《Shadow Of The Moon》 CH-1 Phoenix ¡°It¡¯s better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix.¡± Kai despised that phrase. It didn¡¯t help that he was the first disciple of a relatively weak sect. It also didn¡¯t help that there was a massive, flaming bird glaring down from the small hill overlooking that sect. ¡°First Disciple! The sect master is gathering everyone at the temple!¡± Kai turned his head just enough to glance down, his cold brown eyes flickering between the disciple who¡¯d called him and the buildings surrounding them. The Crescent Moon Sect. A small, local power with a short history and unremarkable reputation. Home. Shaking his head, Kai muttered under his breath as he started walking toward the temple in the center of the sect grounds. ¡°That monster has already destroyed sects multiple times our size¡­ Even though our defensive formations are unnaturally strong, there is no chance we can repel a phoenix.¡± Part of Kai¡¯s mind struggled to find a way out. If they couldn¡¯t fight off the beast, could they at least run? Could they evade its attacks long enough to escape its notice? The rest had already accepted that he, and everyone he cared about, was about to die. Even in national powerhouse sects, there hadn¡¯t been any survivors after the beasts swept over the land. Instead of looking for pointless hope, Kai started to reminisce over the past few years. The Crescent Moon Sect wasn¡¯t just a school where he¡¯d learned every skill he could be proud of. He¡¯d spent thousands of hours training in the courtyard, and a comparable amount holed up in their small library. Its success and expansion had become his dream, a dream that he feared was about to be silenced. He let out another sigh as he reached his destination, stepping past the twenty-odd black and gray-cloaked youths gathered around the courtyard. Kai¡¯s snow white robes swayed as he stepped into an ornate obsidian temple. Strange runes were etched all over the pillars and ceiling, familiar only to the disciples of his sect. Kai had never seen any similar ones anywhere else before. The only person in the world who knew what they meant was the sect¡¯s founder, but he passed away over a decade before, shortly before Kai joined. Just like all of the other artifacts left behind by the founder, no one had been able to discover their use or meaning. Within the temple, there was barely enough space within the encircling pillars for six people to stand, and the space was almost completely occupied already. In the center of the space, the current sect master was wearing similar white robes as Kai, her long gray hair coarse from age. Four other figures stood by her side, all of them wearing various and progressively wilder colored robes. The second disciple¡¯s forest green robes weren¡¯t bad, at least not compared to the Eternal Shadow, Sunfall Blaze, Twilight Violet robes worn by the third, fourth, and fifth disciples respectively- not that any of those were actual colors. ¡°The beast tide has arrived¡­ it seems my efforts in raising the five of you were all for naught. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Kai shook his head and stepped forward. ¡°Sect Master Enla¡­ no one could¡¯ve predicted this beast tide would appear out of nowhere. If we die toda-¡± ¡°Fufufu¡­ die? Don¡¯t be so quick to assume our loss, Senior Kai.¡± The fifth disciple, Halia- a beautiful brown-haired girl clad in the ¡®Twilight¡¯ violet-colored robes- stepped forward, five small ruby tokens dangling between her fingers. ¡°You decoded the founder¡¯s tokens?!¡± Halia waved her hand again, the twinkling red gems reigniting the hope in the others¡¯ hearts. A wide smile surfaced on her face as she looked over the group. ¡°Nope! I can only speculate what these are for, but I did figure out how to activate them. Whatever they do, it can¡¯t be worse than being barbecued by that flaming bird out there though, right?¡± All of the hope fell from Kai¡¯s face, but Halia wasn¡¯t done talking. ¡°Hey, they definitely do something. I didn¡¯t spend the last eight months researching this stone with no results.¡± Halia reached within her robes, then withdrew a short golden staff crowned with a similar ruby jewel as the tokens. It wasn¡¯t something left behind by the sect¡¯s founder, but instead had been created by Halia herself, using extra materials found in the sect¡¯s vault. ¡°Every blacksmith and materials expert I talked to claimed that they¡¯d never seen a gem like this, but I did eventually find someone who was able to forge it. I originally wanted to give these as presents when we finished our training, but it looks like we¡¯re out of time.¡± Halia passed the staff over to the second disciple, then pulled out a small crimson knife for the third disciple, and a pair of earrings for the fourth disciple before putting a ruby necklace around her own neck. All of her gifts were made from the same rubies as the tokens. Halia reached toward her belt, pulling her sword from its sheath. Grabbing the handle of the weapon, she slowly pointed it toward the ground, revealing a perfectly sculpted ruby blade. Runes reminiscent of the ones adorning the temple they were currently in ran down the curved sword, along with a few normal ones Kai had seen in formation books. ¡°I noticed that some of the runes in this temple are inscribed on the tokens as well¡­ I asked every formation and history expert in our region, but none of them recognized a single rune here. I eventually managed to decipher a couple of them on my own. I think the ones I had inscribed on this sword mean grow stronger, but I¡¯m not sure if I understand them correctly.¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. After taking a few moments to admire her own masterpiece, Halia sheathed the sword, then showed off a proud smile. As the only one who hadn¡¯t received a present, Kai felt the need to speak up. ¡°You hired a blacksmith to make this, right? I¡¯m not sure why you¡¯re so proud of it.¡± The bright smile on Halia¡¯s face flickered to something more dangerous for a moment, but she recovered and her expression turned sorrowful. ¡°I really wanted to make something for you, Kai, but we¡¯re all out of time now.¡± That sword looks awesome... but it¡¯s just a weapon. If we somehow survive this, I¡¯ll be the sect leader someday. It would be immature and improper for me to be petty over something like this. Kai bowed his head, then uttered a short apology for his rude comment to Halia. With his head bowed, he was unable to see the devious smile creeping onto her face. ¡°Here.¡± Kai felt something being pushed into his grip, and Halia¡¯s hands wrapped around his fist. ¡°Before we stake our lives on unknown odds¡­ our friendship isn¡¯t worth harming over a simple sword. Take it.¡± Kai looked up to see Halia¡¯s tearful eyes staring into his own. Wh- what?! She¡¯s never nice to me- A snicker from Kai¡¯s left snapped him out of his thoughts, and he glanced down at the sword now gripped in his hand. It wasn¡¯t Halia¡¯s new ruby sword. It was an old, battered wooden training sword. ¡°Oi!¡± Halia dodged away from Kai, giggling deviously. Before he had a chance to chase after her, Sect Master Enla clapped her hands. ¡°Kids! I know you''re trying to bring up the mood, but we don''t have much time. The phoenix is already attacking our defensive formations.¡± Kai¡¯s face flushed, and he automatically opened his mouth to refute Enla¡¯s words, but caught himself before he spoke. Hmph, if these tokens don¡¯t do anything and we all end up dying, I¡¯ll haunt Halia in my next life. ¡°The formations won¡¯t last much longer. We might as well try using the tokens, there¡¯s no reason not to.¡± Edwin, the second disciple, clanked his new staff on the floor to gather everyone¡¯s attention. The group of five disciples gathered into a circle, and Sect Master Enla took a step back. She had no intention of fighting any of her students for the tokens. - - - On the border of the sect, where the massive phoenix was lazily destroying the sect¡¯s defenses. The strength emanating off of it warped the air around it, clashing with the natural energy of the world. Something about it didn¡¯t fit. The bird was somehow unnatural- like it didn¡¯t belong in this world. Just as it was destroying another formation layer, a faint sparkle of ruby red caught in its eye, and its head swiveled toward the temple. An intense haze of rage exploded around it, instantly vaporizing all of the defenses and allowing it to dive freely into the sect. The massive bird shot directly at the temple, a canopy of flames destroying everything in its wake. Inside the temple, it could see five figures. Five figures holding those cursed rubies. The white-clad figure of an elderly woman jumped out from the side of the temple, placing herself in the incoming bird¡¯s path. She, and all of the black-cloaked disciples'' lives bought less than a second. One of the five figures within the temple turned to face the bird, even as the ruby token in his hand glowed intensely. The young man¡¯s face was handsome, and his clean white robes swayed as he drew a dull, old sword and braced for the bird¡¯s impact. The ruby flickered more intensely, but it wasn¡¯t going to be fast enough. Even if the rest escaped, at least this man¡¯s life would be forfeit- In the last moment before the bird¡¯s beak crashed through the temple¡¯s pillars, One of the other figures moved. A beautiful girl clad in violet robes jumped in front of the man, brandishing a sword made from that horrible ruby stone. The bird felt the girl disintegrate as its beak slammed into her- - - Kai¡¯s vision flashed in a brilliant crimson ruby light, and then there was nothing. In the last moment, he¡¯d seen the phoenix diving in, then a flash of violet robes- ¡°Halia!¡± Kai sat up abruptly, dusty old air entering his lungs. ¡°Halia, where are you?!¡± Kai jumped up to his feet, his eyes frantically scanning the deserted, dark room around him. It was empty, save for a few unremarkable boxes etched with strangely familiar symbols. Something clanked under Kai¡¯s feet as he stepped forward, and his eyes stretched in horror as he looked down. A beautiful ruby sword lay on the dusty wooden floor beneath him, a similarly-colored necklace wrapped around its hilt. ¡°Halia!¡± [Hmm???~ Is that the stone cold, composed Kai I hear, sounding so concerned?] A voice echoed in Kai¡¯s mind as he picked up the two items, and his hands shook. ¡°Halia, where are you?! Stop messing around!¡± [I¡¯m dead. I¡¯m just a spooky ghost now, and I¡¯ve chosen to haunt you~~] Kai ignored Halia¡¯s words and started running around the dark room, shoving aside the random boxes he found as he searched for her. Dust flew through the air, dirtying his pristine white robes. [Oi, relax. I was kidding, but I¡¯m really not hiding from you. I¡¯m in the necklace.] Kai finally stopped running around in a panic and held the necklace up to his eye. Within it, he could see another of the runes from back at the temple. Unlike the ones on the sword that looked a bit rough, this one appeared refined and perfect, in even better quality than the ones on the pillars. [Hmph, don''t tell me you thought a mere bird could take me down.] "Should I expect anything else from you? I''ve seen you eat dirt trying to run from bees before." [Rude. You''re already back to your normal cold self already. That¡¯s probably good, since I don¡¯t think we¡¯re at the sect anymore¡­ also, your cultivation is gone.] After Halia spoke, Kai suddenly became conscious of how weak he felt. It was almost like ten years before, before he ever started cultivating- [Precisely. Now, do you remember the level system I made, the one you refused to use?] ¡°It was dumb and took away from the profundity of cultivation.¡± [You mean it actually made sense. It¡¯ll probably be a long time before I figure out how to make a new body for myself, so I¡¯ll be your manager until then. Fufufu, this is going to be fun¡­] ¡°You¡¯re this necklace now, right? I¡¯ll throw you in a random stream somewhere.¡± [You¡¯d never. Besides, look! I¡¯ll grant you permission to use my sword, at least for a while.] ¡°As if I need your permission to take this.¡± Just as Kai hefted the blade that now felt a bit heavy, a scream echoed from somewhere outside the building. [Aha! It¡¯s my time to shine! Quest: Investigate the scream. Rewards: ???] CH-2 First Hunt Kai slowly looked up, his gaze focusing on a wooden door on the opposite side of the room. The space wasn¡¯t large, but he could just barely make out the shape of the door through the darkness and the clouds of dust kicked up by his frantic search for Halia. He raised his foot to walk forward, then hesitated. My cultivation is gone¡­ Whatever is out there could be dangerous. Kai¡¯s hesitation didn¡¯t last more than a second, and his expression hardened as he strode forward. ¡°Halia, do you know anything about where we are?¡± [Nope. You were unconscious for a few hours after the tokens activated, but I wasn¡¯t able to see anything until you woke up. Heh, even now, I¡¯m just borrowing your senses.] Kai just responded with a grunt as he reached the door. Just like the rest of the room, it was coated in a thick layer of dust. Clearly, no one had been in or out of the room in years. Instead of immediately rushing outside, he lightly brushed his hand over the body of the door, trying not to knock any more dirt onto his robes. Once the surface was clear, he pressed his ear against the grainy wooden surface. Faintly, he could hear what sounded to be the grunts of a beast, from somewhere outside, as well as what he presumed to be something trying to escape from said beast. The noises were getting progressively further away, and Kai pulled his head back. ¡°Beasts. If they¡¯re anything like the ones around our sect, this could be trouble. It was nearly impossible for ordinary humans to even escape from them¡­¡± Kai looked down at his own hands, but the somber expression on his face was distracted as he eyes wandered back to the ruby sword still clutched in his right hand. Then again, those ordinary humans didn¡¯t have years of fighting experience and an awesome sword. If I, the future leader of the Crescent Moon Sect, back down from some simple beast, how will I be able to stand before my disciples in the future? [What if it¡¯s something like the phoenix?] A shiver ran down Kai¡¯s spine as the massive flaming bird¡¯s final dive resurfaced in his mind, and his hand fell away from the door¡¯s handle. [Hey, don¡¯t back down. Make that guy your target.] ¡°The phoenix? It wiped out the whole sect. It would¡¯ve killed all of us in the next second.¡± [And? Tell me, who do you think is more monstrous, that thing, or our fellow disciples?] Kai grit his teeth, and Halia continued speaking. [If you gave those three a few more years to grow, I have a feeling it would¡¯ve been the bird fleeing for its life. Even if you don¡¯t have their talents, beating the phoenix¡­ is probably still too small of a goal.] ¡°Too small?¡± Halia let out a small chuckle that almost sounded self-deprecating. [Your talent was good, but it still seemed mediocre compared to the other core disciples. My physique wasn¡¯t suited to growing stronger, so I spent most of my time researching their techniques and developing new abilities for them¡­ but somehow, you always stayed in the top spot. Now that I¡¯ll be helping you, it¡¯ll be even more one-sided] Kai stayed silent and a dark look shadowed his eyes as Halia spoke. [Also, if it was some empire-destroying monster like that, there¡¯d definitely be way more noise. It¡¯s probably something weak that even you can handle right now.] Kai let out a sigh as Halia¡¯s voice switched from serious back to her usual joking tone, then glanced around the dark room one more time. His eyes paused for a moment on one of the symbols inscribed on the door¡¯s surface, then looked down at the ruby sword, noticing that the symbol on the door matched the sword¡¯s. Kai pulled on the door¡¯s handle, setting off another cloud of dust as he heaved the old wooden relic of a door open. Sunlight illuminated the thick air around him, and Kai didn¡¯t even need to squint his eyes as he peered through the dust. Outside, there was a rundown temple. Pillars, cracked stone floors, and evening sunlight shining through the broken ceiling- despite it being Kai¡¯s first time seeing the scene, it felt strangely familiar. After just a moment of looking around, something clicked in his mind. Stolen novel; please report. The layout is the same. It¡¯s a way bigger space, but all of those pillars are in the same spots as the small obsidian temple back home. Unlike the obsidian temple, though- or perhaps similar, now that the phoenix had likely destroyed it- this one was in a complete state of disaster. Random weeds and flowers wormed through the cracks in the floor, and almost every stone pillar had large chunks missing from them. If there had ever been runes inscribed on them, there was no easy way to identify them now. There was all kinds of rubble scattered on the floor, and in the corner of his vision, Kai could see a few broken statues, as well as two more wooden doors on the left side of the building. [Turn left! I think I recognize something!] Kai nodded, confirmed his grip on the sword one more time, then turned right and walked out of the temple. [Oi! Do you still not know the difference between left and right?! After I-] Kai¡¯s eyebrow twitched and he focused on a random pile of rubble, and one of his hands reached up toward the necklace. Halia wisely went quiet before he could grab it. Kai¡¯s pace increased as he strode down the overgrown pathway leading away from the temple, but he remained vigilant. The scream he¡¯d heard before had come from this direction, and he wasn¡¯t as easily distracted as Halia. Kai felt a vague sense of surprise as his mind actually stayed quiet for more than a couple seconds, but he didn¡¯t have a chance to linger on the feeling. A few dozen meters ahead of him- after the overgrown path opened up into a small town street, lined by similarly rundown and uninhabited buildings- a figure darted across the road. A young man in long, navy blue robes was sprinting at top speed, his long dark hair trailing in the air behind him. A second later, a second figure charged through the street, this one considerably larger and more dangerous looking. A small cloud of dust followed in a huge boar¡¯s wake as it charged after the young man, and even in just the second they were visible as they ran across the road, Kai could see that the boar was definitely gaining on the man. That man has unfamiliar robes, he must be a disciple from a weaker sect. I¡¯ll lend him some help, and he¡¯ll owe me a favor in the future. A simple boar is just free meat- Kai kicked off the ground, expecting to fly through the air and finish off the beast in an instant. Instead¡­ ¡°Uff!¡± Devoid of all of his previous cultivation, Kai promptly face-planted, narrowly moving the sword out of the way at the last moment to avoid impaling himself. A snort of laughter echoed in Kai¡¯s mind, signaling the end of Halia¡¯s short silence, but Kai was back on his feet and charging in- this time normally- before she could make any comments. One street closer, the man sprinted to the middle of the road once again, then paused for a moment, clutching a thick book in his hands. To Kai, it looked like he was out of breath and giving up on life. There was no way an ordinary human- or even a weak cultivator- could take on a large boar without a weapon. Boom! In the moment before the boar crashed into the young man, a brilliant flash of light leapt from the book, then shot toward the charging beast. The air crackled with heat as a fireball slammed into the beast, sending it veering off course. What the hell was that?! Instead of sticking around to celebrate his kill, the young man turned and frantically sought out another path to escape. He looked up, and his eyes instantly locked onto Kai. ¡°Help! This thing keeps chasing me, and I don''t have the mana to do that again!¡± The stranger¡¯s face was overwhelmed with relief as he stumbled toward his regal savior. Pure white robes. A handsome, angular face crowned with long, flowing hair and the outline of strong muscles. A glowing ruby sword more beautiful than the sunset. Kai was a textbook unfathomable otherworldly young master. ¡°Turn around, run the other way! Don¡¯t lead it to me!¡± Kai¡¯s eyes widened as he saw the menacing boar lift itself up, then start charging after the other man once more. The fearless, unbothered personality Kai typically maintained even around his fellow sect members dropped as he saw the beast charging over. This guy barely scratched that thing! I doubt my sword can even hurt it! [My sword, and it definitely can. The fireball this fellow just threw was just for show, it was awfully weak.] Kai wanted to retort and ask what Halia could possibly know about the strength of a stranger¡¯s completely unknown ability, but the young man was still running straight toward him, with the boar on his tail once more. This sword better be as sharp as it looks. Kai dashed to the side of the road, then readied the ruby sword. In the past, when hunting boars of a similar strength to himself, the strategy was always to end the battle as quickly as possible. Spears worked excellently, as they could be anchored in the ground, and the boar¡¯s own momentum could be used to drive the weapon in. Naturally, when wielding a sword that he wasn¡¯t even confident would be able to cut the foe, Kai wasn¡¯t enthusiastic about placing himself directly in the beast¡¯s charging path. The blue-cloaked man ran past Kai, then turned and continued sprinting down another rundown side road, not even bothering to look back as Kai lunged out from his hiding spot at the side of the road, slashing his sword toward the beast. With the boar¡¯s already frighteningly quick speed and Kai¡¯s lunge, there was more than enough momentum for the razor-sharp ruby blade to dig into the boar¡¯s flesh. A deep crimson line appeared on the beast¡¯s shoulder, and the sword was nearly ripped from Kai¡¯s hands as it grated against the boar¡¯s shoulder blade. A faint smile of relief surfaced on Kai¡¯s face as he realized it wasn¡¯t an unwinnable fight. ¡°Hmph, I praise whichever blacksmith made this sword.¡± [Ahem¡­ You cou- hold on, this isn¡¯t over.] The positive expression on Kai¡¯s face quickly dissipated as he realized that his strike had done roughly the same amount of damage as the previous man¡¯s fireball. [Kai used slash! Results: You pissed it off. Run.] CH-3 Kiting The boar¡¯s hot, rabid breath buffeted Kai¡¯s ankles as he ran, and his vision started to narrow. I¡¯m going to die. This thing is stronger and faster than me. I don¡¯t have my cultivation, it¡¯s- [Why are you still running? Kill this thing!] The absurdity of the confidence Kai heard in Halia¡¯s voice instantly snapped him out of the hopeless thoughts in his mind. ¡°Kill it? It¡¯s going to rip me to shreds!¡± Kai continued sprinting straight down the street as an annoyed sigh echoed in his mind. [Right, I forgot that you always ignored me when I told the others how to fight stronger beasts. Think about what advantages you have over it. That boar is stronger and faster than you, but you have me, and I¡¯m more intelligent than it. Try to win using your strengths.] Kai wanted to ask what Halia could know about fighting when she was the only non-combatant among the five core disciples, but he was already starting to run out of breath. [Just kite the boar. Dodge to the side, hit it, then run again. It won¡¯t be able to turn as fast as you, so you won¡¯t be in any danger.] Kai didn¡¯t have the time to think over her plan, but turning around in any manner sounded like a death wish to him. In all the years he¡¯d hunted beasts around the sect¡¯s borders, he¡¯d always taken on ones that he defeated head-on, or he¡¯d fought in a group. [At least stop running in a straight line! Run into one of the buildings on the side of the road or something!] Kai finally listened, veering to the side and sprinting through an open doorway. The boar tried to follow his movements, but its momentum carried it forward, causing it to slam through the rotted wooden walls of the next building over. Luckily the space inside was relatively clear of any obstacles, and Kai managed to keep his balance. Without pausing for even a moment, he ran further into the building, charging through two rooms before finding a second door. A single kick sent the rotting door crashing to the ground, and Kai jumped back outside, turning toward the building the boar had crashed into. The beast was still struggling to free itself from the rubble, and had lost track of Kai. ¡°Die, beast!¡± Kai shouted as he lunged forward, jumping through the gaping hole in the neighboring building and plunging the ruby sword just under the boar¡¯s shoulder. The tip stopped short of the beast¡¯s heart as it struck a rib, and Kai hurriedly backpedaled after pulling it back out. Roar!!! A tremendous noise shook the area around Kai, and his expression froze. The boar was still in front of him, grunting as it broke free from the house around it. The loud roar hadn¡¯t come from it. [Whatever that was, it sounded like it was still a ways away¡­ but I have a bad hunch that it¡¯s probably a lot stronger than this boar, and it¡¯s probably coming our way. We¡¯re on a time limit.] In front of Kai, the boar didn¡¯t seem to hear the roar at all, being too lost in a rage after having been stabbed twice by Kai¡¯s blade. It jumped out of the rubble of the wood around it, but it stumbled as it stepped down with its left leg. Another opening! Kai lunged in again, aiming his sword just to the side of his previous stab. [No! Back up!] The boar twisted, and Kai¡¯s sword uselessly brushed against its shoulder without doing any damage. Kai hurriedly tried to pull out of the attack, but the boar swung its head toward him with surprising speed, the massive, sharp tusks headed straight for his chest. Boom! A flash of light lit up Kai¡¯s surroundings the moment before the tusks could impale him, and a wave of heat washed over his face. The boar recoiled as a swirling ball of flame landed directly on its eye, but it was already too close to Kai. Both tusks ripped through Kai¡¯s snow white robes, and its snout slammed directly into his chest, sending him flying a few meters back. Trails of white cloth ripped from Kai¡¯s robes, igniting as residual flames from the explosion rippled over them. A few meters away, Kai slowly rolled onto his knees, his chest desperately heaving as he tried to draw in air. Get up. Get up. This isn¡¯t over, get up. Before he¡¯d even regained his breath, Kai pulled himself back to his feet and leveled the ruby sword at the boar. A shiver ran down his spine as he saw his opponent also back on its feet. Two flaming trails of cloth hung from its tusks, dragging on the dusty, trampled ground as it prepared to charge him again. Kai¡¯s expression froze, and one of his hands reached down to feel at his chest. There was no wound, only ripped cloth. ¡°My robes¡­ How dare you?!¡± A thick killing intent fell over the battlefield, and the boar took a tentative step back. Kai didn¡¯t even wait for the boar to charge again, instead running at the beast himself. He hacked straight down at the boar¡¯s head with his sword, and it bucked away in confusion. The foe that could only run and launch sneak attacks before was now blindly charging forward? It was so taken-aback by the aggression that it missed what chances it had to counterattack. The boar managed to dodge Kai¡¯s first two wild swings, but its eye failed it on the third attack. Having just tanked an explosive fireball at melee range, the boar¡¯s left eye failed to track Kai¡¯s movements, and his blade sank into its side once more, right next to his previous two cuts. The sword snuck between the boar¡¯s ribs, stabbing deep into its heart. In the center of the essential muscle, the sword¡¯s tip struck a tiny, condensed orb of mana. The tiny ball broke apart, then immediately tried to disperse into the boar¡¯s body. Before even the tiniest smidgen of mana could escape, a faint ruby glow shone from the sword¡¯s blade, and it instantly sucked in all of the energy. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. A faint stream of mana ran up the blade of the sword, flowing through the runes inscribed within the sword. It continued up into the hilt, where the mana was absorbed by Kai¡¯s hands, which were still clenched around the grip. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you for ruining these.¡± Kai cursed under his breath as he pulled the sword out, then drove it back into the boar¡¯s chest. He struck four more times, not noticing-or not caring- about the lack of resistance from his enemy. [Oi! It¡¯s already dead, stop! Whatever roared earlier is probably coming, that fireball made a ton of noise!] At the same time as Halia spoke, a hand pulled at Kai¡¯s shoulder, and he spun around, ready to wield his sword again. ¡°Aah! Friend!¡± The young man in blue robes fell to the ground as Kai¡¯s sword nearly struck him. ¡°We need to get out of here before the beasts swarm, we made way too much noise!¡± Kai shook his head, trying to drive away the rage that¡¯d overtaken him for the battle. His gaze traveled down, passing over the limp body of the boar and down to his clothing. Long strips were missing from the front, and crimson blood was splattered all down the front. Dirt and broken chunks of rotted wood dusted the bottom half of the robes, turning their once-pristine white to a dirty brown. Enla made those robes for me... Kai reached up and rubbed his forehead as the memories from before the ruby tokens activated replayed in his mind. The phoenix diving down, Halia jumping in front of it¡­ and just a second before that, Enla and the newcomer disciples disappearing under its flames¡­ and now the only gift Kai had with him from Enla was ripped and torn. [I¡¯ll find a way to fix your robes. Run for now, before any other beasts show up. Make sure this guy stays with you, we can learn a lot from him.] ¡°Hurry, if you don¡¯t want to end up as beast food!¡± Kai shook his head, forcing away his memories and refocusing on the present. In front of him, the blue-robed man reached for his belt, then cursed under his breath before turning back toward Kai. ¡°I¡¯m all out of mana, can you cast a dispersion spell?¡± A what? Aren¡¯t ¡®spells¡¯ some random thing Halia made up as a kid? Seeing the blank expression on Kai¡¯s face, the robed man¡¯s face blanched. ¡°A dispersion spell. The one that gets rid of our scent so beasts can¡¯t hunt us down.¡± ¡°I, uh¡­ don¡¯t have anything like that.¡± ¡°Then you at least have some scent gourds, right?¡± Kai shook his head, and the robed man¡¯s mouth hung open as he struggled to process Kai¡¯s words. No dispersion spell, and no scent gourds¡­ weren¡¯t they just dead? Outrunning the beasts was impossible, and hiding from them was the same, if they left behind scent trails. [I¡¯ll try to figure something out. For now, run away and try to buy as much time as possible.] ¡°I guess¡­ we split up, and hopefully one of us lives. I¡¯m Brewan of the Hillhold Academy. If you survive-¡± ¡°I have an idea. The temple at the end of town looked untouched for years, we might be able to hide there, at least for a time. Follow me.¡± After shooting one more glance at the boar¡¯s last resting place, Kai started running back toward the temple, Brewan following by his side. As he approached, he realized that it wasn¡¯t just a single building, like he¡¯d thought before. Aside from the temple and the wooden buildings attached along its side, there were also three other large buildings a short ways past the temple. All of them looked to be made from stone and brick, and hadn¡¯t suffered as much as the surrounding wooden town to the wear of time. ¡°W-wait, this is an old Academy! We can¡¯t hide here, what if there are still defensive formations active? We¡¯ll be wiped out in an instant!¡± Kai¡¯s footsteps paused for a moment as he heard the man¡¯s words, but he continued walking. ¡°Just follow me.¡± Now aware that there could potentially be danger within the temple bounds, Kai retraced his steps back to the storage room he¡¯d originally woken up in. Brewan cautiously trailed further behind, but was still following. Before he could even step in, Halia started speaking in his mind again. [There¡¯s a lot we need to ask this fellow, but let¡¯s put that on hold for just a moment. The energy here is different from Qi, but I¡¯m pretty sure I can control it the same way¡­ this might give us a fighting chance at survival.] ¡°If there¡¯s anything you can do, don¡¯t hesitate.¡± [Level up! You reached level 1! Mana +5!] ¡°Mana? What¡¯s tha-¡± [Testing, 1 2 3 4.] Kai¡¯s eyes narrowed as he stared at the tiny blue box that had suddenly appeared in his vision. He¡¯d seen Halia make similar floating writing when he was younger, but it still felt unnerving to have it appearing in front of himself. ¡°Halia¡­ what are you doing?¡± All Kai got in response was soft laughter that he would describe as sounding evil. [Fufufu¡­ This is going to be exciting. Now, to test something else out¡­] ¡°Oi! It better be something to help us escape!¡± More little blue boxes floated in the air in front of Kai. [Kai- Lvl 1] [Mana: 0 -> 5] [I think I can make you stronger, too. I think it''ll be pretty similar to cultivation if I put mana into your muscles, and if I keep it available, you''ll be able to use it to cast spells.] Kai didn''t need to think over his options for long. Getting physically stronger was the obvious choice, especially considering that he didn''t know any spells. [Mana -4! Strength +4!] [Let¡¯s keep part of your mana free, and I¡¯ll try to figure out other ways to use it.] [Mana: 1] A strong tingling feeling- like his entire body fell asleep- washed over Kai¡¯s body, spreading out from where the necklace rested on his chest. [Aha! This stuff is way easier to control than Qi! I knew Brewan was using magic, and it works just like I imagined. Try moving your hand again, you should notice a difference.] Kai''s eyes narrowed as he flexed his hand. Surprisingly, he actually did notice a difference when compared to a few moments before. He felt stronger- not by a lot, but it was definitely a noticeable amount. It was amazing- even if it was only a small portion of what he had before, regaining the strength he had when he was a cultivator was still great- but he wasn¡¯t sure how much it would help their current situation. ¡°Did you figure something out with scents, too?¡± His expression started to brighten, but his eyes narrowed as he looked at the two floating boxes as they faded away. ¡°Good idea to save some mana, too.¡± [Heh, thanks. Also¡­ no. I spent a lot of time researching stuff at the sect, but I never paid much attention to scents. I¡¯ll try to work something out, but our best bet might be just trying to survive until our new friend recovers enough mana to use his spell.] As long as she doesn¡¯t pull any of her dumb pranks, it¡¯s probably better if I let her manage this stuff. With her help, I¡¯ll definitely have a way better chance at surviving and getting stronger. The two blue boxes faded away much faster as Halia spoke, disappearing as she finished speaking. ¡°Were you just saying something?¡± Brewan¡¯s voice sounded by the door, and Kai turned around to see him nervously poking his head into the room. ¡°Are you sure there are no traps in here? There¡¯s no way a place this old should look untouched after the beast tide.¡± Kai just shrugged and gestured at the space around him. He¡¯d already run all over the room while searching for Halia, and he was still in one piece. ¡°If there¡¯s something here that scares beasts, that¡¯s good for us. We need to make a plan, though.¡± Halia whispered a few questions into Kai¡¯s mind, and he continued speaking. ¡°How long will it take for you to have enough mana for your dispersion spell, and how powerful are the beasts coming after us? I¡¯m unfamiliar with the area.¡± Brewan glanced down at his book, his expression grave. ¡°I think¡­ about an hour. I normally save enough mana for it, but I used it on that last fireball. As for the beasts, that boar is on the stronger side of what I¡¯ve run into. There has to be something much more powerful, though¡­¡± Brewan¡¯s words trailed off for a moment before he continued, in an even more fearful tone. ¡°A high-ranking 3rd year student from my academy went missing near here a few weeks ago. If we run into whatever caused their disappearance, we won¡¯t even stand a chance.¡± CH-4 Hunted As if it had heard Brewan¡¯s words, a loud roar tore through the air over the deserted town, this time much closer to the two young men. A faint chorus of other beastly noises sounded in the distance, indicating that the monster was not alone. A loud crashing sound exploded over the town followed by yet another shriek. Kai took a few steps out of the warehouse and peeked his head around one of the pillars of the temple to try and get a view of what was happening. He could see a few small shapes moving away from where a bright flaming light was hanging in the air somewhere near where they¡¯d killed the boar. It flickered a few times as Kai heard another impact before a more defeated-sounding roar. [It sounds like the beasts are fighting amongst themselves. They aren¡¯t organized like the ones led by the phoenix.] Kai pulled back into the warehouse where Brewan was nervously peeking out of the door. "Can you see what¡¯s going on outside there?" Kai shook his head and looked back down towards the town. "I¡¯m not sure, but I think that the big monster that was fighting down there just ran into something strong¡­ and by the sound of those roars, I don¡¯t think it''s winning.