality than ever. "...Not just Arcadius, then that means¡­?" He slowly asked. Blimpo nodded, "The After is where everything goes. It''s amazing, really. There''s so many worlds, so many civilizations beyond our own. Inventors that have crafted things beyond my wildest imaginations¨Ccarriages that move without horses, devices that connect everybody in the world¨Cwhen I think about it, my hands can''t stop trembling with excitement. It makes me want to keep crafting and creating. On Arcadius, we only know of our own world¨Cyet, revtions like this are hidden behind death. It''s kind of ironic, isn''t it? The greatest discoveries lie beyond life." There was so much passion and sheer, palpable excitement written on Blimpo''s face and intertwined with the words that left his lips. Such knowledge was already known by Emilio, but seeing the effect and grandeur it impacted one naturally from Arcadius made him feel it himself. "Yeah," he replied, "...So, you''ve met a lot of people that have passed from these other worlds, then?" Blimpo nodded, "For a while, I wandered far-and-wide, I talked to all kinds of people¨Cmost didn''t even know what Arcadius was! They sounded even more shocked than me when I told them about stuff from our world! Apparently magic, dragons n'' all of that is just stuff they tell their children at night! Ha-ha!" It was an odd feeling to him, like a crossing between his own two lives; the After housed those who had died on Arcadius and even Earth, from the sounds of it. Likely even other worlds, too¨Cit was somewhat overwhelming, making him feel small in the scope of the boundless afterlife. "...You mentioned some ''Progenitor'' figure you were trying to meet," Emilio brought up. Blimpo had already instinctively begun tinkering with a device, using a hammer to drill pieces of metal into a wooden base for a weapon, "Yeah! Wait, did youe here without knowing about ''im, either?!" "Is that surprising?" "Well¡­yeah, the Progenitor won''t even let you through those front doors of the temple if you don''t have the proper conviction¨CI''ve never heard of somebody just wandering in without knowing!" Blimpo smiled, "The Progenitor is said to be one of the Primordials¨Cpretty high n'' mighty figures down here in the After. If you can pass his tests, it''s said you can then exchange with him for anything." "Exchange?..." Emilio repeated. "Yeah¨Canything goes, apparently. I came here because I want to learn much more¨Ceverything that''s on the world they call ''Earth''," Blimpo tapped the side of his head, "--I''ll learn it all then make inventions that''ll blow even the Primordials away!" It was certainly a goal, though it felt childlike in nature through the pure excitement that Blimpo wielded, there was no doubt that it was something possible in the hands of the genius inventor. In that small, cramped space littered with spare parts, it was an art form in itself watching the goggle-wearing man tinker away. Watching it reminded him of the one he had befriended in Vasmoria; the kind inventor, Jeanne. The art of crafting magical trinkets was something he had attempted to learn, but had yet to grasp. There was no point in rushing out and confronting War just yet; Blimpo convinced him as much with the patience he embodied and the time of preparation being the most valuable asset they had. As such, there wasn''t much else to do but watch the elven man build and conversate with him. "So¡­where''d you learn to make magical trinkets?" He asked. It didn''t take long for Blimpo to already be engrossed in the mechanism being scrambled together like a multiyered jigsaw puzzle, flipping his goggles on before answering, "--Mainly myself!" "Really?" He asked in surprise. A nod came from Blimpo before a small fire suddenly sparked from the triple-barrelled rune cannon he was crafting, prompting him to rapidly blow air on it and wave his hands before putting it out. Watching the miniature disaster spur for a few seconds, the young Dragonheart sighed, "...I''m starting to get an idea of how you ended up in the After." "Ha-ha! You''re not too far off there!" Blimpoughed, setting the item down as he lifted his goggles again, "I was close¨Creal close to finishing my magnum opus, my masterpiece, something that would change my country for years toe." "What was it? Also, if you don''t mind me asking, where are you from, anyway? Not to be presumptuous, but you''re not human, right?" Emilio asked. Of course, nothing seemed out of the question in terms of what the entric tinkerer would answer, as he seemed more than delighted to have somebody to talk to after all of this time in the deathlybyrinth. Blimpo sat down on a dusty crate, leaning against the wall behind him, "It was a bomb." "A bomb?..." He curiously repeated. "Not the kind you''re thinking of. This one wasn''t built to destroy," Blimpo exined, "You asked where I was from? I''m from the elven kingdom of Terusania¨Cit''s a countrypletely reliant on magic." For some reason, the rapid, hyper way of speaking that Blimpo usually possessed was much more mellowed out when speaking of his past, fiddling with the goggles on his head. "Terusania¡­" He recalled. "Know about it?" Blimpo asked. He nodded, "Yeah, haven''t been there myself yet, but any mage worth their salt knows about Terusania. Everything is automated by magic there; the weather is optimized by mages, farming is efficiently handled, and even their cities are empowered by mana." "Interesting," Blimpo leaned forward with a smile, putting his hand on his chin as he looked a bit too closely at the young Dragonheart. Leaning back in response to the close stare, Emilio raised an eyebrow, "...What?" "You used the word ''yet''," Blimpo noticed, pointing at him, "That''s a funny word to use for one already in the After." It was a Freudian slip of sorts, to which he realized how odd it must''ve sounded to somebody who had long since been subject to the hold of the After. "...Yeah, I guess it is," he responded. There was definitely no way such a simple response would satisfy the curious mind of Blimpo that seemed to always work in overdrive, fueled by utmost curiosity in anything and everything, but¨C "So, back to the bomb!" Blimpo moved on. Of course, there were clearly other things more important on the mind of the elven tinkerer, much to the relief of the young Dragonheart, who didn''t quite feel like exining just yet why he might be a special case that could yet live. "Magic is everything in Terusania. From the moment you''re born, your cement in society is determined by that¨Cjust a little less talent than your peers and you can expect a life of hardbor," Blimpo said. "What about you? You''re amazing at making magical trinkets, right?" He asked. "You''re going to make me blush. Kidding. But yeah, I''d like to think so too. Problem is, even if you end up being talented at weaving spells or crafting magic-based tools, it doesn''t change your birth-given status," Blimpo exined. It was hard to tell by the youthful inventor''s tone how exactly he felt about his homnd; there was a part of him that obviously reminisced of the life he had, yet there was a distinct distaste for certain aspects of it in his tone. Still, there was never an ounce of negativity that truly seemed to exude from the bright-and-energetic man as he sat there on the crate, talking away. "You see, I was designated from birth as being a "Mud Born"--or in simple terms: the lowest of the low," Blimpo told him. "...Yikes," Emilio yfully let out. "Yikes indeed, my friend," Blimpo nodded, "When that happens, unless your parents are the highest born themselves¡­You get ripped away and tossed into what''s called the "Waste te"--the lowest section of Terusania''s capital, where all of the mud born''s are thrown to ve away." Chapter 297 Comradery In The Dark Hearing the reality of a ce like Terusania irked the young man; that unfair, vile discrimination was something undeniably a part of reality. Prejudice based on one''s own gic differences, shorings, and even defects was something that struck a chord in the young Dragonheart. "That''s terrible," Emilio remarked truthfully, "I don''t understand the point of having a civilization that advanced if they''re just going to embody backwards ideals like that." Picking up a rusty wrench, Blimpo flipped it between his fingers as he leaned back, breathing out, "If only they all thought like you, Emilio, if only." "Was it all bad? I mean, don''t mind me assuming, but¡­you seem like an upbeat guy to me," he asked. Blimpoughed, "Most of the reason for that is the After! Is it weird to say I feel more alive while dead than I ever did when I was living and breathing? You don''t need to answer that¨CI know it is, ha-ha," the elven man adjusted his goggles, "Down here, I have total freedom. Everybody is equal in death, as they say." "Guess so¡­but, hold on, what''s this have to do with how you died?" He raised an eyebrow. There was a moment of silence from Blimpo, who either seemed to forget that was the topic at hand or simply wanted to brush it aside altogether, but he obliged and continued nheless. "The bomb I made¡­Yeah, well, I was going to use it to kill every single noble in my city," Blimpo admitted nonchntly. "What?..." Emilio let out in quiet disbelief. Blimpo nodded with a small smile of that wasced with subtle regret, "...I''m not proud to admit it, but that was the n¨CI built a special bomb capable ofpletely nullifying magic." "Nullifying magic¡­" Emilio repeated, curious of it, "What''s that have to do with killing though? Something like that¡­" "Well, it wasn''t a temporary measure of any sort. Theplete nullification of magic, driven to the very core of a person, will erase their life force in tandem," Blimpo exined, "You can''t survive without mana¨Cthat''s the sort of bomb I built." It was a heinous sounding contraption that was built, though unexpected from somebody as seemingly optimistic as the elvish tinkerer. Blimpo jumped up from the crate, stretching his arms with a small noise being made from the satisfaction given to his muscles and joints, "--Don''t worry, I didn''t kill anybody but myself." "Is that the truth?" "Do I look like the kind of guy that could go through with murder like that?" Blimpo asked with a cheerful smile, "Just kidding. Don''t answer that¨Cplease. Anywho, the perfect day came for me to set it off¡­It was a yearly festival celebrating the King''s name day. All of the nobles from around Terusania were in one building. All I had to do was ce the device and stroll out while whistling." Holding a spherical contraption of dark-ck wood, reinforced with stone that had rune shards imnted in it, the way Blimpo looked at it was if as if he was remembering the shape of the magic-erasing bomb he had created once before. "...So what changed, then?" He asked. Blimpo looked up with a suppressed smile, "I saw a pair of kids running around the courtyard. Stupid, isn''t it? My conviction was fragile enough to be shattered by a couple of brats," he chuckled, "As soon as I saw them, something changed¨Call of that anger was reced by regret and desperation; I rushed the bomb out of there, but it was already armed and ready. I did my best to disarm it once I got away from everybody else, but¡­boom." A motion represented by spreading his arms was made by the goggle-wearing inventory to represent the explosion that took his life. "So, that''s how it went down, huh?" Emilio said, leaning back as he folded his arms over his chest. "Definitely not proud of it," Blimpoughed before pushing up his goggles, staring intently at the Dragonheart, "--Now, what I''d like to know is what''s up with that super-awesome power of yours? You look even younger than me, so I''m wondering how you even came to end up here. A bit premature." Of course, he expected such a question from the ever-curious inventor, especially after giving him a taste of his abilities in their first meeting. He didn''t know whether or not he should truthfully indulge the questions of Blimpo, especially considering the sensitive nature of thebyrinth and the After as a whole. Still, considering how Blimpo had unquestionably been willing to tell the truth to him and how much the elven man seemed to enjoy learning, the young man wore a smile as he pointed his own thumb against his chest. ¡­I''ll tell him everything. Not just about how I died recently, but how my first life came to an end too, he thought. "Prepare yourself, Blimpo. I''m about to blow your mind," Emilio said with a smile. An ear-to-ear smile manifested on the goggle-wearing, blonde-haired man''s lips in response as he seemed eager to learn, "Yes, yes! I am all ears!" Everything was told; not a detail was spared. Sitting there in the cramped, messy, underground base with spare parts littered and magic runes used for life, the two talked for hours upon hours, mainly with Emilio divulging the details of his original life and world to the ever-excited listener. The "carriages without wheels" that Blimpo had heard; Emilio told him everything about cars in all varieties: trucks, tanks, and even nes that soared through the air without magic. A world with the only magic being the intuition of its people, a civilization in which technology and invention was supreme; it was all like music to Blimpo''s ears, a melody that enlightened the medieval inventor. ¨CAt the end of it all, the only reaction that came from processing all of this information was a genuineughter straight from the gut: "Ha-ha-ha! So, that''s how it is?" Blimpoughed with tears in his eyes, "It''s amazing!--Just when you think it can''t get anymore awesome, you''re ten times smaller than you thought! No, one-hundred times! Televisions, cars¨Cthe inte! It all sounds great!" "It was definitely different than living in Arcadius," Emilio smiled, "There was an adjustment period for me." "So, you''re pretty certain you can make it out of the After, huh? Those notes you''ve read¨Cthey''re probably from the Progenitor. If that''s the case¡­I doubt that one is wrong," Blimpo smiled, "You can make it out of here, Emilio." A part of him was simply astonished that Blimpo took everything he said at face-value; there was no part of the elven man that questioned the legitimacy of his ims, only epting them straight to his heart. Seeing the genuinely grand excitement held in Blimpo''s sparkling, blue eyes made him feel a sense of grandeur from the world he once lived. "...Thank you, Emilio. You''ve just fueled me with enough motivation tost a thousand more years¨Cat least!" Blimpo stood up with a thumbs-up. Emilio stood up as well, watching as the elven inventor immediately got to work throwing spare parts together and hammering away, "What now?" "Your story made me way too pumped up! It gave me an idea¨Cthat Dragonheart System of yours; if it''s as powerful as you made it sound, I thought about it¡­What if I build something that can harness that power for us?" Blimpo looked up with a bright smile. "Harness it?...What do you have in mind?" He asked curiously. "Curious, are you!? C''mon, help me make it! I''ll guide you step-by-step; you were interested in learning magic tinkering, right?!" Blimpo excitedly asked. It was contagious just how passionate the inventor was; so infectious was that burning passion that Emilio found himself sitting side-by-side with his newfoundpanion without thinking twice, overseeing the process and getting hands-on with it. "If we''re going to find that key, there''s no getting around the fact we''ll have to face that big guy out there at some point," Blimpo said, leaning close to the workbench as he mmed metallic tubes together, "--I doubt we can put ''im down for good, but we can at least knock him on his ass for a good bit!" "...I''m starting to see it," Emilio said while helping, cing a mix of fiery and wind-based runes in the open slots. The hideout smelled of sizzling steam and burnt powder; Emilio aided him in terms of using mes to meld the steel, summoning his Dragonheart System to utilize controlled, azure fire. Whatid on the workbench was quite the massive magical tool; a weapon of length and imposing size, crafted of smoothed steel and embedded with a half-dozen magical runes. It resembled a railgun with a magical touch, forged from the stories passed from Emilio to Blimpo; a true unison of their two worlds. ? The two main barrels led down near the grip, where a circr hold was inscribed with mystical seals that were custom-made for Emilio''s own grip. "Give it a try," Blimpo said, standing up and watching with a smile. Chapter 298 The Elfs Grand Schemes! "Give it a try," Blimpo said, standing up and watching with a smile. There was some hesitation taken as Emilio was careful in lifting the steel-made railgun of mystical potency; it required his supernatural strength as it was the size of his own body, wielding with one arm. As he wrapped his fingers around the hollow, circr grip, he then took in a breath before invoking his newer skill: [Draconic Might] Through his veins and the flow of energy through his body, the Dragonheart blood manifested through the azure tattoos temporarily etched onto his pale skin. As the draconic force conjured, it flowed from his stomach, through his arm and into his fingertips before infusing itself into the empty gems near the handle. Vrrrrrrrr The newly-crafted weapon made by the two partners hummed and vibrated as it took in the draconic force seamlessly; the grooves carved in the dark-gray, sleek barrels held a bright-blue glow. "Ha-ha! It works! It works!" Blimpo raised his hands in the air in triumph, "--Fire it! Let''s see that zing-blue light, baby!" Though he was just as excited as Blimpo about the Dragonheart-powered magic weapon, the prospect of firing it off in the narrow, cramped space was certainly not on his agenda. "Err¡­If I do that, it''ll probably end bad for both of us," he chuckled wrly. Blimpo coughed into his own hand, settling himself down, "Right, right. My bad. I''d like to test it out, but¡­I''m sure with that Dragonheart-whatever in you, it''ll knock the breath right outta War''s lungs! Ha-ha-ha!" Theughter that emitted from the inventor''s mouth was like that of a mad scientist; Emilio could only appreciate the fact that it was him wielding the weapon, and not the overly-passionate man. "You''re sure about that?" He asked. Hoisting the lengthy, meticalute weapon up, there was no doubt it was built perfectly to condense his own power and refine it into an immacte release, though the doubt came not from the weapon''s capabilities but from their enemy''s monstrous sturdiness. Blimpo tapped his chin, "Hmm, having doubts? Can''t me you¨Cthat big fe out there is really something else. A horrifying masterpiece of steel-and-death." "Its killing prowess aside, I hit it with a full st of my mes earlier and all it did was blow them away with a roar," Emilio told him, "That''s not exactly a confidence booster." Flipping a wrench and a hammer in each of his hands, the elven tinkerer momentarily juggled, though stopped after receiving a weird look from the young Dragonheart. It seemed to be a way for Blimpo to help consolidate his thoughts, though he tapped his chin before finally responding: "There''s a big difference here! That''s the whole point of the ''Dragon Buster 4000''! That''s the name I decided on for that, by the way. Pretty awesome, isn''t it?" Blimpo smirked. "Stay on topic," Emilio raised an eyebrow. "Right, right¡­Anyway, what I mean is, whatever power you feed from that Dragonheart power of yours straight into this baby''s barrels, it''lle out one-hundred times more potent!" Blimpo told him. "...A hundred times? You''re sounding like a salesman now," he scratched his head. Blimpoughed, "Hey, I only know what you told me, but that''s quite an insult! Ha-ha! I don''t lie about the efficiency of magic weapons¨Cbecause I don''t have to," the elven man raised his goggles, speaking with conviction, "--It''ll get the job done. Trust me." In only a short time knowing the entric man, he already came to ept those words wholeheartedly. Perhaps it was his own isted time in the ominous realm and his desperation for camaraderie, but there was a natural connection between himself and Blimpo as they exchanged a high-five. "I''ve got no other choice but to trust that crazy brain resting in your skull," Emilio smiled. "If you think my brain rests for a second, I''ve got news for you!" Blimpo chuckled. All that was left to do was properly prepare for a confrontation with War; the questionably-named "Dragon Buster 4000" was the trump card, but not the sole savior of the two. As such, other assets were needed, especially if Blimpo nned on ying a key role in locating the key. While sitting there by the dragon-empowered railgun, he watched as Blimpo rummaged through a shoddy chest for already prepared trinkets. It was concerning watching the excitable elf flinging devices make that definitely looked "bomb-like" in their spherical shape, worsened by the ck-and-red coloring a lot of them had as they smacked against the wall and floor. "Euugh¡­" Emilio kept his back to the wall while sitting on a crate, though knew it was hardly safe either way. If you blow us both up, I''m seriously going to be pissed! He thought. Finally, Blimpo seemed to find what he was looking for as he let out a loud, triumphant "A-ha!" before pulling something out of his troublesome treasure chest. "What''s that?" Emilio leaned forward. Held up by the goggle-wearingpanion of his was a gauntlet made of shoddy wood-and-steel that was three times as thick as Blimpo''s thin arm, but the man happily slid it over his right hand anyway with a chuckle. "Behold!" Blimpo stood up, holding his gauntlet-wearing arm to the ceiling, "--My ''Anti-War Peace-Peace Glove''!" "...Kind of a mouthful, isn''t it?" He muttered. "It''s entirely necessary! A great trinket needs a great name, else nobody will properly spread its greatness!" Blimpo assured him. Once more, aughter that embodied that of a mad scientist echoed from the lips of the entric man as his pointy ears wiggled with each emission of genuineughter from his gut, still holding his gauntlet up. It was half redwood and half dark steel, with the knuckles having magic runes cut into shards embedded in them. "So, what''s it do?" He asked. Blimpo smirked, "I am d you asked! My ''Anti-War Peace-Peace Glove'' focuses entirely on defensive measures. It''s clear that working up enough firepower to even make that big guy out there flinch is a helluva tall order, so I decided to focus more on¡­workaround tactics!" Chapter 299 The Unique Glove As a showcase, Blimpo pointed his gauntlet toward one of the walls that was formed of solid dirt and reinforced with dusty wood, holding a smile as he pped a circr, white button on the side of the gauntlet with his other hand. "Mode: Mud Spider! Go!" Blimpo called out. It was a shockingly intricate disy of technological prowess,ing from a shoddy-seeming gauntlet with wood at its base: the redwood tes slid and readjusted with the press of the button, causing the deep-blue rune and the dirt-brown rune to begin glowing in response. What released from the palm of the mechanical glove was abination of water magic and nature magic,bined into the form of stic mud that shot out in a shape. "--A-ha!" A victorious emission left Blimpo''s lips as the surprisingly sturdy of mud didn''t break apart when colliding with the wall, but in fact kept its shape and clung to the wooden beams without any issue. "Impressive," Emilio remarked, putting his hand to his chin. "Isn''t it?" Blimpo proudly smirked. Of course, there was no offensive power behind such a function, but it was as Blimpo said: what was needed was utility, not an attempt for him to ovee War''s otherworldly armor. "Does it have other functions?" He asked. The young man almost immediately regretted asking when seeing that childlike grin appear on the elf''s lips as he once more, pointed his gauntlet upward as if addressing the very heavens. "Behold! Mode: Cloud Stampede!" Blimpo announced before clenching the gauntlet shut, seeming to trigger another function with an audible "click". Emilio watched closely, though it seemed counterintuitive as the function instantaneously activated in the form of heavy, thick mist propelling outward from the varied device. It quickly filled the entirety of the cramped hideout, surrounding the young Dragonheart in the imprable veil of smoke within moments. ¡­Weird. This has to be some sort of mix of fire, water, and wind, right? He questioned. For some reason, once he was surrounded by the mist, he couldn''t hear anything; it was aplete silence that left him blind to his surroundings. What is this? I can''t hear anything, he thought. It became unnerving after a few moments; the essence of the mist was disorientating to him, causing sweat to begin evacuating his pores as he finally stood up just when¨C "Mode: Siphon!" The enthusiastic voice of Blimpo was like a cannon firing off in a silent night, following the sound of something sucking in the air as the mist got siphoned back into the unique, wood-and-steel gauntlet. It only took a mere couple seconds for the fog to bepletely erased, almost just as quickly as it came as Blimpo stood there with a cheeky smile at the reaction from the young man. "How''d you like that one?" Blimpo asked. "...What was that? That wasn''t normal fog, was it?" He wondered audibly. "You guessed correctly!" Blimpo said, "--I went through extra work making sure the mist that the glove produces isn''t any normal mist. It took a bit of adjusting, but I was able to make it so that it suppresses sound and even fiddles with your senses once you''re surrounded in it." It was a scary thing to imagine, though he didn''t have to really imagine it after experiencing it firsthand from the smiling inventor, who seemed far too proud at the young man''s baffled reaction. "So, whatcha think? Those are only two of a dozen modes, but think it can hinder that monster?" Blimpo asked, "You fought it all close ''n personal, right? I''m interested in your opinion." "Hmm, well¡­" He folded his arms over his chest, "If I''m being honest, I can see it buying a couple seconds, at most. You''re more likely to just end up drawing its attention straight to you than anything." Blimpo paused for a moment after the honest judgment of his tool, seeming to be stunned for a moment beforeughing out. "--?" Emilio raised an eyebrow. "A couple seconds? That''s plenty! I''m a master of timing, in addition to tinkering, you know! Just leave it to me!" Blimpo assured. The bulk of the nning was handled by the elven inventor; despite his slim build andck of proficiency in flinging spells or swinging a de, Blimpo firmly nted himself as being able to help in the fight against War. Hoisted up, the blonde-and-ck haired Dragonheart wielded the questionably-named Dragon Buster 4000, which was fortunately able to be changed into apact form around his arm while not using it. "Alright! Let''s find that key!" Blimpo announced, holding what resembled a white-wood rune rifle in his non-gauntlet wearing hand. With only a few hours of nning and even less sleep, the two young men filled with a dangerously-mmable drive for victory that perpetually sparked between the two, set out once more down the underground tunnel. Blimpo''s guess might be right¨Che told me that there''s a chance the key might not actually be ''somewhere'' in thebyrinth, but rather in ''something''--that being War, he thought, I don''t like the thought of it much, but it might just be crazy enough to make sense. While moving down the tunnel, leading the way while Blimpo continuously prepared his plethora of gadgets that sat on his belt, he racked his mind on the topic of finding the ck key. "You said you have five tries left, right?" Blimpo asked from behind. "Yeah, why?" He nced back. Blimpo smiled innocently, scratching his head, "Well, since I''m on zero¡­" "I''ll take the lead," he sighed. "Thanks a ton, friend!" Blimpo gave him a thumbs-up. Though it wasn''t much of a choice either way in his mind; somebody could Blimpo, who didn''t have any physical gifts in battle, would likely turn out to only be problematic to try and fight alongside with. Emilio knew he would be more valuable in the sidelines, keeping a low profile and scouting the area¨Cother than that, he didn''t much feel like having to constantly watch over hispanion. ¡­Boy, I wish Everett was here. That shield of his never let anything past it, he thought. Such thoughts stirred up emotion in him that he didn''t really feel until just then; for some reason as he marched down the secret tunnel, he felt an inexplicable mass of sadness well up in his chest. Those emotions manifested through a few tears that trickled down his cheeks. "Huh¡­?" He let out quietly, touching his own cheek to feel the tears. He had been moving forward without much thought that it hardly settled in that he truly was dead, even if it was something he could ovee, there was a colossal sensation of loss that flowed through his own heart. I miss them. Damn¡­Why do I have to get emotional now of all times? Pull it together, Emilio, he thought. "Somethin'' the matter?" Blimpo curiously asked. "Nope," he quickly dismissed. Arriving at the exit of the hidden tunnel, they both stopped for a minute, staying silent and listening. Nothing. The silence was both unnerving and reassuring; it was to make sure the war machine of flesh and mayhem wasn''t simply camping out by the exit. After confirming no such sounds of heavy machinery were nearby, the young Dragonheart hopped up and hoisted himself up. Entering thebyrinth again immediately felt as though he was stepping into carnage itself; the air was more thin and old, musty and aged with dried blood that seemed to linger like kes of dust. ¡­I already miss that cramped, dirty hideout, he thought. Crouching in the tucked-away chamber in thebyrinth, he turned back around to look down the hole, extending his hand down to Blimpo, who wasn''t quite as nimble as he was. Though there was at least some credit needing to be given to the pale, blonde elf as he was carrying quite the load of gadgets on his person. "Thanks!" The elven man smiled, epting his hand. Sessfully reentering thebyrinth, they both stood in the room; his eyesid on the door where he had originally found the room, which was only essed through the windy, slippery corridor that bestowed troublesome hallucinations. "...You don''t suppose there''s another way out of this room, right?" He asked. Blimpoughed, "Ahh¡­Nope!" "I knew there was no point in asking," he let out a quiet sigh, rolling his right shoulder. Though it waspact, the draconic-empowered gun wasn''t exactly light either way; it was dense and abnormally shaped, likely weighing a few hundred pounds, all to be held on a single arm. "I had to choose a room with only one exit. If there were more, then War could surprise me any number of ways¨Cbesides, the tar seems to keep that big fe at bay, anyway!" Blimpo said, tapping his chin, "Hey, that rhymed, didn''t it?" Does this guy''s brain ever slow down? He questioned. Ignoring the entric spiels of hispanion, he led the way back into the whirly corridor, this time taking extra care not to touch the walls or the secretion that poured from the cracks. "Stay focused, alright?" He nced back. Blimpo gave him a quick salute, "Always am!" Chapter 300 Traversing The Labyrinth Being careful in traversing the slippery hallway required a certain level of both bnce and concentration, as a slight misstep made him instinctively reach for something to catch himself on, but that would only lead to directly touching the substance. "Any clue if it''s closeby or not?" He asked, "You''ve been here a long time, so I''m assuming you''ve figured out some tricks to its movement¡­" Walking close behind him, Blimpo answered, retrieving a gadget from his belt as they both came to a stop. In the elven inventor''s hand was a diamond-shaped, steel item that didn''t reveal any use just from a single look at it. "What''s that?" He asked curiously, and somewhat cautiously, knowing the track record of the reckless tinkerer. Blimpo smiled before kneeling down, setting the diamond-shaped device down as it managed to nt itself perfectly still on the slippery floor despite its unorthodox shape. With a small press of a button on the device''s top, it activated, periodically spinning as it emitted small-scale vibrations outward. "I call it the ''Echo Driller''--This will be able to show us if War is nearby," Blimpo said, "It will be able to register his movements roughly ten chambers away." Once more, he found himself astonished by the sheer versatility that his elvenpanion wielded in that mind of his, able to create such varied devices for any situation. "That''ll be a major help. Nice work," heplimented. "Thanks," Blimpo chuckled bashfully. There was a subtle vibration that traversed the ground, running against the bottom of his feet as the device emitted the far-reaching, subtle sounds. "So, how will we know if it finds War?" He asked. Blimpo stayed knelt by the device, picking it up before stuffing it back on his cluttered belt, "Well, it works by sending out vibrations that will immediately be repelled if it shes with the vibrations that War gives off; it''s fine-tuned like that. If that happens, it will spin rapidly and sorta go out of control." "I see¡­So he''s not close, then?" "Nope! All good," Blimpo gave a thumbs-up. With that secured, he was able to safely leave the corridor before ending up in the tar-filled hallway once more, though the elven man imed to have a solution to easily bypass it. As soon as they left the bounds of the hallucinogenic corridor, Blimpo stepped forward with a triumphant smile on his lips, facing the corridor of clingy grime. "Behold! Another ''Mode'' of the ''Anti-War Peace-Peace Glove!" Blimpo announced, pointing only the index finger of the bulky gauntlet forward, "Mode: Precipitation Solidification!" Abined activation of the watery-blue rune and the verdant one pertaining to wind came in the form of a condensed gust that shot out, filling the width of the swamp-like corridor in an instant. The grime on the dark, stone walls was scraped off by the sudden burst of wind, though it quickly revealed its true form; the dormant moisture in the air was magnified, shifting and expanding into a solidified foam thatid across the sticky tar. "Woah!" Emilio reacted. It was by far the most impressive function of the oddly-named gauntlet he''d witnessed thus far, testing out the sturdiness of the foam-made ground that stretched across the corridor. With a full step of his weight, it surprisingly held. "The greatness of magical tools remained unmatched! Normal mages would be hard pressed to find a solution to these sorts of specific problems, no?" Blimpo proudly stated. Emilio shrugged, "...Hate to say it, but if I had ess to my spells, this would be a piece of cake. Still, magical tools are amazing¨Cno doubt about that." "Hmm¡­Well, as long as you can recognize that much, I''m satisfied," Blimpo smirked. Crossing the foam walkway was an interesting sensation; it felt bubbly and somewhat bouncy, though at the same time firm and unmoving with each step. After sessfully traversing the troublesome hall, they were back in the depths of the dark, ominousbyrinth, surrounded by periodic, small noises that only served to draw their caution. "...Alright, I''ll lead the way. Just watch my back," Emilio said. "Right on," Blimpo nodded, gulping. The young Dragonheart slid his sword from its sheath as he chose to go north of the first chamber, traveling into the room of veils that he had visited once before. "Ah, I''ve been here¨Cquite the freaky area, isn''t it?!" Blimpo asked with a smallugh. The elven entric waved his arms around, pping the curtains and tarps of varying colors spanning from grim gray to bright-blue, spreading them out. "Can you not? You''re going to bring him right to us," he nced back, somewhat startled by the sudden noises hispanion was making. Blimpo stopped, letting out a small sigh, "Isn''t that sort of the n? We at least should confirm if the key is on the big guy¨CI mean, it''s better than ying cat n'' mouse and finding out War has the key only after we''re dead meat." "...I guess you have a point, but I''d like to draw him to us in a controlled environment¨Cand when I''m properly prepared," Emilio reasoned. "True enough! I can''t argue with that! You''re the boss here, anyway," Blimpo said with a smile. "No I''m not¨Ccan you just stay focused, please? Keep yourself ready to hide at any moment¨CWar may be big, but he isn''t slow," he told hispanion. "Right!" Blimpo saluted. It was a bit troublesome to handle the energetic tinkerer, but he already knew that Blimpo woulde through when it mattered most. He kept his sword drawn and his magical weaponpact around his arm ready as he headed down an unexplored corridor. "Have you been down this way before?" He asked quietly. Answering more akin to a whisper, toning it down, the elf shrugged his shoulders, "Can''t say. I''ve mainly stayed in the same spot the past few months¨Cwithout needing to eat or drink, I was able to gather resources while digging and build new tools." ¡­Maybe that exins why he has a few screws loose, he thought. Still, having somebody to watch his back made the gnawing experience of exploring thebyrinth infinitely better¨Ceven if that person was an unequaled entric. Chapter 301 Hidden Library The next chamber that awaited was a far cry from the others in design; it was much taller, stretching upward with rows upon rows of bookshelves that held countless books in their hold. There were hundreds of these shelves, forged of dry wood and covered in cobwebs and dust, and perhaps tens of thousands of books. "...A library?" He remarked, stepping in. "Ah, I vaguely remember this room¡­I think," Blimpo said. A curious chamber, that much was undeniable; as a precaution, Emilio pushed one of the dense bookshelves that was near the entrance to the room across the ck, wooden floorboards, blocking off the door. "That won''t stop him," Blimpo remarked. "Yeah, but I''ll slow him down¡­or at least give us a heads-up," he responded, wiping his hands off. The reason he did it was more so that he could take a moment to explore the intriguing room. Something about books stored in a realm beyond death, held in abyrinth of danger unrivaled; it tugged at parts of his brain he seldom wanted to acknowledge. Walking around, he once more felt like he had little understanding of the area he was in; nothing seemed coherent about it at all. "...I''ve been wondering, what''s up with this ce? I mean, every chamber is so different. More than that, the structures within it make no sense¨Carchitecture foreign to Arcadius and now a library like this?" Emilio wondered out loud. Blimpo sat on one of the dusty tables, tinkering with his gauntlet, "There''s a reason for that, ya know. A ''method to the madness'' that is thisbyrinth." "Well, I''m all ears," he looked back at hispanion. As he prepared to listen to the exnation that Blimpo held, he retrieved a heavy book that wasthered in dust and cobwebs, blowing the illwanted substances off before sitting beside the elven man. "It''s not too dissimr to the rest of the After. I said it before, but the After is the ce where everything goes when they die¡­Doesn''t matter what world or realm, it seems," Blimpo exined, "That also includes structures and even entire regions." "Huh? How''s that work? I mean, buildings and all of that aren''t exactly alive, are they?" He asked. "In a way, they are. At least, the death of such things seems toe from when they are truly forgotten. In that case, once everybody who knows about something or somewhere dies¡­That ce ispletely forgotten; it then bes a part of the After," Blimpo told him, "Kind of neat, isn''t it?" It was certainly an exnation¨Cone that required the Dragonheart to ponder it for a minute as he considered the oddities of the realm. "So this library¡­You think it was part of an old, forgotten world?" He asked. "Most likely. Isn''t that just fascinating? Worlds that are long gone, long forgotten, and infinitely far from us¡­Yet, here in the After, everything is equal," Blimpo said, "In a way, I think it''s beautiful." Looking up towards the sea of books thaty dormant and lonely, cast away from whatever era, civilization, and world they originated from, he felt a distinct serenity in that quiet library. "Something like that, yeah," he muttered. The information that Blimpo provided him with, seeming toe from a special ce of fondness from the elf''s heart, lined up with the existence of the gun-toting behemoth of steel and flesh¨CWar. I remember the note mentioning something about War being from a different realm than Arcadius, he thought, going off of the fact it has guns¡­I''d assume it was a world simr to Earth. Magical concepts like this¡­They didn''t exist on Earth though, right? The fact it''s all connected, in some way, is just¡­too much to process. "Think it''s safe to look around for a bit?" He asked, standing back up as he nced around the foreign library. Blimpo gave him an ''O-K'' sign with his fingers, "As long as no sudden, loud noises are made, we should be fine. Although¡­This is probably a good time to introduce another one of my super-cool, mega-awesome tools¡­" "Oh, boy¡­" He muttered under his breath. With the goggle-wearing elf, it always felt like a gamble to witness one of his inventions, as the concept of subtlety was hardly something that Blimpo embodied. Even so, there was no doubt that Blimpo had the proper experience and expertise to devise invaluable tech in the search for the final key. "Alright, alright, I''ve been looking for a chance to give this baby a shot," Blimpo smiled wide. Emilio simply watched, keeping enough of a distance so that an idental explosion from a faulty device wouldn''t get him caught as well; the entric man retrieved a spherical object from his belt that fit perfectly in his palm. "...And¡­on!" Blimpo announced. Tapping a hidden button on the metallic sphere that was painted both blue-and-gray, its form shifted as tes extended outward, revealing its internal mechanism that originated from a chunk of a verdant, magical rune. A wind rune? He recognized. Without any warning, a silent shock wave of air propelled outward, taking a physical, perpetual veil that lined itself around the perimeter of the library. "A-ha! Looks like it works perfectly!" Blimpo triumphantly remarked. It was still unclear what exactly the effect of the wind-producing sphere did; the veil of air didn''t seem to do much of anything, at least not from what the Dragonheart could gather. As he walked closer to one of the walls, he gently pressed his fingertip against the barrier of still wind, feeling no feedback as it simply bypassed it. "What''s this? It doesn''t seem like a barrier that''ll stop War. It''s not even stopping me for that matter," he asked. Blimpo chuckled, "Of course not. The ''Silent Storm'' isn''t meant to keep anything in-or-out of the barrier." "Then?" "It prevents any and all sound from escaping the barrier," Blimpo told him with a smile, pping his hands together loudly. "Hey!--" The action immediately made him jump on guard, though what the elf told him was processed in that very moment. What made him realize the truth of hispanion''s exnation was theplete silence that rebounded with his yell, or theck thereof; no echo returned from his initial utterance. "...It really does block sound out," he realized. "Told ya," Blimpo smiled. Inspecting the barrier, the Dragonheart''s inner curiosity for magecraft was piqued even in the life-or-deathbyrinth as he studied its nature. "Wind magic to nullify sound¡­That''s smart. I''ve considered it, but I never knew if it would actually work practically. Maybe it''s more functional when attached to a tool? It might be aplex spell to use on a whim," he muttered to himself in thought. "Wow, you''re a real sucker for magic, aintcha?" Blimpo asked. Taken out of his thoughts, he let out a quiet breath as he looked at one of his hands, once more trying to briefly conjure any element, but failing as his mana felt just one step away from manifesting. It was a simr sensation like feeling a sneezee up, only to be unable to actually release it; a frustrating feeling of powerlessness. "I just hope I can get my magic back soon," he said. A sudden p on the back didn''t even make him budge,ing from the less-than-average strength of Blimpo whoughed. "...What was that for?" He asked, slightly annoyed. "Cheer up, friend! I''m sure your magic will return soon enough. This entire temple is quite the tricky one, indeed¨Cit seems the Progenitor is testing us in his own ways," Blimpo told him, "For my first week here, I lost my vision. Then the next week, I lost my ability to hear." It was surprising to hear, and even more shocking that Blimpo had withheld such vital information before. "Wait, what? You''re saying you''ve experienced something simr here, too? You didn''t think to mention that before?!" He jabbed his finger against the elf''s chest. The tinkerer chuckled, "Err¡­Sorry, it just slipped my mind! Truth is, I didn''t regain my senses until one thing." "Huh? What is it?" He asked. Blimpo held a single finger up, "It was only after I created a new magic tool without being able to see or hear, that those senses were returned to me. Seems like I was being tested. You might be as well." "Tested? As if there hasn''t been enough of that already," he sighed. Still, it was some form of a lead for him; at least now there was some semnce of an idea on how to regain his magical abilities, or at least that it was possible to reim them in the first ce. ¡­It took away his eyes and ears, and only gave them back once he made a new tool, he thought, that''s specific to Blimpo¨Cit''s not like I would be expected to craft something like that. For me¡­What would my requirement be? Pondering this, he spent some time climbing the high-rise steps of the ck-wooded library to scope out the countless bookshelves. It was decided that the library would be where they confronted War, but precious time would be needed to prepare the area for an encounter; while he studied the tall-reaching chamber, Blimpo began deploying his tools and crafting new traps. Chapter 302 The Machine Of Flesh And Steel Arrives The n they agreed on embodied the essence of "controlled chaos"--abination of Emilio and Blimpo''s own way of handling encounters. "You stay up there and get ready to deploy the ''Dragon Buster 4000''," Blimpo said, "I''ll make sure we know when that gruesome machine isin''!" "It''s beyond reckless, but I think it might just work¡­I''ll hit War full-st from up above. If we''re lucky¡­the st will bury it beneath thebyrinth. If it does end up being the case where he has the key¡­Well, we''ll just have to worry about that after checking the rest of the area," Emilio said, "Just make sure you''re far out of the way when the timees, alright?" "Don''t have to tell me that! I''ve got a pretty good idea of how destructive that buster is going to be¨Cthough, I''d like to see it up close in action¡­Ah, well," Blimpoughed. Of course, in order to be properly ready for any such encounter with War, the vibration-emitting device was nted onto the dark floorboards in the center of the library by the elven man. Luckily, he fine-tuned both of his inventions to make sure the vibrations weren''t interfering with the "Silent Storm" device either. "Right here should do. I can''t wait to see that big guy''s face when it triggers this one!" Blimpo chuckled maniacally to himself while setting up what resembled a monstrous bear strap in one of the door ways. Up above, the young man briefly watched the elven man set up the magical devices meant to thwart War, or at least aid in slowing the relentless entity down. The sound of wood cracking and steel bending filled the closed-off library as the elven inventory spread his gadgets in various points around the chamber. It wasn''t a displeasing noise; it pleasantly apanied the atmosphere of the lonely, yet grand library as he picked a random book from a shelf, having to clean the dust from it. Just what sort of world did this alle from? If he was telling the truth, then all of this¡­It''s beenpletely forgotten¨Cit''s hard to even call it a relic of time; who is around to remember that? He thought. At the very least, he chose to bring some of those memories with him of the unknown, lost world, opening the book that had no title inscribed on the front nor any design besides a ck, weathered cover. "...Huh?" Attempting to read the very first page, the text was illegible; it was washed out, seeming as though the page had been dipped in water for far too long, yet the page itself didn''t look or feel to be weathered. Flipping through the chapters of the nameless book, there was nothing that could be read. As he set it aside, he grabbed more books, randomly choosing from each shelf and rapidly opening up the pages¨C Nothing. It was all lost. No way, he thought. Though it was likely a world far disconnected from Earth or Arcadius, seeing the history of it simply being moot; lost and discarded in abyrinth of grime and death, there was a distinct feeling of sadness it caused to spur in him. VRRRRRRR No time was given for such feelings of loss to marinate as an intense hum filled his ears like a fire rm, widening his eyes and causing him to jump to his feet. He was on a balcony of the isted library that was at least three dozen meters from the initial floor, making it hard to see exactly what was going on from up high. "What''s that¨C?!" He yelled. Blimpo had a wide smile that was coated with excitement and nervousness as the elf was already sweating, standing in front of the Echo Driller, "...It''s found him." Those three words were powerful, able to freeze the Dragonheart for a few moments as he could see the diamond-shaped magical tool spinning on the ground while humming. "War is approaching," Blimpo said, sliding his goggles over his eyes once more, "--I think it''s time for our own deration of war, what do you say, my friend?!" It was without question that fear was spawned in both of them through the quickly-approaching threat of the seemingly unstoppable entity of violence, but that unrivaled reckless abandon and sheer passion behind the elf''s demeanor was contagious. Emilio couldn''t help but form a smile of his own as sweat trickled down his cheek, pping thepact device attached to his arm, "I say let''s give him hell!" "I couldn''t have said it better myself!" Blimpo said, readying his own gauntlet. It only took a moment for the ''Dragon Buster 4000'' to deploy into its full form, extending the dual, massive barrels that faced down either side of the Dragonheart''s arm. As ording to n, Blimpo got himself away from the ground floor, running across the room as he scattered tiny, spherical gadgets before jumping up onto the steep steps, climbing it like adder to get to the higher floors of the library. "Everything is set! Start charging that sucker up!" Blimpo called out. Nothing more had to be said as the Dragonheart already had a tight grip around the circr handle of the power-condensing weapon, funneling his draconic force straight into the rune-bearing barrels. Come on, I need more¡­! He thought. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 2/10 | Dragon Son] It was the most he could draw out on a whim, it seemed; whether his current state while dead had suppressed his abilities or not, it seemed to be the best he could do. While it wasn''t quite what he wanted, it seemed to be more than enough as the draconic power flowed from his arm, down to his fingertips, and straight through the fantastical railgun of steel. Just then, "it" arrived¨C FWOOM The silent barrier of wind waspletely shattered as the towering humanoid of steel and burning flesh charged into the vast, forgotten library of thebyrinth. "There he is! Looks like some of my traps nailed him!" Blimpoughed. It was evidently true as the metal-toothed bear trap that snapped with tremendous form held onto War''s ankle, though was discarded by a single stomp of its tank-treaded boot. Steam exuded from its metallic body, breathing out the heated essence from its mouth as it looked around from between the steel bars of its archaic helm. Chapter 303 The Dragon Buster From the morphing flesh and steel, the civilization-destroying entity manifested barrels of guns across its body, unleashing a storm of bullets throughout the lower floor. Stray projectiles carved straight through the shelves and balconies, zipping right by the two who were on different floors. "Ready to fire yet?!" Blimpo asked. "I need¡­a bit more!" Emilio strained. Blimpo looked anxious, though smiled at the chaotic scenario as he stepped atop the wooden railing of the balcony he stood, "Alright! I''ll buy you some time! Just make sure to hit ''im hard!" [Draconic Might] An eleration of heat surged in his body; like an oven that honed the mes of the great rulers of the skies, boiling his blood and amplifying his internal strength, the azure etchings of that ancestral dragon once more glowed on his pale skin. The mystical railgun rattled from the influx of power, shaking as bright-blue embers danced in the air. He held onto the temporary boost of ''Draconic Might'' as long as he could, but it had more painful side-effects than realized; it felt as though the bubbling heat was boiling his own bones. "Nnngh¡­!" The Dragonheart winced. While a glow of azure surrounded the young man as he gathered as much power as he could into the Dragon Buster 4000, the elven man took it upon himself to keep War upied with a variety of trinkets. "Take this! And this! Ah-ha-ha-ha!" ¨COf course, in the face of such overwhelming malice and unwavering violence, Blimpo''s nervousness manifested in the form ofplete reckless abandon and trust in his tools. He flung tiny spheres that exploded on impact, engulfing the ground floor of thebyrinth''s library in smoke and bursting mes, as well as War itself. None of it actually had an effect; like pebbles raining down on an iron fortress, the explosive projectiles didn''t do anything to actually pierce the impervious hide of War. Bathed in the mes of the vtile runes, the war-embodying entity stood there as if the roaring inferno was its natural habitat. "...Hey, is it normal for explosions to not even make somethin'' flinch?..." Blimpo nervously asked. There was nothing ordinary or logical about the nature of War; the ground floor of the library was soaked in bright-orange mes, filling with smoke, yet the tall, hardly-humanoid figure was not disturbed in the slightest. "Oh cra¨C" Just then, past his worn goggles, Blimpo witnessed the barrels of War point in his direction, prompting him to duck down behind the balcony railing and a bookcase just before monstrous gunfire ensued. The grotesque bullets ripped through thickyers of wood as if it was merely styrofoam; it was a storm of lead, tearing through the library as torn pages fluttered at the arrival of War''s bullets. More draconic power was flooded into the weapon as the Dragonheart tucked himself behind multiple shelves and dressers on the high floor of the desecrated library. Though each second was a gnawing fight between life-and-death with high-powered bullets shooting everywhere, he knew he had once chance to make his shot count. Just a bit more¡­! He thought. ¨C "Ghh¡­!" Blimpo pped the white button on his glove. Mode: Mud Spider! The elven man thought. It had to be a perfect peek; in a split-second between the hail of gunfire, he pointed his glove out just as the nature rune and the water rune activated in unison, shooting out a full-throttle st of the stickyting. A spray of sturdy, yet flexible mud propelled downward towards the metallic behemoth, unable to be repelled by bullets as it sshed against War''s form. "Take that¡­! This is the power of a year of preparation! I don''t need might or magic for you¨C!" Blimpo announced from the depths of his gut. The mystical mud solidified around War, encapsting the entity and, more importantly, sessfully enacted by Blimpo''s careful aim, the barrels of the entity''s many internal guns were clogged. Yet even then, only a few precious seconds were bought before a massive propulsion of steam emitted from the half-flesh, half-steel embodiment of War, casting out like a foggy morning throughout the ming library as the mud was eaten by the incredibly hot steam. "...I didn''t think it''d hold him long, but damn, that stings," Blimpo nervously chuckled. The unrestrained usage of the gauntlet used up the entirety of the two runes, overheating the glove in the process as well as it burned the blonde elf''s hand. "Emilio, anytime now¡ª!" The elven inventor said. Just as he spoke, Blimpo let out a yelp as a bullet barely missed his head, shooting straight through a railing and boring through the wall behind him with frightening velocity. A few moments more; Emilio made sure he held nothing back, gritting his teeth as sweat caked his body as steam began to cascade off of him from the overheating of himself stirred by the continuous usage of [Draconic Might]. More¡­Just a bit more! The limit¡­I need to push myself to the limit¨CI won''t regain my magic if I''m not willing to risk it all! He thought. The paleplexion of the young man had temporarily reddened from the exposure to such heat that swirled internally, flowing through the blue tattoos of his system and straight into the violently humming railgun as sparks coiled around the dual barrels. "Alright¡­I''m ready!" He announced. cing one foot on the railing of the high up balcony of the burning library, he faced down War, who was thrashing through ming shelves while now moving towards thedder that led up. "This is our deration of War!" ¨CWith that announcement, straight to the murderous entity''s face, he leapt from the balcony with the Dragon Buster surging with overflowing draconic power, falling through the winds of steam and smoke. "Do it!" Blimpo yelled, smiling in anticipation. Nothing more had to be said; despite the continuous gunfire that roared like thunder from War''s many barrels and the crackling of mes, there was nothing but silence in the Dragonheart''s ears as he descended. Intense concentration brought his fall to feel dozens of times longer than it was; only seconds transpired as he pointed the Dragon Buster directly below him, attempting to straighten himself in the air as the dual barrels aimed down between his legs. His blonde-and-ck tufts flowed rapidly as he squeezed the handle, signaling it to release all of the stored-up power at least as it was aimed directly at the entity below, who stared up at them with those glowing eyes veiled behind a visor of steel. "Kraaaaa-!" A metallic roar emitted like the bellowing of a great beast and the warcry of a warrior,ing from War as its barrels aimed upward. SQUELCH "--Ghh-!" Straight through the corner of his ear, a bullet pierced through his flesh, zipping by and missing his skull by merely inches. Another bullet nicked his leg, cutting past his thigh. Through the pain and shedding of blood, he focused, clenching the handle of the weapon tight enough that it drew blood from his palm, allowing it to finally release as he was no more than three meters above the civilization-wiping entity itself. ¡­Eat it! He thought. VROOOOOOOM Just as the Dragon Buster released every ounce of the magnificent Dragonheart''s internal power, a shockwave of bright-blue light emitted outward, sweeping through the chamber like a split-second tornado, tossing furniture around and cracking the shelves. Even from up above, Blimpo was thrown back from his spectator position, being knocked against the wall behind him, "--Gah!" A majestic, azure light red out as a condensed ray of energy of the same glow shot downward, coiled by unstable electricity. The shockwave alone kept the young man from falling, having to stabilize the overheating railgun as it rattled while strapped to his arm, feeling the intense vibrations echoing through the marrow of his bones. "...Nnnngh!" Continuous and relentless, the Dragon Buster''s emission was like a grand rotation of energy, swirling so rapidly that the forces strained on the wielder, causing blood to drip from his nose as he was surrounded in the azure light. Below his feet, he could see the raw force of the draconic powerpletely engulfing War, acting like an ocean of pressure that weighed down and pelted it mercilessly. The entirety of the library felt as though it was in the eye of a storm; shelves spiraled in the air and papers flew around like snowkes in a snowstorm. Yet, despite the overwhelming force hammering down like a smite from the heavens, even as the floorboards cracked and began to crumble, War withstood it, falling to a knee but resisting the devastating power. I¡­can''t let this shot fail! He thought. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 3/10 | Dragon Warrior] Awakening out of pure desperation in the heat of the moment, delved into explicable heat and confronting the monstrous entity, the azure scales formed once more into an armor around his body; d in the draconic armor, the force was mitigated. ¨CAll this was for him was more fuel, allowing him to push himself to the brink as he summoned [Draconic Might] once more, overloading the Dragon Buster as cracks began to form along its build, funneling more force into it as a secondary impact crashed down. VROOOOOOOOOOOM An explosion of bright-blue light pulsed outward, sting the Dragonheart directly upward from the reactionary shockwave, finding his vision blurring and his ears ringing after finishing the all-out st. ¡­Did I get it¡­? He groggily questioned. Chapter 304 Aftermath Of Destruction As he hit the ceiling of the towering library, he watched as the Dragon Buster crumbled away, relieving its steel form into soft, unwieldy ash as it vanished from his arm from one moment to the next, unable to maintain itself after enduring the throttle of the Dragonheart. It was difficult to see anything, past his own flickering sight as his draconic armor crumbled away just like his weapon, only able tost mere moments from just the side impact of the Dragon buster shot. "...Ungh¡­" Blimpo managed to pick himself up, pushing the fallen books off of his body as he quickly tossed the drained rune from his glove and popped in the necessary runes with speed. "I gotcha, Emilio!" Blimpo called out. The young man didn''t even hear his elvenpanion call out to him before he suddenly felt something soft catch him amidst his descent, feeling as though he hadnded on a cloud. It was a bed of foam, formed in the middle of the air and cushioning him like a mattress. ¡­Blimpo? Ah, nice save, he tiredly thought. For a minute, the two were silent in the aftermath of the chaotic encounter; the mes that chewed on the ck wood of the forgotten library were snuffed out by the shockwave, leaving silence now brewing. The elven man lifted his goggles from his eyes, straightening himself out as he caught his breath before he walked closer to the edge. In the wake of the Dragon Buster''s release, the floor below waspletely ruined; it crumbled on top of the unseen War, burying it beneath unknown amounts of tonnes of weight. "Ha¡­ha-ha-ha¡­Ha-ha! We did it¡­! You did it!" Blimpo stood up, gazing down from the nearly-shattered balcony towards the crumbled ground floor. Finally picking himself up, the young man coughed, sitting on the sturdy foam as he could still feel the residual heat boiling beneath his skin. It was painful, yet dull due to the vague aching going through his body after withstanding the gravitational force of being directly in the vicinity of the st. "That wasn''t¡­too bad, was it?" Emilio said, picking himself up with a weary smile and a thumbs-up to his partner. Blimpo looked at him, giving him a thumbs-up in return, "Sad the Dragon Buster 4000 didn''t make it outta the fight, but damn did it go out with a bang!" A sigh emitted from the young man''s lips as he left the tform of foam, stepping onto the same balcony that the elven inventor was hanging out on. It had be riddled with bullet holes; the ck wood cut and torn by bullets that had passed. He wasn''t much different from the battered library, as once the adrenaline of the battle died down, he fell to a knee, wincing and groaning. "Ah¨Cyou''re hurt!" Blimpo called out, shocked to see him suddenly fall. Blood squirted out from his clipped, left ear and his grazed thigh, though that wasn''t the root of his problems: he coughed up red fluid, leaking it from his nose and even some from the canals of his ears. It was internal damage; that much was undeniable to him after having to suffer the shattering shockwaves of the Dragon Buster, even from behind the firing of the weapon. "Argh! Damn! I didn''t really think it''d be THAT effective, you know!? There''s a limit to this sorta stuff¨Ceven for me! That sort of energy will definitely have a bacsh on the one firing it, and you put yourself way closer than you should''ve been!" Blimpo told him. The young man coughed out again, looking down at the ground as crimson fluid had painted the wooden nks beneath him; his vision was shaky and his limbs ached, but he pushed through and forced himself to stand. "I''m fine," he assured hispanion, wiping his mouth and nose as the blood smeared onto his hand, "--Worstes to worst, I still have five lives here, don''t I?" "True¡­but it still isn''t a pleasant experience," Blimpo sighed. Standing up proved to be a task of its own as he nearly fell forward, only caught as the elven man grabbed onto his arm to help him straighten out. "Woah there! I gotcha," Blimpo chuckled. Despite attempting to im he was fine to move on, he was unable to convince the elf who was adamant about taking a moment to rest. "Ngh¡­" A brief noise of pain left his lips as he carefully sat down on the floor of the library''s upper area, resting his back against the portion of the railing that was still intact. "Just wait a second! I''ve got something in here that''ll help you," Blimpo assured him, rummaging through one of his satchels on his belt. While he waited for whatever questionable medical care hispanion had in store for him, he nced down to the ground floor where all of the rubble had copsed in. Though it was silent, save for the subtle trickling of wood chips and dust, he couldn''t shake the feeling that War wasn''tpletely down for the count. "Hey, hey, focus up!" Blimpo called to him. "Huh¡­?" As he looked forward, he found the elven man flipping his goggles over his eyes while wielding apletely oversized syringe that was intimidating in appearance with a shell of steel. "What the hell is that!?" Despite his condition, he was quick to scoot away at the sight of the frightening needle. It wasn''t that he had an outright fear of needles, but the length of the one wielded by the less-than-trustworthy "medic" in his entricities and wild inventions, was akin to that of a rapier. "Be not afraid, friend! This is my recovery invention: ''Angel Piercer!''" Blimpo told him, pushing the piston of the syringe up as it activated the dormant rune inside. "That sounds like an ultimate move that''ll wipe me out!" He contested. ¨CEventually, after enough scooting away from hispanion, who was scarily invested in testing out the magical syringe on him, he was too tired to resist Blimpo''s help anymore. It wasn''t entirely made any better by the constant maniacalughter that emitted from the goggle-wearing inventor, who truthfully seemed a bit too excited to stab him with the needle. Chapter 305 The Final Key "Don''t be a baby about it! It''ll only sting for¡­a second!" The elven tinkerer told him. Without warning, he jabbed the needle straight and center-point into the young man''s chest, not giving him a moment to anticipate the iing ''sting''. "Ah¨C!" "...And Angel Piecer: activate!" Blimpo excitedly announced, pushing the piston all the way into the syringe. The peculiar colored rune inside of the oversized syringe glowed brightly with a glittering, pinkish-red shine, converting the specific recovery mana into a liquid that flowed through the needle and directly into the young man''s chest. "Ow¡­?" To his surprise, the sting really did onlyst a second before being reced by afort that flooded his body, wiping the aching away and providing him with plentiful relief. "Feeling better? Great, ain''t it? It was tricky to figure out, but I got this one down just a few weeks ago," Blimpo told him, pulling the needle away. "Yeah, actually¡­I feel great," he said, sitting up and rolling his shoulders. As he sat up, wiggling his fingers as the dull aches had vanished and the sharp pain in his fatigued muscles all but left entirely, he realized there was another sensation potent inside of him. That familiar warmth flowing through his body; a riptide of energy within him he had learned to hone since his reincarnation. "...Blimpo¡­" He said in building shock. "Yeah? What is it? Don''t tell me you feel sick¨Cah man, I thought I got that part fixed¨C" Blimpo scratched his own head as his shaggy, blonde hair moved. He shook his head, clenching his fists as a smile brought itself across his lips, "No, it''s not that! My magic¡­it''s back!" "Huh-? Really? You sure? Damn, did the ''Angel Piercer'' heal you that well?! Heh¡­Maybe I am the best, after all," Blimpo proudly muttered. Jumping to his feet, he immediately ced this belief to the test as his elvenpanion spectated in anticipation as well; with a single hand held forward, he once more brought his mind to thoughts that had be instinctive over the years. ¡­The shapeless spiral of water, every moving, ever present; an essence of life and the retainer of nature¨CI can feel that sublime coolness running along my body, engulfing me, yet I do not drown. This is it¨Cwater, he thought. Embodying the very element, he guided his mana from his core and through his arm, flowing to his fingertips before¨C Splish ¨CIt conjured in front of his hand: a sphere of crystal-clear water, held in a perfect shape and hovering in the air. "...I did it," he said in disbelief with a smile forming. Like a lost limb had been returned; as if a lifelong friend had reunited with him, the flood of mana and ess to countless spells felt as though he was whole once more. "You weren''t kidding! You''re a savant! I didn''t hear an incantation at all!" Blimpo smiled. It wasn''t known what exactly caused the reawakening of his dormant magical abilities, but it was a bestowment well-appreciated for the young man as he cast the water sphere away, clenching his fist again with a smile. "I bet standing against War like that, jumping at ''im without any fear, was what helped you. From what you''ve told me, magic was like your right-hand man for like, ever. Maybe being left without it yet still fighting without any reservations checked those boxes," Blimpo theorized. "Yeah, maybe," he nodded with a smile, looking back at hispanion, "...I''m feeling great now. One-hundred-and-twenty percent, actually. How about we find that key now?" Renewed confidence surged through his veins like a refreshing mountain spring; up until then, he felt like an archaic warrior trying to fight with a spear against those that wielded cannons, but now, he was back to full-strength. "Say less!" The elven inventor agreed. ¨C Heading down from the higher balconies of the library, they were careful in crossing the ground level; the rubble was loose and whatid beneath it was more frightening than any pitfall or trap. "...Think he''s down for the count?" He asked. Blimpo was picking up any surviving gadgets as he followed behind, also picking up whatever scraps weren''t burnt orpletely obliterated in the aftermath. The elven man rubbed his chin for a moment after stuffing some metal strips into his satchel, "Hard to say, but if a st like that didn''t at least send ol'' War to naptime, well, I don''t know if anything will." "I hate to say it, but I agree¡­I can''t imagine whipping up another attack that strong if ites back. Too bad the Dragon Buster shattered after that st," he replied. "Dragon Buster 4000," Blimpo corrected. "Yeah, well, it doesn''t matter now that it''s dust now, does it?" He sighed out. It felt like walking on thin ice; even the subtlest give of the floorboards beneath made his heart race as he kept mana readied through his fingertips. A very subtle rumble could be felt beneath his feet as he walked over the copsed ruins, making him pause for a moment as Blimpo did the same; they both felt that vibration of machinery buried beneath their step. "...Well, I don''t think he''s dead¡­" Blimpo said with a weary smile, sweating. "Yeah, I don''t think so either¡­Let''s get moving before nap time is over," he responded. Nothing more had to be said as they left the ruined library with fast-footed haste, marching through a wooden corridor and into a new, undiscovered direction of the hellishbyrinth. It was a lengthy corridor, wide and cluttered with scattered objects, some of which seemed almost glued to the walls, such as sideways tables and astray furniture. "Hey, Emilio," Blimpo called out to him from behind. "Yeah?" He kept his eyes forward, staying cautious. "You told me a lot about the world you came from in your first life¡­I was just wonderin'': which one do you prefer?" Blimpo asked. It was a question that brought him to a halt as it caught him off-guard. A question that hadn''t crossed his mind, and one he certainly didn''t expect to have to consider while in the depths of the hellish maze. "Well¡­I haven''t really thought about it," He scratched his head. Blimpo was quick to lean in, adding in his own perspective right away with a beaming smile, "From what you''ve told me, Earth sounds a thousand times better! I mean, it''s still got its problems with war and inequality, right? Still, a world where inventors are heroes and technology is king¨C! Ah, I wish I could go there¡­" It was like a dreamy wondend in the mind of the elven tinkerer; just the thought of it alone and the sheer mention of it made his bright-blue eyes sparkle a wanderlust between worlds. "It''d be great for you," Emilio agreed with a small smile before mncholy filled his amethyst eyes, "...For me, Arcadius is my home now. I''m Emilio Dragonheart, not Ethan Bellrose." For a moment, Blimpo looked at him before smiling once more and sliding his goggles over his eyes again, "Maybe we''re kindred spirits then¨Ctwo people that want other worlds. Though, it seems like you got what you wanted." "Yeah¡­Guess so," he agreed. Though the elven man was smiling, it seemed as though there was a distinct sadness in his words; what he held was a dream that was impossible, beyond the reach of any stars and insurmountable by death itself. "Oh, don''t worry about it! I''ve already long since epted being dead. It ain''t so bad, ya know? I don''t get hungry, I don''t have to worry about where I''m sleepin'', and I''m free to invent whatever I want¨Cnobody is gonna stop me from doing what I love!" Blimpo assured him. "I''d save that talk for after we escape thisbyrinth," he said. "Ah, true enough!" Blimpoughed. The chamber beyond the hall was something vastly different from any other; it was vast, spanning far and wide withrge, ck-stone pirs in an ominous height. "Ever get this far?" He asked. "Nope," Blimpo shook his head. They were both taken aback by the room; it resembled a hellish cathedral with spikes protruding from the walls and twisted paintings hanging from stained stone. There were sets of chairs lined up, though clearly upied as every seat was sat in by inanimate, cobweb-covered skeletons. "...Creepy," Blimpo remarked with a small chuckle, beginning to walk further into the room. As the young man nced around, something caught his eye at the end of the dark cathedral; theck of other corridors led him only to look at the very end, at the top of the podium and what was disyed in a ss box: a ck key,ying on a scarlet cushion in the box. "Hold on¡­that''s¡­" He mumbled. "Huh?" Blimpo let out before looking in the same direction as him, "--Well, I''ll be damned! It''s not on War¨Cit''s right there! Ha-ha!" There was no greater sight but perhaps seeing the clear, blue skies of Arcadius; like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, the final key rested there. Chapter 306 The Inevitability Of War Blimpo was excited like a puppy, pping his hands and jumping up. It wasn''t surprising, considering how long he had been trapped in thebyrinth, following the fact he was on hisst try there as well. Still, something felt off to the young man as he continued ncing around; it felt all too simple of a discovery, and knowing the nature of the temple, it was all too easy of an end for the trial. Without any reservations, Blimpo began to move down the red-carpeted center of the grim cathedral with his eyes set on the key, "Here we co¨C!" "Blimpo! Get back!" He yelled out. All at once, something clicked in his mind; he didn''t know who or what it was that he was sensing, but a primordial bloodlust oozed into the chamber at that moment. It didn''t seem to register for Blimpo until the entire chamber began to rumble violently out of nowhere. The tremors were inexplicable in that split-second, yet at the core of his being, the young Dragonheart knew what wasing as his fingers were already reaching for the handle of his sword while running over to hispanion. "--Wha?!" Blimpo stumbled from the intense rumbling. Dust from the slumbering stone rained down from the ceiling before the dormant chandelier up above plummeted downwards as well, shattering on the floor. Just then, cracks rapidly stretched across the floor directly in front of the perplexed, goggle-wearing man. In one moment, a geyser of tremendous force burrowed through the floor, causing bs of grimy stone to be flung upward before a shadow ascended from the newly-torn hole. Before anything could happen, he reached forward and grabbed Blimpo by the arm, tugging his partner back and tossing the light figure behind him as he confronted that which had rudely arrived. Steam overpowered the dust of shattered stone; it cascaded off of the shattered body of the entity in front of him. There stood the bloodthirsty machine of steel-and-flesh; its armor ting that was its very hide was caved in, torn, and irreparably damaged. ¡­Dammit! The Dragon Buster didn''t buy nearly as much time as I hoped! He thought. Before he could even fully draw his sword, he noticed something was different with the embodiment of otherworldly war; perhaps something ''wrong'' had taken ce with the frightening force of nature. The steel ting was peeling from its body, briefly revealing the crimson-and-burnt flesh beneath as more and more steam poured off of it, forcing the young man to walk backward. "...Rrrrr¡­" A low groan left the mouth of the figure; its arms were down, not yet on the offense as it stood there. It''s¡­hurt? The Dragon Buster¨Cit really did have an effect! He realized. Blimpo seemed to notice as well as he called out from the back of the cathedral, thrusting his fist up in celebration, "How''d it feel eating that st, huh!? He''s half-dead! Now''s our chance!" On the other hand, while that seemed true, the young man couldn''t shake the feeling of uneasiness building inside of his gut as he faced down War. Come on! Move!...I have to act now! He told himself. There was a paralyzing fear when standing so close to the entity, being right in its path; like bindings of unmoving steel wrapped around every inch of his body. Just as he overcame these feelings, raising one hand to gather a bountiful manifestation of bright-orange mes above his hand¨C POP He froze as he witnessed one of the metallic tes attached to War pop off like a cap, shooting off and mming into the rightmost wall as steam flooded off of its high-temperature body. "...Huh?" This time, it was Blimpo that helped him, yanking him back just before more pieces of the natural armor belonging to the entity flung from its own body, shooting outward at dangerously high speeds. "What the hell is going on?..." He asked, keeping his distance beside Blimpo. "I can''t say for sure, but looks like he''s undergoing some sort of change¡­I''d say you really kicked his ass with that st," the elven man chuckled nervously, "What I''m saying is¡­I think War is getting serious now¨Che heard that deration of war, loud and clear." It was difficult to see anything as a cloud of steam had built around the entity; all they could witness were the sounds of its metallic ting popping off before being flung out of the steam. Soon, the release of metal stoppedpletely. As he stood there, ready to face whatever was about to reveal itself from the bountiful gathering of steam, a painless burning sensation suddenly manifested on the palm of his left hand. What is this feeling? He questioned. Bringing his left hand up to his eyes¨Conce more, the dormant, six-pointed seal on his hand had revealed itself to him. It was something he had mostly forgotten about as recent times had been hectic. My Soulbound seal¡­I never had time to figure out how to summon my Soulbound spirits, but¡­if this is appearing now, then¡­? He thought. "Err, are you seeing what I''m seeing¡­?" Blimpo said nervously. The slowly spoken words of the elven tinkerer took him out of his distracted gaze upon his own hand, looking up towards the mass of burning mist to see the shadow of War held within it, yet changed. It looked surely more imposing in height; its silhouette stepped forward, revealing itself as it stepped out of the veil of swirling steam. The steps it made were not of metallic boots, but the stomps of horse hooves, raining down on the stone below. The lower half of the entity''s body was now that of a colossal horse, made of tightened, ck flesh with muscle shaped in such a way it looked as though it possessed a natural hide of armor. "What the¡­" He slowly muttered out. War''s top half was that of a humanoid, yet to reveal a face as its head now shifted into a medieval helm with a tinum plume flowing from the back of the stygian helmet. There were no eyes that could be seen, yet its stare was felt through the enormous pressure of its innate strength, weighing down on the room like an invisible weight. "A centaur?...It''spletely changed," Blimpo remarked in disbelief. Each of its arms had taken the shape of massive greatswords; long enough to resemble pirs of sharpened steel, refined for ughter. The form it once possessed that embodied warfare of an age of guns and a storm of bullets had regressed to an era where steel was king and battles were fought with des, on horseback; yet, despite this regression, it seemed more daunting than ever. It was a terrifying appearance wielded by the ominous entity; across the stone floor, its far-stretching greatsword arms dragged, leaving an ear-grating sound to follow as it slowly approached. Before crossing the center of the cathedral¨Cit stopped. War simply stood there, towering over the two and looming over them with a stomach-churning pressure. "...Is he messing with us now? Just treating us like helpless prey?" Blimpo questioned. Chapter 307 War Of Steel And Scales Death; that is the simple reality of what they felt. The thin air that cascaded from its monstrous body, inteced with a tightness that made breathing difficult in its overbearing presence. ncing back, the young man knew he couldn''t let War draw any closer as the less-thanbat capable elven man was not too far behind him. I''m not strong enough to fight something this powerful while protecting somebody else, he thought, the best I can do is keep it away from him¡­but can I even do that? As questionable as his capabilities were in the face of such an overwhelming force, there was no choice but to fight¨Call logical conclusionsnded there. "Run if you have to, but don''t die," He warned hispanion in a quiet voice, readying himself. Blimpo was taken aback by his words, wearing a nervous smile, "The hell if I''m running now! I''m seeing this through until the end!" While those weren''t the words the worried part of himself wanted to hear, they were without a doubt the words that would leave the mouth of the entric, somewhat insane inventor, bringing another sense of relief to him. Drawing a breath through his lips, sucking it into his lungs, he flexed his core, causing that internal heat dormant in him to reignite. In the face of something so overwhelming, so vastly daunting, calling upon his inner power was a much easier task. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. [Dragonheart System Activated] An armor of scales wrapped itself around his body, tightening with the full-sturdiness of the azure scales before a draconic helm stretched over his head. [Current Stage: 3/10 | Dragon Warrior] Like an engine revving up, his heartbeat amplified with the ignition of his draconic blood, allowing the strength of dragons to flood through his body as he squeezed the handle of his sword tightly. War had yet to move, only standing there as if waiting for him to make the first move; by the air around it, what it exuded was a confidence that transcended ego, only merely aplete understanding of its own strength. Without a word needing to be said, he bent his knees for a split-second beforeunching forward, aiming high as he set the edge of his de to meet the neck of the monstrous entity before him. CLANG Though it was undoubtedly the bare flesh of his foe, what his sword shed with felt like solid, immovable metal. "--Huh?" As he leapt past War from his swift strike, hended cleanly on the ground, looking up to check the state of his foe: as he feared, there wasn''t so much as a scratch left on War''s neck. It didn''t go through? Just how tough is its skin? He questioned. There was no doubt that even steel would be cleaved through like paper while he utilized the third stage, yet it felt like he attempted to use a wet noodle to perform the sh. Having yet to take a single step yet, not even flinching from the initial attack, the monstrous centaur finally turned to face him, lifting its colossal sword arms up. It was as though it was signaling its own counterattack, hoisting its arm up as the weight of its malice could be felt. "--!" In an instant, a burst of speed was disyed in a dash from the gargantuan centaur; something so tall had no reason to move with such swiftness, at least, that''s what the Dragonheart believed. Shit¨C! He thought. As he leapt back, flipping through the rows of seats in the cathedral, he found himself narrowly avoiding a clean bisection as War swept its right arm forward, cleaving through a row of dormant skeletons and destroying the seats in the way of its de. The wind pressure could be felt against his scale armor, prompting him to catch himself on the ground before thrusting his sword forward as a means to aim his retaliation¨C "Dragonheart Hurricane." Manifesting all around War were the heads of dragons, forged by raging, azure mes that didn''t waste a moment before bathing the vicious entity in their fire. Burn! He thought. The entire center of the cathedral was flooded with azure mes from each angle, engulfing the entity in its sublime heat. Even from across the room, the elven man, who could only spectate in their transcended sh of strength, felt the heat as though he was standing in an oven, already caked in sweat. "...You weren''t kiddin'', were ya?! You''re crazy, Emilio!" Blimpo called out excitedly, wiping sweat from his chin as he pressed himself against the back wall. ¨CYet, even the draconic mes could not reach War; swinging both of its colossal, edged arms outward, it repelled the azure inferno before charging forward towards the Dragonheart. It was a stomach-dropping sight to witness something shrug off his mes, but it was a reality he was already prepared to face as he begrudgingly squeezed the handle of his sword. Tough doesn''t even begin to describe it. Is it even tougher than that caveman I encountered during the trial?...If it is, I might need to reconsider my course of action, he thought. Just as he swept his sword forward for a sh of his own, it was intercepted halfway through as one of the pir-sized des wielded by the giant centaur mmed into his wielded steel. "Ghh¨C!" There was absolutely no chance of him holding his own in a contest of strength amidst their sh; he felt the bottom of his feet lift from the stone below as lost control of his own momentum. Like a tremendous gale amidst a storm, the sheer power behind the colossal de caused him to be flung back. In a burst of speed, the hooves of the war-embodying entity dashed over, stomping down on the young man''s abdomen before he could even fall to the ground. "Nnngh¨C!" The Dragonheart armor cracked beneath the devastating weight, leaving his stomach to be bludgeoned as blood spit out from his mouth, only hitting the interior of his scale helm. Can''t¡­breathe, he thought. He was unsure if his foe had removed his hoof from his stomach, feeling such a painful pressure still weighing down on his abdomen; it felt as though his intestines had been twisted and hammered repeatedly by the single blow. "Emilio!" Blimpo called out. By some miracle, he found the strength to kick his legs up, jumping to his feet and evading another stomp that came down, but not before having the dull side of one of his foe''s massive arms mming into his body. "Ghh¡ª!" He gasped out. Doubt flooded his mind; the very essence of the After¨Cthe realm where dreams died; the ce in which aspirations were cut at the head. It was that nature of the realm that naturally turned his mind to negativity the moment he faced such insurmountable odds. ¨CYet. He firmly stomped down with both feet, catching himself as he clenched his entire body, summoning strength from the depths of his being. [Draconic Might] Forcing a burst of strength to the forefront of his flesh, it naturally enhanced the scale armor he wore as well, shining its azure glow through the grooves of the darkened armor. I''m not letting anything stop me from getting out of here. I don''t care if you''re some sort of transcended being¨CI''ll tear right through you! He thought. Once more, that fiery spirit of the draconic flood manifested itself through a boiling heat in his mind, bing engrossed in the fight as he rushed forward, openly meeting his opponent in their next sh. First and foremost, his priority was getting the path of the battle away from his elvenpanion, leading him to burst forward with azure mes supercharging his speed. Come on¡ª! He thought. He mmed his shoulder straight into War''srge torso, managing to avoid a sh of its colossal des as he charged against his foe''s body, pushing the monstrous centaur back rapidly. It was an unorthodox action taken against such arge enemy, but in the fiery mind of the Dragonheart, it was as natural as breathing. Using his mes as a propulsion in his movement, he mmed War through the backmost wall, forcing Blimpo to dodge to the right¨C "Woah¨C!" Blimpo called out before jumping out of the way. The wall burst through as the Dragonheart mmed the flesh-armored centaur straight through, knocking his foe back before he rolled onto his feet. He ended up in a wide chamber, hardly filled with any objects to impede the path of battle. Warnded seamlessly, emitting steam through the visor of its helm as if sighing out in response. Both of its arms shifted forms as its own flesh seemed to melt and reform like liquid, swiftly changing shape from greatswords into massive, pitch-cknces. "Come on, then," he readied himself. Dragging a single hoof across the stone flooring like a bull preparing to rush, the war-embodying entity reared its arms back, preparing both of the gargantuannces for a thrust forward as it stationed itself across the grimy chamber. Knowing that a rapid charge would being, he had to prepare himself carefully in those precious few moments, bringing upon whatever amplifications to himself he could: [Draconic Might] Chapter 308 Power Beyond The Bounds Of Flesh Testing the waters with the new skill multiple times now, he began to understand its benefits much more intimately. [Draconic Might] seemed to excite the blood pumping out of his heart; it elerated the burst of strength given by the Dragonheart System, providing an overwhelming boost in power, yet at the risk of overheating himself if it stayed for more than seconds. Gripping the jeweled sword tightly, azure embers naturally sparked from his grip as he waited until the exact moment War charged towards him¨C Now! He thought. The entirety of the chamber shook as both took off at the same moment, approaching one another with utmost speed; it was a collision that meant certain death for any that would attempt to intervene. Towered over four times over, the Dragonheart hardly looked as though he stood a chance against the knight-resembling centaur, especially not against its colossalnces, though he had a n of attack of his own. Just as War pierced forward with both of its ebonynces, drilling through the air and wishing to skewer the scale-armored young man, the Dragonheart dropped down and slid across the ground. "---Ngh!" He managed to slide right under the giant centaur''s legs, summoning his draconic strength to full, unleashing a strike of his de empowered by a [Dragon Strike], rending the air and the underbelly of War. mes sparked from the edge of his de, igniting even the blood that poured from his foe as he managed to pierce the flesh of the monstrous entity. A distorted roar emitted from War''s helm as its stomach was cut, stomping down, thrashing its hooves against the ground just as the young Dragonheart managed to escape the iling stomps and jump to his feet. Peeking into the destructive room, the elven tinkerer had to lift his goggles to believe the sight before him. "He''s doing it¡­He''s actually fighting that monster!" Blimpo said to himself in astonishment. ¨C Though he sessfully shed War''s underbelly, the edge of his de failed to dig deep, only spilling superficial blood that seemed to anger the entity more than hurt it. As he flipped back to put distance between himself and the injured colossus, he witnessed an emission of steam from War''s pores; the being''s skin reddened as if heating up. "Looks like somebody is mad," Emilio said, pulling back the helmet of his scale armor. ¨CHis response earned a maniacal transformation from the already overwhelming entity, finding its arms now transforming once again, this time taking a more violent, malicious state; a transfiguration made with the intent to ughter. "...!" The shape of it was bone-chilling; War transformed both of its arms into yet another weapon, this time creating enormous ils with boulder-sized, spiked balls at the end of razor-sharp chains. "That looks¡­dangerous," he muttered nervously. There was no gap for apse in focus as he witnessed the monstrous centaur whip its left arm around, causing one of the ils to curve across the chamber, digging through the wall in its path as it sailed straight for the young Dragonheart. It wasrger than his own body, casting a spine-shivering shadow over him in that split-second before he dashed forward, dodging with the guidance of wind at his feet. Close, he thought. He immediately rolled to the side just as the right-armed il mmed down from up above,nding against the ground like a meteor as it shattered the stone beneath. Despite the size of each il, they were whipped around rapidly by War''s supernatural strength, causing the air to crack repeatedly as the edged chains whirled around the Dragonheart, closing in on him. As he stood there, beading his amethyst irises around the room as he tracked the massive ils that attempted to move faster than he could keep up with, he began manifesting wind around himself. "Come on¡­!" Blimpo yelled out hopefully. A shadow loomed over the young Dragonheart; the deathly ils were now rapidly closing in on him; the one on his left was carving through the floor, seeking to m into his side while the right il was descending on him in an attempt to crush him from up above. ¨CHe allowed neither to happen. Just as they came within range of him, he pushed both of his arms out, unleashing a massive burst of wind, momentarily invoking the howls of a storm from his very position. FWOOM ["Windcaller''s Savior"] It was an adaptive propulsion of wind from every angle, focusing onto the chains that guided the spiked boulders; the wind solidified and curved around the chains, pushing them back and mming each il into opposing walls. In that moment, with the armed weapons of War lodged in the walls, the violent entity was left open for the Dragonheart. Gather it¡­Condense it¡­Strengthen it! He thought. This thought process was bolstered by the short timeframe he had tounch his counterattack; through embodying the very heat that flowed through his body, he squeezed those azure mes into a singr point. That singrity was in the palm of his hand; a swirl of bright-blue embers then united into a perfect sphere of heat. A unison of magecraft and the Dragonheart System; winds feeding oxygen to the mes, mana of heat further bolstering its firepower¨C ["Ascent of Dragon''s Wrath"] Without wasting a moment, he tossed the sphere like a ball, hurling it towards War as its size rapidly grew from that of a softball to a raging meteor of shing, blue-and-red light. The entity had only just then dug its ils from the walls before the supreme fireball collided with its body, resulting in a sparking explosion. It was nothing like the me of the standard Dragonheart mes, and far transcendent from normal heat, yet he knew well it was leagues below the white mes he briefly achieved before death. A small click of his tongue came as his intent was to reach that threshold of sublime fire once more. Looks like I can''t quite do it¡­It''s still beyond my grasp, he thought. Still, the result was still spectacr nheless as the colorful messhed out before being repelled by a roar of steam from War, casting the fire off of its body. "Hurt that time, didn''t it?" He asked. It was clear that some damage was dealt to the sturdy hide of the entity this time as marks wereid on its flesh, yet it remained stalwart, facing him as changes to its shape took form again. Chapter 309 Reach The Zone "Hurt that time, didn''t it?" He asked. It was clear that some damage was dealt to the sturdy hide of the entity this time as marks wereid on its flesh, yet it remained stalwart, facing him as changes to its shape took form again. A chaotic evolution spawned from the centaur; crossbows of varying shapes protruding from its flesh, locked-and-loaded, primed for the Dragonheart. They stretched out in a ck, metallic material that was evidently the bones of War. "--I''m getting real sick of your kind always changing shape. Insecure much?!" He yelled out. All at once, the dozen crossbows fired off with enhanced velocity, shooting rapidly towards the scale-d young man. To deal with the majority of the arrows, he stomped down, invoking a terraforming spell; walls of stone rose from the ground to his left-and-right, deflecting a majority of the arrows. With a clear path to War, he dashed forward, using the de in his hand to deflect the iing, bone-forged bolts that shot in his direction. I''m feeling it again. Even if I''m dead right now¨Cthis Dragonheart blood; it''s undying. In battle, it heats; I feel more alive than ever when I''m protected by these scales; more vibrant than ever while letting this blood let loose, he thought. ¨CThough it wasn''t so simple. SQUELCH "...Huh?" One of the crossbow bolts ended up piercing his shoulder, while another went straight through his left side, jabbing through his flesh. How? I know I deflected everythinging my way, he thought. Up until then, he hadn''t faced it yet: the true horror of War''s power. An ability that was the sole reason the entity wiped out every living creature on the deste world it hade from. That was, any projectileunched by it could bypass causality; simply put "cause" was removed from "effect". Stumbling forward, he stopped for a moment as the barrage of bone bolts halted as War''s unnatural body ced more ammunition into the weapons protruding from its flesh. Blood leaked onto the ground as he huffed, looking at the projectiles lodged into his own body. What''s going on? I know for a fact I didn''t let anything touch me¨Cso how? He questioned. Even if he couldn''t quite grasp what had happened, he at least knew something wasn''t right about the attacks he was facing. With that in mind, there was nothing else to do but keep charging forward. Clenching onto the sharp-tipped bolt through his shoulder and the one piercing his side, missing any critical spots, he drew a single breath before yanking with all of his strength. "Ghh¨C!" Gritting his teeth, a cry of pain still escaped as his enhanced strength allowed him to tear the wide end of the bolts out, though tearing through his flesh in the process before dropping the blood-soaked projectiles onto the ground. I don''t know how it shot me, but I just need to attack it before it attacks me, right?! He thought, making up a split-second strategy with adrenaline flooding through his body. Though his Undying Blood seemed to be inactive in his afterlife state, he naturally cast healing magic on himself, flooding his veins with the reinvigorating mana as it closed his wounds, but not before he was already racing forward. A single dash at full-strength allowed him to crack the sound barrier, prating the length of the chamber in an instant as he jumped up, rearing his de back as he aimed it for War''s neck. Got you¡­! He thought. VRRRRRRRRRRRRRR What caught him off-guardpletely was the barrel that protruded from the front of the entity''s metallic helm; it resembled a cannon, though what it shot out wasn''t solid; an immense sonic boom was released from War''s cannon, mming directly against the Dragonheart. "Nnnngh¨C!" It had something like this, too?! He realized. It felt impossible to gain any control of his limbs as they iled in the highly-vtile wind made by the sonic cannon, instantly knocking him against the farthest wall. The paintings hanging up fall down onto the floor as he found himself embedded in the thick, stone fortification, unplugging himself as pieces of his scale armor began to peel off. A sight of crossbows being fully loaded again was dismaying as he jumped back onto his feet, finding himself too far from War at that moment to try and close the gap before it fired again. Shit! He thought. Just as he began the motions to conjure barriers of rock around himself, something else intercepted¨C BOOM A st of smoke and pellets hit the war-embodying centaur from behind, causing it to falter for a moment. "Huh¡­?" He looked forward confused, only seeing what it was once War turned to the side. There he was: the goggle-wearing elven inventor who was far too big for his britches, holding one of his rune cannons in both of his hands. Pitch-ck smoke swayed from the tip of the device''s barrel as Blimpo held a nervous grin. "C''mon! What''re ya waiting for, Emilio?!" Blimpo called out. Realizing what the purpose of the shot was, he pushed past the aching resonating through his body before bursting forth across the room again with azure mes at his heels. "You''re crazy, but that''s exactly what we need to win¨C!" He called out in return. War looked down at the thin elf, towering over the mortal with its grotesque crossbows pointing at him as a hiss of steam came from its visor like a breath of frustration. "Errr, let''s talk things through here¡­" Blimpo jokingly tried to reason while backing away. Before any bolt could leave the crossbows, the four-legged monstrosity was intercepted again, this time from a sh on its back from the zing blue sword of Emilio Dragonheart. It was confirmed then; when focusing [Draconic Might], it provided enough strength to bypass the incredibly tough skin of War. Still, actually cutting through its heaping amount of flesh and steel-tight muscle was another task in itself. HFFFF War whipped around with speed, pushing out and morphing its flesh from its rear portion into a tail honed for murder: the lengthy limb was spiked, ending with a double-edged waraxe that rapidly swung in every direction. "--!" He was quick to react, feeling the weight behind the tail-axe approaching as he blocked the heavy edge with his sword just before flipping back. "--Unless you want to be turned to ash, outta the way!" He yelled out, aiming his words towards his elvenpanion, "Grab the key and hide!" The young Dragonheart had to get those words out whilst ying the dance of life-and-death, flipping around and dropping down repeatedly as War''s lethal tail whipped around, cutting through stone like butter with each passing. Blimpo sprinted in the opposite direction, jumping through the hole in the wall back into the cathedral with his sights set on the ck key as sparks of des and screeches of steel were audible from behind, "Don''t gotta tell me twice! Do your thing!" One thought crossed Blimpo''s mind as he looked back, seeing the young man that was hispanion managing to battle on seemingly even footing with the devilish entity: He''s so young¡­yet he''s that skilled¨Cit''s like watching a master working his craft! It''d be a damn shame if somebody with your potential was stuck dead this early! Blimpo thought. The very second that Blimpo was a good distance away, Emilio flipped around just as War released a half dozen crossbow bolts in his direction¨Cthis time, he countered with a sea of azure mes releasing from the palm of his hand. He made sure topletely engulf the general direction the projectilesunched from, burning them away in the exact moment they were shot. In that millisecond, it registered in his mind as the synapses in his brain were working in overtime with his reflexes surging and his perception of time heightened by his flourishing mana: I''m not hit! He confirmed. Though the quick burst of heat hardly budged War as it only shook off the blue embers, he used the momentary veil it provided to use a burst of wind to knock himself over to the neighboring wall. It was a reflexive movement; animalistic instinct was amplified by allowing the draconic blood to run its course. With his own eyes, he didn''t even see the tail-axe whipping towards him from behind yet, he managed to evade it beforending on a chandelier, having the height advantage on War for the first time. CLICK The bolts were loaded into the many crossbows protruding from its flesh once more¨Cready to figure. It was a battle of milliseconds; a singr slip up and he knew he''d be skewered by those putrid projectiles. As such, with life and death itself being the stakes, so far removed from the realm of the living and in the depths of the afterlife itself, the mystical brain of the young man once more was vibrant in its environment¨C ["The Zone"] Before the crossbows could be aimed in his direction, he descended from thevish, yet dusty chandelier with a shock wave, using the force of wind to propel himself at heightened speeds. Unknowingly, two sets of pitch-ck horns protruded from his reinforced helm of scales; the azureplexion of his draconic armor shifted into a deeper blue, closer to an ebony shade. If War was a being born of violence, then the Dragonheart was one being refined by it. Chapter 310 Path To Victory Emilio Dragonheart had unknowingly evolved, pressed to his limits: [Current Stage: 4/10 | Dragon Elite] Time psed from crossbows loaded and Emilio''s descent from above: [0.00001 second(s)] It felt like electricity was popping in his mind as his eyes darted from side-to-side, forcing himself to keep up with the ludicrous speed he set himself up with, managing to close in on War and empower a full-strength swing of his scarlet-jeweled sword in that moment between moments. ["Draconic Might"] and ["Dragon Strike"], enhanced by the speed and ferocity of wind, equaled¨C SQUELCH Flying by like a bullet, he unleashed a slice of his de capable of obliterating the sturdiness of the archaic being; both of War''s crossbow-inhabited arms were cleanly amputated. Though he avoided being impaled by bolts, another possibility made itself reality as the result of his quick amputation of his enemy brought him face-to-face with that devastating sonic cannon. Only for the slightest of moments did it register in his view before he could hear that deathly hum of air gathering before¨C BOOOOOOOOOOOOM Stronger, faster, and more nefarious than before, the skull-protruding cannon unleashed its sonic scream, hitting with such force that the shock rippled beneath the draconic armor, battering the young Dragonheart''s flesh before he was rapidly sted into the stone wall. For a few seconds, he was seeing stars; the aftershock of the st had rippled his internal organs, causing a troubling warmth that was unmistakably internal bleeding. ¡­Bad. I need to recover, he thought. It was through the transcendent rate of his brain''s operation through [The Zone] that he was able to be aware of his internal functions. While he was stuck in the wall, he did his best to focus through the acute pain to summon healing magic. With such vicious injuries to his organs, he had to prioritize recovering his important pieces, putting aside his fractured bones for the moment. Alright¡­I should be able to continue¨Che thought. Just as he brought his gaze up, he saw the naturally-armored centaur, devoid of its arms, protruding crossbows from its amputated limbs and pointing them at him. Plucking himself through the wall as he flexed his limbs, shattering the stone around him, he witnessed the crossbows fire with an ear-filling "click" and in an instant¨Cthe bolts vanished. SQUELCH "Ngah¨C?!" ¨CThe projectiles reappeared, already piercing into his body the very millisecond they fired. One nicked his left cheek, scraping straight through his draconic armor to do so; another hit him directly in the stomach with such force it pumped the oxygen out of his lungs. Two more hit with nefarious precision, nailing his hands to the wall to keep him stationed there. ¡­That confirms it! It has some sort of ability that makes its bolts hit instantly¡­is it teleportation? No¡­That doesn''t feel right. Then what is it? He questioned. What was more important in the moment was making sure he wasn''t a sitting duck for the approaching monstrosity, though it was an arduous task while pinned to the wall. There was nothing to do but suck in another breath of air, feeling the thin, yet colossal bolt tearing into his stomach with the draw of oxygen. As he held the air in his lungs, he clenched his fists, grasping the arrows lodged through his palms. [Draconic Might] In one, clean movement, he ripped the end of the projectiles from the thick barrier of stone they were lodged into, freeing his hands before snapping the length of the bolts with a squeeze of his hands. "Nnngh¡­!" The stomps of War''s hooves approached whilst its stationary crossbows reloaded themselves, prompting him to act with haste as he plucked the remnants of the bolts from the gaping holes in his palms, causing blood to spew out in a ckened shade. It wasn''t over yet, even through the growls of pain, he used his inflicted hands to grab onto the foreing object piercing his guts, clenching his teeth as sweat left his pores before¨CSQUELCH. He tore it out as a squirt of blood released from the rancid wound, just in time for him to throw himself to the side as War leapt up, nearly reaching the ceiling before stomping down with enough force to rumble the entirety of the dusty chamber. Heal¡­! He thought,manding his own thoughts. As he rolled across the ground with debris pelting him in the aftermath of his enemy''snding, he poured his mana into recovery, focusing on his shredded stomach before realizing he was now dewed; the sword he wielded wasn''t in his grip. Swinging his gaze around frantically, having no time to spare, his eyes caught the jeweled sword,ying by the feet of War. ¡­Shit! I dropped it over there! He realized. Sense of pain was almost entirely gone; even if he felt it, there was no focus on it¨Conly victory, leading the young man to leap to his feet, allowing his draconic armor to naturally reforge itself across his body with an organic repair of scales. Before he could rush over, he found himself losing the air in his lungs as a swift spin came from War, leading to its muscle-made tail mming into his stomach¨C "Gyuh-!" As he spit air and blood from his mouth, he was flung back; amidst his uncontroble fall, he felt his blood boiling. It was the blood of the dragon; that which lusted for victory; an avarice for triumph that bordered on insanity. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. In that moment, a scaled tail sprouted and his fingers turned to ws as he flipped himself around, catching his own momentum as hended on the ground on all fours, digging his ws into the stone as if it were as doughy as dirt. As he exhaled almost as a growl, his teeth had sharpened; the amethyst eyes he possessed had gonepletely white as his veins bulged against his skin. [System?//!@] It was resurfacing; that bestial distortion within him, flooding through any semnce of control he had as destruction filled his mind. A hum filled his ears as everything seemed to go nk as if caught in a trance. Control it¡­! If I lose control again, Blimpo will get caught in it¡­! He urged from the depths of his mind. [//@%Draconis Monster?!)] As the gargantuan centaur rushed towards him, attempting to m its giant hooves down on the Dragonheart, the bestial-minded figure leapt with animalistic agility, sweeping by and leaving a set of shes on War''s chest with his own ws. It was a continual metamorphosis; the scales cracked and reced themselves, bing thicker, harder, and more lively as his semnce to humanity lessened by the moment. The agility of this bestial Dragonheart was unmatched; sprinting along the walls, he continuously leapt by War, leaving shes upon shes on the figure''s body. Control¡­! He urged. It was as though his own mind wasn''t listening to him as his heart beated like a thunderous drum. The crossbows spawned by War''s owns bones multiplied in number, all aiming at the distorted Dragonheart, but just as they clicked¨C "Raaaaaa¡ª!" Parting his lips, the Dragonheart unleashed a storm of azure mes from the pit of his stomach, breathing it out and turning every bolt in front of him to ash. The scales continued to crack and stretch, recing themselves in an attempt toplete the transformation, however¨CEmilio Dragonheart rejected this chaotic path. Enough¡­! He thought. For that split-second, he regained himself;pletely rejecting Draconic Monster immediately regressed all of the shifts to his body, but at the same time, the scale armor protecting him shattered, crumbling like broken ss. It vanished in that instant; like a rug pulled out from underneath him, the draconic transformation left only the pale, blonde-and-ck haired young man standing there. "Ghh¨C!" Blood spewed up from his throat as he fell to a knee, feeling as though his entire body was cramping up as the partial shift into the abnormal alternative into his system seemed to bear a heavy toll. Shit¡­! My body! He thought. Crimson fluid dripped down onto his chest, sliding down his bare skin as he was left defenseless in the face of the colossal embodiment of war. With solely his magical abilities, suppressed at that as his entire body felt as if it was going haywire from his rejected state, he pped his hands against the ground to conjure a multiyered barrier of stone walls. I need to buy time¡­! Seconds, anything, I don''t care!...Any amount of time to recover my stamina! He decided. The question was, how would one escape the aggression of the annihtion-loving entity without being obliterated? Like a lightbulb shining with the radiance of a thousand suns, the sparkling mind of the young Dragonheart found that answer after pondering it for a few moments. It was so simple he couldn''t help butugh as he rose to his feet with his battered body. "Ha¡­ha-ha-ha!" Heughed, "Victory is ours, War!" With a single squeeze of his fist, he relinquished the stone walls just as the towering centaur of near-impervious flesh arrived before him, pointing its array of crossbows at him. The smile he held, painted with blood, was unfearing of the certain death looming over him. Whoever made up this twisted trial¡­You''re sick, but not unfair; these rules were perfectly made! He thought. Chapter 311 The Trials Completion With his arms up, he openly epted what came in the next moment: with a deafening orchestra of clicks, the crossbow bolts fired, piercing through his body in numbers surpassing a dozen. Multiple pierced his skull, skewering his brain, yet¨C ¨CThis was the desired oue. Darkness faded in-and-out before he blinked a single time, finding himself back in the armory at the start of thebyrinth, clenching his fists before holding a triumphant smile. "It worked!" He pumped his fist up. At the same time, he could see through the parted doors¨CBlimpo was sprinting towards the armory with the key in hand. "Smart thinkin''!" Blimpo called out. "Yeah, I¨C!" Just as he responded, his smile faded along with his approaching elvenpanion''s as everything felt as though it was rumbling; thebyrinth was ovee with an overwhelming set of tremors. "What''s that?!" Blimpo reacted, stumbling. Emilio realized it quickly, "--I think we pissed him off! He''sing!" While the elven man scrambled for one of his gadgets, the worn Dragonheart huffed and took it into his own hands, making a pulling motion as he summoned a gust of wind right behind his racingpanion. "Wha¡­Woah¡ª!" Blimpo let out as he flew forward inexplicably. Before the elf could facent, Emilio reached his hand out, meeting Blimpo halfway as they sped hands, pulling hispanion in just as the colossal killing machine bulldozed through thebyrinth''s walls. "Gotcha¨C!" Emilio smiled. "--Ha-ha!" Blimpo couldn''t help butugh. The final key entering the armory seemed to be a dormant trigger of sorts, causing the entrance to thebyrinth to abruptly m shut, remaining closed even as it rumbled from the outside. "Good riddance, you big bastard!" Blimpo insulted War through the door. Emilio immediately let out a sigh of relief, "We made it." "Yup!" Blimpo chuckled, holding up the ck key. A fist bump was exchanged at the arrival of their victory; perhaps even more satisfying than overpowering the entity waspletely twisting the rules of the trial in their favor. As they jumped down from the oddly-positioned door, with Emilio having to lend a hand to the scrawny elf, the two arrived in the key room once more. "Been awhile since I was in here. I guess the cube really did reset since I was gone for so long¡­Different trials for different folks, huh? Wonder why we both shared the final one," Blimpo pondered, looking at the locked cube. "I was wondering that as well," Emilio said. "Well, if I had to take a wild guess, I''d say the Progenitor intended for us to meet. Destined bros, no?" Blimpo chuckled. "Yeah, yeah." Though he didn''t mind one way or the other, Blimpo insisted that he should be the one to use the final key, as he was the one that unlocked the other three sides of the cube. With thest key between his fingers, he lifted theplex contraption up, slowly sliding the key in with silence as both him and Blimpo waited in anticipation. I don''t know what this cube has to do with meeting this "Progenitor" person, but¡­there''s nothing left to do but find out, he thought. As the final of the sable keys slid into thest lock, the cube levitated from his palm, emitting a low hum as its exterior began to shift. "Woah¡­Something''s happening!" Blimpo watched. "--" Emilio was left speechless. The cube altered itself, spinning its four sides and rearranging itself before it began to stretch its ck material, losing its original shape entirely as it began taking the rough form of a doorway. It was only the frame; an outline of a door that had yet to reveal itself. A doorway? He thought. "What''s it¨C" Before he could finish his question, the empty space between the cube-formed doorway was reced by a new entrance. It bypassed any semnce of logic; though no wall existed directly behind the newly-created doorframe, the sight of a path of snow awaited beyond. "Guess there''s nothing left to do but move forward, right?" Blimpo asked. "Yeah," he nodded. Stepping through the supernatural door, it was as though he entered an entirely different realm; mountains cliffs of snow served as walls, leading to an upward slope caked in the silent, white frost. The cold swept against both of the young men in an instant, bringing their breaths to leave their lips as frosty mist. "...Why is it so damn cold?" Blimpo huffed. The young Dragonheart didn''t respond, only leading the way as he began marching up the snowy slope. It truly felt like a separate world in itself thatid past the unlocked doorway, yet it was unmistakably the abnormality of the After at y. There was no sky that existed; only a veil of mist acted as an obscure ceiling far above their heads, running along the boundlessly tall towers of rocky snow. No thick clothing was possessed by either of them tobat the cold; the young mage conjured a me above his hand to provide warmth for both of them, however, a single whisper of the cold winds snuffed it out. "What?..." He reacted, watching the me die out above his hand as a gust of frost brushed by. "...Looks like whatever is waiting at the top wants us to freeze," Blimpo said with a weak chuckle. It was hardly aughing matter; the further they traversed the spiraling ascent of the frosted territory, the more the cold took a toll on their bodies. For him, the draconic blood in his veins was enough to supply him with an adequate warmth; it mitigated the bitter cold, yet it did not outright reject it. Blimpo, on the other hand, was breathing heavily, taking slower steps as he was clearly having trouble enduring the cold. It only increased the higher they got; closer to the nebulous entity that inhabited the summit of the secluded realm, the more the snow fell; the more bitter it became. So cold¡­I might be able to make it, but will he? He questioned. Looking back, the sight of the once energetic elf, now struggling even to move one foot in front of the other, was one that invoked nothing but bleakness. Stopping for a moment as he waited for hispanion to catch up, he tilted his head up, trying to see where the summit sat; it was truly impossible to perceive. The higher they walked, the higher it seemed toy, always vaguely persisting near the clouds of frosty mist. "Blimpo¡­" He called out, perpetually feeling as though he had to catch air into his lungs, looking back at his friend. Thin as a needle; oxygen was sparse the more they ascended the abnormally cold climb, as though a breath was never enough. The exhausted elf looked at him with tired, sapphire eyes, drained of energy and partling his lips to respond before¨Che copsed. "Blimpo!" Face-first, the golden-haired elf nted into the snowy path without any attempt to break his own fall. Emilio dropped to his knees beside hispanion, patting his back to try and get him to sit up, though it seemed the strength in Blimpo''s body was fading far too fast. Dammit¡­! He thought. He rolled the slim elf over onto his back, seeing that Blimpo''s eyes were half-way open and staring up, emitting low, hardly audible breaths. "...My body''s too weak, ''Milio. I can''t move a muscle right now¡­" Blimpo told him, "Go on without me¡­" Even in the After, it seemed that there was a fear of something akin to death for those that had already expired their lease on life; an eternity somewhere nebulous and hellish in nature, but vague to the Dragonheart. For a moment, he felt those words were dire before he wore a small smile, grabbing onto the elven man''s arms before hoisting him up, bringing him onto his back. "You know that isn''t happening, right? We didn''t both just risk our lives to fall to a little cold," Emilio asked, "You''re heavier than you look, you know." Blimpo weakly replied, "...Yeah, I already knew that." It was fortunate that he had the strength that he did; even if the biting frost had worn him down, with enough grit, he refused to abandon the man who had fought alongside him. Perhaps it was his own experience with once having a fragile body of ss in a past life, or the connection gathered through the sharing of dreams and experiences he had with hispanion, but the abandonment of Blimpo was simply something as out of the question as his own failure. "Left foot¡­Right foot¡­Left foot¡­Right foot." Monotonous, he repeated the same words; it helped him maintain feeling in his feet as the merciless grip of the snow seeped through his boots, making him numb from the knees down. At a certain point, all he could listen to were the frozen winds that sang in a mncholic melody, carrying himself and the weight of his friend up the arduous ascent; it became automatic for him, somehow finding himself looking towards the very end of the spiraling climb up the vast, cold territory. "...We''re here¡­?" He mumbled, breathing out icy air. Dropping down to his knees to rest for a moment, he set Blimpo down beside him, he had fallen unconscious with reddened ears and a nose, though not in any danger of sumbing. He looked upon what awaited up at the summit; it was an entrance into a cavern atop the snow-filled, misty peak within the After. This is it¡­? Is this where we''re supposed to end up¡­? He questioned. Chapter 312 The Garden Of The Abyss Regaining his breath, he lifted his friend onto his back once more before venturing inside the unknown domain. What was strange was the fact that luscious flowers sprouted around the entrance to the ominous cavern, leading into it with walls of stone that had overgrowth seeping through cracks along with roses, spider lilies, and blue-petaled flowers flourishing. Immediately, he found the cold being swept away as he walked into the blooming corridor. It was a serene setting, yet ominous at the same time, hardly making any sense in its existence. Each step he took echoed; the only sounds beyond his own breaths and the man he held were the resonance of his boots against the paved stone. What is this ce? He thought. The mossy walls were inscribed with anguage that stood foreign likely not by mere continents, but worlds, realms, and even eons of time. At the end of the strange corridor, he found a door that was designed with the image of a grandiose tree, extending many branches outward. As he pressed his palm against it, feeling the cold steel of the archaic entrance, he drew in a breath of courage before pushing against it¨C It did not open. Huh? He thought, confused. The new few pushes, with increasingly more strength behind it and desperation, resulted in the same, unbudging result. Not opening was not an option; there was no way a trip back down the frosted path would be survived by his elvenpanion, and perhaps himself. This was without taking into ount the sheer effort it took to even acquire the ability to ess the snowy territory. "...Open up!" He demanded, gritting his teeth. He felt sick. A twisting despair swirled in his stomach as heid his fist against the unmoving door, resting his forehead against it as he breathed out, feeling the weight of his unconsciouspanion on his back. "Open¡­Please," he desperately pleaded. Slowly slipping to his knees as he leaned against the door, he felt like throwing up right then and there, wanting to cry as he felt just how weak and exhausted his body had be; it was as if everything he had endured up until that point fell onto his shoulders all at once. Why? Why does it always feel like whatever can go bad, will go bad? What sort of bullshit is this¡­? I''m sick of it. I''m so sick of it, he thought. Naturally, that despair that would make one surrender to the fruitlessness of trying turned into something else for the Dragonheart; the blood in his veins refused failure¨Cbringing him to stand back up and continue mming his fist against the door, repeatedly hitting it with his knuckles. "Open up¡­! Open! Not after all of this! No!" He yelled. He threw his fist against the solid, unmoving door over and over until the skin scraped from his knuckles, leaving a trail of crimson liquid to seep down the branches of the etched door. THUD. THUD. THUD. There was no rhyme or reason to it, only pure desperation. Yet, as he pushed his bloodied knuckles against it this time, something changed. ¨CIt began to open. "Huh?" For some unknown reason, it finally began to part itself, opening itsrge bs of archaic metal to the side, revealing the chamber behind it for the perplexed young man. Once more, he found the happenings of the After to simply be beyond reason; logic could not be applied to any cause-and-effect. Still, he found his heart flooding with hope now at the opened way, holding the unconscious elven man to his back before he stepped into the room beyond. This is¡­He thought. Onto a pathway of stone, he stood, gawking at the scenery before him; it was a garden thatpletely overtook the chamber as the walls were lined with veins, blooming with flowers. The stone path that acted as a small bridge existed over a pond of abyssal water;pletely ck and nebulous in itself. ¡­A garden? He looked around. Something about it was unnerving, however; crimson spider lilies bloomed along the bridge he slowly marched over. It was far too serene of a sight for the After, too full of life, yet there was a feeling that kept him wary, as if his stomach was in knots. Crossing the bridge, he carefully set his unconscious friend down on the verdant grass before looking up towards the sight that drew his gaze the most. In the center of the isted garden was a prominent tree; it stood tall with snow-white leaves that subtly glowed. Connected to each branch of the seraphic tree were golden apples, glistening with a certain allure. "Wee, Emilio Dragonheart, to the Garden of the Abyss," a silvery, masculine voice spoke, "or, do you prefer Ethan Bellrose?" At first, he couldn''t tell where the voice wasing from, perplexed by hearing his former name being spoken, but then he saw it: forming from a mass of shadows that gathered beneath the tree, "something" became visible. It stood twice his height, at least, possessing chalky-white skin as if devoid of colorpletely, having the face of a man, but five arms, all of which were of varying sizes, shape, and muscrity. "You''re¡­the Progenitor?" He managed to force the words from his throat. Though frightening and inhuman in appearance, the entity spoke with a soft voice, constantly moving its arms that extended unnaturally, tending to the garden as they watered flowers, plucked fruits, and stored them, "A title in the sea of names that eons have imposed on me. I suppose the name I was given while a human would prove sufficient for you: Adam." "You¡­What''re you? You wrote that note, didn''t you?...That I can escape this ce?" He asked. Difficult, it was, to dig the words out from his throat in the presence of the entity that transcended mortal perception. Even as he stared directly at "Adam", his eyes couldn''t understand what they were truly looking at. "I am as you''ve heard; a ''Primordial''. Though, for the time being, you may consider me a ''helping hand''," Adam told him in his smooth, yet jarring voice, "From the moment you perished and entered the After, I guided you here; the path was paved by my will, and you walked it perfectly. Well done, child." It was a challenge to properly absorb the words being said to him as his brain was working overtime just to bear the presence of the primordial entity, yet hetched onto what was told to him nheless after taking a few moments to settle it in. "...You guided me here? But why? I don''t get it¡­What do you want with me?" He asked. Adamcked eyes, or at least, ocr organs in the sense that the young man was used to; hollow, ck sockets stared down at him from the entity that sat beneath the nebulous tree. Before responding, the chalk-skinned figure briefly stopped tending to the abyssal garden with his many arms, leaning forward. "That''s the question of the hour indeed, child. So many oddities urring in your path, from the very moment you were reborn; you were suspicious, but never certain, I presume. "Why does it always happen to me?", "How can an artificial world be this cruel?"--such thoughts are natural. But, surely, you''re special then, no? You''re not entirely unaware of it though, are you? You''vee into contact with the ''Disgraced One'', haven''t you?" Adam asked, though certainly already knowing the answer. The lengthy monologue that slid from the lips of the being that transcended time itself filled his mind, sinking deep into his being as Adam articted exactly what he had felt over his journey. "''Disgraced One?'' Who''s that? And about that¡­Arcadius¡­Is it artificial or not? I''ve always wondered that," he asked. He hadn''t even realized it until he posed his questions, but he was sitting on his knees; without sensing it, his body naturally lowered itself as if subservient to the weight of the Primordial''s existence. "Careful now, child. The moment you begin asking such questions, the moment you will begin needing to pay for them," Adam said, raising a single finger to him, "Primordials do not operate under selflessness; contracts exist as our main influence with mortals. So tread carefully with your tongue; I am not one that operates under mary exchange; what you pay will be a grand cost of your very being." The warning was etched beneath his skin, engraved in his bones as he felt it to be a dire condition indeed, keeping his mouth shut to carefully craft each word. If I ask questions¡­he''ll require a payment? Some sort of contract? "Grand cost of my very being"--what does that mean? My lifespan? My limbs? He questioned. Fortunately, the Progenitor continued after a moment, returning his outstretched limbs to their dutiful work of tending to the secluded sanctuary. "I''m sure you''ve figured it out yourself by now, child: Arcadius is indeed a real world. I will not exin further unless your curiosity urges you to exchange years off your life for the answer," Adam told him, "--The ''Disgraced One''...Ah, perhaps they would withhold such a name from you. You might know them as "The Faceless One"; they have contacted you in your dreams, yes?" Hearing the figure he had been visited by in past dreams be brought up made his heart skip a bit, always half-and-half if he was experiencing maddening dreams or something real. "...Yeah, I''ve met them¡­A few times, actually," he nodded. Chapter 313 Gifted Curse The branches holding the glistening apples, gilded in avishplexion, swayed every so slightly as the primordial looked upon the young man, veiled by his ancient aura. It seemed the entirety of the garden was anchored to Adam''s being, moving in tandem with his words; as such, it was silent as he was silent. Only once he began speaking again did the abyssal ponds flow and drip, "I believe before I should continue, it would be beneficial if I made something clear." "..." Emilio stayed quiet, listening attentively. "I am not your friend; I experience no interest in your joy or happiness. However, your existence itself is intriguing to me¨Ca curiosity that I wish to allow to blossom further. Your death does not allow that," Adam rified, "I am aiding you only because my will happens to align with yours; that''s all." "I see¡­" He already suspected as such; the Primordial hardly seemed "human" in any regard¨Clike an existence beyond the concept of "good" and "evil, beyond humanity and monstrosity; above caring for mortal qualms. "Everything thus far I have told you is my payment in return for you epting to walk the path I paved for you here," Adam told him. "But I didn''t agree to any of that¡­" He responded. "Nheless, you unknowingly epted my conditions and earned the answers I have just given. However, from here on, a contract will need to be made if I am to continue bestowing you with my wisdom, child," Adam positioned. The mention of a "contract" made the abyssal ponds fall still and the swaying trees to halt in silence; only the heartbeat thumping in the young man''s chest resonated in his ears. ? "Contract¡­?" He repeated. Adam held a single index finger up, "I will answer any questions you may have while you upy my garden; this includes the information pertaining to escaping the After and returning to Arcadius¨Calive. In addition, I will make you an aspect of myself, granting you a sliver of my power. However¡­" However, he thought. That brief pause felt like an eternity, awaiting what sort of payment would be required from the inhuman, boundless entity of enigma. "...I will require your right arm; that which has been engraved with your swordsmanship," Adamid the condition. "My right arm?" He quietly asked. Naturally, his left hand held onto the limb in question, gripping it as if he felt it might not simply fly right off of his shoulder. "I must rify for the sake of a fair contract: this is not an exchange you can circumvent through any art of healing or with that putrid blood that pumps through your veins," Adam informed him, "Once you have relinquished your arm to me, it will not be returned." It was certainly a price. The young Dragonheart caressed his right arm, that which the fingertips at the end of had grown ustomed to wielding swords in. Over a decade of swordsmanship would be gone, and with it, arge portion of his versatility inbat. Still, he thought logically; the wisdom of the Primordial who might as well be all-knowing was priceless, and as such¨C "I ept your contract," he agreed swiftly and confidently. Adam''s expression didn''t seem to ever change from a look of idle emotion, yet the slight pause seemed to conjure a semnce of surprise, "Then the contract will be forged." All five arms of the Progenitor came together as two pairs met as if praying, though the fifth hand was left without its partner; a hum quietly emitted from the being, producing a slight ripple of darkness around itself. In the presence of the almighty entity, sweat left the young man''s pores as he looked towards it, finding the air too thin in its current state. "Hold out your right arm, child," Adam ordered gently. For a moment, he hesitated, looking at his right hand as his fingers trembled; he knew it would be thest he ever saw of his arm. Sucking a breath into his lungs with brief bravery, he held his relinquished limb forward. "epted," Adam said. ¨CJust like that, he watched as his limb simply vanished from his shoulder. There was no pain or muttion; no wound was opened. It was gone, leaving his crimson cloak to flutter briefly as he stared at the vacant spot his arm once inhabited. It''s gone¡­Huh. It doesn''t hurt. Still¡­That''s it? It''s really gone? He thought. As he looked up, he witnessed a sixth arm emerge from the side of the Progenitor''s unnaturally long torso, possessing the exact same length and muscrity as the limb he had just exchanged. It now had the chalky-white skin of Adam, meeting the lonely fifth hand into a prayer. That''s how it is, huh?...He thought. "The contract has been made. Now, we may freely talk, child," Adam told him, moving his hands away from the prayer formation, "but before that, I will now grant you the aspect of the Progenitor. Come closer, child." He had almost forgotten about the promised power, finding himself desperate for answers, but he brought himself to his feet, stumbling briefly as theck of a right arm threw off his natural bnce. As he stepped closer, he found the air tighter than before and his lungs fearful, causing oxygen to slip away as he stayed there. "Look at me, child," Adam spoke. Lifting his head, he was met face-to-face with the Primordial, filled with a fog in his mind as he tried to decipher what he stared at, but failed, only finding his gaze sinking into those abyssal sockets. "Look deeper into my eyes," Adam instructed, "Stare into the abyss; the foundation of the universe; her breaths of creation and whispers of truth. The construction of reality, the form that weaves cause-and-effect, the endless void that swallowed all. Understand it all." The words resonated within his mind as everything he saw was now consumed by the darkness past the Primordial''s sockets; he found himself engulfed in the boundless depths of creation, neighbored by nebe that stretched out and created. Merely sinking into the gaze of the Primordial, he found himself afloat in the cosmos; the fundamental truths of creation were open, revealed like an equation to be solved. All of this was what was possessed by the Progenitor; an unequaled understanding of existence. It was all condensed into the right eye of his, searing into it with a scorching sensation as he winced, yet was unable to move. "This is your aspect: "Veracity". In your right eye, this power will awaken in the form of "Principle of The Cosmos"--with it, you may see the groundwork of the universe briefly, outlining the optimal path to take in any given moment and revealing the weaknesses of your enemy. However, this power is not without consequence; for each moment you peer into the Cosmos'' truth, you will sacrifice an hour of your life." The boundless knowledge condensed itself into his eye, branding his pupil like a mark of that which should be kept unknown; the right sclera of the Dragonheart was altered, leaving the white of his eye to turn to sable shade. "Ghh¡­!" He returned back from his gaze into the cosmos, falling to his knees as he held the right side of his face, gritting his teeth as it felt as though his eyeball bathed in moltenva. It was an agony that made him foam at the mouth, drooling like a rabid dog as his other hand clenched the dirt beneath him. "It will subside, child. For the time being, it will remain unstable¨CI will grant you a circumvention to this," Adam said. One of the many hands of the Progenitor raised as its index finger and thumb met before emitting an echoing "snap". The agonized young man was surprised to find something materializing out of thin air; an ivory eyepatch conjured over his afflicted right eye. Somehow, itpletely suppressed the scorching pain that had embedded itself into his eyeball. "It''s¡­gone?" He muttered, immensely relieved. Adam spoke, "Control will becked in the beginning. If you wish to tap into your aspect of Veracity, simply lift that cloth seal from your eye for but a moment, lest you wish to eat away at your years." Even if it was being restrained by the mystical eyepatch, he could still feel the oddity that inhabited his eye; a dormant "key" to the lock that could sweep away the veil over the universe. "All of that¡­What was that?" He asked with uneven breaths, picking himself back up slowly. "It''s as I told you; what you witnessed when peering into my eyes was the essence of the universe itself. I was not gifted any supreme powers of my own like other Primordials, however, I had one gift of my own: knowledge," Adam told him, putting his six arms to use as he tended to his garden, "It was with the wisdom I gained that I deconstructed the forme of the universe; the many equations that acted as the pirs of reality''s foundation; through that understanding did I be one with it; eternal and infinite." The words of the Progenitor were ever-unnerving, carrying such weight that they made all other problems seem only as trivialities in the face of the Primordial''s scope. It''s a priceless power¡­but just what have I gotten myself into? One second¡­Just one second of using this ability, and it''ll drain an hour from my lifespan? That''s dangerous. Still¡­I won''t have any lifespan if I don''t escape the After, he thought. Chapter 314 Knowledge Of The Progenitor Calming himself as he began to understand what was gifted to him, he looked up at the Progenitor, who sat there like a colossus of stone-like skin, constantly extending his arms to perform tasks around the abyssal garden. "So¡­how do I escape this ce?" He finally asked. A moment was taken before the Primordial responded, producing an unnerving silence as the young man could see his arms in the distance using a water can to provide sustenance to the flowers. "A question indeed; your circumstance is one that is very much the exception to the rule. It''s quite rare for any to escape the After, and usually requires outside interference, as you have received," Adam told him. "Outside interference? What do you mean?" He asked. Adam''s empty, void eye sockets seemed to stare at him, "One by the name of ''Grimsol'' has locked part of your soul into your deceased body that lies on Arcadius; this is a temporary measure, however." "Temporary? I''m on a time limit here?" He worriedly posed the question. "That is the case, yes. A week, at most. Fortunately, the flow of time is different in the After than Arcadius; that week there will be a month here," Adam reassured him, "Nheless, it is not a generous amount of time, child. As soon as our meeting is done, you will need to set out." "And go where, exactly?" "Fear not, that''s what I was getting to: your destination," Adam said, "In order to do that, we must make certain¡­preparations." It was in the garden, both of divine and dreadful qualities, that he watched as one of the Progenitor''s arms reeled back in from its stretched location into the hedge of roses, reaching above the figure''s head and gently grasping one of the golden fruits attached to the tree. There was something about the glistening apples that made them appear to be the juiciest, most sulent dessert in existence; a natural charm of their exuberant shine that made Emilio gulp as he watched Adam pluck the fruit from the branch, bringing it down. "Do you know what this is, child?" Adam asked, holding the golden fruit in front of the young man''s eyes. "An apple¡­?" "Correct. It is an apple; one forbidden by a god that has long since been erased from the memories of this universe. A god that damned his own child to death for a single bite; such a fruit must bear qualities equal to such punishment," Adam exined, "A most alluring prospect, one must imagine. In my garden, however, I wield no such tyranny; I will grant you this fruit, Emilio Dragonheart; child of two names." It was then that he finally began to piece together the identity of that which existed before him; the "Progenitor", "Adam", such names became clear when the concept of a golden apple wasid before him. However, he felt posing those questions would be fruitless in itself, only epting the luscious apple into the palm of his hand. "What''s the catch?..." He asked, daring not to indulge a bite until knowing. Adam stared at him with those abyssal sockets, "Catch? You would question my generosity? No matter. It is wise to be wary; I am not one who possesses an ego. That fruit is infused with the knowledge of where you must go. Regretful as it is, I may not openly speak of such a ce, lest we should find the other Primordials'' scorn falling upon my sanctuary." Even if he was assured it came without a price, he was skeptical at best, having already forsaken one of his arms and gained a rather costly ability, nheless, it seemed the Progenitor truly was seeking to aid him. Alright¡­I guess I should do this then, he convinced himself. Bringing the glistening apple near his lips, he took a bite out of its smooth, golden shape, finding the taste to be overwhelming. It was the vor of knowledge; the consumption of that bite imbued into him that which he sought to find: the way to escape the After. I¡­can see it! He thought. It was as though a map had etched itself into his memories, a path leading through the depths of the After and to a singr location: a set of grand, obsidian walls that guarded a circr door. This was the escape; the gateway that led back to the realm of the living. The "Quandary Pass"...The gateway between the After and Arcadius. I see it. I know it! He thought. "Have you seen it now, child?" "I think so¡­Those walls, and that gate¡­That''s¡­" He began to say. After the information flooded into his mind of the whereabouts in which his grand escape could be enacted, as he stuttered out his words, he found himself shushed by the Progenitor, who lifted a single finger to silence him. "Speak not of it. Keep it in your mind, not on your tongue," Adam warned him, "There are many beings you would not want to hear of such words." "Right," he nodded. For the moment, it seemed all major questions had been taken care of; deep in the Dragonheart''s mind, he knew where he had to go. The only problem was, he didn''t know quite how to set himself on that path. It was theyout of the After and the region of it he existed in that was still a mystery to him. "You''re wondering perhaps how to begin your journey, aren''t you?" Adam asked. "Yeah¡­How did you know? Can you¨C" "I cannot read minds, if that is what you were about to ask. However, over my existence, the subtleties in one''s mannerisms, as small as a single twitch of a muscle, has be as easy to read as a book for myself," Adam told him, "Worry not, once you''re ready to leave, I will take you to the proper road; no further than that. There is only so much direct aid I can bestow to one." As he brought himself standing straight, he turned around to see his elvenpanion was still very much so fast asleep,ying on the grass. "...Is he alright?" He asked. "The elven man is in perfect health, fear not; my garden has that effect. He shall be an invaluable asset to your escape from the After," Adam said. "He''s my friend," he looked up at the Primordial. Even attempting to force his gaze to match the Progenitor''s was a herculean task, unable to concentrate his vision in the slightest as a direct look at the entity caused a blur to form and a nausea to spur. "It seems my words have angered you for some reason. I only speak objectively, child," Adam assured, "Either way, that one is not permitted to view the garden; he shall remain in slumber until you both take your leave." "But why? Blimpo wanted to meet you, too," he asked. Adam resumed his duties of tending to the nebulous plot of flowers, speaking as he remained seated beneath the fruit-bearing cedar, "The trial tests one''s will, their tenacity, their ''fire'', so to speak¡­It is imperative such concepts flourish in one, as the After is a realm that will enchain you in despair. I''m sure you''ve felt it yourself; the very air of this realm corrupts your dreams, muddling them with a bleak depression." As he listened to the words of the Primordial, the garden itself began to shift with its work upon thend; bushes bearing small berries grew, rapidly changing shape as they became designed in the appearance of humanoids. It felt as though the garden was alive; an entity of its own. "So, you asked me why? Simply, the elven child did not meet those requirements. Perhaps his words led your perception astray; he hid for days, weeks¡­months, shivering in fear at the footsteps of War," Adam said, "He surrendered his rite of passage in doing so." "I see¡­" There was no point in arguing; it would be a fruitless endeavor against one of the Progenitor''s stature. All he could do was move on from the topic, looking around at the Garden of the Abyss. "What is this ce, anyway? It''s different from the rest of the After, isn''t it?" He asked. Adam looked towards him with those hollow, yet full eyes, "It''s the one ce in this endlessnd of death which life can be bore; that''s a beauty I must upkeep. Death is stagnation. Stagnation is the end of dreams. Dreams are the source of intrigue. That''s all." "Life?" ncing around, it truly was a serene ce; arge, but isted chamber with walls of vines, bearing fruit and flowers, flourishing with many colors, yet holding ponds of darkness. The name "Garden of the Abyss" felt apt to him. "The Faceless¨CI mean¡­the ''Disgraced One'', you called him¡­What is he? What does he want with me?" He asked. The Progenitor was slow to respond to such a question, and the answer that came was unsatisfactory: "Child, there are things far beyond your scale that exist out there. I cannot answer such questions, as even I am subject to the wrath of such forces, lest I should draw their contempt. All I can tell you is this: that one is rted to Primordials, but even its origins are vague to me. I''vee to understand the universe, yet the Faceless One seems to originate from something "beyond". Just think for yourself; do not follow what that one tells you." That''s really all he''ll tell me¡­? He said he''d answer any of my questions, but I guess even that has a catch¡­He can answer me, but he doesn''t need to tell me everything, he thought. Chapter 315 Nightmare Realm Either way, he felt himself out of questions he felt the need to ask; part of him was curious about many things, but another part feared the sort of answers he would find. "What happens now?" He asked. "Yes, I was getting to that," Adam told him, "For now, you may rest in the garden; find the tree bearing gray fruit and you will find the ce of hospice I have arranged for you and your friend." Being told that, he was quick to nod and go over to where the unconscious elf wasying, hoisting him up with his singr arm and finally venturing into the serene garden. Truthfully, he had grown incredibly fatigued mentally in his conversation with the Primordial, seeking to leave his presence. Losing an arm sucks, but I have my own n¡­You''ve underestimated Blimpo, Primordial. You can keep that arm¨CI''ll just get myself a better one, he nned. From the get-go, once the Primordial had issued such a payment, he already had this n in mind; if he would be prevented from recovering his limb, all he had to do was rece it. And with that thought, he had the singrly most perfect candidate to assist him with that, drooling on his back. "..." Blimpo snored against him. There were several bridges around the circr perimeter of the garden, each allowing one to cross over the abyssal ponds. Crossing the arching, stone bridge to one side, he was careful not to step on any of the flowers in his path, finding there to be osmanthus flowers plentifully gathering in that one section. A "tree bearing gray fruit"...Where is it? He thought, looking around. ncing around, it was difficult to single out one tree among the many that stood in the quiet sanctuary, though he eventually caught sight of the cedar in question by the somber, gray fruit hanging from its branches. It was a tall, white-barked tree, found from a brief walk through a path between thorn bushes, forcing him to carefully step through it to avoid him or his slumbering friend from being poked. As he arrived in front of the peculiar tree, he looked at it for a moment, ncing around it for the ce of rest that the Progenitor imed was waiting. "Err¡­" Where is it? He wondered. identally nudging the trunk of the tree with his shoulder, he found himself surprised at the outline of a door appearing along its snow-white bark. "Woah," he quietly remarked. A wooden door manifested itself, unveiled from whatever illusions it was hidden under, opening for the guest to the Garden of the Abyss. Stepping in, there were clearly magical shenanigans at y; the interior of the tree was farrger than it made any sense to be, expanding into a home in tune with nature; wooden walls decorated with flowers. There were already two beds prepared, set with nkets made of vines and intertwined leaves. Comfy, I guess, he thought. He carefully set Blimpo down on the bottom of the bunk bed, rolling his shoulders afterwards as he felt his body yearning for some rest. As he unbuckled the scabbard from his belt with his right hand, something caught his eye as he set his sheathed sword down by the beds. "--What the?" It was a tiny humanoid figure, norger than the palm of his hand; pale and devoid of clothes, yet no genitals to make any sort of gender clear. The androgynous, miniature human with wings and bright, green hair looked up at him with a smile. "Oh, don''t mind me!" The shockingly tiny humanoid said, pping its glowing, verdant wings as some sort of mystical pollen cascaded down. "What are you?..." "Isn''t that a bit rude to ask somebody? I''m a faerie! This is my home, ya know¨Cyou''re just a guest, so mind your manners," the tiny figure pointed up at him, standing on a log-made nightstand. It was definitely an oddity, though in his time through Arcadius and the even more abnormal realm of the After, such encounters were par for the course for the young man. "Yeah, well, I''m Emilio, nice to meet you," he introduced, too tired to argue with something the size of a mosquito. "Now that''s better," the faerie crossed their arms, "I''m Nin¨C''member that. I''m one of Master Adam''s top workers in this garden!" "...Workers?" He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, there''s a few like me living in the garden, too! Didn''t see my coworkers? Well, guess we''re easy to miss," Nin said, walking along the surface of the nightstand, "Anyway, what''s up with your arm, pal? Oh, Master Adam probably¡­Sorry I asked." "It''s fine," he assured. cing himself on the top bed of the ce akin to a treehouse, he couldn''t help but feel as though he was missing arge part of himself; sitting there for a while, he could feel a phantom sensation of his lost arm. ¡­Looks like I''m going to need help making that new arm soon, Blimpo. I feel thrown offpletely, he thought. Hunger wasn''t felt despite failing to consume anything for as long as he could remember, finding himself falling into a peaceful slumber atop the bed covered with a nket of leaves. ¨C Tz. Zzt. Zzzt. Static formed in his subconscious, sinking into it amidst his time of rest, falling through that void of slumber as he always did, yet something interfered with it. Zzt. Zt. Zzt. It was grating; though he felt simply like sinking into the sea of darkness that was his subconscious, that interference only grew stronger, more persistent, and more violent. PZZZT. ZZZT. ZZTT. "Wha¡­?" Thoughts were difficult to coherently form in the space of dreams, though he was clear of mind suddenly as the static filled his ears and obscured his vision. That dreamspace suddenly was torn apart, revealing the scenery of the endless cosmos; nkets of nebe and the swirl of gxies close, yet far. ¡­What is this?...Wait, he thought. In the sea of the cosmos, he drifted, finding a colossal neb¨Cthe clouds of creation which rose above all else¨Cforming in front of him like an approaching storm of genesis. It shaped itself, shifting into a humanoid shape, looking at him with a faceless head, yet holding a familiar smile. "Long time no see, Ethan." ¨CIt was "him". The "Faceless Man"; The "Disgraced One". This time, however, amidst an encounter that was always enigmatic in nature, he felt something else: dread. The intentions seeping from the entity shrouded in mystery was nothing of virtue, only malice. "You''ve been getting around, haven''t you? Death? Well, it''s only a small bump in the road, isn''t it?" The faceless entity spoke with a grin that spanned sr systems, "Just the beginning; it''s only the start. There''s so much ahead of us. So much." I can''t move. I can''t speak, he realized. Just telling himself in his head that he was dreaming wasn''t enough; he knew such thoughts held little power in the face of something akin to the Primordials. Dreams themselves were not a blockade against such entities; that much he knew well as he felt the true, certain fear of being face-to-face with something so grand in scope. I can''t breathe. Wake up¡­I have to wake up. Can I wake up? He questioned frantically. "I can smell it, exuding from you like the spray of a skunk; that primal fear. Why is it you''re so frightened, Emilio?" The faceless man asked with his ever-widening grin as the neb continued to blossom with life, light years away, "Perhaps you''ve learned something. Do tell me. You see, you''re in my mindscape, not yours. Here¡­We have all the time in the world." Every word was as mighty as a supernova, breathing waves into space that could shatter words and create rocks of life, yet it all flowed directly into his mind nheless. His mindscape?...What? He thought. The smile of creation and destruction, formed of the corpses ofs and stars, drew close, filling the frozen young man with such imposing scale he felt as though he was shrinking away¨C "Begone." A powerful, familiar voice emitted with a force that sent shock waves through the cosmic mindspace. That''s¡­He realized. "Nobody invited you, human," the Faceless One spoke, grinning. Emilio could see it by turning his eyes; a neb in the vague shape of the six-armed Primordial who was providing him hospitality. Adam? He thought. "Human? Your attempt to insult me is amusing, Disgraced One. Unfortunately, this child is in my domain right now. Begone, lest we should invoke the wrath of the Elders." With a repeat of the same word, this time Adam''s demand came through as the mindspace crumbled away, leaving the colossal apparition of the Faceless One smiling before fading away. "...I''ll see you soon enough, Emilio," the faceless figure said farewell. ¨CDarkness resumed, but only for a moment as the young Dragonheart jumped up, startled awake by the suffocating dream. "Haah¡­!" Clutching his own chest, he could feel his heart beating wildly; he was soaked in sweat, sitting there for a minute as he caught his breath. "You okay there?" The somewhat high-pitched words came from near his shoulder as he hardly felt the light-weighted faeriend on his right shoulder, looking at him worriedly. "Yeah¡­I''m fine," he replied. Breathing out, he could still feel that gripping fear from his nightmarish experience, looking over as he found himself focusing on his vacant right arm again. As I am right now, I''m weak. I''m in a realm where fighting should be thest choice on my mind. Even if I still had my arm, I doubt it''d make a difference. Still¡­He thought. Chapter 316 What Was Exchanged It weighed on him heavily; the presence of both the Faceless One and the Progenitor, two forces that transcended mortal understanding¨Csuch entities of colossal pressure ruined his own sense of strength. "How long was I asleep?" He asked, looking over at the tiny creature. Nin sat on the railing of the high-up bed, which was made of cleanly-cut, rich wood, swinging their legs without a care in the world as their sparkling wingsid t. They were tapping their chin in thought, periodically making small noises as if really having to rack their brain to remember, "Hmm¡­Hmm¡­About five hours? Yeah, that sounds right. I wasn''t counting, but the mind of a faerie is just superior like that, ya know?" "Sure, whatever. Thanks," he responded, getting his answer. "Hey! You were barely listening, weren''t you?!" Nin squeaked. Still not paying much mind to the words of the bird-sized humanoid, he slid off of the top bed and crouched down beside the bottom one, checking on his slumbering friend. "Still asleep, huh?" He muttered. Guess the Primordial wasn''t lying. Blimpo won''t wake up until after he''s left the garden. Well¡­Hold on, he realized. Standing back up, he put his singr hand against his chin, peering into thought as he realized the way Blimpo was sleeping had changed; the snoring had quieted down, sleeping much lighter it seemed. "Hey, faerie," he called out to the verdant-winged creature. "I told you, the name is Nin!" Nin ced their hands on their sides, floating in front of the young man, "What is it?" He looked up, "Weird question¡­but are we technically in the garden right now? While inside of this tree, I mean?" The faerie tilted their head, thrown off by the random question as they tapped their chin with their small finger again, "Hmmm¡­I''d say it''s not. This resting area is a closet space that Master Adam created. It should count as apletely separate ce altogether¡­Why though? What''s that have to do with anything?" A small smile appeared on the Dragonheart''s lips as he got the answer he was looking for, "Thanks!" "Sure? Anyway, it''s time for me to go tend to the garden. Don''t make the ce messy while I''m gone or I''ll fly into your mouth while you sleep!" Nin threatened, though it definitely came off less than intimidating from the tiny creature. "...Weird threat, but okay," he nodded. After the verdant-winged faerie fluttered out of the finely-furnished room within the tree, it was just him and his slumbering friend left inside. Alright¡­Let''s do this! He thought. Stepping in front of the leave-nketed bed where his elvenpanion was sleeping quietly, a new objective bore itself into the mind of the young man; the fear and negativity that had been etched into him from his nightmarish encounter subsided as he found this new idea: Mission: "Wake Up Blimpo"! He decided. It wasn''t a guaranteed exploit in the Primordial''s conditions that he had found, but a possibility within it nheless. Adam only said that Blimpo would remain asleep while inside the garden. If this space is technically outside the boundaries of the garden¨CI might be able to wake him up! He thought. First things first, he grabbed the elven man by his shoulder, shaking him lightly in an attempt to do things "gently", though as Blimpo remained steadily asleep, he began shaking him more aggressively. "Wake up! C''mon!" He urged. There was only so much he could shake his friend with one arm, resorting to his draconic strength to perform a different action entirely, one that he didn''t want to resort to¨C SMACK ¨CStraight across the right cheek of the unconscious elf, his palm swept against it sharply. A red mark was left, causing Blimpo to roll around briefly and grumble, yet still not waking up. "...Really?" He let out worriedly. It was clear to him that hispanion wasn''t simply locked into sleep; there was definitely a chance to wake him up. The problem was, Blimpo seemed to be quite the heavy sleeper, enduring the cheek-scalding p. Stop dreaming about spare parts and wake up¡­! He thought. Finally, he resorted to onest tactic of waking somebody up; quite a cruel method, in fact. He carefully pinched the entric elf''s nose, plugging it from drawing any air in. Undoubtedly a cruel method, but an effective one, seeing as after a few seconds of hond it, the elven man''splexion paled before¨C "Gah¨C!" Blimpo jumped up, iling his arms to try to get whatever was preventing him from breathing away. The young man immediately let go of his friend''s nose upon finding his method sessful, smiling at the sight of his reawakenedpanion. "The hell was that for?!" Blimpo coughed, sitting up on the natural bedding. Emilioughed, "You weren''t waking up." The elven man finally caught his breath, rubbing his own nose before looking around, "Where are we, anyway?" Blimpo looked towards the blonde-and-ck haired young man as his eyes widened, "H-hey,''Milio, the hell happened to your arm?! And that eyepatch¨Chow long was I out?!" It was definitely a question he expected, though it was all a bit hard to exin, seeing as his mind was still muddled at the moment. "...It''s a long story," he began to exin. Of course, Blimpo was more than willing to listen; a listener unlike any other. Without sparing any details, making sure there were no eavesdropping faeries, he told his elven friend everything. From the Garden of the Abyss, to the Primordial, to the exchange he made for knowledge and power, along with the frightening encounter he had. "Woah¡­That''s¡­a lot," Blimpo reacted. "Yeah¡­" He nodded. Blimpo looked at his right side where an arm used to upy, "Quite the trade you made. I can''t me ya''. I would''ve done it myself¨Ceasily." On that topic, he felt it was time to finally tell hispanion what his current n was, leaning forward as he held a motivated smile, "About that¡­I have an idea, if you''re willing to give it a shot." Chapter 317 Artificial Limb "Oh yeah? Fire away, my friend," Blimpo curiously adjusted his goggles, sitting criss-cross-applesauce on the wood-and-vine flooring. Patting the spot where his right arm used to be, he smirked, "How about we build a new arm that knocks my old one out of the water?" Blimpo was stunned for a moment before grinning ear-to-ear, sliding his goggles over his eyes as he jumped to his feet, "It''s like you knew I always wanted to build a fully artificial limb! You needn''t say another word, my friend! Just rely on the genius of your best mate¨CI''ll make you an arm that far surpasses one of flesh!" "Really?! You can do it?" He asked, standing up as he shared the same excitement as the tinkerer. "Who do you think you''re talking to?! I''m the best damn inventor toe outta Arcadius!" Blimpo chuckled, jabbing his own thumb against his chest. There was no surprise to the young Dragonheart; of course the entric tinkerer would be more than willing to aid him, though it was a selflessness and camaraderie that he dearly needed in such depths of the afterlife. "Thanks, Blimpo, really," he showed his gratitude. "Huh? What''re ya thanking me for?" Blimpo looked at him, "It''s normal for friends to help each other, isn''t it?" He was taken aback by the words of hisrade, though he nodded in agreement, "You''re right." It was almost a superhuman attribute of Blimpo''s; theplete and total trust he gave to the Dragonheart. One could attribute it to naivety, but in the eyes of Emilio, it was an admirable aspect of the elven man. Already getting to nning, Blimpo used a scrap of leather he found in the nightstand, using a quill on top of it to begin scribbling down the blueprints of his new project. "Mm¡­this there¡­that here¡­" Blimpo mumbled while deeply focused on the ns. He watched over the blonde-haired figure''s shoulder, amazed at how quickly he got to work. After a few minutes, Blimpo finally stopped scribbling, lifting his goggles as he looked at the Dragonheart, "I''m not going to be able to make anything without resources. I''ll leave that part to you." "Just tell me what you need and I''ve got you covered," Emilio assured, holding up his hand. "Well, I''ll need some wood and some steel, if possible¡­I can make do with that, yeah, it''ll work," Blimpo said as if half thinking to himself. With the request put in, it was a simple task for the young man to carry out as he honed his mana, conjured a heaping amount of raw materials. Creating wood was simple enough for him with his experience with nature magic, though steel was definitely of an advanced level. Still, as he was free to take his time and not have to meld it forbat, he was able to weave the mana in his body into ingots of steel. "Alright, alright! Beautiful!" Blimpo said, picking up the ingots with a wide smile, "I''ll need some fire from you as well. We''ll need to shape these babies into the right form! Ya ready to make that new arm?!" "Say less!" He excitedly agreed. It was within the abode of the fruit-bearing, grand tree that they ved away at building the new, artificial limb. There was no magic quite like the inventive mind of the elf; the blueprints came to life seamlessly by the minute. Emilio provided the heat adequate to shape the materials, though the handiwork of Blimpo was too masterful for him to truly learn from; the speed and efficiency the elf worked at was an art in itself. He''s amazing. How could somebody with talent like this not have been a legend in Arcadius? A mind like his is a waste being stuck here in the After, Emilio thought. A constant stream of blue fire was needed, as well as tools made through Emilio''s ability to conjure natural resources with nature magic, though their shapes were less than refined due to his inexperience. Fortunately, it seemed the faeries spent most of their time tending to the garden, giving the two enough time alone, doused in sweat from the smelting mes and arduous work going into the impromptu creation. ¡ªAfter a few hours of nonstop work, leaving Emilio drained of mana and Blimpo drained of stamina, it wasplete. "¡­And done," Blimpo breathed out, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he finished the mystical engravings along the arm. "It''s the moment of truth, then¡ªlet''s see if it functions," Emilio said. The limb was made with the exact proportions of his left, made of a ckened metal and engravings running along its length. It was certainly an impressive appearance, especially considering the circumstances in which it was made. It was a different sort of magical creation than what the elf usually created, tending to rely on runes to empower them. However, seeing as the one possessing the artificial arm was a mana battery himself, all that was needed were seal engravings. "¡ª" He watched as Blimpo began attaching it to the vacant spot on his right side, making sure it was positioned properly before hovering his finger over a switch on the upper part of the metal limb. "Ready? This will hurt," Blimpo asked. He nodded, "Do it." CLICK "Ghh-!" The mechanism caused the artificial limb to stretch itself and meld against the Dragonheart''s body, molding to his shoulder and bingpletely attached to his body. After it finished bing one with him, he breathed out, looking at the arm as it was now responding to his input; like a real limb, the fingers moved and the arm itself was seamlessly flexible due to the meticulous handiwork of the inventor. "So¡­how is it?" Blimpo asked. Emilio was enamored with it, feeling the missing sensation on his right sidepletely filled as he waved his new, sleek-metal arm around before clenching the fist, "It''s perfect." The engravings and gaps in the arm were perpetually producing a soft, blue glow within, as the mana of the young manpletely filled the interior of the limb. This was the basis on how it was able topletely rece a real, flesh-and-blood arm: Emilio''s mana flow acted like the nerves within his arm, empowering it and providing uracy beyond the limitations of flesh. ¡ªHowever, it wasn''t a perfect workaround. Chapter 318 The Time To Embark ¡ªHowever, it wasn''t a perfect workaround. As he tried wielding a sword with his new right arm, he found the skill he had garnered to bepletely dwindled, finding it difficult to even properly swing the sword. It wasn''t a matter of strength; in fact, he felt as though the artificial arm was naturally stronger than his left as it was more empowered by mana, however, it was the case of losing his muscle memory. "¡­Shit," he exhaled in frustration, feeling the imbnced swings from the sword against the air. Blimpo patted his back, "It''ll just take some time to break in, yeah?" "Yeah, hopefully." The truth of it was already apparent to the young man as he felt the metallic grip of his new right hand around the sword''s handle. Adam mentioned something when we made the deal¡­He wanted my right arm because it had my "swordsmanship" inside of it. Did losing my right arm make me lose that? He questioned. "Don''t think too hard about it, friend," Blimpo assured him, sensing his uneasiness, "Losing a part of yourself¨Cit''s weird at first." "You''re talking as if you know," Emilio looked over at the elf. Blimpo smiled slightly, pointing his index finger against his chest, specifically to his heart, "I do. Listen closely." Unknowing of what hispanion was trying to show him, the young man scooted closer, keeping even his breaths restrained as he allowed his ears to take in all sound. BRR-DUMP. BRR-DUMP. BRR-UMP. It was the first time he noticed it since meeting the elven man; his heartbeat was peculiar, sounding like the purr of a machine, quiet, yet ever present. "Wait¡­" He realized, looking at the elf. Blimpo nodded, "I have a mechanical heart. It''s weird, isn''t it? Even after dying, they don''t make you "whole" again in the After; how you leave life is how you arrive in death." "Why? I mean, you didn''t do that just because, right?" He asked. "Ha-ha!" Blimpoughed, sitting down on the bottom bed, "I love tinkering, but not to that point!...To tell you the truth, I was born with an illness¨CI heard it was the same one that took my Mom, too. My heart was failing, I realized that one day while I was fiddling with some new inventions¨Cmy chest was tight and I was coughing up enough blood to make a vampire drool." While he told his story, Blimpo leaned back against the railing of the wood-and-leaf bed, sitting by the small, naturalmp of glowing amber sitting by one of the nightstands. "So, you made a mechanical heart¡­? How did you even manage that?" He curiously asked. "You sound like you barely believe me, and I don''t me ya. I didn''t have any friends or the coin for the sort of potions I''d need¨Cso, I had to get creative," Blimpo exined, "I made a perpetual machine; perhaps one of my greatest inventions, capable of endlessly pumping my blood. I had to slice my own chest open and stay conscious while recing my own heart. Definitely not an experience I want to repeat." It was only then that Emilio noticed what Blimpo was pointing out on his bare chest: a barely-visible, but long scar that trailed down the center of the elf''s torso. "That''s insane," he remarked. "Isn''t it?...Anyway, the reason I''m telling you all of this is because our flesh isn''t what makes us whole," Blimpo pointed one finger to his mind, "--It''s this. As long as we have our memories, dreams, and all of that snazzy stuff, we''re the same, impossibly stubborn people." "Heh. Guess you''re right," Emilio agreed, looking over at his mechanical arm. It wouldn''t be an overnight process, for sure, but he believed he would get used to the artificial limb that was now one with him. Nheless, it was a priceless recement, at the very least, inparison to not having a right arm to use. He knew the current calm he experienced would be temporary; a fleeting respite amidst a realm in perpetual twilight. It was now being aware of the true nature of the Primordials that their scope weighed down on him even as he sat there in that isted room. ¡­It''s a lot to take in. Blimpo doesn''t seem to be feeling it too much, but well¡­It''s one thing to be told they exist, but being in the presence of a Primordial¡­It''s not something I wish I encountered. The best way I can describe it is as if you lived on a small, isted ind your whole life before suddenly understanding how vast the universe is; how uncaring it is for your minuscule life. A single breath of that endless cosmos can blow you and everything you know away. Magic, Systems, all of it¨Cthat sort of power can''t be fought against, he thought. At the very least, the secluded room within the otherworldly tree wasforting, for some reason; the soft glow of the amber crystal provided a light akin to a campfire, along with the natural, wooden structure and decorations of leaves and flowers made it a rxing environment. Though, it had beenpletely made a mess from the construction of the artificial arm; wood chips were scattered along the nightstand-turned-workbench, metal shavings and scrapsid along the floor, and it smelled of burnt steel. "We should get this cleaned up," he remarked. "Huh? Oh right, you said there was a faerie using this ce too," Blimpo recalled, looking towards the ceiling, which housed a hanging bed of flowers, "I always heard about ''em when I was a runt, but didn''t know they were actually real." "Really? Even faeries are too weird for a world of magic and dudes that can turn into bears?" He jokingly asked. Blimpo shrugged with a brief chuckle, "Ya know that your homeworld¨C''Earth''-- sounds like a ''fantasy'' to me, right? Guns, the ''Inte'', even those video game things. It''s all about perspective¨Cperspective, perspective, my friend," the elf repeated in a singsong tune. "Yeah, yeah," he responded tiredly. After it was all said and done, there wasn''t anything left but the road ahead, considering time was of the essence especially. If he wanted to make it his destination, he knew that sitting around and ''nning'' was only an excuse; he had to move forward despite his fear. A few more hours were spent in the tree-home while they prepared themselves, but s, it was time to head out. "Guess I''ll be passing back out the second we leave this room, eh?" Blimpo asked. "Seems so. Sorry," he nodded. "No worries¨Cit''s hard for me to fall asleep normally, so this is some much needed beauty sleep! Ha-ha!" The elven tinkerer assured him. Chapter 319 The End Wanderers The very moment they stepped past the threshold of the secluded space, it was as the Primordial had promised: Blimpo''s eyelids closed and his body immediately went limp from a suddenck of consciousness. Before the elf could face-nt into the dirt, Emilio caught him, bringing him onto his back, now much easier that he had a functional right arm to use. Alright¡­I don''t like talking to this guy, but¡­I guess I have to, he thought. Crossing the small bridge amidst the quiet garden, he approached the gold-fruit bearing tree, once more watching as the shadows beneath it shifted before revealing the six-armed, otherworldly being. "Adam," Emilio called out, stopping before the figure. The Primordial watched him, "It seems you found my hospitality satisfactory, and a new arm; that is agreeable. I did not wish to dew you, child. It is beneficial to me that you''ve acquired a recement for your lost limb." "Yeah, well¡­I''m ready to go now," he said. "Indeed¨CI can tell; you''ve steeled your resolve. However, before I send you out, I must give you a warning," Adam told him, "This is not something to take lightly, either. Above all else I''ve told you, this is the immutable truth you must abide: absolutely do not cross paths with the Primordials. Should you find yourself in the presence of one, you will not escape. Is that understood?" Somehow, hearing the genuine caution in the voice of something so transcendent itself as the Progenitor sent a shiver up his spine, though he already knew well just how frightening the Primordials were. "I understand," he nodded. "Good, then I will send you on your way," Adam said, "One more thing: If you find yourself needing assistance from those you''re familiar with, find the "Curator of Souls"--they will be in the Oval Tower. Make haste, and make caution." Assistance from those I''m familiar with¡­? What does that mean¡­? He questioned. sping all six of his hands together, Adam invoked a ripple through space, coalescing around the Dragonheart and the elf on his back before he found himself being transported through a momentary void. Waves of darkness brushed against his body like passing riptides, filling him with a sensation of weightlessness briefly before he blinked a single time¨C "Huh?" It was disorientating, to say the least; in those brief few seconds, he went from standing in the isted garden to now upying an unfamiliar territory. There was a pitch-ck sky, or rather the absence of a sky that resulted in a void; a stone bridge existed before him, spanning so far he couldn''t see th either end of it. It was suspended by ropes that stretched up into the void, indiscernible where exactly it was anchored. "This is where we need to go, huh?" He muttered. I can vaguely sense it from the knowledge that fruit gave me¨C"Quandary Pass" is far past this bridge, he thought. Before beginning to cross the ominous bridge, he repeated his earlier routine that proved sessful: pinching Blimpo''s nose to prevent airflow, snapping him awake in a hurry. "Gah¨C! Damn, that''s a helluva way to wake up¡­!" Blimpo said, jumping to his feet. "Sorry, but it''s the fastest way to get you up," he assured with a small smile. There was no path back from the bridge they stood before; they were left atop a hill of silver grass with a sealed gate behind them. Nheless, there was no merit in going back anyway as Emilio knew this was the proper path. Beginning to cross the lengthy bridge, each step they took resonated against the old stone, filling the vast territory with echoes of each step. "Falling would certainly be terrible!" Blimpo remarked, peering down from the railings of the archaic bridge. Below the suspended, stone bridge was only a void of darkness; no perceivable depth could be found and only quiet, but dreadful whispers echoed from its depths. "Is your brain missing itsmon sense or something?" Emilio sighed, pulling the elven man away from the railings. "Common sense mitigates creativity," Blimpo smiled. "...There is too much to unpack with that statement," he replied, moving forward once again. Finding out what awaited a fall from the colossal bridge is something that his innate curiosity did not lend itself to; he didn''t need to be told what awaited a tumble downwards would be a descent into Hell, or perhaps worse. The air was cold and thin, though not enough to make it a debilitating journey; subtle breezes passed by, causing the likely centuries, if not millenia, old bridge to shake somewhat. "Just how long is this breeze?" He questioned. "I was about to ask the same thing¨Camazing, isn''t it? Somebody had to build this," Blimpo remarked, happily marching on. He exhaled, "''Amazing'' wasn''t what I was going for." Some time had passed, yet he still found himself walking along the bridge with the other side not yet in sight, veiled by the shadows that naturally cascaded down. Silver torches were spread out along the path, providing an eerie light to it all. As he led the way, moving with caution unlike the ever-curious elf, something caught his attention¨Cit was subtle, but he was sure of it; the shadows that lingered along the edges of the bridge seemed to contort. "Blimpo, get back," he quietly said, issuing a warning to the tinkerer. The elf looked confused for a second, but caught on, "Oh? I see." It was hard to tell exactly what he was looking at, but the shadows themselves seemed toe to life, breaking off into vaguely humanoid shapes. There were two of them; tall,nky, and swaying as if just learning to walk. "...What are these things?" He asked. Blimpo adjusted his goggles, "I''ve heard about ''em from others here¨C"End Wanderers". That''s what happens if you manage to die here in the After¡­You be one of those, eternally wandering as a malevolent husk." It wasn''t much of a relief to find out they were humans, or at least former mortals, but the young man already knew what he had to do, raising his mechanical arm and pointing his palm towards one of the approaching End Wanderers. "...Hhyuh¡­" The approaching shadow humanoid let out quiet noises. More than malevolent, it seemed simply engulfed in despair; a beingpletely swallowed in nothingness, acting more out of a primal instinct than sheer evil. "Sorry, but I''m going to put you to rest now." At the very least, it was an opportunity to test out the functionality of his new limb, finding it much easier to control his mana through it as the natural, blue glow from the engravings turned into a crimson shine. The shift in light came from the element he invoked, sting a stream of condensed mes through the center of the wandering husk just as it raised its arm to attack him. "Hot, hot," Blimpo raised his arms, feeling the height even from the back. The beam of crimson fire pierced straight through the husk, dispersing its shadow-built form as it withered away soon after. It worked even better than envisioned, surprising the Dragonheart as he watched steam sway in front of his metal-forged hand. I can control it much easier this way; even fire can be reeled in now. With that in mind¡­He thought. Emilio''s focus shifted to the other End Wanderer, who moved in an unorthodox way, not directly approaching him. It clung to the outskirts of the bridge, seeping into the shadows themselves as its eyes of erratic shadows watched him. This time, he prepared to prioritize the usage of fire magic in a much more condensed form, seeking to test the limits of his new control with his magic-focused right arm. As the End Wanderer slowly approached from its roundabout path, he held his arm at his side, condensing down the fiery mana that breathed out from his limb. "Don''t identally bring the bridge down, alright? That would be pretty bad!" Blimpo called out with augh. He sighed out, "Of course I won''t." As he raised his hand again, pointing a finger towards the whimpering husk, the condensed mes manifested in a burst of ming projectiles, moving rapidly like bullets as they shot towards the End Wanderer. "--!" An unexpected burst of speed came from the once slow husk as it suddenly weaved past the me bullets, rushing towards the Dragonheart as its rapid steps left no noise. It''spletely unorthodox! He realized. As it got within close-quarters range, the instinctual response from himself was to draw his sword from its sheath, swinging it, though he found himself unleashing a slow, hardly-effective sh. "Tch¨C!" He clicked his tongue. The End Wanderer was elusive, able to contort its supernatural body as its torso caved in to avoid the edge of the sword. After a failed swing, he stumbled forward, feeling foreign to swordsmanship itself despite knowing how much he had be one-and-one with it amidst his journey. It was a frustrating setback, even if he had already suspected it to be the case. It really is gone¡­My experience with swordy¡­I have to start from zero again, huh? He thought, Fine by me. "You alright, ''Milio!?" Blimpo called out. Rushing to his aid, the elven man pulled out a small, single-barreled rune cannon that shot out a pellet empowered by fire magic, though the End Wanderer simply parted the shadows of its torso to evade the bullet. He nodded, "I''ve got this. Just stick back and make sure nothinges at me from behind." "Eh? Alright then," Blimpo agreed. It was a test for himself; he wanted to see firsthand just how far his proficiency with the sword had fallen since forsaking his original arm to the Progenitor. This time, he took the initiative, dashing in as he swiftly closed in on the elusive, dark husk, attempting to execute a spinning sh from memory before¨C "Gah!" ¨CHe nearly tripped overpletely as if his body was unaware of how to perform such a move, leading him right into the path of the End Wanderer as it morphed one of its arms into an extending spear. At thest second, he managed to spin to the side, avoiding being pierced by the shadow''s stretched-out limb. It''s not just my arm¡­It''s like none of my body remembers the techniques I''ve learned! He realized. It was infuriating, as though all of the time and effort he had spent had simply vanished from himself, though it was the very deal he agreed to. Reality was reality; that much he couldn''t deny, all he could do now was ept it. ¡­I''ll start from square one, then. By the time I escape the After, I''ll be back to being able to use this sword properly, he resolved. As he crouched down, gripping the handle of his de, he infused his body with a burst of magical reinforcement and [Draconic Might]--resulting in a brief "supercharge". A spring of his legs allowed him to burst forward, passing through the shadow figure''s arm whips. There was no possible way to miss now as he was face-to-face with the lingering shadow, dragging his steel through it. "Hyah!" ¨CNothing. The de simply sunk through the body of darkness, touching nothing and only slipping through it without any feasible damage. Shit¡­Of course a simple physical attack wouldn''t work! He realized. Before it could retaliate, he flipped back, at the same time summoning a burst of mes around the length of his de. One more, he thought. The bulk of his reinforcement was focused on his legs, allowing him to dash like a bullet, causing a small rumble to echo throughout the old bridge before he appeared in front of the End Wanderer with his ming sword. With a flick of his de, he swept through the figure''s shadowy body, bisecting it and dispersing it with the potency of his mes. [Level Up!] [Level Thirty-One Achieved] It was the first time in a while he had received a level-up notification, though it was a relief as he was reminded of the strengths he still maintained, feeling the new level implement itself through a small increase of strength and mana. "Woah! You took care of that handily," Blimpo said, walking back over. He slid his de back into the sheath before looking at his metallic arm again then looking up, "They weren''t exactly dangerous, but I guess¡­just kind of unsettling. Those were people¨CI mean, what happens to them now?" "Doesn''t matter now does it? What''s done is done, I''d say," Blimpo told him, "Sounds cruel when I say it like that, doesn''t it?" "Yeah, it kind of does," he replied. "I just mean¡­Well, we can''t undo it, so why waste energy lingering on it? They might have been unfortunate souls, but I doubt you did them anything but a favor taking them out like that. You heard those cries, didn''t you?" Blimpo asked, "Didn''t sound like a pleasant existence to me." It was something that engraved itself into his memory; those unsettling cries and groans of the End Wanderers; they truly didn''t sound like malicious creatures, but instead perpetually suffering. With that in mind, it lightened the burden of so sharply putting them down. "Guess you''re right. I''m just not feeling my besttely, huh?" He remarked, rubbing his own head as he began walking the length of the archaic bridge again. "The After does that to you. Take it from me: the best thing you can do is always walk forward, keep pping your lips, and act like all the darkness around you doesn''t exist," Blimpo advised with a smile that now seemed as a fa?ade, "--Otherwise, this ce''ll eat you right up. Then you''ll end up like those you just cut down." Without a word, he continued on down the dark-gray bridge with his elvenpanion at his side. He''s right in a way. It doesn''t matter who or what gets in my way¨Cwhat''s down here is already dead. If they''re going to stand in the way of my life, I''ll cut them down, he resolved. Chapter 320 Interlude: The Magenta Lightning Storm (I) ["The Guild Foundation is home to thousands of adventurers, though for most, they''re only able to handle small-scale tasks. However, there are a portion that are capable of single-handedly taking care of monstrous threats that can range from a "Destructive" level threat even to "Bleak". Most times, these adventurers are recruited to the Nihilum Core¨Can elite squad of adventurers that work directly under the Council of the Guild Foundation."] Sitting on the edge of a cliff, a man dressed in a ck-and-gray uniform watched the tucked-away Valley of Parmesus; a region of differing shades that was secluded to the depths of a crater between illustrious mountains. ["Though, there is a grand exception: the one regarded as "The Strongest Adventurer", a man of such ability that he is thought to have surpassed even the Hero-rank swordsmen.] "Alright, I guess it''s time to get to work," the youthful man said with a smile, rising to his feet as he stretched his arms. It had been a day since the incident with the "Dread" escaping from its seal; the barriers around the secretive valley that kept countless troublesome beasts and other such beings contained were annihted in the process. Everybody had already left; all that upied it now were lingering beasts and troublesome monsters. The Valley of Parmesus was not a "one-of-a-kind"; many such hidden regions were kept as containment areas for dangerous creatures. As such, the ck-haired, magenta-eyed adventurer was given one task: wipe out all of the remaining creatures then erase the region. "...Sirius is on the job," the man announced to nobody but himself, tightening the ck gloves on his hands. As he readied himself, lightning strands that took to a purple glow coiled around his body, causing his hair to momentarily spike up before he jumped, shifting into the form of a lightning bolt itself, shooting towards the clouds above. Thunder roared through the high-reaching clouds, shing with a brief radiance of magenta light before a thunderbolt crashed down before the valley itself. From that crashed bolt, Sirius descended as magenta sparks hissed around his body, holding a confident smile as the first of the escaped creatures from Parmesus crossed his path. "No hard feelings, okay? Just doing my job," Sirius said with a smirk. Immediately around him, lingering around the depths of the crater that sat outside the perimeter of the unwalled valley, were fire-furred boars that possessed the mass of steed with tusks more than capable of uplifting an entire cottage. ["Inferno Tusks: while not often seen as a threat to most novice adventurers, these creatures have one of the highest kill rates against adventurers due to this fact. When they begin charging, it''s nearly impossible to stop them unless you manage to do one of two things: pierce their heads or obliterate thempletely."] One of the fiery-furred boars grumbled before rushing towards the uniformed man with jet-ck hair and colorful, magenta irises. "Let''s get started, then!" Sirius called out. Pointing his hand forward, he snapped his fingers a single time in the direction of the giant boar that rushed down the small slope of cracked, rocky ground. From between his fingers, a strand of dazzling, purple lightning hissed before shooting forward as a bolt straight against the me-tusked beast. "--One down," Sirius muttered with a confident smile. The moment the casually-cast bolt made contact with the boar''s body, a sh of violet energy roared out before the beast itself was turned ck; charred into a nice barbeque. Not a secondter, more of the massive boars began rushing towards the singr adventurer,ing in from his left, right, and from the north of himself. The ground rumbled beneath the weight of the boars'' rapid steps, following the reverberations of their low grumbles. Still, an unworried smile was present on the face of the youthful man considered "The Strongest". "...Hmm, how should I respond?" He yfully pondered as he put his glove to his chin. As he stood there, perfectly still, the trio of giant boars closed in on his position, huffing steam through their nostrils as each neared the confident man. Just as all three shed into him with their fiery tusks¨C ZAP The youthful figure disappeared before the perplexed beasts, vanishing into magenta sparks before suddenly, a triple-set of lightning bolts struck each of the great boars with heavenly impunity. With the attack of the bright-purple bolts striking the red-furred beasts, Sirius reappeared in the same spot he stood, letting out a small, casualugh as if hardly exerting himself. Even simple strikes of the magenta lightning from that range were enough topletely obliterate the beasts that attempted to impale him with their tusks, reducing two to charred mincemeat and one to nothing but ash. "C''mon, is it all going to be this easy? Couldn''t they have just sent in the Nihilum Core if it was something like this?" Sirius asked himself, moving forward without any worry as he neared the unsealed valley. There were many beasts that lingered in the depths of the canyon betweenrge, luscious mountains of green; silver-furred bears and other such predators that had, for the first time in a long time, left the bounds of the Valley of Parmesus. As he walked towards the valley itself, near the border of trees that acted as a veil around the region, he casually snapped his fingers without so much as looking at the creatures he struck with swift bolts of lightning. ["An anomaly of anomalies; a "one-in-a-million" prodigy¨Cnone of these termse close to describing the true nature of Sirius Stormheart. An untethered soul, unequaled talent and supremacy in two fields of magic. If nothing else, despite hisckadaisical nature, Sirius is held in regard by the Guild Foundation due to one factor: if he were to fall to the wrong side, it would be the world itself that paid the price."] The mountainous valley began to rumble, forcing a smile on Sirius'' lips as he watched a gargantuan figure m down onto the ground, havingnded from a cliff above. "...Rrrragh¡­" A growl that emitted like the tes of worldly crust shifting left the colossal figure''s lips; it had a humanoid form, yet was shaped of ancient stone,yered in moss and vines. A "Stone Titan", Sirius thought. It was almost like a mountain itself; forged of many boulders, connected through sturdy roots that had aged like fine wine; more reliable than any rope. ["Stone Titans: ancient creatures that are seldom encountered by any. They''re usually docile, or happen to be due toying dormant beneath the world''s surface, embedded deep beneath the soil and etched into manyyers of rock. It is unknown if these are golems of old or perhaps manifestations of Arcadius'' flesh, however, the fact lies that when angered, these creatures wield strength capable of uprooting entire viges."] Even in the face of something of such magnitude, looming over with the shadow of a mountain itself, aged and hardened by time, Sirius wasn''t moved in the slightest. "Come on, big guy!" Sirius taunted. Coaxing the wrath of the colossus, the massive figure of stone grumbled out a bellowing groan before raising its heavy arm, mming it down upon the spot where the arrogant man stood. It came down like a great pir tumbling, thrashing into the dried soil of the canyon below with a fantastical rumble. "Sorry, but it looks like you missed." Still, Sirius Stormheart remained unphased; the air of the strongest naturally swirled around him as he held a calm, collected smile while now standing atop the stone colossus'' head. For a moment, the ancient sentience of stone was unaware of where the youthful adventurer was before figuring it out, suddenly whipping its arm around towards the source of Sirius'' voice. "--Ah, I don''t think that''s a good idea," Sirius said. Casually dodging as he shifted into the form of magenta lightning, he moved out of the way just as the Stone Titan mmed its own arm against its gray-rock head. Arge impact boomed out as an array of pebbles scattered through the wind as a result of the solid collision. "Ooh, that''s going to leave a mark!" He taunted,nding on a rectangr rock to the side. The ancient giant of stone was left with a half-shattered head, nearly falling overpletely before picking itself up, letting out a scratchy roar from the depths of its dry interior. As he stood his ground, Sirius raised his hand with two fingers pointed at the colossus as if wielding a handgun. The unique, magenta lightning belonging to the pinnacle of adventurers coiled around his arm like a serpent''s tail before focusing at the tip of his fingers. The size of the Stone Titan upied the width of the canyon path, blocking the path of the youthful man as it lumbered forward with malicious intent, gathering pebbles and sediment into its arge boulder, ready to be thrown. Just before the coalesced stone was tossed¨C "Bang." Chapter 321 Interlude: The Magenta Lightning Storm (II) Just before the coalesced stone was tossed¨C "Bang." Like a railgun parting the winds with a majestic glow, a condensed lightning bolt shot out from Sirius'' fingertips, piercing the air as it instantaneously connected with the gargantuan soldier of stone. The impact caused a shock wave to propel outward along with a static field that shocked anything in the vicinity, leaving behind a blinding sh for a brief moment. As a result of the singr bolt, a downpour of pebbles rained down from above as steam was left in the wake of the spell. "Ah, darn. Now stone dust is getting all over my coat," Siriusined, brushing off his sleek, ck coat. While the ck-haired man of a princelyplexion was busy tending to the state of his own outfit, wiping the dust off, something leapt at him from behind. It was a human figure, wearing a skull as a mask and with scarred flesh, wielding a cleaver that exuded a dark malevolence. The edge of the cleaver neared the back of the seemingly unsuspecting adventurer''s head, though in that split-second, the corner of Sirius'' lips was tugged into a smile. Just before the skull-wearing figure could m the cleaver down through the back of his head, Sirius vanished into the shape of electricity. "--Mm?!" The malicious figure reacted in surprise. Missing the surprise attack, the cleaver-wielding figure then had all of his air forced from his lungs as the lightning-wielding man reappeared, this time kicking his boot directly against the attacker''s abdomen. "Close, but no cigar," Sirius taunted. The force of the kick was enough to blow the grotesque, burly figure back a good dozen meters, causing them to roll across the lifeless soil of Parmesus'' canyon. Squirting at the figure who wasid out on the ground, not making a sound despite having their guts rearranged by the ruthless kick, Sirius recognized the abominable appearance of the cleaver-wielding attacker. "A worn skull, a nasty cleaver, and B.O. from Hell," Sirius remarked, "You''re "Butcher", aren''t you? Congrats, you were put at the top of my "To-Do" list today. Your prize is death." Unresponsive verbally, Butcher hoisted himself up like an undead rising from a grave, standing up without using his arms as his torso swayed side-to-side. The confrontation was ced in the depths of the canyon, walled off by cloud-reaching mountains like a pathway to the innards of the crumbled Valley of Parmesus itself. Sirius felt fortunate for this encounter, however. Butcher was my highest priority here¨Cthe geezers in the Council made sure to drill that into my damn head, Sirius thought before smiling, Looks like I won''t have to work overtime today. Just then, Butcher swiftly conjured a chain that manifested from ck smoke, wrapping around the silent maniac''s arm before being whipped forward towards Sirius in a surprise attack. "Oh?" Sirius held a surprised, but unphased expression. Leaning his head to the side, the magenta-eyed adventurer evaded the quick strike of the chain from a distance, though in that split-second, Butcher was already dashing towards him. Though he was asid back as ever, unthreatened by forces perceived far below his own, even Sirius felt a certain sense of urgency when witnessing the abnormal cleaver wielded by the S-rank criminal possess a deathly glow. At that moment, he recalled the single warning the Council gave him earlier that day¨C ¨C [Hours Earlier¡­] [The Guild Foundation | Council of The Founders] It was a dimly lit room, veiled in secrecy and isted from the rest of the world; multiyered barriers persisted around the chamber itself, making it impossible to find the location of the gathering ce for the Council that oversaw the Guild Foundation. Invited into the top-secret location was the magenta-eyed wielder of lightning himself, who stood there with a bored look, impatiently tapping his boot against the ground as he stood before the shadowyed round table of the Founders. "We understand you''re a busy man, Stormheart, but this mission is highly sensitive," a noble man with a long, tinum beard spoke, seated at the table. "Yeah, yeah, I get it¨CI''ll handle it in a jiff," Sirius brushed off any sense of significance to the mission. This seemed to anger one of the Founders, who was a plump, elder figure with a bushy, silver beard, mming his leather glove against the table, "Take this seriously, Stormheart! What do we pay you for, anyway¨C?!" Though such an exmation was quickly shut down by the Founder who spoke first, intercepting the angered member''s words with his own, calm response. "Enough, Berswald. Sirius Stormheart is an honored member of the Guild Foundation; we will not fling insults back-and-forth," the long-bearded Founder spoke. "...Tch," the angered Founder sat back. A yful smile was present on Sirius'' lips, always amused at a chance to annoy his own bosses as he stood below the steps that led to the higher-elevation round table. "You already know by now that everything in Parmesus needs to be wiped out. It''s an unfortunate loss, but there are other prison regions like it; it''s pivotal to instead enact damage control," the long-bearded Founder continued, "...However, there is one thing even you must be wary of, Sirius Stormheart." "Oh?" Sirius smiled. "It''s Butcher¨Cone of the S-rank criminals who was held in Parmesus; he wields an irksome weapon: a cursed cleaver capable of cutting through anything. Worse, Butcher is a difficult one to put down¨Che is relentless like a wild beast; make sure to properly put that one down," the foremost Founder warned. Sirius gave a thumbs-up, already on his way out, "Sure thing, Gramps." "Gah¨C" The Founders gasped at theck of respect. ¨C Remembering the warning given to him, Sirius'' smile turned to a slight sense of excitement as he sidestepped the Butcher''s charge, watching the cursed cleaver swipe through the air. "That''s a dangerous weapon you''ve got there. I wonder why those geezers never had it confiscated from you?" Sirius asked, humming as he repeatedly dodged wild swipes of the cleaver from the figure, "Oh well, not my problem¨C!" It was a one-sided conversation, though cut short as a heavy swing from the dark-shrouded cleaver missed Sirius'' head as the man ducked down, countering with a lightning-infused straight punch to Butcher''s gut. FWOOM The level of reinforcement wielded by Sirius Stormheart made even a simple punch something of a death sentence; the aftershock rippled through the body of the skull-wearing menace, whose flesh bruised and innards were shredded by the force. Yet, Butcher remained standing, alive and as aggressive as ever despite the lethal impact suffered. The burly figure with scarred, flesh and stringy hair grunted as blood leaked from the jaws of his skull mask, but otherwise seemed ready to continue without a problem. Ah, I see, Sirius thought, this is why they couldn''t be bothered to kill him¨Cthis guy has some sort of ability to sustain himself. Let''s test the limits of it, why don''t we?! ["If there was one, ring w possessed by the one bearing the title of "Strongest Adventurer", it was that Sirius Stormheart had a terrible habit of ying with his food. However, such hubris was made up for tenfold by his otherworldly capabilities."] In a sh of purple light, Sirius swept by once more before Butcher could even take a single step forward to reignite the battle, reappearing behind the murderous figure before a dozen sparks left powerful impacts on Butcher''s body. Not even the slightest groan of pain left the lips of the cleaver-wielding criminal as his body was pelted by thundering sparks. Instead, Butcher spun around without any hesitation, contorting his entire body in a violent sh towards Sirius'' back. ¨CAgain, the magenta lightning proved to be as elusive as a ghost in the night, vanishing from the edge of the vicious cleaver. There was little room in the pathway lodged between mountains, leaving a trail of purple sparks shing through the air as the lightning bolt that Sirius moved as bounced off of the colossal walls of stone and moss. With each reflection off of the neighboring stone, he gained further speed, bing imperceivable to Butcher, who spun around without any way of keeping up with the inhuman swiftness of the man. Each time Sirius passed by at speed that surpassed that of a lightning bolt touching down from the clouds to the world''s surface, he left eviscerations of electricity that rent the flesh of Butcher. As quickly as he was harmed, the fiendish figure began healing. In the face of being woefully outmatched in speed, the S-rank maniac instead took a different approach that caught Sirius'' attention: a chain was manifested from smoke once more by Butcher, extending into a mystical length before being whipped around violently. "Not a bad move!" Sirius called out. It was a violent whirlwind of steel; Butcher relentlessly spun the lengthy chain around, smacking it in every direction, in hope of hitting the slippery lightning adventurer by sheer quantity of attacks. The dried-out soil of thend was repeatedly carved up by the passing chain; it smacked into the mountainous walls, though still failed to connect with the wielder of magenta lightning. Chapter 322 Interlude: The Magenta Lightning Storm (III) "Not a bad move!" Sirius called out. It was a violent whirlwind of steel; Butcher relentlessly spun the lengthy chain around, smacking it in every direction, in hope of hitting the slippery lightning adventurer by sheer quantity of attacks. The dried-out soil of thend was repeatedly carved up by the passing chain; it smacked into the mountainous walls, though still failed to connect with the wielder of magenta lightning. Momentarilynding on a branch jutting out from the neighboring cliff of the canyon, Sirius readied himself as electricity coiled around his body, hissing and sparking with a rising energy. Alright, enough ying around, Sirius thought. Just as Butcher noticed his position, the smoke-formed chain whipped around to strike the branch, but Sirius took off just before it hit,unching downward towards the figure with a thunderous sonic boom releasing in his wake. A monstrous kick embedded itself in Butcher''s stomach, backed by the supremacy of the Stormheart''s lightning as strands of the erratic energy caressed the nearbynd before the kick was ended with a bolt shooting against Butcher''s body. In an instant, the inhuman criminal wasunched back dozens of meters, crashing into a pile of boulders in the distance. "Sorry, but I dide here to do a job, after all," Sirius said with a smile as he readied himself. Whilst Butcher was still groggy and leftying in the shattered boulders after suffering the body-breaking kick, the supreme adventurer''s mana signature amplified tremendously. The entirety of the canyon lit up with a magenta glow as the vibrant electricity manifested itself without restraint. Sirius'' eyes that matched the shade of his lightning took to a glow themselves as he raised a single hand, condensing his erratic mana into a grandiose spell of its own. The imbnce between Heaven and Earth; this is the chaos I wield at my fingertips, Sirius embodied thoughts of lightning, erratic; unstable; destructive; I wield this chaos with a perfect refinement. It is the supreme element; the spark of annihtion, the fulmination of the end. It was a wordless incantation, forged through the deep embodiment of his own element that Sirius Stormheart wielded. In his hand, he held a masterfully condensed and refined gathering of magenta lightning, forming a spiral in front of his fingertips like that of a cannon''s barrel. Through this preparation, Butcher only just then picked himself up as his shattered bones mended themselves with grotesque cracks as the joints of his arms popped back into ce. However, the magnificent magecraft was alreadyplete. Sirius pointed his hand towards the distant foe of his, causing the wind to swirl into a storm around himself as a spiral of lightning formed in front of him. "Principal Spear of Heaven and Earth: Fire." It swept through the canyon like a javelin thrown by the arm of a herculean warrior; the spiraling mass of lightning howled with the roar of thousands of beasts. Butcher could do nothing in that moment but stand there as the colossal zone of magenta lightning closed in on him. It was like a natural disaster born of mana; an impossible daunting attack to face. The nature of the grand magecraft left it impossible to evade, unless one had the capabilities to move faster than light itself; this was the raw essence of the unique lightning possessed by Sirius Stormheart: unequivocal in all regards. [0.0000234 second(s)] ¨CThat is the time psed since the spellunched from Sirius''mand and once it made contact with Butcher. There was no "collision"; the mystical drill of lightning simply bore through the canyon, sweeping through Butcher with endless voltage and force in its path, leaving not even a scrap of flesh or bone left. As the spell finished its path of destruction, a clean path was left carved by its short lifespan, having drilled a perfect circle through the hide of one of the tall cliffs. "--Looks like you can''t recover from being erased on a subatomic level, can you? I''ve fought a lot of "unkible" creatures like you¨Cthey always tend to die like the rest of us when obliterated," Sirius noted with a confident smile, speaking to himself. Walking over to the spot which Butcher had been annihted by the grand spell, Sirius looked down to find the ursed cleaver sitting on the ground, somewhat surprising to him. "Oh?" As he bent over, he picked it up by the handle, letting the de dangle as he held it as if it were some containamanted object. It''s unbreakable, too? Interesting, he thought. While he wasn''t particrly fond of the idea of carrying such a weapon around on him, it was certainly something that the Council wanted a hold of; at the very least, it needed to be contained so as not to fall into the wrong hands again. Stuffing the cleaver under his coat, he pped his hands together before shooting upward as a bolt of lightning, overlooking the shattered Valley of Parmesus. "Alright, with that settled...I think it''s about time I finish this," He said. Now that he had personally certified the termination of the S-rank criminal, he could freely enact the destruction of the secretive valley. He held his hands together before slightly parting them, leaving only a focused gap for him to peer down through as he epassed the area below like a scope to gaze through. The mountains that surrounded the valley were like walls meant to act as a secondary seal; they were as tall as the clouds, unable to be scaled by anything less than monstrous skill or flight itself. While staying afloat amidst the clouds, he was able to see the unorthodox Valley of Parmesus below; the sectioned-off areas within it such as the jungle, red forest, and even the charredndscape. The preparation lied in verifying the size of Parmesus itself; normally, calcting the rough size of an entire valley just by looking at it would be an improbable task, however, the youthful man''s brain functioned differently. It was the magenta sparks he had mastery over; the fantastical lightning also inhabited the neurons of his brain, able to process information magnitudes higher with the magical electricity flowing through his mind. Keeping one eye shut so that he could reinforce his vision solely on his right eye, he gathered the information required. ¡­One-hundred-and-fifty-four kilometers long, seventy-two kilometers wide, he processed. After concluding the exact size of the Valley of Parmesus, not neglecting a single meter in the forethought of his mind, he sped his hands together before slowly inhaling a breath between his lips. What was born from his unrestrained mana was anything but the pressure of a human; the unleashed state of the man brought upon a storm that manifested instantaneously. The clouds around him darkened, gathering in the azure skies and dimming the bright noon with the shadows of clouds. Magenta thunder roared in the solemn clouds, shing with purple lights as a singr opening amidst the stormid in the center of the spiraling clouds, taking the form of a massive, bright light of divine grace. "Something capable of erasing the entirety of the valley,"--that''s what he was summoning into existence; a feat that would be looked at as an act of godliness. As the momentous gathering of a thunderstorm reached its peak, Sirius stayed in the air as if standing on solid winds, holding a single hand forward as no yful smile rested on his lips, only a serious look etched into those purple irises¨C "Judgment of The Divine." With the utterance of the heavenly magecraft''s true name, it was invoked all at once: the sky itself hummed and vibrated with an echoing thunder unlike any other,manding the colossal gathering of lightning to shoot down from the center of the storm. It wasn''t a bolt of lightning, but a pir of divine chaos itself; the erratic, magenta energy was expanded and refined into an impossiblyrge beam that descended from the heavens, crashing down atop the Valley of Parmesus with impunity. As it touched down upon the world''s crust, a tremor rippled through the region as the surrounding mountains shook and shes blinded anything that wasn''t instantly obliterated in a one-hundred kilometer radius. All it took was a few moments of the sublime light''s descendance; the massive, far-spanning pir of condensed lightning faded away, leaving nothing left of the Valley of Parmesus but a new canyon in the ground. "Ah, I might have overdone it a bit. Oh well," Sirius remarked when gazing down at the aftermath. Brushing his gloves off, he finished a job well done as every square inch of the secretive valley had been wiped out. I''ll treat myself to a nice cup of booze when I get back, I think, he thought. Like a bolt of lightning traversing the sky, he kicked off of the wind before taking his leave from the area. A single man was all it took to wrap up the ordeal that would normally be a country-wide emergency; that''s only because of the man in question--one that surpassed the concept of a "one-man army" entirely. Chapter 323 Beyond The Mystical Trees [Arcadius | Guild Foundation] It had already been two days since the fatal battle against the Dread; the Guild Foundation scrambled to make sense of what happened and to deal with the aftermath of Parmesus'' destruction. A special room had been isted solely for the rookie that had brought an end to the Dread. A secluded chamber where the most proficient healers contracted to the Guild Foundation inscribed magical seals, wrapping the body of Emilio Dragonheart in unique bandages that covered him from head-to-toe. "Was it necessary to make ''im look like a mummy?" Asking the question was the bumpkin shielder, who sat on a cushioned, velvet seat close to the table where the inanimate body of the Dragonheartid. "It''ll keep his body from dposing while his soul is out," Scarlet exined, "That, and it''ll prevent his muscles from deting too much. It all depends on the kid actually making it out of the afterlife." Everett was the only one from the group still waiting in the room, though it wasn''t due to him being the only one willing to wait; Melisande could hardly seem to bear the sight of the Dragonheart lifelessly dressed in bandages, so Yuna kept herpany in the halls of the Foundation. Scarlet always seemed to visit, staying for extended periods of time just to check up on him; even though he was abrasive in his own ways, Everett could tell the Nihilum Core member was a good person. "It still doesn''t feel right," Everett muttered, looking at the ne hanging from his neck. "Huh? You should be proud you all received your world-ss insignias," Scarlet said, "You earned it by standing against the Dread." "Yeah, maybe¡­but I wanted to get it with Emilio. It''s only because of him that I was able to survive until the end anyway," Everett said. "Just be there when he wakes up, then. Congratte him when he''s certified," Scarlet said, "That''s the first thing I''m going to give him when he returns to us¨Cso just sit there and wait until you can see that joy." "Right," Everett nodded. ¨C The room private to the Dragonheart was located in the medical wing of the Guild Foundation Headquarters, which wasn''t used as a hospital but more for treating unique cases that have afflicted the affiliated adventurers of the Foundation. Waiting outside, the silver-haired girl held her knees close to her chest, keeping her head down as she remained quiet since returning from the awful trial. ¨C It was after the shielder fell asleep on the velvet seats, snoring away, did more guests arrive to check on the inanimate Dragonheart. The door opened, and in walked a red-haired, scruffy-bearded man and another man dressed in ck with silver hair that stood up as if electrified. Scarlet nced over, "Roan. Faust." The silver-haired uncle of the Dragonheart looked angered just by the sight of the bandaged, young man, squeezing his fist tightly as sparks coiled around his body, "Just what were those old fools thinking?...It''s because of their short-sighted foolishness that my nephew had to clean up their boss and end up like this. I outta¨C" "Faust," Roan intercepted the man''s angered words calmly. The vtile air around Faust settled as his pitch-ck coat stopped fluttering in the electricity of his own creation, "Right. He''ll return." "You sound pretty confident," Scarlet noted. Faust held an air of esteem and power around himself that was different to even his fellow Nihilum Core colleague, causing Scarlet to move out of the way as Faust paced throughout the private room. "Emilio shares my blood," Faust said, pointing to the corpseying on the table, "We may not share the same name, but that fact is indisputable. No; a Dragonheart is even more fiery than an Omnisul. A Dragonheart is far too stubborn to remain dead, if they have anything to say about it." "I agree," Roan added, scratching his head, "I''ve watched this brat fight horrific things like the Unending Nightmare before even being a certified adventurer¨Cthe afterlife won''t deter him." The unwavering confidence from the men who stood at the pinnacle of the Guild Foundation and what it meant to be an "adventurer" amounted for something real; it was that resolute belief that made it seem all the more inevitable that Emilio Dragonheart would in fact return to the realm of the living. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I''ve never seen a kid fight like that¨Cespecially against something like the Dread," Scarlet said, "That''s why he''s gotta live. Somebody like that is invaluable to the Foundation." "He''s got to live because he''s my precious nephew," Faust said, "That''s enough. Besides, I''d like him to return before his father or mother needs to be told¨CI''d rather spare them from grieving. Hurry up so you don''t make your parents cry, nephew." [The After] The archaic bridge was an obstacle in itself, it proved; a multiple hour walk continuously impeded by malicious shadows. It wasn''t an opportunity that the Dragonheart looked upon sourly though¨Ca good chance to train his new arm. SWISH Through another one of the groaning shadow-men, he swept his fire-infused sword through its body in a diagonal bisection, dispersing the beingpletely. If nothing else, performing basic sword strikes wasn''t difficult for his reset skill level, aided by his magical reinforcement. Another down, he thought. "Think we''re almost to the other side?" Blimpo exhaled tiredly. Even though the elf hadn''t been doing any of the fighting, he was seemingly tenfold more exhausted than Emilio, breathing out audibly and sweating some despite the brisk wind that brushed past the bridge. "Hard to say¡­I feel like we''ve hardly made any progress," he answered before sliding his sword back into its sheath. As he led the way down the bridge suspended above the void, all he could hear were the quiet breezes and the tired breathing of hispanion. Fortunately, the end of the far-spanning bridge came into sight, revealing an upward trail that was lined with tall, tinum-leaved trees. "Finally!" Blimpo celebrated, arriving at the end of the bridge. Emilio was quiet for a moment, stepping onto the dirt trail as he looked at the tinum trees around him, finding them to be mystifying, though it obscured what he could see past them. "Do you recognize this area? I mean, you said that fruit put a map in your brain, right?" Blimpo asked. He shook his head, "I don''t recognize it, but it''s not that''s not surprising. Adam wasn''t going to start us close to Quandary Pass, anyway." For the realm of enigma and darkness, the trail of tinum trees was a surprisingly calm environment as they walked along its pathway. Still, no matter how unassuming a ce may look, he knew better than to rx his guard. "How about a break, ''Milio? I''m pooped," Blimpo said. "Really? Well¡­I suppose now is as good an opportunity as any," he realized. What changed his mind from an initial rejection of hispanion''s request was realizing the elven man had spent hours hammering away at the artificial arm that was now a part of him; at the very least, he could allow his friend to rest. It was easy for him to forget that his own body was fundamentally different from the elf''s as he was enhanced by his System along with his potent magical reinforcement. Inparison, the elf of a less-than-average athleticism had just walked hours without stopping. "Woo," Blimpo tiredly let out before sitting down. The only thing that made him initially against the idea of stopping was the time limit he was working with, though as the Primordial had told him, it was a workable amount of time. "So, what''s the game n?" Blimpo asked, biting into a random, orange fruit he pulled out of his pocket. Emilio kept a lookout, though eased into some rest for himself as well as he leaned his back against one of the tinum trees, "Adam set us on the correct path, so for now, we just need to follow the trail ahead of us. I''d like to avoid fighting, if possible¨Cit''ll tire us out and slow us down." "Good point," Blimpo responded with his mouth full. "Adam did also mention an "Oval Tower" to look out for¨Csaid it was a ce I could find more assistance," he said, "Know anything about that?" "Oval tower?" The elf raised an eyebrow, thinking about it for a moment before taking another bite of his fruit, "Sorry, man, doesn''t ring a bell." "Thought so." While the goggle-wearing tinkerer finished up his fruit, the young man continued thinking to himself, feeling his mind continuously paranoid about the existence of other Primordials. After a few minutes though, they were ready to head up the tree-filled trail again. I need to be ready for anything¨Ceven a Primordial, he thought. Leading the way up the subtle slope amidst the glowing, silver trees, he reached the summit at least, finding a new region of the boundless realm before him. "...This is¡­" He began to say under his breath. It was a colossal forest of trees that were as thick as buildings, towering far too high with dozens of holes in them and interconnecting branches that acted like bridges between the trees. "...Phew," Blimpo caught up, wiping the sweat from his forehead before looking up, "Ah, a settlement." Chapter 324 To The Chasm "...Phew," Blimpo caught up, wiping the sweat from his forehead before looking up, "Ah, a settlement." "A settlement? For people?" He asked for rification. "Yup! It''s honestly rare for a lot of people to meet up in the After¨Cdespite it holding, well, everything that''s ever died, the After is just way too freakin'' huge. I heard you can sometimes go decades marching in one direction without finding another soul," Blimpo informed him. "Thanks for the trivia," he sarcastically said, though thankful for the information. There was an atmosphere to the area that didn''t settle nicely with him; the people that upied the settlement of humongous trees all moved around as if dragging their feet, unresponsive to one another and hardly reacting to the existence of the young man. "Hey¨C" He tried talking to a few of the upants of the afterlife realm, though waspletely ignored as the vacant-eyed people simply shuffled by. Blimpo stood beside him, "That''s the After for you." "What do you mean?" "You and me, well we''re rare cases here," Blimpo exined, "For the most part¡­People thate here turn out like this; the bleak atmosphere of it all wears them down until they just be husks." Seeing the reality of the After, and the effect it would certainly have if he was stuck there for any long length of time, it was saddening; the people that shuffled by were silent, not making a single sound. "What do they do? I mean, what is there to do?" He asked, walking through the lifeless settlement. Blimpo walked alongside him, "You''ll usually have your own "task"--something to keep you distracted for eternity. I was a part of a settlement like this for a bit, but I left for¡­Well, you can see why I left. Just not my style." It wasn''t a difficult thing to see why one would abandon such amunity; even as he walked through the moving crowd, theypletely walked around him as if naturally avoiding the young man. It''s like a colony of ants¡­A hive mind just silently and dutifully carrying out their jobs. This is death? Count me out, he thought. "Got a question for you, ''Milio," Blimpo suddenly announced. "Yeah?" "You said we just needed to move forward for now¡­but, what''s this all about?" Blimpo asked. The source of the question came from where the elven man was looking; there was an split section in the center of the quiet, but bustling settlement, leading to four different directions, though none were "forward" from where they arrived. "...Good question," he said, looking around. It wasn''t exactly clear where he was supposed to go as the leftmost direction between the colossal trees seemed to lead into some sort of massive cave; the rightmost went into a chasm that looked to be a mining location, as upants of the settlement came-and-went with pickaxes. The map that was embedded into his mind of where the Quandary Pass was located was only just that; it was limited only to theter half of his path, not the beginning half. "Flip a coin?" Blimpo half jokingly, half seriously suggested. He ced his hand atop his ivory eyepatch, "No¡­I can figure out which way to go." "Hey, it''s still too soon to try that, isn''t it? Even the Progenitor said it was still unstable. I don''t know what''s in that right eye of yours¡­but it might be best to keep the eyepatch on," Blimpo said nervously. "I can handle it," Emilio assured. "We can try asking around¨CI mean, with enough pestering, even the guys around here will talk," Blimpo said. Even as the denizens of the settlement walked around them, keeping their heads down with that lifeless look in their eyes, their presence was hardly registered by their silent and empty demeanor. He shook his head, "Adam made it clear that this mission has to stay under wraps. The more we talk, the more likely it is we''ll draw the eyes of the other Primordials. This is on us." "Right¡­I can''t argue with that, but just be careful," Blimpo gulped. There was a hesitation deeply lodged into his heart, perhaps a fear deep enough that it was etched even into his soul; the authorityying within his covered eye was something that surpassed hisprehension. Taking in a long breath into his lungs, he slowly exhaled as he removed the eyepatch that covered his right. In that moment, he kept the one thing he wanted to find out most before his gaze at the top of his mind: Which path leads to Quandary Pass? He questioned. ¨CJust as his ckened eye was uncovered, it strained, feeling as though it tightened and condensed with a squeezing pain. "Ghh¡­!" Perception of reality augmented itself as he peered through his bestowed eye; everything became a "skeletal" version of itself; walls, floors, people, and even the air. It was all broken down and able to be understood as the hue of the cosmos filled his sight. Show me¡­! He demanded. A sublime light sparked itself into the air before him, extending out and stretching to the right, pointing directly to the chasm where the miners came and went. Though he found his answer, he found the strain of peering into the truth of the cosmos bringing him to his knees, unable to move his hands as he was engulfed in the wealth of knowledge before him. Everything¡­I can see it all. Nothing hides from this eye¨Cit''s too much¡­! He thought. "Emilio!" ¨CThe intoxicating, yet binding view was swept away as he was snapped back into focus, gasping for air as he found his elven friend cing the eyepatch back over his right eye. "...Thanks," he said, epting Blimpo''s hand as he stood back up. ? "I expected as much¡­Even a small sliver of a Primordial''s power is way beyond mortals like us. Please don''t rely on that too much," Blimpo worriedly requested. For a moment, he had to adjust to the sudden whish of returning to normal vision after seeing the very blueprint of reality. It was only a few seconds, but that equated to hours off of his lifespan. Four seconds¡­That''s four hours gone. I have to be careful, he thought. "Yeah. I''ll try not to," he nodded before turning to face the road to the chasm, "...Anyway, it showed me our path. We''re going down there." "Alright, I''m game," Blimpo followed. It seemed arge number of those that lived in the dreary settlement worked in the enigmatic chasm, covered in ck spots and carrying rusty, heavily-damaged pickaxes in-and-out. Some transported whatever materials seemed to be down there¨Ccoal and ck gems. Such a concept struck Emilio as odd as he walked past the miners, who didn''t so much as blink as they shuffled along. "Who''s demanding all of this stuff, anyway? I mean, what does anybody want coal for when they''re already dead? No offense," he asked. Blimpo chuckled, "None taken. The thing is, you might still be looking at the After in the wrong way¨CI mean that there''s still some form of "living" even here, yeah?" "I guess so." "Even if most people end up like those you see in this settlement, there are plenty like you and me with unbreakable spirits¨Cstill passionately burning with motivation even in death," Blimpo told him, "Those sorts of people end up ruling settlements and creating tasks to put these dreadful souls to work." "Isn''t that kind of vebor?" He asked. "Ha-ha, there''s nothing as convenient asws down here, so call it what you want," Blimpoughed. Approaching the entrance to the chasm, the way down came from multiple sets ofrge, wood-and-steel elevators that worked off of rickety mechanisms that hardly seemed stable. It was definitely not something he felt confident in trusting, though there wasn''t much of a choice as he and the elf waited until one of the croaking elevators rose to the top. A pair of miners pushed out wheelbarrows of coal, leaving the two travelers to board the elevator as it creaked with the weight of their steps. "Err¡­" He felt queasy just standing on the unstable transportation. Within a moment, the wooden railings closed with a rusty mechanism before the elevator began its descent into the chasm. A single nce over the side made his stomach spin as all he could see below was total darkness, traveling directly down into such ominous depths. "Who builds all of this?" He audibly wondered. "Hard to say exactly," Blimpo told him, "Could be the souls in this settlement, or this stuff could''ve ended up here from a forgotten world. The After is a graveyard for everything¨Cno expectations." "Seems like it." The slow descent was just that¨Cslow; an unnerving ride as the elevator continuously made small growls in its rusty mechanisms. Even though it felt less than reliable, the elven tinkerer didn''t seem to have an ounce of worry in his body as he leaned against the elevator with an easygoing smile. Chapter 325 Swimming Through Air "Sure this thing isn''t gonna¡­you know?" He asked worriedly. Blimpo waved his hand, "It''ll be fine! You have to trust the machine or she won''t trust you back." "That sounds unbelievably sketchy," he muttered in response. Either way, it was toote to have his doubts as the elevator was already descended far enough that looking up only allowed him to see darkness above, just as there was below. There was no doubting the far reaches of the chasm as the elevator ridested multiple minutes, leading to depths even deeper into the pits of the After. ¨CThen, it finally stopped. "Looks like we''re here," Blimpo noted. As the elevator touched down onto the ground floor of the enigmatic chasm, the wooden doors released for the two to leave. The moment they stepped off of the rickety transport, it hummed as the gears began grinding again, allowing it to ascend back to the top. He looked up briefly, watching the elevator leave as more came-and-went. It was disheartening to see the method of traveling up-and-down from the chasm leave. CHK. CHK. CHK. It was noisy; the sound of pickaxes smashing against the walls of the deep-down territory echoed against his ears as he looked forward. There were a dozen miners, all monotonously mming their tools against the rock, collecting material as they filled their wheelbarrows. The only light present were a few sparse torches by the miners themselves. "Talk about bad working conditions," he said, coughing at the fumes present in the chasm. "Can''t say it pays well either," Blimpo joked. It was unsettling just how lifelessly the denizens of the After swung their pickaxes, holding no life in their eyes, only moving their arms up and down like soulless machinery. The two slowly marched on by, though to him it almost felt like he was on a tour through the miseries of what existed beyond life. ¡­This is bad. It''s like Blimpo said¡­I can''t linger on anything or I''ll be on a fast track to bing just like these people, he thought. The chasm was vast, but hardly of many notable features but its veins of coal and colossal walls of ckened rock. However, one thing stuck out as odd to the young man as he continued forward down the initial path of the mining area. "Huh." "What is it?" Blimpo looked at him. Emilio looked around briefly before ncing back, seeing and hearing the miners back where he came from, still mming away with their pickaxes, "Why aren''t any of them working down here?" "Hmm, good question," Blimpo considered, "Maybe they just haven''t gotten this far yet." "Maybe. What if there''s some sort of limit to how far they''re supposed to go?" He asked. "Limit?...I don''t know anything about that. Let''s just be on the lookout, then," Blimpo responded. It was somewhat unnerving to only hear the monotonous mining in the far distance behind him as he ventured deeper into the chasm, no longer aided with the light of torches, however, a small bit of light did exist in the form of glowing ore in the walls. The deep caverns stretched out into arge territory, though there was a vague path "forward" that the young man still knew as the proper path from his earlier gaze with his right eye. The air was bitter, every gust in the deep depths howled like the shrieks of forgotten souls, leaving Emilio wary, prepared to respond to any threats at a moment''s notice. "...Creepy," he muttered. "I would say you get used to it in the After, but¡­This chasm really is on another level of spookiness, I''ll agree to that," Blimpo remarked with a nervous smile. Far enough in, the sounds of the miners no longer reached his ears with their echoing pickaxes, now leaving the two in silence for all but their footsteps. An upward slope came, forcing them to climb upward in a tiring effort, though mostly for the elven tinkerer, who used a rope-firing gadget to drag himself up to the summit of the rocky hill. "...Huh." After climbing the slope deep in the chasm, a sightid before both of their eyes that could only be exined as "wondrous"; a nonsensical existence, yet one that was beautiful and unsettling in one package. "What is this?" He asked in shock. "Dunno. This is my first time seeing something like this too," Blimpo responded, just as enamored with the scenery before the two. It was arge, open space deep into the cave, though filled with a subtle glow of azure waves that rippled through the empty space, though that void was filled by the creatures that existed in it: marine life. Though they were clearly marine animals such as schools of fish, squid, and even whales, they swam through the air itself in the mystical chasm. He led the way into the mystical environment, walking on the ground as he watched a school of clownfish "swim" right past him as if they were darting through water. "They''re swimming¡­in the air?" He audibly wondered. "Seems so," Blimpo responded, "Maybe fishe to the After, too? I always thought some level of sentience was required¡­but, well, thinking about it¨CI guess if objects can arrive here, everything is game, huh?" "Makes sense. Still, you''d think they''d be sent somewhere with water," he remarked. Nheless, it was a fascinating experience as he looked up, watching a great, blue-skinned whale casting arge shadow over him as it floated on by. Something of such gargantuan size simply and elegantly swimming through the air itself was certainly a sight. Still, there came a problem with this discovery¨C "Shark!" Blimpo called out. A great-white shark swiftly rushed in from seemingly nowhere, able to swim through the air at a vicious speed as it spread its deathly jaws towards the elven man. "--!" Emilio was quick to react, intercepting the massive predator''s path as he clenched his left fist, allowing the draconic strength within him to flood through his arm before he mmed his knuckles against the nose of therge shark. [Dragon Strike] FWOOM The superhuman impact rippled through the predator''s slippery body before the shock wave itself tore through the shark, reducing its solid form into nothing but a red mist. "...Nice save¡­" Blimpo breathed out, "Dontcha think you went a bit overkill with it, though?" Looking at his own fist, Emilio then noticed the schools of fish fleeing after the loud impact, "Maybe a tad bit. Now we have to worry about sharks on drynd? This really is Hell." "Ha-ha! How do ya think I feel?! I''m d I''ve got you by my side though¨Cyou punch as hard as a Stone Giant!" As Blimpo spoke excitedly, he mimicked Emilio by shadow boxing the air, though was forced to catch up to the young Dragonheart who already began to continue on. "Let''s just keep moving¨C" Attempting to finish his own sentence, he waspletely frozen by a realization before him, staring at the darkness thatid on the path he walked. Blimpo looked confused, "What''s up?" The elven man lifted his goggles, squinting as he looked northward just as the Dragonheart did towards the darkness. What couldn''t be seen purely with vision just yet could be felt¨C RUMBLE All of the fish that swam naturally through the air dispersed, leaving the two young men standing in the open space of the deep, dark cavern. "What''s causing that¡­?" Blimpo asked. "You don''t see that?" Emilio asked, "--What the hell is that?!" In the vision of the young man, he could perceive whatid in the dark, or rather, that far-spanning mass of darkness that made up the entire other half of the cavern was something else entirely. The darkness seemed to move, shadows stretching before it finally becameprehended to the elf''s eyes, "Ya gotta be kidding me¡­! That''s a shark?!" RUMBLE-RUMBLE It felt as though everything was shaking as the lifeform revealed itself; its skin as a jet-ck, matching the shadows themselves, only discernible from the glowing, crimson streaks that ran along its body. Its mouth parted with a width capable of swallowing entire houses, revealing countless rows of teeth each capable of skewering a grown man on their own. Naturally, the two began running, aiming to the left where Emilio had called out a hole in the wall that the colossal shark wouldn''t be able to reach. "Just what kind of shark is that?!" Emilio asked. "Dunno, but I''m not trying to get a closer look!" Blimpo said. Though there was hardly a chance of the elven man outrunning the monstrous creature as it swam through the air fiercely despite its gargantuan size. Shit! Blimpo won''t make it! He realized. ¨CThere was no other choice but for him to meet the creature that dwarfed him one-hundredfold in battle as he spun around and stomped down. "Are ya actually going to fight that thing?!" Blimpo asked. "I''m going to kill that thing!" Emilio corrected him, manifesting sparks and embers around his artificial arm. That fiery confidence originated from the Dragonheart blood he pumped through his veins, rapidly spurring on a transformation. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 2/10 | Dragon Son] If I resort to magic, I could end up toppling down chunks of this chasm right on top of us¨Cfor now, I''m going to need to keep things "controlled"! He nned. Chapter 326 Through The Unknown Cave As the malevolent shark that dwarfed any whale closed in with its mouth parted, nning on swallowing the two like nkton, he leapt up before cocking his fist back. "---!" WHAM A [Dragon Strike] was mmed right against the colossal nose of the scarred shark, unleashing a shock wave that stopped it dead in its tracks. "Damn! You actually stopped it! Ha-ha!" The elven manughed. Not wanting to simply wait around and watch, Blimpo ran around it, using the separated parts in his belt to quickly build a rune cannon before firing at the side of the massive shark''s body. Being repeatedly pelted by fiery sts from the rune-firing cannon, the ck-skinned behemoth iled, mming its tail and fins around as it spurred a great set of rumbles. "Woah¨C!" Blimpo let out, nearly toppling over. There was no doubt that if it continued the way that it was, the malignant leviathan would likely bring the entire cavern down. Recognizing this, Emilio changed his approach, analyzing the battlefield for a moment. Its hide is incredibly tough; that Dragon Strike hurt it, but it didn''t leave anysting damage. Same with the sts Blimpo has been hitting it with. The sort of firepower I''d need to actually bring something like this down would only run the risk of destroying this cave, too. In that case¡­I need something fast and contained, he realized. "Get back!" He called out. Blimpo looked over, "Huh? Okay, ya got it!" As soon as the elven tinkerer was out of the way and the massive predator chased the elf down with an open mouth that carved up the rocky ground in its path, Emilio clenched his fist: "Greater Water Binding!" The invocation manifested itself through chains of solidified water increased in scale to be able to wrap around such an overwhelminglyrge beast, gripping around it tightly. Gotcha! Emilio thought. It iled violently, cracking the rock beneath it as its harrowing teeth were bared with nothing but savage intent. Bring it down¨Cplummet the temperature and embody the winds of winter; encase it forevermore as even in death, it remains stagnant in time, he invoked. Perhaps his most unfamiliar form of magic, he had to focus intently, keeping his eyes closed as he summoned the frost from a distance, imbuing it through the very chains of aqua that held the great beast. Blimpo witnessed it from not too far from the shark, watching the behemoth be frozen solid as frost stretched across its body, "...Ha¡­Ha-ha! Ya got ''im!" It required a lofty portion of mana and a tiring effort, but after a minute, the young Dragonheart exhaled before finishing the spell, looking towards the now frozen-solid, colossal shark. "Phew," he breathed out a frosty breath. Soon after the massive, aquatic beast was dealt with, the After-inhabiting fish returned to swimming in the dank airs of the cavern before the two moved on. "No more of that, please," he sighed. "Still, that was pretty awesome¨CI didn''t know you could use ice magic!" Blimpo excitedly said. He shook his head, "I can''t. All I can do is lower the temperature of water¨Cthat''s the best I can manage. Even with that, it took a huge chunk of my mana to aplish." "You''ll master it no sweat, I''m sure," Blimpo encouraged. "Thanks." Moving through the cave of the air-swimming fish, whatid beyond was an actualke hidden within the depths of the chasm. Perhaps even more perplexing than its existence was the sky of trees hanging from the ceiling; tinum-leaved trees made up the roof, like a silver sky amidst twilight. "Woah," Blimpo looked around. There was a single stretch of rockynd that connected the entrance to the area to the other side, surrounded by nothing but the massiveke of crystal-clear, but dark water on either side. "Howrge is this cavern, anyway?" He asked. "The After is infinite in size, if that answers your question," Blimpo told him, "So this single cavern could even berger than Arcadius." "I''d prefer it if it wasn''t," he responded. "Even if it is, that eye of yours said this was the right way, so there''s an exit somewhere close, eh?" Blimpo told him. "Better be or I''m getting a refund on my lifespan," he sighed. There was a somewhat unnerving sensation while walking along the stone path, surrounded by the ck length of unknown reach; a single fall wouldnd one into unknown depths. It waspletely silent in theke-filled cavern; the water was deathly still, leaving only their footsteps resonating through the area. Crossing into the next spot of the vast chasm, what was found was a room with multiple tunnels to go down, all filled with shadows and no discernable path which was "right". "Oh boy, one of these rooms," Blimpo exhaled, scratching his head. "Is this chasm some sort of deathtrap?...Forget I said that," he remarked. It was certainly a conundrum, considering neither of them were familiar with the deep-dark chasm in the first ce, left with a half dozen options to choose from. For a good half hour, they paced back and forth, discussing possible paths, venturing a bit into each path to see if there was a clear indicator of one being the sure way, but s, nothing made itself clear. "Maybe I should take another look¨CI''d rather not get lost down here," he said, cing his hand over his eyepatch. Blimpo quickly interjected, "Hold on, hold on! Don''t be so willy-nilly with that right eye of yours!" "Do you have any better ideas?" He asked, "I don''t need to remind you that I''m on borrowed time here. If we get lost in this cavern, I''m as good as dead." "Maybe so, but I just have a bad feeling about that eye, ya know? If ya keep relying on it for every answer, you''re going to run dry your life out before you even make it out of here," Blimpo advised him. "Duly noted," he quietly responded. After some consideration, he managed to bring himself to thinking rationally, realizing there was some truth to the words his friend gave him. It''ll be a downward spiral if I really do begin using this power at any given obstacle. Is that what Adam wanted? Did he know this path would force me into relying on it? I won''t buy into it, he decided. "I have an idea," he found himself speaking just as the idea popped into his mind. Blimpo looked at him, "Oh yeah? I was just getting one myself, but if you have an idea, it''s sure as hell better than mine." "What''s yours?" "I was going to blow through these tunnels and turn ''em into one passage," Blimpo told him. "Yeah¡­I think mine might be better," he wryly replied. Exining it to his elvenpanion, he got an exciting response from Blimpo who seemed to advocate for his n heavily, though it was mostly because the man seemed eager to witness what was about to be deployed. I''ve never activated this before¡­For some reason, there was a "fear" etched into me by the Faceless One when it came to this, as if trying to keep me from using it. I only realized it after thatst meeting¨CI think Adam might''ve cleared that effect from me, he thought. "I don''t really know how this works, bute forth¡­Soulbound Spirit!" He invoked. Raising his hand which had the six-pointed seal etched onto it, he finally gave light to the bond ced on his palm. Mana flowed through the seal on his hand, taking a violet glow before a sh of light filled the multi-tunneled room. "It''s working!" Blimpo watched. Standing there was a man in avish suit with long, well-kempt hair of a scarlet shade, cing his hand over his heart and subtly bowing, "Well met, Master. I was wondering when you''d finally rely on us." "Gavill, right?" Emilio asked. A small nod of confirmation from the spirit that was soulbound to the Dragonheart was a breath of relief for the young man who summoned him, not wanting to screw up his first impression. "I''m in a bit of a bind right now, I¨C" He began to exin. Gavill interjected, "I am familiar with the problem at hand. As are the other five of your Soulbound servants." "Really? How?" He raised an eyebrow. "We''re always watching over you, of course¨Cwell, most of the time," the scarlet-haired spirit smiled. "Always¡­watching?" Emilio repeated as a small flush came over his cheeks, "Hey! That''s a breach of privacy!" Of course, the young man was well-aware of what sort of sights would await those that would watch him day-and-night; he wasn''t exactly the most innocent of souls when it came to his private time. Gavillughed, "Worry not, we do not intrude on such matters; you need help figuring which path is the correct one, is it?" "Yeah, that''s about it," he answered. "You happened to summon the right man for the job then. Worry not, Master Emilio," Gavill assured him, turning to face the variety of tunnels. Chapter 327 Ominous Steps The well-dressed, scarlet-haired spirit sped his hands together for a moment as a swirl of light-purple energy gathered around him. It was the first time Emilio witnessed what the spirit soulbound to him was capable of, leaving him enamored in what he was doing. "Come, Owls of The Twilight!" Gavill invoked. All at once, the radiant energy, akin to mana but distinctly different, formed into physical constructions; there were six owls with ck-and-scarlet feathers, all summoned and perched on Gavill''s arms and shoulders. "Woah, you can summon owls?" Emilio remarked in astonishment. The spirit smiled, "These owls share my senses and possess unique traits of their own¨Cthough their proficiency in battle is not needed today," Gavill smiled before waving his arms, casting the owls into flight, "--Go, my twilight avians; find the path that leads out of this cave!" Each of the mystical owls heeded themand from Gavill, choosing a tunnel for their own to fly down and investigate. "Handy," Blimpo said with his hand to his chin. Gavill smiled, "And now we wait. I will inform you once one of my twilight avians finds the proper path." "Sure. Thanks," Emilio nodded with a smile of his own. "No need to thank me, I am d to be of service to you," Gavill responded. Standing there, the red-haired spirit of proper manners kept his eyes closed as his senses linked with the owls. While they waited around for the owls to scope out each and every tunnel, he watched as Blimpo circled around Gavill, who stood like a statue in his linked senses, looking the figure up-and-down as if trying to understand a mechanism. "What''re you doing?" Emilio asked with a raised eyebrow, leaning against one of the rocky walls. Blimpo responded, "I''ve always wanted to see a Soulbound Spirit up close; it''s quite rare, ya know? There''s only been one inventor who''s managed to make tools that utilize spiritual essence. I''d like to make that two inventors." A gadget was pulled from one of the pouches Blimpo wore on his belt, retrieving what looked like a spyss, made of redwood and emerald-engraved steel. "What''s that?" He asked. It was something he''d noticed the elf use on asion, though never thought to ask until he witnessed the inventor peering through it while it was aimed at the statuesque spirit. Blimpo kept looking through it for a few moments more before answering, "It''s an "Ethereal Lens"¡ªwell, a magnified version. It lets you see the flow of mana and spiritual essence." "Really?" "Yeah, try it out," Blimpo happily handed it over. There was no doubt a contagious excitement that exuded from the entric tinkerer even in such dark ces, prompting him to ept the offer as he brought the end of the special spyss to his left eye. "Hmm¡­Oh!" As he peered through it, he aimed the other end at Blimpo, instead of seeing his physical appearance, he instead saw the inner circuits of mana in his body like veins; a steady, calm flow of dim-blue mana distributed itself through the elf''s body. "Neat, ain''t it?" Blimpo chuckled. Looking over at the scarlet-haired spirit, there was definitely a stronger visuality of energy, though it was a spiritual variant; it flowed more as a mist than a calm river like mana, taking a light-purple shade instead. Woah, that''s Gavill''s spiritual essence then? He thought. Bringing his eye away from the Ethereal Lens, he handed it back to the elf, "I can see how thates in handy¡ªespecially for a tinkerer who handles different mana. What does my mana look like?" The question brought an interesting reaction from Blimpo who held a nervous smile, pointing the lens at the young Dragonheart and looking through it. "¡­I''ve checked a few times and it always makes me sweat. I used this on you when we first met when you weren''t looking¡ªthat''s part of why I was so confident I''m partnering with ya against War. I''ve never seen mana like yours," Blimpo exined. What the elf saw on the other side of the special lens when looking at Emilio was a majestic pir of azure mana thatpletely engulfed all that he could see, endlessly swirling, yet unheard. Heat waves contorted the sight of it, yet even as overwhelming as it was, there was no doubt it was sublime. "Really?" He chuckled and bashfully rubbed his own head. Blimpo condensed the spyss before stuffing it back into his pouch, "You''re lucky I''m not a mad scientist or I''d ask to dissect you." "Don''t push it." "Okay, okay," Blimpoughed. It wasn''t soon after the experience with the Ethereal Lens that Gavill''s eyes opened once more as he approached his summoner, "My owls havepleted their surveying." "And?" The scarlet-haired spirit nodded before turning to face the tunnels, pointing out the second one from the left, "You will find the way out of this cavern through that path¡­However, I must warn you of something." "What is it?" He asked curiously. "My owl happened upon something slumbering in the area leading to the exit," Gavill warned, "I must suggest you move with caution." "Thanks¨Creally, you helped a lot," he smiled, "You can go now." Just like that, Gavill nodded and bowed his head before disappearing back into the Astral Realm, leaving the two with their pathway set. "What do you think he found down there?" Blimpo asked. "Dunno, but we''re probably going to find out," he answered, leading the way. All he could hope for was a change in scenery wherever the narrow tunnel led, growing tired of the scent of mmy stone and the musk of whatever creatures had passed through before. It was a monotonous march down the path for an unknown, but gnawing amount of time before they arrived at an entrance to an ominous cavern. There was an unmistakable feeling of "something" lurking beyond; a close listen resulted in perhaps hearing breaths, though it could be tricks of the mind. Either way, the earlier warning from Gavill didn''t fall on deaf ears as he stopped his elvenpanion from entering just yet, "I''m going to create some backup for us," he quietly said. "Gonna summon Soulbound again?" Blimpo asked in a whisper. He shook his head, "Smander. Undyne. Gnome. Sylph." With those four, quietly spoken words, he conjured the four lesser elemental spirits, which brought an intrigued smile on the elf''s lips. "Gnome, Sylph, stay with him," he ordered. The brown and the green spirit followed themand, floating over to the tinkerer who happily epted the support. "Let''s try not to get ''explosive'' right off the bat, alright? If we can avoid a fight, we should. Even if we need to sneak past whatever is in there," he whispered. "Sure, I can be stealthy, too," Blimpo gave a thumbs-up. Though he was hesitant to believe the entric elf could be anything but vtile, he had to ept his words before leading the way, staying crouched down as he quietly walked into the dark chamber awaiting ahead. It took some control, but he managed to use a passive wind spell to cancel out the sound of his footsteps. Something like this was multiple times more difficult to apply to another person, but he did his best to maintain it with Blimpo''s steps as well. ¡­I don''t have endless mana or stamina; if I want to make it out of this realm in time, I can''t take every fight, he thought. He could vaguely see it on the other side of the vast, hollow cavern: a pathway leading upward that held faint light beyond it. However, there was quite a way to cross before reaching it, and it was a trail ofplete darkness. There was something truly chilling about it; quietly and slowly walking through therge, unlit cavern, knowing "something" upied it, or perhaps not, but having no true way of knowing until something made itself clear through that total darkness. All he could really see was the exit, but nothing around him; even ncing back at hispanion who followed closely behind him, he could hardly see Blimpo through the veil of shadows. "Hey, ''Milio¡­" Blimpo''s whisper aimed at him brought him to a stop, though he wanted to flick hispanion for making any sort of noise amidst the ominous cavern. He quietly responded, "What is it? We need to stay quiet and need to stay moving." "Yeah, but, err¡­do ya hear that?" Blimpo asked. It was only when he once more honed in on the silence around him did he hear it: faint, but heavy breaths that carried through the cavern like a dormant wind. There was no doubt that "something" was there; "something" foreboding, and "something" in which they had trespassed into its abode. THUD. THUD. THUD. ¨CFootsteps heavy enough to make the ground he crouched on vibrate beneath his feet with a bone-chilling hum were heard. It was close¨Cfar too close for any sort offort or restraint now. Chapter 328 An Infamous Beast "Smander!" He immediately called to the lesser spirit of fire,manding it with his will to fly up and begin emitting a light that filled the entirety of the dank abode of whatever approached. The sudden burst of light revealed it to him¨Ca sight both confusing and terrifying. It was but a few feet away from him, itsrge, abhorrent face far too close to his own. The creature possessed dark-green, scaly skin with an incredibly long neck that allowed it to lower its head enough to meet the crouched human eye-to-eye. Those eyes of its were maddening; pitch-ck irises that continuously swirled, spiraling like a hypnotic hex of chaos. Curved, swirly horns that looked like branches protruded from its unsightly head. It possessedrge, buck teeth and a humanoid face, yet a body that resembled that of a bipedal dragon with fearsome ws and small, seemingly useless wings stretching from its back. There was a confusingly pleasant smell that gave off from the perplexing beast''s body and breath; like rich, sickeningly sweet candy. Caramel? Chocte? Strawberry? Perhaps all of it, all at once; aplete attack on his sense of smell. What is this¡­? He thought. Almost as if reading his mind, it was Blimpo that jumped up, calling out as sweat dripped from his chin, "--I-It''s him¡­! I heard it upied a cavern, but I didn''t expect it to be this one¡­!" Just then, it unleashed a mix of a banshee''s wail and a roar that emitted with a tremendous force, causing Emilio to stumble back before he moved with the momentum, flipping back to gain distance from the unknown behemoth. "Huh?! What is it?!" He called out. "The Jabberwocky!" Blimpo told him. It was the worst case scenario; intending to avoid conflict, he found the exit from the chasm now blocked by the monstrously huge inhabitant of the cavern as it beared its twisted ws and mangled teeth. Just great. Perfect, he thought tiredly. Just as he took as he moved his arm forward to issue amand to the lesser spirits, he found himselfpletely thrown off. Huh? He thought. Though he definitely pointed his arm in front of him, for some reason, it moved left. As weird of a moment as it was, he tried raising his hand, only for his hand to instead move downward. Huh?! He thought. ¨CThere was something perplexing going on, as if the wiring in his brain had shifted entirely. As he looked to the left, he found himself instead looking upward towards the ceiling; looking to the right brought his gaze down. Hearing the footsteps of the perplexing beast approaching both him and hispanion, he did the only thing he could think to do in the moment, stomping down as he summoned a wall of stone to block the beast''s path for the moment. "Blimpo, can you move?!" He called out. The elf responded, "I can move¡­just not the way I wanna! This is the Jabberwocky''s power! I''ve heard about it!" "It is? What is it?!" He called out. Though they were conversing, it was difficult for them to even look at one another as the motor controls over their bodies waspletely fiddled with. "The Jabberwocky is known as the "Beast of Absent Reason"...It makes you lose control over your senses then preys on you!" Blimpo told him. It wasplete disorientation of the highest degree. In the mind of the young man, the first thing he likened it to was as if all of the controls on a controller were inverted, or worse,pletely scrambled. "Well, isn''t that just a pain in the ass," he mumbled. THUD. THUD. THUD. On the other side of the rocky wall, massive impacts mmed against it repeatedly, causing it to begin being swarmed by cracks as its structure faltered. "''Milio, it''sing!" "I''m well aware!" He responded. There wasn''t a moment wasted in taking action as he summoned the internal heat dormant within him, allowing the scale armor to manifest itself over his armor, even enveloping his metallic arm in its lively protection. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 3/10 | Dragon Warrior] Attempting to take a step forward, he found himself instead moving left, causing him to instinctively try to correct his mistaken step as he moved to the right, which promptly made him move backwards. ¡­Dammit! It''s annoying, but it''s strong! If I can''t adapt, I''ll lose! He thought. Trying to move in any sense while the Jabberwocky mmed against the stone wall, surelying to break it within moments, he was stuck only stumbling in circles, the same as Blimpo. The world spun around him as simply trying to guide his body in any direction left him spinning around without a single clue of how to control his movements; dizziness grew and subsequently, nausea did as well. "''Milio!" The desperate warning came from the elf just as the wall of protective stone was shattered, and stomping in came the grotesque beast with its snapping teeth and shuddering whiskers that extended from its mouth like wiggling tails. Its elongated neck moved like a whip, causing the maddening beast''s head to swirl around as its bulbous body charged towards the Dragonheart, preparing to attack him. Every step of the way, something tries to stop me. What the hell is wrong with everything?! It doesn''t matter¡­I don''t need to move¨Cright now, just do something! Hemanded himself. If there was one thing he was sure of, the ability to manifest magic was unaffected by the alteration of his senses; that was an invaluable asset to him as he summoned his counterattack. "--Back off!" Though he was unable to properly face the iing monstrosity as he stumbled about, he managed to invoke a bludgeoning pir of stone rising from the ground, mming straight into the belly of the beast. There was enough force from the low blow that it knocked the Jabberwocky partially into the air, lifting it from the ground as gargle left its mouth. "Nice!" Blimpo called out. "--Watch out!" It was difficult to keep up while moving his own vision was challenging, only witnessing the monstrous entity spit out a massive spray of steaming liquid straight at the two below. In a swift action, he raised another barrier, conjuring a curved wall of rock for himself and the elf. HISSSSS The liquid sizzled against the stone, managing to chew through it, though it was stopped. Nheless, it was a frightening thing to look out for. "...Good save!" Blimpo thanked. "Just stay put!" Not wasting a moment, the Dragonheart raised another wall around the elven man for protection just as the Jabberwocky shot out tendrils from the pores in its body, anchoring to the ground andnding with a thunderous impact. If my theory is right, then this should work¡­! He thought. Standing his ground, he flexed his entire body, summoning [Draconic Might] in tandem with an aura of healing, washing out any foreign intrusions from his body as he expelled it with the bubbling heat and purification. FWOOSH A brisk shock wave emitted from the propulsion of mana, though as he moved his arms around, looking side-to-side, he found his senses to be returned to normal. "Alright! It worked!" He announced. "Huh? What did?!" Blimpo asked from behind the rock walls. "Don''t worry about it! Just give me a second!" For the moment, he couldn''t quite get to the elf as the Jabberwocky was stomping towards him with its unusual form, spitting out more of its acidic fluids. It tried stamping him out like a bug on the ground, stomping down with its abnormal feet of talons that were webbed together. It hardly felt territorial for its dank, musty cavern of moss and bones, but more malicious towards the young man himself. He repeatedly flipped back as the acidic spit was hurled in his direction, assessing the creature beforeunching an offensive of his own. What was the trigger for disrupting senses before?...All it did was roar out; was that enough? Come to think of it, I think the Verma tribe were capable of magic effects with screaming¡­Is this simr? He questioned while evading the monstrosity. Either way, it seemed more efficient to him to simply grab hispanion and make a run for it to the exit of their of the Jabberwocky, rushing over to where Blimpo was kept. "--!" A shadow briefly loomed over him as the air seemed to halt for a split-second just before¨C THUD ¨CThe Jabberwocky intercepted him from reuniting with his friend,nding down as its cheeks puffed up along with its chest as if sucking in a lofty amount of air. Is it preparing to unleash a scream again!? He thought. The first instinct that came to mind was to utilize wind magic in an incredibly precise manner in one of two options: either to create a sound-negating barrier around his body or to take the air from the Jabberwocky''s lungs. However, both usages of magecraft were vastlyplex to use in the moment without the proper perception to aid him, resulting in¨C "WAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO¨C!!!!!" ¨CThe sound that left the Jabberwocky''s mouth came out like a distorted radio wave, shaking the entirety of the cavern and engulfing the young man in the disorientating attack of sound. Chapter 329 The Jabberwocky This isn''t like the first roar¡­What the hell is this?! He questioned. Before he realized it, the contorted howl echoed in his mind, igniting a feverish sensation throughout his body as the scenery around him crumbled. Though he tried to rationalize that it was a hallucination, the madness of it all left him stagnant. Skies of swirling emerald, trees that curved and expanded, growing continuously into various shapes, and a constantly expanding-and-contracting ground; It was the Jabberwocky''s personal domain of mania. Where the hell did it drag me?...Is this like the Unending Nightmare''s ability? No, it has to be a hallucination, right? He questioned. Nheless, it wasn''t as though he was left alone there, the Jabberwocky itself confronted him, though in its own realm of insanity, it had grown vastlyrger as its green skin turned to a glowing yellow and its swirling eyes were a kaleidoscope of shifting colors. So much for making it through without a fight, he thought. He reinforced himself with further magical energy in caution of whatever tricks may rest in the sleeve of the infamous beast. The moment he moved his hand forward to toss an azure fireball towards the hovering, amalgamated beast, he was suddenly flung into the air. "--Nnh!" Rather than falling down or continuing to rise up, he was violently spun in every direction, making all sense of direction seem imusible to gather. ¡­I''m not ying these games! He thought. "I don''t have time for this!" Through an expulsion of mana, he broke free from the unseen hold, immediately thrusting his fist forward despite the Jabberwocky being some distance away. A projection of his punch came from a construct of reinforced, azure mes, rocketing towards the beast with a massive size. VRRR Before his eyes, he witnessed the strange inner realm of the Jabberwocky transform as a man-faced tree rose from the ground, opening its mouth and swallowing the bright-blue fist he invoked. The human-faced, colossal tree pursed its lips before spitting the ming fist back at the Dragonheart, only it was altered to a fellish, emerald me. "--!" Before it could reach him, he conjured a shield of water in front of him, causing an eruption of steam to ur from the sh. For some reason, his senses kicked into overdrive as he felt something approaching him from behind, quickly spinning around to use a massive st of shredding wind against it, though he found there was nothing behind him. "Huh¡­?" He thought. ¨CIt was felt in his mind; something about the realm was ying tricks on him, there was no doubt about it when considering the nature of the Jabberwocky. ¡­It''s a gamble, but if I want to get out of here quickly, or ever, I''m going to have to overload this ugly freak. If this goes wrong¡­Well, I don''t want to consider that! He thought. Time was of the essence, and that much was made even more clear as he could tangible feel the effects of existing within the maddened beast''s realm; his sanity was being chiseled down, causing irrationality and paranoia as he struggled to hold onto reason. "Let me out¡ª!" Perhaps it was the natural rage of the draconic blood in him, but the sense of urgency along with the simple frustration of having his own senses fiddled with caused any restrained to be peeled back. In that moment, a sublime heat filled the entirety of the realm of insanity; the emerald skies were overtaken by winds carrying the Dragonheart''s bright-blue mes. If the realm would try to manipte itself in order to deny his attacks, then he would simply produce so much heat that there was no way around it; perhaps a foolish n, but one that had merit to it when wielding such reservoirs of power. ¡­Annoying! This is annoying! He thought. ¨CIt was the Dragonheart''s rage that fueled his mes as he spun and weaved them into a spiraling cone of ming hell, pointing it towards the twisted and repugnant Jabberwocky that stayed afloat in the maddened realm. There was a massive strain required to condensed and weave such a quantity of mes into a tangible shape, pointing it directly towards the buck-toothed, bipedal monster, yet itspleted shape resembled that of a horizontal tornado of bright-blue inferno. [Dragonheart: Hell''s Gambit] "Take this¡ª!" Unleashing it forth, he cast the spiraling me of death through the chaotic space, carving through the twisted valley as nothing could stand in the way of the hungering inferno. Though it was hardly an intelligent n, there was no doubt it was effective as the Jabberwocky''s realm struggled to hold back the draconic sea of mes. "KA! KA! KA! KA! KA!" From the Jabberwocky''s mouth, it emitted a strange, booming sound while repeatedly mming its teeth together in a skin-crawling fashion. "Ngh¨C!" It was a sound that prated his ears and rang through his skull, vibrating violently as he could feel the disorientating noise echoing from within his own head. What is it¡­doing?! He questioned. The sensation was akin to a hammer repeatedly bludgeoning his skull, mming down over and over again with a vibration that sent his senses haywire; it was simply¨Cmaddening. Maddening. Maddening. Maddening. "Auuurgh¡­!" Any control over his motor functions were simply fumbled, if not disabled entirely, as the chaotic realm spun around him and his sense of bnce flipped itself to-and-from repeatedly and sickeningly. It''s in my head!...It''s in my head! I can hear its voice¨CI can feel it! It''s gnawing away at my sanity! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! He thought. There was no doubt now given to the validity to the beast''s infame; it didn''t even seem to attack him right away, allowing him to stew in the madness of its echoing, screeching call as he stumbled around on the uneven ground. It was a foe that surpassed the standard perceptions of strength; a power that bypassed physical might and trespassed natural defenses¨Can attack on the mind that overwhelmed. Attempting to conjure his mes, he found himself only lobbing fireballs and spewing streams of fire in random directions without ever seeming to hone in on the Beast of Absent Reason; there almost seemed to control over the maddening effect, as if the twitching and noises made by the Jabberwockymanded the reverberating demerit. It brought him to his knees; a fever flooded his body as his head felt as heavy as a boulder upon his shoulders, stirring in a sickness in his stomach as he fought against the urge to heave the bile from his interior. I need to break out of this; the only way I can do that is if I strike the source, he thought. All he could do to mitigate the effects of the Jabberwocky''s howl was jolt himself with a vtile charge of his own internal mana; it was akin to using a defibritor against his own chest as if restarting his heart¨Cthe charge of mana pumped through his body and diminished the Jabberwock''s sickening influence. Complicated thoughts only began jumbled in his mind; arranging such fluttering thoughts through the fog of the Beast was no different than trying to assemble the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. It was a tangible sensation¨Cthe degradation of his own sanity, whisking away like steam from a boiling pot. Focus, Focus, Focus! He thought simply. The Jabberwocky began an assault at least, seeming to do so only once he had reached a certain stage of degraded thought, tossing flying boulders that rained down from the sky as he sprinted forth, flipping around to dodge the descending debris. There was far too much of it; the long-necked beast of crooked teeth and disgustingly sweet odor manipted balls of rock telepathically, only tapping its feet against the ground with continuous rubble as it continued its meteor shower upon him. Even with absent sanity, he enveloped his sword in wind, forsaking precision and unleashing sharp gusts that split each rock that came his way as he progressed closer and closer to the beast. Win, win, win! He thought, repeating in his mind. ¨CIfplex thoughts couldn''t be forged in his broken mind, then all he had to do was embody the necessity for victory; the desire for triumph; the obligation to survive. It was this almost primal way of thinking that allowed the Dragonheart blood to flow and pump with a draconic vigor freshened and sharpened. Every step he took rushing forth, he left a trail of azure mes in the shape of his footsteps, causing the Jabberwocky''s realm of madness to begin burning as he closed in, even being hit by some of the thrown rocks, but relentlessly stomping forward nheless. It was through this deprivation of sanity that new techniques spurred, unhindered by doubt and restraint and bolstered by chaos¨C [Dragonheart: Laughing Wyverns] As he jumped up, he shot his hand forward just as the Jabberwocky spewed a beam of fellish energy from its mouth, intercepting it with a dozen, enormous serpentine dragons of azure mes that cackled, continuously moving their jaws up and down with sizzlingughter. Each of the wyverns of fireughed out, breathing mes that curved and wriggled in unorthodox angles, making itpletely unpredictable as they whipped around and managed to strike the body of the Jabberwocky. "Rraaagh!" The Jabberwocky howled in pain. It was through the absence of sanity that he moved without the chains of rationality weighing him down, forgoing all doubt and instead only sending himself forward as he ran across the continuously shifting ground. Chapter 330 Realm Of Insanity Mouths formed along the moss and stone, attempting to gobble him up with each step he took, but he moved too swiftly for such an oue. "Let me out! Let me out! Let me out¡ª!" As he leapt up, meeting the wriggling horror face-to-face, he prepared a lofty sum of azure mes, concocted of desperation and madness in that moment. [Dragonheart: The Jaws That Snap] Conjured from the zing heat were the jaws of a colossal dragon; no facial features, only teeth that tore and squeezed,rge enough even to wrap around the massive Jabberwocky before mming shut. [Level Up!] [Level Thirty-Two Achieved.] [New Skill(s) Acquired: me Hardening] In that same moment, he found himselfnding back down in the dank cavern, freed from the rift of madness as his sanity rebuilt itself swiftly. "I made it¡­out?" He asked himself, holding his own head. To his surprise, the beast that weaved madness still lived, even at that, the sanity-depraved technique he used only left bite marks upon its flesh, but no mortal wounds that should exist. I leveled up from it though¡­Did I only kill an aspect of it? He questioned. "''Milio!" Running up to him, the elven tinkerer huffed, seeming frantic and in a hurry, though the Dragonheart was stilling to after briefly running on only the fumes of sanity. "What happened?! The Beast screamed then you both just went¡­Poof! I mean, really, some spooky stuff! I thought you were a goner there for a moment," Blimpo asked. "I don''t even know how to put it into words¡­" Emilio responded. Stomping its feet, the Jabberwocky cried out again with its voice that shook the cavern by its seams. "--Let''s get outta here while our feet are still listenin'' to us!" Blimpo said. "Best idea you''ve had all day!" Emilio responded. It was Emilio that ushered in a burst of strength, kicking off of the ground with a swift dash as he carried the elf by the back of his shirt, shooting both of them through the exit of the dank cave. "Phew!" "Wah!" ¨CIn unison, the two let out breaths of relief after escaping the abode of the Beast of Absent Reason; an encounter that weighed more than just physical exhaustion, certainly felt most by Emilio who had to sit for a moment. Thend beyond the exit of the Chasm was something remarkable in its own right, though remarkably unsettling was more than likely the way Emilio would describe it. It was a branch of solemn rock, like a thin mountain with a topyer of soulless, gray sand, creating a path neighbored by crooked trees that stretched from the side of the narrow mountaintop, surrounded by a sea of abyssal water. "Is all of the water in this ce ck?..." He noticed while sitting there, regaining himself. Blimpo caught his breath as well, "Pretty much. The After doesn''t do much to sustain life, and well, normal water is life itself, in a way." "I''d say that makes sense, but I''d be lying. Nothing in the After really makes any sense to me¨Cnot a single moment of it since I''ve been here," he said. It was a quiet moment taken, and one certainly needed after the loud encounter with the Jabberwocky; they both watched the abyssal water swish and move subtly, though nothing could be seen beneath it. "That''s because you''re looking at the After from a perspective of life, when it operates on the perspective of death; inherently, life doesn''t make sense here. It''s a concept that doesn''t exist¨Cor at least¡­It shouldn''t naturally," Blimpo told him. "Am I an exception then? From what I''ve gathered, I''m basically existing on some sort of threshold: one foot in the After, one foot still in the realm of the living," Emilio said. "Exceptions are cool," Blimpo responded. "Doesn''t help me," he sighed. As they returned to their feet, it was time to continue their journey as they crossed the sand-nketed, narrow mountaintop within the nebulous corners of the After, surrounded by the ever-present sea of the abyss on both sides. "So, question," Emilio said. "Yeah?" Blimpo looked up at him, walking behind as he tookrge stomps as steps, making sure he didn''t slide from the loose sand. Emilio looked side-to-side, seeing only the pitch-ck water as far as he could see, "What happens, if say, one were to¡­fall into those waters?" "Oh, that would definitely be bad¨Cvery, very bad! In fact, I heard it''s a fate worse than death¨Cand that''sing from the depressed souls living here in the After!" Blimpo answered, "As curious as I am, even that is something I wouldn''t dare venture into." "That didn''t answer my question really¡­but I''m assuming it''s not too good," he replied. Either way, he took more careful steps as the ck water definitely didn''t bode well for any sense of safety. It seemed this is what a lot of the After was: vast, treacherous regions that mainlyid silent and devoid of any other souls, yet held boundless histories of their own. There was no doubt in his mind that the After was a ce he''d be curious to explore if he had the proper time and mindset¨Call of it was quite a curiosity to him. If it wasn''t the abyssal waters, then it was the creatures that inhabited it, though the Primordials and beasts like the Jabberwocky were definitely existence he would prefer not to encounter. "What even was that thing, anyway?" He asked, "The Jabberwocky, I mean." "You''ve never heard of it? I guess it makes sense that a in monster wouldn''t be too talked about on Arcadius, actually," Blimpo said, "The Jabberwocky used to be a pretty high-end threat in Vasmoria, I think. It was said that there were always adventurers returning, left without their sanity andpletely mad¡­For a while, nobody knew what was going on." "It seems like somebody caught on, seeing as it''s now upying the afterlife," Emilio remarked. Blimpoughed, taking careful steps across the sand-covered path, "You can say that, for sure. From what I''ve heard, the one that slew the beast was "Ajax, The Supreme"--Vasmoria''s terrifying general." "Ajax?" He muttered. It was definitely the first he''d heard of such a name, especially one holding such a lofty title, though there wasn''t much time to think of it as he reached the end of the sandy path, having to walk up a steep slope to what awaited next. After picking himself up over the slope, he turned back, extending his hand down to hispanion, "C''mon." "Thanks," Blimpo epted his hand before being hoisted up. As they both reached the top of the sandy slope, what upied the region before them was finally seen¨Ca sight that definitely left both in awe for a moment. "Woah, that''s¡­" Emilio began to say. It was colossal; an oval-shaped tower that existed like a monument amidst the abyss, with slowly moving rings that orbited around it. There was no doubt the structure was mystical in origin, but he recognized what it may have been. "...An oval tower. This is what Adam mentioned to me," he recalled. "Really?" Blimpo looked over at him. He nodded, "He said something about¡­being able to find more help there with those I''m familiar with? I don''t know what he meant by that, but I''d say more help isn''t a bad thing." "I agree," the elven man nodded. Though walking across the field of soulless sand that existed around the Oval Tower almost made him doubt if it was necessary as there was an odd feeling that drove itself into the pit of his stomach while looking upon the nebulous structure. Just what is this ce, really? I know Adam is "on my side", at least in some way, but¡­anything that something like him rmends, well, I should have my doubts, he thought. The closer he got, therger the Oval tower appeared to him, disying its vast size, made out of sleek, dark-gray steel that was left without a single scratch or dent in its immacte shape. "Is it just me¡­or does this ce reek of¡­the total creeps?" Blimpo shudders, trying to shake off the unsettling vibes gotten from the structure. "I feel you. There is definitely something about this ce," he agreed. It wasn''t seen until he reached the front of the tower itself that a door revealed its existence to him, cutting into a circr outline of a threshold before opening an entrance into the mysterious structure. All that could be seen past the door into the Oval tower was a room guided by the light of silver torches and a cold air that left from the interior. "After you," Blimpo said jokingly, but notpletely falsely. "Fine," he sighed. Entering first, he immediately felt his body brushed by the chilly winds existing within the tower, looking around to find himself walking on what felt like porcin tiles. It seemed muchrger on the inside, though there wasn''t much point in questioning it as such concepts seemedmon in the mysticism of the After. "Brrr," Blimpo followed in, rubbing his own arms for warmth, "Why''s it always gotta be so cold everywhere?" "Maybe you should wear a shirt, heard it helps," he responded. "Yeah, yeah, point taken," the elf replied. Chapter 331 The Curator Of Souls There wasn''t much of note on the ground floor of the mysterious tower, only washed-out paintings and hieroglyphics present on the wall, which led him to approach the curving stairs that led up to the next floor. "You sure about this, ''Milio?" Blimpo asked, hesitantly following him up the stairs. It was definitely a sign of something being creepy beyond just superficial means if the elven tinkerer himself presented doubts that bypassed his incredible curiosity, so signs of worry weren''t merely rejected by Emilio. He nodded, "Adam told me toe here, and Adam is on our side¨CI think. If I can get help from this, then I''ll take it." "Yeah, that makes sense," Blimpo agreed, swallowing his hesitations. Arriving upon the next floor of the nebulous tower, he found himself entering quite the questionable room as he stepped in, looking around curiously as what was stored there: tanks filled with unknown, gray liquid, and inside of it were inhuman creatures that certainly piqued his curiosity. "What''s all of this¡­?" He quietly questioned. There were almost countless amounts of these creature-containing tubes that stored the creatures, expanding into a vast chamber of skin-crawling intrigue. "Woah! Totally weird¡­Totally awesome," Blimpo remarked in interest, cing his hands up against one of the tubes as he looked closely. "I don''t know if ''awesome'' is the word I''d use, but yeah," he said, inspecting the room as well. It was hard to even decipher just what some of the dormant creatures were, but they were most certainly "alive", at least in the way that made most sense for those that were already dead. Peering closer at one of the peculiar tubes, he found what looked like a goblin with ws and fangs, padded with fur and a snout to boot. A goblin and¡­a wolf mix? What the hell is going on here? He questioned. There wasn''t really any part of him that wanted to find out what sort of creature an amalgamation like that would turn out to be, though it was clear his sentiment wasn''t shared by his elvenpanion. Blimpo repeatedly poked and tapped on the ss tubes that held various experiments, almost as if trying to wake up the slumbering horrors. "If you cause any of these things to break loose, I''m not helping you out," he sighed. "Don''t worry, ha-ha. It seems to me like they''re put into some sort of artificial hibernation¨Csorta, like totally asleep," Blimpo assured him. "If you say so," he replied. It was an unsettling existence; the tubes of amalgamations, though it wasn''t anything surprising considering the nature of the very realm he upied. Nheless, it didn''t make him very excited to meet the figure that the Primordial guided him to. "Come on, let''s keep moving," he led the way. "Sure," Blimpo nodded. The next set of stairs led to another floor, which just about anything would be a moreforting scenery than the dormant creatures. It wasn''t as though the tower was silent; there was a slight hum in the air, seeming to originate from the mana-empowered torches and tubes that held the creatures of the previous floor. "...Hm," he arrived at the next floor. The sight before him was definitely surprising, to say the least; it was an archive, or more apparently to him, a vast library that shelves as tall as buildings, stretching far and wide, filled with countless books that were all perplexing in appearance. Each of the books that housed the enormous shelves seemed to bear a slight, emerald glow as if iid with mystical energy. "Woah," Blimpo remarked. "''Woah'' is right," he agreed. Even the air itself spoke of how ancient and engulfed in archaic forces the emerald library was; he couldn''t help but curiously walk between the aisles of colossal bookshelves, looking up as books could be seen as high up as he could view. "What do you think these books are? I mean, there''s an endless amount of them," Blimpo asked. "No idea, but¨C" "These books are not for reading." Before he could even answer, they were both interrupted in their conversation as a presence made itself known with words emitted by a feminine voice. The sudden existence of another being instinctively brought Emilio''s hand to the handle of his sheathed sword, standing ready. It wasn''t something neither him nor Blimpo noticed until just then; a rollingdder that moved along the colossal shelves moved closer, lowering itself from the towering height it stood as the speaker revealed themself. ¨CA woman, dressed in a ck dress that ended in a long, silver ir with illustrious, silken hair of the same, tinum shade stood on thedder, holding one of the subtly glowing books. Though she seemed human at a nce, through her snow-white skin and maidenly appearance, there was undoubtedly nothing human about those eyes of hers that had the cosmos iid within them. "Who''re¡­?" He began to ask. "You''re Emilio Dragonheart, and behind you is the elf named Blimpo¡­Yes, the Progenitor did inform me you two would be arriving at my archive," the woman said, stepping down from thedder as her somber, ck dress swayed, "I am the Curator of Souls, Hecate." It was as the silver-haired woman of smooth, blemish-free skin greeted him directly, stepping in front of him without an ounce of fear in those timeless eyes despite his on-guard stance, that he realized just what sort of being she was. She''s¡­huge, he thought. The one who named herself "Hecate" towered over him by nearly double his height despite her initially lithe appearance, prompting him to gulp as he moved his hand from his sword. "Curator of Souls¡­Yeah, Adam told me toe find you," he exined, finding it difficult to look eye-to-eye with the woman while speaking, "...He mentioned something about finding ''familiar allies'' from you." For a moment, she merely looked down at him with her inhuman eyes before turning towards the bookshelf, cing the book she held into its proper ce as she responded, "I was told such as well, yes." "So, you''ll help us?" He asked. "I have no care for your wish to leave the After, Emilio Dragonheart," Hecate told him, "However, to your fortune, Adam and I our kindred spirits in one regard; we both possess an insatiable thirst for knowledge¨Ceach and every strand of it. That''s why I am interested to see if you can pull it off; escaping the After, that is." "Then that means¡­?" Hecate almost seemed annoyed as he continued to press for a straight answer, intercepting his words almost immediately, "Yes, I will assist you, Emilio Draognheart. However, my aide does note without effort on your part. "What do you mean?" He asked. While they spoke, Blimpo remained silent, certainly intrigued by the very existence of the archive and the woman who oversaw it; Hecate continued organizing the bookshelves, using the magically extendingdder to do so while speaking. "All of these books that you see around you¨Cthese are not pages that are read by the eyes of mortals," Hecate exined, "Each of these books is a Soul''s Mark; the history of that soul, who they are, and an anchor." "Anchor?" "Yes; it''s with these books that you can summon the soul inscribed within it, no matter where they may exist within the boundless reaches of the After," Hecate told him, "This is how I will assist you; the souls of those you''ve known, who have passed to the After¡­I will allow you to call upon them in this journey." Such words brought him still for a minute as he processed what was being told to him, but little by little, his mind wrapped around it, realizing just what was being offered to him. "Souls I''ve known? You don''t mean¡­" He began to say. "It''s exactly as you believe; those you once knew can help you once more on this journey. However, this is not something that wille easy," Hecate said. "Yeah?" The tall, silver-haired woman ran her lithe fingertips along the spine of one of the dormant books, seeming to look at each soul-containing book with a look of kindness. "You will need to find the books containing the souls of those you wish to have aid you. I will not aid you in this endeavor," Hecate said. Blimpo spoke up for the first time, seeming to only be able to stay silent for so long, "Hey! Why not?! You said you''d help us out, right?! This library is enormous¨Cthere''s no way we''d¨C" "Silence," Hecate red at the elven man. That single word was infused with some sort of ancient magecraft, forcing Blimpo to abide by it as no sounds could escape his lips in protest. Emilio was surprised to see this, though it was only a temporary effect as Blimpo sighed out after a few seconds, regaining his breath. "I am not neglecting to aid you out of spite; there is a reason you must do this yourselves," Hecate told them both, "The souls anchored into these books¨Ctheir history, essence, and desires¨Cit is necessary for the one who seeks their aid to discover them for themselves. An insufficient will can only result in an endless search; it is a curse bestowed upon me¨Ca binding spell that prevents me from searching for books for others." Chapter 332 Unfriendly Friend Despite the woman''s otherworldly appearance and demeanor, it seemed at the very least she was more "human" than a being like the Progenitor; though that was hardly aparison that meant much. "Oh, I see, then¡­Well, any tips?" He asked. "''Tips''?...Ah, yes. Do not recklessly open any of the Soul''s Marks; it is important that you must know that the aspects of souls bound to these books are often quite violent and unstable. It takes many years for them to stabilize on their own," Hecate warned. "Wait, what? I''m lost here," Emilio said. "Me too," Blimpo nodded. It seemed as though the keeper of the soul-storing library was one that seldom appreciate prolonged conversation as she continued fixing the shelves before responding: "Upon opening a Soul''s Mark, the soul stored within it will materialize¨Coften, these souls are aggressive as their minds have not yet adapted to the After," Hecate told them, "You will need to locate those you seek and ''stabilize'' them throughbat. As to how to find these specific souls¡­Here." Materializing out of thin air between the pale fingers of the tall woman was an emerald bookmark, which she bestowed to Emilio, who epted it. "A bookmark?" He said quietly, inspecting the item. Of course, the elven tinkerer was intrigued by it as well, as he was with just about any item that he was unfamiliar with as he flicked his goggles on and looked at it intently. "...Well, it''s definitely some sort of mystical tool," Blimpo remarked. "I could tell you that," he responded. Before he could even try to ask the Curator of Souls what to use the bookmark for, he looked up to find that the silver-haired woman had already left, vanishing without a trace. "Looks like we''re on our own now," Blimpo said. "And I still don''t have a clue what we have to do," he sighed. "Wing it," Blimpo told him. ¨CIt was dumb advice, but likely appropiate considering the confusion andck of time they had to think it over. The library of soul-containing books was far too vast, truthfully; there were too many rows of books to count and far too many shelves to upy one space. "Who''re you going to look for here?" Blimpo asked. A question he should''ve expected, though as it was asked, he found a lump forming in his throat as just the thought of it spurred feelings he didn''t foresee. He stopped for a moment after a short walk between the shelves. "...Well, there''s a few people thate to mind," he said, "Three, in fact. One is a friend I made in Larundog¡­Joel; he should be here." "Oh, you told me about him¡­Yeah, that''s a good choice," Blimpo said. "Then my former mentor¨CVandread; he''s strong and wise¨Chaving him on this journey with us will be invaluable. Though, having to fight him first to ''stabilize'' his soul doesn''t sound like a fun idea¡­" He noted, gently squeezing the emerald bookmark. Fortunately, he had already told Blimpo practically his entire life story when they were undergoing the trial of the Progenitor, so there wasn''t much exining he had to do. Still, Blimpo seemed excited at the idea of meeting Emilio''stepanions. "The third one, is it¡­?" Blimpo put his hand to his chin. He nodded, "The other person like me I mentioned¨CAsher; he''s somebody that reincarnated from Earth to Arcadius as well. He''s incredibly strong and knowledgeable as well, though¡­" "What is it?" Blimpo asked. "Defeating him is going to definitely be a difficult task. I don''t remember it very well, but when I was in Parmesus, I totally lost control and took some sort of¡­monstrous form. Asher managed to put me down while I was in that state," Emilio told him, "He''s powerful." "Sounds like it," Blimpo said. The idea of having to fight hispanions in order to stabilize their souls was not a pleasant one, especially with how fresh the pain of loss still felt to him in regards to them. "I''m stronger than I was, though. I won''t fail," he said, assuring both Blimpo and himself as he looked down at his own hand. "We won''t fail," Blimpo corrected him. Strolling through the seemingly endless library of stored souls was certainly a chilling experience; there was a sensation that gave off from the emerald books, as if the ghostly presences were all there. "...Hm." He kept the emerald bookmark raised in front of him, not knowing exactly how to use it, but giving his best guess on what it was used for. "Joel," he whispered. ¨CThe quiet name given to the bookmark did in fact seem to work as the word that left his lips imbued itself into the subtly-glowing, green object, causing it to wriggle out of his own hand suddenly. "--Ah!" He reacted, letting go of it. "Woah, it''s moving on its own now!" Blimpo witnessed. The emerald bookmark flew straight out of his mind, hovering in front of his eyes before it began flying forward. It was a stunning sight that left them both agasp for a moment at the unexpected development. "Follow it!" He called out. It certainly wasn''t waiting for them as it sped through the aisles of books, forcing them to run after it as it rapidly flew around corners, taking sharp angles; Emilio didn''t have an issue following, but Blimpo nearly crashed into a shelf after taking a hard turn. "--!" Arriving at a new set of shelves, this time organized in a different fashion as the bookshelves were set in a circr shape like walls, he found the emerald bookmark stopping before one of the Soul''s Marks sitting on a shelf. "Is this it?" He quietly asked. As he approached, he slowly removed the glowing book from its ce before also taking the bookmark back. Holding the emerald book in his hands, it was cold to the touch; the casing was made out of a metallic material, making it somewhat heavy. Is this your Soul''s Mark, Joel¡­? He questioned. Looking at the book, it stirred up painful memories as he held the very object that held the soul of his fallen friend. "--Didja find it?" Blimpo finally caught up, huffing and leaning against one of the shelves to take a breather. Though he didn''t respond right away, he nodded, turning to face his elvenpanion. "I think I''ll handle the fighting alone, if you don''t mind," he said. "Oh? That''s fine with me¨CI get it," Blimpo smirked, "Do your thing, ''Milio." "Thanks," he smiled and nodded. It wasn''t as though he believed his elven friend would get in the way or anything like that, but when it came to having to fight his fallen friend, it felt as though this was something he should handle for himself. Even though he was told what would happen upon opening a Soul''s Mark, he didn''t quite understand what he should expect when opening it, as in, how the soul itself would manifest before him. Preparing himself, he breathed in-and-out before slowly parting the book open; even before it was fully opened, a vibration emitted from between its pages as it began to be unsealed. As it was opened, an emerald light filled his vision, blinding him as a new sensation overtook his body. "--!" What is this? He questioned. Coming to as he blinked, having his vision slowly return, he found the book was gone from his hands, now standing in apletely different, isted chamber of emerald steel in a dome shape. It was disorientating to go from one ce to another so suddenly, but his focus was stolen from the abnormal discement to the other person who upied the chamber. That head of silver hair was impossible to mistake, along with the bandana he wore on his head and the sword at his hip. "...Joel¡­" Emilio called out. It was as he said the name of his dearly missed friend that the figure turned around to face him; though it was unmistakably Joel, the emerald eyes he held were faded out and his expression was solemn; a far cry from his energetic self. "It really is you," Emilio quietly said. ¨CAs he took a step forward, prepared to embrace his passed friend, he stopped dead in his tracks as the sound of steel leaving a scabbard met his ears; Joel drew his sword from its sheath, pulling it out and pointing it directly at him. "Huh?" He let out. Though he knew what it was he had to do beforeing in, being on the receiving end of such malicious intent from the one he knew as a friend simply felt disheartening. ¡­Right. This is what I came here to do¨Cthe Curator told me this is how it would be¡­Just don''t think too hard about it, he thought. Removing his own sword from its sheath, he prepared himself as he faced off against his old friend, waiting for an opening before¨C "--!" Joel dashed forward suddenly, taking the offense as he spun around and unleashed a heavy sh in his direction. CLANG Sparks flew in the air as their des collided; even if Joel presented such aggression, the advantage of strength was undoubtedly in the Dragonheart''s favor as he pushed the silver-haired man away. As Joelnded on his feet, he spoke for the first time, spewing a yell from his lips, "Emilio¡­!" "Huh?..." Emilio was caught off-guard, not expecting to be spoken to. "It''s because of you that I died¡­! It''s because of you that my sister died in Larundog, too!" Joel yelled before rushing back in. Chapter 333 Soul Stabilized "It''s because of you that I died¡­! It''s because of you that my sister died in Larundog, too!" Joel yelled before rushing back in. As their des crashed against one another once more, Emilio ced his foot down firmly while pushing back against the silver-haired man''s sword, "What''re you talking about?! Melisande is alive!" "Lies!" Joel screamed. The rage infused in that scream along with the anger fueling the unstable soul was felt through the shaking steel that the silver-haired figure wielded. Emilio was about to push him back again, but this time, Joel instead flipped back before dashing in once more with relentless aggression, wildly swinging his de with incredible speed. "--!" Forced on the defensive, Emilio blocked the iing strikes with his de, but quickly found himself being overwhelmed by both the ferocity of Joel''s attacks and their precision; it wasn''t just that his own sword skills had diminished with the inclusion of his artificial arm, but that Joel himself was skilled in such a way he hadn''t realized until then. With a frontal kick, he knocked Joel away, giving himself some space for a moment. This is how strong you are, Joel?...It doesn''t matter; I won''t use magic to beat you. If a sword is what you want, a sword is what you''ll get, he thought. There was no doubt in his mind that he could achieve a swift victory with the usage of magic or his Dragonheart System, however, he felt it was necessary to confront Joel on an equal ying field. Perhaps it was his own internal desire to be reprimanded for allowing him to die amidst the Larundog incident, or perhaps it was some odd sense of pride; either way, he faced his friend with an open heart. "Melisande is alive, that''s not a lie," he said, "but¡­You''re right. I could''ve done more to prevent you from dying. Still, what''s done is done. You need to ept that." "Nngh¡­" Joel growled, "Shut up¨C!" The physical prowess of Joel was nothing to sneeze at as he sprinted with enough speed to cause the air to vibrate, though it seemed to be a subtle enhancement of wind guiding his agility. Even so, it almost felt calming to be able to face histe friend, even if it was a bitter reunion at the moment. You''re strong, Joel. I can see where Melisande gets it from, he thought. With nothing but his sword, he shed against Joel once more, this time attempting to take control of the offense as he struck first, continuing his momentum with a flurry of shes. While there was no part of him that wanted to inflict harm on his friend, he was able to think rationally¨Che knew what needed to be done. Though he initially held the momentum, Joel was able to intercept his repeated assault with his own rapid swings, possessing an innate talent for speedy strikes as the nature of wind naturally blessed his swordy. It was something he recalled from his initial meeting of Joel, but he could sense it firsthand now. Breaking through the guard of the silver-haired man, he unleashed a sh against his chest, cutting through the fabric of his tunic and leaving a gash on his torso. "Ghh¡­!" Joel winced. Crimson fluid sprayed out from his chest, falling onto the ground as Joel dropped to a knee, holding his wound as he gasped in pain. "Are you going to kill me again¡­?!" Joel said. He found it harder to act when the friend he lost was instead helpless and wounded rather than attacking him, though he steeled his resolve and gripped the handle of his sword tightly. "Just this once," he quietly answered. Driving his sword through the chest of the unstable version of Joel, he drove the chaotic forces out of him, unraveling the vicious soul as emerald light left the silver-haired man''s body like evaporating liquid. Just as he finished the deed, he once more found himself blinded by light before returning to the room he initially came from, no longer holding the emerald book in his hands. "--" "''Milio! I was wondering what happened¨Coh, looks like it worked out?" Blimpo rushed over. Emilio was left dazed for a moment, looking around as he found his sword was still in its sheath, but instead he found something else now in the library beside him: "Nngh¡­" Quietly groaning, the silver-haired man was kneeling down, holding his head as if he suffered a gnarly headache. "Joel," he said softly. He didn''t know what to expect, certainly not after the vicious encounter and certainly not after how they hadst seen one another¨Cit felt like an eternity ago. Joel looked up at him, blinking with those emerald eyes that had their sparkle returned to them, "Emilio¡­? So, that really was you? Man, I barely remember a thing, except¡­I was really, really mad for some reason. It seems like you helped me out, though." A hand was extended down from Emilio to Joel, helping the bandana-wearing man to his feet as he smiled. Though Joel was confused about the circumstances of Emilio''s presence there, everything was exined, from how he died and to how he was going to be able to escape. "I see¡­If that''s the case, I''ll help you out then," Joel nodded with a smile. "Really?" He asked. "Of course! You told me you''ve been looking after Melisande, right? It''s the least I can do to repay you for that¨Creally, that''s a priceless thing you''ve done for me, Emilio," Joel assured him, patting him on the shoulder. It was as though a gap in his heart had been filled after hearing such words from the friend he felt he failed, only able to nod and smile as he felt tears would leave his eyes if he tried speaking. "I''m Blimpo, by the way! World''s best tinkerer¨Cwell, I guess I''m not in Arcadius anymore," Blimpo introduced himself with a chuckle, extending his hand to Joel. Joel epted his hand with a firm shake, "Joel¨Cd to meet you. I can count on one hand the amount of elves I''ve met, but you''re certainly different from the rest¨CI just mean¡­There''s usually this ''air'' to them." "Pompous?" Blimpo asked. "I didn''t want to say that, but yeah," Joel admitted. Blimpoughed, "No, don''t worry, I feel ya!" It was relieving for Emilio to watch the two get along as he led the way through the library again, holding the emerald bookmark between his fingers as he decided on who to search for next. Both Vandread and Asher will be difficult to beat¡­There''s no doubt about that. Even if Vandread doesn''t have his Undying Blood anymore, he''s the most skillful person I''ve met¡­Which is why I should confront him now, he decided. Bringing the mystical bookmark close to his lips, he spoke the desired name, "Vandread." Once more, the object took flight, guiding him to the location of the sought after Soul''s Mark as he began following it with a light sprint, prompting the twopanions behind him to follow suit. This time, it was a much longer trail to find the Soul''s Mark rted to Vandread, having to run for a few minutes, frequently turning corners and even ascending steps that led to a higher portion of bookshelves. ? ''It''s up here?'' He thought. It was remarkable just howrge of a ce it was, though it made sense considering that it was likely the location all souls came when first passing¨Cit seemed he was the exception, in that case. "So, I came from one of these books? That''s kinda¡­" Joel said while following behind, looking around at the shelves. Blimpo chuckled, "Don''t feel bad ''bout it, I just learned I came from one, too! Pretty neat stuff, isn''t it?" "Neat, huh¡­?" Joel wryly chuckled as well. On the other hand, Emilio was too focused to engage in conversation with the two behind him as his eyes were honed on the flying bookmark, racing across the elevated floor as he followed it to the designated location. It was a finicky ce to run, to say the least; the dark, chipped floorboards felt hollow and croaked with each step as if about to shatter, and to make it worse, the height it stood over the ground floor of the archives made it an unpleasant fall, should it happen. However, all of these concepts came to a halt as the bookmark finally stopped, hovering directly in front of an emerald book that remained almost lonesome in its cement. Itid on its cover rather than upright, with no other books directly neighboring it. ''...That''s got to be his Soul''s Mark. Always a lone wolf, huh, Vandread?'' He thought. As he retrieved the emerald bookmark, he stored it before softly picking up the designated book, brushing the lightyer of dust off of it. "Did you find it?" Joel asked, catching up a secondter. He nodded, turning around as he held the book in his hands, "Yeah." "You said Vandread will be dangerous, right? Need any gadgets to help ya while you''re in there?" Blimpo offered, fiddling with his belt of trinkets. At first, he was going to decline the offer, but after thinking about it for a moment, recalling the sort of fighter he was about to go against, he decided to ept the elf''s assistance. "Sure," he epted. Chapter 334 Versus Vandread It was like entering a toy store when looking at the inventory of gadgets that Blimpo kept on him, with Joel bing engrossed as well as he paid close attention to each one that the elf pointed out. As always, Blimpo came prepared with an onught ofpact, specialized tools, one of which was a infused with spikes that shot out of a tiny sphere, another was a dubious cylinder that shot out gtinous liquid that quickly solidified into steel-like material. "Hmmm¡­" Emilio pondered. Blimpo smiled, juggling some of his gadgets, "Any of them catch your eye?" It wasn''t as though the majority of them seemed useless, but against a resourceful, highly-masterfulbatant like Vandread, simple tricks and traps would hardly be reliable. ''Even if I try to y him at his own game, I can''t be as crafty as him. That''s practically his own speciality¡ªbeing inhumanly adaptive to any situation. Still, I can do this,'' he thought. "I''ll take this one, if you don''t mind," Emilio decided, taking a star-shaped gadget from Blimpo''s disy. The elf lifted his goggles, tilting his head and raising an eyebrow, "Sure¡­but are ya sure about that one? Not that I''m any knowledgeable about this guy you''re gonna fight, but that one wouldn''t be my first choice." "It''ll be perfect," he assured him. "If ya say so," Blimpo smiled, "Kick ass out there!" "You''ve got this, pal," Joel added. A three-way fist bump was shared between them as a gesture of good luck before the Dragonheart took onest breath of preparation before opening the book, preparing to meet his former mentor andpanion¡ªa master of the Godless Style. Once more, the light filled his vision as he was transported to the emerald chamber, seamlessly transitioned as he blinked a single time before¨C "--!" His reflexes red as he stepped to the side quickly, witnessing a small throwing knife fly straight past his head. ''What?--Is he already?--'' He thought. Before he could get his bearings, he brought his gaze forward to find the figure in question already dashing towards him without a single sound to his rapid steps; it was unmistakable: this was the fighting style of Vandread. The dagger wielded by the scarred figure neared his throat, but failed to reach as he leaned back at thest moment. He could feel the air being cut just above him, watching the sharp edge of the de pass above his eyes. ''Close¡­! I knew he was ruthless, bute on!'' He thought. After evading the initial attack, he wasted no time calling upon his System, invoking the internal heat within him seamlessly; his muscles coiled and his temperature rose, initiating a burst of heat that forced the unstable version of Vandread to jump back. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 2/10 | Dragon Son] With everything enhanced from his senses to his physical prowess, he was ready to confront the swift fighter, this time taking the initiative by raising a ring of water around himself. The clear liquid persisted around him, closing off from a third of the chamber. ''There''s no such thing as ''too careful'' around somebody like him. I can''t let him get close if I can help it,'' he thought. The circr boundary of water was meant to act as a "wall" between him and his enemy, and a trap to ensnare Vandread should he touch the aqua, yet he couldn''t find himself surprised when witnessing the dark-skinned figure leaping right over it and plunging his dagger down towards his head. "...!" He managed to deflect the dagger strike with his own sword, spinning around and sending a kick straight into Vandread''s side to knock him away, though the silver-eyed man was quick back onto his feet. It was a terrifying thing¨Cbeing on the other side of Vandread''s silent, killing intent as he fought to avoid the swiftly executed strikes. There was no doubt that this is how those who the fallen man who fought felt, facing the indescribable, merciless style of his. Keeping up with the relentless attacks was easier said than done with his artificial arm leaving him subpar in sword technique, mainly relying on his own enhanced physical prowess than his own skill. Even still, he could feel Vandread chipping away at his defense with such unorthodox attacks¨Cflipping around, dual-wielding daggers, and even kicking around to use des unsheathed from his boots. "...Back!" He shouted. A burst of wind was expelled from the Dragonheart, knocking Vandread off bnce, allowing Emilio to catch his breath before upping the ante. ''It''s hard for me to fight so viciously against familiar faces¨Cbut, it''s fine! Just do it!'' He told himself. This time, he rushed in while flinging a set of fireballs in Vandread''s direction, each of which wasrge and burning with enough heat to melt steel. Even with the projectiles of mes that pushed through the sound barrier, enhanced by the Dragonheart''s gratuitous study of magecraft, the Godless Style master caught his bnce before dashing forward, flipping and contorting his body around to evade their heat. ''Expected as much!'' He thought. Afternding back down from leaping over one of the iing fireballs, the moment Vandread''s bootnded on the emerald flooring, Emilio flicked his finger up, causing a boiling geyser to shoot up from beneath the scarred fighter. The pir of scalding hot water was sidestepped by Vandread, but not before grazing the left side of his body, melting through a portion of his pitch-ck uniform as the skin on his torso was burned and a portion of his left cheek was steaming. ''--He even mitigated that one? He''s sharp,'' he thought. While he had spells up his sleeve that could epass the entirety of the emerald chamber, the expense of mana was not wise when considering he still had Asher to deal with next, an opponent likely even more troublesome than his current. Even so, it wasn''t as though he was choosing to hold back¨Cagainst his former mentor, he could think of no greater disrespect. "Sylph! Smander! Undyne! Gnome!" He yelled out. All at once, he manifested the four lesser elemental spirits, invoking them as they immediately pressured the swift assassin with elemental bursts. While the summoned spirits kept Vandread at bay with tosses of stone, sprays of me, bullets of water, and cuts of wind, he chose not to withhold from Vandread. ''...That''s right. Pulling my punches isn''t what you taught me, Vandread. You''re going to find out just how well I learned what you taught me,'' he thought. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. "It''s riching from me while I''m dead, but I''m going to show you why the choice you made that day wasn''t in vain!" He promised. [Current Stage: 3/10 | Dragon Warrior] Armoring himself in the mystical armor of draconic scales, he bolstered himself just as Vandread tore past the spirits'' assault, though suffering minor burn marks and bruises. Head-to-head, they shed, but this time, [Draconic Might] was used as Emilio showed firsthand how he''d improved to his former mentor, ducking beneath Vandread''s dagger strike wlessly before catching the man''s wrist. "I''ve grown. I learned from you. Then I learned from myself. That''s how you did it," Emilio spoke. Squeezing the wrist of the scarred, silver-eyed man with his monstrous strength, he crushed it before flinging Vandread upward, jumping up with him in tow before manifesting azure mes. The Dragonheart System bestowed enough power to make the difference between himself and an ordinary human resemble that of an ant versus a man; this was no more apparent than the evolution from [Dragon Son] to [Dragon Warrior], as the Dragonheart''s natural ruthlessness and power increased tenfold. In cases like this¡­ It almost felt like cheating. It felt like a natural advantage he had over others; [Stage Three] was the pinnacle of this feeling. He already knew going in that it would be a guaranteed win, as the strength of a dragon imbued through his flesh was something very few could stand against. The young man, d in his armor of scales, mmed his foe down before a coalescence of azure embers spiraled, gathering above his hand before forming into a majestic fireball like a sapphire gem. "This''ll only hurt for a bit, Vandread." [Dragonheart: Burning Eclipse] The emerald glow that naturally existed in the chamber waspletely overridden by the bright-blue haze as the massive fireball was descended upon Vandread, resulting in an expansive of vtile mes that surely swallowed the mystical chamber whole before¨C He found himself returned to the point he was standing right before the bookshelf; it was just like with Joel¨Cthe moment he vanquished the ''unstable'' soul, he seamlessly transitioned back. The Dragonheart System wasn''t active, yet he felt as though he truly did just battle. "Emilio?" Joel called out. ? He rubbed his own head for a moment before looking to the side, finding himself caught by a wave of emotions at the man now standing beside him, who looked like he''d just awoken from a plentiful slumber. "Ahh¡­" The dark-skinned man yawned into his hand before running his fingers through his own, jet-ck locks, "You really put me through the ringer, didn''t you, kid? You sure have grown." "Vandread," he said, almost in disbelief despite knowing what was happening. Chapter 335 The Faceless One "Vandread," he said, almost in disbelief despite knowing what was happening. A pat on his head came from the usually stoic, silent man¨Ca surprise to be sure, but a wee one as he epted it. "You''ll have to exin to me what you''re doing dead, but¡­I''m sure you''re already working on fixing that," Vandread said. "I am." "Good. Just because death chooses you doesn''t mean you have to choose death," Vandread told him. Again, he took some time exining everything that had urred since Vandread had passed¨Cfrom the vanquishing of the Unending Nightmare, to the Trial of Parmesus, the battle against the Dread, and the situation in the After. It was a bit strenuous to repeatedly tell such events, though Blimpo and Joel didn''t seem to mind hearing it again. "I see. Those crusty old bastards in the Foundation¡­to think they''d have recruits undergo the trial where the Dread was being sealed," Vandread said, rubbing his chin, "Still, the fact you managed to take it down, even if it was at the cost of your life¨CI can see why there are forces trying to get you back into action in the realm of the living. For better or worse, you''re of value to some important beings out there." "For better or worse, yeah¡­" He said, cing his hand over his eyepatch. What he hadn''t noticed until ncing over was the sort of reverence that Joel and Blimpo seemed to look up at Vandread with; the scar-covered master of the Godless Style certainly was a legend by the stories Emilio had told them. "Still, to think I gave my life to you just so you could go and bite the dust not too long after. Give me a break," Vandread sighed. "...I know. I''m sorry¨C" Before he could properly apologize, he was surprised to find himself met in an embrace from Vandread, who knelt down partially to match his height as he held him close. "Huh¨C?" Emilio let out in surprise. "Even if it''s in circumstances like this, I''m d I''ve gotten the chance to guide you again, Emilio. I''ll¡­make it right this time," Vandread quietly said, clearly not used to expressing himself, "You''ve got friends by your side and the wisdom of a Primordial; you''ll make it back to your family. I promised Julius that much." There was nobody he expected emotional disy from less than Vandread, though it resonated through him enough to draw tears to the edge of his eyes as he slowly nodded, returning the hold. A bond existed between the two that transcended the norm; they both shared the same blood in their veins; blood perhaps considered a curse, perhaps a curse. It was something neither of them realized until their reuniting; that same blood could be sensed, the beating of their hearts was one and the same. ''Maybe it was purging the Undying Blood from my body or merely your infectious curiosity, but my heart opened just as I died. That darkness clouding my eyes is gone,'' Vandread thought. A moment of silence persisted as Joel and Blimpo watched awkwardly before the third and final addition to their team was sought after. Emilio held the emerald bookmark up, uttering thest name: "Asher." The moment it began flying in the direction of the next andst target, he led the way with the three following behind. "Asher¡­This one has an ability simr to that Dragonheart power of yours? You called it a ''System''--I''m still not sure what all of that is," Vandread said. "Yeah," Emilio nodded, "He''s even better with his power than I am with mine. That''s why I need to be extra careful in this fight." Joel added in, "I''d help you if I could, but I''d probably just get in the way, either way, heh." "If I''m already dead, then it goes without saying I''ll do my best to help you since I have nothing to lose anyway. That being said, whates next is your battle," Vandread said, "If you believe you can handle this, then there''s nothing more I or the other two can do but to trust your resolve." "Thanks," Emilio smiled. There were some details he omitted from the details he gave both to Joel and Vandread, mainly pertaining to the stories he told Blimpo of his original life, as even if the two trusted him, it would be far too difficult to properly exin. It didn''t take very long to arrive at the bookmark''s guided location, ending up in a section of the vast library that was in a corner with circr-designed shelves. As he retrieved the final emerald book required, he looked at it for a moment, seeing the others watching him from a close distance. "Stay focused and you''lle out victorious," Vandread told him. "Yeah," he nodded. Opening it, he was ready for what came next as he was transported to the space where the Soul''s Mark existed, though he was taken off-guardpletely by the scenery that awaited. It wasn''t the same emerald chamber he had encountered Joel and Vandread in, but a sight thatpletely took the breath from his lungs; a cityscape unmistakable from that of Earth, standing on a road with abandoned cars and tall buildings looming over him. "This is¡­Earth?" He questioned. "Wee home." ¨CGreeting him without much emotion to his words was the familiar voice of the friend he didn''t know very long, but felt bonded too nheless; standing a dozen meters down the downtown street was the ck-haired, ck-eyed man. "Asher," he said, "...What''s this?" "As I said¨C''home''; our home," Asher rified, "--Earth. Where we belong." "What''re you talking about? You were the one that¨C" Asher interrupted his words, manifesting his pitch-ck ymore into his grip, "All that awaits ''Reincarnators'' like us in Arcadius is tragedy. That''s why I''m dead. That''s why you''re dead. But that''s not all there is to it, is there¡­?" "...Huh?" He was taken aback by how much the unstable soul of Asher was talking, at least more reasonable than Joel or Vandread''s, to some extent, though he kept his guard up and his sword drawn. Asher looked straight at him, squeezing the handle of his sword, "You''re favored by Arcadius. For some reason, you''re "special". Even you¨Csomebody who abandoned their original life and acted as if you never wielded your previous name. That''s right; I know why you''re here. You have a second chance¨Cone that I don''t have. I guess at this point you can call it a third." The words that left Asher''s lips were hardlyced with anger, though they were entirely hollow, as if the being before him was devoid of emotion; that much was clear through those abyssal irises of his. He knew better than to take words from an unstable soul to heart, though he couldn''t deny they hit close to the mark. ''...It''s different this time. Why? I have¡­a bad feeling about this,'' he thought. As he stood there, waiting for his opponent to make the first move, he witnessed "Asher" point his sword to the sky, instantaneously turning the clear-blue sky pitch ck as all sense of safety shut down just like that. An unsettling sensation intertwined with the air; a feeling akin to the presence of the Nightmare or Dread. Emilio knew this feeling well as it dug into his pores. ''This is¡­'' He realized. This time, as he met eye-to-eye with Asher, there were no eyes to meet with in actuality; the fellow reincarnator was now devoid of a face entirely, only shrouded by a shadow recing his facial features. "--!" Emilio found his heart skipping a beat. ''It''s him¡­! "The Faceless One"...! Did he do something with Asher¨C? Is he holding his soul hostage? It''s not just me¡­Is he trying to get at all reincarnators?'' He questioned. "Emilio!" ¨CTaking him even more by surprise as he felt his head swirling with far too many things going on at once, his name was called by the very same voice of Asher, though right beside him. Landing by his side was Asher, with a wounded arm and light bleeding paired with some bruises. It was the same man he''de there for, though noticeably different¨Cnoticeably still having a face. "Asher?...But you were just¨C" The existence of two Ashers almost tied his brain into knots until piecing together what was happening; the "Faceless" Asher was not using his soul as a host¨Cit was the "Faceless One" itself, or at least some part of it. "I''m honestly just as confused as you are right now, but we don''t have time for that," Asher caught his breath, seeming to have been fighting with the Faceless One himself, "...That thing knew you''de for me, apparently. I didn''t believe it at first, but it seems like Dread took us both." "I took it down with me," Emilio assured him. "Yeah, I heard. Good job," Asher nodded, replying quietly, "If you''ve still got that spark in you, now''s the time¨Cthis thing is trouble." It was an unexpected situation amidst the Soul''s Mark, if it even was so, seeming to be an isted, contorted realm of the Faceless One''s own maniption. "...Why does it feel like we skipped right to the ''Final Boss'' here?" He asked under his breath, holding his sword up. "No point in questioning it now. We just need to win¨Cuntil we do, we''re caught in a fate worse than death," Asher assured him, speaking quietly so their words were hard only between themselves, "--Right in the palm of that faceless freak''s hand." Chapter 336 Impervious, Unstoppable They stood shoulder-to-shoulder amidst the false realm resembling their original homeworld, facing the enigmatic Faceless One that ominously stood there with the disguise of the Devilheart. "What do you want?!" Emilio shouted to the Faceless One, "Are you mad I figured out you were a slimy, scheming maniptor?!" The Faceless being stood there, peering without eyes and speaking with absent lips, only glistening teeth, "Ethan Bellrose; Emilio Dragonheart. Asher Morrows¡­Asher Devilheart. It''s nice to see you two getting along so well. To answer your question¡­I mean not to y you, Ethan; no, no, no. I mean to take away the gift that Adam gave you, and take Asher''s body as my own." "What?..." Emilio responded. "This is only a small fraction of my true self; worry not," The Faceless One spoke, "The Primordials that govern the After would never let more than an ounce of my being enter thisnd. But¡­that''s enough. Help me obtain the Devilheart''s body and I will help you achieve your goals, Emilio Dragonheart. You''ll find my wisdom as sufficient as Adam''s. How about it?" ¨CThe answer came swiftly as both the Dragonheart and Devilheart responded in unison with the activation of their systems, side-by-side, spurring on their transformations. The ck, demonic flesh wrapped itself around Asher''s body in sturdy armor before the skull helm sped around his head; draconic scales stretched over Emilio''s body, snapping on and hardening. [Devilheart System Activated] [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 3/10 | Hell Walker] [Current Stage: 3/10 | Dragon Warrior] "To hell with you and your schemes," Asher said. "I''ll burn you away¨Conce and for all," Emilio imed. The Faceless One''s ever-present, unsettling grin only widened as he seemed prepared forbat, waving the sword he held around, "Don''t mistake yourselves into thinking this is the end. This is just the beginning¨Cperhaps you''ll stop me now; perhaps not¡­but I''m always watching, always nning, always weaving history, always moving pieces. I hoped we could y a bit longer as friends, Ethan, but it seems now is your time for graduation." Relinquishing the disguise of the Devilheart, the Faceless One instead took the shape of a creature of a blindingplexion; skin that glistened like snow yet with the spark of stars, taking the physique of anky humanoid, devoid of any features beyond cosmic eyes that opened and closed all around its body. Emilio and Asher both already knew it well; what they faced wasn''t the "true" form of the Faceless One, yet, it was an unbelievable enemy nheless. Even more important, it was an important promation¨Ca deration of war and separation from the whims of the conniving god. It felt nostalgic, even if not too long ago, the wall between life and death made them seem long apart; standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a kindred spirit in the face of an otherworldly horror. "Go!" As they both burst forward with unrestrained speed that shattered the concrete at their feet, rippling shockwaves that burst the hollow windows around them, the Faceless One waved his hand forward, revealing an opened eye on its palm. "Do youprehend what it is you stand against?" The Faceless One asked in a silvery, but skin-crawling voice. "--!" The air against his earspletely stopped for a moment as a sinking feeling swam through his body, halting his movements during that brief period. ¨CBefore either of the reincarnators could reach the entity with their des, a mere meter away, the raise of its hand contorted the realm to its whim, twisting the streets and the plethora of architecture thaty on the region. The false reality rumbled and quaked as it was reshaped without any regard for its stability, causing buildings to split and crash into each other as the t city was forced to form a spherical region. Gravity itself seemed to flip as the two found themselves "falling upward", finding the sky above only being more of the hollow cityscape of a fabricated Earth, twisted and altered by the entity''s action. "Emilio!" "I know!" Meeting hand-in-hand before somehow crashing upward into an upside-down skyscraper, the Dragonheart manifested a condensed burst of azure mes at his heels, jetting downward and adding enough momentum tounch the Devilheart down to the Faceless One who remained standing in the same spot. The Faceless One pointed its other hand up at the descending Devilheart, looking straight at Asher with the eye on its palm, "--You do not. If you did, resistance wouldn''t be considered an option." "Enough!" Asher yelled. Infusing his ymore with a throttle of devilish energy, he mmed his ymore down upon the Faceless One without any mercy, causing the powerful force to ripple through the block, tearing through the asphalt and splitting through nearby cars. ¨CYet, it did not seem to hit its mark as the Faceless One appeared beside him, pointing its palm-eye directly at Asher. "What you face is what you can''t understand; attempting to calm an earthquake, overpower a tornado, cool an erupting volcano¡­Such things are known impossibilities to mankind; it''s the same against me," the Faceless One said. Just as the eye blinked with an unknown force releasing, Emilio crashed down just in time, using a burst of wind and fire to tackle hisrade out of the way just as a thundering hum emitted from the enigmatic being''s palm, rippling through the street with an eradicating effect. Everything the ripple seemed to touch disintegrated, left as nothing more than dust in the sight of the cosmic eye. Witnessing the effect of such casually released power, and how close they both came to being in its path, was telling as theynded atop one of the neighboring skyscrapers for a momentary breather. "I knew it would be trouble¡­but even just an aspect of it, is this strong?" Emilio questioned. Asher relinquished the skull helm of his Devilheart armor, "Seems like you have a history with it, too." "Yeah, you can say that," he nodded. "Well, we can discuss it once we wipe out its parasite here," Asher said, wearing his helmet again, "--Focus on overwhelming it with wide-ranging attacks. It''s hard to hit, but I imagine it can''t take much of a beating." "Right. Let''s do this," he agreed, readying himself as his draconic armor glowed between its cracks with an azure shine. There was no more time to chat as the building they hid on began rumbling before suddenly snapping in half, being flung through the air by a simple gesture of the Faceless One. Though they both leapt towards the same target, jumping from the shattered buildings, a "glitch" in reality flickered like static as the faceless entity vanished. "What were you two discussing?" ¨CBetween both reincarnators, it reappeared, whispering into their ears and forcing them both to flip around and respond with attacks in that same moment. The power wielded by the Faceless One could hardly be described as the same "power" wielded by others; it existed on a different ne entirely, unpredictable and imperceivable. Twisting both of its arms so that its eye-bearing palms looked at both Asher and Emilio, the eyes blinked, causing both of them to be stunned immediately. ''Can''t move!'' Emilio thought. ''I''m stuck¡­!'' Asher thought. ? It wasn''t just as though movement of their own muscles were stunned, but they were suspended in the airpletely as the pale-skinned being,yered in primordial eyes stood on the space between them. "I did not wish for things to be so violent between us," the Faceless One spoke while the two were suspended, "s, I''ll make sure you won''t remember this encounter¨Cafter I take that curse from your eye, Ethan. On the other hand, Asher¡­You won''t be with us long enough for a grudge to matter." It was a horrific, unstoppable sight; from the eyelids present on the snow-white palm of the enigmatic figure, abyssal tendrils extended, possessing a monstrouslyrge size that would be impossible to fit within the entity''s body. These tendrils crawled in the air towards the unmoving Devilheart, seeking Asher''s body. "I will begin the assimtion of your soul; with your body, reincarnated child, great things will begin," the Faceless One spoke quietly with a grin. Though he couldn''t move his lips or emit a single breath, he instead called upon one resource of his own, calling upon it in a way he never thought to¨Cdrilling the intent through his mind: ''...Help me, Soulbound Spirit!'' He urged. ¨CBefore the abyssal limbs could reach Asher, the inner call was heard from Emilio as a spirit manifested right then and there, one of the six he was contracted to but didn''t recognize: a tall, broad-built knight in violet armor, wielding a massive, studded hammer. "Hyraaaah!" The unknown spirit leapt through the air itself before smashing its hammer down against the Faceless One. While the attempt to assimte Asher was halted, the bludgeoning weapon did not crush the entity as the snow-skinned, malignant figure stood there, holding its palm out as ifpletely solidifying the space between its hand and the hammer like an impervious barrier. "Begone." Chapter 337 Close Encounter "Begone." With a flick of his wrist, the Faceless One cast the summoned spirit aside like nothing more than dust to the wind, elerating the particles of dirt caught in the wind to such speeds that they turned the armored hammer-wielder into nothing but mist within a moment. ''Already!?'' Emilio thought, ''Can we really beat something like this¨C? Is this the sort of power a Primordial has ess to¡­? Maybe fighting isn''t the key here¡­If I think about it, there might be a way out of this¡­think.'' At the very least, the momentary distraction his summoned familiar caused released the binding effect on him and Asher, allowing them tond back down on the contorted street below. "...Asher, you''ve fought it longer than me, so tell me if I''m wrong but¡­there''s no winning against it, is there?" He asked. As they both looked up, that question felt answered as the pale, inhuman figure continuously altered itself, not adhering to a single constant as the sky rippled as if it were made of water; abyssal tentacles extended from the Faceless One as the fabricated moon suspended in the sky turned to an eclipse. Asher took a moment to respond before finally nodding, "I wasn''t going to say it, but I can''t foresee an oue where we break through this thing." The streets themselves changed as the concrete sidewalks were torn through by twisted roots, giving room for crooked trees to sprout, blossoming pitch-ck and crimson spider lilies. A Primordial; that which the Progenitor warned him never to face. Those warnings were realized no more potently than against but a simple strand of one such Primordial''s power, feeling more like a world-ending cataclysm. "...For now, let''s run! Fighting it head-on isn''t going to change anything," Asher said. "Right!" Just as the tendrils of abyssalplexion stretched out, leaving grime and darkness around the false cityscape, the two raced off into an alleyway, sprinting down its length. It was reminiscent of the Unending Nightmare; having to run through a nightmarish, closed-off realm with an otherworldly horror looming over him. Even as they went into the narrow alley, it wasn''t free from the prying gaze of the Faceless One, as those twisted eyes blinked open on the side of the buildings, staring right at them. There was no sound that came from them, yet they watched; countless of these eyes spawned along the walls. "Look out!" Asher called out. As he was following behind, he looked down just as a crooked limb suddenly rose from a puddle on the asphalt; a contorted arm of rotten flesh of varyingplexions, stitched and bearing many eyes of its own as well. He didn''t hesitate cleaving through the limb, but not a second after did dozens more spring from the walls around them, making the grimy, dark alleyway ustrophobic and dense with panic. "In here!" Asher led, quickly gesturing for him to follow. It was a circr sewer gate, which the Devilheart flipped up without any hesitation, fueled by the desperate circumstances as the depraved arms swiped and reached for the two desperately, getting too close. Emilio followed, having to duck beneath one of the limbs as it attempted to grasp his hair, sliding across the ground as many arms tried to intercept his path, leading him to slide straight down into the sewer entrance. "Seal!" He looked up. Invoking a usage of rock magic, he blocked the entrance to the sewer as he entered, sliding down thedder. As he dropped down with a ssh meeting his boots, he reunited with Asher within the sewer to find itpletely foreign to what would be expected of such repulsive depths: it expanded outward into a vast realm of faceless heads, faceless skulls, and headless, featureless bodies that stood as mountains in the distance. It was as if a new realm entirely had been entered. ''...It''s a nightmare. It''s too simr¨Cdon''t tell me¡­the whole time, was this faceless freak responsible for Larundog in some way?'' He questioned. There was nothing but this vastnd of depravity; and that provided nofort and produced only a maddening air. "Dammit," Asher quietly clicked his tongue as sweat dripped down from his chin, "Where the hell even are we?...I never asked, but how did you find me? I overheard what it said to you when it was posing as me¨Cwe''re both dead, but it seems like you entered whatever Hell this is to find me." Emilio sat down for a moment, as Asher did the same as it seemed at least for the time being, the Faceless One wasn''t on their heels; what they sat on was a mound of crimson sand, as if blood had painted it¨Cleft warm and almost moist. "It sounds crazy, but¡­we''re both trapped in a "book" right now," he told the truth. "A book?" Asher looked at him. He nodded, "It''s how you arrive in the After¨Cthough it seems your soul is already fine. That brings me to something I was wondering¨Ca potential way out of this hell." "If you have an idea out of this mess, then spill it," Asher urged. "It''s only a hunch, but since you''re not ''unstable'', this could work¡­Let''s see¡­" He began to say, concentrating as he held his hand out in front of him. A raised eyebrow came from Asher as he watched Emilio holding his hand out as if expecting something toe into his grip, though the rumbling of the hellscape made waiting around a tall order. Asher jumped to his feet, equipping his sword as he nced around, "Emilio, we''re not right on time here!" "...I know, just give me a second¡­" He said, keeping his eyes shut as he focused. From the hills of faceless heads sitting statuesque in the hellscape, nightmarish creatures rose from all around, closing in as they dragged along with them a force which bleached the ground they stepped over. The Soul''s Mark realm was likely still itself, even if the Faceless One had "infected" it with his parasitic avatar¨Cthis was the theory that Emilio held. It was simr to a dreamscape, and one that was likely anchored by one item that always seemed to disappear and reappear around the Soul''s Mark. ''The Bookmark¡­!'' Emilio thought. ¨CAt least, through enough concentration, the emerald bookmark manifested into his hand. It was present all along, seeming anchored to him while he was in the Soul''s Mark. ''If I''m right, this should work! She has authority over Soul''s Marks, most likely, even if the Faceless One is a Primordial¨Cit''s at a disadvantage; it''s in enemy territory and only a fraction of itself. So¡­please!'' He thought. "Hecate!" He yelled out. Squeezing the bookmark as he called out for the name of the Curator of Souls, just as the realm around them became bleached, a light filled both Asher and Emilio''s eyes. It felt like the grace of an angel itself found them amidst the hellish corner, enveloping Emilio''s senses in warmth before¨C "Pyuh!" He found himself gasping for air, returned to the library of souls as he was on his knees in front of the book case. It took a moment for his senses to calm from their high-alert state after being under the prying eye of the horrific faceless deity. ''...I made it. It worked,'' he thought. "Nngh¡­" Sitting against the bookshelf itself and rubbing his head as a quiet groan left his lips was none other than Asher, who managed to escape the Soul''s Mark alongside him. The darkly-dressed fellow reincarnator stood himself up before looking around. "You alright?" Helping Emilio up, both Blimpo and Joel hoisted him from his shoulders, though the amethyst-eyed young man gave them a nod to assure them he was fine. The look Vandread had along with that silence he held seemed to imply he could tell something went "wrong". "We''re out of that thing''s reach?" Asher asked. "For the time being, yes." The answer came from the silken, wise voice of the beautiful, yet imposing woman that ran the mystical library. There was a change of expression from the usualck of emotion Hecate showed¨Cone that was quite frustrated as she moved to the bookshelf the Soul''s Mark they just arrived from came. In a wave of her fingers, as if orchestrating an unseen force, she weaved an emerald spell that encased the shelf and its many books. "''For the time being''?" Emilio asked. "It seems your presence has lured a troublesome one into my library; even a fragment of his essence is like a knot of tumors that is impossibly tedious to unravel," Hecate exined, "However, the me falls on me for allowing that faceless fiend to infiltrate the Soul''s Mark." "It''s not¨C" He tried to say. Hecate faced him and the others afterpletely sealing off the contaminated bookshelf, snapping her fingers as the emerald bookmark that Emilio held flew back into the hands of the Curator of Souls. "The fact remains that I did directly help you just now in escaping from that contaminated Soul''s Mark. As such, you cannot stay here any longer, I am afraid¨Cstill, you''ve found what you came here for nheless," Hecate said. "Wait, I''ve got questions myself¨C!" Asher stepped forward. ¨CHowever, a single snap of the librarian''s fingers warped the space of the library, seeming to shift its walls and floors as if the scenery itself changed before the entire group found themselves transfixed to another area. "Huh?" Chapter 338 Scourge Of Crabs "Huh?" A ce beyond the Oval Tower; a road in the After neighbored by tall, abnormal trees that, instead of bearing leaves, were covered by a top that resembled a glowing, translucent jellyfish of colossal proportions. Thin tendrils of the sameplexion gently swayed like vines in the illustrious environment. "What is this ce?" Joel audibly wondered, looking around as he ced his hand over his brow to look around. "Never seen it before," Blimpo responded, poking at one of the trees, "--Ah!" They were all on-guard as a brief yell left the lips of the elf, though it was revealed to just be a gray-armored crab that didn''t like its home being disturbed as it stuck its ws out from a hole in the glowing tree. "Stay on your toes," Vandread said. "Aye-aye, sir," Blimpo enthusiastically listened. It seemed at the very least that Hecate had ced them on the proper path, as unorthodox and mystifying as a road it was with the jellyfish-like trees and the weird critters that existed on the luminescent road. As always, Vandread embodied caution¨Cleading the way and acting primarily as a scout as he was able to move silently and seem to perceive things with eyes that put a hawk to shame. For the most part, it seemed that only harmless critters like scurrying crabs and blinking squirrels upied the peculiar road. "Know where we''re going from here, ''Milio?" Blimpo asked. Closing his eyes for a moment when asked this, he focused on the map imprinted on his memory of the path to Quandary Pass¨Cwhich now he could actually visualize where they were in rtion to it. "...Yeah, we''re at the start of the path now actually," he said in surprise, "I can see this road, then a sort of¡­tunnel under an abyssalke? After that, it''s a bit fuzzy." "Your brain always surprised me," Joel remarked, looking at his head. "Noment," he replied before moving on. The air was light and brisk, originating from the translucent tree tops from the light hum of air they produced. Nheless, it was a nice change of pace from the either hostile or hollow regions of the After. While they all walked, towards the back, the goggle-wearing elf slowed down a bit so that he was walking alongside Asher, who mainly kept to himself. "You''re from Earth like Emilio, eh?" Blimpo asked quietly, nudging his elbow against Asher. Asher looked at the elf in slight surprise then nced at Emilio, who scratched his head and nodded before confirming Asher''s thoughts. "I told him everything¨Cdon''t worry," Emilio said. "And he actually believed you? I''ve tried telling others before and they thought I was some cursed child," Asher said before looking at Blimpo, "Well, it seems there''s no point in denying it then." "Denying what?" Joel curiously said from up ahead. ¨CThe silver-haired adventurer asked, though the three amidst the conversation certainly were not going to include him in such a mind-boggling set of revtions. "Err, nothing," Emilio told him. "Oh? Alright," Joel looked up ahead again. ¨C "Something ising," Vandread suddenly warned from upfront. All five of them were ready within a second, though it was Vandread himself that maintained his position upfront with two daggers drawn. What arrived had sprouted from a patch of the gray soil to the side of the road, rising up from its home embedded in the dirt as what revealed itself walked on four legs and wielded two, massive w appendages. "A crab¨C?!" Joel reacted, looking up. A giant crab, armored in a bright-red shell with beady eyes and a mouth of sharp teeth blocked the road now, mping its ws threateningly. "It''s not alone either," Asher noted. "It''s never just ''one'', is it?" Emilio questioned tiredly. Somewhat creepy was the silence from the other, sizable crabs that upied the luminescent trees as they had surrounded the grouppletely, seeming to gather at the behest of the giant crustacean. "Well, I hope you''re all hungry!" Blimpo said, grabbing his rune cannon and twisting the cranks on it to activate it forbat, "--We''re gonna be eating good tonight!" The crabby battle began as the colossal crab mmed its bulky pincher down in an attempt to crush Vandread, who flipped back and retaliated with a pair of shes¨CKLANG. Sparks flew, but there was hardly a scratch left on the tough exoskeleton of the crab. Vandread noticed this, being forced to duck down just as hended on his feet as the towering crustacean''s other limb swung by in an attempt to catch him with its ws. It was surprisingly fast, and undoubtedly mystical in its own right as its mouth opened, shooting out translucent tendrils that whipped towards the dark-skinned veteran with speed. Before they could reach however, a bright-orange ze tore through the tendrils, forcing the giant crab back from the heat. "Need some help?" Emilio stood by Vandread''s side, holding his metallic arm forward as smoke and embers cascaded from his palm. For a moment, the scaryered man was silent before straightening himself, "Work on getting that exoskeleton weakened, I''ll handle the rest." "Got it," Emilio smiled, unable to help but revel at the chance of fighting alongside his former mentor again. Against all expectations, a voice emitted from the giant, red-armored crab as its beady eyes took to a ghostly glow: "None shall pass." "Did it just talk?" Emilio asked. Pausing for a moment, he and Vandread looked towards the prime crustacean before it spoke again with a low, booming voice: "The Dragonheart shall not reach Quandary Pass." Being directly referred to definitely struck something within Emilio as he found himself perplexed by the crab''s seeming sentience. ''It knows who I am? It''s purposefully trying to block me from reaching Quandary Pass? But why would it specifically not want ME to leave the After?...Unless, it''s following orders from a different figure,'' he deduced. "Emilio," Vandread said, standing close, facing the crab. "I know," he nodded, "Let''s do this." ¨CMeanwhile, the elven tinkerer had a smile as wide as a child on Christmas morning as he spun the handle of his rune cannon, unleashing continuous bursts of fire against the hordes of crabs that approached while back-to-back with Joel. Joel used his swift sword strikes to sh through the smaller crabs and pierce with his de, but their tough exoskeleton made it a tiring effort, "There''s so many!" "I know, isn''t it great?! We''ll have so much delectable crab for dinner!" Blimpo said. "Huh?!" Joel was taken aback by the hungry thoughts of the elf. Handling the bulk of the malicious and rabid crustaceans was Asher, not relying on his Devilheart System and instead warming up to using his ymore again as he moved swiftly and with skill, jumping up and cleaving through a half dozen crabs in a single action. "Sorry, but I''m not leaving any edible pieces behind," Asher said, spinning his de as he summoned abyssal energy that eradicated the crabs around him. Blimpo gasped, "Those were perfectly good crabs!" "Why''re you so obsessed with eating crabs?!" Joel called out. "''Cause I''ve never had it before! It''s a delicacy those snobby high borns always lorded over the less-than-fortunate, like me!" Blimpo exined, "--So I wanna see just what the fuss is about!" "...Huh, alright then!" Joel responded. There was no shortage of crabs, and no shortage ofrger ones as well, though not nearly as big as the main one blocking the path, though they were big enough tomand the attention of those fighting. "Big one,in'' right up!" Joel called out. Asher was already busy dealing with a handful of crabs that swarmed the road, so Blimpo flicked his goggles on and smiled, grabbing a handful of runic dust from his pouch and stuffing it down the barrel of his weapon. "Witness the glory of my inventions, my new friend!" Blimpo told Joel. "Sure thing, I''ll sing its praises if it can st that behemoth to pieces!" Joel replied. There was no greater introduction to the specialized madness of the elven tinkerer as Blimpo quickly dropped to a knee, mming his rune cannon down to stabilize it as he revved it up with a spinning crank as it began rumbling and crackling with sparks. All the while, the human-sized crab drew near, attempting to m its w down before the silver-haired man intercepted it with his sword, having to push his other hand against his de to hold its pincher at bay. Joel gritted his teeth, "A bit of haste would be nice¡­!" "You can''t rush greatness!" Blimpo said with augh, rapidly spinning the gear as the rune cannon rumbled violently now before starting to glow, "--Alright, get back! It''s ready!" The heat building up from the elf''s unstable weapon could be felt brushing against the back of Joel''s jacket as he nodded and jumped out of the way. "Rune Cannon Mode: ''Hasta La Vista''!" Blimpo announced as he pulled the trigger. Chapter 339 By The Campfire "Rune Cannon Mode: ''Hasta La Vista''!" Blimpo announced as he pulled the trigger. A sh of sparks roared out with theing of a spray of explosive pellets that immediately chained into swirling fits of shing mes against the crustacean''s sturdy shell. Therge crab stumbled back after being pelted by dozens of small-scale, harsh explosions; its shell was burnt and left cracking, peeling apart at the seams. "All yours, friend!" Blimpo called out. Amidst the flying sparks and new aroma of cooked crab from the billowing smoke, Joel leapt in without hesitation, plunging his sword through the brittled armor of therge crustacean. The de slid straight in, neutralizing the brain of the steaming crab as Joel stood still for a moment. "Phew," he exhaled, withdrawing his sword. As the silver-haired, youthful man turned around, the blonde elf was standing there with a smile, flipping his goggles up and raising a hand for a celebratory high-five. Joel epted it, pping his hand triumphantly, "Nice work¡ªyour gadgets are pretty awesome, I guess." "Thanks! Same with your sword skills," Blimpo chuckled. ¡ª The colossal, crimson crab was a breed of its own, moving rapidly with its four legs and continuously swiping and mping its mighty ws towards both the Dragonheart and the nimble assassin. "Burn!" Unleashing a fire spell straight against its body, Emilio poured the bright-orange mes out, realizing it wasn''t stopping the crustacean before he morphed his mes to adapt just as the creature tried to retaliate. The spewed fire shifted into a ming, wrapping around the crab''s abnormally shaped body. "Helios Net." The constricting bands of fire restrained the movement of the crustacean''s arms, though it fought back greatly. "¡­Dragonheart¡­will fall¡­" The crab echoed its bellowing words, "I''ll be damned if a crab is the reason I fail!" He shouted. While the talking crustacean began to tear through its bindings, Vandread swiftly took its back with his silent approach, sinking his daggers into its eyes as it let out a high-pitched screech. No words had to be said for him to follow up while Vandread wrangled it, using the daggers stuck in its sockets like a guide to steering the oversized creature while it thrashed from its bindings, trying to mp the man atop it. Emilio brushed his hand against the road below, creating a spear of rock from it and imbuing fire through it before heunched it forward, amplifying its velocity with a burst of wind: "Javelin of Ares." Breaking through the sound barrier, it left the Dragonheart''s grip and pierced through the crab''s body in an instant, thrusting through the crab and pulling it back along with the spear''s overwhelming momentum. Vandread hopped off of the creature''s back just before the tip of the spear lodged itself against one of the translucent trees, pinning the crab with it. "Gotcha," Emilio sighed out quietly. All of the remaining crabs scattered with the fall of the behemoth crustacean, bringing the others to follow as Emilio approached the pierced giant. The crab leaked dark-blue blood from between the cracks in its crimson armor, gurgling, "...Dragonheart will fall¡­King of Spades¡­seeks it¡­" Thosest, ominous words of the sentient crab were spoken before its life finally washed out, leaving a name on the mind of the others. "''King of Spades''?" Joel put his hand to his chin. "Ring a bell?" Asher asked the others. Vandread didn''t have an answer, nor did he say as much as he only stabbed a dagger into the crab''s head for assurance that the beast was dead. "Whoever this ''King of Spades'' is, they know where I''m going and what I''m trying to do, and more importantly¨Cthey don''t like it, for some reason," Emilio said. "Then they''re an enemy," Vandread said, wiping the blue blood off of its dagger. "We can discuss that¨Cbut first, how about setting up camp for the ''night''?" Blimpo asked, referring to "night" simply as the time for rest. Although time was of the essence, such limitations of time were factored in with required rest, and especially after the eventful things that had happened, Emilio couldn''t help but agree. It wasn''t a bad area to set up for camp; there was light-blue grass, overlooked by the translucent, glowing trees that provided light and a sense offort foreign to most of the After. Emilio pped his hands a few times, casually creating a campsite with walls around them and a doorway, along with proper stumps in the ground to rest on. "Magic sure is convenient," Joel said, plopping down. "Ain''t it?" Blimpo responded before dumping quite a few dead crabs down near the fire. Vandread was proficient enough at creating campfires that hepletely declined from Emilio simply weaving one with magic, though the results spoke for itself as a strong fire was made while Blimpo started cooking the crabs. The aroma was certainly delightful for all of them; the prospect of a good dinner and a finer feast was an irreceablefort in the depths of death as they say around the campfire, taking their helping of crab legs. "Yum!" Blimpo exerted in delight after trying a bite of the sulent meal, unable to contain himself as he slurped it up. Splitting one of the cooked crab legs, Vandread sucked the tender meat out before chewing, "It''s safe to say that this path we''re on¡ªto the supposed gateway out of the After¡ªit''s going to be full of obstacles." "I was warned to avoid Primordials, but I have to wonder if these sorts of obstacles are their doing," Emilio said, taking a tired bite out of a crab leg. "I''m not an expert on them or anything, but from what I do know, Primordials hardly interfere with mortal affairs directly. It''s more likely they''ll influence the environment around us in order to try and stop us from reaching the gateway," Vandread stuff. Joel chewed slowly before gulping, looking towards the fire, "These "Primordials"¡­It''s like the Nightmare, yeah?" "Pretty much, except worse. It''s frightening to think about, but the ''Unending Nightmare'' was just one part of a Primordial," Emilio exined. "Yeah, kind of regretting asking now," Joel said nervously. Even under the gaze of the translucent trees in the softly, blue luminescent region, just speaking of Primordials felt like a topic worth only whispering about; the knowledge of their existence alone felt as though there were always eyes watching and ears listening. "It''s the same with the Dread. That monster was just a small part of arger Primordial¡­and look where that got me and Emilio," Asher said, wiping his ymore down. "How''d that go, anyway? The Dread was a sore topic around the Foundation," Vandreas asked, "It''s hard to imagine it got taken out by a couple of bra¨CI mean, capable adventurers." Emilio raised an eyebrow, "Really? Uncalled for. Anyway...It wasn''t just Asher and myself¨Cit was an all-out war against that thing. Fighting the Dread was like trying tobat a raging tornado with your bare hands." "We tried stopping it from being unsealed, but failed. A single wave of its hand cast the entire valley into hell," Asher exined, "We''re fortunate that our lives were enough to stop it." "Yeah," Emilio nodded. It was a subject he still hadn''t fully grasped as he looked down at his own two hands; they had be calloused throughout his journey, at least, the one normal hand he had left. Thinking back to the battle against the Dread only made him realize just how real his death was. "I still am wondering, Emilio¡­Just how did you defeat it? It was you that finished it off, right? Even if it was weakened, it was stronger than anything we could handle," Asher asked, looking across the campfire towards him. Emilio scratched his neck, "It''s¡­sorta hard to exin. It''s something that came natural to me at that time. I allowed my mes to use my own body as fuel, and the result was snow-white fire that burned hot enough to turn anything to ash. It was power unlike anything I''ve felt; even the Dread couldn''t keep up with me in that state." "Woah. Wish I could''ve seen that," Joel remarked. "Same here," Blimpo said before slurping up more crab meat. Asher slid his cleaned ymore into the sheath on his back before taking a crab leg and indulging his appetite with it, "And that power cost your life?" "Pretty much. I probably would have survived, but¡­Dread was pretty persistent," Emilio sighed. "Don''t overthink it. What you did was an invaluable service to Arcadius; lighten your heart with that fact," Asher assured him. Such words felt bittersweeting from the fellow reincarnator as he felt it was unfair that he had the opportunity to escape the After, but not the man who died only minutes prior to himself. Still, Asher seemed satisfied with his own decision, untouched by regret. "Julius is never going to live any of this down, you know," Vandread remarked. "Huh? Oh yeah, I was thinking about that before¡­How am I even going to begin to tell my family about what happened? ''Hey, I''m back, oh by the way, I died!''...Mother will freak out, and Julius will never stop boasting to the townsfolk, probably," Emilio said. Though it sounded as if he wasmenting the fact of having to tell his family, it was impossible for him not to smile when speaking of such things, noticed by the others. Chapter 340 Weary Dreams "Man, I can''t believe Melisande is a world-ss adventurer now¨Cshe was just a little runt yesterday, it feels like," Joel said, leaning against the wall of reinforced dirt as he looked up towards an overhanging tree. "She still is a runt," Emilio joked, "but she''s capable and talented in her own right. Actually, I recall her telling me that she was going to stay in Vasmoria to study magic afterpleting the trial. So, you don''t need to worry about her getting into any trouble for a while." Joel seemed genuinely taken aback by this news, though that shock turned to joy as he sat there with a big smile on his face. The others were too busy continuing to scarf down crab meat to really have any bearing on the conversation. "You mean to tell me she''s going to learn magecraft there? That''s big stuff¨Camazing, really. I''m proud of her¨Cand you, Emilio, thank you," Joel said earnestly, "This is only possible because of what you did. As her big brother, I''m eternally in your debt for that." "Don''t mention it, but well¡­Let''s just get through this," Emilio said. "Of course. I''m getting you out of this ce," Joel nodded, giving him a thumbs-up. Vandread tossed a crab leg straight at Emilio''s face, forcing the young man to catch it before the pointy food nearly stabbed against his skin. "Hey! What was that for?" Emilio called out. "Eat up. We''re going to have a long day ahead of us after our rest here," Vandread said, "Like Joel said, I n on getting you out of here. My mission from Julius is still intact here." "...Yeah, yeah," he begrudgingly obliged. He couldn''t deny that it wasforting to be eating alongsidepanions he thought he''d never see again, especially after a dreadful experience in the soul-sucking atmosphere of the After. There was truly an overwhelming amount of crab avable to eat¨Cfar too much for a group of five to even make a dent in, though it wasn''t as though they exactly ate to fulfill a quota for nutrients as dying of hunger wasn''t a concept in the After. However, somehow, eating a good meal did provide some sense of energy andfort¨Ca morale boost that was unmistakably beneficial. "Alright, I''m going to catch some Z''s now," Blimpo said,ying back and flipping his goggles over his eyes before quickly snoring. ¨CIt was scary just how fast the flip could be switched from over energetic tinkerer to a slumbering, snoring elf. "Guess I should, too. Just wish there was a proper bed to sleep in though," Joel remarked before leaning back. Of course, Vandread and Asher were the type to "keep watch" seemingly all night¨Coverly cautious and overprotective, perhaps. Still, Emilio found it as an opportunity to at least get some rest as well, seeing as he didn''t know when the next opportunity woulde. As heid there on the soft soil, he stared up at the translucent trees for sometime as his eyelids grew heavier by the minute. ''I just want to get out of here. I''m barely holding it together anymore¨Cever since I met the Progenitor¡­I can''t erase it from my mind. Knowing these godly, malevolent entities¡­beyond humanprehension or reason are just out there¡­watching. Not even my dreams are safe anymore. It''s not like I can refuse to sleep, anyway¡­'' He thought. Once he stopped moving forward, stopped talking, stopped listening and everything quieted down as he tried to lure himself to sleep, he found his paranoia and doubts surfacing. It was all just distractions that allowed up to ignore these feelings until now; even worse, the eye in which the Progenitor infused with his primordial knowledge housed in it unsettling sensations. What he felt it truly had to be were the speakings of the other Primordials, with the eye of his being some loose, vague catalyst. Like unheard whispers, failing to meet his ears, unable to be understood, yet he felt them through chills running over his body. He held himself, trying to ignore these thoughts and unsettling sensations in an attempt to fall asleep, which he eventually seeded in doing as his eyes finally closed. Surprisingly, the slumber he found himself in was interrupted and peaceful¨Cno nightmares, no entities, nothing. "--" Upon parting his eyelids, he blinked a few times as a strange scent met his nose; it was a smell that seemed to instantly shoot him awake as if burning his nostrils¨Cthe sharp, jolting smell of bleach. As he sat up, he found himself in apletely different location from which he had fallen asleep. It wasn''t a dream; he was sure of that. Looking around, he was on a grayed-out ind, surrounded by a vast stretch of pitch-ck, still water. ''What''s this¡­? Where is everybody?'' He questioned. There was nothing in his memory that made anything around him seem familiar; there was no exnationing to mind how he ended up there¨Cit simply seemed like it had to be a dream. However, no amount of pinching himself, pping, reasoning, or anything would prove to him that he was in a nightmare. This was reality. As he sat there in utter confusion, not knowing what to make of his situation, stranded on the tiny patch of ashennd amidst the abyssal seas of the After, overlooked by nothing but a void, a single flower sprouted in front of him. "...Huh?" A crimson spiderlily blossomed, revealing a mouth that spoke to him with a familiar voice, "There is little time, child." "What?...Adam?" He said, even more confused, "What''s going on? Where am I?" "You need to run. Swim¨Cas far and as fast as you can; you were brought to this region by the call of a Primordial in your sleep," the mouth on the flower spoke, delivering Adam''s message, "That Primordial ising for you¨Cnow. Go." Before anything else could be said or any questions could be asked, the flower wilted, decaying and crumbling to ash before his eyes as he realized the abyssal water began rippling in the far distance up ahead. There was no warning that could drive him to his feet more than that as he immediately ran in the opposite direction, quickly reaching the edge of the lonesome ind as the only avenue of escape was through the pitch-ck sea. "--" Though he hesitated as the fear of the unknown was strong when staring at the abyssal waters, the looming threat of an approaching Primordial was stronger as he looked back, seeing ripples through the water in the distance as shadows swallowed sight of everything behind that which approached through the sea. He leapt in, sinking into the daunting depths before swimming his up to the surface, beginning his rapid travel through the dense water. Plunging into those waters, he immediately regretted it, feeling the coldness of the abyssal water against his skin and the terrifying, imperceivable depths below him. Still, there was nothing else he could do but keep moving his body forward through the mass as the rippling of water behind him only grew louder and closer. ''Sleeping is off-limits! Everytime¡­Everytime I sleep in this realm, something bad happens!'' He realized. The amount of fear pumping through his body caused his heart to beat wildly at a rate he''d never felt it move before, feeling as though he was closing in on a heart attack just from the overwhelming fright drilled into him. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. As he looked back once more, feeling the vibrations of whatever was chasing him through the abyssalke, he could see that mass of darkness closing in, only a couple dozen meters behind him now. It felt each passing second he stared at it, he could make out something in that swallowing darkness; an entity toorge, too horrific, and too iprehensible to be witnessed. "Hff¡­hff¡­hff!" He continued swimming forward through the pitch-ck depths, keeping his eyes forward yet not finding a patch ofnd yet. It was tiring, yet the abyssal water seemed to prevent him from powering himself up either with magical reinforcement or through the transformations of his System; there was some sort of "dampening" effect imbued in the water. ''Crap¡­!'' He thought. Suddenly, he felt his own leg betched onto by something within the depths, suddenly dragged under the surface of the abyssalke and pulled into its depths by something unseen. It had to be internal; if external reinforcement wouldn''t work, he instead worked on stirring up the perpetual me within himself, granting brief strength to his limbs before tearing away from the bindings that tried to drown him. "--!" Breaking through the surface of the suppressing abyss, he gasped for air before ncing back to see the colossal wall of shadows now closer than ever, quickly approaching with the rippling of water now happening directly against him. He could feel and hear breaths leaving whatever creature approached from the silent storm of shadows, overwhelmed by its presence as such inclination drove him to swim harder, practically pping his arms against the water. The eye sealed behind his eyepatch grew hot, reacting strongly to the close proximity of the Primordial as he continued swimming forward frantically. ''Go¡­!'' He told himself. Though he found himself being ripped out of the water by something again, held by his ankle as he wasunched upward, only able to wave his arms around without being able to reach anything. Chapter 341 Escape The Unknown As he managed to turn his gaze to what held him while he was being dangled up above the abyssal sea, he saw a pitch-ck tendril extending from the approaching mass of shadows, wrapped around his ankle. "Let go¡­!" Forcing those words from his lips as he strained himself, a bellowing "whisper" emitted from the shadows. "---" ¨CThere was no decipherable meaning to the emission that fell upon his ears, instead pushing against his body like a spoken storm. It rattled him to the marrow of his bones, embedding deep inside of him that primal fear of the unknown as he hung there. ''...I need to escape¨Cnow!'' He thought. Clenching his core, he breathed in as he summoned his strength as quickly as possible, armoring himself in draconic scales as a burst of azure embers propelled outward around him. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 3/10 | Dragon Warrior] With the enhanced prowess of his transformation, he wrestled against his bindings with more vigor, managing to rip away from the nightmarish tendril before he began plummeting back down to the abyssal waters. The option of escaping the Primordial through swimming was no longer there as it was far too close to actually work. As such, he instead manifested wild mes beneath his feet, propelling himself through the air as he flew away from the unseen monstrosity. It seemed fleeing in such a fashion made the aggression of the shadow-bound Primordial increase as tendrils from the sea sprouted out from beneath as he flew over, attempting to ensnare him and drag him back down into their depths. A terrifying amount of control was required, both over his own flight and his panic was he dodged the continuous tendrils, pushing through before suddenly¨C "Ngh!" He was caught on his wrist as one wrapped around tightly; in that split-second after getting caught by one, a half dozen more popped up from the water below, binding him before pulling him back down into the abyssal depths without any mercy. Just as he was submerged beneath the pitch-ck hold of water, the scale armor broke down as if the water itself was a natural nullification for it, ripping away the draconic strength that empowered him in that moment as it continued to pull him down despite his continued efforts. ''...Enough!'' He thought. It took every ounce of strength he had, all of the breath in his lungs, but his amethyst eyes shed to a sapphire in that split-second as he used [Draconic Might], invoking his system again as he summoned the maximum he could output for that brief moment. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 5/10 | Dragon Sentinel] ¨CIt onlysted a moment, not even enough for the darkened armor to stretch itself over his body, but he used it to initiate an explosion of azure mes from his body with an output mimicking nothing else but a nuclear explosion, holding nothing back. The monstrous expulsion of heat blew back the abyssal water around him, parting it violently as steam blew upward, freeing himself from the drowning depths of unknown hold. He didn''t waste a moment flying upward, reinstating the draconic armor around himself as he continued to flee the Primordial. [Current Stage: 3/10 | Dragon Warrior] ''I need to lose it!'' He thought. The entirety of the abyssal sea was no rumbling, swaying violently as he looked back, seeing the mass of shadows gaining on him as the deeper he looked, the more he swore he saw horrific sights within it. What were once just "whispers" were now something else as every emission of noise from the shadows left as violent natural disasters, conjuring hurricanes through the abyssal sea that chased the Dragonheart. "--!" Moving at full-power with the azure mes condensed and rocketing him forth, he finally found it:nd on the other side. ''There!'' He thought. He could feel the Primordial''s very existence bearing down on him, running over his body with a series of chills before he finally touched down on the newfound patch ofnd, rolling across it in an abrasivending before he¨C "Gah!" In that moment, his eyes shot open as he sat up quickly. There was nothing quite as jarring as it; he found himself sitting up, surrounded by walls of mud and his ownpanions, who were looking at him weird. "You alright, Emilio? You were muttering and sweating a lot in your sleep," Joel asked. "It looked pretty concerning, honestly," Blimpo sighed. Emilio sat there for a moment without responding, still feeling his heart beat in his chest as his fear was very much real, questioning reality at this point. "Emilio?" Asher looked at him. "Yeah," he finally responded, "...I''m fine. Just a weird dream." Though he told hispanions such, he couldn''t help but feel it was more than a dream; it felt far too real and went beyond the simple whims of a nightmare. The close encounter with a Primordial, even if unseen, left its own imprint on his mind as he looked down at his hands, finding his fingertips trembling. It seemed he had good timing for when he woke up though, as Vandread had already scouted up ahead while he was asleep, returning a couple minutes after he woke up and resuming their journey after a good meal and rest. "See anything interesting up ahead?" Asher asked the silver-eyed man. Vandread led the way, "Beyond this crab-filled forest is arge tunnel. I didn''t go very far into it, but it seems to go on for a long while." "A tunnel?" Joel repeated. "You''ll see," Vandread said. It seemed the crabs had learned their lessons from the previous encounter as the crustaceans steered clear of the group as they marched along the dirt road. The entire time, Emilio lingered towards the back of the group, caught in thoughts about the questionable "dream" he had experienced. "Got something on your mind?" Blimpo asked, walking alongside him. "Mm," Emilio looked up, "Yeah, but I''m not the only one, am I? What''re you working on?" The goggle-wearing elf was fiddling with some sort of tubr device, cranking it and twisting it into ce while he walked. Blimpo smiled at his question, "It''s a ''Stun Rod''--pretty nifty, right?" "Just be careful with it," he responded. "When am I not?" Blimpo asked almost sarcastically. It wasn''t much further up ahead until the tunnel in question was found, and its size was certainly not exaggerated, even underrated in fact by Vandread''s simple usage of rge"; the entrance was twice asrge as the width needed for a train tunnel,pletely pitch-ck from the entry. "Dark," Joel remarked. Asher squinted, looking in, "We should be careful. If what Vandread said earlier was right, there''ll be more obstacles awaiting us." This time, Emilio decided to lead the way beside Vandread as he kept Smander manifest, allowing the small, fiery spirit to provide light for the group as they moved through the vast tunnel. "Anybody else starting to feel chilly here?" Joel asked, rubbing his own arms as he looked around. "A bit, yeah," Blimpo responded, curious about the change of weather. It was mostly a linear path forward until the tunnel finally led them into a unique area; arge, open cavern withrge sproutings of colorful coral growing on the rock like a garden of oceanic growth. "Coral?" Asher remarked, looking at a stringy, blue growth near a rocky pir, "Why''s this here?" "That''s weird. There''s not even any water around here," Joel remarked. A peculiar ce, no doubt; the air was brisk and chilly, much more so inparison to the early length of the tunnel. The flourishing coralife was something unquestionably odd, however, leaving the group perplexed but moving forward nheless. "On your left," Vandread suddenly warned. The other four were quick to be ced on their guard as the rapid footsteps of an unknown assault approached rapidly. It was Asher that acted first as Emilio was still holding the lesser spirit of fire in his hand, drawing his ymore and intercepting therge figure that attempted to ram straight through both Blimpo and Joel. "--!" Like a bull being halted by its horns, a goliath of humanoid proportion stood there with ck-and-white, smooth skin that disyed gills and sharp fins. Its head wasrge with a mouth big enough to swallow humans whole with beady, ck eyes: a shark. "A shark!?" Joel reacted. It had a muscr humanoid body but a head of onyx skin with the unmistakable resemnce to a great white as it snapped its jaws, trying to catch Asher off-guard whilst it was held back by his ymore. Asher rolled out of the way of the hulking shark''s jaws as they snapped down, swallowing only air. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. ¨CEmilio was forced to spin around as the bipedal shark that Asher faced wasn''t the only enemy around; as he turned to face what approached from behind, he found himself facing a tall,nky humanoid marine life with a long, sharp head and arms with ded fins. ''A swordfish-man?!'' He realized. Chapter 342 The Salvation Of Death More of these humanoid monstrosities that should stay at the bottom of whatever sea they crawled out of surrounded them; a gargantuan, four-legged whale blocked the path ahead, breathing out a breath that swept forth as a gust. Even crab men showed up, dressed in pitch-ck crustacean armor with giant pincers, prompting everybody to ready themselves forbat. "More crab? Fine by me!" Blimpo grinned as he readied his rune cannon. Each of these creatures murmured the same thing: "The Dragonheart will not pass." Emilio immediately found himself having to rapidly bob and weave through rapid thrusts of the swordfish humanoid''s own head as it tried skewering him with the spear-like shape of its own weaponized head. "Let me guess¨CKing of Spades wants you to stop me?!" Emilio asked while dodging. The swordfish continued wildly thrusting its head towards him, though the Dragonheart remained vignt on his feet. It spoke in a wild, rough voice, responding while banging its head in the air, "For the King! For the king! For the King!" ''They''re crazy for this "King"!'' He realized. ? Finally intercepting its unstopped assault with a rude burst of wind that knocked its bnce off, he rushed forward, drawing his sword and squeezing it with his metal grip as he imbued mes into his de. "Tell me who this "King of Spades" is or die!" He yelled, rushing in. The swordfish-man was stumbling around, hissing out the same words over and over, "For the King! For the King! For the¨C" SQUELCH There was no room for mercy in his heart during such precious time, leading him to cleave the swordfish'' head straight off of its body as he reached it. "--" He stood there, watching its body fall over limp. ''They''re madly loyal to this "King of Spades" figure¨Cis it a Primordial? I doubt it for some reason,'' he thought. Either way, there wasn''t a shortage of those who could give them answers as the entire cavern of coral was now being surrounded with the violent humanoid marine life. ¨C It was mayhem; a brawl of the grotesque interpretation of demi-humans as the elven man found himself ducking and rolling behind a pir of stone as a crab man mmed its hand against the pir, causing it to rumble violently. "You do not seem like a tasty crab!" Blimpo called out. Across the way, Joel had his hands full dealing with a swift mantis shrimp of a subtly-glowing, orangeplexion which would fire up whenever it released one of its sound barrier-breaking punches his way. "Please stop antagonizing the enemy¨C! You''re just going to make them angrier!" Joel yelled out while nearly getting his face caved in by the mantis shrimp''s overpowered punch. Sword technique alone wasn''t enough to fight on even footing with the tall, man-shaped mantis shrimp as its punches flew forward harshly. Even when trying to deflect them, Joel found his limbs being jolted back and his de left steaming from the impact. ''Those punches are way too strong!...Still, there''s gotta be something I can do,'' Joel thought. WHAM As he tried to find an opening, the enemy found one on him, sinking its orange fist into his stomach with a blow of such potency that the air burned itself out of Joel''s lungs. "Pyuh-!" Joel spit out. The impact burnt a hole straight through his shirt, leaving a prominent bruise on his abdominal region as he was knocked back harshly. "For the King," the mantis shrimp spoke calmly as steam exuded from its fist. "Joel!" Both Blimpo and Emilio showed their concern with the silver-haired man, though he picked himself up and spit out the blood from his mouth in such a way to reinstill confidence. "...Dontcha worry about me," Joel coughed out, picking up his sword again, "I''ve got this! So just keep your eyes on the prize!" Of course, it was already known that he was the type of person to relentlessly assure he could handle any given situation, no matter how bloody or bruised he became, but still, while he was gripping his sword and standing on two feet, who was to doubt those words? "Alright! Don''t lose to that shrimp!" Emilio called out, tossing fireballs against a pair of rapidly-moving seahorse-men. Though it was easier said than done as Joel squared off against the tall, ruthless shrimp as it raised its fists like some sort of professional boxer. He was well aware that a direct hit from one of those punches to the head would be certain death, but he knew the same could be said for his own sword. The essence of wind that he was able to call upon wasn''t anything strong, but it was immensely helpful; he focused it as he readied himself in position set for a dash as the wind gathered. ''In one attack. In one attack, I''ll finish it,'' Joel thought. Thenky mantis shrimp revved its arms up before kicking off towards him, coiling its arm to prepare for a strike before¨CFWOOSH. In one kick, Joel dashed forward with wind guiding him, shooting straight past the powerful puncher and stopping, already having swung his de. "I did it," he exhaled. With that breath of relief, the mantis shrimp''s torso split open as colorful blood sprayed out before it dropped down to the ground. Victory was found for the silver-haired man as he wiped the sweat and blood from his chin, looking up. ''My story might be over¡­but, Melisande, yours is just beginning. I''ll bring Emilio back so you two can go on to bring wonderful stories to me, whenever that time shoulde,'' he thought. ¨C BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. The elven man continued running away while pulling the trigger of his rune cannon, causing its wood-and-metal, scrappy form to shudder with every chaotic release that swept in the direction of the onyx-armored crab man. "How ''bout this?!" Blimpo gritted his teeth before reaching into the pouch on his belt, retrieving a circr gadget before tossing it straight towards the bulky crab man. As soon as the humanoid crab tried to deflect the sphere with its oversized w, it expanded and morphed itself around the crab man''s arm, locking it down and acting like a heavy anchor. "Hah! Can''t swing that thing around willy-nilly anymore, can you?!" Blimpo taunted. Though the elf''s pride in his own tools was quickly challenged as the bulky crab man mmed his restrained w against the rocky wall, shattering the bindings and freeing its pincher again as it opened and closed a few times as if saying "My turn". "Oh yeah?! Well¡­I knew you''d do that!" Blimpo yelled out, "...Huh?" Everybody in the group went silent as they witnessed their unorthodox foes suddenly freeze up as if seeing ghosts then simply¨Cthey fell. The man-fish hybrids dropped down with their bodies limp as if their very souls had evaporated on the spot. "What?..." Emilio audibly let out, witnessing the fish men he fought copse. "...Hm." Vandread watched as the four-leggednd whale he had covered in gashes drop down with a cave-rumbling thud, dying on the spot from unknown causes. They regrouped, watching each other''s backs in perplexity as to what caused the sudden death of their monstrous assants. "Any clue what just happened?" Joel whispered. "My hypothesis is¡­a sudden, united string of heart attacks? That''s my best guess," Blimpo responded. Emilio kept his eyes peeled, looking around, "No¡­I feel something. Asher, do you sense that? This mana signature¡­I can taste it. It''s bitter and chalky, like coal¡­What is this?" "Yeah. It''s terrible," Asher nodded. Footsteps suddenly made themselves known in the cave,ing from the direction they were initially heading before being intercepted by the now dead fish men. The closer the ominous footsteps got, approaching from a darkness that only came closer, the more dense that awful mana became. That ever approaching gulf of shadows; Emilio felt it familiar to him, witnessing such a nightmarish concept in his dreams as he kept himself ready, standing alongside hisrades in arms. ''Is it a Primordial? Causing everything to drop dead like that¡­but whatever it is, it kept us alive. Is it a friend?'' He questioned. Finally, the figure that approached was revealed from the darkness as the footsteps came to a silent halt; it was a man of a paleplexion with prickly, jet-ck hair and dark bags under his eyes. He looked ghastly and unfriendly with those exhausted, sleepless eyes, undoubtedly the origin of the sickeningly dark mana. "Who are you?" Vandread asked, keeping his distance. "--" The stranger remained silent for a moment before finally responding, "What a bother. You''re lucky my sister is kinder than I." "What''re you talking about?" Emilio asked. The tired looking man straightened himself, wearing baggy, ck clothes, "You were making a racket down here, so I saved you all. Be grateful to my sister, not me. It was her idea. Nowe on, I''ll show you the way out of here." "And who are you?" Joel asked, gulping as he kept his de drawn. It took a moment for an answer toe from the stranger''s lips as he stepped closer, almost suffocating the others with his dense air of mana. As he stood there with the abyss itself seeming to exude from his pores, his name fell from his lips quietly, "Avdima." Chapter 343 The Floor Is Lava "Avdima?" Emilio repeated. "That name¡­I don''t recognize it from any country in Arcadius," Blimpo said, rubbing his chin. The stranger named Avdima turned around tiredly, scratching his unkempt hair as he began walking back to the direction he came, "That''s because I''m not from Arcadius." "Huh? You''re not?" Blimpo said in surprise. "You''re from a different world?!" Joel reacted. "You''re all loud," Avdima said, "I''m from a world called Gaia¨Cdon''t ask me about it. Don''t care." Since it seemed the rather dangerous stranger, who fortunately seemed to be aiding them instead of acting hostile, knew theyout of the cave better than them, they followed. The only problem was, Avdima hardly moved as if he had anywhere to be, dragging his feet and depressedly answering whatever questions they had with minimal words. "How''d you kill those monsters? I mean, it was you that did that, right?" Emilio asked. Avdima kept moving forward, "I already told you I did. I didn''t do anything special." "I''d say killing them on the spot from afar is special¡­" Joel wryly remarked. There was an uphill portion of the cave, leading to a crossway where a humble cottage was present, somehow thriving in the depths of the After with crops and cattle that definitely stood out almost like a sick joke to Emilio. ''Even in death, cattle can''t escape being cattle. Talk about depressing¨Coh well,'' he thought. "This is where Illya and I live¨Coh, Illya is my sister, by the way," Avdima said, stopping in front of his home. "Oh, okay, well¡­thanks?" Emilio said, still confused by the entire ordeal. The entire time, Vandread looked ready to grab his daggers if the stranger proved to be hostile, though it was definitely a fight both avoided. Each and every single one of them knew it, if not just by feel alone; if all of them fought "Avdima" together, victory would be questionable. "No need for thanks. I was going to let you all die if it wasn''t for Illya," Avdima told them. "We had that handled anyway!" Joel argued. Avdima didn''t so much as look at the silver-haired man, "Uh-huh. Well, safe travels." Clearly, the baggy-eyed man wasn''t one for conversation as he went back into his cottage without another word, leaving the group standing there in the surprisingly life-bearing cave before a unique bridge. "Let''s keep moving," Vandread said. "Yeah¡­that guy gave me the creeps," Joel said. "I wonder who he is," Asher disyed a surprising level of curiosity, "You felt it too, Emilio? That mana of his was unlike anything else." "Yeah," Emilio nodded. As they moved onward, the bridge that connected two different halves of the lower depths of the After was made purely of mmy stone, suspended over a chasm that had no foreseeable depth. He could see it through the knowledge imprinted on his mind; they were drawing close to the Quandary Gate¨Cthe destination he sought so purposefully. "Can you see where this is leading us, ''Milio?" Blimpo asked. The question brought the attention of hispanions to him before he nodded, looking forward towards the path beyond the bridge, "Past this is¡­err, ava pit." "Ava pit?" Joel repeated, "That sounds¡­" "Fun!" Blimpo remarked. "Sure, fun, yeah," Joel wryly muttered. The stone bridge was colossal in size, but what it gained in scale it lost in stability; pebbles continuously dropped down from it as they marched over it, resulting in periodic echoes of fallen rock from the chasm below. "Long fall, huh?" Joel gazed over the edge, seeing only a darkness that stretched far, far down. "Careful." The sudden word of caution made the silver-haired man jump, nearly tumbling over the edge as he iled his arms around, "Waaa¨C!" ¨CBefore any such embarrassing end could be found, Joel was caught by the back of his cor by Asher, who pulled him back onto the bridge with a sigh. "What did I just say?" Asher asked him. "Hey, don''t sneak up on me next time and maybe I''ll be careful," Joel huffed. Continuing on, the other side of the bridge amidst the shadow-crept caverns led to a vast opening in the side of a grimy mountain, leading into a new, underground region that put them one step closer to the Quandary Gate. "You weren''t kidding," Joel remarked. Waiting for them inside the following cavern was a far-spread interior containing a sea of bright-orange, steaming magma, filling the area with a heat unlike any summer. "Come on," Vandread said, leading the way without batting an eye. "How¨C?!" Joel asked. Leaping from one point to another, Vandreadnded on a b of stone acting as a small ind amidst theva before turning back to face the others, "Just follow me." "This guy is crazy¡­" Joel muttered. Careful hops were needed to move from one piece ofnd to the other while avoiding a dunk into the skin-melting liquid as it bubbled and popped. Blimpo attached augments to his boots, giving him an extra "oomph" to his jumps so that he could keep up with such physically demanding tasks. "Hpp!" The elven man jumped from one rock to the other, crossing arger gap than the previous as he stumbled onto the following stone, though Emilio helped catch him. "--I gotcha," Emilio said. "Thanks," Blimpo nodded. A few minutes in, it felt as though barely any progress was made, though there was no choice now but to keep moving ahead as jumping back would only prove to be even riskier than forward. "This pit ofva is huge, isn''t it?...Like way too huge," Joel breathed out. They had taken a small breather atop a sizable stone that could fit all of them on its tform, leaving Joel to remark just how vast the sea ofva truly was, in a more frightened discovery. It seemed to go on as far as the eye could see. "We just need to keep moving," Asher suggested. "At the very least, it seems like this is meant to be crossed¡­I mean, it isn''t a coincidence all of these rockets are ced at crossable distances, right?" Blimpo asked. "That''s true," Emilio agreed, "--Every step of the way in the After¡­It all feels preset." This time, the young Dragonheart decided to lead the way as he took in a breath before jumping over to the next tform, feeling it sink back a bit and dunk into theva before he quickly moved to the other side to bnce it. "Woah¨Chold on!" He called out before any others jumped. ¨CThough it was toote, Joel already jumped across, leaving the two of them on the rather narrow tform of stone in the vast sea of bubblingva. "Huh¨C?" Joel reacted. "This one can only fit one at a time¨Chold on," Emilio said, sweating. It took a lot of shuffling around in order to keep the rock afloat and not sink into the depths of theva. There was something about the hot, incredibly dry air of the sea ofva; Emilio didn''t have a good feeling about what it did for his body. "Can''t you use some magic to bnce us out¨C?!" Joel asked. Emilio tried to invoke rock magic to create another tform or to at least stabilize the one they stood on, but shook his head out of surprise, "I¡­I can''t!" "Huh?!" "It''s the air in this ce¨CI can''t focus my mana at all," he remarked. Whatever the case, after a bncing act, he tossed himself over to the next tform in a hurry so that he didn''t cause a submergence into theva. He was forced to quickly jump to the next tform so that the others could follow suit, though there was nothing more unnerving than looking back and watching hispanions make the leap. "Hey, quick question, but can I die twice?!" Joel asked nervously as the tform shifted beneath his feet against the scaldingva. Blimpo hopped next to him, "Oh, yes! You definitely can! It''s a fate even worse than ''death'', too!" "Err, thanks for the info¡­" Joel groaned. There was no problem for Emilio himself in crossing tform-to-tform, same with Asher who followed alongside him, though Joel and Blimpo definitely seemed to feel the effects of the dry, overwhelming temperature. Vandread kept himself cautious, pulling his scarf down as he caught his breath, "Blimpo." "Yes?" The elf stumbled over onto the tform Vandread was on, leaning down to catch his breath. "Are there any creatures in the After who inhabit theva?" Vandread asked. The question asked by the scar-covered man caught the attention of the others, though they were all separate but still close¨CEmilio and Asher were the furthest ahead, on the same,rge tform of smooth rock; Vandread and Blimpo stood on one; Joel was alone, the farthest back but right behind Vandread and Blimpo. "Lava creatures?...Never heard of ''em, no. Why?" Blimpo caught his breath. "--" Vandread was silent for a moment before pointing to a spot in the vast sea ofva, "Something has been moving around there." They each fell silent, watching in the direction pointed at by the cautious man for a minute before "something" was seen; lurking beneath the surface of the boiling magma, the shadow of somethingrge swimming in the burning sea could be briefly seen. "What the hell is that¨C?!" Joel asked. "Calm down," Vandread said, "It hasn''t made a move against us this entire time, so let''s just try and keep it that way." Joel gulped, "Yeah, calm, totally." Chapter 344 The Checkered Forest A single misstep could lead to submergingpletely in the inescapable depths of the bone-melting liquid; that fact was kept close to the hearts of each of them as they crossed. Emilio stayed ahead, though periodically checked back to make sure hispanions were doing fine. "Definitely is bing toasty here," Asher remarked. "Can''t handle it?" Emilio asked with a hint of cheekiness. "Didn''t say anything about that," Asher responded. It was definitely concerning just how far the sea ofva seemed to stretch on for; the environment didn''t help make it anymorefortable with spikes of jagged rock hanging from the ceiling and the constant, looming threat of whatever lurked in the pits of the boiling liquid. Still, Emilio was kept ignited with motivation to keep moving as he knew it wasn''t very far now until the Quandary Gate could be found. "Can you keep up? If not, I''ll carry you," Vandread asked, checking back on the silver-haired man. Joel had already abandoned his shirt and jacket, bare chested and drenched in sweat as he breathed heavily, hopping onto the next tform, "I''ve¡­got this!" "I believe this is a test of manhood for him," Blimpo noted with a chuckle. "I don''t wanna hear it from you!" Joel yelled out with a huff, "You''ve been relying on that gear of yours! Totally unmanly!" Blimpo took some offense to that remark, responding back, "Using tools and making things with your own two hands is the manliest thing there is!" ¡ªThis arguing went back and forth for a couple minutes before Joel finally caught up to the others, though just in time as the sea of moltenva began rumbling. "Uh-oh," Emilio reacted, looking around. Waves rippled through the bright-orange magma, forcing Emilio and Asher to jump back to a tform behind them just as a massive wave ofva cascaded outward, engulfing the stone in its way. "Woah! What''s that!?" Joel asked. A brief rainfall ofva came from around whatever had emerged from the burning sea, mming its rocky, molten hands down to the sides where the walls of the cave stood tall. "...A crocodile?" Asher questioned. "A giant one," Emilio corrected. Its skin resembled that of a volcanic mountain, with cracks running along its body that allowed freshva to run down its form. The size of it was remarkable; akin to a whale that would swim through the depths of a great sea, yet it didn''t seem to lose any of its aggression in its size. "Let me guess¨Cthe King of Spades wants me dead from you, too?!" Emilio yelled out. Before he could get an answer, the beast snapped its jaws in his direction, attempting to gobble both him and Asher up before the two jumped out to avoid the range of its maw. In an instant, he spurred on a transformation in response to the molten crocodile''s attack. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 3/10 | Dragon Warrior] Clenching his fist, he mmed his armored knuckles against the snout of the creature, unleashing a shock wave from the [Dragon Strike] released. The powerful blow caused theva-inhabiting reptile to recoil before it snapped back around, going for another chomp of its jaws before being intercepted¨C [Devilheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 3/10 | Hell Walker] Asher pushed his hand forward, invoking a construct of devilish energy that took the form of a fist that carved through theva before uppercutting the giant beast. Of course, knocking the molten beast around caused its own set of problems as the burningke swayed and rippled, causing theva to rise in some spots. "Hey now¡­!" Joel let out nervously, finding the tform he was on sway in theva. Asher breathed out, "Emilio." "Yeah?" The Dragonheartnded beside him on the foremost tform. "Leave this one to me," Asher said, "Make sure the others fall into theva." "Hm? Sure," Emilio allowed, surprised at the man''s forwardness in the ordeal. Taking it upon himself to make certain that neither Joel nor Blimpo were swallowed up by the bright-orange sea, Emilio hopped over, helping to stabilize the tform while Asher faced off against the molten reptile by himself. "Alright. Let''s finish this quickly," Asher breathed out. The armor worn by Asher reinforced itself, solidifying with the darkness he emitted as a cape of shadows extended itself down from his shoulders. [Current Stage: 5/10 | Hell Sentinel] Awakening the dormant power of his System, Asher''s aura manifested through a stygian wind that caused theva around him to ripple as he wielded his ymore, facing off against the oversized reptile. Just as it raised its hand to m it down upon him, he vanished with blinding speed, cutting across its molten limb with his dark-infused ymore in an instant. "Graaaaaagh¨C!" The crocodile unleashed a bellow of pain. The Devilheart raced up its arm swiftly, mercilessly cleaving through its limb before reaching the top of its body. For the molten beast, the speed and ferocity of the Devilheart was greater than any beast; swiftness that swept across its scales like a bolt of lightning and strength to move mountains¨Cthis boundless reservoir of darkness cleaved itself through the crocodile''s burning scales. Wrestling the beast as if it weren''t the size of a whale, the Devilheart managed to restrain its movements by grabbing onto the edges of its mouth while standing on its nose. "I''m tired of killing everything that gets in my way, so for now¨Crest," Asher whispered. Using his fist like a hammer, Asher invoked an echoing force of darkness that drummed against the crocodile''s gargantuan skull, resounding against it before knocking the great beast out as it began sinking back into theva. "Asher!" Emilio called out. The warning of the man''s own name came as the reptile was being submerged back into the piping hotva, though Asher saw an opportunity as he gestured for the others to follow quickly. "Hurry! We can cross if we use its body¨C! Come on!" Asher shouted. It was definitely a questionable tform to be used, though it was clear time was of the essence as Emilio led the way, prompting Vandread and Blimpo to follow, with Joel followingst as they raced across a few stepping stones in theva to reach the crocodile''s massive body. "Hyup!" Asher extended his hand from atop the crocodile''s head, helping both Vandread and Blimpo up, though Emilio found himself pausing as he checked back, seeing Joel rushing behind, though clearly winded. "Hurry up!" Emilio called out. "I''m¡­trying!" Joel huffed. Though there wasn''t much time at all, Emilio found himself biting his lip out of desperation before extending his hand out to the silver-haired man. "C''mon!" Emilio yelled. Joel raced forward, nearly stumbling into theva as the tform he crossed from sank just as he left it, pping his hand against Emilio''s as they sped together. The moment he had his friend in his grip, Emilio leapt up, using the draconic strength in his legs for a mighty leap as he guided Joel up alongside him. It was certainly a bit of an overshoot as he found himself nearly passing by half of the crocodile''s extraordinarily long body with the superhuman jump. "We''re flying!" Joel remarked in astonishment. "Not quite!" Emilio responded. Finallynding with a bit of an "oomph" to it, the others were catching up behind them, sprinting to the next tform as the edge of the sea ofva was finally in sight. "Let''s go!" Emilio said, getting back to his feet before sprinting forth. Joel picked himself up, caked in sweat but ready to continue onward, "Right behind ya''!" It was something Emilio had never foreseen himself doing; tucked away for a portion of a lifetime in his room with a body that could barely walk, let alone run, now finding himself racing so vigorously and full of life alongside friends, through a fantastical setting ofva¨Ceven now, in the depths of the After, he found himself blown away by this opportunity. ''I need to make it! I have so many stories to tell you, Father, Mother, Irene¡­! Even you, Celly! I''ll write to you all about it when I get back!'' He promised. With a fantastic leap, he crossed the entirety of the remaining stretch ofva, finding the bubbling heat beneath his swaying feat as hended on the other side with a smooth roll. "Hfff¡­Hah¡­I made it," he said, looking back. The others weren''t far behind, though somecked elegance, like Blimpo and Joel, who held onto each other in their final jump, screaming at the thought of missing the leap andnding straight into the burning sea. "Phew!" Joel immediately dropped down to catch his breath. As they all rested for a moment, attention was turned to what it was that actually existed beyond the lethal sea ofva; nothing akin to the dank cavern beforehand, but instead a vast, bountiful forest of tall, almost seraphic trees. Half of the trees were covered in snow-white leaves, while the other half sprouted pitch-ck leaves. It was a fantastical sight,rge and greeting them with a single trail of dirt leading into the bowels of the ck-and-white forest. "This is it," Emilio said, standing up, "I can see it. This is thest ce standing before our destination." "It''s a ''checkered'' forest," Joel remarked, "Weird." "Be on guard. If we''re close to the end, then this forest isn''t going to make it easy to get there," Vandread warned. Chapter 345 Across The River, Row Your Boat There was definitely a unique atmosphere upon entering the checkered forest; the air was brisk and surprisingly fresh for being in the After, likely due to the unique trees, though something felt off. "Hey, was it always so¡­foggy?" Joel asked. The group stopped for a moment as Emilio looked around along with the others, finding a mist upying the forest just a few minutes after entering it. "Brings back unpleasant memories, huh?" Emilio asked, standing beside Vandread. Vandread kept himself focused, "Mist makes it easy for the enemy to get the jump on us. We need to stay vignt." "Don''t need to tell me twice," Joel whispered, keeping his sword drawn. Blimpo kept his goggles on, "I should''ve made more pairs of these. I can see pretty okay even in dense fog like this." There was more caution in how they moved, making sure to stick close to one another as to now be separated by the thick veil of mist now upying the unique forest. Emilio could feel a certain moistness to the soil as he stepped over it, feeling the mist against his skin like a thin perspiration; the ntlife of the checkered forest followed the same, abnormal pattern of the trees; white roses, ck lilies; checkered grass and dark vines. ''This whole ce is checkered¡­Weird,'' he thought. "Did you guys hear that?" Joel asked suddenly. "Hear what?" Asher looked back. Joel was ncing around nervously, "Really? You didn''t hear it? It was clear¨Clike a footstep breaking a twig close by." The elven man lifted his goggles for a moment, quickly scoping the fog with his eyes, "I didn''t hear anything either." Emilio didn''t answer, though there was nothing of note that had met his ears, but there was a possibility a nose did ur, but he was up at the front with Vandread, so he chalked it up to being audible to those farther back. "Did you hear anything like that?" He asked Vandread. The silver-eyed man seemed more intent on staying focused on the path ahead, though answered, "Not a thing, but it doesn''t mean he didn''t hear anything. Doubt he''s lying, so let''s just keep what he heard in mind." "Right. I was thinking that, too," Emilio nodded. It was hard to tell just how much farther there was to go as the trail was constantly shrouded by the mist, and the checkered appearance of the forest was somewhat monotonous. "--Wha!" A sudden yell came from the back of the group as Emilio and Vandread both spun around, already drawing their weapons. Asher and Blimpo were ready too, leaving Joel to be the one responsible for the cry. "Joel¨C? Are you alright?!" Emilio called out. The silver-haired man was left dangling upside down, iling his arms at the hold of what looked to be a monstrous nt, unveiling a head that resembled the crimson bud of a flower, though bearing a salivating mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. "I don''t think I''ll be alright in a second¨C! A little help, please!" Joel requested urgently. Emilio acted swiftly, taking it into his own hands as he squeezed the handle of his sword with his ck-steel arm, activating a fiery shift as he imbued that element through the length of his silver de before rushing forward. With a single, burning sh, he cleaved through the man-hungering nt before Joel plummeted, freed from its hold. "Waaa¨C!" Joel yelled out as he dropped. "Gotcha!" Blimpo announced triumphantly, having thrown a tiny cube that expanded itself into a bouncy material that caught Joel atop its bulbous tform. For a moment, Joelid there after nearly bing food for a man-eating nt, "Does this ce ever stop trying to kill you?" After sheathing his sword, Emilio extended his mechanical hand down to Joel, who epted it before being helped to his feet. "Sometimes," Blimpo answered with a chuckle, "You just gotta kill ''em first." "Thanks for the advice," Joel sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. As they continued marching on through the mistden forest of ck-and-white, Emilio found himself hovered by Blimpo, who continuously adjusted the scope of his goggles while looking mostly at the mechanical arm attached to his right side. "Err, what''s up?" Emilio asked, noticing the elf''s overbearing gaze. Blimpo tapped the mechanical arm a few times, "I''ve noticed your proficiency at murderizing your enemies with a sword has been more than adequatetely. Getting used to my masterpiece already?" "Something like that. I haven''te even close to obtaining half the skill I once had, but I canpensate for it with physical power, most of the time¡­If I''m up against somebody that''s actually good with a sword, I''ll be countered pretty quickly," Emilio admitted. "Adaptability is the core of being an adventurer. These things happen. But, you already know that," Vandread added. Blimpo seemed to hear that as his cue to add in as well, "Adaptability is also the bread-and-butter of a good tinkerer¨Cso if there are any issues with that arm, just lemme know and I''ll turn a few screws in a pinch. Okay?" "It''s perfectly fine as is. You did amazing, Blimpo," Emilio assured him with a smile, lifting his arm and moving each individual finger of the sleek, ck steel limb. "Hm," Blimpo seemed caught off-guard by thepliment, rubbing his upper lip bashfully, "If ya say so." ¨C The trail came to a sudden end, only leading the group to a smallke that existed within the checkered forest; it was filled with non-abyssal water, actually upied by crystal clear, alluring aqua. "The trail¡­Where do we go now?" Joel asked. Vandread leaned down without a word, taking the canteen under his coat and filling it with the clear water, not one to waste any opportunities to gain vital resources. "I can use my eye¨C" Emilio began to suggest. "No," Blimpo quickly shut that idea down. Asher sat for a moment, squatting down as he nted his ymore in the soil, "He''s right. From what it sounds like, that eye isn''t something that should be used unless absolutely necessary." "An hour off of my lifespan is nothing," Emilio argued. "It adds up," Vandread said, "Look at this ce, Emilio. It''s been nothing but hostile. It''s dark, lifeless, and deprived of dreams. Do you wanna get back here even quicker, after all of this effort?" "--" Emilio found himself unable to argue against that before nodding, "Alright, then which way should we go?" It was Joel that seemed to notice a way onward, walking across a dingy walkway of wooden floorboards over theke, "Well¡­It looks like we''re supposed to use this." What was found was a small boat stationed by the miniature boat, simply waiting above the fogdenke. "A boat?" Blimpo looked intrigued. "That''ll barely fit us all¡­maybe," Asher noted. "It''ll do," Vandread said. Unable to find any better options, Emilio begrudgingly followed the others onto the small boat, which was an ufortably close seating as they all barely fit onto it. He grabbed one paddle and Vandread took the other as they began rowing the boat forth through the mistyke. "Well, we''re moving," Blimpo remarked, "That''s a good sign." "Definitely a low bar," Joel chuckled. The shoulder-to-shoulder ride was bothforting and diforting in some ways; thefort came from the closeness with one''s friends, but the difort was clear by the subtle rocking and creaking of the boat along with the movement within the water. "Hey, isn''t there a song for times like this you told me about, ''Milio?" Blimpo asked. "Huh?" Emilio raised an eyebrow while helping row. Asher noticed what was being discussed, "Blimpo, are you talking about ''Row, Row, Row Your Boat''...?" "Yeah, that one!" Blimpo confirmed excitedly. "Don''t look at me. I''m not singing," Asher coldly declined. The elf pped the side of the boat softly out of protest, "Oh, c''mon! Don''t be like that! What about you, ''Milio? Show us the song!" "What song is this? Never heard of it," Joel asked curiously. Vandread didn''t seem too interested, though it was impossible to try and read emotion from him as he kept rowing monotonously without a word. The blonde-and-ck haired young man wasn''t much for singing either, but from the bleak atmosphere swaying over the After, he felt such small moments needed to be ignited. "Fine, fine," Emilio sighed out yfully. "Oh? You''re really gonna sing it?" Joel looked interested. "Only on the condition one of you takes my ce," Emilio said, finding an opportunity to swap out from rowing. The request definitely flipped the table as both Joel and Blimpo now seemed hesitant, though the elven man was quick to nudge Joel with his elbow. "I''m pretty weak physically, so, ya know¡­" Blimpo implied. "Hey! It was your idea to have him sing, not mine," Joel argued. "Don''t act like ya don''t wanna hear it! Take one for the team!" Blimpo said. It was after some arguing, and some words from Vandread that summed up to "Figure it out and stop rocking the boat", ultimately, Joel and Blimpo agreed to take turns. While Joel took the first shift, begrudgingly beginning to row shoulder-to-shoulder with Vandread, Emilio sat between Asher and Blimpo before he began the song: "...Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream¡­" He began, singing it softly as he looked up towards the ck-and-white trees that hung over the river, "...Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily¡­Life is but a dream." Chapter 346 Aquatic Swirl The others remained quiet as he introduced all but Asher to the nursery rhyme in full, finding it oddly nostalgic himself as it left his lips. "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream¡­Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily¡­Life is but a dream," he continued. It was one of those things that was simply a naturally-ingrained concept into the heads of any person born in the samend as him; a nursery rhyme that befell the ears of all children, far and wide. ''I remember¡­My mom used to sing this to me. From when I was a toddler even up until I turned ten. I used to have so much trouble sleeping¡­I was always in pain, crying or even screaming some nights. Though, this song always seemed to do the trick¡­she sang it so gently; it seemed impossible to experience anything bad while listening to it,'' he recalled. "It''s a nice song," Vandread remarked quietly. The input from the usually stoic man was most definitely a surprise to Emilio, who blinked a few times in disbelief. It seemed he wasn''t the only surprised one, either. "Wait, you actually enjoy stuff like that, Vandread?!" Blimpo asked in surprise. "Yeah, I kind of chalked you up to being the kind of guy to knock the teeth out of a bard for being too noisy," Joel added, making a punching motion with one of his arms. Vandread sighed, seeming insulted by their words, "Just what kind of person do you all think I am, anyway? Songs are a respectablefort for long journeys. There are many times I''ve stopped by the taverns of foreign towns and sat there for hours, drinking and eating my fill, almost solely to listen to the tales sung by their bards. There''s a lot you can learn from such songs, if you stop and enjoy the detours." Emilio found it right to add his input, agreeing with the sentiment, "I agree¡­I think life would be too dull if you ignored those things." "Never disagreed with that," Blimpo remarked, "Just surprised, is all." The row through the quiet, yet peacefulke was a long one, requiring a constant swapping of rowing duties as now it was Blimpo and Asher that manned the paddles. While there was some periodic rippling through the water, whatever movement was seen out of the corner of one''s eye never seemed to actually make itself known, so it was shrugged off. "Just how long is thiske, anyway? Seems more like a freakin'' ocean at this point to me," Joel asked. "The After doesn''t much operate on logic, so it very well could be an ocean, my friend!" Blimpo said between breaths, straining himself to row with his twiggy arms. The rowing went on for hours; sure, they weren''t exactly moving with any speed in the tiny, rickety boat, but it also was a bit concerning that they went on for so long through the length of ake that didn''t seem thatrge at first nce. Mist kept sight of most of the surroundings obscured, swayed by the brisk veil and keeping any semnce of an end to theke out of sight. The only sound that upied the mistyke was the monotonous paddling as the wooden tools swept in-and-out of the crystal-clear depths. "Anybody else getting sleepy?" Joel yawned. "It''s just the long ride doing that to you," Vandread said. Amidst the ride through the tranquilke, the boat came to a halt as it abrasively bumped into something in the water. It felt as though a rock had been hit by just how solid the blockage in the path was, causing the boat to sway side-to-side momentarily. "What was that?" Blimpo asked, peering over the edge. The boat was left at a total stop for a moment as they all wondered the same thing. A quick look over the edge where the vessel had collided, Vandread found nothing there even after testing the water with a dagger. "We''re clear," Vandread said. "Really? What''d we hit then?" Blimpo asked. "Yeah, it''s not like we just rammed straight into¡­more water," Joel added. Vandread paused for a moment, looking at the water before responding, "Just start rowing." Again, the paddles began swishing through the water as the boat moved again, though with noticeably more tension in the air with the inexplicable collision that had urred. Emilio couldn''t help but look around, finding himself unable to shake the idea that there was something odd about theke. ''There''s been an obstacle every step of the way so far. It won''t be any different here¡­will it?'' He thought. The mist grew thicker, making it difficult to see even a few feet in front of the boat as now Joel and Emilio were paddling together while the others rested their arms. "Hey, does anybody else hear that?" Blimpo asked. "Huh?" Emilio responded. The only sound that had been meeting his ears was the paddling of the water, though as he paused for a moment alongside Joel, listening closely alongside the others, he could hear it: the sound of water moving, almost rapidly. "--A whirlpool! There''s a whirlpool!" Joel yelled out, looking straight where the boat was heading. Even though the paddling had stopped, the vessel was undeniably heading straight for the now visible vortex in theke, revealed through the veil of mist. Worse, even attempting to paddle in reverse did nothing to steer the wooden boat around from a straight course into the vortex, leading it to begin being pulled in a circr motion closer and closer to the center. "What do we do?!" Joel asked. "Hold on!" Asher gritted out. There didn''t seem to be any straight solution, and even with Emilio attempting to manipte the water through the usage of magic, it was far toorge of a quantity and too violent in its momentum for him to even attempt to control it. Simply put, it was above his skill level to attempt to calm a vortex. Something was glowing in the center of it all; a luminescence of a cyan glow that emitted particles of the same, mystical light as the boat swirled closer and closer to that enigmatic center. "Should we jump¡­?!" Blimpo asked. "You''ll just drown!" Vandread yelled. Attempting everything, Emilio summoned the strength of his system as his eyes altered and scales stretched over his body with burning strength. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 2/10 | Dragon Son] "Asher! Help me!" Emilio shouted. "Right!" [Devilheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 2/10 | Hell Son] Emilio and Asher took over paddling the boat with their superstrengthbined, paddling so hard and fast that waved sshed and steam emitted from the wooden tools as they tried to overpower the pull of the vortex entirely. Even still, it didn''t seem to do anything to stop the inevitable as the vessel swirled into the center, rocking chaotically as all five of them sitting within it had to hold on tightly not to be flung into the rapid waters. "Hold on¨C!" Vandread yelled. ¨CBefore Emilio knew it, the vessel was dragged into the luminescent center of the vortex, yet pulled beneath the surface of theke, he found himself not devoid of breath, falling beneath theke yet not drowning. ''What¡­is this?'' He questioned. Without realizing it, he was fallingpletely plummeting, not just sinking through water. As he iled his arms and legs, he realized the boat was falling as well, along with hispanions as whatid beneath the vortex was not depths of water, but an open world itself. It wasn''t a very long nor dangerous fall as hended straight onto a soft bed of light-blue soil before the othersnded as well. "Oof¡­" Joel winced. "Agh," Blimpo rubbed his back. Vandread was quick to his feet, looking around, "Hm." Emilio did the same, along with Asher as they looked up towards the ceiling high above that was made up of theke''s surface, shrouded by mist. "Just what the hell is this ce?" Emilio questioned. "I''d like to know that as well," Asher said. There wasn''t much of note down below theke; it was an environment filled with crashed boats and sunken ships, along with ruined structures thatid on the bottom of the waterlesske. The air felt different from up above, however; dense with precipitation and cold to the touch, though not freezing. "How do we get back up?...Can''t exactly swim on air," Joel asked. "I can get us back up there," Emilio said, "I''ll use magic to carry us up to the surface again." Vandread seemed agreeable to this idea, "Give it a shot." Emilio nodded, having the others stand close to him as he held his hand up, conjuring a swirl of aquatic force that spun around and gained momentum, meant to carry them back up to the surface. "Huh¨C?" Emilio reacted. The water born from his mana vanished just as quickly as it was made, though it wasn''t nullified at its source, but rather overpowered by something else. ''What''s going¨C?'' He questioned. "WAAAGH!" Before anything could be figured out, something akin to the vortex on the surface of theke transpired, though greatly surpassing in it both in scale and ferocity as a massive hurricane pulled the entire group off their feet. "Where''d thise from?!" Blimpo asked. "Another?!" Asher said. There was no stability in the chaotic typhoon as it spun each of them around as if in the eye of a natural disaster itself; Emilio found himself unable to focus his mana into any spells while being spun around before suddenly¨Che was spit out from the waterless depth and out from the surface of theke. "Huh!?" Chapter 347 In Every Direction It wasn''t just him; they all were spit out, but flung in different directions within the checkered forest. Emilio found himself sent across theke and crashing through the ck-and-white trees before stopping as he fell into a pit of mushy, sticky mud. "What¡­just happened?" He muttered. Laying in the mud for a moment, he picked himself, looking around to find that none of hispanions hadnded alongside him. ''I''m alone? It¡­shot us all out in different directions? Are they all right? Inded in mud, but¡­it wasn''t a gentle nor shortnding¨Cif one of them hit solid ground¡­'' He thought. Picking himself up, or so he tried, he found the mysterious mud clinging to his body. It stuck needily to his body, not letting go as he found himself already submerged into it up to his knees. ''Quicksand¡­?!'' He realized. "Aaaagh! Help me!" ¨CThe yell didn''te from Emilio, but a familiar voice that haunted him in its desperation. He recognized it quickly, forcing him to fight against the quicksand harder. "Joel!?" He yelled out. There was no clear idea to him where the voice came from as he struggled to move at all, even summoning strength from his System tobat the hold of the solidified, stringy mud, though it seemed to grip even harder to match the strength he fought with. "...I''m stuck!...I can''t¡­I can''t get out of this!" Joel yelled back. Though he couldn''t see where his friend was, it seemed they were in the same predicament, or at least simr. Nheless, it didn''t change the fact he was still bound to the gripping substance himself, making it impossible to help his friend until he could free himself. ''I need to get out of this¡­!'' He thought. "Give me a second!" He called out. If fighting against it with strength only made the mystical mud respond by pulling just as hard, there needed to be a different approach entirely. There wasn''t much experience he had with this sort of thing, though one thing came to mind as he found himself submerged up to his waist in the gripping material. ''Come on¡­fire!'' He urged. Summoning the azure mes from his internal System, he exuded their heat from his body, spreading the reach of the ze throughout his body as the clingy mud began to let go of his body. ''There we go!'' He thought. There was no time wasted from the moment he loosened the bond of the mud and to jumping up from it, looking around for where his friend was. "Joel! Where are you?!" He yelled. It took a moment for a response toe, but from the left, a scream came, "...Over¡­here!" ''...Sounds like it''s gotten worse!'' He realized. Taking in a breath, he prepared to act in haste as he reinforced his body with magic before kicking off of the ground, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake as he burst with overwhelming speed to the left. He covered quite a bit of ground in an instant, pulling the brakes by stomping down as the soles of his boots slid across the grass as he found the spot in which Joel was held. "...Huh?" Emilio found himself shocked to find that the silver-haired man wasn''t caught in the same quicksand-like mud he had been trapped in, but instead caught within a bush of thorns. "Did yound in that¡­?" Emilio asked. Joel winced while trying to answer, "...Yes! There''s a thorn poking me in the ass cheek! Hurry!" "Alright, alright," Emilio tried not tough. It definitely wouldn''t have been aughing matter if it was him that fell into the bush of thorns, but he couldn''t help but find it to be funny¨Cboth in the relief that Joel was safe and just how ridiculous it was. "Fire," he called upon quietly. Rather than yanking his friend out of the prickly hedge, he chose to emit a pulse of fiery mana throughout the bush, burning it to cinder before Joelnded on his rear with a wince. "Ngh¡­Damn, I got poked everywhere," Joel said. "You''ll be fine," Emilio extended a hand down. Joel looked up for a moment before epting the helping hand, being helped up to his feet before they looked around. "Wonder if the others are closeby," Joel said. "Hopefully, but this mist isn''t going to really make it any easier to find them," Emilio remarked. The fog was still ever present in the checkered forest, filling the scope of the ck-and-whitendscape with its veiling presence. ¨C [...Somewhere Else | The Checkered Forest] "Uungh¡­Talk about a toughnding." Picking himself up and rubbing his back, the blonde-haired elf winced after having crashed through a series of branches. Though it certainly wasn''t pleasant to have rough branches scratch his back on the way down, it certainly broke his fall from one that instead broke his bones. For a minute, he sat on the grass while rummaging through the pouches attached to his belt, counting each and every single tool and gear he had to make sure none were lost uponnding. "All good!" He announced solely to himself before picking himself up. Brushing the dirt off of his arms and shoulders, he flicked his goggles back over his eyes so that he could see through the thickyer of mist that had swirled around the clearing in the forest. ''Looks like we all got separated. Hmm, troublesome, but nothing I can''t manage,'' he thought. There was always a perfect tool for the job¨Cthat''s what Blimpo believed and what served as the foundation for his almost maniacal dedication to his craft. As such, he retrieved a single cube from his pocket, cing it on the ground before activating the tiny button ced on the light-brown mechanism. "Go track down the others ande back to me when you find them, ''kay?" Blimpo told the little device. It spread apart into multiple, insect-like mechanisms that scattered, immediately heading off into other directions as Blimpo took to a direction himself. ''My "Seeker Hive" hones in on heat signatures unique to humans. It''s meant for situations just like this,'' he thought. The only problem the elf found for himself was that his trusty rune cannon had taken a hit on his roughnding. As he inspected it, some of the reinforced wooden ting on the weapon was loose and a light shake of it revealed there were some jumbled parts internally. "Hmm," Blimpo thought to himself. There weren''t exactly plentiful parts avable just sitting around in the forest, and even if he did want tomit to making those parts himself, there wasn''t exactly the time nor freedom to do so. Especially with what greeted him on his path to reuniting with the others, stomping out from dense foliage into the grassy path: "Oh, err, hello there," Blimpo nervously said. It was a creature of the depths; a tall, burly-built being that resembled a human in its physique, but was covered in mmy, dark-gray scales with the head of a face and lifeless eyes that further resembled one. Each step it took was heavyrge enough to feel the imprint it made on the soil as it dragged its gilled body into view. Nearly the very moment the lumbering giant from the pond saw the elf, it let out a shriek, revealing its rows of thin, sharp teeth before stomping towards him. ''Oh, boy¡­This is a big one,'' Blimpo thought. The first instinct he had was to lift his rune cannon up, though as he pointed it at the amphibious giant, he remembered that it was broken and jumbled-up. "Ah, crap¨C!" He let out audibly. There wasn''t much time to choose a different option rather than "sting" with his rune cannon, leaving the elf to duck-and-roll to the side just as the muscle-bound amphibian charged straight past him. It charged with its shoulder, though instead mming straight into the trunk of a tree rather than the elf. The impact the gray-skinned, amphibian humanoid made caused the entire, white-leaved tree to rumble as the branches shook and leaves cascaded down through the misty air. Seeing just what sort of force the fish-headed, pond-dweller brought in its charge made the elf realize just how badly he needed to avoid being caught. ''Talk about a musclehead! Well, brains over brawn, yeah?!'' He thought. With a smile on his lips, Blimpo reached into the leather pouch on his belt before retrieving a small, crimson rune, tossing it just as the brute faced him and began approaching. "Take this!" As the rune made contact with the amphibious musclehead''s body, it released its form into a fiery explosion, directly blowing against the brute. To his surprise, the little explosion did nothing more than burn some skin off of the gray-skinned fiend as the fish-headed humanoid shrieked out before jumping directly in front of the elf, covered in smoke and mes. "Ngh!" Blimpo reacted, raising his arms. Though he was no physical fighter; the elf received a harsh m of knuckles straight into his gut, causing him to be flung back and mmed straight into a solid tree trunk. Chapter 348 The Godless Style Perfectionist "Ngh!" Blimpo reacted, raising his arms. Though he was no physical fighter; the elf received a harsh m of knuckles straight into his gut, causing him to be flung back and mmed straight into a solid tree trunk. Such an impact wasn''t fleeting for the tinkerer who hardly put much stock into athleticism; he was stuck sitting there against the tree, coughing and trying to breathe air back into his lungs that didn''t listen to him. It felt like mes coursed through his chest; every failed breath only made it harder to control his panicked lungs. ''I''ve always been nothing much physically. When ites to my homnd, physical training is looked down on¨Cit''s magic or nothing. Even despite that, I wanted to be strong. Problem was¡­I was dirt poor. If I could barely get a sliver of bread a day, how would I bulk up? This is what I''ve been left with,'' he thought. By some miracle, the elf managed to breathe in again, gasping out as he picked himself up just in time as the fish brute mmed its knuckles towards his head, missing by an inch as its fist mmed into the tree behind him. Just as he slid underneath the missed punch, he flicked a gadget from his pouch, rolling over just as he activated the trap mechanism. "Go!" Blimpo caused a steel-fiber to shoot out from the small contraption, entangling the mmy-skinned brute. "Raaaagh!" The amphibious musclehead struggled, tangled up. While it was stuck within the trap, Blimpo kept his distance while staying on a knee, quickly unscrewing the side of his busted rune cannon as he checked the damage within it. ''Come on¡­! I''ll fix ya up, baby!'' Blimpo thought. There were perhaps only moments afforded to him to figure out what was wrong internally with his main weapon. It waspletely broken in one important area; one of the fire runes used to empower it was used up and crumbled, and the bolts were fried from the exhaust of the rune. "Not good!" He whispered harshly. It was undoubtedly the only tool at his disposal with the firepower capable of taking down the sturdy amphibian, forcing him to get creative. He could hear the fish beast fighting against the that held it, seeming to begin to overpower through it as the elf rapidly rushed through his pouch before retrieving a couple gadgets. ''Sorry, but I need to use your parts¡­!'' He thought. Splitting open the spherical gadgets he kept on him, he retrieved the bolts from one and the crimson rune from another, having to work quickly with his dexterous fingers in order to move the parts from one gadget to another. A testament to his skills as a tinkerer; it wasn''t just uracy, creativity, or knowledge for that matter that ced one on a pedestal among the greats¨Cwhat also mattered was one''s efficiency while faced with a nail-biting situation. This was something Blimpo believed in earnestly; unmatched skill in every field or circumstance. ''That''s why I''m not losing to a fish,'' he thought. Just then, the amphibious brute broke through the steel, ripping it off its body with its mindless strength freeing it. Blimpo didn''t even look up, stayingpletely focused on assembling the scattered pieces into the rune cannon as he kept a breath of oxygen trapped in his lungs. Utter focus was needed in those precious few seconds as he perfectly spun the bolts into their proper ces and mmed the rune in, closing thepartment of the rune cannon just in time as the goliath charged him. Every step it took crushed the soil beneath its feet, rushing with a charge of continuous waves of vibrations through the ground; it possessed no perception for what was in its way, simply crushing the roots in its path and pulverizing the logs in its path. There wasn''t a moment to spare as he hoisted his repaired rune cannon up while staying on a knee, having to possessplete faith in his own knowledge and the capabilities of his tool as he pulled the trigger. ''Let''s do this!'' Blimpo thought. It was already set to its maximum output, even a bit beyond that, in fact; the worst case scenario and best case scenario were only a sliver away from one another, and existed as the only two options. The worst case? The rune cannon malfunctioned and blew up directly in his face, obliterating the elf himself on the spot. The best case? The fish brute was annihted by the resulting st, along with likely a good portion of the forest around him. BOOOM He didn''t so much as flinch as he heldplete faith in the oue that revealed itself: sparks were shot out from the rune cannon, fluttering by the brute before releasing into a massive volley of fiery explosions. The resulting onught tore through a plethora of trees, charring the soil in a conal path as spoke intertwined with the mist. Left there, covered in holes and burnt to a fine crisp, the amphibious brute swayed side-to-side before copsing onto the ground. "Magical tools are the greatest in the world!" Blimpo shouted with augh. ¨C Vandread woke up, blinking a few times as he found that he must''ve been knocked out by the harshnding, feeling as much from the warm leakage from the back of his head. It was a new feeling to him¨Cbeing so susceptible to mortal wounds. "Hrm¡­" What was perplexing was that he awoke to find himself upside down, hanging from a rope suspended to the ceiling of what appeared to be a shallow, but repugnant cave. Though his first instinct was to free himself from his bindings, just as he leaned up with his well-trained core, he immediately went limp again, pretending to be unconscious as he heard something else upying the cave. "--" He remained silent. Staying still with his arms hanging down, he listened to the heavy breathing that came along with even heavier footsteps. It was hard to get a good look at just what upied the cave, and more importantly what had captured him, due to theck of light in the area besides a small torch and the fact he was left hanging upside down. Even worse, he could feel the blood rushing down to his head, making focusing a more troublesome act than normal. ''What a bother,'' Vandread thought. Through his blurry gaze¨Cfogged by the blow taken to the back of his head¨Che could see that the other figure upying the cave was some sort of demi-human; a mountain lion man with golden, blood-stained fur and a bestial head, seeming tock any traits of human rationality. This wasn''t the first time he found himself in such a situation. In fact, the umtion of many simr, high-stress scenarios are what molded him into the calm, level-headed adventurer he was. Hanging there, he found himself being poked abrasively by the heavily-breathing beast man, who had started up a campfire, holding arge stick that seemed to bear the purpose of cooking the captured man over the fire. He allowed himself to be poked while he deduced how many enemies there were, listening closely as he could hear more footsteps around the area, of which seemed to have a simr weight to the figure before him. ''Alright¡­Time to get to work,'' he thought. In a swift moment, Vandread leaned up and allowed a de to slip out from beneath his sleeve, using it to cut the bindings on his ankles before flipping over onto his feet. "Gragh?!" The beast man reacted. There was no hesitation thatid a burden on the movements of the silver-eyed man as he ducked beneath the wild swipe from the lion man, immediately flowing into an execution of his own as he unleashed a single strike against the wild demi-human''s throat. A spray of blood left the cleanly opened neck wound, leaving the golden-furred beast man gargling on his own crimson fluid before dropping down to the ground¨Cdead. Though the fight wasn''t over; the dark-skinned veteran already knew this as he could hear frantic footsteps from the brethren of the in beast man, leaving him moving into the shadows of the dank, repugnant cave. It was in those shadows he honed his bloodlust, refining it like a masterful b of steel crafted by a cksmith, waiting in the darkness as the beast men ran in from a stone-carved ramp of a higher level within the cavern. "--" Vandread stayed crouched in the darkest corner, not allowing a single breath to escape his lips. He allowed the two beast men of a simr bloodline to the one he killed to enter the lower section of the cave, staying put as he waited to see if more wereing. "Gragh! Rara!" One of the beast men, holding a shoddy spear, spoke in an unintelligible tongue. "Muga!" The other spoke. Their voices were rough, sounding more like gargles, though panicked by the sight of their in kin and the unseen escapee. ''Two it is,'' Vandread decided. Readying a dagger in each hand, he dashed from the shadows without a single sound emitting from his movement, shing by both of the bestial figures as he aimed for instant-kills once again. Execution-style finishers were utilized as he blitzed by, swiftly stabbing one dagger into the skull of one target and piercing the neck of the other. The very moment he withdrew his daggers from the flesh of his targets, they were already dead, dropping to the ground with a squelch. Chapter 349 Peerless Killing Ability Just like that, the deed was done; nothing more than flexing a muscle for the Godless Style user that had killed more times than a single man''s memory could remember. ''I imagine they could put up a fight¨Cif they knew there was a fight to be fought,'' he thought. Wiping the blood from his des, he silently moved up the stone ramp up throughout the cave of the wild demi-humans. He kept himself clinging close to the wall, sinking into the shadows as he reached what looked to be the main space of the cave as he immediately found himself looking upon a nest of the lion-resembling beast men. ''...Four, five, sex¡­Alright, I''ll make it quick then find the others,'' he thought. What was on his mind was the location and status of thepanions he had been separated from; of course the possibility of the beast men already getting their hands on them was a distinct possibility in his mind, but he doubted it. ''Emilio is too strong; Asher is just as capable; Joel has experience; Blimpo is resourceful. Besides, they kept me captured for some reason¨CI''m the only one they found, most likely,'' he deduced. He could see the exit to the cave back into the checkered forest; it would be easy enough to slip by and flee from the beast men, though that wasn''t much of an option in Vandread''s mind. That pragmatic mind of his instead rested on a different approach entirely: leaving no possibilities of retaliation from the enemy and not risking another attack from them. Using the essence of the unknown to his advantage, he stuck to the shadows as he moved along the wall, scoping out his targets; the beast men were sitting around, mainly waiting around a campfire, hardly talking except for a few, rough words that couldn''t be understood. ''I''ll take care of that big one first¨Cthe one missing an eye; he''s likely their "alpha"--if that applies to a group like this,'' he nned. The one in question was built burly, d in muscle and scars with fur turned ck likely from a mixture of old blood and grime. A precious resource, his des were; at times like this, the Godless Style''s teachings came into y at fully as he found one of the roughly-made spears of sharpened wood and tied flint at the end, lifting it up before throwing it in the direction of the "alpha" beast man. With precision like that of an Olympian athlete, the long projectile pierced straight through the sole eye of the demi-human savage, stabbing through with a gut-wrenching squelch before blowing through the back of its skull. "Gragh?!" "Raga!" "Ruuu¨C!" Of course, the sudden attack and defeat of the massive alpha caused the others to immediately jump to their feet, looking around in a panic, though none caught sight of the elusive man. ''How rotten have these beasts be? There isn''t even a trace of humanity left in them¨Conly relying on their eyes, not even using that animalistic sense of smell of theirs,'' he thought. Using the shadows to maneuver around the room, he dashed by a pair of the fur-d warriors, instantly splitting open their necks with ruthless shes. Crimson fluid painted the walls of the damp cave, causing further panic between the warriors as the swift human sank back into the shadows before any could even catch sight of him. "Ragh!" A beast man let out, spinning side-to-side with his ragged sword pointing at nothing. "G-gu-gu!" Another panicked. A small pebblended on the ground, causing the pair of bestial warriors to jump in desperation, attacking the source of the tiny sound, only to find it was indeed an insignificant rock. ¨CA distraction; simple but effective. Appearing behind the deceived savages, Vandread plunged both of his daggers into the sides of each of the beast''s skulls, piercing their brains and turning his des to finish any chance of survival. Just as he withdrew his weapons from their skulls, allowing their limp bodies to fall down, his expression remained straight as an attack came from behind. He ducked down seamlessly as the wild sh missed entirely, allowing him to spin around while crouched, dragging his de along the savage demi-humans gut. SQUELCH A spray of high-pressure blood released as the entrails of the golden-furred beast spilled out from the ruthless disemboweling, though the savage didn''t even get time to have a proper death as Vandread grabbed the figure, pulling them over and using them as a meatshield just as an unounted for target mmed their weapon down. A disgusting squelch echoed as the disemboweled beast was crushedpletely ttened like a fleshy pancake against the cave''s floor by a heavy, unrefined club wielded by an evenrger foe. "Hm," Vandread squinted. ''Seems the "alpha" I took out was just a red herring¨Cthis is the real one,'' he realized. Standing before having, lifting the clubrger than the man himself that was stained with chunks of meat from its own kin it had crushed, was a demi-human lion that towered well over four meters high, built like a gori. The true alpha salivated like a rabid beast, resembling more of a true lion¨Ca "King of the Jungle" than the other, lesser kin that had fallen as it possessed a prominent mane of blood-stained, ck fur. Just as it unleashed a roar that rumbled the stone beneath his boots, he pivoted off of his right foot as a swift m of the massive club came from above, surprising him at the speed the behemoth could attack. ''It''s a simr ss to the "Champion" of the Outriders I encountered before. A demi-human who haspletely abandoned their human side; I wonder if one could call it progression or regression¨Call of that raw strength in exchange for any sense,'' he thought. There was no doubt that this was an enemy he had to defeat here and now; whether he wanted to admit it or not, he had a protective urge over the young Dragonheart, one that refused to let him leave such a brutal enemy be. Still, he no longer had the Undying Blood to aid him, solely focusing on his own elusive footwork as he danced around the swift, lethal ms of the lion champion. "I wonder if you''d happen to know anything about this ''King of Spades'' figure¨Cwilling to talk?" Vandread asked amidst his evasions. Weaving through the repeated club ms which shattered the stone beneath, Vandread fluidly evaded each attack, only attacking once no response came from the alpha as he countered with a swift movement of his dagger. It hardly looked like contact was made, yet a deep evisceration etched itself into the burly, human-sized forearm of the great maned champion. "Nnrgh¨C!" The massive alpha growled in pain. There didn''t seem to be any rustyness left from the transition from life to death; Vandread felt perhaps his skills were even sharpened by the situation, untethered to any holds of the mortal coil as he easily evaded the wounded alpha''s swings and responded with shes of his own. With a quick sidestep of an overhead m, he dashed by the gargantuan lion-man, unleashing an arc sh that targeted the tendon behind the beast''s elbow, disabling his arm''s movement. "--I know you have some sentience. Spill what you know about the ''King of Spades''--or I''ll show you there are things more painful than disembowelment," Vandread threatened. Unbeknownst to the silver-eyed, pragmatic fighter, something was off¨Ca development urred that could not be predicted or witnessed. As the bloody, maned colossus stood there, covered in gashes and leaking blood, a silhouette appeared¨Ca presence shown only to the alpha; a checkered man brought his lips close to the ear of the seemingly defeated beast man. "It is your duty, my diligent subject; defeat the man before you then bring me the head of the Dragonheart¨Cthat''s an order, from your king," the man spoke in a voice as soft asvender, yetmanding such power, "This is the will of the Primordials." Suddenly, Vandread felt himself witnessing a spontaneous transformation of the bipedal lion man, whose bloodied body flexed; muscles bulged and veins expanded as theplexion of the golden-skinned champion morphed. ck-and-white; absence of color and only possessing those two, opposing shades, the champion became checkered, looking down on the scarred man with one sable eye, and one of a pure-white. "Hm," Vandread grunted. ¨CBefore his eyes, happening before he could so much as raise one of his daggers, the checkered champion vanished before him; it wasn''t some illusion of trick of the eye¨Cit simply moved with such speed he found his reflexes dumbfounded in that split-second. "--!" Unable to guard himself in time, Vandread found the club mming into his stomach, causing the spikes to dig into his flesh before he was flung back with a force that left him spinning through the air, mming into the back of the dank cavern. "Ghhh¡­" Vandreadid there in the shattered stone as dust and pebbles crumbled over his head, leaving him coughing up blood. ''Shit¡­It got me good. It''s been a long time since a blow like that actually had enough time to hurt,'' he thought. Chapter 350 Opportunity To Reunite It felt as though his insides had turned to mush; heat soared through his abdomen as warmth flooded from his stomach. Even wounded as he was, he was forced to roll over just as the massive, reinvigorated champion crashed down after a dramatic leap, attempting to crush him beneath its foot. Only barely did he manage to avoid being crushed, but it hardly seemed to matter when he could only pick himself up to a single knee before the drooling beast was in front of him again, lifting its brutal club up with lethal intent. CLANG As heavy as death, the club descended like a falling tower, though it stopped just short of bashing in the man''s head as he sat there on a knee, witnessing a familiar figure intercept the attack, holding therge club back with a ymore. "Are you alright, Vandread?" Forcing the checkered champion back with a burst of darkness, Asher stood there as his jet-ck tufts brushed aside from the gale of battle. Vandread stood back up, silently walking past Asher as he left a pat on the adolescent''s shoulder before standing in front of him. "Hey? You''re bleeding pretty badly," Asher warned. "It means this fight is interesting now," Vandread said, not looking back as he tore his shirt away. The dark-skinned man''s torso was mostly painted in blood from the few holes left bore in his abdomen, yet he didn''t wince or look moved at all by the condition of his body, only wielding his two daggers while facing the salivating alpha. "Sit back and watch me," Vandread said. Asher looked perplexed before slowly nodding, sheathing his ymore, "You''re Emilio''s teacher, right? I''ve been interested in seeing what you can really do." "You''ll get what you want, then." It was a simr development that the Dragonheart had experienced through delving into the true core of life-and-death battle; one that Vandread understood well as he tapped into that flow as he felt his body heat up and blood drip from his wounds. "The Zone". A state where bloodlust is refined into a masterful condition; where pain fades; blood boils and one''s heart dances, beating like a drum in one''s ears before¨Csilence. A lull where killing bes one''s sole nature begins. The moment he reversed the grip of one of his daggers, the ck-and-white goliath moved with that monstrous speed, covering the distance between them in an instant and moving behind Vandread. Though it appeared at first that the silver-eyed man failed to track the bestial champion''s speed, he instead flicked his hand without looking behind him,unching a weaponized projectile of his own blood into the champion''s eyes. "Nrgh?!" The beast reacted as the crimson fluid blinded it. Using his own lost essence as a tool, Vandread took advantage of the beast''s stolen sight, closing in within an instant as he leapt up, going for a sh against the champion''s throat as he needed to jump in order to reach it properly. He scraped his dagger across its neck, though its fur was thick and its muscles were dense, leading only to a shallow cutnding. "Tch," Vandread clicked his tongue. As a swing of the club came his way in retaliation, he curved his body in mid-air, managing to just barely, but intentionally, evade its violent end. Even if it came close to touching him, even if the raw speed of the checkered champion surpassed his own, it never had a chance of hitting; this was due to the "Zone" and what it meant for the veteran killer. The world before his eyes connected like a series of threads, all of which led to the singr goal of killing the enemy before him; a plethora of choices carved from his decades of experience. Asher witnessed this sh, finding himself thoroughly impressed and in disbelief at the execution of the man''s movements. ''It''s one thing when you have the power of a System backing you up, but¡­Vandread has none of that; he doesn''t even use magecraft. This is somebody that has honed their craft to such a level that with their own skill, they can challenge both magic and systems¨Che''s an anomaly in his own right,'' Asher thought. wlessly and without flinching, Vandread weaved through the blurry swings of the club with minimal movement, all while attempting to find the opening in which he canunch his own counterattack. Each of the checkered beast''s swings were faster than what a normal person could perceive, causing the air to howl and stone to shatter. "Found it." Swinging through the air with enough force to turn a human into nothing more than crimson stter, the club swept by, only for Vandread to already have leapt forward, weaving perfectly through the attack as he ran up the beast''s arm. Asher witnessed this counterattack withplete intrigue, almost missing it with how fast and seamless it was executed by Vandread; using the momentum from his own run, Vandread plunged his daggers into either side of the champion''s head through both of its ears. "Your hide was too tough, but there are openings in every creature¨Cthat''s no different for you," Vandread spoke quietly. A true testament to the extraordinary limits of humanity; despite facing a bestial champion that wielded such monstrous power, the daggers of Vandread knew how to cut the thread of life unlike any other, leaving him standing over the fallen champion as he withdrew his daggers. Vandread let out a single tired breath before wiping the blood from his chin, looking over at the other man in the room, "Let''s find the others." "...Right. Sure," Asher nodded. ¨C Walking through the checkered forest almost aimlessly, Emilio kept his lesser elemental spirits manifested, closely scanning the area, though to little avail. "Where are they? We couldn''t have been thrown that far from one another, right? I mean, we found each other pretty quickly," Joel remarked. "We can probably chalk that up to a bit of luck," Emilio said. "Yeah, yeah, I hear ya," Joel sighed. The mist was heavy and dense, leaving sprinkles of water when walking through it; even the four lesser spirits he summoned couldn''t seem to look far past the fog at all. "Anything?" Joel asked. Emilio held his hand out as the elemental spirits returned to him, shaking his head, "Nothing yet." The silver-haired man sat down on a fallen tree log with a sigh, "Urgh." "What?" Emilio stopped, looking at him. "I think we should stop and wait it out for a bit," Joel rmended, "I mean, we''re making good time, right? We''re pretty close to the destination with a lot of time to spare¨CI just think it''d be best to try seeing if theye to us." Thinking about it for a moment, at the very least, Joel was right¨Cthey were certainly making good time on approaching the Quandary Gate. Though he wanted to keep moving, he recognized it was at least worth trying to wait a bit and get some rest in. Emilio sat down against a tree, leaning his back against the brisk trunk, "Alright. We''ll wait for a few hours. Problem is¡­Who knows if this mist will ever die down." "I was thinking about that, too," Joel said. It was when sitting there for quiet time that he really felt just how mystifying the forest was; the snow-white trees, the trees that sprouted pitch-ck leaves that seemed lifeless, yet constantly swaying from the movement of the mist. Something about it all felt off; it felt as though eyes were constantly on him; the shuffling of critters through the bushes felt intentional rather than the act of fleeing creatures. ''...Something about this forest is¡­alive,'' he thought. Joel managed to fall asleep pretty easily, snoring whileying against a mossyered log like it was afortable bed, but Emilio refused to indulge in the temptation of sleep¨Cnot after the experiences he continued to suffer when trying. He mainly stayed there, thinking of the length of his journey thus far, finding it almostical just how difficult it truly was to achieve his goal of bing a world-ss adventurer. ''I wonder how the others are doing¡­Melisande, Everett, and Yuna¡­I hope they aren''t stuck grieving over me. I''ll be back soon enough, with plenty of stories to tell,'' he thought. After a few hours of remaining sat there while his friend slept, he suddenly jumped up as a shriek came from beyond the mist¨C "AAAAAAAAHHH¡ª!" ¨CIt was a bloodcurdling shriek that sounded like bloody murder had urred; a female voice that pierced the silence of the fog and even brought the silver-haired man out of his slumber. "Wha¡­? What was that?" Joel sleepily asked. Though he was hesitant at to what it was, by the sheer volume of it, Emilio found himself focused on one aspect of the scream: ''The others probably heard it, too! This is it¨Cthis is our opportunity to find them!'' He thought. "Come on!" Emilio shouted. Without wasting a moment, he activated his draconic, azure armor before grabbing Joel''s arm, hoisting his friend up and guiding him along as he began sprinting with superhuman speed in the direction of the shriek. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 3/10 | Dragon Warrior] "Wait, wait, wait¨C! I''m not adjusted to your freakish speed¡ª! Emilio!" Joel called out. Chapter 351 The Banshee "Wait, wait, wait¨C! I''m not adjusted to your freakish speed¡ª! Emilio!" Joel called out. The silver-haired man could barely even allow his boots to touch the ground as he was helpless to the speed at which the Dragonheart sprinted, breaking through the gateway of sound as the neighboring leaves fluttered wildly. What was reached was a downward slope leading to a quarry, as if an entire chunk of the forest had beenpletely carved up, leaving a stretch of soil and exposed stone. "A quarry?" Emilio questioned. Coming to a stop, Joel stumbled beside Emilio after being let go, catching his breath and panting almost like a dog, "...Warn me next time you do that! Emilio?" "What''s¡­? Hold on¨Cit''s them!" Emilio called out. It seemed they weren''t the first ones there; as the mist parted itself, what revealed itself was a fight already taking ce in the vast quarry as the familiar sight of both Asher Devilheart and Vandread were there, facing "something" haunting: A tall, ghastly woman with pale-gray skin and long, pitch-ck hair that swayed in the wind like tendrils, having sunken, absent eyes and a mouth perpetually opened as if her jaw was unhinged, screaming out. "A banshee?!" Joel recognized. "A banshee?" Emilio repeated. Whatever it was, it seemed terribly strong as it pressured even Asher, who was already in [Stage Three],batting the banshee, who repelled his sword strikes while using her supernatural hair like sentient des. "Vandread! He''s hurt!" Emilio realized, rushing over. As he joined the battlefield, he moved to Vandread''s side, who had multiple stab wounds in his bloodied abdomen. "Vandread!" Emilio called out. "...Huh? Oh, you made it," Vandread said. Emilio called out to Joel, "Help Asher! I''m going to heal Vandread." "Right! Leave it to me!" Joel jumped in. The tall, intimidating banshee was confronted by a duo of Joel and Asher, though there was no progress made in overturning the battle as the banshee unleashed a hellish cry which produced a sonic boom through the air, sting both men back. "Ngh!" Joel winced. "Tch," Asher clicked his tongue after being repelled. In the meantime, Emilio kept his hand close to the wounds of the scar-covered man, producing a soft, verdant light that worked to stifle his bleeding and close his wounds. "Your magic has gotten better," Vandreadmented. "Yeah, well, don''t rely on it too much! I''m not as good as healing others," Emilio said. ¨C Asher was leading the initiative, flipping around and trying to close the distance while the banshee continuously extended her nefarious hair like spears from hell, stabbing down into the ground in an attempt to skewer him. Meanwhile, Joel was kept pushed back by these attacks, having to solely focus on defense as he used his sword like a shield as the solidified hair of the supernatural fiend continued striking against his held weapon. "Nngh¡­! C''mon, Asher!" Joel desperately called out. Asher pumped up the output of his system as a cape of shadows sprouted from his shoulders, increasing the devilish energy that shrouded him, empowering his physical prowess as he mimicked the speed of lightning. [Current Stage: 5/10 | Hell Sentinel] The Devilheart swept his de forward, unleashing waves of scathing darkness that razed the quarry, tearing through the banshee''s steel-like hair as she screamed out again, more vile than before. It was overwhelming; the sheer tenacity and power wielded by the Devilheart allowed him to obliterate all of the attacks the banshee unleashed with bursts of his devilish energy. He conjured a construct of his own sword, sweeping it forward as it cut through the banshee''s own scream and sted the supernatural fiend back. Twisted and mangled by the attack, seeming defeated, the banshee''s limbs suddenly began contorting, reconfiguring themselves as she seemed to rebuild her shattered vessel back into shape. It was unseen by the others, but the silhouette of the mysterious man returned, bringing his lips close to the banshee''s ear. "It is your duty, my beautiful queen¨Cy my enemies and bring me the head of the Dragonheart. Should you do that much, we can rule thisnd together; that is an order from your king," the checkered silhouette spoke his soft, alluring words. "--!" To his surprise, the monstrous banshee suddenly underwent an evolution as her haunting hair bleached itself from a deep ck into a ghostly, pale-white; herplexion changed from a gray to a pitch-ck, reversing her coloring entirely before her body bulkened and tightened, bing scarily muscr. ''It''s like before with the beast that Vandread fought,'' Asher recognized. "What''s happening over there?" Emilio asked, still tending to Vandread''s wounds. Vandread responded, "I saw something like this earlier. It''s some sort of desperate evolution creatures in this forest undergo¡­It''s just a hunch, but it has the King of Spades written all over it." There was no doubt that what they faced was not a simple "banshee" but a unique existence entirely; the vile woman of a ghastly presence extended her snow-white hair as it swayed hauntingly, sprouting like a wicked forest around the figure. Emilio finished closing the wounds on hispanion''s abdomen, helping Vandread back to his feet as they stood shoulder-to-shoulder. "Bring out that draconic strength, if you can," Vandread suggested. The young man already reinforced his armor, honing the third stage of his system again as he nodded, "Don''t worry, I am." Together, the four men rushed across the quarry,ing in far-and-wide as they attempted to close in on the banshee, only for the ghastly women to unleash a cry unlike any other; it emitted like thunder, tearing through the soil in its path like unseen des. "--!" Emilio pushed his hand forward, conjuring a massive wall of mud in front of everyone just as the ruthless scream tore forth, mming against the wall with thunderous force, but ultimately being stopped. "Nice save!" Joel called out. There was no time to exchange words as tinum spikes pierced upward through the ground, seeming unexpected at first but quickly deduced. "It''s her hair?!" Joel realized. "Careful!" Rushing by with his enhanced speed, Emilio used a soft nudge of wind to knock Joel out of the way as more colossal spikes of hair pierced up from the ground, nearly skewering the man. As the mud wall fell, the banshee was revealed to be using her forest of hair to dig beneath the soil,unching dozens of spikes upward. It wasn''t just that; the banshee unleashed a storm of her terrible tufts around her and forward, creating both an ultimate defense and offense that jabbed forward and weaved around like cutting des. "Fire!" Emilio sted azure mes forth. Unfortunately, it seemed the banshee''s hair wasn''t mmable, dissipating the fire just as it made contact. "Doesn''t this remind you of how we first met?!" Joel asked. Standing his ground and infusing his sword with the essence of wind, the silver-haired man rapidly swung his sword like a machete used to cut through grass, repelling the swarm of ghastly hair. "Back when I was a pile of skin and bones?! Yeah, I recall!" Emilio shouted in response, having to unleash colossal quakes of stone tobat the storm of hair, "--Actually, that gives me an idea! Nice thinking, Joel!" "Huh?!" Joel was shocked his random remark had any weight. Arge bulk of the banshee''s overwhelming flurry of hair was dealt with by the Dragonheart as he used his grand magical capabilities to conjure mixtures of rock and water magic to reel in the hair, ensnaring it with walls of mud. "Oh, yeah! That''s how we beat that hair monster!" Joel recognized. Even still, engulfing the banshee''s seemingly endless storm of hair in mud didn''t seem to be as easy as thought, as before Emilio could solidify the mud, the banshee unleashed a scream that tore the entire battlefield apart. The scream forced Emilio to build walls around the banshee to contain the destructive scream, only for the multipleyers of reinforced walls of stone to be shattered. "Damn!" Emilio reacted. "Just how strong is this bitch?!" Joel called out. A single scream was equal to some of the greatest wind spells Emilio was aware of, emitting like the scream of thunderbolts; the hair of the witch was hardly any less potent as it vibrated violently before whipping around at speed invisible to a normal eye, slicing up the stone around the banshee. "She''s a Cataclysm level threat," Vandread noted. "Cataclysm?! Are you sure about that?!" Joel asked, looking over at the dark-skinned man. Asher added in, hopping beside the others, "I have to agree. This entity is incredibly powerful¨Cit''s not just her vast attack range and power, but she''s incredibly tough. The sh I hit her with earlier could butcher a hydra, but she survived it." "Damn¡­Guess you''re right," Joel nervously agreed. The tall, haunting banshee hovered there across the quarry, surrounded by miniature craters in the soil from her own creation like a spirit straight out of the depths of Hell, though it wasn''t exactly far from the truth. Screams as strong as the most potent wind magic; hair tougher than steel, sharper than refined des, faster than a master swordsman, yet as plentiful as grains of sand on a beach; a body as tough as a grand beast. It was none more apparent than witnessing just how vast and lethal that swarm of hair was; like vines overgrown from a wild forest, whipping around and humming with a sharpness able to rend steel. "Yeah, this is one nasty witch," Emilio remarked under his breath, "A real monster." Chapter 352 Disastrous Guardian Engulfing his sword with draconic mes, he attempted to take the initiative with a burst forward before any of hisrades joined him, gunning straight for the imposing banshee. He moved swiftly like a bullet, hopping around to avoid the whips of razor sharp, shing hair while also cleaving through the same attacks that came at him from other angles. ''I can make it¨C!'' He thought. Just as he came within striking distance of the banshee, who remained hovering in the same spot, he began swinging his ming sword towards her neck before¨C "AAAAAAAAAAAAA¡ª!!!" The ungodly scream caused space in front of him to ripple and contort from the violent shock of the banshee''s voice, shattering his draconic armor and sting him back with ferocious speed. "Ghh¨C!" He winced. "Emilio!" Joel and Asher shouted. It was akin to being smacked by a point-nk natural disaster, unable to regain control of his own body before he mmed into a hill of dirt towards the back of the quarry. "Nnngh¡­" As heid there, he could feel the aftershock of the scream throughout his body; it tore through his muscles and bludgeoned his internal organs. Blood seeped from his nose and ears as all he could hear was a distinct ringing. He immediately focused healing magecraft through his body as Asher and Joel rushed over to his side while Vandread kept the swarm of hair at bay. "Holy shit! You got sted!" Joel said in a panic. "Thanks for the input¡­" Emilio groaned out. Asher looked at him, "You got close, but that scream seems to be her trump card." "Yup. I figured that out the hard way," Emilio responded. The two men helped him back to his feet after he healed his torn muscles and bruised organs, though he still didn''t exactly feel pleasant as the aching didn''t decrease. This time, he regrew his scale armor, though it took to a darker shade resembling an onyx gem rather than blue scales; it was more refined with a helm of a faceless dragon. "Can you use the fifth stage?" Asher asked, standing beside him. "...I''m not there yet. I was able to use it consciously once, I think but¡­I can manage this much," Emilio said. [Current Stage: 4/10 | Dragon Elite] Asher looked at him as his devilish armor d itself around his own body, allowing his deathly cape to descend from his shoulders, "It''ll do. If I''m being honest anyway, you''ve surpassed me already¨Cyour magic is an edge that can''t be undervalued." "You''re making me blush," Emilio said sarcastically. "I''m serious. You''ve done well for yourself, Emilio," Asher said, "I''m saying this because I''m entrusting you to protect Arcadius once you''re out of here¨Cthat''s my only request." "Of course. That goes without saying," Emilio said. Joel stood with them, holding his sword up, "I feel left out." "Reincarnator business," Emilio and Asher said in unison before dashing back into battle. Fighting side-by-side with Asher, it felt as though they naturally read each other without needing to speak a word, dodging the same attacks in unison and both swinging their swords to repel a wall of hair at the same time; a synchronization of azure mes and devilish, decaying energy that propelled forth. In such foreignnd, the two reincarnators who shared in their origins as otherworlders, though they may share different blood, they may as well be brothers, reunited by circumstance in death. "Asher!" "Yeah!" Asher responded to the Dragonheart''s call. Stomping down with strength that rippled through the soil of the quarry, Asher summoned a massive coalescence of darkness that took the shape of a devil''s face¨C[Hell Cleave]. Unleashing it forward, it cut through the massive barrier of hair before them, allowing Emilio to sprint in as he bolstered himself with [Draconic Might], running with enhanced swiftness as more of the deathly-white hair chased him. It nipped at his heels, though that was a gentle way of putting it; it was more akin to a woodchipper chasing him from behind with des that could mince a human into a fine, red mist. ''--Ruthless! If I slip up for a second, these hairs will dice me up!'' He thought. The moment he drew within a few meters of the wicked banshee, he stomped his foot down with tremendous force, conjuring a multiyered wall of rock in front of himself just as the banshee unleashed one of her monstrous screams: "AAAAAAAAAAAAA¡ª!!!" Even from behind the protective barrier, Emilio could feel the powerful winds conjured through the force of the scream, witnessing the wall managing to take the brunt of the scream but still crumbling away all the same. "Go!" Vandread shouted. The silver-eyed man along with Joel and Asher were keeping the forest of eviscerating hairs at bay, like fighting sentient, razor-sharp threads. There was no space for hesitation as heunched forward with another usage of [Draconic Might], closing in as he reared his sword before, squeezing the handle with both hands as he enveloped the de in azure mes before swinging it forth. A [Dragon Strike] was also infused in it, resulting in a sh powerful enough that the wind howled like the screaming of a banshee as he unleashed his attack,unching it straight against the abdominal region of the ghastly woman. "Hended it!" Joel witnessed. The result of the ultimate sh was a force of sheer wind pressure and wild mes that cut through a majority of the quarry, cutting through the boulders of stone like scissors to paper. A howl of chaotic ze, leaving a cloud of ck smoke in front of the Dragonheart as he huffed. ''Did that do it?'' He questioned. "Emilio!" ¨CIt was Joel that shouted out; in that moment, it seemed the others were able to see through an angle of the smoke that he couldn''t. Just as he looked up, he could see the silhouette of the haunting banshee behind the veil of the billowing smoke. "--!" A sudden, unified effort of his own sword and Asher''s ymore as the Devilheart jumped to his side, stopped an onught of the eviscerating locks as they swept forward. "She survived that?!" Emilio questioned. "Look!" Asher said. After jumping back, Emilio brought his gaze forward to see the powerful banshee reveal herself from the smoke: cut hairs fell from her body, seeming to have acted like an armor around her physical form. "She used her hair as armor? You''ve got to be kidding me¡­" Emilio remarked. "Nasty bitch!" Joel shouted. Though the insult thrown by the silver-haired man required Vandread to yank Joel to the side by his arm as the banshee responded with a spear of hair that nearly skewered him. "...Thanks," Joel said, nearly having been turned into a kebab. "Focus," Vandread told him. Regrouping for the moment, they found the threat of the banshee to be quite the troublesome one; an opponent with an incredibly solid defense and offense that made making progress difficult. "If she can protect against an attack like Emilio just used with her hair, what the hell can we even do to hurt her¡­?" Joel wondered. "That''s a good question," Vandread said, "It''ll be hard to find an opening to finish her from. She may look like a mindless monster, but she''s cunning and experienced, it seems. She''s been able to perfectly keep us separated and overwhelmed by her attacks." Standing there for a moment, Emilio realized something as he watched the banshee, who simply hovered there, not moving from the spot she held in the quarry. "She''s noting after us," he noted. "Yeah? I noticed that as well, actually," Joel responded. Asher squinted, "Emilio, are you thinking¡­" "Yeah," Emilio nodded, "If she''s guarding this one path, it must mean it''s the right way to go. It''s where we''ll find the destination we''re after. But that also means we need to get past her. Which¡­I have an idea for that." All eyes were on him as he proposed the very concept of having an idea, which seemed to bring its own preconceived notions. "If it''s using that eye of yours, that shouldn''t be an option," Vandread said. "Agreed," Joel nodded. Emilio sighed, "That wasn''t my idea." "It''s not?" Joel looked at him. The young Dragonheart looked over at Asher, making eye contact with him as if trying to have him understand his n without saying it, "I think I can tap into "that", Asher. That¡­form I underwent when we fought Dread." Asher looked shocked, "You can? Even if you can, that form is dangerous, Emilio. I''m doubtful that I''d be able to stop it again." "Don''t worry. I''ll try to reel it in the best I can so you won''t have to worry about me going berserk¨Cprobably," Emilio said. "Hmm¡­it could work. That form does have the firepower we need," Asher held his own chin. Joel looked confused, "Form? What form?" Not answering quite yet, Emilio stepped forward, rolling his shoulders and taking in a long, deep breath into his lungs as he focused up. It wasn''t some new development he had undergone; no, not quite. It was something that had been there since he first manifested it; the "glitch in the system" as he likened it to. ''Ever since I identally underwent that transformation, it''s like it''s always there when I tap into the Dragonheart System¨Cwhispering into my ear, trying to stir me up and unleash "that"--up until now, I''ve only seen it as a curse, but¡­it might just work,'' he thought. Chapter 353 Draconis Monster; Brutality Incarnate What was required was to tap into a spectrum of emotion guided only by destruction; all of the loss he had suffered, the pain he had endured, and the anger that came with it. Memories of his failures sprouted, surfacing as he honed in on that burning frustration. Clenching his body, he stoked that me within himself, allowing the Dragonheart blood to boil to a degree hotter than usual. The first instinct, and the only instinct that filled his mind when giving way to such corrupted power, was destruction; absolute death and destruction as azure mes poured off of his body like a natural aura. A tail sprouted from behind him and the pitch-ck scales of the Dragonheart encased his body, undergoing a monstrous transformation as his physique attempted to alter itself, but he condensed it. "He''s turning into¡­a monster?" Joel witnessed. "Just wait and see," Asher said. Though the draconic scales and sentient flesh attempted to envelop Emiliopletely to transform him and engulf him in that wrath, the colossal armor shattered, leaving it only on his arms and legs before tattoos were left on his body. ''Control¡­it!'' He urged. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. The heart of the young man could be seen through an azure glow pumping beneath his chest; the scale-like tattoos covered his body as his amethyst eyes shifted into an animalistic azure. [Dragonheart System Awakened | Alternate] [Current Stage: 7/??? | Draconis Monster | CONDENSED] Around him was a temperature that kept even hispanions at bay as the soil around him dried out, losing its color before rotting away entirely as steam swirled around the Dragonheart. Sweat poured from his body as if expelling a mountain of heat from himself, gasping out as his heart wildly mmed against his chest. "...Hff¡­Hff¡­" Catching his breath after fighting against his own internal power, he aplished it; he condensed that monstrous wrath within himself, though it burned within him greatly with a heat unlike any other. It felt as though he himself was an oven that contained the heat of a star, burning beneath his skin and warming his muscles enough to dull any pain. "Emilio?...Are you¡­you?" Asher asked. It took a moment for any response toe as he focused onpletely locking down that scorching rage within himself before giving only a thumbs-up, as opening his mouth was a struggle in itself. Asher looked surprised, "Heh¡­You did it." "He did it?! Did we almost die or something?!" "Something like that," Asher said. ¨C What was left as a result from the condensing and control of Draconis Monster was a power that flowed through the veins of the Dragonheart unlike anything he was normally used to; it felt as though a single step could burn away a forest and a single breath could turn a man to ash. It was an intoxicating level of strength, constantly requiring his utmost will not to lose his own sentience to the avarice of such strength as he squeezed his fists tightly shut, feeling the monstrous power within his body as he curled his own muscles. ''Focus¡­Don''t lose yourself,'' he thought. As he stood there while trying to tightly suppress the monstrous instincts, the banshee attacked him from all angles with her endless swarm of deathly hair. "Emilio!" Joel shouted. The snow-white hairs wrapped around his limbs, tightly binding around his body and squeezing before they attempted to pull away with the intent of ripping his own limbs from his body. ¨CYet, the Dragonheart did not budge an inch as the hairs pulled from every angle; instead, he still breathed with fiery breath as he controlled himself. Even the ghastly banshee looked perplexed by the fruitlessness of her attack, but this surprise wasn''t hers alone as thepanions of the Dragonheart witnessed this inexplicable development. ''Control it¡­and fight back,'' he thought. With a single flex of his muscles, he moved his arms and stomped down, tearing the hairs from his body with simple movements as if they were normal hairs. Each movement he made had to be meaningful and concentrated, otherwise he''d sink straight into the depths of ancient rage spawning from the tainted dragon''s blood. A single step forward made him move across the quarry instantaneously, breaking the distance between himself and the powerful banshee. It was hard to contain and control the glitched power effectively as a single thrust of his fist unleashed a shock wave that sted the banshee across the quarry. The blow shook thendscape, producing a thunderous gale that swept up clouds of dirt that intermingled with the mist thatid on the outskirts of the stone quarry. "Hot damn! That transformation is something, isn''t it?!" Joel called out, witnessing the monstrous disy. "It is, but it doesn''te easy. Emilio is fighting his hardest just to maintain control," Asher exined, "He needs to make this quick¨Cbefore he destroys everything¨Cincluding us." "Us!?" Joel responded. Vandread let out a tired breath, "I should''ve expected he''d acquire a power like this. It''s this sort of reckless strength that makes him Julius'' son." ¨C The banshee was quick to recover, as her body was armored in multipleyers of her mythically sturdy hair, screaming out and causing the trees around her to have their checkered leaves blown off as the ghastly witch seemed angered by the shift in power. The Dragonheart blitzed across the quarry, once more in an instant, greeted by a bountiful wall of hair meant to impede him, however he tore through it like tall grass in a jungle. Every movement he mademanded tremendous power as if the flow of a natural disaster pulsed along with the beat of his heart. "AAAAAAA¡ª!" Just as the banshee unleashed that terrible scream, the Dragonheart stomped down, firmly nting himself as he flexed his body; the blistering shock wave thundered against his flesh, yet he remained unmoving from the spot he stood. "He''s enduring it¡­!" Joel remarked. It wasn''t an easy feat even still, but Emilio was able to withstand the rippling force as the ground around him was torn and flung about. Even beyond simply enduring it, he slowly began to move forward while the banshee continued to scream. "AAAAAAAAAAAA¡ª!!!" The closer he got, the more disastrous the effects of the supernatural shriek became; like facing down the eye of a storm itself as the winds howled in his ears, sharply contorting before he finally reached the ghastly woman. As he reared his fist back, he threw it forward with a [Dragon Strike] empowered by the glitched path in his system, piercing through the barrier of sound and straight against the sable cheek of the banshee. The impact stifled the scream and produced a powerful shock wave of its own, knocking the entity back as ckened blood dripped from the banshee''s jaw. Despite the force of the strike being anything but restrained, the entity managed to yet again showcase a horrific durability. The punch had spun the banshee''s neck around, wringing it like a towel, yet it only snapped back into ce with the grotesque snapping of bones popping back into ce. "She''s not done! Emilio, look out!" Vandread called out. It was a battle of natural disasters; the forest of snow-white hair sprouted, imbued with the malice of the witch as it covered any sight of thend beyond which the banshee guarded. The advantage of the environment waspletely dominated by the howling woman as the hairs were as plentiful as des of grass in a meadow, all swiping and attempting to capture the Dragonheart¨Cdead or alive. Even so, the quantity of attacks had no bearing on the Dragonheart as he stomped down, invoking a masterss invocation of wind magic in the form of an ear-popping shock wave that howled out. It was as though a civilization-threatening storm had screamed out for a split-second, tearing about the hairs that attempted to grab hold of him and leaving a massive crater in the quarry. Combined with the blistering heat natural to the Dragonheart, the shock wave left a burst of steam that inflicted burns even on the sturdy banshee, who stumbled back. [Dragonheart: Eye of The Smoldering Storm] The banshee screamed out in frustration, contorting her limbs before extending waves of hair forward. A single movement of his hand ripped apart the quarry at the seams, ripping up the dormant roots beneath the dirt and manipting them tobat the forest of hair. The amplification of magical power, thanks to Draconis Monster, could not be understated; the control it gave him and potency in magic allowed him to match the assault of hair by whipping the roots from below the quarry''s crust around. Using the roots to confront the boundless hair of the banshee, he dashed forward, pushing straight through the collision of magical roots and deathly hair, which intertwined and pulled at each other like some hellish tug-of-war match. Even yet, the quantity of hair was supernatural as the banshee released more directly towards the rushing Dragonheart. "Go!" Yelling out and intercepting the assault of hair, Joel stepped in, wildly swinging his sword hard and fast enough it seemed his arms would fling right off. "Don''t worry about anything else but moving forward!" Vandread jumped in as well, using his swift daggers to cleave a path through the endless hair as Emilio didn''t stop in his rush forward, chasing after the banshee with his own monstrous speed. The banshee was now moving back, attempting to keep the Dragonheart away from herself as she unleashed another cry while moving¨C "AAAAAAAAAAAA¡ª!" In return, rather than opting for a defensive spell, the Dragonheart sucked in a heaping serving of oxygen into his lungs before unleashing a yell of his own. It was a burst of wind magic, amplified by his destructive lung strength while utilizing the ursed, glitched strength. "AAAAAAAAAAAAA¡ª!" Both of the sound barrier-shattering screams shed in an impact that exploded throughout the quarry. "Woah¨C!" Joel let out. The resulting wind swirled violently throughout the battlefield, forcing the others back as the mystical roots and vile hair were brushed aside as well. After the sh of screams, the Dragonheart continued forward against the ghastly woman who seemed to hold genuine fear in the face of Draconis Monster¨Can overwhelming force akin to a natural disaster. Chapter 354 The Speed Demon Pure savagery is what inhabited his flesh; as he reached the banshee, he squeezed his fist tight enough to burst the air caught in his hand. As he flexed his body, a form of [Draconic Might] naturally activated before he threw his fist forward. [Dragon Strike: Monster] As his fist reached the abdomen of the banshee, who tried to protect herself withyers of her sturdy hair, the threads were torn through before the blow reached the witch''s body as if a bomb had just descended upon thend. The resulting wind pressure unleashed from his knuckles carved up thend, leaving a destructive path once more as the banshee was left stumbling back. "--" Emilio watched. "Aaaa¡­" The woman''s mystical voice left in pain. Even yet, she had not yet fallen; the supernatural figure proved to be sturdy beyond normal means once again. Though she was clearly reeling from the blow as her abdomen was caved in and ckened blood seeped from her lips, yet the fight was not over. "Emilio! Stop messing around and finish the enemy!" Asher yelled out from the back. It was partially true and false at the same time to say that the Dragonheart was merely ying around, but it wasn''t as though he was fighting at full capacity either. In order to truly keep the will of the destructive beast within him suppressed, he needed to make simple movements, use simple attacks, and contain his actions. Still, it seemed it wouldn''t be enough to simply rely on the most basic of offensive tactics as he readied himself again. ''...Let''s do this. I''ll finish it in my next attack,'' he thought. As the banshee tried going for another scream out of nowhere, a few small-scale explosions hit her from the left. "--?" Emilio looked over. It was a surprising, but relieving sight: the golden-haired elf was smiling, standing above the hill leading down into the quarry with his rune cannon in hand. "Just in time!" Blimpo grinned. "More likete as hell!" Joel called out. The distraction served at least to provide the Dragonheart with ample time to ready his internal power; at the simple gesture of moving his arm, he summoned a massive swirl of azure mes around himself. It seemed when using [Draconis Monster], the power of the Dragonheart was transcended; refined and purified despite the monstrous instinct that tried to take over. ''Cultivate it and nurture the mes¡­into a killing force,'' he thought. The others knew to stay a safe distance in the wake of the Dragonheart''s finishing attack as Emilio weaved the bright-blue inferno around himself, gathering it into a shape before him. Just as the banshee came to after being hit directly with explosions, she howled out while at the same time unleashing a barrage of snow-white hair towards the Dragonheart. But, it was already toote. Emilio stomped down, shattering the soil beneath him before thrusting his hand forward, gathering and twisting the bountiful ze into the shape of a colossal dragon head that tunneled forward through the quarry. It roared out with an unmatched heat, bulldozing straight through the destructive shriek and the witch''s hair alike. [Dragonheart: All-Consuming Lord of Skies] It swept by in an instant, unstoppable and mighty in its wrath before snatching the banshee in its fiery jaws. With themanding gesture of squeezing his fist, the Dragonheart ordered the draconic construct to sweep up into the air with the ghastly figure in its jaws before¨C "Explode," he quietly yet intentlymanded. The solidified mes expanded into a shining explosion of bright-blue mes, of which the others witnessed. Blimpo excitedly spectated this as if watching fireworks, jumping up and lifting his goggles as heughed. "Amazing, ''Milio! Where''d thise from?!" Blimpo let out. "That''s one helluva attack," Joel remarked. "Yeah," Vandread agreed. Though Asher was more focused on the state of the Dragonheart, having his hand close to his ymore as he watched Emilio closely. The question was if the Dragonheart managed to fully suppress the Draconis Monster, or not; the invigoration of triumph might''ve been the factor to push him over the edge. As the vtile ze died down, nothing but ash was left of the freakish entity, leaving the Dragonheart alone in the charred battlefield before he turned around to face the others. "Emilio," Asher called out, "Is it you?" For a moment, Emilio caught his breath before his sapphire eyes faded back into their natural, purple state; a singr thumbs-up was given with a tired smile. Asher let out a sigh of relief, moving his hand away from his ymore, "It''s you." As soon as it was solidified that Emilio was in control, the others reunited, catching him before he fell face first into the dirt. "Woah! Gotcha!" Joel said. Joel and Vandread both caught the exhausted young man as he chuckled. Walking felt like an impossible task for Emilio, as the glitched path in his system seemed to be incredibly taxing on his body. "Good job," Vandreadplimented quietly. "Yeah, that was some crazy stuff!" Blimpo remarked, "I didn''t see much of it, but¡­dang!" Though the path forward was now open, the group decided it was ample time for rest as they made a makeshift camp just beyond the quarry. There was a clear trail in the forest beyond the stone valley, likely leading to where they needed to go. Emilio sat against a tree, sitting across from Blimpo who tinkered with his rune cannon. In the meantime, Vandread and Joel went out into the forest to look for food¨Ceither by hunting or gathering fruit. "How''re ya feeling?" Blimpo asked while fiddling with his weapon. "Exhausted," Emilio yawned. While it was a sess that he managed to control the monstrous form of his system, it was undoubtedly still a tool that came with many risks, though with many potential benefits as well. As he sat there, his muscles cramped and his body felt as dense as lead; healing magic couldn''t do anything about the deeply-seeded exhaustion. ''If I use Draconis Monster¡­there''s always the possibility that I''ll slip and lose control. At that point, I''ll destroy much more than I''m trying to protect. Even if I do reel it in, what if I''m unable to defeat the enemy? That''s what happened with the Dread, if I recall¨CI couldn''t take it out, so I ended up passing out. I was a liability in battle. This is something I need to work on,'' he thought. "Do ya have any more tricks up your sleeve? It''s like you have as many abilities as I have gadgets!" Blimpo asked with augh. Emilio scratched his head tiredly, "Something like that." Sitting silently the whole time, Asher made it his responsibility to keep watch, leaning against a tree with his ymore kept in his hands. ¨C [???] Beyond the forest of white-and-ck leavesy a checkered castle; made of quartz walls and hung with pitch-ck gs. The flooring of this mysterious keep was covered in checkered tiles, leading through the isted, royal chambers to a throne room. Upon the throne, which sat before a gateway of mythical proportions, sat a man of a youthful appearance with snow-white skin, a white, kingly uniform with a salt-and-pepper cape and a sable crown. His left eye white, and his rightpletely ck, even down to his sclera; he mmed the bottom of the pitch-ck halberd down against the tiles, resonating with amanding echo. "Come, Hound," the man spoke in a gentle, yet powerful voice. In an instant, a figure appeared in front of the royal man with speed that came as a blur, instantaneously arriving with a maniacal grin spread across its lips. It was anything but human; a devilish figure with skin that resembled metallic armor, sleek and smooth with horns that curved back from its head. "Race through thend and bring me the heads of those that dare to reach the Quandary Gate," the kingly figure ordered, raising his halberd, "Show them the instantaneous wrath of ''The Speed Demon''." There was no verbal response from the enigmatic, demonic figure as it simply replied with a subtle, quick nod before disappearing in an instant with terrifying speed. ¨C [The Checkered Forest] Joel followed behind Vandread in search of suitable food for the group, though it was difficult to find much of anything that didn''t seem toxic or swift enough to run away into the mist. In order to be able to find their way back to the campgrounds, Joel left marks on the trees they passed by. For some reason, the dark-skinned figure came to a stop, pausingpletely almost mid step as he looked forward with wide eyes. Joel noticed this, perplexed for a moment before finally opening his mouth to ask what was going on. "Hey, have you found somethi¨C" It happened far too quickly; far too sudden; far too aggressively¨Ca blur sped through the trees,ing in from over one-hundred meters away and zooming past the two before even a fraction of a second could pass. "Gyuh¨C!" Neither of the two were unable to react to the iprehensible speed before blows were left across both of their bodies, shing by like thunderps that resounded through the misty forest. There was no fighting back against it; like a wave of violence passing through, unseen and unrecognized, though felt. "Ngh¡­!" Joel fell down, wincing as bruises formed on his body only a few moments after receiving the swift blows. Though hit as well, Vandread caught himself on a branch before falling, picking himself up but clearly feeling the effects of the speedy attacks as well. ''What was that?'' Vandread questioned. "Joel!" Vandread called out. "I''m fine¡­I think," Joel brought himself back to his feet, coughing as he rubbed his chest with a wince. There was no enemy to be found around them, though it was very much clear that one had passed by them in that singr instance. "What the hell was that about?" Joel questioned. "Don''t know, but it''s not good. We need to head back and tell¨C" Vandread began to say. Again, it was that ominous sensation; perhaps it was the instincts of the veteran adventurer that had been honed over decades, but once more, a chill ran up his spine. "Hey¨C!" Joel called out. Vandread pushed the silver-haired man aside just as the leaves of a bush far away rustled before¨Cit all warped again as a blur passed by. It was for the briefest of moments, in between fractions of a second, but Vandread saw it: a blurred smile. A dozen blows pounded against the scarred man''s body in that instant, taking both the attacks meant for himself and Joel. While each blow wasn''t mighty individually, the sessive impacts they came with along with the speed attached to them made them felt to the core of one''s body. Vandread spit out a mixture of blood and saliva, stumbling back as he swept his gaze around. All that could be seen were the leaves of bushes brushing aside and branches swaying, though it was far behind the actual movements of the unseen being. ''Fast¡­! No, this goes beyond just "fast"--I''ve never seen speed like this!'' Vandread thought. "Joel! Get back to the camp¨C! Tell the others¨Cgo!" Vandread shouted. Though the emerald-eyed man was clearly hesitant to flee from the enemy, he knew it was the optimal decision made by Vandread as he nodded and got up, running along where he marked the trees. Behind him, the silver-haired man could hear the whistling of wind increasing with the movements of the speedy entity, though Vandread did his best to upy its attention. "I''m right here," Vandread said, holding his daggers up. Chapter 355 Devilheart Awakens Attempting to predict the movements of the blurred being, Vandread found his dagger only swiping air before a barrage of blows swept against his body once again, causing more blood to spill from his mouth. ''I can''t keep up¡­! Even trying to predict it, it''s just too fast!'' Vandread thought. He swallowed the pain coursing through his body before spinning around, tossing thin throwing knives in every direction, once more finding them hitting nothing as he nced around in a panic. All he could witness for that split-second was a gust of wind pushing past the bushes before¨C THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD. ¨CAnother rapid barrage of blows before the entity blitzed past him, bludgeoning his nose as crimson fluid spilled and bruising his cheeks with the relentless, swift assaults. ¨C "Hff¡­Hff¡­!" Though his ribs were undoubtedly bruised and his body was worn from the attacks he suffered, Joel sprinted through the foggy forest, keeping a close eye on the marks he left on the trees. ''Don''t die, old man!'' Joel thought. After a couple minutes, he found his way back to the campsite, huffing heavily anding to a stop as he caught his breath. "Joel? What''s wrong?" Emilio asked, noticing the panicked state of his friend. Blimpo looked over, though Asher was already to his feet as the situation seemed dire without a single word having yet to be said. "Enemy¡­an enemy! It''s fast¨Cway too fucking fast!" Joel spat his words out, "Vandread is fighting it, but¨C!" As Joel tried to exin, a chill ran up everybody presents'' spine like a cold breath creeping up on their necks. A single fraction of a second of total silence before¨C CLANG [Devilheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 3/10 | Hell Walker] By some miracle, Asher managed to intercept the blow from behind that was aimed at Joel, blocking the blow from the swift enemy that was now seen: a metallic-skinned demon with vacant eyes and only a permanent grin on its face. Though Emilio and Blimpo both stood up with the intent of fighting alongside Asher, the Devilheart yelled out¨C "Find Vandread!Make sure he''s fine! I''ll handle this!" Asher yelled out. It was as if Asher was telling Emilio point nk to his face "You''re too tired to handle this, leave it to me!"--so the Dragonheart nodded and obliged. As the others took off in search of Vandread, questionable of his current state, Asher found himself witnessing the demonic figure disappearing in a blur before encircling around him with speed that was imperceivable. ''It''s fast. I can barely keep track of where it''s going even with the third stage,'' Asher thought. Even with the devilish power infused into his body, he found himself repeatedly struck as the blurred figure blitzed past him, attacking from a different angle each time. Though at first the blows hardly damaged him through his Devilheart armor, with an increase in speed and force, it began to crack from the continuous blows. "...If that''s how you want to y, let''s y¡­" Asher muttered. The cape of damned souls sprouted upon the man''s back as his armor reinforced itself with the demonic hide, creating a pitch-ck, skull helm over his head. ''I know what this is. "The Speed Demon"--it was a legendary, infamous creature that used to roam the vast outskirts of Ennage. It was a blight on the roads; ripping off the head of traveling merchants and adventurers within an instant. I guess somebody killed it, though¨Cso it''s possible,'' Asher thought. [Current Stage: 5/10 | Hell Sentinel] Deathly aura emanated from his position before he ducked down, disappearing with blinding speed as well as he managed to, for the first time, evade an iing assault from the Speed Demon. ''...This whole time, it''s been ying with its food,'' Asher thought. With stage five, he was able to perceive it; if not its exact movements, the subtle changes in wind pressure around him with his enhanced senses allowed the Devilheart to begin weaving past the assaults. The moment he began dodging its attacks, a change urred; the speed was kicked up¨Cthe wind howled as the leaves around were violently swaying in the wake of the Speed Demon''s movements. Asher kicked off with a burst of sound-breaking speed as well, running through the misty forest as he could both feel, hear, and witness the Speed Demon chasing after him, quickly overtaking him with its absurd agility. ''If there''s one thing it hates more than anything else, it''s its speed being challenged,'' he thought. They both moved as blurs through the checkeredndscape, shooting by like lightning bolts that left thunderous shock waves in their high-speed battle, leaving Asher blocking and countering with his ymore as the Speed Demon led the offense. It attacked from peculiar angles, able to instantaneously race across trees and branches alike, jumping from side-to-side of the Devilheart, who focused on defense. As he came to a sudden stop in an attempt to throw the Speed Demon off, he witnessed it curve around sharply as a barely-seen figure amidst the forest; the shock waves of its heightened speed tore nature apart, uprooting nearby trees and causing hundreds of leaves to scatter like the veil of emerald rain. "--!" Asher swept his ymore forward with arge epassing of devilish energy, though it failed to reach the swift entity. The sheer speed alone that the demon moved with caused the air to violently shake, throwing even the Devilheart off his bnce for a split-second before dozens, if not a hundred blows mmed against him in that moment. "Ngh¨C!" Though his ckened armor remained intact, enduring the blows, the blistering shock they brought echoed through his body nheless. In response, he swept his ymore forward, unleashing spikes forged of devilish energy that pierced in front of him: [Nether Javelins] Each of the ck-formed spears jabbed forward, repelling the attacks of the Speed Demon, but failing to hit the elusive figure. ''It''s moving faster and faster. I need to¨C'' He thought. Even his thoughts didn''t have time to form as he found the air shifting past his ears just before he found himself rapidly pulled back, being dragged through the forest as the scenery around him sped by as a blur. It took a moment for him to realize he was being dragged by the Speed Demon, stomping down as it only took a couple moments to be pulled leagues through the mistyndscape. ¨C Led by Joel, Emilio and Blimpo found the spot where Vandread was left to fend against the speedy fiend initially. "Vandread!" Emilio called out at the sight of the man. The dark-skinned figure was slumped against a tree, covered in bruises and bleeding profusely from a broken nose and busted lip. "Ouch," Blimpo winced at the sight of the man. Emilio crouched down beside Vandread, not wasting a moment to issue healing magic to the injured man. "...I couldn''t hold it off," Vandread said through a heavy breath, "Where is it?" "Asher is fighting it¨Cdon''t worry, he seemed confident," Emilio assured him. Joel looked guilty at the beaten sight of Vandread, even though the wounds were easily tended to, the silver-haired man seemed frustrated as he ruffled his own hair and averted his gaze. This was noticed by Vandread, who was helped to his feet by Emilio and the elf, "Hey, kid. I made a choice and you listened to it¨Cdon''t beat yourself up over it. I knew what I was getting myself into." "Still¡­I''mpletely useless. Every enemy we face¡­I realize that more and more," Joel said, "I couldn''t even SEE that thing! I was totally helpless." "Joel¡­" Emilio said. Though the young Dragonheart wanted to say something to assure him, he was stopped as Vandread left a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head as if telling him "You''ll only make it worse". "Hmm¡­" Emilio looked down. "We should head back," Blimpo suggested, "I know Asher is strong, but that thing totally gave me the chills¡­" "Yeah, let''s go," Emilio nodded. Though he was still far too exhausted to truly fight, there was no bone in his body that was going to abandon hispanion. Still, it felt as though they had a long way to go with the slow pace they were moving at. ¨C Disorientating, to say the least, the Devilheart found himself in a foreign clearing of the checkered forest, surrounded byrge trees and tall, monstrous flowers. "Enough." As he spun around, he infused his ymore with the essence of a hellish beast, swinging it as heunched a sable maw towards the Speed Demon, who held that permanent grin before casually evading without seeming to even move a muscle. It was toying with him; keeping its arms crossed nonchntly, the grinning demon almost seemed to teleport around the scope of his bestial attack. ''Showing off your speed, huh?'' Asher thought. He halted his attacks, witnessing the Speed Demon stop moving for the first time as it seemed to mock him, staying still as if trying to say he couldn''t hit it even if he tried. Asher drew in a breath before invoking a shift in his Devilheart System; the cape of whispering souls disappeared entirely as his own armor condensed itself, slimming down as speed was put at the forefront of necessity. [Devilheart: Turbo Death] Chapter 356 Turbo Versus Speed [Devilheart: Turbo Death] Both of his fists were enveloped with devilish gauntlets made of nefarious energy, producing a hum of darkness. It was a form that prioritized speed and attacking power above all else, butpletely forsook defense. ''If I used this against the Dread, I would''ve been dead in the blink of an eye. But, The Speed Demon isn''t that fearsome when ites to raw power¨CI need speed,'' he thought. It was the second that the wind changed that both figures took off in speed that left them as nothing more than blurs amidst the forest; the air howled and cracked, whistling at the agility that surpassed normal limitations. Asher opened with a heavy haymaker with his enormous, deathly gauntlet, causing a shock wave to erupt forward with a nefarious howl; it tore through the neighboringke, causing vapor to erupt as the heat of the blow vaporized a portion of the body of water. "Tch." Of course, as fast and violent as the attack was, the Speed Demon zoomed past it with that untouchable agility as the grinning figure ran across the water entirely, evading even the subsequent ripples of force. It was as if what he fought was the embodiment of speed; unleashing wild, rapid haymakers that each tore through theke in front of him with devilish propulsions of energy, he witnessed the Speed Demon dance through their reach. ''Even with Turbo Death, it''s got me beat in speed¨CI can perceive it and keep up, but it''s slippery,'' he thought. It was a race across theke; they sped through as not even the fickleness of water could catch those who surpassed the meaning of speed. The Speed Demon spun around to dodge a shock wave, flicking its fingers as it released swift bullets of tiny, yet destructive bits of silver energy. "--!" Within centimeters of his face, Asher witnessed the fast particles nearly make impact before he ducked down, continuing to sprint across the surface of theke before retaliating against the speedy fiend. [Devilheart: Dark Extension] Sticky, extendable lines of devilish energy shot outward in three finger-like whips, attempting to ensnare the Speed Demon. It was like trying to catch an elusive fly with nothing but the agility of a sloth; the dark tendrils whipped through the water, yet the horned speedster slipped through them with wless flips before¨C FWOOSH The gears were kicked up to the next level again as the Speed Demon suddenly crossed the distance between itself and the Devilheart, running across theke with such speed it parted the water entirely, shattering the sound barrier multiple times in one go. ''Fast¡­!'' Asher thought. Such speed equaled an even higher mass behind the punch of the Speed Demon as it mmed its metallic knuckles against his chest with a thunderous impact. As the defensive reinforcement of his armor was lost with [Turbo Death], the force behind the blow rang through his sternum, ringing like a violent bell as Asher found the oxygen forced from his lungs. Still, he gritted his teeth and pushed through it, not allowing himself to be pushed back as he kicked up the gears himself, amplifying himself with devilish energy: [Devil Burst] Between the grooves of his pitch-ck, demonic armor, a nefarious, violet glow hummed before he dashed forward, catching the Speed Demon off-guard. "--?!" The Speed Demon''s grin held surprise of its own. Asher mmed his sable gauntlet against the Speed Demon''s chest, finally connecting a direct hit that emitted a colossal shock wave. Theke was evaporated nearlypletely by the impact, thrashing waves aside and parting the surrounding mist before the Speed Demon was flung back through the trees. "Ghh¡­!" Leaving his fist forward, Asher stood on the barren floor of what was once theke as steam emitted from his devilish gauntlet. The swift blow taken to the chest and the strain of [Devil Burst] didn''t make for a pleasant feeling throughout his body as it ached, though he found himself little time for reprieve. FWOOM It was a stomach-dropping sight; the wall of trees brushed aside in the wake of monstrous winds, generated solely from the ungodly speed of the demonic entity as it blitzed through thend, curving around and encircling the Devilheart. The wind hissed and hummed, whirling violently from the demonic agility. ''It''s still this fast¨C? I expected it not to be able to take a punch, but I was wrong,'' he thought. Not intending to confront the fiend conventionally, he instead knelt down before digging his fingers into the wet soil below him, summoning the massive strength of his Devilheart System as he uprooted an enormous section of the ground before him. "Hrrrrrgh!" Straining himself, he hoisted up the chunk ofnd that was many dozens of tons, flipping it up and shattering it with a punch as he created a rain of debris around him. As he looked around, he could see the blur of the grinning demon as it dodged every speck of dirt, though this led to an oue he wished for: an overconfident disy of speed. There was no doubt it could''ve simply rushed through the rainfall of dirt and attacked him, yet it purposefully showed off its elusiveness. ''A mistake,'' Asher thought in regards to his enemy. [Devilheart: Foul Coalescence] As he squeezed his fist, a whispering aura of malevolence caused all of the debris to suddenly condense into one point around the Speed Demon, capturing it within the collection of dirt and stone. "Got you," Asher said, breathing out. The nature of the Devil Force wielded by the Devilheart System was that it could be transmuted into many forms, borrowing different properties for differing situations. At the moment, he turned the shadowy essence into something akin to glue or gum, making it sticky and adhesive. Even though the debris was kept bound by a supernaturally tight hold, he could feel a distinct resistance from within. ''It''s¡­?'' He realized. The dirt shuffled and rained down; the stuck-together pebbles rumbled, knocking together for a continuous, disturbing sound. It was vibrating. What first came to mind was the simrities the Speed Demon had to Amon and the fallen man''s "Chaos Throttle" ability. The abuse of high frequency vibrations made it challenging to keep the entrapment of debris held together, though it was fundamentally different¨Ca showcase of true speed used to aplish such a feat rather than Amon''s specific ability. ''This thing¨Cis this its "top gear"?'' He questioned. Just then, the debris prison was blown apart by the being as not even a single glimpse of it was seen before it sped around once free. Asher reinforced himself instantly, turning side-to-side as the wind shifted against his ears, listening to the vibrations humming through the air. A new threshold of celerity was witnessed as the very space around the Devilheart seemed to contort along with the speed of his foe; dozens of grinning afterimages surrounded him as he spun around to try and find where his enemy was attacking from. It wasn''t just running along the ground; it seemed to use the air itself as a foothold, bouncing off of impossible angles for even sharper twists and turns, leading to an impossibly difficult trajectory to predict. ''I''m going to need to push this even further if I want to keep up with it. I never got the chance to perfect this, but I''ll have to make do,'' Asher thought. While the Speed Demon taunted him by running circles around him rapidly, he enhanced his own state as the sleek armor around his body almost seemed to begin vibrating as well, overtaken with a violet glow that emitted from the cracks and lines in the devilishyer. The properties of his own armor were changed into an aerodynamic, weightless form, allowing for utmost speed: [Turbo Death: Overcharge] A single dash invoked such speed that he had trouble reacting to his own movement; there was little sense of direction in his initial burst, yet he managed to intercept the agile fiend midway through its taunt. Though he failed to directly hit his enemy, the showcase of speed caused even the Speed Demon to pause for a moment to look back at him, as if shocked that any person could reach such heights. Asher didn''t let up for a moment, quickly pivoting off of his right foot as he spun around, this time focusing to make sure he could keep track of his own speed, pushing off of the ground before¨CFWOOM. Like a train piercing through the air faster than a lightning bolt, the wind rumbled as if thunder had arrived. It was reached; the threshold of agility dangled over his head by the infamous, horned fiend was equaled as he ran directly beside his enemy, keeping up as [Overcharge] kept his momentum ascending. Total weightlessness was achieved through altering the properties of his Devilheart armor; the mystical shift allowed him to run on the air momentarily as well as he mmed back down, attempting to stomp on the Speed Demon. As he mmed his foot down, he missed the fiend, though imbued the property of extreme mass to his energy, causing a massive impact that cratered thend below. It was just as quickly as hended that he instantly took off again in an eleration that burned the soil in the path of the Devilheart. It was a contest of speed as always; they ran alongside one another in a rapid chase, quickly traveling through the bounds of the forest. There was little care for what ended up in their path¨Cthe dual sprint caused the shock waves they produced with every step to turn nearby insects into nothing more than bloody stains on trees. "Fast." ¨CChilling enough, the Speed Demon parted its lips to speak for the first time in a raspy, low voice. It was up close and personal, staring straight into his soul with those abyssal eye sockets of its. ''It talks?'' He realized. In response, he changed the gauntlet of his right fist into a curved sword made of darkness, imbuing it with a wind-cutting property, quickly shing towards the Speed Demon. Of course, the reach of the rangeless sh failed to reach the taunting creature as it ducked down with a grin. "Slow," The Speed Demon taunted. ''It''s intelligent. That changes things,'' he thought. Chapter 357 The King Of Spades It wasn''t much of a surprise that it had some form of intelligence, but the ability to speak meant it was of a higher level than initially thought. After it evaded his initial strike, he pivoted around, relinquishing the devilish-made sword and instead turning it into a hammer made out of the same, dark energy. ''I need to expand my range!'' Asher thought. As he mmed the hammer down against the ground, a repeating shock wave emitted, ripping the grass from the soil and sting the Speed Demon back. It was a property infused into the hammer that embodied far-reaching power: "Sonic Impact". ? The only problem with using such a powerful property with his Devil Force was that a portion of it bounced back to Asher, causing his arms to bounce up from the aftershock. "Ngh!" Even if it came with a drawback, he gritted through it as he caught himself, gripping the handle of the giant, demonic hammer and swinging it directly against the air itself just as the blurred demon rushed him. Hitting the wind, the hammer emitted a massive st of shock waves that rippled through the section of the forest, tearing through the bulk of trees and catching the Speed Demon in the erupting force. ''It''s working! It hasn''t adjusted to the shock waves yet!'' He thought. It was risky, but he reshaped the hammer into a pair of gauntlets again, still inhabiting the property of "Sonic Impact"¡ªthe shape and reach of the hammer made the recoil mitigated, but the gauntlets brought that force closer to him. The trade off, however, were much faster attacks. As he dashed through the trees with the swiftness of a bolt of lightning, he caught up to the demon that had been flung back. Unleashing a rapid set of blows, the metallic, sleek fiend dodged the direct punches wlessly, though the resulting shock waves caught it, once more pummeling it with the dyed impacts. "¡­Deceptive!" The Speed Demon hissed. It was surprisingly sturdy for an elusive creature, though its metallic skin began to be dented from the repeated, intangible attacks. Asher didn''t let him, swinging his gauntlets relentlessly as his arms began to bruise from the continuous recoil. "Ghh!" He winced. One of the blows seemed to cross a threshold of his limb''s integrity as his entire left arm jolted back, bruising to a deep purple as the shock wave smacked both him and the Speed Demon back. ''I need to finish this now!'' Asher thought. They had been dashing through the vast forest the entire time, blitzing through critters and burning the grass in their path through the sheer force of their run. Asher altered the property of his boot with "Sonic Impact" as well before stomping down, emitting the powerful force that caused the demon to stumble briefly. It was an opening that was perfect for him as he ced all of his strength into his fist, sending it forward for one, final blow: "Speed is king." Those words trailed from the grinning mouth of the infamous demon as it suddenly vanished from the direction of the punch. "¡ª!" Asher threw his fist forward, missingpletely as the all-out shock wave tore through dozens of trees, uprooting a chunk of nature before him. As he turned around slowly, he found his eyesying upon an altered appearance of the Speed Demon. A metamorphosis had urred; the metallic skin of the fiend had changed into a ck-and-blue tint with two more horns sprouting from its head, resulting in four total as cyan electricity coiled around its body. "You''re¡­" Asher recognized it at the moment; there were two legends from his homnd of Ennage¡ªthe continent of demons¡ªthat were both realized to be one and the same at that moment. The "Speed Demon" was also a more nefarious, legendary entity known as the "Horned King of Brutality". Those four horns made it clear to Asher, along with thenky physique of the demon. [Mythical Legend: "The Speed King of Brutality"] ''Why is something like this here¡­?'' He questioned. Even with his heightened perception, he couldn''t see what happened¡ªthe altered Speed King vanished before his eyes before dozens of impacts mmed against his body. "Speed is king," the figure repeated. The Devilheart''s armor cracked all over as he dropped to a knee, feeling the swift blows ache throughout his body. ''This speed, it''s¡­'' Asher thought. ¡ª In an attempt to find Asher, Emilio, along with the others, stumbled upon tall, snow-white walls of a castle that seemed to sprout out of nowhere from the veil of fog. "A castle?" Joel questioned. "Did we go the wrong way?" Blimpo asked, sniffing the air as if he would gain some sense of direction from doing so. Emilio was stunned at the sight of the exuberant castle that felt out of ce amidst the misty forest, though it was mainly for one reason: the knowledge imbued into his brain from biting the illustrious apple told him one, important thing¨Cthis was the castle that guarded the Quandary Gate. "This is it," Emilio said quietly, audibly speaking his thoughts. "It''s what?" Joel asked. Vandread seemed to know what he meant, looking up at the massive walls which had ck gs cascading down their height, "This is the ''destination''." "Hrm, this big castle? Well¡­What should we do, then?" Blimpo asked, rubbing his chin. "Yeah, I mean¡­This is where we need to go, right? But Asher is still out there fighting," Joel said. "That''s right," Emilio agreed, "We can''t go yet. If Asher is defeated¡­It''s a fate worse than death here if you "die" twice. Right, Blimpo?" The elf nodded slowly, "You''ll turn into a husk if that happens. Not a very pleasant experience, from what I''ve seen." Though the "finish line" couldn''t possibly be any closer, and with the elusive nature of the misty forest of checkered trees that could make finding the castle again difficult, the choice was made to find Asher. "Alright, let''s¨C" Just as Emilio turned around with the intent of searching for his friend, he suddenly found himself surrounded by new scenery. "...Huh?" In that singr instance, he was transported seamlessly, finding his senses taking a second to adjust to what had just happened. It wasn''t just him; as he looked to the side, he found that Vandread and Blimpo were with him, but not Joel. "What the?" The elf let out. They were standing within a checkered chamber; tiles of ck-and-white that were immactely shiny withvish paintings hanging from quartz walls and a dazzling chandelier above. "This is¡­" Emilio realized. As he looked towards whaty at the back of the vast, royal chamber, he witnessed a mythical gate that seemed to contain a supernatural force. He recognized this instantly. ''The Quandary Gate!'' He thought. "We''re here! This is it!" Emilio shouted, though for some reason felt a bubbling dread, "...But where did Joel end up?" "This is it? Did we go inside of the castle?" Vandread questioned. Though the opportunity for questions to be asked was cut short as the aura of a dreadful figure felt like a heavy gravity; across the royal chamber, standing from a throne was a man with skin as pale as snow. He had a sable crown with a pitch-ck halberd that stood in contrast to his bleached skin, looking towards the three with his two, different colored eyes. "This is my royal chamber and thest obstacle before the Quandary Gate," the mysterious figure stated before mming his halberd down with an echoing force, "However, none of you shall reach it¨Cnot on my authority as the King of Spades." "''The King of Spades''?" Emilio repeated. "It''s him," Vandread quietly remarked, unsheathing his daggers and wielding them with fighting intent. It was jarring, but it seemed as though the enemy had brought the fight straight to them. Emilio could feel the palpable animosity that exuded from the man who called himself the "King of Spades"--an anomalous figure who stood there like revered royalty. "Why''re you standing in my way?" Emilio asked. There was no hesitation in activating his system as he prepared himself, allowing the tough, reinforced scales to stretch over his body as the heat rose throughout his body. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 3/10 | Dragon Warrior] The King of Spades looked almost perpetually bored, answering in his gentle, but overpowering voice, "It is the will of the Primordials. I serve as the guardian of the Quandary Gate; death is a permanence that cannot be defied¨Cthat is an absolute truth." "The Primordials? It''s always them," Emilio muttered in frustration, squeezing the handle of his sword. It seemed that confrontation with the snow-white king was unavoidable as the figure slowly marched across the checkered floor with his ominous halberd in hand, which had a reach that looked well over three meters. "Leave this to me," Emilio said, "Find a way out of here and look for Asher. I have a bad feeling about the enemy he''s fighting." "Bad feeling?! Do you not see the guy you''re trying to fight alone?! What about you?" Blimpo asked. "I''ve got this," Emilio assured the elf, keeping his eyes locked on the King of Spades. Though it didn''t seem there would be any need to convince hisrades to leave the foe to him as the King of Spades raised a hand upward before emitting powerful words from his lips. "Do not worry about yourrades¨CI already have somebody willing to handle them," the King of Spades said, "Come, First Hero." The words used by the King of Spades seemed to carry a supernatural power of their own as a mystical light spawned in front of him before¨C"somebody" appeared. ''First Hero?'' Emilio thought. Manifesting before the malevolent guardian was a man with shaggy, long hair of a crimson shade with both eyes covered by a ck blindfold and one arm kept in a sling. The single arm the man had free held a pitch-ck steel sword. The mysterious figure held a simple smile, resting his sword against his shoulder. The outfit the man wore resembled that of a yukata from eastern culture; made of gray-and-ck fabric with designs of the moon decorating it. "First Hero?...Did I hear that right?" Blimpo said in quiet disbelief. "...Shit. This is the worst case scenario!" Vandread said. Chapter 358 The Power Of Words "First Hero?...Did I hear that right?" Blimpo said in quiet disbelief. "...Shit. This is the worst case scenario!" Vandread said. It was rare to see such emotion from Vandread, though it was clear why as the red-haired figure known as the "First Hero" moved across the chamber with monstrous agility, instantly swinging his de towards the two. Luckily, Vandread blocked it with both daggers, though was thrown back from the incredible power behind the strike, knocked back along with the elf by the sheer wind. They both mmed through one of the walls, breaking into a courtyard as the "First Hero" followed. "Nngh¡­" The elf groaned. "Get up," Vandread said, catching his breath, "If you let up for a single moment, you''ll die. That''s the enemy we''re facing¨Cthe first Hero-ss swordsman¡­''Godfrey, the Crimson End''." The crimson-haired figure of legend hardly seemed to even register the two as threats, not holding any guard or serious demeanor in the slightest. The "First Hero" stuck his pinky in his ear, boredly checking for wax as he looked towards Vandread and Blimpo. "I agreed to serve under him in exchange for exhrating opponents to fight, but this is what I get? A malnourished elf and a dagger wielder?" Godfrey spoke with a rough, yful voice. Not responding to the clear disappointment from the figure, Vandread swiftly tossed a set of needles towards the crimson-haired swordsman while dashing in. "Oh? I see," Godfrey reacted with an unmoving smile. With only minimal movements of his head, the legendary figure evaded the silent needles without any usage of sight. This feat was noticed by the elf, who waspletely taken aback by the man''s ability to dodge without seeing. "--You use ''that'' style, don''t you?" Godfrey asked. Vandread attempted to sh his daggers against the crimson-haired man''s neck, only to be countered by a brutal front kick to the stomach, knocking the scarred figure back across the courtyard. "Vandread!" Blimpo ran over, tossing a gadget out. The tool expanded into a threaded wall of steel-like material that split the grassy courtyard into two sections, blocking off the man who fought with a single arm. "Interesting," Godfrey remarked, "Magical tools have progressed a lot since my time, haven''t they?" In the meantime, Blimpo helped Vandread back to his feet, who coughed up after the devastating kick. "What''s up with this guy¡­? How''d he counter you with a blindfold on?! And his arm too¡­" Blimpo wondered. Vandread straightened himself out, "I''ve read about it in books. Godfrey''s time was centuries ago, but the term "Hero" doesn''t apply to him at all." ["A hero, Godfrey was not. A battle-loving man whose very existence was dedicated to refining his own sword techniques and pushing his limits further and further. In his time, Godfrey was without peer; due to seeking a challenge, he handicapped himself by blocking his own vision and keeping his left arm kept in a sling. Even with these hindrances, he remained undefeated, ying armies by himself before¨Che fell to an unknown warrior."] The story that Vandread recounted sent a shiver throughout the elf''s body as he looked over to witness the threaded wall be shattered, broken by a single kick of the fallen legend. "That''s who we''re up against? Terrifying," Blimpo held an anxious smile. Vandread breathed out, readying himself as he gripped his daggers, "There''s no time to be scared. Swallow that fear and back me up¨Cwe''re winning this thing." "Right. I gotcha," Blimpo nodded, lifting his rune cannon. Godfrey seemed delighted to find that the two were still willing to face him, flexing his body as a horrific aura manifested. It was as if a storm brewed from the pits of hell had awakened as an unseen gale emitted from the legendary swordsman. "I like your fighting spirit! Give this dead man something to live for!" Godfrey shouted with a smirk. ¡ª In the royal chamber, the Dragonheart called out in worry of hisrades, attempting to rush to their aid but was intercepted as a massive sh forced him to jump back. "--" Emilio looked over. The King of Spades held his halberd up, having used its giant reach to cleave through the tiles as if they were butter. "You will face me, Dragonheart," the King of Spades ordered. "--!" It was inexplicable, as if an alluring force had taken hold of his body: Emilio felt those words from the snow-white man embed themselves into his mind, making the order of fighting him impossible to deny. As he attempted to raise his hand to unleash a burst of mes towards his enemy, the strangelyposed king let out a single word: "Extinguish." Following that utterance, the sh of azure fire was erased in an instant, vanishing and failing to burn the Dragonheart''s enemy. It was confirmed for him then, without any sense of hesitance from his enemy to hide their own hand: the ability wielded by the King of Spades. ''His words¡­they have power to them!'' He thought. A terrifying ability to imagine and even more horrible to have to face as he found himself having to duck down in the face of an iing attack¨C "Extend." The pale-skinned guardian''s powerful word forced his halberd to mystically extend its length, sweeping through the room with a reach that allowed it to carve through the neighboring walls. ''...Close!'' Emilio thought. Bursting forward with draconic speed, he shot straight towards his enemy before¨Che stopped for a moment, faking out his foe as he pivoted around and instead rushed towards his left. Even as he neared his de to the neck of the snow-white man, the King of Spades was still as calm as an old mountain, standing still before emitting a single word once more: "Repel." "--!" An overwhelming force of unseen power suddenly overtook Emilio, pulling against him like a fearsome wind before he was sted back. He used the mes natural to his system to regain his momentum through reversing the direction he flew, rocketing back towards the King of Spades within a second. [Draconic Might!] Engulfing his sword in shing fire, he once more used an unpredictable approach as the speed of the draconic me propelling him was used to swerve around the statuesque guardian, swirling around him before he found an opening. As he burst towards the back of the figure, going for an upward sh as he prepared to unleash the mighty blow¨C "Fall." Mere inches from the azure embers charring the neck of the calm king, it wasn''t close enough as a colossal gravity plummeted upon the Dragonheart, mming him down into the ground amidst his attempted attack. "Ngh¡­!" The tiles below him shattered as it felt as though an entire mountain was sitting atop his back. Even with the heightened strength he wielded, he struggled even to lift himself a few inches from the ground; fighting against the supernatural gravity made it feel as though his bones were on the verge of snapping and his flesh would peel. ''I can''t move¡­!'' He thought. The King of Spades stood over him, looking down at him as Emilio was caked in sweat whilst trying to resist the force that kept him pinned down. "Fly," The King of Spades ordered. ¨CThe reverse effect took ce as a total weightlessness gripped the Dragonheart, finding himself being flung upward as though gravity didn''t exist, unable to stop himself from flying upward as if something from up above called upon him. ''I can''t stop going up! What is this?!'' He questioned. He mmed straight through the ceiling, breaking through it and being left hundreds of meters in the air, swallowed by the darkness that was the endless "sky" of the After. There was no way to resist it; no amount of wind magic or propelling mes altered his trajectory as he continued being flung up. After a minute of this, he found it, for what he could only imagine as an arbitrary reason, stopping; the mystical forcepletely vanished as he was now left falling back down through the abyssal sky. "Nngh¨C!" He gritted his teeth. It was far too jarring to keep up with, though he could only find himself relieved in that moment that he was freed from the restrictive force. As he plummeted, the view of the checkered castle came back into view as he prepared himself for hisnding. ''I need to avoid those "power words"!'' He nned. Falling through the hole in the royal ceiling he made, he used a masterful swirl of wind magic to alter his momentum, instantlynding with a downward strike of his fist towards his foe. [Dragon Strike!] The unrestrained impact blew through the tiles below, cratering it and rumbling the royal chamber, though failing to make contact with the King of Spades. Though the descending punchnding wasn''t what was intended by him; he instantly looked over to where the King of Spades had sidestepped the attack. "¨C" ''I won''t let you!'' He thought. ¨CJust as the King of Spades attempted to usher in another imposing word, the figure''s voice was snatched away as Emilio pointed his hand at him. A look of surprise twisted onto the nk te that was the snow-white royal''s face as he found himself unable to speak at that time. "Surprised?" Emilio couldn''t help but hold a partial smile, "Almost like I took the breath right out of your lungs, huh?" That''s exactly what had been done; a usage of wind magecraft that required such precision, focus, and overall mastery that the Dragonheart was already sweating just from a single use of it. Though its effectiveness was found as the King of Spades hyperventted, jumping back and using his halberd to cut through the marble tiles and fling debris at the young man. ''He''s good,'' Emilio thought. The debris broke his concentration for a split-second, causing the air-denying spell to fall apart as the King of Spades was able to bring oxygen into his lungs once more. That stoic expression had been wiped away as the kingly figure held his throat, breathing heavily as he was clearly shaken by the usage of magecraft. Chapter 359 Revelations Of The Destination As Emilio dashed in, engulfing himself in azure mes like a fireball, the King of Spades backpedaled and swiped his hand, seeming fearful of the Dragonheart''s rush. "Slice!" The bleach-skinned man yelled out viscerally. It came as fast as the sound of the word reached his ears, like a nefarious wind hissing towards him; Emilio immediately flipped to the side in an attempt to dodge, though found it ineffective as an unseen attack shed across his chest. "Nn!" Though it impeded his course, fortunately his armor withstood the deless sh. It had prated the draconic scales, though failed to reach his skin. "Fly: Swords!" The King of Spadesmanded with a booming voice now, pointing an index finger towards the pir. He had no time to think about the attack as he rolled behind one of the colossal pirs just as the King of Spades followed up. Ethereal swords of ck-and-white glows manifested in the space around the snow-skinned guardian before shooting towards the Dragonheart. The des constructed by words carved through the quartz pir, crashing into the wall beyond where Emilio stayed put as he added an extrayer of protection. ''I''ll oust any battle of attrition!'' He thought. With a sp of his hands, he rose barriers of dusty, pale stone around himself as the barrage of swords continued flying in. Though he quickly realized that simple walls reinforced with mana wouldn''t stand much of a chancesting against the rain of des as he went for a higher form of magecraft: "Elder Encasing". The walls morphed into blood-red stone, bearing the faces of monstrous, human faces with stoic expressions. It was a difficult spell that he had added to his arsenal some time ago, though it was one that demanded a heavy toll of mana and focus. As the ethereal swords crashed against the man-faced walls, they were turned into stters of blood-resembling liquid that was absorbed into the mystical barriers. ''Keep tossing those swords at me¨Cjust watch it bite you in the ass!'' Emilio thought. The King of Spades continued the relentless rain of swords, manifesting them in the dozens as they swarmed the crimson walls. "You will fall, Dragonheart," the halberd-wielding man promised. There was a pool of crimson liquid that hadid slick on the nebulous walls, which Emilio kept himself within withplete focus, holding his palms against their interior. He couldn''t see where his enemy was nor where the swords wereing from as he sat behind the man-faced barriers. ''Just a bit more and¡­now!'' He thought. It was just then that the seemingly endless swarm of projectiles reached its end, seeming to fall in line with the theory Emilio held in his mind: ''There is a limit to the effects of his "power words"! I noticed it when I stopped flying upward,'' he thought. After enduring the barrage of swords, which forced him to drain through a hefty portion of his mana to sustain their form, he activated the true form of the spell as he used his sword to cut his own palm open. "Activate, Elder Blood Payment!" Emilio invoked. The blood rushed from his palm, levitating into the air before splitting apart and being fed to the crimson shields around him, causing the elder faces protruding from the walls to awaken as their dormant expression shifted into ones of anger with tears of blood streaming down their faces. "What sort of magecraft is this?" The King of Spades questioned. The activation of the blood-letting spell caused the three sets of crimson-stone walls to turn into humanoid golems that stood before the Dragonheart, obedient and ghastly in appearance. "Get him," Emilio ordered. Without needing any furthermand, the trio of crying, elder golems sprinted with their limbs iling, moving without any semnce of elegance but in apletely unorthodox fashion. The King of Spades raised a hand, "Crumble." Though the order emitted, it failed to imbue any such effect into the wildly-approaching golems, who continued crying blood and gritting their stone teeth. "What¨C?!" The royal guardian let out, audibly confused. It was a gamble that had paid off for Emilio, who took a moment to gather himself before following behind the elder golems who fought for him. ''I had to make a bet that those "power words" were intrinsically imbued with a form of mana. The "Elder Blood Golems" feed on mana¡­The barriers convert that mana into blood then feed on it, and once they have enough¡­they awaken. Mana-based attacks won''t work on them! Your words are powerless against them!'' Emilio thought. The crimson-stone golems flipped around, running along the pirs as they approached from odd angles around the snow-skinned figure. "Tch," the King of Spades clicked his tongue before gripping the halberd in his hand, "Extend!" Swiping the ckened weapon around, its range extended vastly, allowing for a sweeping strike that cut through multiple pirs, though the acrobatic golems evaded the attack perfectly. It was the first time that Emilio had sessfully used the spell in battle, finding it to exceed his expectations as the golems surprisingly danced around the guardian''s halberd. From the mana they had consumed through the failed word, the trio of golems manifested blood from between the cracks in their bodies, unleashing crimson projectiles and forming swords of blood to fight against the King of Spades with. ''Get him!'' Emilio thought. The King of Spades seemed to grow frustrated through the elusiveness of the blood-manipting golems as he swung his halberd around, once more unleashing another word: "Multiply!" ¨CIt was only for a brief moment, but it made the Dragonheart leap back just before it had happened: the swing of the mystical halberd was multiplied dozens of times in that singr second, allowing for enough swipes that an entire circr area around the pale-haired man was obliterated. The same was said for the golems; all three were reduced to powder by the all-epassing strikes, leaving the King of Spades staring down Emilio as he wielded his halberd. "Enough tricks, mage," the guardian said, "You will fall here." "We''ll see about that," Emilio responded. Though he retained his confident demeanor, internally he was now cautious, keeping his distance as he watched the halberd-wielding guardian carefully. ''Thatst attack is definitely troublesome. It was fast¨Calmost instantaneous, and it doesn''t seem like it can be blocked or evaded once you''re in his range. I''ll need to be extra diligent about not letting those words happen¨Cat the very least, I''ll prevent them from directly affecting me,'' he thought. It was a difficult form of wind magecraft to passively uphold, but it was a direly needed effect: he conjured a nullifying bubble of air around himself that closed out any sound waves from reaching his ears. Sense of sound was discarded from anything outside of a one meter radius from himself. ''Alright¨Clet''s do this. I''ll get close and disable his breathing, then strike him down with an all-out strike,'' he decided. Before he approached again, he heightened the level of his Dragonheart System, opting to maximize his physical capabilities as his azure armor of scales turned into a sturdy sable, sprouting a tail behind him. [Current Stage: 4/10 | Dragon Elite] The King of Spades stood near copsed pirs, pointing his halberd towards the young man; the immacte chamber had been made messy by the dust from fallen quartz that littered the floor. "Fall." ¨CThough the word emitted with the intent of once more pinning the Dragonheart down, nothing met the ears of the young man as he dashed forward, catching the guardian off-guard by theck of effect from the word. ''It seems like it worked,'' he thought. The sheer agility he possessed was put on disy as he encircled the King of Spades, running behind the many pirs and sprinting on the walls as he left a trail of azure mes behind him. Each attack taken directly to the guardian had to be made thoughtfully and with utmost precision, lest he wanted to find himself turned into mincemeat. ''Have some of these,'' he thought. As he ran along the walls, jumping from pir-to-pir to keep the King of Spades on his toes, the swift Dragonheart tossed an array of zing spheres towards his foe. "Extinguish." Poof. "Extinguish." Poof. "Extinguish!" Poof. The patience of the bleached guardian was tested as he repeated the same word again and again, nullifying the fireballs as they sailed towards him, though unable to pinpoint the draconic, young man who continued runningps around him. Emilio didn''t let up on his nned assault,nding on one of the pirs as he stayed above and out of reach from his foe before invoking a high-grade spell: "Mountain Coffin". A huge dome of stone erupted from the ground, taking up most of the width of the royal room and trapping the King of Spades within it. He knew it wouldn''t hold the figure long at all, but he prepared a secondyer to it¨Cone that prioritized murderous intent. "Mountain Coffin: Stone Maiden''s Grudge." More shapes of stone rose, this time sharpened into spears that stabbed through holes that opened around the dome, piercing through with the intent of skewering the guardian, yet¨C "st outward!" The King of Spades'' powerful voice boomed along with the wind as a massive shock wave tore through the dome along with the projectiles, scattering debris in every direction before the angered figure set his sights on the Dragonheart. "Do not mistake yourself into believing you''ll make it to the Quandary Gate¨Ctime moves faster in my Checkered Keep!" The King of Spades revealed. ''What?...'' Emilio thought. The royal figure noticed the hesitance from the scaled figure now, "That''s right. Those "days" you had are now minutes¨Cless than an hour." Things had certainly changed with this information, though he knew it could possibly be a lie to get into his head, there was undoubtedly a chance it was true. "Then I''ll just finish you before then¨Cthanks for the heads up!" Emilio shouted, summoning spheres of water around him. "Try and fail," the King of Spades said bitterly. Chapter 360 Savior Of Darkness Maintaining his distance, the Dragonheart flipped from the pir he kept himself to as the guardian''s halberd extended, swiping towards him before he tossed the spheres of clear aqua towards the royal warrior. "I will not be caught by your tricks," the King of Spades muttered, tracking the aquatic balls with his eyes. Agility was showcased from the bleached fighter as he flipped past the approaching spheres of water, rushing towards Emilio with his mystical halberd in hand. ''Good. Keep your eyes on me,'' Emilio thought. With a subtle gesture of his hand as he ran to the side, allowing his opponent to chase him through the vast domain, hemanded the aquatic spheres to change their form, instead taking on the shape of water-made sharks that swam through the air in pursuit of the king. "Shark Tornado." A "three-way chase"; the King of Spades pursued Emilio while the mana-forged sharks hunted the king. As he was left cornered, approaching a wall, he acted quickly by sprinting up the wall directly before backflipping over the King of Spades'' head, who didn''t predict such an unorthodox movement. Still, the halberd swipe nearly caught his back as he flipped over before flipping back again to let the aquatic sharks swarm the bleached guardian. "Paltry tricks," the King of Spades said in disdain before swinging his massive halberd around. The ck-steel weapon cleaved through the aquatic predators, swiping them away before the pale figure dashed towards the Dragonheart. Recycling the minced beasts of water, Emilio snapped his fingers, transmuting the spell once more into bands of waters thatshed out, wrapping around his foe''s limbs. "You¡­!" The King of Spades said in frustration, "st!" A shock wave emitted from the guardian''s body that disintegrated the aquatic bindingspletely, though it provided more than enough time for the Dragonheart to close in with [Draconic Might] guiding him forth like a bolt of lightning. The King of Spades was taken aback by this relentless aggression, parting his lips, "Fa¨C" ''No!'' Emilio thought. Intensely focusing on the lungs that inhaled and exhaled within the figure''s chest, he pulled the air straight out of the man''s body, preventing any froming in for that second as well before he swept his de forward. The mechanical arm did not hold back the strength of his strike as the bleached guardian blocked it with his halberd, only to be overpowered as his guard was broken. ''Now¡­!'' Emilio saw an opening finally. Engulfing his sword in a bright ze, he struck forth, dragging his fiery edge along the torso of the King of Spades, who could not repel the assault with words with his breathless lungs. It made contact, cutting forward as the ze unleash with a roaring burn. The performance of the sh resulted in a vtile release of bright-blue mes, causing the King of Spades to slide back. Breathing ruggedly as he caught himself, the bleached guardian stood there in shock as a gash was left across his torso. ''Damn. I didn''t cut all the way through,'' Emiliomented. Landing an attack and failing to finish his opponent seemed to be worse than failing tond the blow altogether, as the air around the snow-white guardian changed; the King of Spades now seemed determined, holding his halberd up as ck blood ran down his chest. ¡ª [The Courtyard] The battle against the seemingly impervious swordsman continued, though the unlikely duo had yet to find a foothold against the dead legend. "C''mon! Is that all you got?!" Godfrey yelled out in a taunt. Even as the tinkerer pulled the trigger on his rune cannon, the explosions werepletely negated as the red-haired legend swung his sable sword, cutting through the vtile projectiles with swordy that ventured into the realm of the supernatural. Vandread circled around silently and quickly, aiming his daggers for the figure''s neck once again while using the moment Godfrey spent on cutting through the explosions as an opening¨C "Not good enough!" Godfrey shouted with a smile. The pommel of the abrasive man''s sword knocked into Vandread''s stomach, stunning him as the oxygen left his lungs before Godfrey used a roundhouse kick to knock the Godless Style user away. Crashing against the wall, Vandread found his entire body aching from the blow; a vexing reality from the opponent who treated the two like nothing more than tantrum-throwing toddlers. ''He could''ve killed us a dozen times over by now. He''s ying with his food¨Cthat much is urate to the tales¡­But, just what sword style is he even using?'' Vandread thought. "Not falling asleep on me, are ya?!" The yell came from Godfrey, who sprinted across the gravel courtyard with bare feet, weaving through the needles that Vandread threw in an attempt to slow the figure down, though to no avail. Vandread jumped to his feet, being forced to sh against the "First Hero" as he ducked down, going for a disemboweling sh towards the crimson-haired swordsman''s stomach. "--!" Though the attacknded, Vandread found himself at a loss as the sharp de was stuck against the abdomen of Godfrey; the man had clenched his abdominal muscles so tightly, so sturdily that they surpassed the reinforcement of steel itself. "Trying to gut me? Brutal, aintcha? That''s the ''Godless Style'' for ya¨CI always hated that sneaky shit!" Godfrey smiled wide. The bloodlust was palpable from the legendary swordsman as Vandread tried to jump back, though found himself witnessing an acrobatic rush from Godfrey who flipped around and spun on the gravel swiftly and without w. BOOOM Just before Godfrey could m his foot against the man''s gut again, a spray of adhesive liquid shot towards the swordsman, who leaned back to avoid it. Vandread looked over, finding the saving action taken by Blimpo, who looked as though he saw a ghost once the attention of the battle-loving warrior was now on him. "Blimpo! Move!" Vandread shouted. It was toote; in an instant, Godfrey stepped across the width of the garden-upied courtyard, this time choosing to use his sword as he shed it forth towards the elf. "Goodnight, elf," Godfrey said with a grin. Though Blimpo closed his eyes as the inevitable fate closed in on him, he found that he had not yet died after a couple seconds. Slowly parting his eyelids, the elf found a figure standing between him and the "First Hero" that he did not recognize at first. "Huh? You''re¡­" Blimpo began to say. Blocking the sword wielded by the fallen legend was a man with unkempt, ck hair with dark bags beneath his eyes and ghostly, pale skin. There was nothing but a single arm used to block the destructive edge; the limb of the man who saved the elf was coated in an abundant darkness, used like a supreme armor. "Avdima," Vandread recognized. Though the edge of the sword had been blocked, the smile across the lips of the legendary swordsman would make one believe he had just experienced the greatest pleasure in his life. "You''re strong! Stronger than any of these other lowly pretenders! Fight me!" Godfrey demanded with an ear-to-ear grin. Avdima held a bored expression, seeming not to want to be there, "Fine, but let''s make it quick. I''m only here because my sister told me to help." The stranger of ominous strength stood with the two against the maniacal swordsman of legend; though little was known about Avdima, even Vandread found himself quietly thankful for the man''s presence. "What''s your fighting style?" Vandread asked Avdima, trying to know the strengths of an ally so that he could act ordingly. "I destroy," Avdima answered simply. "Huh?" Vandread looked at the man for his strange response. Though this im was put on disy as the moment Godfrey tried to approach them, Avdima waved a single hand: "Erebus: Era of Terror." A wave of darkness swept forward like an abyssal tsunami, eating through the courtyard and flooding towards Godfrey. "Yes! Perfect!" Godfrey howled in joy. A space-rending sh came from the swordsman, cleaving through the colossal wave of destructive darkness, splitting it in half as the annihting essence instead decimated the walls in its way. Chunks of the garden werepletely erased by Avdima''s magical release, turned to nothing more than dead strips of soil. Both Vandread and Blimpo found themselves taken aback by this showcase of never before seen magecraft, as it resembled nothing that existed on Arcadius. "What kind of magic is that?!" Blimpo questioned, "I want it!" Avdima held that same, bored look, "Like I told you¨CI''m from a different world than the rest of you. Don''t bother trying to learn about it." The tide of the battle had changed; as Godfrey erupted forward with ferocity fueling his feet that sent shock waves rippling through the stone tiles, Avdima met him halfway as they shed. Without any weapon of his own, Avdima''s body seemed to be a masterpiece of its own, reinforced by mana to a degree that seemed impossible as he weaved through the swift shes of the First Hero wlessly, responding with a dark-infused punch of his own. "--!" Godfrey was grinning as the knuckles of Avdima were thrown against his chest, being slid back by the force with a look of total ecstasy worn on his lips. "Yes! Yes! More!" Godfrey shouted. Such a request was obliged by the tired-looking man as he raised a hand forward, "Erebus: Arrows of The End." A rain of arrows made of abyssal destruction shot forward, curving into the air and bolting towards Godfrey from many angles. Still, the blindfolded, bound swordsman grinned at this iing attack, meeting it happily. "It won''t reach." Chapter 361 The Sword God Style "It won''t reach." A stomp from the foot of the legendary warrior emitted a force strong enough to rip up the cobblestone around him, dispelling the iing arrows that came from the front before he squeezed the handle of his sword. The crimson-haired man spun around with a masterful sh of his sword; the speed at which he swung it, the perfect trajectory in which he moved it¨Csuch factors yed into the majestic, yet horrifying result of the "spatial sh". Space warped around the blindfolded swordsman, contorting it as it vibrated with a deafening hum before¨Call of the projectiles were cut away as if never there. "...Hm," Avdima looked as bored as ever. Godfrey held a giant smile, ready for more as he parted his lips, "That again?" The words weren''t meant for Avdima, but the man who attempted to attack his back. Vandread ducked down just then as Godfrey spun around with a sh that cleaved the air itself. A dart shot straight for Godfrey''s head before being dodged by a simple head movement, bringing the man''s attention to the elf who shot it. "Weaklings always find the most annoying ways to fight, huh? Not that I mind¨Cgive me everything you''ve got before I wipe you out!" Godfrey announced with a smile. Before the legendary swordsman could retaliate against Vandread or Blimpo, he was pushed back as Avdima sted him back with an infused kick, unleashing a riptide of darkness that swept the swordsman off of his feet. Godfrey flipped back, catching himself against the wall with a bright grin, shuffling his bound arm before snapping it free from its hold. The emergence of the man''s bandage-wrapped around seemed as though a portion of his natural aura had been unshackled as well, producing a sense of despair that hung dense around the courtyard. "I can''t remember thest time an opponent forced me to use both arms. Prepare yourself, Avdima!" Godfrey shouted, "Don''t die on me now! Not before I''ve had my fill!" The baggy-eyed man stood with an abyssal aura around himself, seeming to indulge the wishes of the battle-loving legend. "You two¨Cstay back. I''m going to get destructive now," Avdima said. Blimpo blinked, "You¡­weren''t already destructive?!" There was hardly anything that could be done by the two as the sh of the two figures felt out of the realm of mortals to step into. "Erebus: Era of Terror." Once more, Avdima unleashed the tidal wave of darkness; an abyssal sea that consumed all in its path, leaving only death and emptiness behind. Even so, Godfrey confronted this natural disaster openly with a grin, squeezing the handle of his ck-steel sword with both hands before unleashing a counter sh of his own: "Sword God Style: Total Bisection." The swift movement of the sword surpassed the concept of range entirely, ripping through the air with such masterful violence that sound itself failed to manifest for that brief second. It was but with nothing but his de and technique honed by endless battles did Godfrey cut through the life-consuming wave of darkness. "C''mon! You''ll need more than that!" Godfrey taunted. "I''ve got much more than that," Avdima quietly responded. ''Just who is this "Avdima" person, anyway? He hardly seems to be taking this fight seriously, yet he''s pushing somebody like the "Crimson Death'' this hard. He''s an enigma,'' Vandread thought. Avdima moved with speed unable to be perceived by neither the elf nor the veteran adventurer; a sweeping darkness that Godfrey met with an open smile, swinging his sword towards what only looked like blinking shades of darkness that swept around. Each sh that the legendary swordsman used cut through the air as though it were the flesh of his enemies; rending the abyssal sky and carving through thend without restraint. Avdima did well to remain elusive to the edge of the man''s rangeless cuts, flipping around them before tossing a sphere of destructive darkness forth: "Erebus: Taste of Death." The massive boulder of the abyss ate through thend before it, though the blindfolded swordsman merely flexed his arms, wielding his pitch-ck sword with both hands, squeezing it with enough force to crack the wind. "Sword God Style: Erase Thy Enemy." It couldn''t be perceived; the strike came so fast that the resulting sound only came momentster before the entirety of the grass around Godfrey was eradicated, cutting the sphere of darkness into tens of thousands, if not millions of particles that dissipated quickly. Godfrey couldn''t help but grin, reminiscing of the days when he was unshackled from the realm of death in times of glory. ["...How long ago was it that my de still shined brightly with the glow of spotless silver? I slew so many thousands of enemies¨Cworthy and unworthy¨Cstaining my de. I never washed the blood of my foes from it; it was a reminder of them and the battles they offered to me with their lives. Overtime, this hunk of steel that was nothing special became both "blessed" and "cursed" by all of that spilled blood. But, Avdima! Your blood will be the greatest offering to my de! Let''s dance till death does us part!"] Breaking through the bounds of the courtyard, the battle took to the eastern section of the checkered forest, where those unbound by the normal limits of human beings shed. Godfrey''s feet slid across the grass as he smiled ear-to-ear, shing downward as the wind howled, unleashing a massive wind pressure forth: "Sword God Style: Crater of War." Thend was split; the soil cleaved through deeply as a new crater filled the forest, parting the mist with the howl of wind as Avdima defensed with a shield of darkness in front of himself: "Erebus: Maw of The Bottomless Fiend." The barrier of darkness held an open mouth, which openly ate the slice of wind pressure before spitting it back out as a loogie of darkness. It came with such speed that it distorted space, eating away at it as it instantaneously sted against the legendary, battle-loving swordsman. "Oh!" The impact created a swirling explosion of darkness which hummed with an augury of death, decaying the surrounding nature as the white leaves dried up and crumbled away, while the ck decayed, turning white. ¨CEven still, the massive release of anti-matter darkness couldn''t bring the legend down as the resulting smoke was forced away by a swing of that blood-stained sword. Godfrey stood, his yukata being tattered as his chesty bare¨Cnow covered in cuts and bruises, yet his smile did not fade. "I almost died again! Hah!...I''m not the only one enjoying this, am I, Avdima?" Godfrey asked with a grin. It was true; the once emotionless-seeming man was now smiling himself, clearly enlightened by the prospect of fighting a worthy foe. "There were few in my life that could make my blood run hot in my veins and make my heart beat with the joy of life again¨Cyou''re one of them, Godfrey," Avdima said as his tied hair came loose, cascading down his back as he cracked his knuckles. Godfrey raised his bandaged arm, slowly pulling down the blindfold that sealed his eyes, revealing that they were pitch-ck with irises that resemble a scarlet kaleidoscope. They were inhuman, yet transcendent in some way. "I won''t hold anything back against you, Avdima," Godfrey said, "So, give me everything you''ve got in return!" "Without a doubt," Avdima obliged as a massive pir of darkness manifested from him, revealing his unrestrained aura that sent tremors through the vastnd. ["Even in death, the dreams of the dead can be found; unshackled by the realm beyond life, those with the vigor to always look forward and pursue their goals, no matter what the cost or without second thought, can live all the same in death."] Avdima called out to the two who were standing at the sidelines, "You both¨Creturn to your friend; I have this." Blimpo looked hesitant, "Are ya sure? I mean¡­" "I am sure. Now go," Avdima rified. Vandread recognized the futility of his and the elf''s presence in such a battle, only nodding as the battle between legends, worlds apart, brought together, continued throughout the After. [The great battle between the Sword God Style inventor and the man hailing from the mysterious world of "Gaia" would continue for weeks and even months, reshaping thend as the two warriors smiled andughed as their hearts thumped in their chests as if experiencing the highs of life.] ¡ª [The Checkered Forest] Rushing through the forest, Asher found himself once more forced onto the defense as all he could do was block and attempt to evade the speed of the true form of the Speed Demon. Every sharp turn he took, every roll and dodge he used in an attempt to subvert the demon''s pursuit, he found it immediately appearing beside him with that malevolent grin. "Slow," it taunted him again. The words met his ears just as a set of blows thundered against his body, knocking him off of his pace as he rolled to the side. "Tch," Asher quietly clicked his tongue. ''It somehow got even faster. Just how fast can this thing go?'' He questioned. Chapter 362 Devilheart Union Sparks of cyan electricity were left in the wake of the Speed Demon''s movements, coiling around leaves and sparking against the soil. This constant static encircled Asher as he picked himself up, attempting to take a step forward before¨CZAP. "--!" He recoiled. The air itself had been electrified by the Speed Demon''s constant movement, creating a painful veil around the air like a shining, malicious mist. Every minuscule movement that Asher tried to make resulting in being bitten by the electricity that inhabited the air, shocking him and leaving him defenseless as his enemy took advantage of this helplessness: "Slow!" A set of powerful blows mmed against his right side, colliding with his cheek and causing the Devilheart to stumble to the right, being shocked again. "Ngh¡­!" He winced. "Slow!" Another barrage of blows came from his left,ing in much higher numbers with less force, but perhaps even more stinging as they mmed against his ribs. "Nngh!" He gritted his teeth. Everything happened too fast to leave him even a second with his own thoughts, attempting to raise his arms, though he found himself electrified again, leaving himpletely open once more: "Slow¡ª!" This time, the sessive punches came from the front, repeatedly impacting his chest and abdomen as the breath was knocked out of his lungs. Bruises formed along his body; the state of the Devilheart''s body was already questionable at best as his arms were heavily bruised from his consecutive usage of [Sonic Impact]--still, he found his moment tounch his counterattack. He reinforced his armor, imbuing it with a new property: [Electric Conduction], allowing himself to move without any hindrance of the sparks as he heightened his focus, staying still as he waited for the Speed Demon toe within distance. Subtly, he expelled an unseen veil of devilish particles around himself, extending it like a sixth sense: [Devil''s Sixth Sin]. Each and every one of the particles acted like an extension of his own senses, making it dozens of times easier to react to whatever touched them. ''Just a bit more¡­I can''t see him, but I can feel it. It''ll need to be perfect, but if I cannd it, then¨C'' He thought, though was interrupted by something else urring. "Hyaaaah¨C!" "Huh?" Jumping from behind a bush was a familiar, young man with silver hair and sparkling, emerald eyes, swinging his sword without any thought and letting out a warcry while doused in nervous sweat. ''...Joel?'' Asher recognized. The silver-haired man jumped in, wildly swinging his sword and hitting nothing but air before¨CZAP. "Yowch!" Joel jumped out, yelling out from the shocking pain. It was what Asher feared from anybodying to help him¨Cthe electrified environment made for an impossible painful ce to traverse, leaving one helpless inside of it. At the very least, it seemed the arrival of Joel kept the Speed Demon passive for the moment as it continued encircling the area rapidly, watching the new arrival to the battlefield. Joel continued being shocked as his body moved from each bit of pain, leading him being repeatedly struck. ''Crap¡­!'' Asher thought. As he rushed over to the aid of Joel, he found himself immediately intercepted by the Speed Demon, who swiped its nails against his chest, cutting through a portion of his armor and leaving light shes on his chest. "Ngh!" Asher winced, but continued moving forward. Racing towards hisrade that continued toy helplessly on the ground, being shocked continuously, he could sense it through [Devil''s Sixth Sin]: the Speed Demon was honing in on Joel. There was only one option left for the Devilheart as he knew that Joel, unprotected by a System or magical reinforcement, would be obliterated by the Speed Demon''s assault. "Joel! Give me your hand!" Asher yelled out. Joel looked confused for a second before obliging, raising his hand as it twitched from the continued electric shocks. Their hands met, sping just before the speedy fiend arrived; the pitch-ck substance that the Devilheart had authority over extended a portion of itself over Joel''s hand, stretching over his arm and his body. A minimal, jet-ck armor wrapped around Joel''s body, encasing him in its protectiveyer just as the Speed Demon swept by. "Woah!" Joel reacted. The blows swept by, but Joel was only knocked back, without breath for a few moments, but overall seemed fine. "How did I¡­? What is this?" Joel asked, looking at his hands which were covered in the sable armor. Asher breathed out, "I lended a portion of my power to you. That armor will protect you and boost your physical capabilities all around." "Oh?...Awesome!" Joel clenched his fists, "Let''s do this, then!" Standing side-by-side, the two guided by the Devil Force awaited the swift enemy, who continued racing around the area with that blinding, arrogant speed. "Where are the others?" Asher asked, keeping his guard up as he watched the foliage, hearing the wind whistle and electricity spark as the Speed Demon continued running around them. Joel kept himself focused as well, standing back-to-back with Asher now, "I think they ended up in some sort of castle¡­We all got separated, but I found you before I found them¨Cso I''m here now." "Hm," Asher looked around, "Then let''s finish this then go help the others." "Don''t gotta tell me twice!" Joel passionately eximed. ¨CJust then, the Speed Demon appeared, though the two men were ready for it as the sense-extending veil connected both of their senses as well, allowing them to react to its iing attack. ''I can feel it!'' Joel thought. Both of them shed their des forth, catching the electrified, four-horned demon by surprise as it leaned back to dodge Asher''s strike, but was instead struck in the stomach by Joel''s sh. What was surprising to Asher was the seamless usage of the Devil Force that Joel called upon, using a burst of darkness with his sh that blew across the fiend''s body. "Hrgh?!" The Speed Demon let out a pained echo from its metallic shell. Rather than be a dreadful injury, the sessful blow seemed more impactful on the mentality of the speed-arrogant fiend, who was shocked at the very concept of being hit so abruptly. Joel looked confused for a moment before smiling, "Hell yeah! I hit it!" "You did¡­Nice one," Asherplimented. A smile formed across the lips of the silver-haired man as he flexed his body, feeling the power of the Devilheart System''s lended portion flowing through him like a leyline of energy, "I can get used to this." "Don''t," Asher told him. Just then, the Speed Demon, whose grinned twisted into an expression of anger, attempted to tear Joel''s neck from his shoulders¨Cby some miracle, Asher managed to intercept it, blocking its steel-like ws with his ymore. Forcing the electrified entity back, Asher witnessed it vanish again, whirling around the two with incredible speed that blurred the scenery around them, providing a constant hiss of voltage. "Joel," Asher quietly called out to hisrade. "Yeah?" Joel kept his eyes peeled, holding his sword up as the enemy continued circling around them. Repeated taunts came angrily from the mouth of the Speed Demon now, howling like maledictions: "Slow! Slow! Slow!" "Imagine your sword will produce a powerful adhesive when it strikes," Asher instructed. "Huh? What''re you talking about?" Joel asked. "Just do as I say," Asher said stoically. "...Alright," Joel nodded. "Good," Asher said, reinforcing the armor around himself, "Strike when you feel your senses tingle. I''ll handle the follow-up." While the "n" was too vague for Joel to really understand what was going on, he chose to ce his trust in the quiet, less-than-affable figure as he clenched his muscles to summon the strength gifted from the Devilheart System. "Bring it on, you speedy fuck!" Joel yelled out in a taunt. At the same time the invitation was extended from Joel to the Speed Demon, Asher focused on extending the reach of the sixth sense of particles around the forest clearing, maximizing the sense they had on the enemy. ''A taunt? Good thinking, Joel. If there''s one thing the Speed Demon wins at besides speed, its arrogance,'' Asher thought. The trees were ripped from the soil by the thunderps that followed in the wake of the electrified, ck-steel demon as it ran through at speed that surpassed the touchdown of lightning from the heavens. "Slow!" The Speed Demon howled. Just before it reached Joel, the silver-haired man felt the sixth sense of [Devil''s Sixth Sin] activate, causing his arms to move as he carved his sword forward without even first seeing the blurred enemy. ''C''mooooon! Sticky! Adhesive! Glue! Whatever!'' Joel thought. ¨CIt missed. The Speed Demon chuckled as it sidestepped the sword swing, though something else shot out from the weapon wielded by Joel: a sticky form of the ck substance of the Devil Force, sshing out and hitting the fiend. "Hhrgh?!" The Speed Demon let out, confused. The substance quickly solidified, causing the slippery demon to be anchored to the ground as the adhesive connected its body to the soil below. "--I did it?" Joel let out in disbelief. Dashing by, Asher Devilheart already had his ymore prepared to swing, engulfed in a condensement of his Devil Force, "Good job, Joel. You''re a reliable guy." Unable to dodge, the Speed Demon witnessed Asher close in, staring down that skull-faced helm before the ymore curved through the air, heading straight towards the neck of the infamous demon: [Devilheart: Abyss Execution] The condensed aura of darkness that clung to the length of the de was imbued with the property of absolute sharpness, allowing for it to seamlessly cleave through the sturdy neck of the demon. There was no hesitation from Asher inmitting the fatal attack, sending the head of the arrogant demon straight off of its shoulders with a picture-perfect arc of darkness. Chapter 363 Against The Authority Of The Almighty "It''s done," Asher breathed out. For the Devilheart System user, a "level up" arrived, bringing him to the level of forty-six, though he found himself deprived of stamina as he fell over onto the grass on his back. "...Phew¡­" Asher exhaled. Joel was going to help him up, but only plopped down onto the grass as well as the devilish armor vanished from his body. "Dang, I was hoping I''d have that armor a little longer." Joel said. Asher caught his breath for a few seconds before speaking, "...The others can wait a bit. I need to rest my body." "Yeah. Same," Joel agreed. Though they nned only to rx for a few minutes, the two ended up passing out from the exhausting sh against the fallen demon. ¨C [The Royal Chamber] Mere meters before the Quandary Gate, Emilio found himself unable to get close to it as the King of Spades now fought with a new focus¨Cthe sh on the bleached guardian''s skin seemed to increase his ferocity in battle. "Explode!" The visceralmand echoed from the lips of the King of Spades, causing an eruption of vtile reactions that blew up each tile before him, extending towards the Dragonheart. Emilio leapt up to one of the pirs, flipping over before any of the explosions could reach him, though not able to rx for a single second as another power word came: "Skewer!" A dozen ethereal spears manifested from every angle around the Dragonheart while he was still in mid-air, surrounding him before jabbing forth to stab him. "--!" Emilio reacted, darting his eyes around. An enchantment of wind was used along his sword, allowing him to replicate its swing in a spherical range, repelling the spears before they could pierce his flesh. He immediately was forced to propel across the room as the King of Spades didn''t let up for a moment. Words forged ethereal des that shot towards him from every angle, constantly keeping the Dragonheart on his toes as he propelled himself around with azure mes, using both aerial movement and rapid steps on the ground. ''He''s fighting aggressively now¨CI''ll just need to serve him a powerful attack to make him back off for a second!'' He thought. When it came to "powerful attacks", there were few who could match the destructive output of the Dragonheart as he quickly gathered seering, blue embers around himself while dodging the continued projectiles. With a single swipe of his hand, he turned the ground before him into a yground of materials for his woven magecraft; the shattered marble was shaped into a gargantuan, dragon-shaped golem with wings sprouting and ws mming down. "A dragon¡­?" The King of Spades remarked, witnessing the birth of the colossal golem. ''Abination of nature, wind, and fire. Go forth!'' He thought. [Dragonheart: Mountain Soarer, Second Coming!] It was reinforced enough to act as a temporary barrier between himself and the iing projectiles that came from themand of "Pierce!" from the King of Spades; the great beast of marble moved with a burning me inside of it and wind guiding its limbs. As he sent it forward, the lumbering beast of quartz pped its dense wings with a brutal air, mming its ws down with each step as it brushed off the continuous strikes from the guardian. "st away!" The King of Spades ordered. A magnificent wind tore forth from the man''s lips, carving forward before pushing directly against the great golem that rushed through the chamber. The violent vibrations pulled against the bestial golem''s form. Even still, the sturdy dragon of marble continued forth, forcing the King of Spades to enact a defensive word at the sight of the resilient golem. "None shall pass!" The bleach-skinned royalmanded. In front of the King of Spades, an invisible barrier manifested between himself and the other half of the chamber, creating apletely impervious wall that separated himself from the others. This was the best case scenario for Emilio, who needed but a few moments to prepare his next phase of the battle: "...Alright, while that keeps him busy¨Cc''mon and give me some help, Soulbound Spirit!" Emilio invoked. The seal etched onto the palm of his hand glowed before giving shape to one of the six, random spirits contracted to him. It formed quickly before him: a short figure that he quickly recognized¨Cnot sure if he had struck gold or fumbledpletely. It was the young-looking girl with tinum pigtails and silver irises in an "X" shape, wearing a ck, red dress with her arms crossed and an annoyed expression already worn on her face. "You''re¡­Hextrice, right?" He recalled. The shortstack spirit didn''t answer for a moment before sighing, "What a hopeless master you are. I was beginning to wonder if you''d ever call upon my superior strength." "Superior strength?...Well, if you''ve got something like that, now''s the time! Be careful though, the enemy can¨C" He began to say. Hextrice cut him off, standing in front of him, "I already know. We''re always watching over you. He can use words to warp reality around him¨Cso far, the limits seem to be tied to time and the potency of the effects." "Wait, you know all of that¨C?" Emilio asked. "Hmph," Hextrice neglected to respond. For better or worse, this was the spirit he was going to have to fight alongside, though he was impressed by her quick inclination to read the battlefield. He solidified his ck-scale armor, standing beside the tinum-haired girl. "I''ll lead the way, just back me up," he said. "Taking orders is annoying, I must say¨Cbut fine. Lead the way, Master," Hextrice said, looking up at him briefly. All that was left was for him to dash in just as the unseen barrier vanished between the King of Spades and the draconic golem, leading Emilio to guide it forward with an internal ignition within it: ''Detonate!'' He thought. It was just as the golem got within range of the bleach-skinned guardian that he activated the dormant fire within it, allowing it to explode just as the King of Spades seemed to notice the increase in temperature. "Extin¨C" The King of Spades began to say, but changed hismand, "Contain!" ''He realized it,'' he thought. Instead of opting to extinguish the me, the powerful guardian instead summoned a condensing force that swallowed the shattered golem along with the explosion within it, siphoning it awaypletely. Still, this left an opening for the Dragonheart, who immediately closed in with a [Draconic Might] to propel him a dozen meters in a millisecond. "Fl¨C!" As amand tried to leave the mouth of the King of Spades, an ethereal chain made of flowery steel wrapped around the figure''s mouth, preventing him from speaking. Emilio nced back, noticing that the tinum-haired, high-strung spirit was holding her hand up,manding the chains from a distance. ''Nice one, Hextrice!'' He thought. While the man was bound, he went for a spinning strike meant to cleave straight through his midsection, only for the King of Spades to sh against his sword with his magnificent halberd. The somewhat thin, but tall guardian flexed his body as ck veins pressed against his pale skin, spurring on a burst of strength that held the Dragonheart''s sword at bay. [Draconic Might!] Another amplification of strength allowed him to overpower the man''s halberd, though not before the King of Spades used his free hand to grab the flowery chains and pull them from his mouth. "Master, he''s¨C!" Hextrice tried to warn. It was a repulsive, but frightening move; the King of Spades did not bat an eyelid as he tore the spiked chains from his mouth, ripping away his own lips and the skin around his mouth to do so. "st away!" "--!" Before the edge of Emilio''s sword could reach the man''s pale skin, the scream manifested itself into a turbulent force that exploded against him with a thunderous impact, knocking him across the chamber. "Ngh!" Emilio winced. Before he could m against the far wall, he was caught in a web of surprisingly soft chains, which sprouted astral flowers that softened thending. "Thanks, Hextrice!" He called out, picking himself up. "Just be more careful!" Hextrice yelled out. The tinum-haired girl waved her hand, causing her chains to whip forth as they were used as aunchpad for the Dragonheart, who was flung straight towards the King of Spades. ''I need to take his breathing away¨CI only have a small window to do it, but I need to make it count!'' He thought. As he approached through the air, astral flowers of violet pedals manifested around the King of Spades, unleashing thorny vines that attempted to entangle the figure. "Burn away," the guardian ordered. Before the flowers could aplish much of anything, they were reduced to cinder from unseen mes, though it was merely a distraction for the Devilheart to get close. This time, he invoked lines of water that extended outward, shooting towards and around the King of Spades, who watched the aquatic ropes cautiously. "--Another distraction. I won''t be fooled again¨CFall!" The King of Spades ordered. Before Emilio coulde within striking distance of the man, he was pinned down by the intangible force once more, mmed into the ground harshly as the impossible weightid on his back. "Ngh¡­!" He winced. "Master!" Hextrice called out. The King of Spades'' eyes moved over to where the tinum-haired spirit was, across the chamber as he pointed his halberd to her, "I will deal with you first, little witch." Chapter 364 Never Looking Back The King of Spades'' eyes moved over to where the tinum-haired spirit was, across the chamber as he pointed his halberd to her, "I will deal with you first, little witch." Hextrice didn''t shy away from the threat, unfolding her arms that were crossed over her chest as astral flowers bloomed around her, "Hollow threats are just that¨Chollow. Come, then¨CI will dismantle you and send you to a ce further than death." Though just as the King of Spades took a single step, the guardian''s instincts kicked in just as the dormant lines of water suddenly activated, whipping around and forcing the halberd-wielding royal to dodge, yet the whips of aqua did not attack him. "What''re you nning¡­?" The King of Spades questioned. It was just then that the guardian noticed what the tendrils of liquid were targeting: the pirs surrounding the spot where the royal stood. "You¨C!" The King of Spades realized. "Heh," Emilio quietly let out while still pinned by gravity. The roof above crumbled as the pirs copsed, causing a rainfall of heavy debris, forcing the King of Spades to protect himself with a word: "Shield!" Though the overwhelming gravity relinquished its hold on the Dragonheart, the debris came close to crushing him as he began to pick himself up. Before any such objects could fall upon him, a chain grabbed his ankle and forcibly flung him back towards the other end of the chamber. ? It was certainly not a softnding this time as he slid across the marble,nding beside the proud spirit. "Thanks for the save¨Cthough I would appreciate a bit more of a gentlending next time," he said, picking himself up. "Hmph, cover your ownnding," Hextrice said. "Well¡­I''m going to get crazy, so stay back," he warned, wiping the sweat from his chin before allowing the draconic helm to reform itself. Hextrice was silent for a moment before responding, "Worry about yourself." It was clear the debris was only a way to bide time as the copse of the roof ended, leaving the King of Spades untouched, though noticeably perturbed by the further destruction of his own keep. "Such barbarism," the King of Spades remarked. "There''s more where that came from." As Emilio responded, he summoned the massive reservoirs of heat within the depths of his being, pulling out bountiful reserves of fire as the temperature in the room amplified greatly. A colossal spiral of azure mes birthed itself around him, weaving through the air and prating the ceiling above. "The heat doesn''t bother you?" Emilio asked the spirit beside him. Hextrice folded her arms over her chest, "I am an astral spirit; such concepts do not apply to me. As I said¨Cworry about yourself." "Yeah, yeah, I hear ya!" He called out, expanding the azure mes further as fireballs began to scatter around the room in apletely chaotic fashion. The King of Spades began sweating from the rise in temperature, "Thoughtless attacks will only fall to my authority¨CExtinguish!" Though the order of "Extinguish" boomed from the lips of the powerful entity, only a few of the flung fireballs that poured from the cyclone of fire were put out, leaving the majority of the roaring mes still swaying. "What?" The King of Spades squinted at the futility of hismand. Emilio smirked, "You''re not some sort of "God", so there are bound to be a few weaknesses to that power of yours¨Cone of them being the limit of its reach. I realized it when your words could be stopped from directly affecting my body if I didn''t hear them¡­They aren''t omnipotent; there are limits. So, when I just pour out all of this fire¡­You can''t handle all of it, can you?!" That draconic pride flowing throughout the heated blood of the Dragonheart showed itself as he spread his bright-blue mes through the chamber, sending endless, dozens of fireballs outward that continued inflicting inferno to every corner of the castle. Hextrice remained there, untouched by her Master''s heat, "It took you long enough to realize. You get a passing grade." The King of Spades did not back down, stomping down, "It''s by the will of the Primordials that I cannot allow you to pass, Emilio Dragonheart! That has not changed! It will not change!...Be crushed!" Just before themanding word left the figure''s lips, Emilio increased the ferocity of the far-reaching fire, causing it to roar out and crackle loud enough topletely block the sound of his enemy''s words. "Sometimes, all you need is overwhelming power to win¡­Yeah, you told me to drop my "paltry tricks" and "deceptions", right, Mr. King? Well, here you go!" Emilio shouted. It was an attack that paved the way towards his escape from the realm beyond life, creating a grand torrent of mes thatpletely epassed the width of the royal chamber and swallowed it in a spiraling, azure ze. "Ngh¡­! Shield!" The King of Spades'' first instinct was to protect himself from the heat. "Find out what fate lies beyond death and get the hell out of my way!" Emilio yelled. [Dragonheart: zing Torrent of Tomorrow] The rotational force was akin to being trapped within an ungodly storm, amplified by the unmatched heat of the draconic mes as they tore through the King of Spades'' protective barrier. "I can''t¡­fail! No¡­! No!" The King of Spades howled in agony. As the fire reached the man''s bleached skin, it was burnt away, turning him to a fine crisp before his physical form was entirely dismantled by the ruthless torrent of heat, reducing him to nothing but ash within moments. Allowing the ultimate attack to calm down, Emilio breathed out, relinquishing his Dragonheart armor, "...It''s done." "If you''re finished, I''ll take my leave now," Hextrice said. "Yeah. Thanks a bunch for the help," he said thankfully. Hextrice looked at him for a moment before disappearing back to the Astral Realm with one,st "Hmph". Left without any obstacles, Emilio turned around, standing in the desecrated, burnt chamber as his eyesid upon therge, circr gate forged of steel that shifted color from moment-to-moment; altering from an aquatic blue, to a blood red, and even to a toxic green. ''The Quandary Gate¨CI made it,'' he thought. Though he reached his destination, he waited by the gates, sitting on the empty throne as hispanions returned one-by-one. "...Phew¡­" Joel sighed. Walking with his arm slung around Asher''s shoulder, Joel entered the chamber, reuniting with Emilio along with Vandread and Blimpo, who made it back through the whole in the side of the room. "You all made it," Emilio said with a smile. "Somehow or another," Vandread responded. It was a quiet moment between all of them as the goal of the journey had been reached; the sublime, mystical gate sat there, closed only by a single, circr handle that kept it shut. "This is it, huh?" Joel said, "You can return to Arcadius now¡­You''ll be gone." "It''s not like we''ll never see each other again. Someday, hopefully not soon, I''ll bite the dust," Emilio said. "That''s not the type of reassurance you think it is," Joel raised an eyebrow. Blimpo stepped forward, "I had an idea, ''Milio. On how we can all stay in contact¡­in some way, anyhow." "Huh?" The idea exined by the elf was one that made sense: a contract between Emilio and Blimpo, one simr to a binding agreement with a spirit. A seal that resembled a simple, smiling face was inscribed on the metallic hand of the Dragonheart, made to act as the conduit for the contract. "Through this seal, I can send ya the stuff I make. Ya can send stuff back, too," Blimpo exined. "That''s pretty awesome, actually," Joel watched. Emilio looked at the seal in awe, nodding, "So, like we can exchange letters?" "Mhm!" Blimpo nodded. Joel seemed excited, "You better tell me how Melisande is doing! I want updates¨Conce a month!" "Sure, sure," Emilio chuckled. Unfortunately, there was little time for chit-chat as Emilio could feel the state of his partial soul slipping away, forcing him to have to leave sooner than he nned, begrudgingly calling his time with his lostpanions to an end. "This is it," Emilio said, "I''ll be going now. Thank you¨Call of you. Really. I wouldn''t have made it without your help." "This isn''t goodbye, ya hear?" Blimpo said. "Yeah! Don''t you dare forget to write to us!" Joel said. Asher stepped closer, patting his shoulder as he issued guiding words, "When you get the chance, find a man named "Excelsor" in my homnd¨CEnnage. He''ll have answers for you, like he did for me, I''m sure." "Huh? Okay," Emilio nodded. There wasn''t much else Asher had to say to him, but not much needed to be spoken as Asher was a quiet soul, but he felt a kindred bond with the man. Vandread approached him before he opened the Quandary Gate, looking at him before bringing him into a surprising embrace. For a moment, Emilio didn''t know how to respond before returning the hug, wrapping his arms around the man who stood as his mentor for important moments in his life. "I''m proud of who you''ve grown into in the short time I''ve known you, Emilio. You''re strong¨Cthat much is undeniable. Julius raised a good kid, and will be proud of the man that returns to him," Vandread said, "I will never regret saving your life that day, Emilio. Remember that." "Thank you. I will," Emilio nodded, fighting the tears. With that, it was time to enter the mystical gateway as he waved to the others, finding himself saddened yet fulfilled by the precious time he got to spend with them again. "Bye-bye!" Blimpo waved. "I better not see you pop up back here for another fifty years, at least! Or Melisande!" Joel waved as well. "Be safe," Asher said. "Don''t make your parents worry too much," Vandread said. Emilio nodded, "Goodbye, for now." Grasping the handle, he turned it, opening the ominous gateway as what was revealed beyond it was a portal filled with a humming light that swayed, swirling with silhouettes of concepts unknown. ''Here goes¨CI''m taking back my life and returning to Arcadius,'' he resolved. Chapter 365 Return From Death ''Here goes¨CI''m taking back my life and returning to Arcadius,'' he resolved. With utmost confidence, he stepped past the threshold of the Quandary Gate, immediately finding his senses warped as he passed through the nebulous portal, surrounded by a unique light that surrounded him with a feeling of weightlessness. It was a surreal feeling that washed over him as the air shifted, turning from hot to cold, humid and dry, before he found himself now standing on a simple, straight bridge. The bridge was surrounded by nothing but a nk, white void, upied only by ruinous buildings that floated through the unique realm. It was undeniable now; he was no longer in the "After"; he now existed in the enigmatic space that connected life and death itself. "...This is it¡­I just need to cross this bridge." The atmosphere was distinctly different from the "depressing" air that filled the After; it wasn''t quite silent, upied by but a subtle hum that led to a feeling of mystery within the nk realm. He slowly began to cross the wooden bridge, finding himself peering over it, looking down only to find an infinite stretch of "white" descending below. For some reason, he felt uneasy while walking over the bridge; the sound of his own steps echoed, reaching far. Sweat left his pores, filling him with a stress that rose unlike any other. He recognized this feeling, knowing what was responsible for it as his covered eye felt a rising temperature: ''Primordials¡­There are so many here¨CI can feel it. They''re all watching me; their gaze is suffocating,'' he thought. It was stiffening to be under the constant gaze of creatures so abstract that he couldn''t even perceive them; all he could see was that empty, white void around him, yet the presence of the unseen entities weighed on him like a mountain. Sweat cascaded down his body as he could even feel his metallic arm trembling, somehow; all of his focus was spent trying to ignore the ungodly, prying eyes and moving one foot in front of the other. ''Just keep moving forward. Don''t pay it any mind¨Cdon''t think about it¡­Pretend they don''t exist,'' he told himself. It was a mere dozen steps, yet it took over an hour for him to cross the bridge within the realm of Quandary; slowly inching himself across its length as the pressure of the Primordials'' gaze embedded itself deep within him. Finally, he found a single door upying the end of the bridge: an unassuming, ck door that was attached to no building, only imposed on the air itself, waiting for him to open it. ''...Is this it?'' He questioned. Wrapping the fingers of his left hand around the handle, it felt warm, as if infused with the touch of life itself; he slowly turned it, opening the doorway as he crossed it without a second thought, lured by the nostalgic air it exuded. ¨C "Nngh!" He suddenly inhaled sharply, opening his eyes as he found himself looking up towards an unknown ceiling,ying on some sort of table. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Thudding inside of his chest, his heart felt lively, pumping the essence of life through his veins as the warmth throughout his body was unmistakable: ''I''m alive,'' he realized. There were bandages wrapped all around his body, though he chose not to tear them off as they seemed to be important. He had to keep his right eye shut, finding himself without the eyepatch he was gifted by the Progenitor, though somehow, the ck-steel arm that was made by the elf manifested on his right side, seamlessly attaching where his right arm was. ''The contract with Blimpo worked¨Cgood,'' he thought. As he sat up, he looked around, finding himself in a well-furnished room, though not recognizing it. Though the smell of pine and furbished wood greeted his nose with a weing scent of the world of Arcadius. He noticed one other person in the room¡ªasleep on the couch across from the table he wasying on as he got up. "Everett," he said quietly, surprised but humbled to find his friend waiting by his body. As his feetnded on the floor, the slumbering figure woke up, jumping to his feet as he blinked towards Emilio as if seeing a ghost. "Emilio¡­Izzat you?" Everett asked. Tears lined his eyes as it set into reality that he was finally back after an arduous journey through death itself, nodding, "It''s me." "I knew ya would make it!" He suddenly found himself grasped in the arms of the bumpkin shielder, who happily lifted him up into an embrace, spinning him around. "Hey¡­! I''m still adjusting!" Emilio said. "Oh, right!...My bad," Everett said, putting him down. There was far too much to exin, though it seemed Everett was more focused on the fact he was alive than how it came to be. Still, it seemed some part of this was expected. "Melisande is gonna be delighted to see ya!" Everett said. "Is she here? Where are we, anyway?" He asked. Everett answered, "The Guild Foundation¨Cthey''ve been taking special care of ya while ya were¡­well, ya know." "Dead," he said. "Yeah, that," Everett ruffled his own hair. The door to the recovery room was suddenly swung open as a familiar girl with silver hair and shining, emerald eyes stood in the doorway with a look of disbelief and hope in those jewels. "Emilio¡­?" Melisande said, as if not believing what she was seeing. "The one and only," he smiled. Before he knew it, he was hugged again, finding the girl''s arms wrapping around his stomach and her face being buried in his chest. It wasn''t a feeling he was opposed to, though, as he stroked her hair and returned the embrace. "I was so worried¡­" Melisande said. "Sorry," he apologized with a soft smile, "There''s a lot I need to tell you, though." "There is?" Melisande looked up at him. He nodded before noticing the other person that seemed toe along with Melisande, though didn''t jump into his arms like the other two. Yuna stood in the doorway, not one for a dramatic reunion, "Wee back." "Good to be back," Emilio said. ¡ª After notifying the nurses and medical mages of the facility that the Dragonheart had awakened, the bandages were helped off of his body before he was sent towards the tailor that had a change of clothes ready for him: A verdant cloak along with a ck-and-gold vest, a light-gray, silken shirt beneath with rolled up sleeves, and matching trousers. Fortunately, they had eyepatchesying around too, giving him a simple, ck covering for his special eye. ''Feels good to have my normal clothes again¨Cfits like a charm,'' he thought. "Dashing fit, young man." Witnessing hime out from the special tailor sector of the Foundation was the tailor himself that was contracted to the Guild Foundation¨Can entric man with a twirly, orange mustache and a sublime, gold monocle with a suit fit for an aristocrat, though colorful like a spring day. "Thanks¨Cyou got it down perfectly," Emilio remarked. "No outfit is tooplex for myself, Don Vandrosa, to replicate," the tailor said with a tip of his hat. ¨C After returning from the visit to the entric tailor, he reunited with hispanions again with his verdant cloak flowing behind him, also having his special sword¨C"Silver Wing"--returned to him. "Still¡­I can''t believe ya needed to trade yer arm," Everett said. He went through telling them what had happened in the After, mainly exining what had happened in regards to his right arm and eye. "Yeah, it''s fine though¨Creally, this arm is even better," he assured hispanions, moving his ck-steel arm around. "So, you really saw my big brother again¡­and he helped you," Melisande said. "Yeah," Emilio nodded. Melisande didn''t seem to know how to process this information before smiling, though a sadnessid in her eyes, "That''s amazing. He''s doing good, then." "He was the same, goofy guy I knew," he assured the girl. After a long time of less-than-culinary masterpieces to eat during his journey in the After, he chewed on a refreshing sandwich while sitting in the lobby of the Guild Foundation, spending time with his friends after what felt like an eternity away. The lobby of the Foundation was upied by many vendors and traveling adventurers, flooded with reception desks and countless quests needing to be taken. "You made it back, huh? Good job." Approaching the table he was sitting at in the busy lobby, a horned man in a ck suit walked over. "Hey, Scarlet!" Everett greeted. "Scarlet? Oh, you''re the guy from back then," Emilio recalled. "''That guy'', huh?...Well, I''m just d you made it back. The Foundation would mourn the loss of such a promising adventurer¨Cspeaking of which, here you go," Scarlet said. It wasn''t any sort of special ceremony, though it didn''t need to be: the moment that insignia was pulled out of avish box that the Nihilum Core member revealed from his pocket, Emilio felt his heart flutter. "You''re now officially a world-ss adventurer of the Guild Foundation; wee aboard, rookie," Scarlet bestowed upon him his official ne. Emilio gulped down the sandwich he held, epting the dragon-designed ne and adding it to his neck along with the other ne he wore, thanks to Irene. "Thank you!" Emilio said. "I should be thanking you. Hate to admit it, but you saved our asses¨Ca lot of asses, really, out there," Scarlet said, sliding his hands into his pockets, "I already heard from your friends that you''d be wanting to head home and visit your family again. The Foundation has arranged a ride to your hometown. I suggest you use that time to rest up and recover¨Cyour body is certainly going to need it." "Really? Awesome. I appreciate it!" Emilio said. "No problem," Scarlet walked off with a simple wave. Chapter 366 New Breath Of Life It felt surreal to be back; though he earned his badge that signified him as an official world-ss adventurer, he couldn''t wait to go back home after what felt like years away from his family. ''I''ll need to write a letter to Celly, too¡­It''s been so long,'' he thought. Before any such travels back to his hometown could be taken, there was one thing he wanted to do most of all: "I wanna sleep!" He announced, suddenly. Weird looks were given from the others from the random promation made from the young man, though Everett and Melisande couldn''t help butugh, even drawing a quiet chuckle from the quiet, demi-human woman. "Ya didn''t have enough beauty rest already?" Everett asked. "For your information, I did not get to sleep much while I was in the After¡­Actually, I spent most waking moments fighting," Emilio exined. "Then you really should rest¨Cyou''ve earned it," Melisande told him with a smile. "C''mon, Scarlet showed me where your room was," Everett gestured, getting up from the table. Of course, there was quite the fancy room given to him during his temporary stay at the Guild Foundation¨Call of this special treatment came from his triumph against the Dread; even if it wasn''t a victory earned alone, nobody denied that he was pivotal to its defeat. Shown to his room, it was neighboring ones upied by hispanions as well; they gave him some time to himself to rest. The room seemed asrge as his home back in Milligarde; the floors were of fine, oak wood and the verdant walls decorated with scenic paintings. Most of all, his sights were set on the bed. He didn''t waste a moment plopping into the queen-sized bed that was as soft as an angelic cloud, allowing his body to sink into it. "...Oh, yeah¡­this is heaven," he muttered in total rxation, sprawling his arms and legs out as he relinquished himself to the soft bed. "Enjoying yourself, I see?" ¨CThe sudden voice made him lean up, though not pulling himself from thefortable hold of the bed as he found a recognizable set of tinum pigtails along with a pale-skinned, small, but confident girl sitting on the chair off to the side of the bed. "Hextrice? How did you¨Cwait, you can just summon yourself whenever you want?!" He questioned. The bratty spirit huffed, "I can, yes." "Then¨C" Interrupting him, Hextrice said exactly what he was about to ask, "If you''re about to ask why none of your spirits came out on their own to help you before, it''s because you never opened the gateway for us until recently." "Oh, I see¡­My bad," Emilio said, rxing on the bed again, "Hmm, how about I make it up to you?" "And how would you do that, I wonder?" Hextrice raised an eyebrow, keeping her arms folded over her chest. There was a theory that he had about the bratty spirit, who always seemed ticked off and easy to irritate, though so far she seemed to alwayse through when he needed her: ''Hextrice is totally a "tsundere"--I bet past that thorny exterior, there is a sweet girl there!'' He theorized. "You cany with me, if you want," he offered. "...Hm," Hextrice seemed suspicious. To his surprise, the offer was epted as the seemingly high-strung spirit hoisted herself onto the bed, hardly being just shy of five feet tall,ying on the bed, though entirely on the opposite side from Emilio. "In fact, it is beneficial for me to stay close to you," Hextrice randomly said. "Yeah?" "You''re so clueless that you need protection at all times, I suppose," Hextrice said with a small huff. There weren''t any odd intentions from Emilio, as hard as it may be to believe from the once lecherous, young man, though he more so just grew to appreciatepanionship. "I''m finally free from it, huh¡­" He quietly remarked as heid there. "What is it you''re talking about, I wonder?" Hextrice responded, leaning against the bed frame. "The Primordials¡­I don''t feel their presence anymore¡­It''s¡­relieving," he rified. Hextrice stared at him, "Yes, you''re right. The Primordials'' reach is suppressed in the realm of the living, that''s true." The way that the tinum-haired girl spoke was as if she possessed an expanded wisdom herself, though she hardly looked itpared to her physical age, there was no doubt that the spirit was beyond the years she looked. "Say, Hextrice¡­Howe you''re Soulbound to me, anyway? How''s that work?" He asked, "Obviously I know how Soulbound Spirits work, it''s just¡­I don''t see how you''re anchored to me." "A silly question, I believe," Hextrice momentarily closed her eyes, "I can''t say for certain why I or any of the others were born bound to you, that much is beyond my own scope of knowledge." "I see," he said. As he slipped his hands beneath his hand, he let out a rxed breath as he allowed himself topletely let down his guard for the first time in a while, not worrying about the whims of Primordials or being attacked. "Well, I''m going to call it a night¡­I''ve got a long ride ahead of me tomorrow¨CI can''t wait to see everyone again¡­" He tiredly said, pulling the nkets over himself. Hextrice nced at him, "Yes, yes, get your sleep then, I suppose." As he sank into the alluring holds of slumber, he found himself not attacked by the terror of Primordials or seized by malicious concepts, only fading into a peaceful sleep that was much earned, and much needed. Though the body he had in the After and the one that was inanimate for that time in Arcadius would seem "separate", upon his return, all of the exhaustion and damage done to him in the After "updated" in his true body. That meant that he was worn outpletely, allowing him to sleep like a peaceful baby, burying his head into the cushioned pillow, hugging onto it as for the first time in ages, he slept perfectly. Hextrice watched as he indulged in such tranquil sleep, forming a gentle smile across her usual indignant expression before patting the blonde-and-ck head of hair of Emilio. ''You''ve earned it, Master. I am d you made it back to Arcadius,'' Hextrice thought. ¨C His eyelids slowly parted with the weight of exhaustion having left his body and the warmth of a well rested body flowing through his limbs. It seemed he had gotten his worth of sleep, considering a nce towards the window showed a change from night to day, though it was somewhat hard to tell through the colossal veil of colorful, pink-leaf trees that surrounded the Guild Foundation Headquarters. "Aaah¡­" He sat up, yawning. It wasn''t until a few moments as he adjusted after a lengthy, beauty rest that he realized the tinum-haired spirit wasn''t in bed with him. ''Guess she returned to the Astral Realm. Makes sense¨CI don''t know if spirits can stay manifested for that long at a time,'' he thought. Though he was definitely hungry for a good breakfast and excited to both see hispanions again and head out back to Milligarde, there was one order of business he needed to pursue: taking a bath. He was so tired the previous night after returning from his long journey that he had neglected to bathe himself, prompting him to fling his clothes from his body and fill the bath with toasty water before slipping in. "Ahh¡­that''s the stuff," he let out in total rxation, sitting in the bathtub as his body soaked in the clean water. There was no sense of urgency hanging above his head like a constant threat over his way of life; he took his time in what he wanted to do now, simply sinking away into the warmth of the bath as he allowed all of the ickiness¨Cboth tangible and not¨Cto wash away. He kept his adventurer insignia on even when in the bath, ying with it and running his fingers along its solid shape, taking in every groove of its ruby shine. ''I have so many stories to tell everyone¡­What an adventure this was. It wasn''t easy nor did ite without losses, but¡­I made it. So many people I''ve met¡­Reno, that crazy clown, the Verma tribe, everyone in Larundog, the clumsy knight of Vasmoria, Jeanne¡­This life is amazing¨CI''d trade it for nothing,'' he thought. After a fulfilling time of both refreshment and rxation in the bath, he brought himself up before getting dressed again. He carefully slid his vest over his shirt before tossing his warm, green cloak around his shoulders, tying the strings in front of his neck as he looked in the mirror. "Alright¨Ctoday is a new day," he said with a smile, attaching his scabbard to his belt, "I''ll be home soon, Father, Mother, Irene." There was still some oddity to seeing his mechanical arm in the mirror, though by running his fingers along it, he remembered the elf who made it for him and walked by his side in death. Chapter 367 Return To Milligarde There was still some oddity to seeing his mechanical arm in the mirror, though by running his fingers along it, he remembered the elf who made it for him and walked by his side in death. ¨C As he met with the others, heading down from the living quarters, eating a hearty breakfast of fluffy, golden eggs and sweet toast in the lobby of the bustling foundation, he learned what he already expected: there would be another parting. Melisande had an announcement to make, more so pointed at Emilio himself as she looked at him with her dazzling, emerald jewels. "Now that you''re back, I''m going to finallymit to what I said before¡­I''m going to study here in Vasmoria and became a proper mage," Melisande said, looking down at her te before looking back up, "I''ll make sure I earn the right to call myself an adventurer." "I see, that''s great," Emilio nodded with a smile, "I know you''ll excel there." "I-I''ll make sure to write to you, so you better write back to me¡­" Melisande said, averting her gaze with a slight tint to her cheeks. "Of course," he smiled. Yuna chewed on a piece of bread before exining what she would be doing, "For now, I''m going to see what the wilnds of Vasmoria has in store for me. I''ll work alone for now, but¡­should the timee, I''ll dly fight alongside any of you again." "I''d be happy to," Emilio nodded. "Yeah, me too," Melisande smiled. "Heck yeah!" Everett excitedly responded. What was left now was what the bumpkin shielder had in mind, as they all seemed to be going their separate ways for the foreseeable future as they grew into their own adventurers. "So, what''re you going to do, Everett?" Melisande asked. Everett bashfully rubbed his chin with a bright smile before looking over at Emilio, "If it''s alright, I was actually nning to stay with you, Emilio! I''m heading back to Milligarde anyway, and well¡­Yullim sounds nice!" Emilio looked surprised by this, stunned for a moment, "You wanna¡­stay with me and my family?" "Is that alright? If not, it''s totally fine, man!" Everett patted him on the shoulder. "It''s more than fine¨Cyou''re more than wee," Emilio smiled. The day was spent alongside his friends, chatting and telling the tales of his adventures in the After, along with their aspirations for the future; though he wanted to spend more time together with them, the time came to take his leave atst and return home. With their ns set, the group that had conquered the world-ss trial, through unorthodox means, went their separate ways; goodbyes never felt good, though with the freedom of life returned to him, Emilio took it in stride. Outside of the Guild Foundation Headquarters, the transports were ready for them, though separate and different means of transportation were avable. Separate carriages were waiting for Melisande and Yuna, of which the demi-human woman quietly left, and arge, metal airship was waiting for Emilio and Everett. Since it was a long, eventful journey from Vasmoria to the heart of Milligarde, the Foundation took it upon themselves to provide suitable,fortable transport for the Dragonheart and his friend. "Good luck, Melisande!" Emilio waved. "Yeah, ya show those nerds at the academy what yer made of!" Everett shouted. Melisande waved back before heading into her assigned carriage, "Goodbye! Make sure to write to me!" "Stay safe!" Emilio called out again. "Mhm!" Melisande smiled, though seemed on the verge of tears, "You too!" It was time to go their separate ways, onto journeys different from one another as the time of growth was pivotal; it was not a permanent goodbye, though it felt as though an eternity would sit between the next time they''d see one another. ''Joel, your sister is going to be a great adventurer¨Cbe proud,'' he thought. Boarding the airship, it felt surreal as he sat down within the vast,vish vehicle of mystical creation, watching through the window as it lifted off of the ground, taking flight and leaving the enormous Foundation as the carriages that his friends left in became more and more distant. There wasn''t anybody else besides himself, Everett, and the pilots operating the Foundation airship riding within it; such a way of traveling felt like he was some sort of "VIP", treated with importance by the Guild Foundation. He sat there thinking about all he had gone through to now sit there without the gue of fear on his mind, able to rx his muscles and his mind as he held a genuine, gentle smile on his lips, running his fingers on the insignia and gifted ne around his neck. "Excited to finally go home?" Everett asked, sitting across from him. He brought his gaze away from the window, "Yeah, I''m so giddy¡­My hands won''t stop shaking. Is that normal?" "Just means ya miss yer family a lot¨Cthat''s a good thing!" Everett smiled. "Yeah, I guess it is," Emilio smiled as well, nodding. It was a soothing ride, watching from the window on his velvet seat as the airship soared over the highest peaks of Vasmoria, passing over luscious mountains and vast forests, witnessing the clouds in their gentle stride. "What''re you nning to do after ya visit home, I mean?" Everett asked. Emilio was resting his elbow against the windowsill and his chin atop his palm with a rxed smile, gazing at the scenery below before looking over at his friend, "Well, I''m probably going to stay back home for a while¡­It''s been so long since I''ve seen everybody, and after this journey, well, I think a time of rest is in order. Besides, I''m going to have my Old Man teach me swordy again." "Oh? Is yer dad skilled?" Everett sounded intrigued. "He''s a monster with a sword," Emilio chuckled. "Awesome! I wanna meet ''im," Everett proimed. "You will," Emilio said, "I''m sure you''ll both get along great." The calm ride almost made him fall asleep through its tranquil nature, though he found himself not wanting to pass up the splendid opportunity to see such beautiful sights through the window. It was almost odd to find that the distances he fought so hard to travel, spent so long journeying over, were covered so calmly and swiftly by the airship as it soared through the sky. Yet, it didn''t frustrate him or make him regret anything; the journey itself had shaped him into who he currently was. "Isn''t it beautiful?" He remarked, ''Everett¨C?" As he looked over, he found the heavily-armored bumpkin already snoring in his seat without any sense of shame. Though that nature of Everett''s to randomly fall asleep caused a few headaches during the trial, Emilio couldn''t help but smile upon seeing that carefree aspect of his friend. ''I made it, everyone,'' he thought. The journey with the airshipsted into the night, leading to a rumble of his stomach as he found himself ready for a meal. While it was a "VIP"-like experience to be transported via the giant airship specifically, it wasn''t as though there was fine diningid out for him. Though it''s not like he was expecting such a thing. "...Let''s see¡­" He muttered. There was a cab in the seated sector of the airship that contained rations and snacks, though he had to find what was appealing to him. After digging through for a while, he came across a portion of fresh peanuts. "Ah-hah," he discovered with a smile. Taking the peanuts back with him to his seat, he snacked on the crunchy food while peering through the window still. During the time of peace and rxation as he tossed peanuts into his mouth and looked down at the mountains they passed and small, lively towns, he eventually fell asleep, unintentionally. VRRRRR "Gah!" He suddenly jumped awake with theing of a loud noise, though he quickly figured out what it was as he instinctively gazed through the window, finding the airshipnding down on the ground once more. What it descended upon made his heart skip a bit and his blood run with a warmth he''d longed for as he looked through the window: those luscious mountains and hills of green grass, a town not too big nor too small, and a home near and dear to his heart. "I''m home," he said almost as if not believing it. "Mmmgh¡­" Waking up and stretching, the shielder let out a groan before yawning, noticing that they had finallynded at the peak of morning. "...Did we make it?" Everett asked with a yawn. Emilio had pressed his face close to the pane of the window, taking in the scenery he had long since missed, failing to respond to his friend''s question, though Everett recognized that look of excitement. The pilot of the airship stepped out from the front, having a pipe in his mouth and a golden mustache; the man had scars on his face as if experiencing more than merely piloting the airship. "We''re here, adventurers," the pilot said. Chapter 368 What Matters Most "We''re here, adventurers," the pilot said. They both were up at the official announcement from the man who had brought them from Vasmoria to Milligarde. The pilot pulled a lever on the side of the metallic vehicle, causing it to open up with a ramp descending onto the fields of Yullim. "Thank you, err¡­" Emilio said, not knowing the man''s name. "The name''s Brash Vardick," the pilot said, tipping his hat, "Have a fine time, young adventurers." "Thanks, Brash!" Emilio waved, leaving the airship as he sprinted down the ramp. "Yeah, thanks for the ride!" Everett said as well, following behind the young Dragonheart. As soon as they descended from the ramp, now standing in the luscious fields of Yullim, both of the young men watched as the ramp retracted before the airship soon lifted off again with a wind that caused the grass to dance. "This is Yullim, huh?" Everett remarked with a smile, taking in the gentle winds and the scent of nature. "Yeah, this is ''home''," Emilio nodded. He almost felt the need to pinch himself at how surreal it felt to be walking through the fields he spent over a decade of his new life living around; the gently-swaying trees of Yullim with the brisk, rxing air of spring at its peak¨Che took it in as he walked to his home with his friend following. "It''s a nice town," Everett said, "Reminds me of my hometown, too." "We should visit your hometown at some point," Emilio suggested. "Sure! I''ll show ya around my favorite ces," Everett smiled. It wasn''t a far walk until he found himself stopping by the old, short walls of stone that acted as the perimeter marking thend owned by his parents; that well-maintained home sat there like a missing piece of his heart as tears welled up in his eyes already. The front door opened, out walking a man far too familiar to his eyes¨Cthat short, ck hair and a scruffy beard, always wearing a sword at his hip and leather armor. The dear father he had missed, almost bringing him to tears just then as he could see the expression of disbelief on Julius'' face. "Emilio?..." Julius said as if not believing his eyes, stunned before turning back to face the inside of the house, "Treyna! Irene! He''s¡­He''s back!" Before he knew it, his mother rushed out, seeming to have been in the middle of preparing a meal by her apron, though not caring as both her and the young man''s father rushed over, bringing Emilio into their arms. Everett couldn''t help but smile, almost crying himself at the sight of his friend reuniting with his parents after quite the eventful journey. Running out of the home soon after his parents was Irene, who looked relieved to see he was indeed alive, holding her hands close to her chest. "You made it¡­! You made it back! I knew you would!" Julius said, squeezing him tightly, "That''s the Dragonheart blood for ya! I bet you kicked ass out there, didn''tcha?!" "You''re safe¡­Emilio, what happened to you? Your arm, and your eye¡­" Treyna said, seeming to finally register the state of his body. Emilio couldn''t help but chuckle at the question, raising his artificial arm and running his fingers along the eyepatch he wore, "It''s a long story¡­I''ll tell you all about it." ¨C Going inside of the house, they all sat around the firece, partaking in the stew that Treyna made, who luckily always made portions far too high, so there was enough for Emilio and Everett. There was a lot that needed to be exined, first and foremost, he chose to introduce the friend he had brought with him. "This is Everett," Emilio introduced his friend with a smile, "He took the trial with me¨Cwe''ve both saved each other''s lives more times than I can recall. He''s hoping to stay here for a bit." "Nice to meetcha, Dragonhearts!" Everett stood up and bowed himself with a bit too much manners. Juliusughed, pping his knee, "You don''t gotta be so formal, kid! If you''re a friend of Emilio''s, you''re a part of this family! Ain''t that right, babe?" Treyna nodded, "Of course. Please, stay as long as you''d like." A grateful smile came over the shielder''s lips as he nodded furiously, "Thank you very much!" Next came news that Emilio didn''t quite know how to tell, information that specifically pertained to his father as he sat there for a moment, looking down and fiddling with his spoon as he sifted it through the bowl of warm stew. "What''s the matter, Emilio?" Julius asked. Emilio looked up, gaining the courage to look his father in the eyes as he finally poured the words from his lips, "Vandread¡­is dead. He died to save my life¨CI¡­Yeah." "What?" Treyna said in quiet sadness. Irene didn''t seem to be shocked by this news, not having any connection to the figure in question as she quietly slipped her stew. This news left Julius quiet for a moment as he looked down before peering over at the firece, somehow wearing a small, mncholic smile. "Father?" Emilio said. "He always was secretly such a softy¡­Thanks for looking out for my son, Vandread," Julius said while staring at the firece before looking back at Emilio, "I''m sure if he did that, he made sure it was one-hundred percent the best option. Don''t beat yourself up¨C" "I''m not," Emilio found a way to smile, "Actually, I met Vandread again." "Huh? You what?" Julius raised an eyebrow. Taking in a deep breath, it was time for him to spill the stories of his miraculous journey once more as he smiled, readying himself to tell it all around the firece with the aroma of his mother''s cooking filling thefortable room. "I''ll tell you everything that happened," Emilio said, looking towards his parents and the lithe, quiet girl, "The crazy creatures I fought and how I died and came back." As he spoke of the encounters with the human trafficker, to the demi-humans, from the Unending Nightmare, the reactions were mixed: Treyna looked as though she''d seen a ghost, realizing the danger her son went through as she covered her mouth; meanwhile, Julius looked like an excited kid, leaning close and listening, nodding intently. The enthusiasm of his father listening to his stories made him share such feelings, smiling as he waved his arms as if swinging a sword, telling about the foes he fought and defeated¨Cfrom the Chief of the Outriders, whomanded powerful nature magic, to the Dread itself. "I''ve heard stories about the Dread¨Cbut to think my own son took it out! Damn, talk about the badassery of the Dragonhearts!" Julius smiled. "I did end up taking the Dread out, but I died in the process¡­It sounds crazy, but I went through the afterlife¨CI had help from Vandread and my friends who''d fallen in the past¡­It''s¡­" Emilio told, though recalling the memories of the Primordials'' presence made his words be caught in his throat as he covered his mouth. "Emilio?" Julius said worriedly. Treyna rubbed the young man''s back, patting his hair, "Don''t force it. I know it was hard for you¨Ctake your time." A small nod came from Emilio as he chose to exin what happened to his body, "...I had to make a deal with a powerful figure¡­He took my right arm and ced a ''curse'' in my eye. But, I''m fine¨Creally. This arm is even better than the one I lost!" "Can I touch it?" Irene asked, seeming interested in the ck-steel arm that Emilio had. "Oh? Uh, sure," he nodded. The blue-haired girl gently ran her hand against the smooth, yet warm steel as the perpetual heat of the young man''s mana coursed through it. "We''re also both certified world-ss adventurers now!" Everett said. "Oh, yeah? Let''s see those insignia!" Julius excitedly said. Both Everett and Emilio showed the world-ss insignia they had, with Everett given the rank of gold for his efforts in the Dread fight and Emilio being bestowed ruby¨Ca rank that was abnormal for a rookie. "You''ve really grown up in such a short time, haven''t you? That''s my boy!" Treyna said with a big smile. "Damn, ruby already¡­You''re making your old man feel outdated!" Julius said, proud yet surprised. "Heh, I''ve grown pretty strong, you know?" Emilio confidently said, tucking the ne beneath his vest again. Julius rubbed his chin, "Is that so? How about sparring with your pops, for old time''s sake?" "You''re on," Emilio agreed. Treyna looked as though she wanted to spend time indoors, but couldn''t help but sigh with a smile, "Alright, I''ll be the judge for this! Outside, boys!" "Yeah!" Julius and Emilio said in unison. As the Father and Son prepared for the sparring bout to signify their reuniting, Everett, Irene, and Treyna watched from the side. Even though he had just gotten home, there was nothing that felt more like "old times" than meeting his father outside in the lush fields, standing beneath the azure skies with wooden, training swords in hand. Though he had always been outmatched before, it was an experience he appreciated. "Show me what you''ve got, Emilio," Julius said with an energetic smile, pointing his wooden sword towards his son, "I want to see what you''ve learned in your travels. If those stories you''ve told are more than exaggeration¨Cif you''ve earned that insignia!" Chapter 369 The Dragonhearts "Show me what you''ve got, Emilio," Julius said with an energetic smile, pointing his wooden sword towards his son, "I want to see what you''ve learned in your travels. If those stories you''ve told are more than exaggeration¨Cif you''ve earned that insignia!" However, now, with experience under his belt and a plethora of powers etched into his flesh, the excitement Emilio felt was somewhat different as he stood there with a smile, holding the wooden sword in his metallic, right hand: Emilio was now ready to show his father just how much he''d grown¨Cspecifically, how much stronger than his father that he had gotten over the course of his journey to be a world-ss adventurer. "Sorry to burst your bubble, pops, but I fight a whole lot differently now!" Emilio said. The air around him shifted as the temperature rose somewhat; a small amount of azure scales protected his hands like gauntlets as his amethyst eyes turned to a draconic blue. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 1/10 | Dragon Newt] Of course, he wasn''t nning on seriously hurting his father¨Cafter all, it was a match merely for fun, though there was some pride riding on it. With that in mind, he tapped into a small amount of his system''s power. "Oh? You really did go and master that Dragonheart power, huh?" Julius said, seeming somewhat nervous but even more excited, "...I wanna see it!" "Begin!" Treyna swiped her hand through the air. With the bout''s beginning being signified, the father and son both took off in a dash towards one another. The speed of their first steps pierced through the sound barrier in unison, causing the grass to rustle as both of their wooden swords shed. It was a battle of smiles; a fulfilling match between parent and child, yet it was a fearsomeness that would seem like an all-out fight to outside eyes. Julius pivoted off of his right foot, spinning around and going for a strike to Emilio''s side. "--!" Emilio reacted perfectly, managing to duck down as the wooden de soared over his head, causing his blonde-and-ck hair to sway in the residual wind. He countered, going for a thrust of his weapon towards his father''s abdominal region. "Hyrah!" The experience and mastery of the Mountain God Style was showcased by Julius, who revealed his stalwart defense as he blocked the sword thrust before repelling Emilio. As they both jumped back some distance from one another, resetting the encounter, both held smiles on their faces. "You''ve gotten a helluva lot stronger!" Juliusplimented, "I thought you said that new arm held you back, but you''re amendable swordsman, Emilio! That speed of yours, too¨Cphew, you''ve got this old man working up a sweat!" "You''re every bit as skilled as I remember, Father! Still, don''t gas out yet!" Emilio yelled out, dashing back in. Julius rushed in as well with a beaming smile, "Don''t count on it!" The sparring match between Dragonhearts rippled through the lush fields as the speed of the two was imperceivable to the untrained eye; wooden des collided again and again, sending shivers through the wind. ''Has he been training this whole time? He''s stronger than I remember¨Cmaybe I''m just used to how he trained with me when I was younger,'' Emilio thought. ''The brat''s grown into quite the monster! I''m going to pull a muscle trying to keep up with his speed and power! I love it!'' Julius thought. One factor noticed by Julius that he didn''t consider until they shed des again and again, continuously colliding without one gaining an edge over another was the disadvantages wielded by his son: Emilio was using only one eye, halving his field of view, using an artificial arm, and withholding the usage of magic altogether, relying only on his physical might and swordy. ''This kid¡­He''s underestimating me, isn''t it?!'' Julius smiled. That wasn''t quite the truth; the young Dragonheart wasn''t intentionally trying to take it easy on his father¨Che was solely trying his hardest while keeping the ying field even. Even so, as Emilio dodged and weaved through the swift, air-hissing strikes of his father''s, he still found himself struck in the stomach, hit with enough force to feel it ring through his body sharply. As he was knocked back, catching himself on his feet, he found his father staring him down, egging him on with a gestore of his hand. "Show me what you''ve really got, Emilio. I don''t care if you have to bust me up a bit¨Cyou and your mother can heal me up after!" Julius said, "Let me see that your mother and I can sleep soundly at night, knowing you''ll be safe out there in the world!" The words from his father resonated with him as he felt he was disrespecting both his pride and wishes as a father. He decided to show it¨Cthe power he had obtained throughout his journey; all of the mystifying, grandiose nature of it. "Alright, Father¡­but don''t me me for what happens next!" He called out. "Not in a million years!" Julius smiled, watching. As he ignited the heat that persisted within his soul, the grass around him rippled violently before it began to catch fire from the heat waves propelling off of him. The ck scales stretched over his body, connecting and reinforcing, mping shut like an impervious armor as the draconic helm covered his head. [Current Stage: 4/10 | Dragon Elite] The wind pressure alone that pushed out from the manifestation of such power made Julius stumble briefly, unprepared for it as the veteran adventurer couldn''t help but grin at the sight of the power his son had cultivated. "That''s it¡­That''s the true power of our bloodline, isn''t it? You''re amazing, Emilio! Really, you''ve surpassed your mother and I''s expectations¨Ctenfold!" Julius prepared himself, taking to the Mountain God Style stance. All Emilio could do was nod as he readied himself as well, standing his ground as he allowed his father to take the initiative. The moment that Julius flexed his body just slightly, he took off with swiftness that surpassed sound a few times over, attempting to blitz Emilio, however¨C ? Before the eyes of the masterful swordsman, the scale-armored young man vanished; Emilio reappeared behind Julius,pletely overwhelming him in thepartment of speed. Julius flipped back, sweating bullets as he was saved merely by instinct sharpened over decades. ''This speed¡­Hot damn, he''s fast!'' Julius thought. Emilio took a single step forward before, once again, he vanished; the speed in which he moved left even the heightened gaze of Julius unable to perceive him, only catching the ripples of wind and scatters of dirt left in his son''s wake. The seasoned adventurer honed himself, taking in a breath as he sharpened his instincts, utilizing the teachings of the Mountain God Style¨Cremaining firm and stalwart, nting himself down. ''I''ll time it and¡­now!'' Julius thought. As the man struck his de forward, predicting where Emilio was going to approach from, all he found meeting his de was air. Suddenly, the presence erupted behind him, leaving Julius only able to look back before¨C "--Over!" Stopped mere inches from Julius'' face was the wooden sword wielded by Emilio, which felt more like a legendary greatsword when wielded in his draconic hands. Julius was stunned for a few seconds, realizing how close he came to potentially being knocked out or worse beforeughing, "Ga-ha-ha! You got me good, kid!" With the sparring match being expertly called by Treyna, a former adventurer herself with sharp eyes, Emilio exhaled as he relinquished the armor of his system, holding a smile as he rested the training sword on his shoulder. "So?" Emilio asked with a smirk. "Yeah, you''re definitely leagues above the brat you were before you left. I''ve got Vandread to thank for that," Julius admitted with a smile. The father and son shared a high-five before it was time to head back inside, sharing in some sweet, refreshing goat''s milk after the match. "That hits the spot!" Julius said, cing his mug down on the table. "Yeah, it does," Emilio agreed, wiping the remnants of milk from his upper lip. Everett gulped some down as well before releasing a massive belch, "Oh, err, excuse me." Everyone looked at the tall, broad-built bumpkin for a moment before the room erupted inughter¨Cshared even by Treyna and Irene. "Damn, Emilio was right! You really are like a bear!" Juliusughed, "Are you sure you don''t have demi-human blood in ya?!" "I think so¡­maybe!" Everett responded. "Ha-ha!" Emilio couldn''t help butugh as well. Night came quickly as the time spent reuniting with the Dragonhearts was a fulfilling day for the young man; after eating another serving of stew, Emilio headed up to his room, which was now shared by Everett in addition to Irene. It was somewhat cramped, though undeniably a safe environment; still, Everett took up arge portion of the center of the room, sprawling out on the mattress brought in for him. Only a few minutes seemed to pass before Everett was "lights out" again, emitting those bear-like snores soon enough. "He falls asleep quickly, doesn''t he?" Irene asked, looking at the snoring bumpkin. Emilio nodded, "Yup¨Che does that a lot." As it was time to call it a night for himself, the era of long awaited rest had begun for Emilio Dragonheart¡ªseeding in his goal of bing a certified adventurer after a long, eventful journey, it was time for reprieve after the chaos. And with that¡­ Months would pass, seasons would sweep by from the calm of spring, the warmth of summer, the mncholy of autumn, and the rain of winter. Chapter 370 Interlude: The Knight Of The Moonlight [...A Time Yet To Come¡­] [Milligarde, The Capital City: Eldaya] In the illustrious "Emerald Keep" of Milligarde''s capital, where the King himself ruled wisely, where the people of the kingdom''s hopeid upon, there was one person who kept it all afloat; the existence of one man that kept the King''s enemies at bay. A youthful knight with silken, silver hair kept short and tidy and armor of quartz that granted him the beauty of the moon itself; cascading down his shoulders was a ck cape and decorating his pearlescent armor were medals of his many feats, all forged in his short, but grand tenure. It was said that he earned his title of the "Knight of The Devouring Moonlight " due to a battle that''s sung by bards all across Milligarde: on that fateful night, the moon was revealed in full, and beneath it, a Scourge of Cataclysm had stricken the capital; plentiful beasts of grand scale attacked the capital. Yet, alone, with only his majestic sword drawn and his cape to the wind, the young knight slew each and every beast that threatened Milligarde. Since then, it''s been believed that under the gaze of moonlight, he''s invincible, he''s¨C "Sir Andris!" Pushing through the illustrious gates of the courtyard of the Emerald Keep¨Ca garden amidst the royal castle that remained near the clouds themselves¨Ca panicked knight stumbled over to the young man who was sitting there in peace. Andris stood up in concern, walking over to his colleague, "What''s the matter? What''s gotten you in such a panic¨C" Though as Andris checked on the Milligardian knight, he found the man was dressed in wounds; his armor was covered in holes and dented as blood poured out. The nameless knight huffed, "Invaders¡­Attackers havee for the King?" "Attackers?" Andris seemed on-guard as he knelt beside the injured knight. "...I don''t know where they came from¨CI was standing by the interior gates, then ''he'' appeared out of nowhere¨CSir Andris, he''sing!...Please, protect his Majesty!" The knight warned. ¨CJust then, an icicle dropped down from above, plunging into the wounded man''s back and stabbing straight through his body. Andris was unable to react to this, finding himself shocked at the sudden death of his fellow knight, though he stood to his feet, emitting only a single breath as he looked forward with his light-green irises. ? "Who are you?" Andris asked. Calm steps walked up the stairs leading to the royal garden, unanswering yet even though the silhouette of the mysterious attacker became known. Andris noticed it as he stood there on-guard with his hand ready by the handle of his sheathed sword: the corpse of the fallen knight hadpletely frozen over; the man''s body had been encased in ayer of frost. "The magical barriers around the Emerald Keep were far too easy to dismantle. The guards around the gates were unable to put up a fight," a deep voice spoke, reaching the summit of the stairs and arriving at the garden, "Times of peace have made Milligardex; it is as I thought." "State your name now, invader," Andris demanded. The stranger had a snow-white, frosty beard, wearing a silver cloak and possessing a single, icy-blue eye while the other was covered by a jeweled eyepatch. "I havee to issue a deration of war¨Cformally. I had hoped to speak to your King, but¡­I don''t trust you will allow that," the mysterious man spoke as a breath of frost left his lips despite the season of spring. Andris was not amused by the man''s words, standing there as he emitted his dormant aura, causing the flowers blooming in the royal garden to sway side-to-side, brushing against the stranger''s cloak. "It seems the tales are not exaggerations of your strength, ''Knight of the Devouring Moonlight''--you''re on the level of a Hero-ss swordsman¨Cno, I''d venture to say you''re even higher than that," the stranger spoke, "Worry not; I am not foolish enough to believe I can defeat you inbat." "Then what is your intent here?" Andris asked, presenting his hostile aura all the same. It was as if a storm had brewed itself into existence within the garden; the emission of aura from the youthful knight of legend caused the verdant leaves to be tugged from hedges, swirling around the quartz-armored knight. "I am Hiver, the First Viscount of the Kingdom of Farmay," the man introduced. "Farmay?...You don''t mean¨C" Andris responded in clear disbelief. Hiver momentarily closed his eyes before parting them once more, "Yes¨Cthat bitternd of frost your people have likened to merely tales to be read in children''s stories. Her Majesty will soon im her birtrite¨Cthe kingdom of Milligarde." "I will not allow that. There is nothing to fear from a kingdom who sends a single general to deliver such a deration¨Can unorganized, disunified conglomerate of exiles," Andris said. "Is that what you believe? A single general has all but infiltrated the Emerald Keep; I wonder what that says of the "Great Milligardian Army"--I wonder," Hiver said. "Silence! I will carry out the death sentence in the name of the King!" Andris said. The moment the Knight of the Devouring Moonlight unsheathed his sword, the sealed aura he had kept restrained blew through the garden like a tornado; it was a true spectacle to witness the dormant power held within the legendary knight. Petals of flowers danced in the wind; a serene sight, yet so furiously swept by the aura of the knight as he dashed forward, breaking the stone tile beneath his boot as even with a quake of frosting from the Viscount, he remained moving forward. In an attempt to impede the powerful knight, Hiver raised his hand, invoking a cier that manifested within a singr second, tearing through the stone path and moving towards Andris. With a single sh of his sword, Andris cleanly cut through the entirety of the sturdy cier, splitting it in half. "The King you serve is unworthy. It''s an empire built on a falsehood; does it not question your integrity, proud knight?" Hiver asked. "Silence!" Andris shouted. "Foolishness; barbarism is all that the Milligarde of today is built on," Hiver remarked. CRUNCH Though Andris pierced his de through Hiver''s chest, the impact felt different. Soon, the body of the mysterious invader turned into brittle frost, forming with cracks and turningpletely to ice. "I see; there was a miscalction on my hand. Even if daylight is when you''re at your weakest, Knight of the Devouring Moonlight, you''re still a monster all the same¡­" Hiver said. "What?..." Andris questioned. "Still, the Emerald Keep was infiltrated by nothing more than a false body," the frosted clone of Hiver spoke, "Prepare yourself, Milligarde." With those final words that spoke of war toe, the false invader crumbled away into ice as Andris stood there in silence. ''War ising¡­What does this mean for Milligarde?'' Andris thought. ¨C Across the seas, far exiled from the Continent of Man in which Milligarde upied, thend of Farmay existed in the farthest, darknest, coldest corner of the world. However, it was no longer slumbering; a colossal fleet of ships had set sail from the icynd. On the ships built to withstand the arctic waters beyond Farmay, it wasn''t human soldiers that rode upon the vessels, but golems made of wood-and-steel, standing tall in numbers surpassing tens of thousands. "My, Marnge''s army of golems is even more impressive than I had imagined." Remarking this, the patchwork man sat in the shadows beneath the sail, smiling to himself as he adjusted the tophat sitting on his head. "You seem excited, Shammoth." Walking over to the patchwork man was another Viscount of Farmay; a man with a lion-faced helm, dressed in all-ck armor with a fur-lined coat. "Of course I am, Amine," Shammoth smiled, "This war is for Her Majesty¨CMilligarde will be hers." Chapter 371 One Year Later [Eighteen Months Later] [Age Eighteen] It was the season of autumn once again; the leaves hanging to the limbs of trees turned to a colorful array between yellow and red, descending upon the grass like tranquil rainfall. Waiting outside of the Dragonheart residence was Julius, who had allowed his beard to grow out, bing bushy. The man was equipped in his standard adventuring gear, looking back through the open doorway of the house. "Ready, Emilio?" Julius asked. Everett was waiting outside as well, having grown some and chiseled the few ces of fat on his body into muscle, wearing new, tinum armor with a rectangr shield and his hair nowbed-over, made neat by Treyna''s finesse. Stepping through the doorway, the Dragonheart, growing out of being seen as "young", now a man himself responded with a smile, "Yeah, yeah, I''m here!" Closing the door and catching up with the other two men, Emilio stood slightly taller than his own father now, acquiring quite the legendary growth spurt as he lost all semnce of the boy he once was, having grown into a fine man over thest eighteen months. "Damn, when you''d get so tall?..." Julius looked up at Emilio''s forehead. "Hm?" "Nothing," Julius scratched his beard. A ponytail now descended behind his head, cascading down his olive cape, which he wore over a ck-and-gold vest over a long-sleeved, leather shirt. The sleek, metallic arm of his remained with the same schematic of ck steel, though resized to fit his new physique. On his left arm, he wore steel armor; a belt kept his de¨C"Silver Wing"--attached to his hip. Setting out on an easy-going quest alongside Everett and his father, Emilio walked side-by-side with them as a grown man, holding a smile that had been reforged by times of peace. "Goblins again today?" Everett asked. "Actually, no," Julius grinned, "Today, we''ve got orcs to handle! They''re in a cave towards the east road." "Orcs? That could be a nice warm up," Emilio said. "Betcha five crowns that Everett could toss an orc over his head," Julius said, "I mean, you''ve been putting onyers of muscle, Ev!" Julius yfully pped Everett on the back whileughing, though the bet wasn''t reciprocated by Emilio. "I am not betting against that¡­" Emilio wryly chuckled. Everett couldn''t help butugh, "I could do it¨Cprobably!" It was a nice walk through the outskirts of Yullim, along a dirt road neighbored by autumn trees that led to the cave in question for the orc-ying bounty. There weren''t many adventurers that lived within Yullim, mainly ones that passed through the town and handled quests irregrly, leaving such bounties mainly to the Dragonheart residence. "Did you send that letter to your old teacher? What was her name again¡­Celery?" Julius wondered, scratching his chin. "Celly," Emilio corrected him with a yful sigh before nodding, "And yeah, I did. I don''t know if she''ll have the time to actuallye and visit though¨CI mean, I think she''s a full-time teacher now." "That''s great¨Cshe really taught you well when she was here. You were just a runt then," Julius chuckled. "Yeah, yeah," Emilio replied, "She was amazing, though. You''re right." "Hmm, this Celly person sounds pretty great if yer giving her all that praise," Everett added in. "She is," Emilio nodded happily, "Speaking of which, we should visit Melisande soon." "Oh, right! She''s been writing every month¨Cseems like she''s excited to see you again." "Both of us, you mean," Emilio corrected. "I dunno, man. I think she has a thing for y¨C" Everett began to say before covering his mouth. The entrance to the cave put a swift hold to their conversation, finding it directly embedded into the side of tall hills, hidden behind red-leaf bushes. "This is it?" Everett asked. "Yup," Julius said. Emilio was fearless in leading the way inside, conjuring "Smander" to guide the way with light without needing an invocation word, "What''s the hold up? C''mon." "Yeah, sure," Julius said, following inside, taken aback by his son''s growth yet again. It was dark and damp inside, somehow wet, likely from whatever water the unwee denizens of the cave had dragged in. There were quite a lot of such missions he handled during his time back home; goblins and orcs were plentiful nuisances around the outskirts of his hometown. "Orcs are bing more and more frequent, aren''t they? It used to be just goblins around here when I was a kid," Emilio said. "I was wondering about that," Everett responded. Julius scratched his beard, letting his sword rest against his shoulder as he walked through the cave, "It makes you wonder if something is fundamentally changing about the world?" "Maybe," Emilio nodded. There wasn''t any need for them to stay quiet or even try to stifle their steps; now worry was made in letting their presence be known to the monsters upying the damp cave. Reaching an open, dark portion of the cavern tucked away beneath the hills, they all stood there for a moment without speaking a word. Tap. Tap. Tap. From behind, emerging from the shadows, a tall, burly figure rapidly charged Emilio from behind, swinging a club towards the back of his head¡ª "Burn him, Smander." The calmmand came from Emilio''s lips, who called upon the evolved firepower of the lesser spirit of fire as the crimson sphere sprayed mes against the monster. It was burnt to a crisp within seconds, falling backward with a "thud" that resonated throughout the dank cave. The orc was barely recognizable as such after beingpletely burnt by Smander. Everett whistled, "Wouldn''t wanna go out that way." "Good job, Smander," Emilioplimented the lesser spirit, letting it sit on the back of his hand. Julius stepped forward, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck side-to-side as another orc rushed in from a tunnel, "I''m not gonna let my son show up his old man, am I?" While orcs were far superior to goblins inbat ability in every regard, there was one thing they fell short on: they were as dumb as bricks. What made goblins a gue to human settlements was their cowardice that allowed them to flee and hide, recuperating and repopting. However, orcs openly challenged any that entered their territory¡ªeven those they would be better off running from. As the pig-faced orc mmed its rugged axe down upon Julius, the bearded man sidestepped the attack before flinging the orc''s weapon-wielding arm from its shoulder with a single sh. SQUELCH Repugnant blood sprayed on the floor of the cave as the orc stumbled back, letting out bellowing cries. Julius had kept up and even increased his training since his son''s return, often sparring with both Emilio and Everett as he reached higher levels of strength. In an instant, he dashed by the orc, taking his head from his shoulders with one more sh. "That''s one for me," Julius said with a smile, swiping the blood from his de. "Two more for me," Emilio yfully responded. "Wha¡ª?" The confidence from Julius was tested immediately. The remark from Emilio bore fruit as two more wild orcs rushed in from the shadows of the dark cave, only for them to be instantly dealt with as Emilio pressed his boot against the ground. As the orcs tried closing in from either side of the amethyst-eyed man, stone spikes speared upward from the ground, piercing the heads of the orcs from the unspoken magecraft. "Tch," Julius clicked his tongue, having his naturalpetitive drive tested. There wasn''t any sort ofpetition agreed upon by any of them, but as the saying goes: boys will be boys. "I''ve got one too¡ª!" Everett yelled out as he rushed in towards one of the orcs, taking the initiative against the barbaric creature, who looked shocked to be met by a human that stoodrger than itself. "Raaagh!" Everett yelled out. With a bash of his shield, the bumpkin obliterated the orc, knocking it back against a far wall. "Nice one," Emilioplimented. Everett didn''t seem too pleased with the aftermath, finding the front of his shield running slick with the gross blood of the orc. As they headed in deeper, the mastery of magecraft that Emilio had honed over the past year was put on disy once more: a pair of orcs dropped down from a higher elevation within the cave. Snap. With a snap of his fingers, Emilio swiftlymanded the manifestation of water, using the aquatic essence like formless des as they cut through the orcs in an instant. It was precise enough not to leave a single scratch on the surrounding stone, and quick enough to eliminate the enemies before they could even perceive the attack. "And two more for me," Emilio imed. "It ain''t apetition," Julius walked past him with a huff, almost as if pouting. It was surprising just how many orcs had already upied the isted cave, some varying in size as a few more intercepted their path. They had light-pink skin and pig noses, wearing ragged leather fabric and painted in what seemed to be blood. For the sake of his father''s pride, Emilio decided to allow his father to take the initiative on this one as Julius dashed forward with his sword in hand. Chapter 372 Flawless Clearing "Raaagh!" "Rrragh!" Both of the orcs attempted to smash the bearded adventurer with their clubs, though only managing to smash the rocky flooring and walls as Julius swiftly evaded their predictable attacks. The Mountain God Style allowed for strikes that surpassed simple, superficial blows, allowing for Julius to stomp down as he cleaved a perfect, downward strike, splitting the orc in half from the top of its head. "Ravine Separation." "Hyraaaah!" ¨CThe other orc was mmed against the wall by Everett, causing the cave to briefly rumble before its head was crushed against the rock. "Hey! That one was mine!" Julius imed. "Didn''t see yer name on it," Everett chuckled. Emilio couldn''t help butugh, leading the way again, "Come on. Pretty sure Mother already began cooking before we left¨Cdon''t wannae back to cold tes, right?" "True enough," Julius scratched his beard. Everett patted his gauntlet against his stomach, "Treyna''s home meals are ta'' die for." Perhaps proof of the challenges he went through was the fact that such a quest felt like a rxing venture to go on with his friend and father; a pastime that was fun, yet without risk. It was a leisurely venture through the cave, taking out any orcs found¨Csome of which seemed to have been woken up from sleep, only to be met with steel and magic. ¨C Pointing a single finger forward with his metallic arm, Emilio aimed towards an orc that rushed towards him,ing from a room beyond the tunnel they were currently moving down. Without a word, he unleashed a bullet of fire that traveled faster than sound, colliding with the orc in a contained explosion. "Gruhhh¡­" The orc fell face first¨Cdead, leaving the three unimpeded from moving onto what seemed to be the quarters of the chief of the cave-dwelling orcs. "What''s that now? I think that was twelve," Emilio recalled. "Not apetition," Julius repeated. Fortunately, there was no need to bring back proof of ying the orcs to the guild quarters in town¨Ca benefit of higher monster pop-ups and their trustworthy status as adventurers around Yullim. Entering the rocky chamber at the end of the dank cavern, shiny minerals kept it dimly lit, showcasing the "chief" of the orcs that dwelled there: a massive, red-skinned orc that dwarfed the other of its kin five times over. "There he is," Emilio remarked. "Damn! Talk about big! Ha-ha!" Everett couldn''t help but be in awe. The orc chieftain wore a crown of bones, picking itself from its seat as its footsteps rumbled the cave, hoisting up a giant club made of skulls. "You both handle the small fry, I''ll deal with the big guy," Emilio stepped forward with a confident smile. "Small fry?" Everett repeated. "Heads up!" Julius called out. It didn''t register to the other two men until Emilio had already began approaching the colossal chieftain that there were other orcs upying their, who rushed in. "Ngh! Comin'' in hot, aren''t they?!" Everett said, blocking a sword strike from one of the snout-nosed orcs. Emilio was already sprinting across the room, meeting the giant chieftain halfway as he called out to the others behind him, "You''ve got this!" "''Course we go! Go get ''em!" Julius yelled out in response, shing through the chest of one of the burly monsters. The chieftain stomped down, exuding a stench of blood and dirt that filled their as it breathed out, towering over the Dragonheart¨Cyet, Emilio''s fearless smile was not tested in the slightest as he held his hand up. "Come on out, Hextrice!" Just then, the gargantuan club of ivory mmed down towards him, prompting him to flip up into the air as crumbled stone flew outward from the missed attack. Into one of his arms, the tinum-haired girl manifested, sitting on his arm as he fell downward with a smile. Of course, the bratty spirit didn''t seem pleased to be called upon by resting in his hold. "What an awful way to summon somebody, I''d say," Hextrice sighed. "Yeah, yeah¨Cjust give him hell!" Emilio excitedly called out. Hextrice huffed as her tinum pigtails fluttered in the wind, holding her hand out as she pointed it towards the gargantuan orc, "I suppose I will assist you, if you truly need it." "Thanks!" Emilio said. Holding the contracted spirit in one arm as she invoked dozens of thorny chains to try and bind the giant chief, Emilio used his other hand to deflect the iing, swift club strikes with flicks of wind. Every gesture he made with his hand used a brief burst of wind that knocked back even the towering blows of the orc, giving space for the girl to wrap her chains around the orc''s body. "I''ve got him now¨Cdo what you n now and make it quick," Hextrice said, manipting the thorned chains as they bound the monster''s limbs. The rtionship between himself and his Soulbound spirits had been reinforced by time spent together, both in battle and outside of it, linking to being able to summon whoever he needed as they heeded his call¨Cbypassing the element of randomness. Emilio set the spirit down before rushing in, sprinting up the length of the mountainous weapon that the orc had angled downward, allowing him to jump up as he reached its head. There was no reliance on the Dragonheart System for this exchange; simply honing his own magical reinforcement and physical techniques as he used the Mountain God Style teachings from his father as he swiped his de forth: "Parting The Storm." ¨CThe picture-perfect, straight strike cut through the orc''s neck, bypassing its thick hide of flesh as a massive spray of blood immediately released. "Oh!" Not wanting to be doused in the chief''s blood, he contained it within a spherical prison of water with but a movement of his hand beforending back down. Defeating the chief was hardly a challenge or an obstacle for the Dragonheart at the point he had reached now. [Level Up!] [Level 53 Achieved] Over the course of the year and a half, he had leveled up significantly, gaining many skills along the way, though not having to rely on them as most outings around Yullim were only against goblins or packs of wolves. In short, Emilio had reached a level of power dwarfing that of old, yet remained untested¨Cthe limits of his current self were unknown. "All done," he said with a smile, not having broken a sweat. Hextrice stood beside him with her arms folded over her chest, hardlying up to his waistline in height, yet holding a demeanor as if grander thanvish castles, "Then I suppose I will take my leave." "Right, thanks for the assist," he said, patting the girl on the head. The silver-eyed spirit didn''t respond, epting the pat before returning to the Astral Realm with onest "hmph", almost as if needing to fill a quota. Since he finished the "boss" of their off so quickly, there were still some straggler orcs that the other two hadn''t yet dealt with, which roared at the man who had just finished their leader before rushing him. Emilio let out a sigh, holding his hand forward, "Seriously? I just beat your boss, what makes you think you stand a chance? Value your life more in your next one." Before either of the pig-faced orcs could reach him, he wordlessly released magic of a grandiose level: armored arms made of bright, crimson mes conjured beside him, possessing a giant scale and moving swiftly as they grasped the orcs in their fists, hoisting them up. Emilio squeezed his fist, signifying the two hands of fire to do the same as they wrung the life from the orcs, causing their flesh to burn and explode from the mystical pressure. It was a spell he had acquired through his recent studying: "Gauntlets of The Burnt Conquerors." Wiping the dust off of his hands, he walked over just as Everett and his father had finished off the rest of the orcs. "That''s thest of ''em," Everett said, mming his heavy shield down and wiping the sweat from his chin. Julius rested his blood-slick sword on his shoulder, "I damn near pulled a muscle just now¨Cdancing around a half dozen orcs is testing the limits of this old man." "You''re not that old," Emilio said with a small chuckle. "My stiff neck says otherwise," Julius rubbed the back of his neck, "Anyways, let''s head to the Guild office then back home¨CI can use a nice, warm meal after today." "Same here," Emilio said. "Hell yeah!" Everett pumped his fist into the air. After heading into town to im the bounty for exterminating the unwanted orcs from the eastern cave, a handsome amount of crowns were given to the three before they returned home with the sky dyed to a warm orange with the setting of the Sun. The enticing aroma of a hot meal, smelling of seasoned pork and beef, escaped through the open windows of the Dragonheart residence, aiding the tired men with the energy they needed to finish their walk. Chapter 373 Thoughts Of An Old Mentor "Nope!" As the three men tried to enter through the front door, lured in by the scent of the fresh cooking, they were denied by Treyna, who adamantly held a hand out in front of them with furrowed eyebrows. "Huh?" All three men let out in unison. "You all reek! Go clean up first then you can eat dinner! I don''t want you tracking goblins, orc, or whatever blood in here again¨C! I''m the one that has to clean it up!" Treyna demanded, folding her arms over her chest. Begrudgingly and tiredly, all three of them had to oblige to Treyna''s demands¨CJulius feared the wrath of his wife, Emilio respected his mother, and Everett feared being kicked out from the household. "Brrrr!" Everett shuddered, standing in the grass at the side of the house as Emilio dumped a bucket of cold water over the top of his head for a quick wash. "Man, I thought ya warmed it up!" Everett said, hugging himself as he was in nothing but boxers. It was the same for Emilio and Julius, who were next to wash themselves, though Julius certainly needed it the most, considering he had blood spatter in his own beard. "With what? Magic? Just man up, yeah?" Emilio yfully pped his friend on the back. "Ga-ha-ha! Yeah¨Clemme show you how a real man handles cold water, Ev! Douse me, Emilio! Gimme a full spell''s worth!" Julius said, holding his arms out. It was certainly vexing to have his magic be requested to be used in such a way, though Emilio didn''t mind as he smiled and held his hand out, invoking a high-speed spray of water that knocked his father straight off of his feet. "Gah¨C!" Julius reacted. "Ha-ha!" Everettughed. Julius used a kick of his legs to jump back to his feet, shaking the water off like a dog, though cleared of the orcs'' blood stains, "I''m starting to question if I hit you too hard in training when you were little, hitting your old man like that¡­" "Yeah, maybe," Emilio cheekily replied. For himself, Emilio invoked a magecraft specifically honed for his own body, summoning a thinyer of water around his body that washed away impurities, cleaning himself efficiently. "Hey! No fair! You used magic on yourself, but not me?!" Everettined. "Learn it for yourself if you want it that badly," Emilio said with a smile, heading back inside as he dried off and threw his clothes back on. As everybody gathered at the dinner table, the warmth of the beef-and-pork meal, seasoned well, made Julius and Everett almost drool like dogs. Emilio kept his cloak off while inside, graciously eating the meal. Sitting beside him was Irene, who had grown into a woman herself, though hardly growing but a few inches in height, but gaining elsewhere¨Cwhich Emilio will not admit where. "How''s your new projecting along?" Emilio asked, looking at Irene as he ate another spoonful of meat. Recently, Irene had developed her hobby of making wood carvings into an actual business for herself, gettingmissions from people in Yullim, and even getting requests out of the city¨Cthough those were handled by the couriers. Irene smiled, "It''sing along well¨Cit''s a bit moreplex than what I''m usuallymissioned for, but I think I can do it." Everett added in from across the table, shoving a hefty piece of pork past his lips, "It was the mayor of the town whomissioned ya, right? That''s a pretty big deal." "Mhm," Irene nodded, twirling her curly, blue hair around one of her fingers, "It''s a birthday gift for his daughter¨Ca carving of a finch." "I bet it''ll look beautiful in the end," Treyna said with a smile. "Thank you," Irene happily smiled as well. The young woman had really opened up through her time living with the Dragonhearts, bing a true member of the household. ¨C After the meal with the rowdy, yetforting household came to an end and night fell over the peaceful valley of Yullim, it was time to call it in. "Let me handle the dishes." "I can help out." ¨CBoth Emilio and Everett offered to help at the same time as Treyna had taken the tes away from the table. The amethyst-eyed woman looked surprised for a moment before smiling, "Really? Alright, then!" Both of the youthful men stood side-by-side, scrubbing the tes clean as the scenery of the starry night could be seen past the window pane, along with the slumbering mountains that sat around the valley. "Scrub, scrub, scrub," Everett sang in a sing-song tune. Emilio watched the window, peering at the stars as he cleaned the tes alongside his friend; small moments like these reminded him of the life he had regained a lease on¨Cthankful for it each and every day. "Oh, Emilio! I almost forgot!" Treyna called out to him, walking down the stairs and holding something in her hand as she entered the kitchen: an envelope. "What''s that?" He asked, drying his hands off with a towel. The envelope was handed to him by his mother, "This arrived while you were all out during the day. I think it''s from her¨CCelly." "Celly," he repeated the name in a mutter, looking at the white envelope as a smile formed across his lips. ''She replied already?'' He thought. "Thanks, Mom," he said. "Mhm! You boys make sure to get some rest!" Treyna said before heading back up the stairs. Everett was finishing off thest te while replying, "Ya betcha!" With the dishes finished, he went up to his room, sitting at his desk as he ced the envelope down, carefully opening it as the snoring of Everett already began. Irene was quietly working at her own desk with only the gentle sounds of her wood carving tools being used. ''A letter from Celly¡­we''ve been exchanging letters somewhat since I got back. She sounded really happy when I first wrote to her that I became an adventurer¨Cthat reminds me¡­Our "Rememberance Bond" is still alive¨Cit''ll onlyplete once we''ve met. When Ist wrote to her, I asked if maybe she''d visit, but she''s busy¨CI doubt it,'' he thought. There was something about the letter when he held it that made his heart beat and his mind race somewhat; feeling the smooth material in his fingertips, he was careful in how he opened the envelope. In his mind, he saw Celly as almost an idolized figure; a mage of great renown, knowledge, as well as a kind, beautiful girl. Now as a man, the body he had felt a certain way towards the idea of such a woman¨Che felt as though every letter along with every word written on it was a precious thing he must cherish. He adjusted the candle on his desk, moving it closer as he unfolded the letter, beginning to read it: ["Dear Emilio"] ["I have not forgotten our Remembrance Bond, of course. It''s a precious thing to me, you know? I''ve thought about it every day, like a reminder to myself to try harder in the academy. I pushed myself some nights solely out of that pact between us. We''ve both fulfilled our goals. With that, I think it''s appropriate that we meet once again. After all, I want to see the fine, young man that you''ve grown up to be. I''ll be heading to Yullim soon, just after I finish my current tutorship¡­Though, I have to say, this student is definitely a rowdy one¨Che has trouble with¡­uracy in spells."] Though it had been years now since he''d seen his former mentor in magecraft, he could still hear her gentle, delicate voice through the words on the page. After reading it, he couldn''t help but smile¨Cit was the one thing highest on his current list: see Celly again. Finding out that she was indeeding back to Yullim, he couldn''t help but stand up from his chair and thrust his fist in the air in celebration. "Hell yeah!" He celebrated. ¨CThough he instantly remembered that he was indeed not alone in the room, turning around to find Everett still snoring, though Irene was looking back at him from her own desk with a confused look on her face. "What''s up, Emilio?" Irene asked. "Err, just finally figured out a spell I was having trouble with," he lied through his teeth with a small chuckle before sitting back down. Still, he couldn''t help but feel giddy like he was a kid again; there wasn''t anybody else he could think of that he held a genuine "crush" on in this world. Irene was like a sister to him, and Melisande also fell into the same category¨Cthough one was definitely more questionable. ''Pretty sure Joel might haunt me if I tried getting with Melisande,'' he thought. The once lecherous young man''s mind had matured through his time back home, humbled by death and eased by a tranquil life as he grew up and shot through puberty. ''That''s right¡­now that I think about it, I haven''t even thought about brothels in ages. I was always trying to shake off that one, eternal concept that''s followed me between lives: virginity. Now though¡­I guess¡­I just want to save it for the right one? Genuine connections are what is truly sexy,'' he thought. Before leaving his desk, he decided to write a letter to his friends in the After, creating it then preparing it into an envelope before cing it against the seal on his artificial arm. "Transfer," he quietly said. Just like that, the letter vanished, transporting to where the other half of the mystical seal was: transcribed on Blimpo himself, an entire reality away. With that, he found himself happily sitting himself into bed, beginning his wait for his former teacher toe down from Vasmoria. As heid in bed, he held his mechanical arm up with his palm to the wooden ceiling; the pitch-steel was made lively through the subtle glow of his azure mana between the seams. ''I''ll be able to see her again soon,'' he thought. Chapter 374 The Silver-Haired Mage Past that night, a few more weeks followed, with them excitedly exchanging letters with one another, making ns for what they''d do when they met. It almost felt to him like he was nning a date, though he ced that thought at the back of his head. For the others around the household, it was clear as day that he was excited for his ns as he chipperly did chores, even helping both his father and mother handle their own in addition to his usual ones. Atst, finally, it was that day¨CCelly arrived from thend of Vasmoria. It was a bright morning; the clouds parted over Yullim as the azure skies persisted above with the lush fields of green grass weing in the figure who arrived over a hill, arriving from a ride on a carriage before departing from it. Emilio was waiting outside, sitting on the broken, stone fence on the outskirts of the Dragonheart residence before finally noticing the familiar figure that came into view: that prominent, pointy mage hat was unmistakable. ''Is that her?'' He thought. That head of silver hair with gentle eyes and a smile just as soft met him; in truth, Celly''s appearance seemed exactly the same as he remembered¨Csurprisingly the same, in fact. It seemed as though the woman, who still looked hardly sixteen, hadn''t aged a day. "Celly!" He called out, waving. A brightened smile met him as the mage arrived, holding her staff in tow, "Emilio¡­Hold on, that is you, isn''t it?" The former teacher of his stood before him, though having to look up in order to meet eye-to-eye with him, hardly making it up to his chest in height. "Yeah, who else would it be?" He smiled. Celly squinted for a moment before smiling, adjusting her hat, "You''ve really grown, haven''t you?...That bright child I remember is now a grown man. A world-ss adventurer too, at that." Though he wanted to talk about how Celly had grown, truthfully, she really hadn''t; he briefly looked over her¨Cthough her outfit had changed in some ways, now wearing a white-and-ck uniform with a silver cloak and a ck skirt, seeming to be a uniform of her academy, she was exactly the same as she was years ago. "You, err, haven''t aged at all, have you?" He asked hesitantly. For the first time, he saw a hint of anger on the woman''s face as she red at him before controlling herself, letting out a small breath as she pushed her hair behind her ear. ''She almost sted me with magic, didn''t she? I feel like I pressed a button that shouldn''t have been pressed!'' He thought. "I am a half-elf, remember? We age differently from humans," she exined, "Right now¡­I''m nearing forty." "That old?!" ¨CAgain, he received a re, sensing a rise in mana as thevish, quartz staff that Celly wielded almost seemed toe into use. "Sorry, I didn''t mean it like that," he chuckled, holding his hands up, "You look amazing, Celly!" A small blush came to her cheeks as he said that, though her eyesid on the right arm that Emilio had: the magic-amplifying, steel limb he now lived with. Seeing that artificial arm brought a brief sadness to her expression as she stepped closer. "So¡­you weren''t lying in your letters. You really did lose an arm," Celly said, "And your eye¨C?" He tapped his eyepatch, "My eye is still functional, it''s justplicated. Don''t worry, I''m fine though! Totally one-hundred and ten percent!" Celly looked at him for a moment before nodding with a smile, "If you say so. Shall we?" "Oh yeah, sure!" There was an entire n set up between the two of them from letters exchanged leading up to this long awaited reunion: Emilio, with the help of Treyna and her wonderful cooking, set up a pic in an isted area towards the west of Yullim. Celly dropped off the luggage of clothes she had brought with her at the house before they set off. It was a short walk over, carrying the basket of food with him as he walked side-by-side with his former mentor, who now felt more like an equal friend than anything. "Oh wow, this ce¡­it''s beautiful," Celly remarked upon arrival. Between two mountains, it was a tucked-away basin field, neighbored by a fresh stream and filled with colorful flowers along the vibrant grass. "Isn''t it? I used toe here sometimes as a kid to practice magic," he said, sitting down and setting the pic mat down along with the basket. Celly adjusted her skirt before sitting, "Really?" He nodded, "Sometimes, I''d train until nightfall then just flop down¨CI''dy here and watch the stars until I could move my body again." "That sounds just like you," Celly softlyughed. Opening the basket, whaty within were the very essence and tradition of pics: sandwiches; they varied with some having seasoned beef, some pork, a vegetable based one with spices, and even one with fish in it. ''Thanks for going all out, Mom!'' He thought. "Treyna''s culinary skills are just as good as I remember," Celly said with a smile after taking a bite out of one of the pork sandwiches. "Right? I missed it the whole time I was gone," he responded. Celly looked at him, "About that¡­the journey you went on, you told me about it over letters, but it''s just¡­" "Hard to believe? Yeah, I get that," he said with a smile, leaning back against a tree stump as he took another bite of his sandwich, "It was a lot more eventful than anybody could have predicted." "It''s not that I don''t believe it, it''s just a lot to imagine," Celly told him before smiling, "I''m d you made it, though." "Yeah, me too," he nodded with a smile of his own. As he sat there, he saw the silver-haired woman who was once his teacher, in a different light. Perhaps it was the time spent away from her, or the maturity that came with his hardships, or perhaps it was the age he found himself at. The truth of the matter was, even if he did live a sizable amount of time as "Ethan Bellrose", it didn''t change the fact that the development and maturity of his brain followed the same rules as others¨Cleading to a new state of mind he found himself in as an adult. "So¡­an archmage, huh? That''s a pretty big deal, right?" Emilio said, swallowing a gulp of his sandwich. Celly was sitting with her legs to the side, periodically adjusting her skirt as she seemed to remember how Emilio once was, "I always thought it was, but¡­" "But?" "Being one myself, it almost feels like I don''t belong. I''ve always looked up to archmages¨CIe from a family of them, you see," Celly exined, "There was a lot of pressure from my parents to be one. Archmages have a lot of influence in the world of magic. There are a lot of job opportunities thate with it, but there''s also the matter of keeping up appearances¡­" "What do you mean by that?" He asked. "Well, like I said, there have been many archmages in my family. If I failed to be one, I''d be shunned¨Ceven though I did manage to make it, I can''t help but feel like I''m still not worthy," Celly said. The silver-haired woman of youthful appearance tucked her knees close to her chest, resting her chin on her legs. Sitting alongside the beautiful bed of flowers made the silken, silver hair of the half elf almost seem to shine as her pale, wless skin glistened beneath the morning sun. "I get it. It''s still processing for me that I''m a world-ss adventurer. I mean, I''ve met plenty of crazy strong adventurers that make me feel like I''m still leagues behind. I think it''s normal to feel that way when you enter a new threshold," he said to reassure her. "But you''re truthfully amazing, Emilio. I can safely say that¨Ceven back when I mentored you, you surprised me with just how talented you were. I can''t imagine what sort of mage¨Cno, what kind of adventurer you are now," Celly said. Suchpliments bestowed upon him from the lips of a woman he had certain feelings bubbling up over caused him to bashfully chuckle as he leaned back, crossing his arms as he rxed amidst the pic. "I don''t know about all of that. I''m only as strong as my experiences have made me¨Cbut well, my experiences have been¡­certainly something," he said, realizing just what sort of trials he did ovee. "Learning to take apliment is a nice skill to have," Celly yfully told him. "Yeah, yeah, all I''ve really done this past year is just take simple jobs with my father and Everett," Emilio said, "That''s why I''m saying I get how you feel¨CI don''t think I''ve really earned my britches as a ''world-ss adventurer'' yet." A small breeze came through, dragging with it the refreshing scent of the naturally-growing flowers and brushing the red-and-white mat they sat on. Chapter 375 Exchange Of Knowledge The half elf ced her hand on her hat to keep it on as her silver locks swayed with the passing wind before responding, "When do you n to head out again? I don''t believe you n on staying in Yullim forever." "You''re right. I don''t n on staying too much longer, it''s just¡­after myst journey, there were so many times where I didn''t know if I''d see my family again. I guess you can say I''m getting my quality time in¡­just in case something bad happens out there," Emilio said with a mncholic smile. "Don''t say things like that. You''ll be fine," Celly lightly nudged him on the arm. "I know, I know, just¨Cdying anding back changes your perspective on things, you know?" He said. "I can''t really imagine what that''s like," Celly said as if not really wanting to know either. As they sat there, peacefully feasting on the fresh sandwiches as the bed of flowers, ranging from soft azure, fiery red, or even a pale yellow, swayed around them, it came time for them to do what they initially set out to do. "It''s time to fulfill it," Celly said with a soft smile, holding her hand out, "--Our ''Rememberance Bond''." "Yeah, now that we both fulfilled our goals," Emilio said, grasping her hand with his own. The silver-haired mage''s hand was as soft as silk, possessing a gentle grip that couldn''t bring harm to even a summer ant. It was as their hands held each other, confirming their grip and closing their eyes did the "Remembrance Bond" seeded within their bodies unravel, unleashing a wind of mana particles that filled the isted garden with sublime light. "It''s done," Celly said, opening her eyes again with a smile that could melt the coldest of hearts. Emilio opened his eyes as well, nodding, "Yeah, it is." As they looked at each other for a moment, they both realized simultaneously they were still holding one another''s hands, bringing them to swiftly withdraw their hands out of embarrassment. ¨CJust then, something scurried through the bushes,ing from a small cavern across the isted garden. Pushing through the foliage was a giant boar; dwarfing the size of an adult man with tusks that could bulldoze through a small cottage. Plenty of such boars had been hunted by Julius, though Emilio knew well that even they on asion nicked his father; all-in-all, they were formidable beasts. ''It''s a big one¨Cthose tusks mean it''s probably an alpha, but it''s alone?'' He thought. "We''ve gotpany," he said. "Yeah," Celly nodded, noticing as she stood to her feet, "Leave this to me." The massive boar stood, huffing breath from its massive snout that left like steam from an archaic engine, dragging its hoof across the ground to signify its hostility. He remained seated on the ground, having faith in his former teacher, though curious as to how she would handle such a rowdy beast. "Are you going to take it out?" He asked. "That''s not necessary," Celly said, holding her illustrious staff in front of herself as the mana became infused with the warmth of mana. "Oh? I don''t think our guest here is much for peace talks," Emilio said jokingly. "Maybe not, but I have my ways," Celly said confidently. The territorial beast finally charged forth, causing the soil of the secluded garden to rumble beneath the weight of its body forged for the sole purpose of rushing in with its mighty tusks. The archmage summoned a cerulean air of mana, forming into particles of water that were guided by the rise of her staff as her cape fluttered along with her skirt. As the tusked beast carved up the soil in its path, lowering its tusks like a vehicle of destruction, the silver-haired archmage held her staff forward, guiding the cerulean air against the boar. ''Incantationless magic?'' Emilio recognized. It flowed with a gentle veil of moisture, allowing the bubbles to pop around the beast as it was enveloped in the tranquil spell''s hold. Just a couple meters shy of colliding with the lithe woman, the boar suddenly copsed, sliding across the bed of flowers as it came to a grinding halt. As Celly had assured, it was not dead, in fact, the boar seemed to be experiencing a beauty rest unlike any other, snoring heavily. ''Sometimes it''s easy to forget¨CI''m not the only one who has been growing stronger and studying magic. If there''s one person in this world I know for sure who loves magecraft more than me, it''s you, Celly,'' he thought. "You put it to sleep? What sort of spell was that?" Emilio asked, standing up as he was intrigued by the unknown magic. Celly turned to face him with a confident smile, adjusting her mage cap, "There is a whole world of magic out there that you have yet to scratch the surface of. If you''d like, I can teach you." "Yeah, of course! I''ll sweeten the deal for you," Emilio said with a smirk of his own. "With what?" "Hold that thought¨Clooks like backup is here," Emilio said with a smile, facing over to where rustling came through the bushes. As expected from the theory that the now snoring boar was an "alpha" of a group, a trio of less-than-peaceful looking goliath boars arrived, already preparing to rush towards the two. "Don''t kill them¨Cplease," Celly said. "If it''s a request from my precious teacher, I''ll have to oblige," Emilio yfully said. Standing between the archmage and the group of angry beasts, he opted not to draw his sword as he instead wanted to showcase magic of his own he had learned and developed. "Bring it on, pork chops," Emilio said quietly. As if epting his provocation, the three boars rushed through the garden towards the Dragonheart, who remained calm and collected with a small smile before soft-blue light running through his metal arm changed to an emerald glow. In a swift movement of his hand, he summoned a spherical cage of unseen wind around the boars, creating a vacuum around the space that removed all oxygen within it in totality. A devastating spell that, when used against enemies of lesser caliber, was an instant victory: "Absolute Air Lock." The removal of oxygen in the space around the huffing beasts caused all three to copse as ack of air caused their brains to instantly flip their off-switch, temporarily, as he made sure for the half elf. Only one, ring weakness existed with such a powerful spell: there was a dy that spanned from either one second to five, depending on the size of the vacuum. ''Amazing¡­That level of mastery of the element of wind is akin to the Element King himself¨CEmilio, just how much have you grown really?'' Celly thought, proudly, though felt somewhat saddened for a moment, ''...I have to wonder, though, Emilio¡­Just what kind of hardships forced you to grow this strong? Even when you smile, I can see it in your eye; there are scars unseen, yet always present.'' The half-elf found herself on the brink of tears looking upon his back of the man left unwhole; of the one she once knew as a happy, carefree boy¨Cdeprived of an arm, absent of an eye due to regretful curses, and experiences unseen, but felt. "I''ve got a spell or two you might like as well. I haven''t been cking, you know," Emilio said, bashfully rubbing his upper lip, "So, let''s teach each other." Celly looked up at him, nodding, "I''d like that very much, yes." For the two passionate connoisseurs of magic, the pic itself was secondary to the knowledge of magecraft they shared with one another; the rtionship of teacher and student had been washed away¨Cnow, the two were peers. "Like¡­this?" Celly nervously asked. Hovering just a half a foot off of the ground, the silver-haired half-elf was unsteady as a propulsion of wind emitted from beneath her boots to keep her afloat, though Emilio stayed near her in case of an unstable tumble. "Yeah! You''re getting the hang of it!" Emilio encouraged her. What Emilio opted to teach Celly was his own brand of magic that was certainly unconventional in the eyes of traditional mages: a spell he dubbed "Aerial Wings". It was an efficient method of movement both inside and outside of battle, allowing for aerodynamic maneuvering, though it was a difficult spell to grasp. The constant propulsion of wind beneath one''s feet needed to be constant and equal between both feet; another flow of air was used around one''s body for shifts in trajectory, also needing to be consistent. "Waaah¨C!" Celly suddenly slipped up as she lost bnce of her wind manifestation, falling backward straight into the arms of the man behind her. "I gotcha," Emilio told her with a smile, looking down at the woman he held in her arms. Words were absent from the half-elf''s lips for a moment as she looked up, for some reason taken aback by the handsomeness of the grown Dragonheart in that moment before her entire face became flushed with embarrassment. "A-alright!" Celly picked herself up, hiding her face as she turned the other way, brushing herself off to distract herself. "Hm?" Emilio looked at her. The archmage contained herself with a deep inhale and exhale before turning back towards him, "I think I understand the philosophy behind ''Aerial Wings''--it really is an amazing spell you''ve developed. I should be able to practice it on my own. It''s time I repaid the favor: I''ll teach you the spell I used on the boar now." "Alright, I''m all ears!" Emilio excitedly said, dutifully listening like it was the old days of their teacher-student tutorship. Chapter 376 Dragonheart Shenanigans Taking the lead in teaching him the magecraft she wielded, Celly walked around the secluded garden amidst solemn mountains with a smile, standing by the spring that flowed into a small pond, "That spell you used against the boars was amazing, but even that can have harmful effects. I don''t need to tell you that starving the brain of oxygen is a harmful effect." "Yeah, I know," he rubbed his head. "Through necessity, the magic you''ve learned towards cultivating is powerful, but singr towards battle; abundant in versatility when ites to violence, though dormant in other regards," Celly instructed with a gentle smile, waving her index finger as she left a trail of mana particles that fluttered, "In that case, you need magecraft to de-escte situations; avoiding harm is important." It didn''t ur to him until then, but it was true: the magic he learned was all shaped around battle. Most of what he studied was in ordance with manipting the elements, though not their mystical properties in other regards. "The spell I used to put the boar to sleep is called "Tranquil in"--it calls upon water''s intrinsic connection to life, using that gentle flow of the element that permeates life to calm one into a peaceful sleep," Celly exined. "''Tranquil in''...I see," he nodded. Celly was able to step onto the pond itself, not falling through the surface of crystal-clear water as she gently walked over it with a soft smile, appearing like a heavenly maiden to the Dragonheart. ''She''s walking on water¡­Is she manipting the water under her, or is it something else?'' He thought. "If you wish to use ''Tranquil in'', the essence you need to embody through your mind, body, and soul is a mission of peace," Celly exined, gently caressing her mage staff, "If you wish harm upon your target, it will fail. In order to call upon it, remember its name, embody that tranquil flow and repeat in your mind¨C''The Benevolence of Undyne''." It seemed the connection with magic that the archmage had undoubtedly became levels more sophisticated since thest time he saw her; a natural grasp of the elements was shown as Celly seemed to wholly grasp incantationless magic now. "''The Benevolence of Undyne''? I see," he nodded. "Try it out," Celly said. He nodded, looking around for a target, finding a squirrel sitting upon one of the branches of the singr, old tree in the secluded garden; the critter was chewing on an acorn. "Alright, I''ll give it a shot," he said quietly, holding his artificial arm in front of him as he closed his eyes. ''I need to erase all malicious intent. That''s what she said¡­I can''t have any inclination to harm my target or it won''t work,'' he thought. Taking in a slow, deep inhale, an exhale allowed him to calmly expel the air from his lungs as he opened his eyes again. Invoking the essence of water was second nature to him, though it was a newyer to add aspects of "peace" to it¨Cerasing harmful intent, easing his mind from any frustration or anger, and embodying that free-flowing nature of the aqua. Moisture manifested in the air around him along with a calm, cerulean glow with the conjuration of mystical bubbles. ''Allow it to flow through you. Feel the water run through your veins like the blood that gives you life; transmute it into a gift to the squirrel¨Ca serenity! Benevolence of Undyne!'' He thought. Towards the branch-sitting squirrel, he unleashed it, though at the exact moment he did¨Che felt something in his heart shift back into gear: flinging spells with the intent to harm had be second nature to him. Commanding a spell into existence naturally allowed intentions of harm to dip into his heart. As the peaceful bubbles reached the squirrel, they activated¨CPOP. The aquatic bubbles popped in a melody, though they failed to put the tree-upying rodent into slumber as it instead scurried away, being scared by the bubbles. "Ah¡­It failed?" He thought. Celly walked over to him, "You almost had it. It still surprises me just how quickly you can learn spells¡­Still, keep it up. You''ll get it soon." "Yeah, thanks," he smiled, "I think I understand what I need to do to practice this one. Thanks, Celly." After a couple hours of exchanging and teaching one another spells, the warmth of the afternoon was upon them. "Should we head back?" He offered. "Hmm¡­" Celly wondered before smiling, "Can we go into town? There''s something I''d like to do at the Guild quarters here, but also¨Cwell, it''s been a long time since I''ve been in Yullim." "Into town? Alright, sure, I think my mom was talking about needing ingredients for the ''wee back'' meal she''s preparing for you tonight," he said with a small chuckle. "She''s doing all of that? That''s not necessary," Celly said, walking alongside him. "Yeah, but she always goes the extra mile," he said with a smile. Leaving the secluded garden and the slumbering boars, the pair headed out into the lush fields of Yullim again, following the dirt road to the town itself. As always, the town was lively despite the tucked-away nature of Yullim itself; the marketce was bustling with shops and travelers. "It''s just as I remember it," Celly said, looking around as they passed by a fruit vendor and another selling fresh skewers of pork. Emilioughed, "The persistent merchants and overwhelming smell of cooked meat?" "No, but¡­yes, I like this atmosphere¨Cthe cities in Vasmoria are filled with people simply moving along to do their work, not really stopping to gawk at the scenery. In Yullim, it''s different¨Cit feels more ''connected''," Celly said, "Maybe I''m wrong though." He shook his head, "No, you''re right. I wasn''t in Vasmoria long, but I know what you mean. Yullim has sort of a "home" feeling, even if you''re not from here." "Yeah, that''s it," Celly smiled. The Guild in Yullim had be a second home for Emilio since his return; as he entered, Celly watched as the Dragonheart was greeted by local adventurers, even exchanging high-fives and other gestures. "I heard about that massive orc chief you took out! Nice one¨Cthat''s a helluva feat!" A youthful adventurer with shaggy, brown hair said, wearing reddish armor. "Thanks, though it wasn''t anything special," Emilio bashfullyughed. The response made the bushy-bearded, fully-armored man at one of the tablesugh as he held his mug up, "I never know if yer being cocky or humble, Dragonheart! Ga-ha-ha-ha!" "That''s what I''m saying''! Can never read the guy," another adventurer chipperlyughed, another veteran that wore an ax on his back. After conversing and catching up with the locals of the Yullim Guild, Emilio followed Celly, who seemed to have something she needed from the receptionist. "What do you need here, anyway?" He asked. Celly nced up at him, "I had something delivered from Vasmoria to Milligarde ahead of time¨CI requested that the Guild hold it for me." "What is it?" "Patience, Emilio, patience," Celly yfully said. As the archmage stepped up to the receptionist desk, shing her insignia and giving her name, the Guild receptionist retrieved an item wrapped carefully in olive cloth. "Here you are," the golden-haired receptionist said with a kind smile, setting the item on the desk. "Thank you," Celly nodded, taking the wrapped box. Though he offered to carry the box that looked quiterge in the thin arms of the half-elf, Celly shook her head, insisting that she had it with a confident smile. "Seriously, now I''m curious¨Cwhat''s in the box?" He asked. "Not telling," Celly said, "You''ll have to just be patient, okay?" "Fine, fine," he agreed with a yful sigh. It wasn''t a far walk back to the Dragonheart residence, nor was it an unwee one as the autumn weather never failed to be brisk and refreshing. As they returned home together, he watched as Celly lugged the box up to her guest room. For some reason, the silver-haired archmage was adamant about not letting him get a single peek at what the box was or what was stored within it, forcing him to wait downstairs. "So¡­how was it?" There wasn''t even a single moment that passed before he already found the nosiness of his parents. He nearly jumped as he found both his father and mother standing behind him, clearly posing such a question with certain intent. Heughed a bit, averting his gaze, "How was what?" "You know," Treyna nudged him with her elbow, "Your special date with Celly." "It wasn''t¨C" He tried to exin, though found himself quickly intercepted in his words from his father, who slung his arm around his neck. "That Dragonheart blood, I tell ya! It runs stronger in your veins than any descendant since the First!" Julius proudly said, "So, how far did you get? A kiss on the cheek? Lips? You know, during our first outing together, your Mother and I¡ª" Before information that he certainly didn''t want to hear could meet his ears, he lightly pushed his father away and stepped back with a sigh. "That is definitely too much information¡ªwhatever you were about to say!" Emilio pointed at Julius. Chapter 377 Gift Giving Walking in through the front door amidst the shenanigans of the Dragonhearts, the golden-haired bumpkin entered with chopped wood under each of his arms. "Sounds like something interesting happened! Give me the details, Emilio!" Everett said with augh before setting the firewood by the firece. Such overwhelming nosiness made him feel like a kid again, having to hide a crush from those around him. Though, heposed himself, remembering one important factor: ''I am a man!'' He thought. "Come on, guys. It''s not like that¡ªit was just a nice pic with an old acquaintance," he said calmly. ¡ªIt was a total lie; even he didn''t believe that it was simply a normal, uneventful pic. There was no denying that it felt like, and was, a date. "Is that so? Well, I''d really like grandkids before too long¡­" Treyna quietly sighed. "Hate to break it to you, but I don''t even have my own home yet. Grandkids are a few steps away," Emilio scratched his head. "You know that excuse isn''t gonna work," Juliusughed, patting his son on the back, "You know better than anybody that your Mother wants a thousand little Dragonhearts running around." "That would be lovely," Tryena smiled. "Ack¡­" Emilio let out, finding himself still somehow surprised by his unorthodox family. Fortunately it was only after such a questionable conversation that Celly returned from upstairs, no longer carrying the mysterious box with her. "Hey, Celly! Long time no see. I didn''t catch ya when you first got here¡ªdid you have fun on your date with Emilio?" Julius asked outright. "Date¡­?" Celly repeated. "Date!?" Emilio repeated. It didn''t take more than a second for the half-elf''s pale face to darken with a flustered shade of red as she pulled on her hat in a failed attempt to hide her face. "¡­It was nice," Celly quietly said. The answer andck of rejection of the mention of the "date" brought pause to everyone for a moment, even making Emilio surprised as he thought the date was a one-sided feeling. It seemed that the archmage''s words incited an excitement from Treyna, who to Emilio, was scarily invested in the idea of Emilio finding a partner. "I''m going to get dinner ready!" Treyna excitedly said, holding her hands together before going into the kitchen. Due to the growing cold weather as autumn bordered on winter, Everett got the firece ready as the home quickly became nice and toasty. Emilio brought the ingredients he grabbed while into the kitchen where Treyna was happily getting things ready, cing the fresh vegetables down. "Here you go¡ªI think that''s everything you needed," Emilio said. "Oh, thanks, hun!" Treyna thanked. "Yeah, of course¡ª" Just as he was beginning to walk away, he received an unexpected kiss on the cheek from his mother before she spoke directly into his ear: "If you and Celly end up connecting, I can set up a little outing into town to bring everybody else out for a couple hours. In that time, you and her can¡­" "I know, I know!" He sharply whispered, feeling his cheeks heat up from just the implications. Dinner that night had a different atmosphere for himself, though Julius and Everett were as rowdy as ever, somehow getting onto the topic of who would win between an orc and a Goliath bear. "A Goliath bear would swipe an orc straight in half with one hand¡ªbam, like that!" Everett argued. Juliusughed, "Bears are dumb! They''ve got no sense of tactics or technique. An orc could dodge its swipe and behead it!" "Orcs are just as stupid as bears! Even more stupid!" Everett argued back. The loud, ridiculous debate was fueled by the mead that the two men had partook in. "Want seconds, Emilio?" Treyna asked amidst the hectic debate. He responded, "Oh, I''m good. It tastes great though." "Yeah, it''s delicious," Celly added. Emilio had stayed mostly quiet as, somehow, for reasons he could only believe were due to his nosy family, he ended up sitting directly beside Celly. Despite how hard he tried to ignore what was said earlier, the seeds were nted in his mind as he couldn''t help but see Celly in a certain light. ''I guess I am eighteen now¡­It''s expected of me to find somebody soon enough. Still, is this right¡­? Do I really see Celly like that, or am I just holding onto their words?'' He questioned. After dinner ended and everybody began calling it in for the night, he stayed at the table for some time as he adjusted the easily-changeable switches on his metallic arm. The switches changed how much mana flowed through the arm and at what speed. "Hey." A gentle tap on his shoulder came alongside the softly spoken word, causing him to look up as he found the silver-haired half-elf standing behind him. "If you''re still curious about that box,e meet me in my room," Celly invited him with a smile. The invitation couldn''t be any more well-timed for his racing mind and the notions of his family as he immediately found himself taken aback by the offer. ''She''s inviting me to her room? Wait, hold up. It''s one thing if she invited me when I was a runt¨Cbut I''m an adult now! A man! That has a whole different connotation to it now¡­Celly isn''t like that though, right? She''s definitely not the type that looks for rtionships. It can''t possibly mean anything, can it?'' He questioned in his mind. As thoughts raced through his mind as the speed of light, the youthful woman leaned down, bringing her face close to his as she looked at him worriedly. "Are you feeling alright, Emilio? You''ve been quiet since we got back," Celly asked. He gulped, having to stand up to bring his face away from the girl''s as he found his own already heating up, "Yeah, I''m fine. Totally A-Okay!" "Hmm¡­" Celly looked suspicious, "Well, alright. I''ll be waiting upstairs to show you." As Celly left the room to go upstairs, Emilio couldn''t help but let out a breath of relief, feeling his heart thumping in his chest in a way that was only rivaled by the heat of extraordinary battle. ''Just what the hell is going on today? Why am I feeling this way? It''s making me feel like a kid all over again,'' he thought. After a couple minutes, he went upstairs, stopping in front of the guest room that Celly was staying in, though finding himself hesitant to turn the doorknob. Even now, he found his mind racing from the simplest of things. What got him now was the fact that the door to the room was closed, causing him to stop and begin questioning everything once again. ''Why is it closed? If she was just inviting me to see the box, then she''d leave the door open, right? Otherwise¡­is she trying to keep it private? Why? What for?'' He thought. This line of thinking was something he thought he''d have abandoned after maturing, though it was unavoidable after the things his parents had been saying. Gulping down his thoughts, he lightly knocked his hand against the wooden door. Knock. Knock. As he stood there, he found himself engrossed in every little detail about the moment, listening to the light footsteps approach from the otherside of the door, not knowing what he''d find on the other side before¨Cit opened. "Celly," he said, somewhat surprised that she was dressed. The archmage was now wearing a light-blue nightgown; it was rare to see her without her cloak and hat, though her silver hair naturally cascading down her shoulders was a sight to behold. "Emilio," she said before walking back into the room, "Come on in. Oh, I''d suggest closing the door." "Err, okay," he nodded, closing the door behind him as he walked in. The mysterious box was upying the center of the room, which the half-elf sat down beside, looking over at him as if gesturing for him to sit as well. He sat down across from her, on the other side of the unknown box. "You were curious as to what was in the box, right?" Celly asked. He nodded, "Yeah. I still am." "Good," the archmage smiled before grabbing the cloth that covered the mysterious item, "I''ll show it to you, then." As the obscuring cloth was pulled away, the box itself was revealed to be carefully secured as if containing something either fragile or expensive inside, or both. Watching Celly begin to undo the clips that kept the box seals, he found himself watching her expression: she had a genuine smile of her own in regards to the excitement of whatever it was that was in the crate. He found himself somewhat relieved by this, able to rx himself as well. ''...I''ve been such an idiot today. Of course, Celly isn''t like that. If something were to happen between us, I''d imagine it would take years to bloom, or I would need to take the leap. But right now, it''s not time for that¨Cnot while I''m an adventurer with many journeys ahead of me,'' he thought. "There it is," Celly said, lifting the lid from the box. What sat inside of the containment was a spherical item thatid on a velvet cushion; it resembled an oversized marble the size of his own head. "What¡­is it?" He questioned. Chapter 378 Kobolds Lair "What¡­is it?" He questioned. Celly carefully lifted both the sphere and the cushion it sat on out of the box, prompting Emilio to move the box to the side for her as the lithe woman ced the cushion down. "It''s a Commune Orb," Celly told him. "Commune Orb?" He looked at her. "It''s a magical device used tomunicate across vast distances¨Ceven intangible ones, as well. Like the Astral Realm, or perhaps¡­the After," Celly said. Those words caught him off-guard as he leaned closer, looking at the sphere, "Hold on, what do you mean? The After? How would that be possible?" "I got this when you wrote me about your time in the After and about the friends that are still there, and how they helped you return, so¡­I wanted to get a gift, for you and those people who helped return you to life," Celly smiled, "After all, it''s because of them that we can sit here together and talk, right?" Part of him wanted to hug the half-elf tightly for her thoughtful gift and words, though he knew such an action would be awkward for the both of him. Still, he didn''t quite understand how it worked. "Are you saying I can use this tomunicate directly with my friends in the After? But they don''t have a Commune Orb," he asked. Celly tapped the orb, "They won''t need one. Once you manage to pinpoint them, when you use this, a mana-formed orb will appear for them as well." After the object was lightly tapped by the archmage''s finger, it activated with a mystical glow swirling inside of it with a kaleidoscope of astral colors. In order for it to work, the catalyst used as a connection between the orb and those in the After was the seal etched onto Emilio''s artificial limb, leading to a line directly to Blimpo. "On," Celly activated it with a word. Within the orb, the mystical mist within it parted to reveal the sight of the elf tinkerer, though he was snoring, sleeping on some sort of bed somewhere in the After. A smile came across Emilio''s lips upon seeing his friend, sleeping safe and sound before the orb returned to its normal state. "Celly, this is¡­I don''t know what to say," he was left nearly speechless. Celly smiled genuinely, "This is my gift to you for enduring your journey and returning. Truthfully, I am d you''re here." This time, he felt it was right for the moment¨Che wrapped his arms around the lithe woman, bringing her into a long-awaited embrace. "Thank you, Celly. It''s because of what you taught me that I made it," he said. Celly was silent for a moment, surprised by the embrace before rxing into it, returning the hold as she smiled, "That''s all I can ask for as a teacher." ¨C After a private meeting that went a different way than expected, though better in his mind, he returned to his room with the Commune Orb, carefully cing it within his desk before getting into bed. ''Celly is the best,'' he thought. The next few days were uneventful, but nice; the full house was certainly full of life with Irene having Celly help her with carvings, Everett and Julius somehow getting along like kindred, rowdy spirits, and Treyna finding a reason to go all-out with her cooking. However, the day came for an adventure of its own¨Cstanding outside together, dressed and ready to head out as adventurers into the outskirts of Yullim, Emilio and Celly stood together. "Ready?" He asked. The archmage adjusted her mage hat with a smile before nodding, "Mhm!" It was a special outing; the first quest they were taking on with just the two of them together. Yullim had grown quite popr with monsterstely, it seemed, as Everett and Julius themselves ventured out together just an hour prior to handle an orc bounty. For the two who were once teacher and student, now peers and close friends, the quest called for them to move up the southern mountain trail, walking up the ascension that climbed the tall, gravelly mountain amidst the peak of autumn. "Are you excited? Scared, maybe?" He asked teasingly, walking alongside her. Celly looked up, "Well, I''ve never encountered kobolds before¨Cand it sounds like these ones are more dangerous than normal." He nodded, "Nobody died, but word around the Guild was that a few local adventurers got their asses kicked and sent back down the mountain when they tried entering the cave up here. Kobolds are sneaky, but normally they shouldn''t be much of an issue." There was a new motivation for doing quests for Emilio with recent considerations, though he didn''t bring it up much around the others: ''I''ve already started saving up on the simple quests I''ve been doing while I''m here in Yullim¨CI''ve got around two-thousand crowns, though I''ve chipped in around the house when I can. Father and Mother try to reject me from chipping in, but it doesn''t feel right if I don''t. Still, I''m saving up for something: a house of my own! I don''t actually know where yet, but I bet I can get a nice one if I do some big quests,'' he thought. Having such an earnest goal felt nice to work towards, though the thought of moving away from Yullim did strike him as sad. After all, the time he''d spent since returning from his journey was fulfilling and easygoing; a far cry from the chaos he endured. "Where are you thinking of heading first once you leave Yullim?" Celly asked. "Hmm, good question," he responded while walking. "You haven''t thought about it?" "I have, but haven''t decided yet," he answered, "Likely¡­I''m going to go to Ennage." Surprise wrote itself on the half-elf''s face as she looked up at him, "Ennage? The Continent of Demons is a fearsome ce, you know. There are many high-ranking quests avable there, but¡­not even the allure of riches and fame are enough to entice most adventurers to go there." It wasn''t anything he didn''t already know, from things he''d heard from other adventurers along with research he''d done himself, though it didn''t deter him in the least as he smiled confidently. ''Excelsior¡­I''ve been hanging onto that name. Asher told me to find that person in Ennage. Whoever they are, I''m sure they''ve got answers I need,'' he thought. "I have my own reasons for going there, and I''m a lot stronger than you might know," he assured. "Is that so? You''ll have to show me then," Celly responded with a small smile. The location where the elusive kobolds were said to be staying was a certainly unique cave, sitting near the peak of the Yullim mountain amidst the thin, high-altitude air. "I''ve had enough of caves, really," he sighed. "It''ll be fine," Celly told him. "Yeah, but it''s starting to make me crave more¨Ca real adventure, I guess," Emilio muttered, "Huh. Maybe I''ll be going sooner than I thought. "Emilio?" "Nothing. Let''s move in," he smiled. Leading the way, he silently manifested the lesser spirit of fire, Smander, to light the path for them as the interior of the cave was nothing but darkness. "You have experience with encountering kobolds, don''t you?" Celly asked, quietly following behind. Emilio kept his eyes forward as Smander floated alongside him, "Yeah, they can change their forms. They''re sneaky and crafty as can be; just keep your eyes peeled." "Will do," Celly nodded. The sort of caves used as abodes by kobolds were ufortably narrow and ridges; the walls were tight, forcing the two to walk sideways, shuffling through at certain points to fit through gaps. It was undoubtedly the home of kobolds; the rancid scent was one he recognized from the rodent-like fiends. Walking through the narrow corridor of rigged, stone walls, left mmy through old rainfall, something caught the sharp senses of the Dragonheart. "Oh, there''s one," he quietly said. "There is? I don''t see any¨C" Through the stone itself, a figure emerged like a creature of the night, possessing aplexion of stone and whiskers as it lunged an axe towards the archmage''s head. CLANG Before any such unruly de could reach the silver-haired half-elf, it was stopped by the de of the Dragonheart, who stopped the kobold''s sneak attack without batting an eye. "As you can see¨Cthey''re the only creatures even more fickle than goblins," he said. It seemed like magecraft of some sort, bound to the very nature of the elusive dwellers as Celly found herself surprised by the introduction to kobolds. After it waspletely denied in its deceitful attack, the whiskered, frail creature attempted to flee back within the walls. "No, you don''t." Utilizing nature magic to manipte the very stone the kobold tried to swim through, Emilio caused it to protrude, knocking the kobold out of the wall and right in front of him. "Kre?!" The kobold looked up, fearful. The creature was unsightly at best; covered in grimy, bristly fur and smelling of rotten eggs and mud. Perhaps even less intimidating than a goblin, once plucked from the walls they so dearly clung to. "Kra!" The kobold yelled out, jumping to its feet in an attempt to attack. With a swift and easy swipe of his de, Emilio cleaved through its torso, instantly leaving it inanimate as the creature dropped lifelessly to the ground. "You''ve definitely grown in initiative¡­" Celly quietly remarked. "What was that?" He looked back with a smile, washing the blood off of his de with a simple conjuration of water. Celly shook her head, "Nothing. Let''s continue." Chapter 379 Unison Breaking There wasn''t only a single, sneaky attempt at the adventurers'' necks made by the deceitful kobolds, leading to many such feeble fiends needing to be put down swiftly. ? Celly was careful in her choice of magecraft, considering the narrowness of the cavern and the questionability of its stability; with a light release, she conjured an arrow made of smooth stone that shot through the head of one of the kobolds. It was boosted with only enough velocity to pierce through the whiskered creature''s skull, only lightly prating the wall behind it. Emilio whistled, "That was a brutal one." The kind half-elf never seemed to like using violence, though even she knew that it was necessary against such creatures, "Let''s not linger on that, please. I''d like to just get this quest done." "Yes, ma''am," Emilio yfully said, moving along. The narrowir led into a deeper section, having to be carefully traversed by sliding down a slope of mud, which was solidified into soil by Celly herself so that she didn''t get mud all over her own cloak. "You couldn''t do that before I went down?" Emilio raised an eyebrow, having his boots now soaked in mud. "Sorry, I didn''t really consider it until just now," Celly smiled. It was hard to be mad at that seraphic smile for him. As always, a cave upied by kobolds remained quiet, though filled with light sounds that produced a tension-filled ambience; the creatures dwelled within the walls, picking at the stone and hunting gems. "Even greedier than goblins¨CI doubt kobolds even have a use for gems, seeing as they don''t use money or anything. They''re just naturally drawn to shiny, pretty stones, I guess," he remarked. "You''re pretty knowledgeable about kobolds, Emilio," Celly said, noticing his reservoir of kobold facts. He scratched his head, "It''s good to know your enemy, right? Anyway, I''ve encountered them enough times¨Cthey''re sneaky, but honestly, they''re dumb so they stay predictable." In truth, it wasn''t as though he simply garnered all of this knowledge on the slippery creatures solely through experience, but after knowing what quest he''d be taking on the day before, he studied up on kobolds in one of the books he had. ''It''s best to be prepared, that''s all,'' he thought. Deep into the mountain-embedded cave was a vast, open area, kept dim, though lit as the lesser spirit of fire was sent in the center, ring up to produce more light. There was a small pond of tainted water made from the drippage above; salt crystallizations formed as spikes, hanging from the ceiling and jutting up from the floor in various spots. "Celly," he quietly said, "Flush them out and I''ll handle the cleanup." "Alright," she nodded, lifting her staff as the mystical orb at the end produced a verdant glow. In the mind of the archmage, she couldn''t help but feel she was already falling behind in experience as an adventurer to the Dragonheart; the initiative he took and calmness in which he read situations moment-by-moment was rivaled only by veterans. ''I''m happy to have met somebody as wonderful as you, Emilio,'' she thought. What was called upon by the half-elf was a veil of wind that stretched itself to every wall of the open area of the dank cave, producing vibrations against every miniscule point of, though not powerful enough to cause a copse. It was a wind spell normally utilized to drive soil-dwelling creatures like insects or moles out of their hiding spaces, though it found another use then: "Sifting Gale." The continuous vibrations shook the walls, rumbling them lightly before the short, stumpy creatures living within them crawled out, seeming to be angrily awoken from their sleep. "Emilio¨Cthey''reing," Celly warned calmly. "Right," he nodded, drawing his sword again, "Leave it to me." There was arge number of kobolds driven from the walls, some even falling from the ceiling; it seemed unmistakably to be a major hive of them, leading to numbers in the dozen, even with some muchrger ones that surpassed the size of adult humans. Such kobolds that possessed mighty builds achieved such through the jewels they consumed, presenting itself through the sapphire-like glow against their skin as the bulky, whiskered fiends growled and puffed their chests. Without tapping into a draconic state itself, he solely called upon one of the skills of his system he had acquired throughout his year of slow, but continuous growth. ["Scales of The Swift"] What manifested itself were sable-and-azure scales that were forged into armor in ce of his boots, producing the glow of bright-blue mes. As the many kobolds yelled out in their unintelligible tongue,shing out towards him and wildly stamping their feet his way¨Cwith a single step, he vanished. ''That speed¡­'' Celly thought, off-guard even though she had kept her eyes on Emilio solely until that moment. Like a blur through the corporeal world, he moved with swiftness that left the dense kobolds bbergasted¨Cmissing their strikes and bumping into one another. "Kre! Kre-kre?!" One kobold seemed angered at its kin. "Kre¨C!" The other responded, mad as well. Though in an instant, the Dragonheart, blessed by draconic swiftness, swept by, using his sword like the scissors that cut the thread of life itself as he cleaved through both of the creatures. It was a continuous offense; flowing through the room with speed that kept him impervious to the eyes of the cave-dwelling creatures, slicing through them quickly and efficiently. "Raaagh!" One of the whiskered brutes mmed its massive pickaxe down towards him, only to miss and have its neck split by the blurred man''s passing sh. The same fate lied for another Kobold Champion who tried catching him in its arms, only for Emilio''s sword to pierce through its chin and out of its skull. ''...He''s¡­strong,'' Celly thought. "Scales of The Swift" was a skill that granted him scales that specifically honed in on the essence of speed; it was through the internal rotation of azure mes through the boots that swiftness was found, allowing for movement as graceful as a dragon through the sky. Only a few seconds were needed before even the Kobold Champions were vanquished by the Dragonheart''s silver-and-de de, leaving the stter of the creatures painted across the ground. As he finished off thest of the awakened kobolds, he returned from his amplification rush, relinquishing the scaled boots as he rested his sword on his shoulder, smiling at Celly. "All handled," he said. "...I see that. That dragon power of yours is quite something. It''s one thing to hear you describe it, but witnessing it with my own eyes is different. It''s entirely different from magecraft," Celly remarked. "Did you like it that much?" Celly looked hesitant for some reason, really taking a moment to process it; there wasn''t any surprise there,ing from the woman who truly loved magecraft itself, "I''m just d that sort of power is yours alone. I believe we''d live in a world of ash if it wasn''t." "--" He looked at her. Those words spoken to him were the first he''d heard of it from somebody else, but it was a thought he held himself at times. ''The Dragonheart System is something amazing. But, at the same time, it is a terrifying amount of power. Especially with concepts like Draconis Monster¡­Even outside of that, I''ve lost it on asion¨Clike a wild beast that knew only destruction. I get why she seems apprehensive about it,'' he thought. He chose to smile and assure her, waving his hand, "Don''t worry, I don''t n on using much of it here. It''s not really necessary against creatures of this level, anyway." "It''s not that I don''t trust you, Emilio. Really. It''s just¡­I have a weird sense about that power. It''s not mana, but something else I can feel¨Ca devastating weapon of destruction exists at the palm of your hands," Celly said, "I''m happy a strength like that is in your hands, though." "Thanks." ¨C Their of the kobolds was extensive, though it was hardly surprising considering this mountain abode seemed to be the singr location in which kobolds had infested Yullim. What made the ustrophobic journey worse were the bones of animals left behind by the kobolds, scattered around the cave messily. "Uuugh¡­" Celly let out in disgust, stepping on the femur of a long-passed creature. "Ha-ha," heughed, ncing back. "AAAAAH¨C!" ¨CThe loud, jarring scream that resonated through the cave didn''t belong to either of them, immediately catching their attention as they looked forward¨Cthe direction it came from. It sounded young, concerningly enough. ''A scream? That sounded like a kid. Kobolds usually aren''t daring enough to venture out and capture humans¡­Did somebody stumble upon this cave? Up this high? This deep?'' He questioned. As he was breaking down the situation in his mind, he was caught off-guard as he watched the archmage run right past him, heading towards the source of the childlike scream. "Celly!" "--If it''s a kid, they need our help!" Celly yelled back, not stopping. Chapter 380 Lessons Learned And Teachings Taught "--If it''s a kid, they need our help!" Celly yelled back, not stopping. Though he didn''t get an opportunity to discuss anything in the slightest, he couldn''t help but share that same mindset: if there was a kid in danger, it was their duty to rescue them. He ran alongside Celly, quickly reaching a separated area in the cave where a small spring of water flowed. "There¡­!" Celly gasped, spotting the source of the initial yell. "Nngh¡­" Sitting there on the ground was a crying child¨Ca boy with short, brown hair cut nearly, though tears trailed down his cheeks as he clearly whimpered in pain. "His leg¡­" Emilio realized. The boy''s leg had arge gash running along his calf, bleeding profusely onto the ground as it seemed the boy had been running from something, stumbling upon the current area. Celly didn''t hesitate to rush over,forting the boy as she knelt down, already casting a healing spell on his leg, "It''s okay now. I''m here. You''re safe." "Nnn¡­" The boy quietly whimpered. Keeping an eye out, Emilio looked around, studying the walls for any suspicious movement while hispanion tended to the child''s wound, though he found himself suspicious about one thing. ''Why did he scream? There''s nothing around here¨Cit''s weird, actually. We''ve moved pretty deep in, but there hasn''t been a single kobold in awhile. Why would he scream if there''s nothing around here?'' He thought. "Celly," he called the woman''s name. Though as he said her name, the archmage didn''t stop what she was doing, still assuring the boy of his safety: "Did youe here alone? Where are your parents? We''ll take you back to them¨C" "Celly!" He yelled out. ¨CBefore the eyes of the gentle mage, she witnessed the wounded boy morph before her eyes; the once whimpering, helpless child''s body contorted, shifting forms into the unsightly, mangy fur of a whiskered creature. "Ngh!" Celly winced, raising her arm just as the deceitful creature swiped its curved ws, shing her forearm. ''Dammit!'' Emilio thought. Dashing across the length of the room in an instant, Emilio pulled the archmage back before blocking another strike from the lonesome kobold with a stomp of his boot, summoning a barrier of stone. It was enormous; unlike any of the others, thoughnky andcking in mass, having a crooked neck and a sight more abhorrent than any others; fur that was crimson, seeming painted in the blood of other creatures. "Emilio¡­I''m sorry," Celly said, holding her bleeding arm. "Don''t be. This is what kobolds are all about," Emilio said, facing off against the crooked kobold, "--Even a goblin can get the advantage on a veteran through lowly tactics. It''s all about being aware of who and what you''re up against¨Cquestion everything. That''s what Vandread taught me." Whatever it was, the kobold before them seemed different from the rest; its blood fur andnky, crooked appearance was one thing, but what both of the adventurers sensed was even more concerning: a mana signature from the beast. ''It reeks of miasma,'' he thought. "Emilio," Celly said. "I know. It''s got some sort of magical ability," he said, wielding his sword and standing between hispanion and the unique kobold, "Heal your arm¨CI''ll handle this one." Celly seemed to have guilt over falling for the deceitful tactic of the creature, though nodded as she began focusing her healing magecraft on her sliced forearm, "Okay¡­Be careful, Emilio." "Careful is my middle name," he assured, "Dangerous also happens to be my middle name." The crooked kobold bolted across the chamber in an instant, running with a low stance almost as if on all fours, but remaining bipedal as it attempted to eviscerate the man with its ws. Emilio pivoted past its attack, retaliating with an overhead strike of his sword primed for its neck, though surprised as he witnessed the crimson kobold lean back to avoid his de''s edge. ''It''s nimble, and skilled,'' he thought. "Hyaaack!" "--!" Straight from its mouth, the kobold parted its maw as it unleashed a liquid from its bowels, spitting it out at a high speed. Side-stepping the projectile of fluid, Emilio watched as it sttered against the back corner of stone, sshing against it with a ck shade, melting the rock instantly. ''Corrosive spit? Some sort of form of water magic?'' He thought. He made it a personal goal of his not to rely on his own Dragonheart transformations, instead utilizing his own physical strengths as he continued weaving through the strikes and melting spit of the crooked kobold. "Emilio!" Celly called out, "Watch out for its ws! It has some sort of venom it injects through cutting you!" As he nced back, he could see that the half-elf''s forearm had ck, miasmic spots where it had been afflicted. Just as he was about to disengage the persistent enemy, Celly yelled to him again, "I''m fine! This is nothing I can''t recover! Just watch out for yourself!" Being assured of such, he nodded before turning his focus back to the crooked kobold, weaving through its attacks wlessly, surprised that a creature from such a species packed the sort of speed that it did. ''It''s using magical reinforcement. It''s probably even faster than Father with its attacks¨Csound doesn''t even emit from its swipes until a momentter. It''s a good thing we took this quest,'' he thought. As he flipped his sword around, going for a few, quick shes, the crooked kobold managed to use a freaky flexibility that dislocated its own joints in order to dodge. Still, Emilio didn''t hesitate to snap his fingers just after being evaded, unleashing a fast burst of wind that stunned the kobold. It wasn''t just an ordinary st of wind; it used lightning-fast vibrations that rippled against the creature''s body with a shuddering violence. "Emilio!" A quick nce over at the yell of his name allowed him to see that hispanion had healed her arm; a small wound meant fast recovery. The reason Celly had yelled was to signal that she could attack now, leading him to nod before ducking beneath a wild swipe from the kobold. "You might be bigger than the others, but you''re just as predictable¨C!" Emilio said before shooting back up. As he stood, he sprung up, rocketing his fist against its jaw with a vicious uppercut, fueled by his own heightened physiology as the impact cracked the bones of the creature. "Graaahh¡­" The crimson kobold stumbled back, left groggy from the brutal blow. "Let him have it, Celly!" Emilio yelled with a smile. The moment he moved out of the way, the proper room was given for Celly as she held her staff forward, invoking a burst of heat as a star-shaped st of fire shot from her catalyst. Before the kobold could regain itself, the piercing ze etched itself into the creature''s body, permeating into its flesh the mark of the ming star¨Cthe result of the full branding caused the kobold to be relinquished to ash. "Phew," Celly breathed out, briefly closing her eyes. Emilio walked over to her, holding his hand up, "Good work out there, partner." For a moment, the silver-haired archmage looked at his hand before smiling with a nod, giving him the high-five he was waiting for, "Mhm!" More eventful than nned, the quest to clear out the kobolds dwelling within the mountain wasplete, and with it, a nice sum from the Yullim Guild lined their pockets. After returning from their quest, the two rxed beside the Dragonheart residence, where a hammock was propped up; Emilio lounged in the hammock while Celly sat on a chair near him, reading a book. As he rxed on the hammock, he bounced the sack of coins he had acquired from the quest in his hand monotonously. "You know, I haven''t seen you study once since I''vee here," Celly remarked, looking up from her book. Beneath the calm, blue skies of Yullim, Emilio rxed as he looked up towards those skies, keeping his arms behind his head as heid on the wool hammock before sitting up to respond, "That''s because I''ve been spending my time with you¨Cerr, well, yeah." "Hmm¡­How about we study together, then?" Celly offered. "Really? Sure. That sounds great," he said with a smile. The two sat side-by-side, looking upon the same book that had teachings of water magic transcribed into its pages; a grimoire known as the "Mystical Art of The Moving Sea". Fortunately, the handwriting was clear and legible; making it easy to read alongside the archmage: ["As I believe, the element of water can both be one of life, and one that ushers death. A flicker of intent can weave it from a tranquil element to one that possesses destructive capabilities not inferior to fire. That brings us to a spell crafted for both purposes: "Flow of Between"¡ªan art that regenerates your flesh and destroys your enemy''s."] "Interesting. This is different from other books I''ve seen when ites to water magic," he remarked quietly. Celly nodded, "Lars Gravona¡ªthe man who wrote this¡ªis considered one of the greatest users of water magic of all time. The same is said for his contribution to creating new spells; he''s said to beparable to the Founders of Magic in his mastery of water." "You seem to be pretty familiar with him," he remarked. "Academy teaches a lot about the history of mages, especially those who wrote recognized grimoires," Celly told him with a smile. Chapter 381 New Student Of Magic "Academy teaches a lot about the history of mages, especially those who wrote recognized grimoires," Celly told him with a smile. Somehow, the words of the half-elf reminded him of the friend he had that was currently studying in a mage academy. "Academy, huh?" He remarked. "You have a friend that recently got into an academy, right? Honestly, I always thought you''d end up entering one," Celly asked. He nodded, "Melisande¡ªshe had a lot of potential when we traveled together. I bet she''s kicking butt out there. For me, I prefer being self-taught. I think at this point, it''d be a pain in the ass trying to be lectured." Augh was shared between the two of them at the thought of him in an academy at present time. It was a leisurely way to study magic, sitting together and going over what they read. "I''m interested in this ''Flow of Between'' spell. It sounds versatile enough," he said, putting his hand to his chin. "Why don''t you try practicing it?" Celly suggested. He was quick to hop to his feet, stretching his arms and legs after sitting for some time as he smiled, "Let''s see if I can get it down." It seemed the archmage was interested in watching him practice magic¡ªespecially the unique aquatic magecraft created by a legend like Lars Gravona. ''The magecraft that Lars Gravona developed is known to all be of a much higher difficulty to learn than others. Lars didn''t care to make the magic he developed easily essible; he sought perfection. I want to see how you do, Emilio,'' Celly thought. Rather than taking the grimoire with him as he stood there in the open field behind the house, he only quickly memorized the pages that went over the desired spell. It was partly not to be intrusive on the silver-haired girl, but partly to challenge his own mind. ''A spell that affects allies and enemies differently. This can''t be something done in the moment¡ªI have to make sure my own mindset is right or the spell can fail disastrously,'' he thought. As he stood there in the lush field of emerald grass, closing his eyes and steadying his breathing, Celly watched curiously. When it came to stepping into the right mindset for a new spell, having to embody the essence of it and manifest its nature through his own perception, everything around the mage yed a factor. The intensity of the wind, the temperature of it, which direction it came from; how it felt against his skin, the transmutation of that sensation into the abstraction of water itself. ''The growth of a mage is not linear. It''d be closer to say the growth of a mage is not linear for one''s that possess true potential and a deep understanding of the art,'' Celly thought, ''Most importantly, this growth bes exponential once a mage understands the theory of magecraft as an extension of themself; knowing it like a form, this understanding allows for spells to be learned easier than thest. Emilio, you''re at the level of an archmage, undoubtedly. Maybe you were already at that level." The ease of acquiring and understanding new spells through experience was showcased as Emilio already conjured the unique manifestation of water founded by Lars'' grimoire. ''Come forth¡­"Flow of Between",'' he invoked. It was a curling veil of aqua that possessed a translucent, silverplexion. "Phew¡­" He slowly exhaled. Opening his eyes again, he looked at the oddly-colored water he had brought into existence through the transmutation of his own mana. Celly kept quiet, knowing the sort of focus needed to maintain a spell such as this, especially one of such conflicting teachings. ''He''spleted the first step of it¡­That was quick,'' Celly thought. Though the second half of the spell was definitely the "hard part", and unquestionably the segment of it that was dangerous when it came to practicing it. Emilio guided the silver water in front of him as it flowed like a disembodied wave, subtly contorted by the passing breeze. ''It automatically changes its reaction in ordance to what I perceive as an ally and an enemy. Right now¡­I have to imagine that bush is an enemy; it''s not just about telling myself that. I need to believe it myself,'' he thought. Focusing on the small, unassuming bush that was a half-dozen meters in front of him, he exhaled slowly, closing his eyes as he remembered where the piece of nature was. In ce of the harmless bush, he instead imagined it as something else¡ªa source of anger that could ignite his heart with fiery emotion. There was no shortage of fuel for that fire; but for a single moment as he called upon those memories that resurfaced daily, at times hourly, he found his catalyst: ''...Dread¡­'' He recalled. The image of that haunting, malignant figure made his blood boil quite easily when remembering the pain it put both his friends and him through; the life it took and the dreams it crushed. As he opened his eyes once more and sent the controlled wave of silver aqua towards the bush, it was easy for him; that malice towards the inanimate object was turned into genuine hatred in that moment. "Flow of Between." As the unique water made contact with the bush, it wrapped around every piece of the foliage, stretching every drop of liquid across every twig and leaf, consuming it swiftly. It wasn''t a corrosive property it presented, but more seemed to consume it directly. Breathing out, Emilio found a few droplets of sweat sliding down his cheek as he looked towards the result of his first test of the spell, witnessing a small patch of soil where the bush once was. "You used it perfectly," Celly remarked with a smile, "That was fantastic." "That was just one half of it. The problem is using it with the intent to heal¨Cif I get that wrong¡­It could be bad," he noted. "Still, you''ve made great progress already. I''m sure you''ll nail it down soon enough," Celly told him. "Yeah, you''re right," he nodded, holding a smile. Once hetched onto a new spell, he didn''t stop practicing it until he was one-hundred percent sure he had it locked down. That being said, he spent the rest of the day training with it, all while Celly willingly and happily watched while studying the grimoire. Treyna stepped out to give them fresh lemonade and sandwiches, which were cheerfully gobbled up by the both as learning and practicing magic was a tiring effort to partake in. "Thanks, this is wonderful," Celly smiled brightly up at Treyna. The golden-haired woman smiled, looking over at Emilio, who in the near distance was sipping lemonade without taking a break from conjuring magic, "He''s a hard worker. Even though he came back home to take a rest for himself, he hasn''t stopped training. Not for a single day. Sometimes I wonder¡­what is he pushing himself so hard for? I used to be an adventurer myself so I can tell, and it''s not just my bias as his mother: Emilio is strong. At his current state, I doubt there''s much that could give him trouble anymore." Celly looked towards Emilio as well, smiling before she responded to Treyna, "I can only speak from what I know, but¡­I believe what drives Emilio is finding out what exists ''beyond this''." "Beyond this?" Treyna looked over at the half-elf. "What I mean is¡­Emilio is driven by what lies beyond his current limits, whether it''s the limits of his body, magic, or knowledge. That''s something I''ve heard is what makes for a great adventurer¨Csomebody who is always striving for what''s beyond their current reach. They''re never satisfied with where they''re at, always seeking tomorrow," Celly exined. "I see," Treyna smiled, "That makes sense. He used to tell me when he was younger that he wanted to "see the world for everything it had to offer"--so, I believe what you said aligns with that." "Mhm," Celly nodded happily. ¨C Over the course of the next couple weeks, they continued studying together and exchanging their own insight on magecraft¨Chelping one another advance their own mastery in the world of magic together. The two found sce in one another''s expertise, able to learn as peers rather than as teacher-and-student. "Nnngh¡­Huuuu¡­! Ah, I''ve got nothin''!" Holding a weird pose with his legs buckled and one hand forward and the other over his head, the country-born shielder attempted to manifest magic, straining himself as he sweated, but made no fruitful advances. "It was a nice try¡­" Celly chuckled, trying to provide some assurance. Emilio stood there with his arms folded over his chest, "You totally look constipated, man." Everett huffed, "Hey, this is tough, ya know?! I''ve never had fancy-smancy books to learn from!" On that day, Everett had insisted on trying to learn a spell or two to expand his defensive arsenal, though it proved to be a difficult task even with Celly and Emilio working together. "Water aaaast!" Yelling out like some sort of sunday morning cartoon superhero, the burly shielder spewed little more than a single droplet from his fingertip, falling down onto the grass of the lush field by the Dragonheart residence. "Two-out-of-ten," Emilio stoically judged. "Err, nice try¡­?" Celly awkwardly tried to reassure the man. It was definitely a long, strenuous exercise trying to get the man who thought corn was amon currency in Yullim to understand the nuance and depth of magecraft. Chapter 382 Nightmare "Fiiiiireball¨C!" This time as Everett attempted to use the element of fire, Julius had joined them outside to watch after practicing some sword swings. Of course, Julius didn''t have anything to add, only instead trying to hold backughter at the result: a tiny ember "poofed" out from in front of Everett''s finger. "One-out-of-ten," Emilio judged. "Maybe next time?" Celly tried to assure. That was the first andst day that Everett tried to learn magecraft while Julius was around¨Ca totally immature, nuisance of a man at times of needed concentration. Still, it didn''t mean Everett gave up. If there was one trait that Everett possessed, greater than his tough body, it was his unbreakable determination. Emilio connected with that, wanting to help his friend follow through with his own motivations if he could. During the afternoon, he began helping the bumpkin study in his room, focusing on learning the fundamentals of understanding magecraft before the hands-on experience. Before there was any studying, he did have to teach Everett how to read properly, which was a task in itself. Though Everett''s desire to learn was certainly there, the man definitely wasn''t much of the studious or patient type, for that matter; oftentimes he fell asleep midway through lessons or would be preupied with the idea of eating. "Hmm¡­What''s it mean here by ''Envision the flow of dawn''?" Everett asked. "It means sort of like thinking of how the wind feels when the Sun rises. Can you do that?" Emilio asked. Everett rubbed his chin for a moment, sitting in a chair that was quite honestly a bit too small for him, though he didn''tin, "Yeah, I think I can!" "Then start practicing that spell. Once you''re able to cast it, we can move on to others," Emilio told him. "Right on, Teacher!" Everett yfully called him. What Everett wanted to learn mostly were simple, efficient spells that could help him with his defensive specialties. Standing outside on a practice day, where Julius was chopping wood with his sword and Celly was studying her own grimoire, Emilio watched over Everett as he put what he learned into practice. "Manifest as the shield of life! C''mon and protect those around me: Aqua Bubble!" Everett invoked. ["Aqua Bubble": a water-element spell that focuses entirely on defense, both to the caster and their allies. The bubble that is provided through the spell''s usage is able to deflect basic physical attacks and mitigate magical assaults."] Giving it his all to use the magecraft, Everett mmed his shield down against the grass, managing to manifest the spell as a protective barrier of aqua surrounded himself and Emilio. "I did it¡­! Ha-ha!" Everett reacted in surprise. Emilio smiled, giving a thumbs-up, "Good job." A high-five was shared between them as both felt a sense of aplishment. Watching from nearby, Celly couldn''t help but smile at witnessing the student she once had be a teacher himself. ¨C Winter was nearing, though snow had yet to begin falling, the weather had be noticeably more chilly. However, something else had developed¨Can indescribable feeling that made itself known within Emilio; one that he couldn''t describe to anybody else. "--" Sitting in bed amidst the evening where the skies had been painted to a warm orange, Emilio found himself overtaken by a strange feeling that had persisted for a few days at this point; a sensation that originated from his covered eye. ''I can''t shake this feeling¡­Like something is wrong. Like something disastrous is going to happen soon. Is it the Primordials?...No, they can''t reach me from here,'' he thought. Still, he couldn''t help but shake away the unknown feelings flooding through him as he decided to get up, looking at the others in his room¨CEverett and Irene were already asleep. During the dipping weather, everybody went to sleep earlier to get a head start on the cold. "--" There was a quietness he couldn''t describe as he slowly walked through his house, checking the guest room to see that Celly was asleep, and peeking into his parents'' bedroom to see they were both in slumber already. ''...I feel like I need to go. I just need¡­to be away for the moment,'' he thought. It felt like the weight of anxiety itself slept upon his shoulders as he grabbed his cloak, throwing it over his shoulders as he stepped outside to get fresh air. Nothing about what he found outside of his doorstep made any sense; pale snow rained down, befalling the ground and coating it a couple inches thick already in frost. ''Snow¡­but winter hasn''t started yet,'' he thought. The breath that parted from his lips was misty, bringing him to trudge through the snow as he found himself perplexed by the mystifying scenery around him. There was not a single drop of snow seen before this moment; it made little sense. It was his own intuition and instinct that seemed to allow him to catch onto this, sensing the arrival of the premature winter as he continued walking forth through the light coating of snow. The crops around had been killed by the early frost; grass was snuffed out, suffocated by the overbearing cold that consumed Yullim in an unforeseen winter. "...No¡­What is this?" He let out in quiet disbelief. As he arrived at the summit of the small hill that gave him sight of the town, he found himself filled with a feeling of shock as the humble town was a shell of its former self¨Cit waspletely annihted. The buildings were decayed, as if rotted through centuries of stagnation and exposure to harmful weathering; worse, the people of Yullim were left devoid of life,ying on the ground around the town and left hollow as if all life had been siphoned from their bodies. ''What happened¡­? Is this a dream? A nightmare? Is a Primordial ying tricks on me? What''s this?'' He questioned. As he entered the town, moving slowly as he found his body as dense as lead, filled with such unquestionable shock, he found a body at his feet with a ponytail he recognized¨Can old, childhood friend of his. "...Pip¡­" He quietly said. "You felt it, didn''t you?" The words signified a presence that he didn''t sense until just then, slowly looking over as he found a man with a cigarette in his mouth and jet-ck hair standing against one of the ruined buildings. The mysterious man wore a ck trenchcoat, possessing deathly pale skin and a scar that ran from the edge of the left side of his mouth and across his cheek. There was no life in his eyes; only a darkness that Emilio recognized¨Csomething akin to the absence of life in the After. "You felt it. That''s why you came here," the man said, pulling the cigar from his lips as he slowly blew smoke out, "Emilio Dragonheart." "How do you¡­? Did you do this?..." He asked. The empty-eyed man was casual in how he brought his cigar to his lips, blowing out smoke again before responding, "It wasn''t my intention, but I needed to draw you out. If I didn''t, the people inside your house would''ve ended up like this." Though much of it was still a mystery, what was confirmed was that the man speaking to him oh-so-casually as if disaster hadn''t been brought to his hometown was the one responsible for such tragedy. Emilio clenched his fists as the dormant heat within him naturally ignited, having trouble controlling his own breathing as he was ovee with a building fury. It was a natural instinct; not only to avenge the town and its people he cared for, but to protect his family and friends from the figure of notable danger. ''I don''t know who he is or what he wants, but that doesn''t matter right now. I have to stop him¨Chere and now,'' he decided. "I''m not here to fight you," the mysterious man said, "Not here to hurt your family, either. The thing is, you need to ''go away'' for a little while¨Cyour presence in Milligarde will cause problems during the war." "War?" Emilio repeated. "Ah¡­I let that slip out, didn''t I?" The man scratched his head casually, removing his cigar from his lips, "Anyway, I wouldn''t rmend resisting. I''m sure you understand the strength of Primordials by now, don''t you?" Those words caught him even amidst his growing fury as he looked at the man, who would normally be unassuming¨Can average build, likely middle-aged by his worn eyes¨Cyet spoke of such a drastic concept. "Primordials?...Who are you?" He asked. "I guess you''ll be more likely to listen and make it so I don''t need to exert myself if I tell you. Cassian¨CI have the authority of the Primordial who embodies ''Death''. Now,e and make this easy," Cassian said. In that moment, however, the opposite of the man''s request came as azure fire red from the Dragonheart''s position, manifesting with a shock wave that blew ayer of snow away, causing steam to rise from the sh of temperatures. "If that''s really who you are, then I can''t back down," Emilio said. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Pitch-ck scales stretched over his body into a regal, draconic armor, producing a tail from behind him along with wings that sprouted from his back like a scaled cloak. A magnificent embodiment of destruction, refined for the goal of protection. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 5/10 | Dragon Sentinel] Witnessing the transformation, Cassian''s perpetually tired, uncaring look didn''t change as he discarded his cigar to the ground, "...Ah, what a bother. I wanted to do this without having to exert myself, but I already knew that was unlikely. Intel said that you''d be a pain in the ass." Chapter 383 Embodiment Of Death Even though he was encased in the vastly powerful fifth stage of his system, what he sensed from the aura that was no longer suppressed by the trenchcoat-wearing man made goosebumps form along his body. A bountiful emptiness, yet filled with a darkness that went past the absence of light or sight; it was theplete deprivation of life. That ageless depth of nothingness bore itself through a darkness inteced with forgotten souls, surrounding Cassian with something that transcended bloodlust. It made him pause, instinctively going on the defense as he jumped back a fair distance from Cassian. "You feel it, don''t you?" Cassian asked, "This is ''Death''." Around the very ground that the lightly-bearded man''s boots stepped on, the whispers of lifeless air crawled over the frost, decaying even the pale white and siphoning thest bits of life from the soil beneath as it cracked and peeled. "Ick restraint with my power, yet I''m not authorized to kill you. It''s a conundrum¨Ca bother, really," Cassian said, "It''s troublesome, but I''ll have to try extra hard not to kill you." Sensing the deathly aura from his opponent, knowing the origins of the power the man possessed, there was no greater threat in the moment. Standing amidst the ruined hometown of his, alone in the quiet snowfall, he didn''t shy away¨Cinstead, he packed further power into himself as the azure glow amplified from his armor. ["Draconic Surge"] ''I can''t make any mistakes. I can tell just by feeling it¨Cthat really is "Death"--if I''m not careful, I might end up dead¡­No, that''s not the problem. Everybody else will end up dead,'' he thought. Thinking about his friends and family, he didn''t hesitate as he breathed in, relinquishing his scaled helm before reaching up and removing the eyepatch that covered his eye. What filled his mind in addition were the memories of his hometown¨Cthe kind civilians, the friendly adventurers¨Call the acquaintances he had formed along the way. All of it was gone. "Oh, you''re using ''that''? Hm," Cassian remarked, seeming to know what he was doing. Emilio carefully opened his eyes, revealing his unsealed right eye that bore a kaleidoscope of the cosmos within it¨Cthe aspect of Veracity. Through it, the truth was revealed to him; proper actions were found as he could see blueprints of his own movements and reactions to potential attacks from his enemy. ''Everything¨CI need it all¨Cso I''ll give up as many hours, days, months, years that I need to!'' He thought. Sprinting forth, he used his amplified speed to encircle the mysterious fighter, hoping to draw out attacks to be able to gauge the abilities of his foe. A snap of Cassian''s fingers suddenly brought the manifestation of a skeletal construct, peering through a dark mist like a reaper of death as it attempted to snatch the Dragonheart. Through the eye of Veracity, Emilio saw through the attack, ducking beneath it and sliding across the ground as he aimed a quick spear of fire straight towards Cassian''s head. "That won''t reach me," Cassian casually said without turning to look. The construct of death caught the ming spear in its skeletal hand, using its gaseous digits to suffocate the fire. Peering forth, he foresaw a flick of the enigmatic man''s hand, seeing a pathline for him to jump up to avoid the attack as he did so, leaping a dozen meters into the air. With a single movement of his hand, Cassian unleashed a wave of death through the street, engulfing it in utter destion. Everything that the man''s aura touched felt to ruin, drenched in the emptiness that was disconnected from life itself. In response, the Dragonheart used his wings to stay in the air, raising his hands as he summoned a coalescence of azure mes before releasing it down to the ruins of Yullim; hundreds of ming projectiles rained down on the sky upon the mysterious visitor. ''It''s not reaching him¡­?'' Emilio realized. Standing in the same spot on the ground floor, Cassian didn''t so much as raise a hand, untouched by the mes or smoke as the aura of ruination around him existed like an imprate barrier, causing the descending fire to be snuffed out as it neared him. "Everything falls to ruin¨Cthrough age, disease, or malice¨C"death" is an inevitability that nothing escapes from," Cassian said with a small sigh, "That truth is the same for your magic." Lighting up the bitter, night sky of the unwee winter, the mes continued to descend like azureets, reaching the ruined town with fiery releases, yet failing to ever reach Cassian, who kept his hands within the pockets of his coat. "You''re wasting your energy. I told you, it won''t reach¨C" As the wielder of the authority of "Death" spoke with that same lifeless tone, words suddenly left him as his eyes widened for the first time. Forsaking the idea of burning his enemy, Emilio had instead found a different avenue to attack, using the veil of bright-blue fireworks as a facade; he used "Absolute Air Lock" to create a vacuum around Cassian. ¨CThis method of attack was brought to him through the sight of Veracity; through that right away that ate away at his lifespan by the second, this spell was found to be his most optimal path to sess. The surrounding mes died out from theplete deprivation of oxygen, leaving Cassian gasping for air that did not exist within his lungs. Emilionded back down on the ground, focusing to continue the perpetuity of the spell, holding his hand forward as he prevented oxygen from entering the man''s lungs. ''I was right. If it''s fire, water, or nature magic, it can die¡­but wind is eternal; an intangible that can''t be "killed" like he ims. I just need to hold this¡­! Another minute or two, and he''ll lose consciousness!'' He thought. Even as he held the man''s lungs in the palm of his own hands, it was a battle in itself; he strained himself, standing there, holding his hand out to control the flow of air, manipting the vacuum, though he could feel the colossal aura from the man fighting back, resisting. ''I can''t let go! I have him! If I let this chance slip by¨CI won''t have another! I can sense it¨Cthis person is dangerous! If I can''t take him out now¡­!'' He thought. The ground shook violently as Cassian''s aura ran rampant; the reservoirs of power within the mysterious man was nothing short of terrifying as the ruined town shook at the sh of power. Using his other hand, sweat dripped down Emilio''s cheek as he alsomanded a manifestation of water-made chains, whipping around andtching onto Cassian''s arms to keep him still during the suffocation process. ''...Fall!'' Emilio thought. ¨CAfter an intense struggle, holding the air vacuum for longer than he ever had as sweat cascaded down his chin, victory was his: Cassian''s consciousness vanished as the man''s body went limp, dropping face-first into the snow as the chains of water vanished. "...Hff¡­" Emilio caught his breath. There was no doubt that the trenchcoat-wearing figure was dead; absolute deprivation of oxygen had been permitted to the man, leaving him brain dead on the ground. ''I did it¡­I need to get home. Yullim has fallen¡­We''ll have to move,'' he thought. Standing there for a moment as he regained his breath, watching the scenery of early snow around him amidst the fallen town, he was about to take a single step before encountering a sight that made his stomach drop. "Damn, I really let my guard down on that one, no, you''re just that good¡­What a bother." Picking himself up from the ground, the man with the scar running from his mouth to his cheek rubbed his own head as if merely waking from a nap. Snow cascaded down the shoulders of his long, grim coat as he looked towards the Dragonheart, who was noticeably perplexed by this development. ''He''s alive? That shouldn''t be possible¨Ceven if he had Undying Blood like me, suffocation wouldn''t be reversed that quickly¨Cno, he died. I know he did,'' Emilio questioned. "Are you confused?" Cassian asked, seeming to notice, "In case you''re wondering¨CI can''t die. There''s no trick or gimmick to it, so don''t bother. I''ve tried." It didn''t sound like a bluff, nor did it feel like it. What he faced wasn''t a normal man by any means; the authority of a Primordial, if only a portion lended to the figure, was a natural disaster in itself¨Cthat much was present through the deathly winter that gripped Yullim. "Cas, if you keep cking off, Melune is going to scold you again!" ¨CAnother voice entered the fray, bringing Emilio''s gaze over to the right to find an androgynous figure with shaggy hair that seemed to alternate between many different colors; the same was for their eyes¨Cvibrant and radiating with colors that went beyond normal perception. The unknown figure sat on a wooden gate, holding a lollipop in their mouth and swinging their legs, wearing a colorful coat and dark leggings. ''Who are they? Have they been here this whole time?'' Emilio questioned. Chapter 384 Mistake Cassian looked over at the androgynous figure, "Comet¡­You''re saying I''m cking off, but it''s your job to transport our target. What have you been doing while I held him here?" The figure that was feminine yet seemed boyish at the same time jumped off of the gate, "I was checking for sweets, of course! Anyway, this is "Emilio Dragonheart"? He''s not as burly as I expected." Emilio was perplexed by what was happening around him, unfamiliar with the goals or affiliations of the two strangers who seemed to be in cahoots. ''Transport their target? By the sounds of it, they''re after me¨Cbut transport? What are they talking about? I doubt I''ll get an answer if I ask,'' he thought. "Anyway, go ahead and transport him now," Cassian said, stuffing his hands back into his pockets. Comet plucked the lollipop from their lips with a jolly smile, skipping over, "Fine, fine, don''t boss me around, though¨C" Without any warning, the Dragonheart quickly made a decision on his next action, one guided by the sight of truth as he flexed his entire body, summoning the full might of the draconic strength within him. [Draconic Burst] | [Draconic Surge] | [Factor of The Dragons] As the town was already left destroyed and devoid of life, he looked past his attachments to it in that moment, instead expanding the heat within him outward into an almighty expulsion of fire: "--!" Both Cassian and Comet stopped in their tracks as a sh expanded from their target. [Dragonheart: Burning Heaven] A massive eruption of azure mes epassed the perimeter of the town, and more, rising into a massive column of mes brought to their pinnacle temperature, reaching up into the clouds with a far-reaching ze. ''I''ll kill them then get my answerster¨C! Right now, right here, I need to protect my family and friends! I didn''t die, I didn''t live again¨Cjust so I could lose them!'' He thought. What resonated through Yullim was a disaster all but natural; the geyser of draconic mes that burnt the underbelly of the heavens sent tremors through thend. Standing there in the center of it, Emilio was surrounded by nothing but howling mes that flew upward, moving at heightened speeds that vaporized anything they touched. As it died down, relinquishing the mighty disaster that spawned from without any warning, the entirety of the town was gone, leaving a massive crater left. ''Did I¡­?'' He questioned. ¨CThough that answer was found as he immediately recognized both mana signatures still nearby, not giving him even a moment to breathe amidst the rainfall of ash and snow. "Wow! Talk about explosive! He almost got me! Woah¨Che got you though, didn''t he, Cas?!" Cometughed, sitting on the air itself as though it were a chair, licking a lollipop. Standing at the edge of the crater, the man who embodied death stood there as half of his body had been grazed by the pir of mes, leaving the skin melted off. Within an instant, the deathly darkness swept over the man''s body, rebuilding his flesh and the coat he wore. Cassian let out a sigh, "I lost myst cigar from that. What a bother." The androgynous figure with a kaleidoscope of colors flowing through their hair and eyes looking down at the Dragonheart from the air, "Are you done exploding now? It''s pretty useless against us, ya know. We''re blessed by Primordials!" Not responding, a slow breath was inhaled through his lips before he exhaled, suddenly expanding a burst of mes again, "Not yet¨C!" In that moment, he summoned a construct of fire that surpassed any other¨Ca bright-blue manifestation that spawned in the sky above them all, covering the gloomy winter with a radiant glow. It was a coalescence of mes that took the form of a dragon, swirling with a chaotic ze, yet solidifying and reinforcing into a tangible figure of destruction¨Cresembling a mythical beast that rivaled an entire valley in scope. "Woah," Comet remarked, looking up as they plucked the lollipop from their mouth. [Dragonheart: Incarnation of The Sky] The temperature soared over the valley as the magnificent construct sat above the crater, looming over it like a dazzling star of annihtion. It was the ultimate manifestation of firepower; a gathering of mes far too massive, too lively, to calm. Cassian moved his hand, sending the humming reach of death towards the colossus of fire, eradicating the portions it met, however¨Cthe mes only regenerated just as quickly as they had been extinguished. "¡­What a bother," Cassian muttered. The presence of the valley-sized construct of fire caused the air to thin, recing the oxygen around the wiped-out town with nothing but a dry heat. The temperature became overbearing; the soil began to melt into mud, sinking the boots of Cassian into the boiling mud while the androgynous figure stayed untouched in the air. Emilio manipted the gargantuan manifestation of fire, allowing it to begin charging up a plethora of inferno that shined brightly in the sky, evaporating the winter that fell around it. "Comet! We''re past ying nice¡ªbring "them" here!" Cassian ordered as the boiling mud had gripped his legs. The figure pulled the lollipop from their mouth, raising their hand as the space around them seemed to distort, "Fine, fine, but stop ordering me around!" Emilio didn''t know what ability the one named "Comet" possessed, though as he witnessed space distort and what reced it, sitting on the ground just beyond the crater, his heart sank. "¡­What?" Everybody was brought there¡ªripped from their slumber and dropped down onto the ground from some sort of teleportation ability, the family and friends he left at home were now there on the wretched battlefield. Julius and Treyna slowly woke up, along with Everett, Celly, and Irene, who looked around sleepily at the confusing situation. "Emilio¡­?" Treyna tiredly said. "What''s goin'' on?" Everett yawned. "Don''t you dare hurt them¡ª!" Emilio''s yell boomed with an explosion of his aura. Cassian pointed a finger up heartlessly, "That depends on you." As Emilio looked up towards the colossus of fire he wielded, he heard the coughs of his loved ones under the suffocating atmosphere created by its presence. "Nngh¡­" He gritted his teeth, enraged by the tactics used by the mysterious enemies. It was a low, rotten move, but he had no choice to oblige as he moved his hand, relinquishing the ming dragon. "Good. It seems you can be reasonable, at least," Cassian said, "Comet." "Yup!" With a snap of their fingers, the rainbow-eyed figure of unknown gender transported the friends and family of Emilio back to their home just like that. "Now you see what will happen if you continue fighting back," Cassian said, "As I tried to say earlier¨Cour goal isn''t to kill you." "That''s right, that''s right! Totally not trying to snatch up your life, Dragon man!" Comet said almost as if rapping out the words. All Emilio could do was stand there as a sense of powerlessness flooded through his body, knowing the futility ofunching any attack when at the mere snap of a finger, his loved ones could be used against him. "¡­Just tell me what you want," Emilio said, releasing his draconic armor. Cassian manifested a cigar made of ash at the tip of his fingers, bringing it to his lips before puffing out a deathly breath, "We''re the Children of Chaos." "Chaos¡­? Wait, that''s¡­" Emilio recalled. "It seems you remember¡ªyou met one of our middle-ranking agents: Amon. It was his mission to retrieve Dread, but he failed. Not ming you for that," Cassian exined, "Right now, we''re contracted to remove you from Milligarde. Your presence here will only create problems in theing days." "But¡ªyou mentioned war! What about my family?! My friends?!" Emilio yelled. Just then, anger overtook the Dragonheart as tears gathered at his eyes, instantly evaporating from the heat that soared within him as he gathered a massive, seething me into his right fist. ''I''ll wipe them out, here and now!'' He thought. Dashing forward, he set his sights on Cassian, amplifying the mes into his fist at such a level they couldn''t be merely extinguished. In a single thrust of his hand, he intended to end the dreadful figure before him, cascading an azure glow through the ashy winter. "Tried to warn you," Comet whispered with a smile, raising their fingers before¨C SNAP The resonance of one''s fingers snapping filled his ears in that moment as he froze, having thrust his fist forward and having indeed pierced it through the chest of somebody. "...Nngah¡­" For a few seconds, the mes persisted from his fist that protruded from the back of the figure that was in front of him, though relinquished as Emilio found himself wordless and in utter shock. Before his eyes, the intended target had vanished, and in their ce was a golden-haired woman he loathed to see in that moment. "...Mother¡­?" Emilio said in a quiet, shaky voice. Treyna was there in front of him, unable to speak as she, too, seemed in shock with a confused look in her eyes as blood left her lips. ? As he slowly looked down, he found blood profusely dripping into the white snow below, seeing his own arm pierced through the abdomen of his parent. "I didn''t¡­No¡­This wasn''t¡­" Emilio couldn''t form a sentence. Chapter 385 Beast Of The End "I didn''t¡­No¡­This wasn''t¡­" Emilio couldn''t form a sentence. Falling back, Treyna''s body slid free from his arm, leaving a gaping hole in her stomach as Emilio caught her in his arms, dropping down to a knee as he held his mother desperately. "Hold on¡­! I''ll heal you! I can fix this¡­Mother¡­!" Emilio screamed as tears trailed down his cheeks. Summoning his healing magecraft, pushing out mana through his body with such intensity it felt as though he may explode from the pressure, he tried to close her wound, but it was too grievous. Even worse, the burning fist he used had charred her insides, leaving it unable to be recovered. "Please¡­Please! I didn''t mean to do this¡­! Don''t go¡­! Don''t!" Emilio pleaded, his words soon bing whimpers as he caressed the golden hair of his fleeting mother. There wasn''t an ounce of focus he had towards his enemies in that moment, who only watched as he desperately continued to use his healing magecraft, though it did nothing to prevent the fatality of the wound. In that moment, he found himself frozen as his mother weakly reached her bloody hand up, gently caressing his cheek with a palm that felt as though her warmth was fleeting. Before that hand could slide away, he held it with his own, keeping it there as tears left without any restraint. Memories flooding in from his childhood as he held her hand; recalling those tranquil times as he was held in her arms, always treated with such love. "...It''s not¡­" "Mother¡­? Mother!" Emilio said, hugging her body close to his as tears continued falling, hearing her words. The voice of the woman who was once so full of life was nothing but a fading whisper now, falling upon his ears once more, "...Not¡­your fault¡­" As those words were heard, he felt the life vanish from the woman he held in his arms, clenching her close to his body as he sat there on his knees in utter disbelief. kes of snow and ash befell him as he sat there, unable to speak or conceive a thought. [Destroy] Unable to form a coherent thought, what filled his mind like a miasma of the end were emotions like any other; a primal rage that burned through his blood, seering itself in his flesh as in that moment, that one word filled his mind: "Destroy". [Unleash the fire that will invoke a cataclysm unforeseen.] [Bathe the world in ash] [Turn civilization to cinder] [Destroy] [Destroy] [Destroy] [Destroy] The voice of the system that filled his ears was distorted; a bellowing growl that echoed within his thoughtless mind. Cassian had that heartless look in his empty eyes, flicking his cigar to the wind, " Comet, do it." "''Kay!" ¨CBefore the lollipop-sucking figure could skip over to touch the Dragonheart, "something" erupted; a shock wave of steam that melted everything it touched. The mud was vaporized; fields of grass wiped away and left nullified of life forevermore. Comet had warped, bringing their ally back with them from the sudden emission of steam. That bored look in Cassian''s eyes twitched for a moment as the two unwee visitors to the valley witnessed a transformation that fell in line with nothing seen before. "That was a bad move, Comet," Cassian remarked. The androgynous figure plucked the lollipop from their mouth, "Wha¨C!? We warned him not to keep fighting back, right?!" "Yeah, but we knewing in here that the Dragonheart System was something unstable¨Cwhat you did was add fuel to the fire," Cassian said, "Now we''ve awakened something terrible." There was a constant eruption of steam from the spot the Dragonheart stood, alone in the crater as the azure mes that cascaded from his form shifted in their glow; waving like cosmic nebe as the shine of stars moved within them. An armor born from the depths of something enigmatic erupted from his skin, piercing his body and wrapping around before fully containing him within an armor of celestial scales; pitch-ck, yet possessing the glitter of the cosmos within them. A lengthy tail sprouted from his back,yered in spikes and emitting the same, cosmic heat of a lofty azure. [Dragonheart System Activated?/%?] [//?Alternate Path Unlocked?!/&^] ? [Current Stage UNIDENTIFIED/?? | Beast of The End] There were no words that spewed from him. There were no thoughts that filled his mind. Only one goal: destroy what was in front of him. The crater which Yullim once stood was now filled with nothing but imprable mes and boundless steam that erased all that it touched. Though devoid of thought, the grieving Dragonheart raised his hand, witnessing the ashes of his parent ascend along with the rising steam. "That seems¡­a bit much!" Comet remarked, though their crazed smile never faded. Cassian let out an annoyed sigh before casually walking forward, approaching the crater, "Let''s just get this do¨C" Before the figure could finish his words, his face was grabbed as a blur of the Dragonheart shed by, grabbing Cassian and dragging him through the ground ruthlessly. Every step the bestial Dragonheart took melted the ground he walked on, piercing through the wind with such speed before traversing the valley in an instant, mming the figure he gripped by the face against the hulk of a mountain. The instincts of the "Beast of The End" were sharp, sensing the howl of death as he leaped up, avoiding the deathly aura that emitted from Cassian. "Nnn¡­" Cassian quietly let out, his entire face being melted off as nothing but bare muscle and bone beneath was shown, rebuilding itself through the weavings of death. ''He''s way too fast now. What a bother,'' Cassian thought. Immediately after evading the reach of the life-erasing extension, the Dragonheart flew back in with unsurpassed speed, grabbing hold of Cassian and dragging the man straight up into the air. A single p of the draconic wings ushered in the breath of the cosmic mes, propelling them both upward through the clouds like a bright-blue star through the night sky. The entire time that the Dragonheart gripped onto Cassian, he surrounded them both in a swirl of the ascended mes, causing the lifeless man''s body to char and peel from the extraordinary temperature. "Ghh¡­!" Cassian struggled. Even the reach of death found itself obstructed by the enigmatic mes that bore themself from the "Beast of The End", exuding from the cosmic scales of the enraged Dragonheart. From down on the ground floor, Comet finally plucked the lollipop from their mouth, pouting as they sighed, "Dummy Cas is always letting his guard down, and I always have to step in and save him! Oh, well." Seamlessly, the rainbow-haired figure warped from their position on the ground, immediately arriving amidst the clouds and intercepting the Dragonheart''s ascent through the skies. Comet pped their hands together, "Alright, time to let Cas go!" A mysterious force echoed through the wind, somehow causing the Dragonheart and Cassian to be separated as if always meters from one another. As soon as he was away from the transcendent mes, Cassian''s body rebuilt itself as he sighed, standing on a skull made of the deathly force he wielded, "He caught me off guard again. Thanks, Comet." "Maybe pay attention and it won''t happen so often!" Comet huffed. Unprovoked, a roar unleashed itself from the Dragonheart who had ascended through rage, unleashing a sky-shattering cry that parted the surrounding clouds and produced a storm amidst his yell. A bestial rage; that emotion was felt through the incarnation of power that birthed itself through those celestial mes, sent forth as a massive wave towards the Dragonheart''s enemies. "Comet," Cassian said. "Yup, yup!" The entric, rainbow-haired figure got behind Cassian as the trenchcoat-wearing man held his hand forward, facing the iing wave of mystical fire that swept through the sky, unleashing a counter of his own: "Fallen Kingdom." It was the sound of bones cracking and popping into ce followed by an ominous hum ushered in death from the great beyond. What manifested in front of the stoic figure was a wall forged of deathly bones, welded together by a miasma that oozed the antithesis of life. As the mes collided with the wall amidst the sky, a howl of shing concepts echoed through the clouds. "¡­Hm," Cassian watched, holding his hand forward to maintain the barrier. Even when colliding directly with the death-infused wall, the celestial mes did not extinguish, managing to fight equally against therge wall. It was more than just simple heat that made the nebe-like mes able tobat the essence of death itself, getting closer and closer to the wall itself through the fog of miasma. "That fire sure is crazy!" Comet remarked bubbly. ncing over, Cassian noticed his ally''s words, "Enlighten me." "It''s really, really dangerous! I can see it¨Cthat pretty fire is eating through the space in front of it! That''s why it''s able tobat your authority of death!" Comet said with a smile. Cassian took this information in then moved his other hand in a clockwise rotation, "Contain." The skeletal wall of miasma bent itself, meeting its two ends into a circr form as a sable skull protruded from the front with its jaw parted, siphoning the transcendent heat within it. As the tsunami of dazzling mes were consumed through the skeletal jaws, it all perished with a p of Cassian''s hands, dismissing the miasmic object along with the mes. "--" A few moments of silence persisted as both of the figures watched the Dragonheart before the scaled figure rose his arms, instantly manifesting another cataclysmic force. Ascending through the skies, serpentine dragons forged of the celestial ze roared out, apanying the Dragonheart and breathing their annihting fire through the skies. While the sky was flooded with mes, the two strangers were protected by a bubble around them made by Comet, which seemed to exist on a different wavelength of space entirely. "How wonderful! What a terrible existence!" Comet giggled, holding their arms out at the sight of the transcendent mes, "I can see why this one has the favor of Chaos!" Chapter 386 Plague Of Regret "Comet," Cassian said. "Those sparkling mes! Every moment, they burn away the space they touch, contracting and contracting and contracting it! Just by existing for long enough, it''ll continue shrinking space until the world copses! It''s the ultimate manifestation of Entropy! A hallmark of the end!" Cometughed. "Comer!" Cassian yelled. It seemed the attention of the maddened, girly-boyish figure was acquired as they tilted their head with a smile, "Hm?" "I can''t handle him while holding back. If I start trying, I''ll kill him. Then all of this would''ve been for nothing¡ªa concept more evil than murder: wasted effort," Cassian said calmly, "So, you handle him." "Do I haveeeeeee to?" Comet entuated their words almost in a pout. "Think about it. Right now, whatever that form is, it''s only the infancy of something greater. Perhaps an egg, incubating through the heat of battle¨Cif we don''t put an end to this little game now, things are going to get even more out of hand than they already have," Cassian exined. Comet sighed, "Fiiiiiiiine." Once the lollipop-sucking figure set their sights on taking action, they warped through the sky with seamless mastery, crossing the boundary of chaotic mes between themselves and the raging Dragonheart instantly. "Across the world with you, Emilio Dragonheart," Comet looked up at him, speaking with the lollipop in their mouth. There was no resisting what came next; spatial forces ripped him from the ground he stood as he was flung through a blurred sh. Whatever it was, the authority manifested through direct contact with the hand of Comet seemed to usher in the riptides of the universe itself; a force that tore away the transcendent transformation that had enveloped the Dragonheart, freeing him from the bestial rage. It was disorientating, but fast, not taking more than a couple seconds before¡ªhe crashed. "I''ll kill you! I''ll kill you! I''ll kill you¡ª!" He yelled to the beyond. Repeating those words, he nearly reawakened the daunting path of his system before¨Chis head unexpectedly smacked against a rock-solid branch upon his high-speed descent, knocking him unconscious. Unable to perceive what had happened, he found himselfying upon colossal leaves that wererge and heavy enough to support his own weight. "Nnn¡­" Rubbing his head, he sat up, looking around as he sat on a leaf the size of a cottage, finding there to be countless trees of such colossal height and girth all around him. The scenery around him seemed familiar; not something he''d seen with his own eyes, but had read, described in books he had studied carefully. The humidity and colorful scenery of overgrown foliage and insects that crawled on logs, possessing sizesparable to humans, led him to one conclusion. ''Trees bigger than any buildings¡­A jungle full of monstrous insects¡­Am I in¡­the wilnds of Ennage? The Continent of Demons?'' He guessed. The sun beaded down through the ceiling of giant leaves, cascading down its orange rays as he picked himself up. ncing over, he saw a millipede with countless, crimson legs and a bright-yellow exoskeleton ascending one of the trees, possessing a size that surpassed even anacondas in length. ''...I arrived here after that one¨C"Comet", I think, touched me. They seemed to have some sort of teleportation ability. It''s their fault¡­She died because of them. Once I find my way back, I''ll kill them, if it''s thest thing I do. But, if this really is the Continent of Demons, they sent me across the world just like that. I have to get back¡­but how?'' He questioned. Whatever the case, there was no denying he was in the situation that he was in, leading him to hop down from the giant leaf as hended on the floor of the oversized jungle. The atmosphere of it was unlike anything he experienced in Milligarde or Vasmoria; the aroma of sweet nts and the scent of nature was strong. The chirping of critters all around filled a subtle ambience, never allowing him to feel alone as he began walking through the unknown jungle. Passing by the trees of bright-orangish-red bark, he looked up, finding some to bear leaves that had unique shades of banana-yellow, or even some that were pinkish with a bubblegum-like smell oozing from them. ''This is bad. Even if I know I''m in Ennage¡­it''s thergest continent in the world. Even worse, the wilnds make up two-thirds of the continent¨Cfor all I know, I can be stuck in a jungle the size of Milligarde itself,'' he thought. Drawing his sword from its sheath, he used it to cut the tall grass that attempted to obscure his path, swiping through the low-hanging vines as well as he periodically saw what looked like monkeys swinging from trees. The humid air was apanied by light rainfall, though the rain itself befell the jungle with a lukewarm temperature, providing only little reprieve from the heat. It was a far cry from the cold season that Milligarde was experiencing; Ennage was amidst the peak of summer itself. ''I have to find my way back. It''ll be easier said than done. It''s one thing to read about it, but these wilnds definitely seem unforgiving,'' He thought. There wererge stretches of mud and quicksand that he had to avoid, sometimes using branches to swing across or jumping over. Due to not being well researched enough in the species of insects that inhabited the wilnds of Ennage, he was careful around insects as well, avoiding them as he kept his distance from emerald-shaded beetles, massive hos, and even terrifying arachnids. ''The more colorful, the more dangerous,'' he thought. As he continued forth, stumbling into a clearing free from bushes taller than himself, the branches above him rustled about before something crashed down in front of him. ''Already?'' He thought tiredly. Landing in front of him was a gori that stood twice his height, leaning on its knuckles that each were the size of his torso; its fur was golden and its eyes were a beady, red shade, just like the horns that protruded from its skull. Jumping up-and-down from the branches above were monkeys of much smaller size, possessing tiny horns of their own as they squealed and called out, spectating from high up. ''A horned gori? A devil ape? Either way, it''s picking a fight with me¨CI happen to be in a bad mood, unfortunately,'' he thought. If it wasn''t confirmation enough yet, now he was certain he was in the infamous Continent of Demons. "RAAAAGH¨C!" The gori roared as it beat its chest, producing echoing thumps as it used its boulder-like fists to hit its own torso, challenging him as the apes that watched above from the trees surrounding the clearing seemed to cheer in excitement of theing duel. "You picked a bad time." Without any hesitation, he cocked his fist back as his knuckles were imbued with a swirl of wind around it that stifled the noises of the monkeys and brought the horned gori to a pause. As he mmed his fist forward, opting not to even make direct contact with the horned gori''s torso, he used the monstrous wind pressure of the punch to blow the burly ape back; the shock wave parted the foliage,unching the gori far into the unseen depths of the jungle. Leaving the section in front of where he thrust his fist carved up and steaming, he looked up at the horned monkeys that sat on the trees, holding his fist up, "Any of you want to bother me?" Witnessing the massive alpha of the pack be easily blown away, the monkeys yelled and scattered through the trees. "That''s what I thought," he sighed. It was only after repelling the apes that he looked up towards the foreign sky above him, finding tears welling up again as recent, repressed memories finally came to light, causing him to slump down. "...Mother¡­" He said quietly as tears trailed down his cheeks. It was no different than if he were a child; the loss of a parent, one so fundamental to the man he was today, was a loss that left a spot in his heart vacant. Left alone and stranded, he had nothing but his own thoughts as he sat there in the faraway jungle, constantly remembering in vivid detail the taking of his own loved one''s life. Though rationally he knew it was the work of the enemy, in his mind, fresh in grief and abundant in despair, he med himself relentlessly¨Cthinking again and again of endless scenarios where it didn''t need to happen. "If only I listened", or "If I reacted fast enough"--these thoughts gued his mind as he slumped against the tree, holding a heart of lead in his chest. Lost in his own thoughts, sinking into self pity andmentation, he sat there for hours and hours, allowing night to arrive before the humid, light rainfall picked up into a full shower, pouring down. The dirt around him loosened into mud with the continuous downpour, leaving him soaked as his blonde-and-ck tufts of hair became drenched, hanging down as rain ran slick down his skin. ''It feels like I''m never free. This perpetual loop of tragedy and violence that seems to follow me everywhere I go. Is it impossible for me? Is it impossible to just¡­be happy?'' He questioned. Chapter 387 Wild Survival While sitting beneath the downpour in the colossal jungle, a gargantuan creature passed across the clearing in front of him, moving but a couple meters across from him. It resembled a rhino with a brown-and-ck hide, stomping forth. The massive, singr horned creature chewed on grass for a few minutes before continuing on its way, moving with weight that caused small tremors through the mud. "¡ª" He silently watched. His heart was a contradiction; it felt empty yet filled with dense emotions of regret and anguish as the painfully fresh memories repeated in his mind alongside past times with his parents. As hours passed and the darkness of night shrouded any sense of direction, he managed to sit there throughout the entirety of the night, not budging even a muscle as he lost in his own guilty thoughts. "Chrrrp! Chrrp! Chrrp!" Signaling the arrival of dawn as the fresh sunlight began dipping through the leaves above were the calls of birds amidst the branches. There was constant noise in the faraway jungle, between the howls of predators, the scurrying of prey, or the calls of avians. "¡ª" A growl of his stomach seemed to bring him out of the swamp of grief that was his mind, bringing him to look down at his stomach before tiredly sitting up. Tapping his own abdomen, the thought of food only made him recall the home cooking from his mother that he loved so dearly. ''I can feel it nipping its way back into my mind: that downward spiral of self-pity that I fell into in my old life. A pit so deep without anything to hold onto, keeping you down there as it only gets deeper and deeper. Am I destined for this sort of thing? It feels like wherever I go¡­tragedy follows. At some point, I have to wonder if my existence is unneeded¨Cno, if the world would be better off with me dead,'' he considered. Even if such thoughts fell onto his mind heavily with a veil of emptiness, there was something that kept him moving forward as he tiredly moved one foot in front of another, aimless, but moving. Hours and hours went by as he slowly walked the jungle floor, finding himself reaching no signs of anything and unable to bring himself to eat as the thought of it simply was rejected from his guilt-ridden mind. Another day had passed as he found himself lying on a canopy of leaves and vines, arriving there somehow, but not remembering as he only partly paid any mind to his surroundings. "--" Raindrops fell past his lips as he looked up, causing him to instinctively gulp as his dry lips sought hydration. "What am I doing?", "Should I find food?", "No", "Should I drink?", "No", "Should I just disappear?"