"Liar! That was not the speed of someone at the sixth star of thew of Capricorn!"


    Far from the human settlements, on the side of some rarely used road, n stomped his foot in anger while Zoemi was patting the back of Aaron who was throwing up.


    "Don''t tell me that after all of that you actually are a member of the dark sect!?"


    The young man gasped, taking a step back from the ck-haired man, as his face became pale.


    "No, I''m not. It is just that during the fight I managed t achieve the first star in thew of Libra. What you experienced was the speed of the sixth star level of thew of Capricorn equalized with the supernova level of thew of Aries."


    Zoemi nced back at n, only to roll his eyes at the young man and exin before turning back to the sick boy.


    "Now, now. Everything will be alright. I imagine that getting carried like that isn''t actually veryfortable. Sorry for not being more considerate."


    The ck-haired man apologized, rubbing Aaron''s back like a doting parent – or at least that one drunk friend at a party that bes worried about everyone after drinking too much.


    "How did you manage to mediate while fighting? And don''t you think that all the gore is a more likely reason for his state?"


    The slightly hesitant but almost calmed young man breathed out and motioned his head at both the ck-haired man and the vomiting boy.


    "Master n... why do you even know that there was any gore there whatsoever? I believe to have advised you to stay hidden until I make sure that the escape is possible. Did you think that blowing up an entire building was only a small mistake and they weren''t intending to kill you too just to get me?"


    Instead of answering the question directly, Zoemi looked at n from over Aaron''s back and questioned back, slightly angry.


    "..."


    n closed his mouth and backed off looking down to the side with his shoulders raised up defensively.


    "...I wanted to confirm that it was the case... Doesn''t change the fact that what you showed there was messed up... Now there is no way for you to escape the stigma of the dark sect member. Painting things that way will be the only viable way for my parents to salvage whatever is left from the honor of our sect..."


    The young martial artist stepped even further back, distancing himself from the ck-haired man.


    That... really was quite a problematic situation.


    Fleeing from the scene left everything in the hands of the remaining party – which could not turn out well.


    "I am terribly sorry to remind you that in this case, there is no I, only WE. You might not want it, but you don''t have an out anymore. Not with parents like that."


    "!!!"


    Zoemi returned to patting Aaron''s back and said in an indifferent tone, causing n to flinch.


    "Even if I had left you there, you would not get away without some serious punishment. Who was that back-shooting pervert again? Head of the justice magistrate and the leader of the Heavenly Archer sect?"


    He asked as if didn''t remember everything perfectly.


    "Now that I think about it, I think I achieved thew of Libra''s first star after I got him... Hmm...Wait...!"


    With no response from n in sight, Zoemi tilted his head and considered before sensing something odd about his power.


    "...it is on the second-star level already...? Huh...? That doesn''t sound right..."


    The ck-haired man moved away from the sick boy and sat cross-legged on the ground, where he started meditating without any dy and immediately made a shocking discovery.


    "What?! How did you jump on the second star level from zero?!"


    n gasped, relieved because of the change of subject that honesty was very ufortable for him.


    "How am I supposed to know? I have barely any knowledge about spiritual energy and star power."


    Zoemi furrowed his brows and scoffed without opening his eyes.


    "...it''s... it''s because you killed grandpa Daniel... He was at fifth star level of thew of Libra, after all..."


    The shocking answer came from the trembling boy still tormented by nausea.


    "Sounds like something a dark sect member would do."


    n blinked a few times before nervously ncing at Zoemi and taking yet another step back.


    "Aaron, could you exin what exactly you mean by that? I really am not a dark sect member, why would I gain star level by killing others?"


    The ck-haired man opened his eyes and stood up just to move a few steps and kneel by the trembling boy and asked in a calm voice.


    "..."


    Aaron closed his mouth, looking up fearfully at Zoemi and then ncing worriedly at n...


    ...and that seemed to be it. The boy did not reveal anything, simply looking down and staying quiet.


    "What are we supposed to do now? Unfortunately, you are probably right about me and you being marked as the dark sect members, so depending on how fast the news is spreading, we will be hunted down the moment someone from anywful sect recognizes us in any of the human settlements."


    n sighed at the silence and looked up at Zoemi, moving on to the matter at hand as there was no use crying over the spilled milk.