¡± Brewan''s face paled even further, and he stuttered as he backed away from the doorway. "So you''re saying that there are even stronger ones down there right now?!" "Yes, but this might be good for us. We might have a higher chance of escaping if the beasts are caught up fighting amongst themselves." Kai looked around the temple for a moment before walking back into the dimly lit storage room. He glanced down at his sword, then back up at Brewan. "How far away are we from the nearest city? We might be able to make a break for it before the beasts can catch up to us, if we¡¯re quick." Brewan looked up at Kai, his already sweaty forehead creasing with confusion. What was this guy talking about? Why would anyone want to run to a city ruin? Those places would be infested with even more, stronger beasts than the relative weakings wandering around in this section of the wild. Brewan¡¯s eyes wandered down to Kai¡¯s torn robes. They looked similar to the ones worn by magic apprentices, but the style was noticeably different. Brewan hadn¡¯t previously had a chance to think about it given their precarious circumstances, but Kai¡¯s presence didn¡¯t make much sense. His robes were unfamiliar, his accent sounded a bit off, and he somehow didn¡¯t know what a dispersion spell was. It was impossible to survive outside of a settlement even for a few days without having some way to escape from beasts, but Kai claimed to have none. ¡°Who are you?¡± Brewan slowly tucked his hand into his robes, feeling the smooth leather cover of his magic tome, and his heart started to beat faster as he realized he didn¡¯t even have the mana to cast any of his spells. ¡°I¡¯m Kai. My friends and I used artifact tokens to escape from a beast, and the next thing I knew, I woke up here-¡± Kai¡¯s voice froze in his throat. Where were the others? He and Halia were here, so where were the rest of the disciples? A trickle of dread buried itself in Kai¡¯s heart as he heard the increasing volume of the two powerful beasts still duking it out somewhere in the town. ¡°Have you seen three idiots running around anywhere?¡± Brewan resolutely shook his head, and Halia chimed in before he could speak. [The inscriptions on the tokens were slightly different for each of them. Before you woke up, I had quite a bit of time to think about it. They¡¯ve likely been transported to somewhere else, though I have no idea how far away they could be.] ¡°Shit.¡± The tension in Brewan¡¯s face finally started to fade away, and a knowing, sorrowful expression reached his face. Kai''s visible emotions made his story seem much more believable. ¡°Were they dear to you?¡± ¡°N-no, they¡¯re just a bunch of good-for-nothing idiots!¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Ahem, and they¡¯re definitely still alive. Those annoying pests aren¡¯t so weak that they¡¯d croak just because of a dumb bird.¡± [Ow. Rude.] Brewan immediately recognized that Kai was in the ¡®denial¡¯ stage of grief. A few gears turned in the young man¡¯s head before he nodded again. His own chances of survival would probably be a lot higher if this guy didn¡¯t move on to the next stage before they could get somewhere safe. ¡°Yep, they¡¯re probably already at a settlement somewhere. They haven¡¯t been eaten by beasts, or anything else bad.¡± Kai let out another sigh as he peeked back outside. Without me, Enla¡­ or even Halia there to watch over them, who knows what trouble they¡¯ll cause. Urg¡­ and it¡¯ll definitely be me who has to go and clean up the messes they¡¯ve made when we find them again. Kai glanced down at the ruby necklace hanging on his chest. Halia was annoying, easily distracted, and loved to pull pranks on him and the other disciples. Still, she at least knew how to make friends and interact with people. Out of the core disciples, Kai was the only one she hadn¡¯t become best friends with, but she never struggled conversing with people on the rare occasions of her going outside of the sect. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. If Kai was the regal, noble head of the sect¡¯s youth, Halia was almost like their hidden mascot. She was good enough at socializing that even if more troubles were caused because of her, she never struggled to resolve them. Hmph, her egging those three on is half the reason all of their personalities turned out so deviant. I wouldn¡¯t even need to worry if she acted half as mature as me. Kai shook his head, trying to refocus on the current situation. He could worry about the other disciples once he was somewhere safe. Outside, the sounds of the battle were only growing more intense and loud. ¡°If we¡¯re lucky, the beasts might forget all about us after that. Brewan, where¡¯s the nearest city?¡± The other young man¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly, but he answered without much delay. ¡°The nearest settlement is Talonia, but they only have a dozen defenders. We have to lose the beasts if we want to try running there; If we lure a horde their way, we¡¯ll get lynched before the beasts even arrive.¡± Brewan was about to open his mouth to continue, but a loud crashing noise exploded somewhere in the back of the dark storage room. A few orange rays of sunlight beamed in through a new hole in the old wooden walls. On the opposite side of the room from where Kai was standing, an enormous bear crashed through the wall. It was easily double the size of the already massive boar he¡¯d felled previously. ¡°D- Deep Ursine! That¡¯s a Tier 2 beast!¡± Brewan immediately darted past Kai, running out of the storage room and hiding behind one of the pillars of the temple. Kai was about to follow Brewan in running away, but a piercing screech tore through the air, this time sounding like it was right next to him. Kai¡¯s eyes shone with panic for a moment before he refocused on the bear. Despite having just crashed into the room, the massive beast still hadn¡¯t gotten up. Visible in the evening sun shining through the hole in the wall, Kai could see massive wounds scarring the beast¡¯s coat. Its dark brown fur was matted and dyed red, with many large chunks of flesh missing near its shoulders. The bear was still breathing, but before it could climb back to its feet, the sunlight that¡¯d been shining on its back disappeared. Something bigger- big enough to completely block out the sunlight- stepped forward to finish off its enemy. Nope! I need to get out of here now! Kai didn¡¯t stick around long enough to see the newcomer. He grabbed Brewan¡¯s arm as he ran out into the temple, then started pulling him toward one of the brick buildings he¡¯d seen further on the academy¡¯s campus. As they ran, Kai could hear the final struggles of the massive bear as it failed to fend off its opponent. When he was halfway to the nearest brick building, the sounds of the slaughter behind him suddenly went quiet. [Run faster, and don¡¯t look back!] [Mana -1, Strength +1] Adrenaline shot through Kai¡¯s veins, and he started to run even faster. Somehow, Brewan was still keeping pace with him, even as his speed increased. [On my cue, jump in the air, turn back, and parry.] ¡°What?! I¡¯ll die!¡± The only response Kai got was the sound of quick, heavy footsteps pounding closer to him. There were still a dozen more meters of ground to cross before he would reach the building. Based on the rapidly approaching footsteps, Kai could instantly tell that he wasn¡¯t going to make it in time. [Now!] Kai sent a small prayer up to his ancestors as he launched himself into the air, twisting to face his pursuer and bracing the ruby sword. A long, curved beak. Flaming orange feathers forming a crown over two beady, evil eyes. The phoenix?! Kai noticed in the next instant that this was definitely a different bird- this one was built more like the flightless ones he¡¯d seen a few times in the plains region back home. Its wings were tiny and stubby, instead using a nasty pair of talons to sprint at an unbelievable speed. The beast¡¯s beak slammed into Kai¡¯s sword, the force from its charge sending him flying through the air. By a stroke of luck-or Halia¡¯s calculations- Kai flew straight at the door of the brick building. Just like every wooden building in town and even the dusty warehouse they were fleeing from, the wooden doors here were just as weak and rotten. Aside from having the wind knocked out of him, Kai didn¡¯t suffer too much damage as he catapulted through them, sending chunks of rotten wood flying all over. Brewan charged in right after Kai crashed through the doors, grabbing onto Kai¡¯s ruined robes then pulling him further inside. SCREEEEACH! The huge bird let out a pissed screech as it ducked its head down, trying to peek into the building. The doorway was only a few meters high, much too short for the huge land-bound bird that had towered over the giant bear. Its beady eyes instantly locked onto Kai, and it took a step back before lunging forward again. Just before its head crashed through the bricks above the door, Kai¡¯s eyes caught a flash of silver. A tiny crescent-moon shaped emblem hung just over the doorway. A tiny flicker of silver light reflected off its curved edge, catching in Kai¡¯s eye. The next instant, the emblem disappeared as the bird¡¯s head smashed through the bricks, creating a hole big enough for it to enter the building. ¡°Shit!¡± Kai felt the hands that¡¯d been pulling him further into the building let go, followed by a fading set of footsteps as Brewan abandoned him and fled deeper into the building. Swish¡­ SCREAAA!! A faint line of silver light hung in the air, right in the path where the emblem had fallen from above the door. Instead of charging in and eating Kai in a single bite, the bird recoiled backward. A perfectly straight line of red slowly cut across its body, just in front of its left wing. After taking a few steps back, the bird ducked its head again, staring at where Kai was lying down inside. Its beady eyes burned with a vengeful aura, lingering on Kai for a few seconds before the bird turned and ran back toward the temple. ¡°What was that?!¡± [No clue, maybe there''s still someone strong defending here!] Kai glanced around the entryway, but there were no signs of other humans. It looked similarly decrepit as the rest of the town, and a layer of dust coating literally everything proved that there couldn''t be another person living here. [Huh, I think we got lucky and actually ran into one of those remnant traps Brewan mentioned earlier. I¡¯m not sure why it didn¡¯t cut us in half instead, though. You were the first one to smash open the doors.] Kai didn¡¯t even feel anything when he heard Halia¡¯s words. He¡¯d already nearly died too many times in a short span of time, and his veins were practically pumping pure adrenaline. He struggled for a few moments trying to regain his breath before standing back up and limping over to the pile of rubble in the doorway. [Oi, back up! The trap might still be active!] Kai stopped a meter short of the rubble pile, then looked down at it, scouring it for any sign of the silver glow he¡¯d seen the moment the bird¡¯s beak struck the building. ¡°Did you see that crescent moon emblem over the doorway? It looked just like our sect¡¯s symbol.¡± CH-5 Lost Student After prodding around for a minute without catching a glimpse of the emblem, he decided to err on the side of caution and didn¡¯t approach the pile of rubble. Instead, he turned to search deeper inside the building. The light shining in through the now-gaping hole where the door had previously been didn¡¯t reach far down the hallway, and past a few meters, it was completely dark. Kai peered into the shadows for a few moments, then slowly started walking forward. On the left side of the entryway, a tall wooden door was propped open, a small door stop poking out from beneath it. The door itself was in a much better state than the one on the front of the building- with the roof and floors above it to shield it from the elements, it didn''t look like it would fall apart from a mere touch. Instead of investigating further into the darkness Brewan had run into, Kai turned and began checking out the room. ¡°It looks a bit like the study space back home, just a lot bigger¡­¡± [A classroom. Brewan did say that this is an academy, so it checks out.] Inside, soft cushioned kneeling pads were positioned in uneven rows, some of them thrown to the side as if whoever had been seated on them had gotten up in a hurry. At the front of the classroom, a tall blackboard leaned against the wall, scribbles of white chalk still hanging on its surface. [Something, something, (make?), (stronger), something¡­] Halia mumbled inside Kai¡¯s mind as she read the runes on the board, her voice only growing more excited the further she read. [Aha, I was right! I really did get the right runes for your s- my sword!] Halia went back to mumbling as she tried to discern the meaning of the other runes on the board, and Kai ventured around the room, trying to find anything else related to the crescent moon symbol he¡¯d seen above the doorway. There was nothing. Aside from the cushions and the blackboard, there was almost nothing in the building. It looks like I need to search a bit further inside, but I don¡¯t have any light. Hm¡­ Halia did make one of her weird text boxes before, she might be able to figure something out. After calling for her a couple times, Kai managed to drag Halia¡¯s attention away from the runes. [I can¡¯t. When you were running away, I used the rest of your mana to enhance your muscles more. I was trying to model how I did it after cultivation, so it would be detrimental if I tried to pull it back out now.] She continued to go into further detail, and Kai nodded his head as he listened along. Halia wasn¡¯t just temporarily enhancing his strength using mana. Instead, similar to how the Qi Kai was familiar with had been used, the mana would be permanently consumed to increase his physical strength. [Fufu¡­ I¡¯ll have to save double the free mana next time. I wonder how much it¡¯ll take before I can start making cool stuff.] Halia paused for a moment, seeming to remember something. [Right, you should go find our new friend. I want to take a peek at the book he¡¯s carrying around, it might help me figure out more about mana.] Kai had already explored the entirety of the room and didn¡¯t hesitate to head back out into the entryway. Before he could venture into the darker recesses of the hallway, he heard a yelp of shock. ¡°Sydney, you¡¯re alive!¡± Brewan¡¯s voice echoed through the dusty hallway, followed by a few crashing noises. The noises were coming from a room just a short way into the darkness, and it didn¡¯t take Kai for more than a few seconds to reach the doorway. It was a room similar to the classroom he had just investigated, a small window on the far side of the room allowed a stream of evening sunlight in and illuminating the room just enough for Kai to see. Most of the kneeling cushions had been gathered at the side of the room, and Brewan was standing in front of a large pile of them. Kai could see another figure lying down on a makeshift bed of cushions. ¡°Who- ah! Kai, you¡¯re alive, too!¡± Brewan whirled around when he heard the other young man walking into the room, but then swiftly turned his expression back to the person lying down on the cushions. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Hey, wake up!¡± Brewan pushed against the figure¡¯s shoulder, but they barely budged. [Damn. He¡¯s alive, but¡­] Kai walked over to the makeshift bed, his eyebrows creasing as he looked down. A young man in his early twenties was lying on the bed, his face a pallid gray color. Long strips of cloth had been torn from his clothing and were now wrapped around one of his legs, a deep red staining the once blue cloth. The color scheme and insignia on his shoulder matched Brewan¡¯s robes, but his gear looked more like light armor than robes. ¡°Brewan, do you know this guy?¡± Brewan paused his attempts at waking Sydney, then nodded. ¡°He¡¯s the 3rd year student I was sent out to find. He¡¯s one of the highest-ranked knight students in his year, so they sent me to search for him.¡± Sydney shifted around as Brewan was speaking, and they refocused their attention on the injured man. Aside from the clearly nasty wound on his leg, a few smaller, mostly-healed cuts were visible on his arms, and there were three deep scars on the chestpiece of his light armor. ¡°Do you know how to heal him?¡± Brewan shook his head. [I know necromancy.] ¡°Not helpful.¡± [Ehm¡­ the biggest risk should be infection, I think. It looks like this guy¡¯s probably been here for a while, and if the wound isn¡¯t kept clean, he¡¯ll die.] Kai was pretty sure he¡¯d overheard villagers living near their sect¡¯s borders saying similar things in the past, so he nodded, then carefully started to unwrap the crusted-on makeshift bandage. He took care to roll up his sleeves first, even though they were already splattered with the boar¡¯s lifeblood. Kai winced as he pulled the bandage free, and Halia let out a gagging noise in his mind. A sizable chunk of Sydney¡¯s leg was missing. It looked like something had brutally ripped into his lower thigh, leaving behind a mangled mess of blood and muscle. ¡°S- spell of cleansing.¡± A faint blue light flickered to Kai¡¯s right, where Brewan was standing. The robed fellow had his magic book out again, the pages trembling as he pointed it toward the wound. The blue light washed over the wound, but it didn¡¯t seem to do anything. ¡°W- we don¡¯t have detailed first-aid classes until our second year. The only spell I know for it is the basic cleansing one.¡± Kai took a deep breath, then looked back down at the wound. It¡­ wasn¡¯t the worst he¡¯d seen. Accidents in martial tournaments could have serious consequences. Hunting beasts was a dangerous job. Kai had seen plenty of injuries and even deaths back home, and he¡¯d seen people come back from worse than this. Cultivators, though. People with enhanced bodies, who could recover from injuries. ¡°I- I don¡¯t think we can get him back to a settlement in this state. If that huge bird from before sees us, we won¡¯t even be able to run away, and a lot of beasts can smell blood. Even with a dispersion spell, we can¡¯t escape if we bring him with us.¡± Brewan took a hesitant step back from the bedside. [I think he can heal.] ¡°Eh?¡± Kai rose up from where he was kneeling, his hand moving toward the sheathed ruby sword. [Not Brewan, Sydney. He has a ton of mana, and I think he¡¯s using it pretty similarly to how qi was used back at the sect. Just like what I did for you a few minutes ago, it¡¯s all in his muscles.] She¡¯s saying that this fellow is similar to a cultivator? [I don¡¯t know enough about this place to be sure yet, but I¡¯m going to make some estimates. One of the runes I engraved on the necklace lets me estimate how much mana something has.] [Kai- Level 1] [Terror Bird- Level 29] [Sydney- Level 22] Terror bird¡­ that must be the giant thing that was chasing us. Halia¡¯s saying that this Sydney fellow is only a bit weaker than it? [We didn¡¯t get close enough to it, but if I had to guess, that giant bear back at the warehouse was probably somewhere in between those two in strength.] [I¡¯m guessing that the cleansing spell Brewan used will keep Sydney¡¯s wound clean, and if body reinforcement works the same way cultivation did, I¡¯m pretty certain he will heal. All he needs is food and water.] Brewan just said that we won¡¯t make it if we try to carry him back to a settlement, though. I don¡¯t see any food here, and I doubt there are many useful supplies left around here. [Rage Boar- Level 4] ¡°Huh?¡± [Food. Levels.] Kai quickly shook his head. Endangering his own life to save a complete stranger was utter stupidity. [The other beasts are a lot weaker than the terror bird. They aren¡¯t impossible for you to hunt, and you¡¯ll get stronger every time you take one of them down. If you run into something you can¡¯t beat, just run back here.] A bit of excitement started to creep into Halia¡¯s voice as she continued. [You can hunt and get stronger, explore the academy ruins and learn more about magic, and make allies at the same time!] Kai wanted to ignore what Halia was saying, but he couldn¡¯t deny that it was starting to sound like a fair idea. He didn¡¯t know anything about this new world around him. If it was anything like the cultivation one he was familiar with, it was definitely in his best interests to get stronger as fast as possible. ¡­ If I want to see even a hint of my dreams achieved, I¡¯ll need to take risks. I won¡¯t succeed if I just try to play it safe all of the time. Besides¡­ if the other three heard that I was cowering in some ruins I¡¯d never hear the end of it. Kai stood up, his hand tightening around the hilt of his sword. ¡°Brewan. When your mana recovers enough to use your dispersion spell, we¡¯ll go outside.¡± The mage¡¯s face looked pensive. ¡°I¡¯m going to hunt another beast, save your mana so we can escape back here afterward. This guy will need food if he wants to recover.¡± CH-6 Restful Night Brewan still needed to wait for his mana to regenerate, and the sun would be setting before then, so the duo decided to wait until morning before venturing outside to hunt. The young mage was surprisingly agreeable to Kai''s idea. Of course it probably helped that he would be sitting back as support instead of being on the front line. After re-wrapping Sydney¡¯s wounds with cloth from Brewan¡¯s robes, they decided to explore more of the building. The bottom floor was almost entirely filled with classrooms that were nearly identical to the previous two Kai had explored. Some of the writing on the blackboards differed (exciting Halia) but there weren¡¯t actually any useful supplies. [Kai! Kai, ask Brewan about the seventh rune on this blackboard! There weren¡¯t any of these on the temple walls!] Kai¡¯s eyebrow twitched again, but he still turned and started asking Brewan about the blackboard again. ¡°Why are you asking so many questions all of the sudden?¡± The blue-robed mage looked at his new companion skeptically. Kai didn¡¯t give off the vibe of someone who would be interested enough to ask about every single rune they walked past. [Oo, I see another new one! Ask him about the tenth one on the next board!] Kai pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to suppress his emotions. ¡°A bunch of stupid questions are randomly popping into my mind. What does that one on the next board mean?¡± It took way too long for them to finally escape from the classrooms and continue on through the building. There were also a few smaller rooms towards the end of the hallway. However, most of them didn¡¯t have windows which meant it was too dark for Kai to see anything and none of them had any useful items. Brewan said that there will definitely be a clean source of water somewhere in the academy, so we shouldn¡¯t need to worry about that. As for hunting¡­ The giant terror bird was fast, and strong enough to kill him in an instant. Halia claimed that she would be able to notice its mana before it got too close, but Kai was still worried. If the fight with the boar before was anything to go by, the commotion caused by the fight would likely attract more enemies. Even if their target was a lone beast, if they failed to take it down quickly, they would still be in critical danger. It¡¯s probably better if Brewan doesn¡¯t use fireball either, so I¡¯ll probably have to fight without support. It makes enough noise to attract every monster in the entire town. After investigating all of the smaller office rooms at the end of the hallway, Kai looked up into the dark recesses of a stairwell leading to the second floor. ¡°Hey Brewan, can you-¡± [Wait. This place is way too dusty, and with how much the two of you have been moving around, a lot of it has been kicked up into the air. If he tries to light a fire in here, it could cause a huge explosion.] Brewan tilted his head when Kai suddenly stopped talking. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Kai turned around and started to walk away from the stairwell. ¡°Nothing, let¡¯s head back. We can explore the second floor another time.¡± Brewan was a bit confused, but he still followed Kai back to the room Sydney was in, then helped Kai gather enough cushions to make two more makeshift beds. Once they were finished, both of them lay down. [Don¡¯t worry about setting up a night watch. I¡¯ll start yelling if anything with mana comes close.] Knowing Halia, she¡¯ll probably yell to wake me up even if there isn¡¯t something here. Urg¡­ I still have nightmares because of the last trip I went on with her. ¡®Wake up, the sun is going to rise in an hour.¡¯ ¡®The other disciples are already looking for a spot to watch the sunrise, get up!¡¯ Kai rolled over on his pad of cushions, turning to face the dirt-stained window on the wall of the classroom. The last few rays of the evening sunset streamed through the glass, their deep red aura being stained a dirty brown by the window. It¡­ wasn¡¯t so bad. Sunrise and sunset. The only times of day those four idiots weren¡¯t getting up to trouble. The five of us together, sitting quietly¡­ The sunlight dimmed as the last bit of the sun fell below the horizon, and the only light left was what could be reflected off the white clouds high above. The sunset, being together at home¡­ Kai raised his arm and rubbed at his eyes to make sure his vision was clear. The sleeve came away a tiny bit damp. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Hmph, I don¡¯t miss them one bit. They were all trouble and nothing else. Besides, they¡¯re probably running around this world causing more chaos already. Halia¡¯s here with me- Kai glanced down at the ruby necklace, and he reached up to feel the stone. It was cold and lifeless. It wasn¡¯t like her at all. She¡¯s¡­ here¡­ Kai closed his eyes and turned away from the window. Nevermind this sappy stuff. I need to get some sleep, then be ready to hunt tomorrow. I¡¯ll get stronger, and get a lot of mana. She¡¯ll definitely figure out how to build herself a new body by then, and I¡¯ll just have to supply enough mana. Kai managed to suppress the tiny grin that threatened to grow on his face. It¡¯s just because I don¡¯t want her taking up my mental space. A clouded mind is bad for cultivation, or something. That¡¯s all. Kai¡¯s hand brushed against the cold necklace again, pausing for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m going to sleep. Good night.¡± Kai made an exaggerated stretching motion, his hand pushing the necklace above the neckline of his robes. His fingers coincidentally twitched at the same time, deftly accidentally tossing the necklace under his shirt, where it would be much warmer. - - [Hey, Kai, wake up.] [Brewan¡¯s already awake, it¡¯s a little after sunrise.] Kai slowly rolled over as he opened his eyes, then got up from the cushions. The morning sun was streaming through the window, bright enough to illuminate the entire room. This is about the time I would normally wake up¡­ I¡¯m surprised Halia didn¡¯t make me get up super early. Brewan was kneeling over Sydney to check his condition, which didn¡¯t seem to have changed much overnight. ¡°I doubt he¡¯s eaten in a few days, we need to get something for him. We should probably try to find water before we fight, too. It¡¯ll be harder to move around outside if a battle attracts a bunch of beasts.¡± According to Brewan, their prey should be decently separated. While there were plenty of beasts that liked to stick around in groups, that was a lot less common in the region they were currently in. Deer, boars, and other wildlife Kai would expect in the northern regions back home were common here. Many of them weren¡¯t herd animals, which would make it much easier for Kai to hunt one down without being attacked by an entire horde. While he was asleep, one of Kai¡¯s dreams had raised another problem. ¡°How are we going to cook anything? If we try to cook outside, the beasts will definitely be drawn to its smell. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s worth risking doing it here, either.¡± Aside from potentially attracting a ton of beasts when the defensive formation may or may not still be working, Kai was also worried about the ¡®dust explosion¡¯ that Halia had mentioned the previous evening. ¡°It¡¯s fine, a dispersion spell can fix that.¡± Kai looked up in surprise as Brewan started speaking. ¡°I¡­ really don¡¯t understand how you¡¯ve never heard of a dispersion spell before. It¡¯s literally impossible to have lived in a settlement and not heard about them, and it¡¯s impossible to survive outside without it.¡± Kai could only shrug his shoulders, not sure how to respond. ¡°It was made to be a survival spell. Something that lets a human survive against beasts. That¡¯s why it¡¯s the first spell every apprentice mage learns, and it¡¯s the only spell knights are required to learn, too.¡± [An all-purpose survival spell, probably. It lets you hide your scent from beasts, and lets you cook food. It sounds like the general beast problem here is a lot worse than it was back at the sect, so it¡¯s probably essential.] ¡°Sounds useful. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll learn it eventually.¡± Brewan just watched Kai with a dumbfounded look as the other young man stooped down to grab his sheath that¡¯d been placed by the edge of his cushions. ¡°We¡¯re going to die, aren¡¯t we.¡± Kai shrugged again as he buckled the sheath onto his belt, then walked over an open corner of the room and started doing some stretches. It was a Crescent Moon Sect habit to always stretch before an activity, a habit that¡¯d been started by Halia. [Your form is a bit off. Slide to the left.] Kai followed her instructions. She was the one who came up with the stretches, after all. [Take it back now, Kai.] [One hop this time.] Kai frowned. He couldn¡¯t remember jumping as part of the stretches. [It¡¯s a special battle prep stretch. Right foot, stomp.] Kai detected a bit of mischievousness in her voice, and his frown grew with his suspicions. [Left foot let¡¯s stomp.] [Cha cha real smooth!] ¡°Oi!¡± Kai threw his hands up in the air and started walking away, making Halia break out laughing. ¡°Um¡­ what are you doing?¡± Kai¡¯s face started to heat up from embarrassment as Brewan looked at him questioningly. Just when I was feeling thankful towards her for letting me sleep in, she goes and does this! I don¡¯t even know what that was, but given how much she is still laughing, it¡¯s probably supposed to be humiliating! ¡°P-preparing for battle! Let¡¯s go!¡± [Heh, you get so flustered. It¡¯s just a dance from my hometown.] Ignoring Halia, Kai grabbed Brewan¡¯s sleeve and practically dragged him out of the classroom. Instead of going to the main entrance, Kai headed for one of the other classrooms further down the hallway. He wasn¡¯t sure if the defensive formation that cut the terror bird was still active, so he opted for another way out of the building. When they were exploring the previous day, Halia had noticed that one of the windows in another classroom had already been broken. Most of the broken glass shards had long-since been swept away by the wind and elements, and there wasn¡¯t much visible danger to climbing through it. At the very least, it¡¯s probably safer than coming through the front entrance. This is probably how Sydney got in here too, judging by the spots of blood on the floor just under the windowsill. It wasn¡¯t hard for Kai to hop outside, and he turned around to help pull Brewan out while leaving the early recon to Halia. [I think we¡¯re in luck. I can sense a mana signature in the woods to the east. It¡¯s far enough that I doubt it can sense us right now, and it¡¯s weaker than that boar you fought before.] Kai nodded. ¡°First we¡¯ll search for a water source, then we will come back to hunt this beast. Let¡¯s go.¡± CH-7 Reconnaissance Desolation. Being in a place once filled with people was eerie. As Kai and Brewan crept away from the brick school building and up toward the hilltop further in the academy campus, the silence of their surroundings became progressively more stifling. ¡°This feels¡­ off.¡± Kai¡¯s hand stayed near the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it at a moment¡¯s notice. A creeping feeling- almost like he was being watched, but a bit different, pricked at the back of his mind. ¡°Have you been to any of the cities before?¡± Kai glanced over at Brewan¡¯s unexpected question, and the other young man continued speaking. ¡°They are way¡­ worse? Eerier, but also more normal?¡± Brewan could see the confusion only deepening on Kai¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯m too young to remember anything during the beast wave, but I¡¯ve heard from others what it was like back then. When the wave hit, aside from some of the academies, every big settlement was wiped out.¡± Every mortal city was wiped out? It sounds pretty similar to the beast tide that hit our sect back home. ¡°I¡¯ve only been to empty cities with groups of other apprentice mages, but that doesn¡¯t do that much for the atmosphere. Even when I was with my group, the whole city felt lonely. This place isn¡¯t as bad. There isn¡¯t as much¡­ emptiness.¡± A shiver ran down Kai¡¯s spine. ¡°You said that it¡¯s been a while since the beast wave, right? Why have the sects- academies not taken back the cities?¡± Brewan looked down at the dirt path beneath them as he answered. ¡°The beasts are still there. Most of them scattered after the wave, but the higher-tier beasts are still out there. Some are just as smart as mages, and they¡¯ve shown back up every time humanity tries to retake anything. It¡¯s already nearly impossible to hunt down every beast hiding within a city, and it¡¯s even worse when the stronger ones can kill you without you even having a chance to react.¡± The duo had walked a fair distance away from the brick building, and had yet to see any potentially dangerous beasts. Halia was still on high alert as well, and she also hadn¡¯t detected anything nearby. Kai paused for a moment to look over the landscape. They were high enough to see over most of the academy grounds and down to the small town below. There were three brick buildings within the academy grounds, and all of them were connected by an overgrown dirt path. The first of those three was the building they had sheltered in for the night, and the other two looked fairly similar. All three of them were three stories high, and had dirty glass panes arranged at even intervals at each story. A bit further away, the temple sat in a central position on the academy grounds. It was only roughly the size of a single one of the classrooms, and whatever grandeur it once had was lost to the weathering of time. Vines and other plants crawled up the cracked stone pillars, and Kai could see a few spots where the roof was caving in. When he squinted his eyes, he was pretty sure he could see a few newly-knocked down pillars that had been displaced by the terror bird that chased them the previous day. The layout is the same as ours back home, though. And I definitely saw a crescent-shaped emblem falling from the doorway when that nasty bird was attacking. [Just a heads-up, there was just a bit of movement in the woods left of the classroom building.] The brush a short distance from where they¡¯d emerged from the building shook, and two small furry ears poked out from beneath the bush. A moment later, a small rabbit hopped out into the open. [That¡¯s definitely not the beast I sensed before. I think it¡¯s too far away, but I can¡¯t detect any mana from it.] Kai got Brewan¡¯s attention, then pointed down at the rabbit. ¡°Just a normal hare. If we¡¯re lucky, we might be able to catch it, then we won¡¯t have to risk our lives trying to hunt down a beast!¡± Kai skeptically looked down at the rabbit as it hopped down the path toward the temple. It didn¡¯t look nearly big enough to feed three men, even if they could somehow catch it. Brewan¡¯s only offensive ability was his fireball- which they¡¯d both agreed he wouldn¡¯t use unless it was an absolute emergency- and Kai¡¯s main method of attack was with his sword. He knew hand-to-hand martial arts as well, but he doubted that would come in handy against a rabbit the size of his foot. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°What are the differences between a normal animal like that rabbit, and a beast like the boar?¡± ¡°Mana. Just like humans, some animals are better at absorbing and using mana than others. Once it absorbs enough mana, an animal will form a mana core and become a beast.¡± Kai nodded along with Brewan¡¯s explanation. It was pretty much the same as it had been with Qi back at the sect. By cultivating, pretty much anything could grow stronger and eventually become powerful. ¡°You mentioned tiers before, right?