--such thoughts were what crossed his mind as he weakly crossed through the colossal stretch of nature, drenched in rain and growing thinly from theck of nutrients. It had been a few days by this point, or at least he estimated so. "Master." As he was aimlessly walking through the repetitive jungle, he found himself stopped by a familiar voice, prompting him to slowly turn around as he tiredly looked at the figure that had manifested behind him. It was the tinum-haired spirit that had a temper just as short as she was. He couldn''t even be surprised that she had forcibly summoned herself, only wearily looking at her. "Hextrice¡­" He quietly said. "I have watched enough of this. This is pitiful. I am talking about you, in fact," the spirit said. "--" He didn''t deny it. "You know that acting like this won''t make things right. Perhaps it is not my ce to say this, but this isn''t what your Mother would''ve wanted," Hextrice told him. The mere mention of it from another voice seemed to rattle something within him as he fell to his knees, seeming toe alive again as tears crept down his cheeks. "What do I do, then? I can''t decide¨Cmy own life just feels so worthless¨Cit''s less than that¨Cit''s harmful. My life isn''t even a zero sum, it takes away¡­! That''s all it''s ever been from the start¨Ctake, take, take! Even if I try to use my own life to help, even if I try my best just to be happy¡­It''s never enough. Maybe I just don''t belong in this world¨Cit knows who I am. I can''t appease the destiny that hates Emilio Dragonheart," hemented through shaky words. After the spill of words that came from the depths of his aching heart, he sat there on his knees as rain continued pouring heavily, beading down and blending with the tears that left his amethyst eyes. Hextrice stood there for a moment, quietly, before approaching him without having yet to respond. "I don''t know what to do. Was it wrong for me toe back to life? Am I being punished for it? I thought I escaped it¡­I really did; that bitter cycle," he said. As he looked at his own hands, he found the small, pale fingers of Hextrice holding onto both of his hands, bringing him to meet her eye-to-eye as he sat there on his knees. "Destiny doesn''t despise you. Misfortune is a constant flux through the world, just as fortune is; throughout life, everybody will experience tragedy in one way or another. Things will happen that are out of their power," Hextrice told him, " It''s not luck, talent, or any supernatural power that decides if you will live a proper life. It''s how you endure. I''m sure you already know that. There''s nobody but yourself that can decide the value of your life, but perhaps you should remember one thing. Even in herst moments, did she me you?" That question struck him like an arrow through the heart, revealing to him a singr moment in his memory that through his spiral of self-pity and guilt he had buried away. It was that dreadful scenery of ash and snow when he held her in his arms, those faint words that were left to him: "It''s not your fault." As soon as he remembered that final utterance, a light shined through that abyss sitting in his heart, bringing his eyes to inhabit life once more as the spirit vanished from before him with her task being fulfilled. ''This is¡­This feeling,'' he thought, slowly cing his hand over his heart. It was love; a love that was embedded into his very soul. One that he may believe he didn''t deserve after what he had done, but one that guided him nheless through the memories that constantly yed in his mind. This was the unconditional love of his mother; the thought that, if nothing else, she would want him to live. ''...She never let me go hungry, not even for a second. Father told me she came from a low born household. My Grandpa on her side worked as a courier, making scraps, while my Grandma made knittings, but it hardly brought much in. There were days they''d go without meals, but what they always made sure to tell me was¡­whenever there was food, Grandma and Grandpa would always make sure she ate, even if they ended up starving in the process. I think it''s because of that, she always cooked so much¨Calmost too much, making sure I was always full and healthy,'' he recalled. Perhaps even heavier than the guilt that clouded him, another burden sat upon his shoulders; a will that manifested itself through the warmth of his dearly missed maternal figure: "Live". Even if it wasn''t pretty, even if he had to force his legs to move, he had to live. That was the one request he feltid onto him. ''...What is there to eat around here?'' He thought. Leaves and branches crunched beneath his boots as he marched over puddles of mud, pushing past dense foliage as he delved into the depths of the rainy jungle. What was found abundantly around him were vibrant, colorful fruits, though he was wary of even so much as grazing any of them. Some were obviously questionable from their appearance alone; spiky, gooey fruit, but some were more unassuming, resembling simple, enticing berries. Though he knew more than enough through reading some journal entries of explorers in the wilnds of Ennage than to trust fruit he wasn''t familiar with. ''I remember reading that the single most important rule to remember above all is: "Assuming everything in Ennage wants to kill you"--that''s true even for the fruit that grows here,'' he thought. As his stomach growled just at the mere sight of anything remotely edible, he had to keep himself moving forward and ignoring the pains in hispletely calorie-deprived stomach as he walked past the dangerous fruit. "Uuugh¡­" Standing by a tree, he watched a lengthy, skin-crawling millipede wriggling against the light-orange bark of the tall, natural structure, knowing full-well what must be done. He easily caught the giant insect, holding it by the tail end of its body as he watched it wiggle creepily in the air as its thousands of legs waved around frantically. ''...Insects are the protein of the wild, right?'' He thought. Chapter 388 Experience Of The World Though he felt disgusted by it, the motivation both to live not just for himself, but the driving force of finding his way through the foreign continent and back to his family brought him to act. "Cook it for me, please," he quietly requested. Manifesting beside him was the spherical, lesser spirit of fire that glowed in response to his asking, unleashing a small spray of fire that thoroughly cooked the wriggling millipede until it finally stopped moving. Even after it had stopped moving around and had been thoroughly cooked, he still found himself hesitant. ''Don''t think. Just do it,'' he told himself. Clenching his eyes shut, he opened his mouth and slowly lowered part of the cooked insect past his lips before¡ªCRUNCH. He bit down, beginning to chew as there was still, unfortunately, juices that squirted into his mouth when chewing the thousand-legged insect. Every chewing motion he made with his mouth made his expression sour out of fear of the disgusting meal. "¡ª" To his surprise, once he calmed down, he found the taste of the cooked insect not to be something as abhorrent as predicted. Maybe it was his current malnourished state that led any semnce of sustenance to seem like a gourmet meal, but it tasted like chicken on his tongue. ''This¡­isn''t bad! If it tastes like this, then I can eat!'' He thought. Almost excitedly now, he chewed as his empty stomach guided him to gobble up the rest of the roasted insect, consuming it before he wiped his mouth. It seemed having some caloric intake really made the hunger set in as he found himself setting out to find more to eat. He had be quite adjusted to the jungle, navigating through it and finding more insects to cook. "¡ª" Sitting on a fallen tree trunk as he ate, he looked up to find horned monkeys watching him, though obviously they didn''t dare to mess with him. They were quite the curious creatures¨Cperhaps even nosy, though as long as they didn''t interfere with him, he didn''t mind them. After hunting down and cooking enough insects, he found himself satisfied, filled with energy again as he could almost feel the life pumping through his body again as if suppressed by his recent caloric deprivation. While he didn''t particrly mind it, as the nature of his system-enhanced body didn''t make it an issue, it was surprising that the rain had continued falling so heavily without a break for days on end. ''I guess the books didn''t lie. Ennage really is more "wild" in every way from the other continents¨Ceven the weather seems different,'' he thought. Now that he was properly sustained, he focused up, finally taking it into his hands to find his way out of the vast, mystical jungle. To begin with, he decided to get a good view of where he was and what was around him, prompting him to swiftly climb up one of the trees. Even if he moved quickly, it was quite the climb to ascend one of the skyscraper-like trees, climbing the drenched bark, using the branches for leverage as he climbed. Reaching the peak of the tree, he found himself in awe of the scenery despite the severity of his situation; a sea of green-topped trees, tall and plentiful, with some even ascending towards the clouds in their ancient height. Winged creatures flew through the skies, neighbored by the towering trees; some resembled dinosaurs he had learned about on Earth¨Cpterodactyls, though perhaps evenrger and more daunting in appearance. ''This is Ennage¡­'' He thought. Focusing his sight as he put his hand over his brow, feeling the downpour of rain cascade down his body, he did find an interesting sight far north from his current position: a set of tremendously-sized, light-brown walls that seemed to surround a city. ''Bingo,'' he thought. Finding a proper destination to head towards, he slid down the length of the tree before heading north. As he marched forth, he summoned the four lesser spirits he had mastery over, having tasks for them. "Keep a perimeter around me as I move. If any of you find anything that looks dangerous heading in my direction,e back and signal me. The same will be for if you see anything interesting," he said, "Alright, go!" All four of the elemental spirits scattered in different directions, giving him a protective perimeter that prevented him from ever being ambushed. Even the distraction of a goal ahead of him didn''tst very long; the monotonous pitter-patter of the rainfall and the sound of his boots stomping against the mud didn''t drown out the thoughts that weighed on his mind. ''If I trust what those two told me, the others are probably alright. To trust what those¡­despicable pieces of shit said, though? It almost makes me want to vomit in my mouth just thinking about it. Still, right now¡­I can''t do anything from across the world. For now, I have to think optimistically, right?...If so, if their only goal was to remove me from Milligarde, they didn''t need the others,'' he thought. Just the thought of those two strangers that had turned his life upside down overnight filled him with an unspeakable rage as his fingers trembled with a fiery anger, though he restrained himself. ''...I don''t get it, though. A "war" ising¨Cthat''s what that man mentioned. Even if there was a war on the horizon, what do I have to do with it? Why would my presence throw a wrench in it? Those two were affiliated with the Children of Chaos, too¡­The same as Amon. Just what is their goal, really?'' He questioned. Perhaps most of all that left him confused was the state of his right eye¨Ceven absent of its covering, it seemed not to be automatically using the ursed authority of Veracity. ''How much of my lifespan have I run through already with this? Weeks? Months?'' He thought. Amidst his thoughts as he traveled through the dense, wet jungle, he was interrupted by the arrival of something that erupted from the ground in front of him. He jumped back as whatever came from the mud seemed to have malicious intent, rising up quickly with a sharp lunge upward. ''...Of course. It''s like you can''t go ten feet without something trying to kill you in this jungle,'' he thought. Though what had risen from the mud was a surprising sight: a massive, beige-furred grizzly bear that had a build simr to a gori with its massive shoulders and paws. Of course, with what seemed to be a trend of particrly troublesome beasts that dwelled in the Continent of Demons were the horns that stuck up from the bear''s head. ''A bear that travels¡­underground? A mole-devil-bear?'' He thought, perplexed by the very idea of such an odd creature. Either way, there was no doubt it was a fearsome beast in its own right, standing well over three meters tall and seeming tomand some authority over the mud around it as it gathered at its feet, rippling and spiking up with vibrations resonating through the ground. The moment he drew his sword, the muddy, apex predator suddenly dived into the mud, disappearing beneath the surface of the rainfallen-ground as if it were a deepke. "Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. Through his own affinity with nature magic, he had a good sense for the ground he stood upon, able to detect the vibrations through the mud and soil below. ''It seems to have some sort of inherent magical ability. I bet it can travel through the ground by manipting mud, making it quick to move¨Cthat''s how something sorge can be efficient below,'' he guessed. As he stood there, more in awe at the prospect of magical beasts than actually feeling threatened, he found the mud suddenlytched onto his feet before spinning him around; the ground spun like a whirlpool around him, tossing him across the clearing as he was pushed against a tree. ''That confirms it: it''s manipting the mud. Neat trick, I can do that too, though!'' He thought. With a stomp of his boot, he caused the ground in front of him to split open, creating a miniature crater as he revealed where the giant, ground-swimming bear was. "Found you," he said. Though he nned to finish the beast with a simple, small shot of condensed water through its head, he found himself intercepted by a magical attack from the creature itself as it roared out, seeming to conjure magecraft through its reverberating cry. ''An invocation?'' He guessed. Around him, the mud suddenly rose up, shaping into loose, sludge doppelgangers of the burly bear that each attempted to tackle the rain-slick man. In response, feeling the need to challenge the magical beast on even footing, he used nature magic as well, causing a golem to erupt from the ground in front of him, formed of solid stone. The rocky golem was shaped like the bear as well, swiping through the mud-formed doppelgangers for its summoner. After handling the magical clones made by the horned bear, Emilio stomped again, causing a geyser of mud to shoot up the ground-swimming creature from its hidden spot beneath the surface. "Hate to break it to you, but that''s some novice-level magic you''ve got there," Emilio said before swiping his sword forth. In a single sh, he cut through the beige-furred beast''s body, causing a spray of blood to meddle with the mud before he moved on. There was a part of him that was tempted to try cooking bear meat, though he didn''t exactly feel like dismantling such a huge body and lugging it around. Chapter 389 Hunter And Hunted Through some dangerous obstacles of terrain, such as having to swing over a pit of quicksand and navigate through a basin of snakes, he found his way out of the jungle after walking throughout the entire day and night cycle. "...Hff¡­" Pushing past the boundaries of the colossal trees, he dropped to his knees as he was free from the overbearing jungle, sitting upon a field of grass as he caught his breath. The rain continued falling as he looked up towards therge, y walls before him. ''I made it¡­'' He thought. Brought close to the walls now as he picked himself up, he found them to be questionable in appearance: they were heavily damaged,yered with damaged marks that looked like massive ws had taken chunks out of the city-wide walls. There was a stone-paved road that led to the front gates of the city, though he looked around, finding nobody around¨Cno merchantsing in-and-out, no adventurers, and certainly no guards standing around. ''Just what is this ce? It seems off,'' he questioned. Arriving in front of the gates of the unknown city, he looked up towards the designs etched into the weathered material; there were many "X" shaped decorations running along it, though run down by the cascading rain. Though he didn''t see any guards protecting the gate, he did find spearsying on the ground just in front of the entrance, along with spige of blood that ran slick on the ground. "--" Emilio knelt down to investigate, running his fingertip across the blood that ran along the y ground, finding it to be runny, likely from the rainfall. There was no doubt in his mind that something was wrong here, though there was too much he didn''t know. After all, the entire continent he walked upon was foreign to him. ''...This is giving me seriously bad deja vu,'' he thought. As he stood in front of the gate of two, massive y doors which were cut up and stained with blood, he slowly pushed his hand against it, parting the gigantic doors as they grumbled from the dormant weight. "--" He quietly walked through the opened doors, entering the unknown city through a short tunnel between the walls leading in. The smell immediately hit him, washing across his nose like a repent warning him to turn back: the stench of death. It was an unforgettable, unmistakable smell; the sickening-sweetness of it all¨Cthe atmosphere of post-mortem. ''This is¡­'' He thought. Slowly entering the city, it was left in ruins; buildings were torn apart, burned, and the bodies of those that upied the walled-in civilization were left eviscerated, cut apart and strewn across the y-formed streets. "What the hell happened here¡­?" He asked in an audible mumble. As he walked further down the street, he found puddles of blood running along the grooves of the torn pathways; the entire city looked as though a tornado had run through it, yet the brutal wounds that left its inhabitants dead spoke of something else¨Csomething more malevolent. Looking back towards the towering walls, he found cannons that lined the top of them, though half of them pointed outside of the city, half were pointing towards the interior. This struck him as odd, alongside another detail he noticed along the gargantuan barrier: w marks that ran along a section of the top and went down. ''An attack?...It definitely wasn''t human if so,'' he thought. Even as he tried to be pragmatic about the situation, he found the breath leaving his lungs as he walked a bit farther down the street, stumbling upon a gruesome sight: two children¨Cseeming to be a brother and sister, were left mauled and disemboweled, though holding each other''s hands even in the end. He covered his mouth and nose, though it didn''t prevent the feelings within from bubbling up as memories shes across his mind before¨C "Pyeeugh¡­!" Leaning against the wall of the ruined building beside him, he vomited the bile from his stomach onto the ground. It was as he thought¨C"Deja Vu'' was right¨Cthe overwhelming atmosphere of death, so gruesomelyid out around him, was abhorrently reminiscent of his experience in Larundog. ''Is there anybody left?...An attack like this on what looks like a major city¡­It doesn''t look like it happened too long ago,'' he questioned. Moving on as he carefully breathed in to steel his own nerves, it only seemed as though the density of corpses grew; the demon race that inhabited Ennage were hardly different from humans, making it all too close to home for him. Merchant carriages were torn to shreds, along with the horses that once guided them as he passed by a fallen stallion that had its throat ripped away, leading a deep, red puddle that was constantly diluted by the downpour. "--" He briefly looked down before continuing forward. The presence of dawn did nothing to lessen the eeriness of the fallen city as solemn, dark clouds hung above, blocking any graceful light of the sun as only the rain continued to descend. Exploring the fallen city, he entered some buildings in hope of finding anybody potentially who had survived whatever had happened, searching for answers, though only finding more death in every corner. Lifting a fallen shelf within a home, he almost covered his mouth again at the sight of a mother who had been crushed below it, clutching her child to her chest¨Cneither made it. ''...Has nothing been left?'' He questioned. As he exited the ruined home, finding a scenery of nothing but the ghastly city and the endless corpses that upied it, he found himself feeling more stranded than ever¨Cdevoid of answers or aim. "Are you an adventurer? If so, you''rete." After sitting on the steps to the home he had searched, he found a rough, deep voice speaking to him, looking up to find an unknown stranger standing in the middle of the blood-bathed street. It was a man wearing a long, ck coat that almost seemed Victorian in design, over a matching turtleneck with a dark-brown, leather vest. He looked to be in his thirties, with an unshaven beard and eyes dimmed by the ck fedora he wore atop his head. The man seemed equipped for journeying, though more in line with "hunting" by the crossbow on his back and des on his belt; a darkly-dressed stranger that certainly wasn''t recognized by the Dragonheart. "You''rete, too," Emilio responded. For a moment, the stranger didn''t respond before quietly following up, "You''re right. Even if I was here though, I doubt I''d have been able to do anything to stop it." "Do you know what it is? I mean, what did all of¡­this?" He asked, curious as the stranger seemed to know something. The man turned to look at him, "You''re not from Ennage, are you?" "Did theck of horns give it away?" Emilio answered. Removing his hat from his head, the man revealed his head of long, curly, jet-ck hair, but did it to reveal he alsocked any horns¨Ca human. "You''re¡­" Emilio said. "I''m human, like you. It''s not umon in thisnd for bright-eyed adventurers from the Continent of Man to show up with dreams too big for their swords," the stranger said, "Is that what you are?" "No, I didn''t¨C" He almost spilled his curious circumstances but fixed his response, "--I''m trying to leave, actually. I need to get back to Milligarde." The man looked at him for a minute before letting out a small breath, turning to the side as they both looked at the abundant death left in the city. "Jaeger," the stranger introduced himself stoically. "Emilio Dragonheart," he gave his name standing up, "Do you know what did this?" "I do," Jaeger answered, cing his hat back on top of his head. It seemed like the identity of the creature responsible for the city-wide massacre was a sour subject even for the veteran hunter; a taboo within thend. "''Iconnu''--that''s what it''s known as in thisnd. It''s an elusive creature that is said to be purely born of malice. I''ve only caught glimpses of it myself¨Cit has feathers like a raven, but walks like a man," Jaeger exined, "It''s dangerous¨CI do not say that lightly. We''re looking at a Cataclysm-ss threat." "Something like that, huh? Are you the only adventurer that''s after it?" He asked. Jaeger looked around for a moment as the atmosphere of destionid deep within the atmosphere, "The only one still alive." "Huh?" "The quest to eliminate Inconnu has been avable for over three decades in Ennage. After hundreds of adventurers failed, people have stopped trying," Jaeger said. "Not you though." Jaeger didn''t respond to that, only walking across the narrow street as he investigated some of the w marks, "Taking out a major city like Felran is abnormal for Inconnu, though. I''ve tracked it for the past couple years¨Cit usually only targets tiny settlements with less than a few dozen people. Something like this means it''s getting bold." "Yeah," Emilio nodded, beginning to walk down the road, "Anyway, I''m going to move on." As the Dragonheart set his sights on finding the next major city and avoiding such a troublesome creature as it stunk of the Primordials'' influence, the ruby-shaded insignia shed itself from his ne, catching the hunter''s sharp, yellow irises. "Hold on," Jaeger called out. "Yeah?" Emilio looked back. The darkly-dressed hunter approached him, "You''re looking to leave Ennage, right? You don''t seem to know where you''re going." "Huh?" Emilio raised an eyebrow, pointing to the direction he was nning to head down. "That way leads to ake," Jaeger told him. "--" Emilio didn''t know how to respond. The hunter was definitely perceptive, looking at him intently, "I''ll take you to one of the major port cities and help you get back to Milligarde¨Cone of the captains owes me a few favors, anyway. In exchange, I want your help taking down this monster." Chapter 390 Forged Alliance The hunter was definitely perceptive, looking at him intently, "I''ll take you to one of the major port cities and help you get back to Milligarde¨Cone of the captains owes me a few favors, anyway. In exchange, I want your help taking down this monster." "Sorry, but you said this thing was a Cataclysm-rank threat, right? Don''t you think that''s a bit of a lopsided exchange?" Emilio told him, facing him properly. As he said that, he could tell as it was written on the veteran hunter''s face: even as stoic as he was, the hunter seemed to genuinely bear guilt for the massive loss of life that had transpired. "I wouldn''t ask anybody that I had doubts over. We''d both get killed if you were ipetent. More life would be lost. That insignia you''re wearing is proof of your capabilities," Jaeger told him, "I don''t have any sense of pride or ego constraining me. All I want is to bring this wicked beast down." It seemed there was some personal investment that the experienced monster hunter had with the elusive entity, "Inconnu"--that much could be seen from the glint in his feline-like, yellow eyes as he mentioned it. Emilio thought it over, looking around at the sheer abhorrence of death that was sprawled across the city; the sight of the mother and child that had been crushed was embedded into his mind, affecting him personally. "Alright, I''ll help you," Emilio agreed. Jaeger only quietly nodded without his expression changing, extending his hand towards his fellow adventurer. As he epted Jaeger''s hand, feeling the abrasive, ck leather glove that covered it, he realized this was the first world-ss quest he was partaking in. "Do you know where it is now?" Emilio asked. "Impossible," Jaeger minimally responded. "...Okay." "Inconnu is a creature of enigma. It leaves nothing that can lead to it; not a feather, a drop of blood, or even a scent," Jaeger exined, "However¨Cwhat can be done is predicting its next move." As he was unfamiliar with the fallen city, let alone Ennage itself, he followed in the lead of Jaeger as the quiet man began moving without saying anything. "Do you have a ce in mind, then? For where this "Inconnu" thing will end up?" Emilio asked. Jaeger was silent for a moment, not so much as looking back at him as he responded, "It swept through Felran, and looks to have gone west." "How do you know where it went?" He asked. The veteran hunter stopped before pointing towards the westward direction they were heading. There was a massive hole tore through the west wall of the city, crumbled and painted in blood. "Oh," he let out in realization, "Yeah, that''s definitely a good lead." He felt as though he couldn''t leave the city faster, passing by the bloodstained homes before leaving alongside the under through therge hole in the city wall. ''I don''t sense any ill intent from this guy, but I''ll stay cautious. Thest thing I need to do is let my guard down in foreignnd,'' he thought. There was a dirt-paved road leading from the west of Felran through a forest of dark-red leaves. It was somewhat eerie, but equally beautiful in its scenery, as if stuck in the prime of autumn as the scarlet leaves danced down alongside the rain. "Where does this road lead?" He asked. "I guessed it, but you really are ignorant of thisnd, aren''t you?" Jaeger replied before answering, "This is a merchant road leading through the Scarlet Forest¡ªthere''s a lot of wilnds between here and the next branch of civilization: a small town¡ª''Rancor''." There was definitely something that felt weirdly nostalgic about traveling with the hunter; that dark clothing, pragmatic, focused nature, and less-than-friendly attitude. ''This brings me back to traveling with Vandread. Though this is different¡ªI''m not a kid anymore. He may be a bit cold, but even he respects my rank. I guess it''s nice to be relied on sometimes,'' he thought. An uphill slope through the Scarlet Forest led to a vast section where the road bled into the depths of the valley of red-leaved trees. The flowers of Ennage seemed multiple timesrger than those natural to Milligarde, sometimes even seeming to breathe or lunge towards them as they passed by, but remaining anchored to the soil. "Does everything in Ennage want to kill you or something?" Emilio remarked, moving his cloak out of the way from a nt that resembled a Venus Flytrap. "The hostility of Ennage''s wildlife is not without reason," Jaeger told him. "Yeah? All I''ve read is that the abundance of predators forced everything to evolve to be both big and mean as hell," Emilio said. "That may be true to some extent, but it goes deeper than that," the hunter said. As they spoke, they both casually and easily handled two aggressive creatures inhabiting the Scarlet Forest. Emilio swiftly snapped his fingers to his right, invoking apression of wind that twisted and crushed the rabid rodent that had leapt towards him. "Skree¡ª!" The canine-sized rodent squeaked before its entire body was condensed to a ball of blood. At the same time, Jaeger swiftly flipped his coat open before drawing a twelve-inch knife, ducking down just as a brown-furred wolf leapt towards his head. For his age and tall, muscr build, the hunter was swift and flexible, pivoting his foot before sharply thrusting his knife upward through the skull of the wolf. The way that Jaeger handled the beast was quick and efficient, instantly wiping the life from the wolf as his de pierced its brain. "I didn''t hear an incantation. You''re a rare breed of mage," Jaeger noted, wiping the blood off of his knife on the sleeve on the fur of the wolf. "You''re not so bad yourself," Emilio returned what he heard as apliment. "Mm," Jaeger continued moving, "Being an adventure in the wilnds of Ennage will either make you as good as me, or dead." After some time of hiking, a break was taken as they both hadn''t eaten the entire day it seemed. Using his magecraft, Emilio created a campsite, making a small clearing amidst the dense forest of scarlet. As he sat on a seat of molded dirt that was shaped like a chair, sitting in front of a campfire that he protected from the constant rainfall with a barrier of stagnant wind around the camp grounds, he waited for the hunter to return. Of course, the catching of food was left to the veteran hunter who knew thend and its creatures. While waiting, he looked up towards the abundant leaves of a scarlet shade that hung overhead, finding the constant downfall of cold, plentiful rain to feel as natural as a sunny day now. ''It still feels like a dream¡­or nightmare, that I''m in Ennage right now. It''s all just a bit too surreal¡­I have so many questions, but¨C'' He thought. As he was thinking, something crossed his mind upon the idea of him having unanswered questions, fitting like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle into something else: his presence in the Continent of Demons. It was at that exact moment that he recalled something¨Cthe main reason he ever nned toe to the wild continent in the first ce. ''Asher told me to find Excelsior here¨Che said I''d have my questions answered if I found him. Is this what he meant? There''s no way this could''ve been predicted. If Asher knew that much, he''d tell me himself. Just who is this "Excelsior" figure, then?'' He questioned. As he found himself with another goal besides simply leaving Ennage itself, he nearly stood up with his sword drawn at the rustling of bushes, though rxed as he found it just to be the darkly-dressed hunter making his way back. There was something of considerable size that Jaeger was dragging behind him, covered in light-brown fur. "...Is that a deer?" Emilio asked. Jaeger came to the campsite before dropping the carcass of the creature down with a small "st" that echoed out, "It''s a Devil Elk¨Cunassuming, but lethal if you''re not ready for it." That much seemed true from one look at the spiraling horns that protruded from the massive, wide-built elk''s head. The coat-wearing man embodied the concept of a "hunter" perhaps more aptly than an adventurer through the efficiency in which he skinned and dismantled the elk, setting it up on a stick above the bright-orange mes. ''He''s faster than Vandread at that,'' he thought. "You mentioned something earlier¨Cabout the reason why everything is so hostile in Ennage''s wilnds," Emilio said, looking across the campfire towards the man. Jaeger kept watch of the meat''s state, "I did." "So¡­What is it?" He asked. Sitting there at the campfire, witnessing the dimming of the sunlight as the scarlet leaves seemed to shutter at the faintest breaths of wind, he watched as the hunter turned the elk to properly cook it above the fire. Jaeger finally answered after staying silent, "The ''Pollution of Iniquity''." Chapter 391 False Skin Jaeger finally answered after staying silent, "The ''Pollution of Iniquity''." "Pollution of Iniquity?" He repeated. It wasn''t a term that sounded familiar in the least; despite the dozens of books he had read that covered Ennage, even if it was thergest continent and the oldest, such a grandiose term didn''t ring a bell. "It''s notmon knowledge outside of Ennage. There aren''t many inhabitants that are familiar with it, either," Jaeger told him, "I only found out through exploring an abandoned temple that nearly took my life. What I saw there¡­" The veteran hunter seemed to remember something unwanted as he recalled the moments spoken, though stopped himself as he ran his fingertips over the prominent scars thaty on his face. "If it''s something so secretive, are you fine with telling me?" Emilio asked, making sure. Jaeger breathed out before looking over at the youthful man, "I''m not part of the conservative bunch that try and sweep it under the rug¨Ceven if it means killing innocents. Besides, you remind me of myself when I was younger¨Cyou might be bright-eyed and ignorant, but you''ve got the spark. Just wonder how long itsts, though." "--" Emilio looked at the weathered, tired-seeming adventurer. It was clear that Jaeger was worn out from his journeys¨Cespecially the current ordeal with the enigma known as "Inconnu"--though the man was undoubtedly capable, humans had their limits. From what it appeared, Jaeger had long since drugged his feet past that threshold. "Tell me, then," Emilio learned forward. Jaeger was quiet as the flickering of the campfire reflected in his sharp, yellow eyes before he finally continued, "The ''Pollution of Iniquity'' is a phenomena that dates back to the first civilizations that inhabited the Continent of Demons; a nameless chunk ofnd filled only with mindless beasts and nothing to be remembered for." Intrigued by this foreign knowledge, he paid close attention past the flickering campfire as their meal cooked. "The Demon race were purely savages back then; wars were fought endlessly¨Csometimes over authority and power, but often in the name of their ''Gods''. It was a period known as the "Era of Null"--enough bloodshed and warfare to wipe out most traces of history of that time," Jaeger exined. "They fought each other so much that they wiped out most of their own history? That''s insane," Emilio added. It wasn''t a concept he waspletely unfamiliar with; such phenomena were present in Earth''s own history, though never to the extent that the hunter was telling him. The idea of it was still concerning to imagine such vast amounts of time, history, and achievements being discarded by bloodshed. "I''ve spent a lot of my time here studying it. From what I''ve heard, the "Era of Null" is either unknown to most or taboo to some¨Cusually old schrs of thisnd," Jaeger said. "It sounds terrible, but what''s that have to do with this ''Pollution of Iniquity'' thing? And more¡­what''s it have to do with why everything is so violent here?" Emilio asked. Before he could receive an answer just yet, the game that had been caught by the hunter was finished cooking. The middle-aged, gruff man seemed to take his time in a lot of ways, though it served as an annoyance for Emilio, who hardly felt any patience in his current situation. Jaeger cut up the cooked meat before handing a portion over to him, which Emilio epted before quickly taking a bite out of it. "Mmm¡­" Emilio hardly seemed to chew before swallowing, finding his stomach far too excited about the prospect of real, good meat after eating so many insects. The hunter watched him for a moment, noticing his enjoyment of the elk dinner before he spoke, "To answer your question¡­the ''Pollution of Iniquity'' was born from the endless wars that gued this continent all of that time ago. It was the curse of a malevolent being¨Cone sought as a "blessing" at that time to the savages." "A blessing?" He repeated with his mouth full. "It was a curse embedded into thisnd; the blood of ''something'' evil and vile enough that it spurred the beasts that roamed the continent to evolve in ordance to the sheer goal of spreading that malice," Jaeger exined, "That was how the wars stopped: the wilnds became so dangerous that it forced the people living here to stop fighting among themselves and band together against the beasts." After getting an exnation, he took another bite out of the cooked elf he held in his hand before swallowing it down. There was something about the story that struck him as odd; nothing directly about it or how the hunter told it, but something he personally was familiar with. ''The ''Pollution of Iniquity''--a curse that caused the beasts of Ennage to evolve into powerful magic beasts and be inherently violent towards people. Why do I feel like this has the mark of a Primordial written all over it?'' He questioned. It wasn''t clear to him how he should feel about thend now; it was one thing to simply believe that creatures were hostile due to their feral minds, but it was another thing altogether to know the reason for it was much deeper, and much darker. Something stood out to him as he watched Jaeger eat; the man seemed repulsed by the food he ate, yet held a straight face, turning around periodically to spit out the elk meat. ''What is he doing¡­?'' Emilio questioned. There wasn''t much space for rest, as the moment they both were finished with their meals, they both headed out again through the Scarlet Forest. Jaeger had packed up some of the elk meat, bringing it with them. "--" Emilio followed close behind the hunter, keeping an eye out. It seemed the deeper into the Scarlet Forest he had gone, the more its eerie aspects made themselves known. Flowers that resembled roses bled from their cores as the petals contracted as he walked past them. The natural scent that lingered around the deep-red forest was that of a coppery sweetness; a contradiction of aromas that made him question if it was gross or pleasing. What he noticed as he followed the man was that the dirt road they had been following along was bing more obscured by the environment. "Is it just me or is the road getting more¡­absent?" He asked. "¡ª" Jaeger didn''t respond. There was definitely something abnormal urring; they both moved in a light jog, running down the Scarlet Forest as Emilio looked at the silent hunter''s back. As he kept watch of the man in front of him, Emilio found himself surprised by the sudden new scenery of wild, colossal "blood roses" that now surrounded him. Each of these crimson-leaking roses were wrapped around trees, as if sung their thorny roots to ensnare the trees themselves. ''What''s this?'' He questioned. ¡ªJust then, the air hissed against his ears at that very second he looked to the right to investigate the abnormal area. He ducked his head down just as the de that tried to cleave through his skull missed, countering with a flick of his fingers. It was Jaeger; the yellow-eyed man had wordlessly tried to assassinate him, though failed as the counter from the Dragonheart manifested a dozen bullets of air that pierced forward. SQUELCH "¡ª" Emilio stood there. The hunter had been pierced by the projectiles of air, which were unforgiving in their speed and power, drilling a series of holes through "Jaeger''s" arms, legs, and even his torso. Yet, the darkly-dressed, bristly-bearded man remained standing, staring towards the Dragonheart as his own face contorted¡ªrevealing its true monstrous shade. "So, that''s how it is¡­? I knew you were a little too trusting for the type of adventurer you posed as," Emilio remarked, "Let me guess¡ªyou stole that body." A grin stretched across the lips of the entity that pretended to have been his very ownpanion, though that paleplexion instead was revealed to instead be mossy, grass-like skin. There was no longer any semnce of a man, but a mossy, humanoid dressed in the clothing of the hunter. ''I had my suspicions, but I''d be lying if I said I expected this. This whole time, Jaeger was a monster that was using his body to deceive me, waiting for a moment to strike,'' Emilio realized, "Sharp human. I was sure I yed this body''s memories correctly," the body-stealing creature spoke in a low, broken voice. By what the unsettling creature said, the amethyst-eyed man understood how he was able to be deceived so thoroughly: it was able to tap into the memories of the body it had stolen, it seemed. It was certainly a creepy existence; the grass-skinned stood there with its hole-filled outfit, like a scarecrow amidst the rain that befell the scarlet forest. "...Let me guess: you lured me into this forest¨Cthis is your ''hunting grounds'', isn''t it, monster?" Emilio asked, "Are you the one that wiped out that city, then?..." The mossy-skinned creature moved as though it had never piloted a human body now, letting its arms dangle as its knees reversed in a grotesque fashion, having no need to follow the anatomical restrictions of the human form. "You''re mistaken," the unsettling creature said, "The massacre was not my doing; I truly wish it was. Oh, how I do. I''d love to snap those bones, crunch them and gnaw them¨Cbreak the children in half. But¡­it was not I." Chapter 392 The Spriggan Emilio found himself surprised but even more confused that the deceitful creature before him was not the one responsible for the dested city. Though it was possible it could be lying, there was simply no exnation he could think of for why the disgusting monster would. "If that''s the case, you''re just small fry, then. I need to deal with you and move on," Emilio said as his magical pressure rose. It was unfortunate that the solepanion he had in the foreignnd turned out to be nothing more than a monstrosity puppeting a corpse, but such was the way of an adventurer: he was able to think rationally and focus. "Arrogant human. The soil of the Scarlet Forest is my flesh, the vines are my veins, the trees are my limbs¨Can ignorant human like you would not be aware of my legend! For centuries, I''ve lured the ignorant into the depths of my forest¨Cfeeding on their flesh and assimting it," the grass-skinned creature roared, "--I am a Devil Spriggan! A ruler of the crust which you walk!" With the sudden rage of the body-snatching, mossyered figure, the entirety of the forest seemed toe alive as the bleeding roses shuttered and the grass itself vibrated with a chattering hum. Emilio instantly recognized what it was now as the clothes fell from the dreadful monster''s body and it revealed itself¨Ca "Devil Spriggan". The figure had a humanoid-shaped body, though made of twigs and moss, with bloomed roses across its body, bleeding out the crimson fluid as wooden horns left its head. ''...A Devil Spriggan? I''ve read about this!'' He thought. ["Spriggans inhabit both Milligarde and Vasmoria; humanoid creatures with branch-like limbs and bodies blossoming with flowers and luscious grass, born of nature itself. While mostly peaceful towards humans and other creatures, they will be hostile if thend they watch over is harmed. However, Devil Spriggans are a different case altogether. These horned spriggans that inhabit the Continent of Demons tyrannically rule the forests they inhabit and bend it to their rule, contorting beautifulnds into horrific sceneries which specialize in luring and assimting other creatures. They are incredibly hostile and deceitful creatures."] From multiple directions, thorny vines whipped around, either to eviscerate or bind him, though he quickly reacted with a wave of his hand, casting a wave of fire around him that repelled the malicious nature. "Nnngrh¡­!" The Devil Spriggan growled at the presence of mes. What he read as anger was quickly proven wrong as he witnessed the malignant spriggan wave its arms,manding the forest around him as roots were unearthed from the soil around him. ''It hasplete control¨C?'' He questioned. The ring of fire he had created was swallowed up by unknown, gray-petaled flowers that sprouted from the ground, turning the ze into cinder before the army of roots swept towards Emilio. As he leapt back, he witnessed the massive roots tunneling through the soil in front of him with utmost aggression,ing at him from the sides as well as he stopped for just a second. Remaining calm, he allowed the roots to get close before he swiped his sword, using it as a catalyst for the scathing wind he unleashed that mimicked dozens of sword shes in an instant: "Unseen de of The Winds." The thick, thornyered roots were sliced apart before they could reach him, even carving up the ground around him in the process as the wind shrieked from the precise ability. It was a spell created with the basis for it being inspired by his final foe from his escape in the After¨Ca mimicry of that mystical halberd movement. Even after decimating the roots, he still found himself not freed from the wrath of the Scarlet Forest as he heard bushes rustling all around him before¨CBZZZZ. The ear-filling sound of insects flying mmed against his ears as he found palm-sized, bright-red locusts swarming him from all around. ''Bugs? Please,'' he thought. In his left hand, he manifested a fire spell in the form of a me-formedsso, allowing it to wrap around his wrist before he began whipping it around him, allowing its zing reach to strike through the hordes of locust, however¨C ''Uh-oh,'' he thought. He could feel it as soon as the mingsso made contact with the locusts: the mana was being siphoned, or more aptly, converted. After sweeping the mysticalsso through the hordes of flying insects, he witnessed their size multiple a half-dozen times, now bing the size ofrge dogs, but numbering in the dozens as theypletely surrounded him. ''They feed on mana? Or is it just fire? Do I want to test that?'' He questioned. Either way, he didn''t have long to choose before he was forced to act¨Cducking down as a locust attempted to bite onto his head before splitting it in half as he dragged his de through its body. The shriek of the erged insect pounded his ears, though it didn''t stop him as he used his superior physical abilities to guide his sword through the mana-eating locusts. Even if they had grownrger, they were still insects;cking intellect or threatening abilities. It was a difficult environment to fight in though; the ground he moved across continuously crumbled in the way of thrashing roots or shook violently in an attempt to throw him off his bnce. As he cleaved his sword straight through the midsection of an oversized locust, his focus swerved over to one question: ''Where is he?'' He thought. As he spected the location of the malevolent being who wove the blitz of roots and locusts in the first ce, he immediately spun around and gripped his sword with both hands, unleashing a sh of his de that was imbued with a sh of fire: "Cinder Strike." The spot he had struck is where the Devil Spriggan had suddenly emerged from the soil behind him, managing tond a direct hit against the monstrous entity. "Nnrah!" The Devil Spriggan let out in pain. Though he had left a gash on the bark flesh of the spriggan, the mes he had bathed it in were siphoned by the roses on its body. "Adventurers like you are a challenge, but the mana¡­the mana that flows through your veins will be a delicacy when I consume you!" The Devil Spriggan said before spreading its limbs. The scarlet roses that bloomed from its body had what resembled bright-red veins stretched across their petals, shuttering violently before¨CFWOOSH. "--!" He barely dodged it by moving his head to the side: a highly-pressurized beam of crimson liquid shot from one of the veiny roses on the spriggan''s body. Every rose on its body released this fast, scathing liquid as they shot in every direction, cutting through the sturdy bark of old trees and stone alike. Emilio conjured a wall of stone in front of himself with a raise of his hand, though it didn''tst long as it began melting away as if the rocky form of the barrier was resolved to nothing more than mud. ''An anti-magic property? Maybe,'' he considered. Being forced to evade the reach of the all-out, unaimed beams of blood as the Devil Spriggan yelled out, continuing to erge the blooming roses all over its body, he attempted to summon the draconic power within him to aid his physical endeavors. [--] It was nk. That fiery sensation that lived within the depths of his being that he always called upon did not listen to his will; though he could feel the power of the System still amplifying him naturally, it would not activate in full. ''My System isn''t activating? Now of all times?'' He realized. Though it was concerning to not have the full strength of the Dragonheart System responding to his call, for the moment, he had to push on as he was forced to continue dodging. He flipped around, imbuing himself with a spell to somewhat make up for theck of draconic power. The subtle wind encircled his body like a protective veil, granting him swiftness and a deterrent if the blood beams got too close, repelling them: "Cloak of The Free". ''I need to get close¨Cif it can cut through magic easily, I''ll need to cut it down,'' he nned. It was easier said than done though to reach the Devil Spriggan who warped the Scarlet Forest to its will; locusts intercepted him as he tried to get close, cutting through the insects before having to duck and flip over the crimson beams. "Tch¨C!" He had to leap up just as the ground beneath him shattered; the soil parted as a dozen of spiked roots lunged towards him like the ungodly fingers of the ursed forest. He momentarily tossed his sword into his left hand before rearing his metallic arm back, allowing the essence of fire to flood itself through his artificial limb. "Rah!" While facing downward after having leapt up, he mmed his palm down as he unleashed a projection of his own hand, forged of swift, decimating fire that crushed and burned away the roots below. An imprint the size of an acre had been left on the Scarlet Forest; a palm-shaped crater that charred foliage. Chapter 393 Trickling Fear Just as hended back down, he was immediately being locked onto by the beams of crimson liquid that curved to follow him, forcing him to maneuver with such finesse that would put an acrobatic to shame. ''It''s unrelenting¨CI need to get close, now!'' He realized. Forsaking any semnce of restraint in that moment, he saw an opportunity to counter as he slipped past the scalding liquid for just a second, stomping down as he pointed his fist in the direction of the Devil Spriggan. Unleashed forward wererge-scale slices of wind that tunneled forward, chopping through theyers of roots that the spriggan manifested as a defense. Though the sharpness of the wind failed to reach the monster, it was an opening for him still as he rushed in, being attacked from all angles again by more locusts and rose buds. "--" Focusing himself, he stayed true to the Mountain God Style¨Cstaying level-headed and observing his surroundings moment-by-moment as he efficiently chopped through the fiends between him and his enemy. "Ghh¨C" Amidst his rush, an unforeseen attack came from a distance¨Ca sharpened branch stabbed into his wrist, stretching itself like a web beneath his skin as it attempted to extend. Before allowing it to enter his body like a parasite, he grabbed onto it with his metallic hand, imbuing mes directly through the branch before reducing it to cinders. As he looked over from where the attack came from, he could see that the Devil Spriggan had extended one of its fingers into the long-distance spear, hiding behind roots. ''Alright¨CI''m ending this,'' he decided. Wordlessly, he invoked the destructive unison of both water and nature magic within a single moment: "Rush of The Apex Hunters". Through the torn ground of the red-leaved forest, a swarm of hammer-head sharks made of mud swam forth, rising up and bulldozing through trees as they rushed the spriggan with fearsome power. "Nrgh¨C?!" The Devil Spriggan witnessed the mystical approach. The mud-born predators crushed everything in their way, leaving scarlet-leaved trees toppling and trails of mud through the surface before reaching the spriggan. None of the liquid beams hit the sharks, leaving the bark-skinned entity to be repeatedly struck and bitten onto by the magic-made predators. "You¡­!" Closing in with his sword in hand, engulfing it in an enchantment of fire, Emilio breathed in before swiping his sword forth, carving through the Devil Spriggan as the edge of his fiery steel cleaved through its grotesque form. "--" All at once, the chaos in the blood-red forest went silent as the spriggan''s form of moss and bark fell apart with the taking of its life. "You can rest now, Jaeger," he quietly said, sheathing his sword. A tiresome fight it had been, leaving him to move on as he wandered around the unique forest in search of a path again. The deceit of the Devil Spriggan weighed on his mind, finding it hard to differentiate truth from falsehoods as he still believed that the monster posing as the already dead hunter may not have been lying about the identity of "Inconnu"--which was a problem in its own. Even more, he was perplexed by his inability to call upon his System forms. ''I can feel it inside of me. That me is there, but it feels like it''s just¡­asleep? It''s refusing to awaken for some reason¡­I wonder what''s wrong with me,'' he thought. Still, he moved on, pushing through the autumn-like forest. Pushing through a bundle of crimson trees, he finally found something past the Scarlet Forest¨Ca sight unlike anything he''d seen. There was a massive valley between mountains, upied by a horned skull that was the size of an entire mountain itself, caked in moss and weathered by time. ''That''s¡­a skull? Something that big once was¡­alive?'' He thought in disbelief. It didn''t appear to have an animalistic shape; perhaps truly unnerving was the fact that it resembled that of a human skull. As he slid down the slope that led into the rocky valley, leaving the bounds of the ursed forest, he couldn''t help but stare in awe at the skull thatid ahead. It seemed to serve as some sort of passageway between the mountains or a domain in itself as he noticed the jaw of the ancient head was missing, leaving a path forward. The closer he got to the skull, therger it seemed as he looked up, finding the towering, ringed horns that extended upward from it to pierce the clouds themselves as the rainfall continued beating down on the dirt path. It was moments like these that the fantastical nature of Arcadius felt exhrating all over again, though such feelings were dulled by the grief that still gued his heart like a nightly storm. "Master." Manifesting by his side with a serious look in his eyes was one of his Soulbound Spirits¨Cthe red-haired, well-dressed man: Gavill. It wasn''t a rare urrence that his spirits would summon themselves, but most of the time, they only did so when it was necessary. "What is it?" Emilio looked over. Gavill was looking towards the ominous, mountainous skull in the near distance, "I sense something¡­odd about that monument." "Is it bad?" "I can''t pinpoint it, I''m sorry¡­" Gavill said as a droplet of sweat slid down his cheek, "I can''t say for certain if it''s a malicious force I sense, but it''s something abnormal." "Well, this is the only lead I have on any sort of path," Emilio folded his arms over his chest in consideration. Gavill looked at him, stepping closer, "Master, what I sense from that monument is¡­a simr sensation to that unique power you possess¨Ca ''System''." "What?" Emilio''s eyes widened briefly. It was an unexpected bit of information given to him, but one that made his blood run hot with a feeling that crossed between nervousness and excitement. The prospect of another System wielder led him to only one conclusion¨Cthat somehow, by ident or fate, he had found the figure he had sought out: "Excelsior". "You can go," Emilio said kindly, beginning to walk towards the gargantuan skull again. Gavill nodded, cing his hand over his own chest, "As you wish. However, if you need assistance, we will aid you without hesitation. "Thanks," he responded. The Soulbound Spirit vanished, leaving Emilio moving towards the mountainous skull as the air itself seemed to brush against his skin with a different feeling now that he knew what to expect. It went without saying that he moved with his guard up, keeping his hand close to his sheathed sword as he kept his eyes on the mountainous skull. As he came close to the entrance of the mouth, the age of the dormant skull could be seen; the weathering of rain, luscious, moist moss and nests from birds that used it as a home. ''...Who or what am I going to find in here? Gavill said the presence he senses was simr to a System like mine¡­Does that mean I''ll find another person like me? A Reincarnator? Somehow, I can''t help but feel wary when looking at this skull,'' he thought. Entering the depths of the ancient, ivory structure, he found it to be a sort of ruin in itself thaty within the giant skull; there were pirs built, carved into statues of beings he did not recognize¡ªarmored and holding weapons; their monuments were weathered by age all the same. There were torches attached to the curving walls of the skull''s interior, granting a slight illuminance to the quiet, foreboding area. "--" Emilio slowly walked through, looking around. Most of the light came from the center, seeping in through a hole in the mountainous skull at the very top that allowed both the light of day and rainfall drop through. As he reached this center area, he found that he was standing on a slightly-elevated tform, turning to look around as he found an unnerving scenery around him. ''What¡­is this?'' He questioned. Around the stone tform he stood on, he found there to be horned skeletons knelt on the ground, worshiping the spot he stood; these long dead beings were dark robes, worn by the weathering of time, yet somehow still kept in their worshiping positions. What these fallen beings worshiped was unknown to him as he felt a chill trickle along his spine before turning around, finding just what it was that seemed to spawn such reverence: "--!" He backed away, momentarily frightened by the figure he did not notice standing directly behind him. Though as he was about to unleash either his sword or magic upon it, he found that it was simply a statue: a humanoid figure, half imnted into a lonely wall, devoid of a face but wearing horns, was the worshiped statue. ''A statue?...Why are they worshiping this? It''s¡­faceless. Could it be¡­no,'' he thought. The atmosphere within the skull-inhabiting cult grounds was thick and full of an enigma that caused goosebumps to form along his body as he looked around once more, seeing the robed skeletons that prayed to the statue. ''To end up like that, they must have willingly died, staying in those positions for a long time before giving themselves to¡­whatever this is. Just what sort of group is this? Are they all dead?'' He questioned. Chapter 394 Lair Of Enigma More and more, he felt as though he was walking along a path set for him¨Cthe thought of which filled him with an anxiety simr to the gaze of Primordials. As he looked up towards the hole in the ivory ceiling, he ced it together. ''Those two who attacked me before¡­They said they were a part of the Children of Chaos. More than that, I wasn''t sent here for no reason, was I?...There is nothing random about it. Was I supposed to find this? Is there something in Ennage they are hoping I encounter?'' He considered. It went without saying that thest thing he wanted to do was appease the goals of the dreadful duo that had assaulted his home. This theory of his unwanted transport to Ennage loomed over him as he explored the interior of the nebulous skull. There was undoubtedly something dreadful about the domain within the old, colossal skull; the weird markings that were unintelligible to him as he passed by pirs of weathered stone, and the skeletons thatid in death. "--" Approaching a corner of the mountainous skull were a series of carvings had been etched into the aged ivory, he found himself able to somewhat recognize the symbols; robed figures, fire¨Can abundance of fire that ate away at civilization, and in the middle of it¨C ''What is that¡­? How?'' He thought. In the middle of the cultist carvings was one figure that made his stomach sink: a draconic man that bore the mes that ate away at everything around it. Around the draconic figure were shrouded figures¨Cinhuman and enigmatic, seeming to arrive after the destructive mes had been released. There was no doubt by the weathering of the material and the age of the carvings that they were decades old, perhaps even centuries, yet he knew without a doubt who that draconic figure represented. Even if he wanted to deny it, try to rationalize a different possibility, he knew that the thought guing his mind was the truth. It was him. ''Why am I written here¡­? How would they even know about me? What does this mean?'' He questioned. All of it was far too much to take in or even to try to begin to understand, leaving him backing away as he got arger perspective on the entirety of that wall: the carvings of mes were everywhere; represented through the etchings were entire cities burning away, countless people being swarmed by the ze, eaten by it¨Cutter destion. ''No¡­I would never do something like this. It''s wrong. It has to be,'' he thought. Though he knew internally that something like that was possible. It was a lie to himself to try and believe otherwise. As he attempted to assure himself, the memory yed on repeat of his mind at the own bacsh of his powers: that image of holding his dying mother in his arms. ''...Am I capable of something like this? This much destruction¡­Is this what the Dragonheart is? I can''t let it out, then. I won''t. Not until I know for sure¡­not until I know I can prevent this,'' he decided, ''Seeing something like this¡­The chances of it. It''s not random. It''s not a coincidence. Something is guiding me¡­Is the path I''m walking predetermined, or am I following the wishes of something I can''t perceive?'' What he stumbled upon could not be a mistake or coincidence, yet as he stood there in shock at the information etched into the interior of the giant skull, "something" else made itself known in the mysterious area with him. Each step through the dimly-lit, ivoryir echoed against his ears, finding it toe from the portion up ahead he had yet to check. He kept his hand by his sword, moving back to the center of the unorthodox tunnel. ''Is this the one that Gavill warned me about? The person with a signature of a System?...I don''t have a good feeling about this,'' he thought, readying himself. As he stood his ground in the face of the nebulous steps, watching the path of abundant darkness up ahead that his sight could not pierce through, the echoing of steps came to a stop. It was unnerving to have the singr sense he relied on in the unknown, foreign situation be suddenly swept away. "Smander," he whispered. Invoking the fiery-red lesser spirit, he brought upon ayer of light that surpassed the dim, almost useless torches. As the reddish illumination of the lesser spirit stretched itself forth, bringing rity to his sense of sight, he found¨Cnothing. Just as he let out a breath of relief¨C "Ngh!" Before he could draw his sword, he was tackled from the left, lunging at and grabbed onto by something unknown. Before he knew it, he was mmed against one of the ivory walls, pushing back against whatever it was that had tackled him. "Y-y-y-y-you!" Stammering out a hiss of a word, what spoke to him was a robed figure,rge and disfigured with a face of old, wrinkled skin, seeming beyond the normal lifespan of a being. The horned figure already seemed like a walking corpse; sunken in, unseen eyes and non-existent lips that frantically stuttered. "What the hell do you want¡­?!" Emilio asked. "I-i-i-it''s you¡­!" The maddened figure clenched his arms tightly, shaking their head side-to-side rapidly as they continued stammering out unintelligible sounds. Having enough, Emilio pushed the robed figure back without any restraint, forcibly sending them flying across the tunnel. "Get away¨C!" Though he wanted to ask questions, considering those robes were the same as the dead worshipersid out throughout the area, the push itself seemed to take any possibility of that away. CRACK As the wrinkled, horned figure was knocked against the other side of the tunnel, their body went limp and frantically whispered left their lips before¨Csilence. "--" Emilio carefully walked over, trying not to be suddenly grabbed onto again as he knelt down, checking on the enigmatic figure. There was no mistaking it as he poked at their body: ''They''re dead¡­Was this who Gavill warned me about? No, that can''t be. A Reincarnator couldn''t die that easily,'' He thought. The discovery of the mountainous skull came with far more than he could have ever predicted to find, though all he wanted now was to find the exit on the other end. Even for him, through the nightmarish bounds he explored, the enigmaticir he found himself in was a ce he did not want to stay; the echoes of noises unknown, the old, robed skeletons that littered the ce, and the dreadful atmosphere of it all. Yet, beyond all of the unknown oddities of the deathly ce, it somehow felt as though the ce was alive; as if it expected him. ''I need to get out of here. I feel like the longer I stay here¡­the more my brain gets tied into knots,'' he thought. Forcing himself to continue onward as each step of his boots echoed off of the ancient, ivory walls, the tunnel of darkness didn''t reveal a light at the end of the path; there was not an exit through the neighboring mountains as he had expected. "--" He looked at whatid beyond. There was a wide, ominous descent of stairs that led downward into an area he couldn''t perceive through the gathering of shadows, even with the glow of Smander beside him. When thinking rationally, the first thought that came to his mind was the obvious danger that could dwell in such unknown. Yet, again, he felt an odd force that almost tugged at his own will; gnawing at the boundless curiosity that dwelled on his mind with the intrigue of enigma alluring him. There were questions he needed answered; the faceless statue, the dead worshipers, and the carvings that represented the Dragonheart. ''What will I find down here¡­? Just what is all of this?'' He questioned. The cold air brushed against his fingertips as he stood there, questioning what he should do before finding the allure of his questions and curiosities being answered guiding his feet to descend the stairs. Tap. Tap. Tap. Every step he took echoed greatly, traveling down the dark steps as even the light of Smander was swallowed by the deep, foreboding darkness. He cast the lesser spirit away, opting not to risk giving himself away as he descended. It was a long descent; the stairs numbered likely in the hundreds. For a moment, he stopped, looking back as he couldn''t see the start of the stairs from which he came¨Conly darkness behind him, just as there was in front. The air was thin, inteced with a darkness that crept on the back of his throat like the bitter taste of coal. It was thisck of light that was so abundant and overbearing that he didn''t realize he reached the bottom level of the stairs before his boots stepped down upon something new¨Ca shallow puddle that sshes upon his arrival. "Huh?" As if a mist parted itself, the bountiful darkness left as he arrived at the bottom of the nebulous stairs, revealing where he had arrived: there was a vast, seemingly boundless, shallow sea that was no higher than a few inches. Chapter 395 Nostalgic Stranger A fog made the boundaries of this enigmatic domain unknown, surrounding the shallow sea as he walked in awe and caution. upying the mysticalir were more statues that were deprived of faces, some missing limbs and some propped up by nothing but the air itself. It seemed disconnected from the area he hade from; remote from the darkness, unfitting of something that existed underground, yet eerie all the same¨Cperhaps more so. ''What is this ce¡­?'' He questioned. Nothing about it made sense; there was a part of it that felt hauntingly beautiful, though he couldn''t help but feel that he had entered something he shouldn''t have. The chills that crept along his skin, the rise of goosebumps on his body, and the tingling up his spine allowed no doubt in his mind: this was a ce connected to Primordials, in some way or another. In the near distance, he found a point of interest¨Cthere was arge, broken wall that stood, seeming to be etched with letters and symbols he couldn''t make out from where he was. However, what he found is that he wasn''t alone here; there was one person sitting in front of that wall, looking upon it silently. "--" He stayed silent, slowly approaching as he remained wary. The ambience of the fantastical, eerie territory was filled by the sound of distant waves, though none could be seen throughout the shallow sea. It didn''t feel like an "evil" ce, nor did it feel benevolent or weing; it was mystifying. The only thing he could liken the feel of it to was the Quandary bridge he had crossed¡ªthat vague realm between life and death. As he walked by the faceless statues, he could feel a prying gaze watching him, even devoid of eyes. On the palm of his hand, he could feel the six-pointed star seal heating up, burning as he looked at it briefly. The way that the seal that represented his contract with his Soulbound Spirits heated up as if a brand was pressing against the skin of his palm felt as though his spirits were trying to forcibly manifest, but were unable to. Still, he pressed on, finding himself seeking answers, even if it meant confronting that which he would rather not. "You''re here." ¨CHe stopped in his tracks as the shallow water swished around his boots, stopping as the figure ahead of him spoke. It was hard to tell if the voice belonged to a man or a woman; an androgynous, but gravelly voice as if the speaker''s throat was worn out. They hadn''t turned to face him, still looking towards the ominous wall without having moved an inch. "What is this ce?" He asked. Slowly, the figure stood up, wearing tight, ck pants and a sleeveless shirt of the same shade with pale arms covered in burn scars. The slight, but lightly muscr build of the figure gave him an idea of their gender, though it was confirmed as they turned to face him. "A seal," the stranger answered. There was no doubt that what he looked at was the fair face of a woman, though the upper, right side of her face was also burned; she had short, silver hair and eyes that looked tired. ''A seal?'' He thought. What was more pressing on his mind was how the figure had greeted him, prompting him to ask another question, "...You spoke as if you were expecting me. Who are you?" The short-haired, scarred woman looked tiredly towards him, looking up and off into the distance unseen by the fog, "That''s right. I did have a name. It''s been a long time since I''ve spoken or even thought of it." There was something off about the way the scarred, muscr womanposed herself, seeming disconnected and unfocused, as if having spent countless time engrossed in something else. He couldn''t hear what she had whispered, though he didn''t need to as the mysterious woman made eye contact with him, giving him the answer he wanted: "Excelsior Mytheart." That name brought him to a pause as the context of who he was looking at and speaking to changed, though he didn''t know how to feel about it. "Excelsior?..." He repeated the name given to him, "I¨C" "You''re the one that Ash-boy died for," Excelsior interrupted him. The unexpected remark caused him to stop himself from speaking as those words sunk deep into him; already swallowed by grief, such a thing said hit him critically. Excelsior moved closer as her steps caused tiny ripples in the shallow water, stopping as they could see each other more clearly now, "Emilio Dragonheart." "...How do you know it''s me? Why does it sound like you''ve been expecting me?" He asked. The questions he brought past his lips were one that already had a potential answer etched into his mind as he was already suspiciousing in, finding the figure in such an ursed ce. "Let me ask you this first: what do you think is going on here?" Excelsior asked. Of course, the conclusion he had in his mind was simple: the woman was aligned with the enemy. This natural thought kept his hand close to his sheathed sword, filling the air with tension as the battle-hardened woman seemed to notice his raised guard. "I was sent here by two who called themselves the ''Children of Chaos''--what I know is that they destroyed my home and took away something precious to me," Emilio answered, "I''ll ask you this once: are you in line with them?" Excelsior stared at him for a few seconds before turning her gaze towards one of the faceless statues that neighbored them, "What do you believe?" "--" Emilio didn''t answer until a momentter, "I believe I can''t trust you one way or another. I can''t seem to trust anything in thisnd." "Good answer," Excelsior pointed at him. "What?" Though he was prepared to draw his de at the slightest sign of the woman''s affiliation being tied to the nebulous group, he instead found her quickly giving him a different answer: "Thend of Ennage is treacherous and unweing in its wilnds. We''re in the heart of that right now," Excelsior told him before moving closer, standing at even height with him, "I have been hunting the Children of Chaos for over a decade now." "You have¡­?" "I am not your enemy; we share amon one¨Cthe Children of Chaos are a force of evil that seek our kind out¨C''Reincarnators''. If you''re wondering why, all I can give you is my best guess," Excelsior said. "And that is?" "Our Systems. They bypass the naturalws of thisnd and can ess power beyond normal limitations. What the Children of Chaos seek is that power¨Cfor reasons I haven''t uncovered yet. They''re not only elusive, but they''re eager to die rather than rat out their ideology," Excelsior told him, "If you''re hoping I can tell you all about the Children of Chaos, don''t get your hopes up. They''re still an enigma to me, even now. Though what I can tell you is that, without a doubt, they''re the enemy. They''ve taken a lot. Not just from you or me. Death isn''t even a punishment for them¨Cthey''re beyond just evil." He could tell as he listened to the woman and watched her pace along the shallow water of the unknown domain¨Cshe was thoroughly tired, though from seeming years of stress. "You said this ce was a ''Seal''--for what?" He asked. "A Primordial," Excelsior answered. "--" Emilio''s heart skipped a beat. The woman looked towards the nebulous wall in front of both of them, "An aspect of a Primordial, to be clear. I know you''ve had your fair share of encounters with them¨Cso you know that it''s best if it stays sealed." "Yeah¡­How do you know all this? About me, I mean," he asked. It was a fair question, especially considering the fact that it sounded as if Excelsior had a deep understanding of the trials he had gone through despite no possible way of having perceived any of it. "The An Oracle," Excelsior answered. "Oracle?" Excelsior looked at him, "There is a lot you don''t know about this world," she continued, "the Oracle foretold your arrival here, so I came by early and found¡­this." That was the question of the hour still; the existence of this Primordial-binding seal was something otherworldly in itself, and downright horrifying in some aspects. "Asher told me to find you," Emilio said, "but why were you looking for me? Why does everybody seem to want something from me?" "Ash-boy was strong, but he wasn''t ready to face something like Dread yet. That''s my fault¨Cas his teacher." The words that came from the silver-haired woman caught him off-guard, "Wait, ''teacher''--you mean you taught Asher?" Excelsior didn''t answer, seeming to hold a sadness in her veteran gaze as she staved off any chance of tears before changing the subject back, "You asked what I wanted with you? I don''t know yet, to be honest." "Huh? Then why¨C" "What I do know is that the Children of Chaos really hold you to a high level of importance. Maybe not "you'' perse, but what lived within you¨Cthe Dragonheart''s strength," Excelsior said, pointing her finger against his chest, "My goal is to fuck up their ns. They''ve antagonized me and others like us for too long. I figure keeping you out of their hands and teaching you how to fight back against them is a pretty good way of doing that." Chapter 396 System Vs System "Teaching me¨C?" Emilio raised an eyebrow. "Ash-boy probably felt you could take his ce in the fight against the Children of Chaos. That''s why¡­he chose the path he followed. I''ll see for myself. I prefer to get hands on. I''ll evaluate what your current level is right now," Excelsior said, having a distinct sadness to her rough voice whenever speaking of Asher. Before there could be any sort of agreement between them or a warning, he could sense a shift in the air pressure as the water around Excelsior''s boots began to vibrate. ''Wait, is she¡­?'' He recognized. What enveloped the scarred woman was sleek, white armor that had ck lines running along it, outfitted with antlers atop its helm and boots that morphed into a shape resembling the hooves of a horse. "If you''re weak, then maybe killing you would be the right y," Excelsior said, "If your life holds value to the Children of Chaos, at bare minimum, I can prevent them from getting their hands on you." "Kill me?" Emilio raised an eyebrow. "That''s right. Prove to me you''re strong enough to be of merit alive," Excelsior said. [Mytheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 3/10 | Mythical Warrior] There was no chance to draw his sword before he was forced to flip to the side after the woman dashed the distance between them in an instant. "Hold on¨C! Should we be doing this here?! What about the seal?!" He asked. Being forced on the defense, he weaved through the swift blows that came his way, having to duck down as a spinning kick came from the armored woman. "Don''t worry about that. It won''t open from physical force!" Excelsior assured him. After rolling to the side while still not even sure why he was fighting, he found himself on the receiving end of an unidentified attack: as the Mytheart System wielder looked at him, a strange sensation bound him. It felt as though a shriek resonated against his ears in that split-second, imbuing an unknown mystification across his body. ''Can''t¡­move!'' He realized. He was petrified as if his skin had turned to stone, leaving him open to the merciless attack that came his way as Excelsior sunk her fist into his abdomen. After receiving the blow and being knocked back as he rolled across the shallow water, the paralysis wore off, allowing him to pick himself up. "That was cheap," he said. "Use your system," Excelsior told him. "I''m not sure I need to yet," he responded, readying himself as he inhaled and exhaled. For a moment, the woman was silent before a brief chuckle left from her mouth, prompting her to dash back in as Emilio responded in kind, amplifying himself with wind magic to keep up. ''The truth is, I can''t use my system right now¨CI can still feel the strength from my passive skills, but that''s about it. For now, I''ll have to make do with just myself,'' he thought. Continuously, he created diversions of stone and water to throw off the rapid attacks of Excelsior, backpedaling while shaping walls of stone to negate her attacks and create openings for himself. Still, it was hard to find an opening through the ferocity in which the woman fought. "--!" Excelsior unleashed a lightning bolt through the tip of her finger, lunging forth with a bright-emerald glow with terrifying speed, yet Emilio managed to evade it by just a hair, leaning back as the heat of the bolt just barely missed the tip of his nose. Some strands of hair were burned away in the process as the bolt narrowly missed, but he quickly responded with a spray of water bullets. "Hmpf!" Excelsior huffed out as she blocked the iing bullets of water with her own fists. The methods in which Excelsior attacked were strange¨Cthe fingers of her snow-white gloves turned into ws that had an extended reach, swiping by though Emilio dodged past him, responding with a counterattack: "Sonic Cannon". A direct propulsion of airpressed and released as apact shock wave mmed against the woman''s body, knocking her back, though she was quick to catch herself on her feet. As expected, the durability of a Reincarnator utilizing their system was something quite fearsome. "You''re as good of a mage as I''ve heard¨Cno, maybe better," Excelsior remarked. "You''re not bad, either," he responded. Now able to gain some footing, he manifested miniature tornados forged of both water, swirling with stone inside as he manipted their rotation with wind, creating a spell of trifecta elements that weaved the battlefield into his advantage. The wind howled, slicing across the stretch of shallow water repeatedly, sweeping through it as the ground rumbled and the air quaked; the temperature rose with the prominence of heat¨Canother element thrown into the cauldron. ''Let''s see how you handle this!'' Emilio thought. "Unnatural Disasters." An Emperor-ss spell, difficult through its simultaneous, high-level usage of multiple elements, but rewarded in its vast range of destruction and zoning capabilities. Each of these miniature, but still sizable tornados spun violently, weaving mist around their azure form as rocks were shot out from the rotational spin with cannon-like propulsions through the air. "Hah! Nice!" Excelsiorplimented. The woman was no less swift than Emilio, perhaps more so as she moved elegantly and precisely, able to keep low as she moved, evading the far-spread array of rocksunched in her way. Excelsior dashed in, attempting to close the distance on the magic-wielding man, though it was easier said than done with Emilio quickly guiding the spirals of stone-and-water, which were able to easily cut through steel. He made it difficult for her to maneuver around the lethally-rotating spirals of elements as well, manipting the environment with gusts of wind and tremors throughout the ground to make movement difficult. This was theplete nature of "Unnatural Disasters"--a spell that had a tyrannical hold of battlefield advantage. ["Unnatural Disasters" is a cklisted spell, as ordained by the Council of Arcane. A spell that unifies elements to conjure an oue akin to the forces of a natural disaster, woven and wielded by the caster. If used to its full potential, it can single handedly wipe out entire cities and end wars."] "Tch," Excelsior jumped back after nearly being caught between two of the spirals, "--!" More unexpected was the unconventional way in which the Dragonheart fought, dashing in and catching the woman off-guard as he took the fight to her, gripping his sword tightly as he swiped it forward with a massive enchantment of wind following his sh: "Mountain Carver: Wind''s ymore". The spell that was infused with the Mountain God Style technique created a sh of wind powerful enough to cause the air to violently howl, momentarily creating a split in the shallow sea before it healed itself. Excelsior blocked the attack through the manifestation of an unknown ability, creating a mirror shield that absorbed the wind pressure. ''That''s not any magecraft I recognize. It must be something to do with her system,'' he thought. ''A mage that isn''t afraid to fight close? I''m starting to like you, Emilio-boy,'' Excelsior thought. Attempting to understand what the true nature of the woman''s system was in the heat of battle was a challenge, especially considering the variety of attacks he founding his way: with a wave of her arm, Excelsior summoned gray-scaled hydras that sprouted from her limb. "--!" Ducking beneath their snapping jaws, he gripped his sword before invoking the unison of his sword and wind as dozens of unseen strikes cut through the trio of hydra heads. Just as quickly as he cut them down though, double the amount manifested, hissing at him with their mighty fangs. ''Regeneration?'' He thought. Evading the hydras, he flipped around before pping his hands together, invoking the water around him to vibrate and shutter before it rose into a half-dozen, burly, humanoid shapes: "Sentinels of The Iron Sea". Forged from the water he was surrounded by and reinforced by nature magic to be armored with stone, golems were raised around Emilio,bating the hydras with their magical bodies. Though the golems were able tobat the hydras, he found his focus not where it needed to be as the snow-white, armored figure appeared right in front of him. "Eyes on the prize," Excelsior said. Though he was able to raise his arms in a cross guard, reinforcing himself with protective mana, the force of Excelsior''s knuckles thundered through his body with unexpected force. The power of the blow instantly caused his forearms to swell and turn red, causing him to slide back as he winced. Excelsior was fast, spawning some sort of augmentation of her system as pearly wings sprouted from the ankles of her boots, guiding her swiftly as she attacked him ferociously. Though he was able to weave through most of the iing attacks, he was forced to block some; guarding against a high kick with his arm made the impact resonate throughout his entire body as if a train had mmed into him. "Hhhf¨C" As he conjured a pair of fireballs into each hand, tossing them forward as he leapt back, the ming pair pierced forth with the speed of bullets and size of boulders, though Excelsior responded by altering one of her fists into a giant, stone-like form. FWOOOSH With a m of her augmented fist against the ground, the system wielder produced a shock wave powerful enough to vanquish the iing mes. ''...It''s hard to notice until I''m on the other side of it: system wielders are monsters,'' He thought. Chapter 397 Excelsior There was no doubt about it: when it came to raw power, it felt as though it was impossible to surmount the gap with just magical reinforcement against a system''s stages. Still, through the usage of a veil of wind around himself and optimizing his reinforcement, he could at least perceive and react to Excelsior''s attacks. "Arondight!" Excelsior invoked an unknown technique. Dashing across the shallow water with speed not unlike a bolt of lightning, Excelsior manifested arge, gold-and-tinum greatsword into her hands, nearly catching him off-guard before he manifested a grandiose spell in the form of giant, ming arms that sprouted from beside him. Excelsior spun around before mming the enigmatic sword down after having leapt up, producing a roaring shock wave that was blocked by the armored, ming arms. It was a sh of power; the strength of Excelsior''s ymore versus the durability of his spell. "Second impact!" Excelsior invoked. ¨CFrom the edge of the mystical de, a secondary pulse emitted, breaking through the blockade of fiery limbs before the shock wave smacked against Emilio, briefly stunning him. Being pushed, feeling some ounce of pain through his body triggered him to begin taking this bout seriously as his mana signature spiked. The water violently rippled around Emilio as his dense, magical energy became visible through its sheer quantity. The bruises on his arms healed instantly, noticed by Excelsior who was surprised by the sheer mastery of magecraft wielded by the Dragonheart. Even more impressive was the supreme aura that surrounded Emilio, spiraling into existence around him like a hurricane. "Woah there," Excelsior remarked quietly, "That''s some aura you''ve got. You''ve been holding out this entire time, haven''t you?" "It''s not an insult to you¨CI always have to suppress myself. If I don''t, who knows what will be destroyed," he exined quietly. Following up as he nned to weave a destructive fit of fire magic at the palms of his hands, the boundless sea around him began evaporating throughyers of steam at the sublime heat. The level of destruction that was building up was that of the highest level of magecraft; spurring a crimson glow that expanded through the domain and even pushed Excelsior back through the sheer volume of heat alone. Excelsior raised her hand amidst the vortex of heat, witnessing the foundations of the chaotic spell being woven. The heat of the mes continued exponentially increasing, violently roaring as the shade of red brightened, turning into a deep-purple glow. ''If he releases that spell, it could bring everything around us down,'' Excelsior thought. He was about to unleash the powerful spell up close and personal against the woman before¨C "Alright, that''s enough." ¨CExcelsior''s words stopped him as the woman''s guard dropped, ending the fight right then and there as Emilio looked at her, relinquishing his magic. "Something like that might actually harm the seal¡­or get one of us seriously hurt," Excelsior remarked. The woman''s armor dismantled itself naturally as she looked at him with tired eyes, though holding a smile now, "You pass¨Cwith flying colors, I might add." "Really? That''s it?" He asked in surprise. "If you''re that capable without using your system, then that''s enough for me. You went pretty hard for just a sparring match, but I dig that. I like you, Emilio," Excelsior smiled, giving him a pat on the chest. "Guess I''m just a savant," he yfully said. Excelsior had a half-cocked smile, "Well, I took it easy on ya, so don''t get the wrong idea. Ash-boy never once beat me in a mock battle, you know. ''205-0'' is my record." "Never? That''s an insane record. You''d be a boxing legend," he remarked. Thatment spurred augh from the woman, "You''re a funny guy, Emilio. I can see why Ash-boy felt inclined to do what he did." Though he wanted to get out of the mystical domain they were in, the Reincarnator who seemed to have him beat in both experience and wisdom declined that idea. "We need toy low here¨Cjust for the rest of the day or so," Excelsior said, sitting down on the shallow water. He hesitantly sat down near her as well, though not feeling veryfortable in the mystical domain, "Sure, but¡­why?" "There are some pretty troublesome people after both of us. They''re passing through this region of Ennage today¨CI learned that from the oracle as well," Excelsior said, "Trust me, it''s better to let them pass than to confront them." The realm around them was quiet and secluded; a good ce toy low and allow time to pass as it was certainly a far-off ce to search for anybody. Even more, it seemed Excelsior had woven a barrier around the descent into the seal to prevent anybody from stumbling upon it while they were there. "Alright, but what''s after that? I need to get back to my family," he asked. "I know, and I''ll help you with that¨CI can promise that much," the short-haired woman told him, looking into his eyes as the promise was unmistakably genuine, "Actually, I almost forgot¨Csomebody else will be joining us." "Huh? Who?" He asked curiously. "Another one like us¨Ca Reincarnator. Not just anybody, either. Bastian Seraphheart¨Cthe "Strongest Reincarnator"--or so some im. A pretty cocky title, if you ask me, " Excelsior told him with a shrug of her shoulders, seeming somewhat sour on the named figure. "The strongest? Just how many of us are out there?" He asked. "Who knows. Bastian has been looking for you, actually. I''m just here in the meantime to help you out while you''re on Ennage, he''s the real one that''s going to train you up," Excelsior exined, "Seems there''s big ns in store for you, Emilio-boy." There was still a lot he didn''t know, and while it was quite a bit to take in, some pieces began fitting together, namely what sort of threat the mysterious group¨Cthe "Children of Chaos"--posed. ''That group seems to have a focus on Reincarnators. Those faceless statues¡­I wonder if they''re linked to the Faceless God? Either way, that means it''s best to ally with the others. Excelsior seems trustworthy¨CAsher told me as much. This "Bastian" figure¡­the strongest of us? I want to meet him,'' he thought. There wasn''t all that much to do to pass the time while sitting in the fog-filled seal, looking upon the statues and wandering around as hours passed. He found the short-haired woman once again sitting in front of the mysterious wall, gazing intently at it as he stood beside her. "What is this? You''ve been eyeing it pretty hardcore," he asked. "That''s what I''m trying to figure out," Excelsior answered, putting her hand to her chin. Sitting down beside the woman, he looked over at her, "So¡­your system, what is it, anyway? I couldn''t figure it out." "Yeah? Give it a guess." "I mean, if our names are anything to go off of, with Dragonheart, Devilheart, and you''re "Mytheart"--then your system has something to do with myths, right? That''s kind of vague, though," he said. Excelsior had a small smile before answering, "You''re correct. I have the ''Mytheart System''--it gives me the ability to summon aspects of mythical creatures from our own world''s folklore to empower myself. Pretty sick, right?" Showcasing a portion of the power from her system, Excelsior raised her hand as she was able to momentarily morph her fist into what resembled the talons of a griffin¨Clong, sharp, and deadly. "Totally awesome," he agreed with a smallugh. Excelsior extended her hand to him, "Listen. I can get you home, but I''d like to extend an offer to you as well: an opportunity to take out those who are responsible for what happened in your hometown. For what happened to your mother." "--" Emilio looked at her hand. "The Children of Chaos are elusive, powerful, and quite honestly, freaky as hell. But unless we act, we''ll have to live under constant threat from them. You''re not alone in this. There are others like us out there¨Clet''s take the fight to them," Excelsior said. He epted her hand, shaking it firmly, "I''m in." "d to hear it," Excelsior smiled with a wink. At least for the moment, he was able to experience some call as he made progress through the unknown¨Cfinding some answers and getting his mind off of the anxiety and guilt he had been weighed down over. "You''re from Earth, too, huh?" He muttered out while sitting there. "''Course. My original name was Hua Mei. I was from China," Excelsior told him, "Usually, it''s a bit of bad taste to ask a Reincarnator about their past life, but I don''t care and I''m guessing you don''t either. He shook his head, "I''ve never had the chance to really¡­you know, talk about it?" "You were with Ash-boy, right?" Excelsior asked. "Well, yeah. The thing is, we never really had time to talk about anything. We were constantly fighting for our lives, it felt like," he exined. A smallugh came from the woman as she rested her arms over her knees while sitting, looking up towards the wall in front of them. "That sounds like him. Always a straightforward guy," Excelsior said. Emilio looked at her for a moment, noticing that glisten in her hazel eyes whenever the subject changed to Asher. Chapter 398 Darkness Itself "Ethan Bellrose¨Cthat''s my old name," Emilio told her. "Ethan? Let me guess¨Cyou were originally from the United States?" Excelsior touched her chin. He nodded, "Yup. If you don''t mind me asking, why''d youe here? It''s a big leap to leave behind your old life." Excelsior smiled, scratching her head, "Well¡­let''s just say I wasn''t exactly in the best spot financially. I was swarmed with debt, and I had made a lot of pretty bad enemies in the process. If I''m being honest, my "old body" has probably been chopped to pieces and sold on the ck market¨Cwell, a long time ago now." Somehow, the scarred woman stillughed while telling a story that didn''t feel lighthearted in the least, but it seemed that to be par for the course with the hardened woman. "That''s pretty rough," he lightly chuckled. "Right? Anyway, what about you? What''s your reason foring to this chaotic world?" Excelsior asked. Thinking back on it when asked that question, there was still a small part of him that felt as though it was being constricted when recalling that painful, past life of his. Still, after what he''d gone through and experienced, he could look back at the life he had lived with an open mind. "I was born with a weak body¨Cthat''s an understatement, to be honest," he chuckled lightly, looking at his hands, "The sunlight burned my skin, my bones were as brittle as ss, and the air was toxic to me. To me, living was hell." "...Damn, I thought I had it rough. You were letting mein like I was with the best of ''em," Excelsior yfully said with a sigh, rubbing her own head. "It''s not a contest," he assured with augh. There was a weight he didn''t even know existed on his shoulders, lifting itself as he was finally able to talk about a truth that he couldn''t share with any others on Arcadius. In that moment, it was a relief that couldn''t be found anywhere else; a reprieve found in the strangest corners of the world, though one he epted gratefully. There was a lot of time to pass apparently¨Clikely an entire day while staying put as enemies of the two passed by their hideout, so with that in mind, he decided to put that time to some use as he looked over at the woman. "So¡­how much do you know about me?" He asked. "Cliffnotes," Excelsior shrugged, looking at his metal arm, "How ''bout telling me how you get that rad arm there?" "It''s a long one, but¡­sure," he nodded with a smile. Being able to share stories of his journeys with others was the greatest fulfillment for him; it was proof of the life he had lived, the proper enjoyment and experiences he had garnered, and the fact that the abandonment of his first life did not go to waste. He shared the story of his adventure to bing a world-ss adventurer, along with his time in death. "Ash-boy¡­He did all of that for you, huh," Excelsior quietly said before looking up, "It''s not that I don''t think he''s kind, but he''s always been somewhat to himself. The After¡­It sounds like he''ll be happy there with those friends of yours. That''s a relief." "Yeah, I can still contact them actually," he said. "Wait, really? How''s that work?" Excelsior asked. He pointed to the seal etched onto his artificial arm, "I can exchange letters through this seal. If you ever want to send something to Asher, don''t hesitate to ask." "I''ll probably take you up on that, then. Thanks, Emilio-boy," Excelsior smiled. Though the tales of his journey were certainly grandiose and almost seemed fabricated to the uninitiated, Excelsior didn''t doubt him in the slightest, though it was clear that the woman had experiences of her own that disallowed her to doubt him. "You''ve encountered a few aspects already, then. Not just Dread," Excelsior noted. "Yeah. I''m not really a fan of increasing my encounters, though. Each one is just¡­they''re wildly powerful in their own right. Actually that reminds me¡­" He said, putting his hand to his chin. "Got something on your mind?" Excelsior looked at him. He recalled the dead city he had gone through, and the unseen, unfound creature that had left it in such a state. Somehow it had left his mind¨Cthough recalling it ced a ghastly chill upon his body. "Have you been through the city near here recently?" He asked. "Huh? Nope, can''t say I have. I came in through the mountains after visiting the oracle. Why? What''s up?" Excelsior asked. "...That city, it''s been wiped outpletely. I think¡­it was probably the work of an aspect," he theorized. A dismayed expression came over the scarred woman''s face as she stood up, looking down at him as the information given to her seemed to be dire, "Wiped out? Did you see it?" "I didn''t," he shook his head, standing up as well, "By the time I found the city, everybody was already dead. But, something did give me a name¡­I don''t know if it''s really a reputable source, though." "Wait¨CEmilio, don''t say it!" At that moment, for some reason inexplicable to him, he waspelled to speak the name, "Inconnu." Through the single utterance of that name, the expression on Excelsior''s face dropped as the environment they were in followed suit¨Ca deathly chill came through before the light within the realm itself dimmed. "What was that?" Emilio looked around, feeling a chill creep up on his spine. p¦Á§ád¦Á-¨¾?¦Í¨º|¡¤§ã¨®§® Excelsior immediately readied herself, checking on the barrier she had ced around the hidden domain, "That name you spoke of¨Cit does belong to an aspect of a Primordial. Just mentioning it¡­it seemed it''s been tailing you. The moment you said its name, you gave it authority to enter this area." "It was following me¡­? Why?" "Reincarnators like us, well, aspects are like moths to our me. But I doubt that''s its main reason¨Cit probably wants to break the seal around its "friend" here," Excelsior warned, "Inconnu is the aspect of Darkness¨Cit''s a wildly powerful entity that has remained untouchable in thisnd for centuries. It''d be best to consider it a level above the others you''ve faced. We''re going to fight it here." "Right here? Right now?" He asked. The answer to his question came from the woman invoking her system right in front of him, armoring herself in the mythical, snow-white armor. It had a different appearance this time; bearing a tinum scarf that seemed to be made out of beastly fur and gauntlets formed like ws. [Mytheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 5/10 | Mythical Keeper] The air had be thin and dense with an ancient malevolence that caused the fog to be more abundant before a dark mist began to fall through the staircase, descending into the shallow sea. Once again, that feeling entered the pits of his body, swirling in him with a dreadful sensation found nowhere else. It was the presence of something beyond human perception; a malice unequaled by man, beast, or monster. Darkness flooded through the domain, spreading like a silent smoke that quickly swept away the gift of sight from him. Without being able to ess his own system transformations, he felt almost naked amidst the overwhelming billow of darkness, drawing his sword and standing his ground as he stayed put. Tap. Tap. Tap. Footsteps echoed through the veil of obscurity; ominous and detached from any seen body, leaving him only able to wait as he stood there, looking around to find that he''d lost sight of hispanion. "Excelsior?" He called out. A few times, he repeated the name of the woman, though found no response as it seemed the ancient darkness carried his voice into nothingness. Absolute unknown. That''s what it was; a fog that existed both externally and internally¨Ca gue of mystery upon his mind that left him unable to perceive what was happening around him. ''What''s happening? Where is it? Where is she?'' He thought. Each breath that left his lips filled his ears; all other sounds were vacant now. There were no steps, no responses from the other person with him¨Csimply nothing but the silence and darkness that had swallowed the domain. Every minuscule movement he made caused the t water around him to lightly ripple, seeming as loud as the crashing of waves amidst the daunting situation. ''Another foe like the others¡­Nightmare, Dread, War¡­This time, it''s Darkness,'' he thought. As his sight was limited, he did his best to circumvent the suppression of his own senses as he lifted his swordless hand, summoning the five lesser spirits for both light and extra pairs of eyes to watch for the enemy. "Soulbound Spirit, to me," he ushered in with a whisper. There were no chances being taken in the face of an enemy akin to the primordial forces he loathed, calling in one of his contracted spirits by his side. By his side manifested one of the six spirits bound to him¨Ca thin, quiet man with a single horn protruding from his forehead and a scarf around his mouth, darkly dressed and stoic: "Maroon". "Locate Excelsior," he quietly gave an order. "On it," Maroon said with a slight nod before vanishing into the ck mist around them. For himself, he stayed ready for anything, taking only small steps as he held his sword forward and kept his reflexes heightened as the lesser spirits kept a close perimeter around him. Chapter 399 Darkness Calls ''It hasn''t attacked yet. Why? Is it fighting Excelsior right now? I can''t hear any fighting. Is it this darkness? Does it kill any sound from traveling far? All senses?'' He questioned. Though as he questioned the nature of the situation, he came to realize what was beside him, not knowing for how long it had been there, but "something" stood in the shadows. Just as his eyes turned to the right in reflex of what had moved by him¨C "Ngh!" Removed from his shoulder without any perceived attack, his artificial arm was flung from his body, thrown into the overbearing darkness. ''What was that¡­? What is this?!'' He thought. The sounds he heard from the entity that lurked in the darkness around him were perplexing, unable to be identified or deciphered; the light breaths of a woman, the rugged grunts of a man, the growling of a beast, the hissing of a serpent, and even the light croaks of an amphibian. Unable to perceive the maddening presence of that which embodied Darkness, sweat poured from his body as the gravity of the being''s existence weighed on him. ''Get it together¡­! Steel yourself!'' He thought. He fell to a knee through the overwhelming existence of what stood before him, unable to see it yet as he was forced to look down. It was the gue flooding his mind through the absolute enigma; a doubt that caused him to buckle beneath the weight of the horrifying truth. It went beyond the simple scope of strength; this was the will of a Primordial aspect. ''...I need it. I know why it hasn''t been responding, but I didn''t want to admit it. I''m afraid. I''m scared of what my system is capable of. It took my mother. I''ve lost control multiple times. But, I can control it¨CI can do it. In this moment, I can¡­!'' He thought. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Once more, that me ignited itself within his body like the guidance of life through his veins; that heat resonated through him, allowing scales to stretch over his body into an armor. The arm flung from his shoulder reattached itself, tethered to him through a seal of mana. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 5/10 | Dragon Sentinel] With the strength of his system reawakened, he picked himself up, finally able to look up at the otherworldly entity that loomed over him now. Just looking at it made his heart race and the hotness of his blood to be tested by the chills running over his body. It was darkness itself; a tall stranger, wearing a cape of shadows that blended with the darkness itself, possessing a head that was three skulls melded together, looking in three different directions: the skull of a man, one of a cow, and one of a demon. ''This is¡­Darkness?'' He realized. Looking directly at it, images flooded through his mind¨Cones not native to his memory; shes of perpetually ck-and-white woods, deste homes, cramped basements filled with bones, and even the faces of uncanny beings. What he stared at wasn''t simply the embodiment of "Darkness", but what darkness itself came from¨Cthe "unknown". Caught in these obscure visions, he was unable to properly react to the attack that came¨Conly signified through a single, bony finger pointing at him from beneath the entity''s cloak. That simple gesture caused eviscerations to cut through his armor, slicing into him. "Ngugh¡­!" Stumbling back as his own blood dripped from the dozen of cutsshed into his body, he began to heal, though not before the obscure entity made more, confusing noises; the human grunts, the chirps of a bird, the growls of a beast¨Cinvoking once more those unseen shes. He swept his hand up just in time, invoking a barrier of reinforced stone around himself, though it was easily cut apart by the being''s gesture. ''I can''t see its attacks¡­!'' He thought. "Chimera!" Just as his defense had been cut through, the yell of a rough, familiar voice pierced through the darkness as he looked over, finding the relieving sight of the woman in white, antler-horned armor leaping in. "Excelsior!" Emilio called out. The woman had manifested the head of a mythical lion as her gauntlet, causing it to spew a mighty breath of mes against the darkness-bringing entity. "Help me out!" Excelsior said. "Yeah!" Emilio didn''t hesitate to stand beside his fellow Reincarnator, ushering in his own azure mes as they stood shoulder-to-shoulder, unleashing a burst of mes thatbated the overwhelming darkness. "Keep it going¡­!" Excelsior struggled. If it was firepower that was needed, the Dragonheart was the apex of it; ushering in a massive reservoir of mes as both of their fires spiraled together in front of them¨C "Gyah!--" The yelp of pain from the hardened woman by his side caused him to look over, finding the tall, three-skulled entity appearing from the darkness beside them, sidestepping their attack and jabbing what looked like a bone-made spider leg into Excelsior''s left arm. "Excelsior!" He yelled out. Just as Darkness lifted its hand, setting to aim its finger towards the woman, Emilio dashed in with a condensed fireball of a bright-blue glow in his palm, tossing it directly in the primordial aspect''s face. FWOOM A vtile explosion released, allowing Emilio to grab his ally''s arm and pull her back as some distance was gained. "Are you alright?" He asked. Excelsior held her arm for a moment before nodding, "I''m fine. Thanks." ["Hydra"] An invocation of the Mytheart System was witnessed by Emilio, seeing the snow-white, armored woman heal the stab wound on her arm with the aspect of the "Hydra", which seemed to grant regenerative properties. "I can barely see its attacksing," Emilio remarked, keeping an eye on the ck mist. "Same here. That''s how Darkness is¨Cit preys on deception and warping what you believe you''re seeing. Just stay focused and stay together," Excelsior said. "Here," Emilio said. The woman nced over as the Dragonheart conjured a rope of water, attaching one end to his waist and giving the other end to Excelsior. "Good thinking," Excelsior said, tying the other end around her own waist. It was perhaps an archaic way of circumventing the separation ability of the mist, but it was their best bet to sticking together. "If ites to it, I have attacks that can cover this entire area," Emilio suggested, "You''d just need to get out of the st radius." "Not happening. Hate to break it to ya, but if anybody is making risky, life-or-death moves, it''s this gal," Excelsior looked over at him, momentarily pulling back her face covering. He looked at the woman in slight surprise before quietly sighing out, setting his sights forward, "I wasn''t suggesting I''d sacrifice myself." "From the stories you''ve told me, it seems to end up that way one way or another," Excelsior said. "Fine. Let''s kick this thing''s ass, then¨Ctogether," he said. "Now you''re speaking mynguage!" Excelsior readied herself. The confidence shared between them needed to be either both of them, or it would be none; in the face of an enemy that transcended the normal conventions of strength, a false bravado, even if somewhat of a delusion, was needed. "Come on!" Emilio took the lead. "I''m not taking orders, but sure!" Excelsior followed. [Mytheart System Activated] [Dragonheart System Activated] [Scales of The Swift] | [Wings of Pegasus] While the Dragonheart augmented his speed through the alteration of his scaled boots, allowing him to almost slide across the ground, Excelsior granted herself the aspect of ["Pegasus"], spawning seraphic wings from her back that gave her speed that mimicked soaring through the air. Together, with the lesser spirits along with the azure mes of the Dragonheart creating a space of light for them, they took the initiative in the battle against Darkness itself. For only a split second, he called upon the authority thatid within his right eye, able to peer into the hidden truth behind the ck smoke. In that single moment, he saw it¨Cthe looming entity that skulked in the shadows. "In front!" He called out, cocking his fist back as azure mes spiraled along his arm. [Strike of The Scaled Emperor] As he mmed his fist forward with enough force to break the wind apart into a howling storm, the punch manifested itself through a swirl of draconic fire that pushed directly against the entity in the shadows. The jumbling of bones echoed as the malignant being was revealed, bleeding ck blood from the holes in its bones after receiving the blow. ''I hurt it¡­! Sometimes I forget¨CI''ve grown. I''m not the same kid I was who struggled against these aspects. We can win!'' He thought. "Excelsior!" "Yeah, yeah! I''m on it!" The woman yelled out, leaping up and gliding in with her heavenly wings, "Mjolnir!" A weapon of myth manifested from sparks of lightning into the woman''s hands: a massive, cobalt hammer that coiled with divine electricity before being mmed down from above atop the primordial aspect. ["Smite of Thor"] Crashing down in the aftermath of the hammer''s downfall was a massive strike of lightning, piercing through the abundant darkness thatid in the domain with a radiant shine of cerulean. A surge of power akin to magecraft of the highest level was witnessed by him before Excelsior jumped back,nding near him with a huff as she winced. "Are you alright?" He asked, regrouping. The woman rubbed her right arm which wielded the legendary hammer as it seemed to be strained, "I''m fine¡­using weapons of this caliber just have a toll of their own." CRK. CRKL¡­CRRRK. Dismaying to their ears were the sounds of bones crunching and rebuilding, bringing their gaze towards the aftermath of sparks and darkness as the cloak of shadows lifted itself as if puppeteered by the unseen. The tri-skulled skeleton melded of many bodies stood up, spilling ckened blood, though seeming unharmed after the massive attack. "Tch," Excelsior clicked her tongue, "...Looks like the worst case scenario came true: the rumors are true, it seems. Darkness is immortal within the shadows." Chapter 400 Go Further Beyond "Tch," Excelsior clicked her tongue, "...Looks like the worst case scenario came true: the rumors are true, it seems. Darkness is immortal within the shadows." "Immortal? How the hell is that fair?" He asked, readying himself. "Nothing is. We just have to struggle until we win¨Csomehow or another," Excelsior tiredly said. "Don''t need to tell me that," he responded. In the face of the primordial aspect, surrounded by humming darkness and only having the assurance of one another, it was a daunting obstacle before them. Through the veil of the abyss that swarmed the domain, the entity repeatedly appeared out of nowhere around them, unleashing unseen attacks as they fought back and countered to the best of their abilities. It wasn''t just shes; forces of gravity and pressure were invoked by the pointing of Darkness'' finger. "Gyuh¨C!" As Excelsior was on the receiving end of the entity''s point, blood was spat from her throat, leaking down from her nose before Emilio aided her with a wave of mes that repelled the entity. "Hhgh!" Though at the same time he swept an azure ze in the form of draconic jaws against it¨C["Wyvern Snap"]--Darkness pointed at him as well, unleashing a crushing force that momentarily contracted his stomach, squeezing his organs. He could feel the skin on his abdomen being forcibly twisted along with the vital pieces of his body within, crushing his robes and churning his stomach. Fortunately, the ming jaws managed to force the entity back before his internal organs werepletely twisted into a brutal spiral within him. Blood spilled from his mouth, though the mastery of healing magecraft he had allowed him to quickly mend himself in unison with his Undying Blood, though still affected by the pain in his intestines. For a split-second, he saw something above the tall, skeletal figure; attached to its bones and the cloak it wore appeared to be thin, almost invisible threads. "Hey, have you noticed it?" He asked. "What is it?" Excelsior responded, wiping the blood from her nose. He watched Darkness carefully before the mist of shadows obscured the entity again, standing on guard and ready, "I think its body is puppeteered by the darkness around it¡­Almost like it itself is just a vessel for the true ''Darkness'' around it." Excelsior looked at him for a moment with her lips agape before seeming to get it, "I see what you''re getting at¡­Yeah, that makes sense. You''re saying all of this dark shit around us¨Cthat''s the true form of this asshole?" "Bingo¡­still, I don''t know how that helps us," he said. "We''ll figure it out as we go! Improvisation!" Excelsior called out. "Right¨Cwell if it''s unkible within the shadows, we need to blow them away!" Emilio said, "I''m going to focus onrge-scale attacks, so be careful! It doesn''t seem to like my fire very much, so we''ll use that!" "Do your thing, Dragonheart! I trust ya to make the right choice," Excelsior said, rushing in. While he stayed back, Excelsior held the entity at bay while he began riling up the fire within him, spurring a pir of bright-blue fire around himself that swept away the nearby shadows. ''As long as it''s enveloped in the shadows, we won''t be able to kill it. But if I blow all of the darkness away in one attack¡­It should work,'' he nned. If it was a massive reach of destructive mes needed, he was the one for it, able to quickly muster up a storm of fire around himself that spiraled violently like a tornado, acting almost like a beacon amidst the abyss. What he gathered at the palms of his hands was a coalescence of fire that surpassed the limitations of his own magecraft; bolstered by his mastery of wind as the temperature skyrocketed and the quantity of the ze multiplied. Though wild and without shape or form, the roaring riptides of inferno were dragged down into one point, brought together before his hands. The result was a force he condensed into a sphere between his hands, having to nt his feet against the ground and strain himself to control it. [Draconic Might] Calling upon hisplete strength was needed as he crushed the colossal fireball into a sizable ball of destruction; he needed to produce tens of thousands of tons of strength to push it down, all while containing it from exploding directly in front of him. "Nnngh¡­!" The chaotic sphere of swirling, azure fire rotated wildly between his hands, constantly emitting heat waves thatshed through the air with zing shes. Embers constantly spiraled around him like a violent rainfall, generated from the ckhole of heat. If thrown at a city, there was no doubt it''d be able to reduce everything within the cityscape to cinder; such power was the honed and controlled destructive of his system¨Ca technique solely focused on mass-scale destruction: ["Dragonheart: Ultima Fireball"] All there was left to do was wait for the woman''s signal, though every passing second was an agonizing eternity for him as he used every ounce of concentration to contain the fireball. shing against the entity, Excelsior summoned her bronze, polished shield that resembled a mirror in its shine: "Aegis!"please visit ''Aegis¨Cthe shield of Perseus; it specializes in stopping intangible attacks, blocking concepts themselves. It''s my best bet against a foe like this!'' She thought. Even if she could defend against the unseen attacks of Darkness, they still took their toll, forcing her to strain herself to keep the shield straight as it was repeatedly mmed by the abyssal maledictions. Finding an opening, Excelsior transcended from her current stage as her snow-white armor reshaped itself, bing bulkier as the helm resembled that of an amalgamation of a deer and fox, changing from a whiteplexion to an amber material. [Current Stage: 6/10 | Mythical Huntress] "Ragnarok!" Shaping through primal embers, a sword of me and cinder came into Excelsior''s grip, possessing a length akin to a ymore before being swept forward with the heat of Surtr. Jab. At the same time as the tidal wave of mes carved forth, Darkness pointed forward, sting Excelsior back with a pressure that caved in her chest with a crunch of her ribs. "Ghh¨C!" Excelsior spit out. Being sted back, the woman didn''t fail to give the signal to the man who waited behind, wielding the ckhole that siphoned a cataclysmic heat. "Do your thing!" Excelsior spat the words out, catching herself with a manifestation of pegasus wings. With the signal given and the woman being a fair distance away from where the entity wasst at, Emilio didn''t waste a moment finally raising the condensed, ultimate fireball up. The wind spiraled around him, intertwined deeply with the aspect of fire itself into an air unbreathable by anybody but him. Tossing it forth with all the strength in his arm, he released the draconic ckhole forth as it carved a path forward: it tunneled through the dark mist, absorbing the shadows in its path with unreachable temperatures. As it reached the location where the entity skulked, he clenched his fist shut while gritting his teeth, causing the sphere to finally expand from its condensed state¨C BOOOOOOOOM A colossal sphere of destruction emerged, still kept contained through the Dragonheart''s will not to destroy everything around, though the spiraling heat undoubtedly swept away the darkness around it. ¨CEverything shook as though a region-wide earthquake had taken hold of thend, causing the boundless, shallow sea to vigorously shake along with the ceiling far above. "Ha-ha! Now that''s some firepower, Emilio-boy!" Excelsior remarked, holding her stomach. It was a true showing of destructive power; a force that echoed and hummed with the melody of ruination, casting away the overbearing darkness that had engulfed them. A monumental focus of cataclysmic power; a swirl that encapsted a pressure capable of crushing steel into ash, and heat easily able to burn diamond into ash. There was a hefty requirement of control needed to make sure the demolition stayed controlled, having to control the boundaries of the ck hole of heat as not to have thend copse in around them. As the blinding sh of sublime azure dwindled into an end, leaving bountiful, colorful steam that intertwined with the mist, he breathed out. After unleashing and having to control such a potent creation, he felt his arm tremble as a biting pain shot through his limb. "Nngh¡­" He quietly let out, holding his left arm. "Are you alright?" Excelsior asked, cing a hand on his shoulder. He nodded, "...Did we get it?" "If you have to ask that¡­" Excelsior began to say. He let out a tired sigh, straightening himself out as he rolled his shoulder a few times, squeezing his fist as he forced his arm back into shape, "Yeah, I know. It wouldn''t be that easy." Despite the great void of fire having wiped away the ck mist and assuredly crushed the Primordial aspect, that eerie feeling never died out as cracks began to form across the shallow sea. Through the cracks, the abyss poured out, rising as the pitch darkness rebuilt itself into the malignant entity. Bones creaked, joints popped into ce, and the murmurs of ancient tongues emitted like maledictions from the freakish being. "Can you go higher than that stage?" Excelsior asked. Reinforcing herself, the silver-haired woman toughened the amber-tinged armor around her body, invoking ["Basilisk"] to create stone-like armor around her fists and feet. "I don''t like tapping into it much, but¡­I''ve got something higher, yeah," Emilio responded. Chapter 401 Inspired Element Bringing in a calming breath through his lips, as he exhaled, he expelled that calmness away, instead embracing the rage that had settled into him. He stoked that me of anger, not suppressing it and locking those emotions away, but instead allowing them to run wild. In his mind, that dreadful night yed over-and-over: the attack of the mysterious figures, the destruction of his hometown, and the loss of his mother. That look of shock on her face, the dismay he felt, and the final words she gave him. Endlessly, the regret he clung to, the anger he attached himself to, the me he stuck onto himself, and the undying vengeance he swore upon his enemies¨Cthese thoughts were transmuted into the me that burned within his stomach. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Even as that fresh rage boiled his blood enough to begin reddening hisplexion, causing steam to begin emitting from his body, he remained unperturbed, unmoving and controlling it. ''Give it to me. That monster dwelling inside of me¨Cit''s time toe out,'' he thought. Excelsior watched curiously, all while the Primordial aspect was rebuilding itself in the process, ushering in a new wave of ck mist that spread out through the sealed domain. The ckened scales stretched over his body, tightly clinging to his skin and taking on a bestial, rough appearance as a spiked tail protruded from behind and a hot breath of fire left between his jaws. [??/!Dragonheart System///Alternate Path Activated?/7!] [Current Stage: 7/??? | Draconis Monster | CONDENSED] ''That''s certainly a change. This feeling though¨Cit almost feels¡­"primal"--does he have this under control?'' Excelsior wondered. "Emilio," Excelsior said his name. For a moment, the man stood there with his shoulders slumped and his arms hanging, breathing heavily as a draconic heat gathered around him with the swaying of his scaled tail. There was a natural force that left the body of the transformed figure like hushes of a dormant inferno; a heated wind that made the air one breathed around the man taste like mes. "--" Excelsior watched carefully. "...I''ve got it," Emilio finally said, lifting his head. Something was different about the entity of darkness this time; rather than a dark mistpletely enveloping the domain, a total ckness stretched over the territory like an abyssal night. The low, bellowing call of a whale resonated through the shades of the void; a symphony of darkness surrounded them as in the distance amidst the abyss, all that could be seen was the robed, skeletal figure. "It''sing," Excelsior quietly said. Emilio nodded, readying himself as the scales on his body sharpened and hardened by the moment, reacting like a bestial instinct to the danger around him. Every brush of the wind felt like a curse in itself; a promise of death; an intertwining with an empty eternity. As Darkness approached, it shuddered unnaturally as its bones jingled; the convulsions of its upper body, swaying and almost "glitching" out in the eyes of Emilio were jarring to witness as it moved normally in its steps. "Fenrir," Excelsior invoked. [Fenrir Augmentation Activated] ["ws of Distortion"] | ["Fangs of Separation"] The woman''s hands became altered into silver ws, shrouded in fur as the helm covering her face shifted, parting its jaws to reveal the bestial teeth she had manifested. Excelsior was the first to engage the enemy, swiping the mystical ws she wielded as they tore through the fabric of darkness with their own ability; the shes defied the concept of range, surpassing their own size as they cut towards the aspect. "--" Imperceivable sounds left the dark figure as it pointed a finger forward before the ws could reach it, causing the shes to cut through the ground around it, but fail to reach its form. "Tch," Excelsior growled before rushing forward. Dashing in as well, the Dragonheart leapt up, gathering a mass of mes from within that began seeping through the cracks on his armor. Without being seen taking a step, Darkness appeared beside Excelsior, looming over the woman with an appearance that altered itself upon its rebirth: the skeletal form now bore flesh, possessing a body made of human heads with stitched eyes and mouths. A plethora of arms moved like fingers, pointing towards Excelsior before¨C "Nnagh¨C!" Opening her mouth then mming her jaws shut, the silver-haired woman used her augmented fangs to bite down on space itself, tearing it as the distance between herself and the Primordial aspect was increased. Though in that split-second it took to activate the effect of the ["Fangs of Separation"], the multiple points from the entity had drilled small holes through her body. "Pyueh¡­!" Excelsior spit out blood. mming down from above, the Dragonheart engulfed his fist in an eruption of searing, azure fire,nding down atop Darkness with a pir of mes following. "--" That distorted voice speaking words too quiet, too loud, too fast, too slow, fell upon his ears as he found a single finger pointing through the wall of mes. Then came another, and another, and another¨Ca dozen index fingers pointed at him through the swarm of heat that should''ve burned away the entity. Craaaaack Within a moment, his left wrist snapped and his right shoulder popped out of ce; his stomach was contorted again as his organs were squeezed; the tongue inside of his mouth was wrung like a rag, crushed and spilled of blood. The fresh, red-hot liquid that flooded his mouth instantly evaporated from his internal temperature, leaving his mouth as steam as he breathed out. Though he leapt up to move out of the way of the entity''s unseen authority, it managed to twist one of his ankles around in a brutal snap. In order to buy some amount of time, no matter how little, he waved his usable hand to summon a fortress of smooth, stone walls infused with fire to imprison the entity. There were three sets of these colossal walls to keep it kept enclosed, each maintaining a boiling heat: "Fortress of The Volcano". As hended back down, his bones mended themselves through his Undying Blood, though it didn''t help to ease the unsettling feeling of the being''s power he was facing. ''...Even in Draconis Monster, it can twist me up with a simple gesture. Excelsior is right; this one might be even more dangerous than Dread,'' he thought. "Emilio," Excelsior regrouped with him. He looked over, "The walls won''t hold it long. We need to figure out a proper method of attack." "Darkness is definitely a tough one. I''ve encountered my fair share of aspects¨Call of which were a pain in the ass, I might add. This guy is definitely something else though¨Cthis one might just be the closest to its actual "Primordial" true self," Excelsior said, "I might have to go all out." "You''ve been holding out?" Emilio asked. Excelsior chuckled briefly, "I can''t y my hand right away, can I? It''s not like you can talk. I know you''re not using everything up your sleeve." "--" He didn''t respond. There were reasons for withholding certain abilities from the current battlefield, most notably with the environment underground they fought in¨Cbringing it crumbling down was not an optimal strategy. However, as he continued being injured throughout the fight, he knew well enough that his Undying Blood had its own limits and constantly using healing magecraft would burn through his mana. ''Maybe I need to stop ying cautiously¨Cit might be time to use it all,'' he thought. "Excelsior," he said. "Yeah?" "Let me go in alone this time¨CI''m going to let loose," Emilio insisted, breathing in as he readied himself. Excelsior looked at him for a moment before lowering her guard, nodding, "Don''t die, Emilio-boy. I''m sure Ash-boy wouldn''t want to see you again so soon." "I don''t n on it." In his mind, fueled by the rage-filled mes of the monstrous form he wielded for himself, there was a thought that followed his words: "--Not until I wipe out the scum that stole from me." Amidst the abyssal veil as Darkness approached slowly, Emilio met it halfway as he began walking through the shallow water, manipting it around him as dozens of formations of aqua rose around him. Around him, translucent, aquatic doppelgangers of the man were created, mimicking the scaled armor he wore before rushing towards Darkness: "Sea God''s Lonesome Battalion". He stayed behind these doppelgangers of water as they each sprinted and leapt towards the aspect, using them to mitigate the unseen attacks of the being. Shadows contorted and twisted around into spirals at the movement of the stitched-eyed entity''s limbs, squeezing the water-formed clones into nothing but sshes of aqua. The invisible attacks ushered into the domain by the entity manifested through shes, crushings, and sometimesplete implosions. Emilio managed to rush in all the same, using the doppelgangers as shields for himself as he closed in on Darkness. It was already pointing towards his direction, lifting its bony, elongated finger that carried with it eons of malice. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Through the invigoration of Draconis Monster, his magecraft was ascended during the period of supreme heat, allowing him to p his palms together with a thunderp as a new spell was invoked as he got close to the entity. It was a ssification of magic thatid higher in the hierarchy of the four, basic elements; a unison of fire and wind that required a supreme mastery of both to invoke. Zzzt¡­Zzzt¡­ Crafted and learned under the inspiration of the adventurer that ignited his hope to be one himself¨Cthe "Red-Haired" adventurer¨Che dedicated the Around his arms, azure electricity coiled his limbs as he held both hands towards the entity in front of him, unleashing the Emperor-ss lightning magic out: "Dogma of The Irond Heavens." Chapter 402 Unending Horde The air crackled; the electricity charged the wind, making it shocking to the touch, able to electrify the lungs of any that stood too close to the Dragonheart as the vtile element coiled around his body. What released in an instant, manifesting with the speed and ferocity of lightning descending from the skies, was a burst of the vtile, electric element that erupted with the shape of a whisker-bearing dragon. Its roars were that of thunder; the invocation of grand storms as it shot through the darkness like a beacon of hope. The hiss of lightning echoed like the call of a great chirping of birds, invoking a shine throughout the abyssal setting as the draconic burst of lightning mmed through the Primordial aspect. "Nngh¨C!" Emilio guided the magecraft. Lifting his arms, he controlled the direction of the dragon-shaped charge of lightning, snatching the silent entity in its jaws and dragging it upward. The scale of the esoteric magic surpassed that of the great walls of massive cities, leaving a trail of lightning bolts as it ascended upward. Excelsior witnessed the magecraft that surpassed the boundaries of just expertise, bordering on total mastery that would take a lifetime to achieve. The silver-haired woman watched from below, having to partially shield her eyes from the blinding shine of the unstable element. ''Ash-boy¡­He sure is a wild one, isn''t he?'' Excelsior thought. "Nnnahhh¡­!" Emilio strained himself. He could feel the aspect resisting the jaws of the vtile magecraft, corrupting the stability of the spell with each moment; the miasmic darkness that the aspect exuded crept through the electric form of the spell, resonating with a pain through the caster''s body. A coating of liquid darkness began to spread from his fingertips down his arms, causing his muscles to contract and cramp, embedded with a dark agony. ''It''s hurting me¡­through my own spell?!'' He thought. Perhaps it was a side-effect of his own shorings within the element of lightning; a branch of magecraft that tested even his genius understanding of the art, though it was undeniable he had to trigger the spell or the darkness would continue spreading to him. ''Go¡­!'' Hemanded. With a squeeze of his fist, dispelling the abyssal ooze that had eaten through his scale gauntlets, hemanded the gargantuan jaws of lightning to release into a chain reaction of electrical fallouts. An array of lightning bolts shot out in each direction, coiling through the misty airs of the underground seal like trails of sublime light, cascading downward before jolting in each angle. It was a storm of electricity; a rain of sparks that created an uninhabitable range in its scope as the air sizzled and sparked. In the center of it all, caught in a tree-like construct of eradicating fulmination was the entity itself; even the abundant darkness it dragged with its very existence was suppressed by the shing lights. "Do it¨C! Don''t let up, Emilio-boy!" Excelsior called out. The reach of the jagged bolts repeatedly struck down against the shallow sea, electrifying the water and causing chaotic ripples through its boundaries. A magnificent storm of destruction that¨C Silence. Like a deep breath being inhaled by the void, light was sucked away; the strands of lightning were swept into nothing as only darkness expanded. Swiftly, there was nothing¨Cnot a single sound that echoed through the vast domain¨Cnot even the subtle sways of water, the brushes of groaning wind, or the breathing of another. ''What happened¡­?'' He questioned. In this total darkness, he found himself alone; it was beyond any obscurity made by mist¨Cit was simply a darkness so overwhelming that sight could not pierce through it. Lifting his hands in front of his face, he found that not even mere inches in front of him he was able to see. Looking in each direction, he called out, "Excelsior!" There was no response, only finding his voice carried away into the darkness. Even summoning a me for light wasn''t enough as he watched the fire be swallowed up and overwhelmed by the darkness as it sat on his hand. As his mind was flooded with confusion and indecisiveness, the unruly form of his armor shattered, crumbling away as he breathed heavily. The strain of tapping into his alternate system path was felt throughout his aching muscles as he stood amidst the abyss. ''What did it do? This is different from before¨Cit feels wrong,'' he questioned. He felt like a fish out of water, left alone in the vast nothingness without any sense of what was around him. "...Haaaah¡­" A delicate sound that made his skin crawl trickled against his ear; like the soft moan of a woman, grazing upon skin as he could almost feel the presence of lips just behind his ear, creating a ticklish sensation on the left side of his body. He spun around to confront this unknown voice, though found nothing as his boots pped against the thinyer of water. "Ethan¨C" The growly voice of a man met his right ear, causing him to flip around, once more finding nothing after the call of his old name: "--Bellrose!" A yell, almost akin to a shriek of a woman, rang against his ear as his abandoned name was once more heard through the darkness, trickling down his skin as an intangible ickiness. He had spun around with his sword in hand, swinging it against nothing but empty darkness. ''What is this? I can''t sense anything¨Cno mana signatures, no Soulbound Spirits¨Cnothing,'' he thought. Pushed into a corner, deprived of his senses and unable to gain information through sight or magic, he focused his right eye, intending to spend a minuscule portion of his life to view into the unshakable truth. Just as he activated the dormant power within his eye, the scenery around him shifted; the total darkness removed itself, instead revealing a vast, white space as he found himself suddenly falling. "Nngh¨C?!" It was far too jarring, to suddenly be falling even though he had never moved a single step. He waved his arms before gaining control of himself with wind magic for flight, though he found himself standing against flooring somehow. He was upside down; standing on a floor made out of blood that rained downward. Somehow, he wasn''t falling despite his wind magic being out of use. "Huh?" The very moment he questioned it, the world flipped around as he was no longer upside down, standing on the endless, shallow pool of blood as it rained¨Cupward. There was no sight of the woman he fought alongside or the entity itself around; only a nk, white void filled with the reverse rain of crimson liquid. ''An illusionary attack? Or did it pull me somewhere else entirely? No, going off of how it happened¡­This should be an illusion¨Cprobably,'' he guessed. Even if he could rationalize it to be an illusionary world he had been trapped into, there was no doubt it felt real in every sense; the cold air on his skin, the smell of copper that flooded his nose, and the repulsive sounds that formed around him. The slimy, gooey noises came from the pool of bright, abundant blood as humanoid shapings of the substance rose like zombies from the mud. "...Hm," he nced around. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 2/10 | Dragon Son] As his amethyst eyes turned to an azure when tapping into the surface of his system, he relied only on the second stage, wanting to conserve his stamina as much as he could¨Cor what was left of it after using the monstrous form before. What he thought were sludges of blood were something else; it was merely a coating that covered pitch-ck skeletons, which seemed burnt down to a char. ''Minions?'' He thought. Whether or not what he found himself in was an illusionary entrapment, there was no point in risking that question with his life¨Ceven then, an illusionary world could be just as consequential as the real one. In that regard, even a false reality could harm him. In one hand, he wielded his trust sword, and in his left, he manifested his unique mes, solidifying them into a greatsword with his skill¨C["me Hardening"], creating a high-temperature, azure de. ''If I can help it, I need to refrain from thoughtlessly using spells. A battle against an Aspect more often than not turns into a war of attrition. They''re nigh unkible, which means I need to stay that way, too. That means I''ll need an abundance of mana for healing magic and reinforcement,'' he nned. As the stygian-boned skeletons approached him, he spun around with his dual des, unleashing a ring of fire from his me-forged sword as it shattered the approaching fiends. He dashed through a group of them, breaking through their sluggish gathering and shattering the enigmatic undead swiftly. Though they were easy to cut through, he witnessed their crumbled forms alter in mid air; the broken bones gathered with a deathly air before rebuilding into skeletons once more. Upon being reborn, the ck skeletons multiplied¡ªupon killing one, two more were rebuilt in their ce. "Of course," he tiredly muttered upon noticing this development. Chapter 403 Black Hole The dozen or so that had initially risen from the sea of blood now numbered close to a hundred, surrounding himpletely. There wasn''t much time to think of what the workaround to the "hydra"-like multiplication of the skeletons was, if there even was a weakness to it to begin with. Trying to bide time as he thought, the miasmic skeletons drew close¡ªreaching towards him with smoke that rose from their deathly bones like a gue. "Back!" With a stomp of his feet, the swamp of blood rippled and a shock wave emitted, sting the numerous skeletons back. Even though he was merely trying to create space and not break them again, they shattered and rebuilt into higher numbers once more. A brief sigh left his lips as he found himself totally surrounded by the ckened bones, engulfed in the stench of charcoal that swept through the bloody, white void. ''It''s endless,'' he thought. Though they didn''t seem dangerous individually, or even in the dozens, as he cut them down the closer they got, their numbers became simply overwhelming. After minutes of slicing away while trying to maneuver through them, he found an unequivocal swarm of bonesing at him from all sides. "--" He looked up. Beyond the veil of the reverse rain all he could see was a tidal wave of skeletons; intertwined by their bones and looming over as they came from all angles. The doubt of being able to permanently erase the multiplying skeletons led him to indecisiveness as he stood there, having mere moments before the sea of bones would undoubtedly crush him. ''If I let loose and destroy this horde¡­It''ll just grow exponentially¨Cthen even if I can wipe the next one out, I''ll be worn down and eventually crushed beneath an endless weight. Assuming these are infinite¡­which, it might be safe to assume so,'' he thought. There was only one idea he had left in regards to dealing with the endless skeletons, sticking his hands out as he began to generate the rising temperatures within his body. ''I might be able to vaporize the bones¨Cit''s possible they cane back even from that, but¡­it''s my best shot,'' he decided. ¨CThough just before he could unleash the mes, the tsunamis of bones came at him from all sides faster than he thought, befalling him with a ravenous, crushing force that mmed against him from every angle. The weight was instant in its tremendous power, mming and pushing against him as he felt the synapses in his brain firing off at the fear of death before¨C He was transported, again. Seamlessly, yet jarringly as he stumbled, he found himself standing in an environment that was frighteningly familiar; it was like that of a forgotten fever dream, reignited in his memories through sight. A bleachedndscape; a startlingck of life, the nose-stinging smell of pine, and kes of ash that swayed in the wind like the snow of winter. ''This scenery¡­again?'' He thought. As he lifted his foot, taking a single step, the scenery changed again¨Che watched as a sideways forest collided like a folded diorama; again it changed; desecrated battlefields of fallen soldiers, filled with the all-too-real stench of death; again it changed; the sight of a nostalgic kingdom in ruins; again it changed; the home he grew up in, shattered and dreary by loss; again it changed; a gued swamp filled with nebulous treehouses, filled with an ambience of the croaking of frogs and buzzing of locusts; again it changed; he found himself falling through the sky, passing by clouds upied by chunks ofnd and unknown civilizations; again it changed; from his grand descent, he found himself sinking into the bottom of a deep, dark sea, finding it to be upied by unheard of life as well¨Ccastles that existed within bubbles in the ocean; again it changed; a boundless sea he walked upon, finding a single figure that sat upon its vastness like a throne; again it changed; a valley swallowed by a tornadorge enough to swallow a kingdom; and of fire and ash, burned to its roots and devoid of life; again it changed; a mountain that transcends the clouds, upied by that which should be kept away from humanity; again it changed; an enigmatic chamber, upied by faceless statues and filled with figures that had their own faces blurred by the haziness of his vision. ''What¡­is this?'' It was too much to process all at once; not merely visions, but experiences truly felt; the wind at his skin, the smell of each environment, and sights baked into his mind. Again it changed. Darkness. A void deprived of senses; there was no smell, nothing to be seen through the endless abyss, not a sound that resonated against his eardrums, and not even a cold or warm air to brush against his skin. He couldn''t tell if he was floating or standing, feeling as though he was perpetually stumbling as his brain couldn''t perceive the nothingness around him. It was in this void that he perceived one thing¨Cthe entity he faced off against, or rather, felt like he was merely fighting to survive against. ''I can tell now. It''s not just "stronger" than the other Aspects I''ve encountered. No¡­strength doesn''t begin to describe it. It''s transcendent. This one is¡­it''s closer to a true Primordial than the others,'' he realized. Through a will that was certainly not his own, he found himself freed from the sensory-depriving void, returning to the domain of the seal atst after what felt like a rollercoaster of unknown. ncing over, he saw Excelsior sitting on her knees in the near distance, breathing heavily and dressed in wounds, though not fallen yet. It seemed the battle had continued in his absence, though not to a favorable oue. Falling to his knees, he breathed heavily as he sat on the shallow water, hearing slow, quiet footsteps approaching him. He could see the figure approaching as he looked down, witnessing the subtle ripples in water. As he looked up, he found himself face-to-face with "it" atst; the true appearance of the entity he had been fighting. It wore a cloak of total darkness around its body, though possessed a head that was alien in appearance; its skull had the shape of a cow, though covered in light-gray, mmy skin with lips made of intertwined fingers. There were horns that protruded from its head, made of hands that inteced, twisted and contorted. No eyes existed in its sockets, only a boundless abyss that stared back at him, leaning down from its colossal height as its nose almost touched his. Being so close to such an ominous existence caused thoughts to cease in that moment; not a sound could leave his lips as his mind didn''t even consider inhaling or exhaling. Face-to-face with the abyssal horror, a sudden twitch of his right index finger caused him to snap into focus briefly¨Cthat small, minuscule return of his thoughts allowed him to act. Fight-or-flight; for the Dragonheart, the instinctive instinct was always the same¨Cfight. In that split-second, he picked himself up, sitting on one knee as sable scales grew swiftly into an armor across his body, cracking and configuring to his shape as a draconic tail sprouted from behind him. It was an iplete form, leaving half of his face uncovered along with most of his chest, yet all he did was focus on building up the heat into one point on his palm. [Current Stage: 4/10 | Dragon Elite] "Emilio¡­don''t!" Excelsior tried to warn him. The warning fell upon deaf ears as Emilio could only focus on the sole goal in his mind, condensing the abundance of mes into that singr point, focusing it and continuing to concentrate it into the size of a marble. ''Keep it to one point¡­Control it! Condense it! Gather it! Put all of it¨Cinto this one attack!'' He told himself. Fortunately, the nebulous entity only stood there, looming over him as it stood like a beacon of darkness, onlybated in its overwhelming abyssal nature by the azure glow of the Dragonheart. Inside of his turmoiled heart, flickers of the pent-up emotions he carried manifested through sparks of a greater heat, adding into the singrity of fire he held in his hand. The gravitational force of the unequaled sphere resembled that of a ck hole; imbued with such an abundance of mes, expanded andpressed with ungodly heat, the water around him evaporated and the ground was sucked into the sphere, melting away as it made contact with the chromatic sphere. It was an attack that required the absurdly high reservoir of energy that his Dragonheart System could tap into, transferring that heat into a singr spot and rotating it,pressing it, and constantly raising the temperature. A truly vtile development that he was reluctant to use in normal situations, due to the unstable nature of it. "Raaaaagh¨C!" Emilio yelled out, thrusting the high-temperature ck hole directly against the malignant entity. He pushed it against the abyssal cloak it wore that seemed to be one and the same with its very own body now. As he clenched both his teeth and his fist, he released thepression on the unstable sphere, allowing it to explode within direct contact with the Primordial aspect. ''...Go!'' He thought. Chapter 404 The Horrors That Lurk In Darkness ''...Go!'' He thought. Vrrrrrrrrrrrr Beyond the sh of the vtile release, there was no explosive reaction; as he looked forward, he instead found the sphere to be caught within a boundless darkness¨Cthe very essence of the being he fought. It seemed as though the entity could not be touched; an intangible void that siphoned the erupting heat before his eyes. ''It''s¡­absorbing the explosion? That much power?'' He thought. A darkness too transcendent, too deep, and too dense to be sucked in by the miniature ck hole''s pull; it was a ck hole itself that was the very essence of the entity''s being, tearing away the all-out attack that Emilio tried to bring it down with. ''...This is¡­'' He thought. As his hand touched the true body of Darkness, it slipped right through as if he was reaching through a boundary of shadows, finding no visible depths to it. It wasn''t that he intended to touch it, but he was being pulled in, ovee with a weightlessness as he found himself slipping into the entity''s own void body. "Nnngh¡­!" Realizing he was about to slip into an unknown abyss of horrors he didn''t dare to confront, he tried resisting, but the scales that armored his body were torn from his skin, siphoned into the shadows. Any manifestation of mana or magic was made futile, as that mystical force itself was eaten away by the darkness as he found half of his body engulfed into its boundless interior. ''I have to get out¡­! How?!'' He thought. As ast ditch effort, finding no obvious solution to this unwinnable situation, he activated the dormant aspect within his right eye, forsaking a small portion of his life as he peered into theplete truth before him¨C Nothing. The vision that usually showed him endless paths, boundless information that was invisible to the naked eye, was unable to find any solution in the dreadful abyss. ''There''s¡­no way out? This is it¡­?'' He questioned. As a primal fear swirled in the pits of his stomach, feeling himself slip more and more in, he suddenly found himself stopped. "Huh?" He wasn''t falling any deeper, instead feeling something gripping onto his ankles just before his feet would''ve been absorbed into the entity''s abyssal body. As he looked back, he could only faintly see the figure that had stopped his dreaded fate through the veil of abundant darkness; the bloodied, bruised-and-battered woman with silver-hair was gripping his ankles, straining herself as she fought against the pull of Darkness. "Excelsior¡­?!" He realized. "I''ve¡­gotcha!" The silver-haired woman seemed to be too exhausted to invoke the amber-armored stage she was in before, only summoning the third stage as the pearly-white covering manifested over her body. It was enough, though, as the boost in strength gave her the edge needed to pull Emilio out from the pull of the void. It was a jarring feeling to be yanked from the abyssal depths, falling back onto the shallow water and coughing out. There was a chill that ran over his body like a sheet of ice, having experienced the cold embrace of darkness unlike any other. Still, there was no time to ponder what he had just experienced as the enemy was still before him. Intercepting an unseen attack in front of him, he looked up to find the silver-haired woman manifesting a mirror shield to consume the offense of Darkness. "Can you move! Good!" Excelsior nced back. He had already hopped to his feet before the woman finished posing the question, standing beside the Mytheart System user as he wiped the sweat from his chin. There was a unique pressure being pressed against the reflective barrier that Excelsior held in front of them, causing the woman to be strained as she gritted her teeth. The pale armor she wore began cracking at the seams, losing the integrity of its form from the sh. "Hold on¨CI''ll stop its attack!" Emilio called out. "Please and thank you!" Excelsior yelled in response. He didn''t waste any time gathering an abundance of bright-orange mes between his hands before rushing to the side, getting a clear view of the cow-skulled entity before tossing the fireball blitz at it. BOOOOOOM A sh of light expanded along with a wave of heat, erupting directly against the entity of Darkness. "Nngh! Damn, that''s got a kick!" Excelsior remarked, tucking behind the mirror shield as the explosion was directly behind it. "Yeah, well¨Cthat didn''t take it out! Get ready!" He called out. The two Reincarnators watched as through the swaying sparks and embers, shadows once more propelled outward, stretching through the domain like the fingers of a great unknown. Through the darkness that swept through the territory, all that could be seen through it was the ghastly head of the entity. "Nnngh¡­! Crap!" Excelsior coughed out, breathing heavily as her armor crumbled away; blood ran down her arms and dripped from her bottom lip as she seemed hardly in any condition to keep fighting. "Hey!" Emilio yelled worriedly. Before the silver-haired woman could fall to a knee, Emilio caught her arm, lending her his shoulder. "Thanks¡­It got me good while you were out," Excelsior exined, huffing as she picked herself up, "This is about the worst one imaginable we could''ve faced. I never thought I''d have to confront it myself, but "Darkness" is just as bad as the An Oracle warned." It wasn''t too different for Emilio himself; his body was far too exhausted after strainful attacks to even summon his scale armor again. Though he was able to heal any injuries he had sustained up until then, he could feel the Undying Blood reaching its limits; it functioned seemingly off of his own caloric intake, using that energy to rebuild himself in the event of being wounded. ''I don''t have a whole lot left in the tank. Not after the back-to-back, massive attacks I unleashed. We have to pull through,'' he thought. In the abundant darkness, they could only stand together in the face of what felt like an unstoppable force of nature; the once foggy, but light, underground seal of boundless, shallow water was overtaken by the abyssal nature. "I''m assuming running isn''t an option?" He asked quietly. Excelsior lightly chuckled, coughing out, "Hate to break it to ya, but no. It''s here for the piece of a Primordial that''s kept sealed in this ce. If it releases it, well¡­I don''t need to tell you how bad that is." "Yeah¡­" He nodded. "Still¡­that doesn''t mean we both have to die," Excelsior said, "If it looks like you see an opening out of here, run for it. I''m the older one, so naturally I''ve gotta look out for the younger of the two of us, yeah?" Excelsior gave him a wry smile, looking over. He rejected the idea entirely, "Not a chance." "Thought so. You''re just like Ash-boy, in that regard," Excelsior chuckled. "I''m not letting you die, not until I have the answers I need¡­And, well, it''s nice having somebody I can talk to about Earth," Emilio admitted. "Getting soft on me in the heat of battle?" "No." The two were forced to jump to the side as a shattering wind pierced through the shadows, rippling like a silent, sonic boom. It was the most troublesome part about facing "Darkness" for Emilio, finding himself constantly on edge as he kept all his senses fired up at one-hundred-and-twenty percent at all times. ''None of its attacks have any sort of "giveaway"--I can''t see or hear it, it onlyes through the darkness out of nowhere!'' He thought. An ominous rumbling stretched through the darkened domain; the low, depthless sea rippled and swished about at the unseen, unknown force. Though both of the Reincarnators were aware it meant nothing good wasing. The two had the same idea in that moment, left ignorant of what wasing as total darkness shrouded their vision: light! "idheamh Soluis!" Excelsior invoked. Standing tall despite her body being covered in bruises andcerations, the silver-haired, stalwart woman raised her right hand, allowing a mythical sword to emerge from nothingness that birthed itself with a supreme light. ''Nice!'' Emilio realized. As he stood close to Excelsior as she held the glowing sword upward, producing a vast glow that was overpowering the shadows, yet not intrusive on one''s eyes, the rumbling suddenly stopped. With the emergence of light into the abyssal, underground seal, what inhabited the darkness was now seen; an overwhelming sight that made the blood of the two, experiencedbatants run cold in that moment. All around them, lurking in the shadows, were monstrosities of all shapes and sizes; some smiling with human teeth, and some bearing saliva-slick, razor sharp teeth. Many of these unknown creatures of the shadows were colossal, looming over the two, yet keeping some distance from the direct range of the light. ''What¡­is this? Where did all of theme from?'' He thought. "...This is bad¡­" Excelsior quietly whispered to him. He stepped behind the woman, keeping his back to hers as he watched behind her, looking up at squid-like monsters that towered over him, amidst slug entities that produced foul odors. "Going to cut loose again?" Excelsior asked. "As best as I can," he answered. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP¡­BA-DUMP. Drawing in a breath and stoking that me within him wasn''t enough; the exhausted state of his body didn''t allow the scaled armor to protect him, only allowing him to reach a minimal stage: [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 2/10 | Dragon Son] As he gripped his sword tightly in the metallic fingers of his right hand, he pped his left hand against his chest, using a quick burst of healing magic in an unorthodox way. The pulsation of life energy provided him with an effect simr to adrenaline. ''There''s no question that these things came from Darkness. Horrific as they may be, I doubt they''re anywhere near as tough as the one who brought them in. I''ll test that theory¨Cnow,'' he decided. Chapter 405 Impossibility Both himself and Excelsior dashed into the monstrous abyss around them, taking on the varying creatures of Darkness with courage fueled by continued proximity to death itself. As Emilio leapt up, he engulfed the length of his de in bright, burning mes, providing light for himself as he shed through the neck of a purple-skinned, wrinkled slug monster with ease. An abundance of sludgy blood sprayed from the decapitated creature, spilling like a grotesque rainfall as Emilionded back down. "--" ncing side-to-side, he was now in the belly of the beast; the darkness-dwelling creaturespletely surrounded him in their horrific forms; mping their teeth, wriggling their tendrils, snapping their fingers, smiling with humanoid expressions, growling with beast-like features¨Cit was a hellish environment. The only guide for him in the depths of the seemingly hopeless situation was the ming sword he wielded and the trust he had in hisrade to follow through with her own duties. ''Alright¡­let''s get this started,'' he thought. Driven to the brink of total exhaustion as all of his remaining mana was focusing on a perpetual, light healing force flooding through his body, mending his tired, aching bones and closing any wounds he made along the way, he continued hacking and shing through the creatures without any mercy. SQUELCH Blood sprayed as though he meant to dye the shallow water in its color; he leapt up, spinning around as he cleaved through the head of a woman-faced, giant arachnid, causing bright-green blood to spill out. An unknown amount of time passed as he moved purely on instinct, flipping around the continuous attacks from the dwellers of darkness, moving nimbly as he cut through the beings mercilessly. The closeness with death, the tiredness of his body, both physically, mentally, and in the realm of mana, led his brain to adapt to this stress, foregoing all other thoughts but survival, this was¨C"The Zone". He waspletely drenched in the blood of the monstrosities, running along the spilled entrails of the inhuman creatures as he dashed forward, running between the dozens of tentacles of a squid-like entity. With a picture-perfect, overhead sh, he cut the squid monster in half, splitting it down the middle as its gooey body fell apart. As he dealt with the creature, his guard was let down for a split-second¨C "Nngh!" mming against the left side of his body, a brutal impact crunched against his arm and ribs before knocking him back. As he slid against the bloodied, entrail-spilled water briefly, he flipped back to his feet before looking up at what had hit him. "Ge-he-he-he¡­" The man-like creatureughed quietly in a bellowing sound, standing as tall as a mature tree, covered from head-to-toe in mangy, oak-brown hair with fists the size of boulders. As he stood there, listening to the noises of the seemingly endless creatures that still surrounded him, he found his fingers to be trembling against the handle of his weapon; his breaths werebored as his throat was burning, just as his lungs and stomach were. It wasn''t any sort of fear, but only the mortal limitations of his own body. Even yet, pushed to such lengths, those memories kept flooding through his mind¨Cthe fresh, painful scenes etched into his mind that kept him moving forward. As he stomped down, fighting through the aching exhaustion that gued him down to the marrow of his bones, he squeezed the handle of his sword tight enough that it felt as though he may snap it in half. "Raaaaagh¨C!" "Hrraaagh!" In response to the sasquatch-like giant''s roar that emitted its putrid breath in his direction, he let out a war cry of his own. Limited to the reach of his own body, unaided by magic in that moment, he dashed at the same time the fur-d beastly humanoid stomped towards him. "Raaagh¨C!!!" As it mmed its burly fists downward, he ducked down and slid across the bloody puddle, avoiding being crushed as he dodged straight between the colossus'' legs. "Hrrgh!" He shed twice, tugging the edge of his sword across the achilles'' heel of both of the beast''s feet, splitting it open and causing the tall, aggressive figure to fall down. Just as it fell, he didn''t waste a moment turning around and hopping on its body, sprinting across its burly back as if running across a field of brown grass. SQUELCH He jumped up andnded, plunging his de into the sasquatch monster''s skull before pulling it out, rushing forward again without any time to stop after felling one creature. A squid creature sprayed bullets of ink in his direction, forcing him to duck and weave, sliding across the water and even deflecting a few projectiles before bisecting the monster cleanly. "Ngh¨C!" There was no telling how much time he passed ughtering the masses of those which dwelled in the shadows, standing upon a hill of corpses, caked in blood of different shades and hard of breath, though still standing. [Level Up!] [Level 54 Achieved] [New Skill(s) Acquired: Sapphire Whelp] Wiping blood that he wasn''t sure was his or not from his mouth, he looked around, still finding the scenery around him, only kept alit by the me-coated sword he held, was upied by monstrosities. ''At this point, even summoning one of my Soulbounds is out of the question at my current mana levels. I''ve healed myself enough times to die a hundred times over by now,'' he thought. Even as his body ached and trembled, yearning to slump over and pass out each and every moment, seeing the flickers of light in the impossible-to-perceive distance of the abyss, knowing his fellow Reincarnator was still fighting her hardest, he found the will to keep pushing. "Hff¡­!" Exhaling sharply, he flexed his body as he invoked a skill he seldom wanted to use in such a condition, but found it necessary as the lurking monstrosities began closing in, seeming to smell the weakness on him. ["Overheat"] His internal temperature skyrocketed as his body was used like an oven, stoking a heat within him that caused steam to press through his pores and hisplexion to redden. At the same time, his muscles were forcibly refined and bulkened, strained with painful veins that pressed against his heated skin. It was a forceful overclocking of his own body, tapping into the draconic strength of his higher stages without actually having the necessary stamina to invoke them. The result was a temporary, taxing form that increased his muscle mass considerably, but felt as though his muscles were tearing themselves apart and his skin ame. Of course, such a risky transformation invoked by the skill was fleeting; he was forced to act quickly as he burst forward with tremendous power in his legs, allowing him to propel towards his enemies. "Hraaagh!" With a single swipe of his sword, the edge of his de cleaved through the bodies of multiple creatures of the dark; through the abdomen of a giant, roach monster, the body of a six-armed, humanoid, and a creature that resembled a reverse centaur. The boost to his physical abilities wasn''t anything insignificant; a mighty blow that even knocked back many of the creatures behind the ones he had cut down, however, the side-effects were already being felt¨C "Nn¡­!" Standing there after performing the massive sh, he felt his muscles contract as if being squeezed by an unknown force, causing him to falter for a moment. In that brief moment of weakness, the creatures preyed on it, lunging on it. "--Stand strong!" Piercing through the overwhelming darkness like a shining beacon, a burst of light along with a yell came through, blitzing through the creatures before him with a dazzling light. Excelsior arrived upon the monsters she had slew with her light-bearing sword, breathing out as she looked back at him while standing upon a hill of colossal corpses, "You''re not done yet, are we?" For a moment, he had to find his breath again through his strained body before holding a smile, wiping the sweat from his chin, "I''m just getting started." "Good!" Side-by-side, the two Reincarnators fought tooth-and-nail against the endless swarm of abyssal creatures. Though they hadn''t known each other long, there was alreadyplete trust in one another''s lives. "Nn¡­!" Struck by the blunt force of a purple, hairy, slug creature with massive tentacles, Excelsior fell off her bnce. It was clear she was already fighting on herst legs, but the blow stunned her, allowing the slug monster to close in for a lethal strike¨C "Hraaagh!" Intercepting the swarm of tentacles, Emilio got in front of the silver-haired woman before unleashing consecutive strikes, cutting through the limbs of the nightly creature. Tired himself, a few strikes slipped through his own defense, striking him multiple times in the torso before he finally broke through the slug''s rapid attacks, stabbing his de straight through its head. "Hff¡­" He exhaled tiredly. It didn''t take more than a few seconds before there was visible, purple bruising on his body, affecting his ribs as he slowly backed up, regrouping with his ally. From the beginning of the encounter, undoubtedly hours had passed. As hard as they both had tried, all of their effort led to there still being an endless parade of horrific monsters all around them, with no end in sight of the overwhelming darkness. Chapter 406 Holy Arrival "...Emilio-boy¡­" Excelsior said faintly, wincing as she held her arm, falling to a knee. He looked back, standing in front of the fallen woman as he could feel his own knees buckling beneath the simple concept of standing. The soles of his feet were tender and aching, his joints ached and his flesh throbbed after repeated beatings, though he kept himself up, if only by threads of will. "Find a way out¡­We can''t win this fight. Darkness is just toying with us at this point. It''ll break the seal either way, but that doesn''t mean we both have to die, ya hear me? I don''t want it to happen again," Excelsior said as tears formed in her eyes, "Him, then Ash-boy¡­not you, too. It''ll be bad if the seal is broken, but if you can get to the Guild Foundation¨Cif you can tell them, it can be stopped before the worst happens." "--" Emilio stayed standing, silently, raggedly breathing as he struggled just to remain upright. Excelsior tried to stand, though her bruised legs refused, "Dammit, Emilio, are you listening to me¡­?! I''m sick of this damn cycle¨C! I''m not going to keep watching others die! I''m ready for it! I''ve epted it already! I can die in peace! But, you¨C! The Oracle told me what you''ve been through, I can''t let you¨C!" "I''m not leaving," Emilio firmly responded without looking back. "...Huh?" Using his own sword as a crutch as the creatures of the dark slowly inched closer, surrounding thempletely, he breathed out. "I''ve experienced the same thing you have. Over and over again, I''ve had to watch those around me die. Even in death, I had to leave them behind. Everyday I question if the life I''m living is worth it, if it meant they had to die," he said through his teeth, "There''s not a day that goes by where I don''t think of what I could have done differently¨Cif I had just done this, or that. But¡­! Thinking like that, getting caught in that spiral of self-pity, all it does is waste the opportunity we were given! All I know is that right here, right now, I''m alive! I can still fight! I can still fight for your life, too! I can still make that choice¨C! So, I''m not leaving you behind, do you hear me?!" Excelsior found herself unable to speak for a moment, only looking upon the back of the man who stood before her, seeming so fragile in that moment, yet unbreakable. "You''re stubborn, aren''t you¡­?" Excelsior sighed. Somehow, through sheer grit, the silver-haired woman managed to pick herself up, standing alongside the blonde-and-ck haired man. "That makes two of us, doesn''t it?" He wryly replied. At that moment,pletely surrounded with perhaps only sparks of hope left that continued to be dimmed by the encroaching darkness, a change urred: the ceiling above suddenly burst through with the arrival of something. "...What?" Emilio let out, looking up. Though, for a reason he would soon find out, a bright smile found itself forming across the lips of the woman beside him, who couldn''t help butugh. "Right on time," Excelsior muttered with a grin. A radiance poured in through the newly-opened hole above, shining with such potency that it swept through the darkness like a mop through impurities; it was blinding enough that Emilio found himself shielding his eyes, though forcing himself to watch. ''Who is it¡­? Is it help?'' He questioned. Descending into the underground seal, a figure with angelic wings entered the domain, casting away the darkness with a hand raised up. It was undoubtedly a male through a muscr physique, their face soon seen¨Chaving a scruffy, unkempt beard and bright-blue eyes. From thevish gauntlet the figure wore, hundreds of strands of golden light expanded, each targeting the unsightly creatures that had surrounded the two on the ground floor. It was effortless and swift; just as the stranger''s boots reached the ground upon his descent, every one of the abyssal creatures was eradicated by the burning light. ''All at once¡­? Not only did he wash away the shadows, he killed every single one at the same time? Just who is this?'' He questioned. Before the man could configure another attack, the Primordial Aspect of Darkness fled the scene, seeming to know it was at a disadvantage against the stranger who wielded such abundance of light. "Took ya long enough, Bastian," Excelsior said. The man held a half-cocked smile, allowing the wings that carried him down to dissipate into gilded particles, "I did my best to make it here as fast as I could. Sorry for beingte." After apologizing, the cloak-wearing man''s eyes moved over to the blonde-and-ck haired figure, approaching him. "--" Emilio met his gaze. "You''re Emilio Dragonheart, aren''t you? It''s a pleasure to finally meet you," the man introduced himself, extending his hand, "I''m Bastian Seraphheart¨Ca Reincarnator from Earth, like you." ["It doesn''t matter where we came from. It doesn''t matter who we were in our previous lives, or what we did. For one reason or another, we chose to leave behind our old lives behind, leaving behind the world we were born into itself. That choice is what brought us to one another. Now, we''re together in this. It might hurt, it might be painful, it might be difficult just to continue living¨Cbut we have to. Even if this world feels as though it hates us at times, even if fate itself seems to reject us, we can''t abandon the path we chose¨Cwe can''t make the lives we left behind meaningless. That''s what makes this all real. The family I''ve been born into and raised by, the friends I made, the pain I''ve gone through, and the victories I''ve embraced¨Cit''s all real. That''s why, even if this world rejects us, we have to fight for it."] ¨C [...A Short Time Ago¡­] [Outskirts of The Scarlet Forest | Ennage] Stepping through a bundle of foliage, a man with a scruffy beard, wearing a tattered, beige cloak, let out a sigh as he looked up towards the rain clouds. ''It''s been raining an awful lottely, hasn''t it?'' He thought. The man looked worn out by his travels, though unmistakably a force himself as his muscle-bound body couldn''t be hidden beneath his dirty, rain-drenched cloak. Before the nomad was the sight of the old, moss-covered skull that rivaled the mountains that neighbored it; a monument that spoke of the dormant legends of the Continent of Demons. ''It reeks of death. That''s the signature stench of "them",'' the man thought, touching his own nose briefly. Every step the man took seemed imbued with authority; though he tried toy low with his cloak and hood, there was undoubtedly an imposing presence that exuded from him. Approaching the mountainous skull with calm steps, the man came to a stop for a reason that was not visibly apparent. "Come out," hemanded. Standing alone in the stone valley that led to the monumental, old skull, that lonesome state was no longer the case as a figure revealed themselves, having been tucked behind one of the trees. It was a woman that stood over two meters tall with short, fluffy, dark-red hair and golden-brown, tan skin. She wore pitch-ck armor with a devious smile and a "X"-shaped scar etched onto her left cheek, looking towards the man as she stood across from him, blocking his path to the mountainous skull. "Hiding ain''t really my style, anyway," the woman said with an excited smile. The sable armor she wore was heavy and bulky in certain sections, like the skull-shaped pauldrons on her shoulders and the boots she wore that were shaped like the feet of a bear. "You''re with the Children of Chaos, aren''t you?" He asked. "Correct! I came here looking for a little dragon whelp, but it looks like I found quite the bonus, ain''t I lucky?!" The woman said, "--Bastian Seraphheart! The elusive legend himself¨Cwhat a treat!" The man stood there silently for a moment before quietly letting out a sigh, lowering his hood as he stared directly at the woman. As he flexed his own sight, his blue irises briefly turned into a seraphic shine of gold: ["Eyes of The Seraphim"] The unique skill wielded by the nomad granted him vision that saw the truth of whoever he looked at; deceit was unraveled and hidden truths were brought to the surface as etchings of light visible only to him. Upon looking at the abrasive woman that blocked his path, he found the truth he was looking for. ''She''s one of the Aspects. As I thought¨Cthe Children of Chaos must be after the Dragonheart. It''s good I showed up here when I did,'' Bastian thought. "You''re Katliah. The aspect you wield is ''Bloodlust''," Bastian called out after peering at the figure''s hidden truths. The woman in ck armor held a surprised expression as she pursed her lips for a moment before letting out an arrogantugh, "Scaaaary! So, that''s your ability at work? I always wanted to do battle against you. It''s not everyday I get to see what the entrails of a legend like yourself look like!" Bastian remainedposed and unflinching to the heavy-armored woman who without a doubt had a screw or two loose inside of her head. A quiet sigh left his lips as he brushed his cloak aside as his muscr arms were revealed. "I''m in a hurry, so I''d suggest staying out of my way. I''m not the kind of guy that likes beingte," Bastian warned. Chapter 407 The Divine Reincarnator "I''m in a hurry, so I''d suggest staying out of my way. I''m not the kind of guy that likes beingte," Bastian warned. Katliah tilted her head with her scarlet eyes trained on the man, pointing her finger at her head, "Haaah?! Didja hear a word I said?! Forget all that other crap¡ªI want a piece of ya, Seraphheart!" Issuing her challenge, the woman manifested bright-red chains that wrapped around her arms, attached to dual, curved swords she wielded on each hand. "You''re here for Excelsior Mytheart and Emilio Dragonheart," Bastian guessed, though spoke as if he already knew. Katliah raised an eyebrow before clicking her tongue, "Ya know all of that? Yer as resourceful as they say, Seraphheart. Either way, it doesn''t make a difference." At that exact moment, heavenly seals manifested in front of Bastian, who calmly pushed both of his hands through them. As each of his arms passed through the seals, they becameyered in light, golden-and-silver armor. [Seraphheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 1/10 | Holy Warrior] Just as he manifested the heavenly gauntlets, the wicked woman dashed in with her des trailing behind her, attached by the chains she wore. In that split-second, the ear-to-ear grin of the woman was seen before the curved, ck-and-purple des she wielded were swung. KLANG "--" Bastian remained standing in the same spot. "Aintcha special?" Katliah grinned. The Seraphheart lifted one arm to block both of the swung swords, using the sturdiness of his holy gauntlets topletely negate the strikes aimed for his head. Bastian exuded a radiant aura that knocked the woman back, brushing through the dirt like a sweeping tide. Katliahnded on the ground nimbly despite her heavy-set armor, looking pleased by their first sh. That wild smile perched on the woman''s lips was followed by a tangible manifestation of her killing intent; a blood-red aura erupted from her body, surrounding her like a cloak of malignant crimson that represented her sole purpose: "Murder!" Katliah chaotically screamed, seeming to lose what little reason she had. The insanity of the foe he faced didn''t surprise Bastian as he sidestepped the nearly instantaneous dash-and-strike from the woman; the missed sword sh caused the bloody aura to rip through the dirt violently. "Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Katliahughed without reason. Bastian watched the woman briefly with an indifferent look in his eyes before raising one of his arms. ''When a human is granted a portion of a Primordial''s authority, it often ends like this: that level of power corrupting their mind and turning them mad. They end up embodying the concept they''re given, bing ves of it rather than making it their own,'' Bastian thought. A sublime, golden light appeared in the palm of his hand as he raised it, gathering the radiance before pointing it towards the crazed warrior: ["Divine Punishment"]. "¡ªHuh?" Katliah''s eyes widened upon seeing only the brightness of the light. As the unique skill was unleashed point-nk against the aspect-wielding woman, it manifested in a radiant force that thundered forth, sting through the dirt road and the warrior herself. "Nnngaaah!" Katliah cried out. The golden shock wave left a chunk ofnd carved out, tearing through a hundred meters of dirt and destroying a few trees in the way of the one who had been sted. "¡ª" Bastian remainedposed. ["Divine Punishment"] was a skill he found potent against such abrasive foes; an ability that shaped its destructive force in ordance with the sins held by the target. FWOOM The immediatend trembled as a forceunched from the broken trees, going into the air briefly before crashing down in front of the nomad. Landing with a wicked smile, the crimson-eyed woman wiped the blood from her bottom lip. "That packed a punch! Ha-ha! Yer good, as expected!" Katliahughed before resting her massive, dual swords on her shoulders, "If yer this strong¡­I can''t be expected to bring ya back alive, right? So, that means it''s alright to gut ya like a pig?" "You''ve got a foul tongue," Bastian quietly remarked. That observation made the woman reel her head back before lurching forward dramatically, "Hah?! What are ya, some kind of fragile lil'' saint?! ''Course I''m foul! I love getting bloody and making people bloody! Now, let''s do thi¡ª!" Before the words could fully leave the battle-loving woman''s lips, the scruffy-bearded nomad vanished before her eyes. For a second, it looked as though he had disappearedpletely, but the splitting of wind and caving of the dirt meant something else¡ªhe was just that fast. The bloodlusted figure was caught off-guard for a fraction of a second before squeezing the handle of both of her swords, swinging them with a wide arc in front of her that epassed the entire area before her. KLANG. KLANG. Bastian masterfully deflected the sharp-edged swords with his gauntlets as he closed in on the woman. For a moment, Katliah looked dismayed before a wicked grin returned to her lips as she manipted the bloody aura around her des, causing them tounch crimson shes from every angle around the man. ''Gotchaaaa!'' Katliah thought. ¡ªThough, once more, hopes were dashed as without moving his eyes from the enemy before him, Bastian was able to swiftly duck and weave through the bloody projectiles. "Hah?!" Katliah let out. There wasn''t a drop of sweat seen on the man''s skin before he stomped down with a force that shattered the soil around him, producing a wind that stunned his enemy. He squeezed his gauntlets shut as they hummed with a jeweled light that enveloped them, burning brightly like the morning rise of a star. ["Trinity Impact"] Each thrust of his fist was unable to be seen; too fast and effortless with each movement that all that was perceived by the one on the receiving end was the pain that followed. "Gaaah¨C!" Katliah spit out both saliva and blood. Though there were only five blows made in session, there were over a dozen felt, feeling as though three impacts were made with one movement each. This was the unique skill used by the Seraphheart¨C["Trinity Impact"]--an augmentation that made each of his impacts hit three times. The force behind each of these multiplied impacts was enough to shatter boulders with ease, pulsing through the woman''s body with bone-breaking force as she was harshly knocked back into the dirt. Bastian sighed, brushing the dirt from his cloak as he looked over at theid out woman, who was gasping for air after the powerful blows. "You were way in over your heading here. Even if I didn''t show up when I did, the two you came here for would''ve been able to handle you," Bastian said, reprimanding the woman with his words, "Mytheart would have crushed you and Dragonheart would''ve burned you away." "Kff¡­Kff¡­" Not responding yet, the woman struggled to pick herself up as her arms trembled while she coughed out, hacking up blood. The dark armor she wore had been caved in where the impacts hadnded, not seeming to mitigate much of the damage. "Hate to break it to you, but you were probably sent here by your group because you''re expendable. No, that''s putting it too lightly¨Cyou''re a liability to them," Bastian said. The scathing words spoken from the man caused the woman to growl in anger as blood left her lips almost like rabid saliva, dripping down her chin as she stood with her arms limp and her shoulders slumped. "Shut up¡­Ya don''t know a damn thing about me. It''s my mission to further our Lord''s will!" Katliah spewed out, holding a grin with crimson-painted teeth now, "--Even if that means mushing ya into bloody paste!" That riveting bloodlust manifested itself like a blooming rose; the crimson wind swirled around the woman as her ted armor shifted; violently, spikes shoved their way outward through the ckened steel, manifesting all across her body. Once more, Bastian peered at the figure with his truth-unveiling skill as his eyes momentarily wielded a goldenplexion. What he saw from the Aspect''s true aura was that of a march of death; it weaved through the air likeughing skulls, all lusting for violence and gore¨Cthis was the embodiment of what she possessed. The battle-loving woman had bepletely covered in spikes, all in varying length and jutting out of every corner of her body, piercing through her flesh and armor with grotesque sounds. ''That''s the aspect of "Bloodlust" finally revealing itself. I imagine things are about to get somewhat wild, so I''ll take this a bit more seriously,'' Bastian thought. Heavenly seals manifested on the ground where he stood and above his head, meeting together as they passed over the nomad''s body, outfitting him in regal, golden-and-silver armor that was finely embroidered with colorful jewels. A light gently brushed his armor, running along it as if peeling away any impurities and cleaning it as it passed, leaving it spotless and shining without needing the touch of the sun to glow. A helm with a tinum plume extended from the back covered his head as his gauntlets grew thicker and his boots mmed down, embodying the new stage he entered: [Current Stage: 3/10 | Divine Warrior] Chapter 408 Heart Reunion As soon as he had equipped himself in the heavenly armor, the wicked figureunched across the carved soil, darting around him with vicious speed¨Crepeatedly encircling him with swiftness that left afterimages of blood in her wake. "Murder!" The scream of the woman boomed as she swept through the path, unleashing deathly shes that carved through the dirt. "Kill! Each yell was followed by quick bursts of shes infused with the figure''s bloody aura, eradicating anything in her way as she swept through like a bolt of lightning. "Eliminate!" Leaping up into the sky, Katliah yelled out onest time as she was engulfed in true bloodlust; the crimson shine infused with her armor, turning it into a bloodyplexion as she spun both of her weapons using her chains. Every rotation caused a greater force to be built; a crimson wind swirled around the spinning des, being spun around with enough speed that the wind began howling before¨C "Destroy¡ª!" As the maddened member of the enigmatic cult finally whipped her des downward, Bastian finally responded as he looked upward, squatting down briefly as he breathed in: ["Angelic Wings"] Bright-white wings manifested on his back in an ethereal form before heunched himself upward, ascending through the sky with intensity. The golden dust that was left in the trail of the wings repelled the range of the bloodlust aura, paving an open path for Bastian straight towards the spike-covered figure. "You¨C!" There was no chance for shock or anger to flood up to the wicked woman''s mind as the winged man was far too fast; it was merely a fraction of a second, not enough time for a single raindrop to fall upon the world''s crust from the time heunched until his fist drove into her stomach. ''How is he this strong¡­? Bastian Seraphheart¨Cthis is the strongest Reincarnator¡­?'' Katliah questioned. The impact was too much for the woman''s body to withstandpletely as a shock wave blew out from her back, causing her abdomen to be caved in brutally by the blow. It was a hit that would undoubtedly be the death of a normal human being, but the nomad already knew what sort of twisted kind of person he was dealing with. "...Geurgh¡­! That hurt! I''ll murder you! Murder!" Katliah spit out blood as she spoke. Without paying any heed to the maddened words of the one who embodied "Bloodlust", he manifested golden ropes of light in each hand¨C["Heavenly Binding Principles"] "Wha¨C?" Katliah watched without being able to react. The bindings moved without restrictions of matter or weight,pletely wrapping around the limbs and body of the spiked woman without any trouble. Burning with extreme prejudice towards the sinful, the "Heavenly Binding Principles" bore a heat that could not be hidden from behind armor; the punishing temperature felt as though it pressed against the woman''s bare skin, inciting growls of agony from her as she struggled. "Nnngahh¡­!" Katliah let out. Bastian clenched the heavenly ropes before yanking the figure down to the ground with him as he gentlynded, allowing his wings to p once more with a seraphic beauty before they disappeared. "Word of advice: don''t struggle. The more you fight against your ordained punishment, the more your "sin" will rise¨Cif that burn is unpleasant to you already, just wait until those ropes decide you''repletely soaked in sin," Bastian warned. "Nnn¡­" Despite her clear anger and tangible bloodlust, even the crazed woman seemed to understand her situation as she stopped shaking around and attempting to fight off the unmoving tightness of the bindings. "Sit up. I''ve got some questions for you," Bastian said in a demanding tone. "Nnhf¡­" Katliah clenched her teeth, growling like a rabid beast. As he tugged the golden ropes, they seemed to incur a scathing pain through the person they held onto as tight as a mother''s hold, forcing the woman to sit up. There was no kindness to their grip; a scathing light that imbued a conceptual agony through skin, flesh, and down into the marrow of one''s bone¨Call in ordance to the density of their sins. "Now, it''s time to give me some answers¨Cstarting with what your group wants with Emilio Dragonheart," Bastian questioned the crazed warrior. Katliah gritted her teeth, looking up towards the man as blood leaked down her chin, "I ain''t tellin'' ya a damn thing, so just¨CAaaagh!" The moment there was any resistance found to answering the question, the nomadic man slightly tugged on the golden bindings, causing them once more to send a wave of unavoidable pain through the captured woman''s body. "Once you''re caught in the hold of "Heavenly Principles", it''s already over. For those that have led a life of evil, like yourself, anyway. Do you get it now? Unless you want to face total retribution, I''d suggest speaking¨Cnow," Bastian ordered, "I''ll repeat my question onest time: what do the Children of Chaos want with Emilio Dragonheart?" Catching her breath for a moment,yered in sweat and leaning her forehead against the dirt after suffering the brutal punishment from the radiant bindings, Katliah picked her head up, looking at the man with a glint in her crimson eyes. "...Ya can shove yer questions up yer ass. It won''t just be me. There will be more, hunting you and your kin to the ends of Arcadius. All to further our Lord''s will. I rescind my contract!" Katliah screamed. For a moment, Bastian was left perplexed by the meaning of the woman''s shouting, though quickly realized what she was doing as he tightened the bindings in a panic. "No¨C! Don''t¡ª!" Bastian yelled. "Take your payment now¨C!" Katliah cried out. The words spewed from the lips of the woman, piercing through the heavy rainfall, were meant for a non-present force; the entity in which she borrowed her unnatural authority from. The woman''s eyes went bloodshot as crimson liquid leaked from her eyes, mouth, nose, and every conceivable pore as she smiled. "You¡­!" Bastian muttered in frustration. "See ya in Hell!" Katliah said with an ear-to-ear grin. Before Bastian could attempt to speak or take any sort of action, harrowing spikes pierced outward from within the woman''s body-every square inch of her body was skewered endlessly. It was not a painless death, there was no doubt about that from the sight of it; there wasn''t a single piece of skin left seen from the woman¨Conly a statue of spikes, coated in blood and left silent from the brutal end. ''She was willing to kill herself to avoid being questioned? Just what the hell is it these people are truly seeking? What are they hiding? I can''t think of a cause worth bing as twisted as this¨Cusing their own lives like expendable weapons to further some nebulous goal,'' He questioned. Relinquishing the golden bindings, he let out a quiet, disappointed sigh at his failure to obtain information on the elusive group. Looking upon the grotesque corpse left behind, resembling only a bloody, pointy statue now, he was quiet for a moment. There was a tiredness in his eyes that went past just a few sleepless nights; perhaps weeks, months, or even years. Turning to the side, the man''s gaze befell the mountainous skull as his path was now unimpeded, leaving him only moving forward. ¡ª [Back To Present] After the eventful sh with monstrous forces, the three headed out from the seal, leaving the underground area before resting at a quiet section of the nearby forest. They all needed rest and recovery before anything else¨Cwhich Bastian had covered, providing healing for Excelsior and much needed food in the form of cooked deer. The three were certainly suited to such troublesome encounters, all seeming to be on the same wavelength as Emilio used a small bit of fire magic to stoke the campfire, Excelsior split wooden logs to create seats for them, and Bastian provided the food and aid. "So, a member of the Children of the Chaos attacked you? If they had an Aspect, they were definitely high-ranking," Excelsior remarked. Bastian tossed a twig into the campfire, "I doubt she was that high within their organization¨Cto be frank, she wasn''t much trouble. I''d say either of you two could''ve dealt with her handily." "I just don''t get it¡­Why do these "Children of Chaos" people want with us so badly?" Emilio questioned. "From what I''ve gathered, Reincarnation like us are "vessels" that Primordials seek. A lot of what I''m about to say is conjecture, seeing as it''s impossible to get these cultists to spill their secrets, but I believe it has to do with our Systems," Bastian exined, "Our Systems are what separate us from normal people who live on Arcadius. Sources of great strength that ignore the fundamentalws of thisnd¡­I''d venture to guess it''s an enticing catalyst for Primordials." The exnation seemed to be backed by the respected wisdom of Bastian, who seemed wise past his years as he moved calmly when stoking the campfire, slowly eating the cooked meat. "It alles back to Primordials, huh¡­" Emilio