    "You kidnapping the beloved child of Sagittarius must have looked like a good strategy, but with him around we will be more recognizable. We can''t return him for the good-guys points because we will still get executed on the spot and, as I already said, we will be easily recognized with him around..."


    The young man continued the sigh and motioned at the curled-up boy with his chin.


    "Master n, we are not leaving Aaron."


    Zoemi scoffed shortly, shaking his head and dismissing the idea on the spot.


    "Why? He knows something about your gaining levels but doesn''t want to share it. He is not on our side. We got into so much trouble and you are telling me we should drag a potential enemy along?!"


    n rolled his eyes so much that his entire torso traced a circle and pointed out while ncing to the sides as if he already expected the martial artist potentially chasing them to start popping up.


    "Listen, it is more than certain that eventually we will get spotted anyway, why not...? Hmm?"


    Zoemi waved his hand dismissively, about to reveal his reason when suddenly he stopped with his hand up, listening in to something...


    "What? What is going on?"


    n asked, straightening his back and looking around all fidgety, worried that someone giving chase did show up already.


    <o>,m "I can hear something... it''s... it sounds like digging...?"</o>


    Zoemi furrowed his brows and turned his right ear towards the surface of the earth, furrowing his brow in confusion.


    As he said, a dozen of feet away, the ground bulged up and a moderately big molehill showed up, as the creature beneath was slowly but surely digging its way up.


    "Oh. Have you heard that? How good is your hearing?"


    n, Zoemi, and even Aaron looked at the molehill, and the young man breathed out with relief before nodding at the ck-haired man.


    "Master n, why are you so calm, that... that is huge, are you telling me you have moles the size of foxes around here?"


    Zoemi wasn''t as calm as the younger man, and asked, pointing at the mound of earth still increasing in size.


    There definitely was a big disparity between the molehill that the moles the ck-haired man knew made and the one raising up in front of his eyes.


    "Then you not only don''t know much about star powers but monsters too? This is clearly a great mole, a usually peaceful monster that eats bugs and other small creatures living underneath the ground. It doesn''t see very well, so it eats vegetables too, making it a big problem for farmers, as even a single one can ravage an entire field in no time if not discovered in a timely manner."


    n raised his brow and exined, crossing his arms, taking the role of Zoemi''s bestiary.


    "Is it actually not harmful? Most creatures from the forest looked harmless but would always turn out the opposite."


    The ck-haired man asked, cautiously moving forward, shielding both n and Aaron and taking a defensive stance.


    "Oh, this one is the opposite actually. It got these big ws on its front paws, but rarely uses them to attack as long as we will not bother it, it will not attack us."


    n assured him with a confident smirk.


    *PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS*


    "Zhhhoo...! Zzzhhhhoooo...!"


    "!!!"


    The young man said that, but when the head of the supposedly peaceful monster popped out from the earth. The moment two sets of two massive grayish-ck ws pierced the earth, a ckish smoke escaped into the air with a whistling sound, and the next moment the creature popped up seemed...


    The great mole did share some traits with the animal that Zoemi was familiar with, but was not just an upscaled version of it, although it shared the dark-brown, almost ck color with its smaller version. Its head was much bulkier and the jaw was much wider and stronger. The front paws were almostpletely covered with thick keratin carapace that was extending into shovel-like ws that were exposed to the outside world.


    "Zhooo...Zzzhhhhhoooo...!"


    Still, the one specimen that showcased itself, could not be doing well, its thick furcoat was mated and the creature was gasping for air, letting out short, spasmatic breaths and gargling noises as cloudy saliva was dripping out of its mouth.


    The bloodshot beady ckish eyes were looking around erratically, sometimes shing their whites.


    "E...! What in the world...?! Is... is it rabid?! Why does it look like this?!"


    n shivered and scuttled to the side, hiding behind Zoemi''s back and ncing nervously at the sick creature.


    "Oh, so that''s not the default look then? Good to know."


    The ck-haired man gulped down his saliva and nodded, trying to decide between just escaping or killing the monster while it was still rtively calm...