¡± ¡°Yep. Tier 1 is at the bottom, but they¡¯re still really strong. That boar we fought back in the town was a weak one¡­¡± Brewan paused for a moment, glancing down at his book. ¡°And I¡¯m tier 1 too, just barely. Mages and knights go by the same rating system, but we develop a bit differently from beasts. After the beast wave, random skirmishes became common whenever you¡¯re outside of the academies. It¡¯s normal now for mages to pump some of their mana through their muscles like knights do, and for knights to learn the dispersion spell.¡± [Ah, so that¡¯s why this skinny-looking fellow was able to keep up with you so well. Probably also explains why his fireball was so uncool.] ¡°Tier 2 beasts are way stronger, and smarter. A tier 1 human will almost always win in a duel against a tier 1 beast, but the reverse happens at tier 2. A strong tier 2 beast might even be able to threaten a small settlement, if they don¡¯t have any strong mages defending.¡± ¡°You said that the bear was tier 2 before, right? What about the terror bird?¡± A visible shiver ran down Brewan¡¯s spine. ¡°It¡¯s way too strong. Stronger than any tier 2 I saw when I was at my academy, or when I was on group trips with my class. It can¡¯t be tier 3, though. Many of those can use magic themselves, and will lead small beast tides of their own to wipe out settlements. We would¡¯ve died in an instant.¡± [It looks like my guess was about right on. That injured fellow Sydney should be tier 2, then, by their rating. Mine is a lot better, I can sense how much mana they have. From what Brewan is saying, it doesn¡¯t sound like there is anything over tier 2 here, so Sydney was probably injured by something in the same tier.] [Brewan- Level 5] So it seems like there are big gaps within their tier rating system. Their tier 1 is from levels 1 to 19, and tier 2 is from 20 to 29. Even among enemies at the same tier, there might be huge differences in strength. Kai looked back down toward the temple, noticing that the small rabbit had hopped out into the grassy undergrowth near where the terror bird had chased him the previous day. His gaze started sweeping over toward the wooden buildings, but caught more movement. It wasn¡¯t an animal. It was water. ¡°Hey, is that a stream down there, on this side of the temple?¡± Brewan took a few steps down the hill, trying to get a better angle to see where the water was coming from. ¡°I think it is, and it looks like it runs behind those wooden buildings. That¡¯s probably how we didn¡¯t see it before.¡± Kai didn¡¯t immediately follow Brewan, instead taking a few more moments to look around from the top of the hill. This place¡­ this academy, somehow reminds me of home. It¡¯s definitely a different place entirely, but it somehow feels familiar. Kai shook his head, then started heading down the hill. We¡¯ll build the sect again, somewhere good. Even if that phoenix hadn¡¯t destroyed the sect in one swoop, our position would¡¯ve been terrible to defend against a regular beast wave. Rolling hills and plains are useless for that. It isn¡¯t without reason that most top sects chose to settle on mountaintops. Kai¡¯s hand brushed against his sword as he and Brewan arrived at the stream. Building up the sect¡­ it sounds like it¡¯ll be even harder to do that here than it was back home. If I want to succeed, I¡¯ll need to get stronger. ¡°K-Kai! Look!¡± Brewan pointed at something in the direction of the temple, his eyes wide. The small flask of water that he¡¯d just filled up in the stream next to them sloshed a few drops of water onto the ground as he backed up nervously. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything.¡± It all looked the same as it had from the top of the hill. The brick buildings stood dully, and the rundown temple hadn¡¯t changed a bit. ¡°The rabbit! I swear I saw it in the center of the grassy area a second ago!¡± ¡°There¡¯s tons of undergrowth and weeds, are you sure it didn¡¯t just hop away?¡± ¡°Aaaaa!¡± A shrill shriek escaped Brewan¡¯s mouth as he stumbled backward again, nearly falling into the stream behind him. The rabbit had reappeared, as well as a deer. What the¡­ The buck stepped out from within the temple, its impressive rack scraping against one of the stone pillars. Kai and Brewan completely ignored the antlers. Their eyes were locked on the deer¡¯s mouth, where the twisted and mangled corpse of the rabbit was hanging. The deer¡¯s beady eyes fixed on the two young men, and its mouth moved. Chewing. What looked like old, dried blood stained the buck¡¯s snout, with droplets flung off the fresh rabbit¡¯s corpse staining its face even more every time it chewed. [I¡­ I thought deer were herbivores.] ¡°As did I. How strong is this thing?¡± Kai drew his sword, pointing it toward the beast. The deer¡¯s eyes followed his every movement, but it just kept chewing on the rabbit while standing still. Halia stifled a retching noise before responding. [Flesh-eating Deer- Level 6] This could turn out to be a lot of trouble. It¡¯s stronger than the boar from before. The deer suddenly threw its head back, a disgusting gurgling noise echoing through the temple yard as the still largely whole rabbit slid down the buck¡¯s throat. When it looked back down at Kai, its beady eyes were the same. Soulless. Possessed. Hungry. The deer leapt forward, straight toward Kai. CH-8 A Familiar Face ¡°Stay out of the way!¡± Kai angled his sword toward the deer as he stepped forward, his eyes following the movement of its head. [Watch out for the antlers.] ¡°Obviously!¡± Instead of taking its charge directly, Kai waved his sword to keep its attention on him, then dashed to the side. The deer¡¯s eyes locked onto him, and it pivoted to follow him without missing a step. Out of the corner of his eye, Kai noticed Brewan scurrying off into the brush by the side of the temple. Good, I don¡¯t need to worry about this thing turning on him. Kai stopped running and side-stepped as the deer charged into range, hoping to slash its side just as he¡¯d done with the boar. Before his sword could cut into its pelt, the deer twisted its neck toward Kai. Shit! An unnaturally sharp antler scraped past just a hair¡¯s breadth from Kai¡¯s neck, and the ruby sword flailed uselessly through the air as Kai scrambled to get away from the deer¡¯s followup strike. The beast didn¡¯t give Kai even a second to regain his footing, charging at him with its antlers ready to spear holes in his chest. Kai rolled forward to meet its attack, sliding beneath its antlers and sweeping his sword toward the deer¡¯s spindly front legs. Something snagged at the hood of his robes, and the deer jumped before the sword could cleave its forelegs off. This bastard is fast, but not fast enough! The ruby sword glittered in the sun as it twisted, catching the deer¡¯s rear hip before it could back away from Kai. A small line of blood slowly started leaking down its rear leg, and it didn¡¯t immediately charge back in. [Defensively, it¡¯s a lot weaker than the boar. Even if you hit bone, you can probably kill it with a good swing.] Kai raised his sword again, then started advancing back toward his enemy. A small patch of cloth was hanging from the corner of its bloodied maw. Again. Why are all these damned beasts focusing on ripping my robes?! Kai stabbed his sword toward the deer¡¯s head, but it backed away nimbly. The beast''s eyes warily watched Kai¡¯s figure, ready to react to even the smallest movement. [The temple is only a few meters to your right, you might be able to use it to your advantage.] Kai nodded, but he didn¡¯t shift his vision to look at it. He knew that the moment he took his attention off of the deer, it might charge him. It seemed a lot angrier now that he¡¯d landed the light cut on its hip. With his eyes still locked in a staring contest with the deer, Kai slowly shuffled toward the temple. Just as he was within a meter of it, the deer jumped into action. Kai moved at the same time, charging into the temple. There was a large patch where the floor was missing bricks, making it considerably lower than the rest of the space. There were a few statues further in, but everything directly in front of Kai looked like it had been swept aside or destroyed years in the past. If the floor is lowered¡­ hmph, this beast will regret tearing my robes. Kai¡¯s eyes lit up, and his fingers clenched around the hilt of his sword. [There¡¯s a rock on the left, and two missing bricks another step in!] Halia called out potential obstacles as Kai dodged into the temple and ran to the higher portion of the temple. He didn¡¯t waste any more time examining his surroundings, instead whirling around to face the deer that was already charging into the temple. ¡°Come after me, you bloodthirsty slab of venison!¡± Kai waved his sword, and the deer accepted his taunt, angling its head down as it charged. Perfect. Kai dodged around another pillar, slipping past the deer. [Haha, we have the high groun- OI! Why are you running to the lower section?!] Kai ran down to the section of the temple with no flooring, nimbly avoiding the broken chunks of rubble scattered across the ground. He and the deer turned to face each other simultaneously, then both went back in to attack. On the low ground of the temple, when Kai crouched down, he was able to easily slip under the deer¡¯s sharp antlers. His sword slashed across the beast¡¯s throat as he rolled out of its path, a small grin rising on his face as he finally felt the blade cutting through something. [Wait, you actually got it! I thought you were going to mess up and die. Here, have a level.] [You reached Level 2!] [Mana +5!] [Mana -3, Strength +3.] Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Kai suppressed a grin as he turned back to face his enemy once again, but he could instantly see that it wasn¡¯t much of a threat anymore. The ruby sword lived up to Halia¡¯s bragging- Kai had hardly felt any resistance when he slashed at the deer¡¯s neck, and he¡¯d damn near cleaved the beast¡¯s entire head off. The deer now lay in a heap on the floor, the life vanishing from its body in a matter of seconds. [So much blood¡­] Kai could hear a tone of uneasiness in Halia¡¯s voice. How is a cultivator feeling uneasy around blood? Even if she did spend almost all of her time in the sect researching stuff, she did go out sometimes. Hmph. Kai strode over to the deer¡¯s corpse, giving it a couple pokes to make sure it was completely dead. When it didn¡¯t respond, Kai moved to start field dressing the beast. One of the primary reasons he and Brewan had ventured out of the safety of the classrooms was to find food, and it wouldn¡¯t do to let it all spoil. Halia averted her attention and started examining the rest of the room. Instead of pumping all of the mana into Kai¡¯s body to strengthen him, she¡¯d kept a chunk of it free again. Making blue text boxes in Kai¡¯s vision was an invaluable part of his survival, after all. It also let her slightly buff her senses, letting her examine more of the temple- specifically the parts that Kai wasn¡¯t currently splattering with deer blood. [Hmm? That statue looks familiar.] To the left of the wooden warehouse entrance- the place Kai had originally come out of- were a collection of old stone portrait statues. Most of them had sustained severe weathering and damage, but something about one of the more complete ones was sparking something in Halia¡¯s mind. [It¡¯s still hard to tell¡­ Ah! I¡¯ve got it! That statue looks just like Edwin!] ¡°What?¡± [What do you mean, what? Edwin! The second disciple!] Kai pulled his arm out from where he¡¯d been scooping the deer¡¯s organs out. He¡¯d pulled back the arm of his robes, but the once-white cloth already looked too stained to be saved. Halia said before that she thought the others were transported to other places, but if there¡¯s a statue of Edwin¡­ did he somehow end up in an earlier time period than us? When Kai walked over to the statue to examine it closer, though, he realized that it probably wasn¡¯t the case. The cracked visage of the statue looked similar to his fellow disciple, but it was distinctively different. [It¡¯s definitely not him, but the resemblance is odd. How can there be someone who looks so similar, when we just arrived here? This temple looks just like the one back home, too¡­] It looks like what I''d imagine his grandpa to look like. A relative, maybe? How could Edwin have relatives here, though? I¡¯m pretty sure we¡¯re in a whole different world than before. Kai rubbed at his chin. There was plenty of unusual stuff back home at the sect, different from the rest of the realm- BOOM! A sudden explosion from somewhere outside the temple rocked Kai out of his thoughts, and a bright flare of orange light exploded in the courtyard. What the hell is Brewan doing?! Kai hefted his sword and ran out of the temple, just as there was another explosion. [Flesh-eating Deer- Level 3] [Furred Shriek- Level 4] [Dead] The scorched body of a cat-looking beast lay in a heap in the center of the courtyard, and another deer similar to the one Kai had just slain was bucking wildly, its pelt ablaze with angry flames. A few meters away from them, Brewan raised his hand for a third time, a faint light flickering in front of his grimoire before another fireball lept forth from his hand and rocketed toward the deer. The effect was vastly better than when he¡¯d fired it at the boar. The deer¡¯s pelt was a lot less resistant to the damage, and the force of the explosion had definitely increased as well. After eating the second fireball head-on, the deer collapsed into a lifeless corpse. [Magic, hell yea! It¡¯s so much cooler than swords! This guy isn¡¯t as bad as I thought right away!] Brewan quickly tucked his book of magic back into his robes, then ran over to Kai. ¡°They must¡¯ve heard you fighting, they were both heading straight for the temple! We need to get out of here before anything bigger comes.¡± [He¡¯s right, I can sense a few other beasts approaching quickly. You don¡¯t have time to grab that deer you killed, just take the one out here.] Kai clenched his teeth at the thought of all of the wasted meat, but he still followed her instructions. ¡°Brewan, do you still have mana for that dispersion spell? We don¡¯t need these things following us and trying to break into the classrooms.¡± The mage nodded, then ran over to help Kai lift up the deer¡¯s fresh corpse. Before he could do anything, though, Kai already had the body gripped tightly in his arms. He felt considerably stronger than he had before he killed the other deer. Brewan cast the spell, and the duo booked it to the classrooms before any of the other beasts could arrive. According to Halia¡¯s mana sense, the dispersion spell seemed to work, as none of the beasts bothered to check where they¡¯d run off to. ¡°That went¡­ well.¡± After helping Kai sling the deer corpse through the window and into the classroom, Brewan slumped down against one of the walls. ¡°We got water and food¡­ I burned a good chunk of my mana, though. And we know that there are a lot of beasts still in the area.¡± [I sensed at least eight of them heading toward the temple, and I think the strongest one was probably in the late single digits in terms of level.] Kai nodded, then looked over at Brewan. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you could kill two beasts that fast.¡± The mage rubbed the back of his head at the praise. ¡°I¡¯ve gotten a bit of experience recently¡­ I was already almost out of mana when I ran into that boar before, and I couldn¡¯t lose it long enough to use a dispersion spell. Fireball also sucks against tanky beasts like that.¡± Brewan looked down at his hands, his voice getting a bit quieter. ¡°Honestly though, it¡¯s a miracle a blew-average tier-one mage like me even made it this far out into the wilderness without dying.¡± Kai tilted his head. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say your sec- academy sent you out here to search for Sydney?¡± Brewan nodded, but didn¡¯t say anything more. [Hey, this is a perfect opportunity! If this guy¡¯s sect wants to send him off to his death, let¡¯s take him in as a member of our own. Even if he isn¡¯t good at magic yet, there¡¯s an easy solution!] [Pass the necklace over to him, I¡¯ll make up a spell he can learn right away!] Pass the necklace¡­ ¡°Will I still be able to hear you?¡± [No¡­ Hmm? Would handing it over to someone else make you jealous?~] ¡°Obviously not! Hmph, why would you ever think that?!¡± Kai quickly pulled off the ruby necklace and pushed it toward Brewan, who looked to be at a total loss for what was going on. From his perspective, Kai randomly started shouting at the wall in front of him. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Put this on!¡± Kai thrust the necklace over Brewan¡¯s neck, only adding to the young man¡¯s confusion. [Sup, bro.] ¡°AAAAHHHHH!!!!¡± CH-9 Teamwork It took a couple of minutes for Halia to explain the circumstances of her being inside of a necklace, and Brewan eventually calmed down and started listening to what she was saying. After a bit, he took out his book of magic and started flipping through it while reading off parts and explaining them to Halia. On the other side of the room, a frown started to grow on Kai¡¯s face. Hmph, how irresponsible is it to trust any random stranger? If it was one of the other sect members, I¡¯d be grateful for some time without her yapping in my mind, but we barely know Brewan. Halia can¡¯t even do anything to protect herself if this guy tries to run off. I¡¯ll have to keep a close eye on him, just in case. After about a minute of listening to Brewan blabber about random magic stuff, Kai¡¯s ears started to ache. ¡°Oi, you two. You can chat while we cook up this venison.¡± Kai started dragging the deer carcass toward one of the unused, empty rooms. They¡¯d already decided the day before that it was best to do any butchering and cooking in one of the rooms they didn¡¯t need to use for other things. Using a knife claimed from Sydney¡¯s belongings, Kai went for round two of deer processing. ¡°Hey, Kai. Halia wants to ask if you can think of any reason that she can manipulate your mana, but not mine.¡± Eh? She can¡¯t do anything with this guy¡¯s mana? Kai shrugged, but a tiny smile unconsciously grew on his face as he went back to working on the deer. Even if Brewan could preserve the meat using the dispersion spell, Kai didn¡¯t want to leave the carcass whole. It would get stiff if he left it as it was, and he was used to preparing meat before it could spoil. It took him almost an hour to strip all of the meat from the deer, and Brewan was chatting aloud the entire time. Aside from when Brewan went to check on Sydney, Kai didn¡¯t get a moment of silence. When Kai was finally done butchering the deer, Brewan started a tiny fire using magic, and the duo started roasting lunch. They didn¡¯t have anything to use as seasoning, but both of them had enough experience in the wilderness not to mind it. ¡°Back to what you were talking about before, Brewan. You said that a mage like you would probably die this far out in the wild, right?¡± Brewan looked over toward the room Sydney was resting in. ¡°It¡¯s probably because of his standing in the academy that someone weak was sent. I know that he¡¯s an obstacle for a lot of the other top students who have connections, and a lot of them would probably prefer it if he didn¡¯t return.¡± We never had to deal with traitors in our sect, but similar stuff happened all of the time elsewhere in the cultivation world. It seems that humans are just as willing to betray each other here. After spinning the meat over the fire, Brewan looked back up and spoke again. ¡°In my grade, I have a reputation of being good at running away. I guess I was probably the best person to pick who would probably not find Sydney but still survive.¡± Brewan paused for a moment, listening to something that Halia was saying in his mind. After a few seconds, he explained to Kai. ¡°I only made it this far into the wilderness by avoiding as many fights as I could. With a dispersion spell, you can escape the notice of almost every beast. It¡¯s only if something has you in its vision and is intent on chasing you that it won¡¯t work.¡± Kai nodded as he pulled the cooked meat off the fire, then put on a couple new pieces. He could¡¯ve run away multiple times, but he¡¯s stayed and saved me instead. If he really was a coward who runs away at the first sign of danger, I probably would be boar food right now. Hmm¡­ maybe Halia was right, and this guy might be a decent member for our sect. Once the food was finished cooking, the duo extinguished the fire and brought the meat over to Sydney¡¯s room to eat. After prodding the injured man a few times, Brewan managed to wake him enough that he wouldn¡¯t choke on the food they started shoving into his mouth. ¡°Wh- who are you?¡± Sydney¡¯s eyes flickered open as Brewan raised a water flask to his mouth. ¡°I¡¯m one of your juniors at the academy, I was sent here to find you.¡± Sydney coughed a few times as he struggled to ingest the water. ¡°If you¡¯re a junior¡­ you need to get out of here right away. There¡¯s a tier two beast in the area, a Deep Ursine-¡± ¡°It¡¯s dead.¡± Sydney sat up too quickly and started coughing again. ¡°What? How?¡± Kai crouched down by the side of the cushions as he responded. ¡°A big, angry bird ate it. The bird tried to eat us too, but ran into what we think was a leftover formation from the academy. It¡¯s injured, but still out there somewhere.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Sydney¡¯s eyes stretched wide with terror. ¡°A tier three beast¡­¡± ¡°Probably a bit weaker than that. We think it was just a strong tier two one.¡± Kai shoved another chunk of meat into his mouth before he continued talking, but when he looked back down, Sydney¡¯s eyes were drifting shut again. This fellow is really weak right now. Hopefully he can make enough of a recovery for us to escape from this area before the terror bird heals enough to come back for us. I don¡¯t know much about bird facial expressions, but I¡¯m pretty sure that thing isn¡¯t done with us. ¡°Here, Kai.¡± Brewan pulled Halia¡¯s necklace off and handed it back to him. ¡°Your be- Halia said she wanted you again.¡± Kai¡¯s forehead creased into a frown. What nonsense did this idiot spout about me? Brewan was about to say something else. [Ahh¡­ I missed you, Kai.] ¡°It¡¯s only been an hour.¡± [That didn¡¯t stop my heart from longing for you~] Kai¡¯s cheeks flushed for the slightest fraction of a second before he made a retching noise. ¡°Bleh, who¡¯d want that?! I enjoyed my hour of silence, go back to bothering someone else!¡± Halia¡¯s annoying, mischievous laugher ricocheted through Kai¡¯s mind for long enough that he actually considered taking the necklace off and handing it back to Brewan. [Oi, oi, stop. I do actually need to talk to you about something important.] [Brewan- Level 7] Kai paced toward the other side of the room as he looked at the blue stat window hovering in his vision. ¡°Two levels higher?¡± [Yep! He doesn¡¯t even have an amazing, beautiful, incredibly designed, masterpi-] ¡°Ahem¡± [-Masterpiece of a sword like you, that can absorb strength from the beasts you slay. He does, however, seem to grow stronger based on experience, and by using his mana. After the fight, I¡¯d put him at level 6.] Kai looked back down at the number on the blue screen again. Maybe she isn¡¯t actually that good at math. [Hmph, if you¡¯re going to be rude, I¡¯ll take a bigger chunk for myself again.] [You reached Level 3!] [Mana +5!] [Mana -3, Strength +3.] Did she just read my thoughts?! And what kind of nonsensical power system is this, I¡¯m leveling up without fighting or cultivating? [No, I¡¯m not reading your thoughts. You¡¯re just predictable. Also, that meat you just ate was killed by Brewan, not you. When the beast died, all of the mana in its core- the thing your sword absorbs to give you mana- spread out, and a lot of it went into the venison.] Kai had to think for multiple seconds before he understood what Halia was saying. ¡°So basically, your sword is pretty much useless. I can get all of the energy just by eating, which I have to do anyway to survive.¡± [No. The sword absorbs almost all of the mana from the beast. You¡¯ll gain way less strength from eating it. It¡¯s still some though, so you should try to let Brewan get some kills whenever you go out hunting, and use those beasts for food. It¡¯ll help Sydney recover a lot faster, as well as making the other two of you stronger.] [You don¡¯t need to worry too much about his fireballs attracting more enemies, either. I¡¯m pretty sure I can work out a new spell for him to use before tomorrow. I will need your cooperation, though.] If it¡¯s to help us hunt and get stronger, it¡¯ll be worth it. - - Six hours later, as the sun was diving below the horizon. In a large classroom, two young men clutched at their skulls in unison. ¡°I feel like there¡¯s a mind-eater beast rampaging through my brain¡­¡± [Hey, you¡¯ll have a supporting fighter when you go out to hunt tomorrow! Shouldn¡¯t you be happy?] That was not worth it. Kai had discovered a number of things over the past six hours of torture. Apparently, if Halia moved around his mana too much, or tried to cast spells without having the proper resources, it would give him a splitting headache. In Halia¡¯s words, ¡°Practicing to mana deficiency will slowly increase your total mana pool, pain pain torture.¡± Kai had been rewarded for his efforts with +2 mana, both of which had been claimed by Halia. It really is like having a parasite attached to me. Physical and mental pain, loss of strength, and general annoyance. And she does it all while acting like she¡¯s doing me a favor! Kai resisted yet another urge to chuck the ruby necklace at the now chalk-covered blackboard. ¡°I never knew magic could be broken down into numbers and ideas like this¡­¡± Standing a few meters away, Brewan was doing only slightly better than Kai. While Halia couldn¡¯t directly manipulate his mana, she¡¯d still managed to get him to expend everything he had, granting him an intense headache as well. She¡¯d forced the two men to pass the necklace back and forth between each other, relaying instructions and making them jot everything down on the blackboards left behind by the academy¡¯s original owners. [Oo! I just had another idea, grab the chalk again!] ¡°Brewan, do you have any mana left to use your fireball?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Damn. I was hoping you¡¯d be able to cast it on me. Can you punch me instead? Full force, right on the jaw. Put me to sleep.¡± [Fine, fine, I¡¯ll stop. Researching new stuff like this is so fun, how can you not like it?] Kai just pointed up at his head, which still felt as if it''d been crushed by a stampede of buffalo. [That¡¯s only because you don¡¯t have much mana right now! Once you¡¯re stronger, it¡¯ll be great! When you¡¯re fighting, I¡¯ll even be able to help you. You can do your sword stuff, and I¡¯ll cast spells at the same time!] ¡°If I ever get a headache like this while in a fight, we¡¯ll probably die.¡± [Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m sure that¡¯ll never happen.] Halia let out a short, ominous-sounding chuckle after her last line. Kai did his best to ignore it as he laid down on his bed of cushions. The pounding pain in his head only increased the more he moved around. [Ooh~ Hooo oh~] Halia started to hum softly, her normally mischievous voice softening. Kai shut his eyes, his mind somehow relaxing as he listened to her humming. In a matter of seconds, he was already drifting off to sleep. [Ooh~ Somewhere~ Over the rain¡­] Kai¡¯s consciousness faded into darkness as Halia sang softly. [Kai- Lvl 3] [Strength: 14 -> 21] [Mana: 0 -> 6] CH-10 Grinding Levels Four days later, Kai and Brewan were starting to get used to their new routines. Hunt in the mornings, rest in the afternoon to recover mana, then spend the evening researching and exploring with Halia. Kai gained another +2 mana from Halia¡¯s research sessions, and it was once again claimed by her. Combined with Kai¡¯s efforts in hunting, he was growing stronger at a rate that far surpassed his previous cultivation speed. It wasn¡¯t just his mana and strength that Kai was improving, though. Every day, before starting their hunt, he and Brewan took the opportunity to explore their surroundings more. Neither of them were willing to test their luck on the other two stone buildings, fearing that there could possibly still be active defensive formations, but they did take peeks inside. The one closer to the classrooms appeared to be some sort of dormitory. The further one raised a few questions, though. The duo could hardly see inside because of how little light was making it through the dusty old windows, but they could make out the general structure of the interior. ¡°Is it some sort of stable? Is beast taming popular here?¡± Brewan frowned as he craned his head to try and get a better view inside. ¡°Not while I¡¯ve been alive, you would have to be crazy to try that. I¡¯ve read that some academies kept beasts, and even signed pacts with more powerful ones to form alliances. All of that fell apart at the start of the beast wave, though.¡± After peeking through all of the windows on the building, they weren¡¯t able to see anything else of value within it. ¡°We¡¯ll have to ask Sydney if he knows anything else about this place once he wakes up. I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s been empty at least since the beast wave, but I¡¯m confused why there¡¯s only damage to the temple.¡± Kai nodded his head in agreement. It was curious. The town below the academy was a total wreck, and monsters wandered through it freely. Up the hill, on the academy ground, though, every beast the duo had run into had followed something else there. The terror bird had been chasing the bear, and the deer was hunting the fluffy rabbit that Halia spotted. Even the beasts she sensed now were on the very outskirts of the sect, leaving the main grounds relatively safe. The damages to buildings was just as good- all of the brick ones were in good condition, but the temple, which at face level appeared to be the most sturdy, was a total wreck. ¡°Hopefully Sydney will know what¡¯s going on with this place. If we want to hear from him, though, we¡¯ll have to get to work.¡± [There are two beasts east of the temple, and one near the top of the hill. All of them should be under level ten.] Kai gestured toward the storage buildings bordering the temple. ¡°Let¡¯s take on those two first. If it goes well, let¡¯s try to take down the one near the top of the hill, too.¡± Brewan cast a spell, and the duo slowly approached the two mana signatures. They took a longer route, sneaking into the forest and creeping through the underbrush as they eyed their prey. [Rage Boar- Level 7] [Rage Boar- Level 4] When they were only a couple meters away, Kai pointed toward the left boar, then motioned down toward his sword. After receiving a nod from Brewan, he crouched down, his muscles bunching up. In one swift motion, Kai leapt out of the brush, swinging his sword down toward the boar¡¯s neck. Caught completely by surprise, the beast could hardly even lift up a foot before the blade descended into its flesh. [You killed Rage Boar- Level 4!] It was a world of difference compared to the first boar Kai fought. It wasn¡¯t just the immense increase in strength that led to his efficiency in taking down the boar. A week¡¯s worth of experience hunting in the area was doing tons of work, too. Now, Kai could spot the weakest spot on his prey in an instant. He wasn¡¯t the only one who was improving at an impressive pace. ¡°Earth spike.¡± The ashy dirt beneath the second boar churned like stormy water for a moment before a lackluster spike jumped up, stabbing toward the beast¡¯s side. Its tip wasn¡¯t nearly as sharp as Kai¡¯s sword, but it still managed to punch a small hole in the boar¡¯s shoulder while also pushing it off balance. Kai dashed over to the second foe, thrusting his blade into its chest. [You killed Sturdy Boar- Level 7!] [You reached Level 9!] [Mana +5!] [Mana -4, Strength +4.] ¡°They¡¯re both dead?¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Brewan poked his head out of the brush, his eyes lingering on the felled boars for a few seconds. Even though he was one of the people hunting, he found it a bit hard to believe that they¡¯d managed to kill two beasts in just as many seconds. ¡°Yea, that went a lot better than I expected it too. It was a great idea to use your dispersion spell to sneak up on them.¡± Brewan ducked his head at the praise. ¡°I used it to sneak past beasts all of the time, so I figured it might be useful for this, too.¡± [This fight went pretty good, but it looks like there¡¯s still some work to be done on the earth spike spell. It¡¯s still a lot weaker than I expected it to be. I¡¯ll need to keep it on our research list.] - - [Kai- Lvl 3 -> 9] [Strength: 21 -> 45] [Mana: 6 -> 14] The last beast didn¡¯t prove to be any more difficult to hunt than the first two boars, and the duo dispatched it quickly. Kai was now strong enough that he didn¡¯t need to worry even if they ran into a beast in the teens. He even suspected that if they were to run into a beast approaching tier two that they would probably be able to escape relatively unharmed. According to Brewan, actual tier two beasts were still definitely out of their reach. Luckily, despite them venturing all over the campus and the town below it, Halia never detected a beast over level fifteen. Wherever the terror bird had run off too after being injured wasn¡¯t anywhere close. ¡°Let¡¯s head back, I want to help Halia work on her current spell.¡± Brewan shot Kai a weird look before stooping down to grab his flask of water from the bank of the stream. Somehow, Kai seemed to be looking forward to participating in Halia¡¯s torture research. The only saving grace for Brewan was Kai¡¯s mana. After hunting and growing stronger, Halia had finally saved enough of Kai¡¯s mana to start using spells herself. If she exerted everything Kai had, she could even make a fireball similar to the ones pitched by Brewan, but doing so would give Kai a splitting headache. If that was all she was doing with magic, Kai wouldn¡¯t be particularly motivated to help her out. [I think I have a spell figured out to repair your robes. It¡¯s a bit tough, since they were originally crafted with a Qi imbuing technique, but it¡¯s definitely doable.] After all of the battles he¡¯d been through recently, the once-pristine, white robes now looked like rags that¡¯d been used to clean a swamp. Along with Halia¡¯s necklace and the ruby sword, they were all Kai had left of his original world¡­and of Enla. Washing them in the stream barely helped at all; the water couldn¡¯t do much for bloodstains or holes. If there was one person Kai trusted to find a way to repair them, though, it was Halia. When they got back to the classrooms, Halia started muttering stuff for them to mark down on the whiteboards while Brewan started roasting more venison for lunch. Every available surface in their ¡®cooking classroom¡¯ was already covered in chalk, and the ¡®sleeping classroom¡¯ was almost completely used up, too. [Hm, we might need to expand to the upper floors as well. We¡¯re starting to run out of space down here.] ¡°There are three of us, four if you count Sydney. We already have the lower floor of an entire school.¡± [I don¡¯t have any paper like back in the sect. Do you remember how much stuff I had to write while I was researching for the other disciples?] The image of a younger Halia sitting over a desk piled haphazardly with paper resurfaced in his mind. Her eyes had bags under them, and there had been a few dirty plates sitting off to the side. Back then, it was such an unclean sight that Kai had to clean up after her and help her organize everything. If someone else¡¯d seen her back then, it would¡¯ve disgraced our sect. Hmph, and no matter how much I tried, she never learned how to take care of herself. I don¡¯t know how she survived when I was away on sect missions. The sudden rush of memories made Kai start pondering the past. The other disciples were almost as bad as her. I couldn¡¯t even keep track of the number of times Edwin wandered onto another sect¡¯s land ¡®because he saw a cool rock¡¯. Every time I went to bring him back, he¡¯d always be pestering random people with his annoying geology questions¡­ The wide smile that graced the green-robed second disciple¡¯s face every time he talked about rocks or formations appeared in Kai¡¯s mind. At least the other two didn¡¯t cause as much trouble on a regular basis. If they had, I really wouldn¡¯t have been able to deal with it all. An adventurous fellow who was overly enthusiastic about rocks was one thing, but if the Apparition of Death drew too much attention, it wouldn¡¯t have been simple to get the surrounding sects to stay calm. They better not be causing too much trouble here. Kai was jolted out of his thoughts when Brewan nudged his side, then handed him a skewer of venison. ¡°Let¡¯s go feed Sydney again, maybe he¡¯ll finally wake up enough to tell us about this place.¡± After grabbing two more skewers of meat, Brewan headed over to the sleeping room. As they walked in, Sydney sat up on his cushions and looked over. ¡°Hey.