said. "That''s the reasoning for us anyway," Bastian told him. "Yeah, but there''s something different about you, right, Dragonheart?" Excelsior noted. Emilio looked between the two, not having an answer, "Different?" "The truth is, the way the Children of Chaos have targeted you and treated you¡­You''re definitely a special case," Bastian said, "As to why, that''s why I''m trying to find out. It''s not just them, though¨Cthere are a lot of eyes on you, Emilio. It''s not surprising considering the waves you''ve made already." "I haven''t really¡­done anything," he rubbed the back of his head. Chapter 409 Live A Life You Can Be Satisfied With "I haven''t really¡­done anything," he rubbed the back of his head. Though saying that felt like a white lie as when he thought about it, the life he led thus far was packed full of eventful encounters, and ones that would assuredly be ced into history books, should they be written. "You need to make a choice, though, Emilio," Bastian looked at him. "--" Emilio went silent. "Will you stick with us and hunt down the Children of Chaos¨Cthe ones responsible for the situation you''re in now, or will you go home and return to your family?" Bastian asked, "Either choice is perfectly eptable, Emilio. If you choose to go home, I''ll help you return." "And the door will always be open to join us when you''re ready," Excelsior added. "Of course," Bastian confirmed. There was undoubtedly a fire that burned in him, wanting to seek vengeance for the destruction of his hometown and the murder of his mother, but at the same time, he felt it was something that also needed to be done. However, beyond that, the unease in his heart led him only to one choice¨C "For now¡­I want to return home. I need to make sure my family and friends are alright," Emilio chose. "Understandable," Excelsior said before chomping down on the grilled meat. Bastian looked at Emilio, staying silent for a moment before speaking, "If you don''t mind, I''d like to offer an alternative option to consider. You don''t need to ept it, of course. Either way, I''ll make sure you get home safely if that''s what you want." "Sure, I''ll hear it," Emilio listened. "Whacha got in mind, Bastian?" Excelsior asked curiously. The nomadic man looked at Emilio, seeming to choose his words carefully each time he spoke before he exined his new alternative, "You''re worried about your friends and family¨CI understand that. I don''t me you for choosing that path. However, I believe we can find a solution that works both ways." "Both ways? Like what?" Emilio asked. "If she is willing, I''ll have Excelsior visit your home and check on your family and friends. She''ll deliver the news that you''re safe, as well. Does that work for you, Excelsior?" Bastian looked over at the woman. The silver-haired, muscr woman waved her hand with a slight sigh, "Sure, sure. I can do that. If you''re doing it this way¡­I''m assuming you''re going to take Emilio-boy to the Oracle, then?" Bastian nodded, "That''s correct. The Oracle is our secret weapon to finding and weeding out the Children of Chaos. I''d like to return to An to make sure it''s protected from the enemy, and to provide a safe location to train you, Emilio. How does this sound to you?" It was a lot to take in, with most of it being concepts he was still hazy about, not knowing all too much about the enigmatic group that they were all confronted by. "...I don''t know. I''m not sure about what a lot of this even means. Just what is this "An Oracle", anyway?" Emilio asked. "Sorry, but I can''t divulge any details before we''re in An itself. I''m sure you understand, but the identity of the Oracle must be kept a secret from the wrong ears," Bastian exined. "You want me to follow you, undergo this training, and leave the safety of my family to somebody else because¡­why? I''m still missing that. Sure, the Children of Chaos are dangerous, but why do you need me? Can''t youmission some adventurers from the Guild?" Emilio posed the question, staying critical of the situation. Though as he asked that question, there was already a small part of him that knew that there was definitely a reason he specifically was needed; there was no doubt that there was a special intrigue held on him by the elusive group. "In the benefit of building a healthy friendship, I will be up front with you," Bastian told him before holding up three fingers, "There are three reasons it is vital to take you to An." "I''m all ears," Emilio said, listening close. "One: the enemy wants you. Why exactly, we don''t know. That doesn''t change the fact that you falling into their hands is likely our "worst case scenario", as things stand," Bastianid down the first point. Excelsior added in, "He''s right. We''ve been tracking down these people for years, and we''ve always ended up three steps behind them. They''re dangerous¨Cthere''s no doubt about that," she swallowed the piece of food she was eating before continuing, "They may seem crazy, but there are definitely some incredibly crafty people running the scene at the top. If they want you bad enough to take special care to not kill you, then you can bet that letting them capture you is a no-go." "Yeah, I get that¡­" He nodded slowly. It didn''t feel good to be in a position like this¨Calmost like a "product" in the eyes of the enemy, not seen as a human but merely an ends to a mean, more than likely. Still, he understood that it was indeed a given that he couldn''t fall into the hands of the enigmatic cult. Bastian waited a moment before giving his second reason, "Two: You''re undoubtedly strong. Having you on our side in theing battles against the enemy will be crucial. The An Oracle has mentioned as much¨Ca ''prophecy''." "Prophecy?" The bearded, middle-aged man nodded, "In the prophecy, it''s said that there will be "Five powers from a world afar that will shine down on the crust of Arcadius in its darkest hour"--I don''t need to tell you what that means." "Five powers¡­Five Reincarnators? If I join you two, that''ll only make three, though," Emilio said. "Don''t worry about that¨Cthat''s where the An Oraclees in," Excelsior nudged him with her elbow cheekily. "This oracle seems pretty convenient, if you ask me," Emilio remarked. "It''s how we found you. We can find the other two listed in the prophecy," Bastian said. "Right, then what''s the third reason?" Emilio asked, looking across the campfire at the man. It had be nighttime over the wilnds of Ennage; countless starsid in the pitch-ck sky, casting sparkling radiance through the darkness as moonlight cascaded down the trees. Bastian looked at him, "Thirdly, I made an agreement with a powerful figure that I''d look after you and make sure you don''t lose control of your system. If I didn''t agree to that, he would''ve executed you." "Huh? What''re you talking about? Who would want me dead for something like that?" Emilio questioned. "Aelor, the Element King," Bastian told him with a serious expression, leaving no room for doubt. For a few moments, there was silence around the campfire as Emilio found himself having to process what was just told to him. ''Aelor¡­the Element King? That person? Wanted me dead?'' He thought. The figure in question was one of legend that he regarded as an idol and one of the key figures responsible for the magical abilities he had rued through his years of studying; it was the grimoires written by the Element King that he based his philosophy of magic on. "...You agreed to something like that to save me, then," Emilio looked down, muttering quietly as he allowed this news to settle in. "I know you''re an important person in the time toe. The world is shifting, and powers are moving¨Cthere is war looming on Arcadius," Bastian said, "For now, though, I think we should sleep on it. Think it over through the night, you can give us your answer in the morning." "Right, sure," he agreed. That night, he found it troublesome to sleep as heid beneath a canopy of trees, looking up towards the starry, night sky as he pondered the choices given to him. There was a heavy weight on his shoulders when it came to making the decision, though even after the discussion he had with the others, it still felt like he was missing a lot of information. ''Just what''s going on with this world? More importantly, what''s the connection between all of this and SAMSARA''s intentions? It''s not a coincidence that they sent us to this world specifically, right? One full of things like¡­all of this. I want answers. If I want to get them, I suppose there''s only one path, then,'' he thought. Though it was hardly afortable ce to sleep,ying on a bed of leaves beneath the colossal trees that loomed through the naturalnds of Ennage, his exhausted body weed the idea of sleep after a while, quickly falling into slumber upon closing his eyelids. ¨C Amidst his own sleep, the dreams he had oftentimes fell between the lines offorting and punishing; he truly didn''t know how to feel about it. In this dreamscape, it was as though he was reliving his childhood¨Cexperiencing that inconsequential time of development, surrounded by the warmth of his family and their unconditional love. These frequent dreams that urredtely oftentimes felt like a punishment to him, for the tragedy he had unintentionally incurred, though during that night, he felt it was telling him something. Finding himself dreaming of a time when he was a toddler, held in the arms of both his father and mother on a stormy night, that warmth he felt resonated within him as a reminder: "Live a life you can be satisfied with." Chapter 410 What Hides In The Sea As his eyes suddenly shot open, it was already morning time, being suddenly yanked from the dreams he had, though as he sat up, he already felt within his heart that the decision he had to make was decided. ''A life I can be satisfied with¡­For somebody as greedily ambitious as myself, as relentlessly curious¡­I think I know what path that is,'' he thought. Gathering around the campfire amidst the morning fog, with the dew of dawn running slick on the grass, breakfast was made in the form of berries and cooked squirrel, by Bastian who seemed adept at hunting and cooking. "I''ll go with you to An¨Con a couple of conditions," Emilio announced suddenly. It had been a silent breakfast until then, though his words certainly got the attention of the other two, older Reincarnators who looked over at him. Excelsior was still in the middle of chewing, while Bastian was tossing more sticks into the campfire. "Really? What is it, then?" Excelsior asked. Emilio looked over at the silver-haired woman, "I''ll need you to go back to Yullim, or what''s left of it, anyway¡­Find my family there and let them know I''m safe. But, also, if they''re still there, there are a couple of people I''d like you to bring back. If they''ll agree, anyway." "You want to bring others to An?" Bastian asked. He nodded, "If not, then it''s more than enough just to know they''re safe. I don''t know for sure if they''re still together, but the people left while those two were still there¨CCassian and Comet¨Cwere Julius Dragonheart, Celly Van Strezzhume, Everett Shieldholder, and Irene." With those names given, the conditions were set for his allegiance with the other Reincarnators and their aligned goal of putting a stop to the elusive cult''s nebulous goals. After their breakfast was finished, there was no time wasted as Excelsior prepared to head out herself. "Griffin!" Excelsior invoked. The Mythheart System proved to be versatile in itself as the woman managed to summon a giant, mythical creature that was a cross between an eagle and a dragon, hopping on its back as she saluted to the other two. "I''ll find your friends and family, Emilio-boy. Dontcha worry," Excelsior promised. "Thank you," he gratefully said with a smile. "Try and be quick, Excel," Bastian said with a small smile. Excelsior grinned, "Always am!" With a p of its wings, the griffin ascended from the forest, carrying the woman on its back as they disappeared through the skies over the Continent of Demons. Now, it was just Emilio and the nomadic man¨Cone that he found himself curious over: "The Strongest Reincarnator"--a presumed title that Excelsior gave Bastian, though one Emilio felt was apt considering his actions the previous day. "What now?" He asked. Bastian looked at him, "We''ll head to An now. It''s best to move quickly¨Ceven if it seems unlikely, there''s no doubting a chance that the enemy might intercept our movements." "An¡­I''ve been hearing you mention it, but I really don''t know where that is. I don''t think I''ve seen that name in any books, either," Emilio remarked. As he questioned the identity of the location they were going to travel to, he watched as Bastian began performing unknown actions, weaving a golden light in front of them through a manifestation of his radiant system. There was a subtle hum that sounded like a gentle, morning choir that emanated from the light as Bastian moved his index finger in a circr motion, forging a circr line of golden light on the air. "That''s because it''s a ce meant to be tucked away from civilization. A haven of sorts," Bastian exined whilst forming the golden circle. "What is it, then? A city? Kingdom? A cottage?" Emilio asked, watching the man perform whatever mystical task it was that he was doing. "You''ll see," Bastian assured him with a soft smile. Though what Emilio found himself curious of now was the radiant force being used by the man in an unknown way; it resembled magecraft, though was undoubtedly a power inherent only to the nomadic figure. "Seraph Door," Bastian quietly invoked. As the circr formation of light was finished being created, the invocation caused the space within the lines to be filled by a golden glow, holding an enigmatic essence as what appeared to be a portal of some kind. "Alright, it''s ready. Come on," Bastian told him, gesturing for him to step through the radiant gateway. "Hold on, did you really just make a portal? I kind of thought we''d be stuck traveling to this ce the old-fashioned way," Emilio remarked, inspecting the golden portal. Bastian lightly chuckled, "Unfortunately, our current circumstances don''t call for enjoying a journey like that¨Cnot at the moment, at least. Through that portal, you''ll find An. I''ll be right behind you." "Alright," he nodded. He lightly brushed his fingertips along the wavy, golden light, feeling a warm sensation that made the tips of his fingers briefly go numb when touching it. There was some hesitation he had with portals, being a sci-fi nerd himself in his previous life; the irrational fear of his came from scenes in sci-fi stories he read where people were turned into abominations, or merely mushes of meat, after stepping through portals. Still, this was inherently different; magic itself was¨Cwell, magic. A mystical, reliable force that wasn''t subject to the shorings of failed calctions, at least not normally. ''Here goes,'' he thought. Taking arge step, he passed through the threshold of light into the great unknown, briefly being subject to a sh of light as he was carried through the portal''s gateway before¨Che arrived. "...Woah¡­" What he found himself in was unexpected; he was surrounded by the vast sea, deep underneath it as he stood on the ocean bud, surrounded by colorful coral and seeing the marine life swim by, though not directly around him. In front of him, he found a walkway leading to a grandiose temple that was a spectacle in itself; made out of blueish, sparkly stone that glittered in the colorful biome, surrounded by statues of men that wielded tridents and des. ''An underwater base?...How am I still able to be shocked by this world all of these yearster?'' He questioned. He could breathe just fine, though it appeared there was a magical bubble that encapsted this region beneath the sea, deep beneath it and tucked away from any prying eyes. It was surely impossible to find, he found, as there wereyers uponyers of seagrass and coral up above the underwater temple that hid it from above. The sight of schools of fish, numbering in the hundreds, swimming by asrger life, such as a bellowing whale, passed as well was something mystical in itself. ''This is An?'' He thought. Along the cobblestone path that led to the entrance of the temple, there were tall-standing statues along with trees of coral either of a light-pink shade or a cyanplexion. Stepping through the golden gateway after him, Bastian came through before the portal disappeared behind him. "Surprised?" Bastian asked. "I mean, yeah. A temple under the sea is definitely not something you see everyday," Emilio remarked, looking up in awe. Bastian led the way, "It''s been here for centuries. There''s been only a handful of adventurers who have stumbled across it." "Including you?" Emilio asked, following behind them. In response to that question, Bastian reached beneath his tunic, showing the adventurer insignia he himself had¨Ca pitch-ck one in the shape of a rectangle. "That rank¡­It''s ''Void'', isn''t it? That''s the second highest there is," Emilio said. "Yeah, but it''s easy to achieve when you''ve been around for as long as I have," Bastian told him before tucking the insignia beneath his shirt again. It felt somewhat patronizing to be told that, though he was mainly focused on the beauty of the domain around him, petrified by the boundless sea thatid beyond the mystical bubble around the temple grounds. "An is the only bastian against the Children of Chaos; it has existed all this time for the purpose of preventing the will of the Primordials from leaking into Arcadius," Bastian exined as they walked. "But why? What even is An? It really doesn''t seem¡­like a huge force, or anything. If I''m being honest, it seems kind of empty and quiet," Emilio remarked. "You''re not wrong. An as it is has been worn down to the state it''s in now, but it wasn''t always like this," Bastian told him, "That''s the reason An stands against the Primordials¨Cit''s because of the Primordials that their kingdom was reduced to this." Through the open gateway of the temple, there was a courtyard, upied by a garden of seagrass of varying shades, along with colorful coral that sprouted like beautiful cedar. The tranquil area led to colossal doors up ahead. Arriving in front of the doors, they were found to be engraved with designs of their own, resembling the scales of fish, somewhat sparkling in their toned, gray shade. "I''ll open it¨Cstep back," Bastian said. He nodded and watched as the man stepped in front of the tall, twin doors before cing his palm against the dense doorway. "In the way of the water, ever flowing in the direction of a peaceful world, standing against the darkness¨Copen," Bastian spoke the mystical words that seemed attached to the door. Chapter 411 The Kingdom Of Atlan "In the way of the water, ever flowing in the direction of a peaceful world, standing against the darkness¨Copen," Bastian spoke the mystical words that seemed attached to the door. As the words left the lips of the nomadic man, a "click'' resounded before the twin, scale-etched doors parted for the two, opening up to reveal whaty beyond. The way the doors opened, with an old, drawn-out groan, it definitely seemed as though they weren''t used often. "--" Standing at the threshold, he looked into what awaited inside of the secretive temple. The interior was made out of a material foreign to him; lined with cerulean marble that sparkled against the faintest glimmers of light. Providing light within the interior of the temple were torches attached to the walls, providing soft, verdant mes of a unique shade. He stepped in right after Bastian, looking around as he found the architecture of the temple to be fascinating; the walls had curves to them, as if frozen as cerulean waves in time. Each step against the beautiful marble echoed through the quiet domain; it was vast, astonishing in nature, yet felt empty. "Is there anybody else here?" He asked, looking around. As he walked into the center of the lobby of the temple, he looked up, gazing upon a sparkling chandelier that carried many, verdant mes atop its sublime structure. "There are, but as I said, An isn''t what it used to be. Here,e on, I''ll introduce you¨Cthey''ve been waiting to meet you, Emilio," Bastian gestured for him to follow. The bearded man was approaching arge set of immacte doors on the other end of the room, made out of a different shade of marble, resembling the same shade of pink that the outside coral had. "Waiting to meet me?" Emilio muttered, following. With a push of both hands, Bastian opened the marble doors, parting the way to the chamber kept behind them as they both walked through. It was dimly lit in the chamber beyond the doors, though unmistakably arge, circr area. ''Where are we?'' He thought. As he stepped into the room, the dormant torches suddenly awakened with mes that cast light throughout the mysterious chamber. There was a deep, dark hole in the center of the room, which began rumbling with the arrival of the two humans. "...Nnnrghh¡­" What sounded like tired grumbling, akin to a yawn of something that had been slumbering for time unknown, resounded before a figure ascended from therge hole in the center of the room. ''What the¡­?'' Emilio thought. It was anything but human; arge, serpentine like body that swam through the air like a snake, with ancient whiskers that flowed from its head. The creature had dark-brown skin, seeming opalescent at certain nces, swimming around as half of its body still seemed anchored to the hole it came from. The mysterious creature brought its face down to Emilio directly, gazing at him with its old, wizened gaze, "...I see. So, this is the Dragonheart?" It spoke with a deep, bellowing voice, like that of a wise, old man, though each word spoken echoed with a slight tremor in the air. ''It¡­talks?!'' Emilio thought. Bastian stood beside him, "Emilio, this is Garguna¨Cthe caretaker of this temple. He''s been here since the inception of An." After everything he had seen, it was hard to be awestruck by mystical existences, though this was certainly an exception to that as the existence of the gargantuan, ancient eel that spoke the same tongue as him was surprising. "Many years have passed in wait of this moment. Your arrival is a monumental shift in the tides ofing days, Dragonheart," the great eel spoke, "The prophecy inches closer to its dawn. A fine development, indeed. Hrm¡­Seraphheart, are you going to see His Majesty?" "That''s right. Is he around?" Bastian asked. The eel moved fluidly through the chamber, curving its seemingly boneless body around like an airborne serpent, humming to himself before responding, "His Majesty awaits in the throne room, as always. It seems he has foreseen this arrival on your behalf¨Cthe both of you." Emilio found it hard to get any words out in the presence of the colossal, wise eel, merely listening as he found himself captivated by its existence. Every movement the great eel made caused the chamber to lightly rumble, presenting itself in an unintentionally imposing fashion. "We''ll be moving ahead, then. Thank you, Garguna," Bastian said. "Yes, yes," Garguna bellowed. Before the two left the chamber of the great eel, Emilio found himself suddenly blocked in his path towards the next door as the serpentine colossus curved around in front of him, meeting him face-to-face again. "To be careful, Dragonheart. You may find that the Sea of Twilight is one that does not take kindly to terrestrial creatures. So long as you stay within the halls of His Majesty, you will be safe. Do keep that in mind," the great eel warned him. As it spoke directly to his face, he found its breath to be lightly repugnant, smelling of a distinct fishiness as well as the sour breath of an old man, though he did his best to hide his visible disgust at the eel''s breath. "Yeah¡­I''ll keep that in mind," he said, leaning back as the colossal eel was far too close forfort. The response he gave seemed to suffice as he watched the gargantuan being unravel itself away from him, pulling away as the wizened eel left back into its abyssal abode. "Take care, then," Garguna''s bellowing voice echoed from the hole it retreated back into. Just the sight of the colossal, serpentine entity slipping away made his skin crawl, even if it was an ally to him. As he stood there, looking towards the pit in which Garguna rested, he was called by Bastian, who was holding open the door. "What''re you waiting for?" Bastian asked. "Nothing," Emilio said, following the man through the door. A corridor through the submerged templeid ahead; there were surprisingly paintings that sat on the walls, though not painted onto any normal canvas; the frames held stone canvases, etched into and painted with ink. ''A ce like this really exists? Or¡­existed,'' he thought. It was a quiet, mncholic walk through the lengthy hall as he looked to the right, finding the walls to the right to be made out of some sort of durable ss, looking into the great sea thatid beyond nothing but the see-through material. "Just how deep under the sea are we?" He asked. Bastian answered while walking, "Around five-thousand meters, I believe." "Five-thousand? That''s incredibly far down," he remarked, looking outside of the ss panes as he followed the man. There was light even as deep as they were in the ocean, stemming from marine life that glowed, or the seagrass that emitted a soft, verdant glow, being brushed along by passing fish that swam in dense groups. "If somebody even had the capabilities to dive that deep, they''d have the "Leviathans" to worry about," Bastian told him. "Leviathans?" "Like that one out there. See it?" Bastian pointed to the right towards the wall of ss panes. As Emilio looked to the windows again, seeing the vast, boundless depths of the deep blue, he saw what was pointed out: it was merely the silhouette of "something" impossiblerge, swimming through the deep with a size that caused the floor he walked on to subtly rumble. "That''s a ''Leviathan''?!" Emilio said. Walking up to the window, he pressed against it as he watched the colossal, deep-dwelling creature swim in the distance with its horrific size, hidden by the veil of darkness that came with the depths of the sea. Bastian stopped for a moment, watching with him as the creature moved through the sea, "They''re the guardians of An. Should anybody get close to the temple, they''ll be swarmed by those. That''s how An has remained untouched all of this time." "I can see why. You couldn''t pay me enough to swim in waters where things like that are lurking," Emilio responded. Reaching the end of the hall, there were a pair of statues that stood like guards of the golden-ted doors, holding tridents up and coated in tinum paint. For a moment, Emilio didn''t know if they were alive or simply statues, but it was clear upon closer inspection. "Seriously, where is everyone¡­?" He quietly muttered. "You''re about to find out where everyone went," Bastian told him quietly, "Just make sure not to speak out too much when we enter this room, alright? The Oracle is¡­a unique person." Emilio looked over at Bastian, who was a full head taller than him, definitely heads and shoulders above the average man in height, "Alright." Through the gold-ted doorway, he entered alongside Bastian, walking into a throne room that was dimly-lit by only a couple torches. The cerulean marble extended to the other end of the royal keep, though the other side of the throne room was different; barnacles grew along the walls, running along most of the ground in a light shade of crimson and azure. ''It''s hard to see,'' he thought. Chapter 412 World Of Prophecies Part of him was tempted to create light using a spell, though fortunately, he did have somemon sense and realized how disrespectful such an act would be when meeting a figure of high importance in their own territory. What was intriguing to him at first was something he hadn''t considered¨Cthe "Oracle" spoken about by Bastian also seemed to be the ruler of An itself. The man wearing the tattered, beige cloak stepped forward, closer to the throne that was veiled by the dim lighting of the regal chamber. "I have returned, and with me, I have brought Emilio Dragonheart," Bastian announced. With the im of their arrival, the slumbering torches were brought to life by the sound of a snap of one''s fingers, atst bringing the appearance of the one who sat upon the An throne. What he saw wasn''t anything he expected, not from the "Oracle" he had heard about. The figure sat in a throne of light, cerulean marble, embroidered with gemstones from the deep blue and infused with sea shells; they were humanoid in shape, though possessed four arms that sat on the rests of the regal seat. ''He''s huge,'' he thought. Of course, he didn''t know much of what he expected from the figure''s appearance, though he was caught off-guard by just how tall the An King seemed to truly be, sitting in the massive throne with a height that dwarfed him a few times over. There were barnacles stuck to the skin of the unique being with lengthy, prominent hair that cascaded down his shoulders like seagrass. Perhaps most jarring of all were the countless eyes that existed all along the An King''s body, each now looking towards the two humans. Silence; there was no verbal response that came from the enigmatic figure, only a slow raise of one of its arms as it pointed a single finger towards the Dragonheart himself. "Me?" Emilio quietly muttered. Bastian nced at him, whispering, "He''s calling you up. He wants to see the future attached to you. Don''t be afraid¨Cjust remember, he''s on our side." It was difficult to stay true to those words of assurance as he slowly approached through the marble throne room of the underwater temple, looking towards the colossal, sat king of the fallen kingdom. ''It''s weird. I''m nervous. Even the fingertips of my right arm are tingling; it feels like there are goosebumps over that arm, too. I wonder if this is the "phantom limb" stuff I''ve read about before. I''ve just got to stay focused,'' he thought. Through his journeys, he had be wary of many things, and none more than beings that resembled monsters of Primordial descent like the An King he now stood before. As he looked up, he saw its face clearly now. It had dark-blue skin, with the fair face of a man with narrow cheekbones and eyes that were ck, etched with golden, ringed pupils that held a unique essence within them. ncing back, he looked towards Bastian who waited at the other end of the quiet chamber, who made a gesture pointing down as if signaling him to kneel. He nodded subtly before kneeling to one knee before the An throne, finding the scent of salty sea water and fish to be quite potent as he sat there, unknowing of what was about to happen. "--" Waiting on a knee, he looked at the silent, many-eyed giant of a king before looking down, breathing in-and-out as he weed whatever wasing. Therge hand of the An King, sizable enough to easily epass the Dragonheart''s head in his palm, extended slowly. Just as the An King''s hand lightlyid upon Emilio''s head, everything seemed to shift around him. The simple contact made between the two invoked something otherworldly; an experience that surpassed normal perception. It felt like an out of body experience, weightless and away from his corporeal form as he was brought into an unorganized sea of images; an abyss filled with passing memories, some of the past, and some yet toe. ''What¡­is this?'' He questioned. In this sea of memories, past and future, he found himself suspended in darkness, unable to move as he watched these foreign experiences y before his eyes. Like shooting stars through the cosmos, these threads of destiny flung by. As each one touched his consciousness, he briefly experienced these future memories firsthand, living them through the eyes of the him that he had yet to be. With one of these unreached futures touching him, he found himself standing on a surface of water, surrounded by a boundless stretch of sea that was apanied only by mist and a sole figure standing across from him. ''This is¡­'' He thought. There was no control over "his" body, as if merely spectating through the eyes of a future self. Yet, he could feel the brisk wind that inhabited this peculiar region, looking down to find he was walking on water, though as he looked back up, he was brought before a daunting sight: colossal waves, as high as mountains, loomed over him. It was akin to the fear of god; a primal fright that originated from his gut at the sight of such a humongous wave, feeling powerless before such a natural force. Before the wave could crash down on him with a force capable of swallowing kingdoms¨C "--!" He found himself back in the ne of prophecies, though had little time to get his bearings before more memories of futures yet toe rushed into him. It became relentless; the untold memories flooded him, shing by as he had mere moments to experience each one. Through a tundra, swallowed in a snowstorm he found himself marching, shivering as he seemed to be devoid of the heat from his draconic blood; backed into a corner, he was wounded, fighting alongside figures shrouded in ck through the vagueness of these memories, swinging his sword through hordes of pale, feral humanoids; he found himself looking upon a ruined city, burned down as he sat on his knees in despair at this sight, though unknowing of his connection to it. More and more, these untapped futures flung into him as he began hearing voices originating from these scenarios he had yet to live through: ["Emilio Dragonheart, through your tremendous aplishments and valiant efforts, you have been recognized by the Council. Henceforth you shall be¨C"] ["How could you do this¡­? You''re a monster. Get away from me. Get away! Now!"] ["There''s nothing to forgive. It wasn''t your fault. I''d be a failure as a parent if I let you think it was your fault."] ["It''s been many years, my dear friend. Oh, how you''ve grown. How about a dance of steel for old time''s sake? Winner gets all."] ["The crowd loves him! The young man with blonde-and-ck hair will continue on to the next phase of the Colosseum!"] ["It''s in the books. Just make sure not to take any outside of this room."] ["Die."] ["C''mon! That''s seriously not all you''ve got is it? You''ve got a System too, so use it properly or you''ll end up in the dirt!"] ["Sorry, but I''m not interested. I came here to live an easy life, not to save the world."] ["We found it, Emilio. We''re really here¡­the Hollow."] ["It''s up to you now to stop them, Emilio. This¡­is where my journey ends. I''m sure you can do it. Arcadius is in good hands, because you''re¨C"] ["I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!"] ["Wake up, Dragonheart. We''ve got a city to burn."] ["Haven''t youe to realize it yet? The one, singr truth: the meaning of life is death."] Endlessly, these voices ovepped, flooding his mind as he found it impossible to listen to them all clearly, though some stood out as voices deeply familiar to him. Some of these words pointed in his direction were reassuring, spoken gently, though some were spiteful towards scenarios he was not yet familiar with. ''All of this¡­Just what is going to happen to me in my future? There''s¡­so much,'' he questioned. Flooded by these voices from time yet toe endlessly for minutes that felt like an eternity, it finally went quiet. Again, the kaleidoscope of untold memories, across strands of time interconnected to his own destiny, altered its presentation to him. This time, he found himself submerged in a deep, immersive foreboding future¨Cquite abruptly, he dropped into the perspective of himself from a time yet to pass. "--!" It was jarring, though he found himself able to actually control his movements this time, though it was clearly a fleeting experience as most of his vision was blurry and hazed, at best. He looked around, finding himself in a basin valley atop a mountain, neighbored by high-floating clouds that swirled around the colossal peak. ''...Where is this?'' He questioned. There was something about the sight he found himself delved into; there was a part of him that knew this was a significant urrence¨Cit wasn''t a future for himself that he glimpsed into, but a guiding peek into another. That is, this scenery was one he knew he would have to find¨Csomehow or another. The heights of the basin valley left a cold air swirling up top, keeping the luscious grass that inhabited it coated in morning dew. ''Cold¡­Just what is this ce? It''s so high up. What am I looking for here?'' He questioned. Chapter 413 Secrets Of Atlan It felt akin to a dreamscape, where his body didn''t respond to hismands properly and everything felt just slightly off, though what felt more real than anything was the thunder that suddenly made itself known. The harsh winds encircled the mountain''s peak, howling with a turbulence that gripped onto the edges of the colossal valley. It was a breathtaking scene, but one equally horrifying as he knew itid in his future; a massive spiral of somber clouds surrounded the basin valley, shing with magenta glows within their form. Thunder unlike any other continuously roared, emitting shock waves through the mountainous peak as if giving way to a grandiose presence. Even in his suppressed state within this enigmatic nce into a time yet toe, he could feel this power firsthand. The air vibrated around him, and subtle "pops" in the air became small shocks that jolted him as he witnessed what arrived from the storm surrounding the basin valley¨Clightning of a bright, magenta shade repeatedly struck the territory. ''Purple¡­lightning?'' He watched. It was difficult just to stand straight as the wind swirled violently, roaring with such intensity as the peculiar, magenta lightning struck down faster and harder, bing more frequent until the basin valley was constantly electrified Though the origins of this mystical storm was unknown, that was only briefly suspended in mystery before a figure mmed down from the brewing mass of purple bolts above, touching down on the valley with a thunderousnding. "--" It was hard to make out through the natural blur that came with the quandary of the future, though he could make out the figure of a man, whose body was coiling with magenta electricity. "So, who the hell do you think you are? I don''t remember telling anybody about this ce¨C!" A yell boomed from the mysterious figure who invoked the dormant thunder around the mountainous valley to once more shout with a massive boom, rumbling the ground that he stood on. ''Who is this¨C? Is this the next Reincarnator from the prophecy?'' He thought. The figure that wielded magenta lightning had an imposing presence of unequivocal might in the form of the thunder he controlled, erupting with lightning bolts that razed the luscious grass around them. "Cat got your tongue?...Fine, I''ll have to beat the answer out of you!" The mysterious figure yelled. Just as the unknown stranger dashed towards him with another boom of thunder¨Che was suddenly pulled out from the jarring preview into the future. Back into the kaleidoscope of boundless memories, unanchored by linear time, he floated there, suspended as he found himself with a new goal in mind. ''That purple lightning¡­That''s my lead, then,'' he thought. With that view found, he was withdrawn from the overwhelming unison of past, present, and future, finding himself drawn instantly back into the same position he was in beforehand: on one knee, looking at the barnacle-iid, marble flooring as the smell of the sea met his nose again. ''I''m back,'' he thought. The heavy hand of the An King lifted from his head as he looked up, meeting eye-to-eye with the enigmatic ruler of the lonely kingdom for just a moment. A few moments were needed for him to catch his breath as he sat there, in disbelief of the otherworldly experience he had gone through. He found that he was sweating, and his lungs had been deprived of air, but with a nce back towards the other side of the throne room, seeing the bearded man he came with still there, he realized that what he experienced likely happened much faster than he perceived. "That was¡­" He quietly muttered, holding his own face momentarily. As he looked up towards the enigmatic figure that sat on the throne, there were no words given to him, leaving him shrouded in unknown of what to do next. The fact that the An King was a wordless being was something that left him ufortable, having to guess what was okay to do as he slowly rose back to his feet, turning around as he headed back towards Bastian. "You alright?" Bastian asked. He slowly nodded, still sweating somewhat, "Yeah¡­It was just, a lot." "Come on, let''s get you somewhere to rest," Bastian said, patting his shoulder. Onest nce back towards the throne found no words again from the silent An King, who only watched as the two from another world left the hollow, royal chamber. It left him questioning what was truly going on in the undersea temple, though he put it aside for the moment as he left the throne room. Back into the corridor, just as the door was shut behind them, he looked over at the man beside him as it was clear that questions were written on his perplexed expression. "Be straight with me, what did I just experience?" He asked. As he stood there, he found that the peculiar out-of-body experience he had undergone had its own side-effects as he felt his bnce to be somewhat wobbly, resulting in him having to catch himself against the wall before Bastian helped him. Bastian responded, helping him stand straight, "The An Oracle showed you the future stored ahead for you. It''s jarring, I know. It feels as though your essence was ripped from your body and flooded with a lot of foreign, mysterious memories¨Call jumbled up and scattered." "Sounds about right¡­My head is a mess," he said. "Come on. You need to sit down, at least," Bastian guided him. Even as he walked, he could feel the fog around his mind swirling with a confusing bog as he followed Bastian. It seemed the man was quite familiar with the An temple, seeing as he knew where to take him to rest. Through a few corners taking in the marble corridors, which held a light-blue, moving light of the deep ocean, a set of rooms were found. "This is where we''re able to stay. Your room is right there," Bastian showed him to the leftmost room. There was no door, only an odd, oval-shaped entrance into the room that was quite simplistic in what it contained¨Carge bed, outfitted with seaweed-intertwined sheets, dressers made out of barnacles and coral, along with washed-out paintings on the walls. "A bed¡­?" He mumbled. Sitting down on the bed as the peculiar sheets crunched beneath his weight, though not breaking, he rubbed his own head before looking at the nomadic man, who leaned against the wall, looking towards him. "You didn''t tell me the Oracle was also the King," Emilio said. "It''splicated," Bastian told him. "Try me. I''ve fought the embodiment of nightmares and went through the literal afterlife¨CI think we''re long past things being plicated'' here," Emilio told him. Bastian looked at him for a moment before rubbing the back of his own head with a slight exhale, nodding, "Yeah, you''re right. You''ve been through the ringer, haven''t you? I''ve got some things I need to take care of, but I''ll show you where you can find your answers." "Really? You can''t just tell me yourself?" He asked. It wasn''t that singr instance of being tediously roped around to get answers that annoyed him, but the continuous string he felt he was being tugged along with, following the elusive promise of "answers" only to find himself with more questions by the end of it. "If I''m being honest, it''s a bit tooplicated for me to exin off the dome. Besides¡­there are some rather nosy individuals lurking around here," Bastian quietly remarked, ncing around. Thatment caught Emilio off-guard as he was silent for a moment, "I haven''t seen anybody besides that eel and the king." "Let''s hope it stays that way. Anyway, I''ll show you where you can find where your questions are answered," Bastian said, gesturing for him to follow. He followed the man into the unknown sections of the undersea temple, seeking out whatever it was that had the answers he was curious to find. Theyout of the An temple was something difficult to adjust to; the marble flooring was almost too smooth at times, making it somewhat slippery. "--" Beyond the walls he was surrounded by, he could hear the noises of the ocean; the deep, bellowing calls of creatures from the deep, and the rumbles of the vast sea itself moving about. Even in therge temple, it felt too small in the grand scope of the aquatic region. Wherever they were, Bastian seemed not to want their arrival at this sector of the temple to be known; they stopped at a dark corridor leading one way, seemingly secluded from the rest of the domain. There was a staircase leading into a lower section, with the glistening, marble walls now bing encrusted in barnacles the deeper they went. ''Where is this leading?'' He thought. All he could do was follow behind Bastian through the foreign temple, descending deeper and deeper as the steps continued. It was a narrow descent; the walls were close, and not exactly what he felt like touching, as the amber barnacles were mmy and exuded a distinct, fishy smell like¨Crank of a foul odor. "Down here¨Cthis is it," Bastian quietly said. A single door sat at the bottom of the lengthy steps, shrouded in shadows as Emilio stepped forward, conjuring a small me above his fingertip for light. Chapter 414 Legacy It was almost entirely sealed in abundant barnacles and ms, clung deeply and rooted with crystalized salt that had a strong, overpowering scent to it. "What''s behind this door?" Emilio quietly asked. "A ce that those remaining in An want to forgetpletely¨Cthe ''Library of The Deep''--it''s off-limits, technically," Bastian told him. "So, we''re trespassing?" He asked. "Technically," Bastian repeated. Attempting to use the doorknob, the blonde-and-ck haired man found it not budging a single inch as it was encrusted in salt crystallizations to the point that it was turned useless. Seeing as it wouldn''t open the traditional way, he stepped back before breathing in, lunging forward and using a frontal kick against the door. WHAM ¨CIt swiftly mmed open as the loose barnacles fell to the floor, revealing the sealed library behind it. There were particles of dust that brushed inward, having been kept behind the door for an unknown amount of time. As he coughed from the dormant fumes, he could taste them, realizing there were minuscule salt crystallizations in the air before he walked into the room beyond. "Here we are," Bastian said, following in behind him. Whatid beyond the door was a library; cramped, crusty, and dusty with salt crystallization that swayed in the air. As he stepped in, he looked down to find the floor covered in a lightyer of salt, finding that there were entire pirs of crystalized salt, standing tall like pirs and infused to shelves like barnacles. "What''s this ce? A library?" He asked. "A ce that the Ans have decided to bury away and forget about¨Cit''s where the history of their kingdom¨Cor what''s left of it¨Cis stored," Bastian told him. The entireyout of the abandoned library was strange; a lopsided, cramped room with shelves tilted to the side and a blue-tinted window that gazed out into the deep, dark sea beyond. "Check out what you need to¨CI''ll be close," Bastian told him, "If you hear me call out, make sure to leave. Or, at the very least, don''t let anybody see you here." "Why? What''s wrong with this ce?" He asked. Bastian waved his hand to disperse the salty air, "Everything down here is a history that is considered taboo by the remaining Ans¨Cthey''ve abandoned their history and the kingdom they''re fighting for. It''s hard to understand, but that''s just the way things are here. The only reason they haven''t burned it is that fire is even more taboo¨Cso don''t start spitting mes out around here, either." "Yeah, I don''t n to," Emilio said. After Bastian left the abandoned room, he found himself quietly walking around before even checking any of the dormant books, taken in by the silent, serene atmosphere of the forbidden library. It was a vice of his own, but he always felt he gravitated towards knowledge that was kept "secret" or "off-limits", knowing full well that it was likely wrong to peer too far into, yet it was an insatiable desire. Still, it was likely amon trait for humans, though his own curiosity often felt dangerous at times. ''This entire ce is odd to me. An underwater kingdom that''s been all but wiped out, it seems. If it''s as secretive as Bastian made it sound, just how did that happen? If it was powerful, shouldn''t something capable of decimating it have gone noticed by outsiders? I''m curious to find out more,'' he thought. Oddly enough, it seemed that there were a variety ofnguages that the dormant books were written in; themon tongue of the Human Continent, the Ennagenguage, and even rough, bestial hieroglyphics that seemed tied the homnd of demi-humans. ''They had somebody take the time to record their history in all of these differentnguages. That''s not something you do if you''re nning on burying all of that history away¨Cso what happened? Why would such a secretive kingdommit to something like that if they were trying to remain isted anyway?'' He questioned. Finding a book in anguage he could read, he grabbed onto it, though found himself having to yank it as the salt crystallization had formed around the spine of the dusty book. As he brushed the snow-white particles of salt off of the dark-blue book cover, he flipped it open. Surprisingly, the pages were intact and legible despite having been sitting on the shelf for who knows how long. ''Bastian was right. This book has probably been sitting here for decades at least¨Cbut the salt has preserved it, I think. This entire ce is just¡­odd to me,'' he thought. He sat down at one of the tables, brushing theyer of salt off of it before cing his posterior down. The table itself seemed to be made out of opalescent marble, though riddled with barnacles now which seemed to be the case with age. ["The Kingdom of An: The Age of Prosperity"] As he read the book while facing the window that led directly to the depths of the ocean, he found it quickly to be describing a time that was undoubtedly long gone. ["After the war with the Ravagers thatsted more than five years, a peace treaty was brokered, bringing in an era of peace for An and its people. War has always gued An, though it has never sought it; the construction of such a kingdom¨Ca unifiednd in the wild, untamed seas¨Cwas something met with constant hostility, whether by mindless leviathans, spirits, or outsiders. With war finally gone for the foreseeable future, An finally has time and resources to focus away from fighting¨Cthe King has ushered in a new age of growth and expansion. In just the past few years alone, our poption has flourished wonderfully from merely thousands to tens of thousands. Kids can y without being trained for eventual war; An may yet find its footing in this world."] Reading a time that once was, he felt a certain, sad emptiness towards the words etched into the book, now seeing just what An had be: a quiet, empty ce that was devoid of any sense ofmunity. ''What changed it? If it was so prosperous and peaceful¡­just what could''ve led to¡­well, how it is now?'' He questioned. Skimming through pages of the book that recorded the peaceful era of An, it seemed more like a fantasy than anything; sharks used as horses, whales as mass transport, and even fruit that grew underwater. After closing the book, he got up, moving towards the full-wall window as he peered towards the deep ocean thatid beyond. Being so far beneath the surface of the sea was something that felt unnatural, especially considering he was untouched by water and able to breathe oxygen. In the distance, he could see the shadows of colossal creatures of the deep, dark-blue, slowly swimming through the vast waters as the echoing bellows of what sounded like whale calls rippled through the region. ''The world is so vast. I want to explore and see every end of it. I just wonder if I''ll be able to¨Cit feels like at every corner, trouble is waiting for me,'' he thought. As he sat down in front of the water, watching schools of fish swim by, he rxed his arms over his knees as he found himself able to calm down at the aquatic scenery. Ever since the tragedy that struck his hometown, it felt as though his mind was woven into knots of anger, unable to be unwoven until his vengeance was found. ''What am I supposed to do, Mom? I want to see Father and the others again, but¡­how can I face them after what happened? It''s not just about what I did¨CI understand what you told me before you left¡­It''s not my fault, right? I''ll try to convince myself of that. But, the truth is, I''m still responsible. Those people only came to our home because of me. They only wiped it out, killing all of those people, because I was too weak to stop them,'' he thought. As such thoughts flowed through his mind, he reached beneath the cor of his shirt, pulling out the two nes he kept beneath¨Cone that had his adventurer insignia attached to it, and the other being the dragon carving. ''I already miss it¨Chome. I miss everyone there, too. It feels like an eternity ago already that I could smile without worry. As much as I want it all back, what''s gone is gone. Right now¡­I have to fight to keep what I have left¨Cthe "Children of Chaos"...I''ll bring them down,'' he resolved. Returning to his feet, he inhaled-and-exhaled slowly, peering outside of the ss with his amethyst eyes, seeing his own reflection as his very own eyes reminded him of his passed mother. ''I lived my old life in constant pain. None of that prepared me for this kind of pain,'' he thought. Turning away from the oceanic window, he explored the old, dusty library again, this time seeking out a book that detailed what caused the current state of the An kingdom. Most of the books in the saltyered library werepletely encased in the bitter crystallizations, and even once he did recover them, it seemed the salt had somehow washed away the inscribed text. Exploring a shelf that teetered, on the brink of copsing if not for a few scattered books that kept it from tumbling, he found a ck book that was sparsely covered, though the title inscribed beyond the front page seemed to be what he was looking for. ["The Legacy of Our People: Do Not Forget"] "...Is this it?" He muttered to himself. Chapter 415 Sea-Buried Truth As he opened the book, he found that it was more of a journal, rather than an actual book; the ink that was used to inscribe words onto the pages was messy and hard to read, though he managed. [Journal of Retrain Idamus, Record Keeper |"...Dreadful. After the attack of that monstrosity, the city has been all but wiped out. Our army was mostly depleted, and many civilians are still injured. Every night. Every night I listen to the cries of children who lost their parents in the attack. I listen to their whimpers from their wounds suffered from that evil force¨CI''ve heard some call it the "Slumbering One", some even seemed to worship it as the "Old One"...they, too, were killed by it."] Finally, it seemed he had found something of substance that began to inform him of what happened to An, but even then, many pages of the journal seemed to be bleached. ''It sounds awful. This creature it mentions¨C"Slumbering One", "Old One"--didn''t Bastian mention something about Primordials being responsible for what An is now? So, this "Old One" is a Primordial, then,'' he thought. Sitting with his back to the bookshelf, he flipped through the pages before finding one that wasn''t washed away, though something was off: it was messily written,pletely so. ["This is the will of the King. It''s his decision, but¡­is this for the best? The warriors. The oracle. The royals. Even the children. The "Cerulean Bond"--a sacred magecraft known by the King. All of us will be one. We will immortalize ourselves into one entity, bing the embodiment of An itself¨Cthat''s what this is for. I can''t help but feel part of this is just to strike back at the one that ravaged ournd. But, if this is the only one, then I will¡­I will do it. This way, we will continue on forever, living through him, living to one day bring An back to what it once was¨Cno, greater."] Reading the words that were hastily written on the page, with water stains that seemed to fall from droplets of tears, the ck-and-blonde haired man found himself devoid of breath for a moment at the revtion. ''All of the people of An¡­merged into one? That''s the An King that I met? That''s¡­I don''t know what to think of that,'' he thought. Just as he finished the book, the sound of footstepsing down the staircase leading to the library were heard. Slop. Slop. Slop. By the wet, pping wound that echoed with each descent down the stairs, it was clear that they didn''t belong to Bastian. ''Crap¨CBastian said it''d be bad if I was caught down here. Where is he?'' He questioned. As the wet steps continued drawing closer-and-closer, he found himself wanting to keep the book on him but decided to return it to its ce on the shelf before silently crouching, moving behind the shelves to hide. Using wind, he muffled his own footsteps and breaths, almost subconsciously performing this spell through his own mastery of the element. Slop. Slop. Slop. The footsteps were close, seconds away from the door as he continued moving through the library to find a good spot to stay hidden. Fortunately, the abandoned room was messy and filled with scattered objects, devoid of light except for the glowing coral beyond the window, making it an easy ce to stay low. Just as the door swung open, heid down under a low table, which was shrouded in a dark corner of the library with a tattered curtain further hiding the spot. "¡ª" As he watched through a small gap between the curtain and the bottom of the table, he found himself staring at a being that confused his eyes in the dimly-lit room: it walked in with eight, slimy legs of a dark-redplexion, possessing arge, bulbous head. ''An¡­octopus?'' He realized. The eight-legged creature wore a grayish-silver cloak around its odd body, walking through the library with suction noises "popping" with every movement it made. It was massive; the tentacles of the An inhabitant pushed aside the crumbled furniture out of its way as it moved across the room. Curiously, he watched from his tucked-away spot as the peculiar creature moved through the salt-infested library before stopping in front of the ss. As it stood there, its legs never stopped moving, continuously wriggling and moving about as if constantly sensing the area around it; itsrge head, being most of its body, seemed to pulsate. ''What''s it doing?'' He questioned. He watched as the eight-limbed creature pressed one of its slimy limbs against the ss, caressing it slowly as if longing for something beyond. It was a surreal sight, though confusing as heid there under the table. "--!" A book from above the table he hid under suddenly flipped over, plummeting down before¨Cit stopped in mid-air, suspended by an unseen force. ''Safe!'' He thought. Fortunately, he managed to act quickly, using a silent wind to envelop the falling book and catch it before quietly allowing it tond on the ground. As he set it down, he watched as the standing octopus turned away from the window, beginning to take its leave from the library with its slimy tentacles trailing over the furniture. Even after it went out through the door, with its wet, "slopping" steps getting further and further, he waited a minute before finally crawling out from under the table. A small breath of relief was exhaled from his lips as he picked himself up. Experiencing the oddities of the deep seand, he found himself questioning if it was really worth sticking around in such a perplexing environment. ''Is this really supposed to be our "base of operations" against the Children of Chaos? I need to know¡­what do the Ans have to offer in this mission? Bastian talks about the isted nature of An like it''s an amazing thing, but is that it?'' He questioned. As he left the salt-encrusted library, he went back up the marble stairs, though quickly finding that they were left slick with the slimy substance of the An Octopus. "Uugh¡­" Emilio quietly let out in disgust. Continuing on his way, he reached the top, returning to the hallway as he sought out the man who initially led him to the library. "Hey." As he walked down one of the cerulean halls, the familiar voice caught him first as he looked over, finding the bearded man leaning against one of the walls. "Nice warning," Emilio said. "Seems like you didn''t need it," Bastian responded. He didn''t reply to that remark, instead looking towards the walls of the underwater keep, "Why''re we here, Bastian? I don''t mean for the oracle''s glimpse or to hide¨Cwhat does An have to offer in this fight?" The question brought a look from Bastian that was followed by silence for a few moments before the man began walking, gesturing for him to follow. "You found the books you needed to find, I''m guessing?" Bastian asked. "I did. This kingdom is¡­if you can even call it that anymore¨Cit''s not a fighting force. Other than that, something is off about it. The way you warned me about that room, the few upants of An, and that "oracle"..." Emilio listed his reasons. Before he could get an answer, the two arrived in a secluded area of the An temple: a courtyard with dark-blue grass and a coral tree that sprouted seaweed along its crooked limbs. The ceiling was tall and see-through, having a glimpse of the sea beyond that was flourishing with life. Bastian stopped in front of therge, coral tree, "You''ve encountered the Primordials and their aspects already. You know that they''repletely different from anything else in Arcadius¨Cmore sinister than beasts and deadlier than monsters." "Yeah, I have," he confirmed. "It seems Primordials and their lesser forms are drawn to us, like mas¨Callured by our otherworldly existence. That''s what I''ve discovered, anyway," Bastian said, "An has developed the only barrier in the entire world that is capable of both keeping everything within it hidden from Primordials, but also preventing them from entering." What was revealed to him seemed far-fetched, considering the unequivocal power that Primordials wielded, though it didn''t seem like there would be any reason for the Seraphheart to lie. "A barrier like that exists? What kind of magecraft couldbat Primordials?" Emilio asked. "Sorry, but it''s not something exactly ''teachable''--if you read about who or what the An King really is, you should know that he''s a unique existence," Bastian said, "A weapon to stand against the Primordials." "It is a safe haven, then," Emilio muttered, recognizing the benefits of the ce, though still not sure if it was somewhere he really felt like being for very long. Bastian walked over the cerulean tiles of the courtyard, which were ced over a section of water which caught a glimpse of swimming fish below. "What''d you see back there? When you met the An Oracle," Bastian asked. Rubbing his head, he walked over, standing near the coral tree as he looked up at it, "To be honest, it''s hard to say, really. Though one part of it stuck out to me most¡­I was at the summit of some sort of storming mountain and met this cocky bastard who wielded lightning. I remember¨Cit was purple lightning. Really distinct." The truthful ry of what he experienced given to Bastian was taken in as the bearded man went quiet for a few moments, rubbing his own beard. "Hmm¡­" Bastian grumbled in thought. "What?" "Purple lightning, you said? I''ve heard of somebody like that, actually," Bastian told him, ''I''m surprised you didn''t recognize them." "Huh? Who is it?" Emilio asked. Bastian looked at him, "Sirius. That''s the only name he''s known by, besides "The Strongest Adventurer"¨Che''s a legend among adventurers, but not much is known about him¨Ca real arrogant fellow who thinks he''s higher than everybody else." Chapter 416 Morning Beneath The Surface The title of the figure he saw a glimpse of stuck out to him as he looked straight at the bearded nomad, getting interested now. "Strongest adventurer? Why did I see him in my vision?" "There''s only one reason: he''s a reincarnator like us," Bastian told him, "I''d venture to guess since the Oracle showed you that, you''re meant to go find him soon. If not, I imagine the Children of Chaos are going to try their hand at him." "I see¡­" "Well, it can wait until you''ve had some rest," Bastian said, "You need it." "Yeah, you''re probably right," he nodded. Returning to his designated room in the oddly quiet undersea temple, heid in the bed, finding it to be somewhatfortable, though nothing inparison to his bed at home. ''I just want to see them again. I knew that time of peace wouldn''tst forever, but¡­to be ripped out of it that way¨CI have to get back to my family. Still, even I know that it means nothing if the Children of Chaos simplye back and a repeat of what happenedes. I can''t allow that,'' he thought. Sleeping off the weirdness of the day he faced, he surprisingly didn''t experience any dreams nor disturbances in his sleep. As he woke up, he was greeted by the sounds of the bellowing ocean around the temple; the reverberations of the vast, seemingly boundless depths of aqua. "Greetings, revered otherworlder." ¨CThe words that suddenly met his ears made him spun his gaze around towards the bedside, almost jumping at the sight of the unknown figure: Who stood there, or perhaps what stood there, was a short, hammer-headed shark-humanoid dressed in ck-and-white, butler attire. "Err¡­Hi?" Emilio responded. "Forgive me for the intrusion¨CI was made aware by yourpanion that you would be famished upon your awakening," the hammer-headed butler said, "I am Consurge, the dutiful servant of the An royal keep. I am here to ease your time here." Emilio slipped out of bed, fixing his hair with a quick-and-light usage of wind magic to get rid of his messy bedhead. It was a juvenile usage of magic, though to him, magic embodied convenience. As he looked down at the short, gray-and-white skinned Antean, he was confused about one thing, speaking it out, "Hey, you called me an otherworlder, didn''t you?" "Why, yes, I did." "You know I came here from a different world?" He asked. Consurge nodded, "Of course! An''s alliance with the otherworlders is very important. You''re all considered valued heroes here, Mr. Dragonheart." "Alright," Emilio said, still somewhat thrown off before he threw his green cloak around his shoulders. Following the hammer-headed, polite butler, he went on his way to find the dining hall, undoubtedly feeling that his stomach was empty. As he walked behind the short-and-stout, shark butler, he found himself once more enamored with theyout of the isted temple. It was a certain truth that the An temple''s halls were extravagant, in their own way; the way that they used the oceanic, cerulean marble was certainly unique from any architecture he''d seen, especially with the curvy walls. "Who built this ce?" He asked. Each step he and the butler took echoed throughout the cerulean halls, bouncing off and transmitting like the low calls of a whale. Consurge responded, keeping his hands held behind his back in an orderly fashion, "My, that is a good question." "You don''t know?" Emilio asked, surprised. "Hmm¡­How should I say this? There are many names given to the one said to have constructed this temple, though nothing is known about this figure¨Cnot anymore," Consurge told him, "The Cerulean Keep is an impervious domain; through hellfire and lightning, it will remain unscathed. If the world should fall, it would likely remain intact." "...I see," he said with a slight exhale, feeling as though he was merely listening to the patriotic words of the butler, "The way you''re talking¨Cit makes it sound like it was only a single person that built this ce. I mean, this temple is enormous¡­that sort of seems impossible." "I understand your doubts, however, if there is one truth in the process of the Cerulean Temple''s construction, it was that it was the work of one figure. It was a great gift. It''s a shame that the true identity of the builder has gone washed away by the tides of time. It''s because of him that An survived that d¨Cah, excuse me. We''re here¨Cright this way," Consurge suddenly stopped. Breaking from his own words, the short-in-stature butler turned and opened the double doors on the left of the corridor, revealing the dining room beyond. "Fancy," he muttered under his breath. What immediately caught his gaze was the sparkling chandelier that was suspended above the dining table; made out of translucent, light-blue ss of some sort that made any light that passed through it somewhat twinkle. "Please, take a seat, Mr. Dragonheart," the shark butler gestured for him. "Sure." As he brought himself to the empty table in the lonesome, but extravagant room, he sat at a chair directly in the middle. The table itself seemed to be made out of a dark-brown, almost ck wood that was finely carved and smoothened over. Around the dining hall were nt vases, containing colorful coral or swaying seagrass; paintings hung on the walls,rge and expansive as they covered the huge walls, containing scenic depictions of the deep sea. "So¡­what''s for breakfast?" He asked. "Breakfast? Ah, you mean Crumpel¨Cthe chef will bring out your dish shortly," Consurge assured him before bowing, seeing himself out of the dining hall. As he sat there, he looked around at the room, gazing towards the paintings before checking out the utensils atop the illustrious table. There was a napkin, with a light-blue, curvy fork and knife. ''Weird. He called it "Crumpel"--is that the An equivalent of breakfast?'' He thought. There was still an odd feeling he got while sitting there; perhaps it was the unique sensation of existing far beneath the surface of the ocean, surrounding him with a sensation of beingpletely trapped. It was the truth, when he thought about it: he couldn''t actually leave the An temple on his own. ''If I want to leave, I''d need Bastian to make a gateway again. Would he do it if I asked? I''d like to believe so, but I don''t exactly know him that well. If I tried leaving on my own, well¡­either I can manipte the water enough to rise to the surface, or I''ll end up crushed by the pressure. That, or those leviathans will hunt me. Not a fan of any of that,'' he thought. After a few minutes, the doors to what he could presume was the kitchen opened, and with it, an An walked out with a silver tter hoisted. It was a creature he recognized: an eight-legged octopus with dark-red skin, only this time, it was wearing a white chef apron and hat. "...Err, hello," he greeted. The slimy steps filled the dining hall as the eight-legged chef approached the table before using its many limbs to hold the tter, moving it to the table and removing the cover. "Greetings, Mr. Dragonheart," the octopus said to him with an elegant, silvery voice, "What I have for you today is a fried krompali with veran sauce, apanied by deep-sweet leaves. An early day, nourishing meal." The amethyst-eyed man didn''t understand a word of what was said to him in describing the meal he was looking at; there was a green-shelled, fried entree on his te, with a creamy, white sauce and dark-blue leaves encircling the meal. "Err, looks good?" He said, hesitant as he didn''t even know the first thing about judging An cuisine. At the very least, the smell was familiar to him; that enticing scent of chicken somehow resonated from the shelled entree. As he picked at the dish with his fork, trying to make sure it wasn''t dangerous to eat, he could feel the chef looming over him as if waiting for his reaction to the dish. ''What does he expect? This stuff ispletely alien from the food I''m used to¨Cseriously, I''m not trying to end up with a stomach bug,'' he thought. Feeling the gaze of the octopus chef watching him closely, he opted not to appear rude as he gulped, using the fork to lift some of the meat within the green shell up to his lips. ''It doesn''t smell bad, I suppose. What was that saying again? "The uglier it looks, the better it tastes"--let''s see if that logic holds up,'' he thought. Bringing the fork past his lips, he allowed the creamthered, mysterious meat to fall into his mouth as he prepared himself for the worst. As he chewed it for a few seconds, hesitant and cautious, he finally swallowed it, with the eight-legged chef leaning in close, rubbing his tentacle limbs together with anticipation of the man''s thoughts. "It''s¡­good?" Emilio said, surprised at his own discovery, "Really, this is actually delicious." "Oh-ho! A fine palette you have, Mr. Dragonheart!" the eight-limbed chef said in delight. After receivingpliments to his dish, the octopus chef finally left after constantly looming over the man. It wasn''t like he was lying just to satisfy the cuisine expert, though¨Cit truly was a tasty dish. ''This sauce sort of reminds me of alfredo. Weird¡­I mean, what even is any of this stuff? I want to look around some more around this ce,'' he thought. Chapter 417 The Foul Brine Finishing up his morning meal, or whatever time it was, as difficult as it was to tell so far beneath the surface of the sea, he began to explore the temple. He didn''t know where Bastian was staying, though he presumed it was in the same sector he was staying as a guest. "--" Without much sense of direction guiding him, he found his way to the courtyard of the Cerulean Keep, which stood outside of it, near the entrance he originally arrived at; there he could see the scenery of the deep-blue ocean around him. He could visibly see the barrier that stood around the remaining bastian of the fallen kingdom; the translucent, dome-shaped protection that kept the water at bay. ''Ans can live just fine in the water, right? It seems weird to me that they''d build a barrier like this¡­unless that prophecy about reincarnators was something they were already aware of,'' he thought. As he walked past the front arch of the keep, entering the walkway that was neighbored only by the ocean''s floor; sand that was inhabited by seagrass and coral, he watched as schools of fish swam by in the distance, not touching the barrier. What caught his eyes was what was ahead in the near distance, still kept within the barrier: old, decrepit homes unattached to the keep. Slowly approaching, he found himself in an abandonedmunity, walking past coral trees of varying colors¨Cazure, ruby, and even emerald shades¨Cthough there was no sign of life. ''What''s this?...Are these the homes of the An people? Or, I guess¡­what used to be their homes,'' he realized. The cottages were made out of y of a dark-red shade, made into square shapes without much variance between them. For some reason, everything looked burnt; the sand was charred along with the homes, and salt crystalised the old cottages more-and-more as he went further. "--" Stopping in front of a y house, he found it to be entirely encased in solidified salt, smelling of it even from the couple of meters he stood away from the lost cottage. The sand he thought he walked on wasn''t so; it, too, was salt. ''More salt¡­I get that there''s a lot of salt in the ocean, but this is too extreme,'' he thought. As he stepped up the crystalized steps of the home in front of him out of curiosity, he stopped as he sensed a shift in the air. FWOOM With picture-perfect timing, he raised his arm, conjuring a shield of stone in front of himself as something had leapt out from within the salt-encased home of the lost, underseamunity. Finding himself pushed back, he spun around before nting his boot against the figure''s chest knocking them back. ''What was that? This is an oxygen zone¡­it couldn''t be a shark or anything,'' he questioned. As he looked over at the assant that was knocked against the walls of the salt home, he found it to be a humanoid, fishy being; an An. The bipedal figure had the head of a catfish, with long whiskers and a burly body of light-brown skin, though there was something off about them. The body of the growling An was covered in crystallization of salt, embedded into their skin and jutting out in spiky shapes at certain points. ''They''re encased in salt¡­'' He thought. "Hey! I''m not an intruder¨CI''m a guest to your king!" Emilio shouted, "Stand down!" Though he tried to give a warning, it was clear that the whiskered An wasn''t one for conversation; it picked itself up from the ground while growling like a dog, pounding its fists against the ground in anger before jumping to its feet. "Raaaagh¡­!" The salt-encased An roared. Emilio begrudgingly readied himself, "...Yeah, I expected this result." He chose not to remove his sword from its sheath, readying himself as heid his eyes on the salty berserker. ''Killing this one isn''t an option. While it seems too far gone, it''s still a citizen of the An kingdom. I''ll just capture them and bring them back to the keep,'' he nned. While standing his ground, the feet of the catfish humanoid pressed off of the y floor, dashing towards the man as Emilio stood in wait. "Graaaaa¨C!" The berserk An threw its spiky arm forward in an attempt to either bludgeon or pierce the man, though Emilio swiftly ducked under the blow, finding it to be quite slow and predictable. In that moment, with the raging figurepletely open to him, he manifested the teachings of his close friend and former mentor. ''...Don''t harm it. Don''t harm it. I will not hurt it,'' he repeated in his mind. Beingpletely surrounded by a boundless, vast sea beyond the barrier, conjuring a focus of water was never made easier as he held his hand close to the salt-encrusted An''s body, invoking the unique spell through his own state of mind: ''Benevolence of Undyne: Tranquil in,'' he invoked. Peaceful bubbles emerged from his mana, translucent and gently floating over to the berserker''s body, surrounding it. "Raaa¡­Grhh¡­" The An grumbled, swaying and stepping back as each pop of the mystical bubbles made its movements more groggy, and its eyes more droopy. "Take a nap for me," Emilio calmly said. Just like that, the abnormal figure fell backward with a heavy thud, quickly snoring as Emilio let out a sigh, scratching his head. ''Why do I have the feeling I''m stumbling into things better left unknown,'' he thought. Before picking up the burly Anean, he conjured rope made out of stone, bending and weaving it with a quick circr motion of his finger. "Brigado." Invoking the six-pointed seal on his hand, he manifested the intended spirit: a tall, velvet armored figure,pletely dressed in his sturdy equipment with a warhammer in one hand, and a shield in the other. "--Sssss¨C," steam exhaled from the visor of therge knight, who stood in subservience to the man. "Can you carry him for me?" Emilio requested. With a nod, the silent, soulbound knight ced his weapons away in the Astral Realm before casually hoisting the bound Anean over his shoulder with one hand. Walking through the charred, salted neighborhood, he was a lot more cautious as he kept his guard raised. THUD. THUD. THUD. The heavy steps of the wordless knight repeated behind him as he led the way for the Soulbound spirit. ncing back, he made sure the captured figure was still asleep; the salt-skinned Anean was still snoring while hoisted on the shoulder of Brigado. As he approached the front doors of the Cerulean Keep, there was already somebody waiting in front of it: the shark-headed butler, who looked towards him with a stern expression. "I will have to ask you not to bring that thing any closer," Consurge urged. "''Thing''?" Emilio repeated. Though he was confused for a moment, thinking that the butler was referring to his Soulbound spirit, he realized by the direction of the hammer-headed butler''s gaze that those words were aimed towards the captured figure. Consurge spoke further, "Yes¨Cwe mustn''t allow the "Brined Ones" to tarnish these sacred grounds. I''d suggest you''d carry the same caution, lest you''d like to end up with the same condition as that thing." "What?" Emilio raised an eyebrow. The butler rified, "It will be easier to handle this myself, I see. Step aside, please." Unknowing of what the request would lead to, the man stepped aside just as Consurge raised one of his small hands, conjuring a spear forged out of aqua. The aquatic projectileunched forth with pinpoint precision, piercing straight through the head of the bound, salt-covered figure. After the head of the salty Anean was destroyed, the stalwart knight silently dropped the in figure onto the sand. "Hey¨Cisn''t that one of your own kin?!" Emilio asked, "Why''d you kill him?" Consurge looked at him, "There was no saving that one. Once you have contracted the Foul Brine, that''s the only fate that awaits you." "The ''Foul Brine''? Are you talking about the salt that''s everywhere?" Emilio asked, looking back. Before receiving an answer, he was gestured by the butler to follow him back inside of the Cerulean Keep. Hesitantly, he followed along, allowing Brigado to disappear as the unique halls were once more entered. Consurge silently looked back at him before breathing out, "I suppose it''s no use trying to avoid telling you. Yes; the salt that you see, infesting this kingdom, is the ''Foul Bine''--a scourge that hunts the remnants of our people." "Why would you hide something like that? If it''s dangerous, you''re putting lives at risk by withholding that kind of information," Emilio asked. "I understand your doubts. However, the Foul Brine is still a mystery to us¨Cwhat little information we have is only partial truths; any information we could give has the potentiality of being false. Do you understand?" Consurge exined. "You''re saying it''s riskier to potentially give me false information, then?" Emilio posed his question while watching the butler carefully. The butler responded without looking at him, "Precisely so." While the logic was partially understandable, it didn''t change the fact that it seemed lopsided in weighing the risks; there was undoubtedly an ulterior motive to withholding the information¨Cthat much, he was sure of. "How does it spread? The way you described it, it sounds like a spreading gue," Emilio asked, following the butler through the cerulean halls. "If you have questions, I can show you to somebody who can answer them," Consurge told him. "Alright, lead the way." Chapter 418 New Mission If it was truly something dangerous, he wanted to know about it, especially with Excelsior potentially returning with people previous to him. ''I need to find out more about this "Foul Brine"¡ªI''m not going to drag my friends and family here just for them to turn into that thing back there. I have nothing else to do right now anyway,'' he thought. An alternate path was taken through the Cerulean Keep as he followed the hammer-headed butler up a spiraling set of stairs, passing by a translucent pir before arriving at a second floor he hadn''t seen yet. "I haven''t seen Bastian today," Emilio remarked. "Mr. Seraphheart is a busy man. The work he does is invaluable. He''s spent countless decades pursuing the Children of Chaos and taking the fight to them¨Csome may call him a workaholic," Consurge told him, "He''s constantly on the move¨Chence why he''s earned the nickname ''The Nomad'' by those who know him." ''This guy is a walking encyclopedia¨Cuntil I ask him the questions that matter,'' he thought. Though it seemed a lot of respect was had for Bastian, which made him feel his own sense of pride, having a fellow reincarnator like him be looked at in such a way. Following Consurge, he found the corridor they turned into to be cramped and dark; crates and books littered the hall, leading only to one doorway. "Past that door is where you''ll find the one who can answer your questions¡ªthe leading researcher on the Foul Brine," the butler told him. For some reason, the small butler stopped there, opting not to go any further as Emilio was left to move ahead on his own. ''Is anything normal about this ce?'' He questioned. Slow steps were taken down the hall as he carried himself with caution, being forced to step over scattered papers and tossed books before reaching the door at the end. It waspletely covered in barnacles; even the handle was encrusted in the odd, little arthropods. As he turned the handle and opened the door, he immediately found the air from behind the door pushing out, as if it had been closed for some time. "--" The room was dimly lit as he walked in, seeing a gemstone used for light on a tray; books were scattered on the floor and various shelves, strewn around the room with pages fluttering everywhere¨Caplete mess. "Ah! Sorry for the mess¨Cwait, who are you?" A feminine voice met his ears, though he had to look around to figure out where it wasing from for a second. "Right over here¨Cyes, to your left," the voice guided him. Finding the source of the high-pitched, energetic voice, he found it to belong to a woman he didn''t notice, who had been standing in the shadowy corners of the room. She had mmy, dark-blue skin and hair like seaweed that hung down in front of her face; unmistakably an Anean of the same type as the king. In her arms, the unknown An woman held a few books, which she set down after shuffling over to her desk. "I take it you''re a reincarnator, seeing as no other humans are permitted within¨Cwell, leagues within this ce," the woman said, adjusting her circr-rimmed rimmed sses as she looked up at him. "I''m Emilio Dragonheart. Sorry for the, err¡­intrusion," he apologized as he nced around, taking note of just how unorderly the dark, cramped room was. She looked at him for a moment before stepping closer, entering his personal space and bypassing itpletely as she inspected him up close and personal. "Err¡­" Emilio raised an eyebrow. "I see, I see. ''Dragonheart''--quite the name you''ve been gifted. There is a lot of power attached to the surnames of reincarnators, and the "dragon" is no exception," the woman said before pulling away with a fascinated smile. "Yeah, sure¡­Consurge said you could tell me about the Foul Brine. Is that true?" Emilio asked. The woman adjusted her sses again before looking at him with her magenta eyes, "Perhaps. Call me Malune. I''m the head¨Cwell, only alchemist in An. Now, all of my time has been dedicated to researching the Foul Brine." "Just what is it, really? I saw it out there¨Coutside of the keep. Entire houses were encased, and even a person waspletely covered in salt. Even more, they were mindlessly aggressive," he asked. Melune sat down at her desk, flipping through her own journal that was filled with messily written notes and sketches, "Your findings are indeed the truth; the Foul Brine is an invasive gue. It turns Ans into what you saw, infecting them if the salt merely touches their skin. However¡­" "Yeah?" "I believe humans possess a special resistance against the Foul Brine. Hmm, would you perhaps be interested in being used to experiment the conditions of the Foul Brine''s effect on humans?" Melune asked with a wildly curious smile. "No." "Really¨C" "No." His adamant rejection of the vastly risky request put a frown on the alchemist''s face, though she quickly changed the subject back to its original course. "I do have to ask¡­Why''re you interested in the Foul Brine? It should be insignificant to you as long as you stay within the keep, especially as a human," Melune asked. "If this is a long term ''base of operations'', then I need to make sure it''s safe for my friends and family thate here," he told the truth, "but it sounds like I have nothing to worry about, then." The conclusion he came to seemed to leave the alchemist dissatisfied, though mostly because of the clear and concise rejection of her offer. As he nced around the cluttered room, he found peculiar things sitting on the shelves, mostly kept in jars: salt-encrusted coral, entire jars of salt, and weird concoctions that sat with vibrant colors. "...If you''re adamant about declining my offer, then I will respect that. However, there is just one request I will leave with you, if you''re willing," Melune proposed, tapping her fingers against her sses. "Sure, I''ll listen," Emilio looked at her. "I can tell you''re strong and capable. There is one "Brined One" that has been lurking around the outskirts of An for some time now. As a former resident of An, they''re able toe in-and-out of the barrier as they please, but¡­they''ve lost all sense of who they were," Melune exined. "Who is it?" "A man named Hydraero; the former general of the An army and its strongest warrior¨Che was fully taken by the Foul Brine and turned into a berserker," Melune looked at him while exining, "Please, if you find him, capture him and bring him to me." The alchemist looked at him with a serious look in her eyes, though the request was something that conflicted with what he was already told by another. "I captured somebody inflicted with the Foul Brine before I came here and that butler didn''t let them anywhere near the keep¨Cin fact, he killed it," Emilio told her, "How are you expecting me to bring one to you?" "With this!" Melune held a proud smirk as she presented an object to him. It was a cerulean syringe filled with some sort of glowing, gold liquid, which he epted while inspecting closely. "What''s it?" "It''s a special concoction I''ve developed. Plunge that into Hydraero while he''s weakened, and he''ll be temporarily turned into a marble. Then, it''ll be simple to bring him to me! So, how about it?" Melune proposed. "What''s in it for me?" Emilio asked. Of course, this was the most important question of them all when it came to forming a request to the certified world-ss adventurer: the prize at the end of the unofficial quest. Melune adjusted her sses, "Hydraero was the first to be inflicted with the Foul Brine. He''s the source of it. If I can get my hands on him, I can assure you I can end the gue of salt. However¡­I do not believe the sanctity of An is proper motivation for you, so in turn I will reward you with my body." "Pass," Emilio raised his hand. "What¨C?" Melune looked bbergasted by the quick rejection. "Sorry, it''s not that¨Cit''s just, I already have a special somebody in mind," Emilio said, "Don''t worry¨CI''ll keep an eye out for this Hydraero figure." Melune was still flustered, nervously and frantically fiddling with her sses as she quietly nodded, "Y-yes, that would be great¡­thank you." As he left the cramped room with the task given to him as an option to carry out, he let out a sigh to himself in thought of the request given and reward offered. ''I may be a degenerate, but I am not losing my virginity to a fish woman. I would never live that down,'' he thought. It wasn''t as though hecked proper motivation; the Foul Brine was a threat to humans, after all, and he didn''t want it infecting any of his friends or family when they came. Walking back down the staircase of the keep, he found a familiar, bearded figure standing in the hall, leaning against a wall. "Bastian," Emilio called out. "Done with your meeting? I didn''t want to interrupt," Bastian asked. "Yeah¨Cwhere were you?" "Just handling some business," Bastian told him, "So, are you ready? To find Sirius¨Cthe next reincarnator of the prophecy, that is." He had almost forgotten about it, getting caught up in the troublesome existence of the salty gue, though it was a task that was heavily urgent. "Yeah, I am," Emilio nodded, tapping his belt as if showcasing he was ready as his sword was sheathed at his hip. Chapter 419 Sirius Bastian gestured for him to follow, "After I transport you, I''ll be meeting up with Excelsior. If everything goes smoothly, you should find the people you were looking for waiting for you here when you return." This news brought a smile across Emilio''s lips as he felt a warmth flood through his body at the potentiality of seeing his friends and family again. Arriving outside, he watched as the legendary reincarnator began weaving a golden circle into the air, keeping it a safe distance from the front of the keep. "Where are you transporting me, anyway?" Emilio asked. "Near the Cmity Mountain¨Cthat''s where I suspect our guy will be arriving. I looked into it, and it seems a high-risk monster has been seen nesting atop the mountain. If I had to guess, Sirius has been assigned the quest to eliminate it," Bastian told him, "Find Sirius and convince him toe here¨Cbefore the Children of Chaos or anything else gets their hands on him." As this was exined by the nomad, the bearded man forged a ring made from golden particles, handing it over to the Dragonheart. The radiant portal had manifested in full, sitting in front of the two reincarnators with its golden flow. "What''s this?" Emilio asked. "It''s a signal for my System. Utter the name ''Serappheart'' with that ring on, and the gateway will be created for you so you can return here," Bastian instructed him, "Ready?" "Yeah, I think so," Emilio nodded, shaking his limbs briefly to warm his body up. "Good luck," Bastian told him. Stepping through the radiant portal, Emilio found himself temporarily seeing only light before the scenery around him changedpletely; the vast ocean he was surrounded by changed in an instant. The chirping of birds met his ears and the brightness of the sun made him block it with his hand for a moment before he looked around at where the portal had led him; a dirt road that was paved through a luscious forest of yellow-and-red leaves. ''...The surface¡­It''s only been a couple days, but it feels like it''s been forever. I''m back in Milligarde,'' he thought. Taking in a long, deep breath through his lungs, he once more took in the fresh air of a lively forest; he knew through the particr scent of pine and the look of the forest that it was indeed Milligarde. He caught a glimpse of a squirrel clinging to a tree with its fluffy, hazel tail swaying behind it, along with a bright-orange furred fox scurrying off into the forest. ''I''m back,'' he thought. Though what he saw in the distance was the destination ahead of him; a mountain that stood inplete contrast to the quiet, autumn forest. It reached into the skies, encircled by a cloak of brooding clouds with a charred, dreary look to its stone. ''That''s where I''ll find this "Sirius" guy,'' he thought before beginning to walk forward. He didn''t move with any haste, instead making sure to enjoy his stroll as after his mission, he''d be back in the undersea temple. A sigh left his lips as he looked up, watching birds flying overhead as he watched the calm, azure sky above him. ''I miss those days. Where I could just sit there and watch the sky. She''d always bring me drinks and sandwiches, making sure I was never hungry or thirsty. Sometimes Father and I would train together, sometimes we''d just toss some rocks. Those days are gone¨Cnot while the Children of Chaos are out there,'' he thought. Stopping by a tree that had apples hanging from its high branches, he reached his hand up before using a small gust of wind to knock it from the branch. The plump, red fruit dropped straight into the palm of his hand as he held a small smile, continuing forward as he took a bite out of it. It was refreshing and juicy; just as he remembered Milligarde apples to be. Being back in Milligarde, though in an unfamiliar region, he still felt nostalgic after the chaotic trip he''d been on. BOOOOOM "--!" Immediately looking up at the all-epassing rumble of thunder, he witnessed a magenta bolt of lightning fly overhead, racing towards Cmity Mountain with speed that hissed through the air. ''Lightning doesn''t move like that naturally¨Cit was almost as if somebody was flying¡­Sirius,'' he realized. With the arrival of the thunder, the weather had immediately changed from the serene, sunny day into a gloomy storm as the ck clouds stretched over the region, incurring a downpour of rain within moments. ''The weather changed?'' He thought. Choosing not to waste time, he jumped up before enveloping himself in his mystical wind, swiftly soaring towards the pitch-ck mountain in pursuit of the mysterious, traveling lightning. Flying over the forest, raindrops pelted against him as he flipped his light-green hood over his head, having to go higher-and-higher as he neared the mountain, still merely halfway up its height. Thunder roared and lightning crackled in the skies as he reached the body of Cmity Mountain, staying close to it as he used his wind to propel himself upward. ''...Atop this mountain, I''ll find another reincarnator like me¨Canother person from Earth. It''s exciting, but I just wonder what sort of person this "Sirius" guy is to earn that title: "The Strongest Adventurer". When I had that glimpse of him when I met the oracle, I''m pretty sure he attacked me¡­I need to be ready,'' he thought. Nearing the summit of the charred mountain, he found a rugged trail leading to the top, opting to walk up it instead of directly flying over as the rain continued pouring down. Thunder filled his ears and shock waves emitted from the top; he could feel the vibrations rippling through the gravelly trail. ''He''s fighting something. It must be whatever Bastian said was causing trouble in this area,'' he guessed. There was an air of caution he held as he carefully walked up the jagged trail of the infamous mountain, hearing and feeling the powerful vibrations of the ongoing battle on the vast summit. The peak of Cmity Mountain was a basin valley¨Carge, t region which was kept enclosed by the tall, natural walls of the natural structure. Reaching the top of the deathly eminence, he climbed over the steep, natural wall around the skyhigh valley, finding bones infused into the stone; ashy and charred. "--!" He immediately ducked down before even getting a glimpse of the unknown battle taking ce on the storming mountain as a stray bolt of lightning shot directly over his head, crackling through the sky. Once more, it was that magenta lightning, possessing a divine howl in its wake. The air was momentarily warmer around him after the missed lightning, though quickly returned to a chill from the downpour. ''Too close,'' he thought. Peeking into the valley, he saw it; a ck-haired figure in a ck-and-silver uniform that resembled something akin a decorated military uniform from his own world, danced around a colossal creature. What he fought resembled a gargantuan raven; possessing a size akin to a grand dragon with pitch-ck feathers and glowing, crimson eyes, using its own feathers as razor-sharp projectiles that shot towards the lightning-infused man. "So slow!" The man''s voice echoed with pure confidence, merely ying with the creature. The storming valley was kept brightly lit by the magenta lightning used by the man, who danced around the feather projectiles before flicking a bolt of his supreme electricity straight against the colossal raven. BOOOOM The impact against the monstrous creature rang through the summit like godly thunder,unching the beast back harshly as its pitch-ck feathers rained down like the current shower. ''That''s him¨Cno doubt about it; that purple lightning, that outfit, and that cocky demeanor while he fights¨Cthat''s Sirius,'' Emilio realized. It seemed that the single strike of lightning had finished the job, as the dragon-sized ravenid against the summit with smoke exuded from its feather-discarded body, no longer moving. Jumping over the edge of the mountainous wall, hended on the vast field atop the summit, which spanned at least a dozen acres in space. "--" He slowly approached, crossing the rain-slick field of ckened grass as he kept his eyes on the notorious "Strongest Adventurer": the lightning-wielding figure brushed his gloves together, standing in front of the in monster before exuding a sigh. "Now, who are you?" Without even having to turn around, Sirius called out to him, causing him to stop where he was standing. Sirius slowly turned around to face him, looking straight at him with his magenta irises, "That''s right¨Cyou''re not exactly sneaky. So, what are you? A scavenger adventurer, trying to im my kill as your own? Is that it?" It seemed like the lightning-wielding, uniform-wearing reincarnator was already hostile to him from the get-go, though Emilio chose to quickly dissuade any of his notions. "I''m a reincarnator like you. I''m from Earth originally¨Cjust like you are," Emilio exined. "Oh?" Sirius raised an eyebrow, "Interesting." A few steps were taken towards him from the entric adventurer of lightning, which caused the air to lightly crackle with sparks of electricity, even slightly zapping the Dragonheart, who noticed the unstable element''s presence. ''He acts arrogant, but his guard is up. This mana density from him¨Cis it greater than mine? It''s almost suffocating,'' Emilio thought. Chapter 420 The Stormheart Though Sirius didn''t look like much¨Cnot frail, but not overly muscr, pale, and youthful, perhaps just a couple years older than Emilio himself with shaggy, ck hair, the aura of mana around him was staggering. "If that''s true, then I''m wondering how you even found me. See, the thing is, this was a ssified quest¨Conly for a top dog like yours truly, so¡­" Sirius said, "What the hell is your game?" To the mana-sensitive Dragonheart, what he felt was a storm of lightning brewing around Sirius, reaching far-and-wide with an unstable power capable of ungodly feats. ''A fight would be bad. I already knew going into this that he held that absurd title, but feeling firsthand that it''s not an exaggeration¡­I need to do this peacefully, if I can,'' Emilio thought. "I''m Emilio Dragonheart, a world-ss adventurer, too," he told the truth, shing his insignia, "It''s hard to exin, but there is a group tracking down people like us. If they get their hands on us, it might not just be a city or kingdom that''s wiped out¨C the whole world will be in trouble. We need to work together to bring them down." Though he told the truth without question, he could still feel that prickly, abrasive aura exuding from Sirius, who looked at him with those powerful irises that embodied the very lightning he wielded. "Dragonheart, eh? I think I''ve heard a thing or two about you. Oh, you''re the one who defeated ''Dread'' in the trial, yeah? Impressive," Sirius remarked casually, "I believe you." "Really, then¨C" Emilio began to say, relieved. Though that relief was quickly interrupted as he found himself being pointed at by the cocky reincarnator, with magenta sparks coiling in the rain-filled air. "The thing is, I have my own creed: the strongest pave their own path. I don''t follow the whims of those I consider weak, nor will I respect them or work alongside them. Just not my style¨Cthat''s why I ride solo," Sirius exined, "So, if you want me to y along with your little mission, then prove you''re worth it! I''m not going to help you just to save your ass, so show me you don''t need me to do that!" It was clear to him now that the future he saw was an unavoidable truth that he had to face, no matter what he said or did, Sirius would always choose to fight him. ''I suspected it was the case, but it really was always going toe down to a fight, wasn''t it?'' Emiliomented. "If I''m being honest here, I just want to see what another reincarnator is made out of," Sirius admitted with a smirk, "Sirius Stormheart¨CI''ve got the Stormheart System, as you can see." The entric figure spread his arms as if showcasing his system through the powerful storm that had loomed over the summit. "Fine, then," Emilio said, "Just don''t regret it." "Oh, confident! I like it!" Siriusughed excitedly. Reinforcing himself with mana, he readied his senses, knowing what sort of speed was possessed by high-ss users of lightning magic. Sirius seemed to always hold a confident, yful smile that sat well on his fair face, blessed with looks that would assuredly make him a celebrity on Earth. It seemed to be a recurring pattern to him; reincarnators were blessed in more ways than one¨Csystems and looks¨Cbut cursed in other ways. "Just a fair warning: if you can''t keep up, you''ll die," Sirius warned him as his tone dropped from the yfulness with those heavy words. Amidst those words, the fair-faced man disappeared, reappearing behind the Dragonheart as the crackling of lightning flowed through the brisk air. "--So try not to disappoint me," Sirius warned as his slick words met the back of the Dragonheart''s left ear. As his battle-honed instincts red up with the disy of speed from his begrudged opponent, he quickly moved his head to the right just as a small bolt of lightning zapped by. As it passed by his cheek, he could feel the erratic heat shooting by, prompting him to spin around into a kick against the Stormheart. Knowing what his opponent was capable of, he chose not to hold back with his kick as it was blocked by the lightning-wielding man''s arms, producing a thunderous impact. "Not bad," Siriusplimented with a yful smile. Holding his hand forward while his leg was still being blocked, he flicked his fingers, catching Sirius by surprise as a minuscule fireball shot forward. BOOM A fiery explosion resulted as the tiny fireball expanded, allowing Emilio to flip back as his boots slid across the dreary, rain-slick grass. Of course, the magenta electricity sparked through the billowing mes as the lightning-wielding figure pierced straight through it, rushing towards him. "That was a good one! You''re crafty!" Sirius called out, racing across the valley as his body shifted into lightning. Thunder roared as the Stormheart shot across the battlefield as a smite of bright-purple lightning; in response, Emilio stomped down and waved his hands upward, conjuring a colossal wall of mud that was reinforced three times. It was a quickly-formed defense, though not one that came without thought as the experienced Dragonheart used his own knowledge from his time on Earth as a resource: ''Mud can''t conduct electricity. In that case, nature magic might be my ultimate bet against this guy,'' he reasoned. This theory was quickly tested as the Stormheart shot up before quickly darting down like a real bolt of lightning from the skies, crashing against the runny shield of mud. CRASH "--!" To his dismay, the barrier of mud was all but blown away by the impact as theughter of Sirius rang out through the storming valley. "A little mud won''t stop my lightning¨Cnot in a million years!" Sirius taunted. It was obvious to Emilio already, but it was a gamble he knew that was being made; the initial touchdown of the lightning carried an explosive impact that mud could not prevent, only the shock. "Tch," Emilio clicked his tongue before jumping back, preparing himself for another encounter. Bringing his palms together, he chose to use the bountiful resources that the infamous mountain around him provided, invoking a grand usage of nature magic as the valley rumbled. "Oh?" Sirius looked around. Rising from the runny mud around the basin valley, dozens of golems shaped in the form of half-men, half-bull giants rose, stomping down with their muddy forms: "Labyrinth of The Elemental Minotaurs." It was a flexible spell that could inhabit the attributes of any element, though in this case, he chose the most abundant one around him before sending the horned, lumbering golems towards his swift opponent. "Interesting!" Siriusplimented as one approached, "But do you really think it''ll work!" With a casual snap of his fingers, the titled "Strongest Adventurer" blew away not one, but two of the mud-formed minotaurs with a simple bolt of lightning. Emilio inhaled quietly as he watched the mud minotaurs be dismantled easily by Sirius, who yed around as he casually took each of them out one-by-one now. Though this was the expected result; the Dragonheart used the distraction to conjure strength to himself. As he brought the breath deep into his lungs, he felt it expand through his body like a calm aura before igniting it into a fiery one, invoking a me spell that didn''t destroy nor produce mes, only etching a crimson enchantment onto his body: "Warring Fireblood." It felt like a surge of adrenaline through his veins, pumping his muscles with a heat simr to his own system as his physical abilities increased. In tandem, he began to d himself in azure scales, allowing them to fully overtake his body as the draconic armor wove itself together with a burning power. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 3/10 | Dragon Warrior] As he armored himself with the third stage, thest of the mud-formed minotaurs was cast away by a single breath of Sirius, who whistled a shock wave of wind against it, blowing it into muddy particles. "So, that''s what your system looks like? Snazzy," Sirius smiled, "Want to see mine? Make me use it, then!" Without hesitation, the Dragonheart bolted across the battlefield, crossing the distance in an instant as even the cocky Stormheart seemed impressed by the increase in speed. Emilio swiped his hand upward, unleashing a swift wave of azure mes that tore across the field. Sirius sidestepped it with magenta lightning coiling in his wake, spinning around as heunched a thunderous kick towards the Dragonheart. Managing to react to it now, Emilio caught Sirius'' ankle before the kicknded. "...Ah. Not bad!" Sirius reacted with augh. Emilio hoisted Sirius up, spinning around before tossing the figure with all of his strength, flinging him across the valley. While Sirius was flung away, he didn''t waste any time bringing his hands together, nting his feet against the mud as the rain continued pouring down; a mass of embers gathered into a sizzling fireball as steam emitted around him from the sh of rain and fire. Thunder crackled again as the Stormheart caught himself before crashing into the rocky walls around the summit valley, shooting forward with magenta lightning flooding the gloomy skies with light. "Show me what you''ve got, Dragonheart!" Sirius called out. Chapter 421 Together Again As the man bolted straight towards him, the azure coalescence was finished as Emilio held it forward, releasing it as it unleashed a colossal beam of condensed, draconic mes straight towards the Stormheart. ["Dragonheart: Breath of Destruction"] The massive beam of heat carved across the valley, parting the grass and mud and invoking a cloud of steam from the collision of rain droplets and supreme fire. Emilio released the attack, looking forward as an entire chunk of the summit field had been carved away, surrounded by a tunnel of steam that swayed in the storm. ''Hope I didn''t identally turn him to ash. Not a chance,'' Emilio thought. He reflexively spun around while pushing his hand towards the area behind him, instantly releasing a tri-formation of dragon heads forged of fire, nearly catching the lightning-wielder who had appeared behind him. Siriusughed, "You nearly got me with thatst one! Here! I''ll show you, then!" Flexing his electric aura, the man overpowered the draconic constructs with a pulsation of electricity before smiling excitedly. The messy, jet-ck hair of the man began to spike up, conducting the magenta lightning he wielded as the tips of it turned into the same shade. Across his pale skin, etchings of lightning bolts, spreading like the roots of a tree across his body, appeared with his heightened form. [Stormheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 1/10 | Divine Striker] ZAP Emilio watched as the figure disappeared even from his extraordinary reflexes, feeling the air go silent against his ears for just a moment at the crack of the wind before he jolted as electricity sparked against the right side of his body. "--!" As he turned to the right, unleashing a quick burst of fire, he found there to be nobody there, hitting nothing but air and grass. "Right here," the yful voice of the Stormheart flowed into his ears from behind. A quick spin was used again as the Dragonheart engulfed his leg in azure mes as he kicked behind him, hitting only air again, but seeing the electric blur of his opponent for a fraction of a second. "Way too slow, man." The casual, taunt words were exhaled as a pat on his shoulder came from the speedy, lightning user, who reappeared right beside him. Expecting an attack, he jumped back, flipping onto his feet as he held his guard, though he looked over to find Sirius with his hands raised as if the man never intended to even take advantage of his opening. ''This speed¨Cit''s on another level. Is this really the first stage of his system?'' Emilio thought. Every attack that was attempted failed to make any sort of contact, instead causing the Dragonheart only to touch the electricity that had infused with the space around him, constantly electrocuting him. "Nngh¡­!" He winced. ''Alright¨Cenough of this,'' Emilio thought. No part of him felt like ying along with the arrogant reincarnator as he felt the electricity attacking his nerves. With a burst of his ming aura, he repelled the electricity before shifting the scales that armored his body. The draconic scales sharpened, bing sleeker and darkening into a deep-ck as a tail extended outward, mming down against the mud with a heavy impact. [Current Stage: 5/10 | Dragon Sentinel] "Oh? Nice transfor¨C" As Sirius encircled the Dragonheart while riding a lightning bolt, his words were intercepted as the ck-scaled figure rushed him with shocking speed. A blow straight against Sirius'' sternumnded, knocking the man back with a harsh impact resounding through the storm. Even though the direct blownded with a booming force, the Stormheart stillnded on his feet as his boots slid across the mud. "Good! I felt that one! Let''s turn it up¨C!" Sirius eximed with a bright smile. The man''s hair fully shifted into a glowing, magenta shade as his irises became electrified with the same essence; lightning continuously roared at an unnatural pace within the clouds above¨Cconstantly touching down around Cmity Mountain. [Current Stage: 2/10 | Thunder Inheritor] As the two faced off against one another on opposing ends of the battle-torn valley, with grand lightning touching down as the mud sshed and rain pelting the world below, both prepared themselves for the climactic sh. [Draconis Might] [me Hardening] [Dragon Strike] Surging with the strength of a dragon through his body, Emilio engulfed his left arm in azure mes, hardening them into a chaotic gauntlet that waved with sublime heat. A throne of bright-purple lightning flourished around Sirius as the unstable element coiled around his body, constantly zapping the mud around him as steam swirled around him like a coat. [Vtile Surge] [Smite Rush] "Let''s go¨C!" Sirius yelled out, initiating the sh. The very moment the two stepped forth in unison, their fists collided within a frame of time far too small to perceive; an insignificant fraction of a second, a portion of a millisecond, and even inferior to a microseconds: [Time psed since dashing: 0.00000002 second(s)] As their knuckles met, the mighty elements, heightened by their supreme wielders, shed; the chaotic fire met the unstable lightning. BOOOOOOOOOOOOM The very instance their knuckles united, a force birthed through theirbined might stretched across the valley, spiraling outward from the location between their knuckles; the dreary grass was cast away and the mud atop the valley was evaporated. Looming over the two reincarnators, the clouds of the brooding storm parted from the godly collision. The colossal eminence could not withstand the sh of such powers; from the point their knuckles met, directly at the center of the summit, the bleak mountain was split in half from the region-quaking force. "--" "--" The rain had stopped and the skies had cleared, as if the heavens themselves recognized the might shown between the two mortals who stood on the very threshold of divinity. Their knuckles were still pressed against one another, though after a few moments of pause, the ckened armor around the Dragonheart''s fist cracked before shattering. Sirius found his bare knuckles to begin bruising from the impact. Slowly, a satisfied smile appeared on Sirius'' lips as he looked straight at him, "You pass." Emilio caught his breath, pulling his fist away as he relinquished his scale armor, allowing it to shatter, "Yeah?" "With flying colors," Sirius gave him a thumbs-up, with his entire attitude seeming to change as he slung his arm around the Dragonheart''s shoulder, "Emilio Dragonheart¨Cheh, this is the day we became brothers!" "Huh?!" Emilio reacted in surprise. Those words were more shocking than the clean, even split through the center of the mountain, which somehow remained standing without chaos, though for how long was uncertain. Sirius cheekily chuckled, "That''s right! From this day on, I ept you as my brother!" "...I don''t have a choice?" "Well, it''d hurt my feelings," Sirius told him. "--" Emilio sighed, "If it''ll get you toe back, then I don''t care." "Oh? Where to?" Sirius asked. It returned to him that the lightning-wielding reincarnator had fought him without even allowing him to exin himself much, frustratingly enough. "There''s a ''base of operations'' of sorts we have. There are other people like us there¨Cpretty strong, too," Emilio told him, figuring out already how to y to his interests. Sirius smiled, "Now you''re speaking mynguage. Lead the way!" "You''re not going to turn that quest in first? With that big raven," he asked. "No rush, no rush," Sirius casually waved his hand, "I was doing somebody a favor, anyway." Somehow or another getting the Stormheart to willinglye back with him to An, he held his ring-bearing hand forward before invoking the name of the one who made it: "Seraphheart." With that simple utterance, the golden ring shattered before its gilded particles scattered and reunited, meeting into the circr-shaped portal of radiant light in front of him. "Woah¨Cis this an ability of yours? Were you holding out on me, bro?" Sirius nudged him with his elbow. "...No," Emilio exhaled, "This''ll take us to where we''re going¨Cc''mon." Leading the way into the portal, he stepped straight back into the undersea domain, followed by Sirius who followed after him. "What''s this ce? We''re underwater, right? I''m breathing though, and I''m dry," Sirius wondered. "We''re in An¨Cit''s hard to exin," Emilio told him. As he looked forward, he found a sight that immediately stole the breath from his lungs, awaiting in the courtyard of the Cerulean Keep, just past the regal arch. "...Is that¡­" He muttered. Standing there, seeming to wait for his return were three figures he longed to meet again: the silver-haired half-elf, the tall, bumpkin shielder, the adopted sister, and the father he longed to see. "...You all¡­you made it!" Emilio reacted, rushing over. "Emilio!" Celly smiled brightly. "I was wonderin'' when you''de back," Everett smirked. "I knew you''d make it," Irene said with a smile. Julius didn''t say anything, only holding a warm smile with tears in his eyes as Emilio ran over, giving a returning embrace to all three of them¨Call of which he considered dear family. He hugged his father tightly without a second thought, though as he felt the embrace of the man wrapped around his shoulders, the painful memories of recent resurfaced. "I''m sorry¡­I''m sorry¡­" Emilio apologized as tears left his eyes. Julius seemed to know what he was referring to right away, patting his head and ruffling his mix-colored hair, "It''s not your fault. Thedy who brought us here exined it¨Cwe know who was responsible for this." "--" Emilio nced over, seeing Excelsior leaning against the wall of the courtyard, who gave him a small wave. ''Thank you, Excelsior¨CI owe you big time,'' he thought. Chapter 422 Morale Boost Julius couldn''t help but smile somewhat as he embraced his son, "You may be bigger than me now, but you''re still my boy. Don''t try to bear these burdens alone. I''m here for you. We all are." "That''s right," Celly added. Everett gave a thumbs-up, "''Course! I''ve always got your back, Emilio!" "We''re family," Irene assured him. "You guys¡­" Emilio said. As he could feel the warmth of tears in his eyes, he was surprised as he felt another embrace from behind as another joined in the hug, making it a group hug with all of them. The voice of the lightning-wielder filled his ears, "That''s right! Family sticks together!" "Uhhh¡­? Who''s this guy?" Julius raised an eyebrow. Emilio grumbled, ncing over, "Sirius¡­He''s, uh, arade?" "Comrade?! Brother, that stings like a thousand needles!" Sirius feigned being shot in the heart. "...This guy is a weird one," Everett muttered by Irene''s ear. Irene nodded, whispering in return, "Yeah, but¡­if he''s a friend of Emilio, then I can''tin." "Yeah, yer right," Everett agreed with a smile. The emotionally overwhelming reunion was put on pause as they all went inside the keep, which felt a thousand times more lively to the Dragonheart now that his friends and family had arrived. "Aaaah¡­What a long trip," Everett yawned, slumping down on the bed in the guest quarters. "We came in through a portal, though," Irene said. "Stiiiiiii~ill," the burly shielder yawned some more. Emilio sat beside Celly, helping her unpack her things into the room alongside Julius, who was sharpening his beloved sword. "What did you guys do, when you know¡­" Emilio asked quietly. The question drew silence for a moment between the others, but Julius chose to answer, looking down at his sword, "...Celly used her magic to survey Yullim¨Cor what was left of it, I guess. She confirmed that your mother¨CTreyna, I¡­" As he tried to speak of it, the man choked up as tears fell down on the de sitting on hisp, unable to confirm it verbally. Emilio almost found himself in tears again, though stayed strong as he felt his hand grasped gently by another, finding the lithe fingers of the half-elf archmageforting his trembling digits. Julius continued, sniffling as he wiped his face, "Thatdy¨CExcelsior, she exined it to us. She did, but it''s still hard to understand." What Emilio wondered then is just what Excelsior did tell his loved ones; it was something he hadn''t considered until just then. ''Did she tell them about¡­reincarnators? That I''m originally from another world?'' He questioned. "There''s others like you, apparently," Julius said, "champions of their bloodlines¨Cit''s not just the Dragonhearts. Those despicable criminals¨Cthe "Children of Chaos" or what-have-you. They want you. Too bad. They won''t get you. Not over my dead body." Though the words from the father came out as protective over his son, the truth of those bubbling emotions was heard, inteced with those bitter utterances: what Julius sought was vengeance for his beloved. "...I won''t get a proper night''s rest until they''re gone. Not until you''re safe. Not until Treyna is avenged," Julius promised quietly. "We''ll get them," Emilio added, nodding to his father, "For mother." A hug was shared between the father and son of the Dragonheart bloodline before everybody finished settling into the Cerulean Keep. All of their rooms were kept close, and the hammer-headed butler made sure to exin the general information of the unique temple. After a while, he found himself able to talk to Celly alone, standing by the doorway to her room as he saw her storing some of the books she brought with her. Knock. Knock. He lightly tapped his knuckles against the doorway to let her know he was there, receiving a smile from the emerald-eyed half-elf. A small smile returned as he walked in, looking around at the marble room, which was outfitted with luxurious items, "Isn''t this ce totally awesome¡­and weird?" "I guess I''d put it that way," Celly replied, "It definitely is an adjustment." Her words brought him to what he wanted to talk to her about in the first ce, sitting beside her on the silk-sheeted bed as he looked towards the walls. "...You didn''t have toe here, you know," Emilio said. "Hm?" "I know how busy you are¨Chow passionate you are with your work and studies. I feel like it was wrong of me to even have Excelsior ask you toe¨CI took advantage of your kindness," Emilio said, feeling guilty as he looked down, "I''m sorry." While looking at his own hands as silence filled the room after his heartfelt, truthful words, he awaited a bitter response, however¨C "--!" A softness met his arm; a warmth that immediately made his heart throb¨CBA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. To his surprise, he found his arm being hugged onto by the silver-haired woman; the archmage he had grown to respect throughout the years was right there by his side, leaning against him. However, as he himself could admit, what was once solely respect and admiration had blossomed into something else; through his years of training and studying, growing into a man himself¨Cthere was something else he felt. "Celly¡­" He quietly said, looking down at the short, silver-haired girl that held onto his arm, surprised at the sudden action. "You still don''t understand by now, do you?" Celly spoke softly, almost in a whisper. "Understand?" "I''m not some stranger that needs incentive to help you, or expects favors owed. It was never that way. You may think your talent with magic is what separates you, but it''s not. It''s your perseverance and kindness. It''s something you taught me, but you didn''t realize it. Before I met you, I was meek and unable to defend myself or others¨Cto reserved to act, even if I had the means to do so," Celly said, "You''re somebody that I don''t want to just watch as you do great things, but I want to stand beside you as you do, helping you where I can. So, of course I''de here for you. Emilio, you''re amazing." The words spoken straight from the heart of the silver-haired woman brought him to a pause as he finally heard the truth from her lips; a truth that reflected what he felt towards her as well. Though part of him wanted to tell her the feelings that had recently been welling up inside of him, he knew it wasn''t the time for that sort of thing¨Cnot during the war against the Children of Chaos brewing in the shadows. Still, those words impacted him more than he thought as he sat there quietly, feeling her leaning against him as a warmth ran through his body, from the tips of his fingers to his toes, bringing a slight blush to his cheeks before tears welled up. What immediately flooded his mind were his failures; the death of his friend, the fall of his mentor, and the sacrifice of his kin. Such events he felt could be avoided if he was better¨Cif he was worth it. ''...Even after how much I''ve failed¨Cafter what happened in Yullim, she can say that with so much faith in those words? I¡­'' He thought. Though his initial thoughts lingered in the failures he had umted in his life, thinking of what the half-elf told him, his memories instead brought him to something else as he sat there: the good he had done; those he had saved; the rtionships he had forged. From oveing the nefarious human trafficker, Oswell, and helping the slum-dwelling girl, Reno; fighting alongside the Verma n and defeating the savage Outriders; facing the Unending Nightmare and bringing salvation to Melisande; even using his own life to bring an end to the Dread. Remembering these moments and how he felt aplishing such things, he almost cried right there and then¨Ceven with restraint, quiet tears trickled down his cheeks. Swallowed in self-deprecation since the loss of his mother, he was finally able to look at himself from another point-of-view, finally realizing that he was not a loss" by being alive. ''I''ve¡­done good. I''ve tried my best, haven''t I? It still hurts. It still feels like everything is my fault but¡­I can make it,'' he thought. "--" There weren''t any words spoken further between him and the half-elf as they sat there, though none had to be spoken; he enjoyed thepany andfort that Celly provided when hugging close to his side. "Ssshhuu¡­" Hearing soft, quiet breaths, he looked down to find that the silver-haired girl''s eyes were closed; she had peacefully fallen asleep by his side. A smile appeared on his lips before he subtly and carefully moved away while helping the slumbering girl toy down properly on the bed. Pulling a nket over her, he took his leave. There was a newfound surge of motivation found in the youthful man as he, too, chose to designate himself to his bed. ''When I have everybody here, I feel ten times stronger,'' he thought. Chapter 423 Stormheart And Seraphheart "About time that repugnant air left you, yes." The words of the small, but high strung girl met his ears as he looked over, seeing the tinum-haired spirit standing by his bedside with her arms folded over her chest. "Yeah?" Emilio looked at her. Hextrice nced at him, "The air of a self-pitying man is a nauseating one to have to breathe in, yes. It''s good that you''re finally back to your normal self¡ªas annoying as that self might be, that is." "Thanks," Emilio yfully responded. An easy night of sleep awaited the Dragonheart as his heart was finally allowed to rest easy after the unfortunate string of events. [A Week Later] Gathered into a special, deeper section of the Cerulean Keep inside of arge, colosseum of sturdy, dark-blue and ck material, Emilio stood beside Celly, Excelsior, and Everett. Julius and Irene were helping out Consurge with a task, though it was definitely an event that Emilio felt he couldn''t miss: Standing at opposing ends of the colosseum, two reincarnators faced one another: Sirius tightened his gloves with a cocky, but excited smile before rolling his shoulders to warm up. "I heard the name that you like to be called by¡ª"Strongest Reincarnator"¡ªnow, that just won''t do. I won''t allow a title like that to be held while I''m around!" Sirius imed, pointing to the man across the arena. Standing there with a bothered expression on his face, the bearded nomad scratched his head, "Look, kid, I''ve never called myself that. It''s just something that came along on its own." "''Kid''? Hoh," Sirius seemed more ready to fight after that word, "Well, I''m down to follow your little missions¡ªbut show me you''re worth listening to first!" "Fine, let''s do this," Bastian grumbled. ¡ª Watching from the sidelines, Excelsior pped her hands together with a smile, "Get ''im, Sirius! Kick that beard''s ass!" ''I thought her and Bastian were friends?!'' Emilio thought. ''I thought we were friends. Well, Excelsior has lost to me in every sparring match,'' Bastian thought. Celly didn''t have much stake in the friendly not-so-friendly match, though she was more so interested in witnessing the sh of mystical abilities inherit to the two reincarnators, interested in the unique powers that bypassed the limitations of magecraft. "--" Celly''s emerald eyes watched the arena closely, staying quiet. ''She''s focused¨CI guess I get it. The exnation that Excelsior gave instead of revealing our reincarnator status is that we possess "chosen bloodlines"--which isn''t far from the truth. For somebody as dedicated to the art of magic as her, this is a unique experience for Celly,'' Emilio thought. As the battle teetered on the line of beginning, the Stormheart cloaked his body in his trademark, magenta lightning with a smile. In response, the Seraphheart produced a radiant aura that stuck close to his body, tossing his cloak to the side as he revealed his burly, muscle-bound form that was barely hidden beneath his ck shirt. "Come on, then," Bastian said almost boredly, "I''ve got things to do¨Cso let''s not take all day." "Yeah, now we''re talking!" Sirius said, taking the initiative as he dashed across the arena as a lightning bolt, causing a roar of thunder to pulse throughout the colosseum. The shock wave that shattered the sound barrier prompted Celly to quickly cover her ears as her silver hair was blown around from the wind produced in the aftermath. Sirius shot forward with a thunderous kick, though missing as Bastian ducked down swiftly, causing the Stormheart''s boot to m against the ck-and-blue wall as the entirety of the arena trembled. It was a battle almost too quick to perceive; Sirius'' continuous lightning strike-like, quick-and-fierce attacks struck the arena, all while the experienced Seraphheart kept on the defensive with his divine reflexes. "This level of strength¡­They''re both incredible," Celly remarked under her breath. "Heh," Emilio let out, almost proud. To a seasoned practitioner of magecraft like Celly, the battle before her was something mystical even in a world of magic: two people fought without a single incantation,manding powerful effects that flicked into existence in an instant. SNAP With a swift snap of his fingers, Sirius smiled as he flicked a lightning bolt straight towards the nomad, who responded by raising his hand, conjuring a radiant shield that endured the erratic element. Though the lightning crackled with divine might, the golden shield wielded by the nomad withstood it without much damage. "Hm," Sirius squinted. As if testing the durability of the radiant barrier wielded in the hands of Bastian, the Stormheart shot forward as a lightning bolt, roaring across the arena before his boots mmed against the shield with a massive impact. With both boots nted against the shield and surrounded in a cone of erratic lightning, Sirius pushed against the shield with further force, causing the arena to rumble. In response, Bastian nted himself down, causing the rectangr shield of golden light to glow with heightened intensity. ["Sinner Repulse."] "--!" A sh of light emitted from the shield with a ring hum, releasing a shock wave that rippled through the wind. Electricity scattered through the air before Siriusnded back down with a delighted smile. "Neat attack," Sirius said, rolling one of his shoulders before cracking his neck side-to-side, "I''d hesitate to call you ''strong'' though¨Cyou''re good at dodging and hiding behind a shield, so all I know is that you''re pretty good at letting me attack you. Bravo¨Cyou''d give an armadillo a run for its money." "--" Bastian ignored his words, keeping the radiant shield up. Even as the lightning-wielding reincarnator moved as a lightning bolt around the arena, constantly releasing mighty snaps of the powerful element with bolts that could erase even giants to ash, Bastian remained vignt. The nomad stayedpletely calm, staying in the same spot but constantly maneuvering the shield around him to block and absorb the electricity. ["Storm Hammer"] With a swipe of his hand, coiled in abundant electricity, Sirius swept his limb forward before the air shifted,manding a massive hammer of lightning to conjure as it moved with speed that cracked the wind. It mmed against the divine shield with enough force to cause the wind pressure to propel outwards, causing the hair of the spectators to rustle plentifully. Again, the radiant barrier of the nomad remained uncracked, simply watching the Stormheart from behind its glow. "Tch," Sirius clicked his tongue. ¨C From the sidelines, Excelsior sighed, "Oh, man¡­he always fights like this. No matter what¨Ceven if it''s a friendly duel, this is how he fights." "What?" Emilio responded. "Bastian¨Che calls this method of fighting the ''Heaven''s Gate Style''--he can conjure some really powerful shields through his system, and even more, he can use certain abilities to even offensively counter, all while staying all but invincible behind his defense," Excelsior exined to him, "It''s a really, really annoying, but pretty much impervious strategy he uses. It pisses me off." From the way the short-haired woman spoke, it seemed as though she had quite a bit of history going up against the impervious defense of the Serappheart, seeing as she yelled out again to cement this line of thought: "Kick his ass, Sirius!" Excelsior yelled. Celly seemed a bit taken aback by Excelsior''s "passion" in what should be a casual match, lightly chuckling, "...The amount of strength they''re putting behind their attacks, this is just a friendly bout, right?" "Yeah¨Csomething like that," Emilio responded. ¨C After abination of attacks had failed to pierce the seemingly impervious barrier of the Seraphheart, the magenta-eyed, pale man sighed out before cracking his knuckles. Though from the sidelines, Emilio expected an activation of a system to ur with this stalemate, instead, Sirius did something else: "Do you know why I''ve earned the title of ''Strongest Adventurer''?" Sirius asked, looking across the arena with a smile. Bastian didn''t respond for a few seconds before boredly replying, "No." "It''s not just because of my lightning¨CI''m known as the supreme user of two elements," Sirius exined, "I''ll show you." Holding his hand forward, the ck-haired Stormheart didn''t conjure any electricity; the spectators watched closely as did the nomad, though there wasn''t any visible element that appeared. Vrrrrrrrr The air seemed to hum lightly, beginning to tremble as a force rustled through the arena like a rumbling wind; a smile hastened on Sirius'' lips before he swiped his hand to the side. "Separate." Bastian found himself stumbling forward for a reason unknown to him before realizing it quickly as his hands held onto nothing, "--!" The radiant shield that the man wielded was gone; forced from his hands and brought over to the possession of Sirius, whose smile turned into a confident smirk. "Did you catch that, old man?" Sirius asked. It was a shocking counter to the ultimate defense of the bearded reincarnator, though a mystery as to just exactly what was done¨Ca question still fresh in the mind of Bastian. ''To remove my shield like that while I was holding it¡­It wasn''t some act of speed¨Cdon''t tell me he can use "that",'' Bastian questioned. "Was that a wind-based spell?" Celly wondered, putting her hand to her chin. "...No, that''s not it. I didn''t feel any change in the wind¨Cit was like it was bypassed altogether," Emilio wondered curiously as well. In the mind of the Dragonheart, there was something familiar about the sensation he got when witnessing whatever mystical action that Sirius took. What he recalled was the being he fought: "Cosmo"--the total and unavoidable maniption of space itself. ''That''s it¡­Wait, does that really exist?'' He realized. Chapter 424 Trial By Combat "Spatial magic," Emilio uttered out upon realization. "Huh¨C?" Celly reacted in surprise. "You''re kidding, right? I''ve heard about it, but that stuff is just hypotheticals and all that, right?" Excelsior added in. As they looked towards the arena with great curiosity, the smile that was on Sirius'' lips did not disappear. The lightning-wielder''s ck-and-gray, military uniform shifted with an odd wind as the pristine buttons on his coat shined off of the cerulean light. This time, it was Bastian who went on the offense,unching towards Sirius with speed not unlike lightning itself, conjuring a golden sword into his hand before¨C In that split-second, space itself contorted as if the wind itself was being gripped and forcibly turned into a spiral, reshaping and melding it. "--" Before the sword could be properly swung, Bastian found himself not within striking distance of the Stormheart, but back to where he was previously standing. It wasn''t as though he had been knocked back or retreated himself, but as if he was instantaneously reverted back to his position. ''...That confirms it. Interesting¨Cthis guy isn''t all bark, then,'' Bastian thought with a small smile. "Bingo, my friends" Sirius said, pointing towards the spectator area, "--What you just witnessed was the supreme element of magecraft: ''Spatial Magic''!" Such a revtion brought no doubt to the validity of the sh of reincarnators, though it was designated as a "friendly match", there was no doubt that the spirit ofpetition now brewed between the two men: "The Strongest Adventurer" versus "The Strongest Reincarnator"--a sh of two who wielded conflicting, yet truthful titles. ¨C Witnessing space able to be bent at the fingertips of the Stormheart was something that seemed fantastical even in the realm of magic itself; a feat of impossibility made into reality. The half-elf archmage couldn''t seem to wrap her head around it, keeping her hand to her chin as she muttered to herself, though most of it was unheard by Emilio. "In just about every writing I''ve seen about ''Spatial Magic'', it was mostly talked about as some sort of myth," Celly said, "A mage that can use it¡­This sort of knowledge would shake the entire society of mages." "Same here¨CI''ve read about it, but there wasn''t any grimoire that even tried detailing it. How the hell did he learn it?" Emilio wondered. For the two, curious practitioners of magecraft, they bore witness to the once-thought mythical element as the Seraphheart seemed to take the bout more seriously, manifesting golden weapons into the air that shot towards Sirius. "Not a chance!" Sirius smiled, yelling out as he snapped his fingers. With the echo of the "snap", the radiant weapons warped from their aerial direction, reappearing around the Seraphheart as the man''s very own creations were aimed back at him. "Heh, not a bad move," Bastian quietlyplimented, repelling his own projectiles as he conjured a massive greatsword of light. Bands of light formed around his arms before turning into heavenly gauntlets as he rushed towards his opponent. [Seraphheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 1/10 | Holy Warrior] "Kicking it up? Alright, then!" Sirius shouted excitedly as his jet-ck hair electrified, the tips of his hair taking on a magenta glow. [Stormheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 1/10 | Divine Striker] Sirius was undoubtedly the more aggressive fighter of the two, sitting pr opposite of the patient, defensive style of Bastian as he bolted around the arena; he ran along the walls with lightning trailing behind him, going around his opponent before unleashing an attack: ["Stormheart: Fulminating March of The Stornds"] From a massive extension of shing, purple electricity, the erratic bolts of lightning took the forms of roaring beasts, scattering around the arena and charging towards the bearded nomad with the speed of lightning backing their rush. There were at least a dozen; each of the elemental beasts rushed with speeds that were nothing more than thundering blurs to the untrained eye. "Don''t disappoint me now!" Sirius called out. In response, Bastian brought his two gauntlets together, sping his palms against one another before separating them, revealing an expanding of radiant threads that he set out around him. ["Web of Divine Punishment"] The threaded, dome-shaped barrier of bright, golden light stopped the beasts of lightning, causing them to disperse into sparks of electricity upon contact. "Good move," Emilio spectated, watching closely as he felt there was a lot to learn from his own peers, "Sirius'' attacks are the fastest I''ve ever encountered. I''m sure even Bastian is having trouble reacting to all of them." "Yeah¡­I can''t even see Sirius'' attacks move¨Cby the time I see it, the attacks have already struck the arena," Celly nodded. There wasn''t a single second that the entire blue-and-ck arena wasn''t rumbling or filled with thunderps as Sirius presented his aggressive, lightning-based fighting style. Bastian had conjured dual whips of golden material, whipping them around as their range extended freely in the air. Unable to be so much as grazed by the attacks, Siriusughed as he moved across the arena instantly, warping with the mythical element of space at his fingertips. Electricity coiled most of the battleground, manipted at him by the Stormheart as he spurred on assaults of lightning from every angle, causing the magenta lights to sh unendingly. ''They''re both only fighting in "Stage One" right now¨CI wouldn''t even be able to keep up if I was using my Stage Five,'' Emilio thought, ''Just what level are these two on to be that strong?'' [One Hour Later] "...Hfff¡­" "Huu¡­" Sirius and Bastian were breathing heavily, growing tired after their restless bout, still in their [Stage One] forms of their systems, yet neither hadnded a clean blow. Despite a sh of two, supremely powerful fighters being a majestic sight in some ways, there was another, agonizing aspect of such battles: the high skill between both caused there to be little progress made in either direction. It was the ssic case of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object; Sirius nor Bastian had so much as scratched one another. Emilio let out a sigh, looking over to find that Excelsior had already long since left the deep-level arena below the Cerulean Keep, though Celly was still intently watching. "Alright, that''s good enough," Sirius said as his lightning calmed, allowing his hair to settle as he exhaled. "Yeah?" Bastian rxed his guard. "You''re good. No doubt about that," Sirius smiled, walking over as he extended his hand to the nomad, "I''d be pleased to fight alongside you, brother." "''Brother''?" Bastian questioned. The Dragonheart almost found himselfughing from the sidelines as he experienced the same confusion as Bastian, though not expecting Sirius to repeat the same, odd promation of brotherhood. "Wee to the team," Bastian smiled, "You gave me the hardest workout I''ve had in years." "Heh, that''s what happens when you fight the strongest," Sirius cockily joked. Both of the two reincarnators sped hands as the introduction of the "Strongest Adventurer", Sirius Stormheart, was made to the resistance of the Children of Chaos. Chapter 425 No Longer Human (I) ["Notes of Jin Van Strezzhume: Mission into the Godless Continent | Objective: Locate the base-of-operations belonging to the Children of Chaos and obtain whatever information I can on them. The more information I get, the higher the Foundation will reward me."] Sitting behind a set of rocks, a half-elf man dressed in dark garments peeked from beyond his cover, looking upon a structure in the near distance that exuded a terrible aura; it was a pitch-ck fortress, hidden behind a stretch of mist, locked away in a forsakennd. The castle was enormous, reaching high into the abyssal skies, looming over with a disgusting feeling that oozed from it. The winds natural to the "Godless Continent" were abhorrent, carrying the smell of death with a sweeping chill that left no sense offort for any mortal. A ce that utterly rejected humanity; that is where the man found himself. The man with silver hair and emerald eyes pulled out a journal from beneath his ck coat, beginning to write down in it. ["I''ve discovered their hideout. Approximately four-hundred kilometers west from the mountainside entry into the Godless Continent. It can be found by passing through the mist¨Chowever, that was a task in itself. The mist¡­attacked me. It''s hard to exin, but just keep pushing through."] Finishing his journal entry, he ced the book beneath his jacket again, sitting with his back against the rock as he breathed out slowly, wincing somewhat as he held his chest. ''My condition is worsening by the hour. I''ve been here about a week now¨Cevery minute of being in this godforsakennd is a fight for my life. It''s weakening my body¨Cthe continent itself is rejecting me. They weren''t lying about that,'' he thought. ["Jin Van Strezzhume" | Void Rank | "The Silent Shadow"] Even for the elite adventurer who stood near the pinnacle of the Foundation in terms of rank, he found the forsaken continent to be one not worth the pay. However, the mission he was on went beyond mary gain; he had his own reasons for taking it on. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. ¨CAs enormous footsteps thundered across the ground,ing from somewhere near him, the man instinctively activated his own magic, shrouding his body in dense shadows that blended his existence with his environment. Arriving beside the boulder that he hid behind, a carnivorous creature with obsidian scales and a massive jaw with rows of jagged teeth revealed itself, breathing out as its beady, scarlet eyes searched for prey. The beast reared its head, roaring up to the sky as it breathed out an explosion of crimson mes, shooting to the night sky like fireworks. It seemed only to be some sort of intimidation tactic from the beast. Jin stayed seated in the same spot, unseen by the beast as he remained intertwined with the shadows themselves, thanks to his unique magic. ''My magic affinity is perfect for this ce. That''s why the Foundation chose me for this mission¨Cso, I can''t fail,'' he thought. As the titanic beast continued stomping around the field of ckened grass, the invisible man stood up, casually walking through the field as he approached the fortress. There was no sound left by his boots as he walked through the grass, still remaining vignt as he kept a low profile while closing in on the sable castle. ''Even if they can''t see me, I need to suppress my mana signature perfectly. If they sense me even for a second, it''ll be over. Still¡­If I can just find out anything about them¨Ctheir abilities, names, theyout of the castle, it''ll be priceless in taking them down,'' he thought. From what he could sense, there was nobody guarding the front of the nebulous fortress, but that didn''t sit right with him. As he sat by one of the rocks for cover, peeking towards the front gates, he instead chose to walk around to find another way in. ''Busting through the front door isn''t my style. I''ll be walking right into the lion''s den,'' he thought. Stepping over a rocky cliff, he looked down upon a running waterfall, finding a gap on the side of the fortress that sat by the streaming river: a sewage area¨Ca perfect find for the stealth adventurer. ''...If I make it out of this, I''ll buy my little sister all of the presents she wants. Wait, she''s in academy now, isn''t she? I''ll make sure to pay for that¡­It''s the least I can do for being absent from her life for so long,'' he thought. He carefully descended the waterfall, using a set of vines to lower himself as he looked up, seeing colossal, winged creatures flying in the high skies above. Each of the soaring creatures continuously called out, possessing a terrifying size. ''It wasn''t like I was the first choice to take this mission. There aren''t many in the Foundation stupid enough to enter the Godless Continent. Guess I am, though,'' he thought. As he came near the ledge that sat around the low-profile entrance to the daunting fortress, he leapt over nimbly,nding on his feet as he looked around. It seemed as though the colossal, ck keel was embedded into the mountain itself, with the section he stood on being a mossy cliff, leading into the castle tunnel. ''Nothing around. It''s awfully quiet, too,'' he observed. Stopping before entering the tunnel that smelled rank, of urine and discarded trash, he knelt down, cing his hand hair above the sewage water that flowed out. From his glove, an army of ck particles swept outward in every direction around the man, extending into the tunnel and running along every inch it could reach. "Dark Sense," he invoked silently, allowing the veil of shadows to touch everything nearby. He could feel it; everything that the pitch-ck particles touched were felt by him¡ªa true sixth sense. Closing his eyes to fine tune this extra sense, he took in whatever was felt by the reconnaissance spell. ''A couple rats. Not much else but trash,'' he observed. Opening his eyes again, the sensory spell cast itself away into dust as he entered the secret passageway without any worry, confirming the absence of lurking threats. Upon entering the sewage tunnel, he immediately found himself leaning over, clutching his chest. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. "...Ngh¡­" The periodic heart pain that felt like a hand clenching his organ returned, seeming to be more frequent and more painful the longer he inhabited the ruthlessnd. As his handid against his chest, catching his breath for a moment, a distinct resolveid in his emerald eyes, knowing the inevitable road that stretched out before him. ''Looks like the reaper will being for me soon¡­sooner than I thought. That''s even more reason why I have to do this,'' hemitted. Still, even if he could look death in the face unflinchingly, there was something inside of him that wanted to keep living; something to keep moving onward for. Ironically enough, it was that same motivation that urged him to begin moving again, onward towards the fire, slowly entering the length of the secret tunnel as he wiped the sweat from his chin. ["I''ve been on hundreds, maybe thousands of missions, many of which I''vee close to death. After a while, I stopped thinking. I became like a golem; only moving towards the goal in front of me, not letting anything else distract me. For some reason, right now, I can''t stop thinking of other things¡­home, my sister¡­Is death really creeping up on me this fast?"] Slowly exhaling through his barely parted lips, he straightened himself up, walking without giving in to the near constant pain residing in his chest. His boots sifted through the repugnant water that inhabited the secretive tunnel. The darkness within the passageway didn''t restrict him in the slightest; inplete darkness, his sight was at its best. Through the quiet path, the closer he got to reaching the nest of the nefarious group, the more that the memories buried deep within his mind began to resurface. Images of a burning vige filled his head as he winced, remembering the smell of burnt flesh and the screams of his kin; it was a sour memory, one he held onto since he was a child. ¨C [Thirty Years Ago] Above everything else, he remembered the close encounter he had on that fateful night as a child; helpless and afraid, he clutched his small sister in his arms as his parents were already in in the very same room. "Why do you look at me with eyes filled with such hatred, child? Death is a beautiful thing. I''ve gifted that to your parents. And soon, you will receive it, too!" The maddened cultist, dressed in ck robes,ughed maniacally, holding the bloody dagger as he neared the two half-elf children. All the silver-haired boy could do was close his eyes and clutch his sister, protecting her as he prepared to receive the murderous blow for her, "It''ll be alright, Celly¡­¨C" It was an experience that a child should never experience; the gravity of their own mortality as death crawled up their spine, choosing to sacrifice themselves for another. However, before the dagger could meet his back¨C "Ghhk¨C!" The sound of the maddened cultist wincing was followed by a squelch that resounded against the boy''s ears. Chapter 426 No Longer Human (II) As he slowly lifted his head in shock, still clutching his small sister close to him and hiding her face against his chest, he looked up to find that the cultist had dropped his bloody dagger to the ground. "...How¡­fascinating¡­" The cultist mumbled as crimson liquid oozed from his split neck. It was a confusing sight at first, but as the maddened figure copsed to the ground, dying instantly, another figure was seen standing behind the cultist''s body. ["That day, I met a strange man. He was a living miracle to me¨CI owed my life to him."] Puffing smoke from the cigar between his lips, a man with dark skin,yered in scars and having a scruffy beard looked over, swiping his curved daggers to expel the cultist''s blood from them. "You alright, kids?" The stranger asked, pulling the cigar out from between his lips as he exhaled smoke that smelled like the pine of trees. The man''s left eye was closed, sealed shut by a scar running down it, but his right was prominent by the tinum iris that looked straight at the boy. Still in shock, all he could do was slowly nod, earning a dyed response from the dark-skinned man, who took another puff from his cigar. "...Well, crap. I can''t leave you two here alone, huh? Alright, then. Come on¨CI''ll look after ya'', at least for now," the stranger offered. ["The stranger who saved my sister and I took us in. I still remember that sight¨Cbeing carried away from the burning vige. He tried shielding our eyes from it, but¡­there was no unseeing that. Vandread¨Cwell, he preferred being called just "Mr. V" since he said his son inherited his name. Mr. V was a strange man, but I believe he had a heart of gold."] "Pyuh¨C!" The half-elf boy winced as he was hit against the cheek, stumbling back as he spit out the sharp pain from his mouth. "Too slow," Mr. V said. "But, you''re just too fast, I can''t¨C" Jinined, holding his red cheek. Again, Mr. V hit the boy, this time striking him in the gut as Jin spit out saliva, knocking the boy back. Jin rolled across the ground of the rocky cavern, holding his stomach. "Jin!" The young, half-elf girl rushed over, checking on her brother. Jin slowly picked himself up, coughing, "I''m fine, Celly¡­" Taking a puff from his smokey cigar, Mr. V looked over at the boy, "If your opponent is too fast for you, then predict where they''ll go. Think hard and predict what their next action will be; how they respond to you; how they''ll move; where they''ll attack." ["Mr. V was strong. To me, he seemed like the strongest person in the whole world. I idolized him. Still, I couldn''t help but feel bad for the son he left behind, especially when he was taking care of us like we were his own. Whenever I asked, Mr. V said the same thing: ''I''m not that kind of guy. If I raised that boy, he''d be just like me¡­I bet he''ll still try to follow in his old man''s footsteps anyway¨Cthe stubborn brat.''"] Sitting on a t rock after some intense sparring, Jin was huffing, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he found a red-skinned apple held to him. Looking over, he was surprised to see Mr. V sitting beside him, offering the fruit. "Take it," Mr. V insisted, "Can''t get any stronger on an empty stomach, brat." "Thanks¡­" Jin epted, taking a bite out of the apple as he looked over, seeing his sister asleep on the mattress made out of leaves. They were always on the move with the man; after all, he was a dedicated adventurer, taking on new jobs every day. Rain poured outside of the cave entrance, cascading down the slick, emerald leaves of the outside forest. It was nearing winter, as autumn came to a close with the blossoming of luscious green. Mr. V watched the rain beyond the cave with a mncholic look in his single eye, "Wonder how he''s doing." "How who''s doing?" Jin asked. "Oh, nothing," Mr. V said, brushing the question aside, still watching the rain before standing up, "Alright, how about we put your lessons into actual practice?" Going from intense sparring with the ruthless instructor, the young half-elf was tested as he wielded real daggers for the first time, set up against a wild goblin in the forest. Though goblin''s sat at the bottom of the food chain of monsters, for a mere child, they were a life-or-death encounter; ruthless, brutal creatures that held no mercy against people, no matter their age or condition. It was a tough fight; one that took every ounce of skill and strength the boy had, but using the teachings of Mr. V, he overcame the goblin; after deflecting the green-skinned creature''s de, he jabbed his dagger into its throat. "...I did it¡­" He breathed out. For the first time, he found himself earning the acknowledgement of the stern instructor as Mr. V''s hand gently patted his head. "Good job, Jin," Mr. V smiled down at him, holding a certain warmth in his eye. ["It''s amazing¨Cthe power of affirmation. No matter how cut-up, bruised, or callused my hands became, how tired I was, I always tried my hardest, all striving to impress Mr. V. I worked myself to the bone, and that''s how I got where I am today."] They were together for years; the two, half-elf orphans stayed by the often stern, but oftentimes kind man, traveling across Vasmoria, sometimes in a carriage, sometimes on foot. During this time, the young girl did not speak much, instead the elder brother spoke for her¨Coften because Celly found Mr. V to be an intimidating figure. ["At first, I was weak¨Chelpless, even. Over time, though¡­"] Amidst their training, the now teenage half-elf sprung into action with a swift dash, wielding a pair of daggers as he shed them swiftly. The des shed against those wielded by his instructor, who deflected the strikes, though didn''t look disappointed at all. They were able to contend with one another, as Jin adapted the unique fighting style taught to him by the cunning fighter: the "Godless Style"--utilizing swift movements and attacks with no wasted movement, using everything to one''s advantage, whether it be the environment or weapons. "Not bad, brat," Mr. Vplimented. ["What he taught me is, what''s more important than how you lived, is how you die. Make sure when your clock is ticking, when your time is up, to give the world something to remember you by. Even if you were a nobody yesterday, be a hero today."] Rain poured down upon a certain day that forever etched itself into the mind of the half-elven boy; that final lesson was hammered into his mind, taught to him firsthand as he ran with his younger sister in his arms. ''Just keep running. I have to keep Celly safe. I-I can''t waste the opportunity Mr. V gave us,'' he told himself. Back at the spot the elven siblings fled from, the tinum-eyed, jaded man held a small smile of his own, watching the two be distant. Surrounding the dark-skinned man were figures shrouded in dark robes, having him cornered. "So, so, so, brave of you!" One of the robes figures said with madness infusing their words, being a man with snow-white skin and sunken eyes. Mr. V wiped the blood from his mouth, looking down at the stab wound left on his abdomen as crimson fluid leaked out, trickling down his skin with the downpour. ''Good job, Jin. I taught you well¨Cat least I left some positive in this world. Sorry, Vandread. I couldn''t be a proper father to you¨CI regret it every day. I guess this will be myst day regretting, though,'' he thought. "Don''t believe for a second that the children will escape us. After we''re done with you, we''ll¡ª" one of the ck-robed people said, holding up their hand as they conjured a ck fireball. Before the robed figure could find an end to their words, they were cut short as their head fell from their shoulders with a fountain of blood spraying. Holding his bloodied dagger up, the dark-skinned man looked towards the others of the same group. Even for the robed strangers who had long since lost their sanity, the dagger-wielding, cold-blooded killer oozed a bloodlust unlike any other, watching them with an icy gaze that was indifferent to life or death. "Come on, then. Let''s all go to hell together." From the treeline, more and more of the cultists revealed themselves, tossing ck fireballs in his direction. Driven to the edge that bordered on reality and the afterlife, flickering from life-and-death, the man moved without any regard for his body, dodging the magical attacks and cleaving through his enemies. "Gyah¨C!" "--Pyhh!" Blood sprayed across the damp soil, feeding the forest with the liveliness of the madmen as the ruthless, dagger-wielding man cut through them without any hesitation. As he stood there after slicing through the midsection of one of the cultists, the wounded man was too slow to react as a fireball soared straight towards him, crashing against his left side with an abyssal explosion. "Ghh¨C!" The group of enigmatic cultists gathered around the explosion, standing ready as the smoke billowed into steam with the falling rain. Like a force of nature itself, the scarred man erupted from the smoke, with half his body burnt and still ame, yet swiftly cutting through another pair of the lunatics. ¨CEven still, the man who was infamous as being like a demon himself; inhuman and evil¨Cas thought by other adventurers, Mr. V was still human. After cutting down countless cultists, the man fell to his knees with a body covered in burns and cuts, bleeding onto the pale grass below him. ''My time is up. Keep on runnin'', kids. Don''t ever stop, not for anybody. Guess it''s time to check-in to hell,'' the man thought. As he looked up, sparks of embers met his gaze as he was surrounded by the remaining cultists from the ambush,pletely encircled by the fire-wielding strangers. All he could do was keep his head up, not shying his gaze away from the inevitable. ''So long.'' A massive explosion rang through the rain-drenched forest, bringing the young, elven man to a stop as he looked back towards the source of the tree-shaking impact. Jin muttered out, "...Mr. V." In his arms, he held his sister, feeling his heart ache, knowing what that sh of fire in the distance meant. ["Mr. V taught me that there''s nothing in life worth abandoning yourself for. Even if you have toy down your life at some point, if it''s to protect what you believe in, if it means protecting those close to you¨Cdo it. Since there''s no point in living with a mountain of regret on your shoulders. Teaching that to a kid is something else, but I''m d he did."] Chapter 427 No Longer Human (III) [Present] "Hff¡­" Standing in the repugnant tunnel, the silver-haired man held his chest, breathing out as he could feel the health of his heart deteriorating with his pulse bing erratic. ''My whole life is shing before my eyes. That''s not a good sign, is it? Funny how that works,'' he thought. "¡ª" Something dunked into the water, causing it to ripple around his boots as he witnessed something moving beneath the surface. Sifting through the murky waters that persisted through the tunnel, the man readied himself as the unknown entity quickly swam through the shallow stream. ''Looks like this way isn''tpletely unguarded after all,'' he thought. Summoned into each of his hands were weapons forged from shadows themselves, solidified into the shape of daggers as he wrapped his fingers around their pitch-ck handles. What erupted from the sewer waters was a humongous beast with studded, snow-white scales and a long mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, whipping its tail around. ''A crocodile?'' He realized. It was definitely a beast native to the forsakennd, as it was unnaturally fast, sweeping by swiftly despite its size, scampering with its ws that dragged along the stone tunnel. Beasts natural to thend were all iparable to those outside of it; he watched as it sped along the tunnel, moving like a swift arrow. For the experienced adventurer, it was easy enough to react as he nimbly ducked down as the beast leapt towards him, mming its jaws shut as it intended to take off his head with a single bite. "Sorry, but I''m not checking out just yet," Jin whispered. As the gargantuan crocodile leapt over him, he lifted both of his shadow-forged daggers, stabbing into the beast and allowing the dark des to cut through the length of its body as it passed over. Finishing the beast off, he relinquished his magic daggers before breathing out, feeling his heart thumping in his chest as it acted like a cramping muscle. cing his hand over his chest, he listened to his heartbeat as he steadied his breathing. The curses thatid in the Godless Continent were like a natural miasma in the air; a sickness that was unavoidable. ''Can''t let myself get distracted. The clock is ticking. Keep on moving, Jin,'' he thought. Pushing onward through the secret passageway, he sifted through the waters before finding something that finally caught his eye: adder leading up into the enemy fortress itself. As he quietly ascended thedder, he stopped just before the top, cing the palm of his hand against the cover that led to the base. Silently, he invoked: "Twilight Sonar." Emitting from his hand, a subtle pulsation of darkness vibrated through the room beyond thetch. The vibrations stretched throughout the unseen room, though to the man, he could see it clearer than any eyes could; each shudder of the dark vibrations allowed him to feel the shape of the room, what was in it, and even sensing any potential traps. ''All clear,'' he observed. Finding nothing in the room beyond the secret passageway''s entrance into the base, he slowly grabbed onto the handle before opening thetch, revealing the room to himself. "--" It was dark, with no candles lighting the dusty room; as he picked himself up from the passage, he quietly closed the lid before looking around. There were an assortment of cobweb-littered crates, which didn''t seem to be looked at much. ''A storage room? It looks like nobody takes care of it,'' he thought. There were some shelves in the room, mostly covered by cloth as if everything was shoved into the chamber without much organization. Peeling back the cloth hiding one of the shelves, he inspected what was behind it, finding himself taken aback by what he found: the skulls of various creatures were on the shelf, gathering dust. From beasts to humans, the skulls sat there silently. ''...I don''t know what I expected from these freaks,'' he thought. THUD. The sudden m of a door down the hall made him alert as he heard murmurs of unknown voicesing down the corridor. Peeking beyond the door, he saw a pair of figures in ck robes, wearing masks that covered only their eyes. The walls of the corridor were built out of checkered, ck-and-white bricks, with torches hung on the walls for light. ''Foot soldiers,'' he observed. Before he was seen, the silver-haired man sunk into the shadows themselves, bing one with the element of darkness as he slipped into the corridor, unseen by the enemy. Shifting into a shadow himself, he was able to move silently along the wall and observe the two members of the organization. "Be extra careful with these. If you drop one, well¡­I don''t need to tell you what Krimjaw will do to us," the leftmost member of the organization said, carefully holding something. The other one nodded, a woman with short brown hair and eyes hidden behind cloth, "You don''t have to tell me. Thest thing I want is to anger Lord Krimjaw¡­He''s terrifying." In their arms, they were carrying peculiar jars, containing crimson fluid with something locked within their containment. The two passed right by the room he had entered from; curious to find out what it was the two grunts were transporting and what for, he decided to tail them silently. ''"Krimjaw"? That must be a high-ranking member of their organization¨CI need to find out whatever I can,'' he resolved. Through the hall, he lurked in the shadows, watching the two grunts as they began to descend a flight of stairs, delving deeper into the nebulous base. Though he wanted to get a glimpse of what the two were carrying, with their backs turned to him, it was too much of a risk to get close enough to see. "...Do we have to bring these¡­directly to Krimjaw? Can''t we just drop it off outside of his door?" The woman asked her colleague. "Do you want us to be killed? Krimjaw gave us specific orders: bring the aspect''s flesh to him directly," the masked man responded. "It''s just¡­" "I know," the masked man sighed, "Krimjaw isn''t exactly the most pleasant person. He''s got a history of taking low rank members like us and using us for his experiments¨Cstill, we''ll only be giving him a reason to do that if we don''t deliver these properly¡­" "Yeah¡­" the masked woman nodded in agreement. Listening to their conversation as he lurked behind in the shadows, the silver-haired half-elf found the identity of this "Krimjaw" individual to be a mysterious one. At the bottom of the stairs, a single door waited, which the cultist member on the left took upon himself to open it. The ck-steel door, sealed shut against a snow-white wall, had a unique, star-shaped handle on the center, which opened what appeared to be a single door into a twin set, revealing the room beyond. "Come on," the masked man said. "Right," the masked woman followed. Jin kept his distance, though the peculiar door began shutting on its own, prompting him to slide across the ground as a puddle of darkness, slipping through just before it closed shut. What he found was an enormous room, built like a warehouse within the deeper trenches of the castle that was faraway from any civilization. There were stacks upon stacks of crates, with many individuals wearing ck uniforms and cloth over their eyes working on breaking down the supplies within the silver crates. ''What is this room? How big is this ce, really?'' He questioned. Staying within the shadows as the warehouse area was much more well lit than the corridor, he observed what supplies were in the crates while continuing to follow the two grunts who carried the odd jars. From what he could see, what was being taken out of the crates and passed along to stock the warehouse quarters was a mix of food supplies, but more heinously, boxes upon boxes of magic runes. "ce the fire runes over there," a gruff man in a ck suit ordered, running his fingers through his gray-and-ck hair as he pointed theborers in the proper direction. The shines that differed from emerald, ruby, sapphire, and even sable gemstones was unmistakable as he watched the dutiful members of the mysterious organization moving the boxes along. ''All of these runes¡­There has to be thousands being stored here¨Cmaybe tens of thousands. What could they possibly be using so many runes for? What would require all of that magical energy?'' He questioned. Either way, he remained diligent in keeping to the shadows, finding there to be many more members present in the vast headquarters than expected, even for asrge as the castle seemed from the outside. Dozens, if not hundreds, of the uniformed members of the Children of Chaos unpacked the boxes of runes, all taking them to another room. There was a choice that the stealth figure had to make at that moment, looking to one side, where the two grunts were walking with their task of delivering to the nebulous "Krimjaw", or the other side, where all of the workers carried the rune supply. ''I''lle back to check where they''re storing those runes and what for, but for now, I need to tag those other two,'' he decided. Chapter 428 No Longer Human (IV) Swimming through the shadows that danced down on the ck, metallic floor of the warehouse quarters, he caught up with the two, masked low-ranking members who carried the mysterious jars. This led him into an area past the warehouse, quietly lurking behind the two as a single bridge expanded over a vast canyon. ''--What is this?'' He thought. For a moment, he stopped when walking onto the metallic bridge, looking down at the abyss below, finding it even more unbelievable just what sort of vastness the base held. It felt as though there was too much of the area to explore and find out information on, and not enough time to do so. Continuing to follow the two low-ranking members across the bridge, he lurked in the very shadows they created, not having to move as he simply tagged along their path. Across the abyssal bridge, only one door was found on the other end, etched into a wall built of circr, metallic rims. "...Almost there," the masked woman said, shuddering at the thought. "Just stay focused. You know how Krimjaw is¨Cif he senses weakness, you''re done for," the masked man told the woman. The door was nothing less than ominous, kept secured by arm-shaped, stone arms that unwrapped themselves as the masked member stepped close to it. "Open," the manmanded nervously. Jin stayed within the shadows, watching the unorthodox door unseal itself. As it opened, the veteran instincts of the man red up, sensing something deeply disturbingying beyond that door. ''...This mana signature, it''s rotten. It''s human, but doesn''t feel like it¨Cfar too cold and relentless, more like a human-loathing monster than anything else,'' he thought. Nheless, he betrayed the warnings given by his own instincts as he silently followed the two grunts beyond the door, entering into an odd facility tucked away within the base. Metal tubes ran along the walls and the floor, which was slick with blood and grime. "Eugh¡­" The masked woman shuddered as she walked down the hall. "Stay calm," the masked man whispered. In his experience, all of the members of the nefarious organization that Jin encountered were death-weing lunatics; to see a pair of them frightened to the core by one of their own was something he didn''t expect. "Ghh¡ª" Without intending to, he unintentionally let out a wince as his chest tightened with another set of heart pains. The sound he made immediately alerted the two grunts of the mysterious group, who turned around at the same time. "What was that?" The masked woman asked. The masked man looked around for a second, unable to see the figure that was hiding within the shadows themselves, "¡­don''t know, probably something of Krinjaw''s. Let''s go." "Right¡­" The woman hesitantly continued. After the two grunts moved on, Jin stayed for a moment in the shadows, holding his chest as he slowly steadied his breathing. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. ''My clock just keeps ticking. Not ticking any slower,'' he thought. After allowing his heart to settle down, he continued through the pipe-ridden corridor on his own before discovering the chamber thaty beyond. "What the¡­" As Jin entered the area through the shadows, he found a horrific room awaiting; a vast chamber filled with liquid-filled tubes that contained abominations that used to be human. It was a disgusting showcase of abhorrent creations; the horrific people in the tubes were morphed, resembling mutated monsters more than humans, but Jin could recognize what they once were. Slipping through the shadows, he moved closer to one of the tubes filled with red liquid, seeing what looked like a man with his flesh morphed to resemble scales of a dragon. ''What are they doing here? How did they get this many people¨Cno, those people in the tubes¡­those are members of the organization as well. Why?'' He questioned. "Ah, you brought it!" ¨CAs he heard a new voice, Jin instinctively sank into the shadows to hide, looking over as he watched the two, low-ranking members greet an unfamiliar figure. "W-we brought the flesh of the Aspect to you, as promised¡­" The masked man stuttered out, presenting one of the jars to the figure. The masked woman did the same, holding one of the jars forward in total fear to the man in front of them. Standing there, a thin man with long, messy hair of a snow-whiteplexion rubbed his chin, seeming pleased with what was delivered to him. He wore ck goggles that only covered his eyes, nothing more, covered in odd tattoos across his body; the dark ink took the form of spirals drawn across his bare body. ''That''s "Krimjaw",'' Jin observed. "Good, very good," the snow-haired man nodded, pleased as he took the flesh-bearing jars from the two. For a second, the two grunts stood there like statues as the thin man inspected the long, thin jars before he looked up at the two. Krimjaw snarled, "Huh? What''re you waiting around for? Your job is done, so leave." "R-right!" The masked man and woman said in unison before hurrying out of the abhorrent chamber. Jinpletely sank into the shadows as the two frightened grunts shuffled out of the room, leaving him alone with the mysterious "Krimjaw". The chamber itself seemed like a twisted utopia for unhinged experiments; Along with the vast amount of abomination-containing tubes were shelves of discolored jars, seeming to be an unholy concoction of things that Jin couldn''t begin to guess. ''He''s a high-ranking member of the organization. There''s no doubt about that¨Cis he an Aspect, though? Aspects always have the same feeling about them: inhuman, distant, and a cold, boundless aura. I don''t feel that here¨Cbut I feel something,'' Jin observed. The snow-haired, maddened man adjusted his goggles after cing the jars down, looking at the contents inside closely past the ss as a smile stretched across his lips. "Yes, yes, yes¨Cit''s here, it''s here¨CI cannot wait any longer!" Krimjaw excitedly said to himself as his wicked words echoed throughout the chamber. All Jin could do was watch as the entric figure unscrewed the lids to the jars, which caused steam to release from the magically-sealed containers. "Carefully now, remove the contents," Krimjawmanded to seemingly nobody. Around the table that the jars sat on, an odd mechanism made out of light-gray wood activated; artificial arms made out of the wooden material moved as their mechanical limbs cracked. From what the half-elf man could observe through the shadows, the set of a dozen, long arms of wood were empowered by arge core in the form of a white-and-ck magic rune. ''A sort of golem? Never seen one like that,'' Jin thought. The wooden hands reached down into the jars, slowly removing the drenched contents inside: a pitch-ck heart and a ckened liver. Jin''s eyes immediately widened at the sight of it, taken aback by the wicked items, "--?!" "There it is! I feared it was lost in the aftermath of that unfortunate battle: the flesh of Dread itself!" Krimjaw said in delight, caressing the ursed organs. Hearing the name that rang like taboo to the eyes of the stealth adventurer caused the hairs on his arm to stand up as a chill ran up his spine. ''Dread?...The Aspect that escaped during thest world-ss trial? How the hell did they get their hands on that, wasn''t Dread erased by one of the rookies? Either way, this is bad¨CI feel it in my gut,'' Jin thought. Every fiber of his being wanted to act, feeling as though it was deathly necessary, right then, at that very moment, to strike Krimjaw down. It wasn''t as though he knew what threat the mere organs of Dread held, but the impossible horrors of all spectrums was understood; he knew well that the Children of Chaos could not be predicted¨Cand that was their true weapon. Just watching the thin, goggle-wearing figure gawk at the ursed pieces of flesh made his skin crawl as he manifested his shadow daggers into his grip. ''Just one strike. One strike and I can end this,'' he thought. Focusing himself, he prepared to strike down the figure who was too busy being enamored with the ursed organs, however¨CJin found himself paused at the sight of something else, past Krimjaw. Suspended in one of the liquid-filled tubes was a young girl with long, silver hair that seemed to subtly glow like a night star. Compared to the abhorrent creations in the other containers, she seemedpletely unchanged. ''A girl? It doesn''t look like he''s gotten to her yet¨Cshit¡­'' He thought. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Before taking any action, he sat against one of the containers while staying hidden, holding his own chest as his chest tightened with an inevitable condition. It was a painful development for him, finding something that can be saved amongst the terror of the hideout. For the half-elf man, he already epted this mission to be hisst, forsaking any chance of leaving the Godless Continent, however¨Cthe existence of the lone girl gave him something to protect. ncing at the unconscious girl that was suspended in that clear-ss container, he felt a heartwarming nostalgia when seeing her, reminded of a younger sister he hadn''t seen in some time. ''...I can''t just abandon her. Not in a ce like this. Nobody deserves that,'' he decided. ¨CStill, this didn''t change what needed to happen. As he gripped the daggers forged out of shadows, he waited for his perfect moment to strike before¨C "I see you." Chapter 429 No Longer Human (V) "I see you." The pale-skinned man with goggles suddenly spoke out in a low, ominous tone. There was nobody else in the room he could be speaking to, saying those words with his back turned to the man skulking in the shadows. Even though he has yet to make a single sound, nor be visible to the figure, he felt as though eyes were on him, as if being watched intently. ''He sensed my presence?'' Jin realized. Krimjaw didn''t bother turning to face him, cing the ursed heart and liver onto a circr mechanism made out of ck steel. The device was embedded into the wall, which was connected to awork of tubes filled with ck liquid, feeding into the circr rim as the maddened figure pulled a lever. Whatever it was, the abnormal mechanism embedded into the wall seemed to act as some sort of grandiose blender, beginning to grind the ursed organs down into a liquid. "Heh," Krimjaw quietlyughed. No longer finding any time to try andy low, the silver-haired man popped out of the shadows, tossing a few throwing knives made out of shadows towards Krimjaw. "Very intriguing," Krimjaw said as he turned around, raising his hand. At the simple gesture of the figure, the artificial arms made of ckened wood extended from their post rapidly, shielding the man as the dark des were blocked. The wooden arms moved abnormally; their mechanical joints extended, able to move swiftly like the limbs of a spider. Turning to face him, the goggle-wearing man of worn age smiled, moving his arms as he seemed tomand an army of the ck-wood, mechanical limbs to sprout from the holes in the walls. "¡­Very, very intriguing. It is not often at all that one reaches this corner of hell. Tell me, are you all the way there?" Krimjaw asked, tilting his head with a twisted tone to his words. Before he even had the chance to respond, the silver-haired man found himself quickly surrounded by nefarious reinforcements; the nebulous, quiet members of the organization, dressed head-to-toe in ck robes, stood around him with daggers ready. ''Surrounded already, huh? They''re diligent, I can give them that,'' Jin thought. Krimjaw ced his arms behind his back as if seeing no reason to engage inbat himself, moving back towards the circr device that was grinding the ursed organs into a liquid, "Kill him. If you can capture him, do it and bring me his broken body." The orders from Krimjaw immediately set the assembly of cultists into action as Jin''s eyes darted around, reacting just as thrown daggers came from every direction. Even as the lone man''s heart ached in his chest, he moved as though the iing des traveled through water and not air, leaning back as he avoided the first set. As a pair of the ck-handled daggers passed by, he caught them in mid-air, immediately tossing them back with perfect precision as the thrown daggers struck two of the cultists through their mask-covered heads. "Ghh¨C!" "Pyuh¨C!" The afflicted cultists dropped like sacks of potatoes once the tossed des pierced their skulls. For a moment, the ck-robed grunts froze at the unexpected proficiency of the intruder, allowing Jin to dash in towards a pair of them. "--!" The cultist in front of the half-elf waved his hand, conjuring a ring of fire around his arm, preparing to unleash a fiery spell before¨C SQUELCH Dashing by with an instantaneous step, Jin appeared behind the cultist, moving on without hesitation as the hooded figure''s head fell from his shoulders. A group of the cultists, with some positioned on the arches of therge chamber, summoned a mixture of fireballs and conjurations of ck-stone spears, tossing them towards the half-elf intruder. "Shadow Step." Utilizing this breathless spell, Jin was able to bypass a short distance entirely within an instant, momentarily turning into a shadow that reemerged wherever he desired, so long as it was within a certain rage. As he reappeared again after stepping past the tossed, magical attacks, he shed with his shadow-mage daggers, cleaving through the throats of the two cultists on either side of him. "Pick it up, you useless, depraved, weak, mogs! Don''t let him ughter you so easily!" Krimjaw shouted from the otherside of the room. Jin set his sights on the maddened man across the chamber, attempting to dash straight over with a series of Shadow Steps, though found himself intercepted as a dozen cultists appeared in front of him. There wasn''t a thought in his mind at that moment as instead, his body solely moved towards the singr purpose of annihting his enemy; before the first spell could even begin to be cast by one of the members, he used his instantaneous step through the shadows, swiping his dagger through the neck of one. As he spun around, he was greeted by the warmth of fire being coalesced around him by a trio of the cultists, about to unleash their fireballs in his direction. In a swift counter, he swiped his hand, releasing numerous des made out of shadows in their direction. The fast, weightless projectiles pierced through the cultists, boring through flesh like a hot knife through butter. It was as natural as breathing for him; cutting through the faceless numbers of the malignant organization was something his body could do solely off of instinct. "...Pfff¡­" He exhaled through his barely-parted lips, "Ghh!--" Just as hended back onto the ground after finishing the nearest enemies, his chest tightened as his heart felt as though it was being squeezed in the fist of an angered man. He nearly keeled over onto a knee as he clutched his chest, finding this attack to be worse than the previous ones by a wide margin. As he stood there, clutching his chest as sweat left his pores, the enemies around him did not wait as countless fireballs came in from every direction, plummeting downward like arrows shot into the clouds. A barrage of fiery explosions rang out through theboratory, shaking it to the core as it rumbled with the vtile heat. Some of the containers shattered as liquid spilled out, causing Krimjaw to grip his own hair as he yelled out, angry and saddened. "--Don''t damage my precious workshop, you damned, idiotic, stupendously reckless fools!" Krimjaw shouted. Enraged, the snow-haired, goggle-wearing man raised his hands as he screamed out with nothing intelligibleing from his throat, causing the mechanical arms that sprouted from the walls to swipe around. Some of the silent, dutiful members of the cult tried running from the angered rampage of their superior, though failed. The elongated, ck-wood limbs struck multiple underlings of the man, tossing them across the chamber and shattering their bonespletely, killing those that were hit in a single blow like a fly swatted by a human. Krimjaw breathed out, calming down, "One must reprimand the mistakes of his underlings, yes. I believe that was an appropriate response taken. Now that the intruder is taken care of, let''s¨C" From the billowing mes, projectiles made out of shadowsunched in every direction, piercing through a number of the cult underlings, though Krimjaw was defended by his sentient, wooden arms that shielded him. "...Hm, I am bing deeply irritated by your persistence, stranger," Krimjaw looked back, grossly twisting his neck back to spill the words from his mouth. Appearing from beyond the remnants of the fiery explosions, Jin walked out, lightly scathed as a cut bled from the side of his head, though he remained mostly unharmed. ''I''m lucky I managed to hide in the shadows at thest second,'' he thought, ''--I need to act quickly. My condition is rapidly decreasing¡­There''s no time to y around.'' With this resolve cemented in his mind, the silver-haired man exhaled sharply just as an onught of fireballs and daggers were tossed in his direction. As he breathed out, his entire self turned into the essence of shadows, bing an intangible darkness. "Requiem of The Unseen." The fireballs passed straight through him, some of which soared straight past and hit the casters'' fellowrades. While taking on the form of a shadow himself, Jin concentrated on maintaining his same form, not allowing himself to break apart as he maintained his element before suddenly: he burst away. The cultists looked around, spinning around as they tried to locate the man, but failed as the shadow-turned figure instantaneously moved around with a single step each time. "March of Shadows." Dashing by with consecutive steps through the shadows, the lone adventurer allowed his des to cleave through their numbers. Lines of darkness stretched across the dreaded room, cutting straight across the cultists. Jin reappeared, shifting back into his tangible form after his dance in the shadows, coughing out blood as his chest tightened again, "Hkk¡­Hff¡­" Krimjaw watched as his underlings were all cut down before him, seeming a bit more intrigued now, "It''s interesting, you know. That element you wield¨C"Darkness". It only births itself in those that share a deep bond with death itself. How is it that a reaper like yourself shows himself here as a ''Hero''?" "Hero¡­?" Jin wiped the blood from his mouth, looking at his hand as it trembled somewhat, finding his condition deteriorating by the moment, "Never thought of myself as one. Never interested me. Still, if that''s what I am for wanting you freaks wiped off the map, then yeah, I guess I am." Krimjaw held a mildly amused expression, "You''re mistaken if you think you''ve aplished anything of worth. Killing a few grunts has no effect on us. Even myself, I am merely middle of the rank among all of this¨Cmy life is expendable." Hearing the wicked words of the figure, who looked off towards the ceiling as if he held no worry of his own mortality, Jin felt disgusted; it was the thing he hated most about the members of the abhorrent cult. ''Death isn''t even a punishment for them. They wee it. There''s no "winning" against them¨Cit feels like they always get thestugh,'' he thought. Chapter 430 No Longer Human (VI) As he felt his heart twist inside of his chest, dying his own breathing even as he stood there, he couldn''t help but find something ironic about the words spilled by Krimjaw. ''That makes two of us though, Krimjaw. In the grand scheme of things, my life doesn''t matter, either. However, if you can abandon all self-preservation, if you can do just that, the things you can aplish are amazing,'' Jin thought. "I fail to see what you have that''s worth smiling for," Krimjaw said. "Nothing," Jin said, raising his daggers. Noticing the man''s readiness to fight, the goggle-wearing, worn man smiled, shaking his head as he snapped his fingers, "I have other things to attend to. You''ll have to wait if you wish to kill me." "Hold on¨C!" As Jin dashed in, he found himself intercepted by the long, twisted limbs of ck-wood that arrived from the many holes in the dome-shaped chamber''s walls, blocking his way from the man. Krimjaw held a smirk as he waved to the man, cing his other hand against the circr mechanism against the wall as a secret entrance opened up to an unforeseen room, "Have fun, assassin." Though Jin attempted to brute force his way through the sentient, mechanical arms, he found them much tougher and faster than expected as they whipped around, blocking him from any angle he tried. It was bing tougher to shift into the element of darkness, as it was incredibly straining on his weakening body, but he saw no other option, fearing whatever it was that Krimjaw nned with the ursed organs of Dread. ''Push¡­!'' Jin told himself. Bing one with the shadows again, he dashed through the mechanical arms as they swept towards him, only able to be intangible for a second before¨C SLAM Intercepting him before he could reach the secret room, somebodynded abruptly before him with a heavy impact. Jin instinctively flipped around, jumping back as a secondary impact crushed the ground in front of him, gauging his newly-arrived opponent: as the dust settled, a figure dressed head-to-toe in ck-and-dark silver armor stood, heavily d with a circr-rimmed helmet. The behemoth of a man wielded two, massive hammers in each hand, each forged out of stygian steel, looking dense and easily capable of turning bone to dust. ''Just great. This definitely isn''t a dime-a-dozen grunt like the others¨CI feel it; he''s one of their "Blessed", or so they call each other,'' he thought. The tank of a man exhaled breath like steam through the small gap in his helm, resting one of his gargantuan hammers on his shoulder as he faced the assassin, "Prepare. You face stair, The Smasher: I possess the Aspect of Crushing." "Great," Jin sarcastically exhaled under his breath. Embedded into the silver-haired man''s mind was caution; it was the single most consistent thing he learned from the man who took him under his wing. With that in mind, he immediately sank into the shadows with the arrival of the new obstacle. "A user of darkness? You''re one of those types¨Chm!" stair hummed as his voice echoed past his bulbous helm, "I will enjoy crushing your bones into powder, either way!" "Come and try." Following the sly words, Jin silently arrived from the shadows beside the bulky figure, sweeping by as he unleashed a set of shes against his foe. CLANG "--?!" As Jin slid by after his quick attack, he found the sensation that met his shadow-forged daggers to be abnormal; they were rejectedpletely by the equipment worn by the man. Augh bellowed from the man shrouded in heavy, dark armor as he stood in the same ce, proudly pping his gauntlet against his breastte, "Did you believe des that meager would pierce my armor?! Laughable!" The taunts from the irond antagonizer were nothing they Jin felt the need to let meet his ears, let alone respond to. In battle, he had learned to close his heart to anything directly contradictory to victory. ''That''s a special armor of some kind. My daggers should be able to bypass any normal defenses. Unless it has something to do with the "Aspect" this one has,'' Jin thought. As he was in thought, he was forced to slip to the side through the shadows as an invisible pressure swept in his direction. It was violent and chaotic; like a shout that pushed through anything in its path. The cluttered tables of journals and unknown conditions were thrown aside by the st of pressure, leaving Jin remaining in the shadows again. "Only the cowardly hide from my hammer! Reveal yourself and surrender to my might! For I am Alistair, the¡ª!" As the bulky figure boasted with his hammers raised to the ceiling, the silver-haired assassin leapt swiftly from the shadows on the roof. The shadowy des once more struck the figure, striking the helm of the loudly-speaking man as Jin dashed by. Again, Jin found that his des were unable to bypass the sable armor of the proud, hammer-wielding figure. As he flipped around back onto the ground, he was immediately met byughter from the figure shrouded in seemingly impervious armor. "Do you want to know why your des have no effect on me? I will let you know!" Alistair imed before speaking low, "Gravity." The revtion made the half-elf man pause for a moment as he kept his guard up, not quite understanding what was just revealed to him. "You seem confused, intruder. That''s only natural¡ªthe blessings of Chaos are an impossibility to non-believers," Alistair spoke." "Doesn''t matter to me." Though Jin spoke as much, he found himself wary in approaching the figure of enigmatic abilities. It was difficult enough to fight in therge, tricky chamber of secrets wielded by "Krimjaw", surrounded by the unknown, but Jin knew well of the difficulties when approaching a "Blessed" member of the Children of Chaos. As Alistair took a single step forward, Jin leapt back, returning into the veil of shadows as he lurked around the chamber. "Fearful little pup! Come out now and receive your judgment!" Alistair''s voice boomed against the walls. The taunts of the figure were followed by swings of his mighty hammers, each erupting with invisible force that chewed through any obstacle in its path. It was difficult to evade when observing only with one''s eyes; Jin relied on all of his senses to hop from shadow-to-shadow, avoiding the unseen sts of force. ''Aspects are always troublesome like this. Different from any magic in this world. It''s what makes confronting these lunatics so dangerous¡ªyou never know what to expect,'' Jin thought. The crushing force was able to contort the shadows themselves, forcing the silver-haired man to continuously go from spot-to-spot with each movement of the bulky man''s hammers. It wasn''t that Alistair specifically aimed for his blunt weapons to crush anything directly, instead swinging them in the air as if he were conducting an orchestral performance. "Crush beneath the weight of Chaos'' majesty! Crush! Crush!" Alistair hollered. From multiple directions, the heavy, crushing force mmed through the wind. Jin sprinted and flipped around, slipping by the rain of bone-destroying sts of pressure. He aimed to strike the hammer-wielding figure again as odd echoes resounded from the room where Krimjaw stayed. Clouds of darkness exuded from Jin as he rushed towards his foe, forming a dual set of shadow-made duplicates that matched his appearance and movements perfectly: ["Shadowborn March"] "There''s more than one of you?! A pest!" Alistair howled as he flipped his mighty hammers around. Each hammer was mmed against the air, causing invisible pirs of weight to m downward. The crushing force destroyed two of the duplicates¡ªonly the original was left as he dashed in front of the hammer wielded. "Ghh¡ª!" Alistair winced. "Just shut up and die already." In an instant, Jin dashed by, leaving a trail of dragons forged of shadows that acted as smoldering des, cutting against the crazed figure. ["Shadows Beneath Heaven"] The vtile force of the ethereal dragons brushed against Alistair from all angles, wrapping around the figure. Ensnaring his enemy in the length of darkness, Jin slowly brought both of his hands together with a finishingmand, "Squeeze into the abyss." Just like that, the abyssal dragons exploded into a pir of erupting darkness, shaking the entirety of the ursed chamber. ¡ª Amidst the battle ongoing outside of the gloomy walls, the maddened man of snowy hair stood in a pool of ck liquid. ''Despite being as devoted as the most tenured of my colleagues, I am absent from the Council. Unfair. Unfair. Unfair. All because I have not received a "Blessing" of my own so far¨Cthat will change now. I am special¡­I know it. Somebody once held my in that regard,'' Krimjaw thought. Krimjaw ran his hands through the liquid before sliding his fingers through his hair, slicking it back with the abyssal liquid. "The time is near. It''sing. Soon, it will happen¡­I will reach what is beyond flesh." In the ominous chamber of stagnant wind and unholy presences, faceless statues stood within the pool of abyssal liquid. Vibrations quietly ripples across the surface of the pool. ¦Ñ¦Á§ád¦Á n?¦Ía| §ãom The man removed the goggles from his face, dropping them into the liquid that stood to his waist. His eyes were absent of sanity; unblinking and etched with a lifetime of the harshness of the world. ["What I seek lies beyond flesh. The mortal coil that ces limitations on the world¡ªit is a nuisance that must be cleansed like dirt off a boot. This limit upon the flesh is the origin of stability. Stability is the anchor of normalcy¡ªofpliance with stagnation. That is the antithesis of chaos."] Chapter 431 No Longer Human (VII) ? As the man looked up, allowing himself to bathe in the abyssal liquid, the ceiling was etched with a circr design of multiple lines carved in, slowly pouring out a thicker, more concentrated fluid. It trickled down upon the man''s body as he weed it, with his arms held out as if ushering in an unseen embrace. "...Yes. Come to me, Dread¡­" ''This is what I''ve sought for so long. Though, oddly enough, when I think about it¡­What brought me here? Every now and then, I hear it¨Ca voice; young and innocent, calling to me. It''s a girl. So familiar¨Cso nostalgic¡­I wonder,'' Krimjaw thought. Within the twisted, distorted chasm that was the mind of the dutiful follower of the cult, memories were foggy and melded together; a forgery of madness. Still, Krimjaw wholeheartedly weed the concentrated essence of the fallen Primordial aspect as it rained down upon his skin, seeping into his pores. It was as the Primordial fluid infiltrated his skin that memories began to unlock and unwind within the madman''s mind, flowing alongside the pain that came with the transformation urring to his body. "Guuaaaah¨C!" Krimjaw howled in pain as his muscles contracted and his bones shifted within his flesh, causing his skin to cken as his blood itself was corrupted. ''...I remember now. Fragments. It''s scattered within my mind, but I remember¨CI remember you, Evelynne. That name¡­It feels as natural as breathing, yet I''ve forgotten it all of this time. I''m her father¡­but where is she? What happened to her?'' He thought. Copsing to his knees within the ursed bath, the man groaned in anguish as his body continued transforming itself with the sound of his bones snapping into ce to adjust to his new flesh echoed. "Oh, Evelynne¡­! Evelynne¡ª! Evelynne¡ª!" Krimjaw repeated. It felt like his humanity itself was being stripped from him; as the man looked at his own hands with teary eyes, his skin peeled away into dust that crumbled to the bath. For the first time in perhaps decades, the man thought clearly; even after devoting his mind, body, and soul to his belief¨Cthere was, for a reason he wished to know, regret in his heart. ["''Krimjaw''--a name I now remember is merely the one I was given when joining. It''s all washing away. The man who I once was is forever gone now: "Mattias Thorne" is dead. I am no longer human."] What he saw around him was a boundless stretch of luscious, green grass; a peaceful pasture that extended past the beautiful horizon. "...Ah¡­" The scent of morning dew was weing, with the sensation of the gentle breeze against his skin, he felt as though he reached something that did not exist¨C"home." A vige existed, lively and full of honestly working, good people. He knew these people, though their names were fragmented in his mind. All he could was stand there and observe¨C "Daddy! Daddy! You''re back!" ''That voice¡­Evelynne?'' The fragmented man thought. Standing there, he found himself being approached by a small girl with short, blonde hair and a smile as bright as the morning sun, rushing over to him with her arms out. Naturally, he found himself extending his hands, free of scars, weing the embrace that woulde before¨C It all was swept away in a moment. That magnificent pasture and the vige with it were turned into a lifeless region; countless corpses littered the ground, to which he stood upon a mountain of. What stood alone amidst the stretch of death was not a man, but a monster, shed of its humanity. ["That''s right. I am not a man who could have such happiness. The path I''ve walked, the death I''ve left in my wake, I''ve forsaken any such oue for myself. The only path left for me is the one straight for Hell."] The rity that came to his mind was an awakening he did not expect, only filling his mind with regret unmatched in anything else. ["I just question if I was always meant for this. Was I born a man destined for evil? Was my birth a detriment to this world? If only my own mother had ced a pillow over my head as a baby, then this world would be better off. I have left nothing behind. I have only taken. My existence is one better left never happening. If perhaps she had lived, if she survived¨Cmaybe, maybe I could have left some good in this world. But, that time has passed. All that''s left to do is pray that somebodyes along that can kill the monster that stands in ce of the man I was."] ¨C In the shattered chamber of concoctions and experiments, Jin looked towards the billowing smoke left in the wake of his lethal attack. Left standing there was the dual hammer-wielding figure, whose armor was heavily damaged, yet the man remained standing on his feet as blood dripped from across his body. "...Gruuueh¡­" Alistair slowly groaned. The spell used by Jin was nothing short of life-ending; magecraft built of darkness infused with the concept of "Anti-matter"¡ªa forbidden aspect of magic. It gnawed at the armor that protected Alistair, eating away at the mystical enchantments to it and obliterating the man''s flesh beneath. Jin slowly exhaled, feeling his body continuing to degrade in status. ''Using that one is taxing. I probably drained half of my time left¡­but I needed to finish him quickly,'' Jin thought. "Eeeeugh¡­" Alistair wobbled in ce, groaning out as blood continued puddling onto the floor. Oddly enough, the heavily-armored man had yet to fall, remaining standing. "I¡­can still fight!" Alistair roared through bloodied lips as his helmet peeled away from the scathing darkness. All that was revealed beneath the helm was a disfigured face of burnt flesh and wide eyes devoid of lids. It was that insanity that Jin was all too used to seeing; spiraling eyes that "reason" itself was an impossibility to. That undying loyalty to whatever crazed deity they worshiped was something that didn''t care for the downfalls of one''s own physical being. Jin readied his daggers again as the bloodied figure stumbled about, seeming to want to continue battling. "I, Alistair, will¨C!" Though before the figure could so much as lift either of his heavy weapons that dragged across the blood-stained, metallic flooring, something erupted from the ominous hole in the wall the half-dead man guarded. "--?!" Reaching out from the darkly-veiled hole were ck tendrils that wrapped around the wounded body of Alistair, quickly dragging the half-dead man into the nebulous room beyond. ''What is that? Was I toote¨C?'' Jin questioned. The sound of metal twisting and bones crunching was intertwined with the squelching of flesh; an unpleasant melody of horror that echoed from the pitch-ck room. It didn''t take any special abilities or experience to sense what Jin felt; like a cold, chilling wind that shook him to the marrow of his bones, a presence unlike anything else was felt. It was something unmistakable; there was no other possibility that it could be as footsteps echoed from the hole in the wall, sshing through abyssal puddles. ''A Primordial¨Cat least, something like it,'' he thought. Knowing this, Jin didn''t hesitate as he jumped back to give himself more space, retrieving something from beneath his shirt. It was a small, sleek case made out of ck material. It was held in his hands as if it were the most precious, fragile treasure in the world, treated as though a single touch could shatter it. ''If I''m dealing with something of this caliber, then I''ll need this¡­I didn''t want to rely on this, but¨CI guess I brought myself to this point,'' Jin thought. Slowly, he opened the small, ck case, lifting its lid that felt hundredfold as heavy as it looked. More than the entire scenario itself that was undoubtedly a suicide mission, it was handling the case and whatever was inside that made the man''s fingers lightly tremble. Whatid inside the ck box was a single piece of paper, seemingly torn from its original source. Jin looked at it, gulping as sweat dripped from his chin just at the mere sight of the paper that seemed ordinary at a nce. ["The "Script of Monte Faustin"--one of the "Five Legendary Artifacts of The Founders." Only two of the artifacts are in possession of the Journey Foundation, with the other three being wielded as the trump cards of entire nations. It''s not for ack of reason¨Ceach of the Five Artifacts are extraordinarily powerful, each capable of deterring any threat to a nation alone. The Script of Monte Faustin is no different; it''s a journal imbued with a unique power. Anything can be obtained just by writing it on the paper¨Cpower, wealth, or even warping reality itself. However, something of "equal value" from yourself needs to be exchanged."] Both powerful and frightening, the single, torn piece of paper was something invaluable. With only a mere few words, reality itself could be changed, or his own life could be rent into hell. It was a fickle piece of impossible power. Chapter 432 No Longer Human (VIII) ? Even with the sloshing footsteps of whatever existed beyond the broken wall echoing ominously, closer and closer, the silver-haired man remained slow and methodical in retrieving the all-powerful parchment from its case. ''I needplete focus when handling the Script. Any strong enough desires, any intrusive thoughts¡ªall of that can be interpreted by the Script if I''m not careful,'' he thought. The air itself changed with the removal of the precious paper from its case. Between his fingertips, he held it up, slowly exhaling through his lips. It was at that same moment that the fantastical scrap was hoisted up that the nebulous presence revealed itself, stepping through the hole in the wall. Abyssal tendrilstched onto the steel threshold, extending and contorting as the monstrous figure stomped down. "--" Jin looked straight towards it, witnessing the arrival of something truly inhuman: it held a humanoid shape, though standing well over three meters tall with pitch-ck, sooty skin that seemed devoid of real skin, made up of flowing liquid. From its back, abyssal limbs stretched out, waving around in every direction andshing out at anything within its range. Despite the hulking nature of the abyssal monstrosity, the figure was slumped over, possessing spiraling eyes that flowed with tears as it sobbed and groaned out, echoing throughout the chamber. Jin kept his distance, finding himself not yet seen by the figure as he held the precious paper in his palm. ''What is that? Is it "Dread"? No¡­Not exactly. That''s Krimjaw¨Che''s taken in the essence of Dread,'' he thought. There was a zone of "death" around the monstrosity; its corrupted limbs rapidly struck in a range around itself, annihting anything within ten meters of its position with impunity. As the silver-haired man stayed in the higher level of therge chamber, he watched from above, finding his body shifting between hot and cold as his heart throbbed in his chest. ''I could run. If I did, there''s a good chance I could make it out of this continent before the curse puts me down. If I just ran with everything I had, abandoning everything else here without second thought. I could do it,'' Jin thought. Still, even as utter dread crept through the man''s body, he found himself once again staring at the liquid-filled container that held the unconscious girl, suspended in sleep. ''¡­But I won''t. I''ve already decided. Even if I die in this hellhole, I''ll exterminate that bastard,'' he resolved. With his own life being ced onto the threshold of death, Jin firmly held the fantastical paper in front of himself while looking ahead towards the sobbing monster. "Contract: Open!" Jin shouted. Themanding words caused a dormant power to awaken from the parchment that seemed normal at first nce; an expulsion of wind brushed outward in a dome-shape. It hovered in the air by its own merit now, awaiting the contract to be forged by the earnest words of the man. Whatever left his lips next needed to be words he entrusted with his entire being. "In exchange for half of my lifespan, grant me unlimited mana for five minutes!" Jinmanded. Just as the contract was forged, the torn paper emitted a supernatural force, repelling the debris and tendrils that were flung in his direction. All at once, boundless mana flooded through the man''s body, simultaneously supplying him with power unlike anything he''d felt before. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Inside of his chest, his heart pounded faster, more desperately, as his clock was shortened; even with the overflowing energy that surged through his veins, as he looked upon the sobbing monstrosity present in the chamber, he felt himself uncertain. ''Is this enough? Am I one-hundred percent confident I can win with this? "Don''t ever go into a battle half-assed, half-cocked¨Cthat''s how you die without aplishing the bare minimum"--that''s what you taught me. So, let''s take this another step,'' Jin decided. In preparation for the Primordial force, Jin squeezed the mystical paper between his fingertips as his heart thumped behind his chest, releasing the words of fate from his lips: "Contract: Open!" He began, "In exchange for my soul, grant me supremacy with the element of light!" As the words left his mouth, they were instantly etched onto the paper, written in a contract of blood that was irreversible. Just like that, as the contracts were forged, the promises filled the scrap of paper,pleting its space; it burned away into discarded embers. ''It''s done,'' Jin thought, pausing for a moment. It was a tangible feeling: his own soul being taken from him. As if a warmth that had been there since his conception, one that he was not aware of until that moment, was ripped away. Everything began to dull for him as the essence of himself was exchanged; memories felt blurred, his own emotions were shaken up in the moment¨Cit was difficult to grasp onto who he truly was. Only when losing it did he begin to realize what the soul was: a construct of himself, where his experiences were imprinted¨Cwhere Jin Van Strezzhume originated. ''...Hold onto it. Remember who you are, until the very end: You''re Jin! Jin Van Strezzhume! Your little sister''s name¡­It''s Celly! Remember! Hold onto it! Tuck it close to your heart!'' He convinced himself. Readying himself, he breathed out before flexing his newfound aura, causing a riptide of radiant mana to sh around him as he repelled the abyssal tendrils that hade near him. The pitch-ck monstrosity seemed to finally take notice of him as it lumbered around, letting its arms hang and sway as it groaned out with its sobs echoing through the messy chamber of experiments. "Evelynne¡­Evelynne¡­" The abyssal figure cried out through a deep, distorted voice. It didn''t seem to bear any outward malice or aggression, only crying and slowly lumbering forth before the tentacles extending from its back whipped around, obliterating anything in their path. Jin reacted quickly, shing his newly-made, light-forged daggers as he unleashed cutsrge enough to repel the tendrils. "Oooh¡­?" The monstrosity slowly said. ''If I''m right that Dread has incarnated through Krimjaw, then light magic will be incredibly effective against it. I have five minutes¨Cfive minutes to deal with a Primordial Aspect,'' Jin thought. On the threshold of death, he found himself posed with a task impossible to ask of anybody else¨Cyet, at the same time, with the boundless energy flowing through his body, it felt just possible enough with the time given. "Evelynne¡­! Evelynne! Evelynne!" The newly-incarnated Dread howled out. Suddenly seeming to wake up, the abyssal humanoid''s cry was followed by the many tendrils extending from its whipping around violently, smashing through stone and steel walls. The magecraft the silver-haired man knew was extended through the unanchored will of the Script, allowing him a natural mastery of light as he burst forward with a single step. As a sh of light bolting through the length of the chamber, he evaded the limbs of Dread while simultaneously cleaving through them with a dozen, radiant shes. ["My life is a weapon for mankind. A sword and shield that stands against evil and injustice. It''s not as if I don''t have dreams of my own or things I want to do. Of course I do. But, if something as small and meager as my life can make a true change¨Cif I can save hundreds, thousands, or maybe even millions¨Cthen I don''t need to think twice."] Remembering this, he came to a stop after cleaving his way through the newly-manifested Dread''s tendrils. The monstrosity groaned, grinding its teeth together as the nauseating sound echoed. ''That''s who I am, right¡­? Then why does it feel like I''m thinking of somebody else? As if¡­"Jin" is someone else entirely, as if these memories are nothing more than words I read in a book,'' he questioned. Holding his own face, he felt his memories be corrupted with a loss of identity; he observed them from a distanced perspective, seeing "Jin" as a figure foreign to himself. ''Who am¡­'' He began to think. As he was caught in his thoughts, he instinctively dodged as a pair of abyssal tendrils shot towards him, attempting to pierce his torso. Through the endless mana that flowed within him, a parallel strength supplemented his body. Even as his mind loosened from its self of identity, the countless years of experience inbat etched into his body were only sharpened¨Cdriven by the instinctive drive to win. "Evelynne! Evelynne! Evelynne¡ª!" The distorted being roared out from its abyssal gut, causing shock waves to tunnel through the chamber like cannonballs of wind. The relentless attacks hardly seemed to be intelligent or aimed with any sense or reason; they were merely the expelling of emotions from the sobbing monstrosity that wailed like a banshee as it thrashed about. As the shock waves pummeled the chamber, shooting in every direction, the silver-haired man evaded them swiftly, untouched as he moved closer-and-closer to the reincarnated Aspect. ''Who¡­'' He repeated in his mind, hardly even considering the danger around him. Chapter 433 No Longer Human (IX) ? Rather than dipping through the shadows, this time, the man flung himself forward as a construct of light, blending into the element devoid of physical mass as he moved with unrestrained speed. It was only with his adrift mind that the lone human stood against the boundless monster, able to navigate through what could only hardly be recognized as "speed", instead moving between thin lines that resembled apressed version of the scenery around him. Everything seemed to warp in front of his vision as he moved as light itself, bouncing from wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-ground, instantaneously, dozens of times. "Evelynne¡­Evelynne¡­" The monstrous figure grumbled, turning side-to-side as it attempted to keep track of the speeding figure. The abyssal-structured figure suddenly lunged, thrashing its limbs as it howled out, causing a malevolent storm of destruction in its path. Intercepting it, the man dashed down as a sh of light, leaving behind a radiant sh that etched itself through the tar-like flesh of what was once Krimjaw. Though just as he passed by, the man knew he had miscalcted¨C "...Evelynne! Where are you?!" As the creature howled out, ignoring any pain it suffered or damage done to its own body, its tendrils expanded, moving with impossible speed. SQUELCH Through his right shoulder and his left side, the silver-haired man found the shapeless limbs of the abyssal horror piercing him. "Ngh¡­!" As the tendrils prated his flesh and bone seamlessly, it felt as though acid spread itself through the marrow of his bones; a foreign essence that his body rejected. ''....Damn!'' He thought. He pressed through the pain, quickly using his daggers forged of light to cleave through the dark limbs that stabbed him, freeing himself as he jumped back. Just as he did, he witnessed the cavalry arriving atst: dozens of members of the cult, dressed in their obscuring, ck uniforms rushed out from the halls. Keeping his weapons ready, the man huffed, breathing out as blood and sweat dripped down his chest, looking at the desecrated chamber filled with countless enemies in his path. It was hard to tell what exactly the cultists'' aim was; it seemed that they weren''t directly concerned with him, rather they were holding their weapons and spells up towards "Krimjaw", or "Dread", itself. "Evelynne¡­Where are you? Daddy is here¡­He''s here now¡­" The abyssal monstrosity sobbed, slumping its arms down as it repeated the same name, over and over. In the face of the irrational existence of the reincarnation of Dread, even the maddened cultists looked perplexed. "Sir Krimjaw¡­?" One of them slowly muttered out. "Is that him?" "It doesn''t matter now," one of the cultists said, readying a pair of ckened fireballs in his hands, "Orders are to detain the emerged Asp¨C" Before the word could fully unravel itself from the figure''s tongue, the top half of the cultist''s head was removed in an instant. Blood and brain matter sprayed onto the floor, as well as the robes of the stunned members behind the in figure. "Wha¨C" "Attack!" "Don''t let up! It''s an Aspect¨Cdon''t hold anything back!" The swiftness of the abyssal tentacles sprouting from the monstrosity''s back were nearly impossible to perceive as they swept through a pair of cultists, slicing them in half at the waist. At the same time, Dread lunged, allowing its arm to w through the flesh of the grunts nearest to it as a spray of blood showered down. "Seal it!" "Do it now!" Forming a loose perimeter around the tar-skinned inhuman, the cultists brought their hands together, summoning a malevolent gathering of mysticism that manifested itself quickly: The silver-haired man kept his distance, watching the battle unfold as an enormous set of ck-and-silver pirs appeared, dropping down around Dread. An immeasurable pressure weighed down on the space caught between the ominous pirs, forming supernatural chains suspended around a grinning face of a demon that looked down upon the sealed area. It was a technique that the silver-haired man had witnessed before: part of the forbidden arts wielded by the organization, a sealing ability that restrained supernatural phenomena entirely. Yet¨C [An unholy anomaly has breached this world.] The pirs crumbled away in the wake of a boundless wave of ominous wind, shuffling outward with the permanence of malevolence found only in the darkest depths of the abyss. Even for the maddened cultists, those who had their own sanity long since decayed, the unbearable feeling of hopelessness shattered even their egos: it was a tangible sensation, as if the breath of a beast capable of incarnating all of the worst horrors grazed their skin. The cultist members were overtaken by this unavoidable feeling. This was "Dread"--it''s unrestrained essence. Before any of the cultists could react to the failure of the sealing process, the blur that was the monstrous entity flung by, leaving behind it a rain of mincemeat. Any attempt at flinging mystical assaults in its direction were proven fruitless as the ominous figure slid by, cutting through all flesh in its path, all the same. "We can''t contain it¡­!" "Retreat!" "Call for one of the Chosen!" "It wo¨C" In droves, the fodder-used members of the cult were eviscerated by Dread as a consequence of its existence; the entity didn''t so much as focus on any of them, only exterminating their lives by ident, as if stepping onto ants on the soil. All the silver-haired man did in the assault thatsted no more than thirty seconds was witness it: a mist of blood and a rain of scattered flesh filled the brokenboratory, as the only one left standing from the short attempt at containment was the Primordial Aspect itself. He stood on the stone bridge that overlooked the base floor of the chamber, looking at the lonesome, tar-skinned being that stood in the center of the crimson downpour. It was anything but human; so far removed from it that it might as well be the devil itself¨C-an incarnation of malice so deeply vile that it should be impossible for it to hold any human traits. ''This is different from the reports of what happened during the Trial when Dread broke out before. Whatever it is, it seems the organization has a method of granting a higher level of incarnation for these Primordial Aspects¨Cthis Dread is more pure than thest, yet unrefined¨Cit''s a mad dog,'' the man thought. In the face of something of such power, the man felt himself retreating from the thought of total victory and instead setting his sights on the one thing that had managed to survive the disaster within theboratory: the young girl of snow-white hair was still suspended in a tank, unconscious of the situation. ''...Jin. That''s my name. Hold onto it. I have to keep it together¨CI''m going to rescue that girl and get out of here. The reincarnation of Dread changes things¡­This new method of Primordial incarnation, the Foundation needs to know this,'' Jin thought. It was easier said than done, though. Between him and the unconscious girl was Dread itself, who had stopped his sobbing, instead now spreading his sooty, tar lips as its distortedughter echoed through the area: "...GA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA!" Even worse, despite the boundless mana temporarily flowing through his body, the man felt his heart continue worsening in its condition, feeling as though it was tightening in his chest as he stood up, looking towards the monstrosity. ''Maybe I can win. But, is that my goal¡­? I was ready to die, but now I have something to live for¨Cif just a bit longer,'' Jin thought. As he set his sights on the girl suspended in slumber within the container, he dashed in with his boundless speed. The quick burst from him was quickly returned with a wild thrash from Dread, who whipped his tendrils around in a long, sweeping range. Each one of the limbs of the abyss were the embodiment of death; a single touch or graze would suffice to bring one to the other side. Jin knew this; he moved with hisplete focus being on avoiding those thoughtless, chaotic tentacles as he slid across the floor, avoiding the sweeping strike of one. "Evelynne¡ª! Nobody will take her away from me! Nobody! Nobody! Nobody!" The monstrous entity howled as he relentlessly allowed his tendrils to strike towards the man. The pace was kicked up by Jin, who found himself having to maximize his acrobatic skills as he flipped around and bent his body to avoid the death whips. Even with bursts of speed that tapped into the element of light, negating his mass, he was still being forced back by the repeated swipes of the abyssal limbs. It was too focused; the intent was clear as Dread stood there with his arms spread as if shielding the pod in which the unconscious girl was kept. ''He''s¡­defending the tube?!'' Jin realized. Such an act from something devolved far past the chasms of humanity was simply inconceivable to him, yet there it was, defending the pod as if it were a parent protecting its own. Perhaps it was theck of his own soul, but he found himself distanced from the hardened mindset he held true to himself all this time¨Cfor some reason, he found his hands shaking. Chapter 434 The City Of...What?! ? A month had passed since he initially arrived at An to join the other reincarnators in their resistance against the elusive "Children of Chaos",ing with its own pluses and minuses. Life in the Cerulean Keep felt normal now that it had be so lively; Sirius was much more affable than he initially seemed, almost to an annoying degree at times for Emilio. "Like I was saying, the Guild Foundation is all a bunch of old farts who don''t do anything themselves. I never had or will have respect for any of them¨Cthe only reason I''m even an adventurer is to fight strong monsters," Sirius said. While speaking, the lightning-wielding reincarnator was lounging on Emilio''s own bed, who himself was sitting at the desk in his room, trying to study a grimoire. "...What does that have to do with why you don''t want to go to Vasmoria? Bastian said he received intel of one of the Children of Chaos'' high ranking members upying a town there," Emilio asked. Sirius sighed, sitting up, "Do I have to exin it, brother? I''m famous¨Clike really, really famous with the girls around there. They''ll hound me and try to get me to marry them¨Cit''s all a real hassle, you know!" "...Sure. Really sounds like trouble," Emilio groaned, trying to get back to studying. "That''s why I''m saying you shoulde with me," Sirius offered with a smile, "I mean, with the two of us, it should be done in a jiffy." "Who says ''jiffy'' anymore?" Emilio muttered. The Stormheart ignored his off-handed remark before jumping up, sitting on the bedside as he leaned towards Emili''s dark-wood desk before snatching away the grimoire he was studying. "Hey¨C" Emilio reacted. "You won''t learn anything useful in these anymore," Sirius told him, dangling the book up, "At your level, the only real way to grow is through battle¨CI''m not talking about turning a goblin here-and-there to ash, either. I mean a REAL battle, where your blood is pumping and your heart is thrashing against your chest." "--" Emilio looked at him, annoyed before caving in with a sigh, "If you want me to go that badly, fine. I don''t get it though¨Cyou''re more than strong enough to get this mission done yourself." Sirius smiled, feeling triumphant at convincing the annoyed Dragonheart as he tossed the grimoire book onto the desk before standing up with his ck cape flowing behind him. "Like I said, missions are a lot more fun withpany¨Cbesides, I can show you around! You said this guy was in Desim, right? I''m kind of a local legend there, ya know," Sirius bashfully rubbed his upper lip. "Really? What''d you do, zap a few goblins there?" Emilio sarcastically asked. "Hah! No, I yed a great dragon guing the town. It burned their crops, but I, Sirius Stormheart, defeated it with a single strike of lightning," Sirius proudly reminisced, "Also, they said that I''ll have free drinks at the tavern there for life, so, bonus." "...Wow," Emilio breathed out, throwing his cloak on, unimpressed. It was an unnned task, though it wasn''t one he was entirely against, as he did value venturing out of the Cerulean Keep and back into the outside world when he could. Preparing for the mission to locate the member of the dangerous group stowing away in the Vasmorian town, he grabbed his sword and attached it to his belt while Sirius left his room to get ready as well. "Are you heading out?" As he nced over, he found the silver-haired half-elf standing in the doorway to his room, who was carrying a few, heavy-looking grimoires herself. ''She''s still studying hard. I told Celly a dozen times she didn''t need to stay here, but she seems pretty dedicated to helping out withbating the Children of Chaos. It seems there''s something of value here anyway¨Cthe old grimoires in the library. She''s been reading them a lot,'' Emilio thought. "Yeah, Sirius wants me to help him on his assigned mission," Emilio told her, "It''s not a dangerous one, though. Bastian said it''s a merchant that''s highly-authoritative within the ranks of the Children of Chaos; one of their main suppliers of materials." "I see. Well, make sure to be careful, still," Celly told him. "I will," he assured her with a smile. As he moved on through the halls of the undersea keep, of which he had be familiar with and able to navigate through on his own, he could hear the sound of steel shing against steel just outside of the front gates. CLANG. CLANG. CLANG. "--" ''Are they already at it?'' He questioned. Leaving the Cerulean Keep, he found his suspicions confirmed at the sight upying the courtyard: a man wielding a sword continuously attacked while another, fully-armored figure defended with a shield. "Hyaaah!" Julius shouted, shing his ck-and-silver sword, though it bounced straight off of the sturdy shield wielded by his training partner. "--Nope!" Everett shouted, keeping his defenses strong as he remained nted against the cobblestone flooring of the courtyard. ''Father and Everett¨Cthey''ve been training together a lot. I think recent events have really fired them up¨CI''m happy to see Father motivated, but¡­I just hope he''s cool headed about it,'' Emilio thought. Deciding to sit by and watch while he waited for Sirius to meet him outside, he spectated the sparring between his father and his own friend. Though "friend" felt like an insult almost; by now, he considered Everett a brother, and it went both ways. "Hrrh!" Though Everett was diligent in his defending, it took more than simply being as tough as steel to hold up against a swordsman as skilled as Julius Dragonheart; the veteran adventurer moved with footwork that left no traces of sound, keeping Everett on his toes the entire time. "Ngh¡­!" Everett struggled, constantly backpedaling and turning every direction as Julius sorely outpaced him. "C''mon! Keep up! The enemy won''t take it easy on you!" Julius shouted, continuing to unleash rapid strikes against the shield. "--I know that!" Everett shouted, keeping his shield up. ¨C Emilio rested his chin on the palm of his hand while watching the two men train, though found himself not having to wait long as the door opened behind him with the sound of boots walking out. "Sorry for the wait¨CI''m ready now." As Emilio looked up at the man who spoke to him, he found Sirius smiling at him with a cheeky expression¨Cthough it was par for the course with the entric stormheart. "Yeah, alright, let''s go," Emilio boredly said, standing up as he lightly yawned while stretching his arms over his head. Leaving the courtyard of the Cerulean Keep alongside Sirius, he passed by his father and his brotherly friend, who stopped their training for a moment. "Where''re you heading off to?" Julius asked, not much out of breath despite his continuous training as he rested his sword against his shoulder. On the other hand, Everett was gasping for air,thered in sweat as his stamina surely was challenged by the rapid, unforgiving training with the seasoned swordsman. "Vasmoria," Emilio said, "Bastian found intel on a supplier for the Children of Chaos currently residing in a town there." "We''re going to go kick his ass and beat some info out of him!" Sirius exined with a smirk and a thumbs-up. Julius looked at Emilio for a second before holding a small smile and nodding, "Well, good luck. Stay safe and vignt, but¡­I don''t need to tell you that. You''ve surpassed me, Emilio." "Hey, you''ve still got me beat in swordy," Emilio yfully said, shrugging his shoulders. "Only on a good day," Juliusughed. Everett caught his breath before yelling as the two began to leave, "Get those bastards good, ya hear?!" "Definitely," Emilio said. "Easy as pie," Sirius smirked. There was no need to wait for Bastian to set up the gateway for them as the man had already given one of the golden system-linked rings to Emilio to open the portal himself. "Seraphheart," Emilio invoked, holding his hand up with the radiant ring around his index finger. Golden sparks manifested before burning into the empty space in front of the Dragonheart, moving into a circr motion before the gateway was formed. "Portals are pretty convenient, yeah?" Sirius said. "Pretty much," Emilio agreed before stepping forward, "Let''s go." "Lead the way!" Sirius yfully said, following behind him. Entering through the portal, he found himself standing on a field of verdant grass on some sort of small cliff, surrounded by lively trees. Sirius entered behind him, ruffling his own hair after arriving through the portal, "Aaaa~and we''re here: Desim!" Past the cliff, in the near distance, the Vasmorian town was visible: a sizable and lively spot of civilization with tall, wood-built walls surrounding themunity of small farms, houses, and shops. "It looks like a pretty nice ce," Emilio remarked, standing on the edge of the cliff as he scoped out the peaceful-seeming town. "It is. May look like a quiet ce right now, but trust me¨Cat night, it gets pretty wild," Sirius told him with a smallugh, sliding down the cliff. Emilio followed him, using his boots to slide down the side of the steep, but not tall cliff as his cloak fluttered behind him, "What do you mean?" Reaching the end of the cliff, Sirius rolled his shoulders, looking towards the walls of Desim, "Well, there''s a city nickname that the town has earned over the years." "Yeah?" Emilio said, arriving beside him on the grassy ins that sat on the outskirts of therge, walled town. Sirius smirked as he looked back at him, "They call it ''Party City''--or some like to call it the ''Haven of Booze and Dreams''--you know what that means, my brother?" "...What?" Emilio hesitantly questioned with a raised eyebrow. The entric Stormheart slung his arm around Emilio''s shoulder, waving his hand towards the town before them as if painting a scene, "Tonight, we party! And tonight¨Cyou be a man!" Emilio pushed away from Sirius with a confused look, "What the hell are you talking about¨Cbing a ''man''--I''m eighteen, you know." Chapter 435 Hunting The Hunter "Age is not what I''m talking about, brother. Oh, no, no, no. This goes beyond that¨CI''m talking about the very concept that turns a boy into a man overnight!" Sirius exined, "--I''m saying, it''s time to lose your virginity!" "Huh?! You know we''re here for a mission, right?!" Emilio''s cheeks went red at what the man was implying, "What makes you think we''re here to get drunk and visit brothels?! Didn''t Ie here because you wanted to get this mission over with quickly?" A smallugh came from Sirius'' lips as he nted his hands on his own sides, looking smug as if his n was unveiling itself, "I absolutely did not lie¨CI did bring you here so we''d finish the mission quickly¨Cso we''d have time to party, that is!" The response coaxed any frustration away from Emilio as he simply felt too tired to even fight the entric man''s whims, "...You''re hopeless." "I just know how to y as hard as I work¨Cit''s an important skill in life, you know? Otherwise, what''s the point of living a second life, anyway?" Sirius shrugged. There wasn''t much he could do to argue with that, since he felt the same way, though it didn''t change the reason they were there in the first ce. Emilio fiddled with the hood of his cloak before beginning to walk down the main road leading to the town gates, "Well, let''s just find our guy then we can do whatever you want. Deal?" "Deal," Sirius smiled. As always, there were guards stationed at the front of any walled town or city; a necessity when goblins and other monsters seemed to lurk on the outskirts of any piece of civilization. There was only one man guarding the front entrance, however; wearing light, silver-ted armor with shaggy, brown hair. As they approached together, the armored guard held out his hand for them to stop before entering. "Good day," the guard greeted them, "May I ask what you two areing to Desim for? You don''t seem to be from here." The wink that Sirius gave to him before approaching the guard silently said "Let me do the talking", before he pulled out the insignia he wore on his ne, "We''re adventurers¨Cjusting through for a rest stop. Been through some tiring queststely, you know? Thought Desim would be a good ce to catch a break. Is that cool?" Emilio found himself taken aback once finally seeing the insignia that Sirius wielded, which seemed to shock the guard himself: it was a dazzling, opalescent badge that shined between chromatic shades. "Th-that badge¡­Hold on, you''re Sirius Stormheart, aren''t you?" The guard stammered. ''That''s what the highest rank looks like,'' Emilio thought. Sirius smiled at the hand, tucking his insignia away, "That would be me, yup." "Please,e through¡­! You and your friend are wee, of course!" The young guard moved out of the way quickly. A smirk came from Sirius to Emilio as the Stormheart gave a peace sign at the victorious entrance into Desim, though Emilio felt somewhat vexed by the situation. ''I''m an adventurer, too, but I''m just grouped together as his "friend"--whelp, whatever,'' Emilio thought. Past the short tunnel past the thick, multiyered wall of smooth wood, he found himself in the town of Desim: it was surprisingly dense with a poption of its own, mixed with normal civilians, adventurers, mages, and even foreigners. "Always a lot of mages in Vasmoria no matter where you go, huh?" Emilio remarked, ncing around. It was easy to tell who were mages, if not going off of the academic robes they wore, it was easy for him to sense the rich mana signatures of proper mages. "They say elves are keenly jealous of Vasmoria, if not anything else, from humans. The magic that flows through thisnd is unlike anything else," Sirius exined, "Like so¡ªlook." The Stormheart pointed up to the sky, showing Emilio the sight above; it was like a light snowfall, moving like a passing of dust through the air as bright, glowing particles of emerald energy. "Mana wind," Emilio noticed. It was a phenomena he had read about and seen a few times himself; a native urrence in Vasmoria as the mana particles born like nectar from the lively soil of thend are picked up by the wind. "That''s why I love quests in Vasmoria," Sirius said, "You can bepletely empty on mana but one quick nap and you''re back to one-hundred percent in a jiffy." As he spoke, Sirius was leading the way through the bustling streets of Desim without much care for how loud he spoke. "That''s good and all, but back to our mission¡ªwe need to locate our target," Emilio said. "Hey,e on, we just got here," Sirius shrugged, "Gotta take the city air in and all of that!" "Sirius¡­our enemy is no joke. Take this seriously," Emilio said, "I''m up for some y, but work first. Got it?" "Got iiii~it," Sirius sighed. For the time being, they decided to visit a cafe to gather themselves in the new environment. When it came to the Children of Chaos, Emilio took it incredibly seriously¡ªso much that he specifically chose a lowkey establishment that was on a less busy street. "Talk about overcautiousness. It''s not like we''re after a crazy strong one or anything¡ªjust a fat, sleazy merchant," Sirius said, leaning his elbow on the circr table of the cafe as he peered out of the ss windows. "Doesn''t matter if he''s strong or not. His position makes him a threat¡ªand valuable to us," Emilio exined, "This supplier is unlikely to be directly tied to whatever weird beliefs the Children of Chaos follow. I doubt he has the same inclination to die for their cause." Swishing his cup of coffee side-to-side, Sirius smiled before taking a long sip, following with a small exhale. "That''s good for us. Lightning happens to be the most efficient element when ites to getting information out of people. A little jolt through their body and they''ll be crying out all the deets'' we need," Sirius yfully said. "You say some pretty scary things sometimes, dude," Emilio muttered. As he looked out of the cafe windows, he couldn''t help but feel unnerved; the streets of Desim were bright and filled with life, though the very fact the reach of the Children of Chaos had embedded itself there was a dark thought. "So, what''s our guy look like? Anywhere he was said to be staying?" Sirius asked, leaning in as he spoke his words quietly. Unknowing of who may be affiliated with the elusive cult, they chose to keep their conversation heard only between them. Emilio furrowed his eyebrows, "Were you listening when Bastian exined?...Well, apparently his name is ''Maximus Leocharn''--he''s actually a big shot merchant in Milligarde¨Che has a monopoly on fine ores. I guess that''s why he does his dealings with the Children in Vasmoria." "Hmm¡­Anything about his appearance? Anywhere to look?" Sirius asked. "Bastian said he has curly, red hair and is almost deathly skinny, surprisingly. Most of all, he apparently is freakishly tall¨Cactually, he made it pretty clear that we''d be able to spot Maximus easily in a crowd," Emilio said, "He''d tower over everybody else." "A skinny, giant merchant. Definitely as rare as a flying pig," Sirius casually said, leaning his chair back, "So, what''s our timeframe here? Did they say anything about that?" "Not really. Bastian made it pretty clear that it was a ''find the target as soon as possible'' sort of mission. That''s why I''d like to start right away on looking for our target, then after we secure him, we can toss him through the portal and let those back in An handle the rest," Emilio suggested, "Then we can do what you want here." "Hmm, is that so?" Sirius had an odd smile on his face. It was often a difficult task for Emilio to read Sirius'' expressions, as the man had a very peculiar,ckadaisical energy about everything; it was hard to tell when he was being smug, serious, or genuinely happy. "Yeah," Emilio confirmed. "Well, I found our target," Sirius told him with a smirk, humming to himself. "What?" Emilio squinted at him, questioning whatever hispanion meant. Sirius leaned on the cafe table, pointing towards the window that looked to the cobblestone street, "Take a look." Questioning just what Sirius could have meant or if it was some sort of prank, Emilio turned his gaze to the side, looking towards the bustling street before his eyes immediatelytched onto an unmissable figure: standing head-and-shoulders above the crowd of people passing through the street was a tall,nky man with curly, dark-red hair and skin as white as snow. ''That''s him,'' he thought. Luckily, it seemed like the cult-aiding merchant hadn''t noticed them, or even more fortunate, didn''t even know who they were, as thenk, pale man slowly walked through the street, lumbering towards the western sector of Desim. "I''m not looking at the wrong guy, am I?" Sirius asked. "No, that''s our targete on," Emilio said, getting up from the table as he readied himself. As they began to head out with both of their gazes following the tall, red-haired figure, the young woman who served them stammered out¨C "Y-you forgot to pay¨C!" Emilio casually flipped a shiny coin her way, which more than paid for their bill and then some, as the server caught it with a confused look on her face. "This is more than¨C" the young woman began to say, but as she looked up, the two patrons were already gone. asionally missing content, please report errors in time. Chapter 436 Unstoppable Duo ? Blending into the crowd, Emilio and Sirius followed behind the towering merchant, who slowly walked through the street. The red-haired, pale figure wore green-and-gray clothes, with baggy pants and a gray vest over their tunic. "He''s gotpany," Sirius whispered. "Yeah," Emilio nodded. Beside their target, there was another figure who walked beside him: a man with slicked-back, ashy-gray hair and light-green eyes, wearing leather armor with silver ting on his shoulders. ''A hired guard? An adventurer, or is he a member of the Children of Chaos?'' Emilio questioned. As he kept his gazeser-focused on the target up ahead, walking through the crowd as he pushed through some passing civilians, earning some odd looks, he was suddenly intercepted by a figure¨C "Hey! You look famished! Would you like to try some of my delicious bread?!" The out-of-nowhere interception in his path almost made him instinctively attack, though he stopped himself as he realized it was a streetside merchant, who was holding a loaf of fresh bread in one hand. The bread seller was a tan-skinned woman with dark-brown hair, smiling at him with the bread in hand. "No, I''ll pass¨C" Emilio declined, trying to continue moving forward as he could see the target getting further, though the seller of yeast goods pressed on. "Oh, but you don''t know what you''re missing out on! My bread is the best in this region of Vasmoria, they say! So, why don''t you try one? I''ll give you a discount!" The bread seller insisted. "Hey, I said I''ll pass!--" Getting frustrated as his target got more distant within those few seconds as Sirius stood ahead, waiting for him to catch up, he ced his hand on the woman''s shoulder to move her to the side before¨C "--!" One of his spirits had manifested in that moment; the well-dressed man with long-red hair appeared beside him, reaching by his stomach as he stopped something from reaching his abdomen. A knife was held in front of his stomach, wielded by the bread-selling woman, only stopped by his Soulbound spirit. ''A knife¡­? She tried stabbing me?'' Emilio realized. "Master," Gavill spoke direly, "This woman¨Cshe''s not what she seems!" A grin appeared on the tan-skinned stabber''s lips as she looked straight at Emilio, "I won''t let you reach Mr. Leocharn. That is my mission." "You¨Cyou''re one of the Children?!" Emilio asked. Though his question wasn''t answered verbally, it was confirmed through that wicked grin of the knife-wielding woman. Sirius seemed to notice what was going on, approaching the woman from behind, though Emilio took it into his own hands as he held his hand towards her face, ushering in the harmless spell of sleep: "Tranquil ne." The sleep-inducing bubbles caught the stabber by surprise while Gavill held onto her wrist, causing her to slump over before she fell back into her stand of bread. Fortunately for him, the business of the streets of Desim actually made it so the confrontation wasn''t much noticed by the passing civilians. Emilio breathed out, "Thanks, Gavill. You can go back now." "Master," Gavill bowed politely before disappearing back to the Astral Realm. "Good grief¡­They''ve got nts around here as extra pairs of eyes for our target?" Sirius sighed, ruffling his own hair. It was definitely an unnerving feeling, as now it felt as though nobody within the town could be trusted, not by their harmless appearance or demeanor. "It''s obvious now that somebody of Maximus'' importance wouldn''t just have one guard, but this is something else. They expected something like this to happen," Emilio said. "Luckily for us, I don''t think the sleepy girly here actually warned the guy¨Cso we''re good," Sirius said, "Just stay vignt now." "Don''t need to tell me," Emilio said before turning back in the direction they were following their target, no longer seeing the towering figure, "Hey¨Cwhere''d he go?..." Sirius smirked, holding up his index finger as a small trail of electricity was anchored from his finger to something down the street, "Don''t worry. I managed to stick a lead onto him." "Nice thinking," Emilio said, beginning to move through the street again, following behind Sirius who wielded the electrical anchor to their target. He kept his eyes peeled as he pursued their target; every person he passed by on the street felt like a potential enemy now¨Cfeeling a chill running over his skin as he could feel the looming presence of the cult and their ws dug into the town. It was a sickening feeling; knowing such a heinous group had ingrained themselves into the town¨Cto what degree, he wasn''t sure. Even the adventurers and academic mages he walked past were doubted by him as he was extra wary of them. "This way," Sirius told him quietly, turning towards the right streetway. "Yeah." It was noticeably more empty down the street they''d gone; there was ack of open shops, in fact, it seemed more than half of the stone-and-brick built shops werepletely abandoned altogether. There were a few people here and there, though the further they walked down the street, the more lonely it became; there was nobody upying it, and no open shops, leaving the ambience of the bustling town now distant. "--" Emilio stayed cautious. "Hmm¡­I''ve never been this way," Sirius remarked, ncing around. The sudden emptiness of the tucked-away section of the town, paired with the quietness of the abandoned establishments¨Cboarded up and forgotten¨Cwas not aforting environment. "Where is your charge leading?" Emilio asked. Sirius held his finger out as the faint line of electricity that was anchored at his finger stretched forward, wrapping around into an alleyway up ahead to the right. "Ugh¡­" Emilio furrowed his eyebrows, realizing where it led. On the other hand, Sirius smiled, "An alleyway? I wonder if our target realized we''re on his tail. The trail''s stopped moving somewhere around there." "Or maybe that leads to the ce he''s staying. I''ll check it out before we enter¨Cgive me a second," Emilio said. "Sure thing," Sirius nodded with aidback smile. With a raise of his hand, the Dragonheart manifested the four lesser elemental spirits above his palm, sending them forth to inspect the suspicious alleyway. "That''s a handy spell," Sirius put his hand to his chin, "Never had any affinity for spirits myself." Emilio didn''t respond, only focusing as the lesser spirits glowed in the air, bouncing through it like pollen as they swayed into the unknown alleyway. "Sense anything?" Sirius asked. Emilio slowly shook his head, "Nope. Come on." This time, he led the way as he recalled his lesser spirits to his side, still moving with caution as he slowly approached the shadow-filled gap between abandoned buildings. "¡ª" As he peeked around the beige-stone building, he didn''t see any people, only a doorway at the very end, crept in shadows. "Prepare yourself, viin!" The sudden promation nearly made him jump out of his skin, making him jolt to the right as he saw the one who yelled out so boisterously: Standing in the path of the alleyway that connected to the lonely street, Sirius stood with his hands out and his cape fluttering, though his "hero"-like words met only the dusty air of the shadowy area. "Really?" Emilio asked, breathing out as he rxed his guard. Sirius chuckled, brushing his fingers through his hair, "I''m not the type of guy that does sneak attacks, sorry. I like my enemies to know I''ming and get smashed into the ground fair-and-square." "You''re ridiculous," Emilio muttered, stepping past him and walking into the mysterious alley. Even if nothing was seen or sensed, it didn''t mean he wasn''t cautious even when passing through the narrow, seemingly empty area. Perhaps that very fact is what made him so wary; theplete emptiness of the alleyway was unnerving¨Cnot a single squeak of a rat. "Your electric anchor is leading to that door, isn''t it?" Emilio whispered. Sirius nodded while standing beside him, facing the mysterious door sitting at the back of the alleyway, "Nice observation." There was a small set of steps that led to the lower door, which was made out of dark, grimy wood, giving off an old, putrid smell as it had been seeping in the darkness of the empty alleyway. "Past this door¡­" Sirius began to say quietly. "Yeah," Emilio nodded, "We''ll probably encounter our target. He''s not alone, either¨Cwe''ll have to fight." They both stood in front of that door, with Sirius relinquishing the subtle line of electricity, getting ready as Emilio leaned closer to the entrance. Exchanging a nce and a nod with one another, they both cemented that they were ready for what was next, with Sirius stepping up in front of the door to take the initiative. As lightning coiled around the body of the Stormheart, a smile formed on his lips as he raised his left leg slowly, pulling it back as he readied himself. Emilio stood ready, quietly unsheathing his sword as he kept his eyes on the door, already ready to rush in once the moment arrived. ''Here we go!'' Sirius thought. ''It''s time¨Clet''s take this bastard down,'' Emilio thought. Sending his boot forward with thunderous force, Sirius blew the door straight off of its hinges as it rocketed forward into the room beyond it. As the door was blown in, it flew straight to the back of the following area, heading straight for one of the figures waiting in the room: "Hey¨Cuuegh!" The high-speed, thick door collided into the bald-headed mercenary, mming him and itself into the back wall with bone-crushing force. That same second, both of the reincarnators dashed into the room with ruthless speed; Sirius charged in as a bolt of lightning, and Emilio amplified himself with [Draconic Might], bursting in. ''Four, five¡­six,'' Emilio counted. For him, time was perceived differently with his enhanced speed and reflexes, counting the figures in the room: they all seemed to be hired mercenaries by their discolored, rough uniforms that didn''t match, though they all already had weapons out as if expecting them. "You¨C!" A red-headed mercenary growled out, attempting to raise his weapon. It was too fast; the de wielded by the Dragonheart had already shed across the mercenary''s chest before he could even perceive himself being attacked, rushing in on his next target without wasting a second. When it came to handling the elusive cult¨Ceven if they were merely associates of the nefarious organization¨Che didn''t waste any mercy on them. The dark-skinned, axe-wielding mercenary awaiting him tried to wildly swing his weapon, only for Emilio to slide across the wooden floorboards, ducking beneath the attack. "Wha¨C?!" The mercenary reacted. Emilio slid right between the towering fighter''s legs, jumping back to his feet and swiping his sword against the man''s back, causing a spill of crimson as the mercenary copsed to the floor. "--" Emilio looked around, finding that the rest of the hired fighters in the room were already dealt with. Sirius held an unimpressed look, sighing out as he was holding the cor of an unconscious mercenary in his right hand, "Isn''t our target a big shot? You''d think he''d hire some decent bodies, then. Disappointing." It only took a couple seconds, at most, to clear the room out, though Emilio didn''t rx himself yet as he swiped the blood off of his own sword. Chapter 437 Through The Hideout ? "He''s not here," Emilio noted. "Seems like he was aware of us, after all," Sirius smirked, "It doesn''t matter. They can run all they like¨Cthere isn''t a thing in this world I can''t catch." Magenta electricity sparked around Sirius'' body as his sights were set on the double, red doors at the back of the room. By the stance that Sirius took, spreading his arms out and lowering himself, it was clear he was preparing to travel quickly. "Hey¨C" Emilio reached out. FWOOM "Keep up if you can!" Sirius yelled out. Like a bolt of lightning zipping through the area, the air cracked and the double doors mmed open as Sirius disappeared in an instant. A frustrated breath left Emilio''s lips as hispanion bolted off without him, muttering to himself, "...What''s with this guy? Can''t he do anything the normal way, just one time? It''s a pain in the ass." Following where his partner went, he stepped through the mmed-open doors that led to a wide corridor, stepping over the broken door that hadnded on one of the men. "Uuegh¡­!" The unconscious mercenary under the broken door winced after being crossed over by the Dragonheart. ''Keep up, huh? Guess I oughta,'' Emilio thought. Surrounding himself in dense, potent wind, he amplified it further with a spell woven through his own master of the natural element, engulfing himself in the verdant wind before invoking the spell: "Gone With The Wind." Surrounded in the mystical air, he burst forward with the wind upon his back, blessing him with its weightless swiftness as he traversed the corridor with speed. "Hyaaaah!" "--!" Stopping himself mid-dash and flipping back, something crashed down right where he was initially passing through. As hended on his feet, he looked in front of him to find a figure that had dropped down from the ceiling: a four-armed, quadra-wielding man with dark-red skin and pitch-ck eyes. ''Huh¡­? Just what is this guy?'' He questioned. The unknown, four-armed giant lifted one of its weapons from the shattered, tile flooring¨Ca ck-and-bronze war axe. "The lightning man passed by before I could stop him, but you will not get past me," the red-skinned giant spoke with a serious expression, possessing a deep, bellowing voice, "Be honored to die by the hand of Higan, the mightiest of the Four-Armed n!" ''A bit on the nose,'' Emilio thought. "Maximus brought out the big guns, did he?" Emilio muttered, facing off against the multi-armed figure before him, raising his sword. It seemed that the level of mercenaries was underestimated, as he could sense that the unique figure before him was strong: "Higan" wore gold jewelry on his body, having piercings on his nose and mouth, with golden chains on his face and a long, silver braid flowing down his back. Higan spread out his mighty, muscr arms, blocking the entire width of the exuberant hallway as a wall himself, showcasing the war axe he wielded, the curved, ck-handled sword, a spiked whip, and the double-ended greatsword he wielded in each of his hands. "Your senses are superb!" Higanplimented, seeming stern yet honest in his demeanor¨Ca pure-blooded warrior, "I am Lord Maximus'' head bodyguard: none shall reach him." The red-skinned, four-armed giant wore a ck loincloth and nothing else but the jewelry he decorated himself in, having dark tattoos etched onto his muscr body as well. "Yeah? Well, my friend has probably already made him eat dirt," Emilio said. Higan exhaled through his mighty nostrils with a breath felt even from meters away, "False." "Huh?" "I am Lord Maximus'' foremost bodyguard, but I am not his most elite guardian! Your friend will have to go through ''him''," Higan exined, "Now! Prepare yourself¨Craise your sword so that I may send you off with an honorable death, warrior!" Emilio readied himself, "Seems like I don''t have a choice." Though he maintained an air of confidence around himself, sure of his own abilities, he knew undoubtedly that the four-armed giant before him wasn''t a simple goon or merely boasting his own size. ''...Once you reach a certain level yourself, you begin to be able to sense the strength others are at. This guy is the real deal¨CI just wonder how a sleaze like Maximus got somebody like this under him,'' Emilio questioned. "--!" Caught up in his own thoughts, he found himself barely sidestepping an attack as he only sensed it by the sudden change in the wind pressure around him. CRACK. It was the spiked whip, cracking near him with an echoing howl that bounced off of the walls, barely missing him. "You know the person you''re working for is up to no good, right? Though let me guess: money buys away all of your judgment," Emilio presumed. As he spoke, he was forced to deflect swift whip strikes that curved around him before flipping out of the way of an axe m. Higan howled with mightyughter, "You amuse me with your assumptions, human warrior! I do not fight for money¡ªwe of the Four-Armed n live and die for proper battles! Only through one thousand worthy victories may we ascend to Yresmania!" Following his booming words, the decorated warrior of great size swept all of his weapons at once, sweeping through the halls as Emilio backpedaled on the defense. Each swing of the weapons of battle, forged with the size of the giant''s size in mind, no doubt, produced heavy force that rattled the windows. ''So strong¨Cstill, I can easily see through attacks of this caliber,'' Emilio thought. As he dashed in, weaving through the barrage of attacks that made it feel as though he was fighting multiple foes at once, he stomped down before ushering in a fundamental technique of the Mountain God Style: "Mountain Splitter¨C" Though to his surprise as he shed forth with what he felt was perfect execution of the downward sh, his de merely bounced off of the red-skinned warrior''s chest. ''The de didn''t go through? What is this guy made out of, diamonds?'' He questioned. While he wasn''t using any of his system stages, it wasn''t like he was holding back; he used the Mountain God Style¨Ca teaching of swordsmanship that focused on straightforward, powerful attacks¨Cyet didn''t make a dent in his opponent. Higan proudly exuded, "The Four-Armed n are among the mightiest of all giants, human warrior. I do not me you for being unaware of this¨Cthend of giants is far, far away from here. Let me put it this way: do you see a single scar on my body?" Hesitant to answer, Emilio kept his distance, holding his sword up as he looked at his opponent''s body, surprisingly noticing now that there was not one scar etched onto his flesh. "No, can''t say I do," Emilio answered. "Your eyes do not deceive you. I have been through thousands of battles, and yet my flesh has not given to any warrior''s de," Higan flexed his entire body, "I am Higan, The Unbreakable¨Cand I have endured that name for over a century now! Come, try to put an end to that name, young warrior!" It was definitely unexpected for him to find such a straightforward, battle-bound warrior of a distantnd in the Vasmorian town, though the unexpected was to be expected when dealing with the nefarious organization. ''...Half-assing it won''t get me through this guy. I guess I''ll need to turn it up a notch,'' Emilio decided. "You want a ''worthy fight''? Just stand there a second, then," Emilio offered, breathing in-and-out as he stoked the internal me within him. Higan looked intrigued, folding his arms over his chest, "Do what you must. I will only face you at your strongest." The Dragonheart summoned azure scales over his body, armoring himselfpletely as azure mes were breathed out from his mouth before his face was covered as well. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 3/10 | Dragon Warrior] "Magic? Thisnd holds extraordinary beings¨CI will fight you, human warrior," Higan decided, unfolding his arms and wielding his gigantic weapons. "The name''s Emilio," he corrected the giant, "Let''s make this quick." ¨C Zipping through the surprisingly lengthy and confusingyout of the secret hideout, Sirius blitzed through the halls, passing by mercenaries stationed without it. "Hey, stop right the¨C!" Before the hired warriors could even properly get their warnings out, the man of magenta lightning sped by, leaving behind electric shocks for the slow fighters. "Heh," Sirius chuckled as he passed by, leaving a trail of unconscious mercenaries throughout the halls. ''This ce is a lot bigger than expected. It seems like our target is quite the big spender,'' Sirius thought. Without much worry and doing his own thing, Sirius dashed forth as his eyes were locked on a set of doors before bolting forward, kicking through them with a dramatic entrance. "Comin'' through!" Sirius announced, sliding across the gray tiles beyond the door beforeing to a stop. As he looked around, he found himself in what seemed to be the heart of the hideout; mercenaries were standing in plentiful numbers, and a dual set of staircases led up to an exuberant second floor. "Who the hell are ya?" "Looking to die, punk?" "Get him!" "Fuckin'' nosy adventurer!" ¨CAll at once, the hardened mercenaries picked up their weapons and surrounded Sirius, though the magenta-eyed man looked less than worried¨Cin fact, he looked quite excited. There were a few dozen, at least; each of them dressed in rough, leather armor or mixed assortments of steel, wielding unrefined weapons. "Come on, then. All at once? Sure thing. Just don''t me me if I y a bit rough," Sirius yfully said as electricity began to wrap around his arms. Chapter 438 The Unbreakable ? One of the sword-wielding mercenaries began to sweat, "Who the hell is this guy¡­? He wants to fight all of us at the same time? Does he have a death wish or¡­" "If he''s after the Boss, then he obviously has a death wish! Get him or we won''t get paid!" A mercenary with thick, red hair yelled, rushing forward with arge war axe. Sirius smiled at the first of the hired fighters that charged him, watching as the axe-wielding man roared out while approaching quickly, "Good job taking the initiative. Too bad it won''t matter though." Just as the axe was swung downward towards the top of his skull, Sirius swiftly spun around, kicking the weapon straight out of the studded-armored man''s hands. "Huh¨C?" The red-haired mercenary was dumbfounded, having swung his hands down but finding no weapon in his grip. Sirius smirked, "Sorry about that, Champ." "You¨C!" With a snap of his fingers, the Stormheart unleashed a shock wave that emitted like thunder, expelling outward as a devastating pulse that mmed against the mercenary''s body. The crunching of bones and squelching of flesh was audible as the red-haired, hired fighter was flung across the room, reduced to a bloody mess of twisted limbs. The brutal disy of power from the unknown invader of the hideout stunned the group of mercenaries, who were left agasp at the sight. "He¡­He got Hector, just like that¡­" One of the men muttered nervously. "One snap of his fingers¡­" Another gulped, sweating bullets. The light hiss of lightning was audible through the room as the magenta element coiled around Sirius, who looked around, "Anybody else?" Just then, from behind, a man lunged at Sirius'' back with daggers in hand, aiming them for his neck. "Die¡ª!" "Do better," Sirius sighed. Before the steel of the daggers could even graze his skin, Sirius flexed his own aura without moving so much as a fingertip, causing the electricity around him to fry the sneak attacker. "Grrrh¡ª!" The dagger-wielding mercenary yelped as he was shocked, falling down to the ground as his skin was left charred and steaming. ¦Ñ¦Á§ád¦Á---n?¦Ía| §ãom Again, another triedunching a surprise attack against him, thrusting their spear towards the side of Sirius'' head, only for the Stormheart to hold his hand to the left, invoking the unseen element of space. "Crush," Sirius invoked in a whisper. With a clench of his fist, a pressure suddenly enveloped the spear-wielding mercenary''s head as his paleplexion suddenly turned as red as a tomato, bulging with veins. "Wh-wha¨C?! Help me¡­!" The mercenary cried out. POP The mercenary''s head exploded before his limp body fell to the ground, slumped over as blood pooled onto the tiles. Sirius stood there, disallowing any blood to touch him as a barrier of disconnected space stopped the spray of crimson like an invisible wall around him. "So, who''s next?" Sirius asked, looking around. Though there were still dozens of fighters, they had stepped away from him, backing away as though he was some sort of insurmountable monster. "That''s what I thought," Sirius shrugged his shoulders before pointing up to the second floor, "Your boss is up there, right?" One of the mercenaries nodded, gulping, "Y-yeah¡­" "Good. At least you all understand your position," Sirius smiled before beginning to ascend the steps to the second floor before ncing back, "Oh¨CI almost forgot. I have somebody else with me¨Cif hees through, you''d better stand down, too. He might not be as nice as me." "S-somebody else¡­?" A mercenary stammered. Just as Sirius walked away, the footsteps of the dozens of mercenaries scattering out of the room were heard as they surrendered their jobpletely in the face of the Stormheart''s overwhelming power. ¨C [The Corridor] CRASH. CRASH. CRASH. The four-armed giant presented his aggressive style through continuous ms of his mighty weapons, though the scale-armored Dragonheart stayed swift, weaving through the attacks before cocking his fist back. Thrown forward with air-heating force, [Dragon Strike] was ushered forth through Emilio''s knuckles as they mmed against the rock-hard abdomen of Higan. "Grrrh¨C!" Higan spat out. The colossal impact manifested through a ripple of force that shattered the nearby windows and cracked the tiles, causing the giant to be slid back a good dozen meters. "Hfff¡­Huuu¡­" Higan slowly exhaled, still standing as his abdomen was left steaming from the blow, yet still left without any visible wounds. Emilio held his steaming fist by his side, looking towards the elite warrior of the Four-Armed n. "A respectable blow, human warrior! I felt that one throughout my entire being!" Higanplimented with an excited expression, "More!" ''Fine, then!'' Emilio thought. As the four-armed warrior seemed more thrilled than actually damaged by the draconic blow, Emilio rushed back in, this time flexing his body as it surged with mystical heat: [Draconic Might] "Nnnragh!" Higan roared out, attempting to intercept him with rapid movements of his spiked chip, though the Dragonheart was able to maneuver between each strike. Arriving in front of the giant warrior again, Emilio clenched his fist, allowing the draconic power to flood through his limb again before jumping up and mming his knuckles directly against the chin of Higan. The resulting force howled through the corridor as the decorated giant''s head violently whipped back. "Ghh¡­!" Higan winced as he slid back, gritting his teeth before actually falling onto his back with a loud thud that filled the shattered halls. Emilio breathed out, holding his fist, "How''s that?" For a solid moment, the red-skinned giant of jewelsid on his back before suddenly eximing, "Wonderful!" "¡ª" Emilio immediately furrowed his eyebrows. Despite the gargantuan stature of the man, the giant kicked himself back onto his feet in a seamless motion, spitting out blood from his mouth and onto the floor. ''I punched him hard enough to send his head flying from his shoulders. At the very least, I would''ve expected it to break his neck, but¡ªthis guy is really just built different,'' Emilio thought. "This is the first time in decades I''ve tasted my own blood," Higan imed, "Commendable, human warrior." "Yeah¡ªsave it," Emilio responded as he dashed in, this time choosing to use his sword. It was like attempting to pass through a wall primed to attack him; an unmoving, unbreakable barrier that retaliated with swift, brutal strikes that kept him on his toes. He used his own sword to deflect the heavy strikes of the giant''s weapons, while also finding himself having to use footwork to maneuver through the unorthodox range of the whip. Every time the bronze-and-gold whip struck against a wall, it chipped the sturdy material before cracking it altogether, barely missing Emilio, who made sure not to find out what it felt like to be struck. "Yes! Superb movements! You''re both nimble and strong!" Higanplimented while continuing his relentless attacks. In the narrow corridor, the disadvantage was held by Emilio as his movements were limited and the range of the giant''s weapons took up most of that space, eventually leading to¨CCRACK. "Ngh!" Whipping against his back, the spiked weapon curved around behind Emilio as he had already dodged the axe, being struck by the whip as it shattered the portion of armor hit and inflicted his skin beneath. It was a sharp, stinging pain; burning as if a hot iron had been pressed against his flesh. ''Damn! That fucking hurts!'' Emilio thought. Being struck by a whip, especially wielded by the monstrous strength of one such as his opponent, was the kind of pain that stirred one''s head up; a rage-inducing, frustrating pain of lip-biting, teary-eyed agony. CRACK. CRACK. CRACK. Being thrown off by the potent pain of being struck just once, he dodged the whips again before¨CCRACK. "GAH¨C!" Straight against his left arm, the spiked whip shattered the scales protecting him, hitting his arm with that teeth-grinding burst of pain again. In response, he waved his hand forward with an ushering of roaring mes; the wave of fire rushed in like a burning tidal wave against the giant warrior. "FWOOOOO¡ª!" An unorthodox counter came from a massive exhale of the decorated giant, who puffed his cheeks and his chest as a high-pressure cone of air was blown out from his mouth. ''Seriously¡ª? This guy is straight out of an epic,'' Emilio thought, watching the mes be breathed away as he jumped back. He acted quickly, adapting to his opponent''s skills as he wove a different element into reality; through a stomp of his foot, he morphed the surrounding walls, causing hands of stone to stretch and reach for Higan. The giant responses by using all four of his limbs to cleave away the stone hands, though Emilio simply used the hands as a distraction for his next spell: "Hundred Arrows of The Volcanic Sea." With a movement of his hand that resembled drawing the string of a bow, he released dozens of water-formed arrows that shot forth. Each of the projectiles was boiling; steaming with supreme heat, they were too numerous for the giant to deflect all of them. "Oh!" Higan let out as the boiling arrows of water pelted his seemingly impervious skin. ''That diamond-like skin is even heat resistant, then? What a pain,'' Emilio thought. Chapter 439 The Last Obstacle ? Though he knew he had moves in his arsenal capable of much higher firepower, considering he was in a narrow corridor and a popted town at that, it wasn''t as though he feltfortable unleashing such power. ''Both his offense and defense are extreme. His speed and power are just as insane¨Cwhat''s his weakness? Hisck of brains? Maybe,'' he questioned. As the giant that lived for battle continued his ceaseless, multi-armed attacks, a counter was thought of by Emilio, who pushed his hand forward in the direction of his enemy: "Absolute Air Lock." The anti-oxygen spell manifested its zone around the attacking giant, creating a space deprived of oxygen entirely. "Hyuu¨C" Higan gasped as all of the air left his lungs, stolen away in an instant. Using that brief opening for the few moments that the spell was active, Emilio dashed in before engulfing his sword in azure mes, stomping down with tile-shattering force. The Mountain God Style was once more invoked, almost as a test of pride in the teachings passed down from his own father. "Mountain Carver!" This time, the me-bathed steel sunk past the giant''s skin, carving across his chest with a zing glory that extended its heat throughout the battle-torn corridor. Thebination of magic used to deprive his enemy of oxygen and his own physical abilities resulted in finally surmounting the "Unbreakable" flesh of the Four-Armed n''s greatest warrior. "Nnngh¡­" Higan stood there, standing tall as ever, with arge gash across his torso, stretching from his right shoulder down across to his left hip; blood seeped from the wound, pouring down onto the giant''s skin. Though the wound looked dire, lethal for any normal being, the giant couldn''t help but smile ear-to-ear like a child that had just received the grandest toy. "...Finally, I have lost that ursed name. I am "Unbreakable" no longer¨Cnow I will be Higan "The Scarred"--that is the legacy your de has etched into my flesh, human¨Cno, Emilio," Higan spoke. ''I was aiming to cut him in half. This guy is something else,'' Emilio thought. Though it was somewhat perplexing to him, seeing as though the red-skinned giant seemed extremely prideful as a warrior and driven by that pride as the sole motivator to his life. "You don''t seem upset. That title was special, wasn''t it?" Emilio asked. Higan chuckled, "You misunderstand, great warrior. ''Unbreakable'' is an ursed title for us of the Four-Armed n. What we seek is death through glorious battle. We seek the ultimate challenge of might. To wield a wound as deep and beautiful as this one¡­I will return to my n as a champion¨Cone that has reached the apex of our n''s beliefs." It was a bit of an odd creed to him, though it wasn''t his ce to question the way the foreign n lived their lives. "You got what you want, right?" Emilio asked, lowering his sword. Higan nodded, "I no longer need to follow Maximus. I only became his bodyguard to seek a warrior worthy of erasing my title. I have now found that¨Cgo on, Emilio." Even though the four-armed giant had a massive gash on his chest, he seemed perfectly fine and calm, moving aside as he let the Dragonheart pass by him. Not wanting to continue the fight against the monstrous warrior, he nodded before running by, seeking to catch up with hispanion. ''I hope Sirius isn''t doing anything stupid¨Cthough it''s a safe bet to believe he has,'' Emilio thought. Relinquishing the draconic helm around his face, he maintained the scaled armor as he rushed through the halls. "¡ª" To both his surprise and not, he found unconscious guards around the halls, slumped against walls and foaming from their mouths. There was no doubt in his mind that it was the work of hispanion. ''He doesn''t hold back, does he? Can''t really talk though¡ªI''m not any better myself,'' he thought. "Oohhh¡­" "Ghhh¡­" Passing by some of the unconscious mercenaries, who were clearly in pain after their encounter with the lightning-wielding reincarnators, he found a kicked-open set of doors. "¡ª" Emilio walked in, finding avish room with velvet carpet flooring and illustrious paintings on the walls. There were dual stairways leading to the same floor that could be seen from a gold-decorate balcony. Surprisingly, there weren''t any mercenaries waiting in the room¡ªhowever, he found something else. As he looked around, he recoiled briefly at the sight of a figure that had their entire head simply gone from their shoulders as if it had exploded. There was another person, most likely a hired mercenary, who was burnt to a crisp. "Sirius," Emilio muttered with a sigh leaving his lips. It was undoubtedly a brutal sight, though he could hardly feel much forgiveness when dealing with those serving under a direct associate of the nefarious organization. ''Sense,'' he thought. e¦Áglesn?¦Íel Invoked through his own concentration, he looked towards the balcony before extending the unique, reconnaissance spell; it spread his mana in a thinyer, moving forward and inspecting the area before him. When extending his sensory mana up to the balcony and into the next room, he immediately senses a mana signature that was familiar to him: it felt like an electric jolt coursing through his fingertips. ''There you are¨CSirius,'' he breathed out in relief. Knowing where hispanion was now, he began running up the curving staircase, though caught off-guard as something caused the entire hideout to rumble. "--!" The tremors that caused dust to rain down from the ceiling only made him move in faster as he reached the summit of the steps, finding only a singr hallway leading to one room. As he approached the room, the burgundy doors swung open on either side of the corridor, with weapon-wielding men rushing out. "Get him!" "Don''t let him near the Boss! ''He'' can handle the electric guy!" Another mercenary yelled out. Utilizing his trained reflexes, Emilio ducked down, avoiding the swing of multiple des without having to see them. CLANG. Sparks flew as the weapons wielded by the mercenaries shed against one another, getting mixed up as Emilio spun around while low, sweeping the legs of the hired fighters around him. The duck-and-sweep was executed so seamlessly and swiftly that to the men who failed their surprise attack, it felt as though they were transported from their feet onto their posteriors one moment to the next. "Waaah¨C!" "Gah!" Tripping the mercenaries that attempted to attack him, Emilio jumped back to his feet with a simple exhale, looking down at the hired fighters. "Stay down, would you? I''m not in the mood to kill anybody today¨Cunless you''re really a part of the same organization as your boss," Emilio warned. The words of the amethyst-eyed man weren''t taken lightly by the mercenaries, who could sense the restrained bloodlust from the figure who loathed the Children of Chaos. A brown-haired mercenary waved his hands, sitting up, "W-we don''t know anything about the Boss'' affiliations¡­! He just hired us for security while he was in Desim!" "Th-that''s right! Mr. Maximus didn''t tell us nothin''!" Another mercenary added. Emilio looked at the men for a moment, reading their expressions for any lies before letting out a small sigh, "Alright. Then scram. This ce is probably about to get chaotic." The merciful warning he gave to the mercenaries was heeded as the paid guards nodded and struggled to their feet before running the other way. With nothing left in his way, he headed into the sole room stationed at the end of the luxurious hall, hearing the sounds of battle taking ce; the unmistakable roars of thunder and ms of steel echoed, reaching his ears. "...Sirius¡­" Emilio said quietly upon entering the room, finding an odd sight before him. What was odd was the fact that somebody was managing to fight Sirius; a figure managed to react to his attacks and even counter with his own. Defending against the magenta strands of lightning with a silver broadsword was a figure dressed in ivory armor, wearing a beige cloak around his shoulders with a hood covering his head. Sirius struck down beside Emilio, holding a smile across his lips, "Finally caught up, yeah?" "Who is this guy? If you''re still fighting him, he must be strong," Emilio asked. "Heh, quick to catch on. Yup¨Cthis guy is the real deal," Sirius said, "A one-in-a-million warrior. This is the head bodyguard or whatever of our target." Sirius had already activated his system, as his hair had turned to the glowing, magenta shade and tattoos of electricity were etched onto his skin. The ivory-armored man across the room held his sword up, wearing a helmet that hid his face, "You will not reach Lord Maximus." "Is that so?" Sirius asked with a smirk, coiling his body in erratic electricity. Emilio readied himself to join hispanion in the fight, but he was stopped as Sirius raised his arm to block him. "What?" Emilio nced over at him. "This one is mine," Sirius imed, "I''ve got this¨Cso just sit back and watch." A sigh left Emilio''s lips as he could see this situationing from a mile away, though he trusted hispanion, tucking his sword into its sheath, "Go ahead." Without further ado, the Stormheart dashed across the luxurious ballroom, striking as a lightning bolt, but stopped by some strange force wielded by the hooded knight. ''What''s that? It''s managing to stop Sirius right in his tracks,'' Emilio questioned. Chapter 440 Isbrand ? In front of the head bodyguard, a silver force rippled in the air, manifesting an appearance like that of stained ss, representing holy concepts as itpletely blocked the lightning-d figure from moving further. "Negate and repel," the hooded bodyguard invoked. "Hah!" Sirius couldn''t help butugh in joy as he was blown back, flipping backward beforending on his feet. Emilio was surprised at the result of the encounter, "What was that? It looked like you couldn''t even reach him." The man ran his fingers through his electrified hair with a smile, "I''ve figured it out: that right arm of his is able to produce a "nullifying" force and repel objects, while his left arm is able to produce attacks that can''t be defended against." "Huh? Is that some sort of magecraft?" Emilio raised an eyebrow. "Don''t know, don''t care!" Sirius said,unching back into battle. The mysterious bodyguard held his left arm out, which was d in a unique set of ivory armor: the gauntlets were bulkier and etched with designs that resembled the wings of an angel. "All-Epassing Cleave." With a simple movement of his sword, the ivory figure produced a colossal sh that stopped Sirius in his tracks, forcing the Stormheart to dash around it as it cut through a portion of the room. ''I couldn''t even see that attack. Just who is this guy, anyway?'' Emilio wondered. Every strike that the ivory-d knight made invoked unseen shes, only able to be foretold by the howls of wind that arrived in their wake. By the way that Sirius actively avoided the strikes with no attempt made to defend against them, they were undoubtedly lethal. "The God of Man''s Punishing Hand." ''In my left hand, the miracle of The God of Man has gifted me with the power to punish any¨Cno matter their defenses. In my left, a different miracle, yet simply the other side of the coin has been entrusted to me¨Ca power capable of rendering any attack null,'' the knightly bodyguard thought. "The God of Man''s Untouched Hand." It was with his right hand that he stopped any and all attacks from reaching him, continuously invoking this imprable defense despite Sirius'' fast assaults. "Woah!" Sirius let out, delightfully surprised as an invisible strike came close to hitting him before zipping by, bolting from wall-to-wall before flicking a lightning bolt towards the ivory-d knight. Again, it was a fruitless attempt as the enigmatic protector raised his right hand,pletely negating the reach of the lightning. "Alright, then! Try this!" Sirius challenged. With multiple strikes of lightning forming into the shapes of enormous swords, shooting off in multiple angles towards the head protector of Maximus, the knightly figure nullified them with his right arm. ''I can sense it. When I look at this man''s eyes, I can see it¨Che''s a hero. Somebody who possesses an unrelenting will,'' the bodyguard thought, ''...I see somebody I recognize. The man I once was, perhaps. But that was long ago.'' Caught in his own thoughts, the figure shrouded in ivory armor stumbled to the side just as he managed to catch a stray st of electricity with his blessed right hand. The array of lightning spiraled like a drill, stopped and unwoven by the protective miracle. "--!" The bodyguard nted himself. "Not breaking yet, are we?!" Siriusughed. It was difficult even for the man as swift as lightning to get around the powerful, nullifying arm of the bodyguard, though an opening was finally found as Sirius amplified himself: ''Now''s a good time to try "that" out. Consider yourself honored, nameless protector!'' Sirius thought before lowering himself into a running space before bolting off. [Supercharge!] Sirius surpassed at the speed of lightning, bolting around the room and bouncing off of the walls with speed that continued multiplying with each movement; an ovepping, exponential rise in speed that caused the entirety of the hideout to rumble. The speed he reached surpassed that of lightningpletely; Sirius himself felt his physical form changing, his own consciousness splitting in those moments as he retained it through sheer will. This molecr breakdown led to him achieving a realm of speed beyond physical form, warping around the room perhaps thousands of times within a fraction of a second. Emilio felt everything around him rumbling, raising his own defensive shield of mana asrge coils of electricity encircled the room as massive beams of magenta lightning, causing the air itself to be electrified. ''Just what kind of move is this¡­? What is he doing?'' Emilio questioned. All of this led the knightly figure to be unable to know where to defend himself from, turning in circles before he raised his hand, seeming to sense where the attack wasing from, however¨C "Ghhh¨C!" CRACK ["Stormheart: Event Horizon"] He was already hit; through the bypassing of physical matter and conventional speed, the attack used by the Stormheart delved into an entirely different realm, causing his attack to reach a few seconds into the past. "Gotcha!" Sirius eximed with a smile. Being mmed into by a fearsome lightning bolt kick, the armored bodyguard had his armor crack before being flung across the room by the speed-warping blow. Sirius slid his boots across the smooth, hardwood floors aftering to a stop, causing his shoes to produce steam, "Your abilities are tricky, I''ll give you that. Though it''s pretty simple how to ovee them: just be so fast that you can''t react to my attacks." "Fast¡­? That goes beyond any meaning of the word," the bodyguard coughed out his own crimson fluids onto the floor. The ivory armored man picked himself up slowly as his helm crumbled away, looking up as his appearance was revealed beneath his beige hood: he had snow-white, shaggy hair and a pale face, though it was clearly inflicted with burn scars that covered most of his right side. e¦Áglesn?¦Íel "--" The bodyguard struggled to stand after receiving the attack. Sirius raised his hand, focusing enough electricity for a bolt that would easily disintegrate the figure, "Oh well, it was fun for a bit, though." "Sirius, wait," Emilio walked over, stopping hispanion. "Hm?" Sirius looked over at him. Emilio looked towards the scarred knight, "You. You''re a knight, aren''t you? What''s your name?" "--" The head bodyguard was silent for a moment before responding, "I abandoned my knighthood a long time ago. Just as I did my name." "I can tell. I don''t think anybody who calls themselves a "knight"--somebody who stands on the side of justice and honor¨Cwould be working for somebody as unforgivable as Maximus," Emilio reasoned. The knight seemed conflicted when hearing those words, still knelt down as he held his sword against the ground to keep himself sat up. "It''s as you say¡­I am no longer a knight," the man said, "Just¡­do what you must." Bowing his head, the former knight epted his fate, relinquishing it to the hands of those who sought the high-profile merchant. "Sure thing," Sirius said, gathering an abundance of powerful voltage around his fingertips. The former knight kept his head down, awaiting the certain fate that was cemented in his own failures, though to his surprise¨Che was still alive. "Just kidding," Sirius smiled, relinquishing the electricity around his hand. "What¡­?" The former knight let out in surprise. Sirius sighed, ruffling his own hair, "I''m not the kind of guy that kicks people while they''re down, ya know? Not my style." Even though he was allowed to live, the snowy-haired, middle-aged knight hardly looked happy about it, only confused by the merciful notion. "Is your Boss back there?" Sirius pointed to the curtained area at the other end of the room. A slow nod came from the former knight, "...Yes. There is a special barrier spell he has up, but I doubt mages of your caliber will struggle to take it down. He is capable himself, so be careful." "Thanks," Sirius said, beginning to walk to the otherside of the vast, empty room. Emilio stood in front of the knelt man for a moment, feeling some sort of way about the clearly scarred figure¨Cwho held scars both visible and not, as clear as a ss pane by the experiences etched into his light, olive eyes. "Your life''s been spared by my friend," Emilio said, kneeling down in front of the man, "An opportunity like that wasn''t given so that you could continue living as the shell you are now." "--" The former knight looked up. "So, what''s your name?" Emilio asked. The white-haired man looked hesitant to speak it, and somewhat challenged to say it, as if not having spoken his own name in some time, "Isbrand." "Isbrand, huh? You''re pretty strong. I bet you''d make a good adventurer," Emilio remarked before standing up, "If you decide to be one, maybe we can go on a quest togethere find me if you do." As he left the path to a new life for the burned man, he waved as the snowy-haired figure picked himself up, left speechless by the turn of events. ''...Maybe that young man is right. Make something out of my life¡­I suppose I have no choice now,'' Isbrand thought. Chapter 441 Fifth Seat Of Rhapsody ? As the two reincarnators reached the velvet curtains, the doorway was tested as Sirius tried to turn the handle, only for his grip to be rejected by a mystical barrier. Shaking his hand after it was forcibly rejected, Sirius looked up at the dark-purple and blue barrier that blocked the doorway, "I guess he wasn''t lying. You''re the magic savant, so what do you think?" Though there was undoubtedly a mastery held over lightning and spatial magic by Sirius, it was undeniable that Emilio was more experienced in the intricacies of magecraft and had a far wider scope of knowledge. Emilio inspected the barrier, seeing the hexagonal pattern presented through the thin, but imprable barrier. The way the barrier worked, there was no workaround; he could sense it wrapped around the room ahead, making any attempts to break in from a different wall impossible. "It looks like a decently high-end spell. It''s nothing a novice could whip up¨Cnot with any moment of time or preparation. The good news is, a barrier like this is one-way. Meaning our target is a sitting duck," Emilio put his hand to his chin, "Give me a second. I think I can reverse it." Sirius moved aside, deciding to watch him with an excited smile, as if impatient to see the expert in magecraft do his work. Conjuring a line of mana at his fingertip, Emilio brushed it across the barrier, lightly moving it around to form a seal of his own that was inscribed over the barrier. The light-blue mana, having properties simr to gum when manifested, was stretched out into lines, running along the hexagonal barrier. "Hmmm¡­" Emilio thought to himself. "Having trouble?" Sirius asked, almost yfully. Emilio kept his eyes on theplex barrier while responding to the snarkyment, "Reverse engineering a spell I''ve never seen isn''t exactly an instant process. I need to understand it to its most fundamental level." "I know, I know, I''m just messing with you," Sirius folded his arms over his chest, leaning against the wall as he waited. It was almost like entering an entirely different world within his own mind when working on understanding and dismantling such a spell; he was able to see the threads of mana and thenguage infused into the mystical element like a roll of film, crossing by with countless words. Those words, etched into the minuscule threads of mana, woven into the backbone of the spell, were the foundation of its power. ''...The teachings of Eisramdal. He''s one of the Founders of Magic, and the one who established the "Seal Arts"--magecraft that functions outside of the usual elements and instead functions for specific purposes,'' Emilio thought, ''I''m not entirely well versed in it, but I think I know enough to break this down.'' The motions made with his hands were a cross between the conductor of an orchestra and that of a masterful painter, stroking the brush of mana against the canvas with his fingertip. "You''ve put a lot of time into studying magic, haven''t you?" Sirius asked. "You haven''t?" Emilio replied while staying focused. Sirius shrugged, looking towards the ceiling, "Sorta. My system made my affinity with lightninge as easy as breathing. Space was¡­well, it was another thing. When I look at you though, I see a master¨Clike a seasoned artist expressing himself with magic." eaglesnov?1,§ão§® "I guess it''s something like that," Emilio said, spreading his hands out as a of his mana pressed against the barrier integrating with it, "--And done." "You figured it out? That was faster than I thought, honestly," Sirius remarked in surprise. Emilio looked at the barrier that was now infused deeply with his own mana, "Magecraft is like an endless series of knots, you just need to understand what goes where and how to unravel it. That''s putting it really simply, though." Part of it was akin to figuring out the internal workings of a lock then forging his mana like the mold of the fitting key. With his own mana fitting into the weaving of the barrier, he snapped his fingers, initiating the reversal of the barrier. Sirius whistled, "Good work. They really oughta give you a promotion." "Well, I haven''t exactly had time to do any queststely," Emilio muttered before readjusting his focus, "Alright¡ªit''s time to get to our target." "About time," Sirius readied himself. As the mystical barrier dissolved upon being cracked, the doorway was now left unimpeded. Taking the lead this time, Emilio stepped in front of the door, exchanging a quick nce of confirmation with hispanion to make sure he was ready as well. cing his hand forward, he waited for a moment before mana exuded from his pores, releasing with a gentle swirl of wind that was quickly stirred into a st of air pressure. The powerful propulsion of wind mmed the doors open, allowing the two inside as they ran in. "Impressive." They both stopped at the sight of the man seated in a chair within the room: a tall,nky figure with shaggy, dark-red head and skin so pale it almost seemed translucent. ''Maximus¨Cthat''s definitely him,'' Emilio recognized. "You''re both clearly not just bandits looking to rob me of my riches or simple assassins. Dealing with Isbrand and Higan means you''re both quite dangerous," Maximus said, lifting a ss of wine from the table beside him. The red-headed figure casually brought the rim of the ss to his lips, sipping on the fine, dark-purple liquid before pulling away, locking his dark, violet eyes on the two intruders. "It wouldn''t make sense for you two to be bandits¨Cthey tend to be weak ande inrge groups. If they''re strong, there would be no need to resort to such acts. You''re not hired assassins, either¨Cyou wouldn''t have cared about sparing the lives of my useless subordinates," Maximus presumed, breaking down the information before him as he crossed one leg over his knee, "This leaves me with one conclusion: you''re here not for mary value, but something else¨Cinformation. In that case, you two must be here because of my ties with the Children of Chaos. Am I correct?" It was surprising just how quickly the youthful-looking, pale-skinned merchant of high wealth seemed to delve through every action they took to determine their motives. "Right on the money," Sirius confirmed. "What''s it matter now? You''re done," Emilio asked, looking straight at the pale-skinned merchant. Despite clearly bypassing all of the high profile supplier''s defenses and having him cornered, there was no worry present on the face of Maximus, who sat there in his velvet-fabric chair. "You have the wrong idea," Maximus said. "What''re you talking about?" Emilio asked. Maximus sat there without any guard as the words rolled off of his tongue, "This situation is perfect for me." "I think this guy has a screw loose," Sirius muttered. However, thement was ignored as Maximus tapped his long, bony fingers against the arms of his chair. "My alliance with the Children of Chaos is not one forged by the prospect of coin. I am not a bought ally of them¨Cno, I am an advocate myself. Perhaps you''re mistaken about my position,," Maximus exined, beginning to stand up as he towered over the two. "Position?" Emilio repeated. "Yes¡ªI am not merely the supplier of the Children of Chaos¨CI am one of its very own leaders, but I sit at the High Table: Maximus Leocharn, The Fifth Seat of Rhapsody," the man introduced himself, cing his hand over his chest and bowing, "I have awaited your arrival¨CSirius Stormheart and Emilio Dragonheart." The clear introduction itself peeled away false truths, revealing who the figure before them truly was¨Cor rather, the full nature of his status among the nefarious organization. "You know who we are?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, you pretended like you were unaware of that just a second ago," Emilio added. Maximus stood straight, seeming to stand taller without any slouch as his dark-purple eyes themselves changed: they were now a bright, pure blue with odd rims around his pupil. "Forgive me, but I have a habit of deceiving people. There is no point in that now, though¨Clet''s dance together as our goals sh yet align: you wish to capture me, and I wish to capture you¨CI wonder, which of us will seed?" Maximus asked as his entire body seemed to shift; the paleplexion he had seemed to fill in as his shaggy, crimson hair turned to a silver coloring. Sirius gathered electricity at his fingertips, readying himself, "So, this was all a big, borate trap to draw us out then?" "Figures," Emilio muttered, "These people are always crafty¨Cbut why use somebody of such high standing to draw us out?" The appearance-shifting, mysterious man smiled at that question, "Isn''t it obvious? It''s because I am capable enough to capture you both. After I do so, I''ll destroy this town in its entirety. That''s the mission that has been entrusted by me¨Cfor the sanctity of Chaos." [Maximus Leocharn | High Table of Chaos | Fifth Seat of Rhapsody] Chapter 442 What Chaos Means ? "Destroy the town?" Emilio responded to that im with a raise of his own mana signature. Maximus smiled, "I chose Desim as my spot to lure you both here for that reason¨Cit''s a perfect ce to sacrifice for our goals. A thriving town, full of life and dreams¨Ccrushing something like that, well, that''s truly worth something, no?" "Hate to break it to you, but we''re not letting that happen," Sirius said. "Yeah. Not a chance," Emilio added. Emilio prepared himself for the fight as well, having no clear idea of just what sort of abilities were wielded by the one who was once thought to be merely a merchant. ''Our intel was off. Or¡­maybe it was intentionally given to Bastian to trick us. Maximus isn''t a merchant; it seems like he''s an executive of the organization itself merely in charge of supplies¨Cnot the other way around. This man is an anomaly,'' Emilio thought. Bringing his palms together, Maximus smiled as heid his azure eyes on the two reincarnators, "The moment you two walked through those doors, this encounter was mine. Sing and spring through the clouds¨CSkyborne Rhapsody." Just as both Sirius and Emilio were about to make a move in tandem to approach the figure, the floor itself seemed to extend infinitely, cing an insurmountable distance between them and their enemy. "Ghh¨C!" Sirius let out. "What the¨C" Emilio stopped. The scenery unfolded like two dimensional papers flopping to the side; the environment shifted by the will of Maximus, bringing them from the luxurious interior to the utmost exterior itself¨Cthe grand blue heights of the sky, brought onto a teau of clouds. "The sky¡­?" Emilio looked around, ncing down as he found himself somehow standing on the air itself, far, far above any ground. "Huh," Sirius seemed surprised and impressed. Maximus stood a fair distance away, parting his hands as he held a small smile, "Wee to my Skyborne Rhapsody¨Cshall I begin the show?" The sky itself seemed to be different from that of the natural one that loomed over Vasmoria; the sky was so purely blue, shining with the radiance of life that was almost too sublime to be real. Each of the clouds were so vast and fluffy, swirling and marching through the skies and over the horizon. Sirius couldn''t help butugh after a moment, "The sky? Hate to break it to you, but the sky is my domain." "Is that so?" Maximus asked, raising his hands as the distant clouds seemed to swirl and change shape, "--You might find that this sky is a foreign one to you, but you''re wee in it all the same." "Oh yeah? Let''s see!" Sirius epted the challenge with a yell, raising his hands as he attempted to conjure something. Emilio didn''t recognize what it was that hispanion was trying to do, but by the look of surprise on Sirius'' expression and Maximus'' smile, it was clear that it failed. "What''s wrong?" Emilio asked. "I can''t conjure storms here," Sirius admitted, "This ce seems to be separated from the normal world. Maximus took it upon himself to respond, yelling out as his voice seemed to be carried through the fantastical skies, "That''s correct. This is my Skyborne Rhapsody¨Ca world created by my gift, one where grand stories of impossibility cane true!" It was with that promation that the clouds behind Maximus were suddenly prated by the arrival of something grandiose in scale: two, twin dragons of dazzling, cerulean scales arrived through the clouds, pping their wings with wind that mimicked that of a storm. "Dragons?!" Emilio questioned, nting himself down as he felt the mighty wind. "This is starting to get interesting," Sirius said, holding an excited smile as that childlike glint sparkled in his eyes. ''There''s never a boring moment in this world, is there? Just for once, I was hoping a task would go smoothly,'' Emilio thought, readying himself. At the very least, it seemed as though the creator of the sub-world of boundless, azure skies wasn''t on the offensive yet; the dragons conjured flew around the area, encircling them, but not yet attacking. Emilio stood close to Sirius'' side, whispering, "I think we need to consider the possibility it wasn''t just our intel that was off." "Yeah?" Sirius nced at him, staying ready. The amethyst-eyed reincarnator nodded, looking at the silver-haired man in the distance, "The Children of Chaos probably have somebody on their side like the An Oracle¨Csomebody that can either peer into the future or something else simr. Either way, they always seem a few steps ahead of us." Sirius raised his arm as electricity wrapped around his limb, holding an unrestrained smile, "So what you''re saying is, nothing''s changed with our mission¨Cwe need to capture this guy and find out what''s really going on with that sneaky cult." "Exactly," Emilio confirmed, immediately charging in alongside Sirius as he reinforced the draconic armor around his body. The scales darkened, bing more steel-like in appearance while retaining the ferocity of the grand beast he represented. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 4/10 | Dragon Elite] "Come, reincarnators¨Clet us dance until our bones ache!" Maximus shouted as he raised his hands, "Ravenous Harpies, rise!" Manifesting from the call of the silver-haired man, sapphire feathers flowed around the skyhigh teau like snowkes before creating multiple monstrous creatures that somewhat resembled human woman: the grotesque creatures bore limbs like that of a avian, possessing wings on their arms that allowed them to fly swiftly. "Leave these ones to me! Handle those dragons!" Emilio shouted, readying his sword. Sirius looked up at the massive dragons that overshadowed the unique battlefield, smiling beforeunching up as a thunderbolt, "No problem!" Facing the harpies, Emilio felt the powerful winds of the colossal heights he fought at as he used his sword to block the iing projectiles that suddenly shot at him. Each one had a force like a cannonball, yet backed into a slim object. ''Feathers?'' He realized. Sucking in a quick breath, he exhaled sharply while puffing his cheeks, doing so while using his sword as a small shield against the fathers. The mystical exhale came out as a powerful gust of wind, pushing forward as a powerful cone that swept away the lethal feathers: "Breath of The Horizon." "That''s certainly a unique spell," Maximus remarked, sitting himself down on the teaued cloud while watching. Emilio ignored the remarks as he dashed over, spinning around before cleaving his sword straight through the midsection of one of the winged, feminine monstrosities. As he cut through one, he found another one of the screeching avians swooping in towards him with their talons primed for his neck. "Haah!" Lifting his sword, he blocked the dagger-like talons of the harpy, causing sparks to fly out like bright-orange droplets of rain before counter attacking. Surprisingly, he missed by a hair when trying to cut the harpy''s legs, witnessing just how swiftly it couldunch higher into the air with a single p of its wings. ''Nice try,'' he thought. Though it managed to escape the sharp edge of his steel de, he quickly flicked his wrist, conjuring andunching a small fireball upward without any casting time, sending it up as a speedy curveball. The bright-blue sphere of fire closed in on the flying harpy quickly, reeling a panicked screech from the creature before¨CBOOOM. The resulting explosion left the harpy descending as a charred figure, d in smoke and lifeless in its descent. For the entire time hebated the harpies, he kept an eye on the main target, though the entire time, Maximus remained seated without a worry in the world. ''One more,'' Emilio thought. It was thest harpy that seemed more hesitant to face him, staying in the air as it continued shooting projectiles down at him. He seamlessly dodged the feathers before taking the initiative himself, thrusting his hand upward as he flung a chain forged of water towards the harpy. ''I''ve got you!'' He thought. The swiftness and unexpected nature of the water chain caught the winged monster off-guard, allowing its ankle to be caught before Emilio yanked it down without hesitation. As it plummeted straight towards him, he needed only to swipe his de upward just as the harpy got within striking distance of him. After cleanly dismantling the harpies, Emilio''s unwavering expression set itself towards the silver-haired man, who brought himself to his feet. Maximus slowly pped his hands, holding a small smile, "The rumors are true. The Dragonheart has developed into quite the fearsome force." "What''s with you people?" Emilio asked, "...What''s so damn appealing about destroying everything you touch? Hurting so many people? Taking away everything from them? What is there to enjoy about that?" The question lengthened the smile on the blue-eyed man''s lips, "It''s not the act itself, Dragonheart. Chaos itself is sustenance for ourselves. It is what we strive for¨Ctotal chaos. Make no mistake¨Cthis is for the benefit of Arcadius. It may not appear so now, maybe not for decades, or even a century¡­but time will tell." "What''re you talking about?" Emilio asked, "Nothing you''re doing could possibly help the world in any way shape or form¨Cyou''re monsters that take everything and give nothing." "Dragonheart, you know nothing," Maximus said, "Stagnation is evil. In order to evolve and create a world capable of withstanding what''s toe, chaos must brew; through that anarchy beyond reason and logic, unreasonable forces will arise¨Cpast preconceived thresholds and into a new era. That''s what "Chaos" stands for: uncontrolled evolution." Though spoken with a silver tongue, the words sounded as if they poured from the lips of a madman to the Dragonheart. Chapter 443 Faux Dragonheart ? The sleazy words only served to ignite the sparks of contempt within the man''s heart as his amethyst eyes sharpened with those emotions, "Disgusting. After everything your group has done¨Cunleashing the Nightmare on Larundog, freeing Dread, destroying my hometown, and killing my mother¡­Not to speak of everything else you''ve done to others¨Cyou have the nerve to say it''s for the "good of the world"--disgusting." "Interesting. So, that''s how you see it. Alright, then¡­" Maximus bowed forward with a grin, slowly cing his hand over his chest, "...Come on. Get your revenge, then¨Cif you can, that is. I''m right here." The challenge was silently epted as Emilio''s draconic armor reinforced itself around his body, activating one of his skills: [Dragon Engine]--causing the boundless heat within him to fuel the internal structure of his scaled armor. ''I''ll end this quickly,'' Emilio nned. In the distance, he could hear the rumbling of thunder and roars of lightning bolts with magenta shes through the sky; Siriusbated the twin dragons through the azure ins. ¨C Moving freely through the seemingly infinite stretch of azure sky, Sirius flew around the multiple streams of fire chasing after him. "That''s hot! Too bad you''ll never reach me with it!" Sirius taunted as he left trails of electricity in his constant movements through the sky. The pirs of radiant fire that shot towards him were breathed from the colossal dragons that chased him, pping their mighty wings with what sounded like thunderps. "Try this!" Turning back to face the twin dragons with the boundless horizon to his back, he snapped his fingers in session, unleashing a blitz of multiple bolts directly against the grand beasts. Both of the harsh strikes of lightning struck the dragons in their heads, though it only put a stop to them momentarily before they roared out with thunderous anger. "...Well, these guys are pretty tough," Sirius muttered under his breath with a smile, "Guess I''ll have to kick it up a notch!" Mystical electricity flowed across the man''s skin as his hair shifted its shade into a glowing magenta, allowing his body to be decorated in the erratic patterns of lightning. With the activation of his system, the mana pressure around him skyrocketed as thunder exuded from his position with a shock wave, repelling the approaching dragons. [Stormheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 2/10 | Thunder Inheritor] As electricity violently coiled around his body, Sirius dashed forward as a bolt, evading the streams of fire from the twin beasts before mming his knuckles straight against one of their colossal chests. The punch was reinforced by a construct of another fist, made by a split-second shaping of lightning. ["Thunder Strike"] Coming from the man who was dozens of times smaller than the mighty dragon, the strike itself caused the grand beast to recoil in pain as its scales were cracked and shattered. As soon as he watched the dragon roar out after receiving the blow, he raised his arms as he blocked a sudden strike from mighty ws. "Mad I hurt your friend, huh!!" Sirius asked with an excited smile as he was dragged through the air while blocking the colossal talons of the beast. Each of the dragons were surprisingly fast despite their gargantuan status; they were even able to match the strikes of lightning bolts with their flight, catching Sirius¨Cthough the man grinned before releasing a massive discharge. The electricity manifested from every pore in his body scattered outward erratically, striking everything near him and repelling the twin beasts: [Eye of The Violent Storm] Despite knocking the dragons back with theplete discharge, he found that they were still rtively unscathed, bringing a half-cocked smile on his lips. ''Talk about tough,'' he thought. ¨C Infused with draconic energy, Emilio rushed across the sky-high teau, aiming his malicious intent towards the silver-haired figure. A series of quick, lethal-intended shes came towards Maximus; Emilio used his experienced footwork to pressure the figure, as well as his boosted physical abilities before¨C "Concept Nullification: Dragonheart System," Maximus said, holding his hand up. Just as Emilio had gone for a sh, an invisible force brushed against him like a whisper of an almighty authority; he came to a stop as the entirety of the draconic armor shattered from his body. "Huh¨C?" Pausing for a moment, he looked at his body, finding that the scales from his system hadpletely crumbled away, and with it, the power they gifted. "Confused? Allow me to exin it for you then," Maximus said with a smile, "My Skyborne Rhapsody grants meplete authority over anything rted to the sky. Dragons fall under that jurisdiction, and of course, the Dragonheart power does as well." "You¡­" Emilio muttered in disbelief. "While you''re in my world of Skyborne Rhapsody, you''ll have no system to rely on. That''s why I was chosen to take both of you¨Clike this," Maximus raised his hand. Realizing what was about to happen, Emilio yelled out to hisrade in the sky, "Sirius¨C!" "Concept Nullification: Lightning," Maximus invoked. The whispering force expanded through the boundless sky like a tremor through the ground, brushing against Sirius as hebatted the whispering dragons. Just as the nebulous force touched Sirius, the lightning he wielded vanished without a trace, taking away the alterations to his hair and body from his system stages. Sirius looked surprised, "Huh." Reuniting for the moment amidst the utterly perplexing force, Siriusnded beside Emilio, just as the colossal dragons perched themselves on the clouds beside the creator of the world of endless skies. "Well, this is troublesome," Sirius remarked with a smile. "Are you ever worried about anything? This isn''t good," Emilio remarked, ncing at hispanion. Sirius responded, "Well, it''s when I''m backed into a corner that I''m at my best." "I guess I''m the same way," Emilio hesitantly agreed. "Good¨Cbecause we''re backed into one helluva corner! It''s the same as taking the katana from a master swordsman¨Cdewing a beast; we''ve lost the strongest parts of our arsenal. But, that''s not enough to beat us. It''s time to adapt and ovee¨Care you ready, brother?" Sirius asked. "Of course." Together, theyunched forward, causing the dormant dragons to return to the battlefield as well with roars that traveled through the sea of clouds. "I''ll handle the dragons this time," Emilio said. "Sure¨Ca little switch-and-tag then!" Sirius agreed, rushing towards Maximus. In order to gain the attention of the dragons that swooped down, Emiliounched himself into the air with his wind magic, casting a barrage of fireballs down that pelted against the mighty scales of the beast. Roars emitted upward, thundering against his body from the angered, bright-scaled dragons, but Emilio weed that aggression with open arms. "Come on. I wonder if this counts as a familial battle," Emilio remarked under his breath before raising his hand, "--To me, Sabbath!" Invoking the six-pointed star etched onto his hand, one of his Soulbound Spirits arrived at his call, manifesting from petals of darkness into a winged individual. Resembling a human man, but with dark-gray skin and small horns, along with bat-like wings, the suit-wearing man arrived beside him. "Master," Sabbath said with his hand over his heart in subservience, momentarily closing his scarlet eyes whichy behind sses. "We''ve got dragons to fight¨Cjust keep one distracted for me while I handle the other. Can you do that?'' Emilio asked. Sabbath adjusted his sses, "It shall be done." "Thanks!" Emilio called out just as one of the colossal dragons had swooped in with incredible speed, almost nicking him with its sword-like ws. It wasn''t the kind of battle he was exactly experienced in: having to fly around in the skies with a masterful usage of wind magic while being chased by a beast not only dozens of timesrger than him, but of such incredible speed and power. ''So, this is what a dragon is really like? I can see why my system is the way it is then,'' Emilio thought. Being chased by only one of the dragons, he nced back to see his Soulbound Spirit in the distance leading on the other without being hit. ''Good,'' he thought, now feeling safe to engage the other. Coming to a sudden stop as if stomping on brakes, he boosted himself up, just barely avoiding the snapping jaws of the dragon before shooting downward, causing his boots to plummet against the beast''s head. Though the impact was great, it didn''t budge the scales, forcing Emilio to adapt quickly as he found his system-less strength not being enough. ''--Alright, I''ll have to use "faux dragonheart", then!'' He thought. Through his lips, he inhaled oxygen that turned into mes as he exhaled, causing his veins to press against his skin as he created a burning me within himself; one that did not harm, but instead ignited his bodily functions into an overdrive. ''This is a spell I''ve developed myself, using other magecraft as a basis¨Cit can grant me strength simr to stage three, but it requires a muchrger toll on stamina!'' Emilio thought, ''I chose to create it after my system didn''t respond to me when I first arrived in Ennage¨CI''ve prepared for situations like this.'' Using the enchanting me throughout his body, allowing the supplementing heat to travel throughout his limbs¨Cto his fingertips to his toes, he felt the power flooding through him as a sweat-inducing heat. ["Faux Dragonheart"] Chapter 444 Skyborne Rhapsody ? Just as he acquired this boost in physical abilities, he jumped off of the dragon''s head just as it tried snatching him with its ws, countering with a kick straight to its snout¨C THUD The impact caused the cerulean-scaled dragon to let out a grumble in pain as its head cocked back. The kick itself didn''t do any damage, however, only causing the beast to flinch as he followed up with the real attack, holding both hands in front of him as his boots stood on the empty sky itself. Utilizing the effects of "Faux Dragonheart" with the heat of roaring mes coursing throughout his very veins, the element of fire itself was bolstered considerability within this self-enchantment: "Chains of The Fire-branded God!" Enormous chains linked by manifestations of fire zed into the sky, whipping around the grand dragon with a scalerge enough to wrap around the beast. Before the beast could attempt to swipe away the zing chains or evade them, Emilio tugged on the mystical restraints, causing them to wrap around the winged colossus and squeeze tightly. ''Got it!'' He thought. Though he bound the beast, it was another task altogether to keep it restrained as he could feel the mountainous power behind its scales resisting the zing hold. "Grhh¡­!" He struggled, holding onto the chains with both hands as he upped the heat of the internal me within him, causing hisplexion to redden and sweat to evaporate as it left his pores as steam. The strength of a true dragon was something else entirely; it felt as though he was attempting to keep a bullet train from pulling away with nothing more than ropes. ''If I can just hold it¨CI can conjure a spell to finish it off!'' He nned. Having to wield the chains with only one hand, he raised the other as he began to weave into existence the ultimate spell in mind, bringing together a coalescence of the four prime elements. Embers danced in the air with sublime heat; water swirled with its unrestrained, tranquil flow; stone gathered as the unmoving foundation of the spell; wind brought it all together into one. "Ngh!" The legendary creature thrashed around in the sky, allowing its storm-churning wings to push and resist against the burning chains as its ws gripped around the bindings, contesting their hold greatly. It wasn''t as though the chains were normal in any regard; Emilio poured a heaping amount of mana and magical reinforcement into them, furthering their potency through the scathing heat infused into their form. ''Just holding these chains¡­It feels like my arm is going to be ripped from my body! Even while bound, it''s this strong?!'' Emilio thought. Still, he managed to create the unison of all four elements; thebination spurred on an evolution of each element,bining into a dazzling force of shing colors, retained into a sphere. The grandiose ball of transcendent elements released unstable winds like fluttering litter and dazzling stars, quaking the skies around. The extraordinary heat existed without evaporating the sublime water, melding with the ferocious, yet fair roars of the wind, all kept together by the impervious stone¡ªhardened by the other elements. It was this perfect unison of elements that transcended each into something greater than any of their individual forms. From down below, both Sirius and Maximus paused for a moment amidst their sh, looking up towards the unique manifestation of magecraft. Maximus'' eyes widened for the first time, "That magic¡­I thought it was a myth¨Cthe ultimate element only able to be created by Aelor, the Element King. He can use it¡­?" "Hah! Surprised? That''s just the kind of guy my bro is," Sirius gloated proudly. It was an incredibly difficult element to tap into, requiring a perfect synchronization of elements¨Cmade even more arduous as the man found himself having to wrangle the dragon at the same time. The jaws of the dragon snatched multiple links of the zing chain, tugging and gnawing on it violently. Even while conjuring the mass of magnificent, transcendent elemental energy, he kept an eye on his familiar, which continued leading the other dragon around. With thepletion of the ultimate element''s manifestation, it formed into the spell that Emilio had conjured through his steel-forged mind of magecraft. "Ghhh¡­Arrgh¡­!" He yelled out in pain as his muscles cramped and began tearing from the tug-o-war with the dragon. Still, he forced himself to maintainplete focus, knowing the level of concentration such a spell required. ''Through eras of darkness and light, from eons of nothingness to the permanence of life¨Cthe one, unending truth of the universe lies in my hands: "Before Genesis",'' Emilio invoked. The chromatic element spread itself with a thunderp before the climactic spell etched itself into the fabric of reality. Clouds parted with the emergence of light, revealing a colossal pair of hands that descended upon the bound dragon. It was the godly hands that arrived with an ascended aura of almighty authority that surrounded the dragon with open palms. Even the mountainous creature was oversizedpletely by the transcendent hands, each of which could grip the beast''s entire body as if it were a mere lizard. As the chromatic hands of blurred light held near the dragon, grandiose seals hummed, forming in a multiyered tower of seals above the beast. "Destroy," Emiliomanded the spell with a gesture of his hand. Descending from the parting of clouds that were possessed by the ultimate element, an unparalleled hammer of light crashed down upon the dragon, beaming down from the circr seals that acted like a barrel for the energy. "Raaaaaaaagh¡ª!" The dragon''s roarsted only for a moment before being engulfed by the sky-shaking power of the almighty attack. It wasn''t just a powerful array of energy; the ultimate element possessed an unequaled property that granted it the capability to break anything struck by it down to an atomic level. "¡­That''s bad," Maximus remarked with a worried smile as his silver hair fluttered heavily in the violent winds generated by the distant spell. Siriusughed, watching the spell that looked like a pir of shing colors descending from the clouds, "Nice one, brother!" The seraphic disy of the ultimate element left nothing behind; scales, flesh, bones and all¡ªthe dragon waspletely obliterated. This much was proven as the chromatic light slowly vanished, revealing nothing left from the beast. [Level Up!] [Level 55 Achieved.] A breath of relief slowly left his lips, still holding his hand out as he hovered in the sky. "Ngh¡­!" A wince left his lips as his muscles cramped harshly with thepletion of the high-cost spell. It wasn''t just the dragon-vanquishing attack that left him battered, but the "Faux Dragonheart" spell left him overheated. ''My body¡­it feels like I''m inside of an oven. "Faux Dragonheart" isn''t something I can use for very long still. It was enough for that, but anymore of it¡­I don''t know if I''llst very long that way,'' he thought. "Master!" Flying straight towards him was Sabbath, who looked in shock as chasing behind the spirit was the other dragon¨Cfueled by a primal anger as it breathed out storms of fire from its mouth. ''Crap¡­It''s mad now,'' Emilio thought. "Return!" Emilio shouted, causing his Soulbound spirit to return to the realm they came from, leaving the wrathful dragon heading straight towards him. It was scary just how freakishly fast the colossal dragon was, moving like a speeding train through the clouds, leaving Emilio feeling as though he only had one choice: "Skin of The Golem King." Around his body, he formed an armor of reinforced, diamond-like gemstones. He was only able to halfway form it before the speeding dragon swept by, shing its mighty ws at him. Fortunately, the tough armor around his arms was already manifested, allowing him to block the attack. ''So strong¨CI can feel the impact vibrating through my bones,'' Emilio thought. Feeling himself be blown back through the boundless sky after blocking the attack, he flipped around, restabilizing himself with his wind. As he looked around, he could feel the p of the dragon''s wings echoing through the skies like thunder. It was incredibly fast; the cerulean-scaled beast of fantastical might was smart, as well, using the clouds as cover as he encircled him without revealing itself. ''...It''s not just a mindless beast. It might be something summoned by that guy, but I think this is what the real thing is¨Cthis is how a dragon truly fights,'' he thought. Hovering in the air, he felt the wind break as his ears popped, feeling an enormous pressure suddenly closing in before¨CFWOOSH. It was difficult to even react to it, only finding himself being wed at viciously as the mountainous beast swept by like a thunderbolt, yet possessed the weight of a mountain of lead. The sweeping strike had cleaved a chunk of his gemstone armor off before the mighty beast passed by, sinking into the clouds before any counterattack could beunched. ''If it wasn''t for this armor, those ws would have torn me in half with thatst attack. I have to be careful¨Cbut I don''t want to let Sirius fight our target by himself much longer. It''s easier said than done, though¨Cthis dragon is particrly nasty,'' Emilio thought. Aerialbat wasn''t his forte, either, though he found himself thankful for the training he''d done to master flight with the element of wind as he began soaring, keeping his eyes peeled for the grand beast. Chapter 445 Unorthodox Reincarnator ? Against the creator of the boundless world of the grand blue sky, Sirius found himself unable to scathe the figure after a few shes. After failing tond a blow against the silver-haired man, Sirius noticed the subtle transformation that had urred with Maximus: The man''s hair had returned to a shade of red, with his skin giving off a vibrant heat; it made him impossibly difficult to contend with in close-quarters. ''How troublesome. It''s not just summoning creatures or removing concepts¨Che can infuse himself with them as well,'' Sirius thought. Without his lightning, he rushed in with only reinforcement, which still boasted an incredibly amount of power, however¨C "Burn!" Maximusmanded. An enormous st of radiant figure shot towards Sirius, cutting him off from his assault and forcing the man to flip back. As Siriusnded, he found mes clinging to his coat, patting them out as he let out an annoyed sigh from behind his lips. "Phoenix," Maximus said, "How do you like it?" "Honestly, it''s pretty annoying," Sirius responded with a smirk, "but it won''t be an issue for me." Getting pumped up, the magenta-eyed man yanked on the cor of his coat before tossing it off of his bodypletely, leaving himself only in his in, ck shirt. "I''ll give you the ''Sirius Stormheart'' special¨Cwith or without my lightning," Sirius challenged with a smile. "Go ahead," Maximus epted, "I''m waiting." It was easier said than done to actually challenge the infuriating figure inbat, considering the lethal heat that surrounded Maximus like a fog of fire. The temperature itself wasn''t the only issue; the suffocating nature of it made gaining any distance towards Maximus unlikely. Still, these conditions were only applicable to normalbatants. To Sirius Stormheart, these handicaps only brought an excited smile across his lips as he weed the challenge. ''I''m limited right now, and the enemy knows that. He made it sound like he was picked to take on both Emilio and I because hepletely shuts down our systems. While that may be true, it means something else¡­I have an advantage of my own. He''s confident he has us locked down, but he doesn''t know a damn thing about what I''m really capable of!'' Sirius thought. Taking in a deep breath, Sirius set his eyes on the fire-conjuring figure that sat in the center of the extraordinary heat, summoning an unseen force that surrounded his body like a thinyer of armor. "Void Skin." ''I haven''t had much practice with this one, and it''s difficult to maintain while moving. He won''t expect it, though¨Cthat''s my edge,'' Sirius thought. As he rushed forward, running straight for the imprable mist of flesh-melting fire, a grin stretched across Maximus'' lips at the seemingly desperate, thoughtless n. "I was told you were an arrogant fellow, but do you really believe your reinforcement alone will save you from the heat of a Phoenix?" Maximus asked. "Just watch me!" Sirius smiled, rushing in and delving straight into the crimson mist. It was a pivotal moment for both him and his opponent, dashing into the "No Man''s Land" as he awaited whether he''d feel his skin burning away from his bone or not. To his delight¨Cthere was no heat felt past the unseen enchantment around his body. "What¨C?!" Maximus reacted in shock. The expression worn on the sky-wielding man''s face was a delectable sight for Sirius, who enjoyed smashing that ss confidence, dashing straight through the Phoenix''s wall of mes without being harmed in the slightest. ''"Void Skin" is a spatial magic spell and one of the ultimate defenses avable among all elements. It''s an incredible pain in the ass to maintain, but while it''s up¨CI''m virtually untouchable! Around my skin, a smallyer of stagnant space prevents anything from reaching me¨Cwhether it''s physical, gaseous, or even magical in nature,'' Sirius thought. Such a powerful defense came with its own price though¨CSirius had to calcte every movement he made, having to fine tune the thinyer of space around his body with each movement, no matter how minuscule. Piercing through the veil of fire, Sirius dashed forward with swiftness, cocking his fist pack as he infused it with the bulk of his reinforcement, bolstering it further with a spatial spell as total darkness warped around his fist: "Horizon Fist." ''Dragon Scales!'' Maximus invoked. Around Maximus'' body, bright-silver scales shielded his body as he raised his arms just as Sirius'' warped fist mmed against his forearms. ''Go ahead and try to defend against it,'' Sirius smirked. Though the initial impact was endured, the dense darkness around Sirius'' fist expelled into a shock wave that aggressively vibrated against the figure, shattering the protective scales. The secondary impact caused the man''s torso to be caved by the blow, crushing against his ribs. "Nngah¨C!" Maximus spit out. ''"Horizon Fist" creates a virtual density around my hand, allowing me to punch dozens¨Cor even hundreds¨Cof times above my normal weight ss,'' Sirius thought. "Don''t tell me you thought I was nothing without my lightning?" Sirius asked confidently, raising his fist as the dense darkness hummed around it, "Try not to insult me like that." Maximus stumbled back, huffing as he held his chest, which bruised quickly from the ultra-dense blow. "...I expected some resistance from you. But, I admit, you''ve surpassed my expectations¨Cthat just means I''ll have to crush you with even more power," Maximus threatened. As the High Table member of the Children of Chaos released such words, the sharpened instincts of Sirius suddenly spiked, telling his body to put distance between himself and his opponent. Confident he may be, Sirius didn''t ignore his instincts, jumping back just as a change overcame Maximus. The man''s hair darkened before his skin suddenly shifted into a mystical blue; the clothes he wore altered, wearing only baggy, ck pants. "Djinn!" Maximus invoked, infusing himself with the extraordinary concept. ''Did he say "Djinn"? That can be trouble,'' Sirius thought. Standing on the teau of clouds, Sirius watched as the now blue-skinned figure shapeshifted, increasing his height dozens of times over, manifesting extra limbs that stretched out like ropes, attempting to snatch him up. "Hah! Not happening!" Sirius yelled out, hopping and flipping away from the continuous attempts to grab him. Maximus'' voice boomed as his lower half seemed to merge with the surrounding clouds, bing a colossal figure as his sky-blue limbs almost seemed to infuse with the sky itself, "Helpless Stormheart, let me show you a true storm!" The bright, almost peaceful sky suddenly darkened as gloomy clouds emerged like an army of darkness marching upon thend; thunder rumbled and lightning struck all around. ¨C Stillbating the dragon, Emilio found himself taken aback by the sudden change in atmosphere, looking around as rain pelted against his gemstone armor. ''I hope Sirius is holding his own,'' Emilio thought. Though he had his own safety to worry about as he flew around the dragon''s relentless attacks, finding it difficult to counterattack on the beast''s natural turf. To him, it reminded him of games he used to y in his previous life¨Cspaceship battlers, having to evade speeding bullets and such¨Chowever, this time, it was all too real. ¨C Bolts of golden lightning struck down, aiming for Sirius, though the excitable man freely dodged them, having to stay on his toes as not a single moment was given to rest. "Reality is mine to bend in this realm while I use the power of the Djinn!" Maximus boomed, "I wish upon great gravity!" The booming words of the transformed man caused an inexplicable pressure to weigh down on Sirius amidst his evasions from the lighting. "¡ª!" Though the gravity was a mere tenfold more, it felt like, the split second of confusion it caused before he could adjust led Sirius to being wide -open: ZAP. "Ngh!" Sirius winced as he was struck by one of the mighty bolts, hitting his arms with enough force to blow him back. It was a new feeling¨Cto be on the other end of such incredible voltage; it surged through his body, causing his muscles to twitch, but Sirius remained on his feet with an unmoving air of confidence. "I can''t tell if you''re incredibly arrogant or just unequally stupid," Maximus boomed, floating among the gloomy clouds in his gigantified, [Djinn] form. "Find out," Sirius responded. Those words of provocation stirred up a rage upon the sapphire-skinned figure in the sky as Maximus spread his arms, weaving wrathful clouds around the sky-high teau. "I will punish your arrogance¨Chere and now¨Cif I must take back only your corpse as a catalyst, then so be it!" Maximus'' voice boomed, infused with the thunder itself, "I wish upon an almighty cataclysm!" As Sirius stood his ground, he looked up, finding not only a barrage of lightning bolts descending, but plummeting meteors, raining down hellfire upon the skies: aplete cataclysm. ''So, that''s how it works, huh? I wasn''t sure of it before, but now¨CI think this has a fair shot; one-in-ten, maybe? No point in holding it back, then!'' Sirius thought. Sirius looked up as the hellish volley of lightning and meteors descended, not shying away as he stood up straight, looking straight towards the man who possessed the power of a Djinn. "Hey, genie! I wish upon our systems being returned!" Sirius called out, allowing his voice to be carried even past the cataclysmic storm. Chapter 446 Victory Fanfare ? "Hey, genie! I wish upon our systems being returned!" Sirius called out, allowing his voice to be carried even past the cataclysmic storm. Immediately, such an impossible request caused Maximus to pause, "You can''t¨C?!" Sparkles fluttered through the storm as the Djinn''s supernatural body flickered, subconsciously meeting the requested wish. Sparks of electricity began stuttering around Sirius'' body, reawakening into a full surge of lightning around his body. "Oh, yes I can!" Sirius smirked. ''It''s as I guessed, or rather¡­I hoped¨Cthe "wishing" is granted through a conscious invocation¨Cit doesn''t need to be verbal, only registered through thought. So, just putting the thought of wishing our systems back worked,'' Sirius thought. There wasn''t a second wasted by Sirius as the yful man now got serious for the first time, readying himself as the air around him changedpletely, causing even Maximus to hesitate. ''He''s¨Cwhat is this feeling? The air is¡­charged?'' Maximus thought. Around the Stormheart''s body, electricity scaled every inch of him, drawing upon an armor forged of a pitch-ck and magenta, crystalline material, forged seamlessly as a superb armor. The design of it looked like that of a knight, personified as a storm itself with a sharp, sleek helmet. The cape that flowed down Sirius'' back was a cloak of lightning itself; his fists were engulfed in this abundant, magenta electricity, bursting with seemingly boundless power. All of the cataclysmic power raining down was overridden by a bright-purple storm, infusing the air and clouds with mystical lightning that burst onto the atmosphere like a rapid torrent. [Stormheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 10/10 | Godkilling Tempest] ''I''ll finish this before he can remove our systems again. He''s unskilled, but his ability is almost divine in nature¨CI''ll have to ess "that" speed to end it fast enough,'' Sirius thought. The mere presence alone of the tenth stage Stormheart rippled throughout the world of Skyborne Rhapsody, stirring up uncontroble winds as if the entirety of the created world was within the spiral of a disastrous tornado. "Th-that power¡­!" Maximus muttered in shock. It was the reaction that Sirius had banked on; that single second was pivotal, all relying on how Maximus reacted to the actions taken by the Stormheart. Only a single second would''ve been needed for the wielder of Skyborne Rhapsody to remove his power again, however, that second had passed. ''...Alright, let''s do this¡­'' Sirius thought. Taking off, the scenery around him warped; the sky twisted and contorted, as if folding two papers over one another. At full speed, he took off, however, he did not charge directly towards Maximus, instead bypassing the limitations of space altogether. Folding space and creating his own wormholes like a perfect track for himself, he took off, bing a blur of light that encircled the world of Skyborne Rhapsody. It felt as though everything hade to a stop; Emilio halted, feeling his draconic power regained, though his attention was upied by the ring hum that apanied the lines of light wrapping around the sub-world. ''Sirius¡­He either cks off or way overdoes it,'' Emilio thought. What was happening could barely be described as "speed", but something else altogether¨Ca fundamental abuse of thews of physics itself as Sirius continuously bolted from wormhole-to-wormhole. This infinite repetition led to infinite velocity; passing through horizons and zooming around the sub-world enough to seem like a continuous line of light. ''More¡­! More! I need to finish it in one blow¨Call within a second!'' Sirius thought. Passing through thresholds of space made by his own mastery of the mythical element, he felt his physical body dismantling, leaving only his consciousness guiding him as a stream of electricity, warping around the entirety of Skyborne Rhapsody. [Time psed: -0.02] [Time psed: ¡­-0.003] [Time psed:.....-0.00016] With each rotation through the wormholes he set around the perimeter of the sky-forged world, the more he ovepped the flow of time itself, beginning to reverse it through the abnormal levels of speed he obtained. A void of nothingness¡ªdeprived of sound, upied only by the faint sparks of outside realms; this was the hyperspace that Sirius flung himself through. ''Stay together. Concentrate¡ªdon''t¡­fall apart!'' Sirius thought. It felt as though his body was metal and powerful mas pulled from every angle, attempting to tear him apart into thousands of pieces. In order to ess such transcendent speed, he couldn''t be a singr form of physical mass, instead bing strands of energy itself during this time. [Time psed:...0.00001] A careful bnce had to be struck; a teetering of two lines, so easily crossed, yet held the difference of life-and-death, victory-and-defeat, by that boundary. This bnce was the threshold of time itself; if he went too far back, by just a few seconds, the wish that returned his system would be reversed. Thus, he had to control every facet of the uncontroble; stabilize the unstable¨Cmaster that which has never been done before. [Time psed:....-0.8] [Time psed:....-0.98] The world of Skyborne Rhapsody began peeling apart under the sheer throttle of the Stormheart''s infinite momentum being built. With each further increase in velocity, skyrocketing with every inch gained through the boundless momentum, the mass behind Sirius rose in tandem, boiling into his fist as he readied himself. A hum filled the sky world, picking up as the man reached his maximum speed, opening one more wormhole in front of him that led directly to the djinn-transformed figure. ''It''s ready¨Cdon''t worry, I only built up enough momentum to only barely NOT kill you!'' Sirius thought. [Time psed:....-0.9999999] ["Principle Fist of Space and Time: The Strike That Pierced Through The Cosmos"] Ascended from any spell, what was created was a perfect unison of magecraft and the power of a system¨Ca soul-forged bond of two, inherent abilities that could only be brought forth by one with a one-in-ten million talent: Sirius Stormheart. Breaching through the final wormhole, he blitzed through it as an unstoppable stream of light, reforging his physical form in that moment as his knuckles were thrust forward with unequaled force behind them. Lightning scattered around like a world-enveloping arc, encircling the sky world and turning the horizon into a shining beacon of magenta. For a moment, so brief that it fell between the passage of nanoseconds, everything had contorted; the sub-world condensed itself in front of the man''s reality warping fist, locked behind such abuse of the fundamentalws of reality, however¨C It had worked. The immediate impact parted all surroundings clouds, pushing away the falling rain and dispersing the stormpletely. So much momentum behind the blow¨Ca density not unlike that of a world being mmed into another; that''s the fist that struck the wielder of Skyborne Rhapsody. "Wha¨C" From one second to the next, Emilio witnessed the dragon chasing him disappear before a massive sound resounded through the entirety of Skyborne Rhapsody¨CBOOOOOOM. It was the punch of none other than the self-proimed "Strongest Adventurer"--a title proven undoubtedly in that moment. ¨C "Uuuungh¡­!" The world-shaking blow rippled through the colossal djinn, forcing Maximus to spit out as his body deted like a balloon picked by a needle. What was once a grand, wish-granting form, was now just that of the thin, silver-haired man. It all crumbled away, burning away like an ignited room of paper as the sky world returned them to the original room they had entered. "Woah," Emilio let out, finding himself standing on the hardwood floors again, surprised by the jarring return. Sirius brushed the steam from his fist, allowing the lightning armor to disappear from his body, looking at the silver-haired figure that had crashed against the wall with a now fractured face, "That was a fun one." "What did you do? I mean¡­How did you do that?" Emilio asked, realizing their systems were returned, and against all odds, a one-sided victory was achieved. "That''s a secret," Sirius smiled before focusing again, "Alright¨Cshould we send this guy back to the others?" "Right. Yeah," Emilio nodded, stepping forward. The silver-haired, high-ranking member of the nefarious organization was knocked unconscious by the unparalleled blow, slumped against the wall and drooling blood. ''He''s definitely not waking up for a long time,'' Emilio thought. He held the golden ring around his finger against the chest of Maximus, invoking the words needed to activate its unique effect, "Seraphheart: Capture." A radiant light wrapped around the unconscious figure, binding him before a brief portal opened, allowing the knocked-out man to be sent directly to the Cerulean Keep. "All done," Emilio stood back up, breathing out, "Bastian said he''d know when I used that. So, he''ll take care of the rest now." Sirius smiled, slinging his arm around the Dragonheart''s shoulders, "Sounds good. So, now that our mission isplete¨Cshall we partake in the joys of ''Party City''?" Over the course of the wild encounter with their target, he had forgotten about the deal he made with Sirius, not focusing on the entricities of his partner previously. A small sigh left his lips as he gave in, "Fine. I did agree to that, didn''t I?" "You sure did," Sirius chuckled. After aplishing the task of abducting the main supplier of the Children of Chaos, Emilio looked around the exuberant room for a bit, seeingvish paintings on disy along the walls and furniture of rich fabric and wood. "I wonder what''ll be done with all of this stuff," Emilio wondered out loud, "I assume that people from that organization will show up at some point and take everything here." Sirius thought about it before putting his hand to his chin, rubbing it with a sneaky smile, "If that''s the case, why don''t we indulge ourselves?" Chapter 447 Tavern Shenanigans Ensue ? Sirius thought about it before putting his hand to his chin, rubbing it with a sneaky smile, "If that''s the case, why don''t we indulge ourselves?" He already expected this kind of thought process from Sirius, though it was another thing altogether to have his own expectations be met in such a way. A small smile appeared on his lips, "Well, we''ll need some spending cash while we''re here, right? I''m sure coins are a necessity to have fun in this so-called ''Party City''." Sirius nodded, "Well, you can certainly have fun without spending a single throne, but¡­I wouldn''t rmend it. That''s not the real way to experience Party City¨Cno, no, no. We need some real cash." "Alright, then. What should we take in that case? I bet these paintings are a fortune," Emilio remarked, looking around at therge, highly-sophisticated paintings. It seemed that Sirius already had his sights set on something in the room, or at least, had a decent idea of what he was looking for as he began rummaging through the drawers. "Paintings won''t do," Sirius told him. "Why not?" Emilio asked. "While you''re right in thinking that these paintings might be able to fetch a mountain of coins, the problem is that it can take weeks, or maybe months to actually find an interested buyer," Sirius exined, "We''re looking for quick, hard cash, my friend." An eyebrow was raised by Emilio after hearing the exnation and watching the man searching through thevish room without much regard for its cleanliness¨Ctossing entire drawers out and discarding worthless objects. ''It feels like¡­he''s done this before. He''s way too ready to ransack this ce, and optimally, at that. Is this what he does on his quests? Ransacks the homes of wanted criminals and targets? I can''t say it exactly seems like something he wouldn''t do,'' Emilio thought. "Jackpot!" Sirius suddenly called out excitedly. Hearing the celebratory exmation from hispanion, he walked closer, seeing what Sirius had found. From an ivory-and-gold trunk beneath the bed, the contents were found to be a plethora of jewelry and raw, rare gemstones. "...Holy crap, that''s a fortune," Emilio quietly remarked. "We''re going to be kings in Party City, my friend!" Sirius beamed, picking up a dozenvish jewels into his hands with excitement. There seemed to be every sort of exuberant essory: sapphires, rubies, emeralds, diamonds, and even ck pearls¨Csome of these incredibly valuable gems were ced into just as valuable relics. "I guess this chest was his backup n, huh?" Emilio asked. Sirius stood up, flipping the lid over on the chest as he hoisted it with him, "Either way, it''s ours now. Let''s start pawning these babies off." "Jewelry like that is the best way to make money, isn''t it?" Emilio asked. Sirius nodded, "It''s incredibly valuable and has a high demand¨Cthere are countless merchants in a city like this that''ll take these off of our hands while filling our pockets. He-he-he¡­" There was almost a sleazy side to Sirius when it came to the art of ransacking-and-pawning, though for the moment, Emilio felt it was at least one of the more tolerable aspects of the man. Leaving the hideout, the two explored the city, though it was mostly him following and watching Sirius as he visited multiple shops¨Chaggling merchants for the jewels in his possession. "Two thrones is the best I can do," the stocky, red-bearded merchant assured. That offer wasn''t taken for a moment by Sirius, who mmed his fist down against the ck-wood desk of the shop while holding up the sapphire ne, "This is DEFINITELY worth at least seven thrones! I''d know¨Cmy father owns the greatest gem mines in this continent!" While wondering if such a im was the truth for a second, it was quickly found not to be by Emilio as he nced at the man, receiving a cheeky wink from Sirius as if silently saying "Go along with it". "I can advocate for that¨Cactually, my expertise as a world-ss adventurer is relic hunting," Emilio stepped forward, "That sapphire right there? Guess where it came from?" The merchant was taken aback by the question, hesitating for a moment as he rubbed his chin while getting a closer look at the exuberant, blue gem as if trying to figure it out. "Urrrm¡­an ancient tomb?" The merchant guessed. "The den of a great dragon," Emilio corrected him. "A-a dragon!?" The red-bearded man repeated. Sirius instantly recognized what he was going for, adding onto it as he dangled the sapphire ne, "That''s right! We recovered this together¨Cit was a tough fight. They called that beast "Sulfon of The Blue me"--it''s said that this sapphire is the embodiment of his fire." It wasn''t as if he was foreign to the concept of haggling; the "battlefield of coin", as many called it. In every city, town, or vige, marketces existed¨Ca hunting ground for merchants looking to get easy profit over unknowing buyers. ''I''ve had my fair share of "haggle battles" in Yullim. Being a certified adventurer is a pretty good advantage¨Cthough I don''t think the others at the Foundation would appreciate me using my rank like this,'' Emilio thought. "Well, in that case¡­" The merchant grumbled. After spending some time haggling with the stubborn jewelry pawner, the two managed to walk out with aplished smiles on their faces. Splitting the earnings from the sapphire ne, the two each held three thrones in their hand¨Cthe highest tier of coin. It was a venture that spanned across the entire afternoon, with the two acting as a dynamic duo in haggling the merchants of Desim for every coin they would spare for their deals. "What''s that make for our total so far?" Emilio asked. Sirius flipped one of the coins in the air before catching it, looking over at him, "Four hundred thrones and eight hundred crowns." "That''s a helluva lot," Emilio said, "I doubt we''ll need anymore." "Hmm¡­True, true," Sirius rubbed his chin. They each had their own pouches filled to the brim with their share of coins; it was certainly a lot¨Cbarely being able to be stuffed beneath his cloak. ''I''ve been saving money this past year so diligently¡­It''s hard to ept spending all of this, but I guess it''s sort of a bonus. Besides¡­I have a feeling it''ll be a long time before I''ll have the opportunity to settle down,'' he thought. He still didn''t know how he felt about indulging in "Party City", always feeling anxious for the next mission or paranoid of the enemy showing up at any time. Still, he recognized that something like this wasn''t bad for him¨Cperhaps it was exactly what he needed. ''I''ve been constantly on edge since that day. There''s a lot to do¨Cbetween bringing down the Children of Chaos and making sure my friends and family are safe, but¡­I think I need this. A good stress reliever might be nice,'' he thought. "Let''s go! I know a good tavern around here¨Clet''s get our buzz on before the night begins!" Sirius ushered for him to follow. "Sure," Emilio nodded, going with him. It wasn''t a tavern like any he''d seen before; it was three stories high and enormous, yet already filled with many loud, tipsy patrons before the sun had even set. The smell of booze was unavoidable; the air one would breathe seemed as though it was alcohol itself. Emilio sat at a table with Sirius across from him, already a few mugs down each, though both seemed capable of holding their booze. "I took you for a lightweight," Sirius yfully said, swishing his mug around. "Same to you," Emilio responded cheekily before taking a sip of the golden liquid. The atmosphere was loud, but not unwee; patrons cheered and hollered¨Cburly men, whether adventurers, knights, or construction workers¨Call seemed eager to challenge each other in arm wrestling bets. "Seems prettypetitive here," Emilio said as he looked to the side. "Competitive? I guess that''s one way to put it," Sirius said, watching as well. There were a dozen spectators sitting around a table as two men¨Cboth of which seemed brawny and strong in their own right¨Cbattled in a contest of strength with their hands sped. It seemed as though most of the patrons were adventurers, going by theck of uniform their armor had. "Grrr¡­!" "Ghhh¨C!" While both of the men struggled in a stalemate with the left man, who had arge, bushy beard and a stocky build with leather armor, and the man on the right, who wasyered in scars and wore bulky, dark-red armor. "Go! Go! Go!" "One crown on Bujrin!" "I''ve got three on Malik!" From what Emilio could tell by watching from his table, "Bujrin" was the man with sleeveless, dark-brown armor and the ginger beard, while "Malik" was the scarred, bald man who definitely had the advantage in pure height and muscle. "Grrrr¨C!" Bujrin''splexion reddened as his muscles bulked up, putting more strength into it. Malikughed while straining himself as well, keeping his hand from being pushed down, "Give up already¡­!" ¨C "Who do you think has it?" Sirius asked. "Hmm¡­I''d say the bald one. He''s enormous and the bearded guy looks like he''s about at his limit," Emilio spected while taking a sip from his mug. "Wanna bet on it?" Sirius smirked. He should''ve known such a dare wasing from the entric man, though with a few mugs of beer in his system, he didn''t feel opposed to the idea of a fun bet. "Alright, you''re on. I''ll put ten crowns on the big guy," Emilio said, cing down the appropriate wager. The bet was met equally by Sirius, who seemed delighted by his pick, "Great, then I''m rooting for beard-o over there." Chapter 448 Death Arm ? Now that there were some stakes on the oue of the arm wrestling match, it became many times more interesting to watch. Perhaps it was the booze that had already settled into their stomachs, but both of the men found themselves beginning to cheer for their chosenpetitor. "C''mon!" "Get him!" It was almost aical stalemate; both of the men that sped hands hardly budged one way or the other, even whenpletely straining themselves. This prolonged battle led more booze to be drunk and the two to cheer more from their seats, along with the crowd of spectators. "Go! Go! Go!" "Finish him! You''re close!" "Keep fighting!" ¨CTHUD. "Raaaaah!" Finally, one of thepeting arms was mmed against the table: the burly arm belonging to the bald, tallpetitor, leaving the bearded, stocky man victorious. "What¨C?! Arghh¡­" Emilio groaned in disappointment. "Ha-ha," Siriusughed with his small victory, scooping up the wagered coins with a smile, "My win." After losing the bet, Emilio slumped his body against the circr, wooden table, sighing out before finding one of the barmaids arriving beside the table, holding a tray upied by filled mugs of booze. "Here''s your next batch, adventurers! Enjoy!" The silver-haired barmaid smiled, setting down the dozen mugs between the two. "Thanks, cutie," Sirius said, lifting his mug with a wink straight at the barmaid. The youthful, silver-haired barmaid blushed at the obvious flirtation from Sirius, with her pale cheeks tinting with a cherryplexion before nodding, "O-of course!" As the green-and-white uniformed barmaid moved on, Emilio let out a sigh as he looked across the table at his friend. "Really, man?" Emilio raised an eyebrow. "What? Oh, that? Hey¨Cwe''re in Party City, my friend¨Canything goes," Sirius chuckled, taking a sip from his cup of booze. "Like hitting on waitresses? Ehh¡­I''ll pass on that," Emilio remarked, looking over as a new set ofpetitors were arm wrestling again. "You seem pretty invested in the contest going on over there," Sirius noted with a smirk. Taking a sip from his mug, Emilio raised an eyebrow before swallowing the amber liquid, "I mean, yeah¡­What about it?" Sirius leaned across the table, speaking hush-hush to him, "How about you enter? With your strength, it''d be easy money for you~." Another sip was taken from the stomach-warming beer as he let out a quiet sigh, "You''re just trying to get me to join in so you can bet on me, aren''t you?" "I don''t have the faintest clue of what you mean, my friend!" Siriusughed, clearly posing. Thinking about it for a moment, the beer seemed to stir up his own judgment as he found himself standing up from his seat with his sights set on the area of the tavern where the arm wrestling was taking ce. "Oh?" Sirius looked at him. Emilio untied his cloak, tossing it back to Sirius as he stretched his arms to warm up, "I''ll do it." "Oh!" Sirius pped his hands, "Go get ''em! I''ll split my winnings with you~." Walking past tables of drunkards, he approached the back of the first floor of the tavern, where dozens of patrons spectated and bet on those who sat at the table in a contest of strength. "Haah!" THUD The hand of the ginger-beardedpetitor was mmed against the table by a blonde-haired, heavy-armored man, causing a ruckus from the spectators¨Ca mix of cheers and boos between winners and losers. "Woohoo! Who''s next?!" The golden-haired man asked, flexing as he curled both of his biceps. Slipping into the seat across from the reigning defender of the arm wrestling table, Emilio didn''t hesitate as he set his mechanical arm on the table, holding his arm up. "Who''s this guy?" "He doesn''t look all that strong." "Well, I''ve got five crowns on Everstein!" "Count me in! Ten on Everstein!" As he sat there with his arm held up, he definitely felt the atmosphere around him¨Cthat was, he was being severely underestimated by all of the spectators as the bets became incredibly lopsided: ten-to-one, against him. "I''m Emilio, by the way," Emilio introduced himself. "Everstein," his opponent responded. ''Sorry, guy, but now I won''t be taking it easy on you¨CI''m feeling pretty petty now!'' Emilio thought. "I''ve got one hundred crowns on the blonde-and-ck haired one!" ¨COf course, the huge wager came from none other than the magenta-eyedpanion of his, who stepped through the bulk of the spectators with his hand up, holding the coins in his hand. "One hundred?!" "On the purple-eyed guy?" "Your loss!" And of course, the majority of the spectators heckled such a bet, but the small look and gesture that Sirius gave told Emilio one thing: "Win!" Feeling doubted by everybody around him, Emilio didn''t need to be told that as he looked across the table at the man with short, golden hair and bulky, silver armor. "Are we doing this or what?" He challenged. A vein pressed against the man''s forehead as he mmed his elbow down on the table, bringing his hand near his challenger''s, "''Course we are!" He could tell by the way therge, burly man was ncing at his arm continuously: the mechanical limb definitely kept the figure wary. "Want me to use my other arm? I''m fine with either one, you know," Emilio offered. The gesture of pity seemed to invoke frustration from the man as he pped the table a few times before raising his hand again, "I don''t care which hand you use! Let''s just do this!" "Alright," Emilio epted, meeting his hand with the reigning defender¨C"Everstein"--as they sped hands. There was no denying that the man across from him was strong; he could feel it as their hands met¨CEverstein wasn''t a simple mass of brawn, but also possessed an additional strength within him. ''He''s capable of reinforcement¨Cwell, it''s beginner-level at best, but that''s enough to smash through normal people easily. Alright then, it''s fair game then,'' Emilio decided. Acting as the unofficial referee for the contest of strength between those who already had one too many mugs in them, a green-haired, elven woman who looked more like a girl by her petite build stood by the table. "Alright¡­Begin!" The elven woman said, raising her hand. Immediately, the square-jawedpetitor flexed his left arm, gritting his teeth as he pushed against Emilio''s hand without any mercy. On the other end, Emilio opted not to immediately go on the offense, instead keeping his hand perfectly positioned in the same ce as he watched his opponent. "Grhh¨C?!" Everstein grunted, already sweating bullets. ''His arm¡­isn''t moving?!'' Everstein thought. Emilio smiled, "Oh, did you start already?" Try as he might, the heavily-armored man couldn''t budge the Dragonheart''s hand, putting all of his weight down as hisplexion turned red like a tomato, sweating bullets, yet still remained fruitless. ''Guess I won''t embarrass him too long,'' Emilio decided. With a swift movement, he brought his opponent''s hand down against the wooden table, holding back enough as not to smash straight through it. Gasps of awe and bickering came from the spectators, though mainly from those who fortunately bet on the Dragonheart himself: "C''mon! Are ya gonna get mmed like that, Everstein?!" "The weird-haired guy has some power!" "It''s that metal arm!" "What was his name again?" "Emilio!" "Death Arm Emilio!" "Go, Death Arm Emilio!" The amethyst-eyed man didn''t know how to feel about all of the suddenmotion surrounding him, only taking it with a smile and smallugh. ''That nickname is kind of¡­'' He thought. It seemed the crowd was now favoring him, as he was the underdog; there was an evenrger gathering of spectators now, as everybody in therge tavern seemed excited at the new, young prospect. "Heh, ''Death Arm Emilio''--keep it up," Sirius said with a smile, bouncing a sack of coins in his hand that held the sublime amount of winnings he snagged. As Emilio sat there, a thud suddenly mmed against the table as his frustrated opponent took his anger out on the wooden furniture. "Dammit¡­!" Everstein eximed, "You cheated-th-that arm! Something''s up with it!" Emilio raised an eyebrow, "Hey, I asked if you wanted me to use my other arm. If you want a rematch, we can do it. But we''ll just be repeating what happened." The offer he gave was unsurprisingly met with further frustration from the brawny man, who growled like a rabid dog at his loss. By the reddenedplexion and strain of veins on the man''s face, it seemed it would take nothing more than one word to set him over the edge. "You didn''t do too bad, so don''t¡ª" Emilio began to say. Just as he spoke, the entire table was flipped up,unching straight towards him. ''Oh boy, did I go too far?'' He thought. Standing up, he swiftly kicked the table before it collided with him, causing it to flip straight back down onto the ground. Everstein was breathing like a raging bull, exhaling through red nostrils as he stood across from the younger challenger. The spectators didn''t step in, only seeming more excited by the angry turn of events. Of course, Sirius stayed to the side, only watching the encounter with an entertained smile. "Get ''im, Death Arm!" "Smash that sore loser!" "Ten crowns on Death Arm!" It wasn''t hard to guess that events like these weren''t umon in a tavern, especially one so popr and rowdy¡ªeven the barmaids didn''t try to stop it. Chapter 449 The City Of Partying ? The angered, blonde-haired man took a step forward, but immediately stopped as an ominous force was felt like a cold, bitter wind. "Careful now," Emilio warned with a calm smile. It was a deceiving smile, to say the least; coated behind that expression was restrained malice¡ªhoned and mastered; the hot-headed muscle man could sense that much as he paused. "¡ªTch," Everstein clicked his tongue before walking away, pushing past the spectators as he made his league from the tavern. Avoiding an unnecessary fight, Emilio sat back down at the table with a small sigh of relief, fixing his seat as he looked around, "Alright, who''s next?" There was a pause for a minute as he nced around for any takers before a heavy thud rang out with the arrival of a new challenger. Putting his elbow on the table, he greeted the challenger before looking at them, "Let''s have fu¨C" He immediately caught his words in his throat as he looked at the man who was sitting across from him, who ced his muscr arm on the table as well with an excited smile. "Been awhile, Emilio, huh?!" Sitting before him was a familiar man he had not seen in awhile¨Cthat ck-and-silver hair was unique in itself, paired with those golden eyes; if that wasn''t enough, there weren''t many people as tall and muscrly-built as the man before him. "Kintoki?!" Emilio said in surprise. The man smiled, "The one and only! How''ve you been,rade?" "Great¡­Wait, where''s yourpanion? That red-headed woman, I mean," Emilio asked. "Oh, Sumera? She''s in town, but she doesn''t like taverns. The smell makes her sick, ha-ha!" Kintokiughed with booming volume. Reuniting with the man brought a smile across Emilio''s lips, seeing as he never had the chance to say goodbye to him. After a quick reuniting, the match was still bound to happen with bets rolling in quickly. "Fifteen crowns on Death Arm!" "Kintoki looks strong¨CI''ve got twenty on him!" "Two-hundred crowns on Mr. ''Death Arm''," Sirius raised his wager, drawing in gasps from the alcohol-inflicted guests. Noticing therge bet, the green-haired, elven girl who had been acting as the referee seemed to call the man on his ludicrous gambling, "I''ve got two-hundred on Kintoki, then." "Oh~." Sirius looked delighted at the high wager, grinning at the girl. "Hmph," the elf looked away. ¨C "Don''t think I''m going to take it easy on you," Emilio said, sping the man''s hand. "I wouldn''t dream of it!" Kintoki smiled brightly, showing his pearly whites as he gripped Emilio''s hand like an iron vice. Starting the match, the lithe referee raised her hand, "Go!" Immediately, the roars of the crowd began just as both of thepetitive friends began trying to push each other''s hands to the table. There was nothing held back in the immediate push from both of them. "Hff¨C" "Gah!" Emilio found himself struggling to keep up, just slightly being edged out by Kintoki despite using magical reinforcement on himself. One look at Kintoki was enough to tell he was strong, but it was more than that; Emilio was well aware that a supernatural strength inhabited the man''s body. ''He''s strong¨CI should''ve known¡­of course he''d get stronger, too! It''s like a mountain is mming against the side of my hand,'' Emilio thought. Taking in a quick inhale, he bolstered himself as he put forth his maximum reinforcement, beginning to push his opponent''s hand back. The arrival of such aura caused not only the table to rattle, but the floor as well as the nearbynterns swayed. "Woah!" "What''s goin'' on?!" "A tremor?!" Though the spectators were left in shock at the unnatural events taking ce, some seemed aware that this was the cause of such powerhousesing in contact,peting with one another. Kintoki strained, though still smiling as he sweat, "Damn, you''ve gotten strong¡­! Hah!" "That''s not all you''ve got, is it?!" Emilio challenged yfully, oveing the gap as his opponent''s hand was a quarter towards the table. "No way¨C!" Kintoki retaliated. At the same time, they both activated their internal strength, pushing in unison with power that bypassed thews of magecraft. Emilio''s amethyst eyes turned to a draconic blue, while Kintoki''s muscles bulked up and hardened, flooding a golden blood through his veins. [Dragonheart System Activated] [Braveheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 1/10 | Dragon Newt] [Current Stage: 1/10 | Brave Soldier] The newly-birthed sh of supernatural powers caused the table to begin cracking at the seams as it rattled beneath the pressure of such auras. In the face of this, the spectators backed away, giving space to the two as theypeted, going back and forth on who held the advantage. "Hmmm¡­" Sirius held a smile, putting his hand to his chin as he witnessed the over-the-top battle of strength. ''I wonder¡­This Kintoki fellow,'' Sirius thought. After a few minutes of what felt like a stalemate, going back and forth, the first of the two felt their strength faltering to the other¨C "--Ah." It felt as though his strength waspletely swallowed in that split-second, overtaken by his opponent as Emilio found his hand being mmed through the table. The unfortunately-ced table was shatteredpletely under the finishing move of the arm wrestling match. "Winner: Kintoki!" For a moment, the crowd was silent at the shocking contest that had taken ce. It seemed that this hesitance came with an expectation of a fight toe after such an intense sh. However¡ª "Phew! You got me," Emilio smiles, shaking his metallic hand after it got mmed through the table. Kintoki smiled wide, extending his hand with augh, "You got a whole lot stronger! Had me on the ropes there for a second¡ªif we did it again, I don''t know if the oue would be the same." epting the hand of his friend, he shook it with a smile. The total disy of sportsmanship was contagious with the patrons of the tavern, who cheered them both on. Still, in his mind, he knew that the golden-eyed man was only being nice to him. ''That''s not true. Ten times out of ten, he''d win. I felt it at the end¡ªhe was holding back most of his strength. Physically, I''ve never felt a reservoir of raw strength like his. Just what is he?'' Emilio questioned. ¡ª Sighing out, Sirius handed over his wager, "Looks like I lost. Oh well." Snatching up her winnings, the elf woman smirked, "Of course you did. After such a clear cut defeat, Emilio decided not to try again and call an end to his short career in arm wrestling. Though it wasn''t a scot free endeavor¡ªbefore Sirius and himself could leave the tavern, one of the barmaids called him out. "Hey! The other one left, so you have to pay for that table!" The woman yelled. "Urrgg¡­" He groaned. Looking around for Kintoki, the burly man was already long gone from the establishment of alcohol. ''He''s a total dine-and-dasher!'' Emilio thought. Fortunately, a table wasn''t much of arge fee to cover, so he handed over the coins before exiting the establishment alongside his friend. Stepping onto the front porch of the tavern with a clear look as the bustling city, night had crept up on them. "Huh, it''s alreadyte, isn''t it?" Emilio remarked. Sirius had his hands slid into his pockets with a smile, "Are you kidding? This is when Party City starts waking up." "...Hm," Emilio nced over at him, wondering what was next on the agenda of his entricpanion. "What to do, what to do~," Sirius yfully asked himself while tapping his own chin. Now that they both have a bit of booze in their stomachs, the gateways were opened for a night at Party City. Still, despite how anxious he was about the nefarious organization, Emilio felt that a leisurely break like this was direly needed. "How about a brothel?" Sirius offered his idea with a smile. "A wha¨C? What?!" Emilio reacted surprised at the out-of-nowhere suggestion. Sirius chuckled, pping him on the back yfully a few times, "You and Celly are getting closer by the day¨CI bet it won''t be long till you two are happy doves of love. However, for now¡­before all of thatmitment, this might be yourst chance to have some fun, my friend." "I''m not¨Chmm¡­" Emilio stopped himself, thinking. Standing near the tavern still, it felt as though two sides of his mind were at war with one another: the rational side and the excited side of his brain. It wasn''t as though he was intentionally considering Celly, though when brought up by Sirius, he did feel that was his natural continuation. Still, he was a young man who had just reached adulthood¨Cthe prospect of a brothel was certainly something that was heard by him. ''...All throughout my journey to be a world-ss adventurer, that was one of my goals. I was a kid full of hormones. Now, I''m a man¨Cbut I''m still the same!'' He thought. After a few moments of indecisiveness, he spoke out to the man beside him, looking up towards the moon, "Sirius." "Yeah?" "Let''s do it," Emilio admitted. Sirius smirked, "Atta boy! C''mon then¨Cit''s party time!" The nature of Party City definitely wasn''t anything exaggerated by Sirius; as he followed the man through the streets, they were even more lively under the veil of the night sky and stars. Street performers were out in full, with clowns juggling knives and breathing fire, and beast tamers acting out tricks with behemoths and remarkable beasts. Hanging above the streets, attached between buildings, were enchanted, folded papers that were inscribed with simple magic that gave them an orange glow, providing light to the nightly, busy streets. "Wow, it''s a dozen times more busy than it was during the afternoon," Emilio remarked. Chapter 450 Perspective Of The Unfortunate ? "Wow, it''s a dozen times more busy than it was during the afternoon," Emilio remarked. "I told you. This city never sleeps¨Cit''s always lively like this throughout the night." Sirius said, "Get this: Desim has the lowest crime rate of all cities in Vasmoria. Can you believe that?" Emilio shook his head, "No, are you serious? A whole city being drunk kind of spells out disaster¨Chow''s that the opposite case here?" Sirius smiled, "Turns out that when everybody is on the same page, there isn''t a whole lot of animosity. Don''t get me wrong¨Cthere''s a fight here and there. Thing is, the punishments are pretty strict if youmit a crime." "Like what?" As he responded with a question, he found himself passing by a clown dressed in blue-and-red, who was performing a series of flips off of stationary objects while simultaneously juggling ming swords. Drunkards around the performer cheered and tossed coins into the tip jar, happily cheering on the clown. "At minimum, you''ll be exiled from Desim. Worse than that, you can get yourself exiled from Vasmoria entirely if you''re not originally from here. At worst? They''ll execute you." Thatst part caught him off-guard, seeming more like a dark joke considering the lively, happy-go-lucky state of the "Party City" they were in. "Execution? Sounds a bit extreme if you ask me," Emilio said. "Well, that''s just an extreme case¨Cusually if somebodymits a crime against the wrong person. Still, it keeps everybody in check," Sirius told him. "You sure know a lot about this city." "''Course I do. I''m a party animal myself," Sirius winked. Ignoring the remark he found stupid, he followed the man until they arrived in front of an establishment that stuck out like a sore thumb, even in the entertainment-driven city. A host of shing lights, supplemented by gemstones, brought focus to the business that was made out of scarlet stone and enticing with a velvet carpet stretching out of the entrance. On the front, the sign for the establishment presented its time: "Star Paradise Inn." "This is¡­" Emilio began to say, starting to regret agreeing to this. "This is it!" Sirius excitedly said. "You know, on second thought¡­" Emilio chuckled wryly, trying to turn around. Sirius was quick to grab his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks, "Oh, no you don''t, my friend!" "But¨C" "Tonight is a night of gratification and splendor, friend of friends!" Sirius told him, moving his hand as if presenting the over-the-top brothel as something akin to utopia, "You''ve saved humanity your fair share of times, no? It''s time to take a night for yourself and take action!" It was hard to reject the enticing offer being ced before him as Sirius spoke directly to the devil on his shoulder, tapping his chest as he spoke. "Fine, fine, I get what you''re saying," Emilio finally caved in to the offer before him. "d to hear it," Sirius said, casually entering the establishment. A few seconds of hesitation brought pause to Emilio as he looked at the open entrance to "Star Paradise Inn" before finally entering. Just as he stepped past the threshold to the brothel, he found himself immediately greeted by an aroma; the smell of burning incense, filling the premises with a smoky, but sweet fragrance. "Wee, gentleman, to ''Star Paradise Inn''. I am Cynthia, your hostess for tonight. What''re you looking for today?" ¨CGreeting them was a hostess with long, wavy hair of a hazel shade, wearing a velvet dress that didn''t do much to hide her cleavage. By all ounts, she was a beautiful woman, by her golden-tan skin and sparkling, blue eyes. ''Woah,'' Emilio thought, taken aback. Sirius answered the hostess, pointing to his friend beside him, "This is his first time at a brothel. He''s a bit green with thedies, if you catch my drift." "Sirius¨C!" Emilio called out, embarrassed by thepletely brutal truth spouted from his friend''s lips. Cynthia smiled and nodded, "Is that so? Well, my girls will take good care of him then." Just then, a small group of women walked into the room, all wearing dresses that didn''t do much to hide their goods; one was an elf, and another seemed to be a demon¨Cthough all were beautiful. The hostess stepped close to him, looking him up and down as Emilio found his cheeks heating up from the unexpected proximity to the busty woman. "What''s your name, young man?" Cynthia asked with a smile, speaking with avender softness to her voice. He gulped, "Emilio." "Emilio? That''s a cute name for a fine young stallion like yourself," Cynthia said. Even after facing countless horrors and life-or-death battles that hardened one''s nerves into steel, nothing could''ve prepared him for this moment. "So, what is it you''d like to do?" Cynthia asked, "¡­or would you like me to take the lead?" There was no amount of magical reinforcement or no such spell that could protect his virgin mind from the forwardness of the hostess as she smiled up at him. Giving him a moment to consider, the hostess moved into the hall, gesturing for him to follow before disappearing down its length. Stunned with indecisiveness for a moment, as he looked at the hall, all he could see was somebody else. There was nobody he himself was obligated to be faithful to, yet, for some reason, he felt that following the alluring hostess would be a betrayal. ''I want to. At least, I thought I did. Going about it this way just feels¡­wrong. It''s not what I want,'' he thought. Looking down at his own hand for a moment, he knew what the answer was¨C He left the establishment after some hesitation, exiting through the front entrance. Sitting down on a bench beside the building, he watched the busy streets as crowds of people passed by. ''I guess maybe I was so desperate for it before because I thought it would "validate" me as a person in some way¨Cas if I had something to prove. That, and the hormones. But now, I''ve got nothing to prove. I can wait¨Cafter all, I''ve waited over thirty years now¨Cit''s kind of scary when I think of my life experience that way though,'' he thought. After waiting a few minutes and finding that hispanion had yet to return from his "adventure", he decided to look around the streets of Desim to pass the time. Despite how loud the city streets were, he found himself able to think clearly while walking without any sort of destination in mind. ''It''s not like I deserve any kind of self-gratifying happiness. Not yet. Once I know everybody is safe, once my enemies are dealt with, then maybe¡­maybe I can rest. Until then, I''ll keep fighting. This is why I chose this second life¨CI have a strong, capable body¨Cone I can use not just for myself. I don''t need to be a burden on others,'' he thought. Though his thoughts led to vengeance, what he felt was more akin to a protectiveness towards those dear to him. What drove his resolve was not revenge, nor the satisfaction from acting it out; in the worn, tired eyes of the young man, what existed in those amethyst irises was a wish not to lose anything else. It was a hopeful wish, like that of a child, but he entrusted it to himself with every ounce of his being. ''After dying and experiencing whates after death, my perspective on the value of life has changed. The After is a depressing ce¨Cit''s where dreams die and people are forgotten; sentenced to an eternity of nothingness. I''ll keep them from that as long as I can,'' he decided. While stuck in his own thoughts, he had spaced out, onlying back into focus as he found himself standing in a public garden, looking upon a giant, thick tree that sprouted mystical, sapphire leaves. Gently gliding down was the pollen of the sublime leaves; like a sweet nectar, the particles of mana met the grass below like raindrops, soaking into the healthy soil. ''I learned a long time ago that this world is real. I always knew it deep down, even when I didn''t have any concrete answers. Even with magic itself, woven from seeming impossibilities, reality itself is unavoidable. That''s what I''ve learned¨Cthere''s no escaping it. I have to confront it,'' he thought. Standing beneath the tree of sapphire leaves as the gentle pollen of mana danced down like snowkes, he manipted the tangible mana into a new form; changing its shapeless existence into a bunny made of dark-blue energy. Moving his hand, he cast the ethereal bunny into the air, transforming it into a sparrow that flew upward, disappearing into the sky. Manipting mana was something as simple as breathing to him, weaving the cascading energy into different shapes with nothing more than subtle movements of his finger. Allowing the pollen to fall upon his head and shoulders as he sat down in front of the tree in thought, he thoughtlessly morphed the mana into critters of the forest; squirrels and foxes sat on his shoulders as he rested. ''Even after everything I''ve learned, it seems like I have no choice but to keep growing. I have to step up to the challenge,'' he thought. Chapter 451 The Botanist ? Sitting there with the quietness of his own thoughts, something caught the corner of his eye; between a grouping of trees, he saw something move. He didn''t sense anybody else in the garden until that moment, getting up as he found himself following the briefly seen silhouette. Though he had no idea why he felt so drawn into pursuing the mysterious figure, passing by the trees as he walked through the grass, for some reason, it made the ursed right eye heat up. ''This feeling¡­It''s familiar. I don''t like it very much,'' he thought. As he passed through the trees, he left the bounds of the Desim garden, entering a new section of the city that was surprisingly quiet and empty. There was a single shop hidden behind the wall of trees beyond the threshold of the garden; a simple, small establishment that looked like a wooden lodge at first nce, but was a shop indeed. "Hm," he nced around. It was odd that there was just the one, single store, tucked away behind the public garden. There was no doubt it would be impossible to find if he didn''t stumble upon it, seeing as the many trees hid it away. There were a few nts sitting on the window sills of the shop, inhabiting soft-orange pots. Of course, it became clear what sort of establishment it was¨Ca florist shop. ''When I look at this ce, my eye¡­it gets warmer,'' he thought, covering his right eye for a moment. Approaching the front of the shop, there wasn''t any way to actually look in, as potted nts on the other side of the windows obscured any view and the door itself waspletely made out of wood. Deciding to go ahead and enter the shop, he turned the handle and opened the door as it released a small jingle. "--" Entering the shop, he let the door close on its own as he entered, immediately taken by surprise by the fresh, natural air residing within the florist shop. There were dozens, if not hundreds of potted nts, each being unique in their own right; flowers that bore bright-blue petals, and some of a fiery red shade. "Hello?" He called out to anybody in the shop. It was an odd shop; some of the nts were "alive"--more than the bare minimum definition of living. He passed by some nts that swayed and moved their vines like limbs. "Wee, Dragonheart." Just as he passed by the shelves of lively nts, his guard was raised by the voice that spoke his surname, causing his hand to instantly reach towards his sword. "Calm yourself. Do you sense any hostility?" A man spoke with a voice as soft as silk, yet it hardly felt weing. After pausing for a moment, Emilio rxed his guard as he got a better look at the owner of the florist shop, who was tending to a potted nt. The owner had soft, almost transparent, white hair with pale skin and light-gray eyes. There was something oddly familiar about the man, though he swore he''d never seen him. It was a feeling; one that exemplified itself as he found his right eye heating up again. "Nnh¡­" Emilio quietly grimaced, covering his eye. ''My eye¡­It''s reacting to this guy¡ªwhy?'' Emilio questioned. "That eye does not deceive you," the florist spoke softly, "You know who I am." Standing there for a moment, he didn''t want to take a guess as it felt all too unbelievable. After a minute, he finally uttered out the name he was afraid of cementing into reality: "¡­Adam," Emilio guessed. The only confirmation was no response from the white-haired florist, who continues watering the nts by his desk. Emilio was taken aback that his guess was right, "Why''re you here? How¡ªin this form, are you..?" The presence of the Primordial in the form of a mortal was nothing short of worrying to Emilio. Despite the tranquil nature of the shop with the subtle, translucent man calmly tending to his menagerie of nts, it was a concerning sight. "Worry not. I did not possess the man you see before you. This entire shop and myself, in fact, are an extension of my original being. I''ve created it to reach out to you," Adam assured him. "Then what is it?" Emilio asked impatiently. "You''re running out of time, Dragonheart," Adam told him, speaking with utter truth in his damning words. "¡­Running out? For what?" Emilio sounded worried. Adam walked around, rolling up the sleeves of his buttoned-up, snow-white shirt as he moved some pots around, "Those troublesome worshippers¡ªthe Children of Chaos. Ah, it''s a bit misleading to refer to them as such." "What''re you talking about? What do you know about them?" "Careful now. You know better than anyone that my knowledgees with a price¡ªfor now, I''d hold your questions lest you''d like to begin paying," Adam warned him. Those words quickly reminded him of what he lost as he looked at his mechanical arm, gulping before nodding as he listened quietly. Adam watched him before continuing, "Good. What I meant to say is, the Children of Chaos are not a simple cult. It would be more appropriate to call them an army of a kingdom; one of a hierarchy and rtionships with othernds." While talking, the mortal-assuming Primordial added fresh soil to a pot that held crimson spider lilies. Emilio watched the figure carefully, engrossed in whatever knowledge he was willing to part with. "I''m sure you''re aware of it by now, but they''ve obtained the favor of a number of Primordials. It''s not all of them, though; many of us are against this partnership," Adam exined, "¡ªThere''s no singr reason for those for or against it. For me, humans should not weaponise such powers; not at this scale." "So, we''ve got amon enemy then?" Emilio asked. "You can say that," Adam responded, "That brings me to why I brought you here¡ªI have a proposal; a method in which you can gain the power necessary tobat that organization." From the mouth of Adam, such words weren''t exaggerated; whatever it was, Emilio was listening closely. The many nts that made the shop feel more like a garden itself, seemed to sway as Adam continued. "You have to be a ''sage''," the white-haired figure told him with his index finger held up. "A ''sage''?" "One bes a Sage through apletion of painstaking, arduous trials. Only one obtaining the favor of one of the Four Great World Spirits are you recognized as a sage. As a result, you will be vastly more powerful," Adam exined. As if presenting this offer, the mortal-assuming figure snapped his fingers as a small scale pot representing an ecosystem morphed itself. The diorama of nature switched between a thunderstorm, a hellishndscape of fire and ash, a turbulent valley of stone, and a swirling sea. "You''ll need to reach the sacred Ind of The Grand to begin this journey¡ªhowever, reaching it is a trial in itself: any boats will be crushed by the warding sea and the sky will breathe away any that approach," Adam informed him. "Then how¡ª" "I can take you there," Adam offered, stepping to the side as he revealed a door that wasn''t there the moment prior, "However, you will need to make your choice now." There was no need to ask for rification as he already knew what sort of entity he was bartering with. Conditions always existed when gaining anything from Adam; he knew that well. ''Right now¡ªwhat he''s telling me is that I need to make this choice without telling anybody. I won''t have the choice to exin it, and who knows how long I''ll be gone. But what he''s saying is true¡ªI''ll be able to gain the strength I need. Fighting "Darkness" showed me that I''m not where I need to be,'' he considered. It felt as though he had just reunited with his friends and family, so asking him to leave them again was a tough ask, though he knew deep down that if it was something that the Primordial went this far to tell him of, it was something needed. ''Leaving them again¡­Even worse, I''d be disappearing without a word again¨Cdead or alive, they wouldn''t know. Hold on¡­This might just work,'' he thought. As though a lightbulb illuminated above his head, a refreshing thought filled his mind¨Ca hopeful one, though perhaps a stretch. "I''ve got a deal¨Cone that''s too good to pass if you''re really standing against the Children of Chaos," Emilio said. The silken-haired figure looked intrigued, momentarily stopping himself as he tended to his assortment of flowers, "And what would that be?" Emilio looked into the figure''s eyes, holding three fingers up, "I''ll bring three other people with me to the Ind of The Grand. You said there were four of these World Spirits, right?" "...I did," Adam nodded with a small smile, seeming to understand what was being implied. "Then if you only need to have the favor of one of the World Spirits to be a sage, then me and the three others can each obtain one¨Cthat''ll make four sages, not just one," Emilio offered. Adam put his hand to his chin, nodding before returning his offer, "You are aware that the Trial of Sages is one that results in death nine-times-out-ten¡­and that''s ounting only for those who reach the Ind." "I am," Emilio nodded. The pure resolve wielded by the Dragonheart seemed to intrigue the mortal-assuming Primordial, who paused for a minute. "I see," Adam said, "I ept those conditions¨Chowever, who is it you''ll be bringing? I can transport them along with you¨Chowever, they will not be given any warning. You''ll all be thrown into different segments of the Ind of The Grand¨Ca masterfully dangerousnd, I might say. Are you fine with those parameters?" "Let''s do it," Emilio epted without hesitation, "...I''ll bring these three." Chapter 452 Sacred Land ? [??? | A Land Afar] Amidst a raging ocean, isted from the rest of the world by walls forged of mountainous waves, surrounding the ind like a bowl, the sacrednd existed¨Cit was colossal in size, but inhabited by no civilization. In the next few moments, a set of four portals opened up above the sacred ind, and through them, scattered to each corner of the mysticalnd, four figures arrived. "Waaaah¨C!" iling through the sky as his limbs hit jagged trees, the sturdy shielder, Everettnded with a thud on the grass below. ¨C "What in the¨C" The silver-haired half-elf let out, finding herself falling upon an ashen region of the ind, "Release: Aqua Bed!" Catching herself before an unfortunate fall, Celly created a bed of water to fall upon without harm. ¨C "Oooh?" Falling down onto the sand that encircled the outskirts of the ind, the man that wielded magenta lightning held no worry before touching down on the ground as a bolt of lightning. Sirius nced around for a bit, looking at the foreign ind. As the man looked behind him towards the sea that stretched off of the shore, he found a sight that was fantastical even to him. ''...Wow, talk about a sight. Just where the hell did I end up? It''s exciting!'' Sirius thought with a smile. In the distance, waves stood stagnant, reaching as high as mountains that nearly touched the clouds,pletely surrounding the colossal ind like magnificent walls of aqua. It was a sight that seemed impossible even in a world of magic. ¨C "Woah!" Facing down at a bundle of trees that awaited him after the jarring teleportation used, Emilio used wind to engulf himself, allowing his body to gracefully descend as hended amidst the forest of yellow-leaved trees. ''I made it¡­I hope everybody elsended safely. They didn''t have any warning¨Csorry, guys,'' he thought. Looking around, he found himself surrounded by peculiar trees; they resembled colossal flowers more than trees¨Cin fact, that seemed to be the case. The enormous, golden-leaved flowers towered over him, blooming with their vibrant petals. Each of these bright, golden flowers were like skyscrapers; each petal wasrge enough to act like arge sheet, obscuring the sky above. "Huh," he let out, enamored by the fantastical sight around him. It was hard to call it a "forest" or even a "jungle", but more like a garden built for giants. The floor of the uniquendscape was made up of sticky grass, seeming to be made gooey by the nectar that seeped from the colossal flowers. The substance squelched beneath his boots as he walked around, getting a feeling for the area before he breathed out. It was definitely more humid, making him regret dressing the way he did, though that was the least of his concerns. ''My main priority is to find the others¨Cthe trial hasn''t even started yet. Adam mentioned something just before he began the warping¨Csomething about looking out for a giant tree. Everything is giant here, though,'' he thought. There was no question that he needed to keep his guard raised, seeing as a warning from Adam of all figures about the environment was dire enough. It seemed that the environment of the Ind of The Grand itself was a sort of "proving grounds", weeding out aspiring sages before reaching the true trial. ''This is reminding me of my journey to bing an adventurer. I did it once, I can do it again¨CI''ll be a sage, along with the others¨Cthen we''ll be able to stand against our enemies,'' he resolved. Though as he began walking through thendscape of colossal flowers, a specific noise met his ears with a grating repetition¨Ca buzz of wings, quickly approaching. ''Bees?'' He thought. It was unmistakably the buzzing of bees, though it was tenfold more jarring and loud of a sound, bringing him to a pause as he looked around. FWOOSH Just as he turned around, the air broke as multiple objects flew right by him¨Conly avoided by a quick reflex himself as he moved his head. Shock was written on his face from the unexpected, swift attacking from an unknown source, though he was forced to dodge again as he rolled to the side as another assault came at sound-breaking speed. ''What''s attacking me?! It''s like there are bullets chasing me!'' He thought. Attempting to pick himself up, he could feel the vibrations in the airing before the attack came, sliding his foot against the nectar-slick ground to raise a wall of rock in front of himself. THUD. THUD. THUD. Through the protective barrier of stone, he saw pitch-ck drills sticking through along with the same, ring buzzing he heard before. Picking himself up this time, he looked around as the buzzing came from all around, noticing that the drills vibrated, breaking free from the stone wall. He finally saw what his enemy was, or rather, his many numbered enemies: ''You''re kidding me¡­'' He thought. Fuzzy, ck-and-orange fur with all-ck eyes were the creatures that initiated the predaceous assault: giant hos, the size of his chest with stingers the size of spears, fluttering by the colossal flowers. Even their stagnant movement while not approaching him was a blur to the untrained eyes, forcing him to keep up as dozens of these monstrously fast hos shed around. ''Hos?! Sonic speed hos?! This ce might as well be hell!'' He thought. Just as he drew his sword, a pair of the supersonic hos pierced towards him with their stingers primed for his flesh. CLANG Managing to intercept the fastly-moving stingers, he was surprised to find the edge of his sword not cutting through them. It was as if the stingers were forged of tough metal, contesting his sword. The erratic hum of wings was heard behind him as he deflected the two hos around him before spinning around, squeezing the handle of his sword. mes engulfed his de as he swiped it in a vertical arc, cleaving through a duo of the speeding, giant hos. ''That''s two! Let''s try this¡ª!'' He thought. Flipping back as the supersonic creatures swept by like speeding bullets, tearing through the ground as their stingers missed, Emilio called upon one of his newly-acquired spells: ["Sapphire Whelp"] Chapter 453 Stormhearts Ways ? ["Sapphire Whelp"] Manifesting in front of him was a beast of two wings, covered in gem-like, blue scales. It resembled a dragon, only small enough to perch itself on its shoulder. "Rah!" The whelp roared out, though it came out more like a squeak. ''A dragon whelp?! This thing won''t be of much help in a fight, though!'' He thought. There was no time to figure out the capabilities of the young dragon as he was faced with another rush by the supersonic hos. From every direction, they dashed in, forcing him to maneuver swiftly as he avoided their lethal stingers. As he flipped around, catching himself on one hand, he used his other to unleash a potent st of wind: "Concoction of Storms." The shockwave of wind rippled through the ground, digging up the soil and ripping through the nt life before sting a group of the hos back. It was a shock wave powerful enough to rupture the organs ofrge predators, yet it only seemed to stun the monstrous insects. ''These things are scary, but I can handle them. The problem is¡­if Celly or Everett encounter something like this, can they make it?'' He questioned worriedly. "Hey, err, dragon, can you do anything?" Emilio asked the azure-scaled whelp perched on his shoulder. In response, the small whelp let out a small roar before a stream of bright-blue fire breathed out from its parted jaws, managing to burn a few of the speeding hos in their tracks. "Oh! Nice one!" Emilio called out. Fighting in the same style as the tiny dragon that rested upon his shoulder, he pointed his hand to the left just as a trio of the supersonic insects thrusted their stingers towards him, creating an elemental beast: "me Kuma!" A massive bear made out of mes manifested, roaring out with heat as it swept its paws, leaving enormous swipes of crimson fire that cleaved through the hos. SWOOSH "--!" Though he kept an eye on the surrounding insects, he was surprised to find the stingersunching straight towards him¨Cwithout the main bodies themselves. ''They can shoot them?'' He realized. With a simple snap of his fingers, he conjured a circr barrier of stic water, catching the projectiles as they were unable to pierce through the formless element. Witnessing just how troublesome the hos truly were, he felt impatient¨Cknowing that every moment he spent fighting the insects, the higher the chances of his friends being hurt were. ''--I''m ending this,'' he decided. Holding his sword sideways, he ran his fingertips along the de itself, pulling down as if drawing an arrow across its t side. He manifested a string of fire, and with it, a dozen zing arrows that were drawn back, with his sword acting as the catalyst. "Hellfire Blitz." As he released the fiery string, the dozen arrows allunched with supreme speed, changing their direction on the fly in ordance to the movement of the supersonic hos. The whelp on his shoulder watched as the zing projectiles chased the hos, passing through small gaps between uprooted stems and dancing through flower petals. Each arrow that struck their target exploded into a glorious mass of mes, eradicating the monstrous hos on the spot. "Phew," he slowly breathed out, relinquishing the ming string along his sword. "Raa!" He was taken by surprise after finishing off the swarm of hos as his cheek was nuzzled by the dragon whelp on his shoulder. "Hey¨C" He said, though let it happen, petting the whelp, "What do I even call you? Hmm¡­How about Ciel?" "Ra!" The whelp rescinded, sounding happy. "Alright, Ciel it is," Emilio said with a smile, "Let''s go find the others¨C" Before he could even begin setting out to find others, an unmistakable sh of magenta lightning fluttered through the skies above, rumbling the air. A lightning bolt struck down in the distance. ''Sirius,'' he thought, finding a tangible lead to follow. ¨C [The shores of the ind] Whistling as he walked along the sandy outskirts of the colossal ind, the purple-eyed man scoped out the area, kicking a few shells he found along the way. ''Hmmm¡­I can vaguely sense Emilio''s mana. It''s hard to sense anything on this ind, though. Let''s see¨Cwhy don''t I try flying there?'' Sirius thought. Crouching down, the man leapt up, flying upward as he thought to search the ind the easy way before¨CTHWOOM. "--!" Straight back down into the sand, hended, never able to conjure his flight abilities in the first ce, leaving him surprised. ''That''s odd¡­I couldn''t fly at all. I''m pretty sure I could when I first fell in, what gives? This ce sure is weird,'' he thought. Though for the confident man, he wasn''t worried at all, seeming more so excited about the foreign, unknown situation he found himself in as he brushed the sand off of his uniform. RUMBLE "Oh?" Sirius let out curiously, keeping his hands in his pocket with a smile. The sand around him vibrated, swishing around as it began parting in the area in front of him. Something rose from the sea of sand, erupting from its buried spot¨Cit was extraordinarilyrge, using its limbs to toss the burial of sediment around it aside. What unearthed itself from the shore was a crustacean that dwarfed the man by a few dozen times, possessing one enormous w that snapped, d in a bright blue-and-yellow exoskeleton. "A crab? You''re pretty big," Sirius remarked, still holding a smile. The colossal crustacean made clicking sounds as it continued snapping its ws as if threatening the human before finallyunching straight towards him. Sirius raised a single hand before snapping his fingers, "See ya." Lightning touched down from the skies above, striking down the enormous crab with impunity. It crashed down like a hammer upon a forge, causing sand to be thrown in waves like an unruly sea. The summoning of the grand element was heard across the entire ind¨Cboth by its natural inhabitants and those who ventured into it. Chapter 454 The Golden Garden ? [...A Few Minutes Later¡­] Sitting on the mountainous body of the in crab, the man had a campfire already set up, beginning to cook the crustacean as he feasted on the scrumptious crab meat. "Delifush," Sirius said with his mouth full. ¨C "Haaah¡­So hot¡­" Clutching her magic staff close to her body, Celly wiped the sweat from her cheek as she walked through the fiery region of the ind; the ground was burnt to a char, heated as though fire constantly burnt beneath its crust. RUMBLE Spinning around, the silver-haired woman witnessed lightning in the distance, crashing down from the skies onto a spot on the other side of the ind. ''That''s¡­is it Sirius?'' Celly thought. Though she had a proper direction to now follow, it was still a challenge traversing the incredibly hot environment; the air was thin and heated, as if breathing embers into one''s lungs. Stopping for a moment, she took in a deep breath, enduring the ufortable warmth it brought to her lungs before closing her eyes. "Embrace of The Sea Angels," Celly calmly cast. Around the archmage''s body, a thinyer of ethereal water coated her, blending in seamlessly. The light coating of mystical aqua deterred the heat from the ashen region, cooling down her internal temperature and filtering the air she breathed to be as refreshing as the oxygen from a flourishing forest. ''Much better,'' Celly thought. In the distance, she could see the vibrant, flourishing portions of the foreignnd, yet all around her, the region she stood in seemed impossibly barren inparison. ''I understand I was teleported¨Cthat much I know. For a split second when I arrived though, I sensed the mana of two others¨CSirius and Emilio. They''re here, too. I need to find them,'' she thought, marching onward. Going off of how vtile the barren, fiery region was, she didn''t think there could be any life sustained within the environment¡ªhowever, that assumption was quickly flipped around. The charred ground rumbled briefly before a portion of it was protruded, giving way for something that erupted beneath its crust. Reacting quickly enough, Celly stepped back, raising her staff. ''A geyser? No, that''s¨C'' Celly thought. Rising from the ground was a limbless creature with skin that resembled molten rock, bleeding magma and mes from the cracks in its flesh. It resembled a serpentine creature, only muchrger and with distinct rings along its body¨Ca worm. As the molten worm erupted from the ground, looming over the archmage, the temperature skyrocketed in its presence, causing Celly''s breath to dy as she sweat profusely. ''...Hot. If I didn''t have this protective spell up right now, I''d be burning up internally. That''ll still happen if I don''t deal with this,'' she thought. Attempting to cast a spell, her footing was thrown off as the worm quickly burrowed into the ground again, causing thend to vibrate aggressively. As she caught herself, the opportunity to strike was taken away as the molten worm didn''t make itself an easy target¨Cswimming through the charred, dry soil. Still, she didn''t n on just being a sitting duck and waiting for the creature to attack first. "Sword of Poseidon," she invoked. With movements of her staff, a long-ranged, highly-pressurized line of water extended, cutting through the heated soil. Aiming the end of her staff, the thin beam of water carved through the ground, chasing the hide of the rocky-skinned worm. "--!" As she attempted to lure it from the ground with her evisceratingmand of water, the limbless creature responded by periodically peeking its mouth from the ground to spit balls of magma straight at the half elf. She was quick to respond after one of the projectiles missed, quickly waving one of her hands, "Protective Dance of The Mountain." An assembly of diamond-shaped rocks formed around the archmage, floating in the air as a disjointed barrier that allowed her to continue her attack while maintaining multipleyers of defense. ''I''ll finish this now,'' Celly decided. Extending the beam of slicing water that extended from her staff, it multiplied into a dozen streams, ripping through the barren, uneven ground: "Seaside Expansion of Poseidon." Like a hot knife through butter, the condensed streams of water cut through the ground around her, inevitable hitting the worm before¡ª "KRRRR¡ª!" A rustling, hiss-like sound emitted as the molten worm suddenly erupted from the ground, bleeding magma from a gash on its body. As soon as it exposed itself, the silver-haired mage prepared herself, weaving the mana around her into a new form: "Mncholic Tale of The Deep." Bands of water formed around the wounded worm, lifting it and invoking the sharpness of many, fleeting edges of the formless element. The peaceful, yet brutal attack cut the molten creature into dozens of pieces before it was washed away by the passing water, quickly evaporating. "...Phew," Celly quietly breathed out. ''I truly wonder where I am,'' she thought. ¡ª While the others were able to somewhat deduce the basics of the jarring situation, the bumpkin shielded, stranded in a forest of jagged trees, wasn''t so bright. "Izzis a dream¡­?" Everett wondered, sitting on a rock. Beside him, a group of red-furred monkeys hung around, looking at the human man as if he were a gori. The man scratched his head for a moment, humming in thought as he seemed clueless to his own situation. "What''s goin'' on here¡­?" Everett questioned, letting out a sigh. The region of the ind was covered in tall, sharp trees of dark-brown bark. ''I was totally snoozin'', then next thing ya know, I''m falling through the sky onto this freakin'' ind. Don''t think it''s a dream¡ªdefinitely hurt like hell when I fell,'' Everett thought. ¡ª [Ind of The Grand | The Golden Garden] Walking beneath the colossal flower petals that loomed over him, he watched along with the whelp on his shoulder as nectar secreted from the golden petals. "It looks sweet, huh?" Emilio remarked. As the sapphire-scaled whelp leaned forward to try and lick some of the amber liquid up from the low-hanging petal, Emilio blocked its mouth. "Rrrh," the whelp looked displeased. "Hey, we''ve got no idea what that stuff is. If it''s poisonous, we''d have no clue. Do you want that?" Emilio asked, "That''s what I thought¨Cc''mon, we can find something to eat nearby¡­probably." Chapter 455 Keeper Of The Garden ? Pushing through a dense gathering of the enormous flowers, a clearing was discovered¨Cone of a vibrant, beautiful scenery; luscious, green grass, packed with lively nts that sprouted colorful fruits along their forms. "Fruit¨Ca lot of it," Emilio said in surprise. "Ra!" Ciel let out a happy noise, flying away from the man''s shoulder as it instantly started gobbling up a pear-shaped, blue fruit attached to one of the bushes. Though Emilio tried to reach out to it before it did so, he allowed it to eat, realizing it was unlikely that any natural deterrents of a fruit would have an effect on the summoned whelp, Walking over to one of the fruit-bearing trees, he plucked an emerald-skinned apple from one before taking a big bite out of it. ''I guess I''m the same way. It''d take enough poison to bring down a whale to affect me, probably. Thanks to the gift Vandread gave me'' he thought. After taking some bites from the fruit, he would toss over the uneaten halves to Ciel, who happily chomped down anything thrown his way like a bottomless pit. He sat there for a few minutes, partaking in the bountiful fruit with the dragon whelp, getting his bearings after the jarring start to the foreign trial. "You dare feast upon what does not belong to you?!" An angered voice boomed through the luscious garden, immediately bringing Emilio to his feet as the whelp perched itself on his shoulder, ready as well. ''Who¨C'' He thought. Though as he looked around, finally bringing his gaze to the small hill to his north, he saw who it was that had yelled so suddenly. A man with verdant hair that resembled vines stood tall like a tree, with skin like that of oak; his irises were like that of the amber that stuck to cedar. Standing upon two legs, covered in dark-brown fur that ended in horse-like hooves, the man crossed his muscr arms over his chest in anger. The stranger certainly didn''t look human, not by the figure''s unnatural height or perplexing anatomy. "You stand in the grove of Perdas, human trespasser!" The oak-skinned man yelled, his voice causing the nearby trees to rattle as if booming in unison. ''What is this guy? I can tell¨Che''s strong,'' Emilio thought. "If you don''t want people taking your fruit, you should probably put a fence up," Emilio retorted, "People get hungry, you know!" Though his response only seemed to aggravate the tall, oak-skinned figure, who stomped his hooves against the ground with enough force to split the soil of the hill he stood upon. "Hold on¨CI''m here to be a sage!" Emilio called out, trying to avoid a fight if possible, "Isn''t there a temple around here or something¨CI''ll get out of your way, just point me in the right direction." "I am bound to exin this much to you, human that seeks sagehood," the horse-legged man said, lifting his hand. Rising from the split soil, roots reached upward, intertwining to create a greatswordpletely forged of the essence of nature that the figure gripped between his fingers, pulling it out. "--I am Perdas, a satyr bound to protect the Temple of Elements from those who seek it," the figure exined, raising his sword made out of woven wood, "You may have ignorantly believed you are permitted a fair trial, but that''s not the case. No mortals are allowed upon this ind." ''A "satyr"? I''ve read about them, but they were always described more as folktales¨Cbeastly demi-gods that defend forests. Still, this one seems a lot more powerful than anything described in books,'' Emilio thought. It seemed that a fight was unavoidable; as confident as Emilio was in his own power, he couldn''t shake the odd feeling he got from the satyr¨Cit was an aura unlike anything he felt before. When looking at Perdas, he saw a sublime, bountiful light engulfing him, like the vigor of the world itself, flowing through the length of roots, soil, grass, and supplementing Perdas himself like an endless flow of energy. ''It''s like he''s connected to nature itself, like a nt¡­His mana is unbelievably pure,'' Emilio thought. Without any sort of warning, the tall, horse-legged defender of the ind unleashed the sword of roots, flowers, and wood, thrusting it forth, "Perish, trespasser!" Emilio reacted to it, sidestepping it as it suddenly extended forth as if the roots were supplemented with decades of nutrients¨Cnearly impaling him. The weapon of natureshed out, attempting to strike him with a spiked root that whipped out from the side. He quickly drew his sword, attempting to cut through the sneaky extension of the sword, but found that he only deflected it away. ''--It''s unbelievably tough. I was trying to cut straight through it, but it''s not even scratched. That''s not normal material,'' he thought. "You survived that one¨Cimpressive," Perdas said as his lengthy, vine-like hair cascaded down his shoulders before unleashing his weapon into an onught of roots, "It will not be enough." ''I''ll try it this way, then,'' Emilio thought. As the assembly of roots extended swiftly, varying in length and whipping around quickly, with enough power behind them to crack the ground they struck, Emilio weaved through them. Taking in a deep breath, he allowed the air brought into his lungs to heat up, bubbling until it began warming his entire body before¨C ["Breath of Annihtion"] A mighty exhale changed the course of the wind, erupting with a breath of raging fire that traveled forth, heading straight towards the satyr. "--!" Perdas'' eyes widened. The inferno expanded into a great column of heat, shing its crimson glow throughout the clearing as the roots were whisked away. After finishing the burning exhale, Emilio breathed out, watching as the embers cleared away with the billow of smoke. In front of him, a spiral shield forged of thick, unmoved roots was held in front of the satyr, untouched by the fire. ''Damn¡­Should''ve guessed that would happen,'' he thought. "Do not delude yourself into believing that my grove is susceptible to fire. Only the most rich mana flows through thisnd, reinforcing it and creating a utopia of nature to live, pure and uncorrupted by human touch," the satyr spoke before turning the shield of roots back into a sword, "--That can only continue existing as long as mortals such as yourself are removed from this ind." "Try harder, then," Emilio challenged. Chapter 456 The Divine ? "Try harder, then," Emilio challenged. That provocation was immediately met as the mighty satyr tossed his hoof against the ground, causing an eruption of wooden spikes to thrust through the soil straight towards the human. Using his quick reflexes, Emilio jumped back, being forced to flip into the air asrger spikes attempted to skewer him in quick session. "Too slow." ¨CAmidst dodging the series of spikes, he found himself outmaneuvered in the air as the satyr appeared right beside him, taking him by surprise with the sudden burst of speed. Before he could raise his guard, the satyr''s fist mmed straight against his ribs,manding enough force behind it to blow him back through a series of trees. mming through the trunks of a few tall cedar, he caught himself, flipping onto his feet as the soles of his boots slid across the slick grass. "Ra!" Ciel let out a worried noise. Emilio breathed out, feeling his ribs bruising up immediately from the blow, "I know¨CI just didn''t expect him to use the spikes as a diversion like that." "You didn''t?" Right beside him, he found the satyr towering over him, standing there as if he was always there, yet the man was certain the figure wasn''t there just a moment prior. As he looked up at the protector of nature who stood head-and-shoulders above him, he found himself on the receiving end of a loathsome gaze. ''--This is the real deal. This is a "demi-god", not just some normal fighter. Should I try fleeing and finding the others? What if I lead this guy straight to them by doing that? I haven''t used my system yet, but I doubt he''s been trying at all either¨Cwould I be able to win?'' Emilio questioned. All of those thoughts seized as the hoof of the satyr suddenly propelled against his stomach, feeling it press against his internal organs, almost as if the sturdy hoof was about to break straight through his skin. "Pyuh¨C!" He spit out before beingunched back through another tree by the casual kick by the satyr, who still held an unimpressed, bored look with his arms folded over his chest. As he sat on his hands and knees, gasping out as he coughed out saliva onto the soil beneath him, the imprint of the kick felt like a brand against his stomach. ''--Hurts. Hurts real bad,'' he thought, dibobted, ''It''s different. This kind of strength¨Cit reminds me of Dread¨Cso much power, but it''s not due to reinforcement. It''s his innate strength¨Cthe body of a demi-god.'' Holding his abdomen, it felt as though it was on fire after receiving the potent kick from the satyr, though the regenerative blood through his veins mitigated the pain quickly. "I have defended this ind for a dozen centuries. In that time, only a handful of men have reached the temple to meet the World Spirits," Perdas exined, "Do you get it now? Do you believe you''re a one-in-a-century talent? More than that?" Rather than responding with words, the Dragonheart chose action instead as he kicked his legs up to jump to his feet just as obsidian scales began to stretch around his body, forming an armor around him. A tail sprouted from behind him before what would''ve been wings morphed into a cape of azure mes, descending upon his back like illustrious fabric. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. Perdicass seemed mildly intrigued by the change being undergone, "...Hm." [Dragonheart System Activated] [Current Stage: 5/10 | Dragon Sentinel] As soon as the power flowed through his limbs, he burst forward with a single kick off of the ground, reaching the satyr within a second before mming his fist against his abdomen. ["Dragon Strike"] The force caused a rumble through the ground as the towering satyr leaned over, seeming troubled by the attack. "Unfortunate for you," Perdas spoke, standing up again as he revealed no pain worn on his expression. Though his fist was pressed against the rock-solid abdominal region of the satyr, Emilio found that the figure hadn''t budged in the slightest¨Cthere was no bruising, let alone any damage done. ''How¡­?'' He thought. Perdas spread his arms out, "You''re wee to try again." Taking him up on that offer, he unleashed a barrage of blows¨Cpunching and kicking, all while utilizing "Dragon Strike" tond each attack on the satyr''s odd boy. Nothing. None of the attacks budged the figure or left any marks, only leaving the satyr in the exact same position. It was beyond reason; he knew well that his unrestrained blows in the fifth stage were enough topletely pulverize steel, easily. "It''s hopeless. You see, while I stand upon the soil of this ind, I am impervious, just as thisnd," Perdas told him, "You cannot harm me. Nature and myself are one." As if proving his status as the guardian of thend, the satyr moved his hands, causing the trees to move and the grass to sway and grow; flowers bloomed and glistened as nature awakened at the figure''s call. Without missing a beat, Emilio set out to test the arrogant satyr as he held both hands forward, unleashing a pinpoint stream of azure fire that condensed into a beam of extraordinary heat. ["Dragonheart: sh Fire"] After the stream of fire, the satyr stood there, unmarked by the mes as he ced his hands on his sides with unmatched confidence, "As I said¨Coh." To the surprise of the satyr, the man was already gone. Perdas closed his eyes, listening closely to the murmurs of nature around him before opening his eyes. ''He''s not hiding nearby. He fled entirely¨Cusing that attack as a diversion. Not bad, human,'' Perdas thought. ¡ª He had been running for a few minutes, gaining distance with his enhanced speed to escape the guardian of the ind. After rushing through the mystical garden, Emilio jumped over low-hanging branches before sliding down a hill, ending up in an entirely different region of the ind beforeing to a stop. Where he found himself was a region of jagged trees, which bore no leaves; each tree was colossal, interconnected by amunity of branches that were upied by enormous nests. "...Phew¡­" He breathed out, "That''s a demi-god for you." Chapter 457 The Shielders Sanctuary ? "...Phew¡­" He breathed out, "That''s a demi-god for you." "Ra!" Ciel let out a small yelp to him. Emilio wasn''t happy with having to flee, relinquishing his scale armor as he sat back up, "Yeah, you don''t have to rub it in my face. That guy was a monster¨Che wasn''t lying: he really was unable to be hurt." Picking himself up from the ground, he looked back, making sure he wasn''t being pursued by the zealous satyr. It was a short, but heart-pumping encounter, leaving his blood still running hot as it wasn''t often he faced something of such caliber. ''He said something important though, maybe out ofplete arrogance: "as long as he stands on the soil, he''s unable to be harmed"--he could''ve been just boasting, but I think it might be a weakness. If I can get him off of the ground, he might be vulnerable. Still, I''d rather find the others first,'' he decided. For the time being, he found himself currently faced with the situation of the odd environment before him: it was a forest of tall, interconnected trees of light-brown hides of oak. He made sure when he fled that he went in the direction that the lightning touched down earlier, leaving him needing to cross through the peculiar region. ''If I can meet up with Sirius, it''ll be tenfold easier to regroup with the others¡ªif anybody can handle that satyr, it''s him, too,'' he nned. Beginning to explore the area, he walked beneath therge, bridge-like branches, looking around as he did. It was a somewhat unsettling environment, as the countless branches made it difficult to see far, making it far too easy for something to obscure itself from being seen. Looking up, the trees seemed to stretch endlessly high, with their end unable to be seen beneath the beading sun past them. ''I could probably get a better idea of the area up there,'' he thought. Choosing not to waste mana, he climbed the tree beside him the old-fashioned way: jumping up, he clung to the first set of branches, hoisting himself up before beginning to climb the bark of the old pir of nature. As he climbed, he looked around, seeing the natural inhabitants of the region of building-esque treesrge birds with pale-blue feathers flew by, perching on branches. Also inhabiting the trees were red-furred monkeys, which swung around, seeming to build their own nests which resembled small houses. ''This ind is really something else. It''s like its own kingdom of the wild,'' he thought. At the rate he was able to climb, more so jumping from spot-to-spot using his superhuman prowess, he reached the top of the tree in record time. Holding onto the tippity-top of the colossal tree, he leaned back, feeling the air on his back as he obtained a bird''s eye view of everything around him. For a moment, he was too taken aback by the beauty of the sight, feelingpletely unshackled by any duties in that moment as he loosely clung to the mountainous tree. As he focused, looking around the area of tall cedar, he honed in on a sight that caught his attention: "...Everett?" He raised an eyebrow, noticing the familiar figure in the distance. Oddly enough, he saw the heavily-armored man sitting in the enormous forest, surrounded by a grouping of the crimson-furred monkeys. Though he couldn''t hear them, he could see that Everett was talking to the monkeys¨Cit seemed like a one-sided conversation, however. ''This guy¡­'' Emilio thought, smiling in relief that he had found one of his friends. Setting his sights on the spot the shielder was at, he moved quickly, jumping off of the tree and summoning a rope of water, flinging it to the closest branch. "Hyuup¨C!" He let out as the long rope of aqua managed totch onto the branch, allowing him to swing himself as he continued his momentum into his next swing. It was an exhrating method of travel that he liked to deploy when the time called for it, feeling the wind brushing past him as he felt like a certain arachnid superhero, swinging from tree-to-tree. ''Alright, he''s just down there¨Clet''s hope I don''t barge into anything too important here!'' he thought. As he swung from the next branch, he ended up directly above the clearing that Everett was sitting in. Everett was sitting on the floor of scattered, dark-red leaves, "Like I was sayin'', we should all team up. With my brains, I can teach ya'' all a lotta things!" The proposal from the human was made to the curious monkeys, who only looked at him like some sort of weird, hairless rtive of theirs. "Ya see, I''m like, really smart so¨C" As Everett continued, the man was interrupted as something crashed down in front of him, causing the monkeys to quickly scatter from the unknown arrival. "Hey, wait¨C" Everett reached out, trying to get the red-furred friends of his to stay, though they were gone within seconds. With the dust kicked up along with the leaves settling, Emilio showed himself to Everett, raising his hand in a greeting, "Yo, Ev." "Emilio!" Everett smiled from ear-to-ear in surprise, "Yer here, too?! I thought I dream walked here alone or somethin''!" "Yeah, that''s definitely not what happened¡­" Emilio wryly chuckled, "Actually, the truth is¨Cit''s my fault you got transported here. It''s not just you and me, either¨CSirius and Celly are here." Though there was definitely a reason for the shielder to be upset, Everett wasn''t¨Che instead only looked surprised before smiling. "Transported? So that''s what that was! Awesome, ha-ha!" Everettughed happily. "Huh?" Everett rubbed his upper lip excitedly, "Never thought I''d been able to experience cool magic like that in my life! You did that?" "Well, I didn''t do it, but I made the choice," he exined, "If we''re going to face something asrge and nefarious as the Children of Chaos, we need to all be strong enough to do so. That''s why I did this¨Cthere''s a temple on this ind that lets you take a certain trial. If youplete it, you gain incredible power." Chapter 458 Gorilla Combat ? "Really? That sounds freakin'' awesome," Everett listened intently, not questioning anything being said. It was almost akin to a dog, the sort of unquestioning loyalty that the shielder had towards those he recognized as his friends. None more so than Emilio himself, who Everett trusted like his own blood. "I thought if we could all pass the trial and be "sages", that''d be our best chance. Think you can do it? I''m warning you¨Cthis might be a whole lot harder than our world-ss trial was," Emilio said, looking at his friend as he spoke seriously, "--I encountered a foe unlike anything I faced before." "Somebody that even gave you trouble?" Everett asked, leaning in curiously. They sat on the bed of leaves while talking, seeming that the trees inhabiting the region were in their fall lifespan, discarding every leaf from their branches. Emilio nodded, "Yeah. I threw everything at him and he didn''t budge in the least. That''s the kind of difficulty that awaits us. If you think you can''t handle it, you don''t have to go with me to find the temple¨CI''m sure you''ll be safe just staking out there. Then after, we''ll¨C" "I''min'' with ya, one-hundred percent," Everett insisted. As he was about to question the thoughtless loyalty of a friend, he stopped himself, knowing that the only rationality that Everett followed was his own heart, and nothing else. "Thanks," Emilio said with a smile. "''Course!" Everett gave him a thumbs-up, "We''re in this together¨Cthe others know that, too!" He wanted to kick himself for not realizing how understanding Everett would be of the situation¨Cthankfully, since the shielder didn''t do much critical thinking to get upset anyway. "By the way, did you hear that lightning earlier?" Emilio asked. Everett looked at him before nodding, remembering a secondter, "Ah, yeah, that! Spooked me and the critters ''round here real good. What about it?" He was almost surprised that the bumpkin didn''t automatically pick up what the lighting meant, then he remembered, again, who he was dealing with. "¡­Sirius. That lighting is from Sirius," Emilio informed him. "Ooooooh!" Everett realized, "We should go find ''im!" "Yeah. That''s what I was getting at." Together, the two ventured through the region of colossal trees; bushes the size of cottages existed at the base of the trunks, apanying their path. It felt somewhat nostalgic to be traveling with Everett through the unknown. "Doesn''t this remind ya if when we did the world-ss trial?" Everett asked, brushing the leaves off of his shield. The fallen leaves crunched beneath Emilio''s boots as he nodded, "I was just thinking the same thing. It feels like it was an eternity ago." Though the world-ss trial itself didn''t exactly hold memories that were fond to look back at. "Ya know, this is an adventure, ain''t it?" Everett asked. "Huh? I mean¡­sorta, it''s not like a quest or anything," Emilio responded. The shielded smiled giddily, "It ain''t like what''s an adventure er'' not is about if it''s all official or anything. We''re out here in the ''unknown'', discoverin'' stuff and facing strong creatures¡ªthat''s a real adventure." It sounded as though Everett was excited at the prospect of exploring a mysterious, challengingnd. "Yeah, I guess it is an adventure," Emilio nodded with a smile. The environment was strange and foreign, but the particr region of the ind they were in didn''t seem hostile. Despite the birds that nested on the trees being asrge as dinosaurs themselves, they didn''t seem all too interested in the humans that walked across the leaf-covered ground. "Hopefully none of those birds up there have a craving for humans," Emilio remarked, looking up as he walked. The birds were perched on the enormous branches, watching them from above with curious, beady eyes, though not moving any closer. "Ha-ha! Dontcha worry ''bout that," Everettughed. "Well, you don''t have to worry. I doubt any bird would be able to swoop you away," Emilio mumbled. As they walked together, the region shifted away from the cluster of colossal trees into a more open field, with vines hanging off of the trees in more abundance. Going off of his strong sense of smell, Everett sniffed the air like a dog, which was something that Emilio still hadn''t gotten used to witnessing. "Sniff¡­Sniff¡­" Everett held his nose up to the air. "Err, smell something?" Emilio thought. ''He really is like a dog sometimes¨Cwhether it''s that unconditional loyalty, or well¡­this,'' he thought. Rubbing his own nose, the shielder nodded, "Salt is real heavy in the air now. I can smell it¨Cthe sea! At least, I think that''s what it smells like; salty, fresh, and kind of fishy." "Sounds about right. Then we''re near the shores of the ind," Emilio remarked. It was impossible to see if the shore was just beyond their current spot as the foliage clung together, making a wall of bushes around the clearing. "Uh-oh, I smell somethin'' else near us," Everett said, sniffing the air as he rubbed his nose. Just then, the bushes around them began rustling; the trees shook under the weight of something passing through them as the verdant leaves clinging to the near-shore trees bounced. "--What is it?" Emilio asked, drawing his sword. Everett answered, "It smells like a person, but not a person? Err, kinda rancid!" "That''s not helping," Emilio sighed. Suddenly, a creature mmed down from the bushy trees above,nding on the grass before them with its fists mming into the soil, causing an eruption of dirt to be clung in every direction. "Yeah, that''s definitely what I was smellin''! Hey, you, go take a bath!" Everett yelled to the creature. Before the two men, a towering primate with curly, dark-blue fur stood with its knuckles pressed into the dirt¨Ca gori; a monstrous one, at that. "Just great. I really should''ve expected that this ind wouldn''t just let us walk around without trying to kill us for five minutes, huh?" Emilio said, somewhat annoyed at the creature blocking their path. ''...If I had a nickel for every time I''ve fought a gori in this world,'' he thought. Chapter 459 Just A Baby ? Everett equipped his shield, which was shaped and sized like a titanium, dark-blue door, standing near hispanion, "How ''bout we do this the old-fashioned way? I handle its attacks, and you knock ''im out!" "Specific choice of words there¨Calright, let''s do this," Emilio nodded, sliding his sword into his sheath as he abided by his friend''s conditions. When it came to Everett, the broad, big-boned shielder was a gentle giant for the most part; killing was always thest option. It was an aspect of his friend that he appreciates and sometimes didn''t; it reminded him of the type of person he''d be. ''Maybe it''s because of how Vandread taught me during my journey, but killing has be second nature from me¨Cwhether it''s man or beast, if they''re a threat to me or my friends, I don''t strike mercifully. Should I change that?'' He questioned. As he thought to himself, the enormous, four-meter gori lunged towards the two, mming its knuckles straight down upon him before being stoppedpletely¨CTHWOM. Everett stood in front of him, blocking the heavy fists of the primate with his shield, holding a smile, "I gotcha! Handle the offense!" "Of course," Emilio responded, focusing as he sidestepped past the shield, getting in direct contact with therge gori. Honing a respectable amount of reinforcement into his fist, he amped his mechanical arm further as the ck, metal material seemed to glisten, bulkening momentarily with rocky protrusions manifesting for the moment: "Punishing Hand of Mankind''s Golem." Thrusting his fist against the stone-hard abdominal region of the ape, the enchanted fist of his sent it flying back before mming through the trunk of a tree. "Hey, ya didn''t kill it, didja?!" Everett reacted, seeing the aftermath of the punch that left a treepletely crumbling over and leaves dancing over the clearing. Emilio pulled his fist back, surprised at the power behind that blow, "Err, I wasn''t trying to." ''Damn, I was holding back on that one and it was still that strong? That enhancement spell is pretty strong,'' he thought. To both of their surprise, the oversized gori roared out, making its presence¨Cand alive status¨Cknown as it mmed its knuckles against a chest, creating shock waves that caused the nearby trees to vibrate and the leaves to shiver. "...He''s fine. Somehow. That''s¡­scary," Emilio remarked. "He-he, yeah," Everett agreed with a nervous smile. Returning to the open field between the trees, the gori leapt in from beyond the foliage, mming its knuckles down with enough force to cave in the soil, causing cracks to stretch out along the dirt. "Woah!" Everett reacted, stumbling a bit as the ground rumbled. "Focus up, ''shielder''," Emilio yfully called him. It was a different sort of challenge that Everett took pride in¨Cdefending attacks, often taking them head-on with his shield, even if he could dodge them. As the gori mmed one of its hands forward in a pping motion, the shielder nted himself down and deflected the blow with his shield. "Ghh¨C! Got it¨Cgo, Emilio!" Everett called out. Having its p deflected, the ape was thrown off bnce for a second, allowing Emilio to dash in as he spun around,unching a kick straight against its jaw, knocking the primate back. For the Dragonheart, he had his own pride in his abilities as well, wanting to fight the gori off of physical merit alone, not relying on offensive spells. ''After losing my system multiple times now, I can''t always rely on it. I''ll end up a fish out of water in a fight¨Cbesides, I don''t want it to be my crutch, anyway,'' he thought. Despite the kicknding square against the beast''s jaw, it disyed considerable toughness as it bounced back to its feet within a second, releasing a mighty roar as it beat its chest again. It was unlike any normal primate, that was without question; its size, toughness, and strength were all absurdly higher than expected¨Cbut that seemed par for the course on the sacred ind. "This guy is feisty!" Everett said, intercepting a rampage of blows from the raging gori. Every m of its knuckles against the shield echoed through the vast des of grass. It was surprisingly agile too; the gori made a quick sidestep that almost looked sloppy, yet it spun itself around in an attempt to ovee the shield. Everett managed to turn to the side just in time, bashing his shield forward to counter the ape''s assault, "Yer not as fast as Mr. Dragonheart on a bad day!" ''That''s right¡ªhe''s been practicing with Fathertely. Everett hasn''t been cking,'' he thought. Given another opening, Emilio went in as the enormous ape was stumbling back, jumping up before flipping around into a smooth axe kick that curved down and mmed against the blue-furred primate''s skull. The impact made a crack of the wind howl out, brushing across the tree line. As the Dragonheart flipped back onto his feet, he and the shielded watched as the gargantuan gori groaned out, swaying side-to-side before it slowly copsed onto its back. "Ya didn''t bust its skull, didja?" Everett asked, squatting next to the unconscious primate to make sure it wasn''t dead. Emilio brushed his hands off, "Well, that thing was tougher than steel, so¡­I couldn''t hold out on that kick. It didn''t break though¡ªdon''t worry." There was no opportunity to rx as a bone-chilling roar thundered through the trees. Birds fled in droves like brown leaves in autumn; the ground vibrates from the bellowing, vicious howl of bestial bloodlust. RUMBLE. RUMBLE. RUMBLE. "Err¡­Hey, Emilio, are those sounds¡­footsteps?" Everett gulped, asking slowly as he stood in ce. Emilio didn''t know how to answer that, knowing that something unwanted had been drawn to them. The sound of wood splintering echoed as trees groaned, copsing and parting with the arrival of something far toorge; a shadow suddenly stretched over the two men. As the two looked up at the same time, a sight beyond any expectations was found: it was a primate, shrouded in dark-blue, grimy fur that was meddled with shrubs and small trees along its body. It was covered in scars, looking aged and forged in a lifetime of battles. The gori was colossal; towering over the surrounding trees like a distant mountain, only that it was right there¡ªfar too real despite its impossible size. ''What we fought was just a baby? What the hell is this ind?'' Emilio thought. Chapter 460 The Survivor ? Each of its knucklesnded on the ground with titanic tremors that briefly caused both of the men''s feet to lift from the ground; its hands were thicker than redwood trees,rge enough to grasp elephants. "Emilio," Everett whispered. "Shh¡­" Emilio responded, not breaking eye contact with the colossal primate above, "¡­Don''t speak." The nostrils of the grand beast red as it exhaled, bringing a mighty gust of wind that rustled the Dragonheart''s cloak. "Spare them, Musaf!" ¡ªA voice that didn''t belong to either of the men shouted at, seeming to be yelled directly at the colossus. It was then that a figure became obvious in the near distance, standing on a hill between trees: a man with a scruffy, red beard, dressed in shoddy, leather armor. ''Another person? Who is he?'' Emilio thought. Whoever the stranger was, it seemed that the mountainous gori held some respect for his words as it pulled away, exhaling once more with a tree-rustling breeze before walking off. Each of its steps, growing more distant, still rumbled thend. Everett let out a breath of relief, gasping out, "We''re saved!" "Yeah¡­" Emilio looked over at the stranger on the hill, "Thanks for the assist, but who are you?" As the stranger jumped over, clearing a dozen meters with a single leap, two things were made clear¡ªthe man was quite capable, and also, looked as though he hadn''t bathed in months. The ck-and-brown leather gear the man wore was scratched up, full of holes, and covered in dirt, blood, and grime. In addition to the adventuring gear the man wore, he seemed to have a few teeth reced with golden ones. There was definitely a stench of "nature" given off from the man, who arrived with a smile as he scratched his beard. "The name''s Maverick Jones, good to meetcha!" The man introduced himself, "¡ªWell, it''s good to meet anybody, actually! Ha-ha¡­ha¡­" The exasperatedugh the strange man let out was a bit sorry as he just looked relieved to see other people. It was clear in the hopeful, but worn eyes of the man, whose irises looked like olives, that he was more happy to see them than they were of him. "¡­You are both real, right? I''m not totally imagining you two as part of my own imagination, right?" Maverick asked nervously. "Pretty sure we''re real," Emilio responded sarcastically. A sigh of relief left the strange man''s lips, "...Thank heavens! I thought I was seeing people again! Good timing¨Cmy best friend I''d been here with for the past few months vanished this morning. Turns out, I had been imagining him the whole time! Ha-ha, ha¡­ha¡­" A worried look wore itself on Emilio''s face, "So¡­how long have you been on this ind? Not to sound rude, but it sounds like you''ve been through the ringer here." "You can say that," Maverick told him, "Before we talk¨Cfollow me, I''ll take you to my camp. If we stick around here too long, we''ll be hunted." "Hunted?" Everett repeated. "Juste on, or¡­don''t. I mean, you don''t have to," Maverick offered, beginning to walk towards the west as he parted some foliage. A look between Emilio and Everett had them decide whether or not to follow the suspicious stranger, though they decided to follow along for the time being. ''I want to find the others as soon as possible, but I think this might be the right call for that. If this guy knows the ind, he can help us find them,'' he thought. The path to the camp of the strange man was an unorthodox one; past a train between trees and dense foliage, Emilio watched as the red-bearded figure swiftly leapt over the gap of a ravine. "Watch your step!" Maverick warned,nding on the other side. Something about the way the man carried himself struck Emilio as odd; the leap he had made was enormous, just like when he witnessed him jump from the hill earlier¨Cthere was no magical reinforcement that could be sensed. ''It''s his body that''s this strong¨Cno tricks or magic to it,'' Emilio thought. Following behind, Emilio leapt over the gap as well, passing by what could be a one-hundred meter fall into the ravine of rocks and minerals. "Err¡­" Everett stood near the edge of the gap nervously. "My bad¨Chere," Emilio said, tapping his foot against the ground. The subtle gesture invoked the element of nature, creating a bridge of stone that connected both sides of the ravine for the shielder. "Many thanks!" Everett cheerfully said, crossing over. Maverick watched the act of magic be performed, "Huh, magic without an incantation? That''s pretty rare. Makes sense why you''d be here, then." "What do you mean?" Emilio asked. "Oh, nothing," Maverick said, brushing the question aside as he continued on, "My camp is close by. I''ve got enough lunch for both of you, too." Though Emilio had his own suspicions about the odd man, he felt there wasn''t enough to justify rejecting his hospitality, instead opting to follow along to get any information he could about the dangerous ind. The camp imed by Maverick was huddled up inside a cave, hidden behind a barrier of leaves. "Argh¨Cwhat''s that smell?!" Everettined as he passed through the leaves, gagging as he covered his nose. Maverickughed, patting one of the leaves to show the orange, sticky substance that wasthering all of the leaves, "Ha-ha! It''s "Dead Man''s Jo", I call it. A type of flower on this ind secretes it to throw off predators with the rancid smell. That makes it perfect for warding off unwee guests from my camp." "Smart thinking," Emilio remarked. Knowing the reason for the use of the secretion that smelled like an unholybination of rotting carcasses and feces didn''t make it any lovelier, especially for Everett''s all-too-strong sense of smell. As the two followed the strange inhibitor of the ind into the cave, it was surprisingly "home-ly", having chairs made out of intertwined straw, a bed of the same material, and some furniture that was, nicely put, imperfectly made out of hand-chopped wood. "This is my kingly abode! Nice, isn''t it?" Maverick asked with a proud smile. Emilio nodded wryly, looking around, "Err¡­Yeah." cing himself down on one of the seats, Maverick lifted a bowl made out of leaves that was filled with wrigglingrvae. "Hey, whaddya got that f¨C" Everett began to ask. The question was answered as the man shoveled a few of the grub straight into his mouth, chewing with juicy crunches that made both of the neers to the ind wince in disgust. "Eugh¡­" Emilio breathed out, trying not to get sick from the sight. Maverick looked over at him, offering the bowl of insects, "Want some? Good protein." "No thanks¡­not hungry," Emilio declined. "Me neither," Everett nodded. "Suit yourself¨Cmore for me," Maverick shrugged, happily continuing his feast that seemed gourmet to him. Chapter 461 The Land Of Beauty And Carnage ? After a few minutes of having to listen to the crimson-bearded man scarf down the less-than-savory appearing meal, Emilio finally decided to get down to business. "Hey, do you know this ind pretty well?" Emilio asked. Maverick swallowed the food in his mouth, "Yeah, I like to think I do after being stuck here for a couple years." "A couple years? Wow. Well, the truth is, we didn''te here as just us two¨Cthere are two others, actually," Emilio told him. The news seemed to excite Maverick, "More people?! Wow¡­well, I wouldn''t get too excited. Sorry." "What?" For the first time, the strange man seemed serious, "Truthfully, your friends are most likely dead. That''s just the way this ind is¨Cif you''re not strong enough, it''ll chew you up and spit you out. You two would''ve met the same fate if I didn''t call Musaf off." The statement definitely irked Emilio, though he held himself back from correcting the man, "My friends won''t die that easily, don''t worry. I was wondering though¨Chow did you control that giant gori?" "I was thinkin'' about that, too," Everett added. A smallugh came from Maverick, who rubbed one of his tattooed arms with a smile, "You think I controlled Musaf?" "You didn''t?" Emilio asked. Maverick shook his head, "If Musaf wanted, she could''ve crushed all three of us, right then and there, and we would be helpless to our fate. The only reason she backed off was because of a ''debt'' she owed me¨CI helped find her babies for her once." "Beasts have a sense of obligation like that?" Emilio asked. "You''d be surprised at what you find on this ind. Here, isted from the influences of civilization and infused with the rich mana of thisnd, beasts have evolved into all sorts of amazing forms," Maverick exined, "The Ind of the Grand is great¨Cand terrifying. Ha-ha!" Emilio mumbled, "I agree with half of that," he continued, "So, can you help us find our two friends?" When making such a request, he knew he had to always be ready to give something in exchange¨Cwhether it was a trinket of his own or helping the figure back. Though he definitely didn''t expect what befell from the ind survivor''s lips: "Sure, but you''ve got to help me with something, too!" Maverick proposed, "Can you create some weapons for me? With that magic of yours?" The request took him aback, never being asked that before, "...What?" "I saw you make that bridge of stone easily, so I was thinking weapons should be feasible." Emilio scratched his head for a second, ''Yeah, I can do that. What do you want?" "Well¨C" It was definitely not a single weapon or just a couple that Maverick wanted; over the course of a half hour, Emilio used his mastery over nature magecraft to forge various weapons of stone: rocky swords, spears, and a couple, differently shaped shields. "Aha! Amazing! Thanks, I''ve got a whole arsenal now!" Maverick happilyughed, doing practice swings with one of the stone swords. "Yeah, no problem," Emilio responded, rolling one of his shoulders as the abundant usage of magecraft definitely drew some stamina from him. Bringing the stone sword along with him, Maverick stood by the entrance of his camp, "Alright, let''s go¨CI''ll help you track down these friends of yours. Time is of the essence¨Cevery moment could put hours between us, and hours could mean death." "Right," Emilio got ready. "Let''s go!" Everett followed. Back into the wilderness of the mystical ind, there was somefort in following a figure that was experienced in theyout of the istednd. "So, did youe here to be a sage?" Emilio asked. Maverick led the way, using the sharp edge of the stone weapon to cleave through tall bushes and grass, responding from up front as he stepped over a jutting-out rock, "Sure did. See, my Gramps was like a father to me, but he left when I was young. He did leave me something though¨Ca journal." "Just a journal?" Everett asked, marching behind as he used his shield to brush away overbearing vines. "Sounds prettyme, right? Ha-ha. I was mad at first, but once I read it, I understood. Gramps wrote about it there¨Cabout the ''Sage Trial'' and wanting to explore the Ind of The Grand. Ever since I read that journal, I made it my goal to follow in his footsteps, hoping maybe he''d be waiting for me here," Maverick exined, cutting away more grass. "Didja find him?" As Everett asked that, Emilio shot him a sharp re as if questioning why the shielder would ask such an insensitive question, though the red-bearded man onlyughed it off. "I did!" Emilio was surprised in tandem with the bumpkin shielder, "You did?" "Mhm," Maverick confirmed, "Found him in one of the caves in my first month here, actually. Though he was just a skeleton by then¨Cbut I found another journal beside his body. It was mostly gibberish, but he did mention me a few times." "Oh¡­" Everett let out sadly. Reaching past the dense foliage, the group arrived before a waterfall, standing on its edge as it looked over a stream that ran between a passage neighbored by flower-covered cliffs. It was a sight that would be beautiful anywhere else but the dangerous ind. Even then, it was still majestic enough to bring all three to a pause as they took the scenery in. "Pretty, isn''t it? It''s ironic that the most beautifulnd I''ve ever seen is also always trying to kill me," Maverick remarked, leaning over the waterfall, "As I''ve been trying to say, this ind isn''t for the weak. It''s not really for the strong, either. Only for those insane enough to test themselves. I''ve given up on the trial myself." "Really? Why?" Emilio asked. "You haven''t taken it yet, have you?" Maverick asked, "You wouldn''t be asking me that if you did." He couldn''t argue with that, but it only led to more questions in his mind as he traveled down a steep trail beside the waterfall alongside the other two. Reaching the bottom of the waterfall, the ground was made up of moss-covered, moist stone, running cold from the water that ran beneath it. Chapter 462 Cellys Journey ? Critters of thend scattered through the nearby bushes as they walked by; Emilio caught sight of what looked like a dog-sized squirrel climbing a tree, though only for a moment as he continued on. "Earlier, you said something about us being "hunted" if we stuck around too long. What did you mean?" Emilio asked. Maverick walked closer to the two, speaking quieter as he responded, "...Well, I''ve made it sound like you both are the only two other people on this ind, right? Well, that''s not entirely the truth." "Huh? What''re you talking about?" Emilio asked, looking at the man. "I wasn''t lying, trust me. The thing is, the people that live on this ind, well¡­They really have it out for humans. Or rather, they love them¨Cby that, I mean they find us delicious," Maverick exined with wryughter. "Delicious?" Everett said. Emilio quickly, and unfortunately, understood what was being implied, "Cannibals? There are cannibals on this ind?" "I wouldn''t call them that. They''re elves, actually. They call themselves the ''Harken''--they''ve been on this ind for centuries as far as I can tell. Luckily, their vige isn''t in this area," Maverick exined. The idea of man-eating elves was certainly not something Emilio prepared himself to hear about, finding the idea perhaps more terrifying than mountainous goris. "You''ve been able to avoid them though," Emilio noted. The red-bearded man confirmed with a nod, "I''ve had a few close calls, though. It''s weird¨Cit''s not like they solely eat humans or have a need to. I mean, it''s notmon that anybody shows up here. They mainly feed on the wildlife around here." "It''s a cultural thing, then? Like a tradition?" Emilio asked. "Something like that. Either way, it''s best that we avoid them, and hope your friends do, too," Maverick said. Along the stream of fresh water, they came to a stop as Maverick squatted beside the flow, running his hands through the stream before washing his face and hair quickly. ''This is the equivalent of a bath on the ind, huh?'' Emilio thought. Maverick scooped some of the water into the canteen he kept attached at his belt, "The water on this ind is incredibly rich. I''d rmend drinking some." Now that he mentioned it, Emilio was feeling quenched, same with the shielder apparently as they both knelt over for a moment, scooping up some of the freshly flowing water to drink. As Emilio brought it into his mouth, he found it to taste almost sweet, running down his throat smoothly. The briskness of the water flowed through his body, feeling as though he had just been rejuvenated equivalent to a full night of sleep, "Woah." "I feel great!" Everett remarked. Maverickughed, "The life energy flowing through this ind is unlike anything else. The water here is like a naturally growing potion." Brushing the water from his mouth as he stood up, Emilio eyed the crimson-bearded man, "Is that the exnation behind your strength?" "You noticed?" Maverick asked before smiling, flexing one of his arms, "The truth is, when I showed up here, I was scrawny and honestly, pretty weak. I only survived by covering myself in mud and hiding out. However¨Cthis ind has an effect that extends to everything that lives on it." "I''m listening," Emilio said. Maverick raised his index finger, "The bountiful life energy that exists on the Ind of The Grand naturally strengthens every living creature on it." Everett caught on, holding a surprised look, "Oh! That''s why that gori was so strong!" "Exactly. Just surviving here has honed my body into being tougher than steel," Maverick rubbed his beard, somewhat gloating, "...Still, even now, I''m not strong enough to contend with the apex predators of this ind." "So even you''re just prey," Emilio noted. "Ha-ha! It hurts when you put it like that, but yeah!" Maverick admitted with a chuckle. After arriving mostly blind to the sacred ind, the information that Emilio managed to get out of the strange man was invaluable. "Alright, you mentioned earlier about a lightning bolt touching down near the shore? Northway, too," Maverick got back on track, "We''re almost there." ¨C [The Burning Lands] Through her travels in the burnt region, the silver-haired half-elf made a discovery, finding a massive, natural sauna embedded into thend. The water was bubbling, boiling with a height of degree she certainly didn''t feel like trying out for herself. The only problem was, this sauna that was asrge as a river itself, was the gap between the burntnds and the region of green, luscious grass beyond. She held onto the rim of her tall, mage hat, exhaling as she sweat from the natural temperature brewing through the region, "...Hm." Just by standing near the rim of heated stone that acted as the perimeter around the boilingke, she could tell that touching the steaming body of water would be a costly mistake. ''Let''s try this,'' she decided, raising her trusty catalyst. Bypassing the need for an incantation, she focused with a slow, quiet exhale as a pathway of stones forged itself in front of her. A bridge was created above the river of boiling water, suspended only by the magic woven to manifest it. As she stepped onto the first stone tform, she gulped, ncing down to see the bubbling liquid that waited only one misstep below. ''Times like this make me wish I spent more effort on one school of magic¡ªthough this is no time toment that,'' she thought. While it''s possible to manipte naturally urring elements, the ability to do so relies on one''s own mastery of the elements and all of their forms. She knew better than anybody that only devotees of water magic practiced the maniption of boiling water. There were small gaps between each of the stepping stones she created, forcing her to take long, but slow and careful strides. The heat continuously rose, brushing against her as she traversed the stone tforms, sweating even through the heat-resisting cloak she summoned for herself. SPLOSH "--!" A small geyser of the boiling water shot up suddenly, pushing against the tform she stood on as it melted through half of it with a single graze. "Nnh¨C!" Nearly stumbling off the side by the unexpected release, she caught herself, letting out a sigh of relief before using her arm to wipe the sweat from her cheek. As she looked forward again, massive geysers started sprouting throughout the boilingke. ''That''s definitely concerning. I didn''t want to use any unnecessary mana, but just to be safe¡­'' She decided. Chapter 463 Unseen Assault ? Stopping for a moment as she clutched her staff, she closed her eyes for a moment, whispering incantations to herself before calling upon the desired magecraft: "Sphere of Life Protection." Around her body, a spherical barrier made out of translucent, cyan light was created, guarding her as she now felt confident to continue traversing the rocky bridge. In order to maintain the tforms that were suspended on nothing but her own mana, she had to concentrate despite the boiling geysers appearing closer-and-closer. Reaching thest tform, she took a slow step over before¨C "Ghh!" A burst of steaming waterunched up, brushing directly against the barrier that protected her, causing her to stumble somewhat as she leaned over the tform, nearly falling from the side of it. Even with the shield she had around herself, plunging into the depths of the boilingke wouldn''t be something she dared to do. She managed to catch herself by creating molds of stone around her boots, nted against the tform and forcing her to stay anchored to it as she straightened herself out. "...Phew¡­" She breathed out, releasing the stone molds. Finally, she reached the end of the troublesomeke, hopping off of the tform andnding on the other side, free from the charred region ofnd. As she nced back, the stone tforms fell from their mystical suspension, falling into the boiling stretch of water with a "plop". She brushed her skirt before fixing her hat, looking at the environment before her. A plethora of hills d in luscious, emerald grass stretched out before her, blooming with delicate flowers and healthy trees that seemed to lead to a forest area. ''It''s like an entirely different ce. This is really the samend?'' She thought. Free from the high-temperature area, she took a moment to sit down against the grass in an attempt to get her bearings. It was all still a mystery to her¨Cbeing suddenly transported to the ind. ''I know I saw Sirius'' lightning earlier. I doubt there''s anybody else in this entire world that possessed that unique, purple lightning of his. I felt Emilio''s mana, too. That man¡­Bastian, he''s capable of teleportation magic¨Cdid he send us all here? I doubt that, for some reason,'' she thought. It wasn''t enough though; the uncertainty of it all left her ufortable in her current predicament. Fortunately, the experienced archmage had an arsenal of her own to call upon. Deciding to venture in an understanding further than her own deductions, she sat herself on the grass before holding her pale hands together above the grass. A small conjuration of water rippled into form between her palms, forming into a circr, t disk of the clear element. "Divination of The Melodic Sea," she whispered the invocation, keeping her eyes on the gathering of water. The unique spell required an immense amount of focus, making the quiet, unmoving nature of the hill range necessary as she watched the water begin forming into a shape just above the grass. Trickles of aqua stretched, containing itself to a square canvas that formed three dimensions, with tiny constructs of water representing hills, trees, and otherndscapes. This was the nature of the divination spell; it used the mystical water to sketch out a map of the foreignnd she found herself on, soon revealing the scope of the mysterious ind. As she maintained the spell as the map of water was woven before her, she began to sweat, finding it difficult to hold it. ''...It''s still hard for me to maintain this one, but¡­since I know the mana of Sirius and Emilio, I might be able to pinpoint them with this,'' she thought, hoping for it to work. Slowly inhaling and exhaling, she focused again, this time picturing the unique sensation of both peoples'' mana signature. ''Remember the erratic, but brilliant power of Sirius'' mana; like lightning caught in a bottle¨Cunable to be tamed. Remember Emilio''s aura¨Cthat overwhelming reservoir of mana, flowing like a boundless waterfall within him, but maintained by his kind nature,'' she thought. It was through recalling the intricate sensations of each unique mana did she manage to infuse that sense into the divined map itself, causing a magenta and azure glow to be etched into the map. "Pah¡­!" She gasped out, having to hold her breath the entire time she focused. As she looked at the map, she found what she was looking for: two marks were imprinted on it, with the azure mark representing Emilio ced near the west shore of the ind, and the magenta mark of Sirius on the northern shore. ''There! I knew they were here, too. They''re both near the shore? Though Sirius is a fair distance away¨Cwhere I''m at inparison, let''s see¡­'' She thought. It was easy enough to imprint her own mana mark onto the map, marking her southeast on the map¨Cmaking her quite a ways from the two men. Still, this was a victory for the archmage as she smiled to herself, now having a clear destination to follow. As she returned to her feet, she kept the map conjured, not having to focus as much now that everything was in ce on the aquatic chart. ''Alright, let''s¨C'' Before she could even take one step forth towards reuniting with her friends, the silver-haired woman sensed something amiss in that split-second, turning just as something was piercing through the wind. It came swiftly, heading straight towards her as she instinctively used her staff to raise a wall of mud-and-stone behind her. "Rise!" She invoked, unknowing of what had beenunched towards her. Piercing straight through the natural defense, a copper arrowhead was mere inches from her forehead, bringing her wordless as she felt her life was only still intact by mere milliseconds of reaction time. ''What was that?...An arrow? Who else is on this ind?'' She questioned. Unable to find any confirmation yet as she stood alone and alert in the field, another arrow nearly reached her, forcing her to conjure another wall, using simply mud this time to engulf it. After blocking the arrow, she quickly looked around, scanning the tree line in the near distance, but seeing nothing. "Who''s there?!" She called out, "I''ll give you one chance to stand down!" She didn''t show any weakness in her words, standing with her staff held and prepared to unleash magecraft as mana swirled around its tip. In truth, she knew that in a battle of attrition, a mage held the disadvantage unless properly prepared. There was no response from her yell, only another arrows that was primed for her stomach. Reacting with milliseconds to spare, she pointed her staff forward, using a long block of water to catch the arrow within before letting it drop. ''If they keep shooting arrows, I''m just going to end up wasting mana needlessly. Is that their n? Do I have time to use a scouting spell?'' She questioned. Chapter 464 Lurking Hunters ? It was the worst possible environment to be ambushed in, especially by enemies that seemed experienced; being leftpletely open in the clear field without any obstacles, while the enemies possessedplete ambiguity. Arrows kepting from different directions, someing at different angles at the same time, confirming it wasn''t a single enemy lurking by the trees. ''¡ªThis is a gamble, but I have to do it!'' She decided. Before the next set of arrows came, she lifted her staff high as an emerald glow emitted, causing the surrounding soil to ripple: "Blossoming Spring of The Forest God!" Flooding through the soil like a breath of sr life, the enrichening mana of the archmage prated the ground, embedding a radiance of vigor through it. The field was terraformedpletely; the soil was split apart as dozens of roots rose, rapidly growing to dozens of times their size. Roots turned to saplings, into mighty trees, extending their branches, twisting and turning, before creating an artificial forest within moments. Arrows were blocked by the twisting trees that rose, creating abyrinth of nature that rose like a sudden tidal wave. The silver-haired archmage breathed out, sweating as she stood in the center of the dense, magical forest of her own creation. Such arge-scale spell didn''te at a low cost, tiring her greatly. "Haaah¡­" Exhaling with parted lips, she found her body running hot and her mana feeling much more absent; the sudden departure from most of her reserves of mana was the same, nauseating feeling of skipping a day of meals. It was a gamble to use such a spell; "Blossoming Spring of The Forest God"¡ªit created an environment that concealed the half elf, acting as protection from arrows and also a ce where she could freely manipte the entirety of the nts without any activation. However, this provided one, frightening downside to it: thebyrinth of trees also provided a cover for whoever was hunting the woman. ''I don''t need to fight. I can use the dense cover to sneak away and escape¡ªI need to regroup with Emilio and Sirius,'' she thought. Within the boundaries of the mana-formed forest, trees twisted and spiraled, making for a confusing environment that was hard to traverse. She was hoping this unique forest, paired with defenses of its own, could hold off the unknown attackers. ''Just stay calm. If I''m panicking, I''ll make mistakes. Whoever my enemy is, they''re skilled. Any slip ups will be used against me,'' she thought. Keeping low, she slowly moved through the twistedndscape, ducking beneath abundant tree roots that stretched and contorted seemingly in every direction. Even though the environmental advantage was hers, it was still unnerving for her as she crouched through the dense folds of nature, finding an ufortable silence filling the area. Keeping low and pressed near a bush for a moment, she checked the aquatic map for a moment, seeing which direction to move in order to reunite with the others. ''I just need to keep heading north. I can do this,'' she thought. Even trying to move as quietly and silently as possible, moving stealthy wasn''t a skill of hers; leaves crunched beneath her boots and twigs snapped, resounding like an rm of her location. Not even a few seconds after snapping a twig with a step, she found the sound of something approaching behind her rapidly approaching. "Close¡­!" Shemanded, reaching behind her. Without seeing who or what wasing from the back, she brought a series of roots together, connecting into a wall that stopped whatever came. THUD Whatever had been stopped mmed against the blockade as it was formed. Celly paused for a moment, catching her breath as she realized that she was likely at aplete disadvantage when trying to run. ''I can''t keep this up. I don''t know who is after me, but they''re already wearing me down, and I haven''t seen them yet. Think,'' she thought. It was only a temporary stop, however, as what was blocked by the barrier of thick, sturdy roots was immediately cut through. Just as the walls of roots were cleaved though, footsteps dropped down onto the magically-sprouted forest. "¡ª" Tucked away in a hidden spot, sitting within the hollow base of a tree with foliage concealing its entrance, the girl kept her mouth covered. She kept herself huddled into the cramped, ustrophobic space, stayingpletely silent. Footsteps arrived nearby; perhaps only a few meters away by how they sounded. Even though she heard the steps, it wasn''t clear by any means; they were trying to be silent. If it wasn''t for the fact she stifled her own breaths, the footsteps would''ve been inaudible. ''It''s so quiet¡­It''s hard to tell, but it sounds like there''s more than one¡ªjust how many?'' She thought. It was difficult to see through the bush that sat directly in front of the tree''s cavity, but she could partially make out long, silver hair flowing by as a pair of the quiet footsteps lurked by. In order topletely conceal her presence, she lowered her own mana signature. STOMP. ¨CA heavy footstep suddenly mmed down, appearing not far in front of her hiding spot, arriving with a frightening presence. A yelp nearly escaped her lips before she covered her mouth properly, clenching her own lips almost as if damning herself. She finally saw it: one of the pursuers that had been harassing her. It was a male with pale, clear skin, thin and lean, but standing abnormally tall with long, silver hair cascading down his frame. A ck-and-brown uniform, made out of fine leather was worn by the figure, seeming optimized for flexible movement. What stood out most of all were the long, sharp ears of the figure, taking the archmage by surprise. ''An elf¨C?'' She realized. There was something abnormal about the elven man she saw, besides his lean, tall build; he possessed pitch-ck sclera, sniffing the air carefully as a clicking sound emitted from his mouth as he scoped the area. ''That sound¡­What is he doing? Is he trying to find out where I''m hiding?'' She questioned, perplexed. Chapter 465 Persistence ? It was unnerving to be stuck in the cramped spot, only able to watch and hope that she wasn''t discovered. Thenky, elven man crouched down abnormally, standing on all fours before bringing his chest close to the ground, inspecting the des of grass carefully. Only when finally looking around the perplexing figure did she realize there were two more of the elven men¨Cone was clung to a tree, inspecting its bark, hanging on nimbly like a spider with his long, thin arms. Another was doing something that haunted the archmage: checking small crevices around the magically-formed forest, digging up small holes and checking behind bushes. This realization made the silver-haired woman''s heart rapidly thump, realizing it was now inevitable her spot would be found. Perfect hunters; this is what she was up against¨Ca frightening force that seemed almost inhuman in their immacte approach in hunting her down. ''...I need to move! I can''t stay here¨CI''ll be found. But, if I move even an inch¡­they''ll know. The smallest sound¡­they''ll find me by the slightest noise¨CI know that for sure,'' she thought. There was a clock ticking in her mind¨Cvague on its remaining time, but sure that soon enough, time would expire; she needed to act quickly with what little choices she had. ''Should I attack now then make a run for it? Is there another option? No¨CI have to act now!'' She hurriedly thought. Giving her no time to think her options through, the tall, ck-eyed elves continued emitting unnerving "clicks" with their tongues, prowling closer-and-closer. Slowly, she moved her hand away from her mouth, pointing it towards the outside of the tree cavity, focusing herself as she steadied her breathing. ''One, two¡­'' She counted in her head, readying herself. With a single exhale, she strained her body for a moment¨Cfrom the ground ahead of her, an eruption of soil spilled upward, releasing a wrath of roots that whipped around and extended. In that moment, the tongue-clicking, peculiar elves turned their attention towards the thrashing roots, evading them. ''--This is my only shot!'' She thought. Jumping out of her hiding spot, there wasn''t a second wasted even looking back as she immediately ced her mana into reinforcing her legs, boosting her agility as she ran with everything she had. ncing back just once as she neared the tree line of the sprouted forest, she found her heart skipping a beat¨Cthe three figures weren''t present near the thrashing roots that were smacking against the closest trees. ''What¨C?'' She thought. It was only out of the corner of her eye that she noticed it: sprinting through the foliage, keeping up with her, were the elven hunters, who silently watched her with their pitch-ck eyes. A daunting sight; the speed she ran at far outpaced any normal person, using mana to amplify herself¨Cyet, the hunters did just that. They never looked away from her, watching her the entire time even as they sprinted hard, making long, swift strides with their lengthy legs. Finding herself surrounded as they pursued her through the trees, she had to make careful choices with her mana, seeing as she was nearing her limit on casting. ''They''re keeping some distance still¨Cthey''re likely predicting I''ll try another attack. Even if I do, I don''t have anything that''ll hit all three of them, not at the speed they''re moving. It''s smart¡­One staying on either side while the other pursues from behind, not letting themselves be grouped together,'' she thought. Clutching her staff, she breathed out as the temperature cooled around her; the air became moist briefly before bubbles of water appeared, giving way to a perpetual slide of water that manifested beneath her feet: "Aquatic Dance Beneath The Noon." The spell took away any need for her to move her own feet, instead using the rapidly-moving water to slide across the ground as if surfacing on the surface, allowing her to focus on the trio of hunters. ''Alright, I''ll start with this one¨C!'' She decided. Pointing the end of her staff towards the elven hunter to her left, she invoked the chaotic element of fire, zing into existence with a fireball that sailed straight towards the figure. The elven hunter made a flexible movement with lightning reflexes, leaning back to avoid the fireball, however, Celly predicted as much. ''He''s fast, but that''s what this is for¨C"Seeking ze Lob"!'' She thought. The unique fireball changed its own trajectory on the fly, following the elven hunter and exploding directly near him. Before she had any chance to celebrate, through the explosion of mes, the attacked elf with short hair jumped out from the ze, tossing his burnt shirt away and continuing the chase without wasting a moment. ''--The attack failed? How did he defend against that?'' She questioned. There wasn''t any time to focus on the failed attack as she focused on her surroundings just in time to duck down as an arrow missed her head. Looking to her right, one of the sprinting hunters had shot an odd, sideways bow that seemed mechanical in nature, reloading it without breaking eye contact. As another arrow shot straight at her, aiming for her side, she quickly swerved out of the way, sliding her feet as the small, rapid wave of water carried her out of harm''s way. ''It''s as I feared¡ªphysically, they''re incredible. To avoid being harmed by a fireball like that is impressive, and frightening. Just where am I and who are these people? I''ve got too many questions,'' she thought. As a steep cliff suddenly appeared in her path, she didn''t fear it, instead embracing the chaotic descent by using the slide of mystical water to swiftly descend. Looking back as she reached the base of the cliff, continuing to slide across the field below, the sight seems anything but orthodox: The three, elven hunters leapt from the summit of the cliff, leaping bounds beyond anything ordinary before smoothlynding on the ground without any injury. Unaffected by the immensending, the hunters immediately continued chasing her with their long, fast strides. ''You''re kidding me! I can''t lose them,'' she realized. Chapter 466 The Sound Of Fire ? Using the terrain for any sort of advantage, the mystical staff was waved, giving way for the ground behind her to morph, losing its solid form and turning into arge, tidal wave of mud that loomed over the hunters. Leading the chase, the elven hunter with long, tinum hair held his hand in front of himself, speaking in a whisper that was too quiet and too fast to be heard, "----" At that moment, Celly felt a spike in mana; a refined signature that felt like a wise, ancient tree, yet honed for something sinister. As she looked back, the tidal wave of mud was parted by an archway of stone being formed, dispersing the entrapping liquid and allowing the hunters to continue sprinting forth, unimpeded. It had to have been manifested within a second; the construct of stone created a tunnel thatpletely negated the desired effect of the mud wave. ''Magic? I didn''t hear anything. Was it without an incantation? If they can use magic too, then this is even worse than I thought¨Cstill, it doesn''t mean I''ll stand down without a fight!'' She thought. Nearing arge clearing in the lusciousnd, surrounded by tall-standing, emerald-leaf trees, she came to a sudden stop, spinning around to face her three pursuers with a determined look embedded in her soft, but strong, green irises. ''As an archmage, directbat isn''t my speciality. I''m more of a schr than a fighter; at best, my greatest spells are used forrge-scale defenses, however¨Cthat''s not what I have to be right now! I''m the one who taught Emilio¨Che''s a savant when ites to magicbat; I have to hold my own, or I''ll disappoint my star pupil!'' She thought with determination flooding through her body. That willpower was forged through her decision to no longer run, standing her ground even in the situation in which she possessed little understanding. It wasn''t often that the studied archmage was pushed into such corners, experiencing the true pressures of life-and-death in the world, but she didn''t back down. ''Remember what you learned. Don''t cast any wasteful spells. Don''t leak any unnecessary mana. Empower yourself and fight,'' she thought. "Fang of The Disarmed!" Celly invoked, yelling the true name of the spell out with no desire to waste any effort. As she wrapped her pale fingers around the white material of her staff, an aura of sharp wind extended down its length, creating a sharp edge that let out a continuous hiss; it was the breath of the malicious wind. She wielded her staff like a sword, holding it with both hands as she looked at the three elven hunters, who came to a stop as well, each standing at three different spots across from her. "Tell me¨Cwhat do you want with me? If this is your territory, then I apologize, but I don''t even know how or why I ended up here," she said. There was no response; only that same, apathetic look in their sable eyes as if looking upon prey below themselves on the food chain. She was outnumbered; that was a factor she couldn''t dispute. Additionally, she could feel her reserves of mana reaching its limit as her fingers lightly trembled against the staff she wielded. ''They won''t even talk to me. Is it because they don''t understand me or is it because they see me as nothing more than prey?'' She questioned. The moment thenky, elven hunter with shorter hair took a single step, she held her ground¨Cswiping her enchanted staff as she unleashed a slice of wind that cleaved through the soil just before the hunter''s boot. "Stay back!" She yelled. The silent hunter stopped just short of where the cutting wind hadnded its wrath, though there was no emotion worn on his face. It seemed a warning would only be heeded if she disyed some power; seeing the ferocity of the enchantment of sharp wind she wielded, the hunters looked wary now. Though she believed this for a moment, it was the long-haired elf, who stood mightier in height than hispanions, who began to make a move. There was an aura around the figure that unnerved her; an ice-cold confidence worn on that emotionless face, embedded in those ruthless, ck eyes. The long-haired hunter reached behind his back, unsheathing the weapon that had been strapped behind him slowly. ''...A weapon?'' She thought, keeping her distance, but not giving up any ground as she nted her boots against the firm soil. What was dragged out from its ck leather scabbard was a long, unorthodox greatsword, with an edge specialized with sharp ridges, seeming meant for only one specific task: ughter. It wasn''t made out of silver metal like a normal de she was used to; it was forged of what looked to be copper and obsidian; a bronze-and-ck de that was as tall as the archmage herself. The leading hunter began slowly approaching her, wielding this frightening sword as his pitch-ck eyes locked onto her. "Stay back!" Celly warned. This time, the yell wasn''t listened to as she found the figure still approaching her. There was no choice but to attack, leaving her swinging her staff, unleashing a vertical slice of wind that cleaved through the soil before her¨C SWOOSH. ''No way,'' she thought. Seamlessly, the elven figure only made a single movement, moving his sword to the side, but perfectly countering the nearly invisible slice of air. ''He''s out of my league. All of them are. That wind is supposed to be sharp enough to cut straight through steel¨Cyet he deflected it with his own sword? How did he even sense it? React to it?'' She thought. The archmage held one, distinct disadvantage in this fight that all but cemented it before it even began: she was only experienced in fighting monsters, not intelligent, humanoid fighters. This stark contrast in experience led her to inaction as she stood there, unable to conjure a n in mind as the hunter stepped closer and closer. Nheless, she regained her resolve, readying herself as the figure came within a few meters, about to attack before something else arrived: The sound of mes swirling into existence echoed throughout the region; she along with the hunters looked around before finally staring up, finding where the sound of fire wasing from. "...Huh," she let out, perplexed by the sight. Chapter 467 Sublime Arrival ? Plummeting downward from the sky, aet of mes descended rapidly, approaching the very area she stood in. The popping and crackling of the soaring mes was ring; as it descended faster, the elven hunters jumped back, along with Celly who moved out of the way before it crashed into the ground with a pir of mes reaching up. An extraordinary heat emitted from the position of the fire, which took the form of zing, bird wings. The silver-haired girl kept her arms up, protecting herself from the sudden heat as her cloak was rustled by the new winds. ''Emilio? No¡­This doesn''t feel like his mana,'' Celly thought. The mes washed away, revealing a figure within them, though one that Celly did not recognize: a ck cloak swayed in the ember-filled winds as a red-and-ck ponytail cascaded down the back of the stranger. It was undoubtedly a woman, though they could only be seen from behind; the stranger with mix-colored hair stood there, staring at the three hunters. ''Who is she?'' Celly thought. "I''d suggest you back off¨Cnow," the womanmanded, speaking directly to the ck-eyed elves. She possessed strong, scarlet eyes, wearing only a bra beneath the cloak that was worn on her shoulders; tattoos ran along the woman''s body, focusing on her left arm that she held as if ready to strike with it. The hunters looked at the stranger for a moment before surprisingly¨Cthey retreated, swiftly jumping back before disappearing into the tree line. A sigh left the unknown woman''s lips before she turned to face Celly, now holding a small smile, "You''re new here." "Err¡­where is "here", exactly?" Celly asked. The question took the scarlet-eyed, toned woman by surprise as she looked nkly at the silver-haired girl for a second, "Uhh¡­Say what now? You don''t know where you are?" Celly shook her head, "I was dropped into this ind¡­by a teleportation spell, I think. A couple of my friends are here too, but we got separated." Hearing the exnation, the tattooed woman scratched her head, looking off in the distance as she seemed to think to herself before finally responding, "Alright, then. I think I understand the situation. For now,e with me¨Coh, the name''s Cora, by the way. Cora Legend." The name stuck out to Celly as she epted the extended hand from the woman who saved her, "I''m Celly Van Strezzhume. Thanks for stepping in¨CI don''t think I would''ve been able to handle those people¡­" Leading the way now, Cora gestured for the half-elf to follow as she walked casually, "Oh yeah, make sure to steer clear of those ones¨Cthe Harken. They''re real tough customers¨Ca n that''s been living on this ind for who-knows-how-long. Anyway, that''s caused them to evolve into extraordinary hunters." Following the strong-seeming woman, Celly watched her from behind, "So, where are we? I''ve never heard of Harken before. Just what kind of ind is this?" "It''s called ''The Ind of The Grand'', but it''s more like ''The Ind of Death'', to me. Everything here wants to kill you¨Ceven the nt life. It''s extremely hard to get here and even harder to survive, then making it to the temple is an even bigger task. Passing the trial¨Cnow that''s a real bitch to do," Cora said, speaking without much refinement. "Trial?" Celly asked. "Huh, you don''t know what either? Well¡­" Cora said. On the way to where the camp Cora stayed in, the Sage Trial along with everything it entailed was told to Celly, who finally gained an understanding of what was going on with her current situation. "Sage¡­That sounds like something Emilio would be chosen for. Why was I brought here though?" Celly questioned out loud. "Beats me. You can ask him yourself when you find him," Cora exined, pushing throughrge, defense bushes, "--We''re here. Also, don''t mind my brother¨Che''s a bit¡­energetic." "Brother?" Celly asked. Arriving at the campsite, which was marked by arge tent and bushes strategically ced to mask its location, Celly stepped into the area before immediately jumping upon hearing a loud sound. For seemingly no reason, one of the nearby trees began leaning over beforepletely copsing, plummeting onto the soil with an echoing thud. "Huh¨C" "Dammit, Jace! I told you to stop chopping trees so loud!" Cora yelled out. Jumping out from the foliage where the old, tall-standing tree had copsed, a man with the same ck-and-red hair and baggy, ck cloaknded on the campsite. Oddly enough, despite the tree seemingly being cut down, the man didn''t wield a de of any sort. "Sorry ''bout that, sis," the man chuckled before noticing the girl standing beside his sister, "Hey¨Cya found somebody!?" The sibling of the woman had a ck cloth wrapped around his face, covering his right eye, though the single scarlet eye he had revealed still stood out more than normal pairs. "Mhm," Cora said, "This is Celly¨Cshe''s actually got a few friends scattered around the ind, too. Oh, and this is Jace, Celly." Jace waved briefly, "Friends, huh? Probably de¨C" Before the entric man could even finish his sentence, he was forced to lean back, dodging a swift punch from his sister. "Woah! Close!" Jaceughed. Cora whispered to her brother, "Don''t." The tattooed, youthful man nodded, chuckling, "Yeah, yeah, my bad." Though Celly didn''t know exactly what it was that was being discussed, she looked around the camp, seeing assortments of traps built and stone tablets scattered around. "Anyway, we''ll help you find your friends," Cora said. "Really?" Celly asked. "''Course!" Jace proimed with a smile. Celly was ecstatic to learn she gained what seemed like two, reliablepanions, though she was still confused about one thing, letting it out directly, "...But why? You don''t know me. If this ind is as dangerous as you say it is, then why go through the trouble of helping out someone you don''t even know?" The twin brother and sister looked at her for a moment before looking at each other, nodding to one another before moving their cloaks aside, revealing the intricate tattoos ced on their bodies. Of ck ink, the tattoos were beautiful and detailed; Celly could make out the designs of mes on Cora, and a design of rocky mountains along Jace''s right side. "We''re Sage Apprentices," Cora revealed. "It''s our solemn duty to help guide those who want to be sages as well," Jace exined. Celly was surprised, hearing how difficult and revered the position of a sage was, hearing the two were closer to it than anybody else, "Sage apprentices? That''s amazing, isn''t it? You must have passed that trial¨C" Cora stopped her assumption with a small shake of her head, "Actually, we didn''t pass the trial. We only made it to the trial." "You didn''t pass, then just how difficult is it?" Celly asked. "Sorry, but can''t say," Jace said. Cora tapped her chest, "We''re bound by a Geass not to speak about what urs within the trial. Don''t worry too much, though. Let''s find those friends of yours, then worry about the trial." "Right! Thank you!" Celly smiled. Chapter 468 Electric Encounter ? [??? | The Forest] Walking around casually, Sirius left the shores after dismantling a few, giant crabs, holding a humongous, cooked crab leg in one of his hands as he ate the delectable meat from it. "Mm-mm-mm," Sirius made sounds of satisfaction when slurping down the fine cuisine while walking into the tree-filled grasnds. For the man who wielded lightning, the challenges of nature, no matter how supreme, were only a second thought to him; he instead chose to take the unknown situation as an opportunity to take his time, leisurely figuring it all out at his own pace. ''Crab tastes like crab. No matter how big they are¨Cyeah, good discovery,'' Sirius casually thought. It was thebination of innate talent and experience that led the lightning-wielding reincarnator to maintain his calmness in the foreign situation. Through adventuring throughpletely unknown, unexplored areas, it wasn''t anything shocking to him. "...I should probably find Emilio soon. Celly and Everette fell in too, I''m pretty sure," he mumbled to himself as he casually walked through the luscious foliage, "If that''s the case, Emilio would probably prefer if I prioritize them. They aren''t all that strong, after all." Finishing off the crab leg, he tossed the hollow portion straight into the bushes before sliding his hands into his pockets, continuing his peaceful stroll through the forest. There were creatures watching from behind the foliage; critters and predators alike, such as gargantuan lions of crimson fur and stealthy jaguars, yet none of them dared to try and attack the man. Sirius was well aware of their existence as he walked by without a worry in the world, knowing full well how the animal kingdom operates; they could sense the aura of superior power from him¨Cfor beasts, that sheer difference was enough to keep them at bay. "Hmm?" Sirius smiled, ncing to the right as he came to a stop. The moment he stopped moving, standing in the small, treeless area of the grassynd, the watchful inhabitants of the forest fled. However, Sirius was not convinced. "Whoever is following me, you cane out now," he yelled, carrying his voice through the stagnant leaves. Waiting for a few seconds, there was nothing that revealed itself, yet Sirius stood there as if still fully aware of something remaining hidden. "...Just my imagination, I guess," Sirius closed his eyes for a moment with a smile. The exact moment his eyes shut and he lowered his guard, the air whistled as a projectile pierced through the tree line, primed and loaded for a precise shot straight for the Stormheart''s skull. Before the tip of the arrow could so much as touch the man''s skin, Sirius caught it swiftly, opening his eyes again, "Just kidding." Snapping the arrow in his grip, he dropped the crumbled projectile with a smile, looking to the left, where the arrow was shot from. ''Found you,'' Sirius thought. Without him being seen to take a single step, he dashed through the treeline as a bolt of lightning, causing the branches to sway and the air to part briefly. What he found, skulking in the bushes, was a silver-haired figure with sharp, pointy ears and pitch-ck eyes, holding a sideways-made bow: a unique, mechanical crossbow. "Oh, that''s a neat weapon you''ve got there¨Ca bit ahead of the curve, yeah?" Sirius yfully said. The speed at which he had appeared caused the silent, elven lurker to jump back, pulling the trigger on the crossbow as it shot towards Sirius again. "--Ah, that won''t work, man," Sirius said, catching the crossbow bolt out of the air easily, crushing it in his grip. There was no guard raised on his part, though the same couldn''t be said from the silent, tall elf who cautiously kept his distance, readying his crossbow while maintaining eye contact. ''Creepy. What''s with this guy? I''m talking to him but it''s like he can''t even hear me¨Cis he ignoring me or is there anguage barrier here?'' Sirius thought. "I''ll give you one more chance to stop shooting that thing at me. Even a monkey would realize at this point, it just isn''t working," Sirius warned, "Next time you shoot that, I''m punching you¨Cand I punch real hard." Despite the clear warning he gave, a "click" resounded as thenky, silver-haired hunter shot another projectile at the lightning-wielder, prompting Sirius to let out a quick sigh before dashing forward. "Don''t say I didn''t warn y¨C" Though as he sprung forward, allowing the tip of his boot to touch the ground for just a split-second, he sensed something amidst that second-between-seconds. ''Oh?'' He thought. There was a trap, sprawled across the ground and hidden in the mix of grass and leaves, obscuring its existence until that very moment. Noticing it, Sirius bolted forward, evading it as the sprung up. Sirius momentarily pressed the soles of his boots against the side of a tree as electricity coiled his body, looking towards the, "Looks like you were ready for me. I''m not game though, so why''re you hunting me? Got a liking for human meat or something?" Of course, there was no response as another crossbow bolt was shot at him, which he weaved past with a simple movement of his head beforeunching from the tree directly towards the elven hunter. Packing a surge of magenta energy into his fist, he tossed it forward as he mmed his knuckles into the elf''s stomach with thunderous force, blowing the figure back through multiple sets of trees. The impact left a wave of dust kicked up in the forest as the unfortunate trees in the way of the attack copsed. ''Ah, crap. Did I kill him? Didn''t mean to,'' Sirius thought, retreating his fist. A portion of the ground in front of him was carved up from the shock wave of the blow, which had cut through the dirt like a spoon through ice cream. Still, despite the powerful blow, the pale-skinned, silent elf brought himself back to his feet without any sounds escaping his lips. "--Hm?" Sirius narrowed his eyes, witnessing the odd turn of events. Rather than being dead, the elf hardly seemed injured by the blow, only now having a hole through his ck-and-brown coat where a purple bruise colored his abdomen. Sirius smiled, "Interesting. You''re a tough one to break, aintcha?" Chapter 469 The Harken ? Sirius smiled, "Interesting. You''re a tough one to break, aintcha?" The elf wielded his unique crossbow, running his other hand along its obsidian-and-bronze material, causing the dormant orbs within it to suddenly light up with a crimson glow. The weapon began to morph; the spine of the bow lengthened, restructuring itself before a blood-red aura manifested a set of bolts along the newly-shaped crossbow. ''He changed the shape of his weapon? He was holding out on me, huh. What sort of magic is that, anyway?'' Sirius thought. An answer came in its own form as Sirius found himself instinctively moving as lightning just as the odd crossbow "clicked", immediately causing the air to rumble in that split-second. The electric instincts of the man allowed him to view everything as if slowed once he focused, witnessing the crimson-infused projectiles as they tracked his own position. Through his enhanced perception, he moved out of the projected path of the bolts, leaving a trail of electricity in his path. FWOOM Each of the six bolts that were shot moved with ludicrous speed and power,pletely blowing through the trunk of trees multiple times over. ''Those pack a punch now! Interesting!'' Sirius excitedly thought. In response, he held his arm forward, using his other arm to keep it steady as if it were a cannon while electricity gathered at the tip of his fingers. The enormous coalescence of energy sparked into an electric orb, sizzling with unstable power before¨C "Power¡ª!" Sirius shouted without any reservation. Swiping his hand, a curving st of lightning cut through the trees, cleaving through a section of the forest and nearly bisecting the elf, had thenky figure not leaned out of the way with surprising flexibility. What he witnessed went beyond any conventional nimbleness as the ponytail-wearing, silent elf flipped around, momentarily on all fours before springing forward, pointing his crossbow towards Sirius again with all six bolts being conjured automatically. Sirius smiled, witnessing the swift speed at which the tall figureunched towards him. Before the trigger of the weapon could be fired, however, the ck-eyed hunter suddenly had their hand mmed against the ground. nting his boot down against the elf''s hand, Sirius kept the crossbow crushed down to the soil as well, standing over the elf with a confident smile. "I can respect a ranged fighter who also isn''t afraid to get up close and personal¨Cthing is, you''ll lose ten-out-of-ten times against me doing that. Well, or by doing anything else," Sirius mocked. As he looked down at the elf, whose weapon was restrained, he watched as the figure pointed his free hand upward, causing a sudden change in heat. ''Magic?'' Sirius realized. Without warning, an explosion roared through the forest, blowing through the leaves with ash and fire. Sirius was able to escape its range,nding back down and away from the point of impact. "Crazy bastard," Sirius muttered. Through the billowing mes, the wordless elf walked out; his uniform was discarded almost entirely by the gluttonous ze. The pale hunter''s body was covered in burn wounds, having endured his own explosion, yet there was no expression of agony worn on his unmoving face. Any normal person would''ve assuredly been down for the count, or even dead, with the tall elf''s entire left side being burnt away of its skin, and multiple spots ckened,pletely rid of any chance of recovery. ''What''s with this guy? He''s like the freakin'' Terminator,'' Sirius thought. Witnessing such a perplexing person, even the confident reincarnator began to feel unnerved, keeping electricity coiled at his fingertips as he watched the burnt figure approach him. It didn''t make any sense to him why the elf was so hellbent on attacking him; he had done nothing that he was aware of to stoke such aggression, nor was hunting him as "meat" worth death. In Sirius'' mind, the true reason was simple: ''This guy¡­He''s like a beast. All that''s on his mind is killing me¨Ca one-track mind built for hunting people,'' he thought. "You''re going to die at this rate, ya know? Not that I care, but¨Cself preservation isn''t your style, is it?" Sirius asked, not expecting a response. Of course, the elven hunter remained wordless, only raising his left arm as he chose not to raise the crossbow he held in his right. In a disgusting fashion, the muscles revealed by the burnt-away skin on the figure''s arm bulked up, increasing multiple times in size as the elf raised his fist, clenching it. ''What the hell is he doing?'' Sirius thought, staying alert. Coming from the hunter who relied on a ranged weapon, the act of mming his bulked-up arm was an unexpected one as it mmed down against the soil, causing it to be torn apart by the rippling force. The sheer quantity of power caused the nearest trees to be uprooted as waves of soil were thrown in every direction, causing Sirius to briefly stumble. "Woah!" Sirius yfully let out, finding his footing. It was impossible to see anything through the smokescreen of dirt kicked up by the impact, raining down like corrupted snowfall. sping his hands together briefly, Sirius parted them swiftly, causing a shock wave infused with his trademark electricity to scatter the veil of sediment, sending a rippling tremor of his own through thend. "No hiding," Sirius smiled. Though the wounded elf was gone from where he hadst seen him, confidence still intertwined itself with the man''s words. Coming from his left, wolves made out of raging, bright-orange mes rushed from beyond the treeline. ''A beast spell? Rare,'' he thought. With a snap of his fingers, Sirius cast the elemental beasts away, facing them as they disintegrated; from behind him, the burnt hunter leapt out from the bushes with his crossbolt locked-and-loaded. It was quick enough to make the hairs stand up on the reincarnator''s arms as he felt the tip of the crossbow perhaps only inches from his head, felt only by the faintest wind that brushed against his hair. However¨CSirius'' pupils illuminated as his expression went nk, almost as if no thoughts transmitted through theworks of his brain. Instead, his body moved on its own, spinning and ducking simultaneously just as the crossbow clicked. ["Stormheart: Synapse Overdrive"] Chapter 470 The Islands Hold ? ["Stormheart: Synapse Overdrive"] The bolts missed his skull by a mile as he already swept the legs of the burnt elf from beneath him, moving instinctively still with those shining eyes as he ruthlessly held his hand like a de. With a swift, merciless movement, he pierced his hand through the chest of the fallen elf, electrifying him from the inside-out. "--" Sirius'' eyes returned to their normal state as his expression returned, breathing out as he looked down at the elf he had taken out. The blow was an instant kill, allowing him to slowly remove his hand from the figure''s chest cavity before shaking the blood off of his glove. ''I entered it for a second there. I hate when that happens,'' he thought. Letting out a sigh to himself, he looked at the limp body of the hunter on the ground, left with too many questions about the nature of the person. "I''ve definitely found myself in a weird ce, haven''t I?" Sirius muttered to himself, looking up. ¡ª [Near The Shores] Emilio kept his guard up while he stayed at the back, following behind Everett and the mysterious ind-dweller, Maverick. With the threat of evolved beasts and other powerful beings, he didn''t risk being careless. ''Actually, let''s keep some more eyes and ears around,'' he decided. Stopping for a moment, he held his hand out, "Hextrice." Manifesting in front of him, the small, tinum-haired girl with pigtails and a ck dress arrived. "I was wondering when you''d call on me," Hextrice folded her arms over her chest. "Sorry I took so long," Emilio apologized with a smile. The response only caused the short spirit to pout as she turned her head. "Oh! Hey, Hextrice!" Everett greeted the spirit, waving his hand with augh. Noticing the spirit as well, the bearded-man was surprised, "You can use spirits? What kind of magic savant are you, really?" "It''s nothing like that," Emilio brushed off. As they continued moving on, he also conjured the four lesser spirits, keeping as many eyes out as he could in case of any prowling foes. It wasn''t many steps until the shore was found, stepping out through a bundle of trees and onto the region of moist sand. "Woah! Izzat the ocean?!" Everett reacted. Stretching for what seemed to be a boundless distance was the great, blue sea, though it was closed off by what initially looked like the azure sky itself. Emilio stepped onto the shore, looking in the distance at the colossal waves that walled in the ind from a distance, "Yeah, but what''s that about? Those waves are the size of skyscrapers¨CI mean, mountains." The man scratched his red beard, "That''s what makes this ind what it is: hard to get to, harder to get out of. There''s not a boat in all of the ten seas that can fare the waters around this ind." "If it''s really that hard, how''d ya make it, anyway?" Everett asked. The shielder''s question was one that Emilio had been quietly wondering himself as well, turning his attention to the red-bearded man. Maverick smiled, walking up to the tide that crept upon the shore, allowing the water to brush up against his boots, "I swam." "Huh?" Emilio and Everett both reacted. It seemed like a joke, or at least a very far out there, simplification of what really happened, but the bearded man''s expression didn''t waver as if it were a lie. "Boats will get swept up by waves, but¡­If it''s just you swimming on through, waves won''t catch you," Maverick exined, "That''s how I reached this ind." "That''s pretty crazy," Everett remarked. "All to be a sage, huh?" Emilio quietly said. Through the lengths that Maverick seemed to go in order to chase the opportunity of bing a sage, Emilio felt he undermined just what sort of titanic effort it would take to be one. Maverick looked towards the walled sea, "Being a sage is a lot more than just the power you obtain. It''s about bing more fine tuned with the world around you¡ªbing a sentinel willing to fight for it." "So, a sage is somebody that protects the world?" Everett asked. The red-bearded man smiled, "Yeah, in a lot of different ways, too. My Gramps wanted to be a sage so that he could provide protection for the wildlife in our homnd. If I be one, I want to safekeep endangered nts." For the man who had only recently be acquainted with the concept of sages, it was interesting to hear about them. Emilio found that it seemed like the proper path for him: a natural continuation of himself. "Protecting the world, huh? Sounds a lot like what we do already," Emilio remarked, looking at the sea. Standing beside him, the heavy-armored shielderughed, "That''s what I was thinkin''! We''re made for this sage business!" "The world doesn''t need protecting. What happens is the natural course, I suppose," Hextrice said, turning away from the others. Emilio nced back at his familiar, letting out a small sigh, "Always the pessimist." The fantastical sights of Arcadius were something that never became dull for him; maybe normal, but never boring. Still, looking at the titanic waves that perpetually stood as walls in the distance around the ind, he felt that same magical excitement as when he first came to this world. ''¡­Asher told me that this world is just as much our home as Earth was. I think he was wrong¡ªto me, this world was more of a home than Earth ever was for me; that''s why I''ll protect it at all costs,'' he resolved. It was a thought that never left his mind; a meaning that never dulled--it was by perhaps a miracle, or a passing coincidence, that he happened to be the one born as the "Dragonheart", but he knew that in this world, now his very own, it was his duty to protect it. That unchanging resolve was perhaps the one drive he could anchor himself to, past all of the obscenities of the fantastical, yet harrowing world. Chapter 471 Dragonheart Showcase ? The shores of the grandiose ind were a problem itself, with giant crabs roaming the sand, though they were easy enough to y with the proper firepower. "Phew," Emilio sighed out, casting away the me from his hand as a felled crustacean fell onto the shore. "Another one down!" Everett celebrated. ''Just wait for me Celly¨Cwe''ll be there soon,'' Emilio thought, looking towards the distant trees. ¨C On the way to reuniting with his lostrades, Emilio found himself stopped on the shores as something slithered out from the ocean, riding the side onto the grains of sand. What walked onto the shore was a humanoid crustacean, like a knight dressed in ck-and-red armor, possessing giant pinchers and bright, scarlet eyes. "Alright¡­Well, this is shitty luck," Maverick muttered, slowly stepping back with a worried, twitching smile. Emilio already drew his sword, ncing at the man who was a veteran of the ind, "What is it?" "A real damn menace¡­A "Dread Cruster"--watch out, they''re extremely territorial of the shores and strong enough to protect it!" Maverick warned. "Alright, got it," Emilio nodded. Just as he turned back to face the human-shaped crustacean, lifting his sword, his reflexes kicked into overdrive as if churning the gears in his mind, bringing his perception to the point that time seemed slowed down. In that short span across milliseconds, he found the creature with its ck-and-red exoskeleton already in front of him, thrusting its flesh-crushing pinchers towards him. KLANG. Reacting swiftly, he deflected the Dread Cruster''s w with his sword, momentarily calling upon [Draconic Burst] to enhance his power and speed. Even though the tall, silent crustacean had its limb bounced back, there was hardly a scratch left on its tough shell. ''It''s sturdy,'' he thought. "Alright! Guess I''ll chip in!" Leaping over the Dragonheart''s head without any warning, the entric, red-bearded map flipped like a top, using an axe kick against the crustacean''s head, though having it blocked by the silent creature''s arms. "Ngh¨C!" Maverick let out as his kick was blocked. The blocked attack released a small shock wave, parting the sand briefly; Emilio used the opening to dash in, infusing his de with electricity. ''Let''s try this one out,'' Emilio thought, running his fingertips along his multi-colored de as azure electricity ran along it. ["Visceral Bolt"] Using a spinning sh with his electric-infused sword, the knight-resembling crustacean repelled Maverick in the Dragonheart''s direction as a meat shield. "Woah¨C" Emilio reacted, stopping his attack. ''It used Maverick as a shield? It''s intelligent,'' he thought. "Uumpf¨C" He caught the fully-grown man in his arms, giving the ind dweller a raised eyebrow without saying anything. "Please say something! Don''t look at me like I''m human trash!" Maverick said, picking himself up and away from Emilio''s hold. "Look out!" The shielder yelled out his warning, intercepting the territorial fiend''s w strikes with his shield, standing in front of the other two. Everett''s shield vibrated like a drum being rapidly beat as the crustacean unleashed dozens of blows within a second. "Agggh¨C!" Everett struggled. "Ev''!" Emilio jumped up, tossing a volley of fireballs in the w-wielding figure''s direction. Noticing the iing attack, the Dread Cruster performed consecutive backflips with the finesse off an acrobatic before pointing both of its pincers in Emilio''s direction, revealing barrel-shaped protrusions on each. ''Huh¨C?'' Emilio noticed. Mana condensed in the air like the arrival of humid air; bright-orange energy suddenly released from the exoskeleton barrels, shooting straight towards the man who was still falling in mid-air. "--Ngh!" With no time to activate his system in the split-second arrival of the beams, he instead opted to use his own sword, infusing it with magical reinforcement as he blocked the extremely hot rays of energy. "Hyah!" Maverick dashed in, reeling his arm back as he tossed a stone javelin towards the territorial creature. The spear missed its mark, but it seeded in stopping the beams of heated mana as the crustacean flipped back,nding cleanly on its feet. "Damn, this thing is full of tricks!" Everett said, patting his shield after it was battered. "Told you¨Cannoying bastards, these things," Maverick huffed. Emilio looked at his de, watching as steam billowed from it as he stood alongside hisrades against the surprisingly remarkable foe. ''It''s releasing raw mana? With this high volume? What kind of freakish creatures are on this ind?!'' He questioned. "Em'', I think it''s time to go all fiery-and-dragony now!" Everett called out. "Already on it," Emilio assured, exhaling as his breath released as azure embers. Around his body, the mystical scales manifested into their armor that felt as natural as his own skin, immediately infusing the mythical strength of dragons into his flesh; his blood ran hot as he felt his heart rate increase. [Dragonheart System] [Current Stage: 3/10 | Dragon Warrior] Attempting to interrupt the activation of the draconic system, the silent defender of the shore jumped up, allowing its own exoskeleton to peel away and regenerate, shooting off its removed pieces as bullets. "Woah! Is that a spell of some kind?!" Maverick gasped, witnessing the transformation of the Dragonheart for the first time, using his sword to hold off the shards of the crustacean''s exoskeleton shot towards them. The bumpkin shielder snickered, blocking the projectiles as well, "Nah, ain''t nothing else like it in this world! Em'' is a one-of-a-kind bonafide badass!" Sand flew in every direction as the Dragonheart kicked off, dashing straight towards the knightly crustacean with his sword in hand. "Woooo¨C!" Everett reacted in excitement as sand was cast everywhere. Maverick was still in shock, unable to look away as he curiously witnessed the man d in living armor confront the Dread Cruster. FWOOSH The ck-and-red crustacean unleashed dozens of sharp scales in his direction, forcing the Dragonheart to slide across the sand, using his sword to deflect the high-speed projectiles. Jumping back to his feet as he neared his enemy, he engulfed his de in bright-blue mes, swiping it towards the sea-dwelling humanoid. To his surprise, the nimble fiend dodged both the de and the fire that extended from it, bending over backwards before dropping down, using a sweeping kick in an attempt to trip him up. Emilio jumped up, avoiding the kick before gathering a bursting fireball into his hand, summoning a massive amount of heat that exuded outwards through heat waves, rippling across the sand. As he tossed the fireball down upon the exoskeleton-wearing warrior, it exploded against the shore into an azure explosion, blowing sand and mes in every direction. "Gah¡ª!" Maverick raised his arms as the heat-infused sand pelted his skin. "Ha-ha!" Everett excitedlyughed, holding his shield forward. To the surprise of all witnessing the crustacean, the vtile, orange beams of heat shot out from the billowing smoke, dragging around in every angle wildly, forcing Everett to keep his shield raised. "It survived that?!" Everett reacted. Emilio was just as surprised, flipping around the beam as hended on his feet just as the figure erupted from the smoke, dashing straight towards him. ''Alright, enough ying around,'' Emilio thought. Chapter 472 God Cruster ? With a snap of his fingers, the air shifted, excluding itself from the immediate area around the crustacean. It brought the ck-armored, shore protector to a halt as all of the oxygen was siphoned immediately. ["Absolute Air Lock"] "Ha-ha! He took away its ability to breathe! That spell is invincible!" Everett cheered in support of his best friend. Maverick seemed to think differently, "No! Emilio! A Dread Cruster doesn''t need oxygen!" The abnormal, exoskeleton creature once more revealed surprising aspects of itself as it dashed forward again despite beingpletely deprived of oxygen. ''What¨C?'' Emilio thought. The massive ws of the Dread Cruster were rapidly thrust in his direction, jabbing forth like bullets that seemed strong enough to rip steel apart. To the Dragonheart, these attacks were nothing impressive as he weaved through them before countering with his own¨C [Draconic Burst] [Draconic Surge] [Factor of The Dragons] The dark-blue scales around his body suddenly ignited with a cerulean glow, oveing with a hum as if an engine churned inside of him as he mmed his knuckles against the chest of the Dread Cruster. CRACK Flung back, scales crumbled away from the sea-dwelling monstrosity''s exoskeleton before it crashed into the sand. "Didja get it?" Everett curiously asked. "Nope. Not even close," Emilio said, regretfully, "...I think I just pissed it off." Amidst the disturbed sand, which vibrated under an inexplicable aura, the humanoid crustacean rose as its ck-and-red exoskeleton shattered, revealing what was beneath: A creature with white, fleshy skin and beady ck eyes stood there, having a circr head and solid, armor-like ting naturally infused beneath its skin. "What the¡­?" Everett said. "Crap, crap, crap!" Maverick rustled his own hair, "This is the worst-of-the-worst-of-the-worst!" Emilio looked back at the man experienced with the ind, "What is it?" "...That exoskeleton served as the incubator for Dread Crusters¨Cwhat you saw before was just their transitional form! When you break that armor without killing it, it¡­it bes that¨Ca ''God Cruster''!" Maverick exined. "A God¨Cwhat?!" Emilio responded in disbelief. It seemed unreasonable; a joke almost, but the unsettling sensation couldn''t be denied from the fleshy, white humanoid that now stood on the shore. Around the awakened cruster, the sand continued rippling from its presence alone. ''This ind is the worst,'' Emilio thought There wasn''t much of an opportunity toment the unexpected transformation as he was forced to begin sprinting as holes opened up on the white-fleshed being''s body. Dozens of vibrant, orange beams shot in every direction, curving around and attempting to catch the Dragonheart. He raced across the sand, being forced to slide across it as beams swept just over his head, flipping around and dodging between them, avoiding their scathing graze. "Stay behind me!" Everett shouted to the red-bearded man, keeping his shield nted against the sand. Maverick responded, "Yeah, well, not like I have any other choice! Still¡­Is he going to be alright? Your friend''s strong, I can tell that much, but¨Ca God Cruster is a helluva threat." "Dontcha worry ''bout Em, he''ll never lose like that," Everett smiled, watching the battle from behind his shield, "I''m sure he''d never admit it, but right now he''s having a st. That''s the kind of guy he is: he''ll tell you violence should be thest option, but in an intense fight like this, he''s happier than a kid with a new toy." ¨C Beneath the draconic mask, an unintended smile kept creeping up on his lips as he nimbly dodged through the sweeping beams of raw mana, even using his own sword to keep some of them at bay as he got closer-and-closer to his target. As a few beams swept towards him, he slid across the sand again, pointing his hand forward with his index finger pointed like a gun, releasing a volley of high-speed, small fireballs that packed a punch. "C''mon!" The God Cruster was forced to cut its expulsion of raw mana short, closing the holes in its body before it began dodging the bullets of fire that shot at it. [Draconic Burst] Packing power into his legs, he burst across the shore, closing the distance between himself and the snow-white, nebulous creature. Just as he came to a stop, stomping down against the trembling sand as he pulled his sword back for a killer sh¨C "--!" The God Cruster''s torso split, suddenly opening a massive, gaping hole in its chest that gave way for a gathering of raw mana. It was quick and unexpected; the enormous amount of heat gathered swiftly. "Em'', get out of the way of that¨C!" Everett warned from afar. FWOOOOM The shore-line protector released the colossal beam of unrefined mana straight from its chest, shooting across the sand and rippling through the shore with ludicrous power. Fortunately, the Dragonheart reacted in time, having leapt up as he infused his de with a condensed, bright-blue heat. ''--Enough of this. I need to start taking this seriously or else somebody else will get hurt,'' he thought. Using mes on the soles of his feet to propel himself downward directly upon the God Cruster, which only just then noticed it had missed its attack, he swept in swiftly, swiping his de through its chest. "No more of that," he said, knowing it was about to unleash its raw mana again. As he cleaved his sword through its chest, he witnessed its flesh attempting to stitch itself back together in the same moment, leading him to instead swipe his de rapidly. With a dozen more strikes used in that second, all imbued with his draconic fire, he turned the white-fleshed creature into mincemeat before holding one hand forward. ["To Ash"] Casting a burst of fire forth, he reduced the chunks of the God Cruster into nothing more but ash that mingled with the grains of sand. [Level Up!] [Level 56 Achieved] [New Skill(s) Acquired: Heat sh] "Phew," he breathed out, lowering his hand as his scale armor crumbled away. Rushing over, the two men that traveled alongside him looked both surprised and excited by the sweeping victory. "You actually defeated a God Cruster, without losing a limb or two, no less¡­" Maverick said in shock before smiling, "Hell, kid! That''s next level!" "Told ya''," Everett proudly said. Rolling his shoulders and stretching his arms after finishing the battle, Emilio let out a small sigh, "Let''s just keep on moving, yeah? I''d rather not leave my friends alone on this freaky ind any longer than I have to." "Yeah, yeah¨Cof course!" Maverick nodded frantically. Chapter 473 Roliath ? The constant fluctuations in temperature were something Emilio found himself having to quickly adjust to, which he did¨Chowever, the same couldn''t be said for his heavily-armored friend. "H-hey¡­is it just me, or is it hot? Like¡­really hot?" Everett asked, walking with slumped shoulders with his tongue out, panting like a dog. Without the constant veil of the trees to block out the sun, its natural warmth beaded down on the three men in its full glory. Across the shoreline, the sand itself felt like hot coals, only somewhat dwindled by footwear. Maverickughed, holding his arms out as if weing the sun''s grace, "This is the perfect temperature, what do you mean?! Look at the natural tan I''ve built up!" Flexing his muscles, the bearded manughed as he showed off more than just his tan, though neither of the young men were impressed in the slightest. As they followed the man stranded on the unforgiving ind, there wasn''t much to do but carefully observe the scenery. "What do you do here, really? I mean, it''s got to get pretty boring, right?" Emilio asked. "Hmm¡­Most of the time, I''m hunting food, ya know? A man''s gotta eat," Maverick shrugged, "As for how I pass the time, I like watching the crabs battle it out for territory¨Cgets pretty fun." Both Emilio and Everett looked at each other as the bearded man exined his less-than-normal idea of a passtime. "Is that so¡­?" Emilio asked with a wry smile. Maverick seemed excited just at the idea of the topic as he nodded, continuing as he spoke with vigor, "Yeah! I''ve given them names, too! Well, also backstories¨CI mean, the fights are a whole lot more interesting when you''ve got background on thepetitors, yeah? Like Henry, the Dark Shell¨Che''s fighting as an exiled prince from thend of crustaceans, looking to reim his throne. Or Grulius, The Forsaken! A lowborn crustacean seeking to prove his worth with¨C" As the bearded man passionately spoke on and on blindly and without care about his irrational love for "crabbat", he was cut short as something collided with his right arm. "Gah¨C!" Maverick shouted in pain, jumping up and wildly iling his body. Though Emilio was initially on guard, he realized what had attacked the guide: a supersonic ho, plunging its stinger into the man''s bicep. Everett winced at the sight of it, "What kind of bee is that?! Gnarly!" After it pierced his arm, Mavericknded back down, snatching the hostile creature before mping down with a vice grip, "Grrrh¡­!" There was no mercy in the squeeze possessed by the wincing man, causing the ho to explode as its purple blood sprayed between Maverick''s fingers. "...Huff¡­" Maverick breathed out, tossing the ho to the ground. It was definitely a perplexing scene that just yed out before the eyes of the two friends, who looked at the bearded survivor of the ind strangely. "You good, Maverick?" Emilio asked. Blood poured from the gaping hole left in the man''s bicep, who didn''t respond quite yet as he instead nted his bare soles against the soil, digging in with his toes as he squared himself up, holding his afflicted arm upwards before¨C "Hyaaah!" Maverick yelled. ¨CIn an unforeseen move, the bearded man clenched every muscle on his arm as tightly as possible, causing his bicep and tricep to bulge out as veins bloated against his skin. Somehow, through some supernatural control of his own muscles, the man managed to close the hole made in his arm. "What the¡­" Everett remarked, witnessing this in disgust. Maverick slowly breathed out as sweat dripped from his pores, "...Yeah, I''m good." "Uh, I can use some recovery magic, if you need it," Emilio said, offering some additional aid. The lonesome denizen of the ind shook his head, wearing a smile again, "I promise, I''m good! That one just surprised me, that''s all." Even though the odd manughed off the unexpected attack from the ho, there was still something that felt strange to the Dragonheart as he continued following the man along the shoreline. ''For a second, I sensed a certain kind of rage from Maverick¨Cit''s that kind of impulsive, explosive outburst that goes from zero-to-one hundred in no time t. It''s usually a trait of unstable people,'' Emilio thought. Keeping his thoughts to himself, he continued walking beside Everette while looking at Maverick''s back, always locking him into his line of sight. As much as the many dangers of the indmanded his attention, he still couldn''t help but find himself enamored with its fantastical beauty at times; between the colossal walls of water that surrounded it from a distance, or mounds of sand that resembled peculiarndmarks, set into different shapes. "That''s something, isn''t it?" Before Emilio or Maverick had noticed anything, Everett pointed something out amidst their hike. They had arrived at a portion of the shore that was covered in a vast quarry of sand, littered withrge rock formations as well. What the shielder pointed to was an unmoving, giant stone that sat in the middle, blocking their path. "It''s a rock, yeah?" Emilio responded, looking up at the colossal stone. Maverick walked up to it as he spoke, "Ha-ha, ind is making you see stuff already, big guy? Don''t worry, happens to the best of¡ª" The bearded man had ced his hand against the pale-gray stone while casually talking, though swallowed his words, going silent, for an unknown reason. "What''s up?" Emilio asked. Maverick had a worried smile as he looked down at his hand, pulling it away as he showed it to the two. There was visible steaming off of his palm in an unnatural fashion, showing that the rock he touched was nothing short of piping hot. "Just our luck," Maverick said, "...This isn''t a rock. It''s a Roliath!" As the shout left the bearded man''s lips, the entirety of the shore began violently trembling. At first, it was difficult to understand what was going on, as ripples stretched through the sand, tossing grains all over the ce in waves. "Man, this ind just never stops tryin'' to kill ya, huh?!" Everett shouted, raising his shield. Chapter 474 Reunion ? A storm of sand ruthlessly pelted against the three men as the gigantic rock itself began to rise, unburying itself from the shore. It felt like a never ending onught of life-and-death scenarios within the unforgiving ind; the titanus creature unearthed itself, stomping down with its t hooves of stone as it towered over the three men. It resembled a mix between a tortoise and a horse, d in a stone exoskeleton with pink flesh exposed beneath certain points; it possessed hair of some kind, resembling stringy vines that cascaded down its back. "That''s a big one," Emilio muttered under his breath, readying himself for conflict. The roliath was nothing short of terrifying in its sheer size and density, as it opened its cavernous maw to unleash a bellowing roar that shook the shore. Emilio stepped past Everett, rolling up his sleeves, "Make sure the old man doesn''t die, yeah?" "Ya got it!" Everett nodded, hoisting hisrge shield up. Before the colossal mammal of stone made its first move, the Dragonheart took the initiative, summoning a bright-orange fireball into his right hand. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the ball of fire flying forward, speeding like a bullet before colliding with the front of the stone-armored beast. BOOM An explosion of sparks fluttered through the air as the roliath was battered by the mes. The sharp release of vtile mes rattled the shoreline, casting sand in every direction once again. Maverick winced as hundreds of grains of sand pelted his skin, raising his arms, "Ow! Ow! Ow! That stings! Raise that shield, already!" "Yeah, yeah!" Everett tiredly said, holding the shield in front of himself and the bearded man. As the embers faded away beneath the sunlight, the hulking stone remained in one piece, only somewhat burnt by the attack. Emilio raised an eyebrow in surprise at the futility of his own attack, "...Well, that''s scary." "Em'', it ate yer attack like nothin''!" Everett shouted in surprise. "Yeah, I can see that!" Emilio yelled back. As he responded, the roliath made its first move as it raised its mountainous left foot up high, casting a shadow over the shore before stomping down. "Watch out¡ª!" Maverick warned. The stone-armored beast was faster than it seemed for being not far from a breathing mountain. It''s foot came down with tremendous force, bringing a mighty copse into the shore¡ª [Dragonheart System Activated.] [Current Stage: Dragon Son | 2/10] "Ngh¡ª!" Standing beneath the roliath''s foot,rge enough to stamp out an entire cottage, the Dragonheart held both hands up, preventing it from crushing him. ''This¡­is just not my day, is it?!'' Emilio thought. With his boots pressed down against the hot sand, he could feel the inexplicable pressure of the creature rattling his skeleton as he contested its foot. Even with the draconic strength roaring through his body, it still felt as though he was fighting an uphill battle, only losing ground as he fell to a knee. ''¡­Damn, I''m more exhausted than I thought. I underestimated how strong this thing would be,'' he thought. "Found you, my brother." The air froze for that single moment as if caught within the merciless grip of frost, bing thin as something manifested in the skies above. Emilio watched from his disadvantageous position as a magenta spark of electricity dazzled in front of him. ZZZZZZT ¡ªPiercing downward from the clouds, a majestic bolt of vibrant, purple lightning struck the mountainous beast from above. "What the¨C?!" Maverick flinched at the sudden brightness and chaos that flushed through the shoreline. The mercilessnce of electricity prated the roliath''s sturdy shell, causing the beast to roar out in pain as it copsed from the brutal attack. The weight of the beast''s foot removed itself from the Dragonheart, who flipped back as he finally freed himself with a sharp exhale. He didn''t even need to fully look up to know who it was that had arrived at an opportune time, knowing that lightning unmistakably. "Sirius!" Emilio called out with a smile. Standing atop the carcass of the felled beast of stone, the gray-uniformed man fixed his hair as magenta sparks coiled in the air around him before responding, "The one and only." "Err¡­Who?" Maverick asked with a stunned expression. "A friend¡ªa helluva strong guy, too!" Everett answered excitedly. Sirius leapt from the felled creature''s back,nding in front of the others as he kept his hands slid into his pockets. "Know what''s going on here, brother?" Sirius asked as he approached the Dragonheart casually, looking around at the shoreline. Emilio could only sigh out at the question as he shrugged his shoulders, "It''s a lot, so listen up." From everything that had happened from the meeting with the botanist up until reuniting with the Stormheart, Emilio exined it all to Sirius. Sitting on a t rock in the sand, Sirius let out an exhale while looking up towards the clouds, "You really did it this time, huh, Emilio?" "Yeah, sorry," Emilio apologized, sitting across from him. They all sat around a makeshift campfire, which Maverick insisted on creating by hand as he dutifully gathered twigs, using his own two hands to support a spark of fire. "C''mon! C''mon! C''mon! Bring me¡­fire!" Maverick chanted while quickly grinding the stick against the stone. Minutes were spent with nothing more than dying sparks generating. "¡­He knows you can make a fire with a snap of your fingers, right?" Everett quietly asked Emilio, scooting close to him. Emilio sighed, "Yeah, but he wants to do it himself. Something about pride, I don''t know." "This ind sure is something. Wish I would''ve known about this when I was training," Sirius imed, pping his hands together. "We still need to find Celly. She''s alone out there right now," Emilio said with a hint of impatience, stretching his arms with a quiet exhale. "That''s true. Speaking of¡ª" Sirius began to say. "FIIIIIIIIIRE¡ª!" Maverick yelled out in utter victory as a bountiful fire finally manifested from his efforts. The exmation was followed by silence as the bearded, shirtless man sat there with his arms out as if the newly-born ze was a miracle itself. "...Haaah¡­" Maverick breathed out, smiling. Sirius looked at the bearded man oddly before turning back to the others, speaking again, "...As I was saying, I ran into somebody else here not too long ago." "You did?" Emilio asked. Chapter 475 Tracking The Harken ? This time, Maverick seemed interested in the conversation as his expression hardened. Going off of Sirius'' tone, it didn''t seem like the person he encountered was one remembered fondly. "Honestly, they weren''t exactly human. Looked like an elf to me, but they acted like a beast," Sirius exined, recalling his earlier encounter, "They were dead set on killing me, and honestly, their skill wasn''t anything to scoff at. Still, I won without a scratch." "An elf? Never thought them the type to be so violent," Everett remarked as he leaned forward. Emilio jabbed his elbow into his aloof friend''s arm, "Maverick already told us about this earlier. Sirius is talking about a Harken, right?" The question pointed towards the bearded survivor of the ind was met with a nod from Maverick, "Yup, no doubt about it. Elf and incredibly violent are just about the two descriptors I''d assign to the Harken. Gotta say, though, Sirius, right? You''re somethin'' else. Wiping out that roliath in one blow was one thing, but taking out a Harken hunter like that? Color me impressed." "Oh, they''re big shots? Couldn''t really tell myself," Sirius responded, surprised at the man''s words as he casuallyughed them off. Thatckadaisical nature spawned from one born with unparalleled talent was something that quickly got under the skin of any around the Stormheart. Maverick mumbled, sitting near Emilio and Everett, "...This guy kind of pisses me off. I''ve almost died more times than I can count getting away from roliath and the Harken." "Yeah, that''s just how he is. I''d call it arrogance, but it''s not like Sirius can''t back it up," Emilio whispered. After they regrouped with one another and filled their stomachs on the cooked, tough meat of the in roliath, there was no time wasted in moving on to their next goal: reuniting with the half-elf archmage. "Finding a single person on an ind this big is going to be a real pain in the ass," Everett remarked, stomping through the dense foliage of the tree-covered region. "Want some cheese with that whine?" Sirius jokingly said while following behind the shielder. Everett exhaled, "Can it, sparky! I don''t see you wearing armor! It gets hot!" "''Cause I don''t need it," Sirius slyly responded. "Uegh¡­" Everett groaned. Maverickughed, "Man, that guy is something else. Never have I seen ability equal confidence so clearly." While the others talked, Emilio was focused on locating his lostpanion, summoning his four lesser spirits as they encircled the space above his hand. Given themand to look for Celly, he sent the colorful spirits in different directions. Amidst the forest area of the ind, the fluffy bushes and overgrown trees, hanging with loose vines, made it incredibly difficult to see anything more than a few meters away. Sirius walked up, giving Emilio a yful p on the back as he hiked alongside up, "What''s up? Been quiet." "It''s nice that you can be calm and collected right now, Sirius," Emilio responded. "Huh? Where''s thising from?" Sirius asked in surprise at the somewhat cold reply. Emilio kept walking as he replied, "Didn''t mean anything by it. It''s just, you''ve got enough ability to treat this ce like a harmless prairie. It''s not the same for Celly." There was nothing casual about the experience the deathly environment brought to Emilio; especially when there was no doubt it was his own responsibility that the others were there. "Hm, I get what you mean. You did drag us into this mess though, you know," Sirius said with aid back smile, "I assume you''re prepared to do what''s necessary." The amethyst eyes of the Dragonheart remained steadily locked on the path ahead of himself as he responded, "Of course I do. We''re going to wipe out the Harken." Sirius smirked at the promation of hispanion, "How exciting." "Oh, man. Can''t say I didn''t see thatin''," Everett said as he scratched his head. "What?!" Maverick reacted to the words from the Dragonheart as if witnessing something traumatic, "Do you have any idea what you''re saying?!" Emilio came to a stop, turning around as he looked at the bearded figure, "Yeah, I just said it. The Harken pose a threat to us as long as we''re on this ind. Until we find Celly, as long as we wipe the Harken out, that''ll keep them away from her." "I understand your reasoning, but this is the Harken we''re talking about: soulless killers who live for the sole purpose of hunting!" Maverick exined as he moved his hands around. Nothing said as caution seemed to have any effect on the resolve of the Dragonheart, who only furrowed his eyebrows before drawing his sword from his sheath. Flipping his de around, he ran his fingertips across the steel. "Maverick, I appreciate what you''ve done so far to guide us. You don''t need to follow along any further, though. I understand the sort of danger thates with challenging the Harken¨CI''m not undermining what you told me," Emilio said calmly. Everett added on, standing his shield atop the soil as he breathed out, "Yeah, ''preciate the help so far, but we can handle ourselves from here. Em'' and I always get it down¨CSirius, too, I guess." The bearded figure looked hesitant, looking down at the flourishing des of grass that were birthed from the flesh of the forest. Behind the entricities of the lonesome survivor, memoriesid deep in his mind, perhaps better left untouched. "I know that all of you are capable enough. I guess this is where we go our separate ways, then," Maverick said, talking quietly as he looked towards the others. "Thanks, Maverick," Emilio thanked the man, extending his hand towards him. There was a tired look in the bearded man''s eyes as he saw the Dragonheart''s gesture, one that solidified the parting of two parties. Still, he epted it with a firm grasp. "Don''t die, brats," Maverick said. Parting ways, the lonesome man couldn''t help but look back after a few dozen paces, watching the figures be more and more distant before disappearing past the foliage. The warm gaze of dawn faded as the forest was passed through with a fair amount of trouble. Only irate beasts acted as trouble, but were handily cleared by the men as they went onward. Chapter 476 Lethal Hunter ? Emilio used his lesser spirits to scope out the ind for the location of the Harken, or Celly. The region they found themselves in was a vast, luscious n, covered with boulders that were as plentiful as trees in a forest. "...Haaah¡­Haaaaah¡­" Doing his best to follow along the two who never seemed to grow tired, the bumpkin shielder breathed heavily, walking with sloppy steps as he slumped his shoulders. "Hey, guys, mind slowin'' down a bit¡­?" Everett asked, caked in sweat as he stepped over a branch. Sirius looked back, responding with a yful smile, "I can give you a piggyback ride, if you need it." "Err¡­Yeah, I''ll pass on that," Everett muttered under his breath as he continued stomping forward tiredly. Emilio came to a stop as his eyes seemed to be looking in the far distance, silently staring off as the other two watched him curiously. "What''s up, brother?" Sirius asked. "See something, Em?" The Dragonheart kept his eyes forward, responding without breaking his gaze, "I found it¨CSmander located it." "Located what?" Everett asked with a gulp, seeming to already have an idea of his own. "The Harken," Emilio answered. The air thinned with the reveal of what was discovered. Even without having seen one of the bloodthirsty elves that dwelled on the inds for themselves, Emilio and Everett already had a sense for whaty ahead for them. Sirius rotated his shoulders, stretching his arms as he warmed himself up, "Listen, as long as you''re with me, victory is guaranteed. Still¡­" "What is it?" Emilio asked. There was a smile on the Stormheart''s lips different from his usual expression of confidence¨Cit was excitement, "If the one I encountered is any indicator of what we''ll find, this will be interesting for once." "...That is definitely not reassuring," Everett sighed. Emilio led the way with the others moving quietly behind him, moving with stealthiness in mind as the young, blonde-and-ck haired man followed where he sensed his lesser spirit was anchored. A dense sector of foliage was between them and the Harken''s home; bushes as tall as trees and as wide as city walls stretched around, creating a barrier of natural green. The overgrown bushes had to be pushed through, leading to the three having to burrow through the countless twigs within. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" Everett winced repeatedly as thorns poked at his exposed skin. As the heavily-d man let out noises from the prickly growths on the twigs, his mouth was quickly covered by the hand of Emilio, who was crouched in front of him. "Mmgh¨C?!" Everett said, muffled. Emilio whispered, "They''re close. It''s not just one." Within the interior of the vastwork of twigs and leaves of the colossal bushes, the three men sat quietly, listening in on the prowling steps. The footsteps were subtle; like the quiet dance of trickling rain upon soil. It was difficult to see anything through the sea of twigs, which intertwined like knots, cluttered with leaves that veiled the hunters. Emilio began to stand up from within the bush, whispering to his twopanions, "I''m going to take the one up ahead. Handle the others however you want." "Wha¨C?" Everett quietly let out in shock. Sirius smirked with a nod, "Go get ''em." The Dragonheart began walking forward, using a meticulous shape of wind on the soles of his boots to silence his footsteps. ["Eyes of The Scaled Beast"] Without invoking his systempletely, he shifted only his eyes as their amethyst shade was reced with a bestial azure, sharpening as he looked past the leaves. He could see clearly,tching onto any movement: a tall,nky figure with a head of silver hair. The build of the stranger was abnormal; the neck of the pale-skinned hunter was elongated unnaturally with bony shoulders, yet clear muscr definition in their arms and legs. Dressed in white-and-brown, leather gear, the eerily tall figure held a knife in one hand, stalking the woods. ''A Harken,'' Emilio thought. It was a fine opportunity that presented itself to him, one that he had hoped for before tackling the base of the Harkens beforehand: he wanted to test himself against one, to see how they stacked up. As he looked upon thenky, sharp-haired figure, it was only for a split second that he let his guard down: a branch crunched beneath his boot. There wasn''t a single second wasted before the Harken already spun its head around, leaning down almost like an animal, sniffing the ground as its long, pointy ears moved,tching onto any noise. ''Well, there goes any idea of sneaking up on him,'' Emilio thought. Deciding to confront the stranger head-on, the Dragonheart walked out from the bushes while unsheathing his sword. "Just letting you know, I won''t hesitate too-" Emilio warned as he wrapped his fingers around the handle of his tenured weapon. Cutting him off, thenky hunter dashed towards him, springing forth with the pitch-ck eyes of the Harken locking onto him. It was silent and ruthless; Emilio immediately reacted as he stepped forward, meeting his enemy halfway as he met de-and-de with them. CLANG The meeting of steel flourished with hot sparks that glided against the forest''s grass. He found himself seeing eye-to-eye with the all-ck ocr spheres of the hunter, seeing nothing human past them. For a split-second, he was pressed by the long-eared hunter''s strength before responding with his own, flexing his muscles as he pushed the Harken away. The wordless cannibal slid back without his expression changing in the slightest. "Phew," Emilio quickly exhaled, raising his weapon again. ''I wasn''t expecting that much raw strength behind that strike, but I guess I shouldn''t be surprised. Maverick mentioned something about this¨Chow everything living on this ind grows stronger. The Harken have been living here for centuries, that means their bodies have been honed¨Cevolved into something else entirely,'' he thought. While he was caught in thought, he was surprised as the sharp-eared hunter suddenly flipped back in an unorthodox way. ''What''s that¨C? Some kind of olympic acrobatic move?'' Emilio thought in surprise. Chapter 477 Testing Oneself ? The silent elf contorted his back in such a way that he was able to look towards the Dragonheart in the middle of his flip, using his free hand to snap his fingers. In that same instant, emerald mana manifested itself into thorny chains that swept around Emilio. ''Magecraft? Wordless, at that¨Che''s skilled,'' Emilio thought. "I can do that, too," the Dragonheart muttered. With a flick of his wrist, chains of solidified fire burned into the air, spiraling like a hellish weaving of threads as they pressed against the hunter''s emerald bindings. Using his free hand to guide the ming chains, he wrapped them around the others, tearing them away from himself. Just as he freed himself from the wrath of the thorny chains, the tip of a ckened de sailed towards his jugr. He spun to the side, narrowly avoiding the piercing point of the hunter''s weapon. A ticklish sensation ran over his neck, having to question for a second if he was actually injured as he felt his own throat. As he readied himself again, he addressed the silent hunter, "Hey! Don''t you talk at all? You''re no different from a robot." "Silence." That single word was enough to grip his attention, finally finding sound to leave the lips of thenky hunter. The Harken stood there with his short, bristly hair of opalescent silver brushing by the wind, staring with those eyes that held nopassion in them. "...So, you can speak, then?" Emilio asked, breathing out. It seemed there was no intent for a conversation as the leather-armored hunter faded away into the foliage silently without a response. There was only subtle rustling within the bushes as thenky figure somehow manages to use the overgrowth as cover. "Nice moves, but that won''t work on me," Emilio said, swiping his sword. The swing of his de was extended by a sweeping punishment of wind. Like a breath blowing away the strands of a dandelion, the leaves from the bushes were culled by the sharp air. At the exact moment the foliage was stripped away by the wind, the Dragonheart felt somethinging at him from the left, rapidly. He ducked down, looking up as he witnessed the silent de of the hunter barely miss a strike originally aimed for his head. With the essence of a counterattack in mind, he mmed his hand against the soil,manding the bed of nature to erupt upward with ance of stone. As the punishing limb of nature extended towards the stealthy elf, he looked up, watching as the ck-eyed figure contorted his body to avoid being pierced. The sound of bones shifting resembled that of stones being mmed together. Like a spider moving its long limbs, the harken elf slid past the erupting spear of stone, falling towards the Dragonheart. "You''re outmatched here," Emilio remarked, pointing his index finger towards the falling harken before snapping his fingers. Briefly, the air was stifled, secluding from a singr, spherical zone around the plummeting hunter. In that split-second, the oxygen was pulled away forcibly from the man-eating hunter''s lungs. Emilio watched as the breathless harken crashed down into the ground, mming into the firm soil. ''Physically, I can handle this one without shifting. Still, I can see why¨C'' Emilio thought. His thought process was intercepted as something pierced towards the air, soaring straight towards the spot between his eyes. With his instincts rising over his rationale, his amethyst eyes shifted into their draconic glow, honing in on the projectile that primed itself for his head. An upward swipe of his sword caught the sharp-pointed object before it collided with his skin, deflecting it as it flung against one of the neighboring trees. "...Close, again," he remarked under his breath. In his mind, he knew that tapping into the stages of his system would lead to a quick victory, but that''s not the oue he sought¨Cnot yet. ''I need to learn more. I have to see for myself what these "Harken" are capable of¨Cshow your hand to me,'' he thought. It was as if his thoughts were heard as the elven hunter dashed towards him, shifting through the tall grass swiftly. Even when moving quickly, thenky figure didn''t make much noise, creating a creepiness to his movements. It wasn''t just that; the way the harken member ran was as if he was leaning abnormally to one side, almost as if the ground itself was at a different angle for him. Emilio didn''t intend to wait and counterattack, instead taking initiative for himself as he pressed his leather boot against the dirt firmly. The ground rumbled as if it was awoken abruptly from slumber before splitting up, giving way as humanoid figures of stone and soil rose from its crust. A dozen of the ravenous golems pulled themselves from the soil they were carved from, lunging and grabbing at the harken. ''--"Resurrection of Death''s Soil"--a spell I made myself. I used a bit of inspiration from Husks: these golems are infused with themand to be "insatiable" at the sight of my enemies,'' he thought. "Go get ''em," Emiliomanded with a wave of his metallic arm. He further enchanted the veracious golems, caressing them in crimson mes as they surrounded the hunter. For the first time, he brought the harken member to a pause as the unnaturally tall figure stood still, ncing around with his ck eyes. Every movement the thin, towering elf made felt methodical; as if puppeteering his own body with pragmatic actions, guided by unseen strings. In a graceful stride, the hunter dashed forward, evading the touch of the ming golems as he spun around with his de in hand. A single spin with those long, spider-like limbs gave the edge of the de enough reach to slice through multiple golems. ''You''re kidding me? There''s not even an ounce of hesitation from this guy,'' Emilio thought. The effortless technique of the harken member couldn''t be understated; there was no strain worn on his expression or sweat that cast itself from his pores. None of the golems came close to touching the ck-eyes hunter, who swiftly cut them apart into pieces as the mes were scattered into fading embers. "Let''s try this, then," Emilio muttered as he held his hand forward. Chapter 478 The Plan ? As thenky hunter finished cleaving through the golems of mud and stone, the Dragonheart snapped his fingers with magical intent. Leaves were parted like buzzing flies, scattering as the air secluded itself from the immediate area of the hunter. Complete stagnation came to that spherical zone, caught within a perimeter of a few meters as the harken froze in ce. "Hyuuu¡ª" As rare as a shining diamond, noise left the hostile elf''s throat as he suffocated. There was always the same response that the caster could predict when using the oxygen-depriving spell: when onepletely lost their breath, they would always freeze and panic, however¡ª The harken bolted forward, deprived of oxygen, yet forcing his body forth like a starved beast, only moved by the instinct to "kill." For a moment, Emilio found himself frozen by this unexpected choice by the elf; the figure swiftly approached him with murderous intent oozing from their pores. Before the hostile hunter could reach him, the Dragonheart stomped his boot down, unleashing a roar of wind that disrupted the elf''s bnce. "Burn." With his metallic hand held towards the stunned elf, hemanded an overwhelming torrent of mes to envelop the harken. There was no trouble for the crimson ze to wrap itself around the figure''s body, burning through leather and flesh hastily. What was perhaps worrying was the fact that the harken did not scream in pain, nor fall and writhe in agony upon the soil; thenky elf, drowning in merciless fire, stood there. ¨C In the aftermath of the battle, another pair of harken were dealt with by both Sirius and Everett, though the main contributor was quite clear by the lightning burns left on the bodies of the hunters. They regrouped, with Sirius snapping away the threads of electricity that coiled around his hand, now facing the nearby vige belonging to the man-eating elves. It could be sparsely seen behind a wall of trees¨Cno, rather, it was the barrier of trees; curved into a dome-like shape, an impossiblerge and thick tree, as if fused into a far-spanning barrier, marked their targeted destination. "Woah, what kind of ce is this?" Everett asked, looking up. The peak of the wooden structure couldn''t be found by the crowded nature of the swarm of branches above. Emilio softly ced his hand against the sturdy, rough hide of the wooden dome, focusing silently for a minute as his twopanions waited. "Yeah, this is it. I sense a lot of people past this wall," Emilio quietly said. Sirius casually whistled, cing his hand over his brow to block out the orange rays of light that dipped through the leaves, "A lot is an understatement. We''re walking up against an army here." "¡­I see," Everett nervously chuckled upon receiving such information. "You don''t have toe in, you know," the warning was given calmly from Emilio to his bumpkin friend. It was abundantly clear that beyond the bark-forged set of far-spanning walls would be nothing less than a bloodbath. Standing outside of that wall, knowing whaty beyond it, knowing that confronting it was a choice of his own, the Dragonheart paused for a moment, finding his own words returning to him. ''Was this always the sort of choice I''de to first? Did I always choose to kill my enemies as a first option? I wonder when I began doing that,'' Emilio thought. "I''m with ya. All the way." The assurance reeled him from his own thoughts as Emilio looked at the shaggy-haired man who spoke to him, who provided him with a thumbs-up that seemed to secure his own bond. "What we''re doing isn''t necessary. I know how you are when ites to taking another life," Emilio said, pointing his words to the loyal shielder, "This is a choice we''re making on our own¨Ca choice to take the fight to our enemy before they do it to us. It''s not like we''re acting with a knife held to our throats here¨Cwe''re the ones doing it first. Do you get what I''m saying?" "Yeah, I think I getcha¡­" Everett quietly said, looking down briefly as he seemed to put it into deep thought. "There''s nothing heroic about it. All it is for us is acting on our best chance of survival¨Cthe best chance of protecting our friend that''s still out there, alone," Emilio exined as his hand twitched somewhat, "I''m not losing anybody else. I won''t let my choices be the reason my loved ones die¨Cnot when I have the strength to make a move for myself to stop that from happening." Sirius chimed in, "You''re sure she''s not in this very camp, right?" "Of course. I didn''t sense her mana signature at all," Emilio confirmed with a tired breath. Everett stepped up, wielding his heavy shield that never seemed to weigh down on his reliable arms, breathing out as he provided his lungs with the confidence he needed before finally giving his answer, "I ain''t about killin''. Just can''t bring myself to do it. But, I know this is somethin'' ya gotta do. If we''re on this ind, at some point or ''nother, these Harken wille after us. It''s, uh¡­pragmatic, right? That''s the word?" "Yup," Emilio confirmed. "Well, I''ll always be the shield that stands with you¨Cin front of you, when you need it. Do what you have to, and I''ll make sure not a single scratches up on ya''," Everett guaranteed with a smile. Emilio ced his hand on the shielder''s shoulder, looking at him before giving him a nod with a quiet response, "Thanks, Ev." The Dragonheart then turned his gaze to the magenta-eyed man dressed in a military-esque uniform beside him, who looked calm and ready. "How''re you nning on handling this, if I may ask?" Sirius inquired with a curious smile. Emilio carefully tugged at the tip of his leather glove, sliding it off as he ced his bare palm up against the wooden walls of the Harken''s home, "This way. There won''t be any bloodshed." "Oh?" Sirius said curiously. Everett watched as well, "Wait¨Chow? What are you doing¨C?" The question from the well-meaning shielder was cut-off by the sheer look of focus left on the Dragonheart''s face; Emilio had already closed his eyes, slowly and methodically breathing through his barely parted lips as if he was sleeping peacefully. Chapter 479 Unseen Trial ? With his hand against the colossal, far-spanning dome that served as the protecting exterior for the elven n within, the Dragonheart expanded his own mana within it, feeling the breathless wind inhabiting the interior. Through the expansion of the young man''s bountiful mana, he could sense everything within the closed-off vige; it was upied, but not just by the cold-hearted hunters. The gentle breaths of wind hemanded as an extension of his own senses brushed against elven children that yed within the walls, watched by their mothers; some were trained by their fathers, speaking in familiar tongue. "I¡­" Witnessing the familiarity of it all, Emilio''s eyes inadvertently opened as he felt his connection break with the magecraft he had been carefully conjuring. "Everything alright?" Sirius asked. "Yeah, you look pale, like you''ve seen a ghost or somethin''. Ya good?" Everett concernedly asked, stepping closer. Emilio shook his head to dissuade any notion of there being something wrong, refocusing himself as he pressed his hand firmly against the wall, "I''m fine, just give me a minute." All doubts were ced to the back of his mind. The journey he had taken thus far in this renewed life was brought to the forefront as a reminder; the friends he had made, the experiences he had lived through; the death he had crawled out of. He didn''t tell the two friends beside him what it was exactly that he was doing, though Sirius began to put it together as he felt a change in the wind. A slow breath passed through the lips of the young man as he finallymanded the entirety of the stagnant air caught within the interior of the colossal dome; his body strained, constricting his muscles as hisplexion reddened. "Woah, what''s¨C" Everett noticed the change in Emilio, worried. Sirius stopped the perplexed shielder from risking breaking the concentration of the Dragonheart, putting a hand on Everett''s shoulder. It was a replication of one of his own personally created spells, only turned up to a magnitude far beyond the norm¡ªboth in reach and longevity. There was no sound besides the light scraping of steps behind the thickness of the wooden dome; desperate, panicked, and perhaps ignorant to what was going on. The strain that gripped Emilio wasn''t solely a physical toll; he disconnected his thoughts, trying his best not to think nor pay any mind to the dozens, if not hundreds of upants he sensed within the premises. A constant struggle was fought on both ends of his being; one telling him¡ªurging him¡ªto stop, and the other continuously assuring him that what he was doing was the right call. Every piece of oxygen waspletely removed from within the dome. It couldn''t be perceived as a battle; only a massacre¨Can extermination. "...Haaah." Finally, he pulled his hand away, copsing to a knee as he breathed out heavily, coated in sweat. The hand used tomand the air past the barrier shook like a flower breathed on by a powerful gust. "Hey! Ya alright?!" Everett worriedly asked, kneeling beside the Dragonheart as he ced his hand on the young man''s shoulder. A small trail of blood trickled from Emilio''s nose as he tiredly wiped it away, being helped up to his feet by both of thepanions by his side, "...Yeah, I''m good, it''s just¡­I''ve never used that spell to that scale before. Kicks a lot more than I thought¡­" Everett seemed curious, lending his shoulder to Emilio as he looked against the now quiet dome in front of the group, "So¡­What did ya do, exactly? It didn''t sound like anything, ya know, went ''boom''." "Well¡­That''s not always how it goes," Sirius responded instead, looking at the sturdy wood as if seeing straight past it, "It should be safe to go in now." "Huh? Straight into all the Harken?" Everett asked in surprise. Emilio kept quiet, still gaining his breath as he stood on his own, holding his own head as his amethyst eyes held a mixture of emotions within them. "The Harken were wiped out," Sirius said. "What? How? When?! Just now?!" Everett spat the words out, seeming to answer his own question, or at least one of the many spewed from his quivering lips. Emilio didn''t seem to have many words, standing there silently to himself as he ran his fingers above his lip, looking at the fresh liquid of a crimson shade left on his glove. "Let''s check it out. To confirm," Emilio finally spoke. "Confirm¡­? Yeah, sure," Everett agreed with a nod, though still being unsure of what had happened. The ck-haired man stepped forward, holding his index finger out as a trace of electricity began to form on the wood, "Allow me." A thin, hardly-visible line of fulmination etched itself into the skin of the dark-brown wood, curving into a rectangr shape before carving out an open entrance. Sirius led the way, with the shielded following, though Emilio took a moment before going inside as well. "¡ª" What awaited within was not a dark ce, but one surprisingly kept bright as if beneath the gaze of the sun, somehow. There were azure crystals embedded into the ceiling of the vast, dome structure, providing a soft glow that replicated a clear sky. "This is the home of the Harken?" Everett asked. "Used to be," Sirius responded, kicking a pebble as he walked in, "Now it''s a graveyard." The interior was a surprisingly advanced vige; houses built out of stone, carved into oval shapes withrge towers spread across the inside domain. What became clear quickly were the countless, now lifeless bodies left spread across the home of the Harken. "Oh my god¡­" Everett quietly said, covering his mouth before he gagged. Men, women, and children of the harsh, elven race were left dead, pale and without any visible wounds. Bodiesid against homes, some fallen onto the stone tiles of the vige itself. "Sure did a number on them. That''s one hell of a spell you''ve got there," Sirius remarked, ncing over at the Dragonheart. "--" Emilio had nothing to say, hardly seeming to want to look at the results of his initiative. Everett''s eyes teared up at the sight of the lifeless youth, still covering his mouth as he looked at his friend, "...I didn''t realize there were kids. I mean¨Cthe Harken were evil, right? You didn''t know there were children in here though, right¡­? I just¡­" For a moment, Emilio remained quiet as the sight of the massacred harken was something that took his breath away, though he gathered himself before choosing his response with a careful, single utterance: "No." Everett looked at him for a sparse second, reading the stoic, yet pained expression of the Dragonheart before quietly epting the answer given, "...Alright." By the masterful architecture of stone that made up the smooth, oval homes of the harken, along with organized farms and an arsenal of forges spread around the vige, the advancement of the elven n was nothing short of superb. Yet, it was all brought down to nothing now. "Uegh¡­Man, I can''t¨CI''m going to wait outside, al-alright?" Everett stammered out, backing away as the sight of the bodies deterred him from delving in any deeper. "Sure," Emilio said with a nod. After the shielder stepped out, Emilio followed Sirius deeper into the dome vige. Though Emilio had his own struggles with the presence of the dead bodies, the way Sirius held himself, keeping his hands casually in his pockets with a subtle smile held, it was as if the man was unmoved by it all. "I was thinking," Sirius began to say. "About?" "This might be our first trial," Sirius observed, setting his gaze onto the Dragonheart. Emilio came to a brief stop, looking at the man with a raised eyebrow, "What do you mean?" "This whole ind is meant to serve as a proving grounds for "World Sages", right? To me, it seems like the Harken were meant to serve as the enforcers of that," Sirius exined, "Maybe it''s all just a reach, though." Emilio thought about it for a moment, distracted by the bodiesid on the ground, "You could be right. This ind is a lot more confusing than I''d like to admit." "Hold on." ¨CIt was abrupt, but the demeanor of the Stormheart changed like the flip of a lever, going from carefree to tense as his hands slid out of his pockets. Sirius'' eyes were dead set on something down the main road of the now lifeless vige. Emilio looked in the same direction, focusing as before something met his vision, a sound scraped against his ears; it was as if steel was being drug against stone, a bone-aching grinding. "Seems like you didn''t get all of them," Sirius quietly remarked as electricity coiled around his hand in preparation. Emilio stepped past hispanion, responding calmly, "I''ll handle this." From the lifeless vige, a sole figure walked out, descending from the steps of the centermost structure. The hair belonging to the individual seemed as though it glistened, shining like an opalescent gemstone through a tinum kaleidoscope. It was long and graceful, cascading down the masculine figure''s shoulders like silver curtains of luxury. "¡ª" Emilio drew his own sword, awaiting the sole survivor of the Harken. The wordless elf''s ck irises locked onto the Dragonheart like a hawk, filled with contempt shown clear on the anguished curl of his lips. It seemed as though the figure was of high status within the exterminated n; he wore a ck-and-gold woven suit of fine fabric, with a jeweled crown worn as a band around his head. "Looks like he''s the "alpha" of the Harken. I''m sure I don''t have to tell you this, but this guy isn''t some pushover. He''s just oozing strength from every pore," Sirius warned, keeping his distance as he let hispanion handle it to his own desire. Chapter 480 Godless Continent ? [???] In a world asrge as Arcadius, abundant in magic and dangerous entities, many ces remained untouched¨Coften for the better. This was none more true than a continent deemed to dangerous not just to inhabit, but also to step foot on; and where beasts capable of single-handedly decimating kingdoms prowl, one where diseases capable of wiping out mankind fester; an unholy stretch ofnd that rejects all outsiders. They call this ce the "Godless Continent." For those that the punishment of death is found to be too simple of an execution of justice, the unfortunate criminals will find themselves transported to thisnd¨Ctortured by the human-loathing curses that inhabit the region. ¨C The skies that hung over thisnd in the peak of daytime were a solemn gray, loomed over by gloomy clouds and neighbored by spiky, harrowing mountains that isted the despisednd away from all others. Currently, an expedition of highly-trusted adventurers by the Guild Foundation has been sent out on a research mission, the first in a decade for the horrifdscape. However, it is clear to some that the expedition has other problems. [Guild Foundation Mission Log] [SPECIAL QUEST: "Godless Continent Exploration"| Minimum rank required: RUBY | Threat: Maximum] [Adventurers Sent | 60] [Adventurers Dead | 55] ¡ª [Squadron One | Group Dragon] "Haaah¡­Hff¡­" Breathing heavily, a veteran adventurer held his ck-and-red greatsword in front of him as rain pelted down on the ursed gravel. Strewn across the moist ground were the bodies of those like him: adventurers that signed up for the Godless Continent expedition. They were turned to mincemeat¡ªkilled instantly, if lucky. ''I should have nevere here¡ªruby rank? Bullshit! We need an army of Void ranks¡­Th-this is hell,'' he thought. To his right, another adventurer stood with his magical staff raised¡ªa hazel-haired man who shouted out: "Stay focused, Desmond! It''s still around here! I''ll support us with¡ª" Before the mage could even finish his sentence, the great sword-wielding adventurer found the words cut short as the wind suddenly exploded against his ears. "Huh¡­?" The stunned man let out, feeling a warm liquid unlike the Brian rain spray against his right side. Blood painted his cheek as he looked over, finding the bisected body of the mageid across the rain-drenched gravel, with guts sprayed across the ground. What stood there with blood dripping from its ws was a monstrous creature that stood tall, hunched over with pitch-ck skin. "You¡ª!" The adventurer yelled out, finding the courage to stand for himself. ¡ªHowever, as the creature vanished from his vision and his eardrums burst, he found any such resistance to be impossible. "¡­Huh¡­" The wed creature already passed by him with speed that surpassed the arrival of sound, leaving the sole adventurer standing there before his limbs fell to the gravel. After a moment, the man fell to the ground in a dozen pieces, never having realized he had been killed in the first ce. ''The Godless Continent is hell.'' ¨C [Squadron Two | Group Falcon] Alone in a dimly-lit cave, kept with some light only by the dim torches hung on the mmy walls, a lonesome girl gulped, clutching her magic staff close to her chest. "Marco¡­? David? Where are you?" She meekly called out. ''We got separated from the rest of the squad¡­Our group leader, Vismond, didn''t return when he scoped out this cave¨CMarco and David rushed in so fast, I couldn''t keep up¡­I just hope they''re all right. This ce¡­it''s inhuman¨Cwe should''ve nevere here,'' she thought. The young woman with hair kept in a braid, wearing dark-blue robes that supplemented her magecraft, adjusted her sses as she looked down, finding a trail of blood leading to the dark area in front of her. "...Malena¡­" The masculine voice was familiar to the young woman, who didn''t hesitate to call out in return, "David?!" Rushing over, she conjured a small me above her staff for light, entering the shadow-filled section of the cave as the light stretched to the walls, revealing its contents. Immediately, the girl froze,ing to a halt as her breath was caught in her lungs and her blood ran cold in her veins; the sight was nightmarish beyond anyprehension. Suspended from the rocky ceiling were headless bodies¨Cthose of which she recognized as herrades from her expedition group. There were well over a dozen¨Call decapitated and hanging there idly, dripping down blood onto the ground like a hellish rain. "...No¡­" "Malena. Malena. Malena." The voice of the man she sought continued calling out to her, but she saw his headless body suspended there; it came from elsewhere¨Cfrom the horrific monstrosity that was hunched over in the cavern room, too tall to stand up properly. It had a humanoid physique, yet stood well over five meters tall with blood-stained, scarred skin, possessing no head of its own, yet wore the heads of herrades around its neck like a prized ne. "Malena! Malena! Malena!" The distorted cries of therades she lost rang out like a nightmarish chime; the head-wearing creature stood up, wielding a gigantic, bloody cleaver in its right hand as it stepped towards the fear-stricken girl. She fell to her knees, shattered by the sight born from hell, unable to muster any word as only mumbled left, "Mm¡­I-I¡­Nf¡­Hff¡­" Before she could do anything, the head-thieving monstrosity blitzed past her, causing the me to be put out with its wind-breaking speed. "...Hah¡­" The girl''s head was gone from her shoulders, held in the hand of the grotesque creature, who brought it to the assembly of heads around its neck. As it brought her head to its trophies, its flesh stitched itself to the open wound of her neck, connecting them. "I¡­I-I¡­" Despite losing her body, the girl found herself still conscious, broken by the nightmarish sight, fueled by what could only be a fate worse than death¨Cforever attached to the head-hunting creature. ''The Godless Continent¡­Who would create a ce like this¡­? Not God¡­Not anything that loves humanity¡­'' ¡ª Sitting by a campfire, a few of these adventurers sat together, one of the three squadrons sent out to the Godless Continent¨Cthe red-haired adventurer, "Crimson Lightning", Roan; the chaotic swordsman, Lawrence, and the scarred maiden, Velda. Of course, the squad didn''t start as just the three of them¨Chowever, the original group of ten had been whittled down by the lurking beasts of thend. Chapter 481 Hopeless Land ? "Ahh¡­What a colorful ce this is, we''ve only been here two days, but I believe I''ve just felt one of my lungs copse¨Cha-ha¡­hff!" The man wearing pale, clown makeup with orange hair kept into a ponytailughed like a jester before coughing up. The clown-faced man caressed the gash on his arm before wrapping it up with a gauze, humming to himself. "Shut it, will ya?" The man with standout red hair said, focusing on the campfire in front of them as he propped up a massive, horned beast''s carcass above the me, sighing to himself quietly, "...Why was I paired with this clown?" The chosen campsite was a clearing between cliffs, tucked away behind twisted, ckened trees that acted as a cover from the eyes of unwee monstrosities. Keeping watch for beasts, the woman with bright-red hair and a scarred, but muscr body kept her hand by her sheathed sword, "They weren''t exaggerating how dangerous this ce is. The first squad already got wiped out¨Chell, I''m surprised we even made it so far. A couple close calls already." "What''re you thinking, Velda? Is this mission a bust?" Roan asked for her opinion, sitting by the rocky, ckened cliff that acted as cover. Velda looked off at the distance before sitting down by the campfire as well, shrugging her shoulders, "Probably. How''re we going to discover anything when every beast around here is at least a Massacre-level threat? It feels like every moment breathing is fought just to survive." "I wonder, are beasts really what we''re after here? Hmmm¡­" Lawrence grinned, speaking as if knowing something else. "Spit it out, clown," Velda said, "You know something about this mission, don''t you? It just doesn''t make sense to me¨Cwhy would they send a gold-rank adventurer on a quest like this? Hell, I''m a ruby-rank and I feel way out of my depth here." Though the two other adventurers of renown showed their open doubts to the clown, Lawrence onlyughed it off, grinning to himself. "What''s funny?!" Velda gritted her teeth, frustrated with the man that seemed to take nothing seriously despite the dire situation. The tense environment, where death could ensnare anybody one second to the next, left some on edge; winds that smelled of rotten flesh swept through thend, creating a permanent fixture of death in the atmosphere. "Forgive me, but you see, I have the unique gift of finding humor in everything. I apologize if my attitude has offended you," Lawrence smiled. Roan sighed, "Calm down, Velda. Getting angry isn''t going to solve anything," the red-haired adventurer said, acting as the leader naturally as his rank stood above the rest, "Lawrence, you seem to have your own idea about what this expedition is about. Mind telling us your thoughts?" "...Hmm," Lawrence smiled, leaning against the rock wall while sitting, "Tell me this: what reason is there to explore thisnd?" Controlling her frustration, Velda grumbled before responding, "Well, it''s always been a goal by the Foundation to understand the Godless Continent. With it being as dangerous as it is and unknown, it''s a risk leaving it unchecked if we get blindsided by anythinging out of it. That''s our goal here, isn''t it?" "Wrong~," Lawrence yfully said, pointing at the crimson-haired woman. "Huh?! What am I wrong about then?!" Velda barked. Coughing into his hand while retaining his smile, the pale-faced man answered, "We''re here to hunt people. Though I''d hardly call them "people" anymore, perhaps demons that thrive on utter chaos, like myself." "The fuck are you talking about?" Roan asked with a raised eyebrow. "The Children of Chaos," Lawrence finally answered. Such words were enough to bring pause to the other twopanions of the clown-faced man, weighing down like a deafening storm. "That group? We''ve never had any leads on them though," Velda said. "Yeah, I''ve tried my hand at tracking them down a few times in my career¨Cnothing. How the hell did the Foundation get anything on them?" Roan wondered. Lawrenceughed to himself, drawing their gazes to him again as he grinned, softly cing his hand against his chest, "Why, I told them, of course. If you''re wondering how I knew about this¨CI used to be a member of the Children of Chaos. Yes, yes." Immediately upon admitting this with an open smile, the end of the eyepatch-wearing woman''s sword was stopped just a few inches from the clown''s neck, only stopped by Roan, who stopped it with nothing but his hand. "Stop it, Velda," Roan ordered. "Why¨C? He just admitted to¨C" "--To formerly being a member of the Children. I don''t like his smug ass anymore than you do, but if we''re at each other''s necks like this, it''ll be that much easier for thisnd to chew us up and spit us back out," Roan told the woman. Hesitating for a moment, Velda finally sighed before retreating her sword, sheathing it before sitting back down. "Oh, my. That was scary," Lawrence said with his unmoving smile. Roan looked at the clown-faced swordsman, "You''re not off the hook yet. Exin yourself¨Cnow. Or I won''t stop Velda the next time sheshes out at you." Sitting there for a moment, the peculiar man with skin as white as snow itself shrugged his shoulders, lifting his hands in submission to the request, "Well, you''ve forced my hand! I''d rather not be cut down by that brawny woman there." "Tch," Velda clicked her tongue, "Just talk." Lawrence nodded, "When I was a part of their organization, this is where our main base resided. It''s a fortress located in the northern sector of the continent. As I said, I am a former member¨Cso please, do not treat me as if I am an enemy currently. I assure you that I am on your side. I wish to see the Children of Chaos crumble." The exnation was given, though it didn''t seem to ease the tension between the three very much as the situation was far too grim to rx even for a moment. "So, that''s how it is, huh?" Roan sat down, resting his arm on his knee. "Why the hell would they not tell us that? Even worse, they stuck us with a former psycho from that group without telling us?" Velda said sharply, "I oughta cleave those worthless old men in half if I make it back." Lawrenceughed, "I assure you I am not anything like the Children you''re familiar with," the clown pointed at his own head, "I very much still have my mind intact, you see." "Doubt it," Velda breathed out. The information revealed by the clown-faced man didn''t exactly turn the situation into a favorable one for the group. Still, all that could be done for the time being is to lick their wounds and rest, using what little time of reprieve was avable to eat up and regain their energy. "If they were after that organization of freaks this whole time, wouldn''t it have been better to send the Nihilum Core in?" Velda wondered audibly. "Not happening," Roan said, taking a piece from the beast cooked above the campfire before getting a bite from it. The eyepatch-wearing woman looked over, "Why not? You can''t tell me it was the right call to send ruby ranks into this ce¨Cit was a suicide mission." "I''m not saying it was a good decision, but the Nihilum Core would never be sent on a mission like this. They''re glorified bodyguards for the Heads. They wouldn''t risk their precious guards when they can just throw others into hell," Roan exined with a sigh. It seemed like the entire expedition was a bust¨Can outing that used the lives of adventurers as ammunition for information. "Sounds about right from what I''ve heard. We''re the sacrificialmb, it seems," Lawrence said with a smile. "Hell no, not me," Velda sighed angrily, "I''m not kickin'' it in this hellhole." "Well ain''t that a pretty dream. Hate to say it, but living isn''t exactly guaranteed in this ce¨Chell, I think death is what''s guaranteed around here," Roan said, looking up as rain pelted down against his red hair. Chapter 482 The Unknown Journey Continues ? Before any contesting words could be said by the fiery woman, the single sound of a footstep brought the group silent and alert. The arrival of anything else was cause for rm; every creature that inhabited thendmanded that much fear. They all sat, silent but ready for anything to arrive; whether it was a pounce from a beast or me from another. As something pierced through the air like a volley of arrows, they all jumped to their feet, but the fiery woman was the first to try and deflect one of the iing projectiles. "Try me¡ª!" Velda roared. Before the red-haired swordswoman''s de could deflect the mysterious projectile, it was stopped from another weapon. "Huh?!" Velda angrily let out, looking at the figure right beside her. The clown-faced man had spat out his unique sword from his stomach, using his saliva-coated de to stop hispanion''s. Passing by, whatnded against the ground was a sharp-ended, fleshy projectile that had emerald veins. Roan had yet to make a move of his own, instead keeping a watchful eye on whatever creature may have unleashed the projectiles, yet stayed hidden itself. "What''s the big idea, clown?!" Velda growled. Lawnrence pulled his sword away, pointing it at the object that hadnded in the gravel near them, "Careful now. The slightest impact against one of those will cause it to explode." "What?" "It''s a ''Rot Sac''¡ªtouch it, and it''ll release gas capable of turning us into liquid¡ªskin, bones, and all, I''m afraid," Lawrence informed her with a sly smile. The warning from the clown-like man was heeded by the frustrated woman as she looked at the grotesque sac imnted in the gravel. Roan kept crimson lightning coiled around his fingertips, "Looks like we''re fighting a cowardly one, huh?" "A ''Foul Skitterer''. As you''ve observed, cautious creatures thatunch their rot sacs from afar, hoping to turn their prey into delectable goop to drink up after the hunt isplete," Lawrence informed. "Sure know a lot about this ce" Velda muttered, keeping her sword raised and her eyes peeled. Without responding to the usatory quip, the clown-faced man only smiled as he wielded his bendy sword, standing on guard as well in preparation of their encounter with the creature. The terrain they chose to make their temporary camp had problems of its own; the continuous, cold rain created a veil of mist, and the cliffs around them were full of holes¡ªeasily to hide in. "Anything else we should know about this one, Lawrence?" Roan asked, keeping a watchful eye. "If you''re going to kill it, either aim for the head or make sure you finish it from a safe distance," Lawrence licked his own de, "¡ªUnless you''d like to be caught in its post-mortem gassing." Following that warning, a volley of putrid projectiles pierced through the mist, each targeting the three adventurers. As both Velda and Lawrence prepared to evade the projectiles, the air became electrified for a moment as crimson lightning swept through the mist. "Huh¨C?" Velda let out. "Hmm~" Lawrence watched. In an instant, all of the trap projectiles were taken out of the air by the bright-red electricity that coiled through the mist, striking the Rot Sacs down without causing them to explode into their flesh-melting form. Reappearing from his momentary shift into an elemental state, Roan appeared in the air, surrounded by mist and sparks of his own electricity as his eyes quickly darted around. Through the fog, he found it; the silhouette of the ranged attacker, locking onto it as lightning coiled around his body again. ''Found you,'' he thought. It was an arachnid creature; colossal in size, with a studded, mossy exoskeleton. As soon as its many eyes located the lightning-wielding, veteran adventurer, it activated its hole-filled abdomen, releasing an onught of gaseous projectiles towards him. Zig-zagging through the mist, the crimson bolt of lightning evaded the many projectiles, dashing through them before piercing straight through the creature in an instant. "Phew," Roan reappeared in his physical form just as the grotesque monster exploded into a mess of blood and goo. The swift feat of victory over the nefarious creature natural to the Godless Continent was a sight to behold as both Velda and Lawrence watched as Roan returned to the campsite, touching down as a bolt of lightning. "Well done, Mr. Red-Hair," Lawrence pped his hands together. After pping his hands, the smiling clown opened his mouth, slowly sliding his de down his throat before it returned to the seemingly bottomless pit of his stomach. "Eugh¡­Yuck, that never is not gross," Velda remarked in disgust. Lawnrece wiped his mouth before chuckling, "Forgive me." Brushing the sparks off of his gloves, Roan walked over, scratching his beard as he looked at the snow-skinned man, "Something is bothering me still¨Cabout your story, I mean." "Yes?" Lawrence smiled. "The Godless Continent is a ce thatpletely rejects humans. It curses us, infects us, or straight up tears us to shreds¨Cit''s not an inhabitable ce. So, why would the Children of Chaos choose this ce as their home?" Roan asked, folding his arms over his chest. The crimson-haired woman eyed the clown as well, adding in, "I was wondering that, too. The Children are crazy bastards, but even they wouldn''t enjoy being wiped out daily, yeah?" Walking over to one of the hedges with lifeless, gray leaves attached to it, the pale-skinned man fixed his bright-orange hair with a smile before ncing back at the other two. "Is it not a perfect ce to avoid prying eyes?" Lawrenc asked, "It''s and that nobody dares to enter¨Cwell, at least most. Besides¨Chff," the man coughed, "The curses of thisnd don''t affect the Children." "Seems like you''re pretty affected to me," Velda remarked. The clown wiped the blood from his mouth after coughing, still holding a smile, "A consequence of leaving the Children, I''m afraid. The Blessing has left me; I''m now loathed, even more than normal, by thisnd." It was felt by all of them: the curses embedded in the very crust of the forsake continent. Roan kept watch of the condition these unseen curses brought carefully, looking as Lawrence continued coughing. ''We were warned before even stepping foot in thisnd that the curses were unavoidable. They''re as natural as breathing air here. It''s affecting Lawrence the hardest-the Director''s words were right: the stronger one''s mana reinforcement is, the more resistance to the curses they have,'' Roan thought. "Nngh¡­" Velda quietly winced to herself. Looking over, the red-haired adventurer saw that Velda was holding her own head as if in pain, though tried to hide it. ''Velda is a tough gal, but she''s starting to feel it too. I''ve noticed her getting those migrainestely. I''m still unaffected, but who knows for how long?'' Roan thought. Naturally, as the highest ranking adventurer of the squadron and as somebody with experience leading adventurers, Roan took charge. "Alright, if they sent us here to scout out the Children of Chaos without telling us, they''re expecting us to encounter them one way or another¡ªLawrence?" Roan looked over. The pale-faced man had his hand against his chin, nodding a few times, "Oh, yes. It''s certain that if we make enough noise, they''lle to crush us." "They''ll try," Velda corrected him. "It''d be better if we found them first, then," Roan said. ''If I had to guess, the Foundation made this move in retaliation to what happened at the World-ss trial a couple years back. They confirmed it to be the Children of Chaos who set Dread loose¡ªa head-on attack like that will earn the full wrath of the Foundation. Still, why did they trick us then? We would have agreed,'' Roan thought. As he questioned the circumstances of the hellish expedition, rain continued pelting down against the gravel. "Something in your mind?" Lawrence asked suavely. "Still not sure why they hid the true nature of this mission from us, is all," Roan scratched his neck. "Ah, I can tell you why," Lawrence said. "All ears," Velda listened with her arms folded. The clown-faced man smiled, "The less people are aware of the mission, the better. I''m not the only one who knew about it. Only a select few were aware of the true course of this expedition¨Cwe were only permitted to speak about it once our numbers were thinned." "Huh?!" Velda let out angrily, "That''s bullshit! They fucking nned on us biting it?!" Calming down the fiery woman, who seemed always about one second away from using her sword on the clown, the red-haired adventurer raised his hand to lessen the tension. "I think I know why," Roan added in, "If everybody was aware of the true mission, there would be a risk of information being leaked, right?" "Very perceptive," Lawrence smiled, "The Children of Chaos, above all else, are quite¡­scrappy, when ites to obtaining information. It''s how they always remain multiple steps ahead of their opposition." "Then a smaller group should''ve been sent. It was suicide sending us out here¨C" Velda began to say. The clown-faced man suddenly closed the space between himself and the woman, speaking with widened eyes, "Is that not the prerequisite given to us? At the very beginning of it all, before we came here, death was already all but assured. That was never a lie; in this rottennd, that''s the only truth for us." "I¡­Uegh," Velda turned away. Roan added in, looking up at the murky skies with his arms folded over his chest, "A mission like this wouldn''t be possible with a small number, unless the Foundation was willing to send out their precious Nihilum Core. We all know that wouldn''t happen, though." "Oh, yes. They worked within very limited parameters," Lawrence exined, intertwining his own fingers with a smile, "You see, the personnel chosen for this mission weren''t solely chosen off of rank. Individual traits and talents were taken into consideration, along with their mindset and goals in mind. They needed people strong enough, but also willing enough. Being willing to enter thisnd takes a mind tainted by insanity, even if just a little bit." Insanity felt to be putting it lightly. In the region they now stood in, perhaps the ce they would all meet their end, just the idea of walking into it willingly now seemed like something spawned only from aplete deprivation of rationality. "The Foundation likely wanted to guarantee at least one group would reach the hideout. They carefully crafted each squad, giving them just enough that through death, whittling down their numbers, some would reach the desired destination," Roan said, thinking it over audibly as he held his own chin, "But, why? By the time we reach the hideout, forget just our cleaved forces¨Ceveryone will be broken by thisnd¨Chow are we expected to fight the Children of Chaos at their own home?" "I do wonder, indeed," Lawrence said with a sly smile, "All that''s left is the road ahead, no?" Velda groaned, ruffling her own hair in frustration, "I hate to admit it, but the clown is fucking right. There''s no turning back now, no matter how much I don''t want to say that." "Clearly," Roan agreed. Once more, the three, hardly unified adventurers began moving onward through the unforgivingnd. Past the campsite they temporarily used, what awaited ahead was a vast stretch of infertilend, yet not barren; tall, thin growths resembling trees popted the region plentifully, stretching high with dark-gray, metal-like skin. ["When you''re an adventurer long enough, you''ll eventually hear about them. Rarely is it ever that you hear the name of their organization, rarely is it ever connected¨Cbut, you''ll encounter something done by them. Sometimes it''s an unexined murder, maybe a whole vige is wiped off of the map. Though there''s never a culprit found, it can always be chalked up to the same source¨Cthe "Children of Chaos." A force of evil that infects this world down to its core. Try as we might over the years, hunting down any members of the organization we could find, it always ended up the same way: they''d kill themselves by any means before giving up any information. It''s a spider web so deeply interwoven with secrets that I doubt there''s any way to really unravel it. Attacking the source is a desperate, almost stupid n, but it might be the only chance."] The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!