¡± [Finally, this guy is awake, and he looks a lot steadier than before. I knew he would recover!] After giving the prone man food and water, Sydney leaned back against the wall of the classroom. ¡°You said you¡¯ve been here for five days, right? It¡¯s probably been at least a month since I set out for here, then¡­¡± Brewan nodded. ¡°Almost exactly a month, according to the academy¡¯s logs. They told me that you were planning on coming here to train for two weeks.¡± Sydney just nodded, then glanced up and the evening sunlight streaming in through the window above him. ¡°Sydney, what do you know about this place? We¡¯ve explored a lot, and it looks like no one has been here since before the beast wave.¡± Sydney nodded as he looked back toward Brewan. ¡°Yeah. This area was hit by one of the beast generals, there aren¡¯t many settlements left anywhere nearby. I couldn¡¯t even find any details about this place in our academy¡¯s library. I only knew that there would be something here from a traveling merchant I spoke with.¡± Sydney let out a sigh as he glanced down at what was left of his gear. ¡°I¡¯m not even sure if the merchant was telling the truth. He claimed that there was a small branch of a large, old academy here. One of the ones that fell during the beast wave. This place is definitely unusual, but I¡¯d think that there would be some information on it in the library if there actually used to be another large academy. I was hoping I could find some old artifacts here, regardless of what kind of an academy it was, but this place is barren.¡± Kai took a few steps closer as he listened. ¡°Did the merchant say what academy this was?¡± Sydney nodded. ¡°The Crescent Moon Academy.¡± CH-11 Certain Connection [Well, what do you think?] Kai leaned back against the classroom wall, his hand continuously rubbing at his chin as if trying to scratch off his unshaved stubble. The conversation with Sydney hadn¡¯t lasted long, but it did a lot to further his guesses of what was going on. The similarity of the temple structure, the suspiciously familiar statue, and now the name of the sect. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ Are you sure that the others didn¡¯t somehow end up in an earlier time period than us?¡± [Yes. After spending more time talking to Brewan and looking through his magic book, I understand all of the runes I saw on the tokens. None of them relate to time. All of the symbols that I couldn¡¯t recognize before are only there to augment and alter what the main ones are doing.] ¡°Didn¡¯t you say before we used them that you didn¡¯t know anything about them?¡± [I didn¡¯t know their exact use, but I did recognize some of the runes. A few of them were closely related to the research I did for the other disciples.] Kai didn¡¯t have any of the tokens on him, but Halia instructed him to hold up her necklace, then started pointing out the runes that had also been on the tokens. [Soul] [Guard] She then pointed out a rune scribbled on one of the blackboards, a [Link] rune that she had used when making the ruby staff she gave to Edwin. [They probably have different names here, I¡¯ve just been making up stuff as I go.] Kai walked over to the blackboard, his gaze scanning over the lines of chalk as he recognized some of the runes Halia had just pointed out. ¡°Halia. I just realized something.¡± [Hmm?] ¡°I understand none of this. I don¡¯t think I will, even if I try to.¡± Kai could do swords, and he could do political interactions with other sects. The voodoo ¡°math and magic science¡± that Halia proclaimed herself a master of made less sense to Kai than a flying pig. [Heh, then don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m stuck in this necklace anyway, it¡¯d be dumb if I didn¡¯t at least use my time to cover some of your many deficits.] ¡°Oi, where¡¯s your respect for your seniors?! Me going out and exploring the region instead of hiding in the sect isn¡¯t a deficit!¡± [...] Something in the back of Kai¡¯s mind itched like he¡¯d just said something wrong, but he brushed it aside and continued the conversation. ¡°Back to the main topic. This place is definitely related to our sect. Everything, even down to the name, is too similar.¡± Kai paced around the room, his hand idly rubbing at the stubble on his chin. ¡°What if other tokens were used in the past? If they were used to bring previous disciples here, that could explain everything!¡± A tired sigh echoed in Kai¡¯s mind. [You¡¯re the sixth person who joined the sect. Who before you do you think could¡¯ve come over here to create this place?] Ah. Before I joined, the only members of the sect were Enla, Edwin, Dwight- the third disciple, and Lilli, the fourth disciple. Aside from them and the sect¡¯s founder, who is buried on sect grounds, there weren¡¯t any other members before me. There wasn¡¯t anyone from the sect that could¡¯ve come over to this world in the past. The opposite, though¡­ It actually makes a lot of sense. The runes back home, the unknown ruby material, and how a tiny sect like ours could have a bunch of disciples whose talent could topple the ranks of sects hundreds of times our size. Halia and I were the only outliers among the core disciples¡­ Kia¡¯s expression darkened a bit as he slumped back against the wall behind him. Or rather, just me. She isn¡¯t normal either. Me, on the other hand¡­ [Hey, are you mad at me for not telling you right away when I figured it out? Hmph, it¡¯s only natural that the one who hid in the sect researching and learning instead of being able to go out and explore without worrying about dying to a random beast would figure it out first.] The dripping bitterness in Halia¡¯s tone only plunged Kai deeper into his own mind. Right. If she¡¯d had a constitution that could support cultivation, Halia wouldn¡¯t have been stuck in the sect doing research. She might¡¯ve even been the one slated to lead the sect in the future... ¡°...Sorry.¡± Kai¡¯s mind went silent for almost a minute as his mind continued to stew progressively more uncertain thoughts. Eventually, Halia spoke up again. [It¡¯s alright. People tire me out quickly, I could never deal with all of the competitions and political stuff you handled for the sect. I¡¯m sure even if I got to go out and adventure, I¡¯d end up wanting to go back to researching most of the time anyway.] Halia¡¯s voice started to regain its normal playfulness as she continued. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it [Besides, playing support for the famed first disciple sounds like a good time. It¡¯s a good change of pace to be able to bug someone who tries to seem mature.] ¡°Tries? I am!¡± Kai¡¯s previously depressed expression turned into a scowl as Halia cackled mischievously in his mind. Hmph, I apologize to her, and she just goes right back to trying to make fun of me?! I don¡¯t even know why I was feeling bad before. Halia wouldn¡¯t¡¯ve been able to replace me, even if she could cultivate. I¡¯m still the only one who¡¯s mature enough to lead our sect! [Right, I was going to work on fixing your robes. I¡¯m pretty sure I will figure out a spell for them with a bit more help from Brewan.. After that, I¡¯m going to start learning more magic!] Kai could practically feel the excitement returning to her voice as she refocused on her pursuit of magical knowledge. It¡¯s almost like she has two states of being. She¡¯s either resolutely focused on her research, or doing her best to annoy and embarrass me. Or both. Still, a small grin couldn¡¯t help but linger in the corner of Kai¡¯s mouth. Even if talking to Halia made him perpetually rub at the bridge of his nose, her positivity was infectious. Somehow, listening to her swept away all of the self-doubts that threatened to creep into Kai¡¯s mind. Maybe it wasn¡¯t so bad to have her around. ¡°This time, I¡¯ll try to show you more of the world.¡± [Eh?] ¡°It was a bit like you were trapped at the sect before, right? Even if you liked researching, I know you also loved it whenever we went out into the wilderness with the other disciples.¡± [Thanks¡­ I am kind of a necklace right now, though. I¡¯m stuck with you anyway.] Kai glanced down at the ruby stone resting against his chest, his cheeks heating up a bit as he realized how useless his statement had been. ¡°O- obviously that¡¯s why I said it!¡± [Sure. I definitely believe you.] Kai tried and failed to ignore Halia chuckling in his mind as he stomped back to the sleeping classroom. Hmph, and now she¡¯s right back to being annoying. ¡°Here, take this!¡± Pulling the necklace off his neck, Kai thrust it over toward Brewan. ¡°I¡¯m going outside to fill up the water flasks!¡± After having Halia stuck chattering inside his mind for almost a week straight, Kai needed a break. Even when Brewan was holding the necklace as they researched, he still had to listen to one side of the conversation. I¡¯m strong enough now, I don¡¯t need to worry about the monsters around the academy. Most of the remaining work Halia had to do on her robe repairing spell would require the help of Brewan, not Kai. For the time being, he knew that his part in the research would likely just be listening to Brewan¡¯s half of the conversation and occasionally providing some of his mana for Halia to experiment with. After passing the necklace to Brewan, Kai headed for the room with the broken window. Even a week later, they were still using the window to get in and out of the building. ¡°At least there aren¡¯t any more glass shards lying around.¡± Kai¡¯s feet hardly made any noise against the floor as he leapt through the window with much more ease than a week ago. Outside, the sun was close to touching the western horizon, and it wouldn¡¯t be too much longer before darkness would come for the academy. ¡°Aah, this feels nice.¡± Kai rolled his shoulders as he took in a deep breath. Sweet, early autumn air. A faint breeze peacefully brushing the overgrown grass before rippling through the nearby forest¡¯s leaves. Somewhere in the distance, the faint trickle of the stream. ¡°After this week¡­ walking around alone almost feels nostalgic.¡± Kai chuckled to himself as he started strolling toward the top of the hill overlooking the academy. He felt confident in defeating any of the monsters they¡¯d commonly seen around the academy grounds on his own, but he wasn¡¯t going to completely forsake common sense. The view from the top of the hill was even better than on Kai¡¯s walk up it. The wind ruffled his dark, flowing hair as he scanned the surroundings before finding a decent spot to sit down. ¡°It¡¯s so¡­ empty.¡± Kai softly spoke to himself as his eyes swept over the abandoned academy and the rotting town below it. Kai got the same eerie feeling every time they left the academy classroom, but it was even worse now that he was alone. The sensation of aloneness was enough to choke out the comfort he got from the peaceful sound of the wind. It was stifling. I almost wish I had Halia still chattering in my mind. Even if it would drown out the sound of nature- Kai froze. The leaves that¡¯d been softly rippling in the breeze were silent, and the peaceful churning of the stream was silent. Out of the corner of his eye, Kai could still see the top of the treeline swaying, but the leaves¡¯ sound didn¡¯t reach him. All that was left was the eerie sensation of loneliness, prickling at the back of his neck. It was almost the exact same as the sensation of being watched- ¡°Shit!¡± Kai leapt to his feet, drawing the ruby sword and spinning to face the incoming foe. A hulking, shadowy figure seemed to appear from mid-air just a couple meters away from Kai. His eyes flickered with terror as he instantly recognized the beast. Deep Ursine! This thing is tier 2! The one charging at Kai now was considerably smaller than the one he¡¯d seen fall to the terror bird previously, but that wasn¡¯t the only difference. A thick black fog trailed over the bear¡¯s shoulders as it charged toward Kai, and even more mist was concentrated around its head. Halia wasn¡¯t there to check its exact mana level, but Kai was already certain that this wasn¡¯t a battle he could win. Tier 1 beasts couldn¡¯t use any magic, and whatever the black mist was, it was definitely magical in nature. The bear was already too close for Kai to dodge its strike, so he could only brace himself for the impact and try to use the sword to block. What felt like a mountain of muscle crashed into Kai, and he felt something in his arm crack as his guard crumbled. Just like when the terror bird struck him the previous time, Kai was thrown backward, his improved strength from leveling meaning nothing before a vastly more powerful beast. This time, there wasn¡¯t a rotting wooden door to act as a cushion for his fall. Kai had already been positioned at the edge of the hill, so the bear¡¯s attack easily threw him over the edge. ¡°Aaaargh!¡± Kai¡¯s injured arm slammed heavily into the hillside, and he tucked himself into a ball as he rolled toward the bottom of the hill. Instead of trying to stop his tumbling, Kai squeezed his eyes shut and tried to estimate how far it was to the bottom. As he neared the bottom, the sound of Kai¡¯s own body tumbling over the dirt somehow started growing quiet to his own ears. Shit, it¡¯s coming again! Kai broke out of his roll and tried to dodge to the side to avoid the bear¡¯s next strike, but his body failed him. After tumbling down most of the hill¡¯s length, Kai could hardly tell which direction was up. Even when he opened his eyes, he barely managed to take a couple steps before stumbling and starting to roll again. Strangely, though, there was no impact. The sounds entering Kai¡¯s ears continued to dim, but the bear didn¡¯t lunge forward again. It didn¡¯t even seem to be chasing after him. Where did this thing go now?! I definitely should¡¯ve noticed it sneaking up way sooner before, and it¡¯s gone again. If the strong sensation of being watched and Kai¡¯s continuously dimming sense of hearing was anything to go off, though, the bear definitely wasn¡¯t planning on letting go of its prey. CH-12 Moonlight Slash I need to get to the classrooms. Kai¡¯s roll was starting to slow down as he reached the bottom of the hill, and he jumped back up to his feet. After swaying around dizzily for a few seconds, he regained his balance and started sprinting toward the brick buildings. Before he could cross hardly any ground, the deafness affecting Kai¡¯s ears intensified by another level, until he could only hear the rapid thrumming of his own heartbeat. Kai immediately pivoted, dodging an attack he couldn¡¯t even see coming. This time, it saved his life. The bear seemed to appear out of thin air in Kai¡¯s peripheral vision, its vicious claws narrowly missing his robes as it charged forward again. He vaguely noticed that the amount of black mist trailing over its shoulders seemed to be thinner than before, but he didn¡¯t have time to take a close look. The stream was only a few meters away, and behind it, the temple and the brick classrooms. Kai leapt over the flowing water, his forehead creasing as he noticed the sound once again disappearing from his world. He could only faintly hear a deep thumping noise as the bear jumped over the stream as it chased him. This time, the bear didn¡¯t wait for Kai to go fully deaf before attacking. The young man¡¯s instincts screamed at him before he could even reach the temple¡¯s pillars, and he dove to the side, once again narrowly avoiding the bear¡¯s rending claws. Kai immediately rolled back to his feet, but his face darkened as he looked up. The bear was now directly between him and the classrooms. ¡°Alright, if a fight¡¯s what you want, it¡¯s what you¡¯ll get!¡± Kai swapped his sword over to his good arm, then pointed the tip at his foe. The bear seemed entirely unperturbed, its soulless eyes glaring down at Kai as if he were a morsel of food. Instead of waiting for it to charge again, Kai let out a battle cry and ran toward his enemy. The bear flinched as Kai¡¯s voice rang through the academy. It recovered almost immediately, but there was enough of an opening for the ruby sword to sneak past the bear¡¯s massive paws and score a hit on its shoulder. Shit. I can¡¯t even break its hide! Kai¡¯s expression fell as he dodged away from the bear¡¯s counter strike. Aside from trimming a few of the beast¡¯s pitch black hairs and giving it a wound comparable to a paper cut, his attack was entirely ineffective. He couldn¡¯t even use the opportunity to sneak past and make another break for the classrooms, as the bear swiftly moved to block his path. Somewhere deep in its emotionless eyes, enough intelligence lingered to understand what Kai¡¯s intentions were. If I could only use my Qi techniques from back home¡­ Wait, can I? Now that I don¡¯t have Halia the parasite on me, I have access to all of the mana she was using before. If it works similar to Qi¡­ Kai tightened his stance again, letting out a controlled breath as he tried to focus within himself. After having been a cultivator for nearly a decade, it was a simple task for Kai to find and start manipulating his mana. I only need to make it to the classrooms, this beast might give up on chasing me there. A movement technique should do the job! Kai started forcing the mana down into his legs, trying to emulate a popular technique from back in the cultivation world. Almost immediately, he realized that something was wrong. Instead of seeping into his muscles and letting him make a mad dash forward, the mana just sat there. Crap, how do I use this stuff?! This technique isn¡¯t working at all! The bear noticed that Kai seemed to be doing something unusual, and Kai had to give up on manipulating his mana as he dodged away from another of its charges. This time, the bear anticipated which direction he would run in, and its paw landed a glancing blow on Kai¡¯s sword. ¡°Uff!¡± Kai was thrown a couple meters back, the overgrown grass doing little to cushion the impact as his back slammed into the ground. Kai immediately got back up and retreated a few more steps, but his back bumped into something. The pillars of the temple were now directly behind him. This would be great if this thing was only as strong as the deer, but a huge bear like this can probably demolish the entire temple! Still, Kai backed into the relative safety behind the cracked stone pillars. Once again, he tried to focus his mana into his legs, but his movement technique refused to work with the mana. After a few more seconds, Kai gave up on it and started searching for other ways to survive. He didn¡¯t want to take his eyes off of the bear for even a moment, lest it activate its magic and escape from his senses again. Is there anything I can use? We already explored the other wooden storage buildings, there¡¯s nothing useful there. In the temple itself, there¡¯s just a bunch of chunks of rubble and a few statues. I doubt throwing rocks at this thing will help. A tiny spark flickered in Kai¡¯s eye as he thought of something. Wait, the statues! If my theory from before was right, and there really is a connection between our sect and this world, what about the techniques created by the sect¡¯s founder? Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Kai reached for his mana again, this time driving it through his arms and into the ruby sword. Unlike when he tried to use the movement technique, the mana easily surged through his veins before gathering in his sword. It¡¯s working! The Moonlight Sword Technique almost feels more natural using it like this than it did back at the sect! A small grin started to grow on Kai¡¯s face as he charged back out of the temple, kicking off against the crushed stone rubble. The bear was just as ready to fight as Kai was, and reared up on its hind legs to meet his charge. Kai ducked under its outstretched claws, narrowly avoiding having his scalp raked off as he dove under the beast. The bear¡¯s muscles immediately tensed again as it thrust itself down, trying to crush Kai under its weight. Once again, it was just a bit too slow, slamming into the earth in the moment after Kai slid out from under it. Perfect. I¡¯m glad this thing still isn¡¯t nearly as smart as a human! Kai leapt at the bear, digging his sword into its side and climbing on top of its huge body. A few small clouds of the dark mana were still hanging over the beast¡¯s shoulders, but Kai paid them no heed. Before the bear could roll or buck him off of its back, Kai shuffled over to stand just behind its shoulders before raising his sword. All of the mana in his body surged into the ruby blade, making the sword give off a faint ruby glow. Far above, hanging in the slowly dimming evening sky, the moon seemed to glow brighter for a fraction of a second as Kai¡¯s blade swept down toward the bear¡¯s neck. The ruby blade sliced through the bear¡¯s impossibly tough hide and into its flesh before jarring to a halt. Kai didn¡¯t waste any time examining the damage from the strike, instead pulling back the blade, leaping off the bear¡¯s back, and immediately making a mad dash for the classrooms. He wasn¡¯t expecting to kill the bear with his attack. Even with all of his available mana put into a single strike, he knew that his chances of killing a tanky tier 2 beast were almost nil. Please, formation, don¡¯t be active! Kai didn¡¯t have enough time to run all of the way around to the side of the building to the window he normally used to enter the classrooms. He could only pray that he wouldn¡¯t be cut clean in half by the potentially still active formation at the entrance of the building. Kai ran through the doorway at full tilt, leaping over the pile of rubble left behind by the terror bird¡¯s assault on the building. Nothing happened to him. Yes! I¡¯m safe- CRASH! The already partially demolished doorway behind Kai exploded into a cloud of rubble and dust as the huge figure of the bear dove after the young man. The formation no longer being active let Kai run in without harm, but it also meant that there was no longer anything to stop beasts from invading the classrooms, either. Shit, what was I thinking?! If there''s no formation, there''s nothing to stop the bear either, and now it isn''t just me I have to worry about! ¡°Brewan! There¡¯s a tier 2 beast here!¡± Kai ran further into the building, narrowly dodging a few chunks of bricks thrown up by the bear¡¯s impact with the entrance. The bear only paused for a second before it started charging toward Kai again, its massive claws scratching deep grooves into the floor as it bounded forward. ¡°Stay away from the inner wall!¡± Kai jumped into the sleeping room and ran toward where Brewan and Sydney were standing in the far corner. Behind him, the bear annihilated yet another wall, combining the classroom with the hallway. ¡°It¡¯s a deep ursine, it has some kind of stealth magic!¡± Kai¡¯s eyes frantically scanned the cloud of dust created by the destruction of the classroom wall, but the bear was gone once again. ¡°What the hell is going on?!¡± Brewan¡¯s voice rapidly grew quieter as the mage fumbled through his robes, trying to grab his grimoire. It¡¯s using its magic on me again. We¡¯re in such a tight space now, there¡¯s hardly any room to dodge! ¡°Brewan, stay out of the way and protect Sydney. I¡¯ll try to lure it away!¡± Kai¡¯s eyes flickered toward the window as he dashed to the far corner of the room from where Brewan was standing. They already had come up with plans for what to do if the classroom building was breached. There were still two more buildings on the campus with potentially still active formations, so their primary plan was to lure the beast to one of them. Kai brandished his sword with his left hand, ready for the bear¡¯s next attack. All of the sound in the world was already gone. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Brewan¡¯s mouth moving. He couldn¡¯t hear anything, but his mind automatically tried to guess his words just based on the movement of his mouth. ¡°-- Can¡¯t - hear ¡ª¡± Shit, it might be targeting him too! A huge black figure leapt out of the cloud of dust just a couple meters in front of Brewan, bearing down on the thin mage. It was way too quick for Kai to respond. ¡°Counter.¡± A flash of golden light exploded in front of the bear, instantly dispelling both the bear¡¯s magic and its charge. The beast¡¯s massive frame was tossed to the side like a ragdoll, sending it crashing through the side of the classroom and back outside. ¡°It¡¯s not dead. In my current state, I don¡¯t think I can kill that thing. We need to run.¡± Kai stared in shock for a moment, his eyes traveling back and forth between the newly created hole in the wall and the man who had just created it. Sydney, the critically injured student he and Brewan had been protecting and feeding for the last week, was back on his feet. ¡°Kai, catch! Halia is telling me to give her back to you.¡± Kai put the ruby necklace back on and was immediately inundated with a torrent of messages from Halia. [What were you thinking?! Why would you go outside without me checking the area for beasts first? Were you trying to get yourself killed?!] [Also, this is a great opportunity. You need higher-quality mana to keep improving and getting stronger, and scoring a kill on a beast this strong will be huge!] Kai struggled to organize his thoughts and Halia¡¯s words in his mind as he ran back out into the hallway, with Brewan following him and Sydney limping behind. ¡°I already used all of my mana, and I barely managed to scratch that thing. Killing it is impossible, we¡¯ll be lucky just to survive.¡± [Fufu, or so you think.] [Deep Ursine- Level 20] [Sydney- Level 23] [Even if this guy is still injured, he is still stronger than the bear. You just saw him knock it straight through a wall. Combined with your and Brewan¡¯s teamwork, hunting this thing shouldn¡¯t be that difficult!] CH-13 Five In One Kai clenched his teeth as he glanced back at where the bear was standing back up. He couldn¡¯t see it clearly through the cloud of dust surrounding it, but it certainly didn¡¯t look too injured. Sydney¡¯s still too weak to take this thing on, and I don¡¯t think Brewan and I can make up the difference. Aside from fighting it, though¡­ There was nowhere else to go. They could try to run away, but aside from the single water flask on Kai¡¯s hip, they didn¡¯t have any of their supplies on them. The bear was already back on its feet and heading toward them, so whether they could actually run from it in the first place was still up in the air. ¡°Brewan, use a dispersion spell. I¡¯ll try to lure it into one of the other buildings.¡± Kai ran out in front of the bear, waving the ruby sword in the air to attract its attention. The beast responded immediately, shaking its head as it lumbered out of the pile of rubble. Its footsteps looked a bit less steady than before, and Kai could faintly make out a line of blood running down from the top of its neck. All of the black mist that¡¯d been hovering over its shoulders was now gone, but the beast was still menacing. It opened its maw like it was about to roar, but paused before any sound came out. Huh? Now that I think about it, this bear hasn¡¯t made hardly any noise since it attacked me. Is it just because of its magic, or- Kai didn¡¯t have a chance to finish theorizing, as the beast decided to make up for its lack of volume with violence. It lunged toward the young man, but there was enough distance between the two of them for Kai to quickly backpedal out into the clearing in the center of the academy. It continued chasing after Kai, but he continuously evaded it, luring it closer to the other two brick buildings. Without its magic, this thing really isn¡¯t that bad to fight. I¡¯m fast enough that as long as nothing goes wrong, it can¡¯t hit me. Heck, if it hadn¡¯t hit my right arm earlier, I might have tried to fight it with Halia¡¯s kiting technique. Or if I had enough mana to use the Moonlight Sword Technique again. [I have a new idea. Even if there isn¡¯t a formation on the door of the stables building, we should still be able to kill this beast.] Kai nodded and shifted his gaze over to the third building. It was only a few meters further away than the dormitory building, and with the bear already chasing after him, it wasn¡¯t too difficult to change his path. Kai heard an annoyed huffing noise from behind him as he pivoted again, dodging yet another of the bear¡¯s attacks and facing toward the stables building. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, bear? Getting tired already?¡± Kai did his best to hide his own breathlessness as he taunted the beast. It immediately leapt after him again, a bright fury glowing in its deep eyes. A small grin started to form on Kai¡¯s face as it picked up speed, heading right for the entrance of the stables. When he was only a meter from crashing through the rotting wooden doors of the building, Kai pivoted again, jumping out of the bear¡¯s path. It¡¯s too simple to lead a beast into a trap. Kai waited for the sound of the massive bear crashing through the doors, but it didn¡¯t come. Confused, he started to turn around, but a massive weight slammed into him, sending him crashing into the side of the building. ¡°Wh- what the hell?¡± Kai feebly climbed back to his feet, the entire right side of his body burning with pain. His right arm hung limply, the already injured appendage having absorbed most of the impact. In front of the doors, the bear turned toward Kai, its eyes shining with a mocking intelligence. Behind it there were streaks of grass torn from the ground, starting multiple meters back. Shit. I forgot what Brewan said before. The beasts here start getting a lot smarter after the first tier. A bear of comparable strength back home would¡¯ve fallen for a trap like this, but the ones here are smarter. Still, a small smile couldn¡¯t help but grow on Kai¡¯s face as he stumbled away from the giant bear. I¡¯m lucky I learned this right now, while I have people to back me up. ¡°Fireball!¡± Brewan stepped out from behind some brush in the clearing, a blazing light hovering over the grimoire clutched in his grip. The ball of flame rocketed toward the bear before exploding against its snout with a force incomparable to a week ago. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Nothing about Brewan¡¯s fireball now could be evaluated with the same ¡®awfully weak¡¯ Halia had given it when he used it on the first boar the duo had encountered. The force of the blast rocked the bear on its feet, nearly making it stumble into the doors of the stables. Before the bear could regain its balance, Sydney stepped in to make his attack. The knight trainee had clearly been told their plan by Brewan. Using the dispersion spell cast by Brewan earlier, he was able to stay close to the fight without being noticed. Even with a heavy limp, he was able to close the distance before the bear could react. All of the power of a strength-focused level 23 knight slammed into the bear. It hit even harder than his previous counter attack in the classroom building. The rotting wooden doors exploded into tiny chunks as the bear was catapulted through them. The massive beast was thrown almost a dozen meters into the abandoned stables, kicking up a thick wall of dust. There was no clean cut appearing on the beast¡¯s body, though. Despite the entire entryway being destroyed, no formation was activated to attack the bear. [Quick, tell Brewan to send another fireball in there! All of the dust in there is probably from straw and wood because of the stables.] Kai frowned as he tried to figure out what the composition of the dust had to do with anything, but he still relayed the instructions to Brewan. [Right, and back up too. If I¡¯m right, the blast from this is going to be huge!] Kai and Sydney both limped away from the side of the building, and following Halia¡¯s instructions, Brewan shot another fireball after the bear. BOOM!! An earth-shaking explosion ripped through the bottom floor of the stables, followed almost immediately by a second one as the upper floors were rocked by a similarly powerful blast. Every window on the building exploded, along with chunks of bricks and other rubble. [Yeaa!! Explosion!] Kai was almost knocked from his feet by the shockwave. ¡°How the¡­ did Brewan become a tier 5 mage when I wasn¡¯t looking?¡± [Dust explosion! I told you it wouldn¡¯t be good if you lit a fire in a really dusty area before. After thinking about it more, though, I realized this probably wouldn¡¯t happen in the classrooms. The explosion is only so big here because of the wood dust from the stables. Heh, and everyone said we¡¯d never use this in real life.] On the other side of the clearing, Brewan looked similarly shocked at the effects of his attack. He hadn¡¯t completely leveled the building, but it wasn¡¯t far off. If not for the sturdy brick construction, they would be looking at a pile of rubble now. [Also, - wait, how is this thing still alive? That is one tenacious bear. It isn¡¯t moving at all though. You should go in and finish it, if you get the last hit before it dies, you can absorb a ton of mana.] Kai looked skeptically at the building in front of him. Even if the bear wasn¡¯t in a fighting state anymore, just entering the building looked dangerous. There weren¡¯t any lingering flames from the explosion, but the structure itself looked like it could collapse at any moment. [C¡¯mon, you¡¯ll get way stronger. Even if the building starts to collapse, I can use the mana you gain from the bear to save you.] The notion of getting stronger finally motivated Kai enough to limp forward through the gaping hole where the doors once were. The air within the building was considerably warmer than outside, and all of the walls were blackened from the blast. In the center of the room, the crumpled and scorched figure of the bear lay limply on the ground. Kai could hear the footsteps of his two teammates following him inside as he stumbled toward the bear. Now that his adrenaline was starting to run off, the pain shooting from his right side was even worse than before. ¡°Halia, don¡¯t use all of my mana to make me stronger. I need some to use the techniques from back at the sect.¡± Kai raised the ruby sword in his left hand, then thrust it down at the already gaping wound in the back of the bear¡¯s neck. The beast shuddered once, then went still. [You reached Level 14!] [Mana +25!] [Mana -10, Strength +10.] [Kai- Lvl 9 -> 14] [Strength: 45 -> 55] [Mana: 14 -> 29] Kai¡¯s level shot up five times at once as the ruby sword turned the bear¡¯s massive mana reservoirs into Kai¡¯s own. New strength rushed through his muscles, and Kai stood up a little straighter. It wasn¡¯t enough to completely combat the fatigue he was feeling from the fight, but it helped. ¡°Hey, look over here. There¡¯s some kind of passageway under the floor.¡± Near the corner of the room, Brewan was kneeling down as he examined a destroyed portion of the floor. The dust explosion has destroyed large portions of the floor, revealing a passageway hidden beneath it. ¡°Hey. Don¡¯t be too curious. That¡¯s how people end up dead.¡± Sydney pulled Brewan back from the hole, then glanced over at Kai. ¡°There could still be more formations active in a place like this, just because the bear didn¡¯t trigger any doesn¡¯t mean we won¡¯t. For now, we should go back to the building we were in before and spend some time recovering. Both of us are too injured to make a break for a settlement right now.¡± Kai nodded along with Sydney¡¯s words. He was pretty sure his right arm was broken. [Shit. This is not good.] ¡°Huh? My arm?¡± [No. We have bigger problems.] [Terror Bird- Level 30] Kai froze as he stared at the blue box hovering in front of him. [It¡¯s on the outskirts of the academy still, but it¡¯s heading here fast. Also¡­] ¡°Tier 3.¡± Kai muttered under his breath, and his teammates looked over at him. ¡°The terror bird from before. Halia just detected its mana, coming right towards us. It¡¯s tier 3 now.¡± CH-14 Hidden Chamber Tier 1 beasts didn¡¯t pose much of a problem for Kai¡¯s group anymore. He and Brewan could easily defeat them, and Sydney would be able to crush them even with his injuries. Tier 2 beasts still outmatched them, even a weak one like the bear nearly pushed them over the edge. The group had no chance at putting up a fight against the newly tier 3 terror bird. Kai and Brewan only managed to survive their previous encounter with it thanks to a leftover formation, a formation that was now gone. [We have three options that I can think of. There could still be a formation active in the second brick building, the one with the dorm rooms in it. We should be able to make it inside before the terror bird arrives. Second, Brewan could try using a dispersion spell, and we make a break for the woods.] Kai glanced over at Sydney¡¯s bandaged leg, the pain in his own right side throbbing as he frowned. I highly doubt we can run. Even if we did, there¡¯s a chance we run into another tier 2 beast out there, and end up dead anyway. ¡°How about option three?¡± [That passageway under the floor by Brewan. It could be small and a dead end, but my gut is telling me that we have a fair chance if we try hiding in there. As long as you don¡¯t get diced up by a formation, that is.] ¡°What a comforting thought. Brewan, Sydney, do either of you have any ideas?¡± Both of Kai¡¯s companions shook their heads, and Kai relayed Halia¡¯s escape ideas to them. ¡°The passageway is probably our best bet. I¡¯ll take the lead, stay far enough behind me so that if a formation activates, the two of you won¡¯t be hurt.¡± Sydney limped over to the dark hole in the ground as he spoke. Sydney is offering to go first? Why? In my entire life, I¡¯ve never seen a cultivator who would willingly risk their life to give a stranger a higher chance at surviving. Even I wouldn¡¯t have stayed here to help him if I couldn¡¯t grow stronger hunting beasts. Kai wanted to ask the knight trainee why he would volunteer himself, but Sydney was already disappearing below the floor. There were a few muffled grunts as he tried to start navigating in the pitch-black tunnel, followed by a short affirmation that at least the entrance of the passageway was safe. Kai jumped down after him, with Brewan in the back. None of them had any available light sources aside from fire, and despite it being considerably less dusty within the tunnel than it had been in the main part of the brick building, none of them wanted to risk another explosion. Looking at the damage above, everyone knew that they would stand no chance at survival in the event of another explosion. ¡°Uff- Why does this thing keep turning?¡± There was a scratching noise as Sydney seemingly caught himself against one of the dirt walls of the passage, followed by more muffled cursing. ¡°Watch your step, there are stairs here. I nearly just did a Golal.¡± There was a muffled laugh from behind Kai at Sydney¡¯s words. ¡°What does Golal mean?¡± Brewan was the one to answer, letting out another chuckle as they continued walking deeper into the darkness. ¡°Professor Golal, one of the senior mages at Hillhold. He fell down the stairs during an announcement ceremony, and has become a legend ever since.¡± If I tripped in front of my sect members, would they turn it into a joke? Halia would probably try to¡­ ¡°You didn¡¯t even tell him the funny part. Professor Golal is a tier 4 mage, one of the strongest in the whole academy. Guess what his specialization is.¡± Kai thought for a few moments, but nothing came to mind. ¡°He¡¯s a wind mage focused on flight! Not falling down! He used to brag about it endlessly to both students and the other teachers, that one made it so much better when he tripped and fell.¡± Kai wasn¡¯t sure what to think of the impromptu lesson on the culture of Hillhold Academy, but it was a lot better than walking silently down an unknown number of stairs. Hearing Sydney¡¯s voice ahead also helped him gauge their distance apart, as well as if anything had happened to the leading man. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°There¡¯s even a few rumors being spread around that one of the other professors secretly tripped him, but I¡¯ve never seen any evidence. Golal definitely wasn¡¯t in the ¡®in¡¯ with the academy politics, though so it wouldn¡¯t surprise me that much if the rumors were true.¡± Kai¡¯s ears perked up at the mention of information that might be more useful to him. He still had next to no knowledge as to how the remaining settlements and academies in this world were structured. ¡°Are the internal politics in your academy pretty bad? I only talked to Brewan about it a little the past few days.¡± Up ahead, Sydney bumped into another wall, then cursed a couple times before responding. ¡°The pathway straightens out again down here, and yes. There are two main factions, and unfortunately, the bad one is way more influential. They''re mostly made up of people whose families were already members of the academy before the beast tide hit. A lot of the professors are part of it, as well as most of the talented students.¡± Kai reached the bottom of the stairs as he listened, then continued following Sydney down the tunnel. They¡¯d already been walking for multiple minutes- the passage was way longer than they expected. There was no way for the terror bird to fit underground, and they were definitely safe from its threat, so Kai wasn¡¯t sure why Sydney was continuing on. ¡°I¡¯m part of the second faction. Almost all of us are people who lost their homes during the beast tide, but had enough potential to become mages and were accepted as students. There are also some students recruited from nearby settlements, but they are split pretty evenly between the two factions.¡± Kai heard Sydney¡¯s footsteps pause, and he stopped too. ¡°We both have the same goal- Humanity to survive and take back what we once had. Our Mint faction just wants it more, while the Heritage faction seems more concerned about preserving their internal positions.¡± Sydney still wasn¡¯t walking forward, and Kai could instead hear him brushing his hands against the walls. After a few moments, a bright light lit up in the passage way ahead, making Kai shield his eyes. ¡°There really is something down here!¡± Once Kai¡¯s eyes finally adapted to there being light in the world once more, he peered past Sydney to see what was going on. Up ahead, the narrow dirt tunnel opened up into a room. On the walls by the entrance there were a pair of white glowing rocks, giving off an impressive amount of light for their size. [There¡¯s another similar one right by Sydney¡¯s hand. It¡¯s almost like a light switch.] ¡°We are really deep right now. Whoever dug this tunnel didn¡¯t want the room in front of us to be sensed by anyone, it¡¯s deep enough that even high-tier mages wouldn¡¯t be able to detect it.¡± Sydney took a deep breath, then looked back at Kai and Brewan. ¡°If we activate a formation and I get caught in it, back out immediately. Whatever secrets are hidden here could be too important to be lost here with us.¡± Sydney steeled himself, then limped forward into the room. Either whatever defensive formation had been protecting the place had burnt out over the last decade, or there weren¡¯t any in the first place, because nothing happened to the knight trainee. After waiting a few moments for Sydney to explore inside, Kai and Brewan followed after him. The previous dirt walls and floor of the tunnel became smooth, hard stone. In the center of the space, there was a circular stone table encircled by a bench-like seat. There were also a few doors on the far wall, all of them left hanging open. [It looks like some kind of meeting room, maybe? It feels a bit odd to have an entire room with just a single table in it.] Kai nodded, then followed Sydney over to one of the open doors. ¡°Eh? Another stable?¡± A mound of decayed straw took up half the room, blackened by time. Within the rotting material, Kai could faintly make out a few flecks of a different material. ¡°I don¡¯t think so, there aren¡¯t any stalls or fences¡­ maybe it¡¯s a nursery?¡± Sydney stooped down, grabbing a small piece of the non-straw material. ¡°It looks like an egg shell. This might have been a nursery to hatch eggs, but why? Wouldn¡¯t it be a lot more work to raise birds down here compared to the stables up above?¡± The duo looked around the room more, but they weren¡¯t able to discover anything else of use. ¡°Guys, come check over here. I think something happened in this room.¡± Brewan¡¯s voice echoed from the next room over, and the other two men headed over to see what he¡¯d found. There was another table, but this time it was against the wall of the room, and there was no bench next to it. Instead of being made from the same gray stone as the rest of the room, the table was made from wood. It didn¡¯t look to have decayed at all. The corner of the room was blackened, as if there had been consistent fires over a long period of time. There was a hole under the scorched ceiling and wall, leading to further darkness. Well, this looks weird. That table looks just like a butcher block that mortals would use in the villages around our sect. Judging by the color and the cuts on it, it looks like it definitely got quite a bit of use, too. Kai leaned over as he examined the table, then glanced back over at the room he previously looked at. Were our sect¡¯s predecessors running an underground bird farm, or are these two rooms not related? I highly doubt the people of this world are all vegetarians, so why would they even need to hide this place? Brewan poked his head down into the hole under the scorch marks, then recoiled while waving his hand in front of his nose. After a second, he sneezed. ¡°Man is it dusty down there. It doesn¡¯t look like it goes down much further either, there¡¯s just a really dusty crawlspace.¡± After exploring around for a bit, the trio headed for the fourth and final room in the underground space. It was considerably smaller than the other three, but as soon as he walked in, Kai froze. The room was unimpressive. It was just as bland and gray as the others. There wasn¡¯t even a table like in the first room. The only feature that set it aside from being a plain, empty box was a uniquely shaped notch in the far wall. ¡°Halia, that hole, it¡¯s the exact same shape as the tokens, right?¡± If Kai had one of the sect founder¡¯s tokens- the ones that let them escape from the phoenix and arrive in this world- it would fit exactly into the slot in front of him. CH-15 Flee If the name of this academy being the same already didn¡¯t, then this would confirm it. This place is definitely related to the sect, and we aren¡¯t the first ones from it to travel between the two worlds. The trio continued exploring around the underground rooms, hoping to find something useful to evade the phoenix, and as Kai walked, he speculated about his sect¡¯s position in this world. From What Sydney said before, it sounds like they might¡¯ve had some influence in the past, but were wiped out in the beast wave. He sounded surprised that there was no mention of the academy here in Hillhold¡¯s library, though¡­ It¡¯s possible it¡¯s just a consequence of the beast tide¡¯s destruction. The trio searched around, but they¡¯d already entered every room, and everything was just as empty and barren as the first time they looked around. There was nothing they could use to combat the terror bird outside. ¡°Well, since we used a dispersion spell before running down here, I doubt the beast up there knows this is where we fled to. If we wait for a while for it to leave, we should be fine to sneak away.¡± Sydney looked over at Kai¡¯s injured arm as he spoke. ¡°I know a very basic spell to boost recovery. If you¡¯re able to learn it quickly, you might be able to recover in just a day or two. I should be able to recover enough by then as well.¡± [It shouldn¡¯t be a problem for me, I¡¯ve actually been working on a spell for recovery at the same time as we were researching how to repair your robes. I doubt that I¡¯ll have any trouble understanding Sydney¡¯s spell.] After chatting for a few more minutes, the trio fleshed out their plan. They didn¡¯t have any food with them, but Kai had their partially-full water flasks on him. It was enough for them to hide and recover underground for the next two days, hopefully getting Kai and Sydney back close to top condition. After that, they would make a break for the nearby settlement of Talonia. The highest ranked mages and knights there were only tier 2, and didn¡¯t stand much of a chance against the terror bird. If it led a beast tide in the settlement¡¯s direction, the roughly hundred people living there could be completely wiped out. ¡°Everyone there is in danger until the bird is taken care of. After we warn Talonia that it¡¯s in the area, we¡¯ll head straight back to Hillhold.¡± After making their plans, the trio¡¯s conversation started to wander. Sydney finally heard Kai¡¯s backstory, and even got to talk to Halia, but he was surprisingly unbothered by the mystery surrounding them. In his eyes, anyone who would stand against the beasts was already a friend. Aside from chatting with each other, there wasn¡¯t much to do in the featureless underground space. They tried to take another look into the crawlspace in the ¡®butcher room¡¯, but once again found it to be empty of anything useful. It was just filled with an unfathomable amount of dust. Sleeping was a near-impossibility with how hard the floors were, especially considering how they didn¡¯t have any of the cushions they had grown used to sleeping on. Knowing how much time had passed was also nearly impossible, and the group ended up just waiting until their injuries had healed enough not to inhibit them in battle. If there was one positive thing that came from hiding out underground, it was that Kai¡¯s robes were finally repaired. They went from raggedy, stained, and torn back to their original pristine white majesty. Halia also used the spell to repair Brewan and Sydney¡¯s clothing, but neither of them could hold a candle to Kai¡¯s revamped appearance. The cold, regal otherworldly young master reappeared in the world of magic. Paired with the ruby sword that glittered in the morning sun as the trio crawled back above ground, Kai almost looked mythical. The moment they climbed out of the passageway, though, Brewan and Sydney¡¯s gazes were everywhere but on Kai. ¡°Didn¡¯t there used to be a building here?¡± The first sign of a problem was that there was sunlight shining down the entrance of the passageway. When they climbed outside, they could see the full scope of the destruction around them. The brick stables building was leveled into rubble. The classroom building wasn¡¯t faring much better, only having one wall remaining upright, while the rest had all been turned into mounds of destroyed bricks. Stationed directly between the two destroyed structures, the brick dorm building somehow looked relatively unharmed. There were a few new scorch marks blackening its walls on either side, but the building itself hadn¡¯t sustained any major damage. The same couldn¡¯t be said for the temple and the wooden storage buildings attached to it. The already decrepit pillars were now just a bunch of cracked stones and rubble, and three sizable piles of still-warm ash sat to the side. ¡°Wow. That thing was not happy that it couldn¡¯t find us.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Yea, that¡¯s an understatement.¡± Kai walked over to the rubble pile that once was the temple, then looked down at the pile of ash to its side. Marks clearly resembling the feet of a huge bird were left in the ash. These ashes are still warm, but it¡¯s probably been quite some time since the fire started. Even if that bird has fire magic stronger than Brewan¡¯s, it wouldn¡¯t be able to destroy these buildings in an instant, so these probably took some time to burn. The trio only took a few minutes to refill their water flasks and examine the damage to the academy before they departed for Talonia. They skirted around the surprisingly still intact town below the academy, then cut through the woods on a direct path for the nearby settlement. Kai was initially worried about running into too many beasts, but after the group had walked for nearly an hour, they still hadn¡¯t seen even the shadow of a single one. Even Halia only managed to vaguely sense a couple weak ones hiding away in underground burrows. Somehow, the absence of dangerous beasts tickled the hairs on the back of Kai¡¯s neck more than running into a bunch of them would have. It was clear that he wasn¡¯t the only one on edge in their group. ¡°The terror bird might already be gathering a beast tide. Normally we¡¯d be running into monsters left and right.¡± Just as Sydney finished talking, Halia finally detected something. [There¡¯s a beast straight ahead, coming right our way. It¡¯s a strong tier 1, probably around level 16. I can¡¯t sense anything else¡­ I think it¡¯s alone.] Kai drew his sword, getting into a battle stance. I didn¡¯t have a chance to really test how much stronger my attacks were using the Moonlight Sword Technique when I was fighting the bear. I got a lot stronger from beating it, too. Kai¡¯s mana started to flow into his sword as Halia called out the beast¡¯s rapidly decreasing distance away. Both Brewan and Sydney also got ready to attack as the beast burst into the small clearing they were standing in, but Kai jumped in to fight before they had a chance to do anything. A large boar charged into the clearing, not slowing down at all even as it saw the three humans in front of it. There was already a long, fresh scar scored on its back, and Kai could see fear shining in its eyes. It looks like it¡¯s running away from something, not trying to attack us. Kai brushed away the thought and leapt forward to strike the beast. Halia still couldn¡¯t detect anything else coming this way, and Kai felt no guilt at killing a beast even if it wasn¡¯t trying to end his life. Mana surged through the ruby sword as Kai swung it towards the boar¡¯s neck, making the serene blade emanate a faint crimson glow. It left behind a thin line in the air as Kai swept his sword downwards. He didn¡¯t feel any resistance. Shit, did I somehow miss it? Does this boar somehow have illusion magic, and dodged my strike- Kai whirled around to face the beast, but stopped as he saw its body go limp. The boar¡¯s body slid for a couple meters before coming to a halt. A thin line of blood leaked from its neck, right where Kai had been aiming his strike. [Heh. I told you that this sword is really sharp.] Kai¡¯s left eye twitched as he felt mana running into his body through the ruby sword. Without the technique, it was still a bit tough to cut through the hide of a similar-level boar. With it, it¡¯s like slicing through warm butter! Sydney and Brewan were also staring at Kai as if he were a monster. Humans were supposed to have an advantage over tier 1 beasts because of their superior intellect, not by one-shotting them. It was especially unbelievable for Brewan, who knew that Kai hardly had any mana whatsoever just a week before. Humans could rapidly improve their strength in stressful and dangerous situations- Brewan¡¯s own improvement was a testament to that- but Kai¡¯s improvement was just too outrageous. [Hey, don¡¯t get overconfident. You only have enough mana to do that three times.] [Mana: 19/29] Kai frowned as he looked at the blue numbers floating in the air. So far, he¡¯d been putting almost all of his stats into strength. Back in the sect, cultivating Qi increased his physical strength, and Kai wanted to go down the same route again. He¡¯d spend way too much time practicing with the sword to give up on it now. Unlike with Qi, though, he now had to make decisions as to how to develop his strength. Continuing to pump mana into his muscles would let him regain and possibly even surpass the strength he had as a cultivator, but it would also mean him missing out on magic. Kai didn¡¯t mind not being able to cast fireballs like Brewan, but being limited with his use of sword techniques was a serious concern. Also, if our sect¡¯s founder was originally from this world and managed to adapt the moonlight sword technique to work with Qi, is it possible for me to do the same for Qi techniques? If I could adapt a movement technique to work with mana, I could increase my combat strength twofold. ¡°Halia, what do you think about splitting my stats equally between mana and strength?¡± [With that sword¡­ I think it¡¯s probably worth it. I designed it with the moonlight sword technique specifically in mind, so even if you are losing out a bit on both magic and strength by splitting your stats, you probably won¡¯t have any issues with your attacks.] Kai¡¯s brow furrowed as he listened to Halia. Designed with the moonlight sword technique in mind? Halia claimed before that she made this sword for herself, but she doesn¡¯t even know that technique. Kai glanced down at the beautiful ruby blade. Well, even if she¡¯s lying about making it specifically for that technique, it does work really well. ¡°That beast was coming from the direction of Talonia¡­ the settlement might already be in trouble.¡± Kai was jolted out of his thoughts as Sydney leaned over the boar¡¯s corpse. Aside from his strike that ended the beast¡¯s life, there were multiple other marks on its pelt. Fresh wounds scarred its back, including one cut that looked too clean to have come from another beast¡¯s claws. ¡°They might already be under the assault of a beast wave.¡± Sydney let out a sigh as he turned and started walking again, his pace considerably faster than before. ¡°We can only hope that this is just a random beast that wandered too close to the settlement and was driven away.¡± CH-16 Lightning A few minutes later, the trio approached the outskirts of Talonia, and their hopes were immediately dashed. A thick cloud of dark gray smoke hung over what once was a small settlement, slowly being blown towards Kai¡¯s trio by a light breeze. Even before they exited the forest, the acrid scents of fire and blood wafted into the young men¡¯s noses. [I¡¯m starting to sense mana signatures up ahead, they¡¯re all within the settlement ahead. I¡¯m not noticing the terror bird, though.] Even without a tier 3 enemy present, Sydney didn¡¯t dare lead their group any closer to the settlement. From their position at the edge of the forest bordering the settlement, they could already see that the battle was already over. Along the perimeter of the small town, a few flames still licked over a scorched and trampled wooden wall, and there were many spots on it that had been completely trampled to the ground. All of the buildings near the walls on the western side of the settlement had similarly caught ablaze. In the gaps between the fire and ash, Kai could see multiple beats moving around as they fought over something. I can see at least two flesh eating deer, and a couple boars. All of them are bigger than the tier 1 ones we hunted over the last week¡­ ¡°Halia, can you see how strong they are?¡± She was silent for a few moments, and Kai glanced down at the ruby necklace. [Kai¡­ they are fighting over people¡¯s bodies. I- I think I see an arm hanging out of that boar¡¯s mouth¡­] Kai nodded, but his expression was dark. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what beasts do. It was the same back home. Without our and other sects hunting them, they would¡¯ve overrun every mortal town and village around us.¡± With how little Halia left the sect grounds, she probably never had the misfortune of seeing this much carnage. She was uncomfortable when I was cleaning the deer before, and there are dead human parts littered all over this town. I''ll need to make sure she''s alright once we get somewhere safe. Halia went quiet again, and Kai frowned as he looked back up at the wreckage of the settlement before them. Memories flickered through his mind, from a time before he found himself in this world. Before he started training with the sword, before he even joined the sect. Sparks flickered in the air like stars, and the thick smoke smothered his lungs. Scorched rubble was scattered everywhere, burying everything. A few meters beyond the flames, the figures of two beasts clashed with each other as they fought over someone. A spark flickered in front of his face, and the scene changed. Now, he had on white robes, and his hand clenched so tightly on his sword¡¯s grip that blood threatened to run between his knuckles. Before him, there was a small trader¡¯s caravan. The carriages were toppled over, and their tarps were haphazardly stained red. A bloodied hand hung out from one of the carts- ¡°We were too late.¡± Sydney¡¯s voice jolted Kai out of his memories, and he looked over as the knight trainee turned to walk back into the woods behind them. ¡°We¡¯ll head straight for Hillhold. There aren¡¯t any other settlements close to here, but we should get the news back quickly. It¡¯s not normal for a fresh tier 3 beast to immediately gather a beast wave and destroy a settlement. You ran into it when it was still at tier 2, right? Did you notice anything different about it?¡± The trio started moving again as Kai recalled his memories of their first day after arriving in this world. After fleeing to the academy grounds, he and Brewan sheltered in one of the wooden storage buildings. Kai¡¯d only peeked his head out for a few moments to try and see the source of the noise, and he hadn¡¯t been able to see the battle directly. ¡°I think there was a light shining down in the town when it fought the deep ursine. Given how much burnt stuff we¡¯ve found in its wake since then, it definitely was some kind of fire ability. It was injured by a formation when it chased us into the building you were sleeping in, and we never saw it after that.¡± Sydney nodded as he listened, but there wasn''t much they could do with the information for the time being. They could only hope that the seniors at Hillhold would have some use for it. Just as the trio was leaving the vicinity of Talonia, a loud snapping noise in the brush behind them caused the entire group to spin around. A hulking mass of black fur flattened an entire thicket of brush as it ambled toward Kai. It was easily the largest boar Kai had ever seen, even bigger than the ones rooting around in Talonia¡¯s ruined streets. ¡°Halia, where was our warning?!¡± [S- Sorry!] [Rage Boar- Lvl 26] Kai cursed under his breath as he raised his sword and got ready to fight. Sydney and Brewan also got out their weapons, with the knight trainee moving to the front of their team. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°I¡¯ll be the frontline, the two of you try to find an opening. Kai, the attack you used earlier might be able to take this thing do-¡± A bright blue light cut through the clearing as Sydney was mid-sentence, brushing past the trio and shooting at the boar. Kai felt his hair prickling in the split second before it reached the boar. C-Crack! A thundering bolt of lighting followed exactly in the blue light¡¯s path, rending the air and filling the area with the scent of ozone. The boar¡¯s muscles spasmed as electricity coursed beneath its skin, and its coarse hair stood up. After nearly a second, the lingering electricity faded away and the boar hefted itself back to its feet, but not before more attacks were launched at it. Another projectile flew from behind Kai¡¯s group, the sunlight catching on its glassy surface as it arced through the air toward the bear. A little glass orb? The glass sphere hit the boar¡¯s head, then melted into the beast. Like water seeping into sand, the glass orb was steadily absorbed into the beast¡¯s head, and it immediately started thrashing around in panic. The boar let out a panicked screeching noise as the orb completely disappeared beneath its skin, and its muscles spasmed randomly again before going still. It was dead. ¡°Sydney, you¡¯re alive!¡± Kai turned around to see a group of four blue-robed young men coming out from the forest, as well as another whose uniform matched the one Sydney was wearing. The blue-robed folks¡¯ robes look pretty similar to Brewan¡¯s, just darker in color. One of them is darker than the rest, too. ¡°Soren? Why are you out here?¡± Sydney stepped forward as he spoke, subtly putting himself between the newcomers and his teammates. One of the robes mages stepped forward while tucking a grimoire back into an inner pocket. His silvery-blonde hair was styled in a way that reminded Kai of some of the more annoying, pretentious young masters from his world. ¡°Because you went missing. Even if you aren¡¯t ranked first in our grade, it still would¡¯ve been a loss for our academy if you died. Someone had to come save you.¡± Sydney let out a derisive snort as he glared at Soren. ¡°Sure, after waiting a month, you came to save me.¡± One of the other mages- a lackey-looking fellow- quickly retorted. ¡°Hey, we asked for permission to set out two weeks ago, when you didn¡¯t show up. The professors refused, and sent some first year instead. We were only able to come out here now, accompanied by a tier 3 mage!¡± Instead of watching the lackey, Kai¡¯s eyes were on Soren. Surprisingly, he looked genuinely angry as his companion recited what happened. Kai couldn¡¯t tell if it was out of concern for Sydney- who was presumably one of his rivals- or for some other reason. Kai¡¯s eyes briefly flickered over to the mage with darker robes as tier three was mentioned. He hadn¡¯t been watching as the attack was thrown, but he was pretty confident that this was the fellow who threw the melting glass ball. [???- Level 33] [Soren- Level 25] Only after his lackey finished speaking did Soren finally seem to notice the two people standing behind Sydney. ¡°Ah! You¡¯re that first-year they sent¡­ Brewan was your name, right?¡± Brewan looked surprised that his name was remembered, and Soren turned toward Kai. The blonde mage¡¯s forehead crinkled as he tried to think if he¡¯d Kai before. The snowy white robes and cold expression on Kai¡¯s didn¡¯t register anywhere in his memory. ¡°I¡¯m Kai. I got lost near here after an accident, and found these two in a tough spot nearby. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± Soren nodded his head in a short bow to Kai. ¡°I¡¯m Soren, and my companions are Entil, Lonn, and Owl. Our team¡¯s knight is Lucas. I would like to invite you to Hillhold academy as a thank you for assisting my friends.¡± Soren gestured to his teammates as he spoke. Entil and Lonn were the two lackey-looking folks, while Owl was the tier 3 mage. When he spoke, the respectful yet confident tone of Soren¡¯s voice once again reminded Kai of multiple instances he¡¯d seen at sect competitions in the past. It¡¯s the same tone intelligent cultivators use when they meet someone of unknown strength. This fellow looks like a typical young master, but it seems his brain isn¡¯t as rotted as some that I knew back home. ¡°I¡¯m unfamiliar with the area, so I will gladly accept your invitation. I came out to train, but I¡¯m hopelessly lost now. With a dangerous beast in the area, it¡¯s probably best for me to move somewhere safer.¡± Kai could see the tension in Soren¡¯s smile fading away as he gauged Kai¡¯s strength. If Kai considered a tier 3 beast to be dangerous, he was likely equal or below it in rank. [Eh, why would you give away information about yourself like that? You could¡¯ve pretended to be super strong and gotten a bunch of resources or something!] Kai shrugged, then spoke softly while turning back to look at Brewan. It was only loud enough for Kai¡¯s teammates to hear his words. ¡°Don¡¯t reveal Halia, and try to keep stuff about the Crescent Moon Sect to a minimum. I want to look into it more first.¡± After all, who knows what the other three idiots are up to right now. Sydney mentioned before that there were no records of the academy in their library, and considering how this place doesn¡¯t seem to be that far from their academy, I find that a bit odd. If there is something going on, and someone is alerted by us talking about it here, it could cause more trouble for the other disciples. Kai¡¯s trio decided to go with Soren¡¯s group back to Talonia, but just to observe the destruction. Owl was a tier 3 mage, but that didn¡¯t mean that they were ready to hunt down the terror bird. He was marginally stronger than it mana-wise, but the fight would still be a tossup. Betting the lives of nine talented young humans on a fifty-fifty fight would be too nonsensical for anyone to consider. After taking a short peek at the ruins of the town, the group turned back and headed for Hillhold once again. Even without following Halia¡¯s callouts and mana detection, the group didn¡¯t lose much time to beasts. A hail of magic from the tier 2 mages and Brewan silenced every beast they encountered before they could even enter the ranges of the knights. When night came, they had enough people to rotate through watches so that everyone got plenty of sleep. Two days later, they reached their destination. Hillhold Academy. CH-17 Hillhold Hillhold Academy lived up to its name. The forest faded away into fertile, flat fields as they approached the stronghold, and their gazes were forced upwards. Buildings started at the bottom of the hill- wooden structures similar in construct to the ones in Talonia, interspersed with gray stone towers that craned over the town. There were a few more towers on the otherwise empty hillside, leading up to a walled stronghold at the top of the hill. The walls at the top were fashioned from the same material as the towers, and were short but sturdy. They lined right at the edge of where the hill¡¯s incline started to level out, negating whatever downsides their diminutive side could¡¯ve had. Past the walls, Kai could faintly make out a cluster of both stone and wooden buildings, but his view of most of the academy was still blocked by the hill and walls. [Not exactly what I expected from a magic academy. I didn¡¯t think it would be surrounded by¡­ this.] Kai looked around as he walked, but he couldn¡¯t see anything out of place. [The fields. I guess it makes sense that they need something to eat, but I always imagined a forlorn castle, hidden in the woods.] What exactly would compel her to think something like that? Even back home, most sects relied on the surrounding mortal settlements for food. Where does she think all of the veggies she ate back home came from? Compared to the forlorn castle in Halia¡¯s mind, the place in front of them was bustling with life. A few farmer¡¯s children ran around aimlessly on the dirt road ahead, not wanting to prick their feet on the corn straw littering the fields on one side of the road. When they saw the incoming group, they stopped playing around and moved to the side of the road, excited expressions on their faces. ¡°Mage Entil! Did you kill any scary beasts while you were out in the forest?¡± One of the kids looked up at the lackey who¡¯d defended Soren previously, and Entil took a few steps forward. ¡°There were a few, but they were no match for a group of strong mages like us!¡± Kai watched as the kids gathered around the tier 2 mages. His first impressions of his new companions had been a bit off the mark. Over the past two days of traveling, Kai had gotten to learn a bit more about Soren¡¯s group. Both Entil and Lonn weren¡¯t the children of original academy members, but they¡¯d still ended up as members of the Heritage faction. Entil was the more talkative of the two, and ended up carrying the conversation every time the group spoke. He was a few years older than Kai, and had just turned twenty. Three years prior, he¡¯d been scouted from a settlement west of the academy. That¡¯s the same direction we¡¯re coming from. His hometown, Ledville, is southwest of here. I haven¡¯t seen a map of the area yet, but there¡¯s a good chance that it¡¯s the closest settlement to the recently-destroyed Talonia. Kai looked back down at where Entil was now holding a toad the kids had captured. He certainly seems to be familiar with these kids. I¡¯d bet that this guy has traveled through here before, at least a few times. Kai¡¯s gaze traveled over to Lonn. Similar to Entil, he had been recruited from a nearby settlement, and was now a 3rd year student at Hillhold. He was also a member of the Heritage faction, but seemed considerably more distant to both Entil and Soren. Kai couldn¡¯t tell if he just had a quieter personality, or if there was some other reason. All three of the other ¡®rescue squad¡¯ members were also part of the Heritage faction, making Sydney the only member of the opposition group present. Owl was an assistant professor whose advancement had slowed to a crawl after reaching tier 3, and Lucas, the knight trainee, was already a 4th year student. Despite being younger than two of the other members, Soren still seemed to be the leader of their group, and was also the most talented. [This dude seems pretty proud of reaching Level 25. If you¡¯d stayed out in the wilderness and continued hunting tier 2 beasts, you probably would have reached that level in under a month.] That wouldn¡¯t have been a good idea, though. I was always able to defeat enemies at the same cultivation level as me back home, because I trained my actual skills instead of just cultivation. If I can use the academy¡¯s resources to adapt my old Qi techniques for use with mana, my strength will skyrocket even quicker than if I kept hunting beasts. Kai couldn¡¯t neglect the networking opportunities that lay in Hillhold, either. If he wanted to rekindle the Crescent Moon Sect, he would need to find some allies first. ¡°Entil, who is that scary-looking guy?¡± One of the farmer kids pointed over at Kai, and one of the other children smacked the kid¡¯s hand down. ¡°Scary? He looks really cool!¡± [Fufufu¡­] Halia let out an inexplicable chuckle as Kai leaned down to greet the kids. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I¡¯m the first disci- ahem. I¡¯m Kai. You there, the one with the blonde hair. You will grow up to be a great warrior.¡± After praising the kid who¡¯d called him cool, Kai straightened up again, his hands subtly brushing his robes as he took a more suitable pose. ¡°R- really?! I want to be as cool as you some day!¡± Stars shone in the kid¡¯s eyes as he stared up at Kai. [Huh. I¡¯m surprised.] Kai raised his hand to rake his hair back, hiding his mouth long enough to mutter out a question for Halia. ¡°What do you mean?¡± [When Enla told me you recruited new members for our sect, I always assumed that you kidnapped them. Maybe I was wrong.] Why the hell would she think that? Sure, that is what a lot of other sects around us did, but I wouldn¡¯t stoop that low. A sect can¡¯t grow without people who are truly loyal to it! Kai¡¯s expression fell as he recalled the phoenix¡¯s last dive toward their sect. Enla, and all of the sect¡¯s minor disciples had all perished in its flames. Some had come searching for strength, and others had been recruited by Kai. ¡°Alright, we need to be getting back to the academy to make our report. Make sure to tell your folks that I say hello!¡± Entil gave one of the kids a pat on the head, and the group started moving toward the academy again. The fields started to fade away as they approached, replaced by a small town comparable to Talonia. People in plain clothes milled about on the streets, and a few people called out to Kai¡¯s group. They also saw a few people wearing similar uniforms as the mages, though most of them wore robes of the same color as Brewan. They spotted a couple second-year students, and as they walked, Halia called out various people¡¯s mana levels. Almost everyone they spotted, even including the farmer kids, had at least some mana. Their tiny mana pools weren¡¯t even enough to reach level 1. The first year students all had strengths roughly in the same ballpark as Brewan before their week stranded in the wilderness. Their average level was 6. [Brewan- Level 11] A week of cycling battle and research sessions with Halia had rapidly driven Brewan¡¯s level up, until he completely outmatched everyone else in his grade that they ran into. He was nearly as strong as the second year students. It was still a long way from Entil, Lonn, and Lucas, all of whom were Level 21. I wonder if I can take them in a fight. I¡¯d lose out to Lucas in physical strength, but I doubt he¡¯d be able to block my attacks if I use my technique. The mages are probably a bit tougher without having a movement ability. Kai¡¯s gaze wandered over toward Soren. I¡¯d definitely lose. His lightning bolt practically fried that boar, and it¡¯s way too fast to dodge. After cutting through the center of the town, the group started to ascent the main path of the hill. Without the wooden buildings from the town crowding the streets, Kai was able to get a better view of the odd stone towers scattered around both the hillside and the town. ¡°Formation anchors.¡± Entil noticed Kai looking up at the structures and started to explain. ¡°Ours are much stronger than the ones in settlements. A single one of these towers can stall a tier 3 beast long enough for a professor to come and destroy it.¡± Kai looked skeptically up at the stone construct. It didn¡¯t look bad per say, but¡­ Is mana a lot worse than Qi for formations, or are these just not that good? Even without seeing these ones in action, I can tell that the ones Edwin made back at the sect were much better. Now that I think about it, his original formation technique was also left behind by the sect¡¯s founder, too... Kai glanced over at the tower a few more times as they climbed the hillside, then refocused on the structure in front of them. A wide gate, large enough for two carriages to fit through side by side, was already open at the top of the hill. A few figures stood around just inside the wall¡¯s confines, and they looked over as Kai¡¯s group entered. ¡°Soren, it didn¡¯t take you long to return! Weren¡¯t you traveling to Talonia?¡± Another third-year mage was the speaker, and his eyes stretched open a bit wider as he saw Sydney standing in the back of Soren¡¯s group. No one even noticed Kai¡¯s regal figure in the middle of the group. Hm, this is probably good. If I can stay here long enough to figure out techniques without getting into whatever political conflicts there are under the surface here, I¡¯ll be happy. I¡¯ll help Sydney out if I have the opportunity, but I¡¯m not getting tangled up in this academy¡¯s inner workings. ¡°Are there any professors available right now? We need to make a report.¡± Multiple of the surrounding students grimaced. ¡°Most of them are out stopping a beast tide that sprung up north of the sect¡­ so there¡¯s only one left here right now.¡± It wasn¡¯t uncommon for assistant professors like Owl to teach the majority of a course- especially considering that the top professors were also the strongest mages the academy had- so most of them being gone normally wouldn¡¯t be an issue. ¡°... it¡¯s Golal, isn¡¯t it?¡± Kai heard a tone of defeat in Soren¡¯s voice for the first time as the surrounding students all nodded. One of them looked up, then scurried away from Soren. The other nearby students quickly followed the first¡¯s lead. ¡°Why hello there!¡± A raspy voice echoed through the air. It sounded similar to some of the ancient monsters Kai had seen in passing before- the ones who looked so old that one couldn¡¯t be sure if they were actually still alive. The tone didn¡¯t fit, though. It was the voice of a raspy, dying old man with the tone of a cocky teenager. Physically, though, the man now hovering in the air over the group looked middle-aged. [Speak of the Golal, and he shall appear. Heh.] [Golal- Level 44] ¡°I noticed that you¡¯ve found our lost student, Little Soren¡± [Huh, this guy even sounds like the devil. Or a chain smoker. You should ask him if he accidentally inhaled a fire spell.] ¡°We need to make a report. Do you know when the other professors will retu-¡± Soren was cut off as a gust of wind swept over the group. Above them, Golal flew a bit higher in the air before speaking again. His raspy voice was barely audible at a distance. ¡°Do not worry, Little Soren. Follow me to my office, I will assist you there.¡± With that, Golal soared through the air again, disappearing further into the academy campus. How exactly are we supposed to follow him¡­? In front of him, Soren let out a long sigh, then looked back at Kai. ¡°Welcome to Hillhold Academy, where most of the professors are sane.¡± CH-18 Exploring Campus ¡°I wish we could pretend like we didn¡¯t hear him, but I already know that doesn¡¯t work.¡± Soren turned back toward his group. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t need everyone to explain what happened in Talonia. Me, Kai, Sydney, and Brewan.¡± Soren¡¯s friends all nodded their heads in thanks for being saved, then scuttled off, disappearing into the campus. [They make Golal seem like some kind of terrifying beast. Kai, if he starts attacking, throw my necklace as far as you can. There¡¯s no way you can run from a tier 4 mage, but he might not notice me. Even if you die, our sect¡¯s legacy must live on~] A frown started growing on Kai¡¯s face as Halia hummed a tune in his mind. ¡°I¡¯m sure he can¡¯t be too bad. He¡¯s a professor, right?¡± In front of Kai, Soren let out a snort. ¡°Only because we¡¯re short on manpower. Back when I was a first year, he sent our entire class out into the forest. A few of us nearly died, and when we returned to the academy, he pretended like nothing happened. My father banned him from doing stuff like that again, but he might be crazy enough to do it anyway.¡± Soren started walking as he spoke, leading Kai¡¯s group further into the campus. After spending a bit longer complaining about Golal, he started to introduce the nearby buildings to Kai. There was a mess hall constructed from wood. It was easily bigger than the wooden warehouses back at the destroyed academy, and there were a few students loitering around outside. A bit further in, there were a couple shorter classroom buildings. All of them were made from brick, just like the ones Kai¡¯d seen previously. ¡°It¡¯s a much better material to use in places where magic is being tested. Students mess up sometimes, and it¡¯s a lot better if that doesn''t cause the entire building to burn down.¡± Behind the classrooms, there were a pair of training fields, the ground scorched from taking spells. There was a line of corn straw target dummies on one side of the training field, one of which was flickering with flames after tanking a fireball from a student on the field. ¡°There aren¡¯t as many people around as I thought there would be. Are they all out fighting beasts right now?¡± Kai had seen a handful of people since entering the walls, but it wasn¡¯t even as lively as his own tiny sect had been. ¡°There are only about two dozen students in each grade, and the 3rd and fourth years will be out of the area often. With how many beasts there are, pretty much only mages and knights can travel between settlements safely.¡± So there¡¯s probably only about 100 members total. That¡¯s more people than we had at our sect, but I don¡¯t know how much stronger they are. From what Sydney said before, they don¡¯t seem to be very unified, either. Kai made note of the location of the academy library as they passed through the campus, then followed Soren into a brick building. It had two stories, and the bottom one looked shockingly similar to the classrooms the trio called home during their time in the woods. Just like back at the Crescent Moon Academy, a set of stairs led up to offices on the second floor. [The layout is the same, again. Did I miss a temple hidden somewhere on the academy grounds?] ¡°Sydney, is there a temple here?¡± The knight trainee shook his head. He¡¯d been silent for most of their walk, but was now standing near the front of the group with Soren. ¡°No, but now that I think about it, this place does look oddly similar to the classrooms. It is only a few day¡¯s journey to here though, so maybe our sect hired the same architects. I¡¯ll check in the library once we¡¯re done here.¡± ¡°What are the two of you talking about?¡± Soren butted into the conversation, and Kai started feeding him vague info. Kai was still worried that something could be afoot with his sect¡¯s predecessors, but he also thought it would be useless to fabricate an entire tale. The academy would likely investigate the area when they sent out a team to hunt down the terror bird, so crafting an easily caught, useless lie would just be dumb. ¡°You must¡¯ve been mistaken. I heard from my father that our academy was built by the best architect in the region, before the beast tide hit. The buildings themselves have powerful enchantments and formations built into them. There¡¯s nothing like that in Talonia.¡± [Fufu- ahem, sorry. Every time this dude says ¡°my father¡± it reminds me of something. He even looks the part. Carry on.] Kai wanted to continue the conversation, but they had already arrived in front of Golal¡¯s office, and the door was left wide open. Inside, they could hear frustrated grumbling accompanied by the shuffling noises of papers. ¡°Come in already, don¡¯t stand there blocking the door.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Golal¡¯s raspy voice sounded from inside, and the group of four slowly filed in. The room was even messier than Golal¡¯s hair. This was a pretty impressive feat, considering that Kai could see a bird peeking out from a nest it¡¯d made in the professor¡¯s frizzy hair. Kai had to give the man credit though, he somehow pulled off the look without coming across as entirely insane. Golal¡¯s stern face was clean-shaven, and his amber eyes shone with an ambitious light. His uniform was clean too- the only unusual part of his appearance was the tiny green bird peeking its beak out from Golal¡¯s hair. The room around them took after Golal¡¯s hair. There weren¡¯t any birds hiding in it- not organic ones, at least. There were papers scattered everywhere, some of them folded up into random shapes. A handful of barely-recognizable bird-shaped origamis stood proudly on Golal¡¯s desk, which somehow had fewer papers on it than the floor. ¡°Little Soren, help me find my report log. I seem to have misplaced it.¡± Halia was always making a mess in our libarary back home, but it was never this bad. Still, I bet she could find a lot in common with this guy. Kai glanced over at Soren. The mage was glaring holes in Golal¡¯s back. ¡°I sent a first-year over here last week to organize this. How exactly did you manage to do-¡± Soren swept his arm around, gesturing at the chaos of the room. ¡°This?¡± Golal shrugged like the chaos around them was commonplace. ¡°I was testing out a new spell. Little Soren, at my old age, my back is starting to hurt. How about you and your friends look for the logs while I take a seat?¡± Kai could hear Soren¡¯s teeth grinding as he resisted the urge to zap the professor with a lightning spell. It probably wouldn¡¯t even reach Golal- considering his status as a tier 4 mage- but it looked like Soren was still debating doing it anyways. Golal completely ignored Soren¡¯s anger, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. Eventually, Soren¡¯s clenched fists started to loosen, and he started half-heartedly searching through the papers surrounding them. Hm, maybe not. Not even Halia would refuse to help clean up her own mess. He also said for the rest of us to join in on searching¡­ ¡°What are we looking for?¡± Golal opened one eye as he looked over at Kai, his eyes scanning over the unfamiliar white robes. The little green bird in his hair let out a quiet chirp, and Golal closed his eye again. ¡°White, has writing on it. No drawings though, I¡¯d get chewed out for that. It¡¯ll have a little stamp at the top, though.¡± Kai could tell that he probably wasn¡¯t going to get any more, and started searching through the heaps of errant papers while mentally marking Golal as ¡®crazy¡¯ in his mind. Sometimes cultivators go astray from their dao, and fall to mental demons. It seems that there is something similar in the pursuit of magic, and it¡¯s just as dangerous. I know I¡¯ll be fine¡­ I¡¯m not sure how sane the other three are to begin with. The frown on Kai¡¯s face only grew further as he looked down at the stack of papers he¡¯d gathered. Rough, childish sketches of birds and green winds scattered the backs of every page. I¡¯ll need to keep an eye on Halia, if she makes herself a body and starts practicing magic. She never got the experience the rest of us did, since she was stuck in the sect. Who knows what she¡¯d be like if she went nuts. After a couple minutes of fruitless searching, Golal spoke again. ¡°Oops, I found it.¡± He opened his eyes as he leaned forward again, then grabbed one of the folded origami birds off his desktop. When he flattened it out, Kai could see a small circular stamp at the top. ¡°You-! Just because you¡¯re strong doesn¡¯t mean you are free from consequences! Just wait until my father hears-¡± ¡°Hush. Your dad would be ashamed if he heard you throwing his name around like that. You need to learn some humility.¡± Golal grabbed a pen from a small jar on his desk, then used it to gesture toward Sydney. ¡°If there was something in that woods that could kill this guy, and I sent you after him, we''d be down two talented kids.¡± Golal ignored the rage on Soren¡¯s face and turned toward Brewan. "That''s why I sent this guy. At least he knows when to back down. And you didn¡¯t die, good job. You didn¡¯t even need to use my shield.¡± ¡°What?¡± The bird on Golal¡¯s head let out a little chirp, and a small gust of wind swept over toward Brewan. It reached for the small ¡®Hillhold Academy¡¯ pin on his robes, then pulled it off. At the same time, Golal fetched an identical pin from somewhere within his desk and passed it over to Brewan. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t send a first year out into the wilderness without some form of protection. If you¡¯d taken a big enough hit, it would¡¯ve shielded you long enough to escape somewhere safe. Good job not wasting it.¡± Brewan stared down at the pin for a few moments before looking back up at the professor. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me I had this?¡± Golal shrugged. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have grown nearly as much if I had. The sense of threat can make mages grow exponentially faster. Just look at yourself, you¡¯re over half way to tier 2 already.¡± Golal¡¯s gaze finally traveled back to Kai. ¡°And you¡­ I don¡¯t know you.¡± Kai bowed his head to the crazy professor. ¡°I¡¯m Kai. My friends and I used an artifact to escape from a powerful beast, and I found myself lost in the forest near Talonia. If it¡¯s possible, I¡¯d like to stay here to recover for a time.¡± Golal nodded his head as Kai finished speaking, making the little green bird bounce up and down a couple times. ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll put you in with the first year classes, you might be able to pick up something new while you¡¯re here.¡± That was surprisingly easy. I¡¯m pretty sure he understands that I don¡¯t mean to join the sect, too. Do they not care about their knowledge being given away for free to a stranger? After getting acquainted with the group, Golal started writing down the results of their mission on the report log. When he heard that Talonia had been completely destroyed, his expression fell. ¡°That settlement stood for a long time, despite it being multiple days from the nearest surviving academy. There were many good people there.¡± ¡°Surviving academy.¡± I think this guy might know something about the destroyed Crescent Moon one we were in. If I can¡¯t find anything at the library, it might be worth trying to get some information out of Golal. He should be old enough to remember before the beast tide, too. I¡¯ll keep this in mind¡­ After telling Golal everything they¡¯d told Soren¡¯s group previously, the group of four departed. Soren quickly split off to find his friends, and Sydney left shortly after. Kai looked over at Brewan, then toward their next destination. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s just you and me again. How extensive is your library¡¯s selection?¡± CH-19 Library As it turned out, not bad. The building itself was comparable to the one they¡¯d had back at the sect, and when Kai and Brewan entered, they could immediately see rows of bookshelves. There was a disheveled-looking older man sitting behind a small counter near the entrance, and a few more desks visible past the first row of bookshelves. There were quite a few students milling around inside- either looking for books, and quietly discussing the contents of their study materials with other young mages. Not bad. It¡¯s a lot more active than ours back home, but I guess that¡¯s to be expected. Magic does seem to be a bit more academic than cultivation was. Instead of immediately heading for the bookshelves, Kai turned and walked over to the older man at the counter. The last wisps of the man¡¯s hair were struggling to escape from his head, and his unkempt mustache had long-since turned a salty gray. ¡°I don¡¯t offer tutoring.¡± The man didn¡¯t even bother looking up from a book resting on top of the counter. He seemed entirely disinterested with Kai and Brewan. ¡°Sir, I¡¯m new here. Where can I find books about fighting or movement techniques?¡± ¡°Aisle 4, section 2 for knight books. It says it above the aisles.¡± Kai looked back over at the bookshelves, and a frown started to grow on his face. I can¡¯t read that. [Mage¡­ Basics. I think. They look really similar to the runes that control magic. If it¡¯s stuff related to magic, I can probably translate for you. Anything beyond that, though¡­] Kai rubbed his forehead in frustration, then turned back to the clerk. ¡°Thank you for your help. Are there any children¡¯s picture books here?¡± The old man finally looked up, his eyes widening a little as they swept over Kai¡¯s robes. He quickly hid his look of surprise. ¡°Section 3.¡± Good. I don¡¯t know what I would¡¯ve done if I had to learn a language just from a bunch of abstract mage texts. At least now there might be pictures. Kai ignored his initial goal and headed straight for the kids section. Picking up a book about techniques would do him absolutely no good if he couldn¡¯t understand the first word in it. His only hope was that the short amount of time he spent trying to figure out the runes back at the sect would assist in his learning. Section three had considerably fewer people than the rest of the building. There weren¡¯t any walls sectioning off the area, but no one paid any heed to the area. Knowing that there wasn¡¯t anything he could learn from children¡¯s books, Brewan split off from Kai and headed for the basic magic area. ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t matter what I start with, right?¡± Kai grabbed a couple random books that looked like they would probably have pictures. Surprisingly, there were even desks here- and one of them was even occupied. There was only one cluster of four desks in the kids area, pulled together to form a table. On the far side of it, a lone student sat with their elbows pressing against the table, and their head pressed into their hands. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Looks like he¡¯s having fun. The other student- a first year like Brewan, based on his clothes- looked up as Kai approached. His eyes were reddened and tired. ¡°What, are you here to mock me, too?¡± Kai ignored the kid, instead pulling out the chair furthest from him and setting his small stack of picture books down on the table. Kai opened up the first page, then stared down at the content. Yeah¡­ this is going to take a while. I have a bad premonition that I¡¯m going to look like the other student pretty soon. ¡­ ¡°Yo, Kai. Let¡¯s head to the dorms.¡± A couple hours later, Kai¡¯s torture was finally broken. He picked his head up, two red handprints still left on his forehead. It¡¯s almost as bad as Halia¡¯s research sessions. Sure, I don¡¯t have her stealing all of my mana, but her constantly yapping and trying to get me to read faster is still giving me a headache! The other student reading picture books had already left roughly an hour before, so the table was left empty as Kai stood up and stretched his legs. The rest of the library was also starting to empty out as other students headed for their dorm rooms. Kai hadn¡¯t been told anything by Golal about where he was supposed to sleep, so Brewan just had him come to the dorms. ¡°There¡¯s an extra bed in my room, stay there. It¡¯s a lot better than going down under the academy and having to spend money to stay at an inn.¡± Definitely a lot better, considering I don¡¯t have any money. Heck, I don¡¯t even know what they use for money here. ¡°There will be classes tomorrow. I can show you where the first-year mage ones are, but you might want to attend the knight classes instead.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll check out both. I¡¯m looking into blending magic and sword fighting.¡± Or rather, my old techniques and fighting. Learning the basics of magic might help more with that, though. ¡°Eh? That¡¯s not a very good idea. Mages only put a small amount of mana into their muscles so that they can escape from beasts. It¡¯s a total waste of mana to split between the two.¡± Brewan pulled out his grimoire as he continued explaining. ¡°Spells will be a lot less effective and harder to cast without using one of these. It¡¯s almost impossible to do if you¡¯re in melee combat with a beast though. You need to focus on the book, and that¡¯s impossible if there¡¯s a bear trying to rip your throat out.¡± Brewan tucked the book back into his robes as they continued walking. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that before the beast wave, spellswords weren¡¯t uncommon. It¡¯s almost an extinct path now, though. You sacrifice half of your magic to be physically stronger, and half of your physical strength for some mediocre magic that is a struggle to make useful in combat. If you split your resources, you¡¯ll be less useful than both specializations.¡± A bit like if someone focused solely on body cultivation, or if they only utilized techniques¡­ I know a few people like that. The other three core disciples all were good in different combat situations, but in a plain, unprepared battlefield, I would still win against any of them. A standard cultivation like mine would be considered a generalist here, right? Kai rubbed his chin as he thought. Though, those three aren¡¯t necessarily disadvantaged against someone like me. If they got the jump on me, any of them would win¡­ maybe with the exception of Lilli, the fourth disciple. A small shiver ran down Kai¡¯s spine as he remembered Lilli¡¯s cheerful smile as she stared up at a sunset. If she finds mana as easy to manipulate as Halia does, she might become the most terrifying of all the disciples. I¡¯d probably still have a chance in a one-on-one fight, but even prayers won¡¯t be able to save her enemies in a large-scale battle. The duo entered the dorm building, squeezing past a small crowd of mages who were gathered in the hallway. Still, I think splitting my stats is the best path. Maybe it hasn¡¯t been effective here in the past, but has there ever been a cultivator who tried it before? Kai paused for a second. If he could travel between worlds using the tokens, was it possible that there were others? I¡¯ll have to watch out for that. Still, I¡¯m not changing my path. I¡¯ve spent most of the last decade training as a cultivator, and I¡¯m not giving up on either my strength or techniques. I¡¯ll forge my own path. CH-20 Character Defects ¡°Magic is an abstract concept. It cannot be fully understood.¡± Yep. I agree. ¡°Even with the aid of a grimoire, it can still take weeks of practice to cast a new spell.¡± Gee, at least I¡¯m not alone. [Weeks? I figured it out in a day, and made a new spell for Brewan. Magic seems pretty easy to me.] Mage class. Kai¡¯s excitement to start learning how to adapt his old techniques for use with magic was dying quickly. He was only a few hours of study into the language, so he couldn¡¯t understand hardly anything the teaching assistant was writing on the blackboard at the front of the room. Halia was doing her best to translate, but Kai was pretty sure that what she was saying was entirely unrelated to the subject at hand most of the time. Once the teacher started talking about progression speed, she completely stopped her translation efforts and instead started bragging. I¡¯m definitely the only person in this class who doesn¡¯t know the first thing about magic, and I already stick out like a sore thumb. It would be disgraceful for our sect if my performance can¡¯t completely surpass these random students. Kai glanced around the small classroom. The teacher was an assistant professor, and one of Halia''s blue boxes proclaimed him to be [Level 32]. There were eleven first-year mages, all of them wearing the same dull blue robes. A few of them looked over as Kai¡¯s gaze swept over them. One of the students near the front of the classroom nudged a couple of his buddies as Kai looked over him, and the whole group looked back. [???- Level 8] [???- Level 8] [???- Level 9] [???- Level 10] Tiny little blue boxes appeared in Kai¡¯s vision, hovering over the students. All of them were above the average level of the classroom, and one of them was nearly as strong as Brewan. The two weaker members of the group were both bulkier dudes with matching crew cuts. They looked similar enough that Kai was pretty sure that they were closely related. The other two were both girls, and had similarly short hair. As the stronger one turned her head, Kai¡¯s eyes caught a tiny glint of light under her ear. He leaned forward, trying to make out what it was. [Oi! Stop staring, it¡¯s rude!] A larger blue box appeared right in Kai¡¯s face, blocking his vision of the girl. ¡°I was just trying to see her earring. It¡¯s red, just like the one you made for Lilli.¡± [It¡¯s not the same. If someone stole one of the items I made and was walking in front of us with it, I would be the first to notice. That girl¡¯s earring isn¡¯t even made out of the same material.] The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The blue box blocking Kai¡¯s vision faded away, revealing the girl again. She stared back at Kai, a leering expression on her face. Kai ignored it, his gaze wandering around the rest of the classroom. His eyes lit up as he recognized a student sitting in the back corner of the room. It¡¯s the kid who can¡¯t read! He looks like he¡¯s trying to hide from everyone¡¯s attention, I bet he¡¯s happy that I showed up. I think half of the class is paying more attention to me than they are the teacher. Kai glanced down at his pristine white robes, a faint smile rising on his face. It¡¯s only natural, really. I have too much of a presence to not be noticed. So long as I don¡¯t have to use magic in front of everyone, their admiring gazes will only become more frequent and intense. ¡°Alright, we¡¯re all going out to the training grounds. You¡¯ve all had ample time to study over the past two weeks, and a few of you have even gone out of the academy. We even have two new students joining us as well. I¡¯d like to get a gauge on everyone¡¯s improvement.¡± The teaching assistant clapped his hands as he stood up and headed for the door. The rest of the class started following, including Brewan. ¡­ Is this what Halia calls planting a flag? Maybe I should listen to her incoherent rambling sometimes. Kai reluctantly stood up to follow the class outside, but someone bumped into him as he got up. One of the bulky crew-cut dudes knocked shoulders with Kai, then stumbled backwards, nearly crashing into one of the desks. ¡°Hey! Watch where you¡¯re going!¡± The two girls advanced toward Kai, their faces a mirage of false anger. The second dude was helping his brother(?) up, a worried expression on his face. ¡°You are the one who ran into me? There¡¯s plenty of space to walk through here.¡± ¡°You might be new here, but you¡¯ll learn quickly. When I¡¯m walking through, you move to the side. Got it, newbie?¡± Oh geez, great. It seems I¡¯ve found the character defects Soren was missing. I¡¯ll bet I can guess who they¡¯re with. Kai shrank back, pretending to be afraid. ¡°A-are you with the Heritage faction?¡± The leading girl nodded, a proud expression on her face. ¡°At least you¡¯ve heard of us. In this generation of students, I am the one in charge. My father is a teaching assistant for 3rd year classes, and my brother is the strongest in the knight classes. Just so you know, I can make your life hell if you try to mess with us.¡± ¡°Pfft!¡± Kai tried and failed to keep his laugh in. He¡¯d expected her to have more of a background than that. ¡°Are you mocking me?! I¡¯ll have my brother-¡± ¡°Angela, the teacher is already leaving. It¡¯s not fitting to waste more time on someone like this.¡± The other girl nudged her friend toward the exit of the classroom, and Angela let out a snort. ¡°You¡¯re right. Newbie, you¡¯d better learn respect before I see you next.¡± With that, she stomped toward the door. Only to bump into the student Kai recognized from the library. Angela was knocked backward, crashing into a desk and nearly falling to the floor. [Holy shit, that kid just body checked her.] ¡°Oh- oh no! I¡¯m so sorry, I didn¡¯t see you there!¡± ¡°Illiterate scum.¡± Angela cursed as she stood back up, shooting a glare at the other student. Instead of continuing the conflict, though, she rushed out of the classroom, and her friends followed quickly after her. Once they were gone, the kid looked sheepishly up at Kai. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to shove her that hard, but she deserves it. She¡¯s been bullying everyone here for the last week, and probably before then, too. I¡¯m Leo, by the way.¡± Kai walked over and gave Leo a handshake. He hadn¡¯t talked to him at all in the library, but he felt something of a kinship with him. Their shared pain of trying to cram learn the language bonded them together. ¡°We should probably hurry outside though, the teacher doesn¡¯t appreciate people lagging behind.¡± CH-21 Magic Testing Kai and Leo hurried out to the training grounds, where the rest of the class was already gathered. Kai led Leo through the small crowd of students until they were standing next to Brewan. Aside from their class, there were no other students in the training grounds, with most of the academy presumably busy with their own classes. ¡°In both combat and daily life, you will almost always have your grimoires on hand. There are scenarios, however, when you won¡¯t be able to use one.¡± The assistant professor paced back and forth in front of the students, holding his grimoire up for them to see it. ¡°You won¡¯t always be able to stand still and cast spells in combat. Often you will find yourself running and dodging away from the attacks of beasts, and it''s possible to lose hold of your grimoire.¡± The teacher set his grimoire down on a wooden post, then walked away from it. ¡°It¡¯s just as important to practice without one as it is with one.¡± One of the students on the other side of the group from Kai raised their hand, and the professor nodded to them. Kai recognized Angela¡¯s bratty tone before he even looked over in her direction. ¡°I¡¯m not going to drop my grimoire fighting some stupid beast. I¡¯d understand wanting to practice without one if you were illiterate or something, but it¡¯s just a waste of time for competent mages like myself.¡± The professor raised an eyebrow at Angela, then beckoned for her to come forward. ¡°I can tell you from personal experience, there are times when you will need to use magic on your own against beasts, but that¡¯s not the only time you will need to cast magic on your own.¡± The teacher motioned for Angela to move a few meters away from him on the training field. ¡°Say, if we were to duel right now, who do you think would win? You with your grimoire, or me without mine?¡± ¡°You. I¡¯m only a tier 1 mage, you are tier 3. Even without a grimoire, you would definitely win.¡± The teacher slowly nodded as Angela spoke. ¡°And what if I were a tier 2?¡± ¡°I¡¯d win.¡± The professor looked mildly amused at her answer, and asked her to deliberate why she thought she could win. ¡°Grimoires are filled with small formations. Casting a spell from one of them will always result in a much more powerful effect than casting one without. A fireball cast with a formation will be more than twice as strong as one cast by hand.¡± Kai glanced back over at the post where the teacher¡¯s grimoire was still sitting unattended. I don¡¯t have a grimoire, but when Halia casted a fireball before, it didn¡¯t seem that much weaker than the ones Brewan casted with his grimoire, and I¡¯m pretty sure the remaining difference in strength if because he has more mana and more experience with the spell. Kai wanted to ask Halia about it, but he refrained from doing so in the middle of a crowd. ¡°You are correct, Angela, but what are the downsides of grimoires?¡± Angela looked puzzled. ¡°None? Your spells will cost less mana, be more powerful, and are easier and faster to cast.¡± ¡°Let me change my question. Who made your grimoire?¡± Angela pulled a book out from within her robes. It looked similar to the one the professor had set down on the post. ¡°My dad made it. All of the formations are of the highest quality, much superior to the ones made by commoners.¡± The professor motioned for Angela to rejoin the rest of the class, and he turned toward them as he spoke. ¡°Yes, and that is precisely its weakness. Even if your formations are high quality, the vast majority of them are the same as the ones in other grimoires. If you use a grimoire to cast a spell, it will be stronger, but your opponent will also know what type of spell you¡¯re using- and if they have seen a similar formation, they might know the exact spell you¡¯re casting.¡± [I see. If someone is casting fireball with a grimoire, it¡¯s easy to see what spell it is before they throw it. It¡¯s not just other mages you have to worry about- even if it¡¯s not an issue against weaker beasts, they start getting a lot smarter at tier 3 and above. It¡¯s a bit like what I¡¯ve been doing, but I¡¯ve just been doing it in my mind instead of constructing them on a piece of paper.] At the front of the class, the professor clapped his hands to gather everyone¡¯s attention back to him. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°In truth, even if I were a tier 1, I would still win. The main factor that would decide the winner of a duel is fighting experience. Having strong spells in your grimoire means nothing if none of them hit the enemy, or if you lose before you have a chance to use them. Now, back to the lesson. Today we¡¯ll be practicing without grimoires. I¡¯ll need to get a baseline evaluation of where everyone is at right now.¡± The class started to spread out, forming a line at the rear of the training grounds. Half a dozen meters away, small roughly human-shaped dummies were set up. Some of them already looked a bit scorched, as if previous students had stuffed fresh hay into them after using them for practice. ¡°Brewan, I heard that you gained a lot of experience in the last couple weeks that you were out of class. I¡¯ll have you give an example for the rest of the class to follow. Cast a fireball on one of the targets without using your grimoire.¡± The young mage nodded as he walked to the front of the class. Previous to being stranded in the woods, he¡¯d exclusively used his grimoire to cast spells. Even when he was hunting with Kai, every time he¡¯d used his fireball, he continued casting it with his grimoire. The spells that Halia made for him to support Kai during their hunts, though, weren¡¯t in his grimoire. Even though he¡¯d never casted fireball on his own before, his experience with Halia¡¯s spells was more than enough. ¡°Fireball!¡± After just a second¡¯s delay, a bright bolt of flame leapt from Brewan¡¯s fingertips, shooting toward the dummy. A small shockwave ripped through the group as it exploded, sending some loose hay flying into the air. The strength of the blast was comparable to the fireball Brewan had used on the first boar Kai ran into. It was vastly weaker than what Brewan could do with his grimoire, but it was still well beyond the expectations for his current level. ¡°Well done, you must¡¯ve gotten some practice in while you were out of the academy. Francis, you¡¯re up next.¡± One of Angela¡¯s crew cut lackeys stepped up next. The fireball he shot couldn¡¯t be compared to Brewan¡¯s, but as more students stepped up, it still proved to be above average. Soon, Leo¡¯s turn for the test arrived. Halia¡¯s evaluation of his level didn¡¯t give Kai much hope. [Leo- Level 5] He was at the bottom of the barrel in terms of levels. There was only one other level 5 student in the class- a scrawny fellow named Kiin. His case made a bit more sense though, considering that it was Kiin¡¯s first time in the class, just like Kai. He¡¯d recently been recruited from a small town north of the academy. Kiin¡¯s fireball had been as unimpressive as his level, and Kai was worried that Leo¡¯s would be the same. He could already hear Angela and her cronies laughing amongst themselves as Leo stepped up to the dummy. ¡°Fireball.¡± Flames leapt from Leo¡¯s hands, appearing much faster than even when Brewan casted his. Kai¡¯s eyes widened as the fireball shot across the training ground, but when it reached the target, it disappeared with a small poof. Despite its speed, the fireball could barely measure up in strength to the one thrown by Kiin. ¡°Hah! What was that supposed to be? I don¡¯t know why I expected anything from an illiterate dunce, but that was just sad!¡± Angela made an exaggerated laughing motion as she scoffed at Leo, but winced in pain and straightened up, rubbing her side right where she hit the table after Leo knocked into her before. ¡°Your casting speed is good, but there isn¡¯t much strength behind it. Practicing more with a grimoire should help, Leo. Now then¡­ there should only be two people left. Angela and¡­¡± The teacher¡¯s eyes focused on Kai. ¡°Kai.¡± ¡°Instructor Ken, let me go last. At least that way, we won¡¯t end in disappointment.¡± The teacher- Ken, as Kai¡¯d just learned his name- shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m curious about both of your abilities, but I¡¯ll have you go first. You seemed quite confident earlier that grimoire-less magic was useless.¡± Angela flipped her hair and scoffed as she walked up to the front of the group. ¡°Just because it¡¯s useless doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t do it.¡± She held her hand out toward the target dummy, and flames started to gather over her palm. One second¡­ Two seconds¡­ Three seconds passed before she finally launched her spell. It impacted the dummy with a similar amount of force as Brewan¡¯s attack, and a few small pieces of hay were once again thrown up from the dummy. ¡°Hmph, if the dummy wasn¡¯t reinforced with defensive magic, that would¡¯ve blown it to bits. Still, I did by far the most damage to it.¡± She glared up at the teacher, expecting praise. ¡°Too slow. If you¡¯d been dueling Leo, he could¡¯ve hit you with half a dozen fireballs before you hit him with one.¡± ¡°So what? His attacks wouldn¡¯t even hurt me. A weak spell is a shame to the caster.¡± Man, she¡¯s starting to get on my nerves. The teacher didn¡¯t look like he wanted to argue with Angela over her fireball, so he sent her to rejoin the rest of the class before calling Kai up to test next. Crap. Let alone casting something on Brewan¡¯s level, I can¡¯t make a fireball at all. Feigning a cough, Kai covered his mouth with his arm. ¡°Halia, I need some help here.¡± There was a brief delay before she answered. [Yeah, just a second. This bitch is starting to get on my nerves.] Kai¡¯s eyes widened a bit. He¡¯d never heard Halia curse before, not even when she was angry at him for accidentally throwing away a paper she needed when he was trying to clean up after her. ¡°Kai, if you¡¯re ready, you can cast your spell.¡± A few snickers rang out in the crowd behind Kai, and he did his best to ignore them. [Alright, I¡¯ve got it. Pretend like you¡¯re casting a spell.] Kai stretched out his arm and pointed at the test dummy. ¡°Fireball.¡± Nothing happened. Seriously?! Halia thinks now is the time to mess with me- Kai felt all of the mana in his body suddenly drain away. If there had been one of Halia¡¯s boxes in front of him, he knew it would¡¯ve read ¡®Mana- 0/29¡¯. A tiny flame flickered over Kai¡¯s palm for a moment before floating toward the target. It moved considerably slower than all of the ones thrown by his classmates. ¡°Pfft! Look how tiny and wimpy that thing loo-¡± BOOM! CH-22 Beneath The Hill A shockwave incomparable to the previous blasts ripped over the training grounds, and scorched chunks of hay flew all over. A small cloud of smoke slowly rose where the training dummy had been standing. What had once been a straw-stuffed dummy was now a blackened and burnt wooden post. Kai stood there for a few seconds, staring at the damage from his spell as a wave of heat rolled past him. I was expecting a lot, but what the hell is that?! Even if Brewan was using his grimoire, he can¡¯t make anything close to that, and he¡¯s both a higher level and more focused on magic! [Heh. You should turn around and look at the expression on Angela¡¯s face.] Kai quickly spun around, and he wasn¡¯t disappointed. The annoying girl¡¯s mouth hung open in disbelief, and a few small chunks of straw and even a splinter of wood were hanging onto her robes. Her surrounding lackeys also had a suspiciously large amount of straw debris on their robes, almost like the spell had been detonated behind the target so as to fling junk toward Kai¡¯s new classmates. ¡°What tier did you say you were again?¡± The teacher blinked a few times, looking back and forth between Kai and the decimated target. ¡°I¡¯m still just at tier 1, why?¡± [Oi, stop trying to act cocky. I only did that to make fun of that annoying chick, not so that you can brag.] Before Kai or the instructor could say anything else, Angela¡¯s accusatory voice rang from the middle of her group of lackeys. ¡°He must¡¯ve cheated, he¡¯s using his grimoire!¡± Angela stomped to the front of the class, then thrust her finger in Kai¡¯s face as she pointed at him. With every word that spewed out of her mouth, she got closer to poking him in the forehead. ¡°You must take our academy for a joke!¡± How much trouble would I get in if I cut off her arm? Back home, this would be considered enough to have a death duel. [Kai, can you cut off this bitch¡¯s arm? The instructor¡¯s grimoire is still on the post over to the side, we might be able to escape before he can come after us.] Kai¡¯s lip twitched up into a slight smile as he thought of something even better. ¡°I¡¯m not using a grimoire, that¡¯s just a normal fireball. I don¡¯t know why yours was so much weaker, it might be a skill issue.¡± Kai lifted up his robes to show that he didn¡¯t have a book on him anywhere. ¡°Besides, even if I had a grimoire, it wouldn¡¯t have helped me. I¡¯m illiterate, so I can only cast fireballs the good ¡®ol fashioned way.¡± Angela¡¯s face went as white as a sheet of paper, and she stumbled back away from Kai. ¡°Y- you¡¯re illiterate too¡­? That¡¯s impossible¡­¡± Kai shrugged and turned back to the class. Spotting Leo and Brewan standing close to each other, Kai walked toward them while speaking loud enough for Angela to overhear him. ¡°Leo, want to study with me again after class?¡± Leo couldn¡¯t keep a smile off his face as he gave Kai a fist bump. ¡°Of course.¡± Up at the front of the class, the professor clapped his hands, trying to regain the attention of the students. He¡¯d already retrieved his grimoire from where it¡¯d been sitting on the post. ¡°As everyone has seen, there is a lot you can all do to improve on! Many of you who had powerful fireballs casted them much too slowly for them to be of any use in actual combat, but you can fix that through practice. I want all of you to continue practicing both with and without your grimoires, and we¡¯ll see your improvements in two weeks.¡± Eh, is he dismissing us already? He¡¯s hardly taught us anything, and now he¡¯s saying that we¡¯ll next be tested in two weeks? ¡°I¡¯ll be expecting all of you to practice in your free time. Our class time the next two weeks will be dedicated to basic survival techniques, so you¡¯ll have to make improvements on your own. I look forward to seeing what you all accomplish.¡± A frown grew on Kai¡¯s face as the teacher finished speaking. To him, basic survival was useless. The amount of time he¡¯d spent outside the sect¡¯s walls had been higher than what he spent inside. Heck, back at the sect, he¡¯d even taught some of the newer disciples how to survive out in the wilderness. Even if this was a different world, he highly doubted that there was any good knowledge he could gain from a basic level class. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. If I¡¯m not going to be able to gain anything from the mage class for the next two weeks, it might be worth it to check out the knight side of things. I¡¯ll still go to the library every day, once I can read, I might find books that can help me integrate my martial techniques with mana. After providing the class with a few more words of motivation, Instructor Ken dismissed the students. Angela and her cronies scurried off without causing any more trouble, and Kai decided to head down to the town beneath the academy instead of heading for the library right away. It was still early in the day, and there would be plenty of time to study later. Leo and Brewan decided to join him, and before they could head for the academy gates, another figure approached. It was the skinny kid who was also on his first day at the academy. [Kiin- Level 5] ¡°C-can I study with you as well? This is my first day of classes¡­¡± Leo stepped forward, his eyes lighting up. ¡°Wait, are you illiterate too?¡± Kiin lowered his head, then jumped in fright as Leo let out a whoop. ¡°Awesome! We can have an entire study group!¡± Leo slung his arms over Kai and Brewan¡¯s shoulders like they were best friends. ¡°We need to come up with a name for our group! Hmm¡­ Study Buddies. No, not cool enough. We need to think of something much cooler than ¡®Heritage¡¯.¡± Kai snuck out from under Leo¡¯s arm, then straightened his robes. Leo¡¯s a lot different than my initial impression of him. I certainly didn¡¯t expect the kid sitting quietly at the back of the classroom to act like this. He¡¯s almost a bit like Halia¡­ but more earnest. Hmph, I¡¯d much rather have a friend like Leo than one who tries to prank and embarrass me in front of random cultivators! ¡°I¡¯ve got it! The Illiterate Quartet!¡± Brewan shook his head as he stepped away from Leo. ¡°It¡¯s just the three of you, I can read just fine. Also, aren¡¯t all of you planning on learning how to read?¡± ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to workshop it. Anyways, want to head down to the town to get some lunch?¡± Kai and Brewan had already been planning on heading down to the town, and Kiin was willing or too meek to protest as Leo pulled him with. Leo pestered the skinny fellow with questions as they started down the hill, and Kai started learning more about his backstory. Similar to quite a few other students at Hillhold, Kiin had been recruited from a nearby village due to his potential as a mage. He was only level 5- tied with Leo for the weakest in the entire class. ¡°I used to bring crops from our village to the academy to sell them, but there have been a lot more beasts near the roads in the north. My village decided to send a strong tier 1 mage to defend the shipment, so I wasn¡¯t needed for it anymore.¡± Kiin glanced over at one of the stone towers sporadically placed along the side of the hill. ¡°The beasts near my village have been way more active than normal, and I heard that there are even professors up there right now to deal with the situation. I want to become strong enough to help defend everyone up there.¡± ¡°Nice!¡± Leo fist-bumped with Kiin. ¡°My parents were wanderers, so I don¡¯t have any valorous goals like that. I just want to get strong enough to slap all those who think they¡¯re better than everyone else. I¡¯ll start with that Angela girl!¡± Leo poked Kai¡¯s side with his elbow. ¡°How about you?¡± Both of them seem like the type of people I¡¯d want to recruit¡­ but they are a bit weak. I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll cause any trouble, though, so I guess I¡¯ll tell them the truth. ¡°I want to find my friends, then start an academy.¡± Leo¡¯s foot paused mid-step. ¡°Wait, really? You¡¯re pretty strong, but you have to be, like, super strong to do that. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard of a single new academy being founded in my entire life!¡± Leo rubbed at his chin for a few seconds before looking back up at Kai, his eyes shining. ¡°I¡¯ve decided, I¡¯ll join you!¡± [Kai, your new friend is a bit too impulsive.] ¡°If we¡¯re going to make a new academy, we¡¯ll need a name for it. Hm¡­ I¡¯m sure I can think of something cool¡­¡± Before Leo could come up with any disgraceful names, Kai cut him off. ¡°It¡¯s already been decided on, and it¡¯d be better if you didn¡¯t tell people what my future plans are while we¡¯re here. I doubt we¡¯d get off lightly if a professor overheard us planning to make a new academy.¡± Leo covered his mouth, then nodded. ¡°Your secret is safe with me.¡± The group had already reached the town below the academy, and Leo took the lead once more as he brought them over to his favorite lunch spot. Kiin also vouched for the restaurant as they approached, mentioning that he¡¯d often sold grain to the owners in the past. It was a small tavern that looked like it only had room to seat two dozen people tops. The entire building was made from wood, and the outside looked disheveled, but it was surprisingly tidy inside. There were few tables arranged with just enough space to walk between them, along with a long bar at the back of the room. ¡°Oh, Liz is working today!¡± Leo immediately headed for the bar, waving to the woman standing behind it. ¡°Leo, are your classes already done for the day?¡± Leo nodded as he hopped up onto one of the barstools, and the rest of the group followed him over. There were a few people already sitting at the bar, but there was enough space for all of them to sit in a group. Kai ended up on the side, closest to two other customers. One was wearing plain clothes, while the other had dusty brown robes that vaguely resembled the ones worn by mage students. Leo was already starting up another conversation with the barkeep, but Kai¡¯s attention was snatched by the strangers¡¯ talk next to him. ¡°-... Skeletons?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what they said. I never saw them myself, but multiple villagers described them the same way.¡± The robed man took a sip of his drink before continuing. ¡°In the last few minutes before sunset, on a small hill overlooking town. A few villagers were going to watch the sunset, but they all fled back to town before the skeletons could notice them.¡± The man wearing plainclothes shrugged. ¡°Eh, I¡¯ve heard plenty of stories like that before. Nothing ever comes of them, especially when it¡¯s news from a small village. You said it¡¯s a week¡¯s travel west of here, right?¡± Kai rubbed his chin as he listened. Skeletons appearing just before sunset? Hmm¡­ CH-23 Academy Life Life at Hillhold academy was a lot more peaceful than out in the forest. After a week, Kai was starting to get used to the safety and security brought by the stronghold. His mornings were occupied by classes. There were a similar number of students in the knight section as there were in the mage classes, and the dynamic between students was similar as well. The apple didn¡¯t fall far from the tree-or the other apple- when it came to Angela¡¯s brother, Rylon. Just like her, he had a small crew of Heritage faction cronies following him around everywhere he went. Unlike in the mage class, though, Rylon faced more opposition. ¡°Beat his ass, Kai!¡± ¡°Hit him in the gut!¡± The best way to improve was by doing, and for knight students, that meant sparring. ¡°Stop dodging, you filthy rat!¡± Kai smirked as he ducked, his long hair swaying to the side as Rylon¡¯s wooden training sword whooshed over his head. Rylon followed up on his missed strike by driving his elbow down toward Kai¡¯s head, but it was once again dodged. Kai swept his sword toward Rylon¡¯s midsection, but he managed to recover and block in time. Both of the young men took a step back, but their expressions were vastly different. ¡°I already know you¡¯re just as strong as me, why do you fight like such a coward?¡± Rylon¡¯s forehead creased in anger as he glared at Kai. ¡°Practice like it¡¯s a real fight. Only an idiot would try to trade blows with real swords. There¡¯s no point in winning if you get hamstrung at the same time.¡± Kai ran back in as he finished speaking, and after their blades clashed three more times, Rylon ended up on the floor. A chorus of cheers echoed from the surrounding students. Kai let out a deep breath as he walked back to the rest of the class, ignoring his fallen opponent. Rylon wasn¡¯t a bad fighter, it was quite the opposite. In their first spar, Kai had been taken aback by the young man¡¯s aggression and nearly lost. In his old world, he was used to fighting using real swords. A cultivator¡¯s most valued thing was their own life, and he¡¯d never seen someone stupid enough to trade hits like Rylon tried to. In the end, though, experience still won out. Rylon had been beating up rookie sword trainees and tier 1 beasts for a handful of years, while Kai had been fighting for his life since before he was a teenager. ¡°Hell yeah! Come drinking with us after class today!¡± Of the twelve students in the first-year knight class, eight of them were members of the Mint faction. Kai had been equally surprised by their skills. All of them were individually weaker than Rylon, but when they started group sparring, Rylon and his three goons were crushed by the four strongest Mint members. Rylon¡¯s strategy of leaving an opening in order to land heavy strikes worked great in duels, but the moment he did it in a group fight, the enemy trainees converged on him and eliminated him from the fight right from the beginning. They all instantly took a liking to Kai when he defeated Rylon for the first time, and he¡¯d even received offers to join their faction. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ve got some stuff to do at the library. Maybe next time.¡± Getting caught up in volatile academy politics wasn¡¯t in Kai¡¯s itinerary at Hillhold. He definitely favored the Mint faction a bit- Angela was still insufferable every time he saw her, and while her brother was much quieter, his personality wasn¡¯t much better. Still, Kai didn¡¯t like how often he was being pushed to join the Mint faction. He¡¯d already made it clear that he wasn¡¯t interested, but the students in the knight class didn¡¯t seem to care. Even Sydney had made multiple attempts to get him to join, but at least he¡¯d backed off a bit after Kai showed his disinterest. Even Soren was more agreeable to hang out with the couple times Kai ran into him in town. It¡¯s still much nicer hanging out with my group. Immediately after class, Kai headed for the kids¡¯ section of the library. It¡¯d become the unofficial hangout spot of the Illiterate Quartet. Angela had unfortunately overheard Leo theorycrafting a name for their group and bullied the rest of the mage class into calling them by the unfortunate title. When he arrived, the other three were already gathered around a table. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Yo, Kai. Entil stopped by earlier, he said he was heading back to his hometown for a bit. You asked about a formation book before, he helped me pick out a good one for you before he left. Brewan held up a thick blue tome, and Kai let out a sigh. [Finally! I hope it has what I need!] After a few days of helping Kai learn from picture books, Halia grew bored and started reading more advanced materials. Given her physical state, though, she couldn¡¯t actually turn pages. Aside from her mana sense, she could only borrow Kai¡¯s senses. After opening up the tome, Kai laid a picture book next to it. Trying to learn a language was already difficult, and having to look up at a high-level theory book on formations every dozen seconds certainly didn¡¯t make it any easier. Halia¡¯s habit of muttering to herself-now to Kai¡¯s brain- didn¡¯t help either. Okay. The character for corn looks pretty similar to the one for grass¡­ and every other plant. They all have an upstroke on the right side, so I just need to memorize the rest of them to know which plant it¡¯s talking about¡­ [I see, so the mana gathering function works like that, I wonder if storage¡­] Kai did his best to tune out Halia as he studied. Between reading his own book, turning pages for Halia, and getting quizzed by Kiin and Leo, he also regularly asked Brewan for help. ¡°The upstrokes on the right side for plants? For animals, there¡¯s a downstroke on the left side instead.¡± Having someone who could read and write was extremely useful to the illiterate trio¡¯s learning. ¡°Even if you don¡¯t recognize the rest of the character, there¡¯s still a lot you can learn just from the upstroke. See how short the one for grass is compared to corn, and then to a tree? The longer the upstroke is, the taller the plant. If you are down in town and want to buy a plant, you can even tell roughly how old the plant is from it. A tree sapling is the same character as the grown one, but with a shorter upstroke. It¡¯s the same for animals with the downstroke on the left side.¡± Luckily, the language was fairly intuitive to understand, and Kai was picking it up quickly. He was still working with kids'' picture books, but he was almost ready to move past them after only a week of studying. Just as Kai was starting to get into studying, he was interrupted once more, this time not by Halia. ¡°Kai and Brewan are here, right?¡± An unfamiliar student poked his head around one of the bookshelves, looking over their small study group. His robes were the same color as Soren¡¯s. ¡°Sydney and a few other third years wanted to talk to the two of you.¡± Eh? I wonder what it¡¯s for. I¡¯ve already told him multiple times that I don¡¯t have any plans of joining a faction, and I don¡¯t think he would try to push me any further. Kai shut both of the books in front of him and stood up, ignoring Halia¡¯s complaints. After straightening his robes, Kai followed the student, with Brewan close behind. After leaving the library, the duo was led toward a small training building near the academy¡¯s walls. A few beaten up straw dummies stood a few meters outside of the building, looking like they¡¯d been slashed endlessly with training swords. One even wore a battered set of leather armor. Before they reached the building, Sydney stuck his head out from within it, grinning when he saw the incoming students. ¡°Hey guys, how¡¯s it going?¡± Sydney seemed a lot more casual than he had before, but Kai figured it made sense, given that their lives weren¡¯t constantly in danger on academy grounds. He beckoned for Kai and Brewan to join him inside, and when they entered, the room was already largely filled with students. They wore a mix of 1st and 2nd tier clothing, and the majority of them were knight students. Kai hadn¡¯t attended any classes with any of them, but he recognized quite a few of them as 2nd year students. And I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯re all from the Mint faction. ¡°I¡¯ll get right down to it. Kai, have you heard about the academy tournament taking place in a month?¡± Kai¡¯s expression sank a bit further. It was impossible for him not to have overheard the 1st year knight students talking about it. On the surface, it seemed like a friendly tournament of sparring that encompassed all three grades of regular students, and sometimes even battles between assistant professors as learning displays. In reality, it was a pissing contest between the two factions. One of Kai¡¯s main goals of staying at Hillhold was to form connections, and while many of the Heritage faction kids were annoying, Soren had potential, and Entil had stopped by multiple times over the past week to help Kai out. ¡°Sorry, but I only just arrived at the academy, and I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯ll end up staying. It would be inappropriate for me to participate.¡± Sydney shook his head. ¡°No, you can participate, I already confirmed it with Professor Golal.¡± Kai opened his mouth to object, but Sydney held up a hand to silence him. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to pressure you into joining my faction. There are rewards for winning, stuff that would probably be useful to you. You can join the tournament without representing any faction.¡± Kai started to open his mouth again, but caught himself. Well, if I can join the competition without burning any bridges, is there really a reason not to? I already know that I can stomp Rylon in a fight, and I¡¯m pretty sure Brewan can take Angela in a fight, too. A small smirk started to grow on Kai¡¯s face. Leo has been improving rapidly over this last week too, and Kiin is making progress as well. With another month of practice, the two of them might be able to compete too. What would Angela¡¯s face look like if not only her brother lost, but she and her goons also got wrecked by the ¡®Illiterate Quartet¡¯? Whatever prizes we win would only serve to make it even sweeter. Kai didn¡¯t need to think any further. ¡°I¡¯m in.¡± CH-24 Beast Hunting Mission ¡°Try to remember the feeling of casting the spell using the grimoire, then try again without it.¡± On Kai¡¯s right, Leo raised his arm, and a small jet of fire leapt forward, slamming into the straw dummy a dozen meters in front of them. The flames sputtered out without doing any visible damage to the target. ¡°It¡¯s better than it was a few days ago, but it¡¯s still not enough.¡± Brewan scratched his head as he looked back down at his grimoire. It was three days after Sydney invited the quartet to participate in the tournament, and Kai had immediately increased the time the crew spent trying to improve their combat spells. Kiin and Leo had both made enough progress learning the written language to borrow Brewan¡¯s grimoire and cast fireball using it, but they both struggled with the activation of it. Leo¡¯s normally lightning fast casting time turned unbearably slow. ¡°I¡¯m too slow casting from a grimoire, and my normal spells could hardly start a campfire. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to be able to compete with anyone else in our class in just a month.¡± Leo¡¯s head drooped, and Kai gave his shoulder a light shove. ¡°Hey, at least you¡¯re doing better than me.¡± Kai¡­ still couldn¡¯t cast any spells. He didn¡¯t originally plan on learning much magic, but after spending so much time trying to learn the written language, it seemed like a waste not to at least learn the basics. And he probably wouldn¡¯t have struggled with that. [Hm, you mana has almost regenerated enough to try making this formation again. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll get it this time!] For the past three days, every time Kai¡¯s mana regenerated enough for him to attempt using a spell, Halia drained it away. She¡¯d apparently been excited by something she found in the book Entil picked out, and despite her early accomplishments when they were in the forest, it was taking her a bit longer to figure this one out. [If only Edwin were here, he¡¯d have this formation figured out in a couple minutes¡­ Whatever, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll get it soon!] Even when Kai tried to drag her out of her newfound obsession with mana gathering formations to help the others learn spells, she almost completely ignored him. The best way for Kiin and Leo to improve is probably with Halia¡¯s help, and it would also be pretty nice to be able to use my own mana again. I never really paid attention to the formations back home, but I might be able to help Halia out a bit. Heck, it might be worth it to ask someone else, too. I doubt Sydney would be of much help, and Entil is still gone visiting his hometown, but Soren might be willing. I''ll try before I ask for help, though. Kai quickly bade farewell to his friends and headed to the library. Halia had already sent Brewan searching through the whole place for any other related books, so Kai didn¡¯t bother trying to search again. Instead, he headed for the back of the library, where there were a few small study rooms equipped with blackboards. He¡¯d already had to stare at the mana gathering formation when flipping through the book for Halia to have it almost completely memorized, and he immediately started scratching it onto a board. A few of the lines were a bit uneven and curved when he finished, but it looked decent enough. After double checking that there weren¡¯t any other students around, Kai tapped on the ruby necklace to get Halia¡¯s attention. ¡°Oi, Halia. This is the thing you¡¯re trying to figure out, right? I¡¯ll try to help you with it.¡± [Huh? Are you sure?] Kai nodded his head. ¡°I¡¯ve been listening to you mutter to yourself for the last three days. Maybe an outside perspective will help you figure it out. You worked on a few projects with the other disciples before, right? Now we can be study buddies too.¡± The ruby necklace somehow reddened a tiny bit as Kai spoke, and Halia let out a small cough before she spoke again. [Then we¡¯re partners! I¡¯ve already made quite a few changes to the formation you drew on the board, erase it and copy this down instead.] A blue box appeared in Kai¡¯s vision. The formation looked¡­ similar¡­ to the previous one Kai had drawn. It was like a second formation had been stacked on top of the original one, and it looked similar as well. Earlier in the day, Halia had presented it to him to test out. [I¡¯m trying to make something that can gather and then store mana, but the book only had information about the former. Even using everything I know about Qi formations, nothing seems to be working.] Kai frowned as he stared at Halia¡¯s formation. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Hmm¡­ Halia¡¯s been at it for three days already. I think she would¡¯ve already caught any errors in her formation design- and I can¡¯t see anything wrong with them- but every time we¡¯ve tried to test it, the paper just bursts into flames. There¡¯s nothing in here that looks even remotely like a fireball spell, so there must be an issue somewhere. Kai mulled over the issue while Halia made a few small tweaks to the formation, and after an hour, she asked him if he could test it again. The piece of paper he fetched from the library¡¯s front desk burst into flames almost instantly after Kai finished engraving the formation. [Again. I can¡¯t even tell where it¡¯s failing, it almost looks like the entire thing breaks down all at once.] Kai was about to head back to the blackboard to take another look at it, but Leo¡¯s head suddenly peeked around the bookshelf to his side. ¡°Hey Kai, we need to head to the professors¡¯ quarters. I don¡¯t know why, but Golal is suddenly calling for all four of us to go there.¡± Kai frowned as he turned around. Golal wants to talk to all four of us? I haven¡¯t even seen him since the first day I arrived here¡­ is it something about the tournament coming up in a month? He does seem a bit crazy, so even if he told Sydney we could compete before, he might be rethinking it¡­ Kai did his best to push away his speculations as he followed Leo outside. Sure, Golal was strong enough to kill Kai without any effort and was visibly crazy. Surely, nothing bad would happen. Am I really getting intimidated by someone just because they¡¯re stronger than me? I saw plenty of people stronger back home. It¡¯s too pathetic for a future sect leader to be afraid of a random crazy man with a bird living in his hair. Kai straightened his back as he reached the professors¡¯ building and joined Kiin and Brewan who were already waiting outside. Kai still had yet to see even the shadow of another professor aside from Golal, and the hallways of the building were almost empty. Almost, but Kai immediately wished they were completely empty as he reached Golal¡¯s room. There was already a small group of students gathered outside of it, and Kai unfortunately recognized all of them. Angela¡¯s cronies¡­ and Rylon¡¯s as well. Wonderful. Kai didn¡¯t even get the chance to hope that their bosses weren¡¯t present, and Angela¡¯s annoying voice echoed down the hallway. ¡°You want us to go out and hunt beasts without a tier 3 mage to protect us?! We are the future of this world, and you want us to risk our lives pointlessly?¡± Kai¡¯s group was close enough to hear Golal¡¯s raspy voice through his open office door. ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve heard you¡¯re quite bratty and immature, maybe this will help you to finally grow up.¡± ¡°W-what?! How dare you?¡± Kai couldn¡¯t keep the grin off his face as he reached the door. Heh, maybe Golal isn¡¯t so bad. I bet I can make this even better. Kai didn¡¯t bother greeting all of the Heritage faction cronies as he slipped into the office, then gave an exaggerated bow to Golal. ¡°I came as soon as I heard you wanted to speak with me, Professor.¡± Kai saw the corner of Golal¡¯s mouth curve up. ¡°See, this is the proper respect you should have for your seniors. Angela, you should try to learn from Kai¡¯s example.¡± Angela¡¯s face turned bright red with anger. ¡°Learn from him, one of the Illiterate Idiot Quartet?!¡± Golal gave a sagely nod. ¡°And there¡¯s good news, you will have plenty of time to learn from him soon. I¡¯ll be sending all of you to Ledville to quell the growing number of beasts there.¡± I take back everything I said. Golal, you better not make me go on a trip with her. She even modified our already stupid team name to make it even more insulting. ¡°I¡¯ll split you into two groups of four. I¡¯d like to mix everyone up so you can all make new friends¡­ but for team composition, it¡¯s probably best if I don¡¯t. Team 1 will be Rylon, Angela, Cain, and Dane. Team 2 will be Kai, Brewan, Kiin, and Leo. I know that all of you have met Entil before, he is already in Ledville and will be the leader of this mission. Follow his orders.¡± Kai let out a breath of relief at not having to team up with any of the insufferable Heritage brats, but at the same time, a trickle of unease wormed through his stomach. Ledville was to the west- the same direction Talonia had been in. It was the closest settlement to the now-destroyed town Kai had come from. If there¡¯s an increase in beast activity there, is Golal not worried that the tier 3 terror bird will attack? Why is he only sending a bunch of tier 1 mages instead of someone stronger? [It would¡¯ve been nice to be able to work on the formation a bit longer, but this isn¡¯t so bad either. You haven¡¯t gotten any stronger over the last week, but if we¡¯re going to be beast hunting, your level might shoot up again. Your friends might get a lot stronger too.] Kai¡¯s hand drifted down to the hilt of his sword. He hadn¡¯t managed to make any progress adapting his old Qi techniques for use with mana, but he was still confident in his fighting prowess. Right now, I can probably beat any tier 1 beasts, but even a fairly weak tier 2 one like the bear can kill me. If I want to get stronger, strong enough to actually challenge the terror bird, I need to hunt more. Sitting around in the academy isn¡¯t going to do me any good. ¡°We¡¯ll hunt down all of the beasts. My team can be ready to set off for Ledville right away.¡± Off to the side, Angela had been about to open her mouth to complain again, but she quickly shut it when Kai immediately accepted the mission. [Heh. Kai, I¡¯m going to teach you a lot on this trip.] Huh? What does she mean? [Fufu¡­ I¡¯m going to show you the joys of teaching someone to be more open and agreeable. Angela is a perfect target¡­] A shiver ran down Kai¡¯s spine as he remembered the years of torment he¡¯d gone through. Halia had taken every chance he¡¯d had to embarrass him in front of others, to the point that he¡¯d grown used to it. At least it¡¯s not me this time, and it¡¯s someone who actually deserves it. Kai frowned. ¡­ I never deserved it, right? CH 25- Main Questline ¡°Halia, what is this?¡± [Hmm? What do you mean?] Kai waved his hand at the small cluster of blue text boxes that¡¯d appeared in his field of vision shortly after leaving Golal¡¯s office. [Oh, I thought you would like it. You¡¯ve always loved organization, maybe too much, so I decided to help you out with it!] Kai could hear a mischievous smirk in Halia¡¯s voice as she responded. Kai couldn¡¯t deny that it could be useful to have someone else helping keep track of his objectives¡­ if they were actually helping him keep track of his objectives. [Main Questline: The Future Of Humanity. Objectives: Teach Angela humility. Show Rylon how to win a proper fight. Consult Entil about mana gathering formations. Rewards: +3 Mana] Kai rubbed his forehead as he stared down at the text. Sure, all of the things listed were on his to-do list, but they definitely weren¡¯t worthy of ¡®Main Questline¡¯ status. Also¡­ how could they give him mana? Thanks to his sword, Kai was able to absorb mana from beasts that he killed, allowing him to grow stronger at a rapid rate. Back when we were near Talonia, I also gained some mana from Halia¡¯s experiments, but I haven¡¯t gotten any recently¡­ ¡°Halia, where is this mana reward coming from?¡± [Ehm¡­ It¡¯s, um¡­ a reward for your hard work!] Kai looked down at his necklace with the most blank, I¡¯m not buying your shit stare that he could manage. [...Okay, it¡¯s your mana growth over the last week. You haven¡¯t been fighting lately, so I haven¡¯t shown you your stat screen.] Kai raised an eyebrow skeptically. The Halia he knew would take any chance to show off her floating blue text boxes. She¡¯d even gone so far as to teach Kai how to make them himself. [Also¡­ now that you¡¯re going to be going on a hunting mission, you¡¯ll probably be using all of your mana to fight. I hoped you might forget about this mana long enough for me to figure out the mana gathering formation, so that I¡¯d at least be able to work on it a bit while you¡¯re traveling¡­ I¡¯m sorry for trying to keep it from you.] [Mana- 29->32] Kai let out a sigh, then reached out and grabbed at the blue mana box before it could disappear. His hand went right through it, scattering it into tiny motes of disjointed light. ¡°Halia, what do you take me for, and who are you?¡± [What? I don¡¯t understand.] Kai straightened his sleeves with one hand, his other holding the ruby stone of Halia¡¯s necklace. ¡°I¡¯m the future leader of the Crescent Moon Sect. Someone whom countless disciples will look up to and adore. I¡¯m the noble 1st Disciple¡­ and you are someone important to me.¡± Kai pushed a small amount of mana into his finger, reforming the text box he destroyed. With a swipe of his finger, the 32 turned into a 27, giving Halia an additional 2 mana to work with while he traveled. [Mana- 32->27] Afterwards, Kai glanced back down at the necklace. Halia really is useful to have around. She¡¯s figuring out magic super fast, and making me stronger at the same time. I¡¯m sure whenever she figures out this formation it¡¯ll be pretty good for us, though I don¡¯t know what she¡¯s planning on using it for yet. She is really important to bringing back the Crescent Moon Sect. Also¡­ was the ruby always this deep of a red color? And why isn¡¯t Halia saying anything? Kai didn¡¯t have long to ponder about it, as his attention was drawn by an approaching student. It was Leo, and he had a huge pack slung over his back. ¡°Kai! I packed up everything as quickly as I could!¡± Leo hefted the pack off his back, then dropped it to the ground with a Thunk. Kai¡¯s eyebrows knit into a frown. ¡°You plan to carry that with for the entire trip?¡± Leo nodded proudly. ¡°I managed to pack everything I own into a single bag! Impressive, right?¡± ¡°You do realize that we¡¯re going to be walking, right? Do you really think that you can carry that thing for multiple days, traveling the entire day? How are you going to fight with that on your back?¡± Leo¡¯s expression started to fall as Kai rooted through his back, sorting the items into two piles¡­ or rather, one pile, and then a single item sitting off to the side. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Here, this is what you want to bring with you on a journey. All of the rest of this junk will only slow you down.¡± Leo looked over at the ¡®pile¡¯ of one item. ¡°My canteen? But then what am I supposed to sleep on?¡± Kai pointed at the ground. Sure, having bedding was nice, but he¡¯d never had trouble falling asleep on grass. As a cultivator, his body was enhanced enough that he rarely woke up with neck pain, and even with just the meager strength he¡¯d recovered, he wasn¡¯t afraid of napping on the ground. I suppose it wouldn¡¯t be bad for the mages to have a simple bedroll, but aside from that and something to store water, they only need a change of clothes. It¡¯s only a couple days¡¯ travel, so we don¡¯t need much food either. Carrying anything extra will just weigh us down and make fighting beasts much more difficult. Once Leo¡¯s things were sorted-Kai eventually acquiesced and let him bring his sleeping supplies- the duo met up with Brewan, then headed down the hill to town. Kiin met them at the bottom of the hill, a small pile of bags stacked beside him. The faint scent of seawater wafted from the pile, and Kai could see a couple spikey green leaves poking from the tops of the bags. ¡°I worked out the delivery with Ledville¡¯s courier.¡± Kiin grinned as he grabbed a fistful of coins from his pocket and held them up for the other boys to see. ¡°Just as I predicted, he was willing to give us the payment in advance!¡± [New Side Quest!] [Deliver saltweed to Ledville. Due to the rising number of monsters in the area, the courier is having trouble making the trip to Ledville.] [Goods delivered: 0/4] [Rewards (already received): 15 Gold.] ¡°Nice!¡± Leo raised his arm for a fist bump with Kiin, ¡°Now we have enough money to get grimoires!¡± Both Kai and Brewan were already good in terms of magic- Brewan already had a grimoire, and Kai had Halia- but over the last week, their two friends had either borrowed Brewan¡¯s to practice or just casted spells on their own. Having grimoires would make their magic much more potent, and after over a week of studying the language, both of them understood it enough to cast basic spells. Fifteen gold wasn¡¯t enough for them to get anything but the most basic grimoires on the market, but having more advanced ones wouldn¡¯t do them any good, since they had neither the mana to cast stronger spells nor the ability to read more complex runes. Basic ones were perfect for them at the moment. The whole crew made a stop at a general store to pick up the grimoires and rations for their trip, then made their way toward the exit of town. Thanks to Kai forcing Leo to only bring the essentials, he and Kiin had more than enough backpack space for the bags of saltweed. As the crew approached the edge of town, they spotted a group of familiar figures. Angela and Rylon stood at the front of their group, both of them clad in sturdy leather armor and with heavy backpacks over their shoulders. Their other two party members, Cain and Dane, didn¡¯t have the same armor, but they made up for the saved weight by having even larger backpacks. As they approached the other group, Leo started making observations just loud enough for Angela to hear. ¡°Wow, look at those idiots. Five gold says they collapse under the weight of their own luggage before they make it halfway to Ledville.¡± Kai rolled his eyes, but didn¡¯t call Leo out for his hypocrisy. Angela sneered back as she heard Leo¡¯s remark. ¡°We¡¯re not weak and poor like you. If you can¡¯t even lift your travel supplies, how do you think you can fight beasts?¡± Leo instantly opened his mouth to shoot back, but realized what she was saying made sense. He looked over to Kai for help, but Kai just scoffed. ¡°We can ask her again in a week, when she makes it to Ledville.¡± ¡°Peh. What kind of fool do you have to be to think it takes a week to travel to Ledville? I knew you were illiterate, but you can¡¯t even read a map?¡± Kai just rolled his eyes as he turned away. Angela and Rylon were both quite fit, but Kai could tell from a glance that the Cain-Dane twins wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up, especially with how much gear they had stuffed into their packs. [Hey Kai, how about we start teaching them a lesson right now?] A grin started to grow on Kai¡¯s face as Halia spoke, and he turned back around to face Angela. ¡°How about a race, then? Whichever team makes it there first owes the other a favor.¡± ¡°Please, stop assuming that my intelligence is on the same level as yours. None of you have any gear, so even with your honestly depressing strength, you might be able to run past everything and make it there before us.¡± Leo scoffed at Angela¡¯s answer. ¡°Scared? We¡¯ll give you a handicap. If you can make it there within three days, we¡¯ll call it your win.¡± Angela snorted at the generous terms of Leo¡¯s offer. ¡°Hmph, fine. You better not try to worm out of the bet when we make it there before you.¡± It would normally take two days to make it there¡­ but it¡¯ll probably take them four, at least. Considering how entitled and stuck up the people traveling are though, five is more realistic. I¡¯ll eat my shoes if they make it there in under three days. The two groups broke off from each other as they left town. As soon as they were out of earshot of Angela¡¯s group, Kai signaled for the crew to stop. ¡°Everyone, keep watch for any beasts along the road. There are multiple reports of them along the path, so keep your eyes open.¡± Well, they won¡¯t really need to right now, since Halia is with and can detect anything before it even gets close, but they will definitely be traveling on their own at some point down the line. I need to teach them as much as I can to prepare them for the future. ¡°This isn¡¯t just a good chance to get experience in real battles. There are a lot more ways to grow other than just fighting and studying¡­ in fact, why don¡¯t we start right now.¡± [Oh¡­ I know what¡¯s coming. I heard all about this from the other disciples.] Kai frowned a bit at Halia¡¯s dark tone, but kept talking. ¡°Endurance goes a long way in a fight, and despite what you might think, it¡¯s even more valuable for people who attack from a range.¡± Kai pointed at Leo. ¡°If there is a big, slow brute of a knight chasing after you, what do you do?¡± ¡°Run?¡± Kai nodded. ¡°Not just that, you run, and while you run, throw spells back at the enemy. If you¡¯re faster than them, you can just keep running and chucking spells until they either die or give up. I call it ¡®kiting¡¯. if you run out of stamina, though, you¡¯ll get caught and die.¡± [HUH?!?! You call it kiting?!] ¡°I see! That way we can fight beasts way stronger than us!¡± Leo made a pose like he was throwing a fireball behind him, and Kai nodded sagely. ¡°Exactly.¡± [Shameless! Pretentious bastard, I had to explain kiting to you four times!] Kai tried and failed to keep a shit-eating smirk off his face as he stretched his legs. ¡°We¡¯ll start off our stamina training with a jog. None of us have heavy bags, so you should all be able to keep up!¡± Kai took off jogging down the path toward Ledville, and the rest of the crew followed after him. CH 26- Team Fight Basics ¡°Huuuaaaa- I can¡¯t go any farther¡­¡± Kai turned around, his legs still pumping as he jogged in place, looking at the three teens behind him. Brewan looked like he could keep going, but the other two were both heaving for breath. ¡°Watch out, Leo! There¡¯s a bear beast coming up behind you!¡± Kai pointed behind the exhausted boy with a mock look of terror on his face, prompting Leo to take off running down the path again. Kai ran behind him, making loud huffing noises. He didn¡¯t really sound that much like a bear, but it was convincing enough to put the pep back in Leo¡¯s step. Kai thought it was pretty funny until Leo conjured a fireball and whipped it backward without even turning his head. It flew straight into Kai¡¯s face, setting his almost-nonexistent facial hair alight. Kai¡¯s mock bear huffing turned into screams of panic as he batted at the flames covering his own face. [Bahaha, deserved!] ¡°Halia, help!¡± [Haven¡¯t you ever heard of ¡®Stop, drop, and roll¡¯?] Kai dropped to the ground and rolled around a couple times, but it didn¡¯t seem to be doing much. Luckily, Brewan had already turned around and noticed Kai¡¯s peril. He ran over, using the silky cloth of his robes to smother the flame around Kai¡¯s head. ¡°Sorry! I was trying to hit the bear!¡± Leo looked around, ready to chuck another fireball at the imaginary bear. Kai quickly slid himself to the right, putting Brewan between himself and the glowing fireball floating over the grimoire in Leo¡¯s hands. ¡°It¡¯s fine, put the fire away! We must¡¯ve scared the bear away, you don¡¯t need to throw any more spells.¡± With the fire extinguished, Kai pushed Brewan¡¯s cloak away, and a snort of laughter immediately echoed in his mind. [Pfft, you need to look in a mirror. Ah, or water.] When Kai looked up at the rest of the squad, he could see poorly hidden smiles on their faces even as they still tried to catch their breaths. What are these idiots smiling about? Did Leo do that on purpose, knowing that I was faking the bear? I¡¯ve never had any junior disciples be this disrespectful before! Kai paused for a second, a frown growing on his slightly-toasted face. Well, if I ignore Halia. And the other core disciples. And some of the clowns I recruited to the sect¡­ am I just really bad at picking companions? As Kai¡¯s frown continued to deepen, the boys in front of him could no longer hold in their laughter. Leo broke first, followed by the other two. ¡°Hah¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m not trying to laugh at you, but your eyebrows are gone, and when you frown¡­¡± Kai frowned again, sending the trio into another laughing fit. By the time they calmed down, they were just as out of breath as they had been after running for an hour straight. Hmph, these three are just as bothersome as the core disciples. Let¡¯s see if they can keep laughing after I make them run for another hour straight- [Kai, I¡¯m picking up a mana signature on the north side of the trail. It¡¯s in the middle of tier 1.] ¡°Everyone, cut out the laughing! There¡¯s a beast coming. Leo and Kiin, try to handle it with your spells.¡± Moments later, a large deer burst from the underbrush on the far side of the trail. The left side of its antlers were twisted downward at an odd angle, and some of the points faced directly forward. ¡°It¡¯s coming!¡± Kiin dashed backwards in a panic, hiding behind the rest of the group. Leo did a bit better, already having his grimoire out. He whipped a lackluster fireball at the deer, then quickly closed his grimoire and launched a few self-casted flames at it. His first attack went wide, and all of the others washed over the deer¡¯s pelt without doing any noticeable damage. Luckily, the bright flashes from Leo¡¯s consecutive fireballs were enough to frighten the deer, giving Kai enough time to push Kiin back to the front of their group. ¡°When there¡¯s a beast, you need to help fight it! If you just stand there, it¡¯ll kill your whole party!¡± Kiin fumbled with his new grimoire, turning to the wrong page at first. By the time he opened up the ¡®fireball¡¯ spell and started casting it, the deer had already closed the distance and was about to impale a terrified Leo. Kai was about to dash forward to save him, but before he could move, the ground in front of the beast exploded. A leg-sized earth spike shot up from the ground, too quickly for the deer to dodge it. Crimson blood splattered all over the trail as a large chunk of the beast¡¯s shoulder was ripped off, and it stumbled backwards. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Kai¡¯s two new teammates both stared in shock at the wounded beast for a moment before Kai shouted again. ¡°Why are both of you just standing there? There¡¯s an opening, hit it!¡± Now that the deer wasn¡¯t sprinting toward them, the two rookie mages had enough time and composure to actually aim their spells, and the deer quickly perished under a rain of fire. ¡°Hmph, what was that?! Kiin, why did you try to run? If both of you stood and attacked it, the beast wouldn¡¯t have even gotten close. Without Brewan¡¯s help, Leo would¡¯ve been gored to death! Are you proficient in revival magic???¡± Kai turned toward Leo without stopping for a second. ¡°And you missed half of your spells! Being able to cast them quickly doesn¡¯t do you any good if you only hit the trees behind your enemy. How can you hit me in the face, but not this huge deer?¡± Both of the boys hung their heads, the adrenaline and excitement from defeating their first beast quickly being culled by Kai¡¯s harsh judgment of the battle. [Oi. It¡¯s their first time, and they beat the beast in the end. Positive encouragement goes a lot further than being a prick over a few small mistakes.] Kai scoffed. ¡°¡®Small¡¯ mistakes like those get people killed. The battlefield isn¡¯t a place for coddling.¡± [I understand, but I still think you¡¯re wrong. Look at them right now, do you think they are learning better when they look dejected like that, or would it be better if you point out what they did wrong as well as compliment what they did right?] Brewan walked over to the deer¡¯s corpse, beckoning for Leo and Kiin to come over. ¡°Good job finishing it off, both of you. Leo, your reaction speed was really quick, you need to teach me how to cast spells that fast. I wish my first fight went as well as that did. A lot of beasts have strong pelts, so it can be a bit tough to break through. If you both slow down your casting a little, focus on gathering a little more power and aiming it well, either of you can probably take down a beast like this on your own.¡± [See? That¡¯s how you should teach someone.] Kai shook his head. Being friendly and positive about combat tips was all good and fun until somebody screwed up and found themself crippled or dead. Brewan and Halia¡¯s idea of training only sounded appealing to those who hadn¡¯t lost a friend in battle. He hadn¡¯t known them for very long yet, but Kai preferred not to have to look for new companions. None of the boys had a method to preserve the deer¡¯s meat, and with the sun shining overhead, Kai knew that the meat would spoil long before they could make it to Ledville. They¡¯d already been traveling for over an hour, so it wasn¡¯t practical for them to turn around to deliver the meat to the farmers surrounding the academy either. After a short break occupied by combat tips from Kai and Brewan, the crew took off again. Even though they still had Halia for detection, Kai had them slow down a bit. If there were beasts on the trail this close to the academy, they would almost certainly run into more on their trip. And where there are weak beasts, there will be strong ones too. I gained quite a few levels from killing the Deep Ursine in Talonia, but even with that, I¡¯m not sure how much of a chance we have against a Tier two beast. Even if he was hurt before, Sydney was a big help fighting the bear, and we had a big environmental advantage too. Brewan is here, but I don¡¯t think I can count on Kiin or Leo to be useful in a real fight. The crew continued to travel toward Ledville, alternating between jogging and walking. Taking more caution quickly proved to be a good move. Twenty minutes after fighting the first deer, Halia detected another beast a short way off the road. Kai tried letting Kiin and Leo fight it again, but ended up having to step in to save them. They carried on their journey in a similar manner for the rest of the day, finding a beast or two every hour. Many of them weren¡¯t close enough to the road to actually notice the group of traveling teens, but Halia¡¯s mana sense range was large enough that she could find them even away from the road. The only lamentable thing about her ability to track down beasts was that there probably wouldn¡¯t be any left to hold Angela and her cronies up, letting them travel a bit quicker. The crew traveled until the sun fell to the horizon, then set up camp. They set off early the next morning, and were making good progress through most of the day, only occasionally encountering middling tier 1 beasts. Their luck ran out a short way from Ledville. [Beasts. There are five of them up ahead, and they¡¯re all close enough that it¡¯ll be hard to pick any of them off. We can probably get a couple of them with an ambush, but we¡¯ll still have to fight off the rest.] [Flesh-eating Deer- Level 4] [Flesh-eating Deer- Level 9] [Flesh-eating Deer- Level 14] [Flesh-eating Deer- Level 14] [Flesh-eating Deer- Level 18] When he saw the levels of their incoming opponents, Kai immediately moved to the front of the group. Three of the deer matched or surpassed him in levels, and while Kiin and Leo had improved a lot over the course of their travels, it was still a stretch to say that they could handle the two weaker ones. [I¡¯ll blast one of the strong ones, Brewan can take out another, and you handle the level 18 one?] We can probably win doing that¡­ but it¡¯ll definitely make a lot of noise, and if a tier 2 beast is attracted over, we¡¯ll be done for. If I want to have any chance at beating a beast that strong, I need all of my mana. Kai glanced past the beasts, towards the town of Ledville in the distance. Even if they tried to run there, it would take them at least twenty minutes. The beasts in front of them had already locked onto them, so using a dispersion spell would be useless. Fighting it is, I guess. ¡°Halia, take the one on the left. Try not to use much mana, it¡¯s fine if you just stall it until I come over. Brewan, do the same for the one on the right.¡± Kai turned to Leo and Kiin, but both of the boys already had their grimoires out. Neither of them had any idea who ¡®Halia¡¯ was, but they knew what their roles in the fight would be. ¡°We¡¯ll handle the two smaller ones, don¡¯t worry about us.¡± Kai¡¯s necklace pulsed with heat, resonating with the flames gathering over the grimoires of the rest of the team. The first serious battle for the future Crescent Moon disciples. Four teens, one necklace, and five man-eating deer. [Fireball!!!!] Halia¡¯s unheard warcry kicked off the battle. CH-27 Rock(ai)et Launcher [Fireball!!!!] Kai felt a small chunk of his mana disappear as two small fireballs leapt from Halia¡¯s necklace, each aiming for the head of the top-level deer. The weaker of the two swerved to the side, trying to dodge the fireball. One more mana ticked away from Kai¡¯s reserves as the fireball pulled a 90 degree turn, hitting its mark. [Mana - 22/27] Its face ablaze, the deer crashed into the other [Level 14] beast, sending both of them tumbling to the ground. Kai¡¯s attention was quickly drawn away by the other high-level deer, but he caught the sight of earthen spike jutting up to meet the two out-of-control beasts in his peripheral. The other deer¡¯s tactics were much more straightforward. It charged straight through the comparatively diminutive fireball, angling its unnaturally sharp antlers toward Kai. Hmph, it¡¯s not a tier two beast after all. Something with this low of intelligence can hardly pose a threat. I¡¯ll take care of it quickly, then team up with Brewan to kill the others. Kai easily sidestepped the charge, but his own slash did similarly little damage. A small line of red trickled from the deer¡¯s shoulder as it turned back around, madness glimmering in its eyes. He didn¡¯t wait for it to charge again, instead lunging forward and thrusting the tip of the sword at the beast¡¯s throat. The curved blade of the ruby sword wasn¡¯t designed as a stabbing weapon, but Kai had enough control to make it work. The blade¡¯s sharp edge cut cleanly through the beast¡¯s pelt, slicing just deep enough to find a large vein. Kai spun away as blood spurted from the deer¡¯s neck, parrying the beast¡¯s antlers as he distanced himself. Hmph, I dare say that was perfect. Kai¡¯s gaze left the staggering deer as he scanned the rest of the battlefield, searching for his juniors¡¯ admiring gazes. ¡°AHHH! Kai, save me!!¡± Leo was sprinting down the trail straight at Kai, one of the weaker deer biting at his trailing robes. An extremely lackluster fireball struck the beast¡¯s side, causing it to whirl around and start chasing Kiin instead. It didn¡¯t look like he was going to be able to run for long. ¡°Kai, intercept them!¡± A shout from the opposite direction tore Kai¡¯s attention away from the flagging juniors, and over to the remaining member of the crew. Not one, not two, but three deer were on Brewan¡¯s tail, but he somehow looked to be faring slightly better than the other two boys. Kai was already familiar with the young mage¡¯s affinity for running from beasts, and it helped that the ones chasing him this time were already injured. One of the deer was missing its entire right front leg, and was barely managing to hobble after the speedy mage. Another looked scorched to the brink of death, barely having endured a barrage from the party¡¯s two weaker mages. How the¡­ it¡¯s been, like, ten seconds! Kai¡¯s first strike against the highest level deer was enough to make it slowly bleed out, but it didn¡¯t look like his allies were going to last that long. Shit, I¡¯m going to have to burn more mana if I want to finish it off in time. Kai clenched his teeth as his gaze wandered between his opponent and the small horde of deer chasing Brewan. ¡°Lead them over this way!¡± Kai readied his sword, estimating the distance between the deer. If he was going to have to use mana, he was going to make the most out of it. It costs me about 10 mana to use my technique, and counting the mana Halia is holding onto, I only have 27 left. I might be able to hit all of the deer with one slash¡­ Kai started directing his mana into the ruby sword, but before it could fully accumulate, he slowed the flow and charged forward. The high-level deer lowered its head, aiming to use its antlers to protect its already wounded neck. Slice! The left half of the beast¡¯s rack fell to the ground with a thud, immediately followed by its limp body. Without wasting a second, Kai whirled on his feet and jumped toward the deer chasing after Brewan. A slight crimson halo covered the ruby sword as another small burst of mana entered its blade. A streak of blue robes dove past Kai, and he swung at the two leading beasts trailing behind Brewan. [Double Kill!] [Triple Kill!] The mana around Kai¡¯s sword finally dried up, and he glanced down at the blue box keeping track of his mana. [Mana: 7/27] It had cost him a bit more to keep the technique going, but by stretching it out for three weaker attacks instead of one powerful swing, Kai managed to get more mileage out of it. Fifteen mana burnt, though¡­ I only have enough to use the normal version of the technique one more time, if I use Halia¡¯s reserved mana. It seemed Halia had a similar train of thought as Kai, as his mana count updated in the next second. [Mana (Kai+Halia): 12/32] The only deer left chasing Brewan was the one that¡¯d been roasted by the two juniors¡¯ initial barrage, and it couldn¡¯t resist at all as Kai executed it without wasting any more mana. [Quadra Kill!] With most of the enemies dead, Kai looked around to find where the two juniors were. It didn¡¯t take long, as Kiin¡¯s desperate cries were loud enough that they could probably be heard in Ledville. ¡°Leo, hurry up! It¡¯s going to eat me!¡± Kiin was racing down the path, the final deer chomping at his trailing robes. Kai could see a few scorch marks on the beast¡¯s pelt, but it was in a visibly better condition than the ones chasing Brewan. [Kai, hurry up and steal the kill! You only need one more!] Kai tilted his head as he watched the deer steadily gain ground on Kiin. ¡°One more? For what?¡± Halia let out a frustrated snort. [I¡¯m doing my best announcer voice! Be more enthusiastic! Also, you can''t steal any of its mana if you don¡¯t stab it.] The mention of mana was enough motivation for Kai. Just as he started running toward Kiin, though, a dark figure jumped from the forest next to the deer. ¡°Fire Punch!¡± Leo¡¯s voice echoed through the forest as he thrust his grimoire at the deer, the oversized fireball hovering over its pages slamming into the beast¡¯s neck. ¡°Now, Kiin!¡± The other boy spun around, a slightly smaller fireball hovering over one of his hands. Kai wasn¡¯t even sure when the boy casted it- it looked like he¡¯d been running full tilt, and even Brewan struggled to cast spells when running that fast. With accuracy that was probably half luck and half adrenaline-fueled skill, Kiin jammed the ball of flame straight down the beast¡¯s gaping maw. The spell detonated a moment later, completely destroying the deer¡¯s upper body.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. [An enemy has been slain.] [Aww, man. I was so hopeful there. They stole your kill.] Kai¡¯s eyebrows furrowed. How exactly had they stolen his kill, when he didn¡¯t hurt the beast at all? That makes no sense, but then again, neither does half of the other stuff she says. Chalking it up as a classic Halia? moment, Kai headed over to where Leo and Kiin were standing over the beast¡¯s corpse. Both of the boys had wide smiles on their faces, but their happiness faltered when they saw Kai approaching. Almost all of the feedback he¡¯d given them over the trip had been negative, so they subconsciously prepared themselves to be chewed out again. ¡°The two of you, and Brewan¡­ good job. You faced a dangerous number of foes, and completed the battle without any of you getting hurt.¡± Kai¡¯s gaze focused on Kiin and Leo. ¡°Both of you did an excellent job keeping the deer distracted until you could find an opening. You coordinated an attack, and accounted for your weaknesses to take down your enemy.¡± The duo¡¯s only error was not using quite enough firepower to kick off the fight, resulting in one of the deer they¡¯d been assigned to handle chasing Brewan instead. The beast was practically crippled after their initial barrage, though, and truthfully didn¡¯t pose much of a threat. The boys¡¯ smiles grew as Kai¡¯s long-awaited praise finally arrived. ¡°And Brewan, you were the MVP,-¡± [Heh, hearing you use modern slang is funny. He probably can¡¯t even understand you.] Kai coughed into his elbow as Halia interrupted him. ¡°I mean, Brewan, you were the most important. You kept everything distracted until I had a chance to cut the beasts down.¡± I said before the fight that I would handle two of them, but it ended up being Brewan who had to pick up the slack for both me and the other two. Without Halia¡¯s fireballs to start off the fight, he might not have been able to run for so long. ¡°I¡¯m still amazed by how strong you are. You cut down four beasts in as many seconds.¡± Brewan looked over at the small pile of bodies just down the trail. ¡°Even if I burnt all of my mana, I don¡¯t think I could¡¯ve killed all of those.¡± [Ahem¡­ sorry to interrupt, but I¡¯ve got good and bad news.] [Level up!] [You reached Level 16!] [Mana +5] [Mana: 17/37] [Strength: 55] [If you¡¯re wondering about your level going up twice¡­ since you¡¯ve gained a total of 5 mana from my experiments, it¡¯s the same as gaining a full level from hunting. It wouldn¡¯t make sense if I didn¡¯t count it toward your level, since that¡¯s how all of the other mages and knights in this world are gaining levels.] [Unfortunately, that¡¯s not the bad news.] There was a slight pause before the next message box popped up, and Kai cursed under his breath when he read it. [Rage Boar- Level 21] It was just as Kai had feared. A tier 2 beast, right after he spent half of his mana. [To make matters worse, I can sense another high-level mana signature approaching, but it¡¯s still too far out for me to make out what it is.] Wonderful. ¡°We¡¯ve got a tier 2 beast coming, everyone group up!¡± Kiin and Leo stood still for a moment, but Brewan immediately pulled out his grimoire and started casting a dispersion spell. It was doubtful if it would have any effect, given the amount of sound they¡¯d made while fighting, but it was worth a shot. ¡°Can we make it to Ledville before it reaches us?¡± [No. I tried to see if Angela and her team are close enough, but they are too far behind for me to sense them with mana. The only option is to fight it.] And there¡¯s no warehouse full of explosive dust next to us this time. Leo and Kiin and both low on mana, not that their spells would do too much damage to a tier 2 beast anyway. Brewan should have just under half of his mana remaining after casting the dispersion spell, and I only have enough to use Moonlight Slash once. Even if I overload it with all of my mana, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s enough to kill a tough beast like a boar in one blow. ¡°Halia, do you have anything for this?¡± [If I can shove a fireball down its throat, I can probably turn it into a meat firework.] Shoving a fireball down a tier 2 beast¡¯s throat¡­ sounds surprisingly doable? The stupid things constantly have their mouths open. Still, their burgeoning plan had a few issues. Kai only had enough mana for Halia to cast a single spell big enough to kill the beast, so they would only have one shot at winning. That wasn¡¯t the main problem, though. [As a tier two beast, it will definitely have some kind of magic, and we have no way of finding out what that is before the boar uses it.] Kai nodded, then turned back to his flesh-and-blood teammates. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ve got a plan. Leo, Kiin, the two of you will be the most important parts of this.¡± The two boys straightened up. ¡°I need the two of you to piss the boar off, enough so that it starts using its magic. Both of you need, and I repeat, need to keep far enough away from it that you don¡¯t get caught up in whatever kind of attack it uses.¡± Kai turned to Brewan next. ¡°After we figure out what kind of magic it has, I¡¯ll need an opening. I don¡¯t care how you do it, just make it forget about me long enough for me to get close. Halia¡¯s going to turn this thing into roast pork.¡± Leo raised his hand as Kai finished speaking, and Kai pointed at him like a teacher. ¡°Who is this Halia you are talking about? I¡¯ve heard you talking to yourself a lot, and thought it might be some kind of mental illness, but now¡­¡± Kai¡¯s brain lagged for a moment as he tried to process Leo¡¯s words, and Brewan spoke up. ¡°She¡¯s his girlfriend, but in necklace form.¡± Brewan gestured at the ruby necklace around Kai¡¯s neck. ¡°It¡¯s sweet that they keep each other so close, but I really don¡¯t understand the mechanics of dating an artifact spirit.¡± H- Huh?! Dating? Girlfriend?!?! Kai¡¯s face turned red enough to match the ruby necklace. Where did he ever get such an idea?! I¡¯d never date someone like Halia, not after all of the torture she¡¯s put me through! She has embarrassed me in front of my juniors so many times, and she always laughs! Sure, her laugh is a little cute, but¡­ Kai¡¯s face turned an even darker shade of red. W-what do I mean, her laughter is cute? She¡¯s a monster, worse than the beast coming to kill us! She must be using some evil mind-corrupting magic right now, just to embarrass me further in front of Leo and Kiin! She probably told Brewan to say that, too! ¡°D-did she tell you to say that?¡± Brewan stared at Kai¡¯s cherry-colored face, a mischievous smile painted on his hateable mug. ¡°No, but it¡¯s not that hard to figure out. Whenever I¡¯ve talked to her, she always asks for ideas on how to make you happier. Also, you do know that I can hear you whispering to her every night before you tuck her in before you sleep, right?¡± No more blood could accumulate in Kai¡¯s face. He passed out. ¡­ ¡­ ¡°Well, shit. He won¡¯t wake up.¡± Brewan let go of Kai¡¯s limp body, his expression troubled. Sure, when a tier-2 beast was approaching probably wasn¡¯t the best time for a discussion of love, but honestly, it wasn¡¯t his fault. He¡¯d only been following the ¡®suspension bridge effect¡¯ idea that Halia mentioned to him previously. Maybe she has some way to wake him up. Or she can control his body like a puppet. Brewan reached down, pulling the ruby necklace off Kai¡¯s neck. As soon as it was in his hand, Halia¡¯s unusually high-pitched voice echoed in his mind. [What were you thinking?! Why would you say all of that?????] ¡°What do you mean? I was just trying to help you out.¡± [I never asked you to say any of that! I only mentioned that bridge thing as small talk!] ¡°And everything else you¡¯ve said about him?¡± [None of that matters now!] Halia¡¯s tone fell until she sounded like she was depressed. [He¡¯s going to hate me when he wakes up. He won¡¯t believe that I didn¡¯t set this up¡­] ¡°You could tell him it was all a dream.¡± [Yeah, as if that would work. Kai¡¯s not that dumb.] Brewan thought for a moment, then called the other two over. ¡°Everyone, put a hand on the talking necklace. It¡¯s emergency meeting time.¡± Leo spoke up immediately after making contact with Halia¡¯s necklace. ¡°So, does Kai, like, have a thing for rocks? I don¡¯t mean to be rude or anything, but¡­¡± [No, that would be our childhood friend, Edwin. We¡¯ll have to put this conversation off for a bit, though. We¡¯ve got company.] On the far side of the trail clearing, the hideous snout of the rage boar poked through the forest foliage. [And of course, Kai still won¡¯t wake up. Get it together Halia.You¡¯ll never have a chance if you let all of his friends die, too. We need a new plan.] After taking a moment to compose herself, she spoke to the group once more. [Leo, are you a fan of rocket launchers?] ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of that before, but it sounds cool!¡± [Good. I can use sleepy here as a mana battery, but I¡¯m going to need you to give me a good shot.] Halia used a precious point of mana to replicate the scene of a rpg being fired, followed by the exaggerated explosion of an entire apartment complex. [Bollywood can¡¯t sue me for this, right?] ¡°That¡¯s badass! Let¡¯s do it!¡± Leo hoisted Kai¡¯s limp body onto his shoulder, aiming his head toward the incoming